This content was created by Thomas Anglero. This content was uploaded by Thomas Anglero. This is a podcast episode titled "Episode 127: Walk off your anxiety and find you" (PODCAST) published July 18, 2021. The episode is a first-person monologue by host Thomas Anglero (Soul of Innovation) that reflects on how everyday decisions shape our lives, encourages listeners to practice self-reflection by talking out loud while walking, and includes a personal anecdote about a childhood friend to illustrate long-term costs of choices. The host closes with contact and subscription info (anglero.com and social media) and an encouragement to listeners.
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Welcome to the Soul of Innovation podcast. I am Thomas Anglero. And have you ever thought about the impact that a single decision has made on your life, going all the way back to maybe 5 minutes ago, 5 hours ago, 5 years ago, 5 husbands or 5 wives ago? A single decision that you made changed everything going forward, for good or for bad? For good, being that you said "I do" to marrying someone, or you got on your knees and you asked someone, or you said yes when someone asked you, or you said yes to a job opportunity. Those are good ones. What about decisions where you actually said no? Or worse yet, times you said no and you can't remember those opportunities? Because you didn't see it as an opportunity. You thought maybe it was just annoying, maybe you just thought it was stupid, maybe you didn't understand. And I think that's a pretty big deal. How many times have you been in a situation where you said no and you can't remember? Obviously you can't remember that because you can't remember, right? But it's there, it's there. I'm just thinking about If you go all the way back to when you're in school, say around your 18, where you are finishing high school and you're starting to make decisions for yourself that will impact your lives— prior to that, your parents are making a lot of decisions for you, so you can blame them. But then you have a moment in time where you have to make decisions for you, and that is frustrating because you can't blame anybody. And from that 18th birthday of yours to this very moment today, do the math. If you're 50, that was 32 years ago. If you're 60, it's 42 years ago. If you're 20, it was only 2 years ago. How's that hell doing? How are you doing mentally? Do you ever sit down and reflect and think about the decisions you've made? The decisions you made on a Friday night? The decisions you made in a meeting, the decisions you made while walking down the street when you decided not to make eye contact with anyone, the decision you made to not be conscious of anybody that walks by you when you walk down the street, the decision you made to ignore everybody in the lunchroom. These are all decisions that we're making all the time. Do you realize that you're making decisions all the time. What is the cost of each of those decisions? And then what is the cumulative cost? Is it okay to go through life? You know, I'm just thinking, is it okay to go through life, I mean, and not reflect at all? Because that's really what we're saying when we don't reflect of all the decisions and things we've done. You're actually saying, okay, I don't want to reflect on life because I don't want to own anything I've done. And then if you do do that, can you actually call yourself an adult? Chronologically, age-wise, yes, you're old, you're an adult. Your gray hair shows you're an adult. But are you actually an adult? Are you— have you actually existed? Do you actually— have you actually had a life? I mean, yes, okay, maybe you've got stuff, you have a car, a boat, you bought something, you feel like an adult. But damn, you know, in the quietness of your home or in your mind, Who the hell are you? I was thinking about back about the guys I grew up with, growing up back in the projects in New York, the decisions that they made. One of my boys, Benito, he was done with school in 8th grade. I mean, Benito was done. Benito couldn't stand school. Nothing. So when we graduated 8th grade, we all looked up to Benito because he says, I'm done, I'm done with school, I'm never going back to school again. We're like, wow, because we all had to go on to high school. We thought Benito was a man. And Benito walks proud, erect. Uh, we, like I said, we all looked up to him. He got himself a job at a gas station and he had a suit, you know, because back in those days you actually, um, had people working at gas stations and you gave them the uniform. Benito would walk around the neighborhood after work like, wow, look at Benito! And he goes, yeah, I got money. He would take out money out of his pocket. Benito made a huge decision— short-term gain, long-term loss. He only has an 8th grade education. Benito today is 55 years old, and all he has is an 8th grade education and has experience working at a gas station, where gas stations don't need people anymore unless you like sitting behind a glass booth in a very dangerous neighborhood. Off some highway in the middle of nowhere someplace, selling stuff out of vending machines or something. What is the cost of the decisions you make? And why do we blank out all these things that have happened to us? I have so much trouble remembering so many details of the things that happen in my life. My mind uses a defensive mechanism so that I don't hurt myself. Feel bad and sorry for myself. Do you spend time thinking about your past? And then do you take ownership for it? I'm not saying the what-ifs, because what-ifs are, I think, really useless. They can help sometimes, but most of the time, not all the time, doing what-ifs— what if I would have said this yes to this person and no to this person? What I'm asking you to say is, this is the decision you made. What was the cost of it? Why did you make that decision? Did you make that decision out of fear? Did you feel it was the best thing? Did somebody just tell you to do it and you say, oh, let me just do it because they told me to do it, it's their fault indirectly? In this summertime here in 2021, this very bizarre summer of 2021 coming out of COVID and all that, This is absolutely the time to reflect because you have to see who you've been to know who you are, to know where you're going. If you never really look at you and talk to yourself— I went for a walk this morning, I talked with myself for the whole 45-minute walk out loud, not in my head, out loud, because it was important that I got this stuff out of my head. And I was going through different scenarios of different things that I was trying to figure out. It was a great walk, let me tell you. And then yes, I said absolutely hello and good morning to everybody I walked by. Me, whether or not they said hello back is irrelevant. I keep to my tradition of spreading the love. When's the last time you went for a walk and you talked out loud? It's really different than that stuff in your head because that's just spins and you don't get anywhere. But when you go for a walk, you talk it out loud, it's as if you're sitting, walking with someone. You're walking with someone and you hear that voice, and the voice is yours. And then you go deeper into what you're thinking about. You start hearing different scenarios, different points of views. It's really therapeutic. So I want you to do now, as I finish off this podcast episode in a very deep thinking process, I want you now to not just go forth and spread beauty and light, but I want you to go for a walk, and I want you to talk out loud as you walk. It doesn't matter who's looking at you. It is irrelevant because I think people who see people talking a lot when they're walking going, damn, that person's into it, and then they're envious. Because how many people you see really into their thoughts? Everybody's into their freaking TikTok selfies, Instagram. Everybody's into the newspaper. Everybody's into listening to something. Everybody's into listen to Divergence. Of what is inside of you and who are you. So what I want you to do is I want you to get up, I want you to go for a walk. And as much as I love many of you taking me and my podcast with you for a walk, that's fine. Shut off the headset and now walk and talk out loud. The best person to help you, that advisor, that confidant, that person you need always when you need that hug and I need that that thing when you just need someone is actually you. And when you talk out loud, you figure it out. I'm telling you, this morning was fantastic. I came back, I had solved so many things, not everything obviously, but I didn't feel I was alone. The feeling of walking when you don't say anything, but you're thinking really hard versus walking and talking is as if you walk with the basketball team, if you played basketball before. Seriously, I want you to go for a walk and talk to yourself. Now you're cooking. Now we're getting somewhere. I love you. Have an absolutely beautiful summer. Enjoy yourself, but talk to yourself. Allah. And this be one of the best moments of your summer. Take care. This is Thomas Anglero, and I'm always here for you. And I believe in you. I truly do. Now go for that walk and don't forget to talk. Until next time.
Thank you for listening to that episode. If you want to contact me, you can contact me on my website at anglero.com, and you can also subscribe to the newsletter, or you can find me anywhere on social media with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you very soon.
