#129 - Brooke Maclean - You’re Not Broken—You Just Need a Different Path - Long Term Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Brooke McLean, everyone. Hi, everyone.
Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on
the Long Term Podcast. Happy to be here.
And then, yeah, congratulations and the presidency.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
Excited to start. Yeah, I wrote a lot for it.
Or how does how do speeches likethat work?
A platform speech. Yeah, yeah.
So it's basically just like a why me speech, sell yourself

(00:22):
speech, say what you want to do,why you're credible, why you
want to do this, and essentiallysay it in front of everyone
who's voting. And it's just the same process
of elections, I guess you try towin people over.
So it was pretty much my why me.I kind of outlined like what I
wanted to do within my role, my experience in student group,
student leadership, and also balancing like my empathy and

(00:43):
those kind of skills along with it as well.
And the biggest thing I talked about is that leadership isn't
just what you bring to the tableand it's also about how you
listen as a leader. And I think that's so important
in terms of like not leading with ego and what not.
So that was one of the main points I highlighted during
mine. And yeah, I ended up winning, so
yeah. That's awesome.
Yeah, that's dope. I know I've given my fair share

(01:06):
of speeches and usually going into it and like, I feel
everything's planned out and everything is just, it's going
to go as planned, right? But when you get there and
everybody's looking at you, it'sjust like, wow, you know, was it
like in a in a room? Was it packed?
Yeah, it was. It's actually online and you
would think that would make the nerves go away, but it's still

(01:28):
zooming I feel. Online's a bit more daunting, I
find. I don't know, like when we had
that that psych four O 5 with professor passing it, I actually
felt a lot more uncomfortable just talking to people there.
I don't know why it's I think itwas just because I'm so used to
this like in person interaction that it's like a new novel

(01:50):
situation. I was like, and it just goes
back to like exposure therapy, right?
Right, That's a really good point you raised.
I actually think one of the sources like of developing the
confidence to be able to do those speeches was that class
actually, I think it really. Oh, really?
Yeah. I served as a like a catalyst to
developing my public speaking. I had to do it regardless.
And I I knew even stepping into Co presidency last year, like,
OK, you're gonna have to get over your fear of public

(02:11):
speaking. Yeah.
And that class really helped. But I found it was also daunting
because everyone in there was sosmart.
And I was like, I am not referencing the textbook in my
written participation. Like seriously.
I don't know if everyone in thatclass was smart though.
I think it was just because everybody had a chance to speak.

(02:32):
I think that's like that the average kind of third year,
fourth year student. I think like a lot of people in
that class that were in my otherclasses were like a completely
different person. Oh really?
Yeah, yeah, I found that they were just online people were a
lot more brave. I guess they're a lot more
especially when the cams not on.Yeah, I was, I was made it a, a

(02:54):
goal to turn my Cam on just so they could, I don't know, it's
just like so they could see me, you know, I think that's, that's
probably what made me more scared too.
Cause like everybody's just behind.
Yeah, they're doing their own thing and I don't know.
But yeah. So you mentioned that for a long
time you tried to fit a certain mold of success.

(03:17):
And I know we were just talking about like feeling and outcome
based. Yeah, what?
Was the turning point that made you realize that you needed to
create a path of your own. Yeah.
So the turning point was actually when I started ticking
off some of these boxes of what I thought success was, was.
It like actual literal boxes. It was literal boxes stuff I.
Wrote down like a journal. Yeah, it was stuff I wrote down

(03:39):
in my notes, like I want this GPAI want this role.
I want you know, it was, it was a lot of things that not they
weren't materialistic. It was just more like tangible
and quantifiable outcomes, like the title money, like I don't
know, just stuff like that. After I hit U of A, you know,
check, you know, but like, you don't ever.
You never take time to go. What does this feel like for me?

(04:02):
Right? Yeah.
It's like I'm there. OK, But is it really for me?
Yeah, exactly. That's, that's how I saw it is
when I, I start taking off all these boxes and then something
still felt like it was missing. And even before I had started
taking off those boxes too. I, I knew I needed to carve out
my own path somewhat somehow andstop following a template and
learning that other people's goals, successes, their lives.

(04:25):
They're not like a template for you to follow exactly.
And we can't like get discouraged by not reaching
whatever they reached and tryingto just do what they did.
If you make if that makes sense.Sorry I'm stuttering right now
but. Society is just going to mold
you into a certain thing, right?Your your parents are going to

(04:45):
have an influence to a certain degree, and it's within yourself
to be able to you know, find outwho you truly are.
Right. Because it's just look, what do
you want, right? Like everybody wants money,
Everybody wants to be attractiveand successful.

(05:06):
But like to an extent, right? How, how much of that are you
willing to sacrifice? Like how much of friends do you
need? Do you want to, to involve, to
be involved in your life? Like if you're continuously
going to be studying, because I know you're wanting to get into
law, right? Like, to a certain degree, you

(05:27):
need to sacrifice certain things.
Now, are you taking the time to assess your feelings, your
outcomes? You know what I mean?
Yeah. That's, that's a good point.
And I, I realized that when I had ticked all these boxes and I
hadn't even checked in on myselfand asked myself how I felt, how
like, sure, like this looks goodto other people.
Like in my mind, I think, oh, other people see that I did

(05:48):
this, they think it's good, but how do I feel about it?
And why am I feeling unfulfilled?
And I really just took the shiftof making less like quantifiable
goals and kind of more so these feeling based goals.
Like, so instead of, oh, I want to get this career, it's I want
to feel like I'm making a tangible difference.
I want to feel appreciated in the workplace.

(06:09):
I want to feel like my work has an impact.
I can see instead of just sayingI want X title, X job
disqualification. And I think all of those goals
just really made me realize the importance of tapping into how I
feel and leveraging my wants, even if they don't align with
someone else's template of what success looks like.
Like I was looking at other people who'd maybe gotten into
law and successful in universityand I was like, Oh my God, they

(06:32):
had an internship here. I, I need to do that.
I need to volunteer here. I need to do this.
I need to get disqualification. And then I'm like, why am I
follow? Like, am I even listening to my
actual interests? Am I even listening to what I
can do? It was like I was telling my
brain what it should do instead of telling it, instead of
considering what it can do. And that I think will cause
Bruno and can be detrimental to yourself.

(06:55):
And that's when I started to realize, like your wants and
your innate desires and what youwant deep down and your
cumulative experiences, don't discount those and don't try to
trash those in light of trying to fulfill what someone else's
dream life looks like. Like your experiences are
valuable. What you want is valuable.
You can you can take inspirationfrom people like I like the

(07:16):
World is a Cat, like a cattle magazine catalog.
We can take inspiration from anything totally fine.
But I think when we try to kind of lose ourselves and doing that
and trying to be someone else, it just, it just doesn't work.
I'll need a burnout. Is this like a reflection?
Do you do reflections every day,every night?
Like how does this work? Can we put this tactically for

(07:39):
the viewers that maybe like, yeah, they're they're going to
school, maybe they're wanting toget into law or medicine, But
like, what is what is feeling based really mean?
Like to prioritize your feelings, 'cause you could just
go, yeah, I don't feel like studying a fall of that.
Yeah, right. You can't.
You gotta have a balance, right?Yeah.
So yeah. From your experience, how has

(08:00):
that been like? Yeah, good question.
Yeah. So I I think you can definitely
balance the both of them out like these outcome based
tangible goals with these feeling based goals, right.
And can't have too much of 1, can't have too much of the
other. But in order to start tapping
into really listening to myself and like establishing these
feeling based goals, instead of saying things like, Oh, I want

(08:21):
to lose X amount of pounds or whatever, for example, like this
unrelated to school, but you'd say like I want to feel, I want
to feel healthy, I want to feel strong.
I want to feel like I enjoy my time working out.
And in terms of school, it can be, I want to feel like
connected to my studies. I want to feel like I'm making a
meaningful difference. And it's hard to measure those
goals, but just really tapping into like how you actually feel

(08:45):
about your work. Like you could be getting the
good grades. But if you're not feeling good
about your work, like sure, you got an ID on an essay, but you
want to feel like set the goal of I feel like I wrote a good
essay. I feel like I'm, like, proud of
my work. Like the biggest thing was
actually just feeling like I wasproud of my work and feeling
connected to it, Yeah. Taking the time to just like
step back right after you're done it.

(09:07):
You're just not checking off andthen on to the next thing.
You actually take time to kind of feel like, what does this
feel like? Is this like anger bubbling up?
It's like, does it feel hot, like redness in my face?
Like, how does this, do I feel gratitude for this?
Like, do I actually see myself doing this over and over?
You know what I mean? And then at a certain point, you

(09:27):
just may not feel fulfilled at that endeavor.
And maybe you, maybe you need totake a more time to reflect.
Is this for you? Like, are you willing to go
through this feeling time and time again?
And is it making you a better person?
Yeah. And you mentioned something
about what's it called creating balance when it comes to all

(09:53):
this. Like how do I make?
Like balance between the two outcome based holes and cause.
Like a lot of people in this, inour day and age, like feel lost,
Tay. And like, it's just yeah, with
this, because on one hand, you want to be successful, right?
You want to to prioritize the outcome because you want to you
want to check as back as it doesmatter.

(10:14):
Yeah, the objective, right. And then there's the subjective
right where OK, how do I know what's right for me?
And sometimes they kind of go, yes, you could just if you're
just feeling based all the time,that could be, you know, you
running away from the things that you need to do.
Yeah, right. Like if I listen to my feeling
feelings all the time, Oh, I don't even know if I go to the

(10:36):
gym, like sometimes I don't wantto get up and go to the gym more
than if I listened. So just in terms of like
balancing the two kind of goals,right.
And how I do that, it's just they kind of go hand in hand,
like after I take off a box or after I set a new goal that may
be quantifiable or tangible. I I really the goal and I like
dissect the goal, Like why do I have this goal?
Like do I have the school? Because other people might want

(10:59):
me to have the school or achievethis, or do I have this because
society is telling me that I need to have the school or like
I just make sure that I'm reallyauthentically connected to the
goal and then that kind of informs the feeling based side
of it. And I think like the first thing
with goal setting is just makingsure you actually want to do
that. Like stepping back and saying,
OK, I've been told all these things.
We live in a society where like even online you're being told

(11:21):
you have to do this and like hustle culture.
And it's like, do I even want this?
First of all, check to see if you even want to do that.
And then secondly, just find howyou can leverage yourself within
that goal. Like aside from I don't know
what you've seen other people dowith it.
Like I think a goal is just so much more than a number.
And I think just those reflections while goal setting

(11:42):
and then after you achieve the goal are really meaningful.
Like say you raise your GPA, youhave to ask yourself, how did I
raise my GPA? How did raising my GPA make me
feel like? What did this teach me about
life? What did this teach me about
myself? Like, for example, I, in all
honesty, I did very bad. Like the first two years of
university, I didn't even think that pursuing law school is even
like I wanted to, but I was like, I'm doing so bad.

(12:05):
I don't understand. It was a learning curve.
And I, I raised my GPA by a significant amount this year and
I'm very, very proud of that. And I look at my transcript and
that's not only like AGPA raise to me, that's a testament to my
resilience and to my promises tomyself.
Like I look at that and I go, I fulfill my promises to myself.
I I believe it. OK guys, for the, the 100 plus

(12:28):
podcast guests that have been here now, Brooke's probably the
one of the, the people up there that prepared intensively, which
is great. And I'm like, huh, if she does
this in the pod, I wonder what she's doing in those classes.
No excuses. I know that's like something
that we've talked about where, OK, like you mentioned something

(12:52):
about kind of reflection and being able to be honest with
with yourself and authentic. And you had mentioned social
media does this to us where we're pulled in all these
directions with hustle culture, with diet, different types of
diets that work for different types of people.
Now there's what's true to you. And when you see these people

(13:17):
that are ultra successful, they've gone through their 20s,
their 30s and now they're millionaires or they're a
lawyer, They're they're a doctor, maybe a successful
YouTube athlete. And a question I always ask
myself is yes, I see all the success.
And that's what propagates around all throughout social

(13:38):
media, social media. But am I willing to go through
all the pain that they went through, right?
And OK, if yes, if the answer tothat is yes, you know, then no
excuses, right? Like if I want to be an athlete,
I need to make sure I'm showing up for the training.
I'm sure I'm going to bed early.I'm not drinking.
I'm gaining that edge. Or maybe the the team demands

(14:01):
that I'd I'd go out with them tobuild the team bonding, right?
But at the end of the day, you are the one that chooses your
life and no excuses, right? Yeah, On the days where you
don't feel like doing it, how doyou overcome that urge to just

(14:21):
yeah, whatever. Cuz you had mentioned two years
within the your undergrad. You know, you you thought I
don't like you didn't do too well.
Was there a flip that you just went, OK, I want to be a lawyer,
I need to do all these things. How did you come about doing

(14:42):
that? Yeah, like really just making
that change and like locking in.Yeah.
So I had, I had to be real with myself.
And I think a lot of us like there's this quote, it's like
the, like what you want is in the work you're avoiding or like
the discomfort you're avoiding and like the, the realities you
have to accept. And I'm like a big believer in

(15:04):
like the external locus of control.
Like I'm very like, you are in control of your life.
I am very privileged. I'll say that like, I know the
playing field isn't equal, but like me myself, I have the
privilege that it's not for everybody.
Not everyone can say that, but I'm very much like, you have
opportunity everywhere. Go do it.
Like suck it. I've got it done.
And it can be toxic, But I had to confront the reality that I

(15:26):
wasn't putting in the full work that I should have been putting
in. And I've been honestly lying to
myself and making excuses. We tend to put a lot of our, our
shortcomings and on other thingsand situational factors like,
and I know we talked about this and that one course we did, like
people are like, oh, like the Prof, the Prof is bad in the
class. That's why I did bad.

(15:47):
I was somebody like that, honestly.
It was a lot of work I. Was and you know.
What? After the semester I was like,
it was a. Lot of work it was it was.
But I know where I fell short inthat class and I I knew what I.
Deserved, but it's like, but if you tell someone right, like
could you have done more? And if they said, you know, if

(16:08):
they said no, that would have been a lie, you know what I
mean? Like that's the question, right?
Like everybody could achieve an A like, I'm a firm believer of
that, like you of a, you know, it's then university and you had
mentioned that there are people out there, you know, that can't
do it. But for, for us, you know, for

(16:28):
the average person there, there's so much opportunity.
There is, yeah. How like you talk to so many
people, We're on snap, you know,Instagram, like I these people
are on reels. I'm like, it's the same people
that are on that app that say, oh, they you can't do more.
And you know what? I'm part of the problem too.
Like don't. Be wrong and that's what I'm

(16:49):
saying and I'm not saying I'm still not part of the problem
every day in my life. They're still, I could be doing
more in a lot of aspects, but you also have to balance out
with giving yourself grace. And I think even in like
nowadays, a lot of people have adopted the I'm not the problem
mindset or like main character syndrome, kind of off topic, but
I think that kind of contributesit too because it's horrible.
Yeah. It just diffuses like

(17:11):
accountability and it's like, oh, I'm not the problem.
Like poor me and I I've been that person.
And that's not a way to live life.
You don't get tested that way. Point fingers like, how are you?
How are you able to change your actions?
Like if you're like, it's that person's fault or it's this
person's fault, then you just what you're waiting for the

(17:31):
world to just magically make that person come at your feet,
whether it be a job opportunity,a romantic gesture, a good
grade, right? Like, no, you have to go out
there and see it for yourself and even get even for the people
in unfortunate circumstances. Chances are somebody else has
lived that life with that same very similar situation and

(17:55):
they've with probably less fortunate and have made it
successful. You know what I mean?
You hear about stories like thatall the time.
I was just talking to the, I wasseeing this guy and he's really,
his name's Nick or something, but he was born with, without
any limbs, and he's got like a family.
I don't know how he has to have family.
And maybe, maybe that part's still there.

(18:16):
Yeah, good question. But yeah.
And he's like a motivational speaker.
And I'm like, hear him bitching sometimes, right where it's like
Puck the Prof, you know, I don'thave enough, like, time.
My sleep is screwed up. I have to go to work.
It's like, no, no, no. Like, reframe that.
Yeah, stop throwing your pity party.
Yeah, yeah. It's like nobody in the world

(18:37):
has ever told you yeah, me worrying me like victimizing
myself. That was like a a superpower.
You know, that was that really got me ahead of life.
No, it's, it's usually yeah, victimization.
That's really what held me back like not taking accountability
and not apologizing to friends, family and not apologizing to

(18:59):
the things I've done. You know, cuz the moment you
look within yourself and go, yeah, the first two years are
shit. But you know, I, I did I'm, I'm,
I'm no victim. You know, I was up watching
squid game, watching separate Squid Game.
Yeah. We play our own role in our
suffering and it's so important you also highlight that.
I think a lot of the viewers, like can also feel that as well.

(19:20):
We play a big role in our own suffering and can acknowledge
that. And like you said, there's
someone with less that's doing more than you.
And honestly, even hearing stufflike that motivated me.
Like I am in such a privileged position to attend university to
like just have this opportunity and like you can rebrand
whenever you want. You can work on yourself
whenever you want. And you can't put yourself in a

(19:41):
box and say, I'm not doing this.Like poor me.
Like have give yourself grace, yes, but also, you know, gotta
balance it. Out so with the need to avoid
ego and feeling discomfort, how does that play into your your
life? Right, so.
For me, I, there's times where like, I really like the ego, you

(20:01):
know, I feel so I like I'm attached to it.
And then then I'm like, oh gosh,you know, I then I'm attaching
everything onto that. And then I'm not my grades.
Yeah, I'm not. But the same time I am my
grades, you know what I mean? Yeah, Yeah.
So are you talking about ego kind of being synonymous with
like yourself confidence, yourself concept and like
self-confidence? Because those are different than

(20:23):
there's ego and then there's also like.
Well, the way I see it is like for me, ego is just like
attaching kind of meaning into the things that you do and like
giving the things that you do give yourself worth or the
things that you are like I what's your definition?
I don't know. So for ego, I just, I think it's

(20:49):
some sort of like it's a branch of your identity, but it's
totally different from yourself concept and your character.
And I think ego is not sustainable long term.
You can have an ego, but you cannot have self-confidence and
a positive self concept. Many people have egos without a
self self-confidence and withouta positive self concept.
But if you have a positive self concept and self-confidence,

(21:10):
that's sustainable long term. That will help you out long
term. Ego is like a very short term
thing that it, it could, it could help you out.
So you need to have a little ego.
You honestly, you need to have alittle audacity to be
successful, but not too much audacity because people aren't
going to like you. And you also have to be a people
person to be successful, you know, So I think egos is kind of
good in moderation, like branch off of your personality.

(21:33):
But at the end of the day, like it's the long term, like
self-confidence and like self assuredness that also just allow
you to also admit when you're wrong and also not act on ego.
And I think you're talking about, you know, you said
discomfort and ego. Can you refresh the question?
Yeah. Yeah, with the with facing

(21:54):
discomfort when it comes comes to that, like how does that play
into the whole mindset? Right.
So I think discomfort and like navigating that is essentially
just putting my ego to the side and listening to what the actual
case is. Like my ego is going to tell me
that I did bad in the class because of that Prof or that

(22:16):
this relationship didn't work out because you know, like
whatever they fumble, I'm betterlike poor, like poor me.
Like sucks to be them. Like that's what the ego is
going to tell you. And I think sometimes you need
to work around that and be like,no, what's the actual case?
Like sometimes they are the problem, sometimes they are the
problem, and sometimes you're the problem and you need to kind
of dismantle ego in order to identify when it's acting in

(22:39):
situations it shouldn't be. Like sometimes you shouldn't be
using your ego to make those decisions.
You have to really sit with the discomfort of no like tell
yourself what actually happened,not what feels nice to hear, so
you can avoid like the real problem.
So the the ego is the ego's always trying to preserve
yourself confidence by making sure it's providing excuses or

(23:02):
things to make you feel better when things go wrong.
But you need to dismantle the ego to you need to face the
discomfort in order to find the truth and actually go grow.
Because if you just let the ego do all the work, it'll
ultimately just cause destruction and mayhem and see
into your life. Did I?
Did I absorb that? Correctly, yes.

(23:23):
And I think you need to be like a lifelong learner learner.
And if you have like too much ego, like you can't walk around
thinking you know everything andthinking you're better than
everyone else. Growth never happened.
Some people stay in the same, same mental state for like 50
years of their life because of their ego, because they're not
willing to admit that, you know,like sometimes it's not all
about you. Sometimes you don't know

(23:44):
everything. I, I, it comes to mind of just,
if you're swimming in a pond, like, of course, you're just
going to be a better swimmer than a lot of people, because
especially if you're putting in the work ethic and you're, you
know, swimming there all the time with all your frog friends,
you know, of course you're goingto be the hardest frog there.

(24:05):
But if you're going in the, you know, on the beach, the ocean,
right, you're going to, your egois going to get tarnished,
right? You're, you see this in a lot of
kids that, that were from high school and they were the 90s
guy. They were the, they topped
their, somebody taps their shoulder in the back and then in
class and go, Hey, what's the answer?

(24:26):
You have homework and I copy offof it.
And of course, you know, everybody's relying on them.
They step on to university and wow, like I'm not the smart kid
anymore, you know? And so your ego's like, I'm sure
you probably experienced this. I experienced this where it's
like, yeah, I'm not, I'm not on that.
I'm, I'm just average. Oh my gosh, it's accepting that
and going yes, I'm average, but what can I do?

(24:47):
Yes, I, I love that you bring that up because I think it, it's
so important in the context of like navigating like university
and transitioning into the professional world.
And it's such AI think it's justa way to determine like how
successful you're going to be islike how willing you're able to
put your ego aside because sure,you got the good grades in
university, but if you transition into the workplace
and you're the youngest person there, you just started working

(25:10):
there, you're straight out of university, don't have any
practical experience and you arewalking around on your high
horse because you got the good grades, you got the job.
Nobody in the workplace is goingto like.
You. Nobody cares and that is that's
not going to help you advance. People are going to pick up on
that very quickly, like that entitlement and just kind of to
put that into perspective, I think I've had a lot of

(25:32):
experiences that have led me to dismantle this ego.
And like, I'm not perfect. I'm still driven by ego,
obviously a bit, but my current employer actually said that
she's dealt with a lot of like articling students like that
because they they hadn't like worked a job in school and then
just like got to work and like didn't.

(25:53):
Everything came easy. Yeah.
And they're just like, oh, like this is hard.
Like she was like, I had someonecomplain about like how hard the
job was and just like always. And she's like, that's just not
good character. And like, employers noticed
that. And I think even if you don't
have the skills or like credentials, like your ability
to like recognize your place andlike learn and be open to being

(26:14):
in that humble position says a lot.
And that's one of the things sheactually expressed about like
appreciating about me in the workplace.
Like I'm not perfect. My ego still drives me.
But she said that she dealt witha lot of like, individuals like
that, like transitioning from university to career.
So I think that's something really important to keep in
mind. I kind of went off topic, but I
think it just really paints a good.
Picture. Yeah, and I even see this with

(26:35):
my, you know, my personal life and my relationships is if you
let the ego rule, you will lose every single friend you have,
every single loved one, because hey, you're always brights and
hey, mistakes not your fault. It's their fault.
And yeah, employers, they sense that.
And I kind of this brings the idea of two people can have the

(27:00):
same degree, like whether it be like masters or even the PhD.
And of course, all these things that you do and with studying,
it's going to grant more opportunity, open more doors,
But one person may reach in someunsurmountable success and one
person may just, you know, the like they, they're just average

(27:23):
right within that field. And what difference does it like
what what is the difference between a person that reaches
the the top, the echelon of society when it comes to their
profession or their craft and it's being able to recognize
their own mistakes and go, yeah,I, I'm not the best thing, you
know, I'm not a lot. And you know, there are.

(27:45):
Don't get me wrong, a lot of people still do reach success
with full on ego you. Know yeah, you got to have it a
bit yeah, it's annoying because you're like OK.
Like we need, we need some of those people too.
But yeah, realizing that there'sno one path to success is is
crucial. How did you manage the feelings

(28:06):
of comparison and falling behindwhen it seemed like everyone
else had it all figured out? Right.
OK, so this was just, this was ahard realization for me too,
because I, I struggle with perfectionism a lot.
And in my mind I'm like, I need to do this by then, I need to
have it this way. And like, I think like avoiding
that comparison is just realizing the value in your own

(28:29):
experiences, even your own shortcomings and how even
realizing your own shortcomings,coming to terms with them says a
lot about yourself as well. And I find I would kind of just
discount like the fact that I wasn't always successful
academically. I like didn't like that I had to
work in school and I felt like Igot to university and everybody
like a lot of people don't work in school and they're like, oh,
no, I don't work because I'm in university.

(28:50):
I'm like, what do you mean? What do you mean?
I'm jealous of you? What do you mean?
So I would be so bitter and I just didn't like that.
I also like didn't have like an internship kind of job or I
just, you know, I like, discounted all these experiences
and I thought they weren't relevant to my personal
development at all. I was like, OK, like I'm
clocking in at McDonald's when I'm 16.

(29:12):
Like, what does this mean? But now I look back and I'm
like, I think all the jobs I've had are just kind of a testament
to like my resilience and being able to like work hard long
term. And it like just instilled this
like work ethic in me that I finally, I've seen just like
this year, really like I came toterms with it like, wow, I, I
actually work really hard. Like I always thought I wasn't
doing enough. And I realized like the value of

(29:35):
my own individual journey and stopped using others as like a
template or some sort of like threshold to compare myself to.
Like, OK, if I have this position like this person or
this person's in this many clubsor whatever gets this grade,
like, then I'll be fine. Like other people's successes
are not markers for your own success.
Like you can look up to them. But I think it's just really
stepping back and realizing how valuable your individual journey

(29:59):
is. And it, it's hard to take value
out of that sometimes because even if we're told it's not
valuable, you know, but I like, you can pull value from all of
that. Like, yeah, I can talk about my
how I worked like, I don't know,30 hours a week at 16 years old
at McDonald's in my interview atthe 30.
Hours. Yeah, I was working full time
and then, yeah, even though somepeople might like think that

(30:22):
experience isn't relevant to industry, like you have to be
able to make those connections in life.
Like I think a lot of people like discount their own journey
and experience. And I think that's what like I
stopped doing that really helpedme stop comparing and is that
you are not on a timeline like this is your life and you're
going to lose out on so much like trying to make it like

(30:42):
someone else's or comparing it to someone else because like
sometimes the grass isn't greener on the other side.
And something I also asked myself is like, maybe you don't
realize your success because you're always setting the bar
higher. And that's a double edged sword.
Like it's so good to set the barhigher and higher.
But then again, it's like you'recomparing yourself to other
people and you're never happy with yourself.
And it's like, I've struggled with balancing between setting

(31:03):
the bar higher and then also recognizing where I'm at.
Like, I don't know if you can attest to that.
Like, even when my friend told me that she was like Brooke,
like I realized you're someone you're always who sets the bar.
Like, you always set the bar higher.
And like, you need to step back and, like, realize you're
actually doing well. It's like the moving goal posts,
right? It's always just going to be
something better after you get through it.

(31:24):
And when it comes to comparing some to the people that have
made it, it's like they're already in chapter 30.
So you're, you're still in chapter 4.
You know what I mean? And for a lot of people, it
takes away from their fulfillments and happiness when
they go, yes, I've finished my degree or yes, I've made this

(31:46):
much money or I've acquired thisnew house or I've gotten engaged
or married. I, I, but I still don't have
this right. But no, but that just takes it
away. And if you keep doing that
throughout your entire life, you're just going to look back
and it's just going to be a never ending, just endeavor of
just competing with everyone. And the way I, I've kind of

(32:08):
reframe my mind on comparison with people is yes, it's a good
barometer because if you didn't have other people, then what is
healthy, what is rich, what is good, what is like a good grade,
you wouldn't know. But you can't let that be your
entire self worth. And you have to look at yourself
from a year ago. You know, you have to like
really see the growth because ifyou're on a downward trajectory

(32:31):
that you'll see that and maybe you should do something about
it. And it's a good barometer for
you to captivate yourself for for authenticity, for growth,
for intellectual curiosity, for grades.
And it's just, but you can't take away your own feelings from
the the ACT like the progress and the rewards you get.

(32:57):
Don't take that away because that's what makes us human.
That's what makes us. You don't feel whole because
like there's, you know, I'm guilty of this all the time is
where I accomplish a certain thing and it's just I don't feel
that it's something worth boasting about.
You know, like, yes, there's theego.

(33:17):
And then the opposite of that isjust kind of self, you know,
self destruction or just that negative self talk of going.
Yeah, but I it's not you've doneit so long, you know where
you've put in the hours of working out or you've put in the
study the the time studying and you don't really recognize that.
But then when a friend pointed points it out, you're like, wow,

(33:40):
like I I'm that I have that I carry that identity.
And that's like you see the you pattern, recognize it and you
go, yeah, actually it's pretty hardcore what I do, you know?
And then you smile about it a little bit.
And that's that's great. And you don't want to get it too
high because then you're just. Comfortable, yeah.
Yeah, it's just like that good medium of just growth and being

(34:02):
content. What advice would you give to
someone who feels like they don't fit the traditional or
expected path, but they still want to succeed?
Right, it's easier said than done very general, but honestly,
you can rebrand whenever you want and you have to stop like
putting yourself in a box of what you can and can't do unless

(34:25):
it's like a legitimate like you physically are unable to do
that. And again, I understand like
societal limitations and what not, but I think all of us like
cling on to like our perceived faults and like immediately like
we don't want to do things we'renot good at.
And we also are going to assume we're never going to be good at

(34:45):
them. And that takes away from so much
of our potential. And just because you started out
rough doesn't mean it can't get better.
And I think a lot of people justperceive that as you're never
going to make it. And I think forget that you can
wake up tomorrow and choose to reinvent your entire life.
And matter of fact, I did do that because if anybody, if you
talk to anybody from high school, I was, I was not really

(35:07):
like like anything like I was not like I got like relatively
good grades. Yeah.
But it's just like someone from high school would be like, oh,
like this is what Brooke is doing now.
Like she's posting all this likeclub stuff and not being like,
Oh my God, I'm so accomplished now.
Not like that, yes, but I wasn'tknown as if we.
Went to the high school would probably be the same.

(35:28):
Balance I wasn't like a degenerate.
I wasn't like a degenerate. OK, no, I wasn't that bad, but I
feel like some like a lot of people say I'm like doing like
too much because I'm, I'm just very, I'm very passionate about
school and very involved, but I also like it would be real and
say in high school, I wasn't like that in high school.
I wouldn't even speak in class 1st year university, I wouldn't

(35:49):
even speak in class. And now I have to public speak
to people like, I don't know, like 70 plus people I have
before and I'm like, oh, you canjust reinvent your light.
Like, yeah, you're like, you cansay, oh, I'm bad at public
speaking. I hate doing it.
Most people hate doing it. Go do it like.
It's like the number one fear, right?
Yeah, it is. It is.
And that's just, that's my advice to give.

(36:10):
You don't have the traditional path.
You can carve your way and give yourself the seat at the table.
Don't wait for someone to pull out the chair for you.
I think we wait for people to pull out the chair and we also
let other people assign like thechair, if that makes sense.
Like we let other people's opinions and like what we should
do, like influence, like where we sit or whether we even get a
chair. Like weird metaphor.

(36:31):
But even like I have this weird metaphor I've like noted in my
notes before about like life being like a canvas kind of.
And like we can't like let otherpeople like hold the brush.
Like sometimes other people likehold the brush and like also try
to, you know, like you don't want to look like every other
painting. You don't want to let someone
hold the brush for your paintingand you'll lose out on so much

(36:52):
of your life doing that. And like, just because you don't
fit the traditional path. So what?
That's actually an advantage because like different
perspectives are where innovation comes in and where
new ideas come in and where change actually happens.
So I think you can just, you just have to milk like like milk
out like the advantages of your different perspective instead of
viewing it as like a weakness that you didn't come from a
traditional path. It's like, OK, you can't control

(37:14):
the cards you've been dealt. Like I'm just rapid firing ideas
right now. Sorry AHD.
But you can't deal the cards you've been dealt.
But you can choose like how you go about them.
Like don't sit around like I'm like, oh, I can't do this
because of this. Like sure, you can't choose some
of those, but you can choose howyou react to it.
And life like is essentially an accumulation of how you react to
things. And you just have to be mindful

(37:36):
of that and give yourself grace of like the disadvantages you
face for sure. But you can reinvent yourself
whenever. And it's actually an advantage
not having a traditional path because it for me it created
like unique resilience. Yeah, you don't want to be
normies out there, right? Just NPCS.
You got to make sure you there'sjust you take the the other way
to work, maybe take the longer route or just not walk in the

(37:58):
same line. And it's it's tough because
we're constantly being pulled tothat, that with the wave, you
know, but sometimes you got to go against it to reach the other
side where a lot of people aren't willing to do it.
But then a lot of people are going to drag you down.
It's like they are the metaphor within the crabs and then the
bucket so many times where it's like you put a crab, a bunch of

(38:22):
crabs in the bucket and they canjust all escape if they just
like all climb together in unity.
And then just one by one, I think they can they stick to the
the. I don't know, but it's not like
a misery loves company kind of thing like people like.
You know that, you know that. But I think no, but the crabs,
whenever 1 is almost out, the one underneath them would pull

(38:43):
them down. Yeah, you know, yeah, like a lot
of. And you know what, in my life, a
lot of people do do that becausethey don't want to see you
change. Like the moment I I stopped
drinking like a couple years back I think.
No, it's. Not like I had a problem.
No, no, no, not like you had a problem, but it's.
Like I just don't want to drink anymore.
It's no, but it's good. Like not say it's.
Bad but but yeah, there I had some friends, you know, like I

(39:06):
was the crab trying to escape the the bucket and they're like,
you know, trying to drag me down.
But it's like, and I'm sure you noticed this with like if you
want to study, right, like Brooke, you know, just like
let's you know, everyone's Duke out right now, you know, so you
got you constantly have to do like no, I have to OK, like you
have to go against the grey in alot of the time.
But like balance, right? Because you can't just do this

(39:28):
all the time and then you don't have any friends.
Yeah, it's, it's hard. People take it personal and I
love my friends, but I got I gotto say no.
The way I see it is I, I like tohave friends that just normally
like to do the things that I do,like running or like working out
or like, I don't like studying, but like, I'll, I like to have
friends that like to study because it gives me something to

(39:48):
hope for, to learn something from.
Like I'll just, I like, I want to be friends with people that
are better than me. So then I, I want to learn
because like being in a room where you're just like the
smartest person, you're just never, it's like the the frog in
the pond. You know, you're never facing
all the other ones out there like the bullfrogs if you're
just in the tiny little pond. Yeah, I like how you raise that

(40:12):
break because I've actually toldpeople this recently, like
things that I live by are you are like the five people you
hang around the most. I don't care.
I will judge you by your friends.
I will because if you say oh, myfriends just like that, like
he's kind of why do you hang outwith someone like that then?
Like why do you identify with friends just.
Your best friend is just sniffing coke in the wash.
Yeah, cheat on his. Girlfriend cheat on his

(40:32):
girlfriend kind of dog you know you know it's it's OK just Jimmy
you know you guys hang out all the time you know eventually
right you just adopt like certain traits and then you just
think like at the I used to never talk to this guy at the at
the gym and lately we've been really good buddies because he
just jokes a bunch and I just I used to not find his jokes funny

(40:55):
I just you know I like. Were they like racist and
sexist? Some of them you know.
He's like, oh, I just like dark humor, man.
But yeah, that some of them. But like, you know, lately, the
more time I hung out with them, I'm like, yeah, it's kind of
it's kind of growing on me. Next thing you know, when I'm
working, you're like walking around the street.
I'm going to sway it a little bit, you know.
But it's just like the more timeyou spend with someone, you just

(41:19):
like you adopt their humor, you adopt their their demeanor, the
way they say certain things. Like I used to have this buddy
that went man, this is I feel dangerous.
I'm like, what? What does that mean?
And I'm not interest. Yeah, yeah, I guess he just, you
know. Always like, really dangerous.
Tonight, yeah, I feel really dangerous tonight.
And I do, Yeah. And then I kind of just adopted

(41:40):
it. And then we.
Yeah, it's it's crazy. And then I noticed some of the
things that I did, my friends would just say that too.
Like I said, I say long term a lot, you know, and people just
say keep a long term, you know, a long term.
And it's like, yeah, I I'm goingto, to study or I'm going to
this. And it's just like people just
expect you to do certain things just based on your actions.
And at the same time, it reflects to them.

(42:02):
And then it's just bounced back and forth.
And some, some stick, some don't.
But one thing is true is some other traits will stick with
you. You know which you know, it's,
it's tough. Yeah, And it really just brings
to light the importance of finding the people in your
circle that motivate you. Like I want to be around people

(42:23):
who are helping me level up. Like that's not like their
purpose. Like you have friends to like
pour into them as well, But if you aren't like helping me and
inspiring me, like, like, you know, like, why would I want to,
you know, like, I mean, there's more to friendship than that,
but I, it's so important to likebe friends with people like that
or like, especially in relationship, like I think a lot

(42:44):
of people get into relationshipswhere they don't like they might
get pulled down, you know, and Ithink it's just you have to be
careful about who you spend yourtime with, even if they don't
overtly seem like a, you know, like degenerate of a person or
like make bad jokes. Like even them having a negative
attitude can really rub off on you and affect you if they're
walking around hating on people.What are you gonna do?

(43:04):
Like even if you don't like meanto pick up on that like.
Yeah, Freudian stuff. Careful, yeah.
You. Be careful, conscious,
unconscious is all in there. Exactly.
You said that acknowledging whatyou don't know is just as
powerful as being confident. Confident.
Can you share a moment where embracing discomfort open a
major opportunity for you? Right.
So I think even going to university and trying to get

(43:30):
involved in things because like,I guess we just talked about
earlier, like I wasn't like thathigh.
So I didn't do Model UN in high school.
Like I wouldn't talk in high school.
No, I didn't do. If you go back, would you would
you have done it? No, because I think I needed
that experience to lock in like now and like learn what I did in
university. Like I'm very much like
everything happened when it did for a reason kind of person I

(43:50):
needed that time in high school to.
You wouldn't go back and like and like right now if I said,
hey, Brooke proven like if you just do the follow these steps,
you can go back 10 years right now and then everything will be
changed. No, I I wouldn't because I don't
know, there's, I'm happy with where I'm at now.

(44:11):
Well, like, not fully happy. I got to still do a lot more, of
course. Yeah.
I think everything played out how it did for a reason.
Like I needed the good and the bad.
Like I needed those failures. I needed to be humbled.
I needed to learn stuff about myself because I think I've
looked at everything like a learning opportunity, even if
it's bad. Like, OK, I got fired from a
job. Say I got fired from a job or

(44:32):
say I didn't get a job offer after an interview.
OK, like this is teaching me something.
This might not be meant for me and not in a delusional way,
being like, oh, it's not meant for me.
Like I'm aligned to something higher, not like that.
But it's going to teach you something regardless.
And if you pull like that deepermeaning and that deeper
opportunity for learning out of every like life incidents, like
I think you'll do a lot better. And like honestly, that's I

(44:53):
can't say that for everything. Like take it with a grain of
salt. Like if you're like a parent
dies or something, you're not going to be like, oh, like what
am I going to learn about this in the moment?
I understand it teaches. You about maybe not directly you
know that like the ACT itself during it it's not going to
teach you anything, but it maybeit teaches you to not take
people for granted like my yes, it's like my my dog just died

(45:15):
and yeah no, it's it was terrible and for like and now in
my entire family a week in like we were all planning at night.
I thought it was a psychopath because I was just like not
feeling anything. I was like, yeah, it's time to
go. Just a dog.
It's. Time to go.
It's just a dog and then it hits.
Yeah, and then we're we're, it'sthe day of and I'm whole

(45:35):
family's crying, my brother's crying sister and they're like
whales, man. I was like.
Oh my God. Just like.
Wow, that's like a really ugly cry.
I love my family, but they're all crying.
Downstairs and tell them this. Right now you're hefty.
I told I'm I'm authentic like that.
But yeah, I was tasked with driving and my mom was in the as

(45:58):
we're loading up Nito. Nito was my my black dog.
And he was he was great. And he was always just there for
you. Never really, never really
complained, you know, he'd barked a bunch, but he's just
never, never really showed any anger in his heart.
Like he showed a lot of embarrassment and a lot of
guilt, but he, he always just had compassion.
And you know, I, I took this forgranted and I just, for the

(46:21):
longest time, I just, you know, I'd, whenever I'd walk by, like
I'd 'cause he'd be barking that day.
And you know, I had a midterm that day and like he, he, he
fucked up my sleep. So I blame Nito, you know, and
he's just a dog. He's just trying to protect the
house and I was as I was as he was getting on the in the van
night. He didn't know what was going on

(46:41):
right. He was just because he had lost
function of both his legs and the hind and it was really tough
and he was defecating and peeingeverywhere.
I was really sad and I just it just all the memories just
flooded in and I just thought ofall the moments like when I'd be
in high school and then he'd like try to you know, they bite
me in a playful way, you know, and then we'd run around, you

(47:05):
know, just you know, I'm just I couldn't control myself driving
there and looking back and he's just you know, I can control his
just breathing because his heartwas really heavy.
And then as I'm as a really tough experience, we get there
and it was just I couldn't stop myself.
Just like just flood gets were open and yeah, we're in that in
that room. And then the vet, there's really

(47:26):
nice insured park, forget what it was called, but.
Good review. Great review.
I want to leave a great review. It was there really
understanding and just all thesememories came up and I just
there's so many regrets and so many happy memories and it was a
great experience. And then yeah, it was it kind of
traumatized me a little bit because I don't want to ever

(47:47):
want to feel like this. But within that pain, I've
realized that, wow, I'm actuallykind of busy with my I have
still have another dog too. His name is Milo.
And I'm like, I need to be more kind to them and my family, like
my brother, like I need to be understanding more and I need to
actually give time if it even just like a little bit.
And like at the moment, like I'mjust like, oh gosh, you know, I

(48:09):
didn't really think anything I didn't wouldn't learn from this.
It's just death, right? But like a death of a loved one
can teach you a lot. And that's just going on about
that. And I just now there's like the
little fragments in me that always I've actually learned a
lot from that experience. Just talking to my brother, like
whenever I see him, I used to just have a lot of resentments

(48:30):
in my heart just because I, I just felt like, you know, I, I
wanted to, I want him to be molded in my expectations of
him. But then I just now I just kind
of view him as, OK, I'm just going to love you for who you
are, you know, like, yes, of course I want to motivate you
and I want you to live a great life.
But what I'm, what I've learned from my dog is like, they're

(48:54):
just doing the best that they can.
But yeah, that's a. That's interesting you draw that
lesson because I, I just said like, oh, you're I don't expect
you to feel like, what am I going to learn about this
experience in the moment when someone passed away?
But it really it shifts your perspective on those things.
And even now, like going home, like I, I'm not going to walk
past my dog without petting him now, like I feel like that.
He's a border collie, Australianshepherd and Husky mix.

(49:18):
So he's he's really pretty. He has blue eyes.
He's kind of big. Yeah, he's huge.
He is the best dog ever. His name is Buddy.
Buddy. Yeah, He's everyone's Buddy.
Yeah, he's he's he's so kind. And he could be a model dog too.
Like, he's, yeah, very friendly.Like he could literally be one
of those therapy dogs at EU of A.
Like, he is such a people person.
He loves people. Bring him.

(49:39):
Bring Buddy to cab one one of these days.
Yeah, hey, he's allowed here. Actually you.
See that guy that always brings his dog No around?
There's a guy always passes by acab, bring this big fluffy like
Great Pyrenee, I think. Yeah, it's massive.
I love that dogs are really, they're such a blessing.
And yeah, I think when you get busy, you forget you're like,
you're like, stop barking. Like don't be annoying.

(50:00):
And it's. Like I'm trying to study here,
but then they're in their heads.They're like, I just want love,
you know, I just want to, I justwant you to pet me.
I just want you to, to be in my company.
I just want to be in your company.
Yeah. And it's like we got so caught
up that it's just like, I know you forget the things that truly
matter. Like, what are we doing all this
for, Like success and money and status.

(50:22):
It's ultimately for the our connections with people, you
know? Yeah.
That makes me, yeah, it makes merethink.
I think there's a trend online right now.
It's like, it's almost like thisis the whole point or something
and it's like some corny video. Like I've seen those, yeah, I've
seen this guy's just like, I'm like, why does this have
1,000,000 likes? And then it just, he taps it and
then it faces like a, a, a meal like chicken Nuggets and a fries

(50:44):
and like a black and a white container.
And I'm like, what? Oh, I didn't get this.
Is this is the meaning of life? No.
I was seeing like the actual like wholesome ones where it was
like people laughing at their friends or like they record a
sunset and it's like I forgot that this is the whole point.
And it just, I think it's supposed to remind people to
like remember this life isn't all about this.
Like take a step back and like we actually live in the moment.

(51:05):
Like we don't really live in themoment anymore.
And that's true. It's sad.
And I honestly don't even know if I answered your original
question. Like I.
Don't. I don't even know that.
I asked about like some experience that I don't even
know, but tangents love it. How do you stay curious and
motivated to keep learning, especially when you're judging
juggling so many responsibilities?

(51:27):
The way of existential. No, just kidding.
No, I, I don't know, I feel likea lot of people struggle with
this is if they're like super ambitious or have a lot of
interest. Like there's so much to learn
that I see opportunity in everything.
So I just kind of like go after everything all at once.
And sometimes it's like doesn't work out and sometimes it does
work out. But I found like just knowing

(51:48):
the fact that like there's so much opportunity in everything,
there's so much out there for you to learn is enough drive for
me to really stay on top of things and kind of ditching like
the means to an end approach. Like, I think a lot of people
are like, oh, like I want to paint, I want to read, but they
like, want that because they want to be like associated with
the identity of like people who paint or read or they want to
like look like they're cooler. But it's like, no, do something

(52:10):
you actually enjoy and like takeaway the mean, the end part of
it. And I really started asking
myself like, what do I actually want to do?
Like what makes me lose track oftime?
Like I try to find things that make me lose track of time and
that I'm not like overly focusedon the outcome, like just for
the sake of interesting learning.
I've just, I've really like gonefull and into that and kind of

(52:31):
tried to ditch the outcome and just tested and see what I what
I'm good at and what I like doing and yeah, just if that
kind of makes sense, just tryingwhatever and like.
Everybody wants everybody wants the prize, but nobody wants the
process. Yeah, exactly.
It's like 'cause. 99% of everything that we do just going
to be majority of it just like that those tedious monotonous

(52:53):
things of just don't care when it wants when it comes to
studying, right it's just yeah. And then the speech, it's the
meetings, it's the practices. It's like the little things, all
that count. But then people glorify those
the, the PhD, right, or the, thelaw school.

(53:17):
But when it comes to that, it's all about the the grind, the
process. Yeah, the process, and I think
we forget how bad it actually can be.
And it's really glorified online.
And in terms of balance, like, Iwon't lie and sit here and
pretend like I've had balance for the last little bit, like I,
I, I haven't. And I think you should, you
should have balance for sure. But it, it is really hard to

(53:40):
like, do all these things at once, honestly.
And like, not like do all these like professional things, I
guess, but it's just like kind of nurturing every aspect of
your life. It's like, OK, you have to like
exercise and then you also have to like do something
intellectually stimulated and you have to do your career and
then you have to do something creatively stimulating.
So finding that balance has beena learning curve.
And honestly, I still, I, I'm still not there yet, but it's

(54:02):
just about like jumping at everyopportunity I have, whether it's
professional or like I think it's just intellectually
stimulating, like I'll take something away from it.
And I always want to know more. Like I always, always want to
know more. And just being open minded too.
Like a lot of people are like, oh, like I'm not trying that or
I'm not into that. And like, I honestly, I don't
love people like that. Like, I don't know if you, you

(54:23):
don't want to do something like totally, like I respect your
opinion, but I think you should just be like a little bit open
minded to everything. Like you never know.
Truly never know. Yeah.
And then, yeah, it's, you don't know what it's gonna be like
until you're there. Like a lot of people, they like
the idea of like being a doctor.But are you gonna want, do you

(54:45):
want 12 years of school, you know, or you want to be an
influencer? You know, a lot of, I think
that's, I think it's the most popular occupation or dream job
for like Gen. Z.
Influencer. Yeah, influencer.
Like if you ask the average kid what they want to be, they'll
say they want to be some sort ofinfluencer, like a YouTube or

(55:06):
just a, you know, maybe a model on Instagram.
What do you think about that? I think it's terrible.
I think it's scary. Yeah, it's scary.
I think it's just destructive, like a for all.
Yeah, it's very narcissistic. I don't know.
When we're selling the idea of like this successful dream, like
fame, like you don't need to like do anything intellectually
stimulating. Not to say influencers don't do

(55:26):
anything intellectually stimulating but and teach their
own. You can do school, you can do
trades. But influencer?
Yeah, you should like, I'd be a lot happier if it was like
doctor or like an astronaut, youknow, something to aspire to.
Because when you're a kid, like I, I don't remember that I'd
maybe when I was in middle elementary, middle school, like

(55:49):
wanting to be a gamer. But it wasn't like a real thing.
It was just like a back burner, you know, like it wasn't, it
wasn't like realistic, like in my, my parents instilled that in
me. Because I think we're just like
in a society right now where like everything that we see is
just from influencer based, likeTikTok.
Like to be you get. You got to make it an algorithm

(56:10):
and like Mr. Beast did it. That's so concerning.
Yeah, that's so concerning. But it's it's it's really tough.
What is discomfort taught you about yourself that comfort
never could? I think embracing discomfort and
facing it has really given me trust in myself to set big goals

(56:33):
that I would have never had if Ijust like, stayed within my
bubble. Like the more you're in
uncomfortable situations where you really try to go after
something, even if you don't feel qualified for it, even if
you feel scared to do it or it'sjust terrifying, like public
speaking, like applying for something you're not qualified
for, like anything out of your comfort zone.
I think even if it doesn't work out, it taught you that, OK, you

(56:56):
can, you can do it. And it also allows you like you
can try it and you can also failat it and you're going to be
fine. But then when it does work out
you, it's reinforced like, Oh, Ican actually do this.
And sometimes it works out. I'm going to do more things like
this. I'm going to keep going out of
my comfort zone. I'm going to go even more.
And like you tap into your potential.
The more and more you go after things you're honestly like

(57:17):
uncomfortable doing or that seems scary to you because you,
like, you realize what you can do because our mind like it's,
it's so limiting. You put yourself in that box,
like, OK, I can't do it. And then you, I tried these
things that I thought I couldn'tdo.
And then I was like, wait, like I, I can do it.
What what else can I do? Like what else is actually good?
So I think it's allowed me to build like that self-confidence
and self trust in myself that I would have never been able to

(57:38):
build and allowed me to dream sobig because I've seen the
results of me going out of my comfort zone and setting those
goals. And then I'm like, OK, I, I can
do more. Like I can do it because I said
I was going to do that and I didit.
Like I said I was going to get my GPA up and I did it.
Like I said, I was going to get involved at school.
And like now a lot of people like know me for that And like
I'm really on that. And a lot of like my friends are

(58:00):
like, Oh my God, Brooke, like you're always like working,
like, do you ever like take timeoff or like you're always
grinding like you like actually tap into your potential.
And I'm like, wow, I, I, I did. And that just, it's created this
new level of trust with myself. And I think everyone needs to
have that level of trust with yourself.
And I think a lot of people likeon self help, like videos and in
books always talk about how likeconfidence isn't saying it's

(58:23):
doing and it's doing things whenyou're uncertain and because it
creates that trust with yourself.
And that's what discomfort has taught me.
And like also it's taught me to like improve in a way that's
like allowed me to because I'm reflecting on like where I fall
short. Like if you're uncomfortable and
come to the fact that you like, you know, you're not working as

(58:43):
hard as you should be, instead of blaming it on other people,
like it really allows you level up, OK and be like, OK, I'll
admit it, I I'm not grinding as hard as I should be.
I'm slacking. I'm slacking the fuck off right
now. How are we going to get past
that? How are we going to get past
that? How are we going to innovate out
of this? Like, what can I do to do like
get out of this? Like accepting is like the first
step, obviously to getting out of that.
So I think that's what that taught me that staying in my

(59:07):
comfort zone, like really wouldn't like if honestly, I, if
everything I did was on the basis of whether I was
comfortable doing it or not or felt qualified to do it or not,
I would be doing like nothing. Like if I listen to like the
like voice in my head that was telling me like, you're not
qualified for that. Like they're going to think this
like don't say that stupid. Like I would literally do
nothing. And that's so unfortunate.

(59:28):
It's just like a lot of people overthink things and I don't
need to overthink it that much. You just need to do it like
there's also other thing with like people.
There's people less qualified than you doing more than you
because you're too scared to getout of your comfort zone.
And that was enough for me. That's just one of those like
things I hear. And I'm like, hey, let me lock
it. I'm sure you've had your own
experiences with that, but it's just being honest with yourself

(59:50):
and being like, hey, I know where I'm falling short.
And a lot of time like you, you can be the problem in your own
suffering. You know, got to recognize that
and level up from it. Well, the trust you had
mentioned about, you set a plan and it's all really clear,
right? When you're John and get on your
journal and you're telling your friends that, yeah, I'm going to

(01:00:11):
sign up for that marathon or I'mgoing to, I'm going to e-mail
that professor. Or if I don't get a reply, I'm
going to go to his office or office and see if I can, you
know, get into the research or get into that club and run for
presidents. But it's another thing to
actually do it 'cause it within the the hustle culture.

(01:00:33):
And and I know you're also in the spear of listening to a
bunch of podcasts like Mount Robin, just like the Moral.
Yeah, yeah, I love his. I love her.
The message at the end, like youare loved.
You're worth it. I was.
I eat that shit. Out.
See you though, like I'll be listening in the morning.
I'm like, damn, you know what? You're right.
You're right. She does.
Yeah, really does. OK.

(01:00:54):
Within that culture though, likethe self improvement sphere,
yeah, there's always that like you can think about all these
success and can manifest it, butunless you actually do
something, you know, it's all just fluff.
Like right now, you know, I can sit here and talk about what
it's like to be a good person, what it's like to have the

(01:01:16):
mindset. But if you and I don't build the
resume, you know, don't build kind of who we are shape that ND
we're just lying to ourselves, you know, and it's building that
and to to not to be authentic, to be truly authentic and live a
life that's true to you, you need to prove that with action
and with in action. You know, you can.

(01:01:39):
There's all these. There's this quote with Alex
Hormozi is you don't become confident by shouting
affirmations in the mirror, but by having a stack of undeniable
proof that you are who you say you are, man.
Yeah. Yeah, you were.
And the way I see it with trust,too, is if you tell yourself

(01:01:59):
that you're going to go and workout tomorrow, that day comes.
You don't work out. What's that doing to your inner
trust? Like you, the next time you
establish a plan of working out that you're not, you're not
just. It's like a friend that made
plans with you. First time, OK, They're just so

(01:02:22):
they're busy. Second time out, it's a
coincidence. Third time, OK, It's a pattern.
I don't. When I invite this friend, I'm
not going to expect them to showup, right.
It's the same thing with you. As if you tell yourself you're
going to study once. OK, Life's tough.
Second time, all right, Coincidence.
Third time. Yeah.
And I'm the person that makes plans and I don't.

(01:02:44):
I fall short and there's this quote by James Clear of we do
not rise to the level of our goals.
We fall to the level of our systems.
It's like the like everybody, everybody's got, everybody's got
the same goals, right? Everybody wants to be someone to
get that reward. But going back to kind of the

(01:03:06):
grind, the hustle, like are you willing to have the systems in
place, the habits? Right, that's that's such an
important point to raise and it's easy to do all that talk.
It's easy to like indulge in like the commodified self-care
and like act like you're on yourgrind and say, like I show
affirmation. It's a mirror.
Like, I don't know, these peopleon TikTok get on and they like,
think if they're doing a cold shower, like sitting in the ice

(01:03:26):
house. Have you seen that guy?
I've seen that. He breaks the ice, Yeah.
He sits in it for like 5 secondsand I'm like what does this have
to do with actual like long term?
Like this is so performative andit like has nothing to do with
actual like sure like good habits are good for you.
It's great for your mental health, right?

(01:03:47):
But. Like, but it's not the cheat
code like I'm you can like it's this whole like cold showers,
like affirmation that the mirror.
Like I don't think that's like real like success, like
confidence building shirts, likea small like branch off of like
having a routine. But like you said, like you need
to actually follow through on what you're doing.
And like there's a lot of promises I haven't made to
myself because I'm very I'm likeoverly ambitious and I'm like, I

(01:04:08):
want to do this. I want to do this like
navigating. That's hard, but there's a lot
of promises I have and like those inform my other goals
where I'm like, I know I can do this because I said I was going
to do it and I, I did do it. It's like you need to treat
yourself like a friend that you want to rely on, right?
And it's, you can learn that lesson the hard way early on, or
you can go throughout your wholelife telling yourself like, oh,

(01:04:29):
you know, it's OK. I don't, I, it's fine.
I didn't go to the gym today. And or you mentioned that.
Yeah, I did. I'm, I'm actually part of that,
the cold shower kind of ice bath.
So I took a fest snap there, butI should probably do No, you
should. It's so good.
It's just it makes you really, really euphoric.
But then again, it's not going to make you money.

(01:04:50):
It's not going to it's not goingto make you study.
Now, if you really don't want to, maybe it'll lubricate
things, make it easy. But it's, it reminded me of like
a person, you know, that person that like guts all their, the
highlighters, they're, they takereally good notes and they're,
they're doing all these things they're, they're sharpening,

(01:05:12):
they're sharpening everything. They've got like 3 screens and
you'd expect that they'd have a good grade or they'd learn a
lot, but they get like a an AD or something yeah cuz you're.
Focusing on the wrong piece. Yeah, you're focusing on the
preparation. You're not focusing on the the
needs of it. You know, it's like there's so
many people like that where it'slike, yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna

(01:05:34):
dress the part. I'm gonna just look, I'm gonna
prepare for it as best as I can.But you prepare like you're not
actually preparing it in the sense where the outcomes are
what you want. Like it when you, if your
outcome was to look like you've got it together, yeah, maybe,
you know, having the highlighters and the sharpener

(01:05:55):
and wearing a suit everyday willbe it.
But if your outcome is wanting to be successful and wanting to
get a good grade and wanting to get into the school or getting
a, you know, getting that sponsorship, that scholarship,
then maybe, you know, writing the essay would be better.
And actually I want to I want toread you this thing by it's

(01:06:19):
called do the do the thing. I think you'll I think you've
you've probably heard of this. What was it?
It was. I save a lot of this stuff by
Shroop. Yeah, I know you have some good
recommendations for books, podcasts.
Shroop. Oh gosh.
Usually I have them ready and then I just bring them out.

(01:06:41):
It's a like a book or a quote. It's this like essay?
Oh, interesting. Like just like a short or form
like. I gotta I say to and do the
treat OK usually. Usually I just find it right
away because since I've oh thereit is OK.

(01:07:10):
Things that aren't doing the thing by strangest loop.
Preparing to do the thing isn't doing the thing.
Scheduling time to do the thing isn't doing the thing.
Making A to do the list for the thing isn't doing the thing.
Telling people you're going to do the thing isn't doing the
thing. Messaging friends who may or may
not be doing the thing isn't doing the thing.
Writing a banger tweet about you're doing going to do the

(01:07:33):
thing isn't going to do the thing.
Hating on yourself for not doingthe thing isn't going isn't
doing the thing. Hating on other people who have
done the thing isn't doing the thing.
Hating on the obstacles in the way of doing the thing isn't
doing the thing. Fantasizing about all the
adoration you'll receive once you do the thing isn't doing the
thing. Reading about how to do the
thing isn't doing the thing, andreading about how other people

(01:07:55):
did the thing isn't doing the thing.
Reading this essay isn't doing the thing.
The only thing that is doing Thething is doing the thing.
Can you please send me that? So I love it.
Wow, I think that sums up a majority of like what our
conversation has been like. A lot of our points circle back
to that, like blaming out other things isn't doing the thing
like focusing on like why you can't do it isn't the thing
making the list. Or like ignoring the process.

(01:08:17):
That's not doing the thing that's it's so important and I
think everyone needs to hear that.
Yeah, I've met, I'm guilty of this myself where I'll talk
about a plan, something that I'mgoing to do, and I've just all
that energy and I know all that enthusiasm just is sapped away
because it feels like I've already done the thing, right?

(01:08:38):
You know, like when you tell people, Oh yeah, I'm going to
study all this much and then youcome down to studying and it's
like, yeah, I actually, I didn'tstudy.
I, I told you about it though, and we, everybody already
congratulated you and it's all this.
It's like you already won the truth and you didn't even put
anything. It's a mind thing.
And do you find like, that's because people have an issue

(01:08:59):
with like setting the bar too high or just because it feels
good to say you're going to do it and gives us a false
illusion? I think it's socially where
majority of the things that we do is to be socially accepted
and like within going back to the dog and just the meaning of
life, like what it all comes down to.

(01:09:19):
I think we all just crave connection.
And when you tell people that you're doing, you're going to do
the thing, it's you feel connected.
And why bother doing a thing when you've already tapped into
that? You know, you've already felt
like somebody pat your back and told you a good job and that's
OK. And you know what, like it's,

(01:09:39):
yeah, it's, it's, it's tough cause we form illusions easily.
Because my expectations for so many things are like up here.
But in, in reality, like it's not as good.
Like I'll, I'll think of like, Ido some tik Toks here and there
or like, even for podcasts, likeI have an image in my head or,
or they in class of who I'm going to be, what I'm going to

(01:10:01):
do. And it's never the thing that I
expect, you know? Do you mean like you're you got
to settle in a way cuz you didn't hit like the like
expected goal or? I I didn't like the things our
expectations for certain thing like don't meet the reality.

(01:10:25):
And so that kind of that disappointment kind of probably
deters people once they make plans.
You know what I mean? Like people don't are so bogged
down because majority of life isfailure, right?
And it like that's continuously every day.
You're just going to feel so much rejection going up the top

(01:10:46):
of a mountain. There's just so many obstacle
courses and when you establish aplan, people would just expect
the failures or they, they have that when they when you set up a
plan, it's usually because it's difficult, it's worth having.
And so people just abandoned that because it's too difficult.
It's not worth, it's not worth the time, but it's, but at the

(01:11:08):
same time, it's actually what's most fulfilling.
It's actually what's something that they need to do.
Going back to, I think we talkedabout delayed gratification on
the phone a couple days ago. Big thing that's that's a big
thing that's. Yeah, people want like the big
picture and then forget like once they start the process,
they're like, oh, you know what,That's what you need to value
the process too. And it's like not like the

(01:11:30):
ditching the means to an end approach.
Like I like obviously you need to do things for an outcome, but
the more you do things in pursuit of the specific
consequence or outcome or like solely just for that outcome,
like the less you're actually going to things, the less you're
going to enjoy it, the less it'sgoing to feel true to you.
Like if you just want to run a marathon, to tell people that
you ran a marathon and to like be a marathon runner and like

(01:11:50):
look like you're like you have it together because you run a
marathon. Like, like you defeat the whole
purpose of running. Like it's supposed to be like
that journey of training and like feeling connected to it and
everything. It's not about how it looks.
And I think we get so lost and how it looks, especially with
like hustle culture, social media, like every aesthetic
popping up every week. Like people are not like finding

(01:12:10):
themselves anymore. They're finding like these
categories online to cling on toand then chasing after that and
just like forgetting about the process.
And they're like, actually like,this is kind of hard.
Like everybody wants to fall into this category.
And it's like, just be true to you.
And that's how you'll naturally be successful.
Like the process instead of justfocusing on some outcome of how

(01:12:31):
it looks, you know? One thing I've realized too is
that it doesn't mean it's worth having just because it's hard to
achieve. You know, like just because
somebody it took someone years of turmoil and it's difficult to
be a billionaire doesn't mean that you should aspire to be a

(01:12:52):
billionaire, you know, or like abeing a celebrity, like doesn't
mean it's so glorified and everybody loves you and
everybody wants to know everything about the nitty
gritty details about your relationships and your personal
life. Like do you really want that?
Like take time to actually thinkabout that, you know, like, do
you, do you really want that or do you just want the outcome?

(01:13:16):
Do you just want, you just like the thought of it?
Yeah. People like the idea of things
and it circles back to our like outcome goals versus feeling
goals kind of thing. Make sure you actually want to
do that and you don't just want the idea of.
Doing that and also like it it'snot too hot in here.
Hey, like I know with the my I guess my with the AC it's a

(01:13:36):
little hot. It's the window.
Oh. No, it's even hotter if you do
open the window 'cause it the ACS I think already running.
But yeah, it should be fine. Yeah, we'll, we'll survive.
It's OK. Yeah.
How has living with ADHD shaped your approach to academics,
leadership, and personal growth?Oh, God, this was a journey.

(01:13:59):
Yeah, I just started like talking about like how I have
that because part of like even like identifying like, oh, I
have ADHD. Part of it sounds like
performative and like kind of like self handicapping in a way.
Like, oh, like I have ADHD for me.
But I also like recognize like where it has significantly
impacted like personal growth, academics.
And I think in terms of that, it's allowed me to be very good

(01:14:21):
at solving problems and innovating and like finding
systems that work for me. And I think a lot of that is
useful for life all around. Like you need to adapt in life
and you need to create your own system because sometimes
everything isn't going to work for you.
And honestly, like having a DHDAlot of things like they're more
difficult for me to adapt to like the traditional like school

(01:14:43):
structure or even like 9 to 5, like corporate, like office
structure I work in. And I'm like, Oh my God, my
attention span can't handle this.
I'm not going to use that as like a deficiency, but I have to
work around it and figure out, OK, what triggers me to like be
distracted and fall off topic. Like what can I do?
What can I not do? So I think it's really allowed
me to like, have a deeper connection with myself and like

(01:15:03):
be able to figure out like what systems work for me.
And like, it's innovative in a way.
And just working around it, likecritical thinking, problem
solving. And in terms of school
specifically is just a lot of like trial and error.
And I honestly have adopted the like if it works for me, it
works for me mindset. It doesn't have to be perfect.

(01:15:24):
Sorry. I am not type A and I don't have
color-coded notes. Sometimes my Google Drive is a
mess. Sometimes it's handed in 1159,
but I got a 95 on it. It was handed in 1159.
If it works, it works. And I can't hold myself to the
like the unrealistic standard. Like I work on what I have
issues with, but I'm like, you know what, like if it's not

(01:15:47):
pretty, if I can't like fall into this one category of type A
student, like I don't need to bethat type A student.
And lately I've been seeing a lot of tick tocks of people like
talking about being type B law students.
And I'm like, you know what, Maybe there's hope for me
because I think we think of the perfect university students like
person who has a color-coded notes and everything.
And don't get me wrong, I have acolor code, Google Calendar, or
else I will forget things. But it's really just allowed me

(01:16:09):
to appreciate that like you don't have to fit that mold and
that template in order to be successful.
You can find what works for you.And that also informs my
leadership, just like working inGroup dynamics because I am very
accommodating in the sense that I understand some systems don't
work for everyone. And it's made me very adaptable.
And I want to meet people where they're at and understand how
they work because I understand not everything.

(01:16:29):
So black and white, like you can't follow it that way.
And I think in terms of leadership, it's made me a
really like humble leader. And it's also made me stand out
and like listening and like taking in those diverse
perspectives. And like, if you give people the
tools to succeed in the structure, they succeed and like
teach them how to create their own systems, they will succeed.
And it's taught me to see like value in a lot of different

(01:16:49):
people, even if they're not likeconventionally, like good at
handling something or like whatever.
Like, And I'm like, I've been there.
I've, I've been disorganized, but I set rules for myself.
I had to set a lot of rules for myself.
And in terms of personal growth,it's really just made me realize
like just the importance of recognizing that you can't let

(01:17:12):
this control you, but you can control like how you react to
it. And life is really how you react
to things And it's, it's caused me to have a new level of like
self-discipline actually and like personal when you know what
sets you off track? Like if I know if I lay down
when I get home, I'm not gettingstuff done.
I'm not laying down, I'm not taking my like outside clothes

(01:17:34):
or whatever off. Like if I know that's the case,
like I have a better relationship with myself and
understanding what helps me succeed, which is applicable in
like all areas of life. So that's really informed that.
And yeah, it's, it's just, it's just been an experience as has
made me like overall like more empathetic and more systems
based and taught me really how to work around things and like

(01:17:55):
draw those patterns and things. And I find like I'm a really
good big picture thinker. And I think a lot of it is due
to that and just kind of having to work around things my whole
life and like figure out things that work for me has really
created this like grit and resilience.
Like I don't think I would have had without it.
Like I work hard because I had to go the extra mile like in

(01:18:16):
even like elementary school sometimes and like and studying
like I probably take two times, twice the time to study as
someone like without it would maybe like I just because it's
like time management, like attention issues, but I'll still
get it done. And it's taught me like, OK, put
in the work and I'm used to putting in the extra work.
So it's like second nature to meto like put in the extra work

(01:18:36):
because I know myself now. Yeah, it was kind of long, but
like you get the bigger picture just overall like going on extra
mile. When you're reading a page in
the textbook, 'cause I think I may, I've never been fully
diagnosed, I've never been assessed, but I'll just, I might
have it. I just like don't understand
what I'm reading sometimes or it's just, it's just blank.

(01:18:56):
Like I'll read, I'll go through pages on a book and I'm like,
what? What does this mean?
So do you find you're like thinking of different things,
like when you're? Reading, I'm think like
sometimes like my mind just wanders and I, I do a lot of
meditation work. I, I, I try not to scroll as
much on TikTok and I like, I don't think I'm average when it

(01:19:16):
comes to just like my, my mind, like letting my mind take a
hold. Like I actually consciously try
to put effort, you know, but sometimes I'm, I'm not in
control and I, I try my best. But what is like how does that
work when you when you have a DHDI heard it's much more

(01:19:37):
intensive when it much more difficult to be able to focus?
Focus. And keep track of things.
How does that work? Yeah.
So like I said, I have to like kind of create all these rules
for myself. I like if I go to sit down and
read something like I need some form of background noise.
And then I also need to like be in a quiet area.

(01:19:58):
And I can't be at home because when I'm at home, like my brain
is on like home mode and I don'twant to concentrate.
Like I need to go somewhere elsewhere other people are
concentrating and do it. Common for ADHD.
Yeah, I, I think it. I think it.
Is majority of you you've talkedto other people who have ADHD
and they're they're they're the same.
It's, it manifests differently for everyone, but it's just a

(01:20:18):
general issue with like executive dysfunction where you
can't like it's, it's hard to doimportant things that you don't
find interesting. So I've gone a long way of like
making things interesting for mein every way to be able to get
it done. Like a lot of people, like
apparently when they don't have ADHD, they can just sit down and
do something boring even if theylike don't want to do it.
And like, I used to think that was a discipline problem, but I

(01:20:41):
wanted to do and I knew I neededto get done, but I just, I
couldn't focus. And like, when I talk to other
people about this, they're like,yeah, I like, I have these rules
I need to follow. Like, I can't do school at home.
Like I won't leave school until I get it done.
What do you mean you can't focus?
Like let's say you're going through like a a PowerPoint of
notes. Like you just can't sit down
like you just or you can't like when you're reading it, nothing

(01:21:02):
absorbs like how does that if? It's not really interesting.
Yeah, it it doesn't like. And if I have to go like the
extra mile to really understand it, I'm like, Oh my God.
Like it's, it has to be interesting, interesting novel
and kind of like challenging. Like the only times I don't have
struggles like actually like getting through the readings is

(01:21:23):
when I can like immediately see connections to real life or when
it's like something new or interesting.
If it's not like I just my mind doesn't want to do it.
And it feels like literally pulling teeth.
Like it actually like feels likepulling teeth.
Like I'll go to sit down and do it and then like the slightest
thing like if I go to get food I'm like already set off or if I
go to check a text like I cannotcheck my phone I'm doing school

(01:21:44):
or else I will get. Transitions.
Yes, I can't do that. Yeah, it's.
So you kind of you have to be doing that one thing because one
distraction, like if somebody was, if somebody said your name
or talked to you, then you'd just, you'd need a lot more time
to. Get back in the task.
Yeah, it's the zone. Like it takes me so long to get

(01:22:05):
into the zone, I can't do it anywhere.
And once I'm in the zone, yeah, do not do anything else.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, maybe I don't have ADHD
then, cuz I can usually I was just reading a book Gone Girl
this morning while my yesterday morning when my brother was
trying to talk to me, show me Roblox games and I could usually

(01:22:26):
flip flop between talking to himand still reading the book.
And then I was my dad was givinghim a haircut this morning and I
was, I was reading a book and I some information still absorbs
now that wouldn't, I wouldn't have ADHD in that sense.
It's hard to like go on a case by case scenario and say like,
oh, if I can do this one thing, then I don't have it because
like all people could say like, oh, if you have ADHD, your
grades would have been bad. And like that wasn't I can still

(01:22:48):
get good grades. So it's it's just very like case
by case pen. It's more so about like the
motivation and like your attention span and like I just
pretty much like a sustained focus on things you don't want
to do and like the like, I'm very like inattentive that way.
Like maybe you could have it, but you wouldn't be inattentive.
Like I can definitely read some useless ass article at 3:00 AM

(01:23:11):
when I have work the next day going on this whole rabbit hole
instead of reading something I'mactually supposed to and stay
focused. Or like I could even do that
maybe with multitasking if it was interesting enough.
But it's really hard because it's not like a, if you do this,
you have it kind of thing. It's just more so of like a
everything feels more difficult than it needs to feel.
And it feels like everyone else has this like like can easily

(01:23:34):
just do things that like you find so hard and you're
confused, like why you find it hard and why it's not working.
Like in class I'd be sitting andI'd have a side conversation
like in my head, or I'd be thinking about like, Oh, this
person said this like I should answer this e-mail like.
And I'd go on this whole like, I'm just like tangent in my own
head of like things I need to dothat day.
And then I'd be like, Oh my God,I'm trying to focus like what

(01:23:55):
the hell just happened? And then be like, hey, OK,
focus. And then the same thing would
happen and I'm. Like normal though, I thought
everybody had that when they're like sitting in class because
I'm the same way where I'm sitting in class and I'm
thinking about the conversation that I had with someone the day
before, thinking about what should I do later it.
Doesn't take your attention fully off the course like I get

(01:24:18):
in my head. Yeah, no, I sometimes I'll just
be sitting in class. I'm like, wait, where are we?
Like out of body experience? Maybe not that to that extent,
but yeah, then I'll just go backand go wow.
But like, I think it's like an big effort based 2 with me
because I find that the days where I'm not being aware, like

(01:24:41):
adding conscious effort to be able to just like sit down there
and pay attention. Like if I don't put in, if I
just let nature run its course, then yes, like the thoughts of
just whatever pops in comes in. But if I'm like there and I'm
like continuously trying to holdmy attention to the Prof, then

(01:25:05):
then I can better regulate my system.
But like that sleep comes into play and kind of life event
happened. But I I don't know.
I don't know if it's just like that's why I'm trying to talk to
people about it cuz I'm like some people will say yes, no or
like they, they relate, they don't relate and I'm like.
Let me put it this way, if my brain was a computer it would be

(01:25:31):
on like 5% have YouTube playing music playing 10 different pop
ups at once. Probably like a virus.
A virus Wow notification. Dementia.
Notifications 50 unread emails like a FaceTime call in coming.
Like that's how my brain feels when it is like bad.

(01:25:52):
That is actually what I am like operating.
Sounds like Alzheimer's broke. You should check that.
No, that might be dramatic, but like it's if you could make a
compare like it's just like a computer with 500 different tabs
open in it. Like I, I'm a great listener,
but there's times where I'm like, wait, like what did you
say? Like I just.

(01:26:14):
That. Tap out time.
Many times in the pod, like I especially at the start, like
though it'll be like 10 minutes goes by and I'm like what?
What did you say? What did you say?
You know, what did you say? Like, I don't know.
And it's just, I'm not going to tell them.
I hey, can you repeat 10 minutesof what you said?
I just kind of next question, you know, but it, yeah, it's,

(01:26:36):
it's tough being able to listen.And I think it's, I treat it as
a muscle. I don't know.
I for sure like, of course, likemaybe it'd be harder for you to
pay attention at certain things when it comes to things that you
don't want to do, but ultimatelyyou can still do it.
You know, it's just working around.
And you had mentioned that things that didn't work, you

(01:26:58):
don't do and things that do workyou keep doing.
And then you score 90 fives on, on tests And, and it's like, I
think Tim Ferriss has this idea of like throwing shit at the
wall and steam what sticks. Cause like at the, when you,
when you buy like a, a new, you know, software when it comes to
optimizing your learning or you're playing around the

(01:27:20):
ChatGPT, it's all just, it seemslike really useless if it starts
like shit, but then you throw itagainst the wall and if it
sticks, Oh wow, this is actuallyreally, really helpful.
And then you just keep doing it.Next thing you know, it's
actually really valuable and. Brown there and another thing
with that is Oh my God, did I forget what I was going to say?
Oh, a lot of people say like, dothe hardest thing first.

(01:27:44):
I'm sure you've heard that just from a lot of self help.
That doesn't work. If you have ADHD that doesn't,
you're gonna get bored and you're gonna get discouraged
'cause it's hard and takes long and then you're not going to be
in the zone. If you do the easy things first
and check it off your list as you go, then you're in the zone.
Then you're like, okay, hard thing, I'll get that done now
too. I may as well.
I did all these other things. So yeah, do you?
Do you? Know do you know that financial
guy he's bald and people he's like a radio talk host or and

(01:28:08):
people call him because they have like hundreds of dollars of
debt Oh no I've. Never heard of?
No, I think his name's Dave. Dave Ramsey.
Dave Ramsey. And yeah, he has.
He's written many books on how people can pay off their debt.
And he goes about it in an irrational way, is to pay the

(01:28:30):
the smallest cards that the things that you owe the least,
even even if they're high interest.
Yeah. Or even if the ones that have
the most cash in them, the most that you owe with high interest,
it's good to check off the the little ones first.

(01:28:50):
So you build up the confidence. Like it.
The rational thing would be to, to pay off the highest interest.
Even if they're like, if they're3000 versus if you just pay off
like the $100 here, $300.00 there, it's it's better to pay
off the, the lower transactions.So you build up that confidence.

(01:29:12):
I don't know does that make? Sense.
It makes sense. It's also like life philosophy.
Too. Like small winds, yeah.
And reinforcement and then givesyou the confidence to do larger
and you're going to get discouraged if you like.
That's why you kind of do have to start small, like dream big,
but start small so you can buildthe confidence to dream big.
And dreaming big could be playing off the big debt.
But like, start. Small.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, exactly.
That's a good point. Yeah.
You talk about ADHD fueling yourresilience and work ethic.

(01:29:35):
What mindset shifts helped you see it as a strength rather than
a set back? Right, so I I may have already
touched on this just because I talked about how like having to
adapt and like completely like trash, like systems that might
work for other people, not for me as made me very innovative
and good at like problem solving.
But I just feel like I have double like the grit and like
work ethic because I've spent mywhole life like having to go the

(01:29:57):
extra mile to make it work for me.
And like I said, it's just like second nature.
So I think it's really, it's really a strength because I like
if I say I'm going to do something, I usually actually
get it done. Like obviously there's times
where it doesn't, but it's like,I'm very like pessimistically
determined because I don't want to let this like determine like

(01:30:19):
affect my success in a negative way.
Like, okay, I have ADHD, like fuck you.
Like I'm not letting this hold me back.
I'm getting it done. I don't care.
And I'm very like pessimistic and stubborn that way.
And I think that's made me so stubborn because I think it
would be weak for me to like be like, oh, like I let it get the
best me. Like I hate the fact that my
mind like works against me a lotof the time.
But I think in knowing that I'm able to be proactive and try to

(01:30:44):
prevent it doing that. And it just also creates this
like competitive drive. Like, OK, like you want to make
things like not work out. Like I don't want to be against
my mind, but I'm like, OK, like you like I can't get the
motivation to do this today. Like I'm very like, I can't
stay. Like I can't sustain attention
today. But you know what?
Like we're going to do it anyway.
Like you're not winning today. And it's easier said than done.
Like like I'm medicated. I have to do my like, you know,

(01:31:06):
like little like strategies and rules for myself sometimes abuse
caffeine. But I'm like, no, like you're
not winning. So I think I just didn't want it
to let it take control of my life.
And once I realized I actually had it, I stopped treating it as
like a, there is something wrongwith you, like discipline wise.
Like I just thought I was lazy. Like before I actually knew I
had it and I was like, how are you lazy if you have like all

(01:31:27):
these big ideas you want to do all these things but just can't
get your thoughts in order. Like I'm not lazy.
I just need to work around just.I don't think it's pessimism
though. Wouldn't that be optimism?
Because you just, you view that and you accept it for what it is
and you're forward thinking. Yeah, like.
I mean like pessimistic in the way that it's like, I'm not.

(01:31:49):
What, you see it as a bad thing?No, not a bad, no, not a bad
thing at all. I'm just like, it's going to be
this way. Like some people who are like
very like pessimistic, like maybe I'm thinking of the wrong
thing. Like stubborn.
I meant like to say stubborn, I guess.
Like I am like, no, like I am not going to let this take over
my life. Like I'm stubborn with the fact
that I like want to be successful and I'm going to do
like anything it takes to do that.

(01:32:11):
And even if it's like my ADHD islike really pissing me off and
like it not necessarily like thebest situation to deal with when
I have to like be successful andlike maybe type a kind of like
super organized environments, but I've just really made a
conscious effort to like adapt from it instead of like letting
it limit me. And like, yes, I do have to have

(01:32:32):
some grace and say, you know, itaffects me, but I'm not letting
it like when. So I'm like stubborn in that way
where I'm just like, so like, I don't want to let it take
control you. Won't let it define you.
Like yes, this thing makes it it's difficult for me and I see
a lot of my peers. They go about it much easier.
But if it if it takes them two hours to study, I'll double it.

(01:32:55):
If it take, if I still it's not enough, I'll triple it.
That's what I'm saying. Like I'll I'll do what it takes.
It makes me mad like other people like don't struggle with
that. I'm like what do you mean you
don't find it hard to do things that you find boring like.
I I have the same thoughts when it comes to my skin because I I
stay away from carbs, I drink green tea and I try everything
to to ensure that my skin is healthy because like going

(01:33:18):
through a lot of skin issues when it comes to acne.
You have really bad acne before.Yeah, yeah, I still kind of do.
I'm on Accutane and I. I got off of that, actually.
Yeah, it's quite the experience.I I'm on like my 7th month and
it's depressing like I've never,I've never had this low mood.
Like I've never been this depressed.
Yeah, like, it's crazy. Yeah, I I've never had this much

(01:33:39):
dry skin. My eyes are just so dry.
Your joints probably hurt too. I felt so unhealthy on it.
My hair was dry like it's. How long were you on it for?
So I was supposed to be on it for like 8 months I think and
then my skin cleared up really fast and I went to my derm and
I'm like hey, do I need to put my body through this?
It's like already cleared up. And he was like, well, like just

(01:34:00):
stick it out for six months. And then I was like, okay, I
stuck it out for six months. Only ended up doing like 5
because I still had a couple packets left and I just stopped
taking it. And I shouldn't have done that
because it started coming back. And then I was like no, like it
full on cleared my sin because out of nowhere, like I just got
really bad like cystic acne. Like I've never had it ruined my
confidence because I had good skin my whole life.

(01:34:20):
And yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure youunderstand.
It's it's actually. Terrible.
It's. Terrible.
You wake up and you're just like, oh.
No matter how much sleep I get, I still feel tired.
Yeah, yeah, I, yeah, it's. Something and then yeah, I went
on for five months and cleared it up and but I was like
starting to get it again. Now I'm like, hey, I'm gonna
have to go to derm. But yeah, it's not, it's not
easy. It's bad.
And the scars you get from the the pimples too, if you don't go

(01:34:43):
on it, you're just like, oh, yeah, I'll take the blow now.
And are you thinking about the future?
Right? Yeah.
Delayed gratification, Right. But it's, but like going back to
to that topic, it's like a lot of people don't they just eat
like shit all the time. And this prior to this, I was
doing all these things and having healthy skin was so easy

(01:35:05):
for people, you know, like I hadmy friends with McDonald's twice
a week and had perfect skin. What is this?
They were drinking. It's not fair.
Yeah, it's not fair, but it's like going back to the
victimization. You're not going to get any good
outcomes by going. Yeah, Boohoo, boohoo, me.
Yeah, and comparing be like it'snot fair.
They have it like OK, they can drink every weekend, not gain 20

(01:35:26):
lbs and you know yourself and that happens to you.
Watch it. You eat one chip and you're 50
lbs every year. It's like.
Know yourself. Yeah, no, I, I've, I struggle
with maintaining my weight as well when it comes to like
overeating. And I had to, I do intermittent
fasting now and I do a lot of I exercise pretty much every day,
but it's just so good. I can overeat.

(01:35:47):
It's crazy. Like IA lot of people that like
they just have a fit body without going to the gym and
going yeah, yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, yeah.
But you know, that's that's themthey got they got lucky.
It's. It's just I'm all for life is
equal. But our like actions, our
effort, you know, it's that's what makes this world the

(01:36:09):
meritocracy. And that's what makes creates
opportunity. And that's that's just life, you
know? Yeah.
And sometimes you can. You can work so hard and it's
still like doesn't work out for you.
You also need to be OK with that.
Like, yeah, sometimes that's life.
Like, that's life. Sometimes you can put in blood,
sweat and tears and just nothinghappens and it's OK you you
won't have to regret it then. What advice would you give to

(01:36:31):
students struggling with ADHD who are feeling discouraged
about their potential? Right, you're not there's
nothing wrong with you and you're not like bound to be
unsuccessful. Just find ways to work around
it, even though it's hard and easier said than done.
The first part just starts with understanding yourself and

(01:36:52):
really coming to terms that thisdoes affect you.
But you have to draw a line between like having that grace
and also being like, hey, I'm not going to let this control
me. But for like day-to-day tips, if
something takes under 10 minutesto do, 5 minutes to do, you need
to make that phone call, send that e-mail, do it.
Do not put off anything that takes under fucking 10 minutes
to do. Else you will never do it

(01:37:13):
because you're like, oh, it takes 10 minutes to do.
No, don't do that. Just.
Reply to that text like it takesbecause then it builds up and
you're not gonna. Next thing you know, it's just
you can't tackle it anymore because there's too many of it.
I. Know and also another thing is
put deadlines earlier than they actually are set your phone time

(01:37:34):
back if you need little things like that, even like I don't
know, just it's so hard to keep on top of things and like
prioritize. I actually like paid for this
notebook that this person makes like on my iPad.
I just like scribble it in and like I rank my tasks by how long

(01:37:55):
it takes to do them, the importance of them and the
energy level it takes. So yeah, it's a system, but it
works for me because I draw all my tasks in my to do's.
I separate it from like personallife, like do my taxes,
appointments, whatever in school.
And then I'm like, OK, I'm goingto rank these by like how long
it takes to do them, whatever, like the energy level.
And then it really like guides me like where to start because

(01:38:16):
when there's so much, you don't know where to start.
And there's that. And then I have I have a couple
other tricks. There's also like it's as simple
as like even like planning your week in advance.
Like I I'll have things I want to do in a day and I could get
done, but then I have my non negotiable.
So you have to make sure to differentiate those and also
exercise. I can't believe like if there's

(01:38:36):
people with ADHD that like don'texercise, like exercise.
Not even if like, even if you don't like fitness, like the
like endorphins and like dopamine it gives you has you
set. Like I like, like I started
prioritizing school way too muchto the point where like I like,
I kind of like I exercise, but it wasn't like as much as I was
used to. And I was like, why do I feel so
depressed? And it's like, cuz you're not

(01:38:57):
exercising. It does wonders.
Like even just a walk, even justtake a take a walk before you
have to sit down and focus. Like I am not going to go to
work and then say I'm going to work on school after I'm either
going to the gym or taking a walk.
Like make that a non negotiable.I don't care what you have to do
and there's a lot of tips onlineand you just need to find like
those little like weird rules for yourself.
Like if it takes under 10 minutes, just do it.

(01:39:18):
And like most normal people might just do it anyways.
But we like to put those things off.
Yeah, we like to build a system that works for you.
Yeah, and just it's just about building those systems.
That's like the advice I have. It's like it's not you're not
going to fail. You just have to work around it,
which is harder. But pick your hard.
Like do you want to like tell yourself like your whole life,

(01:39:38):
like, Oh my God, ADHD. I got to do it.
Like, don't. Yeah.
Like, don't set unrealistic expectations for yourself.
Like, you know what you're good at and what you're not good at.
But also just don't, like, let it immediately define you.
And like, I think even online, like, mental illness is so
commodified, and it's getting really weird.
I don't know if you've noticed that, Like, everybody wants to,

(01:39:58):
like, label themselves. Yeah.
Oh, my God. Better help.
Yeah. You seen that?
It's everywhere. Yeah, I know.
Every time I watch YouTube we'relike people love like the label
of like having some sort of mental illness to like be like
he he. I'm so like ADHD and it's like
haha. Like I actually really wish I
didn't have this. Sometimes exactly.
Yeah, no, it's not like. It's not cute.
Like it's not like people would seem to embody that day.

(01:40:21):
I'm, I'm anxious, you know, I'm depressed, like.
BPD like. Shut up.
Yeah, No, nobody likes to have this.
Like, it's not a good experienceto have.
And then like, bringing awareness to this, it's meant so
that people understand what it'slike.
And uh huh, that it it's not an easy feat or it's not a an easy

(01:40:43):
day to go about having all theserampant emotions that just.
Yeah, it's something. And yeah, just also be honest
with people that you have it. Like, I'm not going to lie and
pretend like I'm like, I like don't have like I'm very upfront
about it and I don't like do this to create the expectation
that I'm going to be like disorganized or people are going
to be disappointed. It's just like, hey, like this
is not like who I am. It doesn't define me, but this

(01:41:05):
is also like fundamentally affects the way I do acts and
behave and like, go about my day.
So it's important to know. And I carved out my spot, and
there's a lot of Type B people out there who can still succeed.
Yeah. So you've mentioned how working
various jobs, even the ones considered bad, played a big
role in building your skills. What's 1 lesson from those early

(01:41:28):
jobs that still impacts you today?
OK, Big 1 is honestly, if something feels like it's not
serving you or you feel disrespected and it's not for
you, you need to find more reasons to leave than to stay.
This could be a relationship, a job, whatever.
And I say this in light of like talking about like shitty

(01:41:50):
minimum wage jobs because I I was grinding like I worked a lot
of jobs and I was making money and it was good.
But these type of jobs make you feel like you have to be a like
a slave to their company and like, just like essentially like
do everything for them and like your personal feelings don't
matter and like, even like fast food restaurant industry.
You used to work at McDonald's. Yes, I did work at McDonald's

(01:42:14):
too. You know it.
Then they would ask me. Oh, they abused me.
They do. They take advantage of like the
15 year old, 16 year olds that work there, like even like just
young people in general. And they're like, you want to
stay extra. Yes, you, you all run, come in,
come in. And it's just like when you're
young, like I didn't know any better.
And I was like, OK, like, fine. Like I have to be a good
employee. Like I care too much.
And then I realized, like, I should have just left when I

(01:42:36):
felt like disrespected. And that's easier said than
done. Like if you need a job, you need
a job. But like, don't keep doing that.
We're. Bullies there.
They. Call me names like they 1.1 of
the managers called me a snail. Oh my God, yeah, I guess not a
turtle. Because they thought it was
really slow, I guess. But it's just, I guess I'll take
some accountability to, I was slacking off a bunch, but like,

(01:42:59):
I'm 1560. No.
You get it and then they make you feel bad for not wanting
more shifts or taking 2 little shifts.
I know. And I think as much as that's
just like minimum wage, as much as it's just like minimum wage
culture or whatnot, I think it'sreally like it can be applied
everywhere in life. It's like not staying in those
situations where you're not being respected and like having

(01:43:21):
those uncomfortable conversations is so important.
And I didn't learn that until later on.
Like I didn't advocate for myself at jobs like that,
especially because you're vulnerable.
You're young. And I think working all those
bad jobs taught me to advocate for myself, taught me not to
take disrespect. Like you need to know your
place, do your job. It's not your world.
Like you still have to abide by work rules, like bust your ass
at McDonald's, whatever, but youneed to advocate for yourself.

(01:43:43):
And another situation was when I, I worked for this like really
small convenience store and likefamily businesses are kind of
like sketchy sometimes. Like sometimes they don't like
have ethical practices and they were never giving me my pay
stubs. And you know how you have like
your vacation pay that accumulates.
I was like, I don't think I'm getting my vacation pay.
I don't think I am. And I was like asking for pay
stubs. They won't give it to me.

(01:44:04):
And I'm like, this is actually like a violation.
Like this is like, I'm entitled to this.
I don't care. I'm entitled to this.
I'm entitled to this. So I was like, OK, you know
what? I'm going to advocate for
myself. And like, maybe this wasn't the
most mature way to go about it, but I I had confronted them of
the pay stubs and they didn't give them to me.
So I quit. And I posted something on the

(01:44:28):
talks of where I live. Like, you know how they are,
like Shore Park talks, whatever about them.
Not yeah, them not giving me paystubs because they weren't going
to give mine. They weren't giving my vacation.
Pay. I don't think it's immature.
I think it's, yeah, it's warningother people who may be in that
exact same situation and lettingthem know of a potential crime.

(01:44:48):
But I had like another intent inmind.
Like sure, I post it for that, but I post it because I'm like,
OK, you don't want to give me mypay stubs because I'm like scene
and you don't take me seriously.OK, I'll post this on like I
want talks where I live. I'll write a bad review.
OK, let's see if you're going toignore my text.
But a pay stub. I print off all of my or all of
like the regulations around it and like my calculations of what

(01:45:11):
I thought I should have gotten for vacation pay 'cause I was
like, I don't think I want vacation pay.
It was probably like $300.00 accumulated.
The irony is they actually like owned a law firm.
I didn't understand that. I pulled up to the law firm
after they had called me being like delete the post, delete the
post. Like they actually were like
really delete yes, this is like kind of messy.
Like I don't nobody would know who this is. 16 at the time.
Yeah, like 1617. This is with the help of my

(01:45:33):
parents a little bit. So they're like, can you please
like delete that post? Like it doesn't reflect well in
our company. And the post wasn't trashy or
like rude in any way. Like it was just like, this is
what happened to me. Like I'm just making people
aware. Pulled up to the law firm with
the document saying like, I'm entitled to this.
I like, highlighted the little spot that said that I forced
them to settle because with the post, I'm like, OK, I'm going to

(01:45:55):
pressure you to give me my money.
Printed it out, went there, got my like almost $400.00 of
vacation pay and that told me advocate for yourself.
If I was like too scared becauseI was like Oh my God, they own a
business. Like I'm not going to like speak
up. Like you need to advocate for
yourself and like find more reasons to leave and advocate
for yourself then stay and be a people pleaser.
An episode of Suits right here, right?

(01:46:16):
Kind of unreal, but yeah, this is a different side to me.
But it's yeah, that advocate that's awesome.
That's. That's actually like for a 16
year old, like I wouldn't have the balls to do that.
Fuck, I just I just need like 300 and 400 bucks, you know,
it's whatever. When you're 16, that's.
A lot of money when you're 16, yeah.
Part of me is like, I don't wantto let people get away with.

(01:46:38):
This, but I don't think it's, itwasn't really the money, you
know, it was more the principal,their wrong deal, you know.
Yeah, it was. It was.
Like somebody can like, elbow you accidentally and like, it
may hurt more than somebody doing it on purpose.
And it's just, it's the intent, right?
That's what we're, that's why we're angry, right?

(01:46:58):
It's just injustice. And lack of respect too.
And even at McDonald's, I'm sureyou experienced that.
It's like they'll probably ask you to stay later and you're
like, no, I'm not. And they're like stay and it's
like. I told you 2 weeks ago, I'm
going on vacation. Why am I not allowed now?
Like they'll do shit like that where it's like, and then they
make me feel bad for asking for for asking time off.

(01:47:20):
Like it's like bad. I'd go, I'd be driving home and
I'd like, man, I'm such a failure for not wanting for for
asking time off for Father's Day.
It gets like you. Yeah, no, it gets to.
You you don't know the difference.
When you're young and then when you, when you call in right,
when you're like, there's so many times where they go a lot
like I've told you the reason why and they make it, they make

(01:47:41):
it hard like, Oh yeah. So now I'm, I'm just dreading
the fact of going to work next time.
And it's like, what are they going to say?
Are they going to like, like, why were you sick?
They're confrontational about ittoo.
And I'm like, what the what is this?
Is this what like a real job is like?
No, it's actually not. Like I mean you have like the

(01:48:02):
professional standards, but it'sjust so absurd, like looking
back like how you put up with that and how much it informs
your like people pleasing tendencies or self.
Worth and it's it's tough. Teaches you stand up for
yourself and not put up with that.
If someone said that to me on a job that I'd be like.
Excuse me. Excuse me?
Like I I'll be courteous with taking time off and I'll respect
but like you guys would replace me in 2 days if like I quit So

(01:48:25):
what is it like? True.
It's yeah. Why do you think people are
quick to discount non traditional experiences and how
can we reframe the way we look at them?
Yeah. So I think people are like
circling back to I was talking about before, they're so focused
on like the checkpoints of like what makes success or like what
makes success in a specific industry or what the like

(01:48:46):
perfect lawyer doctor looks likethat like people aren't really
leveraging like their individualexperiences to like make
connections within that industryand make connections to greater
life. Like I think a lot of people
skim over the fact that like, I don't know that they like had
like a stupid little business when they were 12, but like my
friend would put that she had like a lemonade stand business

(01:49:07):
when she was little on her resume.
And like, even though it's so like, like it could be
insignificant or stupid, like employers actually were like, ha
ha, like that's funny and they liked it.
So that's like a good example oflike, don't discount like things
that you think aren't in line with industry or your idea of
like what successful is in that industry.
And I think a lot of people aren't making those connections
between like on traditional experiences or like some

(01:49:30):
struggle they went through or like bad jobs they worked.
And like the other industry, Like I'm sure like a higher up
corporate job or like any sort like, I guess like big girl job
kind of title, if you will, would appreciate someone who has
work experiences and like fast food and like restaurant and
like just like a long work experience in jobs over someone

(01:49:51):
who's never worked job in their life.
But like has the credentials like who stands out more?
Like even if it's not industry relevant, like talk about how
what you learned in that. Like people need to figure out
like what they're learning from these experiences and how
there's something to be applied like in every experience, almost
like there's a lesson and there's value in that.
And I think we skim over that like so often.

(01:50:13):
And I, yeah, I kind of already talked about that before, but
even selling yourself and branding yourself too, like,
like own it. Own the fact that you had to
work at McDonald's at 16 or likeyou didn't get a internship at
your like daddy's company in summer and you didn't get like
straighted, but like own that like this valuable.
Like I, I openly talk about how I I didn't get good grades at

(01:50:35):
first now because I think like I'm at a weird point where a lot
of people come to me and they'relike, like, give me advice.
And I'm like, you're asking me for advice.
Like what? And then I'm like, I'm going to
be so on it like I didn't get good grades at first.
This is what worked for me. Like I'm not going to pretend
like it all worked out. And I think some people might
assume that about me, like if they looked at like LinkedIn or

(01:50:55):
like what I'm posting all the time.
But like that is not real. Like that is not like I I keep
it. I keep it real, but it's not
like all how it looks like it itwas.
I couldn't even speak in class for sheer university.
Like you don't discount that. Like you also see a lot of
Karens or a lot of people getting mad because their orders

(01:51:15):
late and they're making a big ruckus and but have going to
McDonald's and working 30 hours per week, right, getting abused.
Oh my God, now you have. A lot more empathy for people
and that's like something that you can't really, people don't
put thought in like being able to empathize with people and
like you're their friend with the lemonade stand.

(01:51:37):
It's like having that idea of being in, taking initiative and
like, and just being, you know, different.
It's just like, it's just funny too.
Like when you read that, it's like haha, like that's, that's
awesome, like. You said it's what makes you
stand out. Yeah.
And then over the years, right as you learn more and more, you
just look back and you go, wow, I've actually all these
experiences, well, some of them,you know, weren't directly

(01:52:01):
related to the field that I wantto be in.
They've taught me about like thesystem, OK, Like, and it's just
like this butterfly effect of like when you have discipline in
one area, like you're probably just going to have better
studying habits or you're probably just going to have a
better relationship because you have those tough talks and you
can delay gratification in this aspect.
And everything just correlates. I'm a firm believer of how you

(01:52:25):
do one thing is how you do everything right.
Mel Robbins kind of has a quote about this and it's it's so
important to realize like how things are transferable for
everything in life. She says do everything like
you're getting paid $1,000,000 to do it.
And when she said that in her podcast, I was like, write that
down. Write that down.
Because if you like, even when it comes to like mopping a floor

(01:52:45):
or like doing something that youmight not think is that
significant, like if you make your bed, like you're getting
paid $1,000,000 to do it. And like, I guess like, don't
overthink it. Don't put too much effort into
it. But the principle of that quote
was saying, like, the more you do things, like you're getting
paid $1,000,000 to do it, the more you unlock potential you
didn't know you had. And the more that comes in when
you need to do the big importantthings.
And people can tell, like if youdo everything like you're

(01:53:06):
getting paid $1,000,000 to do it, like you're just going to
realize things about yourself you didn't even before.
And I was like, wow, like what would we realize?
Or what would I learn about myself?
Or how would it be if I did everything like I was getting
paid $1,000,000 to do it in a realistic way for a whole month?
Like how would that look? Yeah, if you, there's this
question that comes up to of if you grabbed every single
opportunity, what would your life look like if you knew gave

(01:53:29):
it your very best, what would itlook like like?
And a lot of people, if you say,yes, I've grabbed every single
opportunity. No, that's a lie.
Like a lot of us fall short and we don't take the opportunities
because we're too scared becausewhat are they going to think?
Or I don't have enough time or all these excuses.
But what would your life look like?
Yeah, if you treated everything as as you're going to be paid

(01:53:53):
$1,000,000. Like, what would it look like?
Like I can think back to my like, of course, like this is
all rooted in regret too, right?It's what if I just did that?
Did that. It'll all makes sense years on
later. But even then, right.
What if you just did? What if you put it everything
you've got? And yeah, that's.

(01:54:15):
Yeah, really makes you think. And that's why I recommend
listening to Mel Robbins at the beginning of every morning.
She will clock your ass and haveyou thinking on the way to work.
Like I swear it. It puts me in a different
perspective. Like every day, I love
listening. To her, yeah, I have so many
like things I've written down for her podcast and I'm like,
damn. I've read two of her books.
Oh. You've actually read her books.

(01:54:35):
I haven't. You've read the.
Have you read? Let them and. 5 something, five
hands, something like that. Five hands.
OK, interesting. I don't know she something with
the number 5, but it was a greatbook.
Cool. But yeah, thank you so much for
coming on the Long Term Podcast.Yeah, I had a great time.
I hope you guys took something away from this this.
Is great. I think you're going to be a

(01:54:56):
great law student one day, be a great lawyer after that, and I
think congratulations on being the president of which which
club? The University of Alberta Law
Club. Wow.
Deserve it. You deserve everything you've
got with all the effort that you've put in.
Yeah, it's great. Thanks for having me.
Yeah. And yeah.

(01:55:16):
Do you have any last words if? You take anything away from
this, it's if you even think about reinventing yourself, just
go do it. Just go do it.
Go read some Mel Robbins. You need to listen to Mel
Robbins. She's great.
She's great. Yeah.
A lot of topics. Hope you learned something.
Yeah. And as always, to everyone
listening and watching, there isa place for you in this chaotic

(01:55:37):
world. Never lose hope, strengthen your
faith and keep up long term. Brooke McClain, everyone, peace,
peace. Did I pronounce that right?
Yes, you did. Awesome.

All Episodes

#129 - Brooke Maclean - You’re Not Broken—You Just Need a Different Path

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#129 - Brooke Maclean - You’re Not Broken—You Just Need a Different Path