Speaker 1: 0:00

The Journey Talks Podcast, your favorite podcast to reconnect with gratitude and inspiration. Hosted by Jorge González. Hello and welcome to Journey Talks Podcast, your favorite podcast to reconnect with gratitude and inspiration. My name is Jorge González and I am your host. I am convinced that behind every gratitude there's a powerful story waiting to be told. Through this podcast, I want to create a space where we can share these stories and inspire one another.

Speaker 1: 0:31

As humans, we all share one thing in common, and that is the experience of being alive. We all go through situations in our lives and we meet people along the way that somehow they leave a footprint in our lives. Some people stay with us for a brief period of time and others stay with us for a little longer. My question here is how we learn from each other and how we use our gifts to provide opportunities to open doors for transformation in our lives for each other, and through this podcast, I'll be interviewing guests with stories of gratitude, and I hope that our willingness to share these stories will remind us of the love that we all have access to from within. I'm very excited about today's guest. We've known each other for a few years now and I love his gentle yet consistent approach to life.

Speaker 1: 1:19

Originally from Miami our guest spent most of his childhood growing up in the Dominican Republic. He spent his high school years in Miami and moved to Tennessee during college, where he attended Freed Hartman University, and he lived in New York, la, dallas. He's a former second baseman and shortstop from the San Francisco Giants. He is now a power to be reckoned with in the world of real estate. His work ethic and attention to details makes him and his team stand out as one of the top real estate groups in South Florida. He's a father, he's a great friend and an amazing human being. Allow me to introduce you to the one and only Angel Nicolás. Angel, how are you?

Speaker 2: 2:03

Thank you so much for having me. I love this, you know I love having conversations with you overall period, so I'm glad that we're making this happen. So thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: 2:13

I appreciate you giving me of your time. How are you, Angel? What's going on with you lately?

Speaker 2: 2:17

I am great right now, honestly blessed, having a great summer with the family. Just came from a beautiful retreat with my wife, so right now you caught me in a high man. Amazing, I'm feeling great right now.

Speaker 1: 2:27

Well, let's see how we can milk that out and unpack it a little bit.

Speaker 1: 2:30

Looking forward, so this podcast is all about sharing stories of gratitude and the gratitude that comes out of moments of transformation in our lives, moments of growth, and I'm convinced that your story is powerful because of what you've been able to do in terms of applying your experiences and propel them into different aspects of your life, and so I'll be so honored if you will open your heart and your mind to share some of your gratitude stories with me in the audience.

Speaker 2: 2:56

Love that, love that. You know, gratitude is probably my number one topic, so I'm in.

Speaker 1: 3:01

Okay, let's do it. What is gratitude for you, angel, and what is your relationship with it?

Speaker 2: 3:07

Oof. It has definitely grown over the years. But how do I answer that? Gratitude to me is everything, jorge. I mean literally everything, the good and the bad. I'm grateful for everything, because everything is here to teach us something. When you say what is gratitude to me, it's literally everything. I wake up and I start my day with thanking God and being grateful for just being alive and breathing, and then everything else is. I'm playing with the house's money, right, but in the night I tend to just sit down and just sit with everything that happened during the day, good or bad, and just what is this teaching me today? And I'm grateful for literally every single moment that happens to me.

Speaker 1: 3:54

You know it's interesting, angel, because time and time again I keep hearing somehow the same definition of gratitude in people. How the same definition of gratitude in people and it's a lot of people have mentioned that they are able to receive and embrace everything in life, the good, the bad and the ugly right.

Speaker 1: 4:12

The ups and downs, and it's very affirming to hear you saying that, because I think for our listeners it's helpful to remember that life will come with its fair share of situations. But we can always gain its fair share of situations. Yes, but we can always gain something out of our situations. And that's not to say that when challenging things happen or tragedies happen, oh good for you. No, that's not. We're not necessarily talking about that.

Speaker 1: 4:36

However, on the other side of all those things, there's always a silver lining. There's always an element of wisdom, a message that we can gain, and it helps us take the next step in our lives. Would you agree with me?

Speaker 2: 4:49

100%, 100%.

Speaker 2: 4:51

Look my perspective in life is that we're here to, we are the creators of our own lives, right, and we're here to create and explore. And with failures come great lessons. So my point is, when I say everything is, I'm gratitude for those lessons because they make you grow and, yeah, I'm not always ooh great a monk. I have my moments, and then I go back and I was. You know what? What is life, what is the universe trying to teach me with this specific moment, and then I'm grateful for it. So, again, I'm grateful for everything, because everything is for the good of me.

Speaker 1: 5:31

Yeah, yeah, it see, that's really special because it gets us to this concept of mindset. So what are the things that can help us stay in that mindset, even when we fall apart for other situations and whatnot? How can we go back to that mindset of of allowing to see things and to welcome them for that they're happening for you, not against you.

Speaker 2: 5:52

Right, yes.

Speaker 1: 5:53

Yes. What are you most grateful for, angel?

Speaker 2: 5:55

Well, literally just being alive, first of all, right, um, being healthy. My family, my family's health that's number one. I start my day with that. My health, my family's health, and then everything else, is a plus for me, man, I'm so blessed, so blessed to be able to do what I do. There's lots of ups and downs in my business, but I am first blessed for my health and my family's health. The support system that I have around me my wife she doesn't take enough credit, but she supports me with everything.

Speaker 2: 6:34

My stepdaughters, natasha, ella they're amazing. I can't see myself living without them. They have ways of picking me up and making me feel good when them. They have ways of picking me up and making me feel good when I'm feeling a little down. My daughter, camila she's like an angel man. I'm learning so much through her. She really is an angel. So I'm so grateful for everything. The friends that I have around me. I have this incredible support group. I can't even explain it. Whenever I'm looking for something, god, the universe, has this way of putting things in front of me to make. Help me figure out. I'm a true believer that God speaks to me through people, amen.

Speaker 1: 7:16

Yeah. Absolutely so I'm grateful for all of that being your friend and seeing what you're describing. There's no doubt that it is a true blessing, and I see the benefits of having that tribe around you. That is not only supporting you, but you guys are helping each other out and creating that beautiful life. That is the gift that keeps on giving.

Speaker 2: 7:36

I feel like and look, you asked me what's the thing that I'm the most grateful for, and that's probably it right there most grateful for, and that's probably it right there. But going back to what we said just now, that not all the time it doesn't mean that, oh yeah, great Everything is all stars. I'm also grateful for not having a dad around when I was a little kid. I'm grateful for seeing my dad in jail when I was a little kid, because that taught me to never do anything illegal. Not having a dad when I was a kid has now created this urge to be a great dad and not miss any moments, special moments of my daughter's childhood. I'm grateful for the bad things that happened in my childhood and now because, again, there's always a lesson right in that. So I'm not just grateful for the good things.

Speaker 1: 8:29

I'm grateful for also the bad things have happened right, because they bring huge lessons first of all, thank you, for I mean opening up and sharing such a special part of your life. Like I said at the beginning, every gratitude. There's a powerful story waiting to be told and you just stepped on it. I'm curious to hear more about how the void of a father figure has shaped you or marked you in such a way that now you have a certain certain reminders right that continue to motivate you to be a good father, to be present in the life of your daughters and perhaps explore how you can best equip them to be autonomous individuals in the future right.

Speaker 1: 9:12

So, I want to appreciate I want to thank you for opening up, because I really value when people open and share their stories that you know they do have a lot of vulnerability, but there's healing and freedom when we go to those areas of pain and our wounds and we can develop a new narrative around them and that's pretty much what you're saying, you develop a new narrative about that part of your story.

Speaker 2: 9:36

Yeah, I like how you put a new narrative because, again, there's always a silver lining and it's all perspective. It's how you see it. A lot of people are in pain and stuck in that past moment, but in reality it was there to teach us something, you know, for us to grow and and step out of that little cocoon it's interesting.

Speaker 1: 9:57

My next question to you is can you think of someone or remember a situation that now, looking back, you realize you know yourself better because of it?

Speaker 2: 10:10

oh look, I'll say this I I think of myself as like an expert at failing. You know, let me explain. I spent the first 20 years of my life trying to make it in one thing and even though I played professional baseball, I didn't make it to where I wanted to make it. I didn't make it to the highest level. I played minor league baseball, but I didn't make it to the highest level. And I'm going to backtrack a little bit. My little brother used to see me work all the time, birthday parties, miss vacations and things because I was so focused in making it to the big leagues maybe playing the major league baseball that was my dream, and he used to say things like man, if angel doesn't make it, he's gonna go crazy because he spent too much time and he's all in into this one thing. If he doesn't make it, he's gonna. I don't know what he's gonna do. We used to live on the second floor in an apartment building.

Speaker 1: 11:06

He's going to jump out of the second floor.

Speaker 2: 11:07

I don't know what he's going to do and he was right in many ways. But at the same time, after 20 years of going after something and realizing, man, I'm not good enough to play at the highest level. It was very, very, very hard for me. I can imagine play at the highest level. It was very, very, very hard for me. However, I wouldn't change those 20 years for anything because it taught me a lot of things about myself.

Speaker 2: 11:38

When you fail in baseball, if you fail seven out of 10 times, you're a Hall of Famer. Imagine the greatest ever fails seven times out of 10. Imagine if you're not that good. So my point is there's a lot of failing and with each failure comes growth, and that opens up this very high amount of faith. Going after something without knowing if you're going to succeed or not, and I think that's freaking beautiful man, opening yourself up to a situation where you don't know what's going to happen. That teaches you a lot about yourself.

Speaker 2: 12:15

And if I don't go through those 20 years of trying to be an expert at something, I don't think I am the real estate agent that I am today. I don't think I am the father I am today. I don't think I am the real estate agent that I am today. I don't think I am the father I am today. I don't think I am the husband I am, today the friend. I don't think I am the leader that I am with the Nicholas Group and so on. So that's what I'm saying when I say I'm an expert at failing. It has took me to a place of being fearless. That doesn't mean being reckless, right right, but being fearless and trying new things and going after something without knowing for a fact if I'm going to succeed or not. But there's so much growth in that process, right of getting there, that I, I, I'm excited about it. I want to go for it.

Speaker 2: 12:56

You're thirsty yeah, hungry yes, it's excitement for me, because I don't know if I'm going to strike out or hit a home run and win the game. But that's the fun in it, right, right. And then when you finally do succeed, it's so much joy, right?

Speaker 1: 13:10

Yeah, yeah, that makes me think of I was having a conversation with a buddy of mine recently and I was being honest I said man, you know, I recognize that most of my life I have had some sort of platform or a path that I can take. It's not that I'm not working hard, but I've had a path or a platform that I can rest on, and by that what I mean is, in my case, I studied music, and then I studied theology.

Speaker 1: 13:39

So where am I going to find a job? But in my case it was through the church, and through the church I was a youth pastor, and then I work with youth and young adults, and then I landed in what I'm doing now, which is I work at a school. But that became a platform and a path that I could take, and I recognized the ways in which, as helpful as it was for me to have that platform, it also deprived me from having a bit more courage to move forward and to take those steps of courage if that makes sense, because I heard you saying you know I was taking, I was making moves, not knowing if it was going to work out or not, but I did it.

Speaker 1: 14:19

And so we've heard that before. Like I think it's Will Smith and other people talk about if you're going to do something scared and you're scared about it, do it scared, but do it because there's nothing worse in life than the regret of not pursuing or giving yourself the opportunity to explore something that you're passionate about. And and I wholeheartedly believe that now, because without it, that's when I think those stories of what could have been become stronger and they really take over any possibility internally that you have to explore and to see yourself in a new light. Would you resonate with that? Oh?

Speaker 2: 14:58

man big time. I think again, that's where growth is, and overcoming different layers of our lives because we are limitless, right, like we can do whatever we really want if we really tap into that. But it is scary going somewhere that you've never been before. You know an analogy that I have and I just created. This weekend, while I was in Mexico, I was looking at the ocean and I'm thinking you know, we are like the ocean, we are stillness in motion. Life is always moving. Whether you want it or not, it's always moving.

Speaker 2: 15:34

So in the ocean, if you are two feet on the ground right, which is kind of what you explained right now, the water is going to try to move you. But it's easy to stay there. You feel in control because your feet are on the ground. But get a little deeper, where your feet cannot touch the ground, and now it's like hold on, whoa, now the current is taking you to different places. If you just float and let the current take you wherever it goes, who knows where you're going to end up? It might take you exactly where you want to go, but most likely it's going to take you to the deep end and that could be a dangerous place, right, and that could be a dangerous place, right. So if you're floating right now, you're stepping into another place and now you're going to have to swim a little bit and with a little help of your swimming, the current can take you exactly where you want to go. But it's going to take a little bit of swimming, it's going to take a little bit of unknown for you to get to.

Speaker 2: 16:25

Now the next step, and then boom, you're getting feet on the ground. You stay there for a little bit, okay, and then again, hey, back to it. Let's find this different place that I've never been before. So it's kind of like floating now and here, not on the water. It's different, right, it's not the water moving us, right, it's our thoughts, it's our conversations, it's the people that we surround ourselves with, totally. So I'm always in this current of surrounding ourselves with good people, having good conversations. I always put myself in places where perhaps I've never been before, learned things that I've never known before, right, and that's the fun in my life, man.

Speaker 1: 17:07

You mentioned earlier a word that I know is very important for you and to you, and it's this notion of the process, and I would love for you to unpack that for me. What is the meaning of the process for you? Because you mentioned it earlier and I know that for you there's something really special about paying attention to the steps that will help you to get from point A to point B. I've seen it in your dynamics of who you are as a parent and in your career professional career. I would love to hear from you what this process means to you and how do you apply that analogy into your professional life and in your personal life.

Speaker 2: 17:51

Yeah, such a good question, man. Well, listen, the process is the key, like I was just talking about, like swimming and things like that. I've learned this also through playing baseball. Right, don't be so attached to the outcome, focus on the process. If you focus on the process, success is inevitable. And even if you don't make it to the highest level at that thing like baseball is limited right, like you only have a certain amount of time to play at the highest level because you need physical activities If you focus on the process, so many lessons in that process.

Speaker 2: 18:25

So I tend to focus on the process of whatever it is that I'm doing and let the outcome come to me. Let God, the universe, they know the how much better than I do. All I have to do is put energy into something and fall in love with that process, because the outcome it's not up to me. In baseball, I can hit a baseball perfectly and hit it straight to the center fielder and I did everything perfect. I could also get fooled, hit it at the end of the bat, break the bat and hit a blooper over the second baseman and win the game. So focus on the process, right, because if you do that, success tends to come your way.

Speaker 1: 19:06

I appreciate you unpacking it for me. And if there are young people listening to this or adults, it doesn't matter. We all have our dreams and we all. Some people are more motivated and take action quickly and they're disciplined and they go for it, but others, in the fear of things, they get stuck and they miss out on this actual process of getting from point A to point B. That's the journey, and you've said it a couple of times already in our conversation the things that you learn along the way. That's what makes, that's what's providing meaning in life. That's the juice. It's the juice, it's the juice. And so it reminds me. This is an analogy. I don't want to get too churchy here, but there's this story that Jesus talks about the parable of the talents. Yeah, I believe so. Point is the people that received their gifts and they were courageous to use them and to put them in. In this case it was the marketplace and invested and whatnot.

Speaker 1: 20:06

They received 10 times folded what they put in, invested and whatnot they received 10 times folded what they put in, and the person that was afraid and didn't know what to do with their gifts and hit them and dug a hole and put it on the ground. The story says that it was taken away and given to the others. I struggled understanding that lesson for so long. I was like what is Jesus trying to talk about here? Right, but it dawned on me. I'm like yes, you have to use your gifts. You have to believe that you can make things happen. Go through the process.

Speaker 1: 20:38

Without it, you will miss out on the possibility of accomplishing your dreams and the things you're going to learn along the way. And when that realization came through, I was like oh okay, this really makes it more practical, more real for me, because it's not this idea of I always have to be perfect. It's let me use my gift according to my abilities and see what happens. Let's see what good can we do with the gift that I've been giving, whether it's education, wealth, knowledge, information. How can I use my gifts? Yes, I'll take care of my needs and hopefully out of that, the abundance that comes out of that, I can be a blessing to other people. But it was having the courage of using your gifts. Do not pay attention to the voice of fear and negativity, because if you do that, you're going to miss out on it Big time.

Speaker 2: 21:38

I love that analogy, man.

Speaker 1: 21:39

Well, it dawned on me. You know, working with kids, I've always had to figure out okay, how can I explain this to minds that are still learning, explain this to minds that are still learning and to have the responsibility of understanding that these are seeds that we're trying to plant? And so, yeah, once I look at it from that perspective, it was like a new. It was a blessing for me, and I appreciate the opportunity of sharing with others to see how they feel about it, because it's just a breakthrough for me. Sharing with other people. I'm curious to hear what they say and if it resonates with them too.

Speaker 2: 22:13

Well, you definitely have this gift of telling stories and using analogies. Every Friday when I go to church and I listen to you, you're talking to the kids, but let me tell you you're also talking to me, you're talking to the adults, and your way of explaining things that really resonates and and it's very practical things that we can put into practice right away. Thank you, and I I really appreciate that. But you said, right now it's such a beautiful thing because, again and and in that process and that place of fear, that's when we have the biggest lessons in life, right?

Speaker 1: 22:49

Tell me more about fear in your life, how you handle fear and what's your relationship, for you, with fear.

Speaker 2: 22:56

Such a good question. When I think about fear. Now, it hasn't always been like this. This is me, through meditation and searching for answers. When fear comes up, I sit with it and I'm like, oh why, why is this feeling coming up? Is it what the person said? Is it what others think of me? And when you start asking the right questions to God, right, it has a way to put in the answers right in front of you, right? Most of the time, we ask the wrong questions, but you start asking the right questions. And here's what I've gathered Finding the source of that fear.

Speaker 2: 23:39

I've gone into places where I'm fearful of doing something. For example, I was fearful of being on a podcast because I didn't think that my English was good enough, and all these things. Right, these are fears that come from probably I was four years old. Someone made fun of me, who knows. So I'll go back to the source of that fear, of why I don't feel worthy or why I don't feel good enough to do certain things, and I tell my four, six, seven, whatever it was hey, buddy, it's okay, man, you're just learning how to live life. Yes, you know, go out there and do it. Win or lose, it doesn't matter. You're learning, you're figuring things out, you're exploring. You're like Dota the Explorer You're exploring things, yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:34

Like people are going to think whatever the heck they want.

Speaker 2: 24:35

but you know, what's the most important thing, period is what I think about myself, yourself, yeah, your relationship with yourself, yes. And then when you start thinking like that, little by little, every starts. Everyone starts seeing you the way you see yourself. And that's what I think, because every fear comes from something that happened in the past that you see it a different way. The number one is a fear of failing, but that's why I consider myself an expert of failing, because I failed so freaking much and I kept on going, I kept on going, kept on going, and this is what I learned, even though, again, I didn't make it to the big leagues. I learned that the more you fail, the better you get at it and the chances of winning increase the more you fail. So I'm like no-transcript. When you're here, might as well swing the bat.

Speaker 1: 25:19

I love that you're talking so much about failure Because, yes, we're so afraid of failing and we forget that in the failure you always learn. I'm repeating what you said. Sometimes it takes hearing from somebody else in order for you to say see, that's what I've always said. I'm going to give myself the chance to believe it.

Speaker 2: 25:39

And that's why I love these podcast conversations, because we're saying things that everyone has probably heard, absolutely. But it's a different way and people are like oh okay, I can resonate with that, you may change someone's life.

Speaker 1: 25:51

Angel, why do you do what you do? How do you land from being 20 plus years of pursuing your dream to be a major league baseball player and, all of a sudden, you hurt yourself and the universe put you in a spot that you didn't expect it. You turn things around and you have this amazing business that has allowed you to provide, honestly, a beautiful life for your family, but also a beautiful life for your clients too. South Florida is booming right now, and I'm curious as to how you've been able to take all the things that you've learned over the years and how they translate into what you do right now, into your life as an entrepreneur and someone in real estate.

Speaker 2: 26:33

Yeah, you know pretty much everything. We discussed kind of like the analogy I used earlier with kind of floating on the water. You know, I started like swimming and putting my intentions into the life that I want to live, into the things that I would like to do. I love helping people. It's the number one thing that I love to do is just, I gain so much from helping people because in helping people I'm really helping myself.

Speaker 2: 26:57

And when I was done with baseball I was a little depressed and I didn't know what to do. And my brother gave me this book it's called the Pursuit of Excellence and it asked me a question like what do you really love to do? And it took me three days to answer the question because the way it asked the question it was more profound than what do you like to do and it came down to like man, I really just love helping people. Like I gained so much from like little things, from opening the door, and like this is who I am. I love serving people and the universe has a really funny way of putting things in front of you. Man, I was, I opened up a gym, I was personal training. I love doing that and it was time for me to. It was time for me to.

Speaker 2: 27:40

It was time for me to open up, branch out and, in that process, going back to the process, I know I heard it, I was like, ah, in the process of finding a location, I met my mentor in real estate, irvin Padron, and Irvin was helping me find a gym and he's a business. This guy's businessman mind is phenomenal. And he was asking me do you know how much you're going to pay the front desk? You know this and you do that, and who's going to be the bookkeeping? And I was like, oh man, I wasn't thinking about any of that and I realized that I wasn't going to be in an office crunching numbers and getting away from what I really love to do, which is this I love conversations, talking to people. I want them one. I love that one-on-one personal training. I didn't want to be in an office crunching numbers. So, through him, he came up one time and he's like hey, who do you know is looking to buy and get with the States? I have a friend and I put him in contact with one of my clients. He ended up buying a home from him and that opened me up to like, hey, you should get your license, I can give you a referral fees. And I was like, oh really, this is me again floating and just swimming a little bit. And then right in that current and I said, yeah, I'll go get my license.

Speaker 2: 28:47

I went to get my license, I went in person and the teacher teaching started talking about more than just what's on the book. If you want to do this, you have to do. And I said I'm already doing that in the fitness world. If I really dive in and become an expert in this real estate world how I am an expert in the fitness world I can really help people with my talents. And that's what I did and I went all out. I jumped into a new business.

Speaker 2: 29:15

I had no idea. I really, you know, I guess a little bit, but not much. And let me tell you, everyone told me no, including my wife. She said why you already have a good business You're doing well, like everyone is a real estate agent in Miami. Why are you going to do that? But something told me inside of me that I can do it and I wanted to do it. And when I want to do something, I just do it, because we only live once, man, and I think we come back, but right now, this body is only here once. Yeah, yeah, I'm trying it when I can, I'm trying it and I did. And, man, 10 years later actually, eight years later, we are number two team in Miami, number four in Florida and we're continuing, man, we're continuing to grow and I'm so blessed.

Speaker 1: 29:58

Thank you for sharing, because I've seen you, I've witnessed it. I've been on the receiving end of y'all's generosity in many different ways. I've also experienced that myself. I am here because of the generosity of people. I receive an education because of someone's generosity. I receive opportunities because of people's generosities. Sometimes you how do you give back? It looks it'll look different for different people, but I could not agree more with you about the beauty of trying to put your gifts for the service of good. It comes back to you and it's not you don't do it because of it, but it all of a sudden you get caught off guard and you're like, whoa, what a beautiful blessing. Right, and it's, and I happen to believe that it's the gift that keeps on giving.

Speaker 2: 30:44

Yes.

Speaker 1: 30:45

And I love listening to stories of people that have had the courage to believe in themselves, because I've had struggle with believing in myself. We all have right.

Speaker 2: 30:53

My goodness.

Speaker 1: 30:55

Even this podcast is a process of me trying to believe in myself and pursue it right, and I'm doing it for the purpose of trusting that hopefully, people can be inspired by our stories because we're humanizing the human journey, the human experience. Yes, we're humanizing. I like that.

Speaker 1: 31:12

Yeah you have to make it human, and that was one of my biggest struggles as I was pursuing this career in spirituality. You can go to school and you can learn all these things about the Bible and theology and church history and whatnot, and this is how his passage has been interpreted for X amount of years. What does that mean to you? What does that to you, to your heart, to your body, to your mind, to your psyche, to your consciousness? In what way these stories are bringing you an opportunity to discover who you are with love, to believe in yourself and to trust that you can make the next move in spite of people going, not supporting you, because I've struggled with that too, and it was very affirming for me to hear that from you, because it's like you know what You're actually giving me a little gift right now.

Speaker 2: 31:58

Well, thank you, because you always give me gifts.

Speaker 1: 32:01

I appreciate that, but it's interesting, right, because I've been a fan of trying to demystify the whole spiritual trip. You know what I mean. I've learned that we're all humans and, oh yeah, you got to do your part. If your part is being an educator, be the best educator you can be. If you're an artist and you're creating art, in whatever capacity you do it, try to be the best educator you can be. If you're an artist and you're creating art, in whatever capacity you do it, try to be the best and share that process with other people. Because the truth is that when we hear those stories, it speaks to us, right, it speaks to our hearts and we have to believe ourselves. That's what we're here for.

Speaker 2: 32:36

Yes.

Speaker 1: 32:38

And how beautiful it'll be and this is perhaps utopic, but how beautiful it will be, and this is perhaps utopic, but how beautiful it will be if we all give ourselves permission to do that for each other and for ourselves, right. We will be having a different kind of conversation. This is so good. This is so good Okay.

Speaker 2: 32:53

Amazing.

Speaker 1: 32:54

Let's talk about grounding practices, angel. Let's talk about what do you do on the regular basis, on the day-to-day, to help you accomplish your goals, because when I met you, you didn't have to say it. Your energy and your persona gives that message, and I'm curious to hear more about what are the things that you do? What is your routine? What are some of the practices that you do in order to help you stay focused? For me was discovering that I could work out and that I could have a healthy relationship with my body, which I didn't have.

Speaker 1: 33:27

Yes, I was pursuing spirituality, spirituality, spirituality, but I was not eating well, I was not working out and I was giving me a byproduct of self-loathing. I didn't like what. I was looking in the mirror and I discovered that, as important as meditation is and could be for my life, what are the things am I not paying attention to that can help me have a more holistic approach to my life? So what does your regular practices, or grounding practices, look like for you? I call that self-love. So how do you provide self-love for you?

Speaker 2: 34:02

I love that you call it self-love, because that's exactly what it is, and I think that we all really need to focus on that. Look, I am the kind of person that I am an organized mess. My days are organized but are always changing. Showings and meetings and things come up. Know, showings and meetings and things come up. But there's one thing that is non-negotiable it's me waking up early, praying. That's the first thing that I do. I'm like, oh, every morning I'm in awe of, like I'm alive, I'm breathing. Honestly, I've seen so many crazy things that I'm just like, every day, I'm like man, I'm breathing, thank you God. All right.

Speaker 2: 34:39

Then I meditate. So first I work out, I move my body, I take care of my body because, again, I got to take care of it. I'm an avatar. I got this from DG Mindset. Shout out to DG Mindset. I am the gamer and my mind, my spirit of the gamer, and this body is the avatar and I got to take care of it. Man, I got to make sure he gets enough sleep, I gotta make sure he moves every day stretch. And then I go take care of my mind, I I meditate. I've been doing this now for about a year and a half, and sometimes it's three minutes, sometimes it's 30 minutes. I meditate, I kind of clear my mind and then I journal and I just there is no, you know I have.

Speaker 2: 35:19

I start with three things that I'm grateful for, but after that, brother, is whatever is in my mind Right. And then I finish it with my intentions for the day. And then, after that brother, I let the universe do his thing and I just go about my day and I am intentional about everything. But I'm also listening to the flow of life and I go with the flow a lot and I listened to how I feel, what I like. I'm very sensitive to energy, so I have this gift of like understanding energy and and knowing what conversations to engage in and not.

Speaker 2: 35:52

And then at night, I ended with visualizing my next day, you know well. First of all, I see, okay, today was a great day, grateful for everything that happened, good or bad. What lessons did I have today? What can I change and do better tomorrow? I visualize my day the next day. I got that from playing baseball. Okay, all right, and thank God, because I think it's huge for me, and I visualize things going the way I want them to go, without being attached to the outcome, and I go about my day. Now I got to give a shout out to my sales coach, carlos Garrido. He said you know, angel, you know what you should do. Every night, before you go to bed, just ask the universal question, and I do. When I fall asleep, I don't worry about it and somehow the universe, my subconscious, gets the answers and I go about my day every day like that. What happens in the middle I have no control over, but my mornings are non-negotiable and my nights non-negotiable.

Speaker 1: 36:48

Thank you. You hit on energy. You know how to read people, and that makes me think of wisdom and how our bodies speak to us. You said you use the image of we are. I mean that our bodies are avatars.

Speaker 1: 37:03

I love that because I feel like we're gaining new vocabulary that continue to help us understand the human experience better. And I think there's no problem in being open to allow your mind to continue to expand. Expand in the definition of what love is, what compassion is, and I think all that starts with you. We have to learn to have compassion for ourselves and then pass that compassion and kindness to other people. But that only happens if we learn how to pay attention to the subtle messages that our bodies and the energy it's trying to tell us. And it's true that we live our lives with so much noise around us that we don't develop the skills to honor those subtleties. And I recognize that that same realization can come to us in different vocabularies, different narratives, different stories, but the fact that we can tap into it, that's where I see the benefit of the grounding practices and that's what I was curious about it for you, and I so appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 38:06

It's very interesting to see that you are so intentional with your mornings and how open you continue to be at night. I think it's beautiful because it's just a way to we see it time and time again. Right, we need a ship. It's meant to be out in the ocean, but you have to come back to a safe harbor, take care of it and then go back at it and to have those rituals or practices are so important and I hope that the people that are listening to this podcast or watching it, they can really like, perhaps entertain what that looks like for them and love themselves enough to honor those rituals, those practices and see the results of it. And I think the journaling was so nice. I'll be curious to see if you have done the exercise of looking back at your journals and see the process that you've been through.

Speaker 2: 39:02

I don't know if you saw me walking in with this, but I go everywhere with it because I've learned that thoughts come throughout the day and I just write it down, write it down, and I love looking back at things, especially when I'm going through a tough time or a time of confusion or anything like that Remind myself of really who I am and what I'm here to do.

Speaker 1: 39:24

How do you feel? Because I remember when I was young, I used to keep a journal. I keep journals, but I used to be more intentional when I was younger. And, of course, when you're young, your brain is not fully developed yet, and so sometimes, as a teenager, you're more emotional or whatnot, and I remember writing down situations that were challenging for me, and sometimes it's love or heartbreak and whatnot. I'm going to go back to an example that you provided earlier, which is you try to talk to that young angel.

Speaker 2: 39:56

Yes.

Speaker 1: 39:56

You try to love that angel and support that angel, to love that angel and support that angel. I'm curious to see how your relationship with your journal helps you continue to maintain that intentional relationship of self-love with yourself and how that translates into your other relationships in your life your marriage, your relationship with your daughters, your relationship with your team. I think it's fact we ignore the importance of learning how to deal with our situations, our experiences, our traumas, and how do we develop a healthy relationship and a new narrative with that so we can do our best to show in the best way that we can. What are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 2: 40:37

Wow, that's a loaded question. Look, everyone has a different process and everyone has a different way of dealing with their thoughts. I've learned about myself Whenever I get scattered, I'm thinking too fast, and now I'm not creating. And I'm a creator, and now I'm going with someone else's energy instead of my energy.

Speaker 1: 40:57

Oh, that's good, tell me more.

Speaker 2: 40:59

What I've learned is that when you sit down to write, your thoughts have to slow down. Now you're creating, I became an artist and you're now you're. You can't write that fast, at least I can't, so I have to slow my thoughts down. So that helps me just just with that. I might just, like I don't know, just just start writing what's in my mind and then slow it down, and then I go okay, well, now i'm'm back to me. Now I'm not with that energy of that guy that told me not to call him anymore. I'm like hold on back to me.

Speaker 1: 41:27

What am I doing here why?

Speaker 2: 41:28

did I call that person? It was good intentions, right. And I go back to that thought and I just continue to set my intentions and I know my intentions are good. So, again, the outcome doesn't matter as much to me, even though it's tough not to be attached to that outcome, right, I? I practice that on a daily basis because I'm an athlete and I want things and I can be really freaking hard on myself yeah, I was for a long time, if I don't. You know, I'm supposed to do this and I didn't do it, ah, or I struck out, I let my team down, right, oh, the worst, all these things. And then that cycle starts negativity, and you can, that's you attract that. You strike out. Now, oh man, I suck. Then you go out to the field and you make an error and now, now the world is falling on you, right? So I'm very intentional about not letting one moment carry on to the next one.

Speaker 2: 42:23

Yeah, you know guilty all of us are right, like all of us are tell me someone that's not right, but again, it's going back to setting your intention. That's why I keep it with me. Yeah, because at any time I can just write down and I'm setting my intentions and going back to that because it's constant practice, constant practice.

Speaker 1: 42:41

It never ends. It never ends. You know what that reminds me of, and I'm going to use the Christian lingo or Christian vocabulary, christian expression which is rooted in Scripture but it's present in all traditions which is paying attention to the still small voice.

Speaker 1: 43:01

Paying attention to the still small voice. When you look at scripture, whether it's in the Jewish tradition or in the Christian tradition, you always see that the wisdom, the breakthrough, comes in the stillness. Be still and know that I am God, says the Jewish scriptures. And when I gave myself permission to not just entertain that, oh, because I'm supposed to and that's what the Bible says and whatnot, but when I gave myself permission to allow my human experience in conversation with that which is the slowing down, like you said, to look at your thoughts, to realize that some thoughts are connected to previous experiences, or what repeating thoughts do you have and why perhaps, are you stuck in that cycle?

Speaker 1: 43:49

Once things start to settle in, you tap into a stillness within you. That's the unconditional love that I believe that we all have access to, and so for you, is writing it down. It helps you slow down and all of a sudden, whether it is turning down the volume of things and now you can listen to something, that it's more grounding, or all of a sudden, because you're slowing down, that strength from within becomes louder or gives you the direction that you needed. That to me, has been magical, and to tap into it, to see it manifested in my life, that it is in the stillness that I can receive the message or the voice of freedom and of love that has blown my mind and it just it reminded me of what you're saying because you're just slowing things down and you find that moment of stillness that can provide you with the breakthrough, the message, the direction that sometimes, for the next step that we need.

Speaker 2: 44:50

Yeah, yeah, that's huge man.

Speaker 2: 44:53

I like to remind myself when I journal that I have to be careful, because I love to please people and with that comes a lot of energy. So I got to be careful that I'm setting my intentions in the right directions, because and not get so caught up, because sometimes you take it all on yourself to want to save the world and certain things, and so, in a way, as much as I like to please people, I've also learned how to be selfish with my own thoughts, with my own energy and so on. So I think journaling and that voice that you're talking about, that's everything. All the knowledge is already within us. It's just now tapping into it.

Speaker 1: 45:41

Exactly that's the key and I think, regardless of which narrative or spiritual tradition you come through or you or comes to you or you explore and find it helps us to get to that place of accessing that inner wisdom. And I hope this is not alarming for people that are listening to, but I have again, if I'm going to use a Christian expression we're all God's children. What does that mean? That we're all God's children, we have unlimited powers.

Speaker 2: 46:08

We have it within us.

Speaker 1: 46:10

But it's. How are we learning from our experiences? How do we allow ourselves to receive that as the gift and to turn things around and see the beautiful, endless possibilities of what our life could be? I think that's the gift that keeps on giving, that's life abundant. And how do we use that to make this world a better place, to help each other out, to provide opportunities for ourselves and for other people? I think there's something to it, you know.

Speaker 2: 46:35

Oh, yeah, yeah, it's all there. It's just tapping into it, right, right, and using little practices, daily practices, to get you closer and closer to that.

Speaker 1: 46:44

When we get caught up it's okay, here I am. Let me go back to it, forgive myself and turn it around.

Speaker 1: 46:50

And sometimes you have to make amends with other people and say you know what, I'm sorry, that was not the best part of me, I'm sorry, you hold yourself accountable and you move on. But Sorry, you hold yourself accountable and you move on. But developing that personal relationship with ourselves, with our thoughts, is so crucial I feel like, right, yeah, I want to respect our time, your time and people's span of attention. I always like to ask the guests here on the podcast what is a special quote or figure that has inspired you lately? Who can you think of? Someone or a quote or a mentor that has been influential for you in your life or lately?

Speaker 2: 47:27

One of the things that, growing up without a dad being there consistently, you put a bunch of phenomenal men in front of me.

Speaker 2: 47:34

That kind of guided me and have taught me so much. Wow, I don't even think people know how much they've taught me just by being around me, and that is something that I'm so grateful for. But one that resonates with me all the time is my uncle taught me this verse from the Bible Rest in peace, to my deal, it's Philippians 4.13. I can do all things through God who strengthens me, and whenever I'm in a tough crunch and I don't know what to do and I know that I have that inner power already in me I just got to tap into it and I can overcome anything through God who strengthens me. So I always keep that in, thank you for sharing.

Speaker 1: 48:20

Thank you, that's very special. All right, you're welcome. So the last question is who do you think will be a future guest here on the podcast? Oh, you got to get my wife in here, cynthia.

Speaker 2: 48:32

She's an angel, she's a healer. Yeah, she is just tapping into her gifts and she uses it every day with her daughters and with me and everyone around her. She's so intuitive and I can't wait to see your podcast with her in it. We're reaching out to you Well, angel.

Speaker 1: 48:54

Thank you so much. To say that I'm thankful is an understatement. This has been a great conversation. I look forward to having you again in the future. I think you were phenomenal. I hope that our audience could really benefit from listening to your experiences and your perspective in life. Thank you so much for being here on the podcast. I wish you nothing but the best to the whole family and I look forward to having you again in the future.

Speaker 2: 49:17

I'm so grateful to being here. Thank you for making me feel comfortable here. I love you, brother. Thank you Honestly, yes.

Speaker 1: 49:23

Guys, this has been another episode of Journey Talks podcast your favorite podcast to reconnect with gratitude and inspiration. See you next time. Thank you for having me. Thank you for watching. Make sure you like and subscribe to our channel. Share your feedback, hit that notification bell and let's keep the conversation going.