Jill Whalen went from exercise-averse to fitness-loving in six months, proving identity isn't fixed. She argues that our thoughts, not external circumstances, create our experience of life, and that happiness is our default state buried under constant seeking. Her advice: do work you love instead of copying others.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner and today I have Jill Whalen with us. She is a blogger at whatdidyoudowithjill.com. So welcome to the show, Jill.
Thanks, Tyler. It's great to be here.
Of course, great to have you here. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Jill, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Sure, so that would probably be about 5 years ago now when I decided I needed to lose some weight because I was eating unhealthily and drinking way too much and pretty much just, you know, knew something needed to be done. And so I had never really tried to lose weight before. I was always a thin person most of my life, but when I needed to lose about 25 pounds and I get it, you know, the typical way, counting calories, that kind of stuff. So in about 6 months, I had lost the weight. But what was interesting was that how I, like, it seemed to change my whole identity when going from someone who always used to kind of kid that I was allergic to exercise and vegetables, and then now, you know, loving them. And, you know, so it like got me really curious, like, you know, how can it be that I could be one thing basically one day and another another? 6 months was a pretty short period of time in my life. So it really showed me that our identity isn't fixed or solid. And it's really completely changeable, which to me sort of means we can be anything we want to be. So I'd say that was Probably the message.
Yes, thank you so much for sharing that. I think, like, I've never actually heard it put that way, but that's a great way to say it. Like, our identity is not fixed. So I like that a lot. The next question I have for you, Jill, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So this is a— this is the most important thing for people to know. But it's the opposite of what everybody thinks. But here it is in one quick sentence, basically, that it's our thought in the moment that's creating our moment-to-moment experience of life and not other people and situations. So nobody around us can cause us to get mad, sad, scared, whatever, it actually just comes from our own thought in the moment, which is why people react differently to different situations and different people. You know, one person might scare someone and the other, another person, you know, they just think they're funny or whatever, because it's coming from our own thought in the moment. So that's the most valuable piece of information that everybody really needs to know about life. Yes.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice?
So for business advice, it's totally do what you love and are passionate about. I'm sure you probably get this answer from everyone, but, you know, if you just keep following your nose of what's fun and what you love and just keep at it and you're passionate about it, you can't go wrong. Like, it just, your business will flourish that way. Don't focus on all the things you think you need to do because you hear other people are doing it, but do what stuff you love.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Well, that would relate to the other answer I gave that really that nobody and no thing can truly disturb your peace, which is kind of what my whole, my book is about, Victim of Thought.
And I'm excited for your answer on this. In your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Well, this is my real area of expertise. I'm pumped. It's knowing insightfully that happiness is our default state. It's actually like what's underneath all our crazy thinking that's going on in our head. The happiness is our default state, and it's who we are at our core. Which means that there's no reason for us to be like seeking it from outside means, you know, through all— like life is one big addiction for most of us where, you know, we're constantly seeking the next thing, whether it's actually drugs or alcohol. It can be millions of other things too, shopping addictions and just other people. And, you know, there's everything we do in life is just because we're seeking that feeling of happiness. But The joke is on us because it's inside of us all along and it's our default state. So that's the key is seeing that in an insightful way. Like when you click onto that, then you never need to be seeking it from outside of you anymore.
I love that answer so much. What is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
That would probably be a book called The Relationship Handbook by Dr. George Pransky, which what I learned is that people do what they do, as weird and crazy or irrational as it may seem to us, because just the same as I am, they're living in the feeling of their own personal thoughts in the moment. So it's— everyone has their own like reality that they live in. And once we learn it about ourselves, that our thoughts are creating the way we experience life, when we look, then we can say, oh yeah, they're just doing that too. They're just living in their thought bubble. And that's why they're doing what they do. So it helps with relationships to be able to understand other people and ourselves better.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
That would probably be one. I've heard Dr. Wayne Dyer say it, and I think he may have been quoting somebody else, but he used to say, change the way you look at things and the things you look at change. And that's just so true because it's really the key to experiencing a whole different reality or life than we may be experiencing now. Just like with me and having lost the weight, like, you know, I just looked looked at myself differently and my whole life changed. It's cool.
Yes. Thank you so much for coming on, Jill. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
And that would be my blog, whatdidyoudowithjill.com. And thank you for having me.
Of course. Thanks for joining us and we'll talk with you soon.
Thanks.
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