Embracing Sustainability and Resilience with Jason Ratcliffe

Welcome back to Strive 365 I'm your host, Justen Arnold. In this episode we had the pleasure of speaking with Jason Ratcliffe, an award-winning entrepreneur and a pioneering force in sustainable building practices. Living in the stunning Cornwall, England, Jason has devoted his career to aligning human lifestyles with the planet's wellbeing, particularly through groundbreaking sustainable architecture.

His project, The Elemental Cube , is redefining thermal efficiency and setting new standards for environmentally conscious building designs. In this episode, Jason shares his journey, starting from personal health challenges faced by his young children, leading to his quest for sustainable living. He talks about the transformation from his initial days in Cornwall, battling commercialization, to his current role as an advocate for putting people over profits.

Highlights of our conversation include:
- Jason's pivotal moment that steered him towards sustainable living.
- The challenges of maintaining personal and professional growth amidst Cornwall's unique environment.
- The inception and impact of The Elemental Cube , and how it stands out globally.
- Moments of vulnerability and resilience in the face of skepticism.
- Balancing entrepreneurial demands with mental and emotional well-being.
- Jason's personal routines for recharging and maintaining focus, including his insights from 'The Power of Now'.
- The concept of 'striving' in personal life and sustainable living, including overcoming self-doubt and the importance of self-belief.

Jason's story is not just about challenging the status quo in building practices; it's about a deeper commitment to slowing down planetary destruction and empowering others to join this cause. His insights are a testament to the power of resilience, the importance of sustainability, and the freedom found in pursuing a mission aligned with one's values. Join us as we dive into this enriching conversation with Jason Ratcliffe.

Whether you're navigating your own challenges or passionate about sustainable living, there's a wealth of inspiration and practical advice awaiting you.

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Episode Transcript

(00:21):
Hey, Welcome to another empowering episodeof Stribe three sixty five, your go
to source for conquering life's challenges andthriving no matter the odds. Whether you're
seeking mental, physical, emotional,spiritual growth, were here to help guide
you towards a better life. I'myour host, Justin Arnold, coming from
an amazing rock Vox studio. Intoday's episode, we welcome Jason Ratcliffe.
He's a multi award winning entrepreneur,rics surveyor and an advocate for sustainable living.

(00:45):
Residing in the picturesque Cornwell, England. Jason's work focuses on harmonizing humanity's
lifestyle with the planet, particularly throughsustainable building practices. His innovative project,
the Element Cube, is a revolutionizingthermal efficiency in building, marking a significant
step towards environmentally conscious architecture. So, without further ado, let's welcome Jason
Radkill to the Strive through C fivepodcast. Jason, thanks for joining us

(01:08):
and being willing to share your insightsand experiences with our listeners. So go
and introduce yourself to the people ofStrive Through sixty five. Absolutely, and
thank you so much for having meon. I can't really top that introduction.
I think that was that was prettygreat, to be honest, But
yeah, I mean it's exactly that. It started off with a little interest

(01:30):
in the industry, and I supposea concern for general well being in health,
especially around home environments, and howthat can suddenly have an effect on
people's health without really medical explanation orresearch. And that's really where it kicked
off, I suppose. And thenfrom there I've kind of just progressed my

(01:51):
journey through multiple different channels and yeah, and that's where I am today.
Really, that's pretty cool. Itwas there, there was there's something that
ignited that passion. Didn't want todo this because you know, for me
and a lot of people that areprobably listening that have some passion project or
reason they go towards something or startsomething, there's something usually or a few

(02:13):
things that might ignite that. Wasthere anything like that? Absolutely? So,
I think from a personal perspective,I've got two young children at home,
and it was getting to the pointfor myself and my family that multiple
unexplained health issues kind of occurred,such as kind of random sporadic patterns of

(02:35):
sleep, aggravation in certain and thingsasthma, on set, and there was
no real explanation for these things,and the doctors would kind of be saying,
oh, you know, these canjust be generic or within your sorry,
within your family, but it justwasn't the case. It wasn't adding
up for me, and these thingskind of were occurring more and more around

(02:58):
the people that I loved and friendsand family as well, so getting kind
of I was already in the industry, I was already a property surveyor,
and my clients were also kind ofcoming up with the same types of issues,
but they just never were addressed ever, and it was just quite frustrating
from everyone involved, and insurance claimsand things kind of came back saying,

(03:22):
oh, it's just the way you'reliving. You know, you need to
kind of get more through invention,get more sleep, this kind of stuff,
which is it was important, butnot the cause for this. So
that was my That was my spark. But I think the frustration that nothing
was being done, and that's yes, there needed to be a voice of
I suppose of reason and I supposestability for these people to actually say,

(03:46):
well, hold on, how canwe actually address this and what is going
on? So yeah, I thinkthat that definitely was was the reason it
was sparked to me. Absolutely,I love that and I can resonate with
that even from pretty much any projector career or you know, business or
thing that I've started has come likefrom a place of potentially frustration, but
also just it sounds like you didn'tuse this, but finding the root,

(04:11):
like not just taking things at theservice level, not just saying, oh
you need fresh air, Oh youneed a doctor. Oh maybe you take
this medicine, maybe if you eatthese foods. I mean, I think
it's accumulation of a lot of things. But you know, even with the
short glimpse in to my health andwellness business, most if not all my
clients by this point and the peopleI work with are finding the root cause

(04:32):
I get. I'm a strength andconditioning coach. A lot of people here
in America. It's mainly like weightloss and then you might have like bodybuilding,
CrossFit. Mine is getting people tojust essentially move better and feel better.
I get a lot of post physicaltherapy, and it's because it's not
just you know, you know,trying to help them with the pain point,

(04:53):
but finding the real cause and whythat's happening. So I love that.
So this podcast this is definitely likewe said at the beginning, and
I love because so many people aregoing through adversity, especially more than ever.
Can you share any adversity, whetherit be in your life or your
business, that's influenced your path towardsyou know, the things that you're working
on a single building life, healthand wellness. Yeah. Absolutely so.

(05:17):
My very small part of England,which is known as Cornwall's is very coastal.
It's very picturesque and almost kind offrozen in time, some people might
say, And I think there's there'sa lot of commercialization coming down and in
causing kind of profit over sustainability,trying to force through planning, you know,

(05:41):
people trying to encroach on some naturalheritage sites and beaches and things like
that, where it's just it isjust preposterous, it's ridiculous that these things
are even considered. So that fromme and for the local community was very
frustrating. And then Nick of goingon from a personal perspective, I was

(06:03):
doing everything that obviously you're supposed todo in the sense of health wise,
you know, it's getting eight hourssleep, making sure you're exercising as much
as you can eating healthily even downto kind of just your general well being.
But what I wasn't taken into accountwas the levels of stress. What

(06:25):
can stress do for you? Well, get anxiety, high levels, high
frequency, all the time, sevendays a week, and that then was
a direct result in my health declineas well. So all of these things
kind of this feeling of helplessness whereyou were seeing the I suppose environments around
me kind of almost collapsing into justa profit specialized conglomerate that was just kind

(06:49):
of bordozing its way through nature,but then also from my own self wellness
that you know, actually I waskind of almost killing myself by caring about
it, but too much without actuallytrying to refill my own cop to be
able to then kind of do somethingactually practical about it. So yeah,

(07:10):
I'm now luckily at the tail endof that recovery process, but it's been
very difficult than a massive steep learningcloud for sure. Man, that's good
to hear. Are there implements?Are there things that you implemented into your
own environment and your own home firstor initially during this process, Because you
said it sounds like you're on theup and up, which is awesome,

(07:30):
share with maybe something that even somebodycould do today that you did in your
own or look for or you know, what should people be looking for?
So absolutely, and I think mymain, my main lesson I've learned from
my own personal experience is you know, it's absolutely fantastic to be passionate about
what you do. It's absolutely vital. Obviously, if you hate what you

(07:50):
do or you know you change itis, it's definitely something you need.
It's easier said than done, obviously, but if you can take a step
back, change what you do,but really look at what you're that kind
of pie chart, I suppose lookat it from a perspective of how much
are you giving others? How muchare you giving to what you care about

(08:11):
rather than yourself because I think becauseyou, especially myself, I'm so kind
of a believer in kind of givingyou all and really trying to make things
happen. And I know from readingyour book as well, that's you know
me and you have sound very muchalike in that it's a fantastic book.
By the way, You're right,that's good to hear it, thanks man.

(08:33):
So yeah, so basically it's todo with putting yourself first, even
when it's difficult to do and youdon't feel like it's doing the justice to
your own cause or your own beliefs, because without that you end up nothing.
You burn out, you have seriousmedical history, all things come into
your life, and then for therest of your kind of existence on this

(08:56):
planet, essentially you're almost no goodto anyone. So therefore you kind of
lose that battle by kind of beingconsumed. So that's definitely something I've learned
I would strongly suggest other people consideras well. So have you always lived
in Cornwall or did you move therebecause of its beauty and picturesqueness, and

(09:16):
if so, how has that uniqueenvironment shaped your perspective on resilience growth professionally,
personally, Yeah, absolutely so.No, I'm not Cornish. I'm
actually from a intel called Woking,which is about half an hour from London,
so most of my family live upthat way. Yeah, London in
England, Yeah, and so it'svery fast track. I did most of

(09:39):
my academic learning up there, andthen I came down to Cornwall because I
basically I was brought down at ayoung ish age and then sort of by
about twenty one I moved down herepermanently and started a family with my now
wife because it was just the Iwanted to raise a family, and it

(10:01):
was safe. You know, it'sgreat outdoor space, a lot of oxygen
in the air, very little pollutants, very little crime. So it was
just kind of the ideal place.And I think as well, the way
my brain works is I'm learning allthe time about kind of my own kind
of I suppose how how everything functionsand how I need to deal with things
myself. But from a career perspective, from a professional perspective, I'm very

(10:26):
focused and I find it very hardto wind down, so kind of corn
always that place of tranquility where evena twenty minute walk at lunchtime across a
beach, you know that that allowsme to then just as I'm back in
and kind of refocus and give myselfbalanced the game, especially from a well
being perspective. So it's almost mysaving point being in cool Man. You

(10:50):
talked it up, man, I'llhave to check it. No, it
sounds very gorgeous. And I lookedat some pictures before this, and a
question that comes to my mind,because you know, for me, I
like for here so give you reference. We live in Rochester, New York.
Very urban, not too far fromlike a Buffalo. You know,

(11:11):
it's a smaller You probably haven't beenhere, but you're familiar, like in
New York City. It's small inNew York City, but think you know
over a million people. Very urban, very city. And I love escaping
to what's called the Atonics, whichis a lot of mountains, waterfalls,
nature, which isn't like, youknow, a few hours from here.
But one thing I like about beingin here at least keeps me connected to

(11:33):
some of it. Do you everfeel I guess the question I'm trying to
ask is do you ever feel disconnectedfrom those environments, especially probably knowing that
those need just as much, ifnot more, help, of the things
that you're discussing and talking about.Yeah. Absolutely, And I think there's
very much a battle between kind ofhuman and evolution and progress and sustainability for

(11:54):
nature. I know where cool will. For example, the road infrastructure.
There's been software for decades and itjust hasn't coped with the traffic and obviously
is very tourist central, which iscompletely justified in the sense that everybody would
love to come down, especially youknow, cutting costs unfortunately derest with the

(12:16):
covid era as well and coming outthe tail end. But so the necessity
for kind of human progress and thatinfrastructure is obviously justified, but then you
have to look at the destruction andadditional damage and limited preservation to nature.
So things. The great thing isis, with my firm and my various

(12:39):
kind of companies and projects, isI very heavily reinvest into sort of reducing
carbonization, reforestation programs, looking atnot just financially but time wise, actually
getting involved, getting blog post contentout, kind of encouraging people to engage

(13:01):
going the outdoors. And a lotof my research as well is to do
not just with with well being ofpeople, but with the kind of harmonization
of how construction and buildings can Isuppose exist and grow to meet the population
demands, but also to reduce theamount of damage on the planet as well,

(13:24):
so we can leave it in abetter position hopefully than we've obviously arrived
in. I mean, obviously UKis different than in America, but that's
got to be challenging, there's gotto be pushback. I mean, do
you want to talk a little bitabout that. Yeah, one hundred percent.
So you know, like I've saidpreviously, profit profit speaks, money
talks. There's always ways as towhy things are pushed through when you know

(13:50):
ethically they may not be I supposeacceptable, But so at the same time,
I think moral I suppose people morecompass and the general population due to
exposure to things, you know,like global warming and these these freak storms
and weather and things. I mean, it happens globally, and we we
obviously see it like everybody else.We don't get hurricanes and earthquakes and things,

(14:13):
luckily, but you know, thereis enough out there to make people
wake up and go this. Youknow, this isn't just a hoax.
This isn't just something we've been talkingabout now becoming white noise, and it's
kind of becoming almost the moral normalmandatory for local businesses and big conglomerate corporates
to be able to say, well, we need to we need to take

(14:35):
action, and if we don't takeaction, our profits are actually going to
be significantly reduced because the general populationspeaks for themselves. You know, if
you've got somebody who's a large foodchain but isn't economically conscious that you know
their customers will go elsewheat, andsame with the smaller kind of local businesses
as well. So in actual fact, yes, profit still remains the ultimate

(15:00):
kind of driving force behind it,but the general publics kind of overall I
suppose position on it is kind offorcing companies to take action in a more
ethical way. I mean, correctme if you're wrong. It sounds like
you're saying we need to put peopleover profits, and when you do,
the profits will do just fine orif not, well, absolutely absolutely,

(15:22):
And that's exactly it, you know, not just from a personal perspective,
but from a public and I supposeyour own responsibility is as a business owner
to be able to say, look, I'm doing my bit. You know,
no one person can fix this problemwe have. It's something possibility,
but everyone can do their bit.And by doing that, then yeah,

(15:46):
profits will go. Sustainability and retainabilityof customers as well will will actually follow
the sep it will carry in.So this is so cool, this conversation
so far, because this is definitelystrived through sixty five and something we haven't
really done and talking about construction andbuildings and the health and wellness of that

(16:07):
and how it affects us. Thisis so interesting and one of the things
that I read and that you talkedabout is the element queue. For one,
I want you to explain what thatis, and then also in developing
it, what were some of thepersonal challenges you face and how did you
overcome them? Yeah, so that'sreally interesting. Actually, because my PhD

(16:27):
is on dynamic and strategies to thermallyimprove buildings. I'm very because of surveyor
by trade, I've been a lotof homes and a lot of houses and
constructions. Commercial and residential building regulationsare kind of almost prehistoric a little bit.
Then they're outdated to actual practical applicationin the sense of thermal efficiency of

(16:52):
buildings. They are very much universaland don't necessarily take into account the the
special characteristics of buildings because in theUK we've got such a diverse range of
constructions, you know, from solidstone and cob which is essentially round earth
mud, to cavity wall constructions andtimber frame, so that there's all different

(17:15):
types. But to pass building regulationsnowadays, there's just a generic kind of
calculation and what's called what's for meto square Calvin, which essentially is how
much heat is being able to transferout of an element of the building.
Now, as part of my PhD, it is very much looking at each
building and how it can I supposea universal Building Regulations standard can be updated

(17:41):
so that law can be accommodated andsort through for both kind of construction types
and the orientation of a building,so you know, it's not a one
size fits all. So leading fromthat, I needed able to call the
climate chambers, so essentially a acubic meter or it could be five t

(18:03):
meters, whatever it is that yourequire to have a complete control environment within
a building. There was nothing commerciallyavailable at the time of that there still
isn't, and the ones that werebeing undertaken for research projects were huge,
clumpy things that you could just putin the back of a car and take
as a single researcher. They weretoo heavy and they wouldn't work on a

(18:26):
development wall construction site. So itkind of led to me having to look
at it and go, well,what do I need for my research?
How can I adapt something that doesn'texist? So that's where the elemental cube
came in, where essentially it's acube with an open face which can quite
easily be put together put onto awall structure or a surface, and it

(18:48):
allows you to then regulate that temperature, so isostandards can be sort of mets.
So because without going into too muchdetail about it, you need five
degree difference between intel external air atany time or U values, it's very
difficult to obtain that, especially inbigger buildings without running high energy costs.

(19:08):
So essentially this then allows you todo quite accurate but dynamic therm and efficiency
testing in buildings with a single user. So it's currently going through prototype phases
and the patterns now that they havegone through, so it's now going through
its final stages of then being availablecommercially. So we're going to make it

(19:30):
as cheap as possible without it's notprofit orientated at all. We just want
to make it available for as manyresearchers organizations as possible to be able to
undertake their own research, so thatthis cannot just be you a resolve,
It can be an international resolve becauseobviously every country has its own geographic problems,

(19:52):
you know, climate, temperature,air pressure, all sorts of things,
as well as general kind of theway we behave inside our social environments.
So that's really what this is forSo, yeah, it's quite exciting
stuff. This is yeah, andit sounds like it and I appreciate you
explaining it. So the work thatyou're doing, and you're talking about patterning

(20:15):
it, but the work in generalthat everything you've talked about so far,
is there anything like it going onin anywhere else in the world that you
know of. No, there's certainthat there are segments of bits of research
dipping in because obviously is a hugeimportant topic and there are areas of now

(20:36):
massive exposure due to medical research isactually then linking things like poor air quality
and indoor environments to indoor sort ofenvironments to long term medical health where we've
got people being rushed to hospital,we've got bronchitis, upper airway infections,
fatigue, depression, anxiety, allthese things that can just come out of

(21:02):
absolutely nowhere because of even short termexposure to poor indoor equality. So the
legislation within the UK is definitely kindof cracking down on these, but there
is still no adequate resolve. Thereis still no kind of I suppose people's
resolutional support back and adequately go inand say this is what you need to

(21:26):
do. So as part of thiswhole kind of project to move forward.
A brand called The Home Health Expertis now being launched which does exactly that,
and it's completely free podcast, whichis going to be well. I
basically interview industry professionals and medical expertsand kind of challenge them on those things

(21:49):
and just kind of get the realanswers without kind of going through potential you
know, influenced media outlet and thingslike that. I would, man,
I would love to talk to someof those medical experts in this because I
find it interesting. And also themainy thing because of conversation I've been having
in other areas and just any areais getting people to care. Are you

(22:14):
finding that happening? You know youare, because especially now more than ever,
and as we're so connected yet disconnected, as we're busier even though we
shouldn't be. That people just don'thave the time, nor the patients,
nor just we're so disconnected from thehuman nature. And this is within my
life coaching and health coaching that Isee. Uh So, are are you

(22:37):
having a struggle with that? Areyou seeing this? Are you seeing people
jump on board you know, talkon this, especially since I know you
in the life coaching field, aswell. You know, that's a really
good question, are they We're allthat I speak at are distent. And
you know, we've got people thatare landlords which is seeing propacy as investment

(22:57):
only, so it's more of amonetary return rather than an ethical kind of
or moral return. And also kindof the legislation and taxes that are being
put in place to make it lesslucrative or enticing for landlords. So therefore
they're not wanting to put the moneyor investment back into the properties because there

(23:18):
is just no kind of profit marginthere to do. So, however,
there are I mean, you know, there's over a million properties owned kind
of within the UK at the momentwhere they're below they're actually classed as below
acceptable habita and standards and both thoughyou know, you've got private tenants,
council tenancies over so home owners arelearning that this is affecting obviously their resale

(23:45):
value, but also their own health. And if you've got a lot of
health conscious people, which you know, people regardless of anything else or or
planetary protection or anything else, selfpreservation, and if you've got young family
members or older generations living with you, and you see them kind of having

(24:07):
these health issues that internally motivates peopleto want to find a result, you
know, a solution for these things. So I'm finding a lot of people
now kind of searching for the answersbecause they want to live in a healthier
environment. And I think it's kindof is coming full circle in the sense

(24:30):
that now there's more exposure of thesenow there's more evidence of medical kind of
links to this type of impact,people are now wanting answers, and there
just simply isn't any helper. Soyeah, this is this is where again
the homehel SE's but kind of podcastreally kind of come to its own.
Well, that's incredibly we'll have toleave that in the show notes and we'll

(24:52):
do that for you. And so, like sustainability which we've been talking about,
often requires obviously challenging status quo whichyou've talked about, is there a
time where you can that you canshare that you've had to stand firm in
your beliefs despite maybe optimism or oppositionor skepticism. Yeah. Absolutely. I
think when you're looking at developers orprivate clients of looking for project development or

(25:15):
improvements to their propacy, the goto currently is obviously more synthetic or petrochemical
insulations such as pr insulations, mineralwalls, things like that. They can
be very harmful not just in applicationor fitting, but in manufacturing and as
the manufacturing process people working in thesefactories, the pollution and waste from these

(25:37):
factories they've been going into rivers andthings like that, and then then obviously
then being fit and even disturbing.So homeowners may be kind of going and
using their roof voids as storage areasor maintenance disturbing the same mineral wa insulation.
It then gets inhaled and to becomevery irritated. So the problem is

(26:00):
with these they're cheaper, they're easilyaccessible, and a lot of contractors push
it because that's what they are awareof. They know the thermal performance,
they know their cost effective. Sotrying to get more practical data for more
sort of sustainable and natural solutions suchas corkboard insulation, sheeps, wolves,

(26:22):
hemps, wolves, things like thatis a massive kind of movement which is
still kind of very slow to bechurning over. So and they are a
little bit more expensive still because obviouslythe demand for them is not high enough
to make them kind of the economiesof scale kind of grow to make them
viable in that sense. So Ithink that's a two problem approach really to

(26:45):
try and overcome that. It's moreeducating both contractors and homeowners, but it's
also then trying to make it moreeconomically viable to access these And also it
even gets to the finer detail ofyou know, if you're using sheeps for
for example, people naturally go oh, but it smells and it creates you

(27:07):
know, interesting for bugs for example. So then the contractors or manufacturers may
then spray that and treat it withthe game you know, farmful and petrochemical
kind of synthetic sprays and applicants,and that again completely defeats the objects.
So it's making sure that everyone inthat chain is aware of the process.

(27:27):
Really, man, it just soundslike that on a deeper level, how
do you think your work in thecenter of building reflects your core values in
life's philosophy? Yeah, again,that's a great question really, and I
think if I can do my bitto I suppose personally from just a single

(27:52):
human perspective, if I can domy bit to make sure that that we
are slowing down the disruption of theplanet I'm kind of I mean, it's
ever necessarily going to be reversed,unfortunately, but if we can, if
I can do that, it doa bit to stop it prole be inevitable.

(28:15):
I see that that would be thatwould be good enough from a personal
level, but from a corporate andprofessional level. Obviously unlucky enough now to
have various organizations in various faces andbe exposure and be just doing things like
this for example, and be ableto be able to hopefully influence and make

(28:37):
people think ethically about what they're doing. So rather than just from a single
person perspective, I would like tobe able to impact more groups of people
rather than just the ones you knowI physically speak to. It sounds like,
while you're on this planet, Jason, you're going to do whatever it
takes to help as much absolutely theareas of expertise and impact as many groups

(29:03):
of people as possible. And thisis your passion. And I love that
I can relate to that. That'sbeen me no matter where I'm at in
my focus. So I appreciate thattoo, that there's people like you in
this world. And it's cool becauseI believe this podcast is going to be
really incredible because I'm sure most ofmy listeners never even heard half the things

(29:23):
you're talking about, and it's openingtheir eyes. And as soon as you
hear that, it's what's possible andthen belief, you know a lot of
great things can happen. So thankyou for that. So backtrack, you
said you read my book. Ididn't know that, and I appreciate that.
And this isn't about me, thisis about you. You said there
were some similarities. Do you mindsharing especially how you may see maybe those

(29:45):
similarities if there is if not nobig deal, but maybe some of those
similarities, and how they positively ornegatively affected your life or any share on
that. Yeah, absolutely, no, fantastic. So I think the main
one that came a cross to mewith the I think the expression you used
was the devil doing push ups inthe parking lot, and I think that

(30:07):
that kind of stuck in my mindquite a lot. And I think,
you know, it's always around thecorner. You've always got resistance. You
will always have some way that somebad energy or negative energy can try and
come into your life and almost tryand defeat you, try and defeat that
kind of causing you that far owingyou. And it's always being aware and

(30:32):
prepared and almost kind of conditioning yoursoul rather than just physically to be able
to not just overcome and endure thosekind of challenges and resistance, because there
are always going to people, youknow, whether it's trying to discredit you,
because obviously me kind of shouting aboutthis stuff, there's going to be
an awful lot of upset people.And more people listen, the more upset

(30:53):
they're going to be. So theirfirst point would be, oh, wow,
let's discredit him. Let's try andmake people not believe what he's saying.
And it's kind of making sure thatyou're you're not not being influenced,
not being defeated by those things.And it's that I think this that kind
of description and what you used waswas very powerful. And I think that's

(31:17):
that's actually touched me myself, andI think that that will kind of continue
to I suppose almost empowerment be goingforward with my own decisions. Well,
that's good to hear. Yeah,I mean, for those that have not
read my book, why haven't youNo, But for those that haven't read
it, that's in the beginning,and I it was an analogy that came
to me, for example, justlike he touched on resistance. And and

(31:41):
I'm a fitness guy. I mean, I'm a coach trainer and been doing
this for almost twenty years in healthand wellness. And no matter how good
life feels or is getting or flowing, wes have to remember. And I
threw a Bible verse in there.You know, no matter your beliefs,
that's just what's guided me. Andand it's knowing that there's dark forces or

(32:02):
there's always something out there, evenlike a negative comment on a post that
could throw you sideways and distract youfrom the progress you're making. And it's
just like somebody you don't even know. So just remember that those things are
always going to be there. WhenI was writing that book, I had
a book coach too, and heactually made me go to his book on
Amazon and look at his reviews.He's got like four point eight out of
five, but he's got tons.He's a big, well known author.

(32:24):
He's a friend of mine, andhe said, I want you to look
at all my bad reviews. Andhe is like, because you're going to
get those two and you can't letyour bad reviews. God, you're good.
Look at I got four point eight. You know, some of those
people aren't even reading your book.There's going to be that, there's going
to be the devil, There's goingto be stuff. So you know,
use that as motivation that there's alwaysgoing to be those things, and use

(32:46):
it as motivation. So yeah,I'm glad you brought that up because I
needed that reminder today actually, sothanks for bringing out my own book.
So yeah, I mean, Iwrote my book as if it could help
one person, and it came probablythe most therapeutic thing I ever did,
and it's almost been It's been aguidebook for a lot of people, and
it's even been my own. Irefer back to it because you know,

(33:07):
I wrote it for I didn't realizeI wrote it for myself sometimes too,
So you know, throughout your journey, you obviously it's it's probably been some
adversity. There's we've talked about thatsome. You know, is there anything
particular vulnerable in your career and ifso, how did that moment lead to
growth or shift in your approach?So vulnerability in your career absolutely, I

(33:30):
mean I think the way that Isuppose, the way I'm wired, it's
to be the best way of describingit, I don't really conform with what
you would class as kind of you. If you're doing grades, you're doing
kind of I space tick box pointsystems. It never really works with the

(33:51):
way that I tend to think thingsthrough with my kind of soul process.
So I from very early on,even from kind of before being as a
qualified surveyor going through kind of youknow, my degree, my master's degree,
and then even kind of any reallybeen my PhD when it kind of
as fit my brain kind of Isuppose pattern because it's very y much influence

(34:14):
in your personal kind of beliefs andbehavior. But well, when you're looking
at strict academia, I just don'tfit in those boxes. And unfortunately at
the time, obviously you don't haveany almost any kind of big wins.
You don't have any kind of awards, You don't have any final finished projects

(34:35):
set people and go yeah you knowwhat this is working, or companies that
are actually being able to do anythingpositive see you have. You don't have
any of those big wins, allthose goals. So yeah, that was
very vulnerable in my early stages becauseobviously everyone has self doubt and then kind
of then it comes into almost impostersyndrome where you kind of you get past
that and then all of a suddenyou're talking to people that are massive influencers

(34:59):
that have been doing this, youknow, before you were born, then
you know, and you just think, Wow, do I belong here?
Am I? Am I good enoughfor this? And yeah, it's been
a continual struggle, I think,and especially the more success that I achieve,
the more resistance in certain fields andindustry people because of what we've been

(35:20):
speaking about as well, and youjust have to kind of adapt to that
endurance and adapt that kind of almostit's a soul conditioning from that vulnerability to
be like it's okay, you know. And actually I've now got to a
point where I even see that asan indicator I'm doing what I'm supposed to
be doing. The more people thatare resisting, the more people that are

(35:43):
throwing I suppose in my eyes asa metaphor, the more clearly I'm having
an impact in the right places.So yeah, I think I've hopefully managed
to turn almost my vulnerabilities into likean indication of strength and kind of progress.
And I mean that was the premiseof my book Purpose through pain,
finding your challenges, your pain,whether it be an actual thing or something

(36:06):
like you mentioned, and looking atthe growth potentiality. And I got a
second book coming out, you know, the beginning of next year. It
goes a little bit deeper into that. It's actually more about you know,
finding joy and it's way past purpose, but you know, using these as
tools and always finding the joy withinthe storms and the challenges of our life
and we need to uh and youyou talked on that, so you know

(36:30):
there's tools that I use that Imentioned. But what through your journey have
you used to balance those demands ofbeing entrepreneur or feeling man your life like
with your own mental and emotional wellbeing. What are some of the things.
Yeah, that's a really good question. I think my key, I suppose
my epicenter to to all of mysegments of my life is fitness. Actually,

(36:53):
since a very young age, wellreally, I've very much in sea
sort of martial arts and then fitness, running and things like that, and
that's always been an influence through mylife and going through my kind of younger
adolescent years and then going to mythirties, and it's kind of it's always

(37:15):
allowed me to kind of almost takea step back, disconnect from everything else,
and then just kind of get ridof those toxins that toxic stress is,
anxieties, doubts through kind of physicaltraining, and then it allows you
then to have perspective. I thinkthat's really important because in the last year

(37:37):
and my life, unfortunately, I'vehad some really nasty life threatening infections and
spinal issues and things like that,all coming from I suppose misbalance of stress
and lowering kind of my spiritual energylevels, which has really caused issues with
me. And yeah, so forthat year I didn't cover that, I

(37:59):
didn't have every center of fitness.I wasn't physically able to do anything.
So I still had all those stresses, still had all those problems, all
those things to balance, but Ihad no reset button, and it was
very difficult because then things started smallthings, you know, that that could
be issues or not even really necessarilybig problems. They may have taken ten

(38:21):
minutes to sort, but because Ihad no reset they may as well have
been mountains. They could have bithuge issues, and they all just kind
of almost weighing down on me toa point where it was very odd to
just keep kind of treadjets from Muttluckily kind of seeing the difference in that
now I've been cleared to kind ofgradually start my progression back to health,

(38:45):
even the small things, even tenminutes a day and just allows you to
clear your mind enough to be ableto say, wow, this is this
is power and stuff. This isstuff that you really need to take seriously.
And also, you know, it'sso easy to give reason to sack
profice that time, you know,especially if you're busy or you've got a
deadline coming up about something and yougo, oh, well, I'll just

(39:05):
miss that session today. I justmissed that wellbeing session or that meditation session
or yoga session, and then itbecomes it doesn't just become one, it
doesn't stop at one. That's that'skind of the starting point. And then
it's like, oh, wow,I managed to get so much more done
because I didn't do that, I'mgoing to start sacrificing it more. And
it's a slow boar effective. Beforeyou know it, you're in a negative
spin. So it's like really importantjust to make sure let no matter how
busy things are, tuss things are, and make sure you always have that

(39:29):
time could just be a warp.It could be a cycle, doesn't have
to be a full blown gym session, but something to put yourself back in
that kind of balance. Yeah,just like ten minutes, like you said,
I can't movement snacks, I talkabout them, just something And I'm
glad you've shared some vulnerability there becauseit's I always believe it's amazing how movement,

(39:50):
something as simple as movement in ourlife or not in our life,
can have such a massive impact.And you had the self awareness to recognize
is that because you had it andthen you didn't And now you're like,
I need this and you realize howyou know, and then even just you
know how you start to connect andit sounds like you're just doing everything you
know, you're trying to help thecommunity. You realize you have to help
yourself so you can help the community. And this is what you know.

(40:14):
It's simple, but it's not easy, and that's why we need more people
like you in this world. Sowith that, how do you recharge or
recalibrate when face with setbacks? Youshared a little bit with meditation and movement.
Are there any other practices or routinesthat you that help to maintain your
focus and resilience in these times.Yeah, absolutely, And I think I'm

(40:35):
I love kind of the books ofthe Power Now and there's things that are
very kind of they helped me througha lot of tough times. And the
simplistic kind of meetings and those.It's just it's looking at the present.
So right now it may seem reallysimple, but you know, if you
kind of see yourself as a Isuppose a computer, your line is a

(40:58):
process or if you're clogging it upwith what you what you're worrying about what
you've done, You're worrying about what'sin the future, even in ten minutes
time, and you're panicking about scenariosthat haven't even happened yet, and you're
creating fears and anxiety around fictitious thingsthat haven't even happened. They may never
happen. So just being you know, even down to you go, it's

(41:19):
almost kinds like meditation again, butnot necessarily in the common form, you
know, just just sitting and listeningto the trees and just that's it.
You just focus on that and thenyou then you start kind of letting in
the positives again. You know,what's good in your life at that moment,
you know your health, are you, is your family? Well?
Are you? You know what greatthings not not not talking about academia or

(41:45):
materialistic things or even professional things,but just about you in that moment,
what have you got to be gratefulfor? And then you know that then
kind of for me, it almostbuilds like the fire back up. It
stads the fire back up, andthen it allows me then to deal with
my problems in a much more thannear and kind of one ways. You

(42:06):
know, I suppose realistic fashion.Really that just brought up something that I'm
going to try to do with myfamily, and it's I forget the name
of it, and even if Iknew it, I'd probably butcher. But
it's a Japanese technique and it's away to shift your life to genuine appreciation,
even if it usually is. Butsay it's not someone we're gonna try
before Thanksgiving, even though this isgoing to air after Thanksgiving, but this

(42:29):
could be done anytime. Is askyourself with your family or loved ones or
maybe even just yourself, but thenshare later three questions which goes into well,
the first question is what have Ireceived so like from someone or something?
What have I given. And thethird one I think is really powerful.
What troubles or difficulties have I causedfor others? Right? So,

(42:50):
just some good self reflection. Sowe're gonna wrapping up here sooner. I
got a few more questions though,obviously the strive three sixty five and you've
talked a lot, so define it. What does driving me to you in
the context about your personal life andyour mission for sustainable living? Yeah?
Absolutely, I mean personal life is, don't make excuses for why you're not

(43:12):
doing things, don't put mental blocksin your way. You're the only person
that kind of put those limitations inAnd essentially the terminology freedom is power is
incredibly kind of powerful to me personallybecause it allows me to kind of remember
that actually, the freedom of yourmind is the most powerful incentive and control

(43:37):
you have could be able to goout and achieve what you want to achieve
in your personal life, whether that'shave a family, you get married,
or go and climb out everest.You know, well what, everyone has
their own missions that they want toachieve before they die, and you're the
only person that's standing in your way. So I always strive to make sure
that that is something that I doon a daily basis. If I start

(44:00):
kind of putting obstacles in the waymy subconscious because all you shouldn't do that,
I'm consciously then on it it's ared flag, why is that happening?
And then moving it and moving myselfforwards. So I would love to
be able to just teach my childrenthat and be able to kind of allow
them to develop their own kind ofversion of that for themselves. So I

(44:23):
think perhaps that's definitely that that's definitelythe one and sustainability wise, and you
know, again it's about persistence.It's about unfortunately being the un comfortable conversation,
the uncomfortable presence of something that peopledo not want to address or do
not know how to address. Andyou know, one voice can be heard

(44:45):
by everybody, one by millions becauseobviously technology, but also the movement of
what the cause of that is.So I would always like to you know,
time is very limited, and Iwould like to make sure every moment
that I'm speaking to people or doingsomething towards sustainability, I would like to

(45:07):
be able to say that actually willn'tsay is hopefully going to contribute to that.
Five. So what's that positive movementto be able to make a bigger
change than what I can do.Yeah, I love all that. You
know, you said something this,and I use the words, the voices,
the stories we tell ourselves. Youknow where our subconscious mind and the

(45:28):
things that are we're going. I'veheard some extreme stories. I thought I
was sharing on here, but Iwon't. But we could go down such
a deep rabbit hole, especially ifwe don't stop it. So my encouragement
if you have a story that's negativeor untrue, or it doesn't align with
your purpose, isn't kind, isn'tmotivational or inspiring, then stomp it.
And it could be meditation, itcould be prayer work, it could just

(45:52):
you need to get that out becauseit will evolve if you don't. So
that's my encouragement. If you reallywant to know some stories, like share
some stories. There's a guy,No, I won't share this too far,
but he had a story and itgot so far six months because he
didn't do anything about it and almostcaused some very horrible things in his entire
life. And then he like basicallymeditated and prayed away and it was gone.

(46:14):
So just know that do your thing. So for anyone listening who's navigating
their own past or difficult times,you know, any more advice or insights
or that you'd love to offer basedoff your experiences or the things that you're
doing. I mean, just soundincredibly spoke, corny, but just never

(46:35):
truly believe in yourself. If youthink that what your beliefs are, what
your contribution to put forward to whateverit is to care about, don't listen
to the negativity. Just listen toconstructive criticism in yourself. I mean,
you will achieve what you want toachieve out of your life and your career.
So that's what I probably would sayto people, and you know I

(46:58):
would be in putting what you've alreadysaid, but it'd just be reiterating an
already well valid point. Is youknow, his well being is everything.
And meditation or for or any anykind of way that you feel you need
to be able to set we setor release that oxin or stress or whatever
it may be. Just find whatworks for you and make sure you hold

(47:21):
onto it and do not sacrifice itfor anything. If you're having trouble,
maybe it's your house and you needto call this guy right here. So
yeah, you know, absolutely inUh. I want to ask this too
Vesta before, but I don't askit with everybody. But you seem like
a dreamer who especially a dreamer whowants to do good things in this world.
So this came essentially from my twodaughters. But my youngest, like

(47:43):
she's eight, but she's she's beenfascinating loves unicorns. And I would say,
yeah, a lot of girls do, but this girl really loves like
she knows they don't exist, butis going to find a way to make
them exist. And I'm not goingto stop that, you know. So
what for you is your Do youhave one? If not, you don't
have to answer that this or ifyou had one big unicorn wish for your
career, your life, or forthis world while you're here or maybe right

(48:07):
after when you're you're gone in alegacy of sorts, like if you just
had this unicorn dream unicorn size wish, what would it be that's you can
sit on it for a second.Wow, I think, I mean,

(48:29):
there's there's so many things I thinkif if that the unicorn wish kind of
you know, Genie came up andsaid, you know, what would your
one wish be? That there's Isuppose getting rid of I suppose getting rid
of greed in life. I thinkthat would be one of the things because

(48:51):
I think greed is fundamentally the rootcause of a lot of issues where that's
you know world I'm going with,that's that's a you know, plagues and
medical withdrawals of medication and all theyou know, sustainabilities is everything. There
is a lot of today things comedown on too greed. So yeah,

(49:12):
it would be very interesting if butyou could be kind of just completely eradicate
that. That's a good one,man. I want to ask you how
you would do that. That's awhole other episode, brother, But I
have no idea, No, I'msure. Yeah, but that was That's
a good one, and I lovedyour follow up on it. So anything
else you like to share, includingways people can contact you, social media
channel channels, or anything else thatmaybe we left off that you'd want to

(49:35):
be like, Hey, I wantto make sure that we say this before
we bounce we get off. Yeah, absolutely, I mean, you know,
this is a big you didn't likeyou say, you know, homehouse
and your general environment. If you'restuck or you just do not know where
to go, you know, thehomehouse Expert or home health espert dot com,
Dotty Gay or wherever you are inthe world. He's always here.

(49:57):
The doors always open, and itis completely free and there is nothing on
there that cannot be input. Ifyou have any issues at all, these
contact us and I will do mybest to answer it. Awesome, man,
Well, I appreciate having you onhere. I can relate to a
lot of things you talked about.I grew up with childhood asthma, for
example, and I eradicated it throughmy own means. But I think what

(50:21):
you're doing, no, I knowwhat you doing yeah, is great and
hopefully it expands, and I'm sureit will into the rest of the world
that people like you said start puttingpeople first over profit and realize they will
see the profit if they just reallyfocus on taking care of everyone and knowing
not striving for perfection is what Iheard. And you doing everything you can
while you're here, and just realizinghow connected we are as a world,

(50:42):
as a community, especially more thanever, and we need to begin to
even be more connected. So thankyou so much Jason Ratcliff joining me on
Striving through sixty five and for thelisteners, thank you for listening in on
this and this is completely listeners supported, So do your part because it might
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(51:07):
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benefit or find value in it.Take care,