1. For the Sake of the World, Be Selfish

Welcome to Builders of a Better World podcast, a space for depth, clarity, and honest conversation where presence matters more than performance. Let's begin. Today's episode is a condensed intro into what Builders does and the contents of my book, Audacious Authenticity: Building a Better World is Building Inner Wealth. I consider myself exceptionally wealthy. And I would love to share any and all of my wealth with you. My message for you here today is: be selfish and learn all you can. Builders is here to help. My name is Ashlea, and I am here with you in this moment to honor my role in this world as a positive influence, willing to share a massive collection of knowledge turned into wisdom. I have written a book. Started this podcast and formed a community-oriented entity along with workshops and course offerings, all with the intention to be of service. By compiling my life's work up until this point as it pertains to self-mastery and intentional transformation with science-based resources, Builders of a Better World has offerings being provided for anyone and everyone to share in. And I do hope you join us. BUILDERS hosts gatherings and designs programs to help humans thrive by understanding their creative states and learning to be their most joyfully authentic selves. Essentially, I advocate for being the most selfish one can possibly be. I myself am very selfish, and here's what I mean. We've all heard the phrase, there's truly no selfless act. And it's true. But what does that mean? At its core, the idea suggests that every action a person takes, even one done purely for the sake of helping someone else, also creates an internal experience for the giver. When we act with kindness, compassion, or generosity, we inevitably feel something in return, meaning alignment, relief, connection, purpose, or even simply the satisfaction of acting in accordance with our values. This doesn't diminish the goodness of the act. It reveals something deeper. All giving is a cycle, not a one-way transaction. All service nourishes both the giver and the receiver. In spiritual or psychological terms, humans are wired to experience fulfillment when contributing to others. Acts of service activate the brain's reward center, Releasing bonding hormones and reinforces a sense of identity and belonging. We feel more like ourselves, more connected, more purposeful when we show up for the world. So the philosophy is this: every outward action has an inward echo, also vice versa. Every act of kindness feeds something inside us— peace, integrity, compassion, or connection. We give because giving feels right, aligned, or meaningful. We help others in ways that also honor our own humanity. This does not mean we are selfish in a traditionally used negative sense, implying we are taking for ourselves and leaving others without. It means that humans and the universe operate through reciprocity, not separation. Selflessness in the truest sense becomes impossible because we cannot act outside of our own consciousness. We cannot escape the inner meaning created by our choices. We cannot help but receive something emotionally, spiritually, or energetically from the acts we perform. In other words, there is no self— in other words, there is no such thing as a selfless act because every act is also a mirror reflecting who we are. What we value and the inner world we are choosing to build. This is why caring for others is also caring for ourselves, and it's why we can only care for others once we care for ourselves, and why builders of a better world is always an inward-to-outward process. To speak about the phrase, there is no truly selfless act, through the lens of energy or vibration, especially as it pertains to science, The idea that there is no truly selfless act becomes even more profound. Every action we take generates a frequency. Every intention carries a vibration. Every choice, whether spoken aloud or held quietly in our heart, creates a ripple in our internal and external worlds. Through the work of many brilliant minds that I reference in my book, This is now scientific fact. Even when we act purely out of love or compassion, that energy doesn't stop at the person receiving. It moves through us first. We feel the resonance of our own kindness. Our body, mind, and field respond to the vibrational integrity of doing what aligns with our soul. This is why there is no such thing as a purely selfless act. Energy cannot be given without being felt. You cannot raise another's vibration without lifting your own. Compassion emitted is compassion experienced. A selfless act still changes your energetic state. You receive coherence, peace, expansion, or a rise in frequency simply by acting from your highest self. In this view, when you comfort someone, your heart field synchronizes with others. 2 nervous systems attuning, both benefiting. When you give generously, you enter a frequency of abundance. Your field expands rather than contracts. When you offer kindness, your vagus nerve softens. It activates, softening your nervous system and raising your own vibration. When you serve yourself, you are then best fit to serve the world. When you step into the vibration of purpose, it is one of the highest states of being a human can possibly embody. Energy doesn't move in straight lines. It moves in loops, spirals, and echoes. So even the most altruistic act becomes a reciprocal energetic exchange, not because we seek something in return, but because it is impossible to participate in love without being literally touched by it. There is no truly selfless act because every act radiates outward and inward, elevating both the giver and receiver. This is the energetic truth behind service kindness, and creation. You cannot build a better world for someone else without building one inside yourself at the same time. Often, and in many traditions or teachings in both ancient and present-day societies, when we intend to accomplish the fullest or truest knowing of oneself, it is presented or spoken about pertaining to concepts or endeavors like enlightenment. Across many lineages, the pursuit of enlightenment is framed as an ascent into a pristine, neutral consciousness, an exalted state in which the messier textures of being human are gradually pared away. There are many examples of ideas or practices that encourage a human evolution with a comparable, not-so-human-like ultimate objective. Whether in Stoic apatheia, as Stoicism trains us to mute passion in favor of rational serenity, or Buddhist non-attachment, as it urges liberation from craving and aversion. There's also Avaita's dissolution of ego, or New Age ascension models implicitly framing the high state as some kind of purified, nonjudgmental consciousness that transcends the turbulence of being human. These teachings often idealize the removal of anger, desire, fear, jealousy, or attachment, treating them as impurities when they are, of course, integral facets of the human psyche. Humans by definition are, after all, imperfect. Yet the Zen monk aims to still every ripple of thought, and the yogi seeks sattvic purity, and the mystic appears to Witness rather reality rather than preference, aversion, or personal narratives. Across systems, the directive is similar: purge the lower emotional spectrum to attain a rarefied, arguably inhuman-like way of being. Each practice of these teachings in its own language casts negative emotion, raw desire, fear, jealousy, and attachment as shadows to be purified or transcended. The implied ideal is a kind of celestial neutrality, a witness of creation, but untouched by the friction of human feeling. But in chasing these immaculate consciousnesses, we risk mistaking spiritual refinement, or as I call it, the study of knowing one's true itself, for human erasure, forgetting that our humanness in all its intensity and imperfection is not an obstacle to transcendence, but rather the very terrain through which it is meant for us as humans to become realized. You can accomplish a Christ-like stillness unshaken by human volatility. Christ himself was human. There is an example to be led by, of course, but only with what the genuine understanding of what it means to emulate such higher wisdom. How do we access that higher wisdom? I know there's a way. The book I've been writing, as well as the curriculum and principles used for Builders, is about thriving as a human in a society That then inspires more higher vibrating energies and emotions. We are meant as humans to live to the fullest, all-encompassing human existence. We are meant to learn and understand all of it. That's why empathy is possible for us. Higher wisdom is accessible and available to us even in our embodied human form. Simply by learning how becomes the intention. We work with our humanness. The present moment is all there is, and presently we are humans inhabiting a 3-dimensional reality. Learn the laws of this world and what they actually mean. I've sought out intentionally to learn how the rules of living in this physical place as a human actually works. The universe operates by laws, seen and unseen, physical and metaphysical. These laws are— Constant across scales, they govern galaxies and human hearts alike. To live consciously is to learn the laws and work with them rather than against them. Understanding them brings mastery. Builders being a collective, we strive to achieve unified consciousness. All of us being our best, most highestly vibrating versions of ourselves is what creates the best world. There is a science-based approach to our way of establishing and cultivating a sense of thriving in this life. There is so much information available to us. Knowledge then matures into wisdom when it informs perception, shapes behavior, and expands compassion. This is embodying higher wisdom. Another piece of knowledge offered for you here today is understanding identity, but not as we are encultured to know it, but rather as Audacious authenticity. Authenticity is your truest identity. It isn't something you need to earn, it's something you remember. The journey to reclaim it requires recognizing all the forces that have pushed you away from yourself and making the conscious choice to return home. The good news is this: authenticity is not destroyed by abandonment. It is only hidden. And when you start removing the layers, you find that the real you has been there all along, quiet, steady, and patiently awaiting your return. What is authenticity? Authenticity is the alignment of your inner truth with your outer expression. It is the courageous act of living, speaking, and creating in accordance with who you truly are beneath the conditioning Beyond the performance and before the external approval. At its core, authenticity means being honest, not just with others, but with yourself. It is knowing what you value, feel, need, and believe, and having the integrity to act from that place, even when it's inconvenient, uncomfortable, or unconventional. To be authentic is to be whole, congruent, Conscious. There is a measurably biological coherence to authenticity. There is a measurably biological coherence to authenticity. From a neurobiological standpoint, authenticity is a state of coherence where your heart, mind, and body are all in alignment. When you speak and act from your truth, your nervous system relaxes, your heart rate stabilizes, and your brain enters higher frequency patterns such as alpha and gamma brainwaves. Research from the HeartMath Institute and other studies confirm that authenticity is not just felt, it is measurably healthier for the body. Now that you've been given just the tip of the iceberg for what our community offers, and as you now understand that building a better world is an inward-to-outward process, And the entity founded is more than a nonprofit. It is a living community, a collective of people intended to thrive as their best selves through creativity and conscious growth. It is designed with inclusivity to bring all people together to practice the art of genuine self-care, emotional awareness, and authentic expression as sacred tools for transformation. and living in joy. There is no doubt that building a better world begins from within. It starts with tending to the inner landscape, cultivating joy and presence, so that what we build on the outside reflects the harmony and wholeness. Through movement, art, music, and mindful connection, we teach that creativity is alignment in motion, and that caring for oneself, meaning honoring your own intention to live in your truest joy, is not selfish. It is the foundation of being of service to others. Our community gathers as a modern temple of lighthearted learning and soulful restoration, where each person is seen as both the student and the teacher, both the builder and creation. We explore what it means to live in alignment with our highest selves, to act with compassion, and to express rather than suppress, and to build Rather than break. Dr. Wayne Dyer, from his work in interpreting the Tao, states in his book titled Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, I quote, there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way, end quote. At Builders for a Better World, every dance, every conversation, and every act of kindness becomes a brick in the architecture of a new humanity. Rooted in love, authenticity, and conscious creation. Together, we are not just changing lives. We are remembering who we truly are and co-creating a world that reflects that truth. We can all be happy. Let's thrive as humans. Learn knowledge, embody the wisdom, and for the sake of the world, be selfish. More chapters and topics from my book written to help others build inner wealth, as well as program content with builders, is yet to come in future episodes. If you would like to join us as a guest in our future episodes on this podcast, please follow the link below. Like, comment, share, and build. And as always, speak true with love and peace. Join me next time. Let's build a better world. Thank you for joining us here at the Builders of a Better World podcast. Please share, subscribe, comment, and be sure to pass this episode along for anyone who may need it. See you next time.