Re-invention is possible and encouraged, especially as we enter a New Year.
Craig Siegel "had it all" on paper - lucrative career on Wall Street, quick acceleration through the corporate ladder, you name it. But, he felt like he had something more inside of him that Wall Street couldn't give him. He knew he wanted to do something to help people develop themselves, and then he was met by his own inner demons wondering how that could be made possible while only having 300 followers on IG at the time. He faced the same internal thought demons that many of us face.
Fast forward, he's a WSJ / USA Today Best Selling Author and Host of one of the top personal development podcasts in the world.
Imagine radiating an energy so powerful, it shapes the very reality you experience. In our conversation with Craig, we unlock the secrets of manifesting success in the quantum realm, where belief, emotion, and action interlace to beckon a life of abundance.
Takeaways:
💥 The Reinvention Formula - steps to master your way of being and re-wire your thoughts
💥 Embracing 'the quantum' and attracting what you want
💥Playing small is cancelled
Connect With Craig!
Website
IG
CLS Podcast
The Reinvention Formula - Book
Thank you for tuning in! If you feel led, please subscribe & share the show to others who you believe would benefit from it.
Keep in touch below!
Re-invention is possible and encouraged, especially as we enter a New Year.
Craig Siegel "had it all" on paper - lucrative career on Wall Street, quick acceleration through the corporate ladder, you name it. But, he felt like he had something more inside of him that Wall Street couldn't give him. He knew he wanted to do something to help people develop themselves, and then he was met by his own inner demons wondering how that could be made possible while only having 300 followers on IG at the time. He faced the same internal thought demons that many of us face.
Fast forward, he's a WSJ / USA Today Best Selling Author and Host of one of the top personal development podcasts in the world.
Imagine radiating an energy so powerful, it shapes the very reality you experience. In our conversation with Craig, we unlock the secrets of manifesting success in the quantum realm, where belief, emotion, and action interlace to beckon a life of abundance.
Takeaways:
💥 The Reinvention Formula - steps to master your way of being and re-wire your thoughts
💥 Embracing 'the quantum' and attracting what you want
💥Playing small is cancelled
Connect With Craig!
Website
IG
CLS Podcast
The Reinvention Formula - Book
Thank you for tuning in! If you feel led, please subscribe & share the show to others who you believe would benefit from it.
Keep in touch below!
I had a spiritual awakening in the pandemic and I just got like a jolt of clarity and, to be fair, it was a bit of a forced pivot because I showed them my office and the world stood still, but I also understood what an opportunity that was. And so now, because that was so effective, I coach people and teach them and I do this myself. I will purposely create space to get quiet, to disconnect, to reconnect, to get that clarity and so forth.
Speaker 2:What's up everyone? If you are looking to reinvent yourself here in the new year in 2024, we have the master with us. It's an honor to have Craig Siegel with us on the show today. He is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling, author of his incredible book, the Reinvention Formula, podcast host of the CLS Experience, which features some of the most notable and inspiring people in the world, including folks like Ed Milet and David Meltzer. The list goes on and on and on, and what I love about Craig and what we're going to learn about him today, is that he's not afraid to take messy action and take the leap. For someone that had a very lucrative career on Wall Street, he decided to pursue his passion, which is really to help people enhance their mindsets and ultimately reinvent themselves. So, craig, honor to have you on the show, brother, and it's been fun following you and now being able to create this conversation with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what a fantastic intro. Thank you for having me. Brother. We're connecting before we get recorded and a lot of alignment here and I'll pump to be here. Let's dive in, let's get nuts and stuff.
Speaker 2:Let's get nuts and let's have some fun. Now, similar to you, where you have an arsenal of really good opening questions, I always ask this one, and it's this that a simple Google search will yield a lot of results. If you look up Craig Siegel or CLS Experience anything about you we can read so much. What I would like to know is, beyond what we see about you, what makes you human?
Speaker 1:Yeah, great question, I think, because the first thing that comes to mind is that I care so much and I'm a bit sensitive and I think that if I was a machine or if I wasn't human, then I wouldn't be sensitive and I wouldn't care. But the truth of the matter is I and I wasn't always like this. I'll be honest with you, like before, I read about myself just a different season of life, really, a different identity, probably more of an ego from being honest. Now I genuinely want to help everybody and oftentimes, when you put yourself out there and you build the brand that we have and you think as big as I do, it's only a matter of time before you get let down and some people will let you down and you confide in them, you trusted them or you really want to see the best of them.
Speaker 1:Whatever the case should be and if I'm being honest, that's happened more than I like to admit and my fiance, who's from Ukraine originally she's a bit more of a savage than me, she's a little bit better at not dwelling on it and I'm getting better. I think the good balance would be somewhere between me and her, but I genuinely care a lot and I want to see people fulfill their capacity. I don't like to use the word potential, because to me, potential is like in the future I want to worry about right now. We can all achieve more of our own capacity and I know everybody is capable of so much more doing good, making more money, having more fun, relationships, abundance, all that stuff. And sometimes people don't believe in themselves or they're lazy, or maybe they'll let me down and it affects me more than I'd like to admit. I'm getting better at it, but that's what came to mind when you said how do I know? Or what makes me human?
Speaker 2:That's beautiful and I appreciate you sharing and the context as well.
Speaker 2:I believe that what I love about this question is that it gets people to really lower their guard and show more of hey, here's Craig at the heart and deep down what you just shared there is. Folks can look at you on the internet, listen to your podcast, look at your posts on Instagram and all the content is amazing and make this assumption that this guy's got everything figured out and must not struggle with a single thing. Maybe he did back then Craig 1.0, and then, if we're talking to Craig 2.0 right now the reinvented Craig that oh, this guy must not have any issues, but you just said there that you're a work in progress still, even though you've attained so much and you genuinely care about folks. Now let's take a minute. You said that that wasn't always the case. And as we dive into reinvention formula, if we're talking to Craig 2.0 right now and pre-reinvention is Craig 1.0, what are the biggest transformations that have taken place for you personally? And then let's talk through what happened to make those transformations a reality.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think the biggest difference is now I operate from a frequency of alignment, so I'm actually fulfilling what I believe I'm here to do, which is make a massive impact on the world. I'll put a dent in the universe and showcase to people what's possible once they believe in themselves and remove the limiting beliefs that we've been plagued with over time with their society or parents, whatever the case may be, and I wake up every single day on purpose, living a life by design, and that's how to say that there's not obstacles and tough moments and days and so forth. But I can honestly say for the first time in my life well, for the last three years at least that I am a gladiator in the correct arena. And prior to that, after going back to Craig 1.0, I was clearly a gladiator in the wrong arena. And it's interesting because I want to be very clear. I wouldn't have changed a thing on my journey, because I believe everything happened the way it was supposed to. I needed to learn some lessons, I need to go through some stuff, I needed some contrast so I could speak about it, and so forth, and I wouldn't change a thing.
Speaker 1:But whereas WallShoot was fun in the beginning, of course, but it stopped being fun and it was just stressful and there was a lot of pressure. And I just want to help people and I was just. I was waking up every day and I would give it everything I got, because that's the type of cat I am. But it was almost like for what?
Speaker 1:And the big difference I like to give to people is when you're out of alignment and let's just say you're in a career and maybe you can relate to this that doesn't necessarily set your soul on fire. At the end of a long day, you're probably a little depleted. It's been a long day. You're going to wake up and do it again. But when you're living in alignment and you're gladiator in the correct arena and you have a long day, you're just tired at the end of the day, not depleted, and then you can't wait to get back at it after some rest. And that's what I noticed was the biggest difference for me. And so I just I'm living an authentic life right now and I think authenticity is one of the most beautiful, vulnerable, courageous things that we can achieve. I also think it's one of the hardest things that people can achieve.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And when we think about alignment for somebody that is maybe seeking alignment and that's one of the their keyword for 2024. Someone might be wondering okay, I feel out of alignment right now because, as the day goes on, I go to the office, I come home and it's just not fulfilling. There's this void, and I want to be doing XYZ let's just say, starting a podcast because I believe that creating these conversations with people like you, craig, will light my soul on fire and create this sense of alignment that we're talking about For folks that might be out of alignment and are craving it. What are some of the questions that they should be asking themselves, or what's that introspective exercise that we should do so that we can get more in alignment as we're in this new year?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got to answer some really powerful questions Right. First and foremost, a couple that come to mind are what do you actually love Like? What would you want to do if you don't have to worry about anything like money or anything? What would you want to wake up and spend time and energy doing? Right? And so for me, when I finally asked myself those deep, profound questions, when I got quiet in the lockdown or the pandemic, I mean, it was very simple for me.
Speaker 1:I had been obsessed with personal development for years. Can you get it out of this? These conversations right here, this is all I want to talk about, if I'm being honest, to the extent that my fiatte open up to say, hey, craig, can we shut it off for a little bit and maybe just not use our brains. So for me that was obvious. For other people it might not be. It's okay. Make a list what are the things that you love to do, what are some of your passions? And then another list that you can cultivate is your skill sets, your superpowers, your X factors, what makes you uniquely you? What can you be an expert in? Make a list of things that you're really really, really good at. And somewhere in between those two lists. I think there's going to be some cool data to collect some commonalities. So for me, I'm obsessed with personal development. I could communicate pretty effectively.
Speaker 1:I married those two and put my own stamp on it and created a vision for CLS. I didn't want to be Tony Robbins or Ed Milet. I wanted to be the first. Craig Siegel and I put together an intention, a strategy and so forth. But just starting with those two questions what do I like, what am I good at? And even adding, what can I speak about with authority, what makes me uniquely me, and so forth and having those in your repertoire will begin to give you a little bit of clarity. And maybe some of this is the thing right now that starts the journal Like all right, I'm getting some of it, but I still don't know it yet. Then try new things clarity files, action, getting some different arenas that are close to the things that you like, and either you're going to meet someone there or it'll be the thing that leads to the thing. But I think just starting with those specific questions will give you a good start.
Speaker 2:I love that because the easiest way, in my view, in my opinion, to create clarity is to write things down and extract the thoughts that we have in our head. For it to estimate, we have 50,000 to 80,000 thoughts per day. So what that means is we may believe, oh, I'm really good at this, or I really want to do that, but then you put it all on paper and to your point. With the exercise you just suggested, I would also back that and say write down everything that comes to mind, Even if it means you have pages, Because then I'm sure that some sort of theme is going to emerge, as there's gonna be some similarities, and then it's going to push you and say, okay, yeah, you know what actually, because I love connecting with people and I love outreach and having intellectual conversations, like those are the things that I'm really good at. Then you know what. It makes sense. So, where we were at, I was going into writing things down creates helps, create more clarity. Yeah, no, I think that when people take the time to actually do that exercise, I really recommend that you double down and write down as almost exhaust yourself and write down everything that comes to mind, because that's gonna create clarity.
Speaker 2:Now, Craig, someone may do this exercise and then the societal pressures may enter their mind or the limiting beliefs may start to enter their mind. So I've done this exercise. I know what I'm good at, I've got what I believe, I'm passionate about and I'm gonna go and launch this thing. Now in comes limiting belief. You wanna start a podcast and you only have and in your case, Craig, because I want people to know this is a real thing you wanna start a podcast and you only have 300 followers on Instagram. No one's gonna listen to you or no one's gonna, no one's going to take you seriously. That was your situation, and now you have one of the top personal development podcasts in the world. So, as we establish clarity, the limiting beliefs may come, pay you a little visit. And the voices? How do we block those out? And what's the counter to that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I have a whole reframe on this and I hadn't really publicly talked about this, but I'm excited to share it with some of your listeners and audience. So there's a big difference between pressure and stress. So when pressure's coming at you and you feel some type of way, two things number one don't react. And number two, utilize and channel the pressure. It's really like a flashlight on what your next level of expansion feels like. Now, when the pressure comes, if you do react or if you neglect it, then it converts into stress. That's one of the lowest vibrations there is. You're not gonna be a match for any of others stuff like that.
Speaker 1:But if you have this idea and you have this clarity and now all of a sudden you're feeling pressure, like, oh, I gotta take action, I gotta start my podcast, I gotta reach out to somebody, I gotta put out some content, that's good, because your next level of expansion in life is not gonna look like sunshine, rainbows and butterflies. It's gonna look like pain, suffering, pressure. But on the other side of that is your next level of expansion in your life across the board money, relationships, career fulfillment, peace, all of it. So when you do start feeling that, I would actually say this is a good thing, and in fact, I would even take it a step deeper. I would start identifying where you feel those feelings of pressure and start leaning into them, and that's how you're gonna get to your next level of expansion.
Speaker 2:Ooh, okay, that's gold right there. So pressure and expansion, as you're saying, that I'm thinking about. Really. We look at diamonds. What forms diamonds? The most durable, strongest material in the world it is that pressure and that's so, as you embrace the pressure, you expand and you shine, cause then I'm thinking about that diamond. Now Do I have it right? Yeah, that's correct, and if we can love that, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Pressure expansion. It's a really big paradigm. It's something I'm learning with a lot of my spirituality right now Is that stuff is the stuff that most people look for and then neglect and, as a result, they stay comfortable. But is it really comfortable? Because, essentially, if your soul's not expanding, it's contracting and it resents that and our souls want to expand, so we have to lean in to that. Pressure Pressure is a good thing. Stress is not, I think. Often people think they're the same. Stress is the result of not converting the pressure or reacting to it in a negative manner.
Speaker 2:And that's beautiful. It's just I'm sitting here pausing for a minute, letting this really hit me and I understand, sink in and sink in because I'm looking at every. Every time I have these conversations with folks like you, it's like man want to create this amazing experience for listeners, but then I get the privilege of being here with you live and actually hearing it hit real time. Folks are going to listen to this later and that is. I wrote that down as you were speaking, so I'm sure that there will be some content coming from me in the future crediting you with this, with this pressure and expansion as you eventually talk about it more publicly. So I appreciate you sharing that here.
Speaker 2:You mentioned that and if we look at what we're talking about here paradigm shift and your beliefs you mentioned your spirituality. One thing that I really love in a reinvention formula is you get into embracing and diving into the quantum and then neuro linguistic programming. What are the benefits of diving into the quantum and really how can we dive into the quantum? What is that for somebody that may not be familiar with it?
Speaker 1:So to me, the quantum, what that represents, is being enlightened, and what it means to be enlightened means that you believe that there's something much more happening here than just this 3D physical reality or this conversation with these pieces of equipment on. Obviously, yours is a little more hands on the mind, meaning that the 99% and the rest of everything is beyond our logic. That's energy, vibrations, the universe, and when you can tap into all that stuff, it's infinite. There's limitless abundance out there and most people think it stops with what's happening right here in the physical, like consequences or consequence. That's it.
Speaker 1:But once we realize it, this is just a very small portion of what's going on. We can tap into endless opportunities and so forth and really become a match. This is a vibrational universe. So if you want to achieve success, you don't pursue it and chase it, you attract it. And the way to attract it is by being attractive to it, by being a match for the things that you desire Now energetically. If you want something so badly, you actually have a fear of not getting it and that creates resistance energetically. So there's a misconception when it comes to manifesting, it'll think oh, just think about it, think about it, think about it, think about it, yes, but also divorce from it, because you don't want to create that subconscious resistance. So when I think of the quantum, I think of all the other stuff going on here that we could tap into, the infinite abundance out there, everything else, at least that's how I perceive it.
Speaker 2:So how would we, how do we embrace that? Or rather, how do we dive into that? Because, into your point, manifestation can only get us so far. If I manifest that this podcast grows 10x next year, that's an amazing thought, but the thought itself isn't going to get it there. It must be coupled by action. Now I can believe it all day long and with that attract, and maybe that attracts bigger guests, maybe that attracts more people stumbling onto the podcast. But if we're thinking about a formula to really embrace this quantum, what would that look like?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So just to be clear, it's not just taking action and it's not just believing it, it's having an emotion and an energy towards what you believe. So you can say stuff all you want, I'm going to 10x my show and do this. I'm going to take action, but if you don't really energetically and emotionally believe it, it's not going to be a match. And it's no different than this might be before.
Speaker 1:You're tall, but back in the day we used to have radios right, and you would turn on a specific channel and, based upon that channel, you would have a frequency that would either attract the oldies, hip hop, r&b, whatever.
Speaker 1:So it's no different. So we have to be on match energetically and then sustain that vibration to be a match with the things that we want to call in. I know this is really deep stuff and I'm going to the best that I can to make it digestible, because when I read a lot of this stuff and look into it it could be a lot more complex and I try to simplify it. Like, I'm also sure you want to be a match energetically for the stuff that you want to call into your life. And here's the good news If you're not attracting the stuff that you want or to desire, even if it's a specific common marathon, whatever the case may be, then that's feedback, that you're not tuned into the correct frequency and because now we know that we can now reverse, engineer and take steps to get energetically into the correct frequency and remove the resistance and limiting beliefs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I love that and I appreciate you providing additional context. What I've learned, from both my audience and even myself, it's, for some concepts that folks talk about, it's great to understand it at a high level, but then, hey, how do we actually take that and embrace it and put it into our toolkit? So, by going a little further and really saying, hey, it's also what you're putting out there, it's not just what you're thinking and what you're doing, but more so that that state of being is what I'm hearing, it's that state of being Does that. You know, that's also comes into play as well. So I appreciate you sharing that.
Speaker 2:Now, the re it. Now, I asked about a formula, but there is a formula for the. There is a formula obviously titled the book Reinvention Formula. But then, when we think about reinventing ourselves, there are three Rs that are key if we're going to reinvent ourselves and for folks that are looking to create the new and best version of themselves in 2024, the three Rs that you've mapped out are redesign, re-energize and reinvent. Now, what are the, what are elements of those three Rs? Because that is really what I see as the toolkit for somebody to transform themselves in this new year.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So, first of all, we have to redesign your mindset. I think you said it earlier, right, with the amount of thoughts that we have over the course of the day, backed by science, and the kicker is that most of the thoughts are negative and nobody's immune from that, right? So we have to have a process and a strategy and, from interviewing some of the biggest things on the planet in every single arena, one thing that I see that they all have in common is they have a system to exchange, if you will, the negative thoughts from more empowering ones. So even me like it.
Speaker 1:Probably once a day I have a disabouring thought or a moment and I said guess myself, but I have a system. Now I realized that I weren't born with some of my low, disabouring beliefs and was accultivated them. So now that I know that I can replace them, right, and it's not enough to just lose negative beliefs, you have to replace them something more empowering and enriching, something that excites you. It has you a poosastic. So instead of oh, you know, if I can 10x my podcast, when I 10x my podcast, right, that does a lot too, so you can change the language and then you can reverse engineer it, okay, well, these are the action steps I would have to take. And then anything that comes in that's negative is oh, no one's going to want to listen to you, or it's a saturated space Okay, thank you thought, but the reality is is your thoughts are going with or without you. This is even deeper than what we were speaking about earlier. You can actually take a step back and be an observer and you see that your thoughts are going with or without you. So, as a result, you are not your thoughts and thoughts are not facts. So, now that we know that, why don't we be intentional and proactive and strategically putting positive thoughts that are going to create new beliefs? If I can, I'll surround myself with the right people, I'll put in the work. I could do this, but that leads to obviously more empowering behaviors and actions, which ultimately leads to the results that you desire. So, first and foremost, you have to get in a good frequency by elevating your state, and in order to do that, you have to have good, positive, enriching, productive thoughts. So that's the redesign aspect in regards to getting re-energized.
Speaker 1:Look, I speak from contrast. Rather, it's hard to get pumped to do something that you don't really want to do so. Let's find out why we're here, let's finally arrive at us, let's be authentic. And then we're pumped, we're jazz, we're excited. We're excited to set back on an obstacle, because now we're just solution oriented instead of looking up at our problems, we're looking down at them.
Speaker 1:So you want to be enthusiastic and re-energized about your life and you said this episode will drop in January. I mean, this is a good time of the year to really figure out what do we want to do, what do we want our legacy to be, our impact, our contribution, and get pumped about attacking that. And there are those people here that are like, oh, we have to monetize. I have a job, you know, I have bills to pay. When you find what you love to do and you're putting in the passion and you're putting in the reps, the opportunities to monetize will be there, I'm sure of it.
Speaker 1:And then reinvent. You know, when I think about reinvention, we just did a TED talk Hasn't dropped yet and I'll tell you, the whole theme of the TED talk was reinventing, reinvention. And I don't want people to get discouraged and think that, oh, I'm 50 or I'm 60 or I'm 70 or I'm 35 or whatever, that it's too late because you're not starting from scratch. You're taking all the life lessons, the mistakes, the obstacles, the challenges, the wins whatever the case would be and you're reallocating them to something new. And you have all that experience with you.
Speaker 1:But, most importantly, you're finally listening to that tug at your soul, right, that pressure that's been screaming at you for years and years that you've been neglecting. Now we're leaning into that and we're finally arriving at us. And that's when we lean into the world with a new identity. In order to step into the world with a new identity, that means some old identities have to die, and I would make it very real, I would identify what those identities are that are no longer going to be coming with you, and I would actually grieve them, shake upon them, cultivate a new identity, reinvent yourself and step into the world in that power, in that skin. And to me, those are the three R's. I think they're very impactful for anybody that wants to make it in this world.
Speaker 2:Brother, this is now. I'm really getting juiced up. I was juiced up to start juiced up as you're going, getting hit with knowledge. That's taken me a while to even produce some thoughts, but I see these three R's as really a the code, or even a cheat code, that you want to go kick ass in 2024. Here it is, man and the redesign and re-energize. We're talking about elevating your state.
Speaker 2:So one thing I do now in the mornings when I'm out running, I'm out running first thing 430, 530 in the morning, and it's getting a little chilly out here, but I love to run no matter what, just shirtless, because it's a good mental challenge. But then also, I just want to feel this cool air hitting my skin, almost like a cold plunge. You feel amazing after you do it. But I'll be out there, craig, with my arms spread wide open. I'm grateful for this day. I'm grateful for this cold air hitting my skin. I'm grateful for my girlfriend. I'm grateful for the conversation I'm having with Craig later today. I'm grateful for the challenges that I know are coming. I'm grateful for the tough times that life has given me, the things that have happened for me and what I've found by doing that is it, just I can't lose. I can't lose and I'm curious what do you do to create this elevated state and what have you found that works really well over your years in personal development?
Speaker 1:I have a sense of urgency. I understand that we're not going to be forever and reincarnation and stuff like that whole different conversation in regards to this very boring human experience. It's short lived, even if you live to 95, it's not that long of time, and so I want to make every second count. And again I want to reiterate that I would not have changed one thing on my journey, but essentially I did waste some time being out of alignment for a while, and so now I understand that it doesn't take time it just takes alignment to really quantum leap in your life and have great blessings and miracles occur and that surprise support. And so I want to showcase to everybody what's possible. And also I just have, maybe because I wasted so much time being inauthentic and trying to find myself I don't want to waste any more and I want to make a difference and I want to make a gigantic contribution. And the way to do that is by transforming from reactive to proactive and waking up every day with a little pep in your step, being on fire, and it doesn't mean that we're not going to have our moments or days, like I said earlier, but remember why you're doing this, why is this important for you, and also it's our responsibility to expand and grow. If you're not growing, you're dying, and the opposite of expansion is contraction and that's like miserable for our soul and so forth.
Speaker 1:And so I just have a sense of urgency, because I lived with so much pain for so long and I don't talk about this often, but I don't mean physical pain like emotional, spiritual pain. It's like I'm ready to go. So I feel like an animal just let out of the cage, like I want to do a lot of good and I want to help a lot of people. And how do I stay so far up every single day? I don't want to. I generally love this stuff, in case you couldn't tell, but also I have my routine, non-negotiable.
Speaker 1:I do my own personal development every single day to start my day, whether I'm consuming a book, an audiobook, reading a podcast, youtube, something to set the tone, to get me fired up and put me in the right state, and that's just non-negotiable. And so I utilize that in my arsenal. And then, obviously, being in alignment and being in love with what you're doing with life. And one other thing that I'll add and I've said this before, saying a lot of first time things to you on your show today is have some sort of spiritual journey that you're on, because that's the stuff that really creates peace and fulfillment. So right now I'm doing a lot of that work and it just has me so jazzed about life. So have a spiritual practice that excites you, whatever your thing is and it'll put anything on anyone else, but have that going as well. That really opens up doors of fulfillment, inspiration and determination to make a difference.
Speaker 2:I love that you're dropping a lot of firsts and I feel honored and appreciate it, brother, and I look forward to hearing you share this more on other shows as I keep up with your journey and just all the amazing things that you're putting out in this world. Pitting on a couple firsts, if you don't mind sharing some more. We've all been through something. Life has given us something if we first allow ourselves to look at it that way, because there is one camp that I believe you and I both lived in at once, that life gives you things, life throws things at you. Life happens to you and then there's the life happens for you camp.
Speaker 2:Now that emotional, spiritual pain and, as I mentioned before on the show, why I do what I do comes from that place of pain and wanting to break this generational curse in my family, that pain has really become my friend, and now it's a really friend, but more so fuel, because that's what's creating this conversation, that's why I get to be here with Craig Siegel today. So what was the pain, or rather, what was the process of turning that pain into fuel and viewing life as something that happens for you versus to you?
Speaker 1:I had a spiritual awakening in the pandemic and I just got like a jolt of clarity and, to be fair, it was a bit of a forced pivot because I showed that my office and the world stood still, but I also understood what an opportunity that was. And so now, because that was so effective, I coach people and teach them and I do this myself. I will purposely create space to get quiet, to disconnect, to reconnect, to get that clarity and so forth. But I had a spiritual awakening and I'm here for something much bigger and that's to inspire a lot of people and show them what's possible, what's to tap into a little bit more of their own capacity and remove the things that are holding them back. And that's really just that.
Speaker 1:You got to find your thing and I believe that we're all here for a very specific reason and you know it. You know that if you're at a job and let's just say like you're doing alright for yourself financially, but on Mondays you look forward to the weekend or it's just not your thing, you know. You feel it that you're here for something more and again, that's pleasure. So lean into that and explore that. Don't reject it or neglect it, because then it turns into stress and you're not fun to be around and you're moody and you're stressed out about work. So if you do have that feeling, explore that, see what it is. And I believe that we're all here to expand, to grow, to showcase our unique purpose all of the divine curriculum, if you will and it's our responsibility to showcase that and do a lot of good, and that's really just that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that. And going back to the pressure and embracing the pressure, I think that what I'm experiencing I believe what I'm experiencing right now in life as I mentioned before, having been in corporate now for nine years and, don't get me wrong, have loved every bit of it. I'm grateful for it I feel more and more that I'm being dragged out of it and being brave and vulnerable because I'm not going to edit this part, but dragged out of it and led more and more to these conversations and getting better at creating these types of conversations, getting better at speaking, and more and more messages are coming in hey, keep putting the content out. Or from people that I've even heard from before or even met now hey, this podcast episode really helped me. This speech really did XYZ for me.
Speaker 2:I'm feeling more and more like I'm being dragged out, or really it's that pressure that, hey, this is where you're supposed to go. It scares me a little bit, but what I'm hearing and what you're reaffirming is no, ryan, just jump in. Man, I'm on the right path, and that means that all of the energy and the frequencies really align. I guess, if someone is also feeling this sense of pulling, that's really that pressure and you should just keep diving into that 100%.
Speaker 1:Look, it's easy to look back now. I'd say for me the writing was always on the wall and I have so many different journals, but I've won specifically for this time of year, like New Year's, I went back to journal entries in 2019, even 18, before CLS was official, and I had no prediction, nothing. The writing was on the wall because I was so obsessed with bettering myself and I knew I was underachieving and I was trying to figure it out and I just love personal development. Now that I look back, it's like that was always tuggly at me. I just didn't think I was worthy of turning that into a career. Now I see, very humbly, I'm more successful from a financial standpoint than I ever was on Wall Street, but that's just a byproduct and a bonus.
Speaker 1:That's not what it's about. When you make money, you could do good things with it, and so forth. For me, that felt like pressure, but I finally turned the volume up to that and leaned in and said, all right, let's lean in and see what's up. Then everything started to unravel. Oh, by the way, the universe loves bold moves. That's when the universe can really have your back and support you, when you show a little bit of faith, trust, surrender universe loves that For you, or for anyone that's listening right now. These cats really speak to me right now. If you do something else out there, explore it. You will never regret exploring and seeing where it leads, but you will 100% regret not leaning in and not exploring.
Speaker 2:I had Brad Stahlberg on the podcast recently and his new book, master of Change it just came out. Brad is a high performance coach, has worked with a lot of Olympians and on mindset. One thing that he said was, for the new year, explore your curiosity. That was his thing. Explore your curiosity and I'm hearing it again from you, posed a little bit differently. I also believe that if you're not only hearing the voices or feeling that pull, but then, as you're studying the crags of the world, the brads of the world, people like you, and basically reaffirming A dive into that man Like this is, it's not just this feeling. You're having that day like no, this is where you're supposed to go. So I love that you're reaffirming that maybe the feelings, that especially the feelings I'm having, but that someone else listening is having and they've been wanting to take the jump, then this is your sign that itch isn't just a random itch, it is a calling. It is a calling.
Speaker 1:Amen. And I would just say, for anyone that will, they're thinking right now will easier said than done. This, you know, public speaking happens in the number one fear in America, and this is what I tell a lot of my students and my clients that want to speak or put out content but they're scared. Realistically, why are they scared? It's because there's a fear of judgment, fear of failure, fear of looking silly. But if the case it be, I say it's not about you, it's about you can help, what impact you can make, what legacy can you leave, what contribution can you make. And when you make it less about you, which is really just ego, and you make it about how you can be of service and help, that's when great things tend to happen and you feel more confident, more comfortable in your own skin and you actually make big moves. So remember, it's not about you, it's about what kind of impact you can make. And when you make it about that, it makes it a lot less challenging to move forward with it.
Speaker 2:Amen to that. I love that. And, craig, we were talking a lot about. Okay, how do we recreate ourselves? How do we crush limiting beliefs? One thing that I've found that people like you do even though you've got it, we'll say, figured out in terms of your in alignment rather your in alignment yet you continue to choose to challenge yourself and put your mind and body through grueling tasks. You are a seven time marathoner, most recently completed the New York marathon, got your PR congratulations. Thank you, brother. What value have you found in continuing to challenge yourself and why is it important that we choose to put our minds and bodies through these tests? Not suggesting everyone needs to run a marathon, but I'm also in the camp of it is essential to test ourselves in various capacities.
Speaker 1:Are you mean in life specifically, or just marathons?
Speaker 2:Just in life, like what's the, and rather in. Why do you choose? What keeps you coming back to putting your body and mind through these things, especially even battling past a foot tumor?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I recently I just started incorporating fast again into my routine, like I did a 72 hour fast last week and I'm not encouraging anybody to do that, I'm just saying I like to do those. There's a lot of benefits If you read about them and so forth, and I have a lot of friends that are in that space. That it's good to do once in a while. But really it's the mental challenge, right, and it's like I remember I was gonna break it at 24 and I'm like am I really hungry right now or am I just supposed to eat? Because it's part of the routine, is it possible that I can resist the temptation and just go the day? Right, and I did, and so it's things like that. But really marathons and all that stuff that gives us an opportunity to create transformations, right, and to push past our perceived limitations. And once we do that and don't die, now all of a sudden we have a new frame of reference to leverage that into other areas of life. So, whether it's a fast or marathons or ultras or boxing or whatever your thing is, when you often intentionally put yourself in uncomfortable situations and you don't die but you over calm, that just gives you a new level of a new aura, self-belief, confidence, a new swagger to you, a little bit more battle tested and also the transformation, as you know, with running long distance I mean that voice in your head is deadly demonic. It's almost laughable how evil the voice can be. But when you acknowledge it and you fight back and you overcome it, I mean you're just a better equipped human being to handle life, because no one said that life is gonna be easy, right, and a lot of times we have unpredictability, deaths of a loved one, setbacks, accidents, loss of jobs, whatever the case may be. So don't you wanna be prepared mentally like you're resilient, you could persevere, and I think that if you could do that then you're gonna win right.
Speaker 1:It's the people that aren't used to stuff like that and then it finally happens and they crumble because they're not built for it. So I like to play offense in life. I want to be built for it. So I like to put myself in uncomfortable situations and overcome them and just get a little bit more self-belief and confidence to handle some of the tough things that come with life. And there's just something special about being a part of the 1% club that runs barathons or whatever it is right, it's just, it's badass, makes you feel good and it's fun and it's challenging. And, like I said earlier a couple of times in the conversation, yes, the body goes through the marathon, but your soul is expanding right and it don't do stuff like that. I mean it's contracting. So you wanna always be putting yourself in situations, obviously to each their own, pick your lane, but put yourself in situations where pain is the portal to expansion and I just can't get enough of that stuff.
Speaker 2:I love that man. Yeah, it makes me wanna go run out the door right now and run a marathon. Might add another mile or two to the route tonight, and I love that. Your most recent effort most people that have ran a marathon know that, or rather say that the real race doesn't start till mile 20. You can get through 20 and then that pain is gonna find you. No matter what, the pain will find you.
Speaker 2:Yeah hopefully later versus earlier. You, for this most recent one, set out for a specific time goal and wanted to PR and you had a lot of people following you because you put it out there. Hey, here's my bib number track me. And at mile nine, mile nine people you hit the wall and still come out with a seven minute PR. What was that like and what were the voices in your head at that moment and in the self-talk and belief system that you're using to counteract that? Because I'm I can't imagine hitting the pain cave at mile nine and still having all that distance?
Speaker 1:yeah, it would be brutally vulnerable and honest. The first thought that I had was demonic, and it did. Why did you tell anybody? Because I knew, right then and there, if I was feeling like I got hit by a truck at mile nine, it's gonna be a long day at the office because, like you would test, we feel that around mile 18, 20 or maybe a little bit later on, and the guy this is expected. But when you feel it before the half marathon mark, I mean you're in trouble and I was in trouble. So that was my first thought.
Speaker 1:But went back to my citizens, my practices, and I just left that in my goodness and I just punched back and I battled every step of the way and I utilized my weaponry that I have in my arsenal and I went to war and I just pushed and I know that this marathon happened for me. So of course, pr is great you never take those for granted. But also I know that this specific marathon was divine timing because of everything that I had to go through. From such an early point in the marathon there was just so much growth and expansion because you want to, you feel like dying the whole way time, but then all of a sudden, you cross the finish line. Now I have that right another feather in the cat to go to war with the next time, whether it's a marathon or something else, and so it was just so special. It's definitely marathon I'm most proud of and, like I said, you never take a PR for granted, but it was a top top day at the office.
Speaker 2:When it happens at early on, you're gonna have to go to battle with your mindset for a very, very, very long time, and I did that and we fought back freaking love that and, looking at it now, I'm sure you wouldn't write the story any other way, because what that did is it expanded you, but expanded your mind, body, soul to an entire new level. And for the future battles that life will give you because, even though you're in alignment, life's gonna give you more battles, gonna give me more battles, whether they, whether they're the ones we choose to enter as it marathon, as an example, or the things that we don't expect, and you're gonna be prepared to take on that. That next biggest challenge and, curious as we're in the new year, what are what's a what's the next challenge you have on your mind?
Speaker 1:yeah, what's in the horizon? I'm getting us this all the time. You know, we hit a lot of the big, audacious goals that we set. We started this thing three years ago and so, in my eyes, we completed a three-year story arc, thinking about a good trilogy to a movie, and now it's like all right, we could just keep doing what we're doing. But I'm thinking like what is that real next quantum leap level of expansion across the board? So some personal things that I'm excited about is when I have my wedding actually 2024, so that's super cool as far as low support, right, and then I imagine I'll enter the arena again of 26.2. I look for another marathon and so forth.
Speaker 1:Business-wise, we just whatever I know that you really want to know we have a lot of big, cool, fun, surprise developments that I'm really excited about.
Speaker 1:We haven't announced them yet continuing to build the reach, the impact. Have a lot of fun doing so, and something that comes to mind is gonna be what we're doing with the podcast, but on a much bigger scale that I don't think the world is quite seen yet in regards to the shows and I have to be with the community and the coaching, the speaking and all that stuff and, like I said, a lot of surprise and so forth. But make no mistake about it. I took some time over the last two months more time than I'd like to admit to really think about what that next level of expansion looks like and take some time to find what's gonna feel good and aligned for this new, upgraded identity that I stepped into 2024 with. And I think it's important for everybody to take time and not necessarily take a step back, but pause for a second so you could take a quantum leap forward, and you're kind of asking me in that stage right now. So I know it'll be big, be fun, and I know that it'll be expansive.
Speaker 2:Stay tuned let's go, man. I'm so pumped for you, craig, and folks keep up with Craig on CLS experience and his podcast. It is phenomenal and I'm stoked to see where you take this. Next one thing we haven't touched on before we enter our rapid fire session, which I close with, is the CLS membership. We briefly chatted about it prior to to starting, but for folks that are looking for one of the best personal development resources and people experts in the world to learn from, what's the CLS membership and what can folks expect to gain from that?
Speaker 1:so that's our exclusive community. We're about 600 people there. We meet three Wednesdays a month at 12 Eastern and it's a live zoom. We go nuts strategies, tactics, mindset, entrepreneurship, branding, expansion, spirituality. We have huge guest speakers come on that the group gets access to and we have a private group in chat where everybody's networking and supporting each other, elevating each other, doing business with each other. A lot of the guest speakers will come and we said a huge one in yesterday and they'll tell me on the side. I've never seen a tribe like yours where there's no egos, everybody as a collective consciousness, elevating each other to win, and that's what I take most pride in. I believe there's enough for everybody to win and win big. And if you're into gaining clarity and thinking of playing bigger and being around people that are doing big things and making a difference, reach out and you can acquire and see what's up. I love that brother?
Speaker 2:well, how it's customary for us to end the show, craig, with a rapid fire session, and it's called one gem, one step, one book. Now in vision that we're going up an elevator and it's a smaller building, because I know you can be on an elevator for a very long time up in New York where you're at. So we're in a smaller building and we're going up three floors to go grab lunch together and on each floor a new person enters the elevator. They're going up one floor and they ask you a question because they recognize you, they're a listener and they're a fan. So the and the amount of time you have to answer the question is the amount of time it takes to go up one elevator floor. So the first person gets in and they recognize you and say, craig, what's one gem that you have, whether it be a quote or a mantra that you live your life by? That I can put in my back pocket and live my life by playing small is canceled hmm, I love that playing small is canceled.
Speaker 2:Next person gets in Craig. What's one step that I can take today to start reinventing myself?
Speaker 1:grab the reinvention formula true great pic.
Speaker 2:Now, what's one book, besides the reinvention formula, that we can read to enhance our mindset and reach the next level in 2024?
Speaker 1:I love so many different books. There's a bunch of come to mind. One thing that I'm really into right now is Wayne Dyer, and he's a book called the power of intention, and I think that's a great place to start our of intention.
Speaker 2:I love that now, craig, all the ways that we can keep up with you so that we can reinvent ourselves and crush 2024 yeah, can.
Speaker 1:You are in social media at Greg seagull underscore CLS. Please say hello, send me a message. There's a good chance it might be me that responds. Anyway, you listen to podcasts the CLS experience. Anyway. You buy books. We get that, your formula, and if you like inspirational texts, throughout the week we have a free text. The community people say it's the best one out there. You could shoot us a text, just text 917 634, 37, 9, 6, the word why it so know that you're here.
Speaker 2:I love that. So all that will be linked in the show notes folks. Craig, thank you so much for not just hopping on the show but for being the resource, in the light that you are in this world, to so many people and to showing us in addition to thousands, millions of others what truly is possible, because we truly can achieve anything that we set out, and you are helping people see that for themselves and you're providing the formula, and I love that. You also mentioned. My key takeaway is that pressure expands and folks embrace pressure in 2024 and you are going to expand yourselves to new levels, new heights, and you are going to win today. Thanks so much for tuning in.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me brother enjoy this.