Choosing yourself is one of the most exhilarating, fulfilling, exhausting, intimidating, scary, and just rich journeys one can go on.

For me, December is traditionally a time of reflection and review. I love to pour over my journals and really take the time to pull out and consolidate all that I’ve learned. Looking back, 2020 has felt like a decade in itself! I’m in awe of how much can happen in a year when you live with intention, focus, and awareness.

In this episode, I’m giving you an insight into my journals by sharing all my standout growth lessons in detail.

My intention is that you can not only learn from my journey, but also get to see how preparation and certain practices can empower you to unlock your true potential.

I’ve found that radical honesty and self-awareness are key tools for growing at an exponential rate. The more you’re able to make sense of how life is unfolding for you, the easier it becomes to bend time and move forward with depth and speed.

So if you’re curious to know how you can reflect on your year to unlock your fullest potential, this episode is for you.

To help me navigate this reflective journey, I’ve brought back my Message Muse, Georgina El Morshdy, to pull out the things that I know I can’t pull out on my own! Here’s a taste of all the standout moments we explore in this episode:

1. What Kobe Bryant’s death brought to life for me.
2. How Panache Desai created a contrast that deepened my understanding of love.
3. Exploring my instinctive response to the arrival of COVID.
4. Explaining the role that fear plays in my life.
5. Meeting Grace Smith – a perfect example of how my podcast brings key people into my life.
6. Self-love lessons after my eight-year relationship ended.
7. How I learned to surrender to the feelings in my body.
8. Discovering what it takes to choose yourself.
9. And more.

“When you subscribe to the Stay Grounded Podcast, you help new people discover the show. And it means the podcast will automatically show up in your app of choice every time a new episode is released on Mondays.”

https://youtu.be/J4rI0-y5ejs

Raj Jana

EP. 100 There is some intelligence inside of us that has direction and leads us. Every time I make a decision that’s in alignment with that big purpose, I get goosebumps.

The internet, digital media, and ecommerce has made it easier than ever to build successful businesses. The last few decades have seen countless companies come and go, but only a small percentage of brands have what it takes to stick around long-term. It begs the question; what does it take to create a sustainable business with a legacy that can outlive its founder?

One of the most qualified people to answer this question is Brian Smith – the founder of the world-famous UGG Brand. Starting in the late 1970s with 500 imported boots and $500 in capital, Brian spent 17 years building the UGG brand in a multi-million dollar enterprise. After selling in 1995, the brand has continued to grow and over the past six years, annual sales have exceeded billions of  dollars. Despite global dominance, life with UGG wasn’t all rosy. Sales took years to take off in a meaningful way, and Brian faced enormous challenges – including a period when he lost his company. But despite all the pitfalls, Brian came out on top – and in this extra special 100th episode, he shares his reasons why.

If you’re an entrepreneur looking to build a successful, sustainable brand, don’t miss it!

Nowadays, Brian is a sought after keynote speaker and mentor. After mastering business and building a much-loved brand that’s spanned decades, Brian helps entrepreneurs recognize and pursue their passions so they can create a fulfilling and successful life,

In this episode you’ll discover:

• How UGG was born in the surf shops of California
• The surfer feedback that catapulted UGG’s sales – and will likely increase yours too
• How Brian nearly lost UGGs
• Why ignorance is essential for entrepreneurial success
• What a brand really is [hint! It’s not what you think]
• How Brian’s human life cycle business analogy will empower you to ride the ups and downs
• What happens when you lean into your goosebumps
• Brian’s biggest regret [you’ll want to hear this]
• And more…

There are not many people who’ve successfully built an iconic brand – but Brian Smith is one of those unique individuals. In this special 100th episode of the Stay Grounded Podcast, you’ll discover the true story of how Brian Smith’s sheepskin boots transformed the American surf industry – and gave birth to a billion-dollar brand that’s still growing – nearly 40 years on.

“When you subscribe to the Stay Grounded Podcast, you help new people discover the show. And it means the podcast will automatically show up in your app of choice every time a new episode is released on Mondays.”

Brian Smith

I’ve been able to achieve success faster than most individuals as a result of me being so conscious with my journaling efforts to truly capture lessons when they’re happening.

I wanted to do something a little different to celebrate the 150th episode of Stay Grounded. So I decided to collaborate with my good friend Georgina El Morshdy who hosts the Writing Your Best Self podcast.

Over the years, Georgina and I have enjoyed countless deep-dive conversations. Georgina has a unique gift of asking questions that crack you open and connect you with your soul. As a muse, she’s pulled countless things out of me that I didn’t even realize I had in me. She’s also a passionate journaler – so asking Georgina to interview me about my journaling practices for this milestone episode felt like the perfect thing to do.

Looking back, journaling has been a consistent tool that’s helped me compress time and experience exhilarating fulfillment in business and life.

And in this episode, you’ll get to learn all of my journaling secrets – so you can leverage this powerful practice for yourself.

Journaling is one of the most powerful tools I know for connecting back into the truth of who you are. The discoveries and insights you get to make inside your journal are both powerful and profound.

Here’s an overview of the topics Georgina and I explore so you can get a taste for the breadth of paths that journaling allows you to explore:

1. How a lack of purpose inspired me to discover the magic of journaling.
2. How gratitude allows you to connect dots and transform your perspective of time and the past.
3. How to dive deeper into your emotions through your journaling practice.
4. An in-depth look at my daily, weekly, monthly, and annual journaling practice.
5. The importance of capturing the highs and the lows in your journal.
6. Leveraging journaling as a catalyst for extraordinary living that compresses time.
7. Why present moment awareness is a powerhouse of learning.
8. How to turn moments of insecurity into huge learning opportunities.
9. Why active appreciation is one of the most powerful tools you can cultivate.
10. How to embody the lessons your journal teaches you.
11. How to build an operating philosophy through your journal reflections.
12. The beautiful way that journaling unlocks insights and wisdom that your ego can’t explain.
13. How journaling for presence allows alchemy to flood out.
14. And more!

One more thing… be sure to listen to the end as I share TWO powerful journaling prompts that will open up something beautiful for your business and your life.

https://youtu.be/vsIxC9sCTy0

Georgina El Morshdy

EP. 116 I want to be a shining example that you can have your cake and eat it. You can escape the life you were born into. You can do something more if you want.

In this special edition episode, the tables are turned! I’m the one in the hot seat with Justin Francisco from the Mindful Impact podcast interviewing me.

Justin went down the rabbit hole too asking a ton of incredible questions. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share some of my personal philosophies on everything from extraordinary living, to the power of self-awareness, to my own journey from cubicle job to CEO of a 7-figure company.

If you’ve ever wanted to know more about how I think about life, business, and spirituality, this is your chance.

Justin and I cover a lot of ground in this deep dive conversation. Here’s a taste of the topics we discuss:

• What makes my heart sing?
• The 5-minute story that got me to where I am today.
• What happened when I infused a practice to reflection in my life.
• Why you keep creating the same experiences over and over.
• How to get yourself in a mindset of being the person you want to be.
• Why I decided to take on the identity of an entrepreneur while I was still an employee.
• The difference between your ego and your true self.
• Why the things you resonate with give you clues to your best life.
• Why borrowed traits can hold us back from our inner Hero.
• Why I budget for personal development.
• My relationship with money – and how it’s changed over time.
• The four types of delegation and how to use this process to be more productive.
• What would I tell my 18-year-old self?

This episode first aired on the Mindful Impact podcast on Monday, 2nd Dec 2019 and was recorded before Kobe Bryant’s tragic death. 

LINK –  https://lnns.co/CaQN0HA_u6S

“When you subscribe to the Stay Grounded Podcast, you help new people discover the show. And it means the podcast will automatically show up in your app of choice every time a new episode is released on Mondays.”

Raj Jana

Original Show Notes from Mindful Impact Podcast

• Raj is from stay ground podcast, javapress company
• What makes raj’s heart sing? Doing things he loves with people he loves

what is the five minute raj story?

was a petro engineer, found out he didn’t want a cubicle job, started looking into entrepreneur

started java press.

his mentor died three months before retirement.

This was the initial fire to him to do something more while working.

broke one million at coffee company.

didn’t understand why he worked so hard mentor told him to slow down and reflect to be more mindful with his life

“your mess becomes your message”

stay grounded was just a tagline that became his life long message and then his podcast. Then started speaking more, but at the roots still an entrepreneur.

was awareness natural for raj how did he become more mindful?

raj believes he is very spiritual, there is something out there

his mentor passing was like a drum bang from the universe that shook him and caused him to take a deep breath, check in and see how you feel.

3% of our brain is conscience the rest is processing something

starts his day by writing a list of what he is grateful for.

infused a practice of reflection into his life.

pay attention, not just the outside world but on your inside as well.

start building a muscle of checking in.

listen to your gut voice, the inner voice

The inner voice doesn’t get louder but your ears get better at listening for it.

Raj thinks our brain wants us to survive not thrive.

The brain can stop us from hearing our inner voice because it is trying to make the survival choice.

talks about a woman constantly in bad relationships because she knows how to survive it. Deep down the mind thinks it can survive these experiences but making a lasting relationship feels like a greater risk.

talks about how the mind constantly makes excuses because it wants to just survive.

humans act on what they believe to be true, if you believe you’re an athlete you will be.

rajs mindset practice is to replace thoughts that don’t work with ones that do work.

you will act like a success if you believe you are.

Beliefs are what drives the change, actions are hard all alone.

raj listened and surrounded himself with people who he wanted to be

had steve job quotes and affirmation statements.

the world will always catch up to you, when you change what you want and crave then you will start noticing it in the world around you. this will start the momentum train.

it’s hardest to try and fail and fall into the victim mindset.

justin talks about shifting his perspective,

for example child screaming, write down how he is grateful his son is healthy and can scream

mindfulness is about coming back to that great knowing deep inside you and silencing the negative thoughts in the mind

raj has three key notes

-side hustle into impactful seven figure movement

– grow business through impact driven commerce

– the art of experiencing an extraordinary life

we have been trained to not trust ourselves

It’s all BS that we need to unravel to who we really are and what we are capable of

if you are aligning with your heart and brain you just can’t go wrong

justin talks about how he was the asshole of the group and laughed it off, finally discovered he doesn’t want/have to be that.

raj says you have your true self and your borrowed self. The borrowed self comes from others around you. The mind says these are safe to be in public.

the true self is always rooted in love and kindness.

everyone really has good intentions and just don’t know better. If they knew better they would be better

love is the highest frequency on the planet

loving person walks into a room and everyone in the room can feel it

when you feel a loving resonance this is a time to listen and find out what is happening.

qualities you admire in others and resonate with might be something you want in your future self.

you can find things you like in others for yourself and also the opposite. the things you don’t like that are in you, you can then let go of.

justin never heard of borrowed traits in this situation. Reminds him of how he borrowed some traits he no longer likes.

raj says the idea of a man is a borrowed trait.

raj thinks we are going through something amazing where men are learning female traits

women and adopting masculine traits. explains it like yin and yang. leanring to share the best of both.

justin asks about rajs mentors

Raj says his greatest budget is education it is about one hundred grand a year (master mind, mentors everything)

started personal education in marketing because he didn’t know much, then noticed he didn’t know much about himself so he started investing into mindfulness

Raj talked about starting his business with large investments making him feel uncomfortable. A lot going out even though he knew it would come back

raj wants to tell everyone listening that if you have a trait you don’t want you can change it.

Raj says some people don’t want to know because then they become responsible for changing.

ignorance is easier

the first step is taking ownership that these traits caused all of this pain and I am going to change it.

Justin says reach out to the people you seek for content.

Raj’s main income is from his businesses.

he has several businesses that he runs

raj manages time through delegation

Raj “if you get an A on a test would you be happy, does it matter if it is 90 or 100? it’s still an A get it and move on”

Raj says delegate as much as you can so you can start new businesses. Don’t try and do everything

outsource your competent and incompetent tasks do you can focus on you greatest strengths.

get into the habit of delegating, get one thing off of your plate. Look at where you are spending you time and equate it. look at your budget and and ask can I afford that.

incompetent: stuff you suck at

competent: you can do but wastes your time

unique:

excellent:

instead of spending hours doing something mundane spend one hour to figure out how to do it faster or easier.

what would raj tell 18 year old himself.

“you are where you need to be and keep an open mind”

“the things you want may not actually get you what you really want”

EP. 110 You have the power to choose in every single moment.

Hey lovely listeners…

This is a slightly different episode than normal because it’s just me and no guest. But as I’m publishing this on the day before the 2010’s end, I wanted some quality time with you to reflect and share this decade’s biggest lessons.

It’s my hope that you’ll feel inspired to do the same in your life as a result of this week’s show.

And if you’re in the game for making 2020 the start of something extraordinary, make sure you listen to the end for a very special announcement. For the right people, it’s going to be life-changing.

In this quick-fire episode you’ll discover:

• The most significant things this decade has taught me about business, life, and everything in between.
• How I know that EVERYTHING is happening for you [even the seemingly tough bits]
• What becomes possible when you infuse a practice of reflection in your life
• The reason autopilot is the death of us – and what we should do instead
• My focus word for 2020.
• How I’m honoring my word in my commitment to YOU
• And more…

Check it out.

“When you subscribe to the Stay Grounded Podcast, you help new people discover the show. And it means the podcast will automatically show up in your app of choice every time a new episode is released on Mondays.”

Raj Jana

EP. 107 Reflection allows you to catch things before it’s too late.

December is one of my favorite months of the year. In the run-up to the holidays, I love taking time out to reflect on the previous 12 months – so I can jump into the New Year with both feet.

But this December is different…

Heck, it IS different! Not only are we saying goodbye to a year, but we’re getting ready to close up a decade. This is BIG news; adding more weight to the argument for rock-solid reflection.

Which is why I decided to record this solo episode…

I want to show you how you can best reflect – so you can create the 20/20 vision that will allow you to be your best in the months, years, and decade ahead. Check it out.

In this episode you’ll discover:

• Why it’s crucial to reflect and take an inventory of your life before this month ends.
• The question that’s guaranteed to give your life a wake-up call!
• A reminder of where you can find the seven questions I recommend for reflection.
• Next steps… what to do with your reflection complete.
• Everything you need to know about the upcoming 20/20 Vision Challenge [it’s FREE].
• And more…

2020 has the potential to become a decade you’ll remember – because it became the decade you choose to be better and change your life.

Whether that’s creating better relationships, a better business, a better bank balance, or a better mix of life experiences, all that ‘better’ starts with your reflection practice.

So don’t miss this episode. It’s here to bump-start your new decade and ensure you know how to create a vision that will make the 2020s extraordinary for you.

“When you subscribe to the Stay Grounded Podcast, you help new people discover the show. And it means the podcast will automatically show up in your app of choice every time a new episode is released on Sundays.”

Raj Jana