Nov. 18, 2025

Widening the Aperture: Finding Freedom from the Habits That Keep Us Small

Widening the Aperture: Finding Freedom from the Habits That Keep Us Small
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Cecily Mak joins us to reveal how dimming behaviors—like overworking, numbing, or self-soothing—quiet our inner truth. As she unpacks her own journey, she shows how facing what we avoid grants clarity, emotional depth, and renewed choice. This is your invitation to learn about reclaiming presence, agency, and the vibrant edges of being fully alive.

Working on Purpose is broadcast live Tuesdays at 6PM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Working on Purpose is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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WEBVTT

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The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are

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solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not

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What's working on Purpose? Anyway? Each week we ponder the

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answer to this question. People ache for meaning and purpose

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at work, to contribute their talents passionately and know their

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lives really matter. They crave being part of an organization

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that inspires them and helps them grow into realizing their

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highest potential. Business can be such a force for good

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in the world, elevating humanity. In our program, we provide

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guidance and inspiration to help usher in this world we

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all want Working on Purpose. Now, here's your host, doctor

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Elise cortez Us.

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Welcome back to the Working on Purpose program, which has

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been brought to you with passion and price since February

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of twenty fifteen. Thanks for tuning in this week. Great

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to have you. I'm your host doctor at Lease Cortes.

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If we've not met before and you don't know me,

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I'm a workforce advisor, organizational psychologist, management consultant, logo therapist,

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speaker and author. My team and I at gusta Now

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help companies unleash their own gusto to enliven and fortify

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their operations by stoking the passion, meaning, and purpose of

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your team to align with your organizational aspirations. We do

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this by helping companies build a high performance culture, inspirational leadership,

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and nurturing managers who meaningfully connect with their team members

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and coach them to develop more skills and contribute their

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highest performance and commitment. You can learn more ab us

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and now. We can work together at gustodashnow dot com

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at my personal site at lascortes dot com. Getting in

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today's program we have with us Cecily mac She's a

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founding general partner at Wisdom Ventures, a purpose driven investment

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fund backing companies at the intersection of technology and human

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flourishing right up our alley. She's the voice behind the

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clear Life Movement, the host of the Undimmed podcast and

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the author of Undimmed, The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from

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Unwonted Habits. We'll be talking about eight powerful awarenesses from

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her book that support individuals and shifting unwanted habits, whether

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it's alcohol, overworking, perfectionism, or everyday digital distraction. She joined

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today from Novella, California. Cecily A Harty, Welcome to Working

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on Purpose.

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Oh fantastic. Thank you so much for having me. It's

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great to be here.

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It is great to have you on And as I mentioned,

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I learned about you from the Purpose Reset authors, so

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that's where I got you from. And let's go ahead

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and celebrate this new thing that's about to come into

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the world. And I'm reading a little bit early Undimmed

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here it.

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Is awsor Jez. It's great to see it live in

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the wild. Thank you for being one of my earliest

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readers I get.

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I'm so honored. I'm so honored. And as I said

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to you before we got on air, Cecily, I just

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think the writing is beautiful, Your storytelling is beautiful. The

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way you bring us really into your world in a

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very upfront and personal way is really compelling and very commendable.

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Thank you, Thank you so much.

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You're very welcome. So I, as you probably know from

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what we said before and in our exchanges, and maybe

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even by looking at anything I do websites or LinkedIn,

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you know that I stand for helping individuals and organizations

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realize their highest potential and step into their shine. So

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it occurs to me that your book is about living

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life full court drinking and all its wonder and so

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if you could share with us, why were you so

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compelled to write it?

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Yeah, you know, I have one of those rare stories

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where I actually didn't set out to be an author.

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I had environment career was on accident. Yeah, I was

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a little bit of an accent. Of course, there's certain

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moments where you have to really commit and follow through

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with the intention, because it is an enormous amount of

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primarily solitary work to birth a book into the world.

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But I really used writing as a way for me

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to metabolize and process and learn around my own experiences

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of an unexpected decision to pause alcohol in my life.

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And when I made that break and I realized how

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little community and resource was available for people who weren't

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necessarily in the recovery committing to sobriety camp, but also

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wanted to maybe reframe their relationship with alcohol or any

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other dimmers I refer to them. I realized that, you know,

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I had some work to do in this space and

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in processing my own experience and understanding my journey. I

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wrote about it, and first it was essays, and then

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I worked with an editor, and then I worked with

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the second editor, and over time I really kind of

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defined my approach and way of relating to things that

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take me away from presence. And as I came to

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bring that book into the world, we actually ended up

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shopping what was my second plan book, not the first,

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which is this framework of the aid awarenesses, and it

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really hit a chord. We had incredible response when my

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agent and I took it out to the big publishers,

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and we knew that there was something here that could

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be helpful to other people, and my own process of

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learning could actually be supportive of other folks as well.

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A couple of things cucinly. So, first, I love that

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idea of metabolizing your experience into a learning journey. I

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just think that's really really yummy as a lifelong learner.

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And secondly, I really want to commend you for how

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what a compelling way you opened your book. You open

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your book with a story about choosing to step back

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into the house really quick and take a shot of

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vodka to get you through the day. That's compelling for

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a number of reasons. First that it helps us all

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smack ourselves into a state of awareness of what are

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we doing That might also be deeming ourselves. But I

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think it's just really powerful the way that you talk

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about this idea of what brought you into this learning

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journey to step you onto this path.

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Yeah, yeah, no, And thank you for mentioning that that

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was a It was a tough mo in life. It

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was a tough moment to write about, and it was

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also a tough one to agree to reveal to the world.

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I'm still I run a venture fund. I run in

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very kind of polished circles, and that is a very

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raw and uncomfortable and awkward story. But I wanted to

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serve that interest and intrigue in people who are trying

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to find a way to relate to what I'm talking

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about here, and in being my most human self possible

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in inviting a reader to spend time on this and

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their own precious minutes learning about what I'm offering in

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the book undimmed. It felt really appropriate, and you know

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that hook also leads into some of the other offerings

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within the book, which are really an invitation for all

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of us to look at what are we doing to

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survive difficulty? What are we for to soften the tough

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edges of life? And that moment for me, I was

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sitting for the readers who are or listeners who aren't

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familiar with the story, I was sitting in the passenger

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seat of our family car at ten in the morning

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on a weekend day, with my then husband in the

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driver's seat, engine running, kids strapped in the back, ready

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to go to the beach, and I was so wickedly

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uncomfortable in my own skin and in my marriage, and

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in my career and in my body. Everything was just

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awkward and wrong feeling. But I felt like I just

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had to keep going. That unconsciously walking back into the house,

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taking a shot of vodka and then walking back into

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the car made me feel at that moment like I

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could then do what I needed to keep doing and

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not doing that in allowing ourselves to feel discomfort and

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work through. What arises in those moments is actually some

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of the best intelligence that we can call on to

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make shifts in our lives. And so it was an

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eye opening moment in retrospect for sure.

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Well, and also there's a couple of things that I

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would say about your brave your braveness and your courage

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to do that and that to show that kind of

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vulnerability and it is absolutely leadership. Is you are so

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much more credible as the author of that book by

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sharing that, Right, It's not like you're talking about this

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from an academic vantage point. You've researched this. You know

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what this is because you have the latest and greatest

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on it. No, no, no, no, you're on literally the

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front seat. Yes, So I think it's I just really

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want to commend you on that. It's really powerful.

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Thank you, Lise. I appreciate that.

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So welcome. So let's help our listeners and viewers who

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haven't yet rid of the book, as I have, really

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better understand what you mean by a demmer. So alcohol

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is one of them. What do you mean by a demo.

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Yeah, it's really anything that we do or consume or

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use in some way to soften difficulty, and there are

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unhealthy dimmers, and there are healthy dimmers, and we all

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have our own personal experience and story with these. There's

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no one right answer to that. Unhealthy dimmers tend to

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be in the drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex addiction category where

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the use has gotten to a place where there's a

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problem where we're not engaging with life in a very

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healthy way because of our tendencies with these escapist tools

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or things that we can take into our systems. And

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then there are really healthy dimmers that can be used

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in unhealthy ways work, food, exercise. I actually name one

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as a personal experience when I'm working through now toxic generosity.

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So it's something that we do in an unhealthy way,

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meaning we're reaching for it to escape or dim out.

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Social media is another great example. How many of us

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are awkwardly standing in the elevator with strangers, or receive

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an uncomfortable bit of news, or have an awkward conversation

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with a family member, and we grab our phone and

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we start scrolling through whatever is available for that quick

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little dopamine hit that will relieve us for a moment

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of that difficulty. Those are all dimmers, And when I

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was doing my own work and my own discovery journey

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around how I was using alcohol. I realized it wasn't

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the alcohol, actually, it was I was reaching for something

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that made difficult moments more tolerable for me. And when

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I got beneath the layering of that and could actually

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encounter those difficulties and use them as guidance, my life

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completely changed for the better. So that's the invitation of

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this work.

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And I want to celebrate that because I want to

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get a little bit more deeper into that. But you

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brought up something for me, Cecily, and that is that

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idea of those awkward moments in the elevator or whatever,

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when you kind of reach for your digital diversion or

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whatever it is. Some of my most delightful moments have

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happened as I'm walking through the parking lot of my

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gym to get elevator to get to the seventh floor

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up to the gym. And just this week I had

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one of those occasions where this young man was walking

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along and you could always do that really quiet heads

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down thing and you get in the elevator and get

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on your phone kind of thing. But I chose to

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say some thing about this patent Matt thing that he

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was carrying, and it opened this amazing conversation that within

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just a few seconds. I won't go into the story

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because if we wanted more have more time. But literally,

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within well last seconds, a couple of minutes, literally, he

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had shared something profound about his life and I got

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moved to tears by how beautiful it was, and I said,

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can I hug you? He said yes. Now, if I

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would have just stayed with you know, the usual thing,

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I would have missed that whole opportunity. Man's name is David.

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I made sure to say goodbye before before I left

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that day. So what I see in your book, which

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is in beautiful alignment with what I'm trying to do

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with my life and my work, is you're asking us

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to become more aware of our dimmers than to be

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courageous in pursuing the life that we really want. That's

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what I get out of your book.

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Yes, it's two things. It's it's getting enough signal to

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have enough information to make changes that we might need

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to make. You know, a great example that I that

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I think about a lot is there's certain people in

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context that we don't feel like we can handle unless

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we have a thing so certain people we might be

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invited to go to a dinner party with and we think,

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I'm just not going to make it through the dinner

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party without a couple of drinks. Well, maybe that signal

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from our system around maybe spending less time with those people,

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or I'm not going to be able to survive another

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two days at this job without my nightly wine habit. Hmm,

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maybe we should just investigate what is it about this

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work that's so much of our time and energy and

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life force that is so counter to our own state

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of ease or sense of creativity or impact that we

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want in the world, that maybe we should maybe we

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should take a look at that. The second one, which

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is such a gift, and it was the word that

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just kept bouncing around in my life for that first

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year I wasn't drinking anymore, is presence. Yeah, And that's

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what you just spoke to. You're actually there for it.

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You're in the moment with the person as opposed to

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check out. And that is really the currency of life,

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is being able to be in presence with somebody. It's

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the greatest gift we can give a loved one. It's

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the best way to feel fulfilled in our day to

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day activities is to fully show up for those moments,

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make the eye contact, invite the hug, let the tears

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come out of your eyes. You remember that now, However,

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many days later and you might months down the road

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where you would never if you'd spent ninety seconds scrolling

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Instagram on your way up to the seventh floor. And

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so the heat way to that different way of orienting

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to the world, which is the.

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Best And I'm in And yeah, the presence thing is

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really a beautiful thing. Also, being untuned is another part

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of it. Right, So thement piece what I want to

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do next is and this is for listeners and viewers,

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for you to one both get a a feel for

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how beautiful Cecily's writing is. But two, this message is

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passage here is just so powerful. So I'm going to

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read this, Cecily, so you say. As my process unfolded,

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it became increasingly clear that my journey had little to

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do without. After all, the root of my habits was

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an effort to dim out the difficulty and pain beneath

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the surface. Like many I had been soothing, evading discomfort,

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softening life's edges with what was not only available, but

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socially and culturally encouraged. As I shed my dimming habits,

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I felt everything intensely again, like a child, almost the

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difficult and the beautiful parts. It was as if my

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life aperture had widened, allowing in more of the extremes

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of a spectrum of feelings. It wasn't easy, but it

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wasn't bad either. It even began to feel good. Diming

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keeps us in a safe middle. I was starting to

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feel clear, with a newfound access to extremes that I

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now can embrace as part of what makes being a

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human such a gift. The key to freedom was getting

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to the bottom of what I'd been trying to avoid

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and making peace with that. Only then could I start

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to live from a place of true agency and alignment

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and finally reacquaint myself with both ends of the life

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experienced spectrum again.

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Yeah, thank you, thank you for sharing that.

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It's so so beautiful, and I mean, that is so

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much the invitation and promise of your book.

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Thank you. Yeah, it's such a visceral experience too, and

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I really do see a pendulum when I think about

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this and the experience. You know, we can stay in

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the safe middle we can stay in the safe middle

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for our whole lives, and when we open up our

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access to the deeper ends of the spectrum, it can

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be sadness and difficulty and challenge, but it can also

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be abundant joy and experience and elation. And I speak

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with people every week who are discovering the incredible impact

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of being able to expand outside of that safe middle.

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And it is both ways, but most of us end

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up choosing that as a path.

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Well, it's really beautiful and I can't wait for it

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to get into more hands and eyeballs of readers like me.

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Let's grab our first break and let our listeners and

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viewers and marinad and what we've been talking about so far,

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your host, Doctor Release Cortes. We've been on air with

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Cecily mac She's a founding general partner at Wisdom Ventures,

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a purpose driven investment fund backing companies at the intersection

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of technology and human flourishing. She's the voice behind the

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Clear Life movement and the host of the Undimmed podcast.

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We've been talking about where this book came from and

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why it's message is critical for you in today's times.

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After the break, we're going to start diving into the

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eight Awarenesses from her book We'll be right back.

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Doctor Elise Cortez is a management consultant specializing in meaning

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and purpose. An inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies

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visioneer for a greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose

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inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance,

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and commitment within the workforce. To learn more, or to

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invite at least to speak to your organization, please visit

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her at eliscortes dot com. Let's talk about how to

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get your employees working on purpose. This is working on

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Purpose with doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our program today

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or to open a conversation with Elise, send an email

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to Alise a Lise at eliscortes dot com. Now back

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to working on purpose.

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Thanks for stating with us, and welcome back to working

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on Purpose. I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes, as I

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am dedicated to help them create a world where organizations

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thrive because they're people thrive. They're led by inspirational leaders

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that help them find and contribute their greatness, and we

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do business that betters the world. I keep researching and

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writing my own books. So one of my latest came out.

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It's called The Great Revitalization, How activating meaning and purpose

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can radically in life in your business. And I wrote

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it to help leaders understand what today's discerning and diverse

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workforce wants. What do they want you to give their

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best and stay? And then I offered twenty two best

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practices to equip you to provide that through your leadership

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in your culture. You can find my books on Amazon

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or my personal site at least Coortes dot com if

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you are just now joining us. My guest is Cecily

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mac She's the author of Undimmed, The Eight Awarenesses for

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Freedom and Unwanted Habits from Unwanted Habits. So I think

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it's fascinating that you adapted your system of eight Awarenesses

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from the twelve step process. So let's talk a little

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bit about ho where that came from, and how it

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was that you decided to start there.

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Yeah, thank you. So I, as I mentioned earlier, I

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took a thirty day experimental break from alcohol in twenty seventeen,

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and that extended sixty days, ninety days and then a year.

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And in that year twenty eighteen, I was grappling with

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all the things when m I grapple with who are

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my people? What do I do socially? Do I still

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hang out in environments that are alcohol saturated? What about

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the work colleague meal that depends on a few glasses

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of wine? How do I handle that? And so, in

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addition to doing my own inner work along the way,

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I was seeking out resource and community and guidance and

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tips on how to do this well. And multiple people

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recommended that I go to an AA meeting or more,

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and I was happy too, and I went to a

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number And I had been in the AA system previously

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as a child of an adult alcoholic, so I was

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familiar with alan on in the process, and I just

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couldn't embrace it as the path for me. And no judgment,

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I know that AA has helped millions of people and

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will help many millions more. But again, I didn't self

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identify as an addict, and I didn't even self identify

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as sober. So a lot of just the initial framework

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didn't fit for me. And I kept thinking to myself,

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I wish some of the similarities here, you know, with

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my experience, could be adapted into something that suited me better.

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And I talked to other people you know in a

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similar place. They greed. So I literally took the twelve

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Steps of AA. I copied it off of the website,

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I pasted it into a word document, and I started editing,

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and I changed the language over four years to suit

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my experience in my needs, and at the end of it,

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we have the eight awarenesses. The biggest difference between them

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and the twelve Steps of AA are that the aid

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Awarenesses is much more about agency, freedom, and choice, whereas

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I found the A model was a bit more about surrender, diagnosis,

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and in many cases stigma. So that's how the awarenessmans

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came to be.

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Beautiful, beautiful explanation, a way to set up. So I

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don't know how many up all we can get through this,

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but we'll do our best to get through most of

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the eight. And what I would love to do, Cecily

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is just cue up a little bit about the awareness

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so that people are aware of just what's available to

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you in the book, because the book has ladies and

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gentlemen so much more levels of richness to be able

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to understand and get into the awareness. But let's start

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with the first one. It's called you call it My

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life is better clear.

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Yes, and this one is really about the invitation or

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the provocation for us all to decide whether or not

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we are better off without this dimmer. I spent years

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trying to convince my late mother to pause and change

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her drinking habits, and she never really wanted to, and

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so all of those efforts were somewhat maddening and fruitless

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for us. I found that in order to be on

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this path of opting out of alcohol and staying committed

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to a dimmer free life, that initial decision has to

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come from me. I have to believe my life is

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actually better clear. So it's a reminder to come back

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to that anchor.

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I thought that it was interesting that you say the

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best way to explore this first awareness is to pause

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a dimmer of choice for a period and pay close attention. Yeah,

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see how you might be better off without it. I

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thought that was really powerful.

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Yes, and I want to invite people to realize it

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could really be anything. It could be removing your social

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media apps from your phone for a week and noticing

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what shifts. It could be deciding that you're not going

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to buy anything on Amazon all next month. It could

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be opting out of whatever your other maybe something you're

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ingesting sugar, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and just pay attention. You

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don't have to have a bunch of you know, decision

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or judgment around it, but just with a lot of

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open heartedness and self grace, observe if the impact of

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that absence is positive or negative, what you miss and

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what you gain.

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You know, I noticed thanks to reading your book on Sunday,

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I had a day of really great productivity and I'd

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like the idea of just organizing for the things had

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kind I've been on the road quite a bit and

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things had gotten kind of messy and such, and I

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didn't know where my inbox Moottom was or anything was.

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And I went through this big, huge period and I

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did all that, and then I had all this, I

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realized I still had like several hours left in my

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day or evening, and I felt this immediate like compulsion

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to do something with them? What do I do with

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that time? Like normally I would already have been through it,

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and I, because of your book, I stopped and I went,

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hang on a minute, what am I? Why am I

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being compelled to do something with this time? Why? Amy?

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What am I trying to fill it with? So thank you, Cecily.

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Already it's already started to seep into my being, So

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thank you.

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I love that. Yes, yes, business is a big one.

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That's one I'm still battling with. And anyone who reads

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my substack will see that it's one that pops up regularly.

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I do the same thing that you just described, open time,

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negative space. My reflex is to fill it, and there's

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a beautiful invitation there to wonder why, and yes we

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do less doing and more being and what might emerge

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in that space?

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Well, and that's what I went into. I went into

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that inquiry thanks to you.

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Oh, thank you.

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Yeah, you're welcome.

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Okay.

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So the second awareness is I choose what I consume.

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This is perhaps the most empowering of them. And I

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like to think of the awarenesses as kind of mini

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mantras we can put in our pocket and pull out

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when we need them. This awareness around choice I choose

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what I consume really applies broadly and can define our

468
00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:22.160
experience of life if we use it well. So my

469
00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:25.920
insight around this originally came from realizing that if I

470
00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:30.240
was going to drink, there were many steps between thought

471
00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.000
and consumption. And I write about this in great detail

472
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:36.440
in the book. You know, you have to get somewhere

473
00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:39.160
where there is alcohol. You have to usually procure it

474
00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:41.799
in some way. Then there's a pouring and a lifting

475
00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:44.119
and a sipping, you know, in ten or other steps

476
00:24:44.119 --> 00:24:49.039
in between there. And when I realized how much choice

477
00:24:49.160 --> 00:24:52.279
I had every step of that way, it made me

478
00:24:52.279 --> 00:24:55.440
feel very empowered to make choices that were aligned with

479
00:24:55.480 --> 00:24:58.519
my previous decisions instead of feeling like a surrender or

480
00:24:58.519 --> 00:25:02.119
a victim orientation. And then once I kind of pass

481
00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:05.960
the alcohol hurdle and I keep alcohol in my house,

482
00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:09.480
we offer alcohol to guests. I choose to not drink

483
00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:13.799
every day. I'm conscious of that choice. I realized there

484
00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:18.000
are other areas of life where that same awareness can apply.

485
00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:22.680
For example, what people do we spend time with, what

486
00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:27.039
do we read or listen to or watch? This awareness

487
00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:29.759
I choose what I consume applies to so many areas

488
00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:32.440
of our lives. And if we can just reclaim a

489
00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:35.319
bit of our own agency and decision making and notice

490
00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:38.640
that it's actually most of the time up to us

491
00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:42.319
what we let into our systems, we can really change

492
00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:45.119
the nature of how we live for the better, whether

493
00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:49.559
that's physical health, mental health, our social lives are professional endeavors,

494
00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:52.319
and for a lot of us reaching mid age, in

495
00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:54.240
some ways, that's learning how to say no, thank you.

496
00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:56.880
We don't have to say yes to every single opportunity

497
00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:00.039
and thing and invitation. We're bringing all of this in

498
00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:03.119
to our systems and our calendars, So let's choose carefully

499
00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:05.839
what we actually want to say yes to or not yes.

500
00:26:06.079 --> 00:26:07.480
I think your question.

501
00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:10.279
Of as we're making that choice, that we ask ourselves, well,

502
00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:13.319
this numby or nourish me is really powerful.

503
00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:15.680
That's a big one, and it's a question we can

504
00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:19.359
ask about just about anything when we're post with limitation.

505
00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:23.359
Absolutely, I can think of, you know, friendships that I've

506
00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:27.200
let go because they were no longer nourishing. Yeah, and

507
00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:29.440
so that would being an example of what you mentioned

508
00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:30.319
in the social front.

509
00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:33.359
And that's hard to do. Congratulations. I know that that

510
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:37.880
is not an easy thing to navigate exactly. Not everyone liked.

511
00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:39.799
It, yeah, no, no, no was it was a big

512
00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:44.480
deal for everybody, so yes, but it was time. Okay.

513
00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:47.079
So then speaking of that, maybe this will relate to

514
00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:51.880
this third wordness that you have. My intuition defines my priorities. Yeah,

515
00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:54.480
this is that, right, intuition is that right, yes, no,

516
00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:55.160
this is right.

517
00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:58.000
This is a juicy one. One of the things that

518
00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:02.039
happens when we remove a dimmer of any sort is

519
00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:06.799
that we increase our access to our inner guidance, our intuition.

520
00:27:08.039 --> 00:27:11.839
And often people find when they've removed a dimmer, they

521
00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:17.119
realize they've actually been dimming to tune out their intuitive guidance.

522
00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.480
Your intuition might be telling you it's time to get

523
00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:22.839
out of this relationship, it's time to move out of

524
00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:26.440
this home, it's time to shift my career in this

525
00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:29.000
way that is going to be awkward and risky. And

526
00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:33.440
so we dim to just not hear that voice because

527
00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:36.359
it's naggy and it's annoying, and it's encouraging us to

528
00:27:36.359 --> 00:27:39.240
do something that might be really awkward and uncomfortable or

529
00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:44.279
costly in various ways. And so the intuition awareness is

530
00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:47.400
really around, let's see what we can do to actually

531
00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:51.119
increase our access to that voice. Let's learn to trust

532
00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:55.759
our intuition as really important guidance and then in turn

533
00:27:56.359 --> 00:27:58.400
rely on it to help us shape how we actually

534
00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:00.440
want to spend our time and our life.

535
00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:07.480
That is juicy, very juicy, and I couldn't help notice

536
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:10.160
that it was you talk about you're about with breast

537
00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:15.400
cancer in that chapter, on that particular awareness that intuition

538
00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:20.240
is your define your priorities. I have known many people

539
00:28:20.279 --> 00:28:23.799
now who have had that journey, and I know that

540
00:28:23.839 --> 00:28:27.480
you're also you're championing people who are also now going

541
00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:30.319
through that journey as well. So just I don't know

542
00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:31.920
what you would like to share about that, but I

543
00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:34.599
wanted to call it and celebrate your journey.

544
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:37.720
Thank you. I mean, the reason it arises in the

545
00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:41.519
chapter and why it's something I continue to reflect on

546
00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:45.359
and leverage is that I had a really strong sense

547
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:46.839
that it was time for me to step away from

548
00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:51.039
my last very intense COO role. And I had a

549
00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:53.640
lot of people who I really trust and appreciate, who

550
00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:57.160
I have gone to for advice before successfully try to

551
00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:00.599
talk me out of it. And I stayed the course.

552
00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:02.079
And it took me nine months to get out of

553
00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:05.079
that job, but I eventually resigned and left the house

554
00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:07.079
in order and great new team members and so on.

555
00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:11.200
And it was six days after that final email to

556
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:15.079
the team that I received my breast cancer diagnosis. And

557
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:20.640
it's almost as if my intuitive guidance was step away

558
00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:24.000
from this load of stress and responsibility and accountability so

559
00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:26.759
that you have the space to treat and heal. And

560
00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:29.960
it felt so validating to me when I did find

561
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.039
out I did actually very much so need that time

562
00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:35.880
to space at that time, and space to treat and

563
00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:40.400
rest and heal. So I think about that often as

564
00:29:41.079 --> 00:29:44.079
a reminder, particularly to women, if you're having a gut

565
00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:47.079
feeling about something that you need to shift in your life,

566
00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:50.480
it's really important to listen to that. It's often right,

567
00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:52.920
and in my case it was life impacting.

568
00:29:53.960 --> 00:29:59.160
Wow, that is so powerful. May lead us at least

569
00:29:59.200 --> 00:30:01.920
to help inform the fourth awareness, which is my trauma

570
00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:03.119
isn't my identity?

571
00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:08.839
Yeah, so this one is really about the unearthing that

572
00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:13.079
inevitably happens when we pause a dimmer. We hear about

573
00:30:13.079 --> 00:30:18.559
this a lot in addiction and recovery communities, where it's

574
00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:21.799
easy to stop doing the addictive thing, then the work

575
00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:24.559
starts because you have to actually start dealing with and

576
00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:27.200
facing what it was you were trying to run away

577
00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:31.160
from with that habit or tendency or later addiction. And

578
00:30:31.559 --> 00:30:34.440
I've found in my own experience and working with people

579
00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.759
in the community around the world that's connected with me

580
00:30:37.839 --> 00:30:41.359
on this topic that one of the kind of traps

581
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:44.720
that you can fall into, and that process is over

582
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.559
identifying with the difficulty that you weathered for all of

583
00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:52.079
those years and wearing a bit too much of a

584
00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:57.799
victim hat in weathering or kind of defining your identity

585
00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:01.599
as you survived it. So, for example, and this is

586
00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:04.319
very awkward to admit, but it was as recent as

587
00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:07.039
less than two years ago, I realized I had in

588
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:14.279
my professional bio daughter of a deceased alcoholic. And I

589
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:17.039
felt quite a bit of shame around that once I

590
00:31:17.160 --> 00:31:21.200
noticed it, because I was doing exactly the opposite of

591
00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:24.359
what the invitation of the fourth awareness is. I was

592
00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:28.960
attaching this identity to myself in a way that kind

593
00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:34.119
of nurtured righteousness and egos, opposed to just seeing that

594
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.359
experience as something that informed my life.

595
00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:37.359
You know.

596
00:31:38.599 --> 00:31:41.759
It's a delicate thing. Similarly, it goes with breast cancer.

597
00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:43.839
I'm often referred to as a breast cancer survivor, and

598
00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:48.440
I politely invite people to maybe say I treated breast

599
00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:51.519
cancer successfully, not I am a breast cancer survivor, because

600
00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:54.079
I don't want it to be an identity piece. One

601
00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:56.240
of the learnings of writing this book is also having

602
00:31:56.279 --> 00:31:59.480
a fair amount of understanding and appreciation for everybody being

603
00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:01.839
on their own path on this and there are exceptions

604
00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:05.160
to this. There are people who have suffered really severe

605
00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:09.200
abuse at a meta or a singular scale, and it's

606
00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:13.079
important for people to have connection with community that shares

607
00:32:13.079 --> 00:32:16.839
in that suffering. That's a really kind of an emergent

608
00:32:16.880 --> 00:32:19.839
important topic of discussion in the States. In fact, we're

609
00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:22.720
seeing it in the government today. There are groups of

610
00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:26.440
people who are really supported by a collective identity. So

611
00:32:26.480 --> 00:32:28.319
I don't want to discount that entirely, but as far

612
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:30.720
as one's own relationship with a dimmer and how to

613
00:32:30.799 --> 00:32:35.559
kind of manure and shift that, the awareness is around,

614
00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:39.480
understand what it is, have self compassion and grace for

615
00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:41.960
why you were dimming for the time that you were,

616
00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:43.880
and then try to move forward.

617
00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:49.039
So powerful, Cecily, so happy that we've crossed passed, and

618
00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:50.640
I've got to read your book and be informed by

619
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:53.240
and get to share with my listeners. Now let's grab

620
00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:56.440
our last break. I'm your host, doctor Relice Cortez. We've

621
00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:58.759
been on air with Cecily mac She's a founding general

622
00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:01.920
partner at Wisdom Vinch, which is a purpose driven investment

623
00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:04.880
fund back in companies that are at the intersection of

624
00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:08.839
technology and human flourishing. She's a voice behind the Clear

625
00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:11.839
Life movement and the host of the Undimmed podcast. We've

626
00:33:11.880 --> 00:33:14.880
been talking about four of her awarenesses. After the rik,

627
00:33:14.920 --> 00:33:16.319
we're going to see if we can cover off on

628
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:17.839
the last four. We'll be right back.

629
00:33:33.599 --> 00:33:37.160
Doctor Elise Cortez is a management consultant specializing in meaning

630
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:41.079
and purpose. An inspirational speaker and author, she helps companies'

631
00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:44.400
visioneer for a greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose

632
00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:48.839
inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance,

633
00:33:48.880 --> 00:33:51.920
and commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to

634
00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:54.880
invite a lease to speak to your organization, please visit

635
00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:58.119
her at elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to

636
00:33:58.119 --> 00:34:06.519
get your employees working on purpose. This This is working

637
00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:09.920
on Purpose with doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our program

638
00:34:09.960 --> 00:34:12.760
today or to open a conversation with Elise, send an

639
00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:18.320
email to Alise A Lisee at elisecortes dot com. Now

640
00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:25.800
back to working on Purpose. Thanks for staying with us,

641
00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:27.719
and welcome back to working on Purpose. I'm your host,

642
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:30.519
Doctor Release Cortes. As you know by now, this program

643
00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:33.440
is dedicated to empowering and inspiring you along your journey

644
00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:35.639
to realize more of your potential. If you want to

645
00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:37.599
learn more about how we can work together and learn

646
00:34:37.639 --> 00:34:40.480
about the Gusto Now Academy for leaders and individuals on

647
00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:44.519
various journeys alike, make your way to gustoshnow dot com

648
00:34:44.679 --> 00:34:46.239
and then go to the learning tab and you can

649
00:34:46.280 --> 00:34:48.119
find the academy there. We'd love to have you join

650
00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:51.360
us if you are just the podcast today. My guest

651
00:34:51.400 --> 00:34:54.519
is Cecily mac She's the author of Undimmed, The eight

652
00:34:54.559 --> 00:34:59.360
Awarenesses for Freedom from unwanted habits. So moving on here

653
00:34:59.480 --> 00:35:03.559
through through the list of the fifth awareness is forgiveness

654
00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:07.800
and letting go are the path to liberation. That one

655
00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:12.000
is definitely one that I could stand to use some

656
00:35:12.159 --> 00:35:12.599
work on.

657
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:17.880
Couldn't we all? I mean, it's actually the biggest emergent

658
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:21.480
awareness of my whole entire process. I carried a lot

659
00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:25.400
of baggage and weight and bitterness and crankiness with two

660
00:35:25.480 --> 00:35:29.559
particular people in my life for many years. And as

661
00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:33.159
I made my way through this process and became a

662
00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:35.840
little bit more clear and present with myself and faced

663
00:35:35.880 --> 00:35:37.719
some of my own demons. I was able to put

664
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:41.920
some of that down, and I think it was following

665
00:35:41.960 --> 00:35:44.840
those important steps of being clear about agency and choice

666
00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.719
and tuning into my intuition and shedding a bit of

667
00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:51.119
that victim orientation I had. The two people were my mother,

668
00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:53.239
who I felt like really abandoned me and kind of

669
00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:56.719
lost herself in her own difficult journey, and then also

670
00:35:56.840 --> 00:35:59.719
my kid's dad. We had a difficult divorce years ago.

671
00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:02.559
And I mean, we could do a whole episode on

672
00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:07.079
this topic, but I'll just say there's something very empowering

673
00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:12.320
and liberating about literally choosing to put some of this down.

674
00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:15.440
And the one sentence I can leave people with is

675
00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:22.000
can we assume that everyone is doing their best? And

676
00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:24.679
when we realize that most of the time people are

677
00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:28.760
not trying to hurt or disappoint us, it unclenches the

678
00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:31.159
hand a bit, so to speak. So that's really what

679
00:36:31.159 --> 00:36:31.760
that one's about.

680
00:36:32.440 --> 00:36:34.480
That's powerful, the very very powerful way to describe that,

681
00:36:34.519 --> 00:36:36.920
to unclinch the hand a bit, that's got you by

682
00:36:36.920 --> 00:36:41.719
the throat. Basically, yes, yes, okay, Now the sixth awareness

683
00:36:41.800 --> 00:36:44.199
really really spoke to me for a number of reasons, Cecily,

684
00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:47.159
and part because I think it's important as we do

685
00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:50.239
this work that we don't become self righteous thinking that

686
00:36:50.280 --> 00:36:52.599
we've got all the answers. But two, I just think

687
00:36:52.679 --> 00:36:55.119
in our world at large, this next one is really

688
00:36:55.119 --> 00:36:58.079
really powerful. So the sixth awareness is I do not

689
00:36:58.199 --> 00:37:02.199
judge or impose my orientation upon others.

690
00:37:02.679 --> 00:37:07.519
Yeah, yeah, this one is an important one for anyone

691
00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:10.000
on this path. It's going to be different for everybody

692
00:37:10.039 --> 00:37:12.280
and in very different contexts and settings, and we will

693
00:37:12.320 --> 00:37:14.920
all notice it in one way, shape or form, whether

694
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.760
we're self platforming or being condescending, or positioning others as

695
00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:23.599
ever to make ourselves feel safe or good. In my

696
00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:27.760
experience in pausing alcohol, I was extremely guilty for a

697
00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:30.960
while of being very judgmental about people in my life

698
00:37:31.039 --> 00:37:34.000
who were, I used to say, still drinking here. The

699
00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:37.199
assumption right there, the judgment is that they will stop

700
00:37:37.280 --> 00:37:41.320
someday and they'll join me in my path and my journey.

701
00:37:41.400 --> 00:37:45.800
I have, with great awkwardness, come to realize that's actually

702
00:37:45.800 --> 00:37:48.480
none of my business, and what people do and what

703
00:37:48.519 --> 00:37:51.079
they choose and how they live their lives might be

704
00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:54.480
great for them. My path. My awareness is I know

705
00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:56.920
what works for me, and I can follow that. And

706
00:37:56.960 --> 00:37:59.760
I'm still learning. I'm making mistakes all the time. But

707
00:37:59.840 --> 00:38:02.760
it's not my role to sit somewhere and impose my

708
00:38:03.320 --> 00:38:05.199
judgment and expectations on others.

709
00:38:05.880 --> 00:38:06.159
M h.

710
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:10.280
Yes, And I thought it was so powerful what you

711
00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:13.880
shared with your interaction with someone named Trey in the book.

712
00:38:14.519 --> 00:38:17.239
And I want to situate this as not just you know,

713
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:20.199
you for your own dimmer, but for any of our

714
00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:22.679
demors and how we choose to pause them. But you're

715
00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:25.760
writing your book, he says to you, your choice to

716
00:38:25.880 --> 00:38:29.280
not drink is like a meditation bell. It makes others

717
00:38:29.320 --> 00:38:32.199
around you pause, reflect for a moment and on their

718
00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:36.119
own habits. And I think that's really powerful. And what

719
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:38.519
I got from that is since we all have dimmers,

720
00:38:38.559 --> 00:38:41.119
and we all choose to take a pause on those demmers,

721
00:38:41.119 --> 00:38:44.639
we too can be that meditation bell. And I think

722
00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:46.719
that that I thought was really powerful.

723
00:38:47.199 --> 00:38:51.480
Yes. I think our daily actions are choices, how we behave,

724
00:38:52.199 --> 00:38:54.840
what we do, what we don't do. It might not

725
00:38:54.920 --> 00:38:56.679
be the most important thing in the room, but people

726
00:38:56.719 --> 00:39:00.360
do notice, and sometimes that results in curiosity or a

727
00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:03.400
shift or a pause, which can be transformative for people

728
00:39:03.920 --> 00:39:05.360
I think about that a lot as a mother. I

729
00:39:05.360 --> 00:39:08.000
have two teenage sons, and the way they see me

730
00:39:08.039 --> 00:39:10.760
interact with the guy and the ticket taker in the

731
00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:13.559
parking lot who can't find the right thing to help

732
00:39:13.559 --> 00:39:16.599
me close my transaction is going to have a ripple

733
00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:20.320
effect on them. Right, So maybe my own way of

734
00:39:20.480 --> 00:39:23.519
behaving in that moment can help us all just take

735
00:39:23.519 --> 00:39:27.480
a pause and take a breath and be something we

736
00:39:27.480 --> 00:39:29.159
don't want to see in the world ourselves.

737
00:39:30.119 --> 00:39:34.679
Definitely, And I thought that in this particular chapter on

738
00:39:34.760 --> 00:39:38.480
this Dimmer, that this insight here was really really powerful.

739
00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:41.559
You say that great judgment serves as a guide. So

740
00:39:41.559 --> 00:39:44.800
and when we catch ourselves comparing or feeling better than

741
00:39:44.840 --> 00:39:48.400
someone else, it is an opportunity to notice an unhealed

742
00:39:48.519 --> 00:39:51.719
part of ourselves. Yeah, really powerful.

743
00:39:52.159 --> 00:39:54.719
We only see the ickiness and other people that we

744
00:39:54.800 --> 00:39:59.840
know exists within us, and so it's always it's always

745
00:39:59.840 --> 00:40:03.440
an invitation to say, Wow, that feature or that quality,

746
00:40:03.480 --> 00:40:06.119
that person that's driving me nuts, It must exist in me.

747
00:40:06.400 --> 00:40:09.880
I would not have such intense emotion around it. And

748
00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:12.800
that talk about humbling and awkward, that's that's one of

749
00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:13.440
my favorites.

750
00:40:13.639 --> 00:40:17.800
Yes, yes, who this thing being human is rough, isn't

751
00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:20.639
it something that's beautiful? But it's also so right. There's

752
00:40:20.679 --> 00:40:23.679
so much to learn, and we're never done learning. And

753
00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:26.920
then and to be open to that and humbled by it,

754
00:40:26.920 --> 00:40:33.159
I think is really beautiful and the opportunity. So I

755
00:40:33.199 --> 00:40:36.000
have become so aware of this as the decades continued

756
00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:39.599
to unfold. Your seventh awareness is time is our most

757
00:40:39.719 --> 00:40:40.800
precious currency.

758
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:44.519
Yeah, this one, this one hits home and it's a

759
00:40:45.320 --> 00:40:48.840
It's an emotional one in some ways to especially having

760
00:40:48.880 --> 00:40:53.960
had a cancer experience in recent years. I came to

761
00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:56.360
this one because after I had been not drinking for

762
00:40:56.400 --> 00:40:59.280
a year, I realized I had all this time.

763
00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:02.800
Yeah, you talk about how much time you were spending

764
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:06.159
on that cover, and then I, it's crazy you don't.

765
00:41:06.199 --> 00:41:08.119
I didn't really think about it. But you know, there's

766
00:41:08.119 --> 00:41:10.320
an hour two having a drink or two, and then

767
00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:12.400
there's that hour two you're not doing anything else other

768
00:41:12.440 --> 00:41:14.840
than maybe watching something or I don't know what you're doing.

769
00:41:14.880 --> 00:41:17.719
And then the next day isn't really all engines firing

770
00:41:17.800 --> 00:41:19.519
until an hour or two after waking up. And I

771
00:41:19.559 --> 00:41:21.679
did the math. It's about three hours every twenty four

772
00:41:21.719 --> 00:41:24.480
hour cycle. If you've got a light casual drinking habit,

773
00:41:24.960 --> 00:41:27.360
which adds up to over a thousand hours a year,

774
00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:30.599
and I realized, like, yeah, actually I do have more time,

775
00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:33.039
and I'll put as a footnote there, and more money.

776
00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:36.800
It's another kind of unexpected side effect of pausing a

777
00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:40.320
lot of dimmers. But I think, you know, going back

778
00:41:40.360 --> 00:41:43.000
to the third awareness, which is linked to this one

779
00:41:43.000 --> 00:41:48.039
in some ways around intuition, it's really wonderful to arrive

780
00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:49.679
in a place where we realize we can be a

781
00:41:49.719 --> 00:41:52.760
little bit more intentional with our time and really be

782
00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:54.960
thoughtful about how we want to spend it and with

783
00:41:55.039 --> 00:41:58.079
whom or not. And I think you know, our phone

784
00:41:58.159 --> 00:42:01.679
use is another great example here. Social media can eat

785
00:42:01.719 --> 00:42:04.760
our lives. You know, I have all this wonderful data

786
00:42:04.800 --> 00:42:06.880
that I share with my kids now around you know,

787
00:42:06.920 --> 00:42:10.840
what is four hours on your phone translate to over

788
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:15.239
ten years? What did you miss out on? How do

789
00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:18.679
we kind of reframe our respect relationship with this most

790
00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:21.760
precious resource we have. We have no idea how much

791
00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:25.639
we have left. We cannot buy or swindle anymore, no

792
00:42:25.719 --> 00:42:31.480
matter what, And it's this kind of opportunity to have

793
00:42:31.559 --> 00:42:35.440
reverence for something that we all have and it's really

794
00:42:35.519 --> 00:42:36.800
up to us and how we want to use it

795
00:42:36.840 --> 00:42:39.119
and spend it, particularly discretionary time. We all have to

796
00:42:39.159 --> 00:42:40.639
work and take care of ourselves and each other and

797
00:42:40.679 --> 00:42:42.960
all that, but it's the discretionary time that I really

798
00:42:43.440 --> 00:42:45.960
try to myself be more thoughtful on how I spend

799
00:42:46.000 --> 00:42:50.199
it and encourage that in my family as well.

800
00:42:50.440 --> 00:42:54.760
Yes, so much opportunity there. So the last one I

801
00:42:54.800 --> 00:42:57.880
really thought was beautiful on how you situated and you

802
00:42:57.960 --> 00:43:01.639
do situate it as ripples of grace, the awarenesses I

803
00:43:01.719 --> 00:43:03.559
seek ways to support others.

804
00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:08.360
Yeah, I mean this one was one that required the

805
00:43:08.440 --> 00:43:12.360
least translation out of the twelve steps. This is a

806
00:43:12.400 --> 00:43:16.920
really natural final stepping stone on a journey like this

807
00:43:17.039 --> 00:43:20.280
before maybe you start the cycle again. What can we

808
00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:24.239
do to support other human beings? Figuring it out, especially

809
00:43:24.280 --> 00:43:26.119
when we are in a place of I use the

810
00:43:26.119 --> 00:43:28.920
word abundance. That could be abundance of time, It could

811
00:43:28.920 --> 00:43:32.199
be abundance of money, could be abundance of talent. How

812
00:43:32.199 --> 00:43:36.000
do we, you know, put back into the system what

813
00:43:36.079 --> 00:43:39.679
we have benefited from. And anyone who's on a clear

814
00:43:39.719 --> 00:43:42.719
life journey or you know, navigating with the aiight awarenesses,

815
00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:45.360
there are tough parts and we need help and we

816
00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:48.119
ask for support along the way, and that is part

817
00:43:48.159 --> 00:43:50.760
of the you know, kind of core of this experience is,

818
00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:54.039
you know, it's an inner journey. But we also can't

819
00:43:54.079 --> 00:43:56.840
do these difficult things alone either. How do we pay

820
00:43:56.840 --> 00:43:58.920
that forward a little bit? How can we show up

821
00:43:58.960 --> 00:44:01.840
for somebody, even in just small way. For me, it's

822
00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:04.280
often coffee with somebody, you know, a mom in my

823
00:44:04.360 --> 00:44:08.000
community who says, Hey, I just hit perimenopause and this

824
00:44:08.039 --> 00:44:10.000
white wine thing isn't working for me anymore. I know

825
00:44:10.039 --> 00:44:11.840
you don't drink. Can we talk? Yes, I would love

826
00:44:11.880 --> 00:44:13.519
to spend an hour with you. Let's go sit down

827
00:44:13.519 --> 00:44:16.679
on a park bench somewhere compare notes. I mean, I

828
00:44:16.679 --> 00:44:19.159
think that those are just wonderful gestures. And it's easy

829
00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:21.519
in our lives today to get siloed into our me

830
00:44:21.679 --> 00:44:24.960
orientation and all the things we have to do, and

831
00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:29.280
it's just a it's a reminder to try to offer

832
00:44:29.360 --> 00:44:31.119
up a little bit of what we've been so fortunate

833
00:44:31.159 --> 00:44:32.639
to bring it into our own lives.

834
00:44:33.239 --> 00:44:35.400
And what I love about that is that really aligns

835
00:44:35.480 --> 00:44:38.320
with my work and what's called logo therapy. Logos is

836
00:44:38.360 --> 00:44:41.559
Greek for meaning, so it's really about vitalizing through meaning.

837
00:44:42.239 --> 00:44:44.920
Is that it really speaks to that we are at

838
00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:47.840
our best when we are serving and helping others. That

839
00:44:47.960 --> 00:44:50.159
is when we are our most vivacious and vital.

840
00:44:50.559 --> 00:44:53.239
Yeah, and look what you're doing. This is amazing that

841
00:44:53.280 --> 00:44:55.639
you're doing it. It's awesome. I love being a witness

842
00:44:55.679 --> 00:44:56.239
to your work.

843
00:44:56.440 --> 00:44:58.280
Well, thank you well, And that brings me to my

844
00:44:58.360 --> 00:45:00.880
next question. Really, you were talking about you being in

845
00:45:00.920 --> 00:45:03.159
service to others, but here it is you've written a

846
00:45:03.159 --> 00:45:06.039
book to help us live our bigger, better, best life

847
00:45:06.079 --> 00:45:09.400
which we can immediately benefit from. But if I didn't

848
00:45:09.440 --> 00:45:12.199
help situate that part of what you're also doing and

849
00:45:13.280 --> 00:45:15.400
is to be able to bring forth and continue to

850
00:45:15.480 --> 00:45:19.800
nurture your own mission. You're about raising awareness about and

851
00:45:19.840 --> 00:45:22.920
taking a stand against alcohol that it is you. It

852
00:45:23.000 --> 00:45:26.239
is a carcinogen. So if you could share a bit,

853
00:45:26.280 --> 00:45:28.440
and we've been talking about there's lots of dimmers that

854
00:45:28.480 --> 00:45:31.159
we all can opt into and use, but this particular

855
00:45:31.199 --> 00:45:33.360
one has become something really important for you.

856
00:45:33.719 --> 00:45:38.119
Yeah, and just a gentle clarification, I wouldn't stand against

857
00:45:38.280 --> 00:45:43.079
alcohol per se. What I am for is informed consent

858
00:45:43.320 --> 00:45:46.719
with regard to alcohol. We are in the United States,

859
00:45:46.840 --> 00:45:52.079
in particular, subject to a lot of lack of or

860
00:45:52.119 --> 00:45:56.559
misinformation about the risks associated with alcohol because the big

861
00:45:56.559 --> 00:46:00.320
alcohol industry and it's behemoth, a very predictable way, is

862
00:46:00.360 --> 00:46:05.239
actually keeping science and research and helpful warning information out

863
00:46:05.239 --> 00:46:08.440
of the public sphere for their own commercial self interests.

864
00:46:08.920 --> 00:46:13.679
This infuriates me. I had been alcohol free for five

865
00:46:13.760 --> 00:46:16.400
years when I had my breast cancer diagnosis, and it

866
00:46:16.440 --> 00:46:19.239
was only in researching what may have contributed to my

867
00:46:19.360 --> 00:46:23.440
cancer that I unearthed that alcohol is a Group one

868
00:46:23.480 --> 00:46:29.159
carcinogen alongside tobacco and asbestos. At that point two years ago,

869
00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:33.119
less than half of Americans knew that the percentage is

870
00:46:33.119 --> 00:46:35.719
gradually increasing, in large part thank you to doctor Bevivec

871
00:46:35.800 --> 00:46:38.880
Mertis US Surgeon General's report on the topic in January

872
00:46:38.880 --> 00:46:42.039
of twenty five. But we have a long way to go,

873
00:46:42.320 --> 00:46:46.239
and in my work with the United States Alcohol Policy Alliance,

874
00:46:46.280 --> 00:46:49.480
which is a Washington, d c. Based nonprofit really working

875
00:46:49.519 --> 00:46:52.599
to help increase awareness and understanding around the risks and

876
00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:55.519
make alcohol less of a harmful feature of our culture,

877
00:46:56.559 --> 00:46:59.199
I'd see a lot of room for us to improve

878
00:46:59.239 --> 00:47:01.239
in this space. I thank you for bringing it up.

879
00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:04.880
I do invite people to be informed. Do the research

880
00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:10.320
be one of informed consent when you put things into

881
00:47:10.360 --> 00:47:10.840
your body?

882
00:47:11.000 --> 00:47:14.280
Yeah? Back on the consumption, choice of consumption, I choose

883
00:47:14.320 --> 00:47:17.719
what to consume. Yeah, so it goes by so fast, Cescily,

884
00:47:17.800 --> 00:47:21.000
this has been amazing. We're regarding your aid awarenesses and

885
00:47:21.000 --> 00:47:24.519
stepping into this fuller experience of life and expression of life.

886
00:47:24.719 --> 00:47:26.519
What would you like to leave listeners with today?

887
00:47:28.199 --> 00:47:30.400
Such a good question. I think the one that I

888
00:47:30.440 --> 00:47:33.360
come back to a lot in my community and myself

889
00:47:34.039 --> 00:47:38.000
is listen to yourself. We all know when there's something

890
00:47:38.039 --> 00:47:41.079
that needs to shift or change or evolve, and it's

891
00:47:41.079 --> 00:47:42.960
really easy to find a way to kind of dim

892
00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:45.599
out that guidance. And I just encourage us all to

893
00:47:45.719 --> 00:47:50.599
tune in trust ourselves. We actually know what changes or

894
00:47:50.599 --> 00:47:55.079
evolutions we want to make, and that guidance is really

895
00:47:55.119 --> 00:47:58.239
really valuable wisdom that can help us kind of get

896
00:47:58.280 --> 00:48:00.599
our life back onto an orientation that feels better.

897
00:48:01.599 --> 00:48:03.719
You know, I really I want to echo that, Cecily.

898
00:48:03.760 --> 00:48:08.840
There is just so much information, data, wisdom available when

899
00:48:08.880 --> 00:48:10.800
we learn how to really tap into it. And I

900
00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:13.800
love that your messages for us. If we remove those

901
00:48:13.840 --> 00:48:18.360
dimmers with much greater access to all of that. Yes, absolutely,

902
00:48:18.840 --> 00:48:20.679
very grateful that when I reach out to you on

903
00:48:20.760 --> 00:48:22.920
LinkedIn saying hey, I've got this podcast, I want you

904
00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:24.199
to come on and talk about your book, that you

905
00:48:24.199 --> 00:48:27.960
didn't just ignore it, but you responded with a yes. Cecily,

906
00:48:28.119 --> 00:48:30.519
thank you so much for writing your beautiful book sharing

907
00:48:30.559 --> 00:48:32.280
it with the world. I get to be one of

908
00:48:32.280 --> 00:48:34.800
the first readers and coming then working on a purpose

909
00:48:34.840 --> 00:48:36.320
to talk about it. It's been an honor to have

910
00:48:36.400 --> 00:48:36.599
you on.

911
00:48:37.119 --> 00:48:39.519
Oh the honor is mine and I'm so grateful for

912
00:48:39.559 --> 00:48:41.840
the work that you're doing, an impact you're having, and

913
00:48:42.320 --> 00:48:45.000
thank you for inviting me. Thank you for sending the note.

914
00:48:45.039 --> 00:48:46.639
Maybe I'll just reach out to people we want to

915
00:48:46.639 --> 00:48:47.880
connect with a little bit more.

916
00:48:48.159 --> 00:48:51.400
Absolutely delighted. Yes, anybody that you think I should talk to,

917
00:48:51.480 --> 00:48:53.519
And likewise, well I'll say that I want to talk

918
00:48:53.679 --> 00:48:55.440
that you think I should talk to, just send them

919
00:48:55.480 --> 00:48:57.559
my way made the introduction. I'm in. I trust your

920
00:48:57.800 --> 00:49:01.599
judgment and your intuition. Awesome than listeners and viewers, you

921
00:49:01.639 --> 00:49:03.400
are going to want to learn more about Cecily mac

922
00:49:03.440 --> 00:49:06.239
the work she does at Wisdom Ventures, and her new

923
00:49:06.280 --> 00:49:09.519
book Ondemmable. You can start by visiting her website at

924
00:49:09.559 --> 00:49:12.480
cecilymac dot com and let me spell that for you.

925
00:49:12.599 --> 00:49:19.039
It's cecil Y mak cecilymac dot com. Next week, we'll

926
00:49:19.039 --> 00:49:21.320
be on the air with Lamel mc morris talking about

927
00:49:21.400 --> 00:49:24.599
his new book, The Power to Persist, Eight simple habits

928
00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:28.000
to build lifelong resilience. See you then, and together, let's

929
00:49:28.079 --> 00:49:30.679
lean in and learn how to create destination workplaces where

930
00:49:30.719 --> 00:49:33.920
people thrive grow into their higher potential, all while doing

931
00:49:33.920 --> 00:49:36.559
business that betters the world. Let's work on Purpose.

932
00:49:39.079 --> 00:49:42.679
We hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to

933
00:49:42.719 --> 00:49:46.360
tune into Working on Purpose featuring your host, doctor Elise Cortes,

934
00:49:46.519 --> 00:49:49.719
each week on W four C Why Together, we'll create

935
00:49:49.760 --> 00:49:54.480
a world where business operates conscientiously, Leadership inspires and passion performance,

936
00:49:54.559 --> 00:49:57.320
and employees are fulfilled in work that provides the meaning

937
00:49:57.360 --> 00:50:01.159
and purpose they crave. See you there, Let's work on Purpose.