From Chaos to Clarity – Jason’s Transformation Through The PATH

Hi, my name is Jason Trifon, global CEO of AthenaCom.

It's been about five months since we've been coaching together. If we were to go back to April of this year, I'd love for you to share a little bit about what life was like for you then and what inspired you to reach out to me.

Oh, gosh. See, I was so chaotic. Like, things were good, family was good, kids are good, everyone's healthy. But there was this central feeling deep in my core that I was erratic and just chaos was constantly around me. I couldn't plan a day properly, and I was achieving what I thought was success. But everything felt fake, you know what I mean? And it was just so poignant, your timing. You came up in my feed and I knew you and I knew of you, and we had crossed paths along the way and I was, I was pretty proud of your journey that you yourself were on. But when I connected with you, I felt like I was off the path. And you started talking about being on the path and putting men on the path. And I said to myself, I just got a green light. I just got to follow the green light on this and connect with you. And just being in the path program itself, it gave me an ability to look at myself from 35,000ft and identify all the areas of my life that were unbalanced. And by doing that, it's remarkable because it gave me the ability to plug back in, connect with the family, the kids, my wife, my business, my employees. And something interesting started happening. People started noticing. They started saying, something's different here. And when people that you work with or you lead or you trust or mentor, whatever, you start saying to you something's off, but in a positive way. I knew that's when I was on the right path with you. And from then on, it's. It's had material impacts for what I'm doing daily.

Yeah. So what do you think it was that happened that shifted within you, that other people started to notice and feel?

I think it's less super overreactive and less hyper able to communicate with people in an effective and like natural state instead of like a camera face or a camera body or whatever the case may be, like being able to just sit in a room and let people talk and listen to them and take in what they're going through or what they like and connecting the dots in those conversations of like, why is this conversation happening right now? Where is it taking me? Why is it relevant? Why is it poignant? And just having natural Real conversations with people. And I think that's what's stuck out the most for people around me that are close to me specifically on the business side as well, be it customers or employees or investors or the board or whatever the case may be. They're just, it just feels so authentic talking with you. When I talk with everyone else, they're pretending or they're fake. And that was the starting point. But as I started getting deeper in the self reflection and the journey and everything that I've been working on with you and on my own, based on your leadership and guidance, it's given me the ability to just receive so much abundance and, and not abundance from monetary perspective only. Well, that has been great as well. And it's been interesting to track that. It's abundance of opportunity, abundance of relationships, abundance of love. Right. And receipt from my. Those people around me as well, where they feel authentic to me more. Instead of just a transactional relationship or something where you're, you're working with people on a daily basis and you're. It's just transactional in nature. It's, it's, it's deeper now. Right.

What would you say some of the breakthroughs are that have allowed you to have these deeper connections and allow yourself to really be seen and felt by others?

Being comfortable in my own skin based on my own inner work that I've done and tapping into what I've been carrying around, like in a backpack, if you will, for a long time and who knows, maybe even before my lifetime, and being able to chip away at that on a regular basis and self identify it and be man enough to be able to do that on my own without being ashamed or guilty. Hitting it head on. One of the things that I love interacting with you about is just. You have a natural ability to just have conversations with and you put it out there, tough conversations with people, but in a humanistic way. And when you can do that yourself on a self reflection basis with the tools that you're. That I've been taught to utilize, to do that, you can have a profound impact not only on yourself, but the people around you. And I think that's when people started noticing, they started saying like this is different, this feels like a different J. Right.

I love that. And, and you being this different version of Jay for your team, for your family, like what are you noticing in your relationships? Like what is shifting and opening up for you as a result of that?

I think so. On a corporate side, whether it's with customers or whether it's with employees or anyone around me, we're able to get to the root of issues immediately. We can brainstorm better. We have the ability to have communications one on one with one another where there's no, there's no bullshit. It's just real, it's authentic, real humanistic behavior with mentoring, with helping them chip away at what they're going through in that particular instance on a business side. Right. So I've been finding, I've been utilizing my own self improvement tools to help self improve others. Not that I'm a coach by any stretch of the imagination, but as a business leader, when I can tap into some of the things that you've taught me or you've directed me to, I can improve their lives and they feel it. It's not so much just about coaching, numbers and EBITDA improvement and whatever. It's about them performing better themselves within the business. And we're getting the natural lift that normally I would just brute force to get those increases out of people. I'm finding I'm not doing that anymore. I don't need to do that. People, I think naturally want to come to work with me now instead of having to force them into it. And that's a big change for me. On the family side, we're having better conversations. We're having more interactions as a family, less screen time. We're communicating and I'm making an effort to be less reactive in situations, whether it's sports or, you know, where are we going for dinner tonight? It's not so much of like, like, why is this annoying to have that conversation? It's like, okay, what do you want to do? Help me understand, you know, and relationships are just juicier now. They feel more fulfilled. There's a long way to go. For sure. We're not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm feeling more at peace, more at home, even with my own family, in my home.

I love that. I love that. Yeah. And to your point about you may not be a coach, but you're leading by example and you are embodying what you're learning and you're being the example. You're being the proof of what it looks like to be vulnerable and what it looks like to just put it out there, you know, and not be afraid. And this is why I love working with founders, CEOs, men like yourself, because who you become has that trickle down effect that can be felt throughout the company. Because when the big boss man can be vulnerable, can be approachable and, and relatable Right. That creates a connection and I would say, like an authenticity in the business where things happen faster because you don't have to tiptoe or play the political game. You can just say it as it is, and things just move at a expedited pace. And the fact that you and your family are having a juicier, more meaningful connection is so important because you're teaching your kids what a strong, confident, but compassionate masculine figure can be like, bringing these skills and these tools into your family. You're teaching them, you're coaching them by way of just osmosis.

Absolutely. When you start doing that as a human being or an entrepreneur, whatever your role in life is, Right. You can just apply that statement to anything that anyone does. You have the opportunity to start being involved in situations that otherwise you're removing yourself from. So you're keeping yourself in a microcosm of something that's just so micro versus macro. Out of. For what? Fear of X, fear of Y. And you've been a huge help for me on that, for me to tackle that. Because, as I would call a masculine man with a deep sports background or entrepreneuring and been through the school of hard knocks, you still have vulnerability inside. That is withhold. It's holding you back. And I still had a lot of that and, and carrying that around based on my own upbringing and the environment that I was raised within and the pace that I was running at. I. I had generalized anxiety disorder. I was relying on alcohol to, I would say, mute myself or numb myself based on the overwhelming anxiety that I was carrying around on a daily basis. So for me, it all came to a culmination of why I started to work with you, is I was in Barbados with my wife and we were taking a vacation in April or March, actually. And I thought I was doing everything right. I woke up that day, I worked out. She was sleeping while I was working out. I brought her a coffee. We walked probably 20,000 steps that day on the beach. We're in the heat all day, drinking all day, go back to the hotel room, we get ready, we're rushing to dinner. And on the way to dinner, I suddenly started feeling like I couldn't breathe. And it felt like anxiety, but I knew this was a little bit different. And I didn't say anything to her. And we're walking to dinner, we sit down. And just as I say out of my mouth, I'm not feeling well, my apple watch started exploding alerts. And it was telling me that I was in a heart arrhythmia. And I stood up and I realized in a nanosecond I'm in a foreign country. I think I'm doing everything right as a human being to keep myself healthy, grounded, working on my anxiety, working on my business, and so on and so forth. And in a split second I said, what am I going to do here? And thankfully, my body, it felt like reset in a second. And I phoned my cardiologist that night and he told me, okay, let's look, send me the readings. And I knew I was okay. But flying home, I said to myself, I can't do this anymore. And everything that was telling me along the way to just being a man, suck it up, you know, push through it, grind culture, grind through it. It just wasn't enough anymore in terms of a philosophy. And that's when I needed you. Yeah. And that's when we started working together and took it to the next level. Yeah.

I remember speaking to you right after, you know, you had gotten back and, and you said something that really like, hit home for me and, and you said, yeah, I'm not, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm worried I might not make it to 50, you know. And that was, that was all you needed to say for me to, for me to not just take you on as a client, but to commit to helping you to understand what is that needs to shift. What is different about Jason now from April to. We're now in October, as far as, you know, your health, your mindset, your marriage, and, you know, anything else that's really shifted, that's been the most remarkable for you.

The easy ones off the hop are, I'm down 15 pounds of just pure visceral fat. And, and to get there, it's. You can't, you can't short circuit that. Right. You, the only thing you can do is put in the work. And when you're doing that, and it takes every single day, repetition, discipline, finding the time in your day without being able to see the dramatic drop happening overnight, which is who I am as an individual. I love doing projects that give me instant gratification. I'd paint this room if I could because, like, I can see instantly the change that I'm making to the environment. Right. So for me to have, to have discipline for long term gain, it also conditioned my mind to work in different ways. Now I can work at things in patience versus being rushed to get to point point A, to point B. And that's having a material effect on my business life because I can look at opportunities now. I can look at situations and play the long game. I'm in complex negotiations on a regular basis with some of the biggest companies in the world. They have purchasing departments literally within their buildings, floors of people that are trained at the art of vendor management and negotiation. When you can look at the situation and play the long game in terms of how you're negotiating those contracts with those individuals, you have a very powerful opportunity. And I've been able to do that now. And when I look back at who I was before, I was so impulsive, so reactive, so emotionally charged in situations, I must have left millions on the table, not only for myself, but for investors. I'm capturing that now. I'm not leaving money on the table. And I'm doing it in a way that's natural, it's friendly, it's coming from a place of giving always to receive back. And it's just changed my entire perception in that regard from a relationship perspective. The exercise, the, the, the daily routine that I go through now on a daily basis, that really came from you to help force me to do that has changed my ability to what I call go to market every day. Not only as a business executive and a CEO of a company, but also my marriage and my kids. I've calmed the mind, if you will, and I've calmed the body. Get to the point where new emergence is coming out of me that I can relate with on a daily basis with them from a relatedness perspective. And I think my kids are less on edge with me because I was just such a volatile force at all times. It actually hurts me to say that because I've lost a lot of time with them because of that. Right. And while my wife is just amazing and they, they obviously would gravitate towards her, as a man, you want to be a father where you can receive your kids and you can talk with them and guide them. My kids avoided me for a long time because I just wasn't a great human being. And I own that. But I'm not going to let it continue. We did that together.

Yeah.

And I'm very thankful.

Yeah, I'm proud of you because you really, in such a short time, you've made a lot of really major shifts. It's not that I taught you anything. I more so ask you the questions to help you remember who you are and to choose to release what no longer serves you. And in releasing and removing that higher self version of you has, has come out and, and it really is on full display now.

Yeah, thank you. Absolutely. I feel that way. Yeah. I really do.

Yeah. What's happening on this in that aspect of just fun, enjoy and just allowing yourself to just indulge in the things that you really love.

I think anyone that would know me on a deeper level would always say I'm not up for anything. Like, if we could characterize it, it's like, hey, Jay, Friday night we're going out, want to come? And it's like my natural instinct would be, no, no, no. I've had a long week. I need to recharge and relax and stay home and home body. And I'm doing a lot more of. Absolutely. Let's go. When are we leaving? You know, my, my wife and I joking around now. Both our kids are, are in university at this stage. Right. We're, we're proverbial empty nesters now. Yeah. It's like, do you want to go to Africa on Friday? Like, we're in.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, we're embracing these opportunities not because we have the time now to do it, but more importantly, the desire. And that starts with me. My wife is an amazing human being. She's the life of the party. Everyone loves her. Her vibes, her energy is just so open to everything. People just love her. And I feel like 20 years of marriage I've held her back because of my own inability to just be open to wanting more and wanting to do more and experience more together and have fun and experience this great city we live in. Instead of just hunkering down in bricks and mortar that we own and are proud of, let's go out and experience the world. And we're starting to do more of that. And not by force. It's not like I have to force myself to go. It's natural now. And now that we're doing it, it's improved the relationship. It's improved. We're having fun. We're doing things that we've never done before. Saturday mornings, Boom Cafe, let's go. My wife's like, who is this guy? Like, is this really happening right now? There's memes about this where women are like, excited. They're like, we're going, let's do it. I'm living that with my wife now. And it's fun. And like, I'm here with you downtown and we're, we're filming together and we're, we're sharing stories. And you know, normally I would back away from that just because I didn't want the spotlight, but this is different because I want you to have the spotlight because you deserve it, because you're helping men like me who think we have it all figured out and we. We have no clue. As successful as I am or have been in the past, I was so lost until we started working together. And, like, we have a long way to go. By the way, this, like, this isn't done. Just so we're clear, I'm not letting go of you. We're going to keep going. And a lot of that has to be led by me because, yeah, I am busy and there's a lot going on. I'm running a global company right now. We're scaling globally, and there's amazing things happening, but I'm conditioning myself to lean into you and make sure we continue because there's so much more to do. So, yeah, we're having tons of fun. A lot more than I used to in the past. And there's. There's more to come.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Because when you allow yourself to have the fun and enjoy your abundance and you're in those higher frequencies, then you are just able to attract even more. Because when you say no to opportunities and you're restricting yourself, it comes from a place of fear, comes from a place of survival, from a place of worry. When you're saying yes to life, it's because you trust that God is giving you everything you need and that you're abundant with time, with money, with freedom. And it's just. Just remembering to keep saying yes. And. And you have been. And it's. It's been beautiful to witness, you know, and I, I agree there's obviously many levels to this, and you've done amazing, amazing work in progress over the last, you know, four or five months. And that's why I was so excited to sit down and have this conversation. Because to your point, there's many men out there who don't know what they don't know. And what they think they know is what they think they need to know.

Right.

Until life smacks you upside the head. Right. Because a lot of things that we speak about in my program, they don't teach you in school. I had to learn through my teachers and mentors who showed me what I didn't know. So for me, it's about passing along and sharing it. And I've told you, I have no doubt you're going to be on stage and you're.

You're.

Well, you're already on stages, but you're going to be on stage sharing the message of what does it take to be a startup, to be a founder, to scale your business, to have the mindset, to have the regulated nervous system, to be able to scale and grow with compassion and empathy and confidence. And that's who I see you as and who you're evolving into. And I have no doubt that you know, that is an important part of your journey and your mission. And you know, one of my gifts is I could always see the big picture of where someone could be. And I'm excited for you, dude. It's gonna be, it's gonna be, it's gonna be epic. This is just the tip of the iceberg for sure.

I feel like it. And we need to do a follow up because as, as we progress, I want it for my own self and for you. I want to track the performance and, and what we're accomplishing because it does feel like it's tip of the iceberg, but it's been monumental. And I'm proud of myself for, for working with you because as a man, we've always been told, at least in my generation growing up, figure it out, push through it, grind through it. And there is no teachings for us. There really is. It's limited resources and less so now in the world. It feels like specifically for men. Whether you're a successful man or you're not, or whatever, whatever your, your interpretation is, or whatever society's view of you is, we've all been left without tools. I really fundamentally believe that. And when men can work with other men together, that you make breakthroughs together with the work that you're doing, that needs to be broadcast and we're not doing enough of it. I believe what you're doing and how you're changing men's lives is remarkable. I fundamentally believe that. And I don't think it stops with men. I think young men need you. Yes, I really do believe that. I have a 19 year old son at home and as I mentioned, as a father, I, I feel like I haven't done good enough for him as he's been growing up. But lately I've been leaning into working with him on some of the things that I've learned from you. And it's profound. He's listening to me and I see him asking questions now at a deeper level that I would have wanted to ask at his age as a 19 year old. Who am I talking to? High school's teachers didn't do it for me. It just wasn't enough. It wasn't deep enough. They have hundreds of students, counselors at a school Wasn't enough for me. I didn't know where to reach out to. So I think young men in our generation right now need you.

Yeah, yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. And it is something that I am considering creating some sort of group program or container community for young men between 18 to 23 who, you know, they're leaving school, they think about what's next, and they're dating now, and they are starting to work, make a bit of money. Okay, well, how. How can you teach about financial literacy? Like, how can we share with them the things that we didn't get right?

Right.

And. And it's also about helping them to grow up conscious, with integrity, with values and respect, because that's what the world needs right now. Right. We got to raise that next generation of men to be ethical, moral leaders who are going to make sure that the feminine feels safe, that the planet is honored and. And preserved, and that business is done in a way where everybody wins. Right.

I agree.

Yeah. For anyone out there who may be watching this, who may be thinking about coaching, who may be thinking about investing in themselves, what would you. What would be your message to them if they were thinking about it, but they're not too sure, you know, this life coaching thing, I don't know, seems like a bit of a scam. What would you. What would you share with them that would help them to understand the value?

Human beings naturally, whether male, female, et cetera, they. We naturally are skeptical of everything. And even if we think we're not skeptical, somewhere along the lines we are. I was skeptical not of you, but I was skeptical of can someone really improve my life? Because I've been always been taught to be in charge of who I am, in charge of other people as a leader. And I didn't believe anyone could have an impact on me until the world told me, you're going to be impacted by someone. And this was my. Your moment to wake up to it. So I think the biggest thing is acceptance and understanding that there's more to life based on the way that you're living. And in any situation from a performance quotient perspective, whether it's physical attributes for sports or mental attributes, there's abilities to expand the vessel beyond what you have now. And anytime you're doing that and you're stretching or improving your vessel or adding more that your vessel can receive, you're going to receive that, a tremendous amount of abundance from doing that. And I've experienced it, I was very skeptical. I did not think it could happen until I started Realizing and connecting the dots. It is happening based on the work that we've been doing. And it's not like I was putting myself out there saying, please give me more. No, it was happening by osmosis based on just myself, based on the work that I was doing with your guidance and your leadership. So I'm a believer. It's not about being skeptical anymore. It's about how can I accelerate this now? That's the new foray that I'm going after is how can I put this in hyperdrive? Right? And that's the new challenge that we have. Because now my type A personality is like, we proved this, we have to go now. Right? And for people that may not operate that way, that's fine. Be skeptical, lean into the skepticism. But give it a try. Because the worst case scenario is you stay yourself. That's the worst case. The best case is you can accelerate further. And I think with you they can.

Beautifully said. Thank you, I appreciate that. And it's interesting how people will invest into real estate, invest into crypto or these other things that, you know, will maybe go up, maybe it won't, but they won't put that money into themselves. And I think that's the most important part is do you believe in yourself enough to say that I'm going to. I'm going to bet on me. So I'm going to bet on me and then I'm going to show up every day to make sure that that bet pays off. And I think that's where some people unfortunately don't see the returns. You know, and then they're like, okay, this didn't work. But you are a perfect example of what happens when someone commits, puts money on the table and goes all in. So I am grateful for you, for your trust in me and for the work that we've done together. You know, sitting down and listening to you is such a joy because it just reminds me of why I do what I do. And I'm looking forward to the follow up video. I'm looking forward to meeting your wife and your kids and yeah, getting, getting to experience what the transformation of Jason has created for all of those around you that you love.

Thank you. I appreciate you.

Yeah, man.