You Got This! And Season 2 Recap and Learnings
In this solo, reflective episode of the Meaningful Revolution podcast, host Sean (Sean) Buttner—certified high‑performance coach—wraps up Season 2 by revisiting the core themes explored across the season and distilling the key learnings for listeners. He frames "esteem"—the feeling of being enough—as the primary hidden barrier that prevents people from taking bold actions, experiencing aliveness, and pursuing meaningful work. He recaps the first half of the season, which emphasized generating aliveness, flow, and community connection, and then moves to the second half, which examined how low ambition, limiting beliefs, and unsupportive environments (e.g., the Great Resignation, quiet‑quitting, toxic workplaces) further suppress growth. Buttner argues that meaning‑making is a skill that can be cultivated through interpersonal and professional development, and that aligning one’s environment with one’s values is essential for sustaining ambition. He also reflects on the podcast’s launch, thanks early listeners, announces a shift to a weekly Thursday release cadence, teases upcoming interviews (including a conversation with Majeed about surviving the Lebanese civil war), and invites the audience to join a growing community for exclusive content and interaction. Throughout, he blends personal anecdotes, historical analogies (e.g., post‑2008 crisis opportunities), and actionable advice, urging listeners to add 1 % more meaning each day and to share the show with others.
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What do you think is the number one thing that holds people back? Right? And if you look at personal development, you'd probably hear things like mindset. You'd hear things like motivation and getting into action. You'd hear things like people not being clear or being uncertain or being perfectionist from advancing. And all of these ideas, all these things relate to people not feeling like they're enough. Feeling esteemed, right? Welcome to the Meaningful Revolution podcast, where we talk about people's passions and hope to inspire you to your own. We also answer the question, what if you could just add 1% more meaning to your life every day for the next year? So join us on this Meaningful Revolution. I'm your host, Sean Butner, certified high performance coach, and we have a really great episode for you today. So let's get into it. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Meaningful Revolution, or welcome to the Meaningful Revolution. Again, I am your host, Sean Butner, and today we're going to wrap up season two. Right? First, we're going to talk about one of the final things that keeps people from feeling that sense of aliveness, that sense of connection, that sense of doing the meaningful things and growth. And that is talking about esteem. What do you think is the number one thing that holds people back? Right? And if you look at personal development, you'd probably hear things like mindset. You'd hear things like motivation and getting into action. You'd hear things like people not being clear or being uncertain or being perfectionist from advancing. And all of these ideas, all these things relate to people not feeling like they're enough. Feeling esteem. Right? So, and it's a tricky thing, and a really important distinction here is you might feel like you are really awesome as a person or at certain things in your life, but you don't speak up when it's time to share an idea or you don't take that bold chance to start that business, to really take a shot, right? Put yourself on the line, take a calculated risk, and that hurts you in your ability to grow, to feel that sense of aliveness, to feel like you're creating and leaving a legacy, to think that, feel that you're working on things that are meaningful. Because the things that are meaningful around that challenge line, where you're pushing your skill set, you're pushing your sense of self sometimes in order to serve, to create, to put good out in the world. So this idea that esteem holds us back is pretty good. So let's take a tour of where we've been so far in this series and try to bring it all home. Right. So the first three episodes we talked about generating a feeling of aliveness in your life and connecting with that. Because if you look around with everyone being so tired after the pandemic and inflation and the war in Ukraine, all these different things and so much more. Right. It's not just these things that are top of mind nowadays in the news cycle as we're recording this, but there's tons of things going on and tons of things that can hold you back. Right. Or have you buy into this sense that I'm not ready or I'm waiting for things to settle down a bit more. And we're in this phase of the world where the people that are going to win after things do settle down, they're being made right now. Right. You saw this in 2008, 2009, 2010, because you take a look at that financial crisis that went worldwide before that, you know, Facebook was a small company. YouTube was just getting going on the iPhone, I think was a year or two old at that point. In 2007, I think it was released in 2007. And so you take a look at four years after that, and Facebook, humongous company, meta now, I guess, you know, YouTube becomes, you know, hits critical mass and is everywhere. You have the iPhone, like smartphones take over the world. The world's knowledge is now in your pocket. And so all those big things gained momentum in the last big crisis. So if you're here and you're wondering, like, are we in another type of crisis like this? I think yes. Are we in this zone where the thing people that are in motion, that people and players that are making big moves are going to win big. Yes. That has been the whole point of this season, and maybe I haven't articulated it quite like that or enough. I'm still, you know, trying to. To find my podcasting legs like a podcast is a ship. I guess. I. I don't know, but I thought that was funny, you know, so that. That I want to articulate that pretty well. So, you know, are you doing things that make you feel alive right now? Because if you're doing the things that make you feel alive, that make you feel engaged, that make you feel like you're in flow states in your life, you're probably doing things that are challenging you, that are helping you get ahead and move ahead now so that you'll win in the next year, I think if you are focused on your communities and building connections and making sure that people are able to get to that next Level with you, right? So you're doing the leadership things, you're engaging your communities. That's another really important thing. These are all things that we find meaning, and we find meaning in the things that make us feel alive. We find meaning in the relationships that are important to us in our mentorship relationships, in our coaching relationships, in our peer groups. You know, so if you're feeling like you want to grow now, it's, are you feeling alive? Are you building those connections? And then are you doing meaningful things? Right. And when we talk about doing meaningful things, you think of the great resignation, um, where people shifting, quitting jobs that were toxic, quitting bosses that were not awesome, or you had a lot of high performers shift to organizations that would help them grow, help them leave their mark, help them excel. And so I think that's another leg of this Great resignations. People leaving bad situations or companies that are not efficient, being shook out of the market, which sucks. But ultimately it's part of the business cycle. But we also have companies that are attracting talent, that are putting big moves in play now. Like, you'd hear, like Amazon buying one medical. Right. That's going to be huge in the next year as Amazon moves into healthcare, hopefully able to drive market pressures to reduce costs overall. Right. So there are big moves being made today. Things that are meaningful are being acted on today for that setup. So, yeah, so, so first three podcast episodes of this season, where are you feeling alive? Are you connected? Are you doing the big moves and big meaningful things in your life? And then the last three and today, you know, so last four, I guess, including today, are all about what prevents people from feeling alive, from connecting, from making the big moves. Right. First of all, it's. It was ambition. And, you know, when we talk about ambition holding you back, it was all about not dreaming big. You know, having people feeling so constrained with the pandemic last few years and are we back to normal? Are we not back to normal? All the yo yoing, the variants, you know, you name it. There's been a lot of turmoil here. And, you know, some people have been stuck in survival mode here. You know, where there's physical threats and you don't feel safe leaving your house, and so you don't. Right. Or maybe you don't want to go back into the office. And there's a whole other reason why people might want that. But we can. We'll talk about that in a minute. You know, are you stuck there or are you stuck and just coping and being a human being and being alive in this time. Right. So how are you learning to manage stress? Are you just coping with, okay, things change, you've adapted to the new change. You don't want to shake the tree anymore because more change means more learning and we're freaked out. Right? So how do we move from being stuck in survival mode or being stuck in this coping mode and move into higher ambition, move into how are we going to do the best work of our life this next year? And have you answered that question for yourself? And I know that sounds really challenging and it's meant to be challenging because I feel like my job as a high performance coach is always to push people to be their better version of themselves, the best version of themselves. When all the coaching juju aligns and, you know, it's magic on people getting clear and really striving. But really, like at the end of the day, do you have big dreams for yourself? Do you have big dreams for your family? Do you have big dreams for your causes, for the things you want to put out in the world? And can you see that vision very clearly for yourself? You know, I think for so long we've been alone and again, cramped up. We forgot that we're connected. We forgot that there's a bigger picture, there's a bigger thing that we can be chasing. And when you don't tap into that higher level of vision for yourself or your family or your organization or the people around you, you then you don't try, then you don't make the bold move, then you don't feel the electricity of vibrancy, of being alive. And you hold back. And we can't have you holding back now if you want to be successful moving forward. So super important related to ambition is sometimes it's the environment. So there's been this topic called the Great Resignation that more people have been talking about. And it's either people setting good boundaries, a work life balance. Like you pay me to work 40 hours a week, I'm gonna work 40 hours a week. And I'm not taking my email, my laptop home so you can bug me while I'm with my family, or when I'm working out, or when I'm, you know, doing the things that help me feel great. Right. Another angle has been, and the discussion, I think, is that I've seen out there, and I'm sure there's more angles that I'm not covering. But on the other side, there's people that say that it's just people being lazy and people have been calling people lazy. For years and years and years. But you know, you just want to put in the minimum amount of work, all that kind of stuff. And what is really going on, I don't know. But I will say that if you work in an environment where you are, you know, your workload tripled in the last two years and your pay hasn't increased, you know, and you have less people to divvy up the work, that people are going to leave that job, right? Or they're going to have to figure out a way to cope with that. So they, they quiet quit. They say I'm going to do my job and the time allow allotted and all that other time, you know, is my time. It's not. I didn't sell my soul to the company, right? Just like that, that old union song or whatever. I think it was a union anyways. So the environment around you can, if you're in like that type of intense, like high workload, low recognition, low compensation, you know, the environment is incentivizing you to go into survival mode and not to go the extra mile. And then, you know, so what do you, what do you expect? People are going to leave those jobs, People are going to quiet quit and not do put in the maximum effort that everyone hopes that you would do as an employee, but it's not necessarily required. And people, I think in this environment too are not going to work on things they don't find purpose in. And it's very human nature. And it's hard to be ambitious and have high ambition. And this is how they're related. If you're not, you know, you don't feel like you're appreciated or your effort will be rewarded with the amount of effort you put in, right? So if I put in twice the effort and don't get compensated more, of course I'm going to say like, okay, it doesn't matter how much work I do, because no matter what, I can't impact how much I'm paid or how the perks or all the stuff that goes into, you know, employment. So I think as an example, you know, people are quitting bad environments again. And a bad environment can hurt your ambition or if you have low ambition, it can make the environment toxic the other way. So you got to pay attention to those two. So if you're not feeling that aliveness, that connection, that meaningful work, those big moves, maybe check your environment and maybe come up with a plan or listen to the podcast from a couple of episodes ago, how to help steer and lead a better work environment or Home environment, for that matter. Then yesterday we talked about how meaning, meaning making is a skill, and there's certain groups of skills that people generally find meaning in, and that's interpersonal skills, like leadership, public speaking, like sociology, being able to read the room. You know, people find meaning in their professional pursuits that they. They hold near and dear. So if you're really, really stoked about coding, you're really, really stoked about wellness, you're really, really stoked about coaching, you're really, really stoked about, you know, being the best leader for your team, being, you know, the best spouse, the best parent, these types of things require interpersonal skills and. Or I was kind of leading into professional skills. So maybe the, you know, learning how to cook is part of being a great parent. I don't know. You know, food is a very, very communal thing. So that's the first thing that popped in my head. But, you know, developing skills, learning. If. If we looked at your calendar for the last three months and we looked for times you had set aside to learn a new skill or to learn a new process or a new area or hobby, what will we find? And if you're like, you wouldn't find anything. It's like you probably aren't feeling like you're progressing, you're probably not feeling like you're, you know, really living your life if you're not learning. Like. Like those two things are so interconnected. I see it all the time in my coaching practice. I. I've lived it in my life. It's. It's not like I'm accusing anyone and any of this, right? This is just how I'm. I'm talking out loud and thinking through all this that there's not a wrong way to do this. But I do think there's a way to win in the future. And that's what I'm trying to communicate here today for you folks. So, okay, so working on skills that can help you feel the meaning of the day, feel confident, feel present, feel joyful in what you're doing, and then we'll talk about esteem. I hinted at this at the top of the podcast, but again, if you are not feeling alive, connected, or that you're doing meaningful things, maybe again, it's a mindset. Maybe it's, you don't feel you're worthy or that you're too old. You have this tape that runs in your head. I had a client tell me this. So if you don't know what a tape is, it's like a cd, which you Might not know what that is, which is just a physical, like, music object. But you have this voice in your head, this tape in your head that is causing you to doubt yourself, to doubt how you're showing up, to doubt and not trust people around you, or, you know, the list goes on and on. These are beliefs that limit us or beliefs that do not serve us in the moment. And it's really important to know that, you know, if you're, like, not motivated to move to where you're going to grow yourself and your career or provide more for your family or have a greater impact in your community, that maybe it's a belief about yourself or a belief of what you're capable of doing in a group. Maybe you're like, ah, Sean, I again, I am awesome, but I'm not going to put my neck out to, you know, share an idea at work that might, you know, help make the company more efficient or generate revenue, because people are going to make fun of me. I'm going to, you know, risk being ridiculed and all that kind of stuff. And that's not awesome. So, you know, what kind of mindset or steam work do you need to do to make sure that, you know, you're not, you know, pulling back and hurting ambition or hurting your environment or, you know, preventing yourself from doing, from actually doing and following through on the skills that'll help you grow and reach the next level in your career. So, all that said, guys, that is this framework for where I think we are and. And where I think we really need to focus to win as we move through this, maybe mini recession or the current economic environment, and make sure that we hit the ground running when things start rolling up again. So I hope you really enjoyed this set of podcasts, too. I'm going to turn this now over into the summary of season two. I think it was great in trying to talk through, you know, this kind of framework on, you know, what is the meaningful revolution. Just. Just feeling more inspired to. To get in your life and act. I think it's also just living a little bit more purposefully and being a little bit more intentful on how we're showing up every day. Right. And so I think that was great. I think I enjoy doing interviews quite a lot more. There's only so much I can hear my own voice. Maybe you are getting tired of it, too, and I totally understand that. But, you know, I think the idea was pretty solid. Did I execute it all that awesomely? I think it's one of those things where it's gonna get better as I step more into the podcasting world. So, one, I want to thank you, the listener, for just being on this journey with me, you know, again, I. I feel very thankful to all the people that have been on the show, all the people that are going to be on the next season. So as of recording this, I have four more interviews for you folks with some really amazing folks and some really amazing stories. I feeling like the podcast is kind of catching its stride, so I'm really excited to be sharing those with you after this episode drops. You might have noticed season two has dropped each day for this, you know, first week the podcast has existed out in the world, so I'll talk a little bit more about that. But, you know, so we're gonna be going to a weekly cadence. So I think it'll be every Thursday morning a new Meaningful Revolution podcast episode will drop. So keep an ear out for that wherever you're watching this. And yeah, let's see what else. Oh, when it comes to launch week, you know, I think for me this has been super successful. You know, there's been people, more people than I sent out to my friends and, you know, immediately network that have signed up and subscribed. So thank you to each of you who have subscribed. If you haven't yet, please go to Apple Podcasts and subscribe rate it. If you enjoy these episodes and leave a comment because that helps me with the algorithm and helps me get noticed a bit more. Gets the word out. And I'd love for all of us to spread this meaningful revolution as we try to figure out how we make more meaning out of this really chaotic world with new technology and everything changing all the time. But I think together we can figure it out. I think together we can really do some good work, put some good work out there. And I hope that as time goes by that you'll join me in my inspired community, which I'll it's going through some changes right now, but as everything, it's a hot mess, but it's my mess and I'm in motion and it's been a lot of fun. So. But the idea for our communities, for us to get together to hang out to get some exclusive content and initially there you can participate, ask questions for free and you know, be some other programs and stuff for you there. But I'll announce that as we go forward, I'm just really, really excited, a little tired. So been a a really hard like month trying to launch this thing. So again, I hope you enjoyed it. I know I have immensely loved every minute of this. So I think I I will be a podcaster for a while. Not that you care about what I feel, maybe, but I I it's cool to say that out loud. So again, thank you so much for being here. And we'll see you next week on the Meaningful Revolution when we interview one of my friends, Majeed, on his book on, you know, surviving the civil war in Lebanon, which is really compelling. I know that you guys will love it. I learned a lot about my friend and he has some really amazing stories and some really amazing perspective on how to look at the world. So tune in for that next week. Until then, we'll see you guys next time. Take care. Thank you for listening to the Meaningful Revolution podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and if you could please share this episode with three people that you think might enjoy it and like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Leave a comment Please rate us because that helps us get the word out. So until next time, listen to the next episode right after this. I know you'll love it and we'll see you then. Take care.
