47. Over 80,000 People. The Man Knows.

G' day, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Real Dad Movement. My name's Al. I've got a man. I've been trying to get this guy for a while. He's a busy man and a phenomenal one at that. In my eyes. One of the best, well, the best and most knowledgeable man I've ever met in the health and fitness industry. And that's not blowing smoke up your ass, Shannon. It's just my experience, mate, of being in the game for 20 years and you know, something which is built off the back of the runs and the board that you have. But we have Shannon Brenton with us today, guys, and a phenomenal man in his own right and what he's done. We've known each other for. She's probably about 10 years now, hey, Shane? Maybe just a little bit less. Nearly 10 years, yeah.

Say eight to 10 somewhere like that. Who's counting that, mate?

Yeah, that's right. It just feels like yesterday, mate, yesterday I saw this jacked, powerful man who could speak the lingo, who had an incredible product in Cell Charge, which to me is World Beater. That's why we have it in our RDM products, Mojo and Knight Rider and second to none in my eyes, at a cellular and chemical level. If you can look after yourself and all the rest can be history. But a lot has changed, hasn't it, Shane, since we first met, for both of us, mate, Has.

Yeah, absolutely, mate. Both advanced and that's, I think for.

Both of us that's important. It doesn't mean that we have to be out there beating our chest and burning the candle at both ends. But we're both very in tune with expressing ourselves and for seeking growth in understanding the gift that life can be. But there may be some people that don't know. Those who don't know. You will find it very, very quickly and you should absolutely do your research and find out about Shannon as well. But mate, I'd love to start with yourself, Shannon, and a bit of an intro on yourself, your upbringing and I guess the area of expertise that you entered into.

Sure, yeah. Well, do you want your upbringing, you want sort of know a bit about my life or you want me just to go straight into the work part?

I think a little bit about life would be a good background because you had a pretty severe accident, mate, when you, when you were young and you know, I think sharing a little bit of that's great. It's a good way for people to connect to you for sure.

Look, I think if you start from birth. I was one of the unfortunate rare cases that had very significant adverse reactions to vaccines. Probably one of the main reasons why I sit where I sit these days as a health professional, that is because I was one of those unfortunate humans that had very significant vaccine reactions and spent the bulk of my life for the first two and a half years up and down with febrile convulsions and being wheeled around in ice baths. And my poor old mum, I can only imagine what she went through. But it was a really hard time. And fortunately Mum took me off to our doctor one day and he wasn't there, which was probably a real blessing in disguise. There was a locum on and the locum took one look at me, who was sub three and saw my medical history and the fact that I'd had 15, 20 courses of antibiotics in the first couple of years of my life. He told mum that there was something really wrong here and that she needed to explore outside of the medical field. And Mum said, well, what's that look like? And he could give her no information because he didn't know either. He just knew that there was something that wasn't right and that the medical profession wasn't able to help me at the time. And they did admit that I had vaccinosis reactions and that my situation was most definitely related to the injections that I was receiving at the time. And so that took us on a real mom. I was only three, but took us on a real road of discovery, I guess. We found a really good chiropractor. I was living in Sydney at the time. This guy was pretty advanced, he was a Canadian guy and yeah, he treated me and got me off to a homeopath and that had remarkable results. And really the rest is history. Al my whole life from that point forward was know everything was treated by natural prescription. You know, at times I've gone to doctors, of course, and I've had lots of accidents. Yeah, I cracked my skull in half and things. So very grateful to have the medical profession there to help out at times like that. But yeah, I was certainly forced down a rabbit hole of discovery of the natural way of living from a very early age. And that continued me therefore into a career at this point. I've been working as a clinical nutritionist and naturopath for the last almost 19 years now. I've treated over 80,000 people one on one. I specialise primarily in chronic disease. A big bit of what I've done has been human performance, which is obviously how and why I met you. But the bulk of work that I do is dealing with people who are very ill, dealing with a myriad of conditions ranging from the metastatic conditions like cancer, through all your autoimmunities and chronic inflammatory diseases, chronic allergic responses, childhood diseases, female reproductive disorders and the like, lots of depression, lots of anxiety, you know, the way the world is and the way the world's gone in the last sort of 20 odd years. And that's been my real place of interest and I still work there. However, I don't work full time clinically like I was for the last sort of nine or ten years. I've been working in product formulation for the general health and sport nutrition industries, working with most of the big brands here in Australia and some from overseas as well. And for the last three or four years now I've been specializing predominantly in the manufacture of such supplements and manufacture supplements for some of the largest brands in the world, biggest brands on the Australian market. And that's a place that I really like to be. But in saying that my strong passion is still people and helping people to realise the very best lives that they can live and to help people to evolve on their journey, which isn't always an easy one, let's face it. And my time with people has taken me deeper down a different type of rabbit hole where I've come to the conclusion and realization that we're very complex creatures and that a lot of the original and initial work that I was doing around the sort of neurochemical aspect of the self and the nutritional components and whatnot, I've sort of really varied my understanding of people and what it takes to be your best self these days. And I guess to sum it up, I treat people, I don't treat diseases, I don't treat dysfunctions, I don't treat fatigue, I don't treat headaches, I treat people. And when you give people the time and the listening ear and the understanding and when you apply knowledge of a very long clinical career with that, amazing things happen.

80,000 people, that's a lot of energy, mate, that you would have A absorbed and B, I guess had to express to help these people in which you naturally would have had the discovery of what you're speaking about and what Shannon's talking about, guys, is looking at the cause, not necessarily the symptom, unless I'm mistaken. And that's something that we're pretty aligned with because we've spent a lot of time together over the last eight years, naturally always drawn, I guess, to each other, regardless of if you're on the other side of the country or at times, if we haven't caught up for three or five months, it's something where it feels like yesterday might we just pick up and go again. And that's something I'm curious, but it sounds like you already answered, but I wouldn't mind, I guess, a little bit more expansion on that. What's the biggest breakthrough treating 80,000 people, which sounds like it's something you've naturally been pulled into through your own life experiences. What, what is the biggest breakthrough that you've found mate with treating these people? Is it that working on them as a human, as an embodiment of energy and what they want and design their life, what's the biggest breakthrough you've made with these people? Mate?

Yeah, 100%. Al. You know, it's funny that like any clinician, when someone comes in and they've got a complaint, that complaint is physical nine times out of 10. And you know, that physical complaint is the center of their universe. And so often that first consultation, while it will be a very in depth kind of 60 to 90 minutes, pulling that person back to the bare bones and certainly exploring what's happening on the physical plane and the emotional and the mental plane and the subconscious plane, there's a lot of note taking that will go on in that first period of time. And you don't really get to explore the depth of a person in that time. And it's my responsibility to give them results as soon as humanly possible. So it's normally after results are provided and people come, come back and then we start to explore, okay, well, you know, where do we believe the root cause of this was coming from? That we are able to really pull people back and allow them to explore parts of themselves that they really haven't given a lot of, a lot of meaning to, a lot of understanding to. And often there's been a hell of a lot of suppression around those parts of ourselves because that's the way the world is. You know, people get depressed, doctors put them on antidepressants, you know, people get anxious, we give them tranquilisers, you know, people can't sleep, we give them sleeping pills. And really we've been socialized in a world now where there's a drug for everything, but the drug never, never assesses, advises or treats the person or the root cause of that person's complaints. So, you know, those of us who dare to go deeper with people, you know, come up with phenomenal results and. But you're right, Al. Yeah, root cause for sure. And the treatment of the whole person rather than just the sum a couple of parts, you know. So it's funny, if you look at something like skin, someone comes in with skin complaints, you know, psoriasis, urticaria, eczema, acne, etc. Etc. Yes, we're treating the skin and we're treating various layers of the skin and we're treating chronic inflammatory processes and none of that changes. So it doesn't really matter what kind of clinician you are, you're still treating the skin to some degree, but when you go beneath that, you start to find that the skin is really a resemblance of the rest of the body and in many ways a resemblance of the soul. For instance, you know, most cases of chronic acne that I've ever treated are completely rooted in self reproach and self disgust. And, you know, you can give the purities and antibiotics and antimicrobials and, you know, specific volatile oils and zinc and vitamin C and all the things that will help the skin to repair and grow and renew, but it's not until you actually do start to deal with some of these underlying factors of the self that you stop fighting the battle and you actually win it once and for all. So, you know, it's a. It's a very rewarding process, though, I must say. And it's not a process that the patient is necessarily expecting. However, I got known for that over the years. So people knew that they generally end up reaching for the Kleenex quite quickly when seeking my help. But, you know, it was, it was funny how it worked. It really was a very rewarding process, like I said, and one that enabled me to grow at the same time. Because, you know, when one person's learning, we're all learning.

Yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it, mate? It's something that I think we all need that reset. It's hard to come from ourselves. I've had that with you a couple of times, most recently about five weeks ago, where you're right, I wrote two pages of notes and I was like, wow, I can't believe. And I'm pretty in tune, mate. Like, I'm a pretty aware man of myself, thoughts, feelings, emotions and as a being. And I needed that as well, which is why I reached out. I knew I'd needed that for a period of time because I feel like I've been in the pit the last nine months, just busting my ass with business, with family, life, lacking sleep, trying to still remain fit and all the moving parts that make life. But it's really interesting how that's a line that I take and not at the level that you do, but in my own way in knowing that a shake or a pill or something out there. Which is why for a large part, the health and fitness industry is fucking frustrating for me. It doesn't change you, it doesn't help change the person. It's treating the symptom, not identifying the cause. And with rdm, what we do is we focus on the person, the individual and a what drives them, but not even their why. Starting with who. Who do you want to be in this life, mate? There's no rulebook on you have to be X, Y and Z expectations of social media or mainstream media, or what society deems us to be. It's fuck, mate, it's on you. Who do you want to be in this life? I found that with you a few times, Shannon. I've come to tears a couple of times. With yourself, mate. And it's been a big revelation for me to see that I'm not alone in that. Because I think there are a lot of people out there, Shannon, who don't want to just go and see. And this is nothing against the medical industry, but they don't want to just go and see a doctor and get some pills or go and get a prescription. They want the discovery, not you telling them what to do. They want a platform from which someone can help hold a mirror up and give them that great discovery that, that they can have in their life and who they can be.

Yeah, for sure. And you know what? Sometimes we need that pill, you know, sometimes you've got that splitting headache, you take that Panadol, the headache goes away, right? Who doesn't like that? But you know, let me put this to you, Al, and you can answer yourself, what's better? The pill that takes the symptom away or the tear that you shed and then the sense of understanding and conclusion that you come to in your own self. Not just that too, but you think about this, you know, so I'm talking to dads here, right? And you and I are both pretty blokey blokes, but you've got two guys sitting down discussing one guy who's sitting there and that guy breaks into tears and two men sitting there having a proper emotive non bullshit communication. I don't think there's anything more rewarding for humanity, to be honest with you. That's where true healing comes from, you know, it just does. And you'll Find it most of the time. Most dysfunction that people have comes from the fact that they've separated themselves from the oneness of life and the oneness of each other, you know, and here we are now, all fucking socially distanced and all the rest of it separated even more and more and more. And, you know, I'm about, you know, getting away from that, bringing people back together. Bringing people back to the fact that, you know, essentially we're all one and that, you know, what's happening for you is a mirror for me. And, you know, I can always learn from what you're going through and vice versa. And, you know, I thank my patient base for what I've been able to learn over the years because it's always been a reciprocation. You know, anything you feel, I felt previously, I can use that to heal that part of myself. And it's a very rewarding process for all.

It is, mate, because like I said with my interactions with you, when I've needed to peel the layers back, it's where the greatest gifts lie. A lot of the times, like what you spoke about in the adversities or in the tough times or in the tears that are shed. And. And you're right, there are times where we may need some. Sure, if this is the right term, but chemical adjustments or things like that pill at times. But then it's looking at going, well, why? Why is this happening? And it's not about, like I said, going down the rabbit hole can be a process where everyone's on their own. Chapter. They might be chapter two, you might be chapter 22. But understanding that it is possible, there's always a choice and there's an option to ask the question and see what you can do to. Ultimately, for me, a big part of life in the human spirit is evolution. And how can we do more and be more within ourselves, mate?

Yeah, absolutely. And, yeah, there's a famous saying, and I forget who said it, but it was probably some kind of Buddhist, I'd imagine. But I love this saying, and it says, the self must be lifted up by the self, you know, and our journey must be one that's inward. And, you know, at the end of the day, people will come to me as an example to help them with their problem, but all I do is, is help them see in themselves what they need to work on in their own self. And, you know, we can't look outside of ourselves for the answers. The answers are always within and the healing is within. And the body will generally heal as the Mind heals. And, you know, a lot of people get themselves into very dark places based upon their concepts of belief and concepts of thought. And I would say that 99% of all issues come from the fact that most people have issues with perception. They perceive the world to be something that it's not. A lot of the time, you know, people who see the world as a scary place often will have things that will make them feel afraid. People who, you know, have issues with their relationship with money or the concept of money, you know, who've grown up with a mindset or a family belief that, you know, money doesn't grow on trees are often ones that will have financial hardship and have a difficult time not just earning it, but keeping it. And so a lot of the time it's very important that once we actually help people with the critical components of their physical self that we're able to dive deep, so to speak, to look at what their world perspective is. And that becomes the really important part. And that's where all the aha moments come up.

It really is where the power is too, mate. You know, like I say to the dads, that everything we do physically affects us mentally. And I try not to have opinions and more so universal truths. And I'm looking at, okay, well, where is that wrong? And it's not like you brush your teeth of the benefits of when you do or the consequences if you don't, and how you feel when you've got clean teeth or when you have a shower or when you're doing other various tasks. So they're obviously intricately woven, mate, the physical and the mental. But a lot of people seem to forget the power they have in that, which is through what you said, perceptions and ultimately immediate environments. And our next door neighbors, they're building a house, they came to us and they're talking and all of a sudden the wife is talking about obviously older than me. I think they're in their late 50s, talking about this whole Corona thing and this, this and that. And I said, oh, look, to be rude, but I don't really watch much of the news radio or newspapers. And, you know, I guess I'm not a big fan of living in a life of fear and worry instead of controlling what you can control. And this is what she said, mate. She said, yeah, I get that, but I'd rather live with some fear and worry in my life and know that I'm safe. And I was like, what the fuck does that even mean? I just couldn't. And it wasn't Even worth the engagement. And I've got nothing against like if it's not like if you're not with me, you're against me. It was just seeing how closed, packaged minded that that person was and seeing that that's, that's a large portion and I guess that's on the other end. I'd like to get your thoughts on why people are the way they are or don't seek or look to have those discoveries or improve or lift themselves up by lifting themselves up. Why does it make that such a large portion of people just choose not to do that or believe that that's possible?

A couple of reasons. Well, using your neighbour as a good example, she's choosing a life of fear and worry. She even told you that. So now the flow on from that is that she will experience that in multiple aspects of her life, not just in relation to COVID 19 and you know, you ask why people choose this? Well, people choose it mostly because it's, it's like, you know, better the devil you know than the devil you don't. A lot of people don't like to be taken to a place that they don't understand or where they feel insecure. And so, you know, people will sit in a place of difficulty because they choose to be victims. And the victim mentality is a very interesting one. You know, victims themselves will always be the ones, but blaming outward because victimization itself comes from the fact that there is zero self love. And it doesn't really matter how many people you pull back. Most people you pull back with most issues, either mental or physical, will generally have dramas with self love. And working on self love a lot of the time is really where a lot of the gold lies. And the reason for this is the fact that people who don't have self love will need to attack outwardly on the outside in order to validate their position. And they will continually prove to themselves their lack of self worth in doing so. But you ask why does a person want to be this way rather than wanting to advance and to become more evolved in themselves? It's simply because most people evolve through pain, that's why. And so, you know, there's, there's the odd person who will evolve just because I'll evolve and that's just the way they'll be. And there's been lots of them. But you know, most people evolve through pain and tragedy. So it will take grief and loss and these sorts of things in order to allow the guilt and the resentment and the shame and the sadness and the fear and the anxiety and the anger and you know, the rest of these emotions to surface. So this is why, you know, a lot of the, a lot of the results do lie in adversity. Because, because adversity is the thing that forces us to either A accept what is or B not accept what is and start to look outside or really more look within ourselves to find the answer. So those people who are choosing to live that way are just people who haven't been challenged enough yet to have to make the jump. It's as simple as that. And they will be challenged. There's no two way about it. They always are. And when the time is right, you know, they'll go through the same process. And that's just how it is. You know, I've had always had a rule of thumb with my patient base too. Like I've had people who will buy people gift certificates to see me. And after many years I decided I'm not doing gift certificates anymore. Because unless someone's actually making the decision to come and see me themselves, I would find that would always end in heartache. Was always, you know, my wife sent me or my husband sent me and so they were kind of just led there. But there wasn't really the desire to want to change or to reflect or even necessarily treat things. And I might give them some treatment for pre existing condition and they might get some results or they might not. But I generally wouldn't even see them a second time, let alone a third or a fourth time. So, you know, people really do need to journey at their own time, you know, and even the people who are listening to this, people don't join RDM just for the sake of joining rdm. It's because there is a hole there that they've been able to establish is there and they want to be able to break through and work through and evolve from. And you know, for the men in your group that's the right time. But for, you know, for every 10 men in your group, there's, you know, 10,000 more men that really should be in the group that aren't because the time just hasn't presented itself just yet. But it will. And at that time that's where it's up to us. To always welcome people into the, you know, the process of self discovery and doing it together is a lovely thing.

It is. And you're right, there's an entire process in even applying for a call. And it's not that I'm a hard ass or some sort of celebrity it's just making sure they understand. It's always about holding that mirror up for me to them, for them to say, yes, I do need this, yes, I do need to change, yes, this is important to me. Yes, I am now committed. And it's fascinating because the greatest gifts that I've had, mate, have been exactly what you said, the traumas, the adversities, the hardships. And it's not that I go actively seeking them, it's that, I guess it's in a way of the universe balancing out or equilibrium. When I'm pushing and striving to grow and change and expand, there's going to be resistance and that resistance comes tenfold. But I wouldn't have it any other way, mate, because I'd rather be that than living a low level life in a place of what it sounds like. You describe familiarity in being afraid or worried or having concerns all the time because it's familiar or it's the devil I know. And that's just the life they choose. But the scary thing is, mate, I've gone through these adversities. Some are very strong, powerful man. What about these people who haven't had those challenges that you say will come? And I believe they will as well because they're not geared for it. Does that mean they've got a greater chance of breaking down because they haven't been expanding themselves? Maybe because it comes for all of us, mate. You can't just go through life and breeze on through. You might be 70 and it comes. And if you're not prepared for it, it doesn't matter how old you are. It can cripple you, man, if you haven't built and worked on yourself from the inside out.

100%.

Yep.

You know, I can't tell you the amount of cases of cancer I've treated. You know where I've seen spontaneous remissions from simple changes in attitude and life perspective. By the same token, I've seen people who are like, right, I got cancer, that's it, I'm dead. And they die. And that's okay too, you know, so evolution in this life isn't for everyone. And you know, it takes the certain type of people who are willing to evolve. You know, when spiritualists talk about us moving from a third to a fifth dimensional existence and the fact that the world is changing, that's not my understanding. It's just a perspective of others that I sort of take on board. But, you know, the world is evolving, it is changing, people are changing. And there'll be certain Amount of people who will move with that and move forward and will progress. And there's those who won't. And sometimes there's a deep unconscious state that won't allow it to move forward. Sometimes it's embedded in familial history, you know, parents, grandparents, you know, just past lines that have had stuff there that the belief is so strong that, you know, people can't move through it. And excuse me, it brings me to an example of the power of the mind. There was a really important documented case of hypothermia where a man who worked in an abattoir got locked in a meat freezer over the course of a long weekend. And so anyway, he got locked in this thing on the Friday afternoon, knew he wasn't going to get out to the Tuesday and knew he was fucked, basically. And he was in there with all his gear and he basically documented his death on the walls of this, of this meat freezer. What happened, how it happened, losing consciousness, what his body was doing, the whole deal, had the whole thing documented. So anyway, on the Tuesday morning, people come into work and open the meat freezer and the dude was in there dead in this writing all over the wall documenting his death and how it occurred. Little did the guy know the meat freezer was turned off for the weekend, you know, and he died of hypothermia. He convinced himself, he talked himself into it. And I've seen many cases just like that where, you know, the power of the mind is so strong. And that's where you've got to start to look at belief and thought concepts and where they come from and why they're there. And sometimes they service and sometimes they don't. But it's important to realize that those thoughts, the mind itself, it's not us. And the separation is very important to understand. And that's where sometimes we may need to work on reaffirming new positions and other times it's just appreciating and seeing the delusion for what it is. Because a lot of what we experience is actually just that delusion.

It's incredible, mate, it really is. And I say that to the dads as well. Like if you can analyze and be aware of your thoughts or pull back, who's that? Then that's an endless line of possibility because you're something else that is now aware of the thoughts that are actually inside of you. And it's not to go one way, woo woo, or one way with science or spirit. I like to have a big sweet spot of everything. But also drive home a purpose behind it. And a lot of it comes back to that message. Funny, people would think that what we're going to talk about is how dads can lose fat or how to handle sleep better, right? But here we are, we're talking about the things that actually matter on a deep level and have more connection. And mate, when it comes to that fundamental you spoke about of self love, is there a reason? Is it because of what we spoke about then the devil you know, and people limiting themselves that there seems to be a tall poppy? Like, we don't want to build our self esteem, we don't want to walk proudly, we don't want to love ourselves. We'll do our hair, we'll shave our face, we'll wear nice clothes. But on the inside, like, is it because of fear, of conviction of those who don't want to rise up and love themselves? Like, that's something that seems rife, mate, that whole tall poppy shit, and I can't stand it.

Yeah, quite possibly. Al. I do think it's changing though, you know, it's not like, it's not like the last generation, like our parents generation where they were quite hardened individuals and you know, the whole boys don't cry type mentality and, and just suck it up, princess. I think a lot of that is moving, which is great and progressing. And look, I just don't, I don't hold the space for that. When I work with people and I ask the questions that emote the response, and when the response comes, we welcome the response. So, you know, I don't really worry too much about what's happening out there on the larger scale. And that's the same thing as, you know, letting, letting big media talk to you about the coronavirus. The quickest way of instilling more fear is just fucking watch Channel 7. Just let David Koch tell you what's happening in the world. And so what's happening out there on the greater scale, I don't really have too much affection for. I worry more about the people I'm talking to, which is why I look forward to doing podcasts like this where I know I've got an audience of men who are asking the right questions and opening their mind. It's all it comes down to, opening their mind. The mind letting, you know, letting the subconscious kind of just grab the little bits of gold that makes sense for you and letting things run forward from there, you know, and those of us who are fathers have got an obligation to our children and the world has Changed exponentially in the last 20 years. The whole different world and you know, we need to be able to teach our boys, you know, how to love and how to be loved and what kind of fathers they want to be and, you know, the world's changing. So yeah, I've kind of lost a little bit of track of your question. But yeah, it's most.

Yeah, couldn't agree more, mate. It was looking at. And I agree too, starting from the inside out, even on a local perspective, instead of, like you said, feeding into, you know, what global energies might be out there with media and mainstream and not giving that any extra life. I agree, mate. It's something that's an easy trap to find, fall into, isn't it? But that's, I guess it takes me to the next part, mate, which I'd love to chat to you about, I guess on a personal level and also in delivering some level of advice in being fathers and what it means to you being more invested in life. Like you said, you living on, I guess eternity to me is living with the values and principles and belief patterns through my children when my body's gone. But how has that helped you or changed your life or helped you rise up and stand up? You've got three kids, mate. And yeah, I guess I'd love for you to share a little bit on fatherhood yourself. Like you said, the duty and responsibility feel, but how it's helped you become better as well.

Yeah, I've found fatherhood relatively challenging, Al. I've got three kids, as you know. My oldest is just about to turn 11 then I've got a nine year old and a seven year old and I wouldn't say I welcomed fatherhood really easily. And for me there's been a lot of growth just because of what my actual life was like. So, you know, when I was young, my dad left when I was 4 and 4 years of age and I had a lot of turmoil around that. My dad was an abusive person both physically and emotionally to myself. And my mum, you know, used to try to steal me from school and would, you know, pick me up for weekend visitations on motorbikes and do wheelies down the road with the me on the back just to get at my mum and would pick me up for weekend visitations and tell mum he's taken me to the zoo and would sit me on the side of Parramatta Road in Sydney and tell me how no one loved me and how, you know, my, my stepdad, not at the time, he wasn't, but my mum's boyfriend. Now my, now my stepfather was, you know, just being nice to me to get close to my mum and once they got married, they'd leave me and, yeah, just fill my head with shit, you know. So I'm also an only child, very close with my mum. But for me, having three kids in three years was, wow, crazy shit. Do you know what I mean? Crazy shit. And every time Michelle told me she was pregnant, I instantly went into the fear. Another child, someone else to feed. Michelle was 50% of our income at the time, also being a naturopath and clinical nutritionist. We had four health food stores at the time. She ran two, she ran a clinic in one of them. So every time she went off to have babies it was. And put the pressure on me. So, you know, there's a lot about the early days that, that I do regret, that I would do differently, I've accepted and forgiven myself for. But, you know, I've certainly learned a lot that's to answer that part about fatherhood. It's taught me a hell of a lot. And as my, particularly my son was growing up and getting older, that was something that was difficult for me. I had two girls first and just loved having little girls and. And the minute I had a boy, I didn't quite know how to love a little boy. It felt weird, even felt like strange kissing a little boy. I actually went and saw a therapist about it and she knew my circumstances and she said to me, look, Shannon, you've never had a male living relative ever show your love. It makes sense that you might find it difficult to show it to a boy. So a lot of my healings actually come from that, in all honesty. And that forced me to go and find my father after 36 years of absence. And I found an auntie who gave me his number and I rang up, you know, 026 something number. He was living in Port Macquarie and a man answered the phone and I said, is that you, Paul? He said, yes. I said, oh, this is going to be a difficult conversation for you, Paul. And he had a laugh. And I said, it's your son Shannon on the phone. And there was just silence for 10 seconds, which is a fucking long time when you're on the phone to someone. And anyway, I basically told him that I needed to go and see him and, you know, fatherhood has helped me to heal that tragedy for me of what was a sense of abandonment. So, you know, I went up there and saw my dad and told him that I loved him and that I, forgave him and that I realized that he did the best with what he had, which wasn't much, just so you know, and essentially that there was, you know, when he and I went back, there was five generations of Harrisons, which was my name before my mum remarried and I changed it to Brenton. But five generations of male Harrisons that all had shocking relationships with their fathers, their sons, and all I felt was tragedy Al, you know, the, the sadness and the tragedy was so much more significant than what I felt. It had gone right down that line. And I realized at that time that being a father to Billy, my son, was actually going to allow me to heal this for that entire line of men who had suffered at the hand of insensitivity, essentially. And I promised that to my dad. I said, I'm going to go and have the relationship with Billy that you and I never had. And I'm doing this for all of us, you know, I'm doing this for the whole line. And Billy and I have got a phenomenal relationship these days. I saw my dad, I think when Billy was about 18 months or 2 years of age. So 5 odd years has gone. And as you know, not long after that I, I sold everything, everything that I had and went and bought a Land Cruiser and a big caravan and went traveling Australia for four years full time, did two full laps and ran all my businesses online while I traveled the country. And I only stopped doing that now six months ago, so that's still very fresh. But I invested myself into just being a father and being a husband and essentially surrendering the ego. Which really brings me to the largest point that affects most people. It's the fact that we play out an identity role which isn't really us. You know, we identify with being a father, with being a son, with being a plumber, with being a chippy, whatever we are, at the end of the day, we're none of those things. And it taught me to let go of the labels and to come back to what is true and real and necessary. And I think something that the fathers should probably also hear that did prompt my four years of full time traveling was when I was sitting down with my business mentor, Frank Caruso, who's a very famous man in the health industry world. And we're sitting down at Wetherall park outside his big 15,000 square facility and we're having a quiet moment for whatever reason. And Frank looked at me and he said, Shannon, you're going to be three things in your life. And I said, oh yeah? What's that Frank? He said, you're going to be a father, you're going to be a husband, and you're going to be a business owner. I said, yep, that makes sense. What's your point? And he said to me, you'll only ever do two of them really well. And that sat me on my ass and really made me reconsider where my energies were going and made me realize that I was losing a lot of valuable time and that was going to turn into years that I was going to lose with my children while they were very young and very impressionable and the years where bonds are formed. And that was why, you know, I turned away from money and all the rest of it and just decided to go and focus on my energy there. So I know that's a pretty deep and complex and long story, but fatherhood's taught me a shitload and it's brought the sensitivity out in me because I wasn't really, you know, despite my treatment of others, I wouldn't say I was an overly sensitive person towards myself. I wasn't very gentle and soft towards myself. And it certainly changed that. I realized that my children are all reflections of both Michelle and I. So when I see, you know, tantrums, arguments, shit behavior, whatever it might be, I know to look within before I try to blame on the outside, which once again becomes the ego wanting to blame because it's always easy to blame someone else because it's the fastest way to lift yourself, you know. And once again, that now comes down to the whole self reproach and lack of self love. When there is self hatred inside, we'll seek to cause issues with those around us because it elevates our position in our own mind. So fatherhood has allowed me to separate myself from the egoic part of me, allowed me to realize that I'm not an identification of any one of my labels. I'm none of those things and all of those things all at once. And I'd say that pretty well covers your question.

Yeah, it's incredible value in all of what you just said, mate, and I really appreciate it. I talk about the different hats that we wear as men, as beings, fathers, husbands, workers, business owners, and it's really easy to just get stuck in making that hat stay on permanently and losing sight and the biggest value, and a lot of dads will get value out of what you just said and shared, mate. But for me is I'm going through exactly that right now. I've got two young children, I've got a Boy on the way. So I'm like, you, mate, two girls and a boy, and they're so young. And I look at it, and this isn't being pigheaded, but I look at it, I'm like, I've got the ability, the work capacity, the tenacity to go in my 40s and 50s and make a fuckload of money if I want to. I really do. So what's important to me right now, at nearly 35 years of age, is it seeing such a massive level of growth in our children, which is from 1 to 10? Well, yeah, they're growing exponentially, but, I mean, after 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, it's sort of, you know, 1 to 10 is massive. Like, Stella's nearly 4 and I can't believe how much she has changed. And then I hear or see all the big wigs, and one of them are short examples. Mark, Boris. And he talks about the regrets because he didn't get to spend time with his children. He focused on business. And that's where I'm at at the moment, mate. So I got a lot of value what he shared there, because for me, it's like, what do I do? I've got this drive to build this huge empire, and not from a place of ego, just I like challenging myself. Adversity and challenge is something I'm used to. But is that something that I'm also conditioning in myself, or do I need to take a step back at times, which I feel I did with you five weeks ago, and assess what do I want in this life, you know, as a husband, as a father, as a businessman or someone providing value and service, knowing that shit, mate, four months and number three is here.

Myself.

Be here. And what do I do? Then there's another mouth to feed, and there's even more and even less time and even less sleep.

Well, there's never been a man alive, Al, who's laid on his deathbed and wished he earned more money and wished he worked more, you know, And I think that sums it up, and I'm very lucky in my position as a clinical practitioner, that I have worked with some very astute and very wealthy men. And I can say unequivocally that in more than 85% of those cases, they were on their second or third or more marriages. Often they were estranged from the children from their first marriage, at least in part. And I don't think that that's a reflection of the way life will be for anyone who's successful. It's not a case of you got to lay down success whatsoever. Just a case of knowing what success actually is and writing your own equation for what success looks and feels like. And I can tell you right now, you know, having a million bucks in the bank doesn't make you feel successful. When you go home and you're miserable and, you know, your sex life with your wife is shit, there's no connection anymore. You know, your children are miserable, they're sick. You know, it's no fun, mate. You know, it really isn't. So at the end of the day, I think that, you know, people need to look for the small wins, you know, the small wins with relationships, with love, with connection. You know, this afternoon, I'll take my son to the skate park, you know, now that these restrictions have started to ease somewhat, and he'll have fun with that. You know, two days ago, we were walking through Target, you know, the whole family. He grabs my hand, he says, dad, I just want to have some time with you without the girls. And I listen very deeply to those things rather than, yeah, yeah, no dramas. We'll get onto that later. But, you know, our children's reflect, you know, what is real. And it's funny that, you know, looking at it from the spiritual perspective, children are very, very connected to the spirit world up until the age of seven, more so than they are this world, I believe, certainly from what I've been told. And we can learn so much from children from 0 to 7, so much. We can also tarnish them very, very easily in that period of time with our ship beliefs, you know, which are once again based upon the ridiculousness of having to identify with who we are and what we do and who we are and what we do is never an identification of anything, you know, it's. It's a. It's just a fucking fallacy that, you know, we follow. And it's a fallacy that the schools teach, and it's a fallacy that the universities teach, and it's a fallacy that the governments like to continue that, you know, you are what you've got, and you are, you know, who you surround yourself with, and you are, you know, based upon what you do for a job or what you don't do for a job, and it's never who we are. And I think that when people can start to realize that, you know, we are all just these most amazing creations and that we are all worthy of validation and love simply for being here, simply for being here without having had to have done anything, you know, and I think that, you know, from all the greats that I've ever followed, whether that can be the spiritual leaders, you know, like the Deepak Chopras of the world, right through to the Anthony Robbins or any of those guys, you know, even Elon Musk on a recent podcast with Joe Rogan, you know, sit on there that you can't have too much love. That was from Elon Musk. They're all fucking people. You know what I mean? He's digging highways under the ground in LA just to aid conditions. You know, he's doing everything out of space. He owns his own car company. And there Elon Muskie is saying that you can't have too much love. And that was really. That was the way he summed up his podcast after three and a half hours with Joe Rogan. And all I. All I say in my simple message is that that love must be reflected within before it can go anywhere else. And that when we unpack ourselves, which is a very ballsy thing to do, but when we properly unpack ourselves, you know, often there's things there that are difficult to see and witness and admit to, but surrender to those things is very important. And from there, you can move forward with truth. And everything you have in your life can be phenomenal. And you can have all the fucking money you want, Al. You know what I mean? There's nothing wrong with money. There's too many people out there that think that, you know, if they evolve themselves on a subconscious and spiritual perspective, they have to be some weird fucking hippies living in the bush, you know, you know, chanting om all day long. And that's not the case. You know, Frank Caruso is a good example. You know, he said, you'll only do two of those roles really well. And, you know, I think he's actually a very good example of someone who does all three of those roles really well. You know, I've traveled overseas with Frank lots of times. He's, you know, had a lot of, you know, really, you know, beautiful moments with Frank, but he's a phenomenal father. He's a phenomenal business owner. You know, he's a phenomenal husband. So, you know, I don't believe that there needs to be a sacrifice. I don't want anyone to leave with that concept. Doesn't need to be a sacrifice, but there needs to be. There needs to be equal attention given to each part. You know, and at the end of the day, even in business, you know, as the saying goes, a business is simply a reflection of you. You know, if You've got problems or your business have problems. It's like the other saying, the fish stinks from the head down. Look at any businesses struggling and just go straight to the fucking boss. That's where the drama is. And, you know, if you do unpack the boss, you find things get better. Just look at Gordon Ramsay goes into a shocking restaurant that's doing fucking horrible. It's always the owner. It's always the owner. You know what I mean? Anthony Robbins pulls people apart. What's that? Your business is suffering. Okay, well, fuck, it's your business. You know? Look at you. Don't blame your staff. Once again, the blaming of staff, the blaming of others is all just an identification of a lack of self, love. That's all it is. I have to blame outwards in order to raise my small self. Does that make sense? Definitely. When I put you down, I raise my small self, at least just for a very small period of time. I elevate my position from the lack that I feel inside to a position now of superiority. And that superiority is simply the flaring of the ego, which is what we're told to do.

But it's not real, temporary and not given. You know, it's something that's not a guarantee either, mate. Like, it's, It's. It's sad when you see that's what people attach to. But again, it's the identification, isn't it? We wear all these. All these different hats, and it's so fluid that Shannon. So with something with such a large portion of instability, why would you ever want to pursue that? As opposed to what you said, What Caruso. It's all just opening your mind and then finding that pathway that you can really try and develop or discover for yourself to build a greater level of self, love and self worth, mate. And that's been awesome with us, mate. We could probably, and we will do several podcast episodes, but I'm just curious to stick with this one to close out this episode. I guess your advice, mate, for the dads out there listening who, and I'm not saying it's a physical, tangible thing that created this breakthrough for you, but they're not in a position where they could work online. They're not in a position to get out in nature or spend an excess of time with their family. What would be something that you would advise or guide these men and fathers, including myself, to help us have a better understanding of what we can make of this gift that is life, given that family, self and service? That's what I Call them the circles of significance. A lot of the times are out of balance and we find that we're struggling.

I'll answer that with a question, Al. Anytime you talk to someone, you ring them up and you say, what are you doing, mate? Everyone's busy, right? Everyone's doing shit. Everyone's fucking busy all the time, you know. Oh, yeah, fuck, not much, but, you know, you've got this whole bunch of stuff everyone's doing. And people have less time for each other than ever before. People have less barbecues and get togethers than they did 15, 20, 30 years ago. Like, the world's changing in many ways. And so I guess, you know, if I'm to simplify something for the average dad who's just beginning his journey, or possibly even partway along the journey, I guess that my advice would be to be still, you know, it would be to create space. Creating space is very important. Like, I love to train, as you know, I've lifted hard, heavy weights for 24, 25 years now. I enjoy lifting, I'll always lift. But, you know, every afternoon, every single afternoon, without fucking, you know, without any fail, I go for a 5k walk and I go for my 5k walk for my headspace, to get away from my kids, to get away from my wife, to be away from work. I use it as a time to reaffirm where I'm at, you know, to I guess, have gratitude for what I've achieved today. You know, I die, rise. I do free riding. I do lots of things like that to give me space in order to just, I guess, have a, what I call an emotional check in, you know, just to see where I'm at. How am I feeling? What am I doing? Have I kicked a heap of goals today? Am I feeling really good about my position? Am I feeling great about my direction? You know, was that that raise I got from work? You know, is that just what I needed, to feel strong in my masculinity and, you know, am I really getting a sense from the universe that everything's just moving in a fantastic direction? Or, you know, if I'm really honest with myself and really true to myself, you know, you know, am I band aiding a lot of things in my life that I really need to be looking at? You know, is there issues with the relationship that some simple communication could fix? Is there some issues with, you know, the relationships of loved ones? You know, be that extended family, mothers, mothers in laws, fathers, whatever it might be, or even my own children that a little bit of time to Fix, you know, a little bit of, yo, hey, let's go for that coffee. Let's just have a chat, you know, I mean, let's put the phones down for half an hour and just fucking talk, you know, like people used to. And this always comes through silence. It always comes when we give ourselves the space in order to just go, you know what, how am I going? How's today for me? I do it on a daily basis because I understand and perceive the value. But you know, for people that aren't doing that, like, you know, how's this month for me? You know what I mean? What were my goals this month? You know, how have I got in my achieving of those things? How am I feeling in myself? What's my body telling me physically? What's my mind telling me, you know, emotionally, you know, how am I feeling? Because often you'll get the. In that, in that space for yourself and that stillness, you'll get the answers that you're either fucking killing it and you need to continue doing what you're doing, or, you know, there's, there's some required change, whether it's drastic or minor. But you know, honestly, I find that the space for oneself is very important. So my 5k walk in the afternoon is, is very much for me just to be able to get out and go, great. What was today like? You know, am I moving the way I want to go? Is this direction feeling good? You know, what's my soul telling me? What's my mind telling me? And then that allows me to actually put some structure in place as to whether I continue or make some of those small or drastic changes. My favorite thing for stillness, however, is meditation. I meditate every day, twice a day, and I do two short periods, two sort of 10 to 15 minute windows, because that's what my time at the moment affords. Other times I meditate for an hour, you know what I mean? But most of the time, I'll do sort of 10 or 15 minutes in the morning and 10 or 15 minutes at night. And I prioritize that time once again for me, where I can just focus on the breath, you know, the breath in, the breath out, the pause between each of those states and just allow myself just to be still, just to focus on nothing but focus on everything at the same time. So it's just that that stillness becomes very important. Being able to calm the mind is very important. Sometimes I utilize specific yoga poses. Like one of my favorite ones is just laying on your back up against a wall, so your bum Cheeks are actually on the wall and your legs are going vertically up the wall. And often I'll do that at nighttime before bed because it's a very, very good way to reduce cortisol levels. Very, very good way to reduce stress levels. So often I'll put myself into a 10 minute or 15 minute meditative state while doing a pose like that where I can and just be still and just breathe. Most people al din know how to breathe. That's how fucking useless we've become as a human race, that people have forgotten the basics of the human breath. And think about this while you're worried about every little thing in your world and oh, this might happen, that might happen. Or do I have enough fucking money to buy that trail bike? Or, you know, will I get a refund on my tax this year? People don't worry about the simple reality that there's always another breath waiting for you. You know, you breathe out and don't breathe in again, you're dead in three minutes. It's the greatest fear you should have in your life. There's not enough breath. No one ever gives it a thought. So it's important that in times like that we can just bring things back to what is. And what is is the breath in and the exhalation out and just calming the body, calming the mind, calming the spirit in amongst all the chaos that is children and work and money and bills and all the rest of it. And those small fragments of stillness is where the truth comes from. The sport, this, the small fragments of stillness is where you'll find the answers to something you've been waiting for for some time, will just find you almost by accident when the universe can speak with you. And that reminds me of another saying from Henry Ford, who everyone would know was, you know, one of the richest men in the world for a very long time. And he's got a famous saying, and I'll fuck it up. So it's not quote unquote that he says, I still remember the fork in the road where the answer that I'd been pondering for months finally appeared to me. And he was talking about that he was in a horse and cart. This was before cars, horse and cart. He was in the back just asleep. Someone was driving his horse and cart. And yeah, I still remember the fork in the road with the ants that had been pondering for months simply appeared to me. And it came once again through silence. So we've often got to give ourselves time for messages to actually come to us. And we are very Perceptive creatures, whether we like to think so or not. And time and space, I'd say is the most important thing for all of humanity. And I'd go as far to say Al, that if everyone in the world, all 7 or 8 billion or whatever there are of us in the world, you know, if everyone meditated for 15 minutes a day, the world would be a completely different place in one day.

Incredible, isn't it?

That's the change. If the whole world meditated every single day at the same time for one week, the whole world would change completely. You know, so I'm not woo woo, mate. I'm very much a man of science. But there is enough evidence of the effects of meditation. You know, quantum physics has advanced so fast since 1925. It's actually, I would say probably the most advanced form of science of all the sciences. I hate to say as much as I love science, but quantum mechanics and the, you know, the, the act of vibration these days has become such a known physiological state for alteration that when we actually allow ourselves to go there, change happens. And you've only got to look at the other Bruce Lipton's of the world, the Joe Dispenza's of the world. These guys once again are having complete spontaneous remission from disease simply for meditation. You know, Joe Dispenza does like everywhere one day to seven day events. And you know, I know people I've got patients of born who have gone to his seven day events and actually left without the disease they went with, you know, so that's all ya.

Yeah, What I'll do personally mate, is I'll just save the last five minutes of you speaking. That can be my meditation with my legs up on the wall, mate.

I'm telling you Al, it works. It really works. And it's funny that a lot of it is about your own allowance. You know, when I, when I lay there with my legs up the wall, I'll say to myself, you know what? I allow this time for me. You know, I just allow this time for me. There's nothing else outside of me right now that matters. And I'm just going to simply lay here and breathe. And as thoughts and feelings or whatever come up or twitches in the muscles or, you know, if your foot starts to go a bit numb, I just surrender it, just release it, just keep releasing it and just keep coming back the breath make it really easy. It's not meant to be hard. It isn't hard. Meditation is not a process of having to sit down for an Hour and on while seeing a white light. The area of your pineal gland. It doesn't have to be like that. It can be like that, but it doesn't need to be. And you've got people like Gary Goro, who is a Transcendental Meditation coach in. And I'm pretty sure he's around Surry Hills in Sydney, who's been teaching some of the most, the brightest and wealthiest people in our country at least, how to meditate just for every day. He's known to treat celebrities. Got celebrities who are just fucking melting down. Do you know what I mean? And not coping with the workload and the early starts and the late finishes and the disruptions that creates to their families and the inability to eat right, even though they know they should eat right. And that course breeds guilt and shame. Fuck. I know what I should be doing, but I'm not doing it. And Gary Goro teaches Transcendental Meditation, which is a very ancient form of meditation in a way, which is easy for the average idiot to do these days and easy for the average person to incorporate into their everyday. You go to one of his events and you've got Hamish and Andy and people like that. They're doing it because these are people who have been saved from, you know, the incorporation of such a technique into their everyday. It makes them better at what they do, completely better at what they do, because rather than being living on their ass all the time, they'll actually come from a place of stillness. And, you know, they get better, they're more creative, they make more money. It's. It's really. It's quite interesting. You know, when you. When you look at energetic medicine and you look at the chakra system, I don't know if you've heard of chakras. You've got the seven chakras. The root chakra, the sacral, the solar plexus, the heart chakra, the throat chakra, the third eye and the crown. And the chakra is basically, you know, an Ayurvedic understanding of the movement of energy which moves along the spinal column and affects all parts of the body physiologically in its wake. And, you know, the root chakra is all about survival and safety. The sacral chakra is all about sexual creation and creativity. The. The solar plexus is all about personal power. The heart chakra is obviously about, you know, love and compassion and acceptance. The throat chakra is about personal expression, being able to, you know, express ourselves appropriate, appropriately. The third eye is about our ability to be intuitive and to allow intuition to enter our body. And the crown chakra is essentially about our ascension to source energy or the creator of all creation. And when you look at money and money making, this is a very interesting thing. And I've done this at events myself in the past. When you do heart mapping, which is actually a thing you can do, and you can have a look at what your heart chakra is doing using specific guided, highly advanced scientific aids, you can have a look at what the heart's doing. And when the heart chakra is closed, your ability to create abundance financially is almost zero. So it's interesting that when you actually start to allow your work and your function to move in this direction, you find that just by being more present, by being more still, by being more loving, I'll just use that as an example of oneself, of the world around us, of the people within it, the flora, the fauna, etc. You'll normally find that winds will find you almost by mistake. Seriously, people be like, fuck, you wouldn't fucking believe it. You know, this happened. Really. You know, when I find out what people have been doing up until that point, it's. It's of no surprise to me. I have a little smile to myself and move on. But you know, people, like I say, they spend too much time looking without and not enough time looking within. So creating space and having stillness, I would say is the most important aspect for the progression of any person in the world, not just fathers.

Yeah, it's incredible, mate. It's something that we promote a lot inside of rdm. Not, not push. We don't, we don't force, but we definitely promote. We call it. Yeah, creating space as well. And it's a, it's an incredible thing because you can't lose, mate. Like I said, there's always a gift, whether it's, I'm going, awesome, keep on this path, keep going, mate. Or hey, I need to readjust. Or course correct here. What's happening? Where am I? And like you said, opening your mind and allowing you to explore yourself, and there's, there's so much power in that, Shan. And I think the big thing for me that I really try and drive home in my own life, and I'm not perfect by any means, I don't want to be. That doesn't exist. But it's connection. People appear to be on such low levels, connected to a million different things, but they're not even connected to themselves.

That's right. We're the most connected we've ever been and we're the least connected we've ever been. It's crazy, isn't it? Absolutely it is. You know, and I, I think that, you know, connections would I seek. That's just me though, you know, I think that's a really, a really personal thing. But all people feel good for connection. It's funny though, you know, just barking up that sort of love tree, you know, just as a key example for you, I've seen people, and I'm talking academics who probably be the ones that boo hoo some of this conversation, but people who have gone, right, you know, I need to go and lose weight. And you know what? I actually heard this, actually heard an example only a couple of weeks ago on the ATP podcast. You know ATP, the supplement company? Yeah. And Matt Leg was on there using an example even for him when he was talking about. It's on the Ben Greenfield podcast, who's one of the top trainers in the world. They're interviewing Ben Greenfield and Matt said something that interests me in there and he said something about the fact he'd always been overweight and that he'd spent lots of periods of time, you know, trying to lose weight, you know, going into the gym, put on the death metal, smashing out heavy weights and big sets and you know, counting calories and all the rest of it and really achieving not too much. And then he's, you know, he's gone in. I remember whether it was him talking about himself, but I think it was him talking about himself where he chose to turn that energy to, you know, a self disgust and self reproach into, you know, a self love and a gentleness. And the results that he achieved in fat loss was significantly higher, like significantly lost something like, you know, like 28 kilos or something in a short period of time, you know. And even when you're talking about making space, I know that a lot of dads listening may not have time to stick their feet up the wall, or I should say don't make time to stick their feet up the wall and, and meditate for 10 minutes. But they do have time to do whatever physical training that you suggest they do because they see the value in that. And just as an example there, when I train, I use my training as two things actually. I use it as a time to be mindful. So as I'm performing a movement, I'm actually being present. This is what's happening in my body right now. And right now this is all that matters. And that's very important just being in that moment. But the second Thing that I do when I'm training is I use it as a moment of gratitude, you know, and I'm blessed with perspective here because I've treated a lot of people who aren't, well, you know, but how much do you think the bloke rolling down the road in the wheelchair would love just being able to warm up in a frog squat position before he does his training? You know, so when I'm in my frog squat position or any position I'm doing before I train, just warming myself up, moving my joints, I just, you know, mutter under my own breath how grateful I am for a body that performs and functions so efficiently and so effectively. I just give gratitude for that body, you know, and the same thing when I'm doing my stretch, you know, like, I've had many years of just lifting ridiculously heavy weights and then walking out of the gym with a protein shake like everyone else. But, you know, these days when I. When I train, I'll always take that 10 to 15 minutes at the end to, you know, really focus on mobility work. And when I'm doing that mobility work, I use it, once again, as a time to be highly, highly gracious for the fact that I've just had a body which has just been able to do so well. I'm nearly 44 years of age. I don't have any dysfunctions. My body moves effortlessly and without pain. My joints are really good. I'm just grateful for it. So I thank that body. I try to make sure I have that connection with my body where I'm just grateful for the fact that it does a good job at what it does. And being able to even just have a small change in attitude when we're doing exactly the same thing makes a big difference. Same thing with work, Al. I've had that many people over the years who I might be treating for depression, you know, and you'll. You'll go through their life, I fucking hate my job, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'll say, okay, what do you do for work? Oh, you know, I work, you know, in an accounts department in a big place in Sydney. Okay, cool. I say, does anyone put a gun to your head every morning when you got to get out of that job? What do you mean? Does anyone put a gun to your head? Do you have to go there? Oh, yeah, I have to go there because I've got to pay my mortgage. You don't have to pay your mortgage. What do you mean? You could sell your house, get the money out of it. Go and rent somewhere and have no mortgage. You could sell your house, get the money out of it, downsize something else, or go to a different suburb and have half the mortgage or have no mortgage whatsoever. My point is you're making choice every single day about how you choose to live. So when you go to that job in Sydney, you be fucking gracious for the fact you've got that. Because you choose to go there every day. Don't whinge and bitch. You got to be at the train station at 5:15 to catch the train and it's cold. That's your fucking choice. If you don't like that, do something else. And this is the thing, a lot of people allow themselves to get into a state of disempowerment that doesn't actually exist. Because we're always empowered, we always make decisions. When you can allow people to go, ah, fuck, you're right. And all of a sudden they start thanking that job, you know what I mean? Wow, I'm so grateful that I've got a job to go to in Sydney. How cool is this? Things start to change. There's enormous shift for people when there's a change in simple attitude and perspective around life. So I've seen all sorts of big changes like that. I had a lady not. Not all that long ago, Al, where she. She was really down on life and everything was shit and the main issue was her job. And I said, what's wrong with your job? And she said, I've just got this horrible asshole boss, she's a real nasty person and blah, blah, blah. And I just feel completely inadequate. Nothing is good enough. I get no job satisfaction whatsoever. And I said, okay, you know what? Tell me about this lady. And she told me about this lady. She's not married, and they call her the cat lady. She's got three cats, no kids, nothing at all. She's sort of in her early 60s. And I said, I want you just to do me a favor and I want you to close your eyes. And I got her to close her eyes and I said, I want you to put yourself in this lady's position. What's her name? Her name's Karen. Great. I need you just to put yourself in Karen's position for a moment. So you're sitting at your desk there. You're early to mid-60s, you're on an average wage. You probably don't have enough money to retire at 65, let alone at all. You don't have a husband, you've got no children, you've got Three cats and the people at work call you the cat lady. How are you feeling in yourself? And she was giving me words like demoralised and just down on life and blah, blah, blah. I said, great. I said, how's your perception towards Karen right now? She said, I actually feel a little bit of sadness for Karen, you know, I feel a disappointment for her. And I said, great. I said, when you go into work tomorrow, I said, I want you to go in and I want you to knock on her door and I want you to offer to buy her a coffee. Now. She said, she told me that there's like eight staff in the. In the place and every morning they go to Gloria Jean's and they take it in turns to buy the coffees for each other. I said, I want you to go in. I said, I want you to knock on the door and ask Karen if she wants a coffee. Oh, I can't do that. She'd never want a coffee. I said, just do it. Anyway, she knocks on the the door the next day.

What?

She opens the door. Would you like a coffee?

Nah.

Shut the door off she goes, I got her to do it every day, Al, for like a week and a half. It was a very interesting turnaround. After about a week and a half, she knocks on the door, enter, opens the door and she says, karen, I'm just seeing if you'd like. Why do you keep fucking asking me if I want a coffee? Says Karen. To which she says, well, you know what? I'm just trying to be kind of, we're going out to get drinks for everyone else. I've realized that no one ever asks you, and that doesn't really sit well with me. So I'm just trying to be compassionate. Karen has a complete change in demeanor. Puts the pen down, takes the headphones off, and she says, you know what? Get me a small hot chocolate skim milk. So old love goes down, gets her the small hot chocolate skim milk, comes back, gives her the coffee. Within three weeks out of doing this, she's getting invited over to Karen's house to have dinner. They become good friends. They've got an understanding between each other. She can't believe how amazing Karen is, and Karen can't believe how amazing she is. And it's simply because no one gave each other the time. People come from a place of closed heart chakras. People came from a place of zero compassion and, you know, chose instead to continue the reality of the story they told themselves. Everyone was miserable, and now these people are happy, friendly, and that's what humanity requires. The world needs more of that. And simple changes in attitudes, simple changes and understanding and time for oneself, it'll change everything.

And doing it across the board, it's. It's got to have phenomenal results. It can't not make when. Because what we're. What we're doing is expressing energy. And again, like I say, family, self and service. Do you love yourself? Do you have that gratitude? On the same. Like when I train, that's like creating space for me. And I actually found when I got my leanest was not when I was training my hardest with CrossFit, which was funny, which you spoke about a short while ago with that fellow on that podcast. But also family and service. And we don't. We don't have to get up, Shannon. We get to. And that's the big thing that I've started to realize when you combine that with 1 in 400 trillion sperm, that being the odds, it's a fucking miracle we're even here talking right here, right now with this level of technology, which a lot of the times is not being used to be more connected to those around us. But it's very interesting when you see what you can become when you first be that and express that. Just like the story what you shared there, mate. Very powerful. Very powerful stuff, man. And I couldn't agree more with all that. And I've experienced that firsthand in all areas of my life, both for the good and the bad.

And we haven't spoken once about chicken and broccoli. It's funny how. Although how the nutritionist in me gets completely dampened until the basics of humanity are taken care of first. You know, so many people get themselves caught up in what they eat and how they move and all the rest of it. And while all that has intrinsic value, there's. There's no two way about it. There's a purpose behind what we do and how we live that we've really got to answer first in my eyes. And I've seen that mistake over and over and over again. And it's funny how things just completely rewire when that relationship with oneself develops. And often what we need is the fastest way to get what we need is to offer it to someone else. If you feel that you're not getting enough recognition, you know, give recognition, you'd be surprised how fast it comes flowing back to you. But, yeah, you know, let's just. Let's not drag on too far. I know I've spoken probably more than you've Wanted me to. But I think that the simple message is there and clear and the dads will be able to get whatever they can out of today's episode. And if anyone would like any further knowledge on anything else, well, then we can explore that for them as well.

Oh, definitely, mate. And it's not. I've appreciated you giving, giving the time, mate, and investing that. It's something that I'll actually listen to this again and again because there's so many little gold nuggets in there for me. And you know, it's, it's a powerful message what you're sharing, Shannon. I couldn't agree more with it, mate. And it's, it's hard, like takes balls for you, man, to do this and be here. Because like you said in the disappointments you've seen in any industry, let alone your own, it could be very easy to go for the simple, quick, easy option as a nutritionist to go, well, let's just do this, this and this. And she'll be right, mate. But with the depth comes the width in purpose, meaning fulfillment, achievement, contribution, all of the above. And I just want to say, mate, I feel blessed and grateful because I just want to share this with you guys as we wrap this up for our first of 30 episodes we'll do with Shannon. I met Shannon when I was coming through. I just opened up my gym and I was looking to become an elite athlete, which was filling a big void that I had in my life because I felt like it was taken from me with nine operations over a six year period in rugby league and not making any money, having to sell my home and my relationship with Kryn being on the rocks because of all these instabilities and insecurities I had in myself because I was in a competitive environment where ego was the driving force and you have to be the fucking man. Especially with the Dragons. And it was a hard time for me. And when I met Shannon and started to focus on subconsciously as well, it's fucking crazy, isn't it, mate? It's so powerful, you don't even know half the times it's. It's there, but you see it after the fact. It's there, but you see it after the fact. And for me, I looked right now like something drew me to you and you just gave me free product. I don't know how or why. I was at a competition in Gosford, I wasn't even competing and you gave me some cell charge and protein powder and the energy that you gave me and obviously it Must have been a reciprocal from what you felt from me built this relationship. And guys, this led to me not only flourishing in myself and plenty of setbacks as we all have learnings, learning lessons. It led to me getting my first house, connecting, living, moving up the coast. I would not have had that, mate, if I didn't meet you in terms of myself with Corinne. And you know what we need to work on. If I didn't have you, I wouldn't. And then, and look, make no mistake, like Shannon contributed to this for me, guys, it's not that I look outwards or inwards, it's a collective of both. And what we connect to that has led to the changes because I do take ownership over that as well, of course. But mate, I can't believe how much just being connected and investing a specific type of energy and then how that attracts and draws us into each other's lives. I don't know if I've had the same effect on you, mate, but you certainly had a big effect in my life. And it's very interesting how when you have that connection, the opportunities present themselves. Speaking to you about real dad movement before I even started. I've done dad programs and worked with fathers for like 15 years or over 15 years. But when we spoke about this now, it was incredible that I actually went to you as for guidance and I guess a consultation in what I felt was lacking and missing in the world. Not about macho men or masculinity, but helping a man actually discover the balance that he can have in himself with his energies both masculine and feminine. And here it is now, mate, you're growing again. So I just want to say thank you as well, Shannon, because you've given me the opportunity to change my life incredibly because of, you know, how you choose to live and express yourself. And it's, it's, it's a refreshing gift, mate, that even though it's been nearly 10 years, that feel like it keeps on giving.

It's a pleasure, Alan. I've enjoyed the talk and you know, it's been. Yeah, it's good. It's always good to reflect too. You know, it's something we all learn from and. No, it's been nice, mate. Thanks for the call.

Outstanding, mate. And thank you guys for tuning in. Whether you listening to this or watching this, I'll see if I can post this on YouTube as well. But you know, if the guys, whoever wanted to reach out, if I wanted to get some more informational background. Shannon, is there any information or details or anything that you wanted to share, Mate.

Mate. Not really, Al. No, I know I should say yes, but I've really, I've really backed away from the need to market myself these days. You know, I've had all the websites and you can look me up and there'd be all sorts of impressive things about who I've done and what I've treated and testimonials. But these days I, you know, I sort of just try to work more organically within groups of people that I know. I'm not big on social media. However, people can obviously look me up. Shannon Brenton on social media, if you want to see any of our travel stuff from our time around Australia, there's a Facebook and an Instagram page called the Traveling Wellness Show. So if you want to get a bit of a sticky beak on there, you can. But all in all, mate, yeah, I'm not really after anything. I don't do talks like this to, you know, I don't want any more work. I don't want to do any more consultations. So please don't call me for consults. I just prefer to have the chats and if we have another chat, we have another one. And that's all well and good. I'd rather meet some of the dads in person one time, you know, and do a live event or something than talk to people on the phone. But now, look, I'm here if people want me, mate. But I, yeah, I'm sort of trying to take a backseat these days.

Sure, mate. And that's what I, that's what I mean, don't, don't hassle Shannon, right? Just, I mean, get, if you want to get some more value, because that, I like that your podcast show and all the information there, there's information and value out there if you guys want to really dive into or sink your teeth into a little bit more of.

And there's also the Traveling Wellness show podcast as well, if people want to listen to that. I did a, I did a great podcast while I traveled Australia where I sat down with all the people that, that I was connected with and had some amazing talks. I've got, you know, doctors on there. I've, I've got, you know, Mundine. I did all Mundine's diets for him with his fights with Danny Green. So I did like, post diet, post fight talks with him, which are all really in depth and display sides of people like him that you might not know of. I did a great one with Kelly Slater over in Margaret river sitting on his bedroom floor at midnight and that was a really, a really good one that I like to do. I've done Chef Pete Evans and in Sydney at his house and so I've got some great stuff in there. People want to sort of, I guess hear more from me. But yeah, that's probably about it.

Yeah. Thanks again for joining us, mate and give us the time and thank you guys for also investing your time. I hope you got a lot of value out of this. Definitely go and listen to it again because you'll find that there's opportunity for you to be more connected with yourself and find that you can actually get more in life by doing less. Less is more when it comes to connection and stillness and I guess realignment with whatever it is that you want to express in your life because it's such a busy, crazy world. Thanks again, Shannon. Really appreciate it, mate.

Thanks, Al. Anytime.

Cheers, guys.