Unveiling My 'Why': Legacy, Creativity, and Life Beyond the Material

Episode Transcript
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(00:20):
Hey, Welcome to another empowering episodeof Strive three sixty five, your go
to source for conquering life's challenges andthriving no matter the odds. Whether you're
seeking mental, physical, emotional,or spiritual growth, We're going to help
guide you towards a better life.Now. I'm your host, Justin Arnold,
coming from the amazing Rock Box Studio. Now. In today's episode,
it's gonna be a little bit different. It's on a personal note. It's

(00:41):
a personal one where I'm gonna besharing the why and the why behind everything
that I do. Why I write, Why I do this podcast, Why
I coach, Why these endeavors gofar beyond the monetary returns. I felt
it was important, it was importantin the beginning of this year to explain

(01:02):
that, you know, in ourjourney today, we're going to uncover the
power of legacy that transcends material wealth, explore therapeutic nature of creative expression.
We're going to dive into, hopefullyour actions and how they can inspire and
shape the lives of others, especiallyour loved ones. I'll be sharing a
profoundly insightful expert from Rick Rubins's newbook, If You ever read a creative
act, So look out for thatwhich, beautifully I believe after reading this

(01:26):
book and just when I read thispart just encapsulates the essence of creativity and
spirituality and even a little bit ofwhy we should do or why we do
almost our purpose. So, andto wrap things up, if you're lucky,
if you're blessed, whatever words youuse, I'll be sharing something I
actually wrote today that I plan toinclude in my new book and the final

(01:46):
draft of my upcoming book, whichI have here. If you have video,
here's a little as you can see, not for resale, because I'm
still editing The Joyful Warrior, howto find meaning and suffering, thrive through
adversity, and find joy through thestorms to maximize our life. So,
whether you're here for inspiration, insight, or just curious about the story behind
my voice, Justin Harland, inviteyou to join me on this personal exploration

(02:07):
of purpose, passion, and thepursuit of something greater. So, like
I said, we're here to talkabout why why I do all the things
that I do. And maybe youjust know me from this podcast, maybe
which probably majority know me from myhealth and wellness business. Some know me
for my first book, Purpose throughPain, or even some that have come

(02:29):
newer in my life knowing my secondbook, or other things that I have
done, and it's so I don'tknow if eerily is the word I want
to use, but it's eerily similarto why I've done a lot of the
things. As I was telling Scott, a producer here at Rockbox before,
I was like why I was doingthis and so many things in my life,
like the big why of what Ido. And for example, my

(02:52):
book Purpose through Pain, it wasinitiated by a friend going on a mission
trip. I believe I should havea huge story that could really help a
lot of people. I push back, saying I couldn't read write, and
I could read, I couldn't write. There's no way I can't say.
Still, nobody wants to hear mystuff. I have ADHD making all these
selfliming beliefs. But it was reallyof eventually hearing all within a week span,

(03:15):
several people, all not connected witheach other, basically say along the
lines the theme that I've had agreat life, I don't understand pain,
I have good genetics, all thesedifferent things, and it was almost like
a pissed off slash people can benefit. And also just you know, I
knew people could be motivated similar here, why am I doing this episode?

(03:37):
That's interesting yeacause a lot of peoplehave no idea what is behind what they
see what they see on Facebook.They think, now, here's a guy,
he's like got abs, he's rocksolid, he works out, he
probably never had to really work hard. At Daniel's life, he's those are
the exact words people use. Yeah, like you were the epitome of of

(04:00):
some kind of privilege, you know, and it's like they have no idea
what you had to overcome in yourstruggles. Yeah, I mean you read
my book because I could tell awhole story within what just Scott just said.
And thanks for chiming in there.But I appreciate it. And there's
so much more to everyone's story.And this isn't a woes me It never
is. It's to open people upbecause I believe we truly believe in the

(04:21):
therapeutic benefit of sharing our stories,even with just ourselves in the mirror.
So remember that. But yeah,I mean, there's so much more,
from a physical to a mental,to emotional to growing up you know,
poor, and all these different things. I haven't really had it. You
know, our people's stories worse thanmy, for sure, but it's it's
through discipline and striving and finding waysto thrive and find joy and purpose in

(04:46):
my everyday life to keep me movingforward. And so why did I want
to do this episode? Well duringeven writing the second book, and even
after the first book and everything,even why I do this podcast to literally
so many things? Why I coachsports. I've had several people within the
last few months question it. Youknow, what's the return? Like is

(05:10):
if only this has a monetary returnin it? But there's so much more
which I'm going to dive into.And I teased a little bit, but
you know, one, why didI write my book The therapeutic after finishing
that first book? And why Iencourage people to write is probably one of
the most therapeutic things I have everdone, you know. And and when

(05:32):
I read my book, so Iput my book together so much different.
I just had somebody literally yesterday askme, oh, you formed the outline?
They just assume I did. Howwe all learned in high school or
college or wherever you learned, ifyou ever learned how to put anything together,
there's always like an outline, andthere's steps not that I'm like,
not that i'm and I rules.Maybe I am if you go back to

(05:55):
the younger justice justin yes, Iwas very much uh rule breaker. Oh
there's a rule. I want tofind a way to break it. But
it was more and just knowing whatworked with me, And I encourage everybody
if there's something you want to do, there's always a million ways to do
it. And mine was like apuzzle. I feel like, you know,
say I have ADHD, which I'mbeing diagnosed. I look at it
as a gift in a superpower,which I've talked about in this podcast before.

(06:19):
But I just knew the things andthe topics and the things I wanted
to write about, and the quotesI wanted to use, and literally all
the pieces of the puzzle, andI put them all in a Google doc
and then over time, literally overten months less than that, actually it
was ten months about the when itfinally published. I ripped through this thing,
just piecing the puzzle together, puttingwhere I wanted what to be after,

(06:40):
what chapter and all those things,and we had it together. So
it wasn't your conventional way of doingit, but sharing my writing has impacted
so many people. It's even inspiredmy children. So like why I write,
You know, somebody questioned the bookfor example, like I said earlier,
and so one it was therapeutic.Oh my goodness, it was the
if I would have if somebody wouldhave told me. And I don't say

(07:00):
go write a book, and I'vesays before, but just writing a journal
or writing and reading it. Ifsomebody would have told me like I was
told by therapist, I was good. I didn't need therapy, which is
a whole other story. But ifsomebody who had told me and actually encouraged
me and made me believe, Iguess is another step that writing would be
the one of the best. Maybeit's not the best for everybody, but
I would say it's definitely it's numberone for me. And then reading it

(07:24):
over when I is is better thananything I've ever spent money on therapy or
health wise mentally. And so whenI read it finally, so the first
time I read it first front ofback is when I got the not for
presale like I have of my JoyfulWarrior Birke book, and I got to
a certain if you read my book, I got to a certain point or

(07:46):
like flashback City, reliving it likeit felt like it was literally happening.
And I was five, six,seven, eight years old again and I
had to put it down. Icouldn't. I just couldn't. And I'm
like, man, I thought itwas over everything souse I wrote about it.
No emotion there. This is like, you know, but than reliving
it, you know, going backto that childhood self, which is a
whole other thing. I talk moreinto my second book, but I did.

(08:07):
I made the decision that the nextday I would pick it up,
go and read from the beginning ofthat chapter and really not fight, but
see if I could make it through. I didn't know. I didn't know,
and I did and it was justlike reading. And I did it.
I read through it and it wasjust like words on a paper and
it was just like, yeah,it was my story, but it was
just like reading anything else. Itwas reading. It was like reading Doctor

(08:28):
Seuss to my kids, if thatmakes sense. And that's where I was
like wow. And the feeling thateuphoric like healing that I felt from that
wow. And so that's just numberone. So if I only wrote and
that was it and I sold zerobooks, it was worth ever all the
time and money in the world,but other cool things. Obviously, people

(08:48):
were helped. The amount of people, especially men and even women that have
come up to me, and ofall different like faiths and beliefs and non
beliefs and all this, how it'sjust helped them. So that was just
a wow. You know, thisbook. I felt like I've helped more
with this book than I have inmy almost twenty years of fitness to not
to negate that I've helped a lotof people with that as well, but

(09:09):
it's just really cool that words,right, the power of words. But
also my children. I've got twochildren that have affirmed they were going to
be authors. In fact, myyoungest daughters already started writing her children's books.
She started last year and she buggedme, when are we going to
finish this, dad? And sowe're working on it because I feel the
pressure and I really want to helpher through it. So my eight year

(09:30):
old daughter may not have seen it, my son's already talked about at least,
you know, he said he wantsto write ten books. You'd be
through a number out there, right, and we know the power of that.
And this right there has inspired mychildren, you know. So I
believe there's a legacy beyond the materialwealth there that is going to be left
with my kids, you know,so because generations from now can be helped

(09:52):
from this book. You know,my kids can read my story and hopefully
learn and not repeat a lot ofmy stakes. So that's that's been a
really cool thing. So, uh, it's just been really cool from the
book standpoint. And even why Iwrote a second one, Well, you
know, why would you write afirst you got a good or why would
you write a second you got afirst? Well, there's more to tell

(10:15):
on this One's a lot deeper,uh, And there's still things that could
really eventually help. And and thequestion that was asked after the first book
was, you know, I getI've really found my purpose or I know
how to look for it. Andnow, thank you, this is more
about joy because people like well,I still struggle with joy and happiness,
and you know, even with thechallenges and the storms and the adversity and

(10:37):
all the things going through your life. And so that's was like, man,
you know, I didn't realize ittill having these conversations. No matter
what, I've always been able tomaintain a level of joy through everything I'm
going through. And while while Italk about this, I do talk about
this more in my book. Wealso have to realize joy and happiness aren't
always the same thing. So joyis within you and something you create,

(10:58):
and happiness is more something you experience. So think about that like happiness is
a birthday. You're happy at yourbirthday, at child's birthday, but say
that birthday goes wrong, that's wherewe lean on joy. That's an easy
way to explain it. So Iremember a lot of these are way beyond
I know I said it, I'vesaid it over again, but you know
there's a lot of rewards to thisbeyond the monetary standpoint. So podcasting,

(11:22):
YouTube, So why did I startdoing that? So the purpose of my
podcast, you know, I hadone that I started, it ran its
course. Then Scott's blessed me withthis opportunity and we've teamed up on this
to really just provide daily free giftsto people in how to Strive. We've
had guests on here, we've talkedon here, and it's content. It's

(11:43):
valuable content that we can put allover the Internet that's going to be there
for however long The Internet's on.So YouTube is a part of this as
well. So I have a YouTubechannel where this podcast is on. But
since about twenty fourteen, no twentyso almost a decade, I've been putting
fitness and health related, nutrition,all things life coaching related videos on YouTube

(12:09):
for free for people to check out. And the purpose of that is just
again, ways that people can lookup and help. Could I monetize I
have some of it, but doI always have to know because at the
end of the day, I wantpeople to have this source later on in
life. And there's people that justcan't afford to maybe pay a trainer or
pay a coach, and they getit for free on these podcasts. And

(12:31):
again, these are tools that yes, my children or anybody can use.
So I put these platforms out thereor I put these on these different platforms
allow to reach and positively influence morepeople, and on that I've had people.
Literally just a few weeks ago,my wife and I were one of
her friend's birthday celebrations, and I'lltell a little bit of this story.

(12:54):
My wife already knows this. Ididn't want to go like nothing to the
people that were there. I justwanted to I was in one of these
like I don't want to be ata bar around people. I just want
to be I got my book,I got things I could work on,
but I was like, you know, I want to be there for my
life. We don't hang out asmuch with three busy kids in busy life.
So I said, suck it up, Justin, let's go out.
And I was so grateful I did, because literally within minutes of walking through

(13:16):
the door, that person knows havingher birthday walked up to me and just
said, Justin, I want tothank you, like okay, like I
didn't know, like for coming.I'm not that big. Like what She's
like, you know, the worldis full of pain, and she went
on about like, you know,you get on social media or you turn
on the news and and you know, and and there's just so much hate

(13:39):
and evil. But I will literally, like when I'm feeling especially really low
or down or something, I willgo literally to your Facebook page and watch
one of your videos, read oneof your posts, and I will be
instantly offlipped because I know when Igo to your page there'll be healthy content.
Like basically, just that that madeher feel good, and she's told

(14:00):
other people about it, and I'mlike, wow, that was I needed
to hear that for example for onein that moment, but it was also
like wow, it just proof thatyou know a bigger why to what I
do? Am I getting any moneyfrom her? No, there's but there
there is a return in that herlife. You know what if somebody's going
to my page that I don't evenknow that is on the ledge, that

(14:22):
is on the verge and something upthere might save their life. There's enough
stuff out there. And not tosay they need to get rid of all
it. I think we need information, but a lot of people have never
been taught how to use that information, especially news and cycle plusts. We
go down a rabbit hole of conspiracytheory, went to believe but that right
there? You know, why dowe produce stuff? You know why I
share in these different platforms, Like, man, couldn't you put your time

(14:45):
into something else? And I'm anentrepreneur and I'm around a lot of business
and I get it. You know, we want to provide a level of
service a which I do, butnot everything needs to be monetary. Yes,
we need to provide for our families, pay our bills, take care
of things and if we have moremoney, we can help more people.
I get all that, but atthe end of the day, that doesn't
need to be the end all,do all, because what kind of legacy

(15:05):
are we leaving? And I've saidthis word several times, and I've said
it because I've heard so many peoplein so many different circles say legacy and
talk about real estate, talk abouttheir bank account, talk about all these
things that can literally burn up,blow up, disappear within minutes, if

(15:28):
not days, weeks, months.But there are things out there that you
can leave that can last generations.And that's the words you say, the
things you put out, the environment, and the culture that you leave in
your home. So do you needto do the things I do? Do
you need to write books? Youneed to know? You don't need to
do anything. It literally should bewithin your home. What are you leaving?

(15:48):
You know what example? I saythis often what your kids are the
people around you like you learn fromwhat you do versus what you say.
You know your children are becoming mirrorimages of you. And it doesn't mean
be perfect. That's stressful. Itjust means do the best job you can.
If you make a mistake, likeI do plenty of you. You

(16:11):
apologize, you forgive, or youdo these different things in front of them
so they see it because you wantthem to relate, because you know they're
gonna f up. Yeah, it'sit's really I'm sorry, you know.
In my opinion, it's it's howyou respond to those problems that is the

(16:32):
most important thing. You know,stuff's gonna go bad. Things are bad,
are going to happen your whole life, and sometimes all at once.
Maybe you'll go a couple of weekswithout anything bad happening, but it happens,
you know, And it's how yourkids witness how you're responding to that,
how you listen to the news,what your immediate reaction is. Do

(16:53):
you sit and think about it fora second, take a deep breath,
and then respond, or do youfly off the handle? Go god damn.
You know. That is where Icame from. My father was very
was very much like whack, whatare you doing? You know? And
and that's how I started. Andit took me. It took me many
years to figure out that I needto chill the f out, you know,

(17:17):
like those problems aren't the end ofthe world. When something like that
happens, you go, Okay,let's think about this. What does this
mean? Yeah, and then gofrom there. And you know, teaching
that to your kids is just asimportant as anything else that they're going to
learn in school, if not moreimportant. In my opinion, No,
I agree. I feel all ofit is more important than what we can

(17:41):
learn in school. I think Ibelieve a lot of the school don't take
offense of this school people. Ithink you're doing the best job that you
know how, but with the toolsgiven, with the tools given, with
that set. My kids are inpublic schools. Just so we're clear,
I'm not homeschooling. We're not.I mean, I mean I would like
that, honestly, but to spendmore time them. But it's it's I

(18:02):
used school as to go there andalso question and I tell my kids not
to worship anything. I mean,yes, we're people of faith, but
we shouldn't worship uh teachers schools.We should take everything I use the grain
assault analogy is meaning we should takeit and be curious and explore it and
question it and not be the dullduel. I remember in first grade,

(18:25):
here's a story where I was toldI was spelling my name wrong, and
I know the principal's office. Iremember that. I remember when they said
you were spelling your name right there? Did you spell it with an e?
Right? Yeah? Yeah? Andpeople were in my first grade teacher
was fighting me on it and didn'tbelieve me. Thought I was lying and
being combative. And I'm like,they literally had to bring a birth certificate

(18:45):
and this is my trauma life.Yeah it's not like this is the like,
but that's traumatic to it. Istarted crying because I was questioning my
own name. I'm like, maybeI wrong, maybe I'm an idiot,
maybe I'm so dumb, like andthis is where I learned early on.
We're like, yea, I didn'tinclude in my book. Maybe I shouldn't
add no, but you don't evenknow everything. But seriously, like this
is like that's so minor con beriedto things I've been through, but it

(19:07):
just shows like and I'm glad Ihad that happened to me when you looked
at it as I look at you, because I remember that of that took
me into being a parent and ineven a coach, and when I work
with children in my own that youcan learn a lot from your kids.
Just as much as you can teachthem. It could be psychical. Just
because you're have more information and menon this planet doesn't make you smarter better

(19:27):
by any means. I've learned somuch from my kids. In fact,
my kid, my son, thismorning, he saw me take this book
out of the house that I'm goingto read on here a little caption in
it, and he's like, Oh, that's your new book. That's cool.
I love the cover. We startedtalk what's it about? I told
him and and and I can't rememberwhat a transition to, but he said,

(19:48):
this is the point whey I broughtthis story up. Was He's like,
yeah, I usually read through bookstwo or three times. And I
was like, I was jealous inthat moment. I was like, man,
I wish I was like that.I'm like, I look at books
as candy, I like boom becauseI love them so much that I just
want to move on to the nextsometimes and I'm like, man, I
probably have all the books I wouldever need to be live an amazing life
and learn from all the masters ofsorts. I should just stop buying books.

(20:12):
But I can't really commit to thatstatement, so don't hold me to
it, because I do love books, and but I probably would grow a
lot by just reading them two orthree times learning from my son. But
another story, I remember arguing witha student teachers aid in like fourth or
fifth grade, because I was reallylike my dad got me into like Civil

(20:33):
War history, and I was reallyI learned a lot, Like I was
above average of your fifth grader knowingabout the Civil War. Literally, like
I knew a lot and you know, facts versus truth. My dad,
you know, wanted me to learnfrom both the South and the North to
really learned because we heard, like, you know, various perspectives. Anyways,
I remember this, I like,I argued with a student teacher so

(20:56):
he's still in college or graduating,about photographs and that they didn't have cameras
back then, and I'm like,yeah, they did. These are real
photographs of Lincoln. I remember havingthis debate. I'm like, but then
in that moment, I questioned,wait, am I wrong? I literally
had to go home. I saidthat they didn't have cameras for that they
were all painting. Still, I'mlike, this guy's an idiot, but

(21:17):
I didn't say that, But lookingback, I'm like, this guy was
he was, and it just showslike how we can get a false information
at a very young age. Yeah, somebody who didn't do their research and
just assumed that. And for thosethat don't know, I am going to
maybe forty three on January nineteen,so in a couple of weeks, depending
on when this airs, And likethat still bugs me. I need to
get over right, Like but we'regetting a little You want to find him

(21:40):
and be like, hey, rememberwhat I remember what it looks like he
had. Well he looks different obviously. Now he probably could be retired.
Well maybe not, he'd be whatlet's see we're looking at. Yeah maybe
he's probably in his early twenties backmaybe yeah, maybe he's dead. Dark
hair he was, he was.He was about your bill dress. He

(22:00):
was. He was a white guywith dark hair and the narrows it down.
Yeah. But you know I meanthis like we're talking about family and
life and and you know it alsogoes into work life balance. Your kids
are watching, so if they seeyou workaholic, they're going to mimic that,
you know, And so if theysee you creating them all about creating,
creating and leaving stuff. I believewe're all built and creage creative.

(22:23):
We're all built as creators, justour muses different. I really true believe
that, and so are my kidsare seeing that, but also balancing you
know why I coach. For example, I was like, oh, somebody
was telling me you need to backoff coaching. You need you got to
focus on your business. You gotto focus on this, Like you know,
I've had business coaches and the likesand and I'm like, you know,
at the end of the day,yeah, I can make a lot

(22:45):
more money, but you know,my kids. Coaching my kids sports is
like the highlight of my week.You know, I'm not going to turn
the down. Plus, it's notthe highlight of my week, it's a
highlight of their week now at theend of the day. And I've had
conversations and psychology books on parenting andchildren will tell you this. All your
kids want is you, and allthey want is you to play with them

(23:07):
and hang out with them. Likemy kids will practice hockey or whatever sport
or whatever thing if more often withoutI raise your hand of your parent.
Let's backtrack, and you've asked yourkids to do something and they don't do
it for whatever reason. I'll goclean a room, go practice your instrument,
go practice your sport, and it'sturned into fights and frustration. Trust

(23:30):
me, because I've done this.But I've learned again we can't sacrifice completely.
There's got to balance, You gotto work, you gotta do these
things. But every time I doit with them, like if I clean
the room with them, even ifI just get a start and then walk
away, like they continue most times. Same thing with their sport, same
thing with their instrument, same thingwith anything. And it was something I
learned. It's like, oh mygod, all I got to do is

(23:52):
participate and show up and do thething, even horribly, and they'll do
it. It's amazing, amazing,and so this is why. So why
do I coach there to be withthem, to be more time with them?
So you know, yeah, it'svolunteery. I'm not seeing a monetary
return, but there's so much morevalue and that's time. I feel time
as the most value resource and Italk about that in my first book.

(24:15):
So how are you doing it?How are you you know, using it?
You know, so think about that, you know, and so just
I want to I want to remindyou all those things, so you know,
most therapeutic, some of these thingsthat I do, like it's therapeutic
to coach, it's therapeutic to dothese podcasts and talk on it. Honestly,
I needed to find an outlet.I have ad and I like to

(24:37):
talk, so there we get.You know, It's helped countless numbers of
people, like I talked about,It's inspired my kids to do things,
to right, to dream big,and it's left legacies for my kids.
And I've helped, like I said, counselors, countless numbers of people.
And I've built relationships through all thesedifferent venues with coaches. Scott and I've
grown. We've had some great timesmore than we've had some challenges, and
that's only grown our relationship. Andwe've gotten know each other because at the

(25:00):
end of the day, we caredmore about each other than we did about
anything else, and then we're willingto work through that. So that's it.
So I wanted to read a littlebit. Like I said at Rick
Rubns, I think it's time totake a pause and reading Ruben's perspective and
how it relates to my experience andprobably just reading it alone, you'll see

(25:22):
how it relates. But it goesinto the craft I feel we're all creatives.
Like I said, I feel weare all products of our environment.
Sure, and I feel and Iimagine that. Yeah, let me just
read. How about that? Letme shut up and just read. So
if you ever, if you don'tknow Rick Rubin is, he's a massive

(25:45):
new music producer, has been aroundfor a while. He also creates other
things of art and different things.And of course anybody that's got a big
name and has created stuff, there'salso going to be some controversy. So
if you look him up, you'llprobably find some of that. But the
one thing I know about just outsidelooking in, this guy cares about others,
and he cares about his own mentalhealth, and he like he.

(26:07):
I think he doesn't start his actualwork day till like eleven or twelve and
goes to like six like his homemorning. I don't think he wakes up
from an alarm. His whole morningis meditation, coal pludging, working out,
taking care of mental and physical emotionalwellbeing well before he meets with anybody.
So just a little little scope onthat. He's also in that position
to be able to do that truegood point like I cannot, everybody can.

(26:30):
So I give you an example,like, well he must be blessed.
Well, yeah he is, buthe's worked hard. But yeah,
we've all worked hard. And someis you know, chance and knowing the
right people. And I don't liketo used word luck, but you know
maybe. But for my version,that's the reason why I wake up at
like five am and do some ofthose things and I break it up and
why I write my books because thebooks I give a lot of tools,

(26:52):
escially in the second one to helpthe normal people out there that haven't been
gifted or live that life, ormay never live that life, but they
can still live a joyous and happyand fulfilling life. And there's ways to
do that. For example, Italked recently and I talk regularly about people
who can't get workouts in and movementstack movement snacks and getting an accumulative of

(27:15):
like forty five minutes to an houra day doesn't mean all in once.
I even my wife and other peopleI know have taken that on and just
how like moving every couple of hours, how good that feels mentally, And
that's where they talk about more thanthey do that they're losing weight and all
these different things. So this hedidn't have like chapters. It's like sections,
which is interesting because my book hassub sections in chapters. So I

(27:37):
love that he did this his ownway. I don't even think in this
book he talks about himself at all, which is really interesting. The Unseen
is the title of this By conventionaldefinition, the purpose of art is to
create physical and digital artifacts, tofill shelves with pottery, books, and
records, though artists generally aren't awareof it, the in work is a

(27:59):
byproduct of a greater desire. Wearen't creating to produce or sell material products.
The act of creation is an attemptto enter mysterious realm, a longing
to transcend. What we create allowsus to share glimpses of an inner landscape,
one that is beyond our understanding.Art is our portal to the unseen
world. Without the spiritual component,the artist works with a crucial disadvantage.

(28:21):
The spiritual world provides a sense ofwonder and a degree of open mindedness not
always found within the confines of science. The world of reason can be narrow
and filled with dead ends, whilea spiritual viewpoint is limitless and invites fantastic
possibilities. The unseen world is boundless. The word spirituality may not speak to
those who dwell chiefly in the intellect, or those who equate the word with

(28:42):
organized religion. If you prefer tothink of spirituality as simply believing in connection,
that's fine. If you choose tothink of it as believing in magic,
that's fine too. The things webelieve carry a charge, regardless of
whether they can be proven or not. The practice of spirituality is a way
of looking at a world where you'renot alone. There are deeper meanings behind

(29:03):
the surface. The energy around youcan be harnessed to elevate your work.
You're a part of something much largerthat can be explained, a world of
immense possibilities. Harnessing this energy canbe marvelously useful in your creative pursuits.
The principle operates on faith, believingand behaving as if it's true. No
proof is needed. When you're workingon a project, you may notice apparent

(29:23):
coincidences appearing more often than randomness.Allows almost as if there is another hand
guiding yours in a certain direction thatspeaks to me, so much as if
there's an inner knowing gently informing yourmovements. Faith allows you to trust the
direction without needing to understand it.Pay particular attention to the moments that take
your breath away. A beautiful sunset, an unusual color, eye color,

(29:45):
a moving piece of music, theelegant design of a complex machine. If
a piece of work, a fragmentof conscience, or an element of nature
is somehow allowing us to access somethingbigger. This is a spiritual moment made
to manifest. It awards us aglimpse of the unset. See. So
it just shows that like whatever wewant to create, we can't create,

(30:06):
And there's so much more to creatingthan we'd like to see, and there's
so much more of a return thanour monetary return. You know that,
you know, you just do itto do it, you know, to
provide something. And whether it's somethinglike you said, whether it's something faith,
or whether it's something you know deepinside or whatever it might be.
You know, we in tune alsosomething I haven't really we talked about as

(30:30):
we do it for the world,but we also do it for ourselves.
You know, I wrote my book, both of them. I do a
lot of the things, especially thesebooks I can talk on. I didn't
realize it until I was done withthe first one, I wrote this book
for me. The second one Iwrote for me and not selfishly. I
didn't realize it until they're pretty muchdone, knowing there's thousands of me or

(30:51):
previous me's out there that could reallybe helped by this, but also for
my own benefit, but also forthe kids out there as well, you
know. So, I just wantto encourage you to think about your own
why you know, why you dowhat you do, or if there's something
don't feel bad. If the stateof your life is not where you'd like
it to be. That's part ofit. That's part of the journey.
As Rick Rubin talks about in hisbook, that's part of your experience that

(31:17):
you can share with yourself, withyour family, or with the world.
You know. So, I mean, I want you to think about it,
and I want to encourage you.If somebody questions what you do,
it's not their job to tell youwhat to do. Even your boss,
let's be honest. You can listento it, you can take it in.

(31:41):
I just want people to stop livingin fear of what they feel called
to do what they want to do, and just really think about the journey
versus the end result. You know, the journey is meant to be enjoyed,
and that doesn't mean it's always safeor calm. You know, I

(32:01):
look at a surfer. I've beensurfing, and you know, surfing is
an interesting thing where we all eventuallyfall right and we can't always predict the
waves that are going on, butwe can enjoy the entire experience and the
journey along the wave. If you'renot familiar with surfing, go try it.
But just think of anything else.It's even hiking or whatever you do,
even if it's not a physical thing, which I highly encourage getting out

(32:23):
of nature and doing physical stuff.You know, it's the journey, it's
the process. Yes, we wantend results, but sometimes it's dreaming so
big or wanting to something so bigeven if it's not having a monetary return
for whatever reason, that we don'tget there because it's not about that.

(32:43):
It's not about that end result.It's about the process in between and taking
those moments and stop to play withour kids or smell a flower, or
be a coach, or write abook, and a lot of these like,
man, you got a business,run, why are you writing a
book? Or you got this todo? Why are you doing that now,
you know, Yes, maybe weshould question and should have people in

(33:06):
our life too questions so we can, you know, do the right thing
and always improve and get better.But also we have to remember everybody's at
different stages. Maybe not everybody isat the stage where they want to get
better right now, and maybe they'rein this journey or in this snut journey,
but in this season. Well,this is part of their process and
we need to respect that, andthis is part of their art. I

(33:27):
had somebody that I know, wehad a conversation about this, and he
said, he said, Oh,I'm not a creator. I'm not a
visionary. That's you. That's thisguy that he named off a bunch of
other people. And I looked toit and I said, we all are
creators and visionaries in our own right, just our muses different. So think
about that, like, what areyou creating? What kind of legacy are

(33:51):
you leaving? What is your whyfor even being on this planet? Because
I believe we're all here. Andif you feel comfortable in your why,
and if your why is something somebodyelse or if it brings insecurity in you
because of what somebody else thinks,if you enjoy it, or if you
think that's your why. If yourwhy literally is mopping floors and you love
it, do it. If yoursis producing podcast do it. If yours

(34:12):
is being on podcasts, do it. If yours is big small, however
we look at it, remember thisis your journey, no one else's,
no one else's, and it's notup to anybody else to decide how you
create it, how you live it, how you go about it. So
I just wanted to leave that,and I was gonna before I end up
here. Did you have anything elseyou wanted to add, Scott or anything

(34:34):
you wanted to ask me? Whenyou were can you remember the moment where
you knew that you were going towrite a book? I don't remember the
exact week, but I remember wasI was leaving the YMCA and Greece and
a guy. It was the finalstraw that week where a guy literally told
me you don't understand hard, youdon't understand. Oh there's more to that

(35:00):
story, he said, Okay,So I had just broken a big toe
on my foot weight dropped on itmonths ago and it was just healing,
and they gave me a ton oflike hardcore angulars that I just just for
those that know. I don't takepain killers for a lot of reasons,

(35:21):
won the addictive nature. But twothey mess up my gut ever since my
pendix was up. And also thisisn't I'm not masochistic. I want to
feel the pain so I know ithurts, so I know what not to
do. We can like further injoreour bodies by taking these things or do
worse things, you know, sojust keep that in mind. That's why
I do it. Anyways, heknew I had him, and he wanted
to buy him off me because hewas doing a lot of pain that he

(35:44):
had never dealt with, and hewanted to just mask the pain and never
go for the look for the rootcause of the issue, which is what
I help people out. I lookfor the root issue. And I basically
said no, like a one that'sillgal, Like two, I have a
conscience, let alone. I justand he fought me on. He He's
like, well, you don't understanda hard life. You don't understand what

(36:04):
it's like. You're like, you'vehad good genetics, you look great.
You just like he just made allthese assumption and the guy barely knew me.
Other than passing in the why andtalking to him and I was like
for those that have kids, andthey were about to cuss, but I
was like fuck it, like likethis is why I need to write,
not to prove him wrong. Imean, I think that was the initial,
but I think this is like forme who believes in God, God

(36:28):
talking to me like justin because mylife story is God kicking me in the
butt and which is always lied tosomething phenomenal, and this was the kick
in the butt that I needed,like the icing on the cake or however
you want to look at to finallysit down and be like, I don't
know how to but I will figureit out because I know my story that
people if people see me this way, there's probably He's not the only one

(36:49):
that sees me like this. Otherssee me like this, and so they
see me in a good place,in a good place in life, and
they just assumed it was easy andit has not. It's been a large,
long hard way walk and it continuesto be. And that's what I
was going to share here that Iwrote today, how it's been a long
hard road and I've had a reallygood season and that long hard road I've

(37:09):
had a season of hardship and atthe end stages of this book, at
the end stages of twenty twenty three, that I haven't really shared about.
But how're and we're now coming onthe other end. And I've almost to
the point not talked about it andnot wanted to talk about it because one,
it gets me really emotional, andit's also because I put myself on

(37:31):
a pedestal and I needed to behumbled and I've been humbled. And the
ego, how it gets in theway so much. But that's part of
the journey and part of the processof having that awareness to learn from these
stages. But I need people toknow this, Like, even when you're
at top and I'm always I've beenin a pretty good place, you know,

(37:53):
financially, you know, personally,professionally, all these things, but
life does come in seasons and theycan't always stay there. And you've heard
the phrase what comes up must,doesn't must, but it can come down,
and it's up to you. Andpart of the coming down could be
your fault and so take your responsibilityin that, but the coming up is

(38:15):
all your fault. So for youto be able to get back up,
you have to do the work.And so that was that Scott. As
far as like the final and thesecond one I talked about a little bit
in the book, but it wassomebody we mutually know was taking me to
a George to Kai talk when Iwas a published when I soon after publishing
my first book, and I thinkit was on the way there, but

(38:38):
we were just talking about what thetalk was going to be about knowing George
J. Kai's story and being inJeopanee, Japanese internment camp when he was
here on what was U of Rcampus and and uh but I remember man
another cuss words coming up because thiswas almost the title to my first book,
Little Sneak Peek Here. I mighthave a quiz later and do some
giveaways on Instagram. But I waslike, life can I literally shouted in

(39:02):
her jeep and I was like,yes, and we're talking about something.
I was like, yes, lifecan still be enjoyed even through the shit
storms. And I was like,and she's like, that's the next title
of your book. Well it wasn'tthe next title, and for a lot
of different reasons, I almost thoughtabout it though, but I also remembered
I want this book to be onshelves where kids might be, including my
own, and I don't know.And I was like, well that would

(39:24):
limit sales and impact and all thesedifferent things, but but just for that,
Yeah, So that inspired this nextone. And it was only because
she knew my story. I knowmy story and I never really reflected on
it. And I was like,oh, you know what, even you
know, Yeah, I've had thesethings, but I've always come out of
it, and it's always come backto how I've always been able to maybe

(39:45):
not within the moment, but withinthe journey, because remember these are journeys.
I've been always able to create thatjoy, find that joy. Yeah,
and so I'm the person to talkabout it, but I'm the person
to talk about it because of likemy experiences in my past, but I
realized also my present. So uh, there's nothing else, Scott, I'll

(40:07):
be happy to share that. Cool. Thank you. So it's not in
my book, but it's going tobe as the plan I'm gonna share with
you here. I wasn't going to, but I believe this is a higher
power work at work and why itcame to me today. And so a
little background on how this came Ijust started writing about I wasn't like this

(40:29):
is going to be on my book. I was like stream of consciousness.
It was like journaling scream of consciousness. Again, I say, writing is
one of the most therapeutic, soI started writing. But I believe so
this is literally I mean, Ifeel like if I was a Matthew McConaughey,
this'd be a big deal. Andyou know if you would be all
over it. Just because this isa unique you get this gift. So

(40:52):
only people that listen or watch thisepisode will get this because I don't plan
on putting this on social media whatI'm about to say here, even if
I do clip up this episode,which I plan on doing. So again,
I started writing, and then Iand then I went through and I
read it, and then I editit like I did. I didn't read
straight through because I broke it up. This is just how my brain works

(41:14):
at different parts of it. Andthen and then I read from the beginning
and out loud by myself to myself, and like water works like on the
front cover of my book came downmy face and I was like, and
I emailed my publishing company and itslike I wrote along not a long email,

(41:34):
but a couple of paragraphs of whythis needs to be in my book
and it needs to be like thevery front. So without further adom who
and by the way, I gotreally nervous, and I'm still really nervous
about reading this, but I'm goingto do it anyways. Love y'all.
Okay, and this might get editedtoo, But here's the first draft.

(41:54):
As I approached the conclusion of editingthe final draft with Joyful Warrior, I
find myself reflecting on both the journeyof this book in my own life's path.
When I first embarked on this endeavor, life was in a particularly great
place on all fronts fitness, finances, family, and my faith. Throughout

(42:15):
my forty three years on my fortythree on January nineteenth. Throughout my forty
three years, I've weathered numerous challengessince birth, gathering a wealth of wisdom
and knowledge that I've shared in mybooks. These experiences have deeply informed my
understanding of what it means to bea joyful Warrior, thriving through various difficult
seasons of life. However, asthis book neared completion, my life presented

(42:37):
a new set of challenges that testedme, both personally and professionally by business
face hurdles in a variety of ways, to the point that I was considering
selling everything and moving on after yearsof progressive success. Additionally, I felt
a shift in my purpose, feelingcalled to a face centered career in ministry,
yet struggling with fundraising and gardening supportquestions about my placing God's planed surface.

(42:59):
Adding to my respection in my personallife too, there have been serious
trials. For ten weeks of persistentcough originating for my left lung has left
me drain telling my workhouse and castinga shadow of my physical wellbeing. Not
COVID by the way, despite theirown medical exagminations and tests revealing great numbers
and You're super healthy, the physicalailment, seemingly out of nowhere for this

(43:21):
healthy guy on paper, has becomea part of my journey. My marriage
and other relations ships outside my immediatefamily have also faced their tests. It's
not my intention to cast negative lighton my loved ones my wife, kids,
parents, siblings, or other familymembers. Rather, I want to

(43:44):
acknowledge these challenges as part of myjourney. Amidst these trials, there have
been moments of joy and even triumph. Many of these challenges I recognize lie
within my control and in some casesare result of my own actions. This
realization brings me to key insights,a testament to resilience. These challenging times,

(44:06):
both physical and emotional, are notjust obstacles but opportunities. They serve
as a testament to a higher powers. Belief in my strength facing and overcoming
these hurdles has equipped me to bea better teacher, someone who doesn't just
preach, but practices the principles laidout in this book number two, Living
Proof of the Joyful Warriors Path.These experiences affirm my qualifications to talk about

(44:27):
being a joyful warrior. It's onething to speak from my past experiences,
but it's another to navigate through stormswhile penning a guide to how to endure
them. This makes my message notjust retrospective, but immediate and real.
As I write this, it's Januarythird, and the new year has brought
with it a sense of hope andrenewal. The year has started on an
incredible note, with new clients assubstantial donations like twenty five thousand of my

(44:49):
mission with FCA. My wife andkids are thriving connecting and meeting the way,
setting weekly expectations, and getting backto the basics like having fun,
being present, and listening. Theseblessings underscore the psychical nature of life's challenges
and enjoys, reinforcing the message ofjoyful Warrior that resilience, faith, and
joy are not just concepts, butlived experiences that guide us through every storm.

(45:12):
In sharing this, my hope isnot to draw sympathy, but to
offer solidarity, to connect with you, the reader, who might be navigating
your own storms. If this bookcan light a pathed or off our tool
that aids in your journey, thenevery word written will have served its purpose.
So that is why I do whatI do. It's beautiful and I

(45:37):
hope you find your why. AndI hope this episode helps you. And
if it doesn't, think of somebodyit might and share it. Thank you.
I'm justin Arnold. This is Strivethrough sixty five and we will continue
this in more episodes than twenty twentyfour to help you strive daily. Thank
you very much. Take care,

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