August 8, 2024 • 26 mins
Ever wondered how to create a truly balanced and fulfilling life? Join us on The Bender Continues podcast as we embark on our transformative Passion Project series, where we promise to unlock actionable insights across six fundamental areas: physical health, mental health, relationships, work, money, and spirituality. This episode marks a pivotal moment for us as we reflect on our journey, express deep gratitude to our unwavering supporters, and introduce a new direction inspired by John Krasinski's "Some Good News." Together, we celebrate friendship, personal growth, and resilience through life's challenges, starting with meaningful conversations that bring positivity into every aspect of our lives.
In this milestone episode celebrating over 40 episodes, we dive into the heart of the Passion Project, emphasizing the importance of actionable strategies in areas like nutrition, money management, and spiritual growth. We acknowledge our evolution and commitment to learning alongside our audience, even when it means tackling uncomfortable topics. As we aim to foster deeper connections and promote a culture of appreciation, we invite you to join us on this journey of self-awareness, self-development, and spreading positivity. Let’s create a ripple effect of positive change together, ensuring every listener walks away with practical advice and a renewed sense of purpose.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jonny Strahl (00:09):
Welcome to the Bender Continues podcast.
Today marks a significant daywith much excitement and
optimism as we announce theinflection point in the podcast
direction.
We are pivoting for a goodreason.
A year ago, four co-hosts hereventured into creating a storage
unit, which quickly pivoted tothe Bender Continues podcast.
(00:30):
During this journey we realizedour vision, our structure and
ultimate goal for this podcastlacks significant clarity.
Ryan Selimos (00:39):
Nonetheless, one significant aspect remained Our
shared desire to craft a podcastcentered around our friendship.
Our personal growth, overcomingadversity and spreading good
vibes has remained, but thejourney has demanded immense
sacrifice from all of ourperspectives in effort, and yet
(01:02):
we wouldn't trade it for a thing.
We extend our gratitude to ourfriends, family, followers,
subscribers and weekly listenersfor joining us on this ride.
You've been an integral part ofour journey and we promise that
this is just the beginning forwhat we have.
James LaGamma (01:18):
The Bender Continues stems from an ongoing
struggle or journey through thehighs and the lows of life.
It suggests that, despitefacing challenges or setbacks,
individuals persist in theirpursuits of personal growth,
fulfillment and purpose.
Just as a bender involves acontinuous series of indulgences
(01:40):
or challenges, life presents aconstant stream of experiences,
both positive and negative.
Kenny Massa (01:48):
TBC the Bender continues.
It encapsulates the resilienceand determination to navigate
through these experiences, tolearn from them and to continue
striving towards a meaningfuland fulfilling life, despite the
obstacles encountered along theway.
A special shout out to ourbiggest supporters, our wives
(02:13):
Lydia, patty, brea, go Canes andMorgan.
Your unwavering support andencouragement has been
invaluable.
Your unwavering support andencouragement has been
invaluable.
Thank you so much for allowingus to embark on this adventure
and for being our rocksthroughout.
Jonny Strahl (02:32):
So how did we get here and what are we doing?
We're excited to announce ournewest series called the Passion
Project.
Hey, so what exactly is thePassion Project?
Very quickly, in eachinstallment, we will sit down
for insightful conversationswith expert doctors and
professionals who specialize inspecific areas we're looking to
(02:54):
explore.
Kenny Massa (02:56):
Crafting the framework for our Passion
Project series involved a deepdive into what truly matters in
our lives.
We wanted to create a holisticapproach that encompasses the
key pillars of the humanexperience.
During this collaboration, weidentified six fundamental areas
that touch upon every aspect ofour existence.
James LaGamma (03:21):
So the first one that we have is physical health.
This one's actually one of mymost passionate.
However, I do want to dive indeeper into all the others,
because I feel like this is oneof focus for me.
That's been like this for awhile sleep, dealing with stress
(03:47):
.
These are the kind of thingsthat we're going to uncover and
kind of peel back the layers onand see what we can get from
this moving forward.
Next is mental health.
This is probably one that I'vebeen looking into more recently.
I think we all have a passionfor mental health, but there's a
lot of unknowns, so I thinkthis is a big one.
We're going to learn a lot fromCultivating awareness on your
(04:08):
feelings, your emotions,reactions to certain situations,
your skills, meditation,affirmations a lot of different
factors where we're going todive way deep into these two
areas physical health and mentalhealth.
Kenny Massa (04:27):
Relationships, man of the people, it's my favorite.
You know, we're in a time nowwhere the human interactions,
they're almost a struggle.
You know, communication it'sharder than ever.
We're so into ourselvestechnology that we lose you know
(04:49):
that human experience and we'rereally going to touch on human
connection, family, friends,relationships, romantic
relationships, just the overallnurturing of that and how vital
it is for happiness, forfulfillment, but also for our
(05:09):
future existence.
And then also work.
I mean this one.
We all, we've talked about it.
It affects every single personout there.
You know, for a lot of us, workit's a paycheck right.
It's a place where we spend 40hours paycheck right.
It's a place where we spend 40hours, eight hours a day, 40
hours a week.
We spend time at work when wecould be with families, friends.
(05:30):
It's a central aspect of ourlives.
It provides not just financialstability but a sense of purpose
.
It provides a sense ofachievement.
And we're going to look intowork-life balance and right,
it's going to tie into.
We've talked about stress.
We're going to look intowork-life balance and right,
it's going to tie into.
We've talked about stress.
Ryan Selimos (05:46):
We're going to look at all these things and and
really dive into what thatenvironment is like today and
stemming off of work and whatthe result is from work, is
money, and often seen as a tabootopic.
Money, wealth, finances are allof these topics that we have to
(06:07):
understand more thoroughly as ahuman being, because it's an
important aspect of our lives,of how we affect others, of how
we implement finances into ourfamilies.
So, wealth management andfinancial management practices,
how money is generated andaccumulated over a lifetime
(06:30):
these are things that we'regoing to dive deeper into to
make it more of a topic that iseasier to talk about, is easier
to understand and can be moresimple for the everyday person,
and I think that that's a veryimportant topic for us to cover.
On top of that, and opposed tothe tangible aspects, is the
(06:53):
sixth topic, which is spiritual,and this is a really hard topic
to talk about for many peoplebecause it's often missed.
And even though it's oftenmissed, it's crucial in order to
have a connection with yourinner self, to help you
understand why you do things,who you are, where you go when
(07:14):
you do things, and to have thisdeeper value for life as a whole
, and it's often seen thatspiritual is connected towards a
later portion of your life, butif we shed more light on it and
share more experiences fromexperts, then it will allow us
to create a higher level ofunderstanding and a more of a
(07:37):
deeper value for spiritual lifeand the spiritual elements that
go into your everyday actions.
The key thing here is, byfocusing on these six key areas
that create a unified circle forlife, we feel that it's going
to help create a deeper meaningand purpose for everything that
(08:01):
you do as a human being, andit's more relative to everyone,
everywhere, no matter where youlive in the world, and one of
the important things that wewanted to really discuss and to
help you find is a deeperinspiration, guidance and
empowerment to thriving in everyaspect of your journey and as a
(08:23):
human being.
It's difficult to understandthe six pieces of life, focus on
them thoroughly, place enoughattention on each piece of
life's aspects and to thrive inthem.
But when we understand themmore, it may be more relevant
for you to concentrate onparticular portions of those six
(08:47):
buckets or those six aspects oflife, which will then allow you
to create more seamless balance.
James LaGamma (08:56):
So, to recap, our ultimate goal here is to
facilitate learning, growth andultimately, to empower you, the
listener, to lead a morefulfilling and the key word here
balanced life.
We understand that life can bechallenging, but through the
process, reflection, learning tocontrol what we can, what we
(09:19):
believe, we can all move towardsa brighter future together, all
move towards a brighter futuretogether.
So stay tuned for discussions,insights and journeys towards
development like never before.
Welcome to the Passion Project,where life's possibilities are
limitless.
Jonny Strahl (09:40):
Ooh, I love that.
Wow, that's good stuff.
I just got the tingles, guys.
Woo, fire me up.
Okay.
So I think, for those who haveactually tuned in for the 40
plus episodes we have pushed out, one thing you've seen in
various episodes is something wehave called the hot take.
(10:02):
Episodes is something we havecalled the hot take, where we've
battled, have had differencesand expressed our opinion on
specific takes out there in theworld, whether it be fitness,
whether it be mental health,whether it be money, career,
work, spiritual, etc.
One thing we want to do, movingforward, is incorporate
something called, which is verysimple, the good take.
(10:25):
Where did the good take comefrom?
Well, as four gentlemen whoaren't on social media as much
or as we are now.
Currently, one thing you see isa lot of negativity, and our
good friend Ryan here wassurfacing the web and his first
(10:46):
thing was why is there so muchconflict?
Where is the positive in theworld that we see each and every
day, that we should be hearingabout?
And for that we will be movingto Good Takes, which essentially
is creating awareness andvisibility of good actions and
good deeds that people regular,just like you and I do,
(11:09):
throughout the day, throughoutthe world.
This will be a pivot in a way,but it will highlight certain
areas where we support these sixkey buckets or cycles as we
call them.
Buckets or cycles as we callthem, our aim is to create an
atmosphere where you feelappreciated you see positivity
(11:36):
and you see great deeds.
Kenny Massa (11:37):
If you remember, during the pandemic, john
Krasinski came out with somegood news.
We want to replicate that.
Like Johnny said, we're in aworld where we're social media,
where negativity it, just itbreeds clicks.
It's just wrong, like, why arewe focusing our efforts into
things that bring us down,things that tear our fellow man
down, our fellow woman down, youknow, and we say no, we say
(12:00):
we've had enough.
So we, like Johnny said, we'repivoting.
We're going to go against thatand we're going to bring
positive positivity.
We're going to bring good vibesonly, and we invite you to join
us on that journey of goodtakes and things you can expect
to see People that should bereceiving recognition, that
(12:21):
maybe aren't, stories thatshould be receiving publicity,
should be receiving clicks andaren't.
We want to push out somethingdifferent, because everyone just
seems to want to fall intonegativity and it's just.
There's enough of that outthere.
Ryan Selimos (12:38):
We want to be the change and I think one of the
most important things that wesee, that we want to embody is
and again to where we see alittle bit of lacking in the
world is executable strategiesor the ability to implement the
things that we talk about andthe conversations that we have
(13:02):
with guests, that we have on thepodcast.
So if someone comes on todiscuss any type of valuable
process, whether it be nutritionor money management or any type
of way of connecting with yourdeeper self spiritually, we want
you to leave with somethingthat you could actually take
(13:23):
away and implement into yourdaily life, and I think that is,
in and of itself, more powerfulthan a lot of content that
we've seen in the environmenttoday, because you can actually
watch, learn, implement andchange, which is a very powerful
(13:44):
thing to do, no matter what thetime period of our discussion
is with the guest.
It is impactful and that's onething that we want to be sure of
by producing content in thisfashion.
Jonny Strahl (13:58):
Love that.
James LaGamma (14:03):
Are we excited?
Kenny Massa (14:10):
I am yeah.
Are we excited?
I am yeah because, you know, we, we set out on this journey,
like johnny said.
At the beginning, we had prepcalls, we wanted to figure out
what we wanted to do.
We talked about storage units,we talked about a lot of
different things.
We landed on a thing that we wedon't all do often, which is
social media, like that's wherewe landed, though, and here we
started this podcast and anepisode about nothing, right?
(14:31):
We just kind of jumped into itand we've Johnny, you said, 40
plus episodes.
I mean, that's awesome, that'sfantastic, but I think we all
knew and I think even those whoare watching individuals we've
talked to they know this toothat it's it's been missing.
You know the why it's beenmissing.
Structure it's just right now,four guys talking about
(14:53):
different topics, and now Ithink we found that why it's
something we've run from, but we, we found that that reason,
when we found you know those sixdifferent categories, those
pillars, that that we found youknow those six different
categories, those pillars thatthat we're really going to lean
into some of them we're familiarwith, some of them we're not,
and we're going to learn andgrow on this journey, just like
anyone following along andlistening with us, so I'm pumped
(15:16):
yeah, you're probably going tosee us stumble a little bit.
Ryan Selimos (15:19):
When we learn things right, we're going to
have experts that come in totalk about things that we're not
aware of or that we don'timplement, like for our own good
, too, and then when they, whenthey share those things, we can
implement them ourselves, or wemight be completely unaware.
So the questions we have arejust like everybody else's, like
they're from left field,because we we're not, in subject
matter matter, experts aboutthese topics either.
(15:41):
So that's the point, though,and I think that's the important
aspect of this.
Kenny Massa (15:46):
We're stumbling at the beginning of this, trying to
get through this.
I mean, it's different for us,yeah.
James LaGamma (15:51):
Yeah, it's a little bit more serious.
Like we generally like to jokearound and have fun which we
still will have fun jokingaround and at the same time
we're going to be growing, we'regoing to be learning.
Like Kenny said, we're notsubject matter experts at all.
The one that I probably am mostscared but also excited to go
(16:16):
down the path of is going to bespirituality.
You know, like you have to facethe facts.
It's kind of going into yourinner self and learning about
what your alignment is with yourcore values, your beliefs,
finding purpose in life.
I wouldn't say that's somethingI've kind of shied away from.
Essentially, we've gravitatedtowards sports, we've gravitated
towards work.
These are things that take upso much time in our life that
(16:39):
our scale is tipped, and sothere's just things that kind of
went to the wayside and we haveto try to find that balance and
bring us back to where thescales are perfectly balanced,
even, and we feel whole.
Essentially, it's not that wedon't feel whole at all right
now.
We do.
There's a lot of fulfillment inour lives, but there's other
things we can be doing that getthat full feeling of fulfillment
(17:02):
and, to tee off, that it'sgoing to be uncomfortable.
Ryan Selimos (17:04):
but that's the point, right, like adding that
level of uncomfortability andtalking about the things that
we're not familiar with, one weshy away from because we're
currently not comfortable aboutthe topic, because we just don't
know it, or, simply put, we'rejust not.
It's not that we don't have aninterest towards it, but we're
just not invested into itbecause we don't concentrate on
(17:29):
it.
And because of our lack ofconcentration on that matter,
which is most likely becauseit's uncomfortable, we don't
offer value there, which now wewill be able to, because
bringing the people in that areexperts about those topics'll be
able to learn, become educatedon it and and do something about
it in our own lives to createsynergy, balance and unity yeah,
(17:51):
that's, that's well said, andyou, you both, I think all of us
have mentioned the worduncomfortable yeah I think being
uncomfortable comes true.
Jonny Strahl (17:58):
Growth, um, and that's a journey I think we're
all excited for.
I'm curious if there is aspecific area.
If you look now and maybe as wereflect, after the next,
however many months we go onthis journey, or years, is there
(18:19):
a focal point?
I know you mentionedspirituality, where you feel
like you're going to grow themost.
It could change, but right now,where would that be for you two
?
Ryan Selimos (18:31):
You know it's hard to say because I think I have
placed um, I would say I haveplaced a very serious amount of
time on understanding andattempting to develop myself
within all six of thesecategories.
I have focused on all of theseareas specifically, whether it's
(18:56):
in within myself or it's withinfinding someone who's good at
understanding that topic, who isan expert, and bringing them
into my life.
I have done things that areuncomfortable.
I still do things that areuncomfortable, but I I place
attention on the six elementsand trying to enhance them in my
own life.
I think that I don't think thatI lack completely where it's
(19:19):
just like completely obsolete,but I also think that there is
particular aspects within thesix areas that you could be so
much better at.
For instance, relationships likeI don't even know where the end
is with being good atrelationships, like there's just
an inevitable element of likeyou needing to be good to talk
(19:44):
to people and having thisinterpersonal communication
ability where, likeunderstanding people, that I
think there's no like ceiling toit.
Right, I think you can continueto just expand upon it.
Relationships is definitelysomething that's important in
all aspects of life work,relationships at home,
(20:06):
relationships with your family,with your friends.
You can't get away from itunless you just don't talk to
anybody, which is just notrealistic as a human being.
So I think that's somethingwhere it's just like under the
human physiology and andpsychology and sociology and all
of these aspects.
I mean it's just so deep andthere's so much there that I
(20:26):
think there's just a lot ofcontent around and a lot of
understanding, a lot ofuncomfortability.
So that's an aspect where Ilike to know more and learn more
.
Kenny Massa (20:38):
Yeah, I'll tag on to that.
I opened up relationshipssaying man of the people, right,
but I think I still have a moreand learn more.
Yeah, I'll tag onto that.
I opened up relationshipssaying man of the people, Right,
but I think I still have a lotto learn there.
One area is is mastering astranger right.
I struggle in that area withwhen I don't, when I don't have
that initial rapport withsomeone.
Once I get that rapport, I'mgreat, but I'd love to improve
in that area and that'ssomething I'm comfortable with.
And you talk about somethingI'm not comfortable with.
(21:00):
I agree with you on spiritualjams.
I'm going to go mental, though,and I say that because I I
unfortunately know that, uh,that my view on that is probably
unpopular um, maybe old school.
So I'm very intrigued to to goon that journey and see, and
maybe be proven right, provenwrong, um, and see what I can
learn from it.
Jonny Strahl (21:21):
Love that.
Kenny Massa (21:23):
What about you, john, teeing up the questions?
What's yours?
Jonny Strahl (21:27):
We're in for a ride.
Fellas, I would say spiritual.
James LaGamma (21:34):
That is an area that it's interesting how we
have commonality there, though,yeah.
Jonny Strahl (21:42):
But sorry to cut you off.
Cut you, no, no, you're good.
I think spirituality is an areawhere I think I've taken much
more serious and a betterapproach to trying to identify
and understand how to be morespiritual and what it really
actually means when you say theword spiritual, because I
believe there's just so manydifferent factors that are
involved in that word spiritual.
(22:02):
So being able to speak with aprofessional and an expert to
break that down and to giveinsight into those things is
going to be very informative.
And I think it all stems fromis we've talked about the why in
our lives, and I think our whyin our lives consistently and
always will change as you grow,but it's always bettering a
(22:26):
purpose in life andunderstanding that purpose and
building more clarity.
Kenny Massa (22:31):
That's something I'm really much more looking
forward to I think that why isalso going to drive us and drive
this journey?
Because we've kind of talkedabout it, We've been very lucky,
we have fulfillment, right.
We've enjoyed our journeys thusfar individually, together with
our friends, with our family.
But we all, I think, have acompetitive fire that, no matter
(22:52):
how good we are, we can bebetter.
We want to be better and wewant to push ourselves.
We want to stay uncomfortable,right.
We don't want to settle andthis is like Johnny said buckle
up.
So we're going to push eachother.
James LaGamma (23:09):
I think there's going to be a lot of eye-opening
moments that we're going to allendure.
Whether you, like you said Ryan, relationships something you
feel comfortable with, there'sprobably going to be something
else outside of talking to astranger that you might find.
Or you think you're good andthen you vastly realize or
quickly realize, oh, maybe I'mnot as good as I thought I was,
(23:29):
I got some work to do here, um,and, and hopefully we can.
You know, as we go through thisprocess and learn, we break
things down so that way it therecan be a meaningful
step-by-step process andapproach and understanding how
to handle each one of theseareas in your own lives.
Takeaways that you'll get, thatmaybe we didn't get.
So, as Johnny put it, it'sgoing to be a wild ride.
Jonny Strahl (23:55):
Before closing out , I know you have a few words to
say.
On a less serious note, I thinkwe forgot to mention and say
thank you to a very influentialperson who sits here with us,
who puts in a lot of the hours,who doesn't get enough credit Ty
, ty Ty, the Ty Breaker.
James LaGamma (24:14):
Oh man, what is he going to do?
Where does he fit into the goodtakes?
Oh, he fits in.
Jonny Strahl (24:21):
He's going to have a place.
James LaGamma (24:23):
We'll have something for him.
Jonny Strahl (24:24):
But, on a serious note, we appreciate you and
sacrificing a lot of time andnever really getting the face
time, although you're going toget more face time when things
start to cook, so don't worry.
Ryan Selimos (24:37):
We're not ready for the reveal yet.
Yeah, not ready.
Jonny Strahl (24:41):
But we do appreciate you and just all the
effort and work you put in.
I'm curious.
We've been having theseconversations for a couple of
months now.
Not many people really know,and I don't think you were aware
of, really where thisconversation was going for this
particular episode.
So I'm just curious to hearyour thoughts, not to put you on
(25:01):
the spot.
Ryan Selimos (25:03):
It's been a great 40 plus episodes.
James LaGamma (25:06):
Yeah, yeah.
Ryan Selimos (25:08):
Yeah, no, I'm excited for y'all's next chapter
.
It'll be fun.
Kenny Massa (25:11):
Yeah, whatever it is, you guys will make it great
Love that I told you it's noty'all's, it's ours, it's ours,
it's ours Well, it's ours, it'sours Well.
In closing, just you know it'sbeen a long time coming, so I'm
happy that we finally got tojust communicate to anyone who
watches this, who follows, whatTBC is.
(25:31):
So I guess, in that sense,welcome, welcome to TBC, welcome
to the Bender Continues,welcome to the Passion Project.
And we say that because now weneed your help, we want your
involvement, we want you toshare your path in life, where
you want to go, in the areas ofself-improvement, self-awareness
(25:52):
, self-development, that thatyou want to work on and maybe
you don't even know what thoseareas are and you want to try
and find that out.
And, most importantly, we notwant we need your help with
passing along positivity.
If you take anything away fromthis, we need more of that in
this world, so help us.
James LaGamma (26:14):
And until then.
Ryan Selimos (26:16):
Well, it's not going to be until then.
I think it's going to you're.
I think it's going to changenow, and what it's going to
change to is and together, theBender continues.
Welcome to the Bender Continues podcast.
Today marks a significant daywith much excitement and
optimism as we announce theinflection point in the podcast
direction.
We are pivoting for a goodreason.
A year ago, four co-hosts hereventured into creating a storage
unit, which quickly pivoted tothe Bender Continues podcast.
(00:30):
During this journey we realizedour vision, our structure and
ultimate goal for this podcastlacks significant clarity.
Ryan Selimos (00:39):
Nonetheless, one significant aspect remained Our
shared desire to craft a podcastcentered around our friendship.
Our personal growth, overcomingadversity and spreading good
vibes has remained, but thejourney has demanded immense
sacrifice from all of ourperspectives in effort, and yet
(01:02):
we wouldn't trade it for a thing.
We extend our gratitude to ourfriends, family, followers,
subscribers and weekly listenersfor joining us on this ride.
You've been an integral part ofour journey and we promise that
this is just the beginning forwhat we have.
James LaGamma (01:18):
The Bender Continues stems from an ongoing
struggle or journey through thehighs and the lows of life.
It suggests that, despitefacing challenges or setbacks,
individuals persist in theirpursuits of personal growth,
fulfillment and purpose.
Just as a bender involves acontinuous series of indulgences
(01:40):
or challenges, life presents aconstant stream of experiences,
both positive and negative.
Kenny Massa (01:48):
TBC the Bender continues.
It encapsulates the resilienceand determination to navigate
through these experiences, tolearn from them and to continue
striving towards a meaningfuland fulfilling life, despite the
obstacles encountered along theway.
A special shout out to ourbiggest supporters, our wives
(02:13):
Lydia, patty, brea, go Canes andMorgan.
Your unwavering support andencouragement has been
invaluable.
Your unwavering support andencouragement has been
invaluable.
Thank you so much for allowingus to embark on this adventure
and for being our rocksthroughout.
Jonny Strahl (02:32):
So how did we get here and what are we doing?
We're excited to announce ournewest series called the Passion
Project.
Hey, so what exactly is thePassion Project?
Very quickly, in eachinstallment, we will sit down
for insightful conversationswith expert doctors and
professionals who specialize inspecific areas we're looking to
(02:54):
explore.
Kenny Massa (02:56):
Crafting the framework for our Passion
Project series involved a deepdive into what truly matters in
our lives.
We wanted to create a holisticapproach that encompasses the
key pillars of the humanexperience.
During this collaboration, weidentified six fundamental areas
that touch upon every aspect ofour existence.
James LaGamma (03:21):
So the first one that we have is physical health.
This one's actually one of mymost passionate.
However, I do want to dive indeeper into all the others,
because I feel like this is oneof focus for me.
That's been like this for awhile sleep, dealing with stress
(03:47):
.
These are the kind of thingsthat we're going to uncover and
kind of peel back the layers onand see what we can get from
this moving forward.
Next is mental health.
This is probably one that I'vebeen looking into more recently.
I think we all have a passionfor mental health, but there's a
lot of unknowns, so I thinkthis is a big one.
We're going to learn a lot fromCultivating awareness on your
(04:08):
feelings, your emotions,reactions to certain situations,
your skills, meditation,affirmations a lot of different
factors where we're going todive way deep into these two
areas physical health and mentalhealth.
Kenny Massa (04:27):
Relationships, man of the people, it's my favorite.
You know, we're in a time nowwhere the human interactions,
they're almost a struggle.
You know, communication it'sharder than ever.
We're so into ourselvestechnology that we lose you know
(04:49):
that human experience and we'rereally going to touch on human
connection, family, friends,relationships, romantic
relationships, just the overallnurturing of that and how vital
it is for happiness, forfulfillment, but also for our
(05:09):
future existence.
And then also work.
I mean this one.
We all, we've talked about it.
It affects every single personout there.
You know, for a lot of us, workit's a paycheck right.
It's a place where we spend 40hours paycheck right.
It's a place where we spend 40hours, eight hours a day, 40
hours a week.
We spend time at work when wecould be with families, friends.
(05:30):
It's a central aspect of ourlives.
It provides not just financialstability but a sense of purpose
.
It provides a sense ofachievement.
And we're going to look intowork-life balance and right,
it's going to tie into.
We've talked about stress.
We're going to look intowork-life balance and right,
it's going to tie into.
We've talked about stress.
Ryan Selimos (05:46):
We're going to look at all these things and and
really dive into what thatenvironment is like today and
stemming off of work and whatthe result is from work, is
money, and often seen as a tabootopic.
Money, wealth, finances are allof these topics that we have to
(06:07):
understand more thoroughly as ahuman being, because it's an
important aspect of our lives,of how we affect others, of how
we implement finances into ourfamilies.
So, wealth management andfinancial management practices,
how money is generated andaccumulated over a lifetime
(06:30):
these are things that we'regoing to dive deeper into to
make it more of a topic that iseasier to talk about, is easier
to understand and can be moresimple for the everyday person,
and I think that that's a veryimportant topic for us to cover.
On top of that, and opposed tothe tangible aspects, is the
(06:53):
sixth topic, which is spiritual,and this is a really hard topic
to talk about for many peoplebecause it's often missed.
And even though it's oftenmissed, it's crucial in order to
have a connection with yourinner self, to help you
understand why you do things,who you are, where you go when
(07:14):
you do things, and to have thisdeeper value for life as a whole
, and it's often seen thatspiritual is connected towards a
later portion of your life, butif we shed more light on it and
share more experiences fromexperts, then it will allow us
to create a higher level ofunderstanding and a more of a
(07:37):
deeper value for spiritual lifeand the spiritual elements that
go into your everyday actions.
The key thing here is, byfocusing on these six key areas
that create a unified circle forlife, we feel that it's going
to help create a deeper meaningand purpose for everything that
(08:01):
you do as a human being, andit's more relative to everyone,
everywhere, no matter where youlive in the world, and one of
the important things that wewanted to really discuss and to
help you find is a deeperinspiration, guidance and
empowerment to thriving in everyaspect of your journey and as a
(08:23):
human being.
It's difficult to understandthe six pieces of life, focus on
them thoroughly, place enoughattention on each piece of
life's aspects and to thrive inthem.
But when we understand themmore, it may be more relevant
for you to concentrate onparticular portions of those six
(08:47):
buckets or those six aspects oflife, which will then allow you
to create more seamless balance.
James LaGamma (08:56):
So, to recap, our ultimate goal here is to
facilitate learning, growth andultimately, to empower you, the
listener, to lead a morefulfilling and the key word here
balanced life.
We understand that life can bechallenging, but through the
process, reflection, learning tocontrol what we can, what we
(09:19):
believe, we can all move towardsa brighter future together, all
move towards a brighter futuretogether.
So stay tuned for discussions,insights and journeys towards
development like never before.
Welcome to the Passion Project,where life's possibilities are
limitless.
Jonny Strahl (09:40):
Ooh, I love that.
Wow, that's good stuff.
I just got the tingles, guys.
Woo, fire me up.
Okay.
So I think, for those who haveactually tuned in for the 40
plus episodes we have pushed out, one thing you've seen in
various episodes is something wehave called the hot take.
(10:02):
Episodes is something we havecalled the hot take, where we've
battled, have had differencesand expressed our opinion on
specific takes out there in theworld, whether it be fitness,
whether it be mental health,whether it be money, career,
work, spiritual, etc.
One thing we want to do, movingforward, is incorporate
something called, which is verysimple, the good take.
(10:25):
Where did the good take comefrom?
Well, as four gentlemen whoaren't on social media as much
or as we are now.
Currently, one thing you see isa lot of negativity, and our
good friend Ryan here wassurfacing the web and his first
(10:46):
thing was why is there so muchconflict?
Where is the positive in theworld that we see each and every
day, that we should be hearingabout?
And for that we will be movingto Good Takes, which essentially
is creating awareness andvisibility of good actions and
good deeds that people regular,just like you and I do,
(11:09):
throughout the day, throughoutthe world.
This will be a pivot in a way,but it will highlight certain
areas where we support these sixkey buckets or cycles as we
call them.
Buckets or cycles as we callthem, our aim is to create an
atmosphere where you feelappreciated you see positivity
(11:36):
and you see great deeds.
Kenny Massa (11:37):
If you remember, during the pandemic, john
Krasinski came out with somegood news.
We want to replicate that.
Like Johnny said, we're in aworld where we're social media,
where negativity it, just itbreeds clicks.
It's just wrong, like, why arewe focusing our efforts into
things that bring us down,things that tear our fellow man
down, our fellow woman down, youknow, and we say no, we say
(12:00):
we've had enough.
So we, like Johnny said, we'repivoting.
We're going to go against thatand we're going to bring
positive positivity.
We're going to bring good vibesonly, and we invite you to join
us on that journey of goodtakes and things you can expect
to see People that should bereceiving recognition, that
(12:21):
maybe aren't, stories thatshould be receiving publicity,
should be receiving clicks andaren't.
We want to push out somethingdifferent, because everyone just
seems to want to fall intonegativity and it's just.
There's enough of that outthere.
Ryan Selimos (12:38):
We want to be the change and I think one of the
most important things that wesee, that we want to embody is
and again to where we see alittle bit of lacking in the
world is executable strategiesor the ability to implement the
things that we talk about andthe conversations that we have
(13:02):
with guests, that we have on thepodcast.
So if someone comes on todiscuss any type of valuable
process, whether it be nutritionor money management or any type
of way of connecting with yourdeeper self spiritually, we want
you to leave with somethingthat you could actually take
(13:23):
away and implement into yourdaily life, and I think that is,
in and of itself, more powerfulthan a lot of content that
we've seen in the environmenttoday, because you can actually
watch, learn, implement andchange, which is a very powerful
(13:44):
thing to do, no matter what thetime period of our discussion
is with the guest.
It is impactful and that's onething that we want to be sure of
by producing content in thisfashion.
Jonny Strahl (13:58):
Love that.
James LaGamma (14:03):
Are we excited?
Kenny Massa (14:10):
I am yeah.
Are we excited?
I am yeah because, you know, we, we set out on this journey,
like johnny said.
At the beginning, we had prepcalls, we wanted to figure out
what we wanted to do.
We talked about storage units,we talked about a lot of
different things.
We landed on a thing that we wedon't all do often, which is
social media, like that's wherewe landed, though, and here we
started this podcast and anepisode about nothing, right?
(14:31):
We just kind of jumped into itand we've Johnny, you said, 40
plus episodes.
I mean, that's awesome, that'sfantastic, but I think we all
knew and I think even those whoare watching individuals we've
talked to they know this toothat it's it's been missing.
You know the why it's beenmissing.
Structure it's just right now,four guys talking about
(14:53):
different topics, and now Ithink we found that why it's
something we've run from, but we, we found that that reason,
when we found you know those sixdifferent categories, those
pillars, that that we found youknow those six different
categories, those pillars thatthat we're really going to lean
into some of them we're familiarwith, some of them we're not,
and we're going to learn andgrow on this journey, just like
anyone following along andlistening with us, so I'm pumped
(15:16):
yeah, you're probably going tosee us stumble a little bit.
Ryan Selimos (15:19):
When we learn things right, we're going to
have experts that come in totalk about things that we're not
aware of or that we don'timplement, like for our own good
, too, and then when they, whenthey share those things, we can
implement them ourselves, or wemight be completely unaware.
So the questions we have arejust like everybody else's, like
they're from left field,because we we're not, in subject
matter matter, experts aboutthese topics either.
(15:41):
So that's the point, though,and I think that's the important
aspect of this.
Kenny Massa (15:46):
We're stumbling at the beginning of this, trying to
get through this.
I mean, it's different for us,yeah.
James LaGamma (15:51):
Yeah, it's a little bit more serious.
Like we generally like to jokearound and have fun which we
still will have fun jokingaround and at the same time
we're going to be growing, we'regoing to be learning.
Like Kenny said, we're notsubject matter experts at all.
The one that I probably am mostscared but also excited to go
(16:16):
down the path of is going to bespirituality.
You know, like you have to facethe facts.
It's kind of going into yourinner self and learning about
what your alignment is with yourcore values, your beliefs,
finding purpose in life.
I wouldn't say that's somethingI've kind of shied away from.
Essentially, we've gravitatedtowards sports, we've gravitated
towards work.
These are things that take upso much time in our life that
(16:39):
our scale is tipped, and sothere's just things that kind of
went to the wayside and we haveto try to find that balance and
bring us back to where thescales are perfectly balanced,
even, and we feel whole.
Essentially, it's not that wedon't feel whole at all right
now.
We do.
There's a lot of fulfillment inour lives, but there's other
things we can be doing that getthat full feeling of fulfillment
(17:02):
and, to tee off, that it'sgoing to be uncomfortable.
Ryan Selimos (17:04):
but that's the point, right, like adding that
level of uncomfortability andtalking about the things that
we're not familiar with, one weshy away from because we're
currently not comfortable aboutthe topic, because we just don't
know it, or, simply put, we'rejust not.
It's not that we don't have aninterest towards it, but we're
just not invested into itbecause we don't concentrate on
(17:29):
it.
And because of our lack ofconcentration on that matter,
which is most likely becauseit's uncomfortable, we don't
offer value there, which now wewill be able to, because
bringing the people in that areexperts about those topics'll be
able to learn, become educatedon it and and do something about
it in our own lives to createsynergy, balance and unity yeah,
(17:51):
that's, that's well said, andyou, you both, I think all of us
have mentioned the worduncomfortable yeah I think being
uncomfortable comes true.
Jonny Strahl (17:58):
Growth, um, and that's a journey I think we're
all excited for.
I'm curious if there is aspecific area.
If you look now and maybe as wereflect, after the next,
however many months we go onthis journey, or years, is there
(18:19):
a focal point?
I know you mentionedspirituality, where you feel
like you're going to grow themost.
It could change, but right now,where would that be for you two
?
Ryan Selimos (18:31):
You know it's hard to say because I think I have
placed um, I would say I haveplaced a very serious amount of
time on understanding andattempting to develop myself
within all six of thesecategories.
I have focused on all of theseareas specifically, whether it's
(18:56):
in within myself or it's withinfinding someone who's good at
understanding that topic, who isan expert, and bringing them
into my life.
I have done things that areuncomfortable.
I still do things that areuncomfortable, but I I place
attention on the six elementsand trying to enhance them in my
own life.
I think that I don't think thatI lack completely where it's
(19:19):
just like completely obsolete,but I also think that there is
particular aspects within thesix areas that you could be so
much better at.
For instance, relationships likeI don't even know where the end
is with being good atrelationships, like there's just
an inevitable element of likeyou needing to be good to talk
(19:44):
to people and having thisinterpersonal communication
ability where, likeunderstanding people, that I
think there's no like ceiling toit.
Right, I think you can continueto just expand upon it.
Relationships is definitelysomething that's important in
all aspects of life work,relationships at home,
(20:06):
relationships with your family,with your friends.
You can't get away from itunless you just don't talk to
anybody, which is just notrealistic as a human being.
So I think that's somethingwhere it's just like under the
human physiology and andpsychology and sociology and all
of these aspects.
I mean it's just so deep andthere's so much there that I
(20:26):
think there's just a lot ofcontent around and a lot of
understanding, a lot ofuncomfortability.
So that's an aspect where Ilike to know more and learn more
.
Kenny Massa (20:38):
Yeah, I'll tag on to that.
I opened up relationshipssaying man of the people, right,
but I think I still have a moreand learn more.
Yeah, I'll tag onto that.
I opened up relationshipssaying man of the people, Right,
but I think I still have a lotto learn there.
One area is is mastering astranger right.
I struggle in that area withwhen I don't, when I don't have
that initial rapport withsomeone.
Once I get that rapport, I'mgreat, but I'd love to improve
in that area and that'ssomething I'm comfortable with.
And you talk about somethingI'm not comfortable with.
(21:00):
I agree with you on spiritualjams.
I'm going to go mental, though,and I say that because I I
unfortunately know that, uh,that my view on that is probably
unpopular um, maybe old school.
So I'm very intrigued to to goon that journey and see, and
maybe be proven right, provenwrong, um, and see what I can
learn from it.
Jonny Strahl (21:21):
Love that.
Kenny Massa (21:23):
What about you, john, teeing up the questions?
What's yours?
Jonny Strahl (21:27):
We're in for a ride.
Fellas, I would say spiritual.
James LaGamma (21:34):
That is an area that it's interesting how we
have commonality there, though,yeah.
Jonny Strahl (21:42):
But sorry to cut you off.
Cut you, no, no, you're good.
I think spirituality is an areawhere I think I've taken much
more serious and a betterapproach to trying to identify
and understand how to be morespiritual and what it really
actually means when you say theword spiritual, because I
believe there's just so manydifferent factors that are
involved in that word spiritual.
(22:02):
So being able to speak with aprofessional and an expert to
break that down and to giveinsight into those things is
going to be very informative.
And I think it all stems fromis we've talked about the why in
our lives, and I think our whyin our lives consistently and
always will change as you grow,but it's always bettering a
(22:26):
purpose in life andunderstanding that purpose and
building more clarity.
Kenny Massa (22:31):
That's something I'm really much more looking
forward to I think that why isalso going to drive us and drive
this journey?
Because we've kind of talkedabout it, We've been very lucky,
we have fulfillment, right.
We've enjoyed our journeys thusfar individually, together with
our friends, with our family.
But we all, I think, have acompetitive fire that, no matter
(22:52):
how good we are, we can bebetter.
We want to be better and wewant to push ourselves.
We want to stay uncomfortable,right.
We don't want to settle andthis is like Johnny said buckle
up.
So we're going to push eachother.
James LaGamma (23:09):
I think there's going to be a lot of eye-opening
moments that we're going to allendure.
Whether you, like you said Ryan, relationships something you
feel comfortable with, there'sprobably going to be something
else outside of talking to astranger that you might find.
Or you think you're good andthen you vastly realize or
quickly realize, oh, maybe I'mnot as good as I thought I was,
(23:29):
I got some work to do here, um,and, and hopefully we can.
You know, as we go through thisprocess and learn, we break
things down so that way it therecan be a meaningful
step-by-step process andapproach and understanding how
to handle each one of theseareas in your own lives.
Takeaways that you'll get, thatmaybe we didn't get.
So, as Johnny put it, it'sgoing to be a wild ride.
Jonny Strahl (23:55):
Before closing out , I know you have a few words to
say.
On a less serious note, I thinkwe forgot to mention and say
thank you to a very influentialperson who sits here with us,
who puts in a lot of the hours,who doesn't get enough credit Ty
, ty Ty, the Ty Breaker.
James LaGamma (24:14):
Oh man, what is he going to do?
Where does he fit into the goodtakes?
Oh, he fits in.
Jonny Strahl (24:21):
He's going to have a place.
James LaGamma (24:23):
We'll have something for him.
Jonny Strahl (24:24):
But, on a serious note, we appreciate you and
sacrificing a lot of time andnever really getting the face
time, although you're going toget more face time when things
start to cook, so don't worry.
Ryan Selimos (24:37):
We're not ready for the reveal yet.
Yeah, not ready.
Jonny Strahl (24:41):
But we do appreciate you and just all the
effort and work you put in.
I'm curious.
We've been having theseconversations for a couple of
months now.
Not many people really know,and I don't think you were aware
of, really where thisconversation was going for this
particular episode.
So I'm just curious to hearyour thoughts, not to put you on
(25:01):
the spot.
Ryan Selimos (25:03):
It's been a great 40 plus episodes.
James LaGamma (25:06):
Yeah, yeah.
Ryan Selimos (25:08):
Yeah, no, I'm excited for y'all's next chapter
.
It'll be fun.
Kenny Massa (25:11):
Yeah, whatever it is, you guys will make it great
Love that I told you it's noty'all's, it's ours, it's ours,
it's ours Well, it's ours, it'sours Well.
In closing, just you know it'sbeen a long time coming, so I'm
happy that we finally got tojust communicate to anyone who
watches this, who follows, whatTBC is.
(25:31):
So I guess, in that sense,welcome, welcome to TBC, welcome
to the Bender Continues,welcome to the Passion Project.
And we say that because now weneed your help, we want your
involvement, we want you toshare your path in life, where
you want to go, in the areas ofself-improvement, self-awareness
(25:52):
, self-development, that thatyou want to work on and maybe
you don't even know what thoseareas are and you want to try
and find that out.
And, most importantly, we notwant we need your help with
passing along positivity.
If you take anything away fromthis, we need more of that in
this world, so help us.
James LaGamma (26:14):
And until then.
Ryan Selimos (26:16):
Well, it's not going to be until then.
I think it's going to you're.
I think it's going to changenow, and what it's going to
change to is and together, theBender continues.
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