March 18, 2024 • 43 mins
Scott Britton founded and sold his company to Salesforce in 2022. Nowadays he spends much of his time exploring the nature of human consciousness through writing and podcasting. And while he'd like to make a living from this some day, he's not sure that he can.
Our session goes straight to the tension that many people face: whether one can support themselves through their passion. The tension brings up all sorts of questions of confidence, authentic desire, and self-trust in uncertainty. We touch all this in a space that feels more like a meditation than a conventional coaching conversation. Enjoy!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian Wang (00:00):
Follow your passion and the money will come.
Sounds great, but is it true?
What if your passion neverappears in the builds?
What if you turn your passioninto a job and then you end up
hating it?
Turning your deep passion intoa business is scary as hell.
There's a tension between doingwhat you love and the practical
need to make money.
That tension is exactly what weexplore in a recent coaching
session with Scott Britton.
(00:20):
Scott is the co-founder of acompany called Troops, which he
sold to Salesforce in 2022.
Scott is also a writer, apodcaster and an overall
explorer of human evolution andconsciousness.
In our session, he starts byasking whether he should coach
others as a way to make moneyfrom his passion, but then we
quickly find that he genuinelydoesn't want that.
That leads us to greatercontact with two parts of Scott
(00:41):
the one who trusts in his futureand the other who worries about
making money.
The rest of our session iseffectively a facilitated
conversation between these twointernal parts.
This is a fun one.
Enjoy.
Hey, scott, it's great to seeyou.
How are you doing today?
Scott Britton (00:54):
Brian, I'm good man.
I'm stoked to be here.
Brian Wang (00:57):
I am really, really excited to be here with you
today.
I'm just going to intro youreal quick for the audience.
Scott and I have we've knowneach other geez, maybe over a
decade now.
We met back in New York when wewere both building startups in
the days of WeWork, the fervorof all the other companies that
(01:19):
were rising up.
During that time, scott, youfounded this great company
called Troops, built it for anumber of years.
You sold it to SalesforceRecently.
You've been on an amazingjourney of just exploring
consciousness, your ownconsciousness, and just the
nature of human consciousnessand its evolution.
You've got this podcast whereyou explore that topic.
(01:40):
I know you to be someone who isvery, very curious and
introspective and wanting justto dig into all the little nooks
and crannies of humanexperience, and so I'm just
delighted to be here with youtoday and just to spend a
session with you and just seewhat's up.
Scott Britton (01:59):
Thanks, man.
I'm honored to be here andexcited about what we'll
discover.
Brian Wang (02:08):
Yeah, yeah.
So we talked about this alittle bit, but tell me a little
bit about you wanting to spendthe time together.
You've been having a few thingscome up for you lately.
Fill me in, fill the audiencein.
Scott Britton (02:20):
Yeah.
So just to set the context, so,as Brian mentioned, kind of
coming from the venture startup,venture-back startup world did
that.
My passion and interest isdefinitely in human
transformation and humanevolution, and consciousness is
(02:41):
kind of what I believe iscentral to that.
And so, yeah, I've been kind ofin my post-exit work at the big
company that bought us FaZe.
Kind of just my approach withmy career has been like all
(03:05):
right, I'm just going to do thethings that feel good and feel
interesting, and good thingswill happen.
And so I've been doing a lot ofcontent creation.
I've been working on a book, Ihave a podcast and doing a
newsletter, and all that's great.
At some point, though, I'm goingto have to actually make money
(03:27):
in a vocation out of thesethings, and so that's something
that's kind of top of mind.
For me is like what does thisevolve into that allows me to
support my family and not justlike rip through my bank account
?
And one obvious path that hasbeen percolate that people in
(03:50):
the world of humantransformation, as Brian knows,
is coaching, is working withpeople one-on-one, and I've
gotten a lot of I've started toget people reaching out to me
about doing that, and it's likea very obvious, it's like a
no-brainer for me.
It's in terms of, like,creating a business, but I feel
(04:15):
just a lot of resistance towardsit and I it's just interesting
to me because I feel like I wantto help people and I love and
I'm very passionate about this,but I also just just don't, I'm
not like embracing with openarms these opportunities that
(04:38):
come to me and I think that'sinteresting to explore.
Brian Wang (04:44):
Yeah, so it's awesome that you are aware that
you're noticing that resistance,that that sounds like it's
actually very easy to spot.
The first question I want toask you, though, Scott, is when
because you talked aboutcoaching and being a no-brainer
right, it's the obvious choice.
I'm curious for you just to getus going here, when you think
(05:08):
about working with people inthat capacity, how much do you
actually want that?
Scott Britton (05:13):
I don't know that I do Like there's a weird
tension there where I feel likelike what I love, what I know I
do love doing, is I lovecreating.
Like I love I love writing, Ilove codifying ideas and I get a
(05:35):
lot of energy from that andpart of the like.
One of the things that came uprecently was I'm working with
this editor and I'm writing thisbook and it's about a lot of
this stuff and he's like well,who are you to like?
(05:57):
Are you like who are like yourexperience?
Is your experience right?
Like you're kind of talkinglike this is like a broad
concept, but like you reallyaren't like some type of person
that works, other people thatcan make that claim, and yeah,
that was like huh, okay, well,that's interesting.
(06:23):
You know that that kind of gaveme a nudge in the like you
should get other, you should,you should work with other
people, right, and I know shouldis a word to pay attention to,
yeah and and so.
So yeah, I'd say like it's notmy natural inclination, but it
(06:43):
also seems like it makes mewonder if, to be credible in
some of these things that I'mtrying to do, whether working
with people outside myself is,is actually an important thing
and so that that that kind of isthe thing that's come up for,
coming up for me yeah.
Brian Wang (07:06):
So there's a few things coming up as I listen to
that one is that right off thebat, when I asked you how much
you actually want to do that,pretty much instantly, I don't
actually want to was what I tookfrom your response.
And then there was issue aroundcredibility.
So you have this other voicethat's saying Scott, I don't
think you're credible enough inorder to build that.
(07:27):
I think you need to go workwith some other people and, you
know, build some evidence ortest, test this sort of stuff
out and what I'm.
I don't know a lot of theintimate details of your
creative process and the writingthat you're putting out, but I
I do know that there are peoplewho read it and that you get
(07:48):
into dialogue with.
So I'm wondering to what extentare you already testing these
ideas out with people out inpublic?
Scott Britton (07:57):
it's a very valid point.
I think.
I think I am, you know, I thinkI am doing that already yeah,
so you have some evidence thatyou're already doing that.
Brian Wang (08:14):
Tell me a little bit more about this thing, about
credibility.
How does this whole idea sitwith you?
The idea of credibility yeah, Imean, just a minute ago you
were talking about how it feelslike you're not credible enough
quote unquote in order to go putyour book out or work in your
book.
Scott Britton (08:29):
Well, I can tell you that immediately, when I got
that feedback, I got defensive.
Can you say more about that?
Yeah, I was like I was like,well, I'm just like I did.
I did, you know, I taught thiscourse.
That was like a 60 personexperience and it was like, well
(08:50):
, I did this right and like, so,like I learned from that and
like, and I was like you know,these ideas are are ancient,
like these ideas have beenaround for a very long time.
I'm just kind of grounding themin a modern context and and so
like, why would I need toestablish credibility for
something?
That's kind of timeless wisdom?
(09:11):
And and so I got defensive.
I would say, and the editorspoint was I'm not actually
challenging you, I'm puttingmyself in the reader's shoes and
saying why should I believe you?
Brian Wang (09:29):
hmm, yeah.
So I'm curious then, if arandom let's say, you put your
book out and then you put outthese ideas that you've been
working through yourself, andour reader comes up to you and
says Scott, I read your book,like why should I believe this
stuff in here?
Like what?
What would be your initialreaction?
Scott Britton (09:48):
I think I would be like look, dude, I'm just
sharing my experience and takeit or leave it.
You know, I mean yeah, likeyeah, if you find, if you find
it interesting or resonates likecool, experiment with it your
own life.
If you don't cool, call itwhatever you want.
I think that's.
Brian Wang (10:11):
I think that would be my response yeah, and, by the
way, thanks for buying the book.
Yeah, but so so yeah.
So so you're gonna encounterpeople who are skeptical, some
people who might think, yeah,this isn't for me or this
doesn't make any sense, and yourresponse to that, it sounds
like, is it may not resonatewith you, but find out for
(10:32):
yourself, is it was what I'mhearing you say mm-hmm yes, so
let's go back to this wholething around.
I'm gonna loop quite a ways back.
You talked about how coachingis like this obvious, that the
quote-unquote obvious thing,particularly when it comes to,
you know, making career orliving out of the work that
(10:54):
you're doing.
Right?
Scott Britton (10:56):
yeah, I think.
I think that's like a moneything where it's like very, it's
like, okay, I'm doing all thesethings right now.
I'm making no money off of it,and it's not that there's an a
path to money.
I just know that like a veryeasy I want to say easy but like
(11:20):
a very straightforward way tostart to build a meaningful
income from.
That isn't it is in this spherethat I'm in.
Is coaching people like it'sjust a very obvious business
relative to something like oh,I'm going to build this app,
(11:45):
that's like a brand new conceptand I guess I could.
You know, I could do that aswell too.
I guess I there are certainly.
That is kind of obvious nowthat I say it out loud, that I
can do that.
But like I don't know that youknow the venture model something
(12:06):
that is immediately appealingto me either is that the path
that you would have to take ifyou were to follow that, that
impulse?
probably not.
Hmm, I think, I think I think,when I just asked myself, like
what is the most obvious, whatis the most straightforward way,
(12:30):
how I would be able to quicklymake a decent living from my
audience that I have now, which,for the people listening in
context, is about you know, 20something, 22,000 email
subscribers, and yeah, no, Ihave people that are reaching
out to me asking me for thisalready.
Yeah, like it is just, it isjust doing that, and so you know
(12:57):
, there is there, is it?
There is like I do have like apart of this is a money thing
where it's like I do have like apretty fat salary working on
Salesforce right now.
You know, mm-hmm, I made somemoney for my exit, but it's not
like never work again.
Money and I there's just a hugegap between what basically zero
(13:24):
and what my current expensesand you know the salary that
supports them are today yeah.
Brian Wang (13:32):
So there's like there's a tension there in terms
of how's that you want to spendyour time, what feels
satisfying to you, and then howdo you make a living from it.
And a lot of that is informedby your current situation in
terms of your current income andcurrent lifestyle, and and
(13:54):
there's some sense that if yougo jump into this next chapter,
whatever that looks like, youwant to both have that feel
satisfying and fun for you andalso address this money thing
like make sure that therethere's some, some element of
that that is satisfied, someneed met there.
(14:16):
That the fair description of it, yeah yeah.
So you talked aboutstraightforward, obvious makes
money.
You listed at least a couple ofthings there.
You listed like coaching.
You listed you described havingan app.
You also talked about having anasset of 20,000 plus
subscribers.
I wonder if you can even justcome up with Two or three other
(14:39):
ideas right off the bat aroundhow you might actually earn,
earn money through this interestthat you have.
Scott Britton (14:47):
Yeah, I mean, other obvious ideas would be,
you know, doing a course, like Igot some type of learning
experience which I've donebefore.
Another one would be likeselling sponsorships of my
newsletter, selling sponsorshipsin my podcast, something I
(15:10):
haven't really explored.
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure I couldcome up with a lot of ideas and
it's honestly an exercise Ihaven't done.
Oh, like I've like, I've beenmore focused on just doing what
I like versus Spending timethinking about what are the
different ways I can make moneyoff of it.
Brian Wang (15:29):
Hmm, yeah, so it sounds like like up until now,
the question of how do I makemoney from this hasn't been
super alive for you.
You haven't really spent a lotof time even investigating it.
Scott Britton (15:43):
Yeah, I had.
You're right, I haven't, andyou know, I've just never been
that interested in money Like it, like it's kind of like.
Can you square that for methough?
Brian Wang (15:55):
Because just now you said I have this nice salary
and you know it's important.
Scott Britton (15:59):
Yeah, I'm interested in what it can do.
But I've never, like I have alot of friends who are like
Hardcore opportunists, like theyare just like, oh, there's a
way to make money off that, cool, I'm gonna fucking do that.
Like there's a you know there'san Eskimo on the side of the
road that wants a snow cone likeI'm gonna start selling Snow
(16:21):
cones, like regardless, if Icare about snow cones, that type
person, right, I've never beenlike that.
You know, it's kind of alwaysbeen more like yo, I want to do
what I want to do and and theactual Financial stuff is an
afterthought.
And you know, first off, I'llacknowledge that's kind of a
(16:44):
luxurious Position to be in.
But yeah, there is a weirdtension there where it's like
that's kind of how I haveoperated.
And then there's sometimeswhere I feel like that gets in
the way of Me Just wanting to.
(17:11):
It's like, yeah, I do want tohave a lot of money, like I,
yeah, I do want to have aconsistent flow of money in, and
so, you know, like there's alittle bit of it, there's little
, a little bit incongruent.
Brian Wang (17:29):
What I hear is that there you have a couple of
different Parts of you operatinghere.
One that is really not thinkingabout money at all, it's just
mostly interested in pursuingThings that it's like, innately
interested in.
And then there's this otherpart of you that does care about
money, that does have a need tohave money come in consistently
, maybe creates some sense ofstability or security.
(17:50):
Right, and they might feel likethey're at odds, but there's at
least a couple of these partsof you that are active here.
Yes, yeah.
So Okay, let's try this.
If you were to have both ofthese parts of you Come at,
arrive at a table where they'rehaving a discussion, I wonder if
(18:11):
we can facilitate some sort ofconversation between those two
parts of you.
I'm down, yeah, yeah.
So who do you want to go firstin the in this conversation?
Scott Britton (18:23):
Let's have the one that is just interested in
doing whatever they want to do.
Brian Wang (18:30):
Okay, great, yeah, so we're.
We're essentially just askingyou to stay at peace.
What does it really want toexpress here?
On the topic of what Scott doeswith this time?
Scott Britton (18:41):
So Would you like me to kind of drop into that
and and go there?
Brian Wang (18:50):
yeah, yeah, let me contact with that cool.
Scott Britton (18:58):
Yeah, it's basically just like.
You don't need to worry aboutmoney and dude, if you just keep
doing the things you love, like, the money will come and then.
So it's an unneeded Concern andit's not required to figure it
(19:21):
out.
No, figure itself out when youtrust.
Hmm.
So the whole exercise of likeWrite out all the ways you can
make money and Like it's justit's fine to do, it's just not
(19:44):
required.
Brian Wang (19:46):
Hmm, so it sounds like this part of you really has
this innate trust that you'llbe able to figure this out.
Scott Britton (19:57):
Yeah, the money will emerge, Uh-huh.
Brian Wang (20:01):
Yeah, and how does that sense of trust sit in your
body?
Can you feel that anywhere?
Scott Britton (20:07):
Yeah, I mean, I just feel a spaciousness.
Brian Wang (20:11):
Great.
So while you're still sittingin that, see if you can make
contact with the other part ofyou that is concerned about
money and how you're going tomake money, and let's check in
with that part of you, yeah.
Scott Britton (20:25):
So, yeah, it's like yeah, dude, but like you
need to like come up with a plan.
You know you want a certainlifestyle, you want to have like
a certain type of house, youwant to do all these things and
(20:47):
like, at a certain point, likeyou just need to like make
decisions about ways to makemoney, mm-hmm, and you need to
embrace your desire to makemoney, hmm.
Brian Wang (21:07):
Like did you notice a feeling, a particular set of
feelings or emotions that areunderneath what this part of you
is saying.
Yeah, it's like a little bit oflike come on dude, like it's
like a little bit impatient Uhyeah, so if you can just allow
that, this feeling of impatienceor some party that's really
wanting to get it figured out,yeah, I mean, I think the
(21:34):
impatience is like why there'saggravation in the first place.
So see if you can speak to thispart of you that's feeling
impatient and just mirror it fora bit.
Just acknowledge that it'sfeeling this way, it's feeling
aggravated, it's really wantingto go.
Just see if you can acknowledgeit for a moment, thanks again.
(22:26):
I see a lot of things happeningon your face as you're touching
(23:11):
this.
I'm curious what you'renoticing.
Scott Britton (23:16):
Yeah, I think when the impatience was
acknowledged and embraced andaccepted there was just a sense
of trust that kind of emerged.
A recognition of the coreemotion that was causing a
(23:48):
disturbance was this impatience.
In my opinion there's just amuch greater sense of ease now
that that's been seen.
Brian Wang (24:03):
Yeah, and just stay with that.
That party that was impatientand just see, is there anything
else that wants you to know inthis space currently?
Yeah, it says I'm sad.
Yeah, see if you can just allowthat.
This party is feeling sad.
See if you can allow yourselfto have that or welcome that.
(24:28):
Right now your face has changed.
I wonder what happened.
Scott Britton (24:41):
Yeah, just some feeling, a sense of warmth,
tenderness, yeah.
Brian Wang (24:48):
You're just allowing all that's emerging to be there
.
Scott Britton (24:57):
Yeah, it's saying I'm sad I haven't found my
thing yet.
Brian Wang (25:02):
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that almost sounds
like it's really aligned withthe first part, that there's a
desire to find your thing, thething that you're really going
to commit to or put yourselfinto.
Scott Britton (25:18):
Yeah, I think it is aligned where the first part
is just do the things you loveand then it will all come
together.
This one's like I want to findthe thing that to make my next
career thing, make a vocationout of, and they're definitely
(25:42):
related, because one's like,dude, you're already doing it,
it just hasn't, it's just likegetting going.
This other one's like doesn'tthink it's happened yet, just
because I haven't started tomake a lot of money from it.
Brian Wang (26:04):
The second part seems to believe that there's
some fusion between you foundyour thing and now it's
generating a bunch of money.
Scott Britton (26:16):
Yeah, it's definitely like oh well, it's
not really a thing until you'remaking a healthy income off of
it.
Brian Wang (26:22):
Yeah, so, given where you are based on that, it
would make sense why it'sfeeling sad.
It's really wanting to havethat and it doesn't feel like
it's had that yet.
Yeah, so what I'm curious aboutis what makes it believe that,
(26:48):
in order for Scott to have foundhis thing, it needs to make a
bunch of money right here andnow.
Scott Britton (26:54):
It says, because otherwise it's just a hobby and
it's not going to pay the bills.
Yeah.
Brian Wang (27:07):
So some sense that it's not legitimate unless it's
paying the bills.
Scott Britton (27:11):
Yeah, how does the first part feel when it
hears that it's kind of thinksit's comical, it's like, yeah,
dude, not yet.
Just wait though.
It's like you don't see thebigger picture due to your
(27:32):
impatience.
Brian Wang (27:35):
So what I hear in that is that actually both parts
value the money part here.
Value the money aspect of yourwork and what you're doing.
The difference is that thefirst part has a knowing that it
will come it might not be heretoday, but it will come and it's
(27:55):
coming and in some sense thesecond part believes that it's
not going to come because it'snot here yet.
Is that an accurate yeah?
Scott Britton (28:05):
I think there's just like the second part's like
like, uh, I can't see the path.
You know what I mean.
Like like it's like becauseit's not here yet.
It's like it's uh, it's having,it's it's struggling.
Brian Wang (28:27):
Yeah, not only is it not here yet, but it doesn't
know how you're gonna get thereyet.
Scott Britton (28:33):
Yeah, I think that.
I think it's unclear yeah.
Brian Wang (28:40):
And so what's the connection between that
uncertainty and the sadness, ifany at all?
Scott Britton (28:49):
Let me ask yeah, I.
Think it's sad because it haslike an expectation that it
should be there already.
It's kind of like I've beendoing all this work and it still
hasn't worked out and it stillhasn't turned into anything and
(29:09):
it feels like it deserves for it.
It should like it should.
It should have kind of deal.
There's an expectation there,hmm.
Brian Wang (29:18):
Yeah, is there any sense of where that expectation
came from?
I?
Scott Britton (29:23):
think just a lifetime of High self
expectations.
And you know, something that'scoming up for me is like just
Seeing lots of people Just likeSpin up things really quickly to
make money.
Brian Wang (29:46):
Uh-huh, and when you see that, what comes up for you
?
Scott Britton (29:51):
Well, how come you can't do that?
Brian Wang (29:55):
Huh, well, that's an interesting question.
I have a sense that you could,if you wanted to.
Yeah.
Scott Britton (30:02):
I have a sense that I could too, but then
there's also this fact that Ihaven't really Mm-hmm and.
Then that causes doubt.
Brian Wang (30:15):
What if you were to tell this part that you haven't
spun up a machine to make abunch of money yet?
Not because you can't, butbecause you simply don't want to
right now?
Scott Britton (30:25):
I'm just gonna say I haven't prioritized this
yet because I've been focusingon a cornerstone of what's to
come.
What happens when you say that?
Just some openness.
Brian Wang (30:40):
So I'm just gonna reflect that for a second.
So you, you have the sense thatif you wanted to go make money,
you could quickly.
You got people reaching out toyou for coaching.
You've got a few other ideasthat probably wouldn't take much
time to come up with, or tocome up with a few different
ideas wouldn't take much time.
(31:01):
You could spin that up.
And yet here you are choosingnot to do that, not because you
can't, but because it's moreimportant for you to focus on
this cornerstone, and then itsounds like that results in some
sense of openness when you sitin that.
Scott Britton (31:17):
Yeah, I think that's right.
I mean, I think it's like IJust feel such a big Calling to
to complete this book, and youknow, that's just what feels so
alive for me right now.
And I think the other part ofme struggles With that because
(31:41):
you know there isn't, there'sjust no guarantees on what that
will become, and you knowthere's there's just there's
concern about like Is that gonnabe anything?
And Like what's that, what'safter that?
(32:03):
You know there's a lot of doubtthat comes up.
Brian Wang (32:05):
Yeah, I can hear that this part really wants it
to turn into somethingsuccessful, brings in money
right, like has you climbing upthe hill?
Scott Britton (32:19):
Yeah, I think so.
Brian Wang (32:20):
Yeah, and that's okay.
It it has its concerns andthat's totally valid, and at the
same time, I hear, like a fewother things that maybe are not
always in the In the front ofyour mind.
There's the knowledge that youcan spin up the money when you
need, and sounds likeimportantly, how Vital this
(32:42):
project is for you, like you'vebeen directing so much of your
energy toward it because it's soalive for you.
Scott Britton (32:50):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it feels like that.
It feels like I'm just likethis is what I need to be doing
right now, and I just know thatdeep down to my bones.
Yeah.
And so you know I don't.
It's almost like I don't feelon a day-to-day basis Like I'm
(33:16):
blocked from doing the thingthat I need to be doing, but
it's kind of just like thisambient noise from that other
part, yeah.
Brian Wang (33:25):
So how do you help this part of you Get in touch
with the trust that the rest ofyour system seems to have?
I think just Let me ask.
Scott Britton (33:41):
It says you need to start showing results, hmm.
Brian Wang (33:47):
Let's just stay curious with that for a moment.
Like what would what would thatlook like specifically to this,
to this part?
Like what would?
What kind of evidence would itreally want to see what's coming
?
Scott Britton (33:57):
up is like A sense that the book is gonna
have some traction, like Likebeta readers, like recommending
it.
Okay, anything else I think itwants.
It wants some validation frommy editor that it's not a
(34:20):
complete piece of shit, which isdefinitely how I felt after I
got my first draft revision, bythe way.
Brian Wang (34:27):
Sure, I hear that the editing process can be kind
of brutal.
It's very humbling, yeah, okay.
So this part of you wants Some,some sense from others that
it's gonna be okay, that it'svalid, that it's valuable, is a
lot of what I hear.
Yeah, great, it gets to havethat word, it gets to have that
(34:53):
need.
And so what's the?
What's the commitment that youwant to make to this part, a
commitment that would feel goodto you?
Scott Britton (35:05):
I think the commitment is that to get this
part to trust.
I think I want to justacknowledge all the positive
signal that I'm getting and seehow that will translate.
(35:28):
I think I actually have gottena lot of positive signal from
sharing it with some people andfor some reason, that's not
translating into like this isgoing to result in something
yeah, like it's almost like itdidn't happen.
Brian Wang (35:53):
Yeah, it's incredibly common for us to
totally skip over the positivesignals or the things that we
could be feeling really gratefulfor, like just skips the system
entirely.
Scott Britton (36:11):
I feel like that's definitely happened to me
yeah.
Brian Wang (36:16):
So for me it sounds like there's actually a
nontrivial amount of evidence ofpeople enjoying this finding
value that's all around you ifyou spend the time to look.
So there's like the looking,and then there's also, from what
I'm hearing, there's a bit ofjust allowing yourself to absorb
(36:37):
it, Like allowing yourself totake it in, like taking the good
and enjoy that.
Scott Britton (36:43):
Yeah.
So that's a pattern of mine isnot just embracing the love, you
know, just like somebody beinglike dude, this is fucking
amazing, like I couldn't put itdown.
Like this is awesome.
And just being like okay, cool,cool, cool, you know.
(37:04):
And moving on to the next thingand stuff, just being like, ah,
fuck, yeah, like yeah, you knowwhat I mean.
Yeah, I'm really justappreciating myself.
Brian Wang (37:18):
Yeah, that sounds like you're starting to land on
some valuable practices movingforward as we start to start to
wrap this.
I heard you talk about lettingin the love appreciation.
Scott Britton (37:39):
Yeah, yeah, like, yeah, like I got it.
I got literally a tweet messagefrom someone that I shared the
book with and did a coachingsession with, and he literally
said I love you, like, thank youso much, like, and I'm just
(38:01):
like you know, I just glossedover it and I was like treating
it like a to do item.
Yeah, you know, to read themessage and respond Right,
instead of just being like, hmm,fuck, yeah, yeah, and so I
think, you know, just opening tothose gifts and experiences is
(38:27):
a big opportunity for me.
Brian Wang (38:30):
Yeah, what I want to encourage you to do, scott, is
to take some time each day, ifyou can, to really take in what
you just described like.
Take in the praise, take in thefeedback and allow yourself to
just enjoy it.
To just go into like, yeah,fuck, yeah, right, just like.
(38:54):
Sit in that, simmer in thatlike, absorb it, rather than
treat it as like that Check youknow, check the box right, send
the email off Right, and thensimmer in that task based mode
where we're just kind of likegoing through everything rather
than letting ourselves sit inthe experience, because it
sounds like there's at least onepart that's like where is it?
(39:16):
We're not feeling like this isworking, and yet there's
actually this evidence that ifyou slow down and really allow
yourself to take it in, it'sthere if you look for it.
Scott Britton (39:27):
I think that's very accurate.
Yeah, yeah, it's very.
I think that's very accurate.
I think that's great advice.
Brian Wang (39:37):
Any final thoughts, reflections here before we start
to close out.
Scott Britton (39:43):
Yeah, I mean, for me it's like the core problem.
The big thing that I got fromthis was that I actually know
what I should be doing and I'mdoing it.
The thing that's causingresistance is impatience, and
the impatience is like stemmingfrom that part of self that
(40:09):
doesn't you know, the feelsworried and concerned and is not
really paying attention to thepositive signal which is
actually there.
So I'm just going to just likehave astute observance of when I
(40:31):
see that being activated andkind of reground in both the
like trust and the actualreality of the like.
Hey, like there is, this islooking promising.
Thank you, dude, awesome.
Brian Wang (40:47):
Thank you Really really good stuff.
I really appreciate youspending the time.
Thank you, scott.
Scott Britton (40:51):
My pleasure, thank you.
Brian Wang (40:54):
I had a lot of fun with Scott in this session and I
think the big reason is becausethis is one of those sessions
that turned out to be much morelike a meditation than a session
where you have a lot of talkingand listening going back and
forth.
If you notice what I was doing,there was a lot of just
noticing what was happening andarising in Scott's experience
and allowing it, embracing itand treating it with curiosity.
(41:16):
And as we did that, there was anatural unfolding process.
In Scott's case, he alreadyfound this part of him that
trusted in himself and trustedin his ability to create a
business out of the work that hewas doing.
But then he noticed that therewas that scared, impatient and
sad part of him, the one thatwas saying I want the results
now and I don't really see thepath forward and I'm feeling
(41:37):
really agitated about that.
And all I was doing in thissession as a coach was
encouraging Scott and invitinghim to notice what was arising
in his emotional experience andthen embracing that and seeing
what it needed to express andmirroring it back and welcoming
it even further.
And what's really amazing aboutthat process of just noticing
(41:57):
and allowing the emotionalexperience, to deepen further,
to get further curious, toinvite it in.
There's a natural unfoldingthat occurs, there's a wisdom
that emerges when we're able tobe still and silent long enough
to listen to what's in there,and so this is why this session
is a little bit strange.
Right, you don't see a lothappening on the surface,
(42:17):
because so much of the work isbeing done underneath the
surface.
For Scott, I think one of thebig takeaways is how easy it is
to miss all the positive signalthat you are receiving from the
world as a product of your work.
And so, for Scott, he reallyneeds to pay attention to what
are the signals that he'sgetting from people around him
and can he allow himself to takethat in, because that's a huge
(42:38):
amount of motivation and fuelfor him to keep going and to
tend to that natural fear, thatnatural impatience that he has
in him, and remind that part ofhim that, hey, we are on the
path and the world is actuallysending a signal that is
encouraging us, and we need topay attention to that.
We need to put our focus onthat rather than the feeling
that we're lacking something.
It's okay to feel that, but wedon't want that perspective to
(43:00):
be all that we're payingattention to.
So I hope this is helpful foryou as well.
How often are you operating froma place of fear, from
impatience, from frustrationthat you're not quite where you
want to be, and having that fuelof story that nothing is
working.
Yet If you pause to payattention and see where things
are perhaps already working andallowing yourself to appreciate
that and enjoy that, you mightcome to find a really powerful
(43:21):
source of motivation to carryyou forward.
Thanks for listening toSlowdown to Speed Up.
If you enjoyed this episode,please rate it in your favorite
podcasting app and give it alike and subscribe.
And if you're a founder whowould like to reach the next
level through coaching, pleasereach out to me at
dashingleadershipcom.
Follow your passion and the money will come.
Sounds great, but is it true?
What if your passion neverappears in the builds?
What if you turn your passioninto a job and then you end up
hating it?
Turning your deep passion intoa business is scary as hell.
There's a tension between doingwhat you love and the practical
need to make money.
That tension is exactly what weexplore in a recent coaching
session with Scott Britton.
(00:20):
Scott is the co-founder of acompany called Troops, which he
sold to Salesforce in 2022.
Scott is also a writer, apodcaster and an overall
explorer of human evolution andconsciousness.
In our session, he starts byasking whether he should coach
others as a way to make moneyfrom his passion, but then we
quickly find that he genuinelydoesn't want that.
That leads us to greatercontact with two parts of Scott
(00:41):
the one who trusts in his futureand the other who worries about
making money.
The rest of our session iseffectively a facilitated
conversation between these twointernal parts.
This is a fun one.
Enjoy.
Hey, scott, it's great to seeyou.
How are you doing today?
Scott Britton (00:54):
Brian, I'm good man.
I'm stoked to be here.
Brian Wang (00:57):
I am really, really excited to be here with you
today.
I'm just going to intro youreal quick for the audience.
Scott and I have we've knowneach other geez, maybe over a
decade now.
We met back in New York when wewere both building startups in
the days of WeWork, the fervorof all the other companies that
(01:19):
were rising up.
During that time, scott, youfounded this great company
called Troops, built it for anumber of years.
You sold it to SalesforceRecently.
You've been on an amazingjourney of just exploring
consciousness, your ownconsciousness, and just the
nature of human consciousnessand its evolution.
You've got this podcast whereyou explore that topic.
(01:40):
I know you to be someone who isvery, very curious and
introspective and wanting justto dig into all the little nooks
and crannies of humanexperience, and so I'm just
delighted to be here with youtoday and just to spend a
session with you and just seewhat's up.
Scott Britton (01:59):
Thanks, man.
I'm honored to be here andexcited about what we'll
discover.
Brian Wang (02:08):
Yeah, yeah.
So we talked about this alittle bit, but tell me a little
bit about you wanting to spendthe time together.
You've been having a few thingscome up for you lately.
Fill me in, fill the audiencein.
Scott Britton (02:20):
Yeah.
So just to set the context, so,as Brian mentioned, kind of
coming from the venture startup,venture-back startup world did
that.
My passion and interest isdefinitely in human
transformation and humanevolution, and consciousness is
(02:41):
kind of what I believe iscentral to that.
And so, yeah, I've been kind ofin my post-exit work at the big
company that bought us FaZe.
Kind of just my approach withmy career has been like all
(03:05):
right, I'm just going to do thethings that feel good and feel
interesting, and good thingswill happen.
And so I've been doing a lot ofcontent creation.
I've been working on a book, Ihave a podcast and doing a
newsletter, and all that's great.
At some point, though, I'm goingto have to actually make money
(03:27):
in a vocation out of thesethings, and so that's something
that's kind of top of mind.
For me is like what does thisevolve into that allows me to
support my family and not justlike rip through my bank account
?
And one obvious path that hasbeen percolate that people in
(03:50):
the world of humantransformation, as Brian knows,
is coaching, is working withpeople one-on-one, and I've
gotten a lot of I've started toget people reaching out to me
about doing that, and it's likea very obvious, it's like a
no-brainer for me.
It's in terms of, like,creating a business, but I feel
(04:15):
just a lot of resistance towardsit and I it's just interesting
to me because I feel like I wantto help people and I love and
I'm very passionate about this,but I also just just don't, I'm
not like embracing with openarms these opportunities that
(04:38):
come to me and I think that'sinteresting to explore.
Brian Wang (04:44):
Yeah, so it's awesome that you are aware that
you're noticing that resistance,that that sounds like it's
actually very easy to spot.
The first question I want toask you, though, Scott, is when
because you talked aboutcoaching and being a no-brainer
right, it's the obvious choice.
I'm curious for you just to getus going here, when you think
(05:08):
about working with people inthat capacity, how much do you
actually want that?
Scott Britton (05:13):
I don't know that I do Like there's a weird
tension there where I feel likelike what I love, what I know I
do love doing, is I lovecreating.
Like I love I love writing, Ilove codifying ideas and I get a
(05:35):
lot of energy from that andpart of the like.
One of the things that came uprecently was I'm working with
this editor and I'm writing thisbook and it's about a lot of
this stuff and he's like well,who are you to like?
(05:57):
Are you like who are like yourexperience?
Is your experience right?
Like you're kind of talkinglike this is like a broad
concept, but like you reallyaren't like some type of person
that works, other people thatcan make that claim, and yeah,
that was like huh, okay, well,that's interesting.
(06:23):
You know that that kind of gaveme a nudge in the like you
should get other, you should,you should work with other
people, right, and I know shouldis a word to pay attention to,
yeah and and so.
So yeah, I'd say like it's notmy natural inclination, but it
(06:43):
also seems like it makes mewonder if, to be credible in
some of these things that I'mtrying to do, whether working
with people outside myself is,is actually an important thing
and so that that that kind of isthe thing that's come up for,
coming up for me yeah.
Brian Wang (07:06):
So there's a few things coming up as I listen to
that one is that right off thebat, when I asked you how much
you actually want to do that,pretty much instantly, I don't
actually want to was what I tookfrom your response.
And then there was issue aroundcredibility.
So you have this other voicethat's saying Scott, I don't
think you're credible enough inorder to build that.
(07:27):
I think you need to go workwith some other people and, you
know, build some evidence ortest, test this sort of stuff
out and what I'm.
I don't know a lot of theintimate details of your
creative process and the writingthat you're putting out, but I
I do know that there are peoplewho read it and that you get
(07:48):
into dialogue with.
So I'm wondering to what extentare you already testing these
ideas out with people out inpublic?
Scott Britton (07:57):
it's a very valid point.
I think.
I think I am, you know, I thinkI am doing that already yeah,
so you have some evidence thatyou're already doing that.
Brian Wang (08:14):
Tell me a little bit more about this thing, about
credibility.
How does this whole idea sitwith you?
The idea of credibility yeah, Imean, just a minute ago you
were talking about how it feelslike you're not credible enough
quote unquote in order to go putyour book out or work in your
book.
Scott Britton (08:29):
Well, I can tell you that immediately, when I got
that feedback, I got defensive.
Can you say more about that?
Yeah, I was like I was like,well, I'm just like I did.
I did, you know, I taught thiscourse.
That was like a 60 personexperience and it was like, well
(08:50):
, I did this right and like, so,like I learned from that and
like, and I was like you know,these ideas are are ancient,
like these ideas have beenaround for a very long time.
I'm just kind of grounding themin a modern context and and so
like, why would I need toestablish credibility for
something?
That's kind of timeless wisdom?
(09:11):
And and so I got defensive.
I would say, and the editorspoint was I'm not actually
challenging you, I'm puttingmyself in the reader's shoes and
saying why should I believe you?
Brian Wang (09:29):
hmm, yeah.
So I'm curious then, if arandom let's say, you put your
book out and then you put outthese ideas that you've been
working through yourself, andour reader comes up to you and
says Scott, I read your book,like why should I believe this
stuff in here?
Like what?
What would be your initialreaction?
Scott Britton (09:48):
I think I would be like look, dude, I'm just
sharing my experience and takeit or leave it.
You know, I mean yeah, likeyeah, if you find, if you find
it interesting or resonates likecool, experiment with it your
own life.
If you don't cool, call itwhatever you want.
I think that's.
Brian Wang (10:11):
I think that would be my response yeah, and, by the
way, thanks for buying the book.
Yeah, but so so yeah.
So so you're gonna encounterpeople who are skeptical, some
people who might think, yeah,this isn't for me or this
doesn't make any sense, and yourresponse to that, it sounds
like, is it may not resonatewith you, but find out for
(10:32):
yourself, is it was what I'mhearing you say mm-hmm yes, so
let's go back to this wholething around.
I'm gonna loop quite a ways back.
You talked about how coachingis like this obvious, that the
quote-unquote obvious thing,particularly when it comes to,
you know, making career orliving out of the work that
(10:54):
you're doing.
Right?
Scott Britton (10:56):
yeah, I think.
I think that's like a moneything where it's like very, it's
like, okay, I'm doing all thesethings right now.
I'm making no money off of it,and it's not that there's an a
path to money.
I just know that like a veryeasy I want to say easy but like
(11:20):
a very straightforward way tostart to build a meaningful
income from.
That isn't it is in this spherethat I'm in.
Is coaching people like it'sjust a very obvious business
relative to something like oh,I'm going to build this app,
(11:45):
that's like a brand new conceptand I guess I could.
You know, I could do that aswell too.
I guess I there are certainly.
That is kind of obvious nowthat I say it out loud, that I
can do that.
But like I don't know that youknow the venture model something
(12:06):
that is immediately appealingto me either is that the path
that you would have to take ifyou were to follow that, that
impulse?
probably not.
Hmm, I think, I think I think,when I just asked myself, like
what is the most obvious, whatis the most straightforward way,
(12:30):
how I would be able to quicklymake a decent living from my
audience that I have now, which,for the people listening in
context, is about you know, 20something, 22,000 email
subscribers, and yeah, no, Ihave people that are reaching
out to me asking me for thisalready.
Yeah, like it is just, it isjust doing that, and so you know
(12:57):
, there is there, is it?
There is like I do have like apart of this is a money thing
where it's like I do have like apretty fat salary working on
Salesforce right now.
You know, mm-hmm, I made somemoney for my exit, but it's not
like never work again.
Money and I there's just a hugegap between what basically zero
(13:24):
and what my current expensesand you know the salary that
supports them are today yeah.
Brian Wang (13:32):
So there's like there's a tension there in terms
of how's that you want to spendyour time, what feels
satisfying to you, and then howdo you make a living from it.
And a lot of that is informedby your current situation in
terms of your current income andcurrent lifestyle, and and
(13:54):
there's some sense that if yougo jump into this next chapter,
whatever that looks like, youwant to both have that feel
satisfying and fun for you andalso address this money thing
like make sure that therethere's some, some element of
that that is satisfied, someneed met there.
(14:16):
That the fair description of it, yeah yeah.
So you talked aboutstraightforward, obvious makes
money.
You listed at least a couple ofthings there.
You listed like coaching.
You listed you described havingan app.
You also talked about having anasset of 20,000 plus
subscribers.
I wonder if you can even justcome up with Two or three other
(14:39):
ideas right off the bat aroundhow you might actually earn,
earn money through this interestthat you have.
Scott Britton (14:47):
Yeah, I mean, other obvious ideas would be,
you know, doing a course, like Igot some type of learning
experience which I've donebefore.
Another one would be likeselling sponsorships of my
newsletter, selling sponsorshipsin my podcast, something I
(15:10):
haven't really explored.
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure I couldcome up with a lot of ideas and
it's honestly an exercise Ihaven't done.
Oh, like I've like, I've beenmore focused on just doing what
I like versus Spending timethinking about what are the
different ways I can make moneyoff of it.
Brian Wang (15:29):
Hmm, yeah, so it sounds like like up until now,
the question of how do I makemoney from this hasn't been
super alive for you.
You haven't really spent a lotof time even investigating it.
Scott Britton (15:43):
Yeah, I had.
You're right, I haven't, andyou know, I've just never been
that interested in money Like it, like it's kind of like.
Can you square that for methough?
Brian Wang (15:55):
Because just now you said I have this nice salary
and you know it's important.
Scott Britton (15:59):
Yeah, I'm interested in what it can do.
But I've never, like I have alot of friends who are like
Hardcore opportunists, like theyare just like, oh, there's a
way to make money off that, cool, I'm gonna fucking do that.
Like there's a you know there'san Eskimo on the side of the
road that wants a snow cone likeI'm gonna start selling Snow
(16:21):
cones, like regardless, if Icare about snow cones, that type
person, right, I've never beenlike that.
You know, it's kind of alwaysbeen more like yo, I want to do
what I want to do and and theactual Financial stuff is an
afterthought.
And you know, first off, I'llacknowledge that's kind of a
(16:44):
luxurious Position to be in.
But yeah, there is a weirdtension there where it's like
that's kind of how I haveoperated.
And then there's sometimeswhere I feel like that gets in
the way of Me Just wanting to.
(17:11):
It's like, yeah, I do want tohave a lot of money, like I,
yeah, I do want to have aconsistent flow of money in, and
so, you know, like there's alittle bit of it, there's little
, a little bit incongruent.
Brian Wang (17:29):
What I hear is that there you have a couple of
different Parts of you operatinghere.
One that is really not thinkingabout money at all, it's just
mostly interested in pursuingThings that it's like, innately
interested in.
And then there's this otherpart of you that does care about
money, that does have a need tohave money come in consistently
, maybe creates some sense ofstability or security.
(17:50):
Right, and they might feel likethey're at odds, but there's at
least a couple of these partsof you that are active here.
Yes, yeah.
So Okay, let's try this.
If you were to have both ofthese parts of you Come at,
arrive at a table where they'rehaving a discussion, I wonder if
(18:11):
we can facilitate some sort ofconversation between those two
parts of you.
I'm down, yeah, yeah.
So who do you want to go firstin the in this conversation?
Scott Britton (18:23):
Let's have the one that is just interested in
doing whatever they want to do.
Brian Wang (18:30):
Okay, great, yeah, so we're.
We're essentially just askingyou to stay at peace.
What does it really want toexpress here?
On the topic of what Scott doeswith this time?
Scott Britton (18:41):
So Would you like me to kind of drop into that
and and go there?
Brian Wang (18:50):
yeah, yeah, let me contact with that cool.
Scott Britton (18:58):
Yeah, it's basically just like.
You don't need to worry aboutmoney and dude, if you just keep
doing the things you love, like, the money will come and then.
So it's an unneeded Concern andit's not required to figure it
(19:21):
out.
No, figure itself out when youtrust.
Hmm.
So the whole exercise of likeWrite out all the ways you can
make money and Like it's justit's fine to do, it's just not
(19:44):
required.
Brian Wang (19:46):
Hmm, so it sounds like this part of you really has
this innate trust that you'llbe able to figure this out.
Scott Britton (19:57):
Yeah, the money will emerge, Uh-huh.
Brian Wang (20:01):
Yeah, and how does that sense of trust sit in your
body?
Can you feel that anywhere?
Scott Britton (20:07):
Yeah, I mean, I just feel a spaciousness.
Brian Wang (20:11):
Great.
So while you're still sittingin that, see if you can make
contact with the other part ofyou that is concerned about
money and how you're going tomake money, and let's check in
with that part of you, yeah.
Scott Britton (20:25):
So, yeah, it's like yeah, dude, but like you
need to like come up with a plan.
You know you want a certainlifestyle, you want to have like
a certain type of house, youwant to do all these things and
(20:47):
like, at a certain point, likeyou just need to like make
decisions about ways to makemoney, mm-hmm, and you need to
embrace your desire to makemoney, hmm.
Brian Wang (21:07):
Like did you notice a feeling, a particular set of
feelings or emotions that areunderneath what this part of you
is saying.
Yeah, it's like a little bit oflike come on dude, like it's
like a little bit impatient Uhyeah, so if you can just allow
that, this feeling of impatienceor some party that's really
wanting to get it figured out,yeah, I mean, I think the
(21:34):
impatience is like why there'saggravation in the first place.
So see if you can speak to thispart of you that's feeling
impatient and just mirror it fora bit.
Just acknowledge that it'sfeeling this way, it's feeling
aggravated, it's really wantingto go.
Just see if you can acknowledgeit for a moment, thanks again.
(22:26):
I see a lot of things happeningon your face as you're touching
(23:11):
this.
I'm curious what you'renoticing.
Scott Britton (23:16):
Yeah, I think when the impatience was
acknowledged and embraced andaccepted there was just a sense
of trust that kind of emerged.
A recognition of the coreemotion that was causing a
(23:48):
disturbance was this impatience.
In my opinion there's just amuch greater sense of ease now
that that's been seen.
Brian Wang (24:03):
Yeah, and just stay with that.
That party that was impatientand just see, is there anything
else that wants you to know inthis space currently?
Yeah, it says I'm sad.
Yeah, see if you can just allowthat.
This party is feeling sad.
See if you can allow yourselfto have that or welcome that.
(24:28):
Right now your face has changed.
I wonder what happened.
Scott Britton (24:41):
Yeah, just some feeling, a sense of warmth,
tenderness, yeah.
Brian Wang (24:48):
You're just allowing all that's emerging to be there
.
Scott Britton (24:57):
Yeah, it's saying I'm sad I haven't found my
thing yet.
Brian Wang (25:02):
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that almost sounds
like it's really aligned withthe first part, that there's a
desire to find your thing, thething that you're really going
to commit to or put yourselfinto.
Scott Britton (25:18):
Yeah, I think it is aligned where the first part
is just do the things you loveand then it will all come
together.
This one's like I want to findthe thing that to make my next
career thing, make a vocationout of, and they're definitely
(25:42):
related, because one's like,dude, you're already doing it,
it just hasn't, it's just likegetting going.
This other one's like doesn'tthink it's happened yet, just
because I haven't started tomake a lot of money from it.
Brian Wang (26:04):
The second part seems to believe that there's
some fusion between you foundyour thing and now it's
generating a bunch of money.
Scott Britton (26:16):
Yeah, it's definitely like oh well, it's
not really a thing until you'remaking a healthy income off of
it.
Brian Wang (26:22):
Yeah, so, given where you are based on that, it
would make sense why it'sfeeling sad.
It's really wanting to havethat and it doesn't feel like
it's had that yet.
Yeah, so what I'm curious aboutis what makes it believe that,
(26:48):
in order for Scott to have foundhis thing, it needs to make a
bunch of money right here andnow.
Scott Britton (26:54):
It says, because otherwise it's just a hobby and
it's not going to pay the bills.
Yeah.
Brian Wang (27:07):
So some sense that it's not legitimate unless it's
paying the bills.
Scott Britton (27:11):
Yeah, how does the first part feel when it
hears that it's kind of thinksit's comical, it's like, yeah,
dude, not yet.
Just wait though.
It's like you don't see thebigger picture due to your
(27:32):
impatience.
Brian Wang (27:35):
So what I hear in that is that actually both parts
value the money part here.
Value the money aspect of yourwork and what you're doing.
The difference is that thefirst part has a knowing that it
will come it might not be heretoday, but it will come and it's
(27:55):
coming and in some sense thesecond part believes that it's
not going to come because it'snot here yet.
Is that an accurate yeah?
Scott Britton (28:05):
I think there's just like the second part's like
like, uh, I can't see the path.
You know what I mean.
Like like it's like becauseit's not here yet.
It's like it's uh, it's having,it's it's struggling.
Brian Wang (28:27):
Yeah, not only is it not here yet, but it doesn't
know how you're gonna get thereyet.
Scott Britton (28:33):
Yeah, I think that.
I think it's unclear yeah.
Brian Wang (28:40):
And so what's the connection between that
uncertainty and the sadness, ifany at all?
Scott Britton (28:49):
Let me ask yeah, I.
Think it's sad because it haslike an expectation that it
should be there already.
It's kind of like I've beendoing all this work and it still
hasn't worked out and it stillhasn't turned into anything and
(29:09):
it feels like it deserves for it.
It should like it should.
It should have kind of deal.
There's an expectation there,hmm.
Brian Wang (29:18):
Yeah, is there any sense of where that expectation
came from?
I?
Scott Britton (29:23):
think just a lifetime of High self
expectations.
And you know, something that'scoming up for me is like just
Seeing lots of people Just likeSpin up things really quickly to
make money.
Brian Wang (29:46):
Uh-huh, and when you see that, what comes up for you
?
Scott Britton (29:51):
Well, how come you can't do that?
Brian Wang (29:55):
Huh, well, that's an interesting question.
I have a sense that you could,if you wanted to.
Yeah.
Scott Britton (30:02):
I have a sense that I could too, but then
there's also this fact that Ihaven't really Mm-hmm and.
Then that causes doubt.
Brian Wang (30:15):
What if you were to tell this part that you haven't
spun up a machine to make abunch of money yet?
Not because you can't, butbecause you simply don't want to
right now?
Scott Britton (30:25):
I'm just gonna say I haven't prioritized this
yet because I've been focusingon a cornerstone of what's to
come.
What happens when you say that?
Just some openness.
Brian Wang (30:40):
So I'm just gonna reflect that for a second.
So you, you have the sense thatif you wanted to go make money,
you could quickly.
You got people reaching out toyou for coaching.
You've got a few other ideasthat probably wouldn't take much
time to come up with, or tocome up with a few different
ideas wouldn't take much time.
(31:01):
You could spin that up.
And yet here you are choosingnot to do that, not because you
can't, but because it's moreimportant for you to focus on
this cornerstone, and then itsounds like that results in some
sense of openness when you sitin that.
Scott Britton (31:17):
Yeah, I think that's right.
I mean, I think it's like IJust feel such a big Calling to
to complete this book, and youknow, that's just what feels so
alive for me right now.
And I think the other part ofme struggles With that because
(31:41):
you know there isn't, there'sjust no guarantees on what that
will become, and you knowthere's there's just there's
concern about like Is that gonnabe anything?
And Like what's that, what'safter that?
(32:03):
You know there's a lot of doubtthat comes up.
Brian Wang (32:05):
Yeah, I can hear that this part really wants it
to turn into somethingsuccessful, brings in money
right, like has you climbing upthe hill?
Scott Britton (32:19):
Yeah, I think so.
Brian Wang (32:20):
Yeah, and that's okay.
It it has its concerns andthat's totally valid, and at the
same time, I hear, like a fewother things that maybe are not
always in the In the front ofyour mind.
There's the knowledge that youcan spin up the money when you
need, and sounds likeimportantly, how Vital this
(32:42):
project is for you, like you'vebeen directing so much of your
energy toward it because it's soalive for you.
Scott Britton (32:50):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it feels like that.
It feels like I'm just likethis is what I need to be doing
right now, and I just know thatdeep down to my bones.
Yeah.
And so you know I don't.
It's almost like I don't feelon a day-to-day basis Like I'm
(33:16):
blocked from doing the thingthat I need to be doing, but
it's kind of just like thisambient noise from that other
part, yeah.
Brian Wang (33:25):
So how do you help this part of you Get in touch
with the trust that the rest ofyour system seems to have?
I think just Let me ask.
Scott Britton (33:41):
It says you need to start showing results, hmm.
Brian Wang (33:47):
Let's just stay curious with that for a moment.
Like what would what would thatlook like specifically to this,
to this part?
Like what would?
What kind of evidence would itreally want to see what's coming
?
Scott Britton (33:57):
up is like A sense that the book is gonna
have some traction, like Likebeta readers, like recommending
it.
Okay, anything else I think itwants.
It wants some validation frommy editor that it's not a
(34:20):
complete piece of shit, which isdefinitely how I felt after I
got my first draft revision, bythe way.
Brian Wang (34:27):
Sure, I hear that the editing process can be kind
of brutal.
It's very humbling, yeah, okay.
So this part of you wants Some,some sense from others that
it's gonna be okay, that it'svalid, that it's valuable, is a
lot of what I hear.
Yeah, great, it gets to havethat word, it gets to have that
(34:53):
need.
And so what's the?
What's the commitment that youwant to make to this part, a
commitment that would feel goodto you?
Scott Britton (35:05):
I think the commitment is that to get this
part to trust.
I think I want to justacknowledge all the positive
signal that I'm getting and seehow that will translate.
(35:28):
I think I actually have gottena lot of positive signal from
sharing it with some people andfor some reason, that's not
translating into like this isgoing to result in something
yeah, like it's almost like itdidn't happen.
Brian Wang (35:53):
Yeah, it's incredibly common for us to
totally skip over the positivesignals or the things that we
could be feeling really gratefulfor, like just skips the system
entirely.
Scott Britton (36:11):
I feel like that's definitely happened to me
yeah.
Brian Wang (36:16):
So for me it sounds like there's actually a
nontrivial amount of evidence ofpeople enjoying this finding
value that's all around you ifyou spend the time to look.
So there's like the looking,and then there's also, from what
I'm hearing, there's a bit ofjust allowing yourself to absorb
(36:37):
it, Like allowing yourself totake it in, like taking the good
and enjoy that.
Scott Britton (36:43):
Yeah.
So that's a pattern of mine isnot just embracing the love, you
know, just like somebody beinglike dude, this is fucking
amazing, like I couldn't put itdown.
Like this is awesome.
And just being like okay, cool,cool, cool, you know.
(37:04):
And moving on to the next thingand stuff, just being like, ah,
fuck, yeah, like yeah, you knowwhat I mean.
Yeah, I'm really justappreciating myself.
Brian Wang (37:18):
Yeah, that sounds like you're starting to land on
some valuable practices movingforward as we start to start to
wrap this.
I heard you talk about lettingin the love appreciation.
Scott Britton (37:39):
Yeah, yeah, like, yeah, like I got it.
I got literally a tweet messagefrom someone that I shared the
book with and did a coachingsession with, and he literally
said I love you, like, thank youso much, like, and I'm just
(38:01):
like you know, I just glossedover it and I was like treating
it like a to do item.
Yeah, you know, to read themessage and respond Right,
instead of just being like, hmm,fuck, yeah, yeah, and so I
think, you know, just opening tothose gifts and experiences is
(38:27):
a big opportunity for me.
Brian Wang (38:30):
Yeah, what I want to encourage you to do, scott, is
to take some time each day, ifyou can, to really take in what
you just described like.
Take in the praise, take in thefeedback and allow yourself to
just enjoy it.
To just go into like, yeah,fuck, yeah, right, just like.
(38:54):
Sit in that, simmer in thatlike, absorb it, rather than
treat it as like that Check youknow, check the box right, send
the email off Right, and thensimmer in that task based mode
where we're just kind of likegoing through everything rather
than letting ourselves sit inthe experience, because it
sounds like there's at least onepart that's like where is it?
(39:16):
We're not feeling like this isworking, and yet there's
actually this evidence that ifyou slow down and really allow
yourself to take it in, it'sthere if you look for it.
Scott Britton (39:27):
I think that's very accurate.
Yeah, yeah, it's very.
I think that's very accurate.
I think that's great advice.
Brian Wang (39:37):
Any final thoughts, reflections here before we start
to close out.
Scott Britton (39:43):
Yeah, I mean, for me it's like the core problem.
The big thing that I got fromthis was that I actually know
what I should be doing and I'mdoing it.
The thing that's causingresistance is impatience, and
the impatience is like stemmingfrom that part of self that
(40:09):
doesn't you know, the feelsworried and concerned and is not
really paying attention to thepositive signal which is
actually there.
So I'm just going to just likehave astute observance of when I
(40:31):
see that being activated andkind of reground in both the
like trust and the actualreality of the like.
Hey, like there is, this islooking promising.
Thank you, dude, awesome.
Brian Wang (40:47):
Thank you Really really good stuff.
I really appreciate youspending the time.
Thank you, scott.
Scott Britton (40:51):
My pleasure, thank you.
Brian Wang (40:54):
I had a lot of fun with Scott in this session and I
think the big reason is becausethis is one of those sessions
that turned out to be much morelike a meditation than a session
where you have a lot of talkingand listening going back and
forth.
If you notice what I was doing,there was a lot of just
noticing what was happening andarising in Scott's experience
and allowing it, embracing itand treating it with curiosity.
(41:16):
And as we did that, there was anatural unfolding process.
In Scott's case, he alreadyfound this part of him that
trusted in himself and trustedin his ability to create a
business out of the work that hewas doing.
But then he noticed that therewas that scared, impatient and
sad part of him, the one thatwas saying I want the results
now and I don't really see thepath forward and I'm feeling
(41:37):
really agitated about that.
And all I was doing in thissession as a coach was
encouraging Scott and invitinghim to notice what was arising
in his emotional experience andthen embracing that and seeing
what it needed to express andmirroring it back and welcoming
it even further.
And what's really amazing aboutthat process of just noticing
(41:57):
and allowing the emotionalexperience, to deepen further,
to get further curious, toinvite it in.
There's a natural unfoldingthat occurs, there's a wisdom
that emerges when we're able tobe still and silent long enough
to listen to what's in there,and so this is why this session
is a little bit strange.
Right, you don't see a lothappening on the surface,
(42:17):
because so much of the work isbeing done underneath the
surface.
For Scott, I think one of thebig takeaways is how easy it is
to miss all the positive signalthat you are receiving from the
world as a product of your work.
And so, for Scott, he reallyneeds to pay attention to what
are the signals that he'sgetting from people around him
and can he allow himself to takethat in, because that's a huge
(42:38):
amount of motivation and fuelfor him to keep going and to
tend to that natural fear, thatnatural impatience that he has
in him, and remind that part ofhim that, hey, we are on the
path and the world is actuallysending a signal that is
encouraging us, and we need topay attention to that.
We need to put our focus onthat rather than the feeling
that we're lacking something.
It's okay to feel that, but wedon't want that perspective to
(43:00):
be all that we're payingattention to.
So I hope this is helpful foryou as well.
How often are you operating froma place of fear, from
impatience, from frustrationthat you're not quite where you
want to be, and having that fuelof story that nothing is
working.
Yet If you pause to payattention and see where things
are perhaps already working andallowing yourself to appreciate
that and enjoy that, you mightcome to find a really powerful
(43:21):
source of motivation to carryyou forward.
Thanks for listening toSlowdown to Speed Up.
If you enjoyed this episode,please rate it in your favorite
podcasting app and give it alike and subscribe.
And if you're a founder whowould like to reach the next
level through coaching, pleasereach out to me at
dashingleadershipcom.
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