Independence and Gen Z with Greg Gdanian

Today, Sasha and Michelle chat with Greg Gdanian, host of the Sets and Reps podcast. At only 23, Greg is exploring what independence and growth truly mean for him as a man in his early 20s.

Connect with Greg:
sets-and-reps.com
IG: @gregbuildsskills
Check out Michelle's episode on Greg's podcast, Sets and Reps, here on Spotify and here on Apple.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1DF8rM9KwMaeHPmORxn43s?si=2db9dcfe73634106

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/25-living-by-intentions-michelle-zellner-better-beings/id1542481466?i=1000531723617

Connect with us:
betterbeings.net
IG: @be.a.better.being
Michelle: @betterbeingsus
Sasha: @sasha.patricia
YouTube: Michelle Zellner - Be A Better Being Podcast playlist

Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe!

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome. You are listening to the, be a better being podcast, hosted by Michelle Zellner and Sasha Berscheid. Michelle and Sasha are here to give you information and inspiration to help you live your healthiest happiest lives. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you enjoy the show. Greetings everybody. Welcome to the, be a better beam podcast.

I am Michelle. Zellner joined today. Sasha, how you doing my love looking beautiful as always. Thank you. Thank you. I'm doing great. I'm in a place where I am, so extremely happy because it's summertime, but I'm also so extremely sad because summertime is like over halfway done. So I'm just preparing myself for, for summertime to be over.

You know, I used to do that too as like July 4th and then in my head it'd be like, oh, summer's over mm-hmm. And like, No, it's not. You have like a solid eight weeks left stop, fast [00:01:00] forwarding time. Like really let's stop doing that. Let's embrace it and be present. I know you have so much fun stuff coming up and we have a fun conversation coming out.

We have a great guest, Greg gin. How are you, Greg? Welcome. Hi, Michelle and Sasha. Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here. Yeah. So we are excited to have you here because we're rounding out the theme of independence for our July episodes. And I was on your podcast last year and a couple months ago, maybe not that long ago, I saw a post of yours on Instagram and it just.

Struck a chord in me like, oh, we need to talk to him. And this is such the perfect topic. So tell us a little bit just general, you know, thumbnail sketch of Greg Daniel. And then we're gonna dive into some of the big things that have been happening to you lately. And I know there's a lot of ways to weave in the theme of independence, into our convers.

Well, thank you so much. So I'm 23 years old. Now I [00:02:00] was born in 99. Before the conversation we were having today, we were talking about how the, generations break up. We learned that it was every 15 years. So that would make me gen Z if we, if we talked about, so, I've lived in New Hampshire for all my life.

Got here right before I was born. My family came from New York and. As I grew up, I wanted to be a police officer. I wanted to kind of serve and protect. And I spent a year in criminal justice after realizing it wasn't really my bag, because it started to feel more like I was gonna become a lawyer, memorizing a lot of court cases.

And, I was doing well in the classes, but it wasn't something I was passionate about. I wasn't excited to go. I found fitness actually, while I was preparing to be a police officer, I wanted to build my strength so I could prepare for the physical testing and then I just [00:03:00] fell in love with it. And I wanted to get into exercise science.

So when I transitioned to exercise science, I took, got my two year associates. And then I became a personal trainer and that's what I've been doing for the past three years now at a health club. That's right in my town. It's fairly, fairly easy for me. I would, I about five minutes away from work. So I lived with my parents as the youngest child of five forever, it seemed like. 

Pretty much up until the past. Like right before the past seven months six or seven months, I was living with my parents. And then after my. Associate's degree in exercise science. That's kind of right when COVID hit. As my semester there was ending and I transitioned into physical therapy to become a physical therapist assistant.

And that was another two year degree in around this time as well. Everything was happening. I started my podcast, which is sets and reps, which Michelle, I was happy to have you on a year ago. [00:04:00] And as life was kind of getting in the way and, things were happening. Change was taking place.

I hadn't been doing my podcast as much, and I'm happy to have the opportunity to record this. Cause this is the first that I've done really in, in two months. So it's, it's really a pleasure to be featured on yours, but I've been doing, I've been doing it to the best of my ability. I've been living I've.

Finding myself. I've been experiencing happiness and growth again in, in many different ways and starting to feel more like myself here. So I'm so happy to be here. So thank you. Oh, well, thank you. I mean, thank you, honestly. As I said to you earlier, you're one of the reasons this podcast happened because I said it out loud on two podcasts last year.

And when I say something out loud, I generally try to follow through on it. So thank you for me having. That opportunity to be accountable and make this happen. I, man, there's so much to [00:05:00] unpack. I mean, I totally forgot how all these major life things happen for you and your generation in the midst of a global pandemic.

I mean, that's such a big conversation itself, but I think the post that really got my mind going on this was you were moving out or getting ready to move out of the house. Your dad had suffered a stroke. Sounded like all your family was moving outta state mm-hmm and it was kind of the last thread, right.

This house that you grew up in and you expressed in the post, you know, fear, sadness, excitement, like all those feelings and emotions. So can you just kind of. Go through maybe the last six or eight months to explain what those transitions were like and those kind of pivotal life experiences that are really starting to get you moving towards a, a more independent life.

Yeah. I'd like to preface it by saying that my dad is like doing really well now. Because he's, that's. He's great. Thank you. Yeah, he, it was a small [00:06:00] stroke that affected his balance in a major way. And he's a paramedic he's been doing that for so long. Serving the cities in the communities saving lives and really doing really intense work that I don't know if I'd be able to handle, but.

a lot of my family's in the medical field, so that's kind of where he ended up and it's what gave him passion. When he had that mini stroke, he couldn't do much of the things in his job that required him to be like efficient. At, for example, one of the things that he struggled with afterwards was like putting IVs into people's arms and he was just getting a lot of anxiety after the stroke happened.

He had to take off work. A long period of time, like eight weeks, something like that. So imagine not being in a job that's so physically involved and intense like that, and then not doing that for eight weeks. Not having that exposure. He went back and things just weren't the same. Not to mention he had two hips replaced, so [00:07:00] he was doing PT for that as well.

So that started their process of thinking about, you know, moving, thinking about uprooting and kind of changing their lives a bit, because things here were less than ideal, which is different from when you know how they were before. And my parents are loved in this community. My dad was a pastor for the longest time, so they certainly had a lot of friends and family within the church.

A lot of people that were supportive and hugely supportive in this journey, but they got a condo in South Carolina, so that's how it started. And then they were thinking, yeah, no, we could just live here. We could sell the house. We could rent out the house, but we could live in South Carolina.

 Start a life there cuz my dad had just kind of wasn't about the. Career that he was still in anymore and had to kind of move around. You can be a paramedic on call driving the ambulance, going to different emergency [00:08:00] situations, or you can be a paramedic that's in like in urgent care. So that's what he was doing for a while as well.

He was in an urgent care. So I'm in this equation, not really knowing what I was gonna do cause I wasn't gonna move with them. I was still in school. I was still finishing up my physical therapist, assistant degree. I was thinking, you know, I have a handful of friends that want to move out. They want to have roommates.

So that, that was my, that was my avenue. I was going to find one or two people and just look for an apartment there's stuff that made the most sense. And. One of my friends came over and was hanging out in the house with me. And he was like, Hey, me and these four other three other guys are all looking for a place together.

And with the market, we don't think we're gonna find anything it's crazy. And he just had this, like, Hey, let's ask your parents, let's rent out your home. Like, let's [00:09:00] all move in together right away. My parents were like, nah, We don't, we don't really want that. Like, for some reason they felt that five boys moving into a house.

Wasn't the best idea. We definitely made it work, but yeah, I, I didn't blame them at first. And then we kind of had an adult conversation with my parents. We sat 'em down. We're like, Hey, we really think we can make this work. Like we're, we're all, we all know what it's like to take care of things. We've we've all had families.

We. We can uphold the place. And at that point I was down with it. I was like, you know, this might be a really good time for me. Let me just spend some time with these roommates. Keep working as my parents go and do their thing. So for the past six months we were renting out my apartment on my house to my parents while they were starting to build their life down there.

And then it got to the point where the lease was up and we were gonna. recheck things and [00:10:00] kind of reevaluate. They wanted to sell the house. So at that point, the roommates kind of went their separate ways. Two of them went back to live with their parents. Another one found his own place and another one got married.

So then I was thinking, you know, I really don't have anywhere to go. Now I'm not moving down to, I'm not moving down south. The rest of my family was I have family in New York, upstate Western New York. They all decided to move down there when my parents did, which is good for my parents. Everyone's kind of close together and supporting them, but I wasn't, that's still not how I'm feeling like things should move.

I there's more work for me to do here. So I was like, I have to just start looking for a place to live on my own. Luckily. Graduated and finished up the program. I took a board's exam, not that long ago for this physical therapy assistant degree, [00:11:00] since I finished that, that's the last step I need in order to be licensed, I'm still working.

And I was able to find a connection with a member that works out at my gym. Who is a land lady and she owns multiple properties in town. And I got hooked up with a sweet one bedroom apartment that I am so grateful for. it's enough space for what I need and having lived with so much space for all my life in, in a five, six bedroom house.

Getting used to that condensed life has been a huge blessing for me. That's where I'm at right now. That's awesome. I love that story. I love how a, the catalyst kind of a tragic thing, your dad's stroke really accelerated your move towards independence, because my guess is had that not happened. You might still be just going along Mely, happily living with mom and dad.

And yet, interestingly enough, normally it's the kids who leave mom and dad, mom and [00:12:00] dad decided to leave the kids. Sasha. Do you remember when you were 22 3 and. At first, like, okay, there's no more home. There's no more like college roommate thing. Oh, man. So when he was telling his story, I was thinking about how adulty you are, how responsible you are for a 23 year old.

I did not grow up just so everyone knows. I am very, I don't wanna say I'm proud to say this. But I acknowledge my path. I didn't grow up till I was 26 mm-hmm . So I left for college. I wanted to get as far away as I possibly could. I was 17 years old. I moved 800 miles away from my family. I was there for, you know, four years until I had to move back.

I tried to escape several times, but I always, I wasn't responsible enough. I wasn't sober. I wasn't. I wasn't adulty enough to, [00:13:00] to do things on my own until I got sober. So when he was going through all of these, you know, different, you know, I was 23 or when I was 22 or 21, I'm thinking to myself yet, no, that wasn't me.

I wasn't ready. I was not responsible there. It was not my priority to take care of myself. As an adult, it was my priority to party. It was my priority to drink. It was my priority to socialize, to go out at night. And then, you know, my, my work, it wasn't my priority either. It, the only reason I got a college degree.

Which is sad to say is because number one, soccer paid for it right up until a certain point up until my fourth year. And then I had to pay for it. If, if I had that much time under my belt, I might as well finish it. So I finished my college degree because I felt like I had to. But then after that, none of, I wasn't like Greg, I wasn't responsible.

I [00:14:00] just. I did what I needed to do in order to have a drink in my hand. I didn't grow up until I was 26, so I'm very proud of you, Greg. Thank you. So, yeah, I mean, honestly, whenever I meet a, a gen Z who is as evolved and as you know, as adult, as someone like Greg and I have, I have a few of you in my circle.

It I'm always, this is what gives me hope. There are gen Z gen X millennials. There's still a whole bunch of us who, who aren't grown up an adult and responsible. And that's the thing is, is life is hard. Living on your own is hard. It takes hard work. It takes discipline. It takes. Risk, it takes you know, this, this need or this desire to want to figure out how to do it on my own.

It's it could probably be very easy for you to move down, live by the parents, live by the family, right. That would be very safe and comfortable to stay close to the nest. So what is it about you that that's not [00:15:00] what you wanna do, but rather staying where you are is kind of the path that you think is right for you.

Well, it's exactly that with what you're saying. I think it's the fact that it would be comfort and I'm trying not to get to attached to comfort. And it's hard when you're living in this, in the same town that you've lived in for 23 years. Like I drive the same road to work every single day. Like there's, there's so much monotony.

We go to the same bars in town. We go to like the same breakfast places. There's not too much going on unless you actually go out leave. And if I go down to South Carolina, it'll be great. It'll be new for a while to be in that new environment, but it's still, it. It'll still be like, you know, close to home.

And I don't feel that that's. Like a state of being that I'm, that I'm in [00:16:00] yet. Like, I can go, I can get with maybe moving to another state where I'm by myself and where it's just me. But now that my parents have kind of relocated themselves, it's an opportunity for me to still be here, still be in my, my zone in a way, but now it's now it's myself.

Now it's my turn to kind of. Navigate things. And with my parents, like selling the house and finishing that process I'll almost be disconnected from here entirely. And I've thought about it. It's like, they've all been trying to get me to go down, like, and, and I've kind of been annoyed at it a little bit.

It's like, I'll come down and visit, but it's. I just, I just finished to get licensed in this state and getting licensed in another state is a whole nother process. So let me, let me work here for the next. Let me work hard for the next three years, three, four years. Maybe I'll get to the point where [00:17:00] I can get enough together to build a house.

Maybe the house I build is down there in that area. Because I value the relationship I have with my family. People don't not, not everyone has a great relationship with their family and I was blessed to have one and I take it for granted a lot. So even though I'm not gonna move down there, it's still important for me to maintain that connection with them as much as I can, as often as I can.

Yeah. I used to get annoyed when I would come visit home from college and my parents wished I would stay longer and I would get really irritated mm-hmm and I realized, you know, I should be grateful that these people want to have me around and I made that mindset shift. So, you know, when you get, and I get it, like when you get annoyed, like just leave me alone, let me do my life.

Let me figure things out. Just take that deep breath and be grateful that your family wants to have you close, but also forge your own path because Sasha and I talked on our first episode about what independence means to us. [00:18:00] And I mean, , I think everybody, male, female, everybody should be able to live on their own, take care of themselves, know how to do things because there might come a time when that's where you find yourself, whether it was your choice or not.

And I have seen too many people get into that position and have no idea what to do because they've never lived on their. They've never had to pay their own bill or, you know, don't know how to get their own schedule and be accountable to their schedule and where they need to be because somebody else always did it for them.

So I love that you're taking this, this opportunity to stay rooted where you are. but to branch out from the norm and find yourself and your sense and your path and do what feels right for you. And also such a great reminder for someone your age, that whatever you choose today, this is not the rest of your life.

Mm-hmm . This is today, maybe the next three years, five years, 10 years, maybe it's [00:19:00] six months. And you're like, wow, I don't, I really don't like this either. And then we can move that. That is the beauty of where we are in this this time. Right. We do have the opportunity and you have a welcoming committee ready for you, or who knows?

Maybe you meet somebody or you get this great opportunity and you're ready to go do something really big and bold and scary and solo. You don't know what tomorrow brings, but when you just stay in comfort or you go to what's comfortable. A lot of times you end up looking back thinking, oh, what if this, I should've done that.

I wish I would've done that. So it's great that you're really, you know, taking this time to do this on your own and know that your family is gonna appreciate your independence at some point, too. Yeah, they'll be there. They can see it. , they've always been You know, proud, like proud or, or affirmative of what, what I've been doing.

 They supported me all pretty much, most of the way through my education. So I have to kind of [00:20:00] give credit where it's due and yeah, I think I love, I'm trying to just make small, like transformative experiences for myself. Like. I haven't done too much reading, but I, but I'm trying to get back into it.

I'm dealing with like a back injury right now, but the, but the gym has always been my time to kind of go in and work hard and struggle for myself for an hour. And then kind of, it just gives me a fresh perspective on it, everything else. So I think like finding small ways to just get out of the ordinary within your own.

Rooted environment is, is hu is important for that. What you, yeah. What you had said earlier today was what, it was a great even just sentence when you said I am forcing myself to be uncomfortable within like the comfort of my own home, my own apartment, my [00:21:00] own hometown, my friends, the, the baring, the so.

Right now you just said, you know, I go to the gym, I'm uncomfortable there. I'm starting to read more. I'm uncomfortable there. Like, what are some other things that you're doing baby steps that you would give other persons advice that say, this is you can still be comfortable within your four walls, but.

Find yourself, figure yourself out. What are some of those challenges that you are doing or implementing for yourself in order to become a better bean to become the best version of yourself today in your hometown with your new found independence? Well, there's a couple things there because I. Know, a lot of know, some people, you know, that come to mind, but in general, a lot of people don't have something they're really passionate about and don't have something that excites them.

Or they don't have something that they can express, like a way that they can express themselves [00:22:00] creatively. And I understand I've always been. Or maybe I have a hard time understanding. I've always been like a creative person in a way. So I've, I found ways to kind of deal with that, even though I, even if I don't feel like it sometimes the podcast was a huge way for me to express the creativity.

So I think if people wanna get uncomfortable, it would be good to have a way to ha an outlet for creativity that they. Just find something to do, find something to practice, know that you won't be good at it at first, but with time, with effort with repetition, you'll, you'll make it happen. Whether it's for yourself, whether it's for someone else that you're something you're putting out for someone else too.

And like, there's always, even if you can't afford it, or if it's not in your resources right now, there's education is out there all over. If you wanna learn how to do something, you can basically YouTube it. That's one of the most simple ways. And if, and if, [00:23:00] you know, taking some online classes through a college is within the cards view.

I think that's huge because you can't know what you don't know. and sometimes you can teach yourself, but there's a wealth of knowledge and resources out there. So education, finding ways to learn things, finding ways to build your knowledge creativity, finding a way to express your outlet or finding something that you're excited about.

Passionate about developing it for yourself or someone else. And what do you say to persons who come to you and say, I don't have a passion. Because I get that a lot and I'm like, oh, we'll find it in there. And of course after a couple times, right. But like how, when someone comes to you and says, Greg, man, how did you, like, how do you know what you wanna do?

You're already grown up. Right? So like, how do you help people? How do you, [00:24:00] if I came up to you today and said, Greg, I dunno what I'm doing. I have no passion. I have no purpose. I have no mission. I have no plan. What would you tell me to do. Well, I mean, I like, I haven't figured out everything yet too. I'm still like, I'm still learning every single day.

So you have to realize that and take a breath, take a step back and give yourself time and space if you need it. If something is like, if, if that part is really overwhelming for you, then you need to. Just give yourself the space to, to grow in that I like to, I like to also, Michelle talked about speaking things out into existence and how they won't necessarily happen unless you, or, or speaking them out as one of the greatest ways to make it happen.

I like writing stuff down that I want. Right. So we're if, because if you, if you don't know what you want or if you don't, you don't have that in there. A good thing that you can do is. We'll just find something like, [00:25:00] write, like, think about yourself. Think, think about as much as you can about yourself and what you want and just write it all down.

That's a great way to start. There's a lot of other ways to find inspiration. Take a look at like the job that you're in now. Is it, is it linear? Is it always gonna be the same or are there small ways within your career that you can. You know, progress yourself. Or, or is there, is there some new angle that you haven't found yet?

Is there, is there a twist that you can put on something to, to make yourself get more excited about it? Cause if you're like the, the job is a big example. Cause if you're doing the same thing every single day, like you're just gonna get burnt out and you're gonna, you're gonna lose your fire for it.

So if you take your job and be like, Where, where in this space can I, how can I make this more interesting for myself? How can I make, how can I make myself more excited to, to get in here? And maybe that's, maybe [00:26:00] that's something people need. Maybe you just need to make yourself do it. It's like, if you're not hungry all day, cuz you're super stressed.

Well you need to feed your body. You need to put things into your body. That's gonna benefit you cuz. Constantly gonna be working and moving. And if you, if you don't have that nutrition in you, you're just gonna FAL there. So sometimes it's, it's a lot easier said than done, but sometimes you need to just give yourself space and then slowly make yourself try something new, make yourself experience something new that maybe you don't know how it's gonna come out.

Maybe you don't like the idea, but maybe. It's still gonna be good for you. You never know until you take a step in there and give it a shot. Does that make sense? Greg? You're very self aware and obviously very intrinsically motivated is have you always been like that? Where does, where did that come from and how did maybe just the way you [00:27:00] were raised with your parents and the modeling and your four siblings , mm-hm m, like how, what role did all of that play in who you are today?

I was also thinking, do you have a mentor? Like, do you lean on, do you have a mentor or like, is it all just family? That's huge. Mentorship is huge for me. Like I've always, I've always like when I became a trainer, I was curious about that. I was cur I was, my boss was one of my biggest mentors, the head trainer in my gym.

Like I would always have an open mind with that maybe subconsciously, but then I felt like asking questions and trying to learn as much as you can about something is a good way to. Be open to a mentor. So yeah, mentorship is huge. You know, that if, if there's something that you're interested in, like finding someone who's good at that and sticking close to them is a great, is a great plan.

But I mean, no, I wasn't, I didn't really learn about intrinsic motivation until I [00:28:00] got into, or just motivation in general until I got into. Fitness, because when something was hard for me, I was just, I would just grumble and complain about it all the time. Like I looked at athletes in when I was in like middle school and would be like, man, they might like, when do they have time to do their homework?

They have such a busy schedule. That must be like so hard for them. Oh, I would not be able to do that. Like. And then I just looked at myself and I was like this, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm weak. Like I'm, I don't feel great about where I'm at right now. Like I could never, I could never run around. I could never have that, have that much energy.

And, and like, it's, it's funny on podcasts and stuff and, and in, and in like the industry of fitness and wellness, it's like, The gym and starting that journey is like a huge change for people cuz once you experience weight moving [00:29:00] differently than it did last week, it's like a really great thing for you to be like, oh, I'm gonna do that again.

That was a really great feeling. I'm gonna do that again and oh wow. It's easier this time. So I'm gonna do a little bit more this time. So that's, that's a huge part of where the motivation comes from is seeing where you were the last few times you made the attempt And seeing the potential for the progression that's there.

And even if it's not a steady incline, it's, you're gonna see ups, you're gonna see downs. So yeah, I kind of lost my train of thought there, but that's, that's kind of what it is like a, a huge part of seeing where you came from and seeing. Where you're at now? No, not necessarily. That's where you're going is, is not often, it's not often solidified, but that's, that's a, that's a good way to keep, yourself accountable as seeing where you've come, seeing how far you've come.

Well, and I think actually you're, you're. Instagram handle Greg builds skills [00:30:00] and the name of your podcast sets and reps, those two phrases say it all right. The finish line doesn't disappear. We don't just have the result. We have the result. It because it's a progression of building skills. And because you put in the sets and at the sets and you do the reps.

Right. And, and I think that it sounds like that's been kind of a blueprint for your life. So I don't know if that was accidental or. That all those, those, you know, phrases and things became your handles and the name of your podcast. But it sounds like it's, it's a mindset and it's an approach. And at, at some point, yeah, when you feel the real life application of it and fitness is a great example.

And Sasha and I have this, this shared sentiment and love of that and the role that fitness has. Both of our lives and how we're both very passionate about that aspect of the healthy lifestyle. And, and yet it really is a metaphor for how [00:31:00] everything in life goes. We just don't wanna see everything in life that way.

Right. We want the finish line. We want the result. Mm-hmm . And I have a feeling that for sure, millennials, but gen Z as well, probably struggle with this a lot more than my generation. And I think it's probably because of social media. Tell me a little bit, Greg, and we're probably gonna wrap up here in just a few minutes here, but tell me a little bit about.

Growing up gen Z, growing up with technology with a camera in your face with social media, with everybody, always knowing every single thing you're doing, if you want them to, or with you having the ability to know every single thing that everybody's doing, how does that shape and mold your confidence, your attitude, your motivation.

What role has that played and how do you manage it so that it doesn't have a negative effect on you? Mm, yeah, that's a good one. So, well, the managing part I can kind of speak to because there was a, there was a period of [00:32:00] time where I just like, for my own, mainly it was cause I was studying a lot, but it was for my own head where I had to, like, I didn't even delete the account, but I just.

Turned off the notifications for it. I did delete the app for a while, but it's like I had to make myself not like check Instagram all the time. Cause it would be the first thing in the morning when I wake up. And kind of having that be your first stimulation for the day is it doesn't put you in the best mood to kind of continue.

Do things for yourself. Cause it's like not every, Nope, not everyone's genuine on there, not even, not everyone is kind of showing the, the journey or like the, the authenticity, it's kind of like the polished product. So there's a, you have to kind of. True [00:33:00] to your values in order to keep social media from having an effect on you, and you can always unfollow someone, you can always like remove someone from your feed.

If you feel like what they've got going on is not gonna serve you, but that's, those are some things that I've had to do. I've had to unfollow a lot of accounts that I used to It's tough for me, cuz I want to use it as a platform to push content and getting back into promoting for the podcast and stuff.

So I've even thought about hiring someone to do my social media, so I don't have to like have it or have access to it a lot. I think that would be a good way to co about it as well. But setting, setting boundaries for yourself. Turning off those notifications. If you need to deleting the app for a while, if you need to take a break, it's like, you can only tolerate something for so long.

And social media is not, it's not this evil thing. It has to be you have to have a [00:34:00] good balance. You have to find how it's gonna work for you. So sending boundaries for yourself using it as a tool and. Maybe not using it as the, the first thing you, you expose yourself to end the day. I think that's a fantastic tip and just boundaries in general.

And again, The fact that you at this age are even talking about boundaries and have learned how to set them, that is gonna set you up for so so much of an easier time later on, as long as you remember that. Right? Cause life is very different when you're 23 and then you're 33 and then you're 43 and then you're 50.

But that you have these foundational things going on, you are at whatever point in life, you find yourself struggling or trying to figure it out or unsure. You're gonna go back to the foundational things that you have in place, and you're gonna know the way forward. So awesome. I love it. I think this is such a great conversation, cuz honestly, no matter what age you are, I [00:35:00] know there is something that Greg said.

That can apply to your life. Sasha, any, any follow up wrap up before we close out here? Yeah. My only call out is, you know, Michelle we've been doing some recordings and the thing that has just been echoed now, two times in a row for me, that I feel like I have to call out is what Gregory said, baby steps.

You guys, you don't have to go all out and you're not gonna just go run a marathon in one step, right. You're not going to meet the finish line in one step. So, so figure out what it is that you want to accomplish. Learn how to start that process, whatever that looks like, drinking more water. Waking up earlier, going to bed earlier, actually lifting weight, stretching, eating more vegetables, practicing an attitude of gratitude.

The list goes on and on and on, and you don't have to start as a professional. It's impossible to do so, [00:36:00] just start with the little thing, start with the baby steps. And when you feel overwhelmed, like Gregory said, take a step back. Breathe, give yourself some grace extend that love and that attitude of gratitude, where you need to, and just continue on and know that in your journey, you are exactly where you're meant to be.

Mm, that is right. I love it. And of course, one of the keys to be a better being is to embrace the journey. And it's a hard thing to do to let go of the outcome and let go of the finish line and just be part of the process. You're not always gonna make the, the choice that maybe you thought you would make.

I mean, look, Greg went from, I'm gonna be a lawyer to I'm a personal trainer. Now I'm gonna be a, a physical, the. I mean, those are all very different things, right. And yet, and that's part of the process. So embrace the process patient, be kind. Do the work, all of that it's you gotta put in the [00:37:00] sets and the reps, but understand that you're gonna have to build.

And I know, I, I think because I've talked to a lot of gen Zers, you know, they, they wanna walk out into adulting and be right where they're supposed to be for the rest of their lives. That is not how this works. Okay. Trust me. It's not. So, Greg, thank you so much for coming on and sharing this. We'll put all of your contacts in the show notes.

Any final thoughts before we officially close out? No again, Michelle, just and Sasha, just so grateful to have had the opportunity to be with you guys. And thank you for seeing my post and kind of having me be someone to help kind of close out this theme of independence that you guys have been working with.

I am happy that you started the podcast and. You've inspired me to get myself back into shape for it, to, to go out there and just help keep people moving out here. Cuz there's, there's a [00:38:00] lot of positivity that we can enforce and there's a lot of growth that we can help people help ourselves as well.

But there's a lot that we can make happen with platforms like this. So thank you so much. I really greatly appreciate the both of you and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your. Well, absolutely thank you so much. And I mean, clearly Greg is a better being and you know, that, that is the mission of this podcast is to help everybody find something that will propel you forward to being the healthiest, happiest human that you wanna be.

So hopefully you will take a little of the content today and you'll put in the work to be a better being. Thanks every. Thank you for listening to the, be a better being podcast, Michelle and Sasha, hope that what you heard today inspires you to embrace this journey of life. With an open mind, a kind heart, and a willingness to learn and evolve.

If you enjoyed the content, please help spread their message by subscribing sharing and leaving a five star review. If you have [00:39:00] a show topic idea, or would like to be a guest, please visit better beings.net and fill out a contact form until next time go and be a better being.