Podcast Transcript | Ep. 54

The Hidden Power of Vulnerability

The Hidden Power of Vulnerability | Ep. 54

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome everyone. I'm your host, Brandon Ward back with another episode of order within. Episode number 54. Today, we're going to be talking about the hidden power of vulnerability.

[00:00:16] Transforming fear and toxicity into growth. The main topic. Of the show is really about how fear and power struggles. Are very much an old way of operating, at least from my perspective. And I think we're moving into a different time. To where fear. Uh, way of motivating and using fear. As a means to lead.

[00:00:40] And have growth and to get things done. Is changing. And for me, it's something I've never responded well to. I've always felt a fearful approach. Really turned me off. I've just, I guess I've always been more aligned with, even when I was young. I always just felt more inspired and attuned [00:01:00] by more optimistic and positive perspectives.

[00:01:04] Fear never. Never was something that felt good to me. I know it has a place, obviously fear is helpful. It's a signal to us. But when it's a constant state of being, when it's used as a means to control and influence other people, When it's. It's like a blunt force that would, that we use to get things done.

[00:01:27] It could be at home. It could be in relationships, friendships at work. It doesn't matter. This applies everywhere and you see it all over in our society. So I want to dive into. This concept and how it's been rampant for centuries. And I really believe that with the de-centralization of information because of the internet and technology.

[00:01:49] And all of these things, centralized power. It's becoming less and less relevant. Therefore fear and control is becoming less and less effective. It [00:02:00] simply doesn't work anymore because people have access to information. You can't withhold, we can't hoard information. And then. Come from a place of power, leveraging that ignorance.

[00:02:11] That you're able to do because people are not informed. People are becoming much more informed. They're much more connected and there's a direct relationship to information now. Because the internet, which is amazing. It's an incredible innovation. One. What an incredible thing. To have the ability to access and use. Just doing what I'm doing is only possible because of the internet. If I'd tried to do this 20 years ago, it would be an insane cost and the technology that equipment, all of that stuff. But instead I'm doing it from my home using some software to help edit.

[00:02:46] I've got a simple microphone and I publish on sub stack. So it's just amazing where we are. But the up the focus is going to be. How we can transform that fear and toxicity into personal growth through [00:03:00] vulnerability. And I think vulnerability for the longest time has been considered a weakness.

[00:03:04] And I want to help dispel that because I see it as the opposite. I see vulnerabilities a great strength and power and people that have the ability to be vulnerable are very powerful people. And they have a ton of potential that can be leveraged. So we're going to talk about a few things. We're going to look at the role of fear and power in our lives.

[00:03:23] We're looking at vulnerabilities, a transformative force. We're going to cover practical steps for embracing vulnerability. We're going to look at overcoming obstacles to vulnerability. We're going to look at the ripple effect, vulnerabilities impact on others. And then we're going to wrap the episode.

[00:03:39] So let's go and get into it here.

[00:03:42] The role of fear and love. The role of fear and power in our lives. First fear and its manifestation. So how this affects fear can manifest in all areas of our life. And it can be relationships. It can be careers, it can be personal growth, it can be sports, whatever [00:04:00] finances, everything fear can manifest itself in all areas of our lives. It's something that we have to be on the lookout for.

[00:04:07] And awareness to things, just mindfulness to things, observing them. Is the first step always. So just noting where we experienced and feel fear in our lives. Again, fear is a healthy response to situations and circumstances sometimes and people, but it's not good if it's a constant thread in our life. If we're living in a fear state and that's been the objective and seems like.

[00:04:35] For power centers around the world for centuries. When you look at our media, when you look at our governments, It's all based on keeping us locked in fear because when we're in fear, we're hunkered down. We're afraid we're not operating at a high level. We're not in our creative thinking. It's a scarcity mindset and that's another aspect of it is we're moving in my mind.

[00:04:56] We live in the age of abundance. And we're moving because of [00:05:00] technology and the advancements that we've had, we're going to continue to move in that direction. So abundance is going to become the norm. It already is in many ways, in certain parts of the world, it's just making it available globally and doing things in a sustainable manner.

[00:05:15] That will make this different. Looking at how it can manifest as a few specific examples, such as staying in an unhealthy relationship due to a fear of loneliness. So fear can keep us in bad relationships because we don't want to be alone. We haven't taken the time to be with ourselves. We can avoid career risks due to fear of failure. Fear of failure for me for years stopped me from doing so much because I thought everything had to be perfect. I thought there was no opportunity to make mistakes and I feared failure. But what I didn't realize is that failure is how you succeed.

[00:05:50] Failures, how you learn failures, how you grow making mistakes is how you get better. So the more you do that, and the more you learn from it, the more opportunity you have [00:06:00] to expand your skillset. So that is an incredible thing. Fear of failure prevents us from growth. It also. Prevents us from personal growth opportunities due to a fear of vulnerability or judgment, whether that could be from ourselves, from others.

[00:06:16] But it can keep us from doing things that can help us grow and expand ourselves. As humans. Another aspect of this is going to be the power dynamics and their consequences. And power dynamics can lead to toxicity in relationships and other areas of life. Which often stem from fear or insecurity. And so when you're experiencing this and other people.

[00:06:38] Usually this is coming from a place of fear and insecurity within themselves. When you see all this force and power being inflicted on others around them. There's something inside of that person that is often driving this. So when we're looking at it, Workplace bullying. It could be fueled by a divine desire for control or dominance. So [00:07:00] fear becomes the means you're angry. You're beating them down. You're dominating them.

[00:07:04] Through power through force. That can. That's can create a toxic environment, potentially manipulative behavior and personal relationships driven by fear of losing power or control that influences relationships because we want to clean to things. An excessive focus on gaining power and status at the expense personal values and relationships. Another aspect from a societal perspective, you see that.

[00:07:31] And corporations and wealthy people and individuals that really don't regard others or laws or things of that nature. And they only care about getting their own power, their own status. And they'll do it at any means necessary. That is a very toxic, potentially power dynamic that exists in many areas of our lives. These are the things that we want to look out for.

[00:07:55] Fear and power in societal context as well.

[00:07:59] [00:08:00] Fear and power can play out on a larger scale within society, creating systems of oppression, division, and toxicity. I think you're seeing that at such a high level now with all the media, all the political division, all the racial tensions, there's just a lot of hatred, a lot of division, a lot of anger that stemming from this.

[00:08:19] And there are people in power who leverage and benefit from that. If you, examples could be political leaders, leveraging fear to maintain control. That happens all the time. You per it's, the Galean dialect. You present a problem, you create a problem, you offer a solution and then you come in and you're the savior.

[00:08:38] But it's always. These Thoratec Korean totalitarian regimes are always driven through this type of behavior, fear, fear of the other fear of the outsider, whatever it may be. Just looking at Nazi Germany, you're going to learn about that. They had this huge component of fear around Jewish people. [00:09:00] And that is what perpetuated all that terrible activity during the Holocaust.

[00:09:06] Which. My wife and I watched freedom writers recently. Really good movie. About a school teacher in LA, I believe it was, or no long beach. They were bringing kids in. The thing that was amazing about that movie is that almost none of those kids knew. About the Holocaust. And it was the Holocaust and learning about the Holocaust that connected all of them and their.

[00:09:30] Diverse unique backgrounds. They realized the commonality of suffering. And what really got these kids. I was seeing how young and how cause they went to the Holocaust museum. And they went through and learned about a lot of the people in the Holocaust and a lot of them were kids. And when they went through this experience,

[00:09:50] They were assigned the child and they followed through them, their whole experience of the Holocaust and ended in they were told what happened to their person, whether they survived or not. [00:10:00] And a lot of the people got kids who ended up not surviving in that experience that. Moment of them realizing like, wow, I'm not the only one that suffered. In fact, there's been incredible suffering throughout history and that connects them so that connected all of them and actually broke down barriers because they learned of the terrible things that can happen of the past. That's why it's so important that we learn about the past.

[00:10:25] So bias media and narratives to protect, perpetuate, fear or division. That's happening all the time in corporate media, that's all they do. It's nothing but nonsense. And lies for the most. If you're going to find for me, it's all independent media. Now I don't follow anyone in mainstream media. Everybody, every everyone that I follow and learn from is independent. And it's amazing.

[00:10:46] I'm hoping that's what we're going to continue to go as well.

[00:10:51] And then finally economic systems that concentrate power and resources among a select few. And that's exactly what we're having happen now. And our culture and our [00:11:00] society as a whole, at a high level. You've got the elites and the rest of us. And it's a global entity. If you really take the time to look at our financial system, you're going to start to uncover these individuals, these groups of people that are manipulating story's power resources to keep themselves in control.

[00:11:19] It's all around us.

[00:11:22] So the interplay between fear and power. Fear often drives the desire for power and control. It becomes very addictive. And while power dynamics can exacerbate or perpetuate fear in various contexts. It's they feed one another fear, power, fear, Bower, veer control, power control. It's very much a.

[00:11:45] Toxic. Kind of parasitic relationship. If you will, it feeds one another and it can become very addictive. And that's the things that we have to worry about. That's the things that we have to watch for. Is so [00:12:00] specific as a few examples to give you an idea here, someone's seeking power control on their relationships due to an underlying fear of an abandonment.

[00:12:07] So they have this fear of being abandoned. So they want to come clean to control, and it becomes very addictive to try and hold onto that instead of going in and understanding and having compassion for theirselves and understanding that abandonment, abandonment feeling, they try to exert control over the world around them.

[00:12:24] You have individuals positions of authority, exploring power, exploiting fear to maintain the power and influence that they have. Just look at the political scene on both sides of the spectrum. I've said this many, a times I'm politically homeless. I do not. I'm not a part of any political party because I don't re I, I'm not extreme.

[00:12:42] And I can't vibe with any of these. Even the third party ones, they're all kind of extreme in their own ways, too. I just prefer to go with values and what to me makes sense. And that's some, I have beliefs that pull from some of, all of the parties, but that's what's happening. [00:13:00] This is how we keep, this is how those leaders keep themselves in control.

[00:13:04] And their fear and anger and hatred and division.

[00:13:07] So it's obvious you all can see it's all around us, right? It's happening all around us and we've all experienced it too. That's the thing we can all think about examples in our life. Where we're we've experienced this or are experiencing it currently. The upside is though is the vulnerability of. Is a transformative force.

[00:13:28] And so the power of vulnerability. When we embrace vulnerability, it can act as a source of strength and growth, allowing us to face our fears, build deeper connections and foster self-awareness. Bernay brown is really spent her entire professional career talking about these things. And how being vulnerable actually builds us up. It gives us strength. It gives us opportunities. It gives us a chance to see things. When we are soft.

[00:13:56] And vulnerable with the pain that we're feeling, the deep, [00:14:00] dark, negative emotions that we're feeling. It actually acts as a force of healing by honoring it. Being vulnerable allows us to do that. Vulnerability allows us to be open to others. It allows us to hear them, allows us to empathize, allows us to empathize with ourselves.

[00:14:16] Vulnerability. Is the bridge to connection and rebuilding and healing our world. And it's an incredible power and we're going to continue to dive a little deeper here. So a few examples of. Vulnerability transforming fear and power dynamics. So one example, one would be a person who fears rejection shares their feelings with a loved one, leading to a deeper understanding and in a stronger emotional connection. So if you.

[00:14:43] You have these fears of rejection that you're struggling with sharing that with your spouse can help and talk about it early on in my relationship with my wife, now, we were dating at the time. I had, I did not know this at the time, but I was addicted to porn. And that porn addiction was [00:15:00] creating a huge problem for me in my intimacy with my.

[00:15:05] Wife. And again, we were dating at the time. I had no idea what it was doing to my brain. Eventually I learned about all this stuff and I kicked it and I've been off of it for years now. And it's made such a tremendous difference. It's insane. The difference that it makes for men. The way that our mind operates the way.

[00:15:21] What I realize now, reflecting back is all the sexual energy was leaking out everywhere and it was because of my porn addiction. So being vulnerable about these things, talking about those. Physical issues and challenges that we may face. Enable us to bridge those gaps and get closer to our partners.

[00:15:41] An example related. To work, a manager who embraces vulnerability by admitting to a mistake or seeking input from their team. Fostering trust collaboration and a healthier work environment. So when managers and leaders admit that they don't know everything and they're open to understanding from others, they're open to receiving [00:16:00] input. They want to hear from their team. They want to know what they think we should do.

[00:16:03] That builds trust and collaboration and empowers people. So instead of leveraging the power of one mind, you're leveraging the mind of many. And that is far more powerful. In a work and professional setting, you can just get much more done. And it's also a lot funner. Collaborating working together and solving problems together and driving together as a unit. That's very satisfying.

[00:16:28] Vulnerability and emotional intelligence is closely linked. As it involves recognizing and accepting things. One's own emotions as well as empathizing with others. That's why vulnerability is so powerful. It drops us down. It brings us into the moment. It brings us into our feelings and it allows us to connect with others.

[00:16:48] So this. Leading into and developing emotional intelligence. Can help us deepen our vulnerability and vice versa. They really feed one another, just like the fear power dynamic feeds one, [00:17:00] another vulnerability and emotional intelligence feeds itself each other as well. So you can spiral down into darkness. You can spiral up upward into the light. Like it can work both ways is the beautiful thing.

[00:17:12] When we're more attuned to the feelings of ourselves and we're more attuned to the feelings of others, it allows us and helps us to manage our emotions more effectively. And build stronger relationships as well. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of benefit from understanding our emotions and diving into our emotions and understanding the emotions of others.

[00:17:31] And then. Vulnerability is also a great catalyst for personal growth. I can open doors. For us to grow by challenging us to face our fears, our dragons, our demons, whatever language you want to use to step outside our comfort zones and to learn from those experiences. That's a very powerful place to be.

[00:17:52] And it can transform us. It can be that launching point for us by embracing those emotions, leaning into them [00:18:00] and having the courage to face them. It is far more difficult to face our darkness than it is to run from it. That's why more people run from it than people face it.

[00:18:09] If you think about it, if you're pursuing a new hobby or a career path, despite initial fears, ultimately discovering new passion skills or opportunities for growth can be one example. It could be your fear of if you have a fear of relationships or dating, and you overcome that by going out there and putting yourself out there and dating and exploring and.

[00:18:27] Looking to meet your partner. There's a lot of ways that we can use vulnerability as a catalyst for growth in our life. It can be at the gym. It can be in our relationships. It can be at work. But again, taking risks, being vulnerable allows us to do that.

[00:18:43] Okay. Let's look at some practical steps for embracing vulnerability. And first and foremost, opening up to trusted friends or family members is a great way to do this. I even. I would say above all. If you have a spiritual [00:19:00] leaning or openness as well, leaning into our creator can be an incredible way to be vulnerable as well. That for me,

[00:19:07] As what really took my vulnerability to another level is when I surrendered my life to our greater, in the sense that I don't know everything. I see such a limited view of existence. I just want to be led. Forward. From the heart. With what's right with what's best for the universe for my life, for my family, for the earth.

[00:19:27] For everything. So for me, It all starts with my relationship with our creator. And then it can move down, but if you're not comfortable with that's fine. Start with trusted friends or family members. And you can start by sharing your thoughts and feelings and experiences with someone that you trust. And hopefully there's someone that will really allow you to be open and vulnerable.

[00:19:49] I hope that we have one person in our life that we can do that with, if not try, find help, find somebody, find a coach, find a therapist like there is help available if we need it. But that's [00:20:00] where it starts. Start in your circle around you. And you do that by creating a safe and supportive environment. That's why it's important to be with someone you trust. And we want to emphasize the need for active listening, empathy and nonjudgmental responses. A lot of times, sometimes when we're getting heavy stuff we want to fix, we want to help.

[00:20:20] We want to jump in, but oftentimes the best thing we can do is just listen fully without any suggestions, without any judgment. Just embracing it and trying to empathize and understand. That is a very powerful process. So it starts around us. And our friends and our family groups with people that we can share with. And then after that, we're going to acknowledge and accept emotions.

[00:20:43] So it's becoming more aware of your emotions. And practicing acceptance of them without judgment is a crucial step towards embracing vulnerability. And I've covered a ton of this stuff on the show before around self-awareness building up. Self-esteem. How we can work on our emotional intelligence. [00:21:00] Mindfulness, exercising, journaling, all of these things can help us acknowledge and embrace our emotions. It's all about honoring them.

[00:21:08] Not judging them, just being present with them. Observing is a very powerful force. Y'all it's crazy how powerful it is.

[00:21:17] The next step is going to, or next. Another action item that you could potentially do would be to seek support when needed. And it's okay. Just remember guys. It's okay. To have to seek help. And support when you're facing challenges. It's totally okay. Whether that's from friends, family, or professional therapist or coaches.

[00:21:38] Getting help as a great way to move through some dark and deep emotions and the more pain and trauma you have, the more help you're probably going to need, because you want to have somebody with you to help navigate that. It's an anchor point as you're going deep into yourself. Someone is your anchor point there for you to pull you out and to remind you that you're okay. That you're safe.

[00:21:59] So having some [00:22:00] support is always good and doing that because we have to recognize our own limits. And by doing that, we allow ourselves to ask for help. And that can be a powerful form of transformation through vulnerability.

[00:22:13] We can embrace vulnerability in everyday situations. Practicing it in our daily lives, such as admitting when we don't know something, just admitting that we don't know things is incredibly powerful. I implore you to do it. If you're not. To just be open about it. We don't. We no way. Less.

[00:22:34] Then we wait, we know way less than we actually know. There's far more things that we don't know. Then there are things that we do know about life. So it's natural that we don't know things that's. Existence. There's an insane amount of. Universal space and energy and planets. And. Cosmos. How are we going to know everything? There's so much that we don't know. That's totally okay. Embrace it. Lean [00:23:00] into it.

[00:23:02] And be open.

[00:23:04] You can also grow gratitude. And appreciation towards others is an incredible way to embrace vulnerability. Being grateful puts us in a different mindset. It changes our brain chemistry and puts us in a different frame of mind. It's a, it's an appreciative place as opposed to a negative place or a judgmental place or a rejecting place.

[00:23:26] It's. So understanding these things guys is like it's a, with this, it's a skill. Vulnerability is a skill. Everything that I talk about on my show is a skill that can be developed. Everything I'm telling you. Self-esteem confidence, emotional intelligence awareness. Vulnerability empathy. All of these things are skills critical thinking.

[00:23:47] Very important. All of these things are skills. And that can be learned. This is why the growth mindset is so important. So now looking at setting boundaries and practicing self-compassion [00:24:00] as the last step or tip that can be used. And. Healthy boundaries. Are very important. When we're embracing vulnerability, we have to protect ourselves from emotional harm and maintain a sense of self-worth vulnerability does not mean we allow someone to berate us or abuse us emotionally.

[00:24:18] That's why being compassionate towards ourself and loving towards ourself and nurturing our inner child. That's for me. The inner child relationship, understanding that my logical mind represents the parent. And it's my role, especially now with the kid, it's my role to protect that child. We have to facilitate that within ourselves. We have to draw those boundaries. We have to protect our emotional wellbeing and be honorable to who we are.

[00:24:45] And we do that by setting boundaries, by being clear about what we need and our limits. We want to communicate those boundaries assertively. And we want to be willing to enforce them when necessary. And if people continue to not listen to our [00:25:00] requests, then we have to take action. Either we move on. Usually it's moving on. If people don't listen to what we're asking and needing, it's probably not going to work because they're not honoring what we're asking.

[00:25:10] And that's a huge red flag. So we have to put the boundaries down. We have to share what we need. And we have to give people the chance though. You'd be surprised what happens when you put down boundaries. A lot of people respond well to it. The key is to be clear about what you need, what the expectations are and just communicate the specifics of that situation. So if it's work-related, maybe you're putting down a boundary on when you're going to be accessible. Maybe you say these are my working hours and anything that's happening outside of that, I will respond the next day.

[00:25:40] That's a boundary you could set. It could be with relationships as well. Is that you're only going to spend a certain amount of time with a certain people or. It can be applied in all areas of our life. And the final bit there is just encouraging you to practice self compassion and self forgiveness. When embracing vulnerability, a lot of things can come up that [00:26:00] are negative, that are shameful, that fill.

[00:26:02] That feel critical. Because you're going to come in to those things. You're going to come in to that hurt that anger, that sadness, that shame and know that's okay. It's okay. Whatever you're experiencing, whatever you're feeling, whatever may come up when you're doing these things, when you're going through this work.

[00:26:19] It's okay. Honestly, it's okay. I, when I was early on in this journey, I had some crazy brutal thoughts about my family, my parents, myself. It was terrible. Like some terrible, awful things that I would never do, but they were in there. But I had to understand that I had to unpack it and they were valid because of what I experienced. I didn't act on them, but they were valid.

[00:26:46] And that simple acknowledgement made the difference and it just. Things can just evaporate. It's bizarre what can happen when we honor ourselves and just be with things.

[00:26:57] I announced, look at some [00:27:00] overcoming obstacles to F to. To vulnerability. And the first one we're going to talk about as a fear of judgment or rejection. And there's some common obstacles when we're embracing vulnerability and the fear. Can hold us back from experiencing deeper connections and personal growth.

[00:27:19] And so we want to, again, it comes down to practicing. Self-compassion focusing on our own values and self-worth and reframing rejection as an opportunity for learning or growth. We tend to take things personally. But at the end of the day, it's just feedback. No matter what, like when we step back and are honest with ourselves,

[00:27:39] There's value in goodness within us. We've got to touch into that and feel it. That's not based on any of our performance. That's not based on what we do with our life. But we are children of creation and in that truth exists, this seed of love. Because within our being is a piece of creation. That is to be [00:28:00] cherished.

[00:28:00] And so that fact alone allows us to just simply be okay with who we are. And a lot can help us overcome these fear of judgment and rejection from others. And dealing with sometimes the things that can come up when we're going through this work. It's okay. All that is okay. We just, we got to look at our values. We gotta lean into our worth and start to identify the things that we do like about ourselves. The things that we do enjoy about ourselves, the things that we love.

[00:28:29] Another piece is going to be feelings of shame or guilt. So shame and guilt can definitely be an obstacle for vulnerability. It can prevent us from embracing vulnerability as we may not feel worthy of love of support or understanding. And I can tell you if you feel that. Embrace it lean into it. Try and understand it, but also recognize it's not true.

[00:28:55] You are worthy of love. You are worthy of support. No matter what anyone tells [00:29:00] you, you are, you are worthy. Again, that spark is within you. You are worthy no matter what you've been through, the things that you've done, you are worthy. And it's okay to feel that shame or guilt. But understanding that by practicing self-forgiveness, by challenging that negative self-talk and seeking support from our friends or

[00:29:24] The support group or a therapist or a coach. Can help us overcome these feelings of shame and guilt, but they will come up.

[00:29:31] They will come up and that's okay. Another piece is that vulnerability is perceived as a weakness. This is one of the things that annoys me because. Being vulnerable is actually a strength you're making yourself. Open to. Things happening. And so doing that in my mind is a strength. Because by fully embracing vulnerability, you can experience its benefits. You're making yourself vulnerable to potential [00:30:00] challenges or pain or depth of.

[00:30:01] These dark emotions. That is a strong point. Vulnerability allows that it's not a weakness.

[00:30:10] Because ultimately research modern research is sewn as that. Strength and resilience comes from vulnerability. Our understanding that we don't know everything that we do make mistakes, that this is a part of life. So that resilience and strength actually comes from vulnerability. And so realizing that vulnerability is a source of courage and growth, it is a powerful strength. It's not a weakness.

[00:30:34] We need more vulnerability in the world. It's crazy. How much of a superpower it is? It is a courageous thing to be vulnerable.

[00:30:42] But something else that can happen though, is if you're navigating vulnerability in toxic or unsupportive environments, now this is something that happens a lot, right? Understanding that these are practical challenges that may come up. If you're in environments that are not supportive or conducive to [00:31:00] emotional openness.

[00:31:00] Such as toxic relationships or workplace cultures. So if you try and do some of this stuff and you're still getting met with all this negativity, this resistance, this anger, then you may have to reflect on. Choices that you hard decisions that you have to make about your life. Maybe you have to end a relationship. Maybe you have to move on to another employer. Maybe you have to leave the very area that you're living and find a new life somewhere.

[00:31:24] It all depends on you and your circumstances. And the willingness around the willingness of the people around you to be open. And supportive and loving of who you are and what you're trying to do. And if people are not.

[00:31:37] If people are not, then. Ultimately, it's going to make it. Hard to progress because people around you are going to be fighting you on it. Particularly in relationships. And workplace. So if you're in that situation, first and foremost, you gotta be aware of it. You gotta see it. You gotta work on setting boundaries. So you got to start taking [00:32:00] steps.

[00:32:00] I start setting boundaries. You want to start seek getting support from trusted individuals outside of the toxic environment is going to be crucial. And again, the final thing is really considering whether it's necessary to remove yourself from the situation entirely often times that's the case. It's sad. I've been a part of relationships like that. I've been part of working environments like that, where you try everything you can, but ultimately you realize at the end of the day,

[00:32:25] You just got to move on. That's the only thing that's going to work. And it's sad when we get to that point, but that's why having that support around us can help navigate that type of situation.

[00:32:36] So building resilience in the face of fear and power dynamics. Cultivating review resilience can help us overcome obstacles of vulnerability and navigate fear and power dynamics more effectively. And this comes with the work that we do within ourselves. And that's how we build resilience. We do that by developing a strong support network around us. Practicing self care, self [00:33:00] care, internal, emotional self care, inner bonding, self parenting, whatever you want to call it.

[00:33:06] Is the secret, if you will, it's not a secret and it's all out there, but that's, to me, the key piece. To making a difference in how we feel about ourselves and that's practicing self care and nurturing our emotional state. It's not just the physical stuff, but really nurturing our emotional state.

[00:33:25] And finally engaging in personal growth activities that foster a sense of purpose. And self-worth again, tons of episodes that I've done on this. So many of my episodes have been built around how do we build ourselves up the tools that we can use to build ourselves up? I want to give you all the tools to help heal and become the person and people that you want to.

[00:33:44] That you envision in your life so you can hit your goals and be the awesome person you're on the planet to be. We need you. That's the point we need you.

[00:33:52] Probably hear my daughter in the background squealing.

[00:33:57] She's getting it's so fun. She's almost too. She's [00:34:00] getting so spunky and, um, man it's a lot of work, but I love it.

[00:34:05] All right. The ripple effect, vulnerabilities impact on others. And then we're going to wrap the episode guys. Personal transformation and growth. So embracing vulnerability can re lead to profound personal transformation as individuals face their fears. He challenged power dynamics and experienced the benefits of vulnerability and relationships, careers, and personal growth journeys. It can change our lives.

[00:34:29] Yeah. And the thing is the more you do it, the more this builds, it becomes more new, more natural and consistent in your life. The ripple effects. It goes beyond us and it builds over time. That's the power of this, as it starts compounding. And changing when we embrace this vulnerability. And I've see it in my friends. I see it in people that I've met when they start doing this work and you see them change over time. And then you see the influence that it has in the relationships and the friends that they have and [00:35:00] their workplace.

[00:35:01] Like we carry all these changes within us in everything that we do. So this is a powerful force. To help. It strengthens, it can strengthen our relationships and connections by developing that vulnerability. We can have deeper trust and love and affection and empathy and relationships. And as people open up and share their authentic selves, we build these deep, meaningful connections with other people.

[00:35:26] And we can share that with the world. And that happens in all areas of life. It leads to in personal relationships, working relationships, it's really incredible what it can do. And then this ripples out into society. Because we can develop a more empathetic and compassionate society, which we need so desperately right now.

[00:35:46] Technology is disconnecting us. Social media is disconnecting us. We need to get back to vulnerability. And empathy and compassion in our society for one another. And that all starts with us. As [00:36:00] individuals become more empathetic, compassionate, and understanding of one another's experiences and emotions. We start to create that experience at a societal level. It starts to impact and workplaces and relationships and schools and government. This is how we do it.

[00:36:15] But it happens one bit at a time. And it can help us create that more inclusive, supportive and collaborative community that we all desire. The funny thing is no matter what your political perspective may be, all of us really want the same things. It's just the means with which we go there. And that's the thing we got to work through is how we get there.

[00:36:34] This also enables us to break this cycle of fear and power dynamics by embracing vulnerability. We can break that cycle of fear that can be in families. Because when we don't break that fear and that power dynamic, it perpetuates toxicity, division and suffering in all areas of life. And so when we lean into vulnerability and individuals start embracing that within themselves, they can inspire others to do the same.

[00:36:59] [00:37:00] Ultimately fostering a more open, compassionate, and healthy society. And it breaks an ins those cycles because now what is set forth is a new cycle of compassion, of love, of empathy, of understanding. And that's what you pass on to your kids, your friends, your workplace, that's the ripple effect.

[00:37:17] And then finally it's. Great. Some more fulfilling and authentic life. It allows us to align our actions with our values, passions and true selves. When we create vulnerability in ourselves, when we learn about ourselves through vulnerability, we can connect with who we truly are from within and live the life that we feel driven to live.

[00:37:37] It's an incredible thing. To do that.

[00:37:41] And I want to encourage you to imagine the possibilities that can arise from living in a society and living a life. That fully embraces vulnerability and the transformative impact this can have on your own lives and the world around them. Think about that. Think about what this can do for the [00:38:00] world around you and your life.

[00:38:02] All the things that we talk about really envision it. And start taking daily small steps towards becoming more vulnerable, compassionate, and empathetic people. It's very possible. Y'all, it's just takes a little bit of work each day that builds up over time.

[00:38:18] All right, Joe. That's all I got for today's episode. Hope you're enjoying the show. It's been so much fun. We're almost up. It's going to be a year. Which is crazy when I launched. May 5th last year. Um, I love this. I hope you're enjoying it. Uh, I'm going to continue to roll out content. I love content content creation has really become a process for my own sanity. I've realized.

[00:38:42] My wife actually told me that I'm a Dick when I'm not creating and expressing myself. So I can be a Dick. Not I'm always, but I'm more dickish. So I I certainly want to listen to that and I notice it too. It makes a huge difference. I just feel a lot better, so I hope you're enjoying it. I love this process. I love [00:39:00] sharing and creating. I hope you're finding value in it.

[00:39:03] I wanted to give you a quick update. I actually started a new role as a VP of business growth at a company called staffy, which has been fantastic. Um, week two drinking from the fire hose, learning a ton. It's amazing. Getting to be a leader in the opportunities to coach and leverage the skills that I've learned in my life.

[00:39:21] The combination of inner work and professional work that I've leveraged in my sales career and marketing career. So it's been great. I'm really excited about it. And looking forward to sharing more of my learnings and nuggets and all those things on the journey. As I've been openly building for you that have been following if you want to, if you're new, you can catch me on Twitter at Brandon Lee ward. I'm also on LinkedIn.

[00:39:41] It's brain and L ward there. He can hit my website@brandonleeward.com. I've also got a sub stack too, which is where this show rolls out or the order within dot sub stack. Dot com. So I'm available. If y'all have any questions or you wanna hit me up or anything like that, you want to bring me on your podcast or invite me on your podcast. [00:40:00] Whatever. I don't know. Let's just collaborate, connect. That's what it's about. So I appreciate y'all.

[00:40:04] And until next time.