373: How To Raise Your Vibration + Create Your Own Reality with Aaron Doughty

Namaste. It's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the highest self podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. I hope you are feeling amazing today. I am feeling good. I have been doing a lot of pilates and slower movement, getting really into my body and it feels so just interconnected. I think sometimes the way we move, we can do it in a self loving way or a self punishing way. And sometimes doing really intense workouts, hit trainings, all of these things, it could feel kind of punishing on the body. So I have been really tuning into moving slow articulation, focusing on my balance, all of these little subtleties of my body and it feels really good. So how are you doing if it's your first time listening? Welcome. My name is Sahara Rose, Ancient soul in a modern body. And I'm so excited to have you here on today's episode because we're gonna dive deep like we always do. And this episode is a really juicy one because it's with a friend of mine, Aaron Doughty, that some of you guys may know from YouTube. He is an epic YouTube content creator, teaches really on law of attraction, manifestation, raising your vibration. And we have been, you know, trying to connect and we have been watching each other's content, trying to connect. And then finally I happened to be in Vegas. We ended up hanging out, talking for hours and then diving into backto back podcasts. So you catch my interview on his podcast and this is his interview on mine. So I love this conversation because it's truly our authentic stories and journeys that have allowed us to create our own realities. I think the number one question that I get is how do you do it? Like, how do you go from feeling confused to clear? How do you go from feeling overwhelmed to having a sense of direction and purpose? And I love having different people on the podcast to share about their own dharma discovery journeys because we can see the parallels. For example, in my book discover your Dharma, which is available wherever books are sold, if you just go on iamsaharrose.com Dharma you will find it right there. So in the book, I share these five stages of Dharma discovery, and these are these five stages I happen to see over the thousands of people I interviewed and worked with that they're phases that we go through in our own process of understanding the truth of who we are. So these five phases are self awareness, self improvement, spiritual awakening, dharma discovery, and then dharma embodiment. And as Aaron was sharing his story of going from feeling like he wanted to be a content creator on YouTube, not knowing what he was supposed to do and then just deciding, you know what, I'm just going to post a video every single day for a year and see what happens. You can just so clearly see him move up each of these stages of dharma discovery to now have over a million subscribers on YouTube and be teaching so many people fully in his power bringing spirituality to the world. So it's such a beautiful reminder when we can see these stories in action and take them beyond theory and really see our own experiences echoed in someone else. So there are so many nuggets and gems that you're going to receive from this conversation. You're going to really see how it could look like for someone to take a concept into reality and then the shifts that we go through internally, the fears, the imposter syndrome, the family stuff, all of the things that may be holding us back and how we can actually move through each of these stages despite the noise happening in the world outside of us and continue to tune into our intuition and move closer to our truth. So I love this conversation. I know you're going to love it as well. I'm also gonna put the video of it on my YouTube channel if you wanna check it out. And without further ado, let's welcome Erin Doughty to the Highest Self podcast. And before we get started, I'd love to share with you this special offer. Are you ready to finally discover your soul's purpose? The big reason why you are here? Well, I've created a free masterclass experience for you where you will discover what your Dharma is and how it may be different from your career. How to navigate through having multiple passions, different ways to transition into your dharma, ways to overcome people pleasing and caring what other people think. My number one tool whether knowing a decision is right for you and journal prompts on the different types of resistance and how they show up for us. All of this is available for you for free in my Discover your soul's purpose masterclass. You can head over to IAM saharrose.commasterclass to join today. Again, that's I am saharrose.commasterclass and you can find that link in the show notes. I'm super excited to see you in there. So I know a lot of you are diving deep into your dharmas, your soul's purposes, but focus can be a struggle. This is why I highly recommend checking out Quali mind. This is a completely plant based and natural nootropic supplement that is scientifically formulated to nourish the brain with over 28 premium ingredients to quickly enhance focus, memory and mental clarity, all while supporting long term brain health. Some of the ingredients include bacopa, rhodiola, ginku, mucuna and other nutrients and ingredients. It works by supporting the prefrontal cortex activity as well as the neurotransmitter signaling and neuron and synaptic neurons function overall giving you more focus. I really love their Quality of Mind caffeine free version which is super good and helpful when I'm especially writing books. So you can head over to Neurohacker.com and use code Sahara for 15 off your order. That's Neurohacker.com with coupon code Sahara for 15% off your order, which you can apply to any of their products and discounts there. You can also find that link in the show Notes Welcome Erin to the Highest Self podcast. It's so great to have you here.

Thank you for having me on.

The first question I'd love to ask you is what makes you your highest self?

What makes me my highest self is when I'm doing what I'm passionate about. I think that when it comes to our vibration or just how we're showing up in the world, when we're doing what we're passionate about, we're in our highest frequency and we're in a flow state and things just happen more synchronistically. So for me it's when I'm making content, when I'm making videos, when I'm speaking, when I'm talking about things I'm passionate about, those normally are the things that make me feel like I'm in my highest self.

I love that so much and I can so relate because I love doing all of those things too. And something you just shared with me. We're here at your place and I'm so grateful to be here. And something you just shared with me that was really interesting and I'd love for you to explore more on is. Before you were doing this work you realized I want to be a full time YouTube content creator but instead of what most people do is like oh I wanna do that but I can't cause I have my 9 to 5 job and I don't have time. You just started being it.

Yeah.

So can you share more about that?

Yeah, absolutely. So when I first started on YouTube I was at the time working at Barneys New York here in Vegas selling women's shoes and before that I worked at Nordstrom's in women's shoes. So I worked in women's shoes for about eight years. And I always knew that that wasn't what I was passionate about. And I went through a spiritual awakening back in 2012 that really changed my life. I, at the time, was working at Nordstrom's in women's shoes. I had a lot of patterns in my life that kind of were residuals of childhood. I had, like, a controlling manager that kind of reminded me of an abusive ex stepmom. I was taking something called Adderall, which is what they give kids with adhd. And the side effects of Adderall were I couldn't eat very much, couldn't sleep very much. So at the the end of the day, I would go home and smoke cannabis. So I was constantly kind of feeling like I was at the whims of, like, these different substances that I felt like I needed. And I felt just a lot of resistance. I was working a job I wasn't passionate about and wasn't really where I wanted to be. But then I learned meditation, and when I learned how to meditate, I started observing my thoughts, and I started to become aware of the correlation between what I was thinking and what I was feeling and experiencing in life. And it opened up this whole wormhole, like this rabbit hole I started going down, and it completely changed my life. I had some experiences in meditation that kind of became aware of us being eternal spiritual beings, having temporary human experiences. And I then went through a process of, like, forgiving my ex stepmom in a way, and the pain I went through. And when I did that, within a week of doing that, that manager that I had got fired, it was like, we tried getting her fired for years, but it wouldn't happen just because she was so. Had so much control and she was protected by upper management, you know, like corporate politics. But after that experience, I was like, whoa, there's like, the spirituality. My thoughts. I could see how my thoughts were creating my reality. And from that point going forward, a lot of this stuff happened. I think I fell out of. A lot of people didn't understand me. You know, I immediately was going down this spiritual kind of, like, rabbit hole, and a lot of my old friends kind of fell away, and my dad didn't really understand me, and I felt kind. But nonetheless, I kept just learning spiritual concepts and watching YouTube videos and listening to seminars and reading books. And then years later, I was working at Barneys New York. And for the longest time, I knew that I wanted to share these. You know, I spent all day studying these concepts, and I was like, how can I share these, you know, with other people? But I was so afraid of going on YouTube. I was afraid of what other people would think of me. I had all these excuses in my mind. I need the perfect camera equipment. I need to wait till I learn just a little bit more concepts or something. And for literally like two or three years, I didn't get on YouTube. But then what happened is when I was working at Barneys New York, I just started getting more and more resistance where I broke up with an ex girlfriend, I moved back in at my dad's house, and I was like, you know, I'm gonna like make this YouTube thing a thing, and I'm gonna really commit to it. So what I did is even though I was working 40 hours a week at Barneys New York selling women's shoes, I decided to start making YouTube videos every single day, no matter what, until I was a full time YouTuber. And there was this download I had when I was in my hallway at my dad's house. And I just had this download that if you make a video a day, every single day over the next year, your life will be totally transformed. You won't even recognize yourself. And I just felt that. So what I did is every single day, no matter what, I made a YouTube video online. And I didn't at first, I really didn't know what I was gonna be talking about before that. I made one video a month, maybe for two or three months, but they didn't go anywhere. Cause then I would stop or I would doubt myself. But I committed to daily videos. And it wasn't always easy. Cause sometimes I'd be working at Barneys New York, I'd be closing, which means I got off at work at midnight. And then I'd go home, film a video, schedule the video the next day, make the thumbnail, go to bed, wake up early in the morning, do it all over again. It wasn't always easy, but I just committed to that vision. And what happened is over the course of a couple weeks, I had a video go viral. And the video that went viral was on, like, reprogramming the subconscious mind. And basically I started seeing and like experiencing, oh, this is what videos do well. And I would like ask the audience what kind of videos they wanted me to make and stuff. And I learned how to tune and kind of like how much value could I put out with YouTube videos. And from there it went from like 2 or 3,000 subs to like 100,000 subs within like a couple months. And Things started to explode. And within August of 2017, my last day of work was the Conor McGregor Mayweather fight. That was the last day I worked because I knew it was gonna be busy that day. It's a commission job. Yeah. It was one of the best feelings to put in my two weeks to know I never have to go to the 9 to 5 job again. But what I was telling you was that what really shifted in me is I realized that in order to make something I was doing part time, my full time, I had to vibrationally treat it as my full time, regardless of the outcome. I wasn't making videos necessarily even to get subscribers, because then I was doing something for an end result. I was doing it because it's who I choose to be. So making the videos. And then here's what happened. I started realizing that as I made these videos, I started to see myself differently. I used to always kind of be like this, you know, think a better thought. I would sit on the couch wanting to manifest stuff, and I felt a lot of like things weren't happening. And I used to view myself kind of as a lazy person. All of a sudden, people are reaching out, like, Aaron, how do you make so many videos? How is this so natural for you? And I started to rewire my self image. I'm like, oh, I'm a hard worker. I'm somebody that like, can make content that helps people. And it changed my self image. And that was more powerful than I think, than me just making the daily videos was that it changed the way I viewed myself. And as I went from one vibration, which was a 9 to 5 job, I hated selling women's shoes, complaining every day about how slow it was because retail was dying out more and more, having to deal with corporate politics and corporate bs, which sucked. And then all of a sudden I'm like, well, this is my reality. I'm taking action, thinking thoughts and feeling emotions equal to this reality. So if I want to bridge something else or I wanna create something else, I have to literally be a new version of me. So what I did is I just started wiring that in no matter what. And just as I kept doing that, eventually my reality shifted and it shifted very powerfully. So another little story about that is I realized I used to work a 9 to 5 job at Nordstrom's. And when I was there, I read a book called Psycho Cybernetics. You ever read that book? It's a book by Maxwell Maltz, I think is his name. He's a doctor. I think that's his name? Yeah. He would notice that his clients. He was like a plastic surgeon. He noticed that his clients wouldn't really change on the inside unless they changed their self image, even though they had outside work. So he kind of like popularized the idea of a self image. How do you view yourself? And I realized at the time I went into work every day selling women's shoes. And at the back, there'd be a list of the people that were the top sellers from the day before. And everyone's sales would be there. So I'd get to see how I compare against everybody else every single day about the last day sales. And I realized that I saw myself as an average employee. I was always right in the middle of the list. Wasn't at the top, wasn't at the bottom, was always right in the middle. So what I did is I applied that concept and I started to act, I started to feel, I started to show up as on the sales floor as a top salesperson. Within a couple days, I was consistently at the top of the list just by changing the way I viewed myself and then embodying a version of me that was a top salesperson I would talk about. I'd be, I think to myself, like, how does a top salesperson act? How many people do they greet? How do they smile at customers? How do they go above and beyond? You know, I started and that became my law of attraction playground. Because every day I started at zero. So I'd go in zero every day. And I could see how the energy dynamics went into what I was experiencing. So what is it like if I go in seriously trying to hit a $3,000 goal, getting paid 10% commission. So it's like 300 bucks a day. Not bad, right? But I'd be like, if I went in this day, and that was my intention and I was really focused on it, what were my results? What if I changed that intention and instead wanted to add value to other people? I wanted to really help people and get to know them. What is my results then? What if I go in and just want to have fun with the customer? What is my results then? So through these different energy dynamics, I was able to see what got the best results. That became what my YouTube channel was kind of founded on. I would talk about, you know, I wasn't some rich guy making YouTube videos. I was learning it. As I went on my journey to becoming abundant and successful, I would just share. This is what worked for me. Having fun with customers, like, joking around, being light, having this intention of Adding value. So I applied all that same concept towards my YouTube channel. How can I add value and have fun in videos if I'm too focused on the views? I'm like, this video has to get 100,000 views. It doesn't do well. But if I go in having fun and being loose and embodied and just being this version of me, because it's authentic, it does well, you know. So that became like the law of attraction playground that I then began to apply towards everything I was doing. But the self image work of changing the way I view myself to then be, it has been key for me in everything. And even now I'm like, known as a YouTuber. Not that there's anything wrong with being a YouTuber, but, like, now I want to venture off and do other things, you know, like start an app or, like, you know, build my business more. So that is challenging me to view myself differently, to hire a team to do, like, you know, to expand to this new level. So it's kind of interesting. But I've applied that towards everything I've done.

Mm, I love that story so much, resonating with all that you said and the embodiment factor. And, you know, something we talk about so much on the podcast of embodiment over information. You know, you could have so easily been like, okay, I'm just gonna study all this law of attraction stuff and, like, study it enough until my life changes. But, like, here you were in the situation of selling shoes and like, okay, let me try this and like, let me get the feedback and let me see how it goes. And I feel like so many of us, we, like, wait till we perfect something to try it. And you were really brave to actually, like, see your life as a L experiment that you could see. What does my thought, thinking this way create in my reality? What is it thinking that way? So that is so valuable that anyone could apply to anything in their life. Even, like, let me try today, saying 10 things I'm grateful for. Okay, let me try today, just going straight on Instagram, like, let's see what the results are from doing this. And also is amazing because I have these five stages of dharma discovery, Five stages that people go through and they're finding their purpose. And yours is like, to the T. It's like the self awareness that you first had of like, okay, something needs to shift. I'm not happy in this job. Self improvement, okay, let me learn meditation and, you know, get into my subconscious, et cetera, spiritual awakening, you know, which you went through in 2012. And, like, seeing that there's so much more out there than self development, like, taking these things and applying them and putting your YouTube videos up. And, like, just the process of you creating those YouTube videos for a year is what makes you a strong YouTuber. It's like, I think so many people think it's like, oh, I'm not good on camera, I'm not a good writer, I'm not a good this, I'm not a good that. It's like you doing it so much is what gives you the feed. If this was my first podcast, I would be fucking scared. You know, it's like, because I've done 400 of them that now it's like, I get to be a good podcaster because I've. I've learned and I've practiced. And then that stage five is Dharma embodiment of you living it. And it's not over. It's a mountain range, and it's continuing to deepen and deepen.

Yeah, 100%, yeah.

So I love that so much. And a question I have for you is if someone is looking out the results in their life and they're like, okay, I don't like these results, but I don't know, like, did I. How could I have manifested this? Like, this is so shitty. Like, how could I have created this? Like, what advice do you have for people with that?

So people that have created something in their life that maybe they're not happy about, it's really a gift to be aware that they are at a place in their life that they maybe don't want to be. Because most people are in the autopilot mind. They're thinking the same thoughts, feeling the same emotions, and doing the same things every day, and they're okay with it. They're totally fine, like, doing that every single day. Just going home at the end of the week and watching Netflix and then, like, going back to a job they fricking hate. But the moment you become aware of it is very powerful because then you can actually do something with it. And it's everything in life, I believe, has the meaning based on what we give it. So if people go in and they think, well, I've created this, you're still a powerful creator that's maybe created an experience you don't like, but taking responsibility for it and then saying and figuring out something new is the next step. And it's about then using that as leverage as motivation towards figuring out or trying something new. I know Joe Dispenza says a lot that you only create more of the known in doing the repetitive things you've always done. So if you want to create something new, you gotta step into the unknown. And for me, that was like, you know, making videos. And it's true, like when I started making videos, I was gonna make like a video a week. But I thought, okay, 52 videos a year if I do a video a week. But if I make a video a day, in a month and a half or two months, I will already have the experience of making videos for the whole entire year. And I got better and better and better, and then it became natural. And I always tell people, go look at my first. I leave all my videos up, go and look at my oldest videos. They're cringey, they suck. But that's a part of, that's just a testament that you're not gonna always have it all figured out. But if someone's feeling challenged or they're not understanding, I mean, our reality is a direct reflection of how we are being. So I had the harsh realization back when I was working that 9 to 5 job that I work a job where I go to work and complain about how slow it is to other coworkers. And something that motivated me is I worked with people that were 20 years older than me doing that same job. And I thought, well, is this my future? I could be making 60k a year. Not horrible money, but when you're not doing what you're passionate about, it's not worth it, you know. And I'm like, do I? I use that as motivation. So yes, it was kind of harsh, but realizing also that I allowed that reality to be there. Like I was. You know, you could say, I am going to a job I hate. I have to. You don't have to. You can choose not to go in tomorrow, but I have bills, I have this, I have that. Well, that's rationalization, keeping you where you are now. Luckily, a lot of people had this whole crazy situation at the beginning of 2020 with everything that happened. And when that happened, people were then challenged. And it's like, oh, now people couldn't work jobs that even they hated. And they may have been mad about it, but it was an opportunity, I think, a meaning that had no built in meaning. There are some people that then went after what they're passionate about. You know, the meaning is up to us, but the fact that we are aware of it is a gift that should be like a gift of awareness that should be rejoiced. And when I Woke up in 2017 and decided, I don't want to be working here anym. It was harsh. I didn't know how I was gonna do it, but I knew I didn't want what I had. And I realized that my thoughts, emotions and actions are equal to this reality. And I've allowed it. Whether I have to work, cause I have to pay bills and I have to do this. That's just rationalization that was keeping me safe. You know, if we get creative and we start taking action and we start like really letting go of our old self image, really letting go of what kept us safe. It was kind of I've made. Back in 2012, I went through an awakening and I went through that flighty spiritual awakening phase where you become so awoke that you're like, I can't have a 3D job anymore. So I was at Nordstrom's and I literally went into work one day and said it was getting in the way of me meditating on Sundays for these global activations to ascend the planet into the fifth dimension. So because it was getting in the way of that, I said, you know, this job just doesn't resonate anymore. I went into the work the next day, I quit. Just cold turkey quit. I also, my credit got fucked. Like a whole bunch of stuff happened. And it was because of this irresponsibility on my part of just kind of the spiritual flightiness that I think is very common. I see a lot of people go through. And then I went through like six months of just meditating every day. And luckily I lived at my mom, so I didn't have to worry. I kind of was kind of becoming like this kind of inactive person that was spiritually bypassing tension and being in the 3D world, you know, because I was so 5D and stuff. And I experienced the pain of that. And then after that, Even though in 2017 I'm going full time, I waited six months to go full time because I didn't wanna make the same decision. Even though I wasn't going to be so careless. I mean, I messed up my credit for years. Now my credit's good and I have like, I'm grateful cause it finally. All that crap fell off from 2012. But I was so irresponsible and so ungrounded. I felt so alone. And it was like a funny little thing that happened. But that in 2017 was like what was trying to keep me safe was like staying in the job. No, this is still safe. You're not gonna have to like, you know, for months I lived at my mom's for a while and then I had to live in these things called Emerald Suites. You ever heard of those? It's like the budget suite.

They stick them around.

Yeah, they're like these crappy, like a lot of, not everybody, but like there's a lot of drug dealers that live there. It's like crappy place to live. But I lived on the floor there for months because I wouldn't want to get a fricking job. And then eventually I was like, you know, I need to get back into the 3D or into the world and integrate. And then what I did is I applied at Barney's New York and got the job the same day because I had a five year resume at Nordstrom's and I was like a top seller towards the end there. But it's kind of a funny story of like ungroundedness but wanting to stay safe. But for me to jump out of the 9 to 5 job, it was me realizing, yes, it's not as safe jumping into something unknown, but staying safe in a job that I frickin hate is also not necessarily what I want. And I want to be one of these people I work with that that's, you know, 50 years old that hates with their fricking job, but they do it because it makes money. You know.

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Right.

So it's like, can I build myself up so I could be like, okay, I could see now if I quit my full time job, this could be a main thing. And then there's the accidental dharma, which, you know is also happening with you of, like, it's finding you. Like, you aren't even finding it. Like, you're like, I want to be a YouTuber, but, like, did you. So what I'm wondering is, did you know, like, I want to be a spiritual YouTuber and like, this is. No, you said, I want to be a YouTuber, so.

No, I did. I knew I wanted to be like, I watched like, Ralph Smart and some of these other people that were back in 2012, and I listened to their videos and I was like, you know, I have my own perspective on this. That's different. Not better necessarily, but just different. And what I did is I just decided to start making videos on, like, personal development. So I made a video on, like, three ways to find your purpose. It was my first ever video, and it was very cringy. I had a script that was like, next to my camera, and it was, like, very forced. And then the video after that was on Habits. Then eventually I was like, you know, I want to talk about the law of Attraction.

I'm dying with the scripts. Because I totally would do that on my first podcast too. Yeah, it's like, we don't feel comfortable, you know?

Yeah, it's like a safety mechanism.

Yeah, exactly.

Oh, I have this. But then it sounds kind of staged, right? Yeah. So I just started making videos. But then eventually I made a law of attraction video that got some steam. And people then were commenting, like, more Law of attraction videos. But basically what I did is I realized that every day on my lunch break, I would go and I'd watch different YouTubers. I'd watch, like, more 3D YouTubers, I guess you could say. But I watched like, Logan, Paul, Jake Paul, these big YouTubers, Roman Atwood, all these, like, big vloggers. And because they made daily videos, I would watch them every day on my lunch break. I'd go to Chipotle, I'd sit there and I would watch on YouTube every day, certain videos. So I thought to myself, well, if I'm in this pattern of watching, if they post every day, I watch every day. Cause it became a habit. So Casey Neistat, people like that. So I said, you know what? I'm gonna start making daily videos because I could become this for certain people. And that's kind of what intrigued me because I'm like, well, what are my patterns? You know, I watch the same YouTubers every day because they make daily videos. If they stop making daily videos, then maybe I'd fall off from watching them.

Yeah, I don't think they would be who they were if they didn't make daily videos.

Exactly. Yeah. And then. And then they got people into the pattern of watching them. So, yeah, through that kind of, like, seeing that pattern, I started to apply the same thing. What was the question again?

Yeah, if you knew it was gonna be a spiritual.

So, yeah, so then I just started getting feedback from people that said law of attraction videos or this, and it took on a life of its own. So what I would say is take the leap knowing that you won't get the next piece of information until you take the leap. So if you don't take the leap, then you'll never get feedback to tell you how can you change. And even now, I was known as the law of attract, like a law of attraction youtuber for probably a year and a half on YouTube. And I haven't made a law of attraction video in a long time. Not that I don't believe in it or whatnot, but I now like talking about, like, raising vibration and levels of consciousness. I think that my content has just kind of evolved past that. And there are so many people making law of attraction videos now that I just kind of like to do my own thing. But it's taken on a life based on what the audience wants and needs. But also what am I passionate about talking about? And at the time, I was passionate about the law of attraction. Then also became a good marketer. I learned Internet marketing. I learned how to, like, make thumbnails that got attention even though they may have been more edgy. But, like, I never would have thought I'd be learning, like, Internet marketing. I'm like, no, I'm a spiritual YouTuber guy, you know, But I learned that. And then it took my business from this to this, you know, and everything got better. So, yeah, it's like you had to. You sometimes on your. The roll to your purpose is you have to learn skills that maybe don't feel as natural, but they're just not natural. Cause they're unfamiliar. But once you learn it, like you and I were talking, you know, we had to learn how to navigate through social media, through creating content, through marketing, through Internet marketing, through having an email list. Like, we had to learn all this stuff and it's just part of our reality, you know, like, part of us. Maybe we would enjoy, like, meditating in a cave the rest of our life. But I think we're meant to be kind of like bridges for other people that are also, I think, a lot of our audience, just in general, because we're in a similar type niche, a lot of our audience are very powerful people that I think are meant to do kind of what we do. We're just kind of some of the first to go through that are then through our audiences, like, showing people, oh, this is possible for you to go full time doing what you love and to share your gifts with the world and to, like, empower other people. Because there's a consciousness shift happening on the planet, and this year, everything's falling apart because there's a new system being built. And by that system, I mean, like, a new energy that's here. And people are meant to be empowered to figure that out. But they will need to take the leap. They will need to trust that once they take the leap, then they get more feedback to know whether they're in alignment or not, or then they'll modify it. I still make videos. I just don't make the same type of videos I used to make, and I make less videos. And I'm doing other things because my path has changed. But my dharma, my path, it's merged a little bit, but it evolves through the action. Through the embodiment that you were saying.

Exactly. I think of it as like, you're on a highway with a flashlight, but you can only see the next six feet ahead. And I think so many of us, we try to, like, think our way to the end of, like, let me have like. Like, the mastermind and the business plan, and, like, think it all out. And then once you step in, it ends up being something so much different than what it is. It's like you can't think your way to your dharma. It's like, you can't. You can plan with your coach, the perfect soccer game, but then you get on that field, and it ends up being very different according to everything else that's happening. And I think also, like, sometimes we could set an intention for what we want, but then spirit has something else for us. Like, spirit was like, you were kind of open. You're like, I just want to create content and be in my flow and, like, raise the vibration of the planet. And then spirit was like law of attraction, like, in the form of people coming to you with these comments and wanting this. And you said yes. So it's like playing this like ping pong game with the universe of like, I'm taking action and I'm listening and I feel like I see a lot of people who are like the action, action, action, not listening, it's not working. Keep going through, keep busting. More motivation. And then I see a lot of people, it's like I'm just listening. I'm over here, you know, hitting the idea. Exactly. Yeah. So it's having that balance. I'd love to know, did you ever feel imposter syndrome?

Oh, for sure, yeah. Yeah. So even when I started on YouTube, like when I was first making videos, people, somebody made a. Like a. One of my first like negative comments was somebody that was like, you're copying Ralph Smart. And I like prided myself on having like my own original content. And even though we made similar, I guess, ideas or something like that. So the person that said I was like, I was like, I know I'm not like, I didn't even. Once I started making content, I stopped watching other content because I was so much of somebody that wanted to be like original. Even though we all pick up on similar vibration, energy and stuff and we all may have similar perspectives, you know, caring what other people thought was like a big challenge for me in the beginning because, you know, it's just like there was a part of me that really craved that validation and significance. And this goes back to shadow work too. I actually realized recently, I was telling you, I recently went to did some plant medicine in Costa Rica. I do it every year, kind of keep my ego check and stuff like that. And I realized that my attachment style to my audience was a result of my own mother wound where I craved attention and significance from my mom growing up. She was there up until I was about five or six. And then my ex stepmom came into the picture and we weren't allowed to see our real mom, but my mom was emotionally kind of going through a lot of. And I had this realization, you know, on plant medicine that my audience is a reflection of my own mother wound in the sense that I'm. Part of me wants to help people in the world and part of me does want to like add value, but another part of me felt like I needed that significance and validation because I was really proving it to other people. And also when I started, I mean, my dad thought YouTube was kind of crazy, didn't understand it, wanted me to be a lawyer. I had friends that every time, same, same, same thing.

Lawyer, living the same life, bro.

And then I had friends. I'd go to their party or, you know, I would go, like, a party or something. My friends were like, so what are you up to, Aaron? I'd be like, oh, I'm, you know, I'm making videos still and stuff like that. And glaze over their eyes, like, oh, yeah, good luck with that hobby. And then I became successful at it, and then they started coming around. We're like, whoa, this is really cool, you know? But up until that time, I really had to just trust my vision. I had to just kind of trust in this path and understand that this was, like, you know, in a way, that mother wound serves me. Even though I was chasing significance up until, like, maybe a year or two ago when I started realizing this and I stopped caring what people thought, my content became more authentic because I'm not need. I was needing attention, needing validation. So I'm making content that I think resonates with people instead of making content that was really authentic and raw. So that realization was, like, very powerful, like, a couple weeks ago. And I realized that I'm like, wow. Cause my buddy Victor and my friend Matt, they both have YouTube audiences, and they're like, coaches, and they realize that with their clients, they're so, like, not anxious, but kind of, like, they take responsibility for their results, and they're, like, anxiously attached to their clients because their moms were anxiously attached to them. So we were talking about this, and we realized that all of our purposes in the world and our audience was a reflection of our own attachment style with our moms. And for me, it was something I craved. And I was literally codependent on my audience. And even I was telling you some stories that I've had with certain, even, like, subscribers, for example, where I would attract sometimes, not always, but sometimes I'd attract very codependent people. And a realization I had is like, these people are codependent on me because I'm codependent on them. And it was just this deep, like, shadow realization where I had to go in and do the work on myself to, like, realize, you know, and really love my own inner child. And to realize that I need to focus more on being authentic and give myself the love that I crave, knowing that I'm not, you know, yes, I'm passionate about making videos, and it's my purpose and it's my dharma. But at the same time, or not just videos, but making content and sharing ideas. But I am also, like, worthy for just being me. You know, I don't need to get, you know, because if we lose that, then we lose our identity, you know, like who we are. And if, you know, it's like athletes that become paralyzed and they can't do. They lose their sense of identity because they can't do how they've identified themselves their whole life. So for me, becoming aware of that connection and that significance, that validation, it did serve me. You know, I built a million YouTube channel subscriber channel off that. But a lot of it was, yes, helping people, but also the shadow part of myself that was craving significance and love from my audience. And then I realized that and I was like, how can I be more compassionate towards my audience, but also towards myself? You know, So I know that was a lot of.

I mean, I so resonated because the exact same thing, but with my dad, because he was very like, you're never gonna make it. For me, it was a blogger. That's how I started 11 years ago and then writing a book. Like, all I wanted to do is write a book. And when I would tell people I'm writing a book, like, they're just like, okay, like, you're writing a book. Like, you know, someone joked, they were like, once you're an elderly, you start to write your book. Like, they thought it was just like this weird hobby thing that's never going to take off and I'm going to eventually snap out of it. I was living with my grandma at the time to not pay rent, to, like, focus on writing my book. So it was like the exact same thing. And, like, trying to prove to my dad that, like, I can do this, I can do this. That it, like, like brings that sense of, like, it's a gift because it makes you so passionate about what you're doing and, like, go the extra hours and like, learn the SEO and like, all of the things that, you know, typically you wouldn't learn because you just, you want this thing to happen so much. Then you reach this point that you're just like, okay, where is this coming from? Like, is this coming from a place of worthiness or unworthiness?

Yeah.

And it's. For me, it was like a lot of it was unworthiness that was like making it fuel of like, okay, I gotta do it, or like, now I've reached this level. So now this is the new standard. Like, this is just normal now. Now I have to reach this new plateau and a new plateau and a new plateau and it never ends. And it was like, hilarious because I was like telling my friend who's like really just getting started. She's like, it's insane to hear you talk about this. Cause it just shows me that it never ends. Because she's like, my dream would be to where you're at. And I'm like, mine is like where Gabby Bernstein is at and hers is like where Oprah's at. And it's like, it doesn't end, you.

Know, it's so true.

And it's like, just be happy. And like, let it just come from a place of like deep worthiness and play and joy and fluidity. And that's what makes it feel so much more honest. And I do believe we chose those upbringings and those situations because it did allow us to maybe push ourselves to a limit that we wouldn't have without that.

It's motivation. So let me ask you a question. How is your dad, now that you've become, you know, you're successful?

He's like, oh, it was all my idea. I'm the one who told her to do this.

My dad does the same thing. He's like. And he does, he did kind of support me because I lived with him. Right. But I just know he was thinking like this weird YouTube that he still doesn't get it, but he sees the success in the abundance.

I never said that.

Yeah, like you did.

It's too hard for them. Yeah, I think it's like too hard for them to realize they were wrong. Like, I think the boomer generation, like, they, I've never heard an apology or anything like that. They're just like, what? Like, you should be grateful for me. Like, you know, and.

Right.

But at this point I'm just like, let him think it was all his idea.

Yeah, that's fine.

Exactly.

Yeah. That's funny. I went through the same thing. So I relate.

But it's like, you know, I think it, it allows us to work really hard and go that extra mile and you get to this place that it's just like, yeah, I don't. What do I really want to live from? Like, you know, I, I do think some of the most famous people in the world are still creating from a place of unworthiness.

Oh, yeah.

You know, like for sure. You know, going on tour every day for a year is not really a self loving thing unless it's really coming from that place of joy. But, you know, I see a lot of people from the music industry that my husband works with is like, they're hating their lives, but they're doing it because they think they need to yeah, you know, so it's like really checking ourselves at all levels. Because it never ends.

No, it doesn't. I remember when I first got to 100,000 on YouTube. It was. I went to bed one night, I had 96,000 or something. I had a video go viral. And I woke up the next day at 100. I thought it was gonna take me another week. So I hit the goal in my mind of 100. I'm gonna get the plaque now. All this stuff. And I went to the gym and it was like this. It was this mindset that when I go to the gym, people are gonna be coming up to me like, oh my God, Aaron.

The guy with a hundred K subscribers.

That's him. Here's a gold star right next to your name. And I thought. And then I hit 100. I was like, well, 100 is not that much as I thought. What about 200? Oh man, 200. And then I got to 200. I was like, you know what? 400's like, that's a big amount.

Juicy number.

And then it was five and then seven and then a million. And now I've just. Now I can genuinely say when I got the. It was almost like when I got the million subscriber plaque, I was not ashamed, but I was like kind of disappointed in myself because for so long I imagined that thing and I put so much of my worthiness and my happiness in it. And once I got it, I'm like, I spent. It was a bittersweet thing. Cause it fueled me, but it was like I can just see how empty it is. Even since becoming successful, like I used to dream of like the abundance I live in now and the things I do now and. And it's not depressing. I love my life. I love how freedom filled it is. But it's just natural. It just feels normal. I'm sure you can relate, right? It's just your life now. It's not this. When I was working a 50k a year job, I would look up to where I'm at now and be like, that would be so amazing. Oh my God, I'd be so free. It doesn't feel that different. Except for the biggest change I always tell people is there's not a huge change. When you go from making like, I don't know, 20k a month to 100k or even like 5k a month to 20k a month, to 100k a month to a million a month. It doesn't make that big of a difference as much as it does when you're working a 9 to 5 job and then you go to working for yourself, there's a bigger vibrational jump when you buy your time back than there is when you go from being, like, middle class to, like, making shit, tons of money. It's way better. So if your goal shouldn't be to be, like, multimillionaire or it doesn't matter. I mean, it's up to the person. But living your purpose and going full time doing what you love is the biggest fulfilling thing in the world. Even when I went from making 50k a year or 60k a year selling women's shoes to 50k a year, 60k a year on YouTube, that was a bigger jump than when I made my first six figures a year or more, you know, so, yeah, it's like, that's the biggest jump, you know, but it never ends. You know, I have friends and I know people that make what I make in a year and a month. And it's like, well, am I. You know, you can compare yourself at any level of the ladder, you know, but it really, when it becomes natural, that's when you. This stuff becomes natural once you attain it. And so remembering that, that's why a lot of people that win the Olympics then go into depression because they think it's going to be this amazing thing, you know, I just watched UFC and Francis Nuganu won. He was so excited to win the heavyweight, and I think it's great that he did, but he'll probably find out soon that it doesn't feel that different from before you won. It.

It, you know, and it even sets that expectation now. Like, I was reading Ryan Holiday's book, I think it's called Ego is the Enemy. But he was talking about everything was on becoming a New York Times bestselling author. And then he hit that for one day, was happy. And then immediately the agents are like, so, what's your next book gonna be? You know, and now it's like, now I have to do this all over again with another New York Times bestselling book. And it doesn't end because it's like, you know, then there becomes a web of people around you that are, like, banking on you continuing that same level of success. And I see a lot of entrepreneurs, they're a 9 to 5, they become entrepreneurs, but they create the exact same constraints on themselves that they ran away from because they don't know what life is like without that. They're like, you know, let me be an entrepreneur. But, like, repeat what everyone Else is saying and follow this formula and do it by the book. Because it's like the consciousness is still in this, like, indoctrination, institution, school system of, like, do what you're told. So it's like you're not truly free until it's an internal process.

Right.

Wow. And another thing too that you brought up is it's like different people have different, like, levels of what the right amount of abundance is for them.

Oh, true.

Like, for someone, let's say you're. You just want to make art all day. Like, that is ultimate abundance for you. Like, but maybe you would love to live in a cabin, you know, and like, you. You genuinely need $30,000 a year making art for. For you to be successful doing that or to have it come from a stock or some. Some other thing happening too. Because not all the time. You're. I've seen somet. The thing that you love doing is not always the thing that makes you money. I've seen sometimes people have, like, different ways of making money and then things that they love to do. So tuning into, like, what is the level or amount of abundance that you need for your dharma? Like, some people, it is genuinely millions of dollars because they want to make an impact with that certain amount of money. Like a Tony Robbins, like, that is part of his dharma because he's donating so much and he's just making a huge impact. But for someone else, it could just be like, I just want to feel at peace in my cabin. So tuning into what that is for you.

Yeah. And I think. Well said. I think that people need to know what that is. Because for me, at first I knew it was just me making videos and living a freedom lifestyle using the power of, like, just the Internet. That's what I knew, and that's what I started at. And then from there, it kind of grew. Then I was like, you know, I'd like to impact more people. I'd like to grow a team. I'd like to, like, kind of, you know, I had a certain vision, but I'd say that that is like an important thing to think about too.

And I think also, like, for people who want to be entrepreneurs or doing what we're doing, it's like having the other things that support it, you know, like learning the digital marketing aspect or learning how to manage a team. Like, this was something I never in my life thought about. Cause I was living in India. I never even thought I would have, like, a normal job. I never thought about being a CEO, you know, but it's like, but for me to fully live in my dharma, I need to learn how to do these other things. So that makes me want to do it because it's supporting it.

Yes, yes, Totally agree. And like I was saying earlier, it may be unfamiliar, but it's becoming aware of that vision and the different skills that you would need to learn and then starting to learn them. So when you become aware of that vision, then you have something to move towards. But most people don't know what that is, what it looks like, how it feels, you know, but when you start. That's why I think modeling is like, such a powerful thing. You know, I looked at other YouTubers. What are they doing? This person's making daily videos. This person's doing this, this person's doing that. You look at an author. I have friends that are artists. That's true. They want to live kind of like in. I know one that lives in Sedona, and she just got a new house, and she just wants to paint every day and create amazing art and sell it online on her Instagram account. And she knows what her monthly amount she wants to make is. She knows her kind of lifestyle, the kind of paint and canvases she wants to be able to get. The clarity is really key. And just. I think a lot of people just aren't clear. They don't know what that is. And because they don't know what it is, you know, there's nothing to move towards. And unfortunately, then they are in the autopilot of what is now, which is a 9 to 5 job, or doing stuff they're not passionate about, or similar stories that they feel locked in. You know, the story of I can't do that, or I need to make money and do this, or my parents want me to do that. I mean, those are all stories that people get locked in because it's familiar, you know.

So what would you suggest for someone who's like, I don't know what I want to do. I don't want to work this job, but I don't really have a thing that I'm like, my YouTube. I don't really have my pain. I don't have a thing I'm passionate about.

Yeah, I mean, I think the thing that I always tell people, because I do get that question a lot, is set the intention to find out what that could be. And when you set the intention, it's almost like you have something that's guiding you that will start to give you feedback in reality of what it could be. And Then start to take action. Like, for example, you say, okay, I intend to find out what I could be passionate about. And you can also do a little research. Ask your friends and family. Like, what you've always been natural at, that you probably don't think is a special gift, but maybe is a freaking special gift. You know, I have a buddy that's doing that right now, and he's like, he's moving to Montana, and he's got such a. He was telling me last night, a friend was telling him, you know, there's something you've got that you've got, but not everyone has. And he's just such a personable person. When you talk to him, you feel like you know him, he's a communicator, but he doesn't know how to do that necessarily. And it's like he's moving to Montana to get out of the autopilot mind of working at the casino industry here in Vegas for his whole life under his mom's kind of wing. And he's getting to go on his own initiation to find out what that is, you know, so he's kind of going on his own little hero's journey. But the thing I told him was kind of the same thing. It's like, well, start setting the intention to find out what that could be, and then start exploring and trying new things and seeing what books pop out at you. And when you're at the coffee shop or somewhere, you may overhear different conversations and be aware of, like, what you're tuning to. And if you set that intention, you'll start to get new feedback and then take action with it and start trying new things. You know, the unknown is where you're gonna find the thing that you don't know of yet. Or maybe it's something you do know that you're just so unaware of because you just take it for granted. But somebody else can kind of say, yo, bro, you're, like, really good at this, or, hey, do you know how good you are at this? You know, and then you start realizing, oh, yeah, maybe I could find a way of leveraging this. You know? And I think sometimes we think that our purpose is like one overarching thing that we're gonna do our whole life. You know, I may one day not make videos. I may do something completely different. I may just do live events, and then one day, I may not do live events anymore. It can change and evolve as you go, but it's a journey. It's a journey of finding it out. But you have to start so many people. I had a friend come over the other day, and she's learning new personal development concepts, and she's always learning new shit. And I'm like, dude, you gotta stop learning. You gotta start doing. You gotta just start taking action. You're waiting for the next book, the next next course, the next this, the next that. And instead of like taking action and starting so it's like, like embodying, like you said, embodying that knowledge and knowing you don't have to have it all figured out to get on your. To discover your dharma. You don't have to have a step by step play of exactly what you're gonna do every step of the way. You figure it out as you go. And as you go, you then get feedback, you modify, you adapt, and you go from there. It's the journey itself.

I love that so much. And I think that's something that you, like kind of did, was you looked at how you were spending your free time, like you were spending your free time watching these other YouTubers that then it hit like, okay, if I'm giving my time to consuming this, what if I created it? So for people listening, it's like, if you're listening to this podcast, like, maybe you want to start a podcast, or it's something about the conversation, or it's like preparing you for something else. But I've looked back on my lives and like the things that I was like Google searching right before, like, ended up being what my purpose is. Like, I was like obsessed with nutrition, but it for myself. And then that turned into what I ended up doing, and then like spiritual awakening and then it's what I'm doing. So it's like those, I always say excitement are the breadcrumbs guiding you towards your dharma. So it's like those things that you're excited about, you're curious about, because it's like energy propelling you in that direction.

I love that.

Yeah.

Amazing.

Yes. We're definitely tuned into the same.

Yeah, it's funny how it's funny. We have. It's almost like we've tapped into a certain archetype, but maybe in a feminine, masculine way.

Yeah, I love it.

But. But yeah, it's a similar parental purpose driven thing.

Exactly. And that's what I love too. It's like our souls needed to have all the experiences that we've had for us to get to where we are. And also that doesn't. Something I'm learning so much is it really doesn't end I feel like sometimes we're like, it's the hero's journey. And then I'm successful, and here I am. I'm good. And it's like, when we're still going through it, like we were talking about before, like, more challenges come up and it's shaping you for what is to come next. And then you have the tools and the practices, so it doesn't feel like, oh, my God, I'm dying. It's like, okay, okay, universe, you're reflecting this back at me.

What's up?

What's behind this?

100%.

Yeah. And then it's, you know, you really lose that sense of victimhood that, like, we often have at the beginning of the journey and are like, okay, if I'm the conscious creator of my reality, good and bad, then what does this mean? And what is this teaching me?

Yeah.

Yeah. Yay. So good. Well, where can listeners tune into your podcast, your YouTube channel, and learn more from you?

Yeah, so I have a podcast called the Aaron Doughty Podcast. Podcast, and I post twice a week on there. And then I have a YouTube channel called Aaron Doughty. And, yeah, that's where a lot of my attention goes is towards the podcast and the YouTube channel. Making an app right now to connect people and stuff. So, yeah, I've got a lot of projects working right now, but I still make videos on YouTube and podcast episodes. And that's where my passion, actually, I become more and more passionate about podcasts. So I can see why you do it. And it's like your, you know, your main thing.

Cool. Well, I will have the link set in the show notes. Thank you so much for being on.

Thank you for having me on. Yeah, I had a lot of fun.

Fun, me too. Wow. I just loved that conversation. I adore just diving in with people and hearing their stories and just allowing the conversation to be fluid and take us wherever it's meant to take us. I really believe that that's what life is all about. Just to have these long conversations about the meaning of life and sharing our stories and. And finding the similarities between all of us. So I hope you felt like the third friend in the room because you were. You were there with us in and spirit. And I hope it also shows you that your dreams are dreaming you back and that the very reason that they are inside of you is because they are meant for you. You are your goal already. The very reason that you have this goal is because an ounce of your soul knows that I am meant to do this thing. I've already embodied this thing, so now it's taking the action to make this now my physical reality. So I hope you loved this episode. It inspired you. And if you wanna dive in deeper and into understanding your dharma, your soul's purpose, the big reason why you are here, I invite you to join me in my 21 day Dharma discovery journey. You can learn more about it@iamsaharrose.com Dharma Discovery and I'm so excited to invite you inside. I hope you love this episode and I'll see you on the next one. Namaste.

Sam.