The Happy Hustle: 10 Alignments To Avoid Burnout & Achieve Blissful Balance with Cary Jack: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Light that spark fire nation JLD here and welcome to entrepreneurs on fire brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like inclusion and marketing. Today, we're pulling a classic episode from the archives, and we'll be breaking down the happy hustle, 10 alignments to avoid burnout and achieve blissful balance. To drop these vibe bombs, I brought to Kerry Jack into EO Fire Studios. Kerry is a lifestyle entrepreneur, founder, and author of The Happy Hustle, a top 1 % globally ranked podcast host, professional actor and model, biohacker, echo outdoorsman, and humanitarian striving to make a positive impact on this planet.

0:38In today's financial, we talk about how you do not have to wait until you're successful to achieve work-like balance. You must work for anything you want in this life, and balance equals happiness and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Kerry and our sponsors. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lands, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. AI technology is transforming the way we do business, and the media landscape is fragmented, The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply to growing your business.

1:13Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts. If you've ever considered launching a show on YouTube, I may have the solution for you after launching a very successful show on YouTube in 2024, MicroStrategy Today. I've learned a lot on what it takes to create a successful show and have launched a one-on-one mentorship program called YouTube 100. If you wanna jump on a call and learn more about this program, shoot me an email, john at eofire.com. This is the year of YouTube. Let's go. Kerry, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

1:54What is up, Fire Nation? I am honored to be here. And first off, let me just give a huge token of my heartfelt gratitude to you, JLD. Yes. My brother, I mean, I have been a part of Fire Nation for over seven years, like legit, a long time. And I just want to thank you for consistently showing up, man, and sharing your love, your light, your wisdom with Fire Nation. And, you know, you, brother, have inspired me in so many ways, including me actually starting my own podcast. I went through Podcasters Paradise to launch it, which was a massive help. And now apparently my podcast is top 1 % globally, you know, of all podcasts based on downloads.

2:31And it's largely in part to you. So thank you, man. Well, listen, I received that. I mean, it couldn't happen to a cooler person. And I'm just excited to see you continue on in your journey and yeah, continue on in this answer. Yes, man. So now in terms of something that I believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with is that you have to wait until you're successful to achieve work-life balance. I mean, most people believe that. They think they have to grind and hustle. But I believe that you can actually put the happy in your hustle right now and you could live in a blissfully balanced state and not only make money, but make an impact all without burning out.

3:12And let me tell you, when you start with happy in your hustle, Fire Nation, it is so much easier to keep that happy in your hustle as you achieve success. But if you don't and you're just that unhappy grinder because you think one day you're going to reach, you know, that utopia, you're going to reach Valhalla. Well, it's hard to shift out of that unhappy grind sometimes because people just don't understand how to make that transition sometimes until it's too late. And now I just want to break it down for you, brother, because I see your Instagram posts. I mean, you are riding horses in the mountains of Montana.

3:45I mean, you're basically living a real life episode of Yellowstone. And by the way, if anybody hasn't seen Yellowstone, you've got to watch it. It's fantastic for a lot of reasons. But it wasn't always this way. Share with Fire Nation your New York City entrepreneurial burnout story. And then, of course, how it led to the creation of what you have today, the happy hustle. Yeah, man. I mean, well, first, a little backstory. Like, I grew up playing cowboy in the mountains of Montana and then surfing on the beaches of Florida. And, you know, I was the product of two blue-collar entrepreneurial parents.

4:26It was instilled in me at an early age, you know, you just must work hard for anything you want in this life. And my childhood was far from easy. It was filled with a pretty gut-wrenching divorce and mental illness and drugs and illegal activity. And heck, I moved 24 times before the age of 18. But it did have the balance of these two amazing geographic locations. And before I became this NYC entrepreneur, I was doing a lot of different things for money. I mean, I've always been a hustler, not always a happy hustler. But I was a banana suit wearing smoothie barista and a soccer camp counselor and an Italian restaurant server and all sorts of things.

5:01but I was really focused on success and profit, you know, and I was grinding my face off in New York City with my brother and my business partner to launch our tech startup. And I don't know about you, JLD, but grinding your face off, working a hundred plus hour weeks, you know, we're getting five hours of sleep, you know, all for profit and success is really no way to live. And, and I just, you know, got to a point where we were reaching the success that we were after. We, we actually landed a seven figure VC funding deal and major partnerships with Microsoft and IBM, but I was completely unfulfilled and unhappy and just disengaged from my work.

5:45So I realized I can't do this anymore. I really, I said, no, no more. I I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna sacrifice my soul for success. And I made a massive pivot after having a, you know, a heartfelt and many tears conversation with my brother. And we said no to the funding deal. We folded the company and I moved to Bangkok, Thailand for 10 months. And, you know, it was there where I actually figured out a better way to work and live in alignment and actually a way to find happiness within the hustle, you know, and not only make money, but make an impact. And that's how the Happy Hustle was born.

6:23Well, it is born and it has been growing right before our very eyes, Fire Nation. And that's one reason why I brought Kerry on to the microphone today is because we're going to be talking about the 10 alignments of a happy hustler. And I love the acronym SOUL MAPPIN in Fire Nation. We're not going to be able to go into super depth about all 10 of these. That's why you're going to get his book, of course. But let's dive into some of your favors. I mean, let's go through the process, kind of tackle these as you want, but break it down for us, these 10 alignments of a happy hustler. Basically, I broke my life down into 10 different areas.

7:02And these are the 10 alignments of really becoming a happy hustler. And it makes up the acronym soul mapping, you know, your soul's map to the blissfully balanced promised land. And I'll go through each of these for Fire Nation. And, you know, being an avid listener myself, I get the most value from episodes when I actually take action, take notes and, you know, put forth the effort. So I want Fire Nation to do that now. As I go through each of these 10 alignments, we're not going to go super deep, but I'm going to ask you a question for each. And I want you to actually rank yourself one to five.

7:39You know, I wasn't much for school, but I do know the grading scale. Five is an A, one is an F. So rank yourself in each of these 10 alignments. OK. And JLD, I want you to think about it. sure. Think about where you maybe can improve. All right. So the first one, S selfless service, right? As you know, Tony says, the secret to living to get is giving. So, uh, you gotta be helping causes and people who need it. So think about right now for yourself out there listening, where do you rank in selfless service? Do you volunteer and donate to others less fortunate or, you know, have you living more for yourself or, you know, not making time to give?

8:17So that's the first one, selfless service. The O, optimize health. And I know you're big onto this one, JLD. We've had some great workouts together in person and had a blast really getting after it and optimizing our health. But you have to think about, do you have the mind and body you desire right now? Are you exercising and eating healthy daily? Or maybe you're not where you want to be. Rank where you're at, one to five, okay? You, unplug digitally. All right. we're very connected in this modern day life. Are you doing regular digital detoxes? You know, are you putting your phone on airplane mode and closing the laptop and turning off Yellowstone and, you know, tapping into your own thoughts, right?

8:59Great show. But it's important that we, we don't, you know, get so hyper-connected that we forget to unplug. So rank where you're at in you. Unplug digitally. One to five. L, loving relationships. It's all about love, right, JLD. You know that. I mean, what's it all for if you don't have love in your life? So ask yourself, is there plentiful pleasure with your significant other? Or maybe not so much. Maybe there's pain and angst, you know, and think about your relationship with your family and friends. Where do you rank one to five? So that's the soul part. And JLD, if you got any interjections, I'd love to hear it.

9:34But I'm curious where you're at with that soul part of the first half of the 10 alignments. So I have been taking notes. I give myself a three on the first one because I do feel like financially I give a lot, but my own personal time is where I'm kind of coming up short here, like actually getting into the trenches. So that's going to be something I work on. Optimize health. I'm a four. I mean, there's always room for improvement, but man, we'll talk about this offline sometime, but I've got, you know, my infrared sauna, my cold plunge. I mean, I've got my functional medicine doctor. I'm doing my blood tests every six months.

10:04I mean, getting really optimized there. I mean, I just went on a 10 day water fast. I mean, I'm the lightest and healthiest I've been since 17 years old. Unplugged digitally, I'm a three. I mean, I'm pretty good about just putting the phone and stuff away and reading or just relaxing, but I definitely couldn't improve there. So I'm just a three. Loving relationships, I'm a five. I just got to say, that's not because of me per se. I got to give the credit to Kate. She's just, you can't be in a relationship with Kate without it being a five. Love that. I love it. So I hope Fire Nation also is quantifying themselves out there.

10:37And, you know, the first part of really growth in any area is awareness. So that's what we're doing here. So then you get into the mapping part and M stands for mindful spirituality. You know, are you connected to a higher power? I mean, are you meditating daily and practicing an attitude of gratitude? Or, you know, maybe you're feeling disconnected and a lack of meaning. Rank where you stand in that one. A, abundance financially. You know, do you spend, save and invest wisely? Or, you know, are you living paycheck to paycheck? in fear of your finances. Rank where you're at there. The first P, personal development.

11:11How often are you reading and listening and watching something educational and inspirational? And for me, I have a non-negotiable, a 90 minutes of personal growth system, 30 minutes of reading every single morning, 30 minutes of listening to EO Fire or something inspirational and educational in the afternoon and then 30 minutes of watching something visually stimulating in the evening time. So that's how I make sure that I'm a five in the personal development game. And then the second P is passion hobbies. You know, are you doing fun things? Are you participating in activities you actually enjoy or are you skipping doing things for yourself because you often feel, quote unquote, too busy?

11:55And, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs actually suffer in this realm. I find quite frequently, passionate hobbies. You know, for me, I love fly fishing and getting out there and horseback riding and practicing martial arts and playing soccer. But I feel a lot of entrepreneurs out there, you know, kind of don't fill their own cup in this realm. So I'm curious, JLD, you know, where you're at in passionate hobbies. And then impactful work is I, and that is, you know, are you doing something that fills you with joy and fulfillment? You know, are you working in alignment with your higher calling? or, you know, maybe you feel stuck or unsatisfied with what you do for a living and you're craving change.

12:33And then N, nature connection, you know, are you regularly getting outside and just tapping into your primal self, your, you know, your true like essence as a human and, you know, just enjoying our beautiful mother earth? I mean, or are you spending more time indoors, you know, on your devices, soaking up man-made like toxic blue light and breathing in recycled air? And, you know, JLD, that's why I know you're coming to Montana soon for the Montana Mastermind. I'm super stoked for that one because I actually take high-level entrepreneurs into the wilderness. For about five days, we camp out about 20 miles deep, and we learn primitive survival training and fly fishing, and we have a business mastermind.

13:15It's a great way to just disconnect, to reconnect to your true self and your true soul. Rank where you're at with nature connection. So right now, Fire Nation, you guys should have a score, one to five in each of those 10 different areas of your life. JLD, where are you at in the mapping part? So in the mapping part, I feel like there is some room for improvement because I've kind of been resting on my lures a little bit the past few years. So I'm going to give myself, you know, about a two right there, but that's going to be an area that I'm really going to be focusing on. Abundance, I'm giving myself a five there.

13:48I've always been a very abundant person. I feel like that's always helped me. Personal development, I'm a three. I feel like I've kind of slipped off there the past couple years as well, where I was really big onto reading a lot of helpful books in these areas. And now I've kind of gone down these fiction books, which are a joy to read, but it's not as much personal development. So I got to split some things out there. Passionate hobbies. I'm about to take up golf because I've been lacking a passionate hobby. I tried pickleball. I got into pickleball for sure, but then I developed some tennis elbow slash pickleball elbow issues and I had to give it up, um, for a while.

14:26And I've just decided that I'm going to try a different hobby. And, um, I've got these custom made golf clubs are coming in soon. And we got, you know, I live in a community with two 18 hole golf courses that are gorgeous. Cool. Um, so I'm going to give myself, um, right now I would give myself, honestly, if, if you can give yourself a zero, I'd give myself a zero on that. and it's been a big hole in my life for a while, but I am going to be giving golf a real try and I'm hoping to get it up to a three or a four soon. And what was I again? Impactful work. I mean, I feel like I'm a four or a five there.

15:01I just got back from this amazing event at Funnel Hacking Live where I got to speak in front of 3 ,000 people live on stage with Tony Robbins. It was unbelievable. It was so much fun. Nature, I feel like I'm a three here. I'm really good because I'm in Puerto Rico, so I'm outdoors all the time. I think I've shown you my outdoor workspace. I just sit by the pool looking out over the Caribbean ocean. I like it. I mean, it's no Montana, but it's pretty special despite that. Life is good, bro. Yeah, man. You're crushing. I mean, and there is some room for improvement in all of our lives. Always. And that's what it's all about is measuring first where you're at because what you measure, you can manage.

15:40And I actually have something that you can do every single day to measure yourself. And we'll get into that, I'm sure. Absolutely. We are going to be getting into that, Fire Nation, as soon as we get back from thanking our sponsors. Ever feel like your job description just keeps getting bigger? But we all know there's only 24 hours in a day causing marketers everywhere to feel spread thin between creating content, launching campaigns, generating leads, and more. You barely have a moment to take a breath, let alone do your best marketing. What if there was a better, easier way? That's where HubSpot and Breeze, HubSpot's new built-in AI come in.

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17:39What fires you up? If you want to launch a show around that passion or improve your current one, I'm launching an exclusive coaching program called YouTube 100, where in 100 days, I will mentor you one-on-one and together we will create a show that you love and that's successful. I hired the best mentors when I first started and have learned so much along the way. I'm ready to help you ignite your show and let YouTube do the heavy lifting of building a meaningful audience that will allow you to grow and monetize your show in ways you might not currently think possible. If you want to jump on a call and learn more about this program, shoot me an email, john at eofire.com.

18:16Put YouTube 100 in the subject line and we'll schedule a time to chat, j-o-h-n at eofire.com. This is the year of YouTube. Let's go. Kerry, we're back and man, soul mapping. I hope you were playing along Fire Nation, giving yourself a score. And you know, that to me is like those 10 alignments are pretty important, pretty special. Now, is the happy hustler assessment that you have, is that different than these 10 alignments? Can you talk about that? So the happy hustler assessment is a way to quantify yourself in each of those 10 alignments. It's basically what we just did on the mic. However, it's in text form and you get a score spit out to you.

19:00And then if you are, you know, over a 37, you're happy hustling, you add up the 10, you know, scores. If you're under a 36, well, there's room for area of improvement. And, you know, with this happy hustler assessment, I actually take my own medicine. I take my own assessment every single Sunday and I look, okay, where was I at last week and where do I need to prioritize change accordingly in the week ahead? The happy hustler assessment. How does this work in with the blissful balancer? there. The Blissful Balancer is actually a analog whiteboard fridge magnet. You know, there's so many apps and all these devices out there.

19:41I wanted to create something that is actually, you know, physical and you're right on your whiteboard on your fridge every single morning. You have an action task for each of those 10 alignments and you mark off. Did you do your action tasks? Like, did you volunteer 15 minutes today? Did you, you know, make one email to a potential prospect? You know, did you go out for a walk for 20 minutes without your devices? Like, did you do these action tasks and you put an X and then at the end of the week, you see how many X's out of seven did you actually complete? Therefore, you can measure your balance in real time.

20:17And that's the Blissful Balancer. And it parlays with the book, the Happy Hustle book, that I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about. But that is a way to actually raise your score in each of the 10 alignments. I give tangible, happy hustle hacks. This isn't going to be a self-improvement book that just collects dust on the shelf. This is something that is going to be a true catalyst for change if you actually take action. No, I love that you made it a physical product. And that's actually back in 2016 when I was sitting down thinking about creating a journal. Everybody was saying, well, just make it like an app.

20:48Just make it like a digital because nobody wants more stuff and more things and more this and more that. And I'm just like, I get it. But that people are going to like wake up in the morning and like there's their freedom journal sitting next to them, their bedside. They're going to be able to pick it up, read it, write in it, read it, reflect. And the same thing at night before they go to bed, it's going to be right there. Maybe it's the last thing they use before bed. And that's just not going to happen if it's like an app jammed on one of the million apps on your phone or desktop, whatever it might be.

21:16And the same thing with what you have going on with a blissful balancer, you know, boom, smack dab right there on the fridge. Most people are hitting the fridge multiple times per day. You're going to see it. It's in your face, making it happen. And you did mention your book. So congrats because I know how hard and just arduous of a process it is to write a book. I mean, I just got done the common path to uncommon success back in March and it was quite a journey. So let's spend the rest of our time here today with you talking about this book, The Happy Hustle, what it's about and who it's for.

21:51This is just the culmination of, you know, my years of happy hustling in book form. And truly, it is a labor of love to put out a book. And I'm really proud of it. It really just breaks down each of these 10 alignments. There's, you know, a like a chapter on each of these 10. And there's a happy hustler spotlight, which JLD is spotlighted in one of those. And you also gave a nice book blurb for the back cover, which I'm super stoked and grateful for. But this book actually gives you tangible takeaways. What's really cool about the book too, is it parlays with this magnet that goes on your fridge and there's an online course and there's all these extra resources in each of these different 10 alignments.

22:42And the book is really for people who are wanting more out of life. They want more balance. They're aspiring entrepreneurs or they're entrepreneurs. Maybe they're feeling a little stressed, a little anxiety. Maybe they're feeling close to burnout and they want to just put the happy back in their hustle. And that's what this book is all about. It's just tangibly doing just that. And JLD, I truly believe balance equals happiness. So for me, I know in my own life as a lifestyle entrepreneur, man, it's been such a blessing to just put forth this happy hustle. I don't say this in any sort of bragging, but I'll just tell you straight up.

23:18In the last two years, I've closed over a million dollars over Zoom calls working less than 20 hours per week. I'm not looking to grow this massive business. I love my lifestyle. I love that I can go fly fishing when I want to or go play soccer or go horseback riding or hiking or hunting. It's just like this is the lifestyle. Whatever success is for you, you'll decide that throughout the book journey and you'll be able to actually achieve your dream reality. Now I do know you have quite an amazing gift for Fire Nation so why don't you share that now? Fire Nation has given me so much and I just wanted to give a massive thank you to Fire Nation so what I want to do for Fire Nation is actually give you my best-selling online course The Journey 10 Days to Becoming a Happy Hustler and the Happy Hustler assessment for free just completely free.

24:09All you got to do is go to carryjack.com forward slash fire. Now, for those of you who are feeling froggy and want to take a leap and you get the book, I'm going to give the first hundred action takers a free Blissful Bouncer whiteboard fridge magnet with their order of the book. Plus, JLD, I'm going to spend 20 minutes on a one-on-one call personally to review your happy hustler assessment and help you increase your score in each of the 10 alignments so you can happy hustle your dream reality. That's 2000 minutes of my time. I'm offering a way to fire nation, this community, you JLD have given me so much.

24:53I wanted to go all out for this one and time is our most precious commodity. So I couldn't think of a better gift. So I'm really here to serve and I'd love to connect with anyone who feels called to reach out, but definitely for those first hundred action takers who buy the book, you're going to get the hookup with the whiteboard fridge magnet and a 20 minute call with me. So that's all can be found at carryjack.com forward slash fire. Oh, time is the best gift because Fire Nation, all we have is time and you are going to get a one-on-one 20 minute call with Carrie. If you're one of those first 100 action takers, carryjack.com slash fire.