When Life Forces Change, Growth Follows

What happens when life forces you to confront deep-seated negativity? My wife joins me to share her transformative journey in this powerful episode that examines how removing toxicity creates space for unexpected blessings.

After losing her mother to suicide, my wife began evaluating every aspect of her life—relationships, possessions, and most significantly, her increasingly toxic workplace. Despite creating her referral department position from scratch and investing five years with the company, she found herself consistently overworked and underappreciated. The final straw came when management approached her the day after her mother's death, offering a nominal raise while simultaneously eliminating her title.

Today, she reveals how this painful chapter led to an exciting new opportunity with Maine Health's Home Health and Hospice Services—a position that perfectly aligns with her strengths while offering the work-from-home flexibility her previous employer had promised but never delivered. Her story powerfully demonstrates how removing negativity creates space for positive change.

We don't just discuss her experience—we provide actionable steps to help you eliminate negativity from your own life. From becoming aware of negative thought patterns to challenging them through reframing, practicing gratitude, surrounding yourself with positive people, and engaging in activities that bring joy, we offer a comprehensive roadmap for transformation.

The first half of the show also features exciting updates about our Loud Proud American brand, including our new No-Tariff Guarantee that allows us to lower prices while maintaining our commitment to American manufacturing. Our t-shirts are now $25 and hoodies $50—proving that supporting local production doesn't have to cost more.

Ready to transform your own relationship with negativity? Listen now, and don't forget our challenge: for every negative thought you catch yourself thinking, counter it with two positive affirmations. Your journey toward positivity starts with a single step.

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Join the 2% of Americans that Buy American and support American Together we can bring back American Manufacturing https://www.loudproudamerican.shop/
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Thank you for Supporting My American Dream!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today Share the Struggle podcast is a two-sweet
treat because today is going tobe a two-part show, starting
with a recap, a quick look backat Memorial Weekend and some
exciting, loud, proud Americanupdates that you will surely
enjoy.
The second half of the show Iwill be joined by my beautiful

(00:21):
bride, my lovely wife, as sheshares some exciting personal
news that will kick off adetailed discussion on the
benefits of removing negativityand we will outline actionable
steps to help free yourself fromnegativity.
Let me tell you somethingEverybody struggles.
The difference is some peoplechoose to go through it and some

(00:44):
choose to grow through it.
The choice is completely yours.
Which one you choose will havea very profound effect on the
way you live your life.
If you find strength in thestruggle, then this podcast is
for you, is for you.

(01:06):
You have a relationship that iscomfortable with uncomfortable
conversations.
Uncomfortable conversationschallenge you, humble you and
they build you.
When you sprinkle a little timeand distance on it, it all
makes sense.
Most disagreements, they stemfrom our own insecurities.
You are right where you need tobe.

(01:29):
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
Get low, almighty.

(01:50):
Am I so excited to be back withyou?
Oh, it's true, it is damn true.
How do you do boo Episode 255?
Get low almighty.
Do I feel alive?
Wow, that was an interestinglittle opener there.

(02:12):
But you know, when we push goon the podcast, I just let the
podcast spirits take control ofme vocals.
Hopefully that was a pleasantlittle wake up and not an
annoying one, but it just feltright, it just felt natural.
That's what happens when we hitgo on the show.

(02:34):
So you know, you got to know.
Stop rhyming, okay, that'senough.
The people have heard enough.
How's everybody doing, how'syour mentals, how's your dentals
, how you be doing?
Happy Memorial Weekend.
Post Memorial weekend.
I hope you guys had a tremendousholiday weekend.
I hope a few things wereaccomplished over the weekend.

(02:56):
First and foremost, mostimportantly, I hope you took the
time to realize the truemeaning and importance of the
holiday, that it's not about along weekend, it's not about
having Monday off, it's notabout barbecues and what you
do's.
It's about being thankful,being grateful, praying for and
spending time reflecting onthose who have paid the ultimate

(03:20):
sacrifice for us to get to dothe things that we love and
enjoy to do Past, present andfuture military.
Thanking them, appreciatingthem and truly praying for and
recognizing all that have paidthe ultimate sacrifice so that
we get to do whatever the hellit is we want to do.

(03:42):
Those are our freedoms.
Because somebody paid theultimate sacrifice.
I get to chase my personalAmerican dream.
I get to run my business and dowhat I do and however I want to
do it and however I see fit.
Those opportunities have beengiven to me because someone,
many someones, have paid theultimate sacrifice and their

(04:02):
families continue to pay thatsacrifice because their loved
one isn't here, and those thatare present and future military
active duty members that theirfamily sacrifices while their
loved ones are away All membersof the military pay a very
important and pivotal role inour lives and all those things

(04:26):
that we get to take for granted.
So I hope, first and foremost,you recognize and celebrated
them and, secondly, I hope youenjoyed yourself and your family
.
I hope you took advantage ofthe weekend and the opportunity.
For me, these holiday weekendsare long working weekends and
it's something that we are allso thankful for, because when I

(04:48):
get to say to you long workingweekends, that means that we are
making money and we love tomake money.
We need to make money.
It's one of those things, folks, where I could care less about
money if it wasn't a means toall the things that we need.
Let's be honest, right, I wouldjust willy-nilly, just enjoy

(05:14):
life and not worry about thosethings.
But you need them, folks.
Okay, you need them.
You need the dollars and thecents.
Our life just don't make sense.
So we love being busy.
We love working and makingthings happen.
So when we start talking aboutthese long holiday weekends,
those are usually late nightsfor us, but this one is an

(05:39):
easier one for us because wealways do Memorial Weekend.
Set up at Bentley Saloon, it'sonly a few miles away from home,
so I have the opportunity ofgetting up working in the
morning or spending time withthe family in the morning and
then going off to work andmaking things happen.
Coming home at night, stayingin my own bed, one of those

(06:01):
things.
It's funny, it feels special tous because we all have the
opportunity.
I can wake up and go to sleepin my own bed.
I can see my family.
And it's weird because Iscratched my head and said, man,
this just feels so easy andnice and then I realized that's
what?
The rest of the freaking worlddoes.
Okay, that's what a normal nineto five person gets to do.

(06:22):
They sleep in their own bed,they wake in their own bed, they
see their families, they workclose to home.
That's what the bulk of thepopulation does.
You're just the lunatic thatdecides to live like a vagabond,
heading all over free Willy'sworld.
Okay, sorry about that.
It's weird.
I literally can have one ofthese weekends and be like oh

(06:45):
wow, that was nice and easy, itwasn't that convenient.
No shit, sherlock, everybodydoes that, not everybody lives
in a school bus trying to make aliving chasing dollars.
You idiot, what have you donewith your life?
God, you're a disgrace.
Anyways, that's my life thisweekend again, it was long hours

(07:05):
, but it's much more enjoyablewhen you get to come home and
you can see your family duringthe day and all those good
things as well.
So it's funny.
We also were talking aboutMemorial Weekend.
Listen to this little fun factfor you folks Loud Proud
American has been in businessfor five wholesome years.
All right there, big ears, fivewholesome years.
All right there, big ears, fivewholesome years.

(07:26):
Do you want to know something?
Since the creation, theformation of this fantastic
spiritual journey to Valhallathat we have created here.
We have never emphasis on,never had a dry memorial weekend
, and I don't mean one withoutbooze.
I have those.
Okay, I mean weather wise norain.

(07:48):
Here we are again Another rainyone.
We budgeted it out and plannedthis one out pretty decent,
though.
We started our setup onThursday.
I knew the weather was comingin.
I knew it was going to be shit.
Me and my mom, you know webuilt the tent was going to be
shit.
Me and my mom, you know webuilt the tent, got everything

(08:10):
done before the nasty weathermoved in.
It rained.
You know cats and dogs.
Is that really what happenswhen it rains?
Cats and dogs?
You're an idiot.
Well, it rained like crazy, andit rained in the morning on
Friday, but by the afternoon Irolled in there.
I was able to open I was theonly vendor that was open made a
few bucks, made the best of theFriday, and then we had a
decent Saturday and Sunday, butthe weather never really broke

(08:32):
in our favor.
Saturday was one of those thingswhere it was cold, it was
cloudy, it was overcast.
It wouldn't rain for an hourand then it would rain for 20
minutes and then it turned intoa scenario where it might not
rain for half an hour and thenit would rain for another 20
minutes and it was like that allday long.
So we're kind of chasing ourtails, not really getting the

(08:53):
benefit of the niceweather-filled holiday weekend
where people are just feeling,oh, let's just dig into our
pockets and just give money away.
I'm telling you, when peopleare on vacation and the sun is
shining, we look at vacationmoney different.
Okay, people just spendvacation money.
It's not in the budget, allright, it's different.

(09:15):
I never had that benefit.
Sunday was a little bit betterStill kind of chilly, not that
great, right.
The best day of the week wasMonday and it was definitely
busier at the saloon on Monday,but a lot of people were already
, they'd had enough.
They were pulling their campersout in the morning and they
were leaving.
So if I break it all down foryou, we had a pretty decent

(09:39):
weekend.
We didn't lose a day to salesLast year for Memorial weekend.
It rained so bad on Memorialday on Monday that we never
opened.
We just closed up, went home,had soups and breads, just got
all fat and sassy, all right.
So this year we didn't lose aday, but I was still down a few
hundred dollars on the weekend.

(10:00):
So, ironically, we had one moreday of sales.
So, ironically, we had one moreday of sales but we ended with
a little less dollars at the endof the weekend.
But I think it's because we'dnever really experienced any
great days until it was the lastday and everybody was kind of
rolling out.
But we're not here to focus onthe negative.

(10:21):
No, I got an emphasis onpositive with today's episode.
The wife is going to be here insegment two of the show.
She's going to share somethingexciting with you on the show.
She's going to share someexciting personal news.
It's going to kick off adiscussion that we want to have
on negativity, on removingnegativity.

(10:42):
Sometimes we remove negativityor we're forced to remove it
because it's out of our control.
Other times we choose to removeit.
I've had some conversationsover the weekend.
That has really made thisepisode an important one.
I've had some conversationswith a few people where I've you
know some of them I've talkedto when they're going through
some tough times.
Some have chosen to go throughtough times and I'm telling them

(11:05):
I can promise you, if you cutyourself from this stuff,
whether it's been out of yourcontrol.
Here's an opportunity for youto take control to take control
of yourself and your actions andremove negativity.
I have told a couple people overthis holiday weekend listen, I
feel good things, big things,great things for you, because

(11:28):
you are going to do the rightthings removing this negativity.
I shared some stories with themon things that have come to me
in my life by removingnegativity.
My wife has another greatexample of that.
If you guys have been listeningover the past few weeks, you
understand her story and whatshe's going through.
I'm not going to take any ofthe excitement of the second

(11:51):
half.
I want her to share that withyou.
But it's also going to comewith some actionable steps and a
surprise revelation when itcomes to removing negativity
that I'm going to outline.
But as we continue or I shouldsay begin this conversation on
not being negative, I'm notgoing to open the show being
negative about the results of aweekend.

(12:12):
No, I'm about to sprankle.
Okay, unless you're from theSouth, I'm going to sprankle
some positivity on my weekend.
Okay, here it is.
Folks, I've been waiting toshare some exciting news with
you about Loud Proud American,because I dabbled in something a
couple weeks ago when westarted our first events of the
year when we were at LedgewayFarm seeing the fam Matt and

(12:35):
Sarah up to Ledgeway Farm andthen we went double dipping
weekend and we headed on over toBonnie Eagle and that's rolled
into Bentley Saloon and I havebeen trying something new.
I have been spending tons oftime and research on something
and then I finally just saidlisten here, fella, you can't

(12:55):
just keep doing math and lookingat dollars and cents.
If it just feels right, then itmakes sense.
With that said, folks, I havebeen all fluffed up.
I've been like Tom Turkeywalking around okay, real cock
of the walk, thinking aboutAmerican manufacturing.

(13:18):
Shocker, I know.
Right, y'all knew this already.
Right, y'all knew this already.
I have been so encouraged by thehow should I say optimism of
our country, the optimism of oureconomy, the fact that I feel
like America is getting back tobeing the patriotic country, to

(13:39):
being the proud Americans.
I think it's even moreimportant for us to be loud
about being proud Americans.
I am encouraged by the emphasisand the focus that is being
placed on American manufacturing.
That, in fact, has been ourmission.
So when the highest leader inour country is focused and

(14:01):
aligned, unified, with our samethoughts, processes and missions
, then it is uplifting, it isencouraging, it is motivating.
This is positivity and I needto ride this wave.
I need to capitalize on thismoment.
I'm excited about this moment.
I'm discouraged by all thenonsense, bitching and moaning

(14:23):
about tariffs that I see on TV.
When our president says theconsumer should not pay the
tariff, I am going to tell you,folks, wholeheartedly, based on
what I do and how I've beendoing it and how long I've been
doing it, he is absolutely right.
These manufacturers, these,these companies, these big box

(14:45):
brands they make plenty of moneyon this foreign bullshit,
garbage that they're haulinginto our country and they're
feeding all of us they're forcefeeding all of us.
Listen, they make plenty ofmoney on it.
They can handle the tariff.
The truth is, folks, they'vebeen playing an unfair game

(15:06):
forever.
I can't spend all day on thistopic.
I would love to spend all dayon this topic, but I'm sharing
today's show with my wife.
We'll continue this topic atanother time, but I want to
share with you guys this theycan afford to absorb the tariff
because, truth be told, half ofthese products are being made in

(15:29):
a sweatshop with child labor.
They're paying cents on thedollar for things.
They're getting them over hereand they are taking advantage of
us.
They are overcharging us forgarbage.
We've also have come accustomedto this new higher tier pricing
that we all had to endureduring COVID oh, supply chains

(15:53):
and this and that, and factoriesthis and that we need to raise
our prices.
But trust us folks, they willgo down when COVID is over.
Bull shiotsky okay, we adjustedto new COVID pricing and COVID
is over and we are still playingthis supply chain nonsense,

(16:16):
bullshit pricing.
It is gouging us.
It is taking advantage of us.
They don't need to do this tous.
You understand what I'm saying?
It ain't true, cinderella?
They don't need to be doingthis.
There's plenty of money for themto be made.
When I look at the apparelbusiness, they're buying Chinese

(16:37):
t-shirts and they're bringingthem here and they're paying a
dollar for them.
Big box stores are paying adollar for them.
Big box stores are paying adollar.
Even Joe Schmo next door ispaying like $2 for these garbage
, cardboard feeling Chineset-shirts and then they're
spilling all over them andthey're selling them to you for
$30.
It's true, it's damn true.

(16:58):
This old boy right here has beenbuying American made products
since day one.
I pay five times the cost inmost occasions, sometimes even
more when we go head-to-head onthese products.
Okay, the cost that I have intomy finished product versus
Debbie down the street is atremendous difference.

(17:20):
And here's the thing, folks.
I've been going to fairs andI've been doing these things for
five years and I go there and Istart selling my t-shirts at
$27 and I look at this foreigngarbage that's being sold for
$27 and $30.
It's the same price, if notmore, than me, at fairs and

(17:41):
festivals.
I'm seeing this right.
I see sweatshirts that are $50to $60.
I'm pricing ours at $55.
And I said you know what, folks,when everybody in the world is
raising prices, when everybodyin the world is gouging and
charging you supply and demand,supply chain nonsense, covid

(18:05):
ridiculousness, pandemic pricing.
We here at Loud Proud Americanare lowering our prices on the
most popular items that we havebecause we are coming to you
with a no tariff guarantee,because American manufacturing
comes with a no tariff guarantee.
There is no tariff, there hasnever been a tariff and there

(18:32):
will never be a tariff on LoudProud American Goods, because
they are loud and proudly maderight here in America.
You understand me, you hear me,you feel me.
I hope and truly hope and praythat you do, because our proudly
made and American goods supportyour neighbor, they support
your community, they supportyour country.
It's about Americanmanufacturing.

(18:53):
And now you're going to find meat many, many places and we are
going to be one of the cheaperplaces in town and it's proudly
made right here.
The excuses are over.
I do not want to hear I can'tpay that much, I'm paying too
much.
And I say to you well, it'sAmerican made, bologna, it's
American made and it's cheaperthan Debbie down the street

(19:15):
de-throating you with overpricednonsense, bullshit, because
Debbie, all of a sudden, isgoing to pay 25% tariff on her
Chinese goods.
Well, I'm sorry, because she'spaying duck low over there.
You know a fraction of a pennyan hour to bust their ass in a
factory to make somethingBullshit.

(19:37):
I'm tired of us supportingChina and all these other
garbage, nonsense,ridiculousness, hallelujah,
where's the Tylenol?
I apologize, I'm getting heated.
The bottom line here, folks, isfrom here on out, we have
enacted our tariff-freeguarantee.
You are buying t-shirts fromLoud Proud American for $25.

(19:59):
Listen, we've been sellingt-shirts for $27 a piece, all
sizes, and if you bought two, wedropped the price down two for
50.
If you're buying more than onet-shirt, you were lowering the
price.
You're saving $2 a shirt.
We are now going to give youall of our shirts at 25 bucks.
You're going to buy t-shirts,tank tops and muscle shirts all

(20:20):
for $25.
We are talking about sizes fromextra small all the way to 5X
for 25 bucks.
We ain't getting rich here,folks.
We're supporting the missionhere.
$25 t-shirts coming to you rightnow.
I have been to a couple ofevents already where I'm one of

(20:41):
the cheapest ones around already, when I'm one of the cheapest
ones around and it's made righthere in America, and our oh so
soft, light sweatshirts.
They are going to be seeing aprice or they have already seen
a price reduction of $5.
You are no longer paying 55 fora loud, proud American hoodie.
You are paying 50 bucks.
Everybody's raising prices,everybody's complaining about

(21:02):
pricing and here we arerewarding our country for what
it is that we do supportingAmerican-made baby.
We are lowering prices.
T-shirts $25.
Hoodies $50.
In the future hopefully in theshort future you will see me
bring in some heavyweightT-shirts and some heavyweight
hoodies.
Those prices will be differentbecause I'm going to pay far

(21:23):
more for me to get them, hoodies, those prices will be different
because I'm going to pay farmore for me to get them.
But for the everyday, lovable,wearable, comfortable, amazing
items that y'all are used to, weare rewarding you with a better
, lower price.
Hot damn, that is what we aresprinkling, for positivity, on
you today.
I thank you.

(21:44):
Gun check, gun check, loudProud.
American is a lifestyle branddedicated and determined to
represent the American spirit,with an unrelenting commitment
to provide made-in-the-USAproducts.

(22:06):
If you would like to join the2% of Americans that buy
American and support American,head on over to
wwwlalproudamericanshop.
Together we can bring backAmerican manufacturing.
All right, all right, all right, and we're back.

(22:29):
Second segment of the show.
We know it's going to be betterthan the first because I am
joined by my lovely, by mybeautiful, my fantastic,
fantabulous, scrumptious wife.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
All right, y'all, it's just me.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
Well, let's just say I was laying it on Really nice.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, what do you?

Speaker 1 (22:53):
want Settle down.
I'm not.
I mean, I'm always shooting forsomething, but the point here
is folks.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
You're a man, we're certain you're always shooting
your shot.

Speaker 1 (23:07):
Well, shooters got to shoot.
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Anyways, that's not the point here.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
I am celebrating you, I am romancing you, I am
recognizing you Because today isa big old, beautiful day for
you.
Stop reading your phone andtalk to the people.

Speaker 2 (23:26):
I was trying to buy a new camper, sorry, yeah, that's
not the priority right now.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
Okay, the people are the priority.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Sorry, it's fair season, I'm in fair mode.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Not pheromones.
Fair mode is also going to haveto include a vehicle, because
Old Red's going to be, yeah,heading to pasture and the baby
wants a new SUV or pickup truck.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
Do you hear?

Speaker 1 (23:47):
it.
So one of us, one of us, youknow, get the promotion One of
us.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
I wish.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
Get the new gig.
Talk to us, let it out of thebag.
Gig Mm-hmm.
Talk to us, let it out of thebag.
I've got all this suspensegoing here All right, y'all,
everybody in the studio audienceis more excited than you are.

Speaker 2 (24:10):
Here it is.
I started selling feet pics onOnlyFans.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
They are flying off the shelves.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
I got Vienna sausages for toes.
God, just pull up my proposalvideo.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
It's go to OnlyFans backslash fungus, stop it.
No, I said fun us.
Like it's, we're us, all of usare fun, we're fun people.
You know what I mean.
Listen.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
I'm a fun guy.

Speaker 1 (24:40):
I'm a fun guy.
Mushroom walks into a bar.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
Hey, I'm a fun guy, yeah, there you go.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
Dad joke Bada bing, bada boom.
Coolest guy in the room how youdoing huh, how you doing.
All right, I told you we had avery limited, specific amount of
time.
I'm sorry To capture all ofthis, and this is what's
happening.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
I found a squirrel today.
What do you want from me?

Speaker 1 (25:01):
I believe it was a chipmunk, but you did try to
rescue it from fighting from thecat destroying its life, ending
it.
But don't chime in, we're nottalking about it.
Okay, Typically you're tryingto keep me wrangled into a
corner and I'm going to try todo to you what you did to the
squirrel today.
You kept me off the podcast fora couple of episodes.

(25:21):
You're rearing and ready to go,and that baby's ready to go,
over there working on peanutbutter jelly toys and staring at
microphones, ready to rock androll.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
I'm feral, unhinged.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
New t-shirt coming out soon.
Folks, Feral and unhinged.

Speaker 2 (25:37):
Fuck around and find out.

Speaker 1 (25:38):
Okay, the reason why I wanted you on the show is we
dropped some clues along the wayOver the past few weeks.
Well, I think you've had what?
A week or two weeks off, Alittle apreeve here, where I've
been doing the show solo, doingmy morning recordings.
The old AM Szechuans.

Speaker 2 (25:57):
Szechuan.

Speaker 1 (25:59):
Leading up to that, when you were sharing your story
and all the difficult thingsthat you're going through, the
things that you've been growingthrough, you've shed some light
on your life history and all thechoices that you made and you
have talked along the way aboutremoving negativity and how you
had to remove negativity to getthe life that you have now, and

(26:22):
that you've gone on this questto cut even more negativity
because you've had to and you'remaking these different choices
and healthier decisions andpointing your life in new
directions.
And we dropped some cluesbecause we knew there was an
opportunity that you wereshooting for, striving for that

(26:43):
we believed was going to becoming true for you and we
wanted to share with the people,because this is yet another
example of the benefits ofremoving negativity and what can
come to you when you do so.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
So let's talk about it a little bit I'm going to
hand it over to you, okay.

Speaker 1 (27:02):
And I'm going to work on the Celebrational Margarita
for this big special day ofyours.

Speaker 2 (27:09):
Next to my baby bottle over here, mom life, I'm
also so stoked that you gave thebaby enough stuff to start a
freaking acoustic band overthere.

Speaker 1 (27:26):
She's got maracas tambourines.
I don't know.
Cowbell, you're doing greatdear and it's like your mother
to give you those things beforewe go live on the second half of
the show.
So good night.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
She's feral, unhinged .
Yeah, I love you too, babe.
Thanks for showing me the pony.

Speaker 1 (27:47):
So good night.
She's feral, unhinged.
Yeah, I love you too, babe.
Thanks for showing me the pony.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Now mama's turn to talk.
All right, y'all, here's theinside scoop.
So after my mom's suicide, Idecided to kind of evaluate all
aspects of my life Top, bottom,left, right, things hidden in
the closet.
I decided to evaluate all thethings and I just needed to

(28:20):
really sit down and focus andlike let go of the things that
are no longer serving me.
I started like purging anythingand everything, just to remove
all negativity and things thatmaybe I've been hanging on to,
that were like had a memory butwasn't a very good one.

(28:43):
I guess you could say, um, andwith that I decided to also
remove people in my life thatwere just it was a one-sided
relationship or, you know, notserving me in any way, shape or
form holding you back and one ofthe biggest things that I kept

(29:07):
finding myself going back to wasmy job.
My job.
The more that I looked atnegativity in a different light
and how it's no longer servingme and it's bringing me down,
the biggest thing that I keptgoing back to was my job.
It was I was overworked andunderappreciated.

(29:31):
And let's just put this outthere I am not afraid to get my
hands dirty and work.
I'm not.
I have worked multiple jobs allin one day just to make ends
meet.
So I am a hard worker throughand through, but when I'm given

(29:54):
opportunities only to basicallykeep me quiet, I I had enough
given you making promises, justto take them away yeah, like
that, given me, yeah, given mepromises, given me opportunities
, um only for, you know, thoseto come to fruition for what

(30:14):
like a couple weeks?

Speaker 1 (30:15):
yeah, give you short term.
Yeah, hey, we did this for you,yeah, and uh, oops, sorry,
we're gonna take that away yeah,that's not gonna work spoiler
alert the rest of your staffsucks, so we're gonna punish you
yeah your job was a source ofrelease right it was something
that you used to go to and enjoy, and it has changed to a source

(30:38):
of frustration and anxiety andone that you would come home
from work and often spend, youknow, 20 minutes in the in the
vehicle on the phone complaining, and you know that type of
stuff getting it off your chest,so definitely wasn't serving
you anymore.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
Yeah, and the hardest thing was to let go of the job
because, like, I created thisposition, I built, um, I built
this position from the ground up.
So I found a weak spot in myoffice and we didn't have a
referral department in my officeand we didn't have any sort of

(31:14):
plan on how referrals were goingto work.
And so I saw an opportunity andran to my boss and was like, oh
my God, let me do this, like,let me do this, and I created
forms, I put processes together.
I, you know, did anything andeverything over the last five
years in this position and itwas exactly what I wanted.
I wanted to get away from thefrontline.
No more patient, you know, notbeing on the front line working

(31:37):
with patients all day, in andout, working the backside of
patient care, is what I waslooking for and that position
was doing it.
So I really had to just kind ofevaluate the situation and,
within doing that, I had justhad, I don't know, an urge or

(31:57):
some something inside, just saidlike, hey, why not just check
the job listings?
You know what I mean.
Like in my own career, like inmy own company, I mean, excuse
me, um.
So that's what I did because,after evaluating the situation,
I could have gone anywhere, butI've already been invested in

(32:19):
this company for five years andthere's so many opportunities
within my company that I couldjust do like a lateral move.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
For the people that don't realize you work for the
largest hospital in Maine, sothey're always purchasing up
other hospitals and healthcarefacilities and things like that.
So there's countlessopportunities.
You're five years invested,you're getting raises, you have
your vacation and things likethat.
So there's countlessopportunities.
You're five years invested,you're getting raises, you have
your vacation and all thosethings.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:43):
And I know with all the conversation that we had,
you're looking at Angel'ssituation and saying I need to
prioritize me, and you werefocused on how do I be the best
mom, how?
Do I be the best you know wifeperson friend.
And that goes along withremoving things that are

(33:08):
weighing on you or that changeyou.
Your job was at a point ofchanging you.
It wasn't allowing you to beyourself and enjoy yourself.
So um you said you know I'mgoing to use this lesson.
Angel's story as an opportunityfor me to, you know, recommit to
my goals and to refocus, andthis is one of the big changes

(33:28):
that I need to make.
So you started looking and thenyou you know you found an
opportunity.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Yeah, I mean let's just backpedal really quick.
Um, I realized how toxic myoffice was when they came to me
the day after my mom committedsuicide and was like here's a
raise, but we took your titleaway yeah I'm sorry, what you
couldn't have even let me grievefor like a couple of days, like

(33:54):
nothing.
Like oh, here's a raise, mindyou, it was a dollar.
So like, okay, I'll take yourmoney, but like fuck off at the
same time, you know what I mean.
Like you literally just told methat you eliminated my position
and it was absorbed by thefront desk staff.
Yeah, and I specifically hadmultiple conversations with them

(34:16):
.
That was like if and when youever decide to put me back on
the front line, I will walk.
That's where I was at, that'swhere I was at.
And they didn't think I wasgonna do it.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
They did not, it was they've taken advantage of a
situation where people wouldleave your office or get low,
let go from your office andinstead of finding replacements,
they would just put theworkload on you and have you
carry it.
You worked months by yourselfwith what typically would be a
three or four person situation.

Speaker 2 (34:45):
I worked nine months running the front desk and
running my referrals of adoctor's office who had four
providers and two nursepractitioners by myself, and we
have a float pool within thestate of main health she just
wouldn't even apply for,wouldn't even put, put our name
on it, just made her numberslook better there was less
payroll and let's just, let'sjust run it, and yeah, we'll run

(35:08):
it till the wheels fall off andyou get
burnt out and here we are andwhat I found out when I I was
leaving is that they were hiringtwo receptionist.
I couldn't have even got you tohire one while I was there,
yeah, so it was just like thewriting was on the wall that it

(35:29):
was like things have changed andI needed to go.
It was toxic.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
So this is a positive episode because we're cutting
negativity.
So now the negativity's over,gone, that's gone.
That's behind you.
Sprinkle the positive outlookon it.
Tell us what you're doing nowabsolutely so.

Speaker 2 (35:45):
Um, we had a great holiday weekend and today I
started my new job.
I was so excited to start thisnew job.
I didn't even have the firstday jitters.
I like do, do, do, do, do.
And then I get up to like, theintersection no morning scoots,
no, I didn't have the anxietytoots or nothing.
But I get up to the interstateand normally I take the far

(36:10):
right lane to go to work.
I didn't even think about it, Iwas just like do, do, do, do,
do, take the middle lane rightto the highway.
I wasn't even like confused ornothing.
My body was like let's go.

Speaker 1 (36:23):
Johnny Committed, ready to go.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
I was ready, ready to rock and roll.
I get to my new office.
My new manager is standingoutside greeting me.
Are you kidding me right now?
Are you kidding me?
Impressive.
Who is this lady?
Like you are God sent?
I don't even understand.
So then I like go there and I'mjust like absorbing it, I'm

(36:50):
just taking it all in, likeshe's like you need to take a
break.
Do you need to like be okay?
And I'm like I'm great, I'mgolden, like this is wonderful.
I haven't had lunch alone today.
You never have lunch alone.
I'm always afraid to have lunchalone I'll cross that off the
list I did so.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
It was great you were .
Some of your goals in this newposition um were to get away
from like front line front.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
Yes, you know, patient facing positions yes,
yep, get away from the frontline.
Um, this new position?
Uh, there is not one patientthat even walks into our
building.
The doors are locked.
So now my new position isworking for main health, home
health and Hospice Services.
So I'll obtain authorizationsfor you to get services in your

(37:42):
home for PT, ot, speech therapyand end of life for hospice if
that comes down the line, andthat's the insurance company
that I'll be assigned to if youhave that insurance and need
those services.
Um, so I'll obtain thoseauthorizations for you.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
Um you're basically working um with billing and the
all behind the scenes and thelike insurance company.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
That's it, yep, yep.
So, um, I'll use the portalsand um get your insurance
benefits, um and then submit.
Submit it to the team who'sgoing to do your services, like
in the home.
Um, and then every six months,um 30 days to six months,
depending on what insurance youhave um, I'll have to do um
recertifications, uh, to makesure that you're covered and um

(38:31):
have enough benefits.
Um.

Speaker 1 (38:34):
so, yeah, I go from answering a hundred calls a day
to answering no calls in a day,um, you're taking the things off
the plate that gave you themost frustration and then you're
adding things to the plate thatyou really, um, wish were put
on the plate, or I guess weshould say things that were

(38:54):
promised to you that wereeventually taken from you.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
Those things are actually now being granted to
you.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Yeah, the other benefit that was offered to me
during this interview was theability to work from home, and
that was something that wasoffered to me before I went on a
maternity leave at my other job, which was immediately taken
away as soon as I got home.
They only allowed me to workfrom home while you were in

(39:24):
Florida and then basically tookit away.
So this is not something thatcan be taken away, because
there's two employees that arefully remote, so I know they're
not going to take it away.
Today, on my first day, Iactually had the opportunity to
talk to them about your fairschedule and kind of go into

(39:45):
detail about that and how I havethose dates ahead of time, and
they were like, yeah, just letme know, just let me know, and
you can work from home thosedays, which is amazing, amazing
for our family because, like,who knows?
Like as long as I have wifi andI can do my job, it doesn't
matter where I am.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
There's so many avenues here, because number one
your weekly days from home aregoing to be Tuesdays and
Thursdays which is the days thatputs the most strain on the
family, because I'm getting upat five for my mom to work and
then I'm basically like today Ididn't have any time to work on
the business today with ourschedule.
So this is going to helpbecause we're you know you're
not going to be full-timeworking and taking care of her.

Speaker 2 (40:25):
Right.

Speaker 1 (40:25):
And neither am I.
We're going to be sharing theload here to make this work, but
that's far better for thefamily than what we've been
faced with, and then being onthe road is going to be
tremendous because you can workon the road.
These are opportunities that wenever thought they really
wouldn't have been possiblebefore.

Speaker 2 (40:40):
They were not an option.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
Because you were taking calls.
You were doing all these things.
You had to be in the office.
This is a whole differentavenue for you, so I don't even
know how to really describe itto the people that are listening
, but it's everything that youlike about what you've been
doing, but also being grantedthe things that you were always
promised and in a position wherethey're not going to be taken

(41:02):
away from you.

Speaker 2 (41:03):
Yeah, and you're also taking the things off the plate
that you really didn't want todo anymore, exactly, yeah, no, I
really enjoy like medical, themedical field in general, so
what I really enjoy, like thedigging around, detective work

(41:24):
in the billing and that sort ofthing.
So this is like the best of bothworlds.
And I've actually already beenassigned to my insurance company
because nobody wants it, nobodylikes to do the digging and
nobody likes to do the detectivework, and I was like absolutely
put me on it, like so I alreadyhave my assignments when I'm
fully trained and I already knowthat I have a 200 patient

(41:48):
caseload like as soon as I'massigned.
So like 200 patients a monthhave to be assigned with main
care and have to be recertifiedand all that kind of stuff, and
that's all on the portal.
So like I don't even have to beassigned with main care and
have to be recertified and allthat kind of stuff and that's
all on the portal.
So like I don't even have tocall anybody because everything
is.
I log right on, put thepatient's insurance information
in and it spits out all thedetails I need.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
One of the biggest things that you enjoy about any
form of work is busy work.

Speaker 2 (42:14):
Oh my God, I love busy work, love busy work.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
Things that I can't stand doing you love doing so
yep, um.
This is a tremendous win foryou in so many avenues.
Had you let the frustration ofyour work, the anxiety and
stress of the current situationthat you're going through derail
you, then you wouldn't have hadthis opportunity, right?
if you threw this away andstarted fresh with a whole new

(42:39):
company, then you lost the fiveyears so you hung in there, you
realized what you needed to dofor you and your family, and
then you applied yourself todoing that.
Now, what I also want to say isthat you've had these thoughts
come up over the past couple ofyears.
You've interviewed, you've haddifferent opportunities.

(42:59):
Some things you said no to,some things didn't just come
true for you, but ultimately,the example that needs to be
made today is that thisopportunity was created for you
when you physically, mentally,emotionally, made the decision
to better yourself and removeeven more layers of negativity.

Speaker 2 (43:18):
Yeah, I think this opportunity came to me when I
was ready.

Speaker 1 (43:22):
Yeah, I hinted at it in the first segment on today's
show, but I had someconversations over the weekend
with some people that are goingthrough some tough times, some
difficult times, that are havinglife-changing events, some of
those completely out of theircontrol, and I've expressed to
them that this is only going tocreate opportunity for you when
you go through these times inlife, these great challenges in

(43:45):
life, as long as you put thingsin perspective and you make the
right changes for yourself andremove, like, use it as an
opportunity to challengeyourself, to change yourself, to
remove negative things foryourself, then you'll be
surprised by the things thatcome true for you.
You know what I mean.
It's very true.
Yeah, I've shared my story onhere several times about

(44:09):
different opportunities in mylife where I've made those
challenges and those changes.
Today's episode is about youand your story.
But super quick, I went througha shitty relationship when I
eliminated that.
I very quickly was promoted,got one of the biggest
promotions of my life.
Shortly after that I wasmeeting my soon-to-be wife.

(44:31):
All these things happen whenyou commit to yourself and you
cut those things for yourself.
I've seen all of that happenfor you and I really wanted to
share it, because we're going tooutline some tips and some
techniques and some things, someactionable items, to cut
negativity.
But I want people to realizethat cutting negativity takes

(44:55):
working on yourself, cuttingnegativity.
I've heard so many people, I'vehad so many conversations with
people that say, yeah, I just,it's new me, okay, because I
just cut negativity, I'm donewith the negative people, I'm
moving on.
Okay, cinderella, well, that'sstep one.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
Okay yeah, that's just the icing on the cake.

Speaker 1 (45:18):
Just walking away from some shumbum isn't going to
be all that it takes.
Okay, if you want to cutnegativity, then cutting
negativity takes working onyourself, because I got news for
you You're negative.
If you have to cut negativityfrom your life, that means in
shum, shum, shum way, shape orform, you are negative.

(45:40):
You're being surrounded bynegative.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
They say, you surround yourself by like-minded
people.

Speaker 1 (45:46):
Without a doubt, if you are at a position in your
life where you need to cutnegativity, that means here's
your eye opener folks.
You are negative, you arebecoming negative.
The person that's around youthat's negative is changing you,
your personality, your actions,and you're starting to feel
negative and you're coming tothe realization that you need to

(46:07):
remove this person from yourlife because you are becoming
negative.
That means that you arenegative.
You need to work on yourself.
Just saying bye, Felicia, tothat negative Moesha isn't going
to be the end, all be all Ifyou want to cut negativity.
It takes working on yourself,and I know by all the changes
that you've made, especiallysince Angel and what happened

(46:30):
and you sharing your story.
Number one, I feel like thisstarts with you being bold
enough, courageous enough andtransparent enough to turn a
microphone on and share yourstory.
That was step one.
By doing so, you removenegative, you remove negative
people, you close the chapterand you open yourself up to new

(46:50):
people.
You have a new circledeveloping around you because
you shared your story and thenyou took more things into
perspective.
You looked more into spiritualand we're going to be leaning
more into that in the comingweeks and days and months and
years and you had those sessions, those shamanic Reiki sessions.
You did so much to work onyourself to make yourself the

(47:15):
better mother, wife, person thatyou want to be.
Those things are all steps inremoving negativity.
It's not just saying I'm nottalking to you anymore because I
think you're negative.
It's not that I'm not going totext you anymore because you're
negative, I'm not going toattempt to contact you anymore.
No, that's not it.
It takes working on yourself.
Yes, part of the recipe isremoving that person from the

(47:39):
recipe.
That's one of the keyingredients, but the biggest
portion of the pie is working onyourself, and I want to commend
you for working on yourselfthanks.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
It hasn't been easy, trust me.

Speaker 1 (47:50):
There has been, uh, lots of struggles, there's been
lots of tears, but they're all apoint of release there's also
little tips and opportunitiesand signs that come to you along
the way to show you you'redoing the right thing.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I constantly look for my signs.
Um, you know we've talked aboutum.
You know angel numbers.
Um've also talked about seeingsigns in animals, but little
things.
I always joke about the.

(48:28):
I don't know if I've talkedabout it on here, but I only go
to the Goodwill when theGoodwill tells me Goodwill gods.
If you don't know what Goodwillis, goodwill tells me Goodwill
gods.
If you don't know what Goodwillis, google it.
It's just a consignment store.
I only go there when I feeldrawn to go there.
Something up above brings methere.

(48:50):
And on Friday, my last day atwork, I had some stuff in the
back of my car and I was likeI'm just going to go there, like
on my lunch break, what haveyou?
And I didn't.

Speaker 1 (49:04):
When you said I have stuff in my car, people that
you're going to donate.
Oh, yeah, yeah, sorry, my bad.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
Yes, I have stuff in my car to donate.
I was going to just drop it offon my lunch break.
Go back to work, what have youDo?
A little peruse around, checkthe junk.
I didn't do that.
I didn't feel the urge to gothere.
So you were busy.
I ran home, grabbed your mom, Iwent to the Goodwill, donated
our stuff and we walked around.

(49:28):
I get a few things and I'mcashing out and right behind the
guy in the register, rightbehind the guy mm-mm-mm-mm-mm,
there is a authentic Indian drumsitting there on the counter.

(49:50):
My mouth was on the ground.
Let me just tell you.
I can see it sitting therebehind the guy.
Your mom had already looked atit, put it up, left it there and
I was like, oh Lord, have mercy.
I cashed out, I looked at it acouple of times, went back.

(50:10):
I even said I'm going to take apicture of this and send it to
you, because this is the samedrum that, if you guys remember,
in my last couple of episodes Italked to you about Missy doing
the drum solo.
This is the same drum.

(50:30):
I said to your mom I'm going totake a picture of it and send it
to you.
No, no, I'm not.
Nope, not going to happen.
Something inside of me was likedon't you dare walk away?
So I was like I get back inline.
The cashier says to me oh,someone just returned this 20
minutes ago.
I beg your finest pardon, theydid what, returned it.
Who returns a drum?
It's not broken.

(50:51):
The drumstick is attached andthere's a bald eagle on the
front of it.
If y'all been listening, youknow your dad comes forward as a
bald eagle and there it was.
It's painted, drawn on thefront of it.
I brought that thing home.

Speaker 1 (51:11):
The person told you it was returned, not just once.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
Three times.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
Yeah, how does this drum get purchased, brought home
and then returned?
There's got to be some bad mojo.
This drum was trying to workits way to you.

Speaker 2 (51:26):
That's what Missy says.
That's what Missy says.
She's like three times it wasreturned.
I was like I mean, I don't know, maybe the guy was lying to me,
but one time was sufficientenough.
I still couldn't put my handson why this was returned.
I start running through thingsthrough my head Like this has
got bad juju, I don't know.
So I brought that bad boy homeand I saged it.

(51:47):
I ain't bringing no bad jujuinto my life.
I even let the sage roll intomy car because I was like I
carried that thing home.
So there was that.
And then over the weekend wewent yard sailing and I found a
couple of bracelets that I'vebeen looking for.
I literally have them in mycart, in my Amazon cart, right

(52:07):
now that I was looking for Justsome bracelets, charm bracelets
that I used to have as a kid,and I was like, oh my God, I
love those.

Speaker 1 (52:14):
I think it's also one of those things where, if
you're just in that negativemindset and you're just kind of,
you know, just smugging aroundthrough life, grotting around,
struggling around, you're notopen to things, you're not aware
of all your surroundings.
There's beautiful things thatare happening to you and for you
, and you just are oblivious tothem because you're just in this

(52:35):
ho is me, woe is me oh, woe isme Ho Ho.
Yeah, woe is me.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
You're feeling hoey, this is true, this is about to
be a ho down About to be a hodown.

Speaker 1 (52:47):
So here's the thing, folks we're talking about this
great opportunity for you.
We're talking about theseultimate signs for you that
you're going in the rightdirection, and we've talked
about all the work that you'redoing for yourself, on yourself,
and I really wanted to outlinethat for everybody and use your
story as an example that youknow, in different ways, things

(53:08):
can get better and brighter foryou when you go through tragic
events in your life.
And I think a lot of that comesfrom step one just sharing
those events in your life,because if you're going to
remove negativity and you'regoing to move towards positivity
, then you truly need to startworking on yourself, and we have
some actionable items here.
I did some research today.
I want to share some tips,tricks, techniques, different

(53:31):
things and, as I go through someof these, if one of these hits
home to you, feel free to chimein, to jump in.
But first to get things goinghere, cutting out negativity
requires a conscious effort toidentify and address negative
thought patterns and behaviors,often through self-reflection
and practice.
It involves becoming aware ofyour negative thoughts,

(53:52):
acknowledging them and choosingto not let them dictate your
actions or reactions.
So that kind of outlines theprocess of removing this
negativity.
As we're talking about, it'smore than just saying bye,
felicia, moving on from thatperson, because ultimately,
there's triggers.
Like you said, there was thingsyou were holding on to that
triggered those negativememories.

(54:14):
A lot of times we hold on tosomething because it's
sentimental, but when you sitand reflect on the sentimental
item, it often brings up thesenegative thoughts and emotions
and we often spend more timejust talking negative shit to
ourselves.
We are shit talkers when itcomes to the way we talk to
ourselves.
With all that in mind, we aregoing to knock out some more

(54:36):
detailed, actionable steps tolook at this process here.
So number one is on awarenessand identification.
Become aware of your negativethoughts.
Pay attention to the thoughtsand reactions that arise in your
mind.
Just being self-consciousenough to realize what you're

(54:57):
saying to yourself, I think, ishalf the battle.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (55:01):
Do you ever just talk yourself into a bad day
Mentally?

Speaker 2 (55:05):
Probably.

Speaker 1 (55:07):
I've been in that mode sometimes where all of a
sudden you look at the clock andyou go it's noontime, I didn't
get anything done and I'mabsolutely miserable.
Let me understand why.
And you start to peel the onionback and you start looking at
it and going well, you woke upand said this to yourself.
You went to do this and itdidn't go right.
So you said this to yourself.
The moment you start to realizethe shit that you're saying to

(55:28):
yourself is often the reason whyyou're down on yourself.
Identify areas where youroutinely go negative.
Notice the specific situationsor topics that tend to trigger
negative thoughts.
Is there anything that youdon't have to have an answer off
the top of your head?
But is there anything that youdo that could trigger something

(55:52):
negative?
Like you know, do you go onsocial media?
Like there's a certain site, isit a TV show?
Is it a program?
Is it a conversation?
Is there anything that you canthink of that?
I know when I get into this I'mgonna have a negative thought
yeah what is it?

Speaker 2 (56:09):
laundry laundry gives you negative thoughts because I
go through my closet and Istart like I have things in my
closet that I want to wear but Ican't wear because I don't feel
comfortable in them anymore.
But I keep them there in hopesthat I'll lose enough weight to
fit in them.

Speaker 1 (56:28):
That makes a lot of sense.
Now that you put it that way, Ican understand that.
I've got stuff in my closetthat I've been like I bought it
brand new and I ain't worked myway into it yet you know what I
mean, but I can understand whatyou're saying there.

Speaker 2 (56:41):
So I like beat myself up, or if I'm like trying to
pick out my outfit for like thenext day, and I like pull
something out and I'm like, ohmy god, this is gonna look so
cute.
And then the next morning I putit on and like I just I feel
bloated that day.
I just I immediately just startdownplaying like the whole rest
of.
I'm just like whatever, likethis is, like this is just it's
a good one.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
I like that.
Yeah, Recognize the impact ofyour group and environment.
Consider how your social circleand surrounding environment may
influence your own negativity.
I know for you.
You just said you quit your job.
I mean you didn't just quit andwalk out, you found a
replacement.

Speaker 2 (57:19):
But part of that was I gave a two-week notice, y'all
didn't just quit and walk out.

Speaker 1 (57:21):
You found a replacement.
I gave a two-week notice, y'allI know.
Actually you worked more thantwo weeks, I did.
You recognized that environmentwasn't suiting you anymore, it
wasn't serving you.
You recognized that the peoplethat were there were pretty
toxic.
Right, I mean, you still havegood relationships with some of
them, but it was a pretty toxicenvironment with a lot of folks
there and you needed to getyourself out of that situation.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
A lot of them would start a conversation with you
just to hear themselves talk andyou're just like why do I even
bother?
I don't want to tell you how myweekend was, because you just
want to talk about your own self.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
It's a true story.

Speaker 2 (57:53):
So I just stopped talking.
I'd be like, oh yeah, it wasgreat Word vomit.

Speaker 1 (57:57):
Yeah.
So the first part of this isawareness and identification.
Then we're going to move intochallenging negative thought
patterns.
Reframing, that's the first bigone.
Challenge negative thoughts andconsider alternative, more
positive perspectives.
I can get into this a lot whenit comes to an event right Like

(58:19):
when you get somewhere and,let's say, day one is turd you
know, or like florida we talkabout wasn't all that I hoped
for.
So if I just ultimately focusedon well, you didn't make all the
money that you wanted to make.
You didn't make what you'veexpected to make, you had all
this time away from your family.
You're never going to replacethat time.
That's going to put me in anendless rabbit hole of nonsense.

(58:42):
But if, if I reframe that andsay, look at all the people that
you touched, look at all thepeople that now are owning and
wearing and consuming and lovingLoud, proud American apparel
that you never would have metbefore, we're talking about
hundreds of items that were soldthat are now going all
throughout the country.
People at Bike Week aren't justfrom Florida, they're from all

(59:05):
over the place Virginia,pennsylvania, maryland, whatever
.
They're all over the place.
These people are wearing yourstuff, they're bringing it to
their hometowns.
Even all the people that areFlorida residents.
I never would have met thosepeople.
The memories I made on the road,the stories I have with Brian
and Zach, the whole family, thewhole nine when you reframe
things and you look at themdifferent, it's a hell of a lot

(59:27):
more fulfilling and it justleaves you with a more positive
thing I could have looked atthat trip and said, wow, you
didn't make what you wanted tomake.
You would have been better offstaying home and applying that
money in a different avenue,where I can look at it and say,
dude, be proud of yourself, youjust accomplished something on
your bucket list for business.
It's all in how we look atthings, how and how we reframe

(59:50):
things.
Changing language is anotherbig one.
Be mindful of the language youuse and replace negative words
and phrases with moreconstructive ones.
What is so funny over there?
What are you guys doing?

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
We're playing with snacks.

Speaker 1 (01:00:10):
Oh my goodness, hiccups are funny too.
Challenge Nope, not the word Iwas thinking about.
I was looking at a challengeyou're playing over there.
You're encouraging it.
Now You're provoking it,changing language.
Be mindful of the language youuse and replace negative words

(01:00:32):
and phrases with moreconstructive ones.
Or baby giggles you know what Imean If you're stressing out
and you're feeling like shit andall hell's about to break loose
baby giggles.
You know what I mean.
I can get through somechallenging times with some baby
giggles.
You are crazy, as I take thisopportunity to appreciate the

(01:01:05):
laughter and the chaos that'shappening across the living room
right now.
That is the next tip Practicegratitude.
Focus on the good things inyour life and express gratitude
for them.
As much as a podcastprofessional recording his
podcast would be offended thathis audio is being hijacked by

(01:01:27):
his precious little daughter andedit the whole thing out.
I am not that guy.
I am going to practicegratitude and I'm going to focus
on the good things in my lifeand appreciate that I have this
beautiful, amazing littlesweetie over there that thinks
snacks are hilarious.

(01:01:48):
She is my child, oh my God, whatin the heck you need to give
her the margarita right she'sactually no, I wouldn't even
have the margarita myself allright, positive affirmations,
repeat positive statements aboutyourself and your situation.

(01:02:10):
That's another good one.
Positive in, positive out.
It always comes down to youknow what we perceive to be
shall be.
So if we're telling ourselves,you know we're never going to
fit in this, we look like shit,we feel like shit, then guess
what folks You're going to lookand feel like shit forever.
Positive in, positive out.
That's just how it's going towork.

(01:02:31):
The next block of things tofocus on is building positive
habits.
Surround yourself with positivepeople.
Choose to spend time withindividuals who are supportive
and uplifting.
I truly hope and pray that,after 255 consecutive weeks of
share the struggle podcast, thaty'all would consider us some

(01:02:52):
positive people, that we arepositive individuals that are
supporting you, that areuplifting you, that are
encouraging.
So when you find yourselffeeling down, man, maybe look
back and grab another episodeand fuel yourself up with
positivity.
Focus on the good and the nowInstead of dwelling on the past
or worrying about the future.

(01:03:12):
Stay present and appreciate thepositive aspects of your
current situation.
We've said so many times one ofthe biggest examples for this
for me is when you plan avacation.
Let's say you plan a vacation,maybe it takes six months or it
takes a year and you save moneyfor it and you get out there on
that vacation and when you'reright in the middle of that

(01:03:32):
vacation, all you can thinkabout is the work not getting
done at home.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
You are the worst, oh my.

Speaker 1 (01:03:37):
God.
All you can think about is whatyou're missing, what needs to
be done, chores, the workloadbeing shifted to family and
friends, and you stress yourselfout.
You need to be grounded righthere, right now, in the present.
I've done so much at trying tolive in the moment and

(01:03:58):
appreciate those things when I'mdoing them, because I was the
worst.
I'm still not perfect, butthere's times when I find myself
not taking advantage of theopportunity, not fully
appreciating the situation,something that you've worked so
hard for, that you planned sohard for, that you're now fully
engulfed in.
I try to be present right there, in the now, so I encourage

(01:04:21):
y'all to do that as well.
Engage in enjoyable activities.
Find activities that bring youjoy and help you stay grounded,
such as exercise, mindfulness orhobbies.
The next one and the finalblock is practice patience.
It takes time and effort.
Rewriting your brain andchanging habitual thought

(01:04:44):
patterns takes time and practice.
Be patient with yourself.
Don't get discouraged if youslip up occasionally.
Just keep practicing andfocusing on positive change.
Practice doesn't make perfect.
Practice makes improvement, andif all we do today is improve a
little bit today, then tomorrowwill always be a better day.

(01:05:07):
I truly hope that today'smessage resonates with you.
I truly hope there is somethingpositive here for you today and
I hope these steps, theseactionable items, can help you
remove negativity.
I hope that you trulyunderstand that when you're
cutting negativity, it takesworking on yourself.
It's more than just cuttingnegative people out of your life
.
Yes, that is necessary.

(01:05:28):
Yes, you need to leave thenegative people behind you.
Negative Nancys will not serveyou.
Debbie Downers do not deserveyou.
Leave them in the past buttruly, to make the moment last,
focus on yourself, work onyourself, take the actionable
steps and when you do so, greatopportunities will come to you,

(01:05:51):
just like my wife's story I'mdropping a challenge right here,
right now.

Speaker 2 (01:05:57):
Whoa, if you're shooting your own shot here, huh
you just gotta shoot if youfind yourself, if you find
yourself talking down toyourself, negative talk,
anything like that.
You owe it to yourself to giveyourself two compliments.
Okay, in any way, shape or formor form.

(01:06:18):
Hey, listen, I'm feeling fattoday.
All right, we have beautifuleyes and those pants make your
ass look fat.
There you go.

Speaker 1 (01:06:27):
You said that as a positive, I did Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:06:30):
I did.
Your ass looks fat in themjeans.
Okay, damn girl.
Yeah, I'm talking about P-H-A-T.

Speaker 1 (01:06:36):
I got beautiful eyes and thick thighs.
You know what I'm saying?
Hey, thick thighs.
This honey make money.

Speaker 2 (01:06:42):
Thick thighs save lives.
Oh hello, that's what youdeserve.
You deserve for that one badtalk about yourself.

Speaker 1 (01:06:52):
There is this you got a compliment.
There's this old managementthing that I was taught years
ago.
I'm trying to remember how itworks.
It's been a long time.

Speaker 2 (01:07:03):
Is that your two no's and one yes?

Speaker 1 (01:07:05):
No, that's a different one, but it's a good
one.

Speaker 2 (01:07:09):
I do remember that from your management.

Speaker 1 (01:07:11):
This was basically you keep five pennies in your
left pocket.
Okay, okay, in like your leftpocket, okay, okay.
And when you're doing yourmorning walkarounds and you're
talking to people, each time youleave a compliment to somebody,
you can take that penny out ofyour left pocket and put it into

(01:07:33):
your right.

Speaker 2 (01:07:34):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:07:34):
Kind of balance out your walk okay.
So if you're out there andyou're walking around and you're
talking to people mentally,when you're dropping positive
comments, let's call thempositive pennies.
Okay, I'm dropping somepositive scents.
When I'm out there makingscents, dropping positive
pennies out there, as I walk byand I see somebody doing a great

(01:07:57):
job in their area or in theirdepartment, you stop in, you
talk to them, you congratulatethem, you acknowledge them, you
appreciate them.
When you walk away, take thatpenny and put it on your other
side.

Speaker 2 (01:08:05):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:08:06):
You don't earn the right.
You don't buy the opportunityto say one negative until you
get all them pennies from yourleft to your right.
So that was a philosophy taughtto me way back in the day that
basically you can't buy theopportunity to say something
negative until you've got fivecents in your right pocket.

(01:08:28):
You know what I'm saying?
That makes sense.
So you've got to go around.
You're damn right, it makessense.
You've got to go aroundspeaking positives before you
can talk negatives, andpositives before you can talk
negatives.
And part of the trick here,folks, is if you start your
morning off with five positives,it gets to be a lot more
difficult to find that onenegative.

Speaker 2 (01:08:47):
This is true, this is true and I will say it does
boost your day to have somebodygive you a compliment.

Speaker 1 (01:08:57):
You're right, positive in, positive out.
If you touch that snack bag,one more ever-loving time.

Speaker 2 (01:09:05):
I'm trying to keep the baby quiet.

Speaker 1 (01:09:06):
Oh yeah, you're keeping the baby quiet, you're
baiting her with bait and switchover there to make her giggle.
No, and you're crinklingwrappers in there making the big
daddy over here want to go eata Big Mac.
Sounds like fast food wrappersin the background.

Speaker 2 (01:09:20):
What she laughs about is when I keep the snacks in my
hand and I close my hand.

Speaker 1 (01:09:24):
I know I've seen you antagonizing it.
I'm sorry, baby.
I will go over there and giveyou all the snacks and teach
your mother a lesson.
No, we're off the rails here,clearly.

Speaker 2 (01:09:36):
Squirrel.

Speaker 1 (01:09:37):
There was some positives here.
I'm confident in it.
My wife saved the chipmunkslife.
Today, all that means goodthings coming our way.

Speaker 2 (01:09:46):
Good vibes.
I should look it up.

Speaker 1 (01:09:48):
Thank you for supporting my American dream.

Speaker 2 (01:09:54):
I'm not allowed to swear Good point.

Speaker 1 (01:09:56):
You're fucking.
Hands are on the savage.
That's it and that's all BiggieSmalls.
If you're a loud, proudAmerican and you find yourself

(01:10:18):
just wanting more, find me onYouTube and Facebook at Loud
Proud American, or the face page, as my mama calls it.
If you're a fan of the GrahamCracker, you want to find me on
Instagram, or all the kids aretickety talking on the TikTok.
You can find me on both ofthose, at Loud underscore Pr,

(01:10:38):
proud, underscore American.
A big old thank you to the boysfrom the Gut Truckers for the
background beats and the themesong to this year's podcast.
If you are enjoying what you'rehearing, you can track down the

(01:11:00):
Gut Truckers on Facebook.
Just search Gut Truckers.
Give them, motherfuckers, alike too.
I truly thank you forsupporting my American dream.
Now go wash your fucking hands,you filthy savage.