Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
Hello, and welcome
to the Raising Yourself Up
Podcast.
I'm your host, Ben Pavlo, andthis is the first episode that
I'm recording in about fouryears.
And the reason I'm doing this isbecause it's time.
It's re I'm ready.
You need it, I need it, andwe're gonna do this together.
(01:24):
So before we do any episodes ofcontent, I wanted to start by
just reintroducing the podcastto you and letting you know that
the format is going to change alittle bit.
In the past, based on my booksthat I've written, I've written
three self-help books for youngadults and at-risk teenagers.
And with that being said, thepodcast has always been about
(01:48):
you know, the audience isexactly that, young adults and
at-risk teenagers.
But after a couple years ofIATIS, and now it's time to
switch gears and speak to notonly the young adults, but
regular adults, adults, all ofus.
I'm 48 years old.
(02:08):
Regardless of how old you are,this content that I'm going to
be creating going forward isgoing to be for anybody.
And with the stuff that theyoung kids are looking at and
reading and watching and hearingtoday, you know, everything is
for everybody.
And I'm not going to filter it,but I'm also not going to be
vulgar or inappropriate in anykind of way.
The content is going to beuseful to just about anybody.
(02:32):
So I wanted to let you know thatyou should subscribe to this
podcast, and that way you can benotified of all new episodes.
Because at the moment I don'thave an official schedule, but I
do have a list of topics.
And so I was just going to goahead and read them off to you.
And these are very rough ideas,and they're not just ideas,
(02:54):
they're topics.
But um the way I operate is justoff the cuff.
There will be no scripting,there will be no, you know, no
use of AI of any kind to createthe content.
This is all based on my personalexperience, based on all my
experiences in life, not just uhas a young person, but also in
(03:14):
recent years through myspiritual journey.
This spirit this podcast isgoing to have a spiritual
element to it based on myintuition and things that have
happened to me over the past fewyears, new things that I've been
exploring and experiencing.
So I'll go ahead and start, justread you my list.
(03:36):
That way you can have an idea ofwhat to expect and decide
whether or not you want tosubscribe and tune in to future
episodes.
So I have been on a diet andexercise journey here for about
say eight months or so, and I'vechanged my entire diet, I've
changed my my lifestyle basedaround what I eat, exercise,
(03:58):
things of that nature, and forjust to give you a bit of a
picture, like I said, I'm 48,and about eight years ago I
weighed 220 pounds.
Today, as I make this recordingon December 11, 2025, I weigh
170 pounds.
So I've lost about 50 pounds inthe past eight years or so, and
(04:23):
a lot of that is coming thisyear, about 20 pounds so far and
25.
So going forward in 2026, we'llbe talking more about the things
I'm doing and also learning, sothat maybe this will give you
some not only ideas but alsomotivation to make some changes
in your life, which, as we allknow, come the new year.
(04:44):
Most people are making changesto their lifestyle, creating
resolutions and things of thatnature.
And so I'm here to help youalong with real life experience
and tips, tricks, and thingsthat I'm learning.
The other topics that I'm goingto cover are things like you
know, stopping wasting yourmoney, learning how to cook, eat
(05:05):
at home, you know, buying buyingused clothes, stay saving on
things and so forth to help yousave the money that you're
working for and understand thatyou know material things are not
that important, and that withthe cost of living and all the
you know everything's going upin price, uh I'm gonna go into
some details on how we can savethe money that we're making and
(05:28):
spend less of it.
Um the other thing we're gonnadiscuss in one of the episodes
is just how to become clear onwhat it is you want, so that way
you can change what you're doingto uh basically achieve the
goals you're looking for.
You know, if you're wanting tomake changes in your life, you
have to know what it is you wantto do, what it is you want to
(05:50):
be, what it is you know you wantto have, and you have to become
clear on that in order toachieve it.
It's uh you know, based aroundgoals and things of that nature.
You can't hit a goal that youdon't have, you can't hit a
target that you can't see.
So that's one of the things.
We're gonna talk abouteliminating people, places, and
things that are keeping you fromgetting what you want.
(06:11):
Um, we're also gonna talk aboutaddiction, overcoming the
addictions that are holding youback, whether it be drugs,
alcohol, food, other habits youmight have.
We're gonna have an episodesolely based around that.
Taking control of your life bypreparing yourself for life,
saving to buy a car, buy ahouse, get your passport,
(06:31):
driver's license, all the thingsthat you need to set yourself up
for success as an adult.
Depending on how old you are,you may have some of these
things, but you may not.
So we're gonna talk about that.
We're gonna find out what makesyou happy, help you find out
what makes you happy, and onceyou know, you can identify it,
you can do more of it.
(06:51):
You know, when it comes to drugsand alcohol, your authentic self
is clean and sober.
So if you're altering your stateof mind, you know, you're not
really your authentic self, andthat could be what's holding you
back in certain areas of yourlife.
And again, these are things Ihave personal experience with.
These are not the topics I'mgoing to talk about are not
(07:12):
stuff that I'm just readingabout and just throwing back out
there.
Everything I talk about,everything I do is based on real
life personal experience, andthis is something that I have a
lot of experience with.
Becoming more spiritual andfaithful in what's possible for
your life to envision foryourself.
(07:33):
Use the knowledge available toyou should let's see.
Basically, becoming morespiritual and faithful is in
helping you become what's see.
I'm trying to read from a pieceof paper, I don't do it.
I don't do well with scripts.
These are just notes that I'mtrying to read, you know, these
are notes to myself, but this inthis very first episode that I'm
(07:57):
coming back with, and I justwant to give you an idea of what
to expect.
And right off the bat, I can'tdo scripts.
I'm not a script person, butthese are really notes to
myself.
I'm literally just reading offnotes.
It won't work.
So as you can tell, I'm not thescript person.
You'll know if I'm reading froma script, because I can't.
But basically, I've become morespiritual and faithful in my
(08:18):
life, and it's it's reallyhelped me grow as a person and
achieve things that I never knewwere possible.
And I'm going to discuss howI've my journey and talk about
my experiences.
And um one of the things I'velearned a lot about is you know,
people are out here trying toimpress others.
They're doing things based on uhwhat other people think of them,
(08:42):
what other people think of us.
We're altering our behaviors andhow we dress based on what other
people want for us and notreally what we want for
ourselves.
And that's part of you know whysome people are unhappy.
So we're gonna we're gonna deepdive into that topic.
Um talk about when we're gonnastart taking care of ourselves,
(09:02):
and that comes back to theeating and dieting, exercise,
but also what are you reading?
What are you putting into yourmind?
What are you what are you doingwith your free time?
Things like that.
We're gonna really deep diveinto this kind of stuff.
Um you know, basically self-helpis my thing.
It's something I've been reallyserious about.
(09:23):
It's something that changed mylife back when I was 28, so now
we're at 20 years of me not onlyreading but writing self-help
books, and I'm working on a newself-help book for adults that
is going to be loosely based onthe topics that I'm talking
about here, as well as someothers.
And um, so basically that bookis in the works at the moment.
(09:47):
It has the same title as thispodcast, Raising Yourself Up.
So we'll be talking about thatmore as as the episodes roll
out.
But um stop looking outside ofyourself for sources to make
yourself happy.
And this is something that I'vehad to do, and I think I have a
(10:09):
lot to offer in this department.
So uh, you know, do somethingfor yourself.
Think about when's the last timeyou did for something for
yourself.
A lot of us are out here umdoing a lot for other people,
but we're not really happy andwe're not doing it for
ourselves, so that's somethingthat I really want to get into
and uh help help someone elsebecause what helps me, I feel
(10:32):
like we're all very much thesame on a lot in a lot of ways.
And so for that, you know, Iwant to help you because it
helps me, and what's helped mecould help you.
And if not, you know, you canyou can turn this off anytime
you want, but uh, you know,based on the stats of this
(10:53):
podcast, which has existed forfive years, it's been downloaded
in over 80 countries, and ithelps people around the world.
And so, regardless of where youlive, there could be something
in here for you, and whether,you know, I'm a 48-year-old man
living in you know the UnitedStates, but you could be a
30-year-old living in Hong Kongand have this similar things
(11:17):
going on in your life.
And I learned that by feedbackfrom the podcast, by you know,
looking at the stats and lookingat who's listening, and I
realized that a lot of us have alot in common, regardless of
age, gender, race, and things ofthat nature.
Um, so trying something new,doing things that you haven't
(11:38):
done in a while, maybe,something that's been itching at
you, something you've beenthinking about, but you haven't
had the courage to go out andtake that first step.
We're gonna talk about how to goabout that and why it's
important to really follow yourintuition and do the things that
maybe you just have been fearfulof, but if you were to do them,
it can serve you and really takeyour life to the next level.
(12:01):
It's another topic we're goinginto here in the first handful
of episodes.
Traveling.
Travel is something that ifyou've always wanted to do it
but you never have, there couldbe a lot more to it than just
the fun aspect, you know,meeting new people, seeing new
things, experiencing newcultures, eating new foods,
things like that.
These are all things that canimprove the quality of your
(12:23):
life, it can help raise you up,raise up your self-esteem, raise
up your confidence.
You know, um basically, I'vetraveled a lot in my life, and
in the past few years, I did asolo trip to Europe, I went
through 10 countries in 30 daysand really learned a lot.
Learned a lot about myself,learned about what I like, what
(12:44):
I don't like, learned a lotabout other cultures and people
and things that you know we takefor granted.
So there's a lot there tounpack.
And uh I hope you will, youknow, give me the opportunity to
help share these stories withyou so that we can do this
together.
(13:05):
Um and the other thing that Ihave here is that you know we
tell ourselves a lot of lies, welie to ourselves to justify some
of the behaviors we have andthings of that nature, and
there's a lot there, and youknow, sometimes we just have to
look in the mirror and be honestwith ourselves, and that's what
(13:27):
I've had to do, and that's whatI want to help you do, because
we're a lot alike, and so youknow, as we lie to ourselves and
you know tell ourselves lies toavoid doing the things that we
really should do, you know, Ireflect on some of the choices
I've made in the past and thepaths I've taken, and when you
(13:48):
have that hindsight, you canlook back and you can see where
you know you went wrong or whereyou went, you chose this path
instead of the other.
And now that you've done it, youcan look at the results and say,
Hmm, well, I was feeling acertain way, but I chose the
other path anyway, and it didn'twork out, so maybe I should have
(14:10):
trusted my instincts, trusted mygut.
And that's a lot of what I'vebeen through, and so that's a
lot of you know experience andwisdom that I can offer.
Um, the other thing is thatwe're constantly judging others
for the choices they make andyou know, maybe the things they
wear, the way they look.
And I realize now that, youknow, basically, you know, we're
(14:32):
all individuals and we makechoices and they affect us, you
know, our own lives.
And if they're not an immediatefriend or family, or even if
they are, their choices aretheirs.
And we're not it's not our placeto judge them.
You know, if a person isn'tsomeone that you agree with or
(14:52):
align with, you can simply justcut them out of your life, or uh
and especially on the internetand social media and things like
that, if you don't like whatpeople are saying, just don't
follow them, don't look at them,don't you know, being a hater
and making comments and youknow, intimidating people and
degrading people and things ofthat nature is not is uncalled
(15:14):
for.
It's not necessary, and uh Ithink there's too much hate
going on in the world.
So one of the things we need toall do is you know, look out for
each other, uplift each other,and so that's what the raising
yourself up podcast is allabout.
And so hopefully these topicsare things that you're
(15:35):
interested in as well as me, andso I look forward to you tuning
in to future episodes here atthe end of 2025 and moving into
2026.
So, again, uh Ben Pavlo, theself-help company is my company,
it's my website, theselfhelpcompany.com.
I have some resources there, alittle out of date, because
(15:58):
again, I've been going throughstuff myself for a couple years,
and so a lot of these thingshave been put on hold.
You know, my writing's been onhold, a lot of other things are
been on hold because just likeyou, I need to raise myself up,
and I've done that, and I'mdoing it constantly, and I want
to share my journey and take youwith me.
(16:20):
So, thank you for tuning in.
Subscribe so you can be alertedwhen new episodes are released.
I appreciate you taking thetime.
Thank you very much, and haveyourself a great day.