The Power Within: Lessons from Ayahuasca and MDMA | Taylin Simmonds

Let's uh,jump right in.I'm ready.Let's do it.I feel like I'm on like a panel and you're just like,about to rapid fire.Ask me all these crazy,intense life questions and I don't know what's gonna happen.And I'm like,a little nervous,but I'm like,all right,we

got this.That's my style.That's my style of podcasting.Dude,I'm gonna make it

hard for you.Perfect.I hope so.And then if I need help,I'm gonna,I just do the whole call a friend thing and ask Laura.I'll be like,uh,Laura can,he just asked me what the meaning of life is.Can you take this one please?

We're gonna phone a friend here.Awesome,man.so I was thinking I'd,start you off with a tough one just based on the,thread already that we've seen,it seems like these past30days from you have been,quite different so what has changed in these last30days that have caused such a switch?

Yeah,the last30days in particular,it's been very different.I actually took,well,ayahuasca,I did maybe like a month and a half,two months ago now,something like that.Um,that was really crazy.Yeah.Like that was,uh,we can get into that a little bit later,more detail if you like,but at the past30days,I actually took a vacation with my girlfriend.We went to Orlando,did like Disney World Universal Studios.We went to Key West.Um,partied there.We went to The Bahamas and just hung out.Uh,went and swam with the pigs and whatnot.That was fun.And then we went to Miami and met up with a bunch of people,um,from Twitter and some other friends,and just partied harder than I think I've ever partied in my life for like a week.Uh,so it was pretty wild.Um,I would say it was needed.I really have more respect for rest and relaxation after that trip.Cause when you're so in the weeds grinding all the time,you start to lose clarity on what's important and what matters.At least for me as a big picture thinker,to just be like,I'm gonna touch my phone the least amount possible.Which,by the way,was hard to do.I was so guilty that I wasn't responding to comments every day.I wasn't responding to dms.I felt the need to like message everyone and be like,I'm on vacation for three weeks.Please await my response.And then I was like,no,I don't need to be that guy.I'm allowed to just check out.People don't need to know why.That's totally fine.But then you get the fomo too.You're like,well,everyone else is still tweeting.Like everyone else is still grinding.Like,am I gonna fall behind?But what I realized was taking this like time off to really zoom out,allowing my mind to just download,not be on my phone,but I could just process everything.I came back more energized,like I have more energy I've ever had in my life.Like I feel so good right now.I have so much clarity around what my next moves need to be.I have the next like six months mapped out completely and everything I'm going to accomplish and how I'm gonna do it.I am just so ready to go.I feel like a rocket that's like just about to blast off and I'm just ready to take rapid amounts of execution.And that was only cuz I took such an extended break.

That's awesome.It's a,it's an important note cuz like oftentimes when you're so in that grind set,you are.Doing so much work like in your business and you're checking off things on the to-do list and you're not allowing you yourself that time to just think and do maybe the work like on your business,meaning more of the big picture stuff.And a lot of times those big picture ideas and the clarity really just stems from a little bit of relaxation.

Oh dude,100%.Like here,here's a really big download I've realized on education information,right?We live in the information age,infinite amounts of it,infinite amount of things you could be learning,reading,watching infinite consumption.But the brain is kind of like a1990s old crappy windows or Macintosh computer where if you like click too many things at once,it just freezes.And I'm someone who was just like hyper consuming.I was taking like Dan CO's digital economics,Karen Drew's High Impact Writing De Val's or uh,Eric Jorgenson's course based on naval stuff on leverage.Um,I was going through Charles Miller's course,I was reading books,watching like all hermo stuff on YouTube.Like I.That is such an insane overloaded amount of consumption.Like I wasn't able to download anything.I was just always cramming more in,and after a while it just clogs the pipes.Like to make time to either sit in silence,it's really trite,but like go for a walk or even have days,you just don't consume anything,like no tv,no reading,no phone.You just like sit and let your mind do its thing like.We,we evolved to not have so much consumption.Like imagine living in like a tribe in the forest.Like what inputs do you have?You're just like always clear and always focused,like looking around like,are we safe?And now we're just like cramming stuff in all the time.We have no time to process and understand anything and like make use of the knowledge.Like that was a huge eye-opening experience for me was like,consume less quality information.Allow yourself time to like,figure out how it's gonna apply to your life,and then rapidly,um,take action to actually apply it to your life.Like that's what's actually needed.It's like.This rapid consumption mentality is this form of cheap dopamine that everyone's chasing to feel like they're making progress when they're really not.

There's so much truth in that,and it's like,it's multifaceted,right?It's like the first side of it is when you never allow yourself to be bored.You can't come up with original ideas because it's in that boredom that you start to unlock some creativity.And then there's the other side of it,which is like,I.Which is what you said,like you clog the pipes.Like when you have so much good information coming at you,it's like nothing sticking because it's just information over,overload.So I think it's just,I mean,it's powerful and you just have to find that time to allow yourself to be still and to,process the information.

Yeah,I do.I completely agree with that.Yeah.On this point too,the second thing I realized was,you know,everyone in this world has a lack of focus and you can,like,everyone's just always talking about how can I become more focused?I think people forget focus is actually the default human state.It's not the other way around.Like that shows that we're born into a really messed up environment in terms of inputs.Cuz I was off my phone almost completely for three weeks.And on the last week I would open up my phone and someone would text me and I would go to like text someone,or I would open up like Twitter real quick to respond to messages.My girlfriend's like,put your phone away.I'm like,I've only,what?I just opened it up for like10seconds.She's like,you've been on your phone for five minutes.Like,do you not realize how you just,she's like,you open your phone and you're just like in it,and it's like,until somebody like knocks you out of it,you're just so focused.And she was saying it like it was a bad thing,but I was like,holy crap.Like focus is the default state.Like I've been away from stimulus for so long that like focus is easy.Like I came back from Vacay,sat down to work,and I worked effortlessly for six hours.It was just easy.And I was like,this is what the default state's supposed to be like.All this like focus crap.It's like.You don't need like more things to focus.You need less stimulation,less

stimulation.It's so true.We're like developing this like a D h,D type of mind,right?That like with we're being processed and wired to to just consume all of this quick dopamine type of inputs.And I mean,to your point,like in the natural world,Whenever you would get dopamine,it was earned.It like came through a little bit of suffering,like it came through a lot of focus and work and to,allow yourself to bypass that system just creates this weird type of,Mindset that I think,one,it's scary the results of it,but on the other side it allows you to,if you be,can become that person who's like disciplined with,their sources of dopamine and,you can allow yourself to focus.It can put you at so much of an advantage from everybody else.

Couldn't agree more,man.Couldn't agree more.You know,I really admire and look up to Danko a lot and.Not only because of what he's accomplished,what I actually look up to Danko for is his rigorous ability to execute and be hyper-focused.I've never met him personally,but I,he might come to edc Orlando with us this year,and I hope he does.Cause I,I'd really love to meet him in person is,um,Dakota said when he lived with Dan that Dan would just,he was so.Habitual and stoic and like focused.He would get up and he just worked like there was no opportunity for him to,not to do what he needed to do.Like in his mind he's like,well,I have to do this.Like,why would I do anything else?This is what matters.Like I'm paying attention to this one thing.I'm like,damn.You look at how quickly he's accelerated and how he's dominated so many platforms like Instagram,YouTube,LinkedIn,and it's because he's so hyper-focused that that's my analysis of it,and I completely admire that quality in him.And it's something I'm working on developing more of myself is just trimming the fat and just being more focused on the things that matter.Like that stuff makes a big

difference.It really does make a big difference.I think there is this quote from.I wanna say it's mi,it's Michelangelo,it's from Michelangelo.If you knew how much work it took to create this painting,you would be much less impressed.And it's like,I wonder how much genius is just mere focus versus this like innate,superhuman like quality.It's an interesting balance and when you see beneath the Veil and you like have someone like Dakota who's able to like,uh,li who had lived with Dan and he's like,dude,there's no secret weapon there.It's just literally hard work showing up every single day.It allows you to realize that and to realize that like most people aren't superhuman.They just focus

yeah,dude.Um,I,I would add a tweak to your analysis of like the whole Michelangelo thing,that focus,it is a good part of it,but what actually allows for genius,or like we'll say true talent in the long run is actually iteration.It's,um,I think James Clear said this once,the writer of Atomic Habits,he said it's not one or10,000hours.Like Malcolm Gladwell said,it's10,000intentional iterations.And it's hard to iterate fast if you don't have focus and discipline.That's just what I've noticed,like the more people have iterated the better at something that they are.Because mastery,believe it or not,I learned this from being a college teacher and like being really in education for seven years.Mastery is more about knowing what not to do than what to do because there are.Thousands,if not tens of thousands of things in anything,in any topic that you should not do.But there's a very small amount of things you need to do,and you only know what those things are if you've iterated rigorously.So for example,as a writer,when it comes to writing a hook,there are only like five or six points you really need to like hit on.It's like,you know,open a loop,um,be short and concise,slippery slope writing.Um,You know,like use you,not your,or use you,not I,if you want,like appeal to a broader audience,like there's only a few little like hacks like that,but there's a lot of things that could ruin a hook,like an infinite amount of things that could ruin it.So you need to know what not to do,and that only comes through the process of iteration Mastery

comes from knowing what not to do.What a great,what a great phrase.And I'm thinking through that now.And you even just think of it in a more broad sense of,in terms of like habits and,you can simply just get so far by avoiding the wrong things then by trying to be like this superhuman with your diet and with with your training and all these things.It's like just simply avoid the bad.And on your point about iteration,It's interesting and it,it takes a level of self-awareness to be able to iterate.How do you think we should go about developing the self-awareness in order to iterate and continue to get better and to understand what we're doing well and what we're doing wrong?

This one's really tough.Um,cuz in the beginning when you don't know about a topic,it's hard to know like why something worked or why it didn't,it.It's hard to do what I would call like deconstruction.So,So this is where mentors come into play.Like when I was very new,um,to Twitter,I did a call with Dakota almost every week.I would like post content and it would flop for like me or a client.And I'm like,what the heck?Like I could have swore this would've worked and I'd hop on a call with him and he would,he had more awareness than me.He had more reps,more iterations.He knew he'd look at it and be like,oh,like you're doing this,this,this,this,and this.Wrong.And then I'm like,ah.So like,In the beginning,if you have a mentor to help you guide,um,guide through that iteration process,cuz they have more awareness that can really fast track things.But once you gain some level of awareness,like you've stumbled through the dark,we'll say for,uh,for quite a while,I find it usually takes six to12months.Uh,being quite intentional with it.To get that level of awareness,you're then able to just reflect on your,your own intuition.It tends to guide you quite well.Like what I'll do nowadays when I write my tweets,here's like how I actually write content now,or a lot of my top performing content is I'll go through like creators that I really like,like I like Ki and Drew.I really like Dan Co.Um,Nathan,Bob is like really good for storytelling and I'll go through their tweets and I'll just look for stuff that I think is really cool and has decent engagement.But I don't copy the topic.I look at what problem it's solving for or what transformation it's offering.And then I go,oh,that's interesting.So like people want that problem solved.Like that resonated with people.Like why?Okay,I'll think about that a little bit.Like,oh,maybe it's like a storytelling thing.People are struggling to tell stories in Nathan Bow's example.Then instead of copying it like everyone else does,where they just take the same thought and reword it.I use the ki and Drew technique,which is what does this mean to me?If I was to like try to solve this problem through my unique life experience and through the things that I have tried and things I have learned,how would I do it?And that's when I remove myself from the person I'm referencing and then I'm like,okay,I'm gonna write about that.But I'm gonna try to make sure that I solve the same problem and that I use like copywriting principles and good formatting and like those little things that you pick up along the way.But that's,that's how I tend to do my,at least figure out my content ideas.And then as for the iteration,like I'll check it usually once a week.I do a very intentional deep dive on my analytics on Hype Fury and what I actually look for.Again,this is Karen Drew.I've learned so much from Karen Drew.He's some absolute GIA Content is,um,I look for profile visits.Most often than not everyone else looking at likes and retweets and stuff,and retweets is a good gauger of,of content performing well,don't get me wrong,cuz it shows that people wanna share it.If people wanna share it,it means they're vouching for your ideas.So that,that's really good.But profile visits shows that you are building an emotional connection with that person.If they go to your profile,cause it,it moved them enough to say,I need to check this person out.That's a really good sign.You wanna find more content like that?And then I'll iterate on the stuff that like did or didn't work based on those metrics I.And then just use my intuition.Or I'll ask a friend like,why do I think this didn't work?Or like,I'll just write out by hand like,okay,I think this didn't work because of like these reasons and I'm gonna test this differently next time.And see,like,you just gotta be willing to fail.Like fail forward I would say is like,I would sum up that long answer.I love the idea

of checking the profile visits because,it's almost like that's how you create.More true fans.That's not the likes,not the retweets.Exactly.It,it's more of those profile visits is how you're gonna create those people who are genuinely interested in you and the things that you're saying.Because there's so many people who will develop these,like,almost like platitude,like followers,where they're following them.Um,they,they don't have a real kinship towards the person,behind the brand,they just like these little one sentence hitters that,that they bring out.So I think that's a great way to,to try and develop more true fans.

Yeah,dude,I,uh,I completely agree.I feel like you don't even have to ask me questions.We're just riffing back and forth here.Cause I,I like your train of thought where you're taking things,but true,true fans to me is like the actual metric.Like,I sat down with my co-founder,um,Dale,it's like at Dale Thomas on Twitter.Dude's a total g uh,better content writer than me,in my opinion.And.We were talking about like,okay,what is the actual purpose of being online?Like why are we even growing?Why should anyone be growing?Because we're running a ghost writing agency and we need to like know what problems we're solving for.And most people are like,I want followers.But we were just like,isn't that stupid?Like how stupid is it to actually want followers?Like unless our clients are literally like,Hey,we will just like compete against each other.I call it like the dick measuring contest to see who can get the most followers and like the quickest amount of time then Sure.But like what are their actual goals?And their goals are usually,I want influence.I want doors to open for me in my career,like speaking engagements or connections to other high value entrepreneurs.Or I wanna raise funds,or they wanna monetize by selling products.Followers honestly doesn't have anything to do with that.Like audience has everything to do with that.But you need to build a true audience in a specific ICP that gives you influence in a very specific domain.Like that's the actual goal.And that's what I've completely changed my whole strategy to focus on.Because if,if you think about the math,if you have like75people who will pay you five grand,you're in the top1%.Like that's it.Like you don't need a hundred thousand followers.Like that's,that's stupid.That's like,fuck your ego.Like you don't need that.You need like75people or even50people that'll pay you five grand.That's it.And now you're free.When you start thinking of it that way and being like,how do I cultivate these true fans?Like how do I actually appeal to like these people?Who are the people that would pay me this money?Like for what problem would I have to solve?How do I become the person who can solve this problem in a meaningful way?And then how can I capture their attention and monetize them?Like that is the content game.That's the creator game.That's influence.Like that's something that is tangible and matters.Like Alex Hermo does not have influence because he has a lot of followers.You know what I mean?Like he has a lot of followers by happenstance because he has a lot of influence and is solving meaningful problems for a lot of people.Like that's the true goal as a creator.A big mindset shift for me when I realized

that.Yeah,it's,it's a very interesting mind shift mindset shift,and I think you hit the nail on the head when you said it's like ego driven,Wanting to have followers is,is playing very high on the ego.When,when it's like,the real question you should be asking is like,what problem am I solving?What am I trying to get from having these followers?And I've had a few conversations on and off air with,creators from all sizes,like,and the two that stick out to me is the person that I had a conversation with,with over a million followers.And they were having a really difficult time monetizing so.Because so much of their content was almost platitude.Like and it wasn't creating those like true fans.And the other person had like30,000followers and they had made close to a million dollars this past year.And it was because their,their audience was so high value and they were just throwing money at him because he was providing so much value for them.it's a very interesting point and I think that,uh,I,I don't think we could harp on this topic enough because it really is,the secret to getting the,the success that you're looking to get out of social media.

Yeah.One,100%ma'am.I agree.And then I would say for anyone that wants to hit like big money at scale,I actually think the way you do that one,this is my intuition,this is a thought I've been like pondering and trying to figure out.I think you have to crack the entertainment niche with a large amount of personality.I think that's actually how you make like insane money at scale.Like what is Mr.Beast like?Mr.Beast is probably the best north star of a creator who is able to do business and he's in the entertainment niche.I think about like Emma Chamberlain.YouTuber,same thing.Even like extend that out to Disney and look at Disney as a company and ask like,what are they?They're a media company.Okay,well how's that any different than people on social media?The only difference is that they create content that is delivered on a different medium.Streaming services,movies,things like that.But it's essentially the same model.Like entertainment might be the ultimate influencer,um,model,but you have to have a connection.To either,um,the culture or the art that you're creating or to you as a person.And that is how you would do it at absolute biggest scale in my opinion.But for those that are starting out,you just need to find like meaningful problems that people will pay for and really dominate that niche with unique perspectives and unique mechanisms.And if you're anyone who has actually tried to solve the problem for yourself,you will develop a unique mechanism on accident.Maybe it don't make sense if I explain with an analogy.So,um,one of the problems that people have is leads for businesses,right?Huge problem.Lots of ways to solve it.Um,you could do cold dms,you could do referrals,you could attract through inbound,um,like so many other ways as well to get leads.When I went into business,I was like,okay,I absolutely hate sending cold dms.I don't enjoy it at all.It gives me no energy,zaps my energy.I don't enjoy it in any way,shape or form.So I'm gonna burn the boats and I'm never gonna send cold dms.I'm just gonna tell myself that.Now,for this business that I'm building,I'm not allowed to send cold dms.I have to do it all through network and referrals,cuz I enjoy that and through attraction with inbound content,which is very hard to do.It's hard to figure out how to attract clients with content and what content converts to leads.But because I burned the boats and forced myself to figure it out,I learned exactly what content actually does attract clients and how to create it consistently.And I developed a referral network where I never needed cold dms ever,and still18months into my business.Um,I'm probably like12months into my actual business,but18months as a creator.I've never had to send any cold outreach to keep my business alive ever,cuz I've just burned the boats and focused on those things.So now when someone comes to me and says,Hey,I really like need help finding leads,my unique mechanism is like,okay,I can do it through either referrals or inbound attraction mechanisms.Are you willing to wait until you have a big enough audience for the inbound attraction to work?And if they go,no,then I'm like,okay,I'm not the one for you.I'm more of a brand builder.You should go to someone like JK Molina and focus on cold.But if you like,are kind of tired of cold and you wanna focus on warm,like,come to me and I'll do that.That's my unique mechanism and my content that I used to do.It is another layer on that unique mechanism.Once you dive in and actually solve the problem for yourself,you will have a unique way of doing it.And that is what you bring to market when

it comes to that approach of,writing less general content and more.Deliberate content more geared towards creating those like true fans.When you look back,I,I saw in your tweet,where you initially talked about doing ayahuasca.You said,it changed me in profound ways and made me dislike my content.Was that one of the reasons why,

um,I.I think what I experienced with my content was,um,I started getting big on Twitter when I started talking about writing and being on a writing focused account.But the way that I view things is I think when you're learning something,you have to learn all what I call tactics,which is like,you know,if you're learning to write,it's like,you know,be clear,not clever.Like,um,you know,write with as least amount of words as possible.Eliminate the word that,like if you really just like combine all the tactics,it doesn't make good writing.Like good writing again comes from intuition reps.And I honestly believe it comes from having enough courage to be like,this is the writing that I want to create and that I like and this feels good to me.And aligning that with what your audience wants,like that's how you'd be a good writer.So even though I got really big,sharing all the tactics,After a while I was like,I don't have any more tactics to share.And how I feel about becoming a good writer is that you need iteration in like on writing and you need someone to provide feedback.So I,I didn't like creating that content anymore cause it's not aligned with what I actually believe in.What I think I've,I've grown past my old content where I don't think it's relevant to how I would teach it anymore,but I was still using it cause I'm like,I don't really know what else to niche into.And that's where I had a bit of a crisis for the past couple months on content.I was repurposing a lot more.I was like,honestly,just don't know what the heck I wanna write.Like I'm not in alignment with my content.And when I did Ayahuasca,it just really made that very apparent,like,I'm not happy with my content.And I just sat down and took that vacation as well and got a lot more clarity on like,What am I about these days?What am I passionate about?Like what have I learned?How would I teach writing?What do I honestly believe?What are the overarching umbrellas of everything I believe?What is the one thing that connects them all?You know,am I sharing enough of my personality?Like,I don't think so.I'm just sharing a lot of actionable tips,like I want to share more things I'm doing in life.I want to be more of a personality on the timeline and less of just another account with generic actionable advice.And,uh,it took me a while to know that like when you know that your content's not right,you kind of feel it in your gut.You don't always know why.It's hard to figure out why,and like other people can give you some answers or direction or things to think about,but you really,it just takes time.And,and I,you know what?I had to be honest and like compassionate with myself during that time because,It was hard to create content consistently every day that I wasn't proud of,but I also had to be patient and have the compassion to say,give yourself time to figure it out.It'll come when it comes.Keep working on it every day.It'll come sooner than later,but.Just give it time.

And those questions that you were asking along the lines of like,what's the one thread that connects everything?How would I teach writing?Those type of things.Did you get those answers when you were,during your trips to

Ayahuasca?No,I actually never got any content related answers.When I did Ayahuasca.It was more,um,ayahuasca for me without going too deep into it was,um,I grew up as like a very lonely,unconfident man.Like I never felt worthy of women.I never felt I was confident.I never believed that I could achieve great things,but there was a part of me that always wanted to.So I felt this dissonance in my personality where there's like this ambitious side of me that's like,go after it and get it.Like you can do it.You're capable.And then there's this other victim mentality side of me that's like,you'll never do that.Like you're not confident,like you're overweight.Like women don't like respect you.Your,your friends don't respect you.Like,who are you to go and get these things?And ayahuasca,for me was a personal journey in a very condensed amount of time,of making my core identity more of that ambitious,driven,confident person and letting that weaker side of me that held me back and die.Like I literally let it die.I'm not even kidding.Like the ayahuasca was like,we're gonna kill this guy.It sounds very intense,but it was like he needs to go.We're letting'em go.We're killing them.And you're,they're like a phoenix.You're being born anew.And that's why I left feeling so good was I made that conscious decision and that choice that I wasn't gonna be that weak guy anymore.I'm gonna go to the gym every day.I'm gonna become the person who has the habits that will allow me to accomplish successful things and be a person worthy of my own respect.And that was Ayahuasca for me.Not not content related,very personal development related.

Which ultimately I'm sure will lead in the future to,being more content related as well.Just the side effects of doing all those things.Was that difficult for you,that realization and that process during the Ayahuasca?I know a lot of people say during those sits it can be quite challenging.

Oh,it's extremely challenging.One thing,um,that it did.In the first ceremony,it made me aware of all of my traumas that were holding me back in life.And I literally like purged them out one by one and I felt lighter.It felt like it took all this like limiting beliefs and it just like boom.And it like blew them out.And I was like,okay,I don't have these limiting beliefs anymore,but I still feel weak.And then I went into the second ceremony and it was like a trial and tribulation.It ran me through the ringer,like it was David Goggins and it was like gonna push me to my absolute limits,like,I'm not actually exaggerating where that second,um,experience was almost borderline,um,traumatic.It was that intense.I was like lying on my stomach.I was having almost like an exorcism with my body,like shaking rigorously.And I was,um,if you ever Google like D M T visuals,that's all I could see like in my head.And I could hear the medicine,like it was a voice inside of my head and it was just yelling at me.It was just like,why have you not reached your potential?Why are you such a loser?Like,how come you're not like doing the things you know you need to do?How come you don't respect yourself?And I was just like,oh God.Like I'm tripping out here.Like,My body's freaking out.I'm seeing these crazy visuals.I'm like,be gentle.And it was like,I'm not gonna be gentle with you.And it just yelled at me for like three hours while I was tripping balls.And it was really hard.Like I just remember being like,I don't know if I'm gonna be the same after this.Like this is one of the worst experiences of my life.But closer to the end of the experience.Cuz with ayahuasca,if you're willing to accept the lessons and that the medicine is giving you what you need,not necessarily what you want.It will always end in peace and harmony.And by the end of it,I started to realize what it was doing and the medicine said,like,it actually said to me,like,I,I went outside,I changed my set setting,says,do you understand what's going on?I was like,yes.Says,what?What did I do to you then?I said,you just made me face the hardest thing I've ever faced in my entire life.Like,I've never experienced anything in my life that was even close.It as difficult as it was to sit there for three hours and go through that,that was like so,so intense and the medicine was right.And what did you do about it?I was like,I had lived through it.Like I sat there and like I just went through it and it goes well.Then how strong are you?If you don't think you're strong,how could you go through that and not be traumatized?How come your mind is still intact?How come you feel better than you've ever felt before?And I was like,fuck,you're right.And it's like because you're stronger than you think you are.And I ended really good.So like it made me strong,but the same way you'd go to the gym and you'd lift weights to become strong.It ran me through the most mentally difficult thing I could possibly imagine,so that I would have actual evidence of my,like own mental strength of fortitude.

Wow.What do you make of that experience now?Like thinking back on it more philosophically,spiritually,what do you make of,of it

all?Um,you know,man,like I just,I completely have utter respect for the medicine.Like the people say,and it sounds so crazy until you do it.They're like,mother Ayahuasca is a spirit.She knows what you need and not what you want.Like,let her drink you,like,let her in and let her work her magic.Like be willing to like work with her and like do the work even if it's uncomfortable.And,um,That's how it felt,man.It was like it went into my mind.It unlocked my subconscious,and whether it's like a spirit or it's like I.The medicine comes in and my subconscious mind is able to communicate with my conscious mind to like help me work through all these limiting beliefs and things like that.Like it knew what I needed,it knew what my goals in life were like.My goals were to make,to run a3million company through e-learning and to be extremely confident and to be like a future husband that is worthy of.My future wife and my children's respect and that I'm someone who can give them that sense of safety and security just through who I am being and how I stand and like my emotional stability and how I navigate and move through the world.And it looked at me and said like,oh,if that's what you want,like you're not that person right now.And then it goes,okay,I see how we can get there.It might not make sense right now,but buckle up.And then it just took me and I just like,was like,I trust you.Like literally when it first kicked in,it said fall asleep.And I was like,what?And it was like,you're tired,like fall asleep,like drift off.And I kind of started drifting off and I'd come back and it's like,Hey,like when you're ready to like,let me take control.Like just fall asleep,like let go.Like when you're ready,just completely let go.And I let go and just let it do its thing.And I came out the best version of myself humanly possible.

Ah,it's crazy.It sounds like supernatural.I love hearing these stories and especially because it sounds like it always gives you what you need,not what you want.And,uh,I forget who it was,but I was listening to someone explain their,trip and it was like,yeah,I went one time and my life,I was in a good place and it literally just had me,I did three sits and it just had me take a nap for all those three sits and nothing happened.And then other times you go in and it is,it's a battle and it's,it just gives you what you need.And that's the most interesting part to me.It's like,there's a certain intelligence in it.It that's,it's

fascinating.There,there really is an intelligence to it that is,um,interesting.It,it knows,it's hard to explain,but it knows.But even,um,ayahuasca was like very profound and it was incredible.But when I was in Miami,I did my own version of self-guided M D M A therapy,and that was,in some ways equally as transformative as ayahuasca.And I'd never done M D M A,I didn't do it just to go like partying and get messed up.I like,I,I'm someone who's always looked at like the negative side of things and,uh,I didn't like that about myself,became very aware of that.When did Ayahuasca,like I'm just so in like I always see the negative.I'm always more pessimistic.I have a hard time letting negative emotions go and I did en V M A knowing it's like the happy drug with the intention of if I could do this,and it actually did make me extremely happy.Would I then have a reference point for when I'm sober,A level of being that I could be,that would be the opposite of my negative self.And that actually worked it,that was so transformative for me was,uh,when I did it,I got really uncomfortable and it felt like,um,I was just getting all these negative emotions out.Like this,this chemical,like this happy drug was like,you can't have this and have all this negative stuff.And I just like felt like I was gonna puke for like two hours.And then I just felt like really good about everything.I was just like,man,like life is good.Like I feel uncomfortable.That's okay.Like,you know,sometimes stuff doesn't go my way.That's okay.Like sometimes I can be a little negative.That's okay.Like why does that have to matter so much?Like Hermo says this thing of like,yeah,you feel something.Why does it matter?Yeah.Somebody said this,like,why does it matter?Like when I did M D M A therapy that truly clicked for me.I'm like,that's true.Like why does all this stuff matter?Why do I give it so much mental weight and just make it so much worse than it needs to be?Where instead I could be like Bruce Lee and water and just have it run off my back.And,uh,I did it a second time with the same intention of like really internalizing that lesson and way of being.And I really liked who I was on a very small amount of M D M A in a therapeutic context.And since I've come back,like I haven't forgot that I'm capable of being that person and seeing the world that way and navigating the world,the world in that way.And,um,that after Ayahuasca doing those back to back was extremely transformative.And I,I've never felt this good in my entire life.

I love what you said about That's okay.I think that's so,so powerful and I have my own experience,with a similar phrasing like that in somewhat similar circumstances,but.The,just the phrasing of That's okay.When you're experiencing a negative emotion,especially when it's something super strong,it allows you to change your perspective in such an interesting way.If you're really terrified about something,simply saying the words,that's okay.After and truly believing that it's,it changes everything.

Yeah,dude,I completely agree.And like there's some nuance here.Like,um,let's say for example,um,my girlfriend and I were kind of fighting a little bit when we were there and like we were going through some like relationship stuff and there's like some moments when I was on,in my M D M A therapy that I was like,okay,you know what?Like that thing is not okay.Like I have a boundary there that I would like to be respected.But the part about it that was okay was like,that doesn't mean it has to like ruin my complete state and I need to like sit here and dwell on it.That's what I mean by like,that's okay.It was more like,okay,this thing's bothering me.What am I gonna do about it?I'm either gonna set a boundary,I'm gonna like not really care cuz it's not relevant.And then I'm just gonna move on with my life.Like it really,then that that's okay for me was more like there's permission to not dwell on these negative feelings and negative things that happen.We're either going to ignore them,take action to correct them,and then just continue moving through our lives,like temporary change of negative state,back to positive state.That's what I mean by,that's okay.It doesn't mean like,oh,all these bad things that are happening,like those are okay.It's like,no,there's a lot of bad things that are not okay and we should fix them.It just showed me that it doesn't,just cuz those things happen,cuz a lot of like bad and negativity in the world,it doesn't mean that I have to sit here and dwell on it and focus on it like,What we allow into consciousness and what thoughts we give power and like energy to matters a lot.And I really like what Jordan Peterson says.He says,don't think things that make you weak and whether you like or hate Andrew Tate as well.Like he says something similar,he goes,I don't believe or think things that make me feel weak.Why would I do that?And the more I looked into mindset and beliefs,and I've done these therapies myself,I actually agree with them.It's like,okay,there's this true negative thing over here,and if I think it,I just feel like crap.I feel negative,I don't feel inspired,and I'm not a good force for the world,so I wanna fix it,but I'm not gonna dwell on it.I'm actually gonna focus on these other things that are more empowering.Like that's what's important.Like I need to feel empowered to make a positive change in the world.Like that was a really important mindset shift for me.

That's powerful.And I love that nuance there.Uh,and I think that's a very important note.And yeah,I call it being delusional a lot.Don't think things that make you weak,there's a certain amount of delusion that you need to have that makes you healthy and allows you to accomplish the impossible.Because like if you look at anyone who's done anything truly spectacular,Everyone thought they were crazy at one point.You look at the Wright Brothers people said it would be years and years and decades until anyone would be able to figure out how to make the plane.And they had this delusional optimism because they didn't believe things that,that made them weak.That to your point,and I even look at a more mundane example of like all the people,who like has cured all these incurable diseases with diet.And it's like,it's that same principle.It's like the doctor will tell you this is incurable and there's no solution.but by simply not believing,not taking their word as gospel,it allows you to take on different perspectives,do more research,see what is actually possible,and allows you to have this different perspective and to move forward And,uh,In a more confident way.

Dude,100%there there's two thoughts that,um,that I have on that hopefully I can remember.The second one while I explain the first one can be bad for that is,um,okay.First,like,I love the philosophical Eastern text,the Dow to Ching,or like,it's,it's incredible and one of my favorite sections from the Dow,it's something that no one else cares about.And I'm like,why do I care about this so much?And it's,um,the Dow that can be spoken is not the eternal Dow.And what it is really saying is,as a human,you are capable of belief systems,not truth.Like you.You are a subjective person who sees the world through a certain set of belief systems.You cannot see the world objectively.So,Why do you believe that?Like how you see the world is how the world is and there's so many different interpretations of how,what kind of meanings you could make from that,or what conclusions you could draw.But my conclusion when you say a part of like success is being delusional is like,okay,if all beliefs are just beliefs,like let's just imagine that yeah,truth exists.Sure,but we can't perceive it.Science is the closest thing we can get to it through iteration.Well,then you might as well just believe the beliefs that make you feel the most empowered and allow you to live the best life humanly possible.That's like kind of Tony Robbins101is,you know,we just pick good belief systems.Do they make you feel good?Like try them on?Do you enjoy them?Like anyone nowadays that's like,well,I'm told this.You're like,culture says this,or My parents said this.It's like,well,do you feel good about that?Like,does it make you feel empowered?Does it,do you like the life that you're living?Do you like the person who you are?You can always change the beliefs.Yes,maybe the other ones also aren't true.But why do you think that yours are,why aren't you questioning your own beliefs?Like why,why are those so like rigid and set in stone that you take them as like an absolute truth?Like they're just beliefs.Humans aren't capable of anything but beliefs.So that was like the first thought that I had that has been extremely powerful for me in my life.The second one is,uh,when you talk about the Wright Brothers and how everyone calls them crazy and like delusional and things like that,I think what people don't understand about really ambitious people,I'll speak from like my own personal perspective here is I would rather try the impossible and fail than not try it all.Because if I get to the end of my life and I didn't try this impossible thing that I am so obsessed and passionate about,I will just like be so disappointed on my deathbed.Like there's this one vision I have,I won't share it yet.It's,it's a zero to one.It's very ambitious,like probably the most ambitious thing I could do with my entire life.And I'm about a couple years away from trying to execute on it.If I don't do that at the end of my life,I will be so unhappy with myself.Like I can imagine myself sitting on my death bed being like,why did I not even try?Like that sucks.I would rather try with every single thing I have.And fail and be like,at least I tried.I can know that I gave it my all.It doesn't matter that it didn't work.And I would argue people like the Wright brothers and Einstein and Newton and all those people felt the same way.It's like it,it's the lifestyle.It's better to have tried and failed than to not have tried it all.And I truly believe that with like my entire being.

Dude,it's powerful.It's so true.And just the pure act of trying changes everything.And like just even for starters,like starting this podcast,when I first had the idea,the first thought that came in my mind was,why would anyone want to listen to me?And why would any guest that I would want to speak with want to come on the show?And.By simply just taking the steps and actually just starting the show,you see that one,that's not reality.And two,as you start taking more and more steps towards that path that you actually want to go on,it just gets clear and clear.And maybe you,not,you,maybe you don't completely actualize the goal,but you can get damn close to it.It's truly is important and I think we just let limiting beliefs.Holds us back way too much.Yeah,dude,

I agree.Like I'll,I'll put a guardrail here and say that I think there actually are things that we can't do.Like Chris Delia has this joke.He's like,try to shit out your eyeballs,and it ain't happening.Like,you just cannot do that.There are certain physical limitations,like as humans that are not possible,but I,I like James clear's take on this where he says,yes,there are certain limits and like biological limits and subjective limits that you have.The chances are you are nowhere close to that.Yes.Like,trust me,you are not even close.Like you could go so much further.Like maybe if I tried to be the world's greatest swimmer,I probably can't do that.I don't have the biological makeup.But am I even close to my potential as an elite swimmer?Nowhere close.There is so much progress that I can make in that particular domain.So like I,I really love that framing when it comes to limits.Is.Do we have them?Yes.Are we anywhere close to them?Probably not.So don't let them hold you back.Like there's a lot of progress you can still make there.

It reminds me of just like David Guyon story,right?And he,he says this,he said this thing one time that that landed so heavily on me.And he said,when I was330pounds and I was exterminator,I thought I was doing my best.And it,it landed on me so heavy just because it wasn't even close to his best.And he had so much left in the tank and you look now at all the incredible feats that he's done and that statement's laughable.But at that time,that's truly what he thought.He thought he was trying his hardest.And I think that,that note from James Clear is a beautiful summary of that.

Dude,completely agree.It's,uh,Goggins is an animal,absolute animal.It's,uh,I don't know.I don't really have any,uh,anything to add on that one.So wherever you want to go next.

How do you feel now versus how you felt going into,these past few months

better than ever?Man.Um,I'll listen,think to this podcast with Mark Manson and Chris Williamson,and they talked about,um,how our identity always lags reality,especially when it comes to success.And it's,it's such an interesting idea like,I went from being overweight,making$30,000a year as a college teacher,always wanting more for my life,but for about like the eight years that I really tried in every business venture,it failed.And the danger of that is that after a while you kind of start to expect your own downfall and your own failure.It's like,oh,I tried to do this business and it failed.I tried this business and it failed.I tried this business and it failed over eight years.Like the story is like I try and fail.When you finally try and succeed,as dumb as it sounds,you end up in like an identity crisis.Cuz you're like,no,like I'm the person who tries and fails.Like,where's my failure?Like I still literally look around,I swear,I like metaphorically look around my house and I'm like,where's the failure?Is it in my pockets?Is it in my washing machine?Like,is it in my drawer?Cuz I just,I'm so used to like failing.So no matter how successful I get,there's this always this thought of like,well,failure's around the corner.But like,no,maybe not.Like maybe now,like I actually am on and up and I might have some failures along the way,but that doesn't mean that I go back to zero.Like I'm a new person now,like my identity had to catch up with my level of success,and I don't wanna make it sound like I'm successful.Like I think SU success is very subjective and there's a lot further that I still wanna go.I do not see myself as successful as I would like to be,but there's also this part of me that has to align with the evidence of my own capability.Like I've been able to grow a ghostwriting agency to have a$70,000month.I'm living in Panama.I like immigrated here,whatever it is,to like another country,um,or migrated whatever it is.Um,I've gone and like hung out with other entrepreneurs and like I have them in my circle who make like10to like300million a year,and I just like hop on calls with them.Like my circle is different,my lifestyle is different,my habits are different.Like at some point your identity has to catch up with the evidence and the struggle for me of the past,like.I'd say even a year,but especially the past six months,is the cognitive dissonance that's like,am I the person worthy of this success?Am I,am I really the person who can sustain this success?Am I the person who like I know I can be?And I'm slowly moving closer to that identity,being like,you know what?I'm confident in my capabilities.I'm confident in my direction,confident in my ability,I have resolve around like who I am as a person.And that just took time.I.Personal transformation takes so much time.You,you can even go to ayahuasca and at10years of therapy condensed into three sessions.You still have to do the work.When you leave.You always have to do the work.And it,it's been hard for me,very hard.I've had a lot of like low points and like moments where I felt like quitting and,uh,I'm grateful for like the people in my life that have kept me on the straight and narrow and helped like guide my thinking and my ways of being and my habits in the right direction.But like,just be gentle with yourself.Like it takes time.Like,don't attach failure to your identity.That's a big mistake that I made in my twenties.Like,you never wanna say that to yourself.It's not an empowering thought.

That was beautifully said.And I,I,you,I mean,it's so true.I mean,so often we like.We're scared when we're running downhill because we,we know that there's an uphill maybe coming,in the future.And when things are going well,we almost have this tendency to self-sabotage ourselves because we're uncomfortable with things going great just because of the identity we hold with ourselves.And,um,yeah,I mean,when you're doing that personal transformation and you're truly,truly trying to get better,it's almost like that graph,where it's like nothing's happening for a long time and then it hockey sticks and it's this exponential growth and you don't think you're making progress.And then one day,three,four years later,you look back and you're like,oh my God,I've came so far.And I think it's just a powerful reframe of understanding that,um,Your identity always lacks behind reality.Yeah,always man.

It always does.Um,you know,I,I can't remember who said this,um,but some people say people fear success more than failure.Then there's a big part of me that actually believes that.Cuz when it comes to any level of success,you can't get it without accountability,discipline,personal responsibility,hardship,success is really difficult.Not only to achieve,but it's even harder to maintain.And no one is like,no one wants to fall.Like once you're there,you don't wanna be the one who fell from grace and start from zero.That's an even worse feeling like it's one thing to have never made10,$5million.It's another thing to live the lifestyle of5million and have it taken away and go back to living in like minimal wage.Like that contrast that'll rocket your soul.So in,no,I would never wanna go back to like where I was before.So,But at the same time,like I'll admit that success is very difficult and it's very scary.It's,it is scary to succeed and a lot of people don't talk about that.

Yeah,that's a good point.When you're,like,when you're failing and you're quote unquote a failure,it's almost low risk,right?It's like you don't have,no one really has these high expectations for you.you could kind of just coast by and,it's,it gets scary when you become this person that,that is successful because you have to maintain that expectation.And it's hard,it's hard to do that.It's hard to,to show up each and every day and be that person who,who is that guy?

It's,uh,it's very,very difficult.It's much easier to just delegate your thinking to the government or whatever cultural fad is going on at the time,and just,just do whatever they say.It's like,it's,well,it's easier in terms of effort in the moment,but I would argue that it is harder in the long run over the course of your entire life.But I definitely see it that

way.That is true.That's a good point.Like it's easier in the moment,but harder in the long run.

Yeah,a hundred percent man.We're,we're coming up on the hour,so whatever,uh,whatever you're thinking here for next steps.

All right.Yeah.So I think I want to be respectful of your time and cognizant.So I was thinking we'd end here,by asking you at the start of this journey,at the start of creating content online and,We'll,we'll actually we'll pose it as your21year old self.if you were to go back and have a conversation with your21year old self,what would that,what would that conversation look like?What would that advice be that you would give that person?

Yeah,it's funny,I kind of did this on Ayahuasca and I had like a very psychedelic moment.Um,you know what I,what I think I would tell him is like,just keep going cuz.When you're going through the shit,all that you want is for it to end when you're just like not feeling good about yourself every day when you're like broke as hell.When you're struggling,you're like,God,I just like cannot,like I hope one day this ends.Like,I don't wanna live my life like this.But in hindsight,You're usually very grateful that you had those experiences.Like I'm very grateful that I struggled cuz I would really not like to be the rich kid who never struggled and looked down on everyone that was struggling and was like,what do you mean?Like life's pretty easy and just not have the perspective,like without lived experience,you lack perspective.And I'm happy that I've been overweight and I know what it's like and I know how people look at you and I know how you feel invisible and worthless.And I've also been broke and I know,I remember the feeling of like,Feeling like I wasn't worthy of women or going on dates,or I remember watching my friends who made more money go on vacation than I couldn't afford,and it sucked.And I have empathy for those people greatly and like what they go through.Like all of those struggles give you perspective and empathy.So if I could go back to my21year old self,all I would say to him is just like,just keep going.Trust me.I know he'll figure it out.Like I've already gone through it.I know he'll figure it out.I know he'll be okay.He might not know it,but I would just tell him to keep going and it'll all be worth it in the

end.That's a beautiful way to bring this conversation.Full circle tale.This was a blast,man.I really appreciate you and your time,and I had a lot of fun today.

Likewise,man.Uh,appreciate you.Not very often I can do a space where I can literally just like riff back and forth with someone.So it's been a nice,uh,smooth conversation.It's been an absolute blast.

I appreciate that.That's always my goal,so I'm glad you said that.

And thank you everybody for tuning in on this.Uh,I think it's Friday today,but I don't even know what date it is anymore.Um,on this Friday,uh,midday,your attention's very valuable.You could be giving it to anyone else,to any other creator to your family.So I,I just do greatly appreciate you being here cuz your attention.Your time on this Earth is,you know,it's very valuable.So

thank you.Yeah,yeah,thank you guys so much for listening.Catch you guys next time.Peace.