10 Powerful Things I’ve Learned From 1,000 Shows

25:25Shawn Stevenson:This could be highly, you know, in the pool, swimming. Like there's so many different ways that we can lean down. But that secret ingredient that's often overlooked is what really resonates with me, right? We don't have to choose the way of the most supreme suffering in order to get there. We could tap in and lock in on the thing that really resonates with us. And that's why a big reason behind doing the show as well is to provide a lot of options, a lot of different ways of being able to employ something to get a certain result. And so what I mean by this and the most important reason, this is why this is reason number five, there's many paths to the goal.

26:04Shawn Stevenson:I've been intentional about providing voices with multiple perspectives. And so I've had on premier experts and coaches and physicians with a vegan approach to nutrition and health. I've had on people who steer more towards a carnivore or keto approach as well, because there's many paths to the goal. I'm not doing this blindly. I'm doing this with intention because what I've seen is that each and every time there have been people who have had their lives transformed, who've been able to overcome some of the most challenging issues and health issues in their lives by following these protocols at this polar opposite ends of the spectrum, right?

26:56Shawn Stevenson:And so what if you never knew about it? What if, you've been following this particular protocol and you're not getting the results or the results have stalled. And you don't even know about this other protocol. Now, I'm not, again, I'm not recommending either extreme for everybody, but there's many paths to the goal. There are many approaches. Humans, our ancestors for thousands of years, have tried to eat everything, everything thing you can imagine. Like if humans try to eat it, yes, probably. All right. The craziest stuff. All right. They figure some things out along the way and all these different diet frameworks, these are new inventions for us as a people.

27:41And to put things in these pithy boxes, like these are the things we eat and these are the things that are totally off limits, even though these other humans and tribes and whatever are eating this way. Right. And so, but it's great for giving

27:55Shawn Stevenson:people structure and potentially for healing. But we've got to keep everything in context. There's many paths to the goal. I want to provide multiple perspectives so that we have more tools, so that we have more strategies available for us within our superhero utility belt. All right. Batman didn't just have the one thing. He didn't just have the batarang or whatever to, you know, He had the bat cable. He had the bat electrocuter. He had the bat bubbles. He had the bat. That's real talk. Like, I'm pretty sure there's an old episode of Adam West's Batman where he put him and Robin into a bubble and like floated away out of trouble.

28:36You know, holy bubbles, Batman. And so, again, there are many paths to the goal. And this applies everywhere in our lives, whether this is through our approach to fitness, our approach to nutrition, our approach to our relationships, our approach to our work. Many paths to the goal. Most important part is to have the goal. If you don't have the goal, how the fudge sickle are you going to get there? You got to be clear on what you actually want. And you've got to take action. Again, choose what resonates with you and go for it.

29:10Shawn Stevenson:choose what resonates with you and go for it some things are not going to be for you and that's okay i love the bruce lee statement when he said absorb what is useful discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own add what is uniquely your own. All right. Absorb what is useful, discard the rest and add what is uniquely your own. I think that's a great formula for a great life and a lot of success in getting to your goal. So that's number five. Number six, in these 10 lessons from 1000 episodes of the Model Health Show, number six is some of the most powerful moments can come when you least expect it.

30:01Shawn Stevenson:This holds true for me in so many different aspects of this experience with the show, including with my guests. Sometimes, you know, the messaging, the mission, the teaching, the expertise of the guests, I might feel doesn't necessarily apply to me or resonate with me, but it can be some of the most life-transforming information that I've ever experienced. You know, there have been many times that I've been surprised out of my body with what I've learned from some of the most unexpected places. One of those interviews was with Dr. Neha Segwan. Now this is an episode, again, should be in the show notes for you to check out after this episode if you happen to miss it.

30:40Shawn Stevenson:But she is arguably the world's foremost expert in burnout. And so, of course, I saw the value of this for other people. But once I dove into the research and then having the communication with her and interviewing her and having a relationship, I started to see some signs and symbols that that sounds like me because I didn't attribute burnout to life, right? I attributed something psychologically related to work because that's where a lot of people kind of tie it to psychologically, but it's just overall stress load. And so with all that happens and what kind of happened in a very consolidated amount of time with my father passing, with my wife's father passing, with my oldest son moving out, and with my youngest son changing schools and all this stuff happening in a very short amount of time, amidst a bunch of other stuff, it just all happened in this very short time period.

31:40Shawn Stevenson:I definitely dipped into my reserves. Thankfully, I built up a supremely large mountain of reserve over the years, but man, that little time period, I've, whoo. And so, but she showed up at that exact time when I needed to hear from her. And she's somebody who we continue to stay in touch. We've actually, you know, like have lunch together, that kind of stuff. Her and my family, we had lunch together not too long ago. But again, this is why I highly encourage you. And I've heard this so many times, I can't even tell you how many times over the years where somebody listens to an episode of the Model Health Show and has a life-changing experience or a life-changing insight.

32:25Shawn Stevenson:And they've shared like, I wasn't even going to listen to that episode because I didn't think that it applied to me. I mean, wow. This is also pointing to the value of being just dedicated to excellence, dedicated to learning, and dedicated to being a part of something. And so I appreciate you so much for being a part of this and dedicating your time to getting better. Like if you're clicking play on an episode of the model house show, I know that you are about that life. You are somebody who is about being better and growing and being your best self. So going back to the last one, there's many paths to the goal, but truly dedicating ourselves to something, knowing and expecting blessings, insights, transformation to come from unexpected places, expecting transformation to come from unexpected places is a very, very powerful mindset to have in a lesson that I've learned over these 1 ,000 episodes.

33:26Shawn Stevenson:Moving on to number seven on this list of the 10 lessons from 1 ,000 shows. Lesson number seven is relationships are our greatest currency. I would not have known because I would classify myself as a glorified lone wolf in my lifestyle and my approach to things. A lot of stuff has been on my own. All right. And it's partly just because of, you know, there's nature and nurture there as well. But definitely there was a lot of nurture and environment that kind of cultivated me to be that way. And so my intention was not to find or to grow relationships that would be so impactful in my life. My intention with the show was to be of service and to help to elevate voices that I know could help people.

34:16Shawn Stevenson:I didn't know how much that they would help me. I didn't know how much the relationships that have come from doing this show and these incredible individuals that I've been able to share time with and space with and how much it has added value to my life. It is the greatest gift by far that I've received is the relationships that have come from doing this show. You know, some of the most incredible people, frequent guests on the show, sometimes, you know, even, you know, maybe they've been on the show once, but we have incredible relationships that impact my life on a daily basis. You know, the people that are coming up for me right now, Dr.

34:53Michael Beckwith, you know,

34:55Shawn Stevenson:he's been a guest of the show multiple times, but he's a huge influence in my life. And so that I'm in touch with almost on a daily basis. And Seema Young as well, you know, he's always tapping in with me and sharing things. and we're going back and forth with creative ideas and really helping to support one another and really helping to elevate his voice and his career as well. Dr. Daniel Amen has been so impactful for me and we've done different things together outside of the Model Health Show. Cynthia Garcia as well. There's a big part of the reason that I'm here in Los Angeles. She implanted that idea.

35:33She was joking, hanging out, her husband and my wife as well, just hanging out. And she would say like, when you guys move here, right. And just kept saying, I'm just like, what, what is she on? Like, why stop saying that? We're not moving. Wait a minute. What if, you know, it might help to elevate this work. It might actually help. And I like sunlight, you know, so Cynthia Garcia, Jay Faruja, that's my guy. It's my brother,

36:04Shawn Stevenson:Luka Hosevar. I can go on and on. Just people that continue to stay in touch. Gabrielle Lyon. Gabrielle is the person, she stays in touch, just checking in on me more than anybody, especially in the rough time. Gabrielle was like, she was right there. She's so solid. You know, Bedros Koulian. You know, the list goes on and on. The incredible relationships that have come from the show that have transformed my life, transformed how I operate in the world and seeing my work mirrored as well. And I see that mirror more than just about anybody with my friends, my family, Eric Thomas and his wife, Didi, CJ, Quinny, who's been a guest of the show as well.

36:54That's my brother and his wife and their dedication

36:58Shawn Stevenson:and love for their family and their love for community and their love for service. And the fact that they do so much that nobody ever sees a lot of what shows up here on the model health show is due to what I'm doing when nobody else is around. And so I can go on and on with these incredible relationships that help to keep me elevated, that I literally give thanks for every day. And I would have not, when I started this, I would have not had any clue or desire to have flourishing relationships with so many incredible people. Because I felt like I was pretty much good with myself in the book. You know what I mean?

37:37Shawn Stevenson:So again, number seven is relationships are the greatest currency. This is something that you want to wholeheartedly invest in. And we've shared the data on this many times here on the Model Health Show. Having strong social bonds, having healthy relationships is the number one determinant of how long we're going to live and how long we're going to live healthfully. And so truly investing in our relationships, but it's not just about the relationship itself. It's about the person that we become. It's about the quality of character that must be developed to maintain healthy relationships and the dormant qualities that were within me all this time that required the exposure and input of other people who are on a similar path.

38:25Shawn Stevenson:And so again, this is something that I cannot stress enough for us to place more value and time and energy into and also the people that we become. So that's number seven. We're gonna move on to number eight on this list of 10 lessons from 1 ,000 shows. Number eight is the greats are gracious. The greats are gracious. Being able to spend time with some of the most excellent, some of the most powerful, some of the most high level givers and people of service, some of the most impactful people on the planet, the very best are so gracious, so giving, so present. And to get to see this pattern of behavior, this, by the way, again, there are people who are doing big things who are very successful who are not like that.

39:20Shawn Stevenson:And so I personally would not consider them within the mold or the realm of the greats. You know, for me, again, it's how you do anything is how you do everything. These are the people who are acknowledging others who are not big time in people who are being kind to the Uber driver and the person walking down the hallway and spending time with people who might feel like, you know, they are not even worthy of your time and to make sure that they know that not only are you worthy, we are equals. There is no human spirit that's more valuable than another. And so to be able to connect on that level is really profound.

40:02Shawn Stevenson:And to see this again, the greats are gracious. They really are about their life. One story, one person that jumps to mind, who's a demonstration of this for me, that was a game changer for so many different things is Lisa Nichols. New York Times bestselling author, one of the most renowned and in-demand speakers on planet earth ever. However, Lisa Nichols was scheduled to come on the Model Health Show. This was maybe like eight years ago, seven and a half years ago, something like that. And last minute, which doing the show all these years, we've been very structured in how we've been creating and operating.

40:46And so last minute, something came up and she wasn't able to make it.

40:52Shawn Stevenson:It was going to be like a Zoom remote thing. I was in St. Louis at the time. People, you know, of course, it was the number one health show in the country at the time. So people were coming into town. But I was very content with doing a Zoom interview with this incredible person who I wanted to talk to. And so it was a short notice. She had to cancel. And it was unfortunate. And she did not have to do what I'm about to say. Not only did she, quote, make up for it and reschedule. She said, I'm coming to you. As a matter of fact, to make up for this inconvenience for you, because I know how valuable your time is.

41:30I'm going to fly into St. Louis and we're going to sit down together and spend this time together. We're going to do this in person. That was a game changer for me. At that point, we've had a few in-person interviews. But St. Louis, you know, like Lambert Airport, you know, get a lot of love. Tornado ran through there and ever since like we're flyover, you know, not a big hub of people. It's a lot of scheduling, a lot of layovers just to get there. But she went above and beyond and was so giving to my family. And that episode to this day, it's one of our most downloaded episodes. We have, I think, half a million, over half a million podcast listens of that episode.

42:16and like maybe a quarter million views on YouTube, one of our biggest YouTube videos ever. And so, you know, I'm very grateful for that. And again, what that required of us, because then I had to up-level, I had to up-level my video production. All right, prior to that, I was just kind of, you know, maybe we'll throw a camera up, maybe a little whatever. Well, Lisa Nichols is coming. All right, we gotta get some guys. We gotta get some guys in here and really capture this because it's very special. but the greats are gracious she didn't have to do that but she went above and beyond to keep her word and so these are the kind of people that i really resonate with that i for myself personally

42:58Shawn Stevenson:that i make it a mandate to show up for and to say yes for she's invited me to you know to contribute to certain things it's an automatic yes like because i know she would do the same for me and so it's so it's so beautiful and wonderful to see you know there are many people when they say don't meet your heroes you know saying sometimes a lot of times especially with from where we're operating from meeting your heroes just elevates it even more and so you know the greats are gracious bob proctor is another one of those people that's coming to mind as well just my first interview with bob proctor here on the model health show afterwards he you know off camera he was like sean what you're doing and this was like maybe three years into doing the model health show.

43:44He said, what you're doing is exceptional. I've seen a lot. I've done a lot. I've done a lot of these kinds of interviews, but what you guys are doing is truly special.

43:55Shawn Stevenson:And I want to send this to my community. He offered to send our show to his massive community and he had never done anything like that before, you know? And so just to be able to, again, experience that and to see how gracious some of these great people are, these great minds. I'm so grateful. And, you know, big shout out to Bob Proctor for being a part of the Model Health Show history. Number nine here, we're coming to a close. Number nine on this list of 10 lessons from 1 ,000 shows. Number nine is it takes a team effort. It takes a team effort. It started off with just me and my laptop and a Yeti microphone in my place in Ferguson, Florissant, Missouri.

44:41All right, that's where it all started. And kind of, you know, again, being the face of a previous podcast, but it evolved from there to when we started the Model Health Show and the recording studio and the production

44:54Shawn Stevenson:and all the people involved. I could say that I started off by myself, but there are always people there who've kept me uplifted. You know, I mean, not at the least to say my amazing wife, Ann Stevenson. And without her, I definitely wouldn't be here. I definitely wouldn't be here. You know, she's been the might behind all of the reach and the structure of things and the publishing and setting everything up, you know, to get the show out there, the websites and all those things. And, you know, helping to coordinate with our team, you know, to get everybody on the same page. You know, without her, I wouldn't be here.

45:35Shawn Stevenson:because even when it was just me and the microphone and the laptop, she was there keeping me uplifted and helping to keep my mind right as well and believing in me and supporting me in more ways than I can even express. And so, you know, and I'm so grateful, you know, because again, I don't, my, my intention was to never have like this big team and immediate team and all this crazy stuff. Our team is small but mighty. We have a team who's dedicated to excellence and what we do and we care a lot. And we're about that life, you know, a small but mighty team. And it takes a team effort to make the kind of impact that we've made.

46:16Over a hundred million listener downloads just on one medium is insane. Like we, I can't even rationalize that number. Like, it doesn't make sense. And we've had listeners from every country, every country around the world. All right, and shout out if you, you know what I'm saying? Wherever you are, world family. So I appreciate that so much. And having people that I can count on is priceless. And this applies to so much in our lives. So keep this in mind outside of the domain

46:48Shawn Stevenson:of just our work life, but being intentional about creating a team, a life team for us to successfully navigate and move throughout the world. We need each other. We have evolved in tribes and working together as a people in one accord towards a goal. This culture, this life, this larger culture scape has fractured the way that we operate and is so centered on this individualism. And it's a lie. It's toxic. It broke me down. My physical health, my mental health, how I got into this field. I just remember if I think back to that time, I was so isolated. I was so alone. And it was my own choosing in many ways, you know, because it's unconscious.

47:43Shawn Stevenson:I didn't know how much the people in my life were the key for me to elevate myself to heal. And so nobody can do your pushups for you, but we are truly meant to work together and to grow together and to have each other's back. And so having people that you can count on is absolutely priceless. Number 10 on these 10 lessons from 1000 shows. And I hope that you enjoyed this time with me. Thank you so much for being a part of this incredible experience with me. Number 10 is getting better as a person is the secret to being better at your work. Getting better as a person is the secret to being better at your work.

48:26Shawn Stevenson:Life was qualifying me in many ways to do the work that I'm doing today, but I did not take this lightly. Once I saw that this was my mission, this is my gift, this is my passion, throughout all of the difficult times, throughout all of the long hours. 10 ,000 hours, please. 10 ,000 hours. We got that in the bag with the Model L Show, just what's been involved. With 1 ,000 episodes, 10 ,000 hours. Yeah, for sure. And little fun fact, by the way, Malcolm Gladwell, who made that sentiment popular, he did a very special read. He did a very special shout out for the Model L Show. Their team reached out.

49:07Shawn Stevenson:He had a new show coming out and wanted me to do a shout out for their show. He did a shout out for the model health show. Oh, it was beautiful. I loved it so much. You know, again, I read multiple books from Malcolm and just again, you never know who's listening. You never know who you're reaching. You never know the impact, but I had to become the type of person that Malcolm Gladwell can shout out. You know what I mean? It just, it was about working on myself and being dedicated to being accountable, being a man of my word and showing up, as I mentioned in many of these different lessons that I've learned, taking accountability when things are difficult and just being dedicated to getting better, you know, and showing up for my family, showing up for myself, showing up for my team.

49:57You know, it can be a lot of responsibility, obviously, you know, if you want to think about it like that. But for me, it's just, it's such a joy. It's such a blessing. And even the difficult times. Like, I mean, I'm one in a billion chance to be here. You know, I, where I come from, I mean, very few people make it out of those conditions. And so I'm so grateful to be here with you. And I'm so grateful for you to allow me to be a part of your life.

50:25Shawn Stevenson:And please know that I'm still deeply, deeply dedicated to getting better and to being of higher service and helping to uplift gift us as a people, as a society, as a community. We're at a great time of change and opportunity, but we've really got to lock in. We've got to lock in on our personal development. We've got to lock in on our health and our wellness. We've got to lock in on our relationships and our families and our extension of love and support and helping people to feel seen. We've got to lock in and being in our bag of excellence and remembering that we all have unique gifts and talents and capacities.

51:04Shawn Stevenson:And we are needed today more than ever to express those. At a time with the emerging AI, it's more important than ever to be as human as we possibly can be. And so thank you so much for sharing in this human experience and sharing this time with me and allowing me to share these 10 lessons from 1 ,000 shows here on the Model Health Show. Again, we are just getting warmed up. I am so excited about what the future holds. Thank you so much for riding with me on this. We've got a whole nother level in store for us. The best is yet to come. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I appreciate you immensely.

51:42Shawn Stevenson:Take care. Have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon.