008: Unshackled Life with Gly Gabriel

[00:01:02] Regularly challenging himself to grow mentally, physically, and spiritually glide documents his journey via his online content. Check them out at the handle. Hashtag the GLI games. We’ll put that in the show notes and glides currently living the minimalist digital nomad lifestyle. As he travels around the globe where the line between work and play is blurred.

[00:01:24] Just the way. He likes it, GLI, man, that smile so big. It’s so good to see you. Thanks for being here today, man.

[00:01:31] Gly Gabriel: Thanks for having me, man. I’m it’s so good to be here and to, to just have a conversation and be able to hopefully, um, um, share some stories and you know, around my journey and what I’ve been learning and discovering what I’m teaching people to ultimately live happier, healthier fulfilling lives with your audience.

[00:01:47] So thanks for having me Zach. Oh,

[00:01:50] Zach White: that’s so good. You’re welcome. So GLI there’s a thousand places we could begin, but I’d like to just take a cannon ball right into the deep end. Okay. And, and tell me what, what do you remember about that moment when you first knew and you just decided like I do not belong at Morgan Stanley.

[00:02:12] My career here. This is not the path for me. And, and you left what most people would say is like the dream kind of start to a career and, and youth, when a different path, take us back to that moment. What do you remember about discovering and making that decision share?

[00:02:28] Gly Gabriel: I remember that moment, very vividly.

[00:02:30] I’m in my New York city apartment, uh, on the upper east side. Uh, and it’s a Friday morning and the previous day, my boss actually, she should, she suggested that I take Friday off because it’d been like a whole year. I’ve been grinding it out at Morgan Stanley and I hadn’t taken any vacations. And she said, take tomorrow off, be like a normal human being.

[00:02:53] And I was like, thank you. And so I go home and I’m, and I wake up in the morning and I find this email from my brother. And he sent me this video by this, a motivational speaker named Eric Thomas ITI, the hip hop preacher. And, um, I watched this video and the truth is, I don’t remember what he said. I am sure I could find the video, but how he said it, the way he spoke, the conviction that he had as he shared his, his dreams and, and, and his own personal story up until that point.

[00:03:25] It just impacted me massively. And in that moment, I remember just, just thinking about my life. And I felt like most of my life I’d been on this sort of manufacturing line and I was just like this product or something and things were just being put onto it. And I w I’m going to this, this distant place, this final place of success.

[00:03:56] And the truth is I had, I had arrived there. You know, like my background, I, my parents are, you know, fresh off the boat from Haiti. Uh, my dad was a cab driver. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. Like we didn’t really make that much money. We were like came from very modest beginnings. And to, for me to go to Harvard, to, to be at Morgan Stanley, making six figures, able to support my family, support myself, you know, live in this upper east side apartment, like have had the means to do whatever the hell I want.

[00:04:24] For me to be there successful, but unhappy, really messed with my mind. And in that moment, I started to look at where this, where, where I was headed, you know, and I, I, I imagine, you know, some of the more senior people at the firm, um, and, and, and I just looked at them and when I looked at them, I was like, I don’t really think they’re that happy. They are missing authentic happiness.

[00:04:51] And if that’s the future that I’m going towards, most likely what’s going to happen is, um, you know, the, sort of the golden handcuffs, right? I’ll, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll get it, I’ll have a relationship and then get a mortgage and, um, you know, have kids and all of these different things that are going to have me really had it be harder for me to leave that environment that presumably I would not be fulfilled in.

[00:05:16] And so in that moment, It was like a light bulb went off and I just couldn’t unsee what I saw. And I just decided, I don’t think I can stay here any longer because if I do, I’m never going to get out. And, um, and I recognize that like, you know, I’m young and I, and, and I don’t know what it was, but I felt something inside of me.

[00:05:34] And it was like, there’s more for you that haven’t like showing up to work and like putting on this mask and feeling like you’re, you’re not able to fully express yourself feeling like you’re, you’re not really able to put your talent to use that. Doesn’t have to be your reality. And it was interesting once somebody, once you make that decision, Once you ask that question, the universe starts to give you answers.

[00:05:59] And so literally within like the next week, um, there was, um, um, so funny, there was a motivational speaker. She comes into Morgan Stanley and she gives a speech and she’s also a life coach and an executive coach by the name of Gail blanking. And she, she shared this story about, uh, the statue of David and, um, and how I believe it was Michelangelo, how he crafted this statue.

[00:06:21] And he, he basically got this massive piece, like massive rock, um, from the quarry. And everybody looked at it like, what the hell are you gonna do with that? And he says, just watch. And he goes into his workshop and he works away at it for like a year or so. And eventually comes out with this beautiful statue and everybody’s just like, oh my God, how did you do that?

[00:06:40] From this piece of rock, you know, that we thought you couldn’t do anything with. And he said, David was always in. I just chipped away everything that wasn’t him. And again, another, it was like another sign from the world saying like, Hey, Gleiss you gotta start chipping away everything. That’s not you. And I spoke to that speaker and I’m a life coach, a coach in general, um, afterwards.

[00:07:04] And she looked at me and I was like I said, I think I want to do something similar to what you’re doing. And she looked at me and she says, you’ve got it because she just felt my energy. And then we had coffee thereafter and, and, um, and it was just, it was an interesting thing because then, like, there was just a lot, a lot of momentum picking up, you know, then soon thereafter I recognized that maybe I want to travel backpack around Latin America because a friend of mine had was doing it.

[00:07:27] And. That was moving, moving, but then the funny thing is, um, fear doubts, all of that comes in. And so, and so like, I’m like, Hey, I’m making six figures. I’m, I’m, I’m really comfortable. Like I got a bonus coming up very soon at, do I really want to leave right now? And so like the momentum was picking up, but then I, I, I stopped, I put brakes on it once I started to entertain the doubts to all of those thoughts.

[00:07:50] And the truth is I didn’t leave Morgan Stanley for another year or year and a half. And so that, that was like, after one year I completed like my two, two and a half years of, of analyst years. And, um, um, before I actually left, just like kind of saving up money. And so in some respects, it didn’t work out because I was able to use that, those savings to travel and to have the flexibility and the freedom to continue to explore.

[00:08:11] But I did stop myself, but, um, ultimately. I’m just grateful that I had the foresight to make that decision and to kind of pursue that path. And my journey since then has been a crazy one. But, um, but it’s been really

[00:08:28] Zach White: fulfilling, man. Well, first of all, thank you so much for sharing your story glide. This I know the listeners like, yeah.

[00:08:36] Wow. That’s amazing. So, so courageous. I want to do that maybe, or maybe they’re like, hell no, I never want to do that. But yeah, either way, there’s something you said that I want to back up to. Cause it’s a really interesting point where you said I was extremely successful, but unhappy. Authentic happiness is rare. And, and there was this voice inside you that you, you discovered, you know, intimately for the first time that highlighted the, this feeling that I’m not actually using all of who I am, like I was made for something.

[00:09:04] And, and I really connect with that feeling. I’ve had that exact same thought and that exact same feeling. And what I want to ask you is what does that feeling really mean in the sense of man guy from the outside? Like you had done incredible things in terms of using your potential to come from really humble beginnings, to get into Harvard at all, to succeed at Harvard, to get into Morgan Stanley, like by all external measures you were using maybe more potential than people would have expected you to even have.

[00:09:37] And yet on the inside, you’re telling us there’s that voice like, but, but I’m for something more, can you like connect the dots for us? How are those two things different? And how do you explain that? Yeah.

[00:09:48] Gly Gabriel: Yeah. Um, that’s, that’s, that’s a great question. You know, I think that a lot of us are good at doing a bunch of things.

[00:10:01] And, and that, that lead to certain results. And so the sort of the, in my coaching, I even talk about this, like the old paradigm of life and how people approach things is we do do do so that we can have things right. But the truth is we want to have things, not just for the thing itself, but for what it provides us, what, what it creates for us to experience that we, that we have as a result of having it.

[00:10:24] And so money, you know, why do we want money? Why do you want to make six figures or a millions of dollars, billions of dollars. It’s not necessarily to have a piece of paper, but the, perhaps the money represents security for you, or it represents freedom. It represents, um, uh, love a service, whatever it is, that’s, that’s what we truly desire.

[00:10:45] And I call that the being right. It’s like the feeling, the experience of life and that, that we will have as a result of whatever it is that we’re, we’re creating for ourselves. And so.

[00:10:56] I believe that if I tried to, how I try to live my life now is by starting with that, the end first, like the wives, the heart of it all. And, and I recognize that when I was, you know, like I, even though I had a lot of success doing and trying to have stuff, it was almost as though I, it wasn’t my choice. It was my.

[00:11:17] And that I did it right. But I took on these narratives from society, from my family, from media, et cetera, that says that this is what success is and you need to go and do this. And so I just did what I was supposed to do. You know, I was, I also studied engineering. Like I was a biomedical engineer and in high school or in college, right.

[00:11:34] Like I, I, I went through that whole process. It was very logical, methodical. Like I thought I was either going to be an engineer or a doctor because I was afraid. I was like, I don’t know if I can like, have people’s lives on my hands, but perhaps I can create the medical devices and different things that can empower these doctors.

[00:11:49] And so I had the optionality and I knew that either way, at the end of college I’ll have a lot of options, um, and that I can leverage to disagree for it. Very logical thing. But doing that. Doing all of that. Just, it, it, it, it was almost as though somebody else was in the driver’s seat of my life. And when I, and the, the experience, the being that, that, that it was creating for me, wasn’t one that was aligned with what I desire in my heart of heart.

[00:12:16] Um, and so I think that sometimes we get disconnected from ourselves and from our spirit, if you want to call that a or just our soul, whatever you want to name it, but this part of us, that’s just so true that only that is unique to us, that there is nobody else in this world that with your unique set of experiences and your unique set of interests and hobbies and, and, and, and knowledge, and, and there is something that you, there’s a song that you’re here in this world to sing.

[00:12:43] And when you’re not singing that song where you’re not giving that gift to the world, it feels like hell. And so. I was doing all these things to have these results that other people are saying, it’s going to make me happy. And it wasn’t bringing me authentic happiness because I wasn’t living in alignment with my truth.

[00:13:02] And so once I stepped away from that and started to like tap into, to reconnect, to, to be in a space of, you know, I’m not quite sure what it is, but I’m, I’m going to trust this. Then all of a sudden I’m, I’m tapping into what all of the things I had been doing was for, you know, is to like be free to, to, to, to be, to, to, to be empowered, to, to be courageous, to, to, to, to, to feel loved, to feel excitement, to feel creativity.

[00:13:30] All of a sudden, once I unshackled myself from the reactive way of being that, the patterns that I had been exhibiting up until that point, I had access to, to, to that, to that energy, to that being. And now from that. Living from that space. I started to take new actions there. So now it’s like be, do have.

[00:13:49] And so those actions are starting to create unique, differentiated results that only I can create for myself that are aligned with me, that like I wake up sometimes and I’m just like, man, my life is fricking good. And you know, it’s, it’s beautiful when you’re able to, and you, you know, that you created it that like, and, and so I think there’s, there’s, uh, it takes a lot of courage and it, it, and, and it takes a level of, you know, just mindfulness consciousness awareness to, to be able to listen to yourself, to silence the outside noise and to tap into like, w like what what’s that song that you hear here to sing and to actually go in and sing that song.

[00:14:33] Zach White: So good. Goliath, the engineer listening. I mean, I, I don’t see how you can’t be drawn in to what you’re saying. Right. It’s just like, oh yes. I, I want, I want what glides talking about, I want to experience, you know, starting with being, rather than in this endless loop of doing, just to have stuff, if, if they’re caught in that place though, of like, Hmm.

[00:14:54] But how, or, or like, what do I, what do I even do? Right. As engineers we’re so drawn into. Okay. Glides. So what’s step one, step two, step three. Right? I mean, I feel myself in that moment, like, yeah. I want more of a glass too. And so how do I get it right. And just kind of help us get started. What, what is, what’s the place to begin if this is really causing somebody, maybe to think these thoughts for the first

[00:15:18] Gly Gabriel: time.

[00:15:18] Yeah. I’ll show you right now. So for whoever’s listening, literally right now, just close your eyes.

[00:15:29] And just breathe in and out

[00:15:37] and just continue to breathe and just put your intention, your focus, your awareness on your breath,

[00:15:47] and just notice what comes up for you. As you’re continuing to put your focus on your breath,

[00:16:00] notice the thoughts,

[00:16:05] notice the sensations,

[00:16:12] just notice, just be the simply the awareness that is proceeding at all.

[00:16:21] And if this sounds like mumbo jumbo to you. Notice, even the thoughts that go like, I don’t know, I’m not, I don’t get it. I’m doing this wrong and don’t judge it. Just be aware of it and then bring your focus back to your breath.

[00:16:55] and you can slowly bring your awareness back into this space, move your body if you, if that feels right and then open your eyes. And so what we did just now is like a very simple meditation. And when I left Morgan Stanley, I heard this whole meditation thing. It’s supposed to be good for you. And I was like, let me try.

[00:17:18] And I could, at that time, I could only do it for two minutes at a time because I was just like, I, I have shit that I don’t know if I can curse, but like I have, I have things to do, you know? And, and, and so it, it just didn’t really feel that productive, but I was like, I’ll give it two minutes and doing that consistently over time eventually helped me discover it, separate myself from the thoughts and the emotions and the things that are constantly arising.

[00:17:44] And you start to discover your programming, that this machinery and how it runs, and some of the narratives and things that are impacting it. And because a lot of us are going through life, we were kind of pretty unconscious. And when you recognize like, oh, I had this recurring thought that I, you know, I needed, I needed, I needed to do something or I, I, I’m not good enough.

[00:18:07] Or, um, what will people think then you start to see that and you separate yourself from that thought. And now you can. And when you’re no longer controlled by that thought, and it just becomes like the passing sound of a car outside of your windows akin to that. Or like somebody like a baby crying in the distance and you’re just like, oh, that’s happening right now.

[00:18:27] Now that energy that used to be caught up in that thought that created certain patterns of feeling and being in an acting reactive patterns. Now it’s released and you can put that into. Maybe connecting with yourself and really seeing like, what feels good for me, what feels right for me? Or you put that energy into too.

[00:18:48] Oh, you know what? I have always wanted to go and pursue this thing, or I want to get a promotion at my job and like, and have more responsibility and, and, and be able to impact more people. And, or I want to design amazing products. Now, all of a sudden that energy is not caught up in all of the stuff.

[00:19:03] That’s not really serving you anymore and you can redirect them to other areas of your life. And so I would say just starting with something as simple as meditation is, and it could be for as, maybe as literally, if you don’t have two minutes, then one breath, like you just giving yourself that space.

[00:19:22] That’s, that’s where it starts. And so I would say that that’s how I would go about it. And then there’s like so many other things you can do, but that’s the simplest

[00:19:30] Zach White: thing you can do so beautiful. What I am struck by in this. I mean, first of all, I enjoyed that, man. If we could have just gone the whole rest of the episode, just let like GLI lead a meditation for us.

[00:19:42] But what’s beautiful is I hope people recognize this. Isn’t just about, you know, oh, I’m in the wrong career path. I need to quit my job and become a nomad and travel around in a minimalist lifestyle like glide. Now, if that’s what the person, you know, the engineer listening wants by all means like, I’ll take that to heart and, and start listening to that, that voice inside.

[00:20:00] But it’s also about, you know, directing the energy towards the promotion, if that’s what you want and directing that energy into your family and building a stronger relationship with your, your wife or husband or significant other or whatever. It’s not about a specific path. It’s not about being like glide.

[00:20:15] It’s about being, Ooh, let’s

[00:20:18] Gly Gabriel: go baby. That’s exactly what it is. It’s about you connecting with yourself and what you truly desire. And it don’t go and try to follow what everybody else is saying, because that’s the trap connect. Like what do you want? And then now you’re able to, when you take the energy away from all the things that are stopping you from getting what you want, you can direct it to what you want.

[00:20:38] And life becomes fricking amazing. Like I swear to God.

[00:20:43] Zach White: Oh man. So, so let’s, let’s get a little bit more of your story. I know we could talk all day. Yeah, no. Where did it go from leaving Morgan Stanley and some of those building blocks of your own transformation?

[00:20:54] Gly Gabriel: Yeah, sure. So after that I came back and, um, and, and, you know, I just, I was hungry for like my own personal transformation, continuing to level up and discovering more of myself.

[00:21:04] And, um, you know, after like, you know, my travels in Latin America, I really discovered my purpose is to really help people live authentic happiness, healthier, more fulfilling lives. And so, um, I went into this like transformational program just to continue to do that deep inner work. Um, and then in that program, I started actually coaching people and, you know, just like these, you know, just like volunteering and just like practicing, like having conversations and creating a space for people.

[00:21:27] Um, and, uh, it was amazing and it gave me the courage to start my own business. I wanted to like, see how can I help empower people and like really fulfilling this mission. And I thought like, I don’t really know. Like if coaching, if I should be a coach, like I’m only like 20, like 24 or 26 or whatever, however old I was.

[00:21:43] And, um, I said, but I can help people who are doing amazing things in the world. And, and so I started, uh, I started a couple of like social media related businesses because I realized people’s attention were on. I was on social media and if I can, um, reach them, send them messages of possible positivity and then empower the people that are empowering people to live their best lives.

[00:22:02] And that, that felt like it’s, it felt like scale. It felt like I’m able to fulfill on my mission and, um, started doing that. But then the funny thing is I, I, you know, like I did like a social media marketing and then like video marketing business. It’s not like I was creating video and content for people and for local businesses.

[00:22:18] And one of them was this, like this woman who has like a community and like, they’re really focused on just having transformative conversations. And she asked me, she was like, lie. Let me ask you an honest question. I was like, what she said. Is is videos is creating videos and doing this type of work, is this what you really want to be doing?

[00:22:41] And that took me a back because this is like a client, a prospective client asking me this. And so I said, maybe she’s seeing something that I’m not seeing. And so I started to just analyze and take a look and, and sit with that. And, um, and the question arose, and I think the quality of our lives are, are, you know, related to the quality of our questions.

[00:22:58] And so the question was, what, what could you be world-class at, you know, if there could be anything you could, you could, you could do anything in the world. Like, what do you believe you could be world-class in it. And, um, and when I took a look at that, I said I was being honest and I, I don’t think it’s with videos, but it’s with having these.

[00:23:16] Sort of conversation is creating spaces for people to, to, to shift and to, to, to step into their D the best versions of themselves. You know, because if I’m being honest with myself, I’ve been doing that since I was a kid, you know, like even in elementary and middle school, people would come to me and they felt safe to have conversations and divulge traumatic experiences and feel, and be able to be empowered, to move past them in, in the space that was, that was creating with them.

[00:23:43] And initially that came off the back of just, I didn’t feel like I had anything to contribute. I didn’t feel like I was good to us back then. And so like asking questions, holding space was how I was able to like, survive and, and like con connect with people. But then that eventually became like my super power, so to speak.

[00:23:58] Right. Oh, it’s so amazing. And so we all have these, these different things and experiences that, that, that are unique to us. And sometimes they come off of the back of, of not so good, like quote unquote, good things, but, um, I w I, I did recognize that I could be world-class at this and that I enjoyed having these types of conversations.

[00:24:18] And so I started my coaching business. Um, I, I knew I wanted to like invest in myself and invest in a coach because if I’m going to have, like, be a coach then, and like charge thousands of dollars for my services, like millimeters, maybe it’s time for me to, to, to work with a coach and, and see what that’s like.

[00:24:32] So I can empathize with the people that are going to be working with me. And, um, and so that’s where we actually met through, uh, our, our business and our business coach, Zander, Sandra fryer, check him out, HIC high, in fact coaching, shout outs. Um, and, um, and then he was able to quickly help me scale my business and get to a point where I had like, you know, multiple clients and able to sustain myself and do work that I actually loved.

[00:24:56] And so that’s been, that was in, and I started with him in, um, Fall of 2019 and I’ve been coaching since then and then out of coaching and then also creating content. And, you know, on social media consistently was able to get a bunch of attract a bunch of amazing opportunities, including, you know, a company reaching out and wanting me to do meditations for them.

[00:25:16] And so I started leading meditations, even though I had no experience leading meditations before, but every time, you know, there’s opportunity that’s presented to me and someone wants me in the room. I say, yes, because I know that if they’re asking, then I, I belong and that I’m ready to, to, to make that happen.

[00:25:31] And so I just stepped into those roles and, and have been leaving limitations

[00:25:34] Zach White: and stuff. As you just said, it’s so huge. I got to stop you there because if someone is asking, then they have a vote of confidence encouraging you that you belong. And so why not vote for yourself in that moment? I want you to like, highlight that again, because as engineers that is such.

[00:25:53] An easy place where we miss sometimes is we don’t vote on ourselves or this imposter syndrome. Like, am I ready for that? Am I good enough for that, for that next level, that next promotion, or to speak in front of this, you know, this big audience or whatever it may be for the injured listening, like, like highlight that again, from your perspective, this idea of showing up in those moments.

[00:26:14] Sure.

[00:26:14] Gly Gabriel: I mean, literally the, and this is something that I really had to, to come to terms with, but if someone is asking you to come and serve them or their audience, then you belong there that you, you, you have almost a duty to serve them. If, if you will, um, go so far, but there’s a reason why they’re asking you.

[00:26:33] And the only thing that’s, that’s going to stop you from really serving them is yourself. Is that the imposter syndrome is the, I don’t belong. I don’t, I’m not good enough. Uh, I need to learn more, but yeah, like you’ll continue to learn. You’re already ready. The very fact that the invitation has been in that has been created.

[00:26:52] And if it, if it’s just like, so out of integrity for you, and you’re just like, I can’t then, then, okay, I get it. But, but just recognize that that the opportunity is there for you to seize and that you can see that you can seize it if you choose to. And so I that’s, that’s something huge that a lot of people don’t realize because we, we ended up putting off what we desire, what we want, because we’re afraid to step into it.

[00:27:14] But once you, once you say, yes, I’m ready and I will find a way I will make a way I will learn what I have to learn. I will do whatever I have to do to, to, to serve these people, to, to, to be of full service and value to them. That energy is more important than anything else that you can learn, and that will carry you, carry you the distance that will have you learn what you need to do.

[00:27:33] If you, if you mess up, if things don’t go so well, that’s okay, because you recognize that you, that you do belong in that, that there something there for you to, to continue to hone and discover, and you’ll do whatever it takes to, to make that happen and make it be better. The next time I love

[00:27:47] Zach White: that Goliath is the, is the courage is the quality of a human that allows them to step in the way that you’re talking about.

[00:27:57] Is that something that you believe is, is unique to individuals or is it something inside of everybody? Like where does that courage come from?

[00:28:06] Gly Gabriel: every single human being has that you, everyone has that potential. And literally for me, I have discovered the easiest way to tap into that is by becoming. Is by just because the, what will have you think that you can’t do it, that what will stop you from stepping into that space is either like thoughts about the past and those old narratives and believes that that don’t serve you any longer, that, that aren’t even relevant to this moment, or, you know, fears about the future and what’s going to happen.

[00:28:41] None of that is real. All there is, is right here and right now, and if right here, and right now you, you say, you know what? I feel, I feel tension. I feel fear. I feel all of these things and there’s this opportunity here. And I, I am committed to, to serving people to the best of my ability. I know I’ve done all of these amazing things in the past and, and right here.

[00:29:01] And right now I have an opportunity to, to, to help or to step into this new role I’m going to do it. That’s what. And then each moment thereafter, you just keep just being present to whatever it is that you decided, and everything else will work itself out.

[00:29:17] Zach White: This is amazing. And so now I’m, I’m going to be the engineer for a second.

[00:29:21] Okay. What, like GLI, what about the data? What about the data? And, and, and if you know, right, you studied engineering and you’ve hung out with people like me and my listeners and there’s this tendency partly let’s, let’s be fair. Right? We, we do this all day, every day for our careers. We get paid to be good at this, where we take a data set or the, the history the past, and we analyze it to make decisions about the future.

[00:29:47] And so somebody listening might say, well, I don’t have anything in my past. And the data of my life that says I can do that new thing, that next thing. And so like, GLI, what are you saying? Are you saying I should just ignore it. Everything about who I am and what has gotten me to this point and just like go crazy and do whatever.

[00:30:05] Like it can feel this, the dissonance of that is it’s tough for the engineering mind. Like, yeah, I dunno, you take this whatever direction you want to, but I’m curious for somebody who’s hustling with that. Like, well, how do I reconcile what glide just said about being present now, the point of powers in the present with this idea that I’ve lived inside, that, you know, the greatest predictor of future performance is past performance, right?

[00:30:29] Or some sort of engineering kind of statement, like how do you handle the tension?

[00:30:34] Gly Gabriel: Yeah, I think. You know, as engineers, we’re, we’re also pretty like we’re creators creatives, where we’re creators, where we help bridge the gap between where we are now to what’s possible. And so if that’s what’s coming up for you, you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re like, you’re not connected to like your potential, you know, as an engineer, um, at one point someone had to say, you know what, I want to build this massive building, or I want to create a, uh, a contraption that can fly and, or I want to create these devices that can, that can make, um, surgeries much more efficient and effective.

[00:31:12] And, and if you are stopped by the past and what was, what was done before then, that, that that’s not, then we don’t, the world doesn’t have a shot at having all of these new potential possibilities. It’s your responsibility. Yes. Like the past, acknowledge the past, take the wisdom from the past, but don’t let that stop you from creating the future.

[00:31:34] And you can only create the future in the now. And so it’s like, okay, this, this is what’s done before. And if that feels right and it’s like, all right, let me, let me take a look at how can we improve these or, or maybe you say, like, I want to scrap that. I want to put all of that to the side. And I want to just think about like, what could be possible.

[00:31:49] And he starts to think about and tap into that. And then from there you backtrack to how could, how could we create that? And then from, and now you’re looking at, okay, what resources do we have available to us and what different avenues and who are the people that we oh, okay. And then now you’re creating.

[00:32:03] And so your job as an engine engineer is not to, to be limited by the past. And the data that the data is is, is don’t be a slave to the data, you know, use the data to help you create whatever it is that you.

[00:32:19] Zach White: That is so powerful. Don’t be a slave to the data and you create the future in the now present.

[00:32:26] This is amazing. So glad we there’s so many places. I want to take this, but I did want to hit one other quick topic before we run out of time today. I love how you described that the line between work and play for you is blurred, and that’s just how you like it. And the idea of work-life balance has been really thrown into the public lens in a new way, with what we experienced in 2020 with COVID-19 with working from home, you know, companies learning how to navigate, you know, global teams and all these challenging workplace situations.

[00:33:00] And, uh, you know, the engineer listening even right now might be multitasking among three things. And you know, this is a kind of a. World we live in and what that means to have work and life. And how do you handle it? So how do you approach that blurred line and, and this idea of work-life balance? Like how do you, how do you think about that?

[00:33:19] Yeah, that’s

[00:33:20] Gly Gabriel: a great question. I think, um, for me, I don’t want to be able to know the difference between working play honestly, and that’s just my personal thing. Um, but I, you know, I’ve designed my life such that when I’m working, if this is what I would do for free even, right. And when I’m playing, like I’m bringing my, like, how I’m being is, is I’m taking in lots of things that I do on a day-to-day basis, you know, professionally I’m bringing into that too.

[00:33:46] I’m sharing that gift with, with everybody that I’m sure acne with. And, and yeah, like sometimes you, you do have to be mindful of like taking care of yourself for instance. And so what does that look like for me? Going for a run or taking me time to journal and on the beach or, um, uh, taking a nice soothing bath or going on a date, all of that, even though it’s, it’s play in, in, in, in some respects.

[00:34:12] And it’s, self-care, it’s also work too in my mind because. That’s the work you need to do to maintain everything. Oh, thing. Right. You know, like this, this being, and, and, and so if you’re out of balance in those way, in those respects, then you’re not going to be able to show up fully in your, you know, as an engineer and your day to day job, or you’re not gonna be able to show fully in your relationship with your spouse or your partner and your kids.

[00:34:38] And so it’s important. They you, could you define what, like let’s, let’s maybe just throw out the whole work-life balance thing out of the window completely and just think about what do you need to be able to show up fully aligned with what it is, what it is that you desire for, for you to be able to have to live in the reality that you want to live in.

[00:34:59] And so if that looks like working, you know, however many hours a week, a hundred hours a week, and then, you know, having a little bit of social life, like that’s completely fine. If that’s what you desire. If that looks like working 20 hours a week and, and traveling and doing things with your family and friends, that’s completely fine.

[00:35:17] And if you had to find that, what that mix is for yourself, given what you desire for your life and for yourself. And so I, you know, I’m not so attached to that, those buzzwords. I’m more about you connecting with yourself and then designing the life that that helps you be the best version of yourself.

[00:35:37] Zach White: That’s incredible. You just completely opened up a new, a new lens for me, GLI. I I’ve often said, Hey, I don’t believe in work life balance. You have one life. It’s all life and let’s balance the whole thing. But what you just said that now I’m going to chew on. I love that. It’s also all work. And I love that, like doing, doing the work, the body when I exercise doing the work in my relationships, because it’s taken me where I want to go.

[00:36:03] Like it’s one life and it’s one work. I like, I’m just like, thanks for really crystallizing that for me too. How you said that. Yeah. So good. Well, GLI, I, I, I want another two more hours of this, but let’s, uh, let’s land the plane. And I always finish with, with asking this question. Okay, great engineering and great coaching, which, you know, being a transformational coach now and from your engineering days, but you know, questions lead and answers follow, and you even alluded earlier to that beautiful statement, you know, the quality of our lives is directly related to the quality of our questions.

[00:36:37] And yeah. So if the engineering, if the, if the engineer listening to this conversation has this desire for authentic happiness and inner fulfillment. What would you say is the best question to lead them with

[00:36:52] Gly Gabriel: today? Ooh, that’s a powerful question. Oh man. Inner fulfillment.

[00:37:02] What’s the best question to lead with today?

[00:37:11] Hmm. I like simplicity. And, um, initially the first question that came to mind was what do I want? But then it wasn’t quite it. Uh, the question that followed that was very simple. Why.

[00:37:32] If you’re able to find an answer for that question, why that cuts the noise. It goes straight to the heart of matters, uh, or any subject it’s like, why, like, why do I have this desire for fulfillment? Like why do I wake up every day and go to this job? And, and, and you know, why do I have, you know, these interests in these passions, like really connecting with that?

[00:37:59] Why, why do I want something more? And if you’re able to really answer that question, and sometimes you have to ask it multiple times and keep digging, you’ll find the heart of it, that, that you’ll gain clarity around what really drives you. And that’ll give you, that’ll give you the impetus to create everything that you desire.

[00:38:22] So why is the question I would ask? Yeah.

[00:38:25] Zach White: Why? And. The engineer listening, jumps out to the YouTube channel and watches this as well. Because that moment of silence there, just to watch GLI get present in that moment to answer that. I mean that that’s the power of this man. So glad, thank you so much for being here.

[00:38:45] And, and I’ll tell you, if you listener are looking for transformation in your life and you need somebody to connect with, and you want to understand more about what glass talking about. You definitely will never regret spending time with this man. So Glaive, if people want to find you and get more, where can they do that?

[00:39:01] Yeah,

[00:39:02] Gly Gabriel: sure. So I’m, I’m very active on Instagram. And so you guys can feel free to, um, to go check me out there at glide vulner. That’s my full first name, actually, fly’s my nickname. So that’s G L Y V O L L N E R. And, um, and so just send me a message, a DM, um, or you can, if you want to like, schedule like a, a consultation or a free, like sort of clarity call, I’m going to my website, glide gabriel.com/coaching.

[00:39:25] Um, have all my information there as well.

[00:39:28] Zach White: Perfect. We will put those links in the show notes, and I really encourage everyone listening to connect with GLI. He’s got so much power, so much transformation to offer you. Uh, you know, he understands that mind of the engineer and can help you to work through this.

[00:39:42] Why question if that’s what you need. And so glide, thanks again. We’re going to have to continue this conversation some other time because you got my heart stir in and there’s just so much to dig into, but I appreciate you and can’t wait to see you again, man.

[00:39:55] Gly Gabriel: Thank you, Zach it’s been a, it’s been a true honor and pleasure.

[00:39:59] Appreciate you and everybody that’s listening. Take care.