The Happy Engineer Podcast

026: Escape the Sunday Scaries with Camille Saltzman

Do you feel rushed? Like you’re in a hurry from the moment your feet hit the ground in the morning? Have you ever bolted upright in the middle of the night, panicked about a work assignment? Too many leaders are depressed at work.

In this episode, discover the layer underneath your conscious mind with Camille Saltzman. As a coach who specializes in subconscious transformation through RIM, Regenerated Images in Memory, Camille helps people unhappy in their career figure out their next move.

The barriers you face, the stress and anxiety, are not what you think they are.

Because you can’t THINK your way through the subconscious mind!

Camille is on a mission to get other people out of jobs that give them the Sunday scaries. She is the founder of Candid Space where she challenges the idea that you’re ever “too old” for a career change and believes it’s always worth it to go after the things that make you happy.

So press play and let’s chat… this is your subconscious speaking!

 

The Happy Engineer Podcast

WATCH EPISODE 026: ESCAPE THE SUNDAY SCARIES WITH CAMILLE SALTZMAN

 

LISTEN TO EPISODE 026: ESCAPE THE SUNDAY SCARIES INTERVIEW WITH ZACH’S DEBRIEF

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ESCAPE THE SUNDAY SCARIES: INSIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE

It begins in the morning. You’ve heard a million things about morning routines, and we’re not going to unpack all of my beliefs around mornings today. But what Camille highlighted, and I want you to ask yourself this question, what is a small thing that brings you joy? Not a complete overhaul of your life and routine. Not an extreme, take an ice bath and go to the gym for an hour and run a mile and dah, dah, dah, dah.  If you are depressed at work, it’s vital you stick with me here.

Just small, simple things that bring you joy. Here’s what I want you to do: First thing is to make a list of 10 of these small things that bring you joy.. I can’t tell you how many engineering leaders I sit down and work with, who when asked, “what are the things that spark joy in your life?” are only able to come up with one or two answers?

You’ve gotten so disconnected from the things that you love, from the things that spark joy, that are the little things. We anchor joy and enthusiasm in our life, around the big things. Going on that vacation to the Caribbean or a trip to Europe. Or completing a big project at work and having the success and recognition of a job well done.

Those are things worth celebrating, sure. But day-to-day life is made up of many small moments. We don’t go on big vacations every single week. We don’t complete huge milestones at work every single week, every single day. But you do have the opportunity to spark joy in the morning through the small things. So step one, make a list of 10 small things. Things that you can do in 10 minutes or less that bring you joy.

Then decide which one you will do tomorrow. Maybe you already have something like this in your morning routine. If so, that’s great. In that case, I want you to do one of two things. Either reconnect deeply to that joy, get present to it, remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing so you can really lean-in to that experience, or…

Mix it up! Run an experiment, try something new to spark joy and ease in your morning routine. I love that. Okay. Let’s come back to the subconscious mind. There is so much incredible research coming out, really, in real time, as we speak more and more is being discovered about the mind and the brain, our thoughts and our conscious versus the physiology and the neuroscience and the chemistry of the brain.

Incredible things being discovered. But I want you to remember the simple concept that your subconscious is a sponge and it takes in everything. From all five senses, like it or not. You do not have the luxury of shutting off the system that is your subconscious mind. It is impacting your decisions, your actions and your life, every single moment.

Again, whether you like it or not, you don’t have a choice as to whether or not your subconscious mind impacts the lens through which you see the world. It is impacting you. And the sooner you can come to terms with the fact that what’s happening in 95% of your brain may or may not be in full service of your goals and vision, the sooner you can take action to go and make those changes.

Camille made it so clear, and I want you to hear this again: It is so hard to understand whether or not there’s a problem in the subconscious, because it doesn’t feel like a problem in the moment. It’s going to feel totally normal and natural to you.

It’s something you’ve experienced over and over again. It’s something that’s a part of your nervous system. It’s going to feel normal. So we can say, well, shoot, then there’s nothing I can do about it. Or you can use the simplest test there is and make a decision about whether or not you need to take action.

And here’s the test. Are you getting the results that you want in every area of your life? Yeah. That’s the question. Are you getting results in every area of life that you want? If you are then congratulations, you have nothing in your subconscious mind that needs to work. But if you’re like the rest of humanity and myself included where you can point to a lot of areas of your life, where you’re still not getting the results that you desire, then I guarantee you: work on the subconscious mind is not only going to help you accelerate in those areas, but it may very well be the most impactful thing that you can do. Layering on strategies and tactics and tools in the conscious mind will not eliminate those subconscious blocks and barriers. So we have to do the subconscious work.

This is so important. It’s something all of my clients experience as well, that when you become conscious of what’s happening in the subconscious and then go through a transformational process to shift and change those things and start to manage and control that sponge in a way that’s going to serve you.

Wow. You really do experience momentum and acceleration. And in some cases it just feels like you’re unstoppable when you have this toolkit at your disposal. So reach out to Camille, reach out to me, and the team at OACO. And if you’re not sure what to think about all this, maybe it’s the first time you’ve heard about the subconscious mind in this way, or you just aren’t sure.

You know, you’re curious, you’re an engineer. Ask questions, get curious, but I’m telling you, there is always a subconscious element to reaching the next level in your career and your life. The tool that Camille mentioned called RIM (Regenerated Images in Memory). Just to give you one more little idea on what this is, think about virtual reality. VR – you put on a headset, maybe even some headphones.

So you have the visual and auditory stimulation of, let’s say, walking on a bridge between two high rise buildings with no railings. Maybe you’ve done this VR simulation. It is incredibly scary. You’re in a room and you know that there is a floor all around you and it’s completely safe. But when you put on those VR goggles and you put on those headphones and shut out the world around you, just through those two senses you’re able to be transported into a completely new world. And even though your conscious mind knows what is real, you are feeling and experiencing fear. Your palms may sweat. Your legs may shake. You may be frozen in place, unable to move because of that virtual reality experience. RIM is going into that same level of vivid imagination in a way that allows you to create in your mind an experience that allows for transformation without actually having had the experience.

And I just want you to think of it that way, that your brain and your mind, it’s so powerful in what can be done when you bring these images forward and you create these memories. So I highly encourage you to check it out. Camille’s going to provide some resources for us, for you to learn more about RIM, but honestly, I can tell you from my own experience, just do it. The power of the tool is unbelievable for transformation and I highly encourage it. 

Final thing. Write that letter to yourself. You know, you listen to this podcast because you want more from your career and life. You want to be happy. You want to get results. And I’m so happy that you’re here, but if you don’t take action, you’re not going to experience anything new in your results.

So here’s a really simple action you can take, Go back and ask what brought me here in the first place. Reconnect with that younger version of you who first fell in love with the idea of becoming an engineer. I want you to go back and relive that experience, those thoughts, those emotions. What was it like to be in that place of just excitement and enthusiasm for getting into engineering in the first place and write a letter to yourself.

You know, ‘Dear Zach, I want you to know how excited I am to become an engineer…’ and fill it in. See what surfaces for you. Enjoy the process. If you will do this and take it seriously, I promise you, it’s going to help reveal what you can love about your current situation. What may need action and change in your current situation.

And you’re going to really enjoy getting present to it. So write that letter, have some fun with it. And as always, I just want to encourage you to crush comfort in your life. Create courage. Take action. And let’s do this.

Previous Episode 25: Why Not to ‘Start with Why’ with Nada Buhendi

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ABOUT CAMILLE SALTZMAN

After several jobs in various fields leaving her unfulfilled, drained and stressed, Camille Saltzman is on a mission to get other people out of jobs that give them the Sunday scaries. She is the founder of Candid Space where she challenges the idea that you’re ever “too old” for a career change and believes it’s always worth it to go after the things that make you happy. 

She currently lives in her native home of Los Angeles and, after living in Seattle for 2 years, is a coffee snob who thoroughly enjoys a slow coffee making process in the morning.

 

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

 

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Please note the full transcript is 90-95% accuracy. Reference the podcast audio to confirm exact quotations.

[00:00:00] Zach White: Welcome back happy engineers. It is always a pleasure. And today, no exception as I’m here with my friend and a great coach, Camille Saltzman, and she has. An unbelievable set of experiences and specialties that we can dig into today with Camille. I want to start with one that may feel a little bit disconnected from the normal conversation on this podcast and that’s coffee.

[00:00:35] You are a self-proclaimed coffee snob, and those are not my words. Those are your words. And I love that because I love great coffee. So please come to heal. What is the Camille coffee morning routine? I have just want to hear about this so much. 

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