WEBVTT - Ep 345: Money, Happy Life ft. Jason Vitug 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:16.360 Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're black, We're brown. Ambition ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition. 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:19.599 Hey, y'all, we are a different kind of brown on 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:25.040 brown and bishing today. Mandra unfortunately is not feeling well, 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:26.520 but we wish her well, you know, with the new. 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:27.440 Baby and things. 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:32.280 But instead we have my very good, awesome, amazing friend 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:36.080 and I'll go for his buyer leader, Jason Vita and welcome. 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:39.280 Jason, Tiffany. Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:45.080 So Jason is also a Jersey in like myself and Jason. 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:46.120 How have we been friends? 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:48.040 Close to ten years? 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:49.280 Yeah? Ten years? 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:49.840 Ten years? 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:53.040 Yes, right, so we've been in this game for years. 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:55.480 It's made me. I don't even know this is the 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:57.240 hip hop song. But anyway, but. 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:58.880 Jason and I have been friends for a long time. 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.200 I met him because he too, is a financial educator. 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.800 Jason honestly is one of the inspirations for my recent 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.920 slow down. And you'll hear why, like how awesome he is. 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:12.760 But I don't want to just be like Jason's my friend. 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.480 He's more than that, He's none. Jason is a wellness 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:19.160 advocate and best selling New York Times reviewed author of 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:23.920 two books right. He is the founder of Frugal phrga 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:27.319 L and is an award winning creator of the Road 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:32.160 to Financial Wellness product project. Jason is also a certified Diversity, 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:36.080 Equity and Inclusion Expert. He holds the Psychology of Financial 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:40.000 Planning certification and is also a certified yoga instructor and 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:41.039 breathwork specialist. 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:43.000 We gonna get him to do a breath exercise with us, y'all. 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:48.560 Jason focuses on a holistic approach where money isn't the goal, 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.360 money is the tool to help achieve the goals. He's 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:53.440 also been featured on the ted Nex Stage, y'all, co 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:56.560 Finance Form, Business Insider, and we already say New York 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.520 Times to name a few. All in all, Jason is 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:04.040 incredible and he has a new book called Happy Money, 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:08.080 Happy Life, which is like literally Jason in a book. 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:11.720 You know. So one of the things Jason that I 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.880 admire about you, that I admired and still admire about you, 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:17.720 is that a long time ago, so Jason used to 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:19.120 be on the grind like me. You know, we were 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.560 all working really hard. This is like, you know, like 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.560 ten eight years ago. Personal finance in the way that 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:26.720 it is now was just coming to. 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:28.040 Be a thing. You know. 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.720 It was like people like me and Jason and Sandy 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.200 and also other people, we were kind of like, you know, 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.480 starting this kind of personal finance journey and brand and 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:40.639 bringing y'all in. But while most of us kept grinding 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:43.200 until we have we were nothing but little nubs. I 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.960 noticed about halfway through that Jason didn't seem to be 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.840 grinding yet he was still making you know, good money. 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:50.360 You know that. 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.240 I saw that he was posting pictures of his walks. 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.800 I remember when Jason, you became a certified yoga instructor, 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:58.959 you would be posting your yoga like you know, you 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.079 would like during pandemic. You were doing yoga so people 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:03.920 can do it along with you. I just remember being like, 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:05.640 what is going on with Jason, because I know you 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:08.359 still have frugal I know you're still a financial educator, 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:11.919 but then there's this other part of you, the zen chill, 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:14.440 like I'm not doing all that part of you. 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:15.400 Like what happened? 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:20.000 It's fascinating, right because I think when I disappeared out 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.079 of the personal finance space and I was honing into 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.240 the wellness space a bit more so, everyone was wondering 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:28.720 what happened to my business or did I just go 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:30.679 totally broke? And I was like, no, I need to 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:35.200 focus on my physical, mental, and spiritual health. And I 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:39.320 built a business that was running like with itself, so 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:41.440 I just didn't need to participate as much as I 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:46.400 needed to. And what really happened was I think you 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:48.800 put it in there like we're in the grind, we're 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.800 in the hustle, and I am a big believer that 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.920 gears that grind for too long get worn out and 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:55.800 then thrown out. 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.040 Oh say that again. I put the people on to bed, Jason, 0:03:58.080 --> 0:03:58.320 say it. 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.920 Again, Gears that grind for too long get worn out 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.640 and then thrown out. I certainly didn't want to be 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:08.160 thrown out. And so I know this is something that 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.360 I believe in. Like the work that we do, this 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:14.160 is purposeful work for me, but it's also grueling. I mean, 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:15.560 there's a lot of demands, so there's a lot of 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.159 things that we have to do to get the things going. 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.560 And so especially when we are driven with our own 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.600 personal ambition and we're driven with passion and purpose, we 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:29.280 can get worn out doing those things. And I felt 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:32.200 myself getting worn out and when we get worn out, 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:35.640 we start making all these decisions, ill decisions, and then 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:37.839 all of a sudden, it's just like it's a compounding 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:39.599 effect that it's going to affect our mental health, our 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.640 emotion well being, and then I'm going to start feeling 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:45.400 tired and lethargic. And so that's exactly what happened. I mean, 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:50.200 I became a bestseller, became the sought after speaker, going 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.440 all around the country, and it was great, but all 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:55.479 of a sudden, I just started feeling like I was 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:58.080 being pulled away from the work I wanted to do 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:02.240 to just appear. And the one thing that really hit 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.560 home was when someone said to me, I was chasing 0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:09.520 influence over affluence and influences this, Oh, you got to 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:12.760 be like on stage every single time, I have to 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.440 be on social media every single time, versus like really 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:20.279 working on affluence, and affluence isn't just the financial wealth. 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:22.960 It's about how my feeling like in other parts of 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.880 my life. And so I know this that there were 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.119 areas of my life I needed to work on. And yeah, 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:32.120 like I think, just like you, we're like we're grinding 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:35.720 away and then other things in our lives start happening, 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.880 and so I needed to listen and take a step back. 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:40.679 And that's exactly what happened. 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.159 And so when all this stuff's happened, I took a 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:45.720 step back and go, I need to reassess, readjust and 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:47.160 revaluate where I'm walking. 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:48.279 I love that. 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.960 And you really, you started to make those changes long 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.000 before it became like now people are like, I don't 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.200 want to overwork, But you made them when it was 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.080 really scary to make those changes because no one was 0:05:58.120 --> 0:05:58.520 doing that. 0:05:58.560 --> 0:05:58.920 Back then. 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:01.960 It was like, uh, the money is getting good, what 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:03.880 do you do with Jason sitting down a little bit? 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:05.680 So one of the things, you know, one of the 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.600 reasons why I wanted Jason to come on is because 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:11.080 in his book, his new book, Happy Money, Happy Life, 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:15.200 which is available at Happy Money, Happy Life book dot com. 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:15.800 Don't you like that? 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.440 I told Jason, like, go get that domain, Happy Money, 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:21.480 Happy lifebook dot com. 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:23.159 Okay, it's the name of his book. 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:25.200 So one of the things that really blew me away 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.440 about your book is this. 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:33.000 It is a multiple multiple what is it? Multi dimensional approach? Right? 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:36.600 And I had never really heard of that before. I mean, 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.120 you know, like in passing. But I didn't realize that 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:44.279 there were these eight dimensions that you know, really help 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:49.120 really compose what full wellness and holistic wellness? Can you 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.520 like tell us what these dimensional, multi dimensional approaches are 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.800 and how does money play a role in this? 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:57.320 In that and in your book. 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:59.800 Yeah, So it's interesting, right because I thought that came 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:03.600 up with this brilliant idea that there are eight dimensions 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.760 of wellness. And so I remember in twenty sixteen going, Okay, 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.560 everything is connected. So it's not just financial, it's not 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:13.600 just professional, there's mental and emotional. Everything's connected. And then 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:16.440 eventually I started doing the research and finding all these studies. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:21.320 For decades, people have talked about the multidimensionality of human beings, 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:24.800 and so for me, I chose the eight wellness dimensions 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.880 because I think that encompasses who we are, and they 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:37.320 are mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, social, environmental, occupational, and financial. 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.800 Those are the eight dimensions that make you you. We 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:46.440 are multi faceted, multi dimensional, multi layered individuals. And the 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.840 reason why when things seem to be working out in 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:53.200 one area of our life and we don't feel happy 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.360 or we don't feel well, chances are there is a 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.560 dimension that needs your attention. And so for me in 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.000 this book, what I do is I talk about these 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:05.640 dimensions through the lens of money. I show how money 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.920 weaves itself through these dimensions and how it impacts us 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.800 positively or negatively. And most of the time too, it 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:14.440 could be our own decision making when it comes to money, 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.600 and also the external factors that we have no control 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:21.120 over the economy, the job market, and other decisions around us. 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:23.840 And so what I want people to understand when we 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:25.800 are focused so much, and this is what happened to me. 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.160 I was so focused for period of my life on 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:33.240 professional success, that is occupational health, which I call happy work. 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:37.079 What we do, we take our identity and we base 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:42.079 it solely on salary and the title we hold at 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.760 this job, and so all these achievements. Well, if we 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:49.439 solely focus on occupational health and we excel to the 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:54.120 detriment of our mental and physical health, well guess what happens. 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.960 It's going to affect our finances, It's going to affect 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.400 every other aspects of our well being. And so for 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:03.360 this instance, when I was at a point when I 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.600 was like grinding away, climbing up the corporate ladder, and 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:09.240 it became VP of Marketing and Business Development for this 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:14.319 financial institution. While I was suffering mentally, I was emotionally drained, 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:19.600 and that psychological distress was manifesting itself physically. So I 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.839 was getting sick. I developed vertigo, I had like pink 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:25.199 eye or red eyes for two weeks. My eyes were 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.080 bleeding for two weeks, and I couldn't get out of bed. 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.440 And then when I couldn't get out of bed, I 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:34.280 felt useless and it started affecting my social well being 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.720 because I didn't want to hang out with friends or family. 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:39.560 And then I felt this void in my life because 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.200 something that I was passionate about at that time, climbing 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.880 up the career ladder, was affected me spiritually. And so 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:47.239 for me, I want people to understand, like these dimensions 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:52.880 are interconnected, they're overlapping, and so once you understand these 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:57.199 eight dimensions and how they there's there intersectionality of them, 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:01.640 it is a powerful life changing way of looking at yourself. 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:03.920 Honestly, Jayson, I was just telling her friend of mine, 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.040 like literally, I was like super excited. I was telling 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:07.840 her a friend of mine, about your book, and I 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.800 was telling him that like, yo, I you know you 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:13.880 kind of you understand that obviously there are components to 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.760 your life, but I could never understand why to your point, 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:18.440 when I was making the most amount of money I've 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:20.120 ever made, I was so miserable. 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.679 My blood pressure had spiked. It was like, and now 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:24.920 I have to honestly. 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:29.040 Say, you know that despite all that's happened, you know, 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.760 I am in a space of grief, grace and gratitude, 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:35.400 you know, and I'm actually happy. And I'm like how 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:38.439 And I was literally I pulled up the eight dimensions 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:42.120 and I said, oh, I'm happy because every aspect of 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:45.600 these dimensions I am present in. You know, because before 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:47.520 I wasn't hanging out that it was just BUDGETIESA. There 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.320 was no Tiffany, so the social out the window. I 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:52.800 had gained thirty pounds, my blood pressure had spiked, so 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.240 physical was not being looked after financial. I mean, I 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:58.000 was good as far as money, but that was about it. 0:10:58.160 --> 0:10:59.280 Every other part. 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.559 Of my life was out of alignment. 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:03.840 And so I thought like, well, I thought, if I 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:05.720 work really hard and I'm making really good money and 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:08.480 I'm helping people, that it should be enough. It wasn't 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:13.679 because I was not looking at myself holistically and so 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:15.839 that's why I love because you know, one of the things, 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:17.520 that's one of the things I love about you as 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:19.920 a person, but also the fact that you wrote this 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.840 book to talk about that. You know, we talk about money, 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.040 but I always say it's really not money. You know 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.600 that I want people to use money to live. Well, now, 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:30.600 how do you do that? And I feel like with 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:34.079 Happy Money, Happy Life, you know, that's what you that's 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.079 what you talk about, like how do you use your 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.079 money as a tool. 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.040 You know, not the goal itself. So thank you for that. 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:41.880 So we're actually going to jump to a quick break 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:44.319 because you know, we all we get to chalkin, right. 0:11:44.400 --> 0:11:47.320 So we've got Jason vitug A frugal but this new book, 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:51.160 Happy Money, Happy Life will be right back black and Brown. 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.840 And we're back in Black and Brown, super excited. We 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.439 have Jason in the studio and this too with us 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:06.320 talking about multidimensionality or talking about happy Money, Happy Life, 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:09.920 his new book. So, Jason, while we're back, you did 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:12.760 something with my dream catches the other day that was amazing. 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:14.520 So I'm going to put you on the spot. 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:17.920 You did just a really quick breathing activity and I'd 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:19.439 like for you to just walk us through this like 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:23.120 two or three minute breathing activity, even if you're driving, 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:24.440 you have the kids or whatever. If you can't do 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:27.439 it now, that's okay. Look at the time stamp of 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.719 this activity on the video or the audio that you're 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:33.120 watching so you can come back to it. And I 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.120 want Jason to lead us through because when I tell you, 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:36.720 it chilled me, y'all know I'm hyper. 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:39.079 It chilled me all the way out. So Jason, the 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.240 floor is yours. Thank you so much. 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.040 So I want to preface this because I think it's 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.920 important for people to understand why I am a breathwork 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:48.640 specialist and why this is part of my daily routine, 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.120 because there are just so many things happening in this world. 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.040 There's so many things that cause us stress in our lives, 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:56.320 and so it's not just financial. And so for me, 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.760 discovering breath work was a life changing kind of for 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:03.400 and what I've been doing is incorporating it in these 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:05.720 talks becuse it it's such a powerful way for us 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:09.240 to address our nervous system, because our nervous system is 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:12.920 like it's all hyped up. And so what I do 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:15.319 want to say is that when you get an opportunity 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.160 go back to this timestamp. And so you could do 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:23.439 this in a safe space, because when we're working with breath, 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:26.760 it will change how you feel in your body. And 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.720 so if you're in a safe space right now, I 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:33.440 want you to gently kind of lift up your body, 0:13:33.520 --> 0:13:37.240 feel that energy flowing from from your core all the 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.920 way up to your head, nice and tall back, Relax 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:46.000 your shoulders, allow your chin to drop gently towards your chest. 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:49.640 You can close your eyes if you want to, if 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:54.200 you feel comfortable, and just be present in this moment. 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.480 And I want you to start noticing where your breath 0:13:59.800 --> 0:14:06.199 and your body through the nose, perhaps through your mouth, 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:13.640 and feeling that sensation of air through your nostrils through 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:18.640 your body and filling up your lungs and just being 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:26.200 present with that force. Now as you get in touch 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:30.560 and feel this pull of gravity in any parts of 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:33.840 your body that's touching the floor, we're gonna work with 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:37.960 manipulating your breath. We're gonna go and take a nice 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:41.960 deep in hell through your nose, filling your lungs up 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:49.280 with air and releasing through your mouth with a sigh. 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:55.080 Let's do that in hell through your nose, filling your 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:59.440 lungs up with air and releasing through your mouth with 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:05.000 a sigh, and allow yourself to do this a few 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:09.040 more times. And the power of this is that we 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:14.440 hold so much tension around our jawline, around our mouth, 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:18.880 so you're probably noticing there's that tension there. And by 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.560 simply breathing in through our nose and intentionally and mindfully 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:26.560 exhaling through our mouth with that sigh, we're allowing our 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:33.320 body to remain still, to be present, to relax. And 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:36.320 let's take one more deep inhale through the nose, and 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:38.680 I want you to hold it at the top for 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:47.480 three seconds one, two, three, and then release two allow 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:52.040 yourself And now as you get in and are in 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.520 your body, I want you to start gently wiggling your fingers, 0:15:55.960 --> 0:16:00.119 wingling your toes, allow yourself to come back into the room, 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:04.160 and welcome back into this three D physical world. 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:09.440 That was so amazing, Jason, Honestly, it just it just 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.000 this is one of the things that like I appreciate 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:14.080 most about you, that this is what you bring to 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:17.320 the financial space in a special way that I don't 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:19.360 know that there's anybody you know, no one on that 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.040 I know no one that I followed, no one that 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:25.200 I've read up about that approaches personal finance from this space. 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:30.480 You know, this fully grounded, this fully like you know, 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.600 just breath work and personal finance. It just doesn't seem 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.920 like it matches, but it does. Imagine doing a breathwork 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.480 exercise before you sit down and budget with your partner, 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:44.440 you know, Imagine doing yoga moves every Saturday, and you know, 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.760 before you do your budget for the week. You know, Like, 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:51.920 I just love that, Like this is the space, This 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:55.840 is the unique beauty that you bring to this, this 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:59.520 personal finance space. And I just you know, I hope 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:01.560 you all, you know you're listening, if you got a 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:03.440 chance to do a little bit that's short, a little 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.119 bit of breath work that you know you're feeling as 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:07.840 calm as I am, that you can tell my voices 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:11.399 totally changed. I'm like, yeah, I'm so chilly, you know, 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:15.040 but like, but I know it hasn't always been easy, 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:17.960 you know for you, Jason, and I think it'd be 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:19.399 good for people to hear. I know you shared a 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:21.800 little bit of like how you got here, you know, 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.359 but you know, just maybe diving deeper into how you 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:26.800 got here and why did you write this book so 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:28.720 we can go on the journey with you. 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.320 Yeah, well, thank you for that. I want people to 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:35.120 understand that we all have personal journeys, and our journey 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:40.520 isn't this straight linear upward trajectory, and it isn't just 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:44.320 a downward trend either. And for me, I've had ups 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.040 and downs, twists and turns. I thought I had it 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:50.040 all figured out. Well, I thought I had it all 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:52.320 figured out when I quit my corporate job and went 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:56.760 backpacking around the world discovering my purpose. And discovering my 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.000 purpose wasn't the end to my story. When I started 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:03.520 frugal and I started on this mission becoming me financial 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:07.760 educator and incorporating health and wealth, that wasn't really the 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.000 case because I got pulled into the entrepreneurial hustle. So 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:15.240 when I was hustling in corporate America and then I 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:19.120 was hustling in the entrepreneurial world, I was experiencing the 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:24.320 same burnout. I was experiencing the same issues. The physical 0:18:24.359 --> 0:18:28.320 manifestations of all the mental gymnastics that I was doing 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:31.360 was causing me a great deal of distress and now 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:35.600 affecting me professionally in the work that I absolutely loved 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:39.440 doing and then impacting my finances. And so there was 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:42.479 a point in my life, tiffany where, just like you, 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.199 I reached this level of financial success and I'm like, 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:47.720 I'm at the top of my game. I'm getting paid 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:50.679 tens of thousands of dollars to speak for one hour, 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:55.240 and coming from a city like Elizabeth, New Jersey, the 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:58.680 fourth largest city, growing up where we lived in seventeen 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.800 different houses, where we didn't talk about money. I didn't 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.399 have luxury goods, we didn't go on fancy vacations, and 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:09.960 like growing up with just the essentials and not knowing 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:13.600 about the how the other half lives did impact me. 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.399 And so when I achieved these financial success and I 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.600 thought that's how, that's what's going to make me happy. 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:22.880 And when I achieve that level of professional and financial success, 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:25.560 there were still all these other things I needed to 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:29.880 work on. And so for me, just getting the becoming 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:37.120 mentally drained, emotionally exhausted, physically ill just affected my professional 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:41.119 and financial success. So I started making bad financial decisions 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:43.960 and I was actually really ashamed of that. And that 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:46.280 has a lot to do with like, Okay, well you 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:50.240 are a money expert. How could you make financial mistakes 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:54.440 as a money expert? And I was making those mistakes 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:58.680 at the height of my quote unquote financial influence. And 0:19:58.760 --> 0:20:01.880 for me, it's realized saying that this is a journey 0:20:02.320 --> 0:20:05.679 of ups and downs and twists and turns, and I 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:09.000 have the opportunity, as long as there's air in my lungs, 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:11.800 as long as I am motivated to get up and 0:20:11.840 --> 0:20:16.320 do the work, that I can have a different path. 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:18.639 I can take a different path, I can choose, I 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:22.240 make different choices, And so for me, I've no longer 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:26.520 have the shame, the guilt, the embarrassment of my financial mistakes. 0:20:26.920 --> 0:20:29.600 And I certainly know that as I continue on this journey, 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:33.119 I'll probably make a few more financial mistakes. But the 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:36.439 message I want people to understand is that money is 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:40.080 just one aspect of who we are, and if we 0:20:40.160 --> 0:20:45.639 can remove the small little stresses of our financial life, 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:48.720 we can then focus on other aspects of our well being. 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:50.640 And so for that. 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:52.399 Little short thing is I just want people to know 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.760 I still don't have it all figured out, but getting 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:02.119 my money right, understanding where work takes presidents in my 0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:06.439 well being and everything else, like I'm working towards that 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:09.160 holistic wellness that I want everyone else to be on 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:09.960 in this journey. 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:12.879 If you follow him Jason Vita j A. S O 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:17.280 n v I Tug fanatic, Okay, you'll see like you'll 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:19.199 get to You're not just gonna get money stuff, You're 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:20.760 gonna get him. I just saw you were walking your 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:22.880 dog in the park for your daily walk. 0:21:22.920 --> 0:21:23.480 I love that. 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:26.040 One of the things I like. So there's like chapter 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:27.639 I think it's like chapter five to ten. Can you 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:29.800 read some of the chapter titles? I love that, Like 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:32.280 how you weave did It's like happy soul happy? 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:32.840