Why Your Body Knows When a Job Is Wrong: How Your Nervous System Affects Your Career

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Unlock. We're all about those light bulb moments. I'm talking to people who are still trying to figure out what they're meant to do, coaching them life to reach that magical, yes, this is it moment, and we'll also hear from those who've already found their dream careers and figure out exactly how they did it.

Whether you are looking for inspiration or actionable advice on finding a career you love, I've got you covered time to unlock some career clarity. Let's dive in.

tress, burnout, or just that [: 00:01:00

So, I'm so excited that today we're gonna dive head first into the fascinating world of why we get stuck, how our bodies are basically screaming at us to listen in their very own mysterious ways. And what happens when we finally do, we're talking sensation based motivation, subconscious beliefs, and how your nervous system might be the real MVP behind your work stress.

e, you're gonna wanna settle [: 00:02:00

And I am so excited because joining me today is the amazing Brian Tra, the co-creator of the trauma sensitive sensation based Motivation coaching method. He has extensive experience in diverse settings ranging from working at the world renowned rec hospital for neurological rehabilitation, operating his own integrative wellness center in Northern New York, and creating two internationally attended training institutions.

As a practicing physical therapist and student of Eastern movement and mindfulness practices for over 30 years, Brian is a nationally recognized expert for his work in training, health, wellness, and coaching professionals how to successfully overcome their core limiting beliefs, mental wellness and chronic pain challenges with trauma sensitive somatic coaching practices.

cademy and earned his degree [: 00:03:00

Theresa: Welcome Brian to Career Clarity Unlocked. I am so excited to have you here on the show.

Brian: Teresa, thanks so much for having me. I'm really excited for our conversation. I've been listening to your podcast and I'm, , super excited to be here.

Theresa: This is amazing and I can't wait for this conversation.

Um, but to start off, off, I wanna hear a little bit more about your story, if you don't mind sharing that with us. And I read that you speak about people being stuck or overwhelmed or burned out and ready to quit. And I wonder if that is something that you've experienced in your own life and if there's anything that shifted for you from stuck, overwhelmed, burned out, ready to quit to.

Moving forward or moving out of that?

work, at home, with family, [: 00:04:00

It was kind of like a period in time where everything. Was kind of influencing. Mm-hmm. And I wasn't aware of it because, I was kind of the person who just took everything head on and so I kind of had my head down and until one day. So my, my background, uh, my original training background is as a physical therapist actually.

So I, um, I was working as a PT at this little, , hospital, , in where I live, way up in the northern part of New York state. And I was, , at a health fair and I had my blood pressure taken at a health fair. My blood pressure was 1 79 over 97. It was like, just way, you know, way high. And so I ended up getting all of these, , tests done and all these kinds of things.

a, a wake up call because I [: 00:05:00

I had like acid reflux. I wasn't sleeping. I mean, I could give you the whole list of additional physical problems I was having as well as mental emotional challenges I was having. That all all came back to basically this stress crisis that I was in that was leading into a physical crisis and physical health problems and I hadn't realized that a lot of that was because I was also feeling so stuck and challenged in my career, in my relationships,

and it just happened to, for me, be showing up as these physical kind of, these physical symptomologies and physical challenges. And so I really had to. Find ways to begin, um, navigating that. And I was really dedicated and interested in not being on like medication for mm-hmm. My symptoms.

t cause of not only disease, [: 00:06:00

Theresa: That's incredible. and before we go into that, I, what really stands out to me is that it's something I hear so often, I'm sure you do too, that we have all these physical sensations and we just keep going anyway, and then we look back at it, or someone looks in from the outside and they're like, whoa.

Some things doesn't seem quite right. Right. But when you're in it, we can't see it. And it stood out to me that you were, your background is as a physical therapist, so you have that knowledge about the body. Yeah. And it still was really hard to see it when you're in it. Is that something you see too, a lot with other people?

o had mechanisms in place to [: 00:07:00

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: So, you know, as when we have like our subconscious right. It drives our belief systems.

Yeah. And, and we have a little saying that our subconscious mind tells our conscious mind how to think about things. So we're, we have a belief in all of our, behaviors and our choices and our decisions and our actions basically are outpourings or expressions of these beliefs that we don't even know that we have because it's just the way that we grew up in the world.

And those beliefs are also tied to, um. Safety, security existence, all those kinds of things. So our subconscious mind is always kind of playing this kind of double, this double game. The double game is how far can we push the body without like actually killing it? Well, at the same time protecting the belief systems that are in place as long as we possibly can.

l these rational reasons why [: 00:08:00

And they're perfectly rational to the person. But from the outside, you look at them and go, what are you doing? You're killing yourself. So it's like our subconscious mind really blinds our conscious mind to the downsides of the beliefs and the behaviors that we've been indoctrinate.

Theresa: That's fascinating and I see myself so in this Absolutely.

Of how, how stuck you are. And I really think that's the beauty of coaching is because when we are so stuck in that container of like, this is our subconscious that is making us beliefs and act a certain way, we can't think outside of it.

Brian: Right? Yeah.

Theresa: And that really brings us into, um, overcoming limiting beliefs because I think that's

what it comes back down to is that they really limit us in the way we act and think. And I'm really curious if there were any beliefs that you identified that held you back, and then how did you overcome and change?

eloquently to this, Theresa. [: 00:09:00

Right. So these limiting beliefs, , become these, hurdles or challenges or chains, however you want to kind of talk about them. And, and one thing I like to actually note is that at one time, all limiting beliefs were actually functional.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: Right? So the, a limiting belief today was a successful belief in the past.

Yes. And so because it was successful, we hung onto it. Yes. And then as we go through life and we start to change and we want different things and we wanna grow and, and adapt and all that kinda stuff, then an old successful belief can become a limiting belief today. And then we, and we bump up into it. So for me.

One of the biggest limiting beliefs that I had, especially at that time in my life back there when I had that health crisis, was a limiting belief that hard work and sacrifice, um, made me a valuable person. Yeah. Like actually, like the, the, the way you became a more valuable person in the world was through hard work and sacrifice.

asically, uh, working myself [: 00:10:00

And so I just kept taking on more and more and more. And the funny thing is about life is that when you have a belief like that, life then actually starts to show up. To make you work harder. So in, in other words, for me, what would happen is that my house would actually start to, my house would break, like things in the house would break my goodness.

Or the car would break or something. Right. Would break because that would mean then, then I would have to work hard. It would give me something to work harder on to fix, or I would break things myself. I'd be fixing something and I would break it and it would cost them twice or three times as much to have somebody else have to fix it, then me fix it.

sizing sort of situation. My [: 00:11:00

I've moved through several limiting beliefs consciously since that time, but that was the first one that I engaged with my eyes open and um, and I think that's why it was such a valuable learning experience for me.

Theresa: That's so interesting. And I relate to that so much that my self-worth and value is tied to being successful, working hard, having a title, all of those external measures of success that we are being taught.

, But in what way do you overcome a limiting belief and you work with your clients?

ugh self-leadership to think [: 00:12:00

Brian: Oh yeah. Oh, absolutely. So we are, we are of the kind of embracing mindset. We really have to embrace all parts of ourselves in order to move through anything at all.

So we really can't let go of a limiting belief until the limiting belief gets acknowledged for the value it is providing. Mm-hmm. And so in our, in our, uh, sensation based motivation coaching process, we have four parts. Um, become aware of decode, modify, and reframe. And so when we're dealing with limiting belief, the very first thing we have to do is become aware of not only the limiting belief, but all four parts of the limiting belief.

So every, every belief is a belief, is a pattern, and a belief lives in the body. It doesn't live between our ears. A belief lives in our bodies. And so a pattern has four parts. It has a sensation part, a thought part, a word part, and an action part. So , sensations, thoughts, words, and actions.

rking with a limiting belief [: 00:13:00

And we have to understand how it shows up in our life currently. We have to show up how it's adding value to our life currently, like what we're gaining from it currently. So we have to understand as much as we can. We have to befriend it. We really have to become very, very knowledgeable and friendly with that belief and so that we can.

Basically, um, understand what it needs and then how we actually , meet the needs that the limiting belief is trying to do. And if we can meet those needs, then there's no more, , reason for that limiting belief to be active. Now, I think all those limiting beliefs, we, we don't really ever eradicate them.

The, the, in the work that we do, , they'll atrophy, they'll become kind of, , weaker because we're not using those as much. But we definitely don't push the belief away. We're definitely of the mind that which you, um, resist persists.

ly pull it closer to us. But [: 00:14:00

Theresa: That's super fascinating. Love that approach. And I wanna hear more about that. And as we touched on earlier, we grew up and are told, right, success, that's money, that's title, that's status. Yeah. Goals, whatever it is. Right? And that's by what we are motivated by. And something I read from you is that you talk about sensation based motivation.

Yes. Yeah. Um, is that the sensation that you just talked about? And what does that mean, that sensation based motivation?

Brian: Right? Yeah. So when, when we started working with this, and by we, I mean , my wife and partner Arnie and myself, who were the co-founders of this Matt C Academy, we started working with this,

rld. And from a neurological [: 00:15:00

Now, that motor response, by the way, creates a different sensory input motor output, and then we're in a loop, right? Then it's chicken in the egg, like what comes first? I don't know what, what started, but after a while, doesn't matter what, we're still in that loop of sensory and motor out, sensory in motor out, sensory in motor out.

So on a very basic functions, like, like I know you said you had, you have little kids, right? And so like hunger being hungry, like peeing and pooping, like those things come with distinct sensory experiences. Yep. And then, and then what we hope as parents, that our, our children identify those sensory experiences early enough where they can get themselves to the bathroom.

Theresa: Yes.

room. What I'm feeling right [: 00:16:00

Mm-hmm. Thirsty, hungry, um, you know, p uh, peeing, pooping, sexual drive, all that kind of stuff is based on this sensory experience. And then we're motivated and that tells us then we need to do something. Then we're motivated to take care of that need. Does that make sense? Totally makes sense.

Yes. Okay. So that's the basic foundation of how our nervous system works. Now, what seemed to be more complex behaviors are still based in that, by the way. It's not like all of a sudden our nervous system changes for more complex behaviors. We're still based in that idea. So even whether we recognize it or not, when we go through the day, the decisions we're making, the, um, even the, like the clothes we're choosing to wear for the day, , um, what we're choosing to put in our bodies for food, like how we have conversations, who we have conversations with.

ding on. Those are all being [: 00:17:00

Interesting. Right. And so when we get to a change point, this is really fascinating. So people are, oftentimes people get to a change point and they're like, I, I wanna ask for a raise. Let's say somebody wants to ask for a raise. Mm-hmm. And they're like, I wanna ask for a raise. And they, the first day they walk up towards their, their boss's office and they take a right hand turn and go to the bathroom because they're like, I couldn't do it.

Like I, I felt, fill in the blank. What'd they feel? They might say, I felt like an imposter. I, I lost my confidence. I felt underneath that is, I would say, well, what does that actually feel like to you? Mm-hmm. Like, what's the actual sensation that's telling you that you have imposter syndrome? What's the actual sensation that's telling you you don't have confidence?

ch. Mm-hmm. Or tension in my [: 00:18:00

Theresa: Yes.

Brian: Right. And now we, we label those sensory experiences, things like imposter syndrome or, um, , fear of failure. I don't know. We put all kinds of names on them, but at the root of them all are sensations. Now, when, when we work with people to change this, we work with people at the sensory level because if you can change their sensory experience, then they will automatically have a different action that they'll take.

So you can have two people walking towards that door and to ask for a raise. And one person with a certain sensory experience will take the right hand turn and go to the water cooler, and the other person with a different sensory experience will walk right through that door.

Theresa: Yeah. And, is it the, how I interpret the sensation?

of asking for the race and I [: 00:19:00

I know it's warning me because it's afraid that we'll be getting a no. Or we've turned down or they say we're not good enough. I am aware of it and go in anyway. Or is it that the sensation actually changes?

Brian: Yeah, so this is, oh, I love this question. Teresa is so awesome. 'cause this is kind of like the, like the three levels of awareness of this work.

Okay. So you name, you name the first level. So I've got this queasiness in my stomach, let's say, and I take, I don't even realize that, that's why I take the right hand turn to the water cooler, but I do. So in that case, I may, I, my behavior, I didn't follow through with my intended behavior because I had that sensory experience, but I'm not even aware of it.

the, um, interesting feeling [: 00:20:00

And then you take the action kind of like, anyway, so there is a lot of value in that. And at the same time, what we know is that you can never totally block out the sensory experience that you're having. It's always gonna find expression. So for that person, they may walk in to ask for the raise, but they'll ask for it.

Like, would you mind if I have, like, I, I really would like, would really like some more money, but it's okay if you don't give it to me. It's fine if I don't really need it that bad, nevermind have a great day. You know, sort of, sort of thing. Because the sensor, or even if they walk in and go, I demand a raise, I'm working for it.

sensory experience and their [: 00:21:00

Mm-hmm. And that will always bleed through because, , when we're talking with anybody, our sub, really what's happening is our subconscious mind is communicating with the other person's subconscious mind more so than our conscious minds are communicating. Right. Our subconscious mind processes about 20 million bits of information every second, and your, and your conscious mind processes 40, not 40 million, 40 bits, period of information every second.

So when you're in conversation with someone, your subconscious is reading their subconscious. So I don't know if you've ever been in a conversation with someone and they're telling you something and you're like, something's off though. You're like, mm-hmm. I, I don't know what is off about the conversation that I'm having with this person, but something doesn't feel right.

And, and when we get that, it doesn't feel right, then we basically say no to that. Because it doesn't feel in alignment.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

we do with people is we take [: 00:22:00

That's what true integrity is, because you're acting in integrity with actually how you feel and how you think, and your words and your actions are all on the same page. And when you can do that, you are authentic. Right? That's when you're truly an authentic person. That's kind of the definition of being authentic.

When your sensations, your thoughts, your words and your actions are all on the same page, they're all aligned. If you walk into a room and ask for something in an aligned state, it's almost impossible not to get it.

Theresa: Wow. Say that again. That is, that's if you're in aligned state. If, if you are in aligned state and you walk into the room and ask for something, it's almost impossible to not get it.

subconscious mind integrity. [: 00:23:00

Like it just comes into such, such alignment. It's so, um, direct doesn't have to be, I mean direct, but it can be compassionate, it can be empathetic, it can be all those things too, but it's just so aligned. It's impossible not to get what you want when you're that aligned line.

Theresa: And how do I get there? Going back to the example of I'm walking to the door and wanna ask for a race, and in a normal scenario, my not, my stomach would be in all knots.

Yeah. So I'm still in that middle. I'm like, okay, I hear you, but I'm still going in. How do I get to the part where my stomach is not in knots? Is that through? I wonder, is it through breathing or body awareness or can it also be like, I'm gonna do it a hundred times till my stomach stops being a knot. Um, what is the approach to get there?

I.

l lay it out for you. So the [: 00:24:00

So somatic practices are things like, um, self massage, mindful movement, breath work, meditation, like that's like the ground floor though. That's not the end all be all. Mm-hmm. That's just, that's the gateway. That's the entryway because what that will help someone learn to do is to actually, what we call, regulate their nervous system, bring their nervous system back into a sense of regulation.

So if when someone's really queasy in their, in their stomach, their nervous system is, is moving towards being dysregulated. And so what they have to learn to do first is bring it back into a sense of regulation. So now for some people just doing a lot of somatic practices will, help fortify their nervous system enough to help them be able to move through challenging.

hange their internal sensory [: 00:25:00

That's what we call that, our cross mapping method. So, and you can do that at any time. Like it won't look funny to somebody else, right? It won't look like I'm getting ready, I'm getting ready in the bathroom, and I'm gonna do some power posing or something. I mean, those, there's good changes that happen in that, but you know, as you get a little more, um, into these practices, you can do it without having anybody know that you're actually doing it.

Theresa: That's incredible. And

healing when stuff's really [: 00:26:00

But for a lot of people, just learning that how to do cross mapping really helps to gain a conscious awareness of shifting your own internal sensory systems to be able to become more aligned. 'cause that whatever you have with that sensory system, your, your motor expressions are gonna be a natural expression of it.

Theresa: That's absolutely . Fascinating. I did not know that the power of the mind can actually change what you feel in your body.

Brian: Yes. Yeah, you can. We do that all the time. That's what we do with our work.

Theresa: That's, that's incredible. Yeah. Um, I wanna hear from you, what is the key in the work that you do that isn't just feeling better in the short term, but actually having that deep sustained change that someone wants to see in their life?

Brian: Yeah. It kind of goes back to what we were talking about a little bit before, Theresa.

tural world has two sides. A [: 00:27:00

So we do a lot of work with natural laws. Like if you look out, nature, nature follows a set of, of laws a, a blueprint of creation, basically. Um, how, how nature creates everything is based on the same kind of blueprint. And because we are a part of nature, you know, humans are, natural beings also, like what we wanna create in our world is also based in these same principles or laws, so that we understand how to apply these laws in our lives.

Then we actually can create with less, uh. Drama with less trauma, with less issues, with less problem, just more easily and more seamlessly. And so one of the laws that we love to work was called the law of Polarity. So law of polarity basically, um, states that everything is created as a whole. And when we have attachment to one side or other side of the, the polarity, that's when we experience suffering.

o one side or the other, you [: 00:28:00

We take them through to actually have them have a. Uh, somatic or embodied tangible experience of embracing both sides of something. And when you can do that in your body, then all of a sudden it's like it, you can just start doing it in the world, but you have to be able to do inside of your body first.

So for us, it's really about teaching people to embrace, embrace both sides. We have a little saying that anything you can't be with will control you ultimately.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: Right. Anything you can't be with in your life will it, it will ultimately control you 'cause you'll be making decisions based on it. Yeah.

we're not doing things that [: 00:29:00

So for us, it's about em embracing both sides.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: And what we say widening our window of tolerance to be with the things we don't like, while simultaneously learning how to consciously change that state.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: And, and you have to have both parts to that. 'cause it has to be a loving embrace and at the same time it has to be, it has to be an, uh, a conscious request to create change.

Yeah.

Theresa: So um, you had said before that. People problems in the workplace are often invisible, if I got that right. Yeah. And what are the types of invisible barriers that you've seen in companies and , how does that show up in a company as like their pain points maybe?

Yeah. Um, and how can organizations work with that?

ork with it and, um, what we [: 00:30:00

And preferences. Those are really, um, when, when someone is just filtering reality in a way that they've been conditioned to filter it. And we don't realize that not everyone has been conditioned to filter it that way. So the invisible problem is really how we're perceiving things more than anything else.

And we really perceive things based on our past traumas. And that could be, um, . Smaller traumas or larger traumas. I don't really like to get into trauma judging so much because what my question always is, is not what does the person have to say about it? What, not what's the story of the trauma, but rather, what does your nervous system have to say about it?

Mm-hmm. So if your nervous system is dysregulated in some way during, and a lot of times during the day, our nervousness gets dysregulated, we don't even realize that's what's happening.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

or it shows up as we're, as [: 00:31:00

Um, or it shows up like it always shows. It can show up in these really subtle ways, and that that's the invisible thing that happens because most people just think that they're struggling or that they're broken or that they are something, right? And they don't realize that this is actually linked back to their nervous system, how their nervous system has been conditioned in an earlier experience in their life.

And so for us, it's really helping people, again, become aware of that, and, and we're filtering it, not because we're dumb, not because we're not nice people, not because we're good, bad, right or wrong, we're filtering it because our nervous system is filtering out reality in order to keep us safe and protected.

And so I might need to filter it a certain way to feel safe. You might need to filter it a different way to feel safe. The problem is that we start fighting each other about what needs to happen in an organization for you to feel safe. For me to feel safe, because we're both filtering it differently.

say what's really happening, [: 00:32:00

'cause that's not really the where the problem is. The problem is in, in their current nervous system dysregulation based on what's going on in their daily experience. And so if we can help people, uh, harmonize or reregulate, or normalize their nervous system function, it's amazing what'll change in people's perceptions when they have a regulated nervous system.

Theresa: That's so interesting. Now just thinking about a big company, CEO, who has the perspective, like, I don't care about people's nervous systems. I mean, there'll be a billion positive outcomes of having happier employees, healthier work environments and all of that.

But even for someone who like looks at the bottom line, is that something , where they should be saying like, I care about this.

t. . Does everyone have that [: 00:33:00

I mean, I wish I could tell you that leaders understand that when employees have a regulated and optimally aroused nervous system, that they will be the most productive. I mean, that's pretty, that makes common sense, doesn't it?

Theresa: Very common sense. Yes.

Brian: Right. I mean, I don't like to use the car analogy because I don't think that people are cars.

al functioning for the car is: 3000

g. Is it gonna work better at: 2000

That's like our nervous system. So if you're, if you're, if you're asking people to work at 8,000 RPMs and you're jacking their nervous systems up. They're, they're, they're not productive. And if they're too low, they're not productive. Do you want your company to be the most productive company possible?

And most people would say, yes. I, I would want it to be the most productive possible. Now, some people, uh, are more in, let's just say, enlightened than others. Some CEOs and leaders are more enlightened. They say, that makes a lot of sense. Mm-hmm. Let's, let's help our people be more empowered or more, , regulated, if you will, because it helps them.

But more so because it helps the bottom line. You know, that's fine. If that's, if that's the attitude, that's fine. 'cause we can go in and help people. But not all CEOs are there. I'd hate to say, but some CEOs don't mind burning their people out. And, um, that's just the way of the world. I wish it was different, but it's not.

I mean, I think you could probably relate to that too, right?

it's so clear of that. Most [: 00:35:00

Yeah. Um, and then we are adding the human lens on it and it just, this is how it should be. Like, yes. Yeah. This is how it should be.

Brian: Yeah, absolutely. It's not rocket science, by the way. It, it, it really isn't that complicated to help people learn how to regulate their nervous system.

It's just not, it's just not. Um, and it doesn't take a lot of time either, but it does take consistency. I mean, that is what it does take, I mean, it takes consistency to practice doing things that regulate their nervous system. And, and it, and it's kind of builds a lot of momentum, Theresa, like, once you actually start doing these practices, and then once you become more aware of what's going on in your system, you become more aware of what's going on in your embodied states.

hen you learn to consciously [: 00:36:00

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: And then what you do is it then you naturally start gravitating towards things that are really in true alignment with your own purpose. Like really why you're supposed to be here. Not from a doing state so much, but from a being state.

Mm-hmm. Like, you know, what's my being state, my purpose state here feels like something to me. And I can take that purpose state into any situation. I can take it into any job, I can take it into any social situation. I can take it into any relationship and always feel like I'm home. Always feel like I'm myself in any of those situations.

Um, so it starts picking up speed when you do these practices and can you imagine an organization where everyone felt like they were supposed to be there?

Theresa: Oh my god, yes.

Brian: Could you imagine that? And so you, you would see a natural reorganization of people like not staying someplace because they felt like they had to be there and actually go to someplace where they felt like, this is where I'm supposed to be.

Mm-hmm. Meanwhile, [: 00:37:00

And that's actually someplace someone else is taking up space where they feel like they're supposed to be and they swap places. They feel like, this is where I belong, kind of thing. Right. And so this is where I'm sup, this is what, where I belong to be sort of thing. Yes. Right. And um, but it takes courage to do that.

And it takes, it takes our nervousness to be regulated and all those things to be able to make that switch. But that's like my utopian dream is that we all basically just gravitate to the places we know we're supposed to be based on who on our purpose state in the world. And could you just imagine what it would be like to work at a place like that?

t aligned. And how I'm just. [: 00:38:00

Brian: Yeah. Oh my

Theresa: God, the world would be such a better place.

Brian: Yes, I know. Exactly. Exactly. And that starts, that starts with that sense of your, like aligning your own nervous system and knowing what it feels like in your body, becoming, coming back to your body. 'cause that's where all those cues come from. When, when we disregard our body cues, that's when we stay in places that we shouldn't be anymore.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: Because if we listen to our body cues, like they, they start telling us, and like in my case, they started off as whispers and they became screams.

Theresa: Yeah.

Brian: And those screams were pain and high blood pressure and acid reflux. And I can give, again, I give you the whole ugly list, but those were, that was my body screaming, screaming that it was time to change because I wasn't listening to it.

capitalism and the conveyor [: 00:39:00

Right. So let's teach people to not listen to their body.

Brian: Right.

Theresa: And then we can have a productive society that makes money for the companies.

Brian: Yep. Exactly. Yeah. And and at the risk of just, again, burning people out. Yeah. Um, and just replacing them. Right? Yes. And again, so , people in those who are making those decisions, if they were more in touch with their bodies, they'd be making those decisions differently because you can't perpetuate harm onto someone else when you actually feel something yourself internally.

sten to our own bodies, that [: 00:40:00

Brian: Yeah. Yeah, a hundred percent.

Theresa: Yeah. . That's so cool that you are not just doing it on an individual level, but on an organizational level Yeah.

I need to ask one more thing because I thought that sounded so fascinating. Um, you use, something called a motivational maps assessment.

What is that tool and what does it reveal that most of us miss?

Brian: Yeah. Oh, so motivational maps is really, really cool. Um, so first of all, motivation is always about energy. For us, it's like, you know, really what are our energy levels and why are we, um, again, energized to do certain things and not other things.

tivation. Everyone is always [: 00:41:00

And I'll say, well, what are you motivated to do? Well? Well, what are you actually doing? What you know? So for, first of all, everyone is always motivated. So I don't believe in de-motivation. I, I talk about it 'cause people are like, they, people wanna talk about it. But once, once they really start talking about this to people, it's like, listen, demotivation is actually a myth.

Everyone is always motivated for something.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: Okay. Now there's different varying energy levels associated with that. But that's one thing. And we can actually start to get into that with motivational maps. But really what the motivational maps looks at is what we call the full spectrum of motivation.

So we do an assessment and it, and it kind of, um, uh, feeds you out, uh, your nine primary motivational drivers. Now everyone has all nine of these drivers. However, they're all in different orders of importance, different levels of intensity, different degrees of opposition, and different levels of satisfaction.

motivation, you can learn a [: 00:42:00

80% of people don't know what motivates them actually. And this is a problem because then we actually are chasing things that we think is supposed to motivate us, that actually doesn't motivate us. And then it's actually takes energy to chase those things rather than giving us energy.

When you understand what motivates you and the order and the intensity of it, you actually will know what naturally gives you energy, not takes energy.

Theresa: Mm-hmm.

Brian: Right? So everything either gives or takes energy. When you're actually align, when you're actually setting things up that give you energy, then you naturally can, um.

problem. So it can, you can [: 00:43:00

Like, my God, that explains why I feel de-energized is, and because I'm, I'm think I'm supposed to be motivated for this. And it's actually not that it's this instead. So we give them language around that, number one. And number two, even if you know what's motivating for you , your environment has to feed it back to you.

Mm-hmm. So you actually have to be in an environment that supports your motivational profile. So it's kind of like both an inner and an outer thing that goes on here. You have to know what motivates you internally and then your environment has to feed it back to you. And if it's not feeding it back to you, then you're actually not getting energy from your environment.

And then we have to ask, well, um, is there changes that you can make within this environment that you're in, within the job that you're in? Or do you need to be looking for work elsewhere? And lots of times it's just a matter of, reorganizing things within the workplace that you're already in to then feed back your motivators to you.

that feeds back things that [: 00:44:00

That actually will give me energy every day. So, but once you have the motivational map language, then you have more clarity around actually setting that up and creating systems of feedback, um mm-hmm. Based on the motivational system. So those are some of the really just the cool takeaways with the motivational map profile.

And again, we do this for individuals, for Diaz, for organizations, for teams. , That's one of the most fun things to do with organizations and teams because then they actually create a motivational language within themselves to be able to feedback with one another on.

Theresa: Mm-hmm. I love that. And it's so cool because in my work I talk a lot about doing things that h energize you versus doing things that drain you.

ther layer on it because now [: 00:45:00

Yeah. If that energizes or drains us.

Brian: Yes, exactly. And you get really good data, right? I mean, you get, you get data back on it. And then what we do with organizations and, and individuals is we, uh, remap where you do another motivational map a few months later after making changes, and then you can see what changed in the motivational profile or in the overall level of motivation.

So based on what someone's overall, , level of motivation is, you can actually predict, , how long they're actually gonna stay in the job that they're currently in. And this is one of the, , things that we love to feedback with people on and say, Hey, I noticed that your motivational. , A level is at this level, can we talk about like what's, what's going on in work?

Are you planning to be here much longer? Like, what's happening for you? And it's pretty accurate. It's, it's kind of like scary, scarily accurate in that once you start digging into it.

Theresa: Can listeners take the motivational maps assessment on their own, or would they have to work with someone to take it?

assessment and just get the [: 00:46:00

So, but you can take the map by itself or do or do a debrief as well.

Theresa: That's so amazing. I'm gonna take this assessment right after our call and then I'll be messaging you for, to learn more about it.

Brian: Yeah, well just, you know, just Yeah, send me an email. Send us an email afterwards, we'll hook you up.

Theresa: Oh, love it.

And if our listeners walk away with this conversation with one takeaway to how they show up, how they lead, how they work as an employee, or even how they show up in the world, what do you want them to take away from this conversation?

Brian: You know, the, the [: 00:47:00

So our, our sign is actually a quote from the Eads, which says, uh, what you, what you cannot find in your own body, you will never find elsewhere. And so a lot of the work that we do is if you want something on the outside of yourself that you don't have yet, it's only because you have not found that in inside yet.

Because as soon as you find anything inside of your body, then you automatically can see it outside of yourself. And so that's, that's the work that we do. So if you want more peace on the outside, you need to have a loving and powerful relationship with the peace inside of yourself.

If you want more love outside, you have to have more love inside. If you want more abundance outside, you have to have more abundance inside first, before it'll show out, show up externally. And there's actually, even though that's took a really old quote from the Appin shots, there's actually neuroscience that supports that, um, that I, I love talking about.

we talk about in our work as [: 00:48:00

Theresa: This is so powerful. What an amazing, powerful into this amazing conversation, Brian.

And before we leave this conversation, where can our listeners connect with you, learn more about you and the amazing work that you do?

Brian: Oh, yeah. Thanks so much. We're pretty easy to find. Can find us at, uh, the somatic coaching academy.com and you can come and check out what we, uh, what we have going on there.

Our free library, our services, our podcast is over there too. We do a lot of education on the science of, um, of physiology, of motivation, all that kind of stuff. And, , yeah, and check out our courses there as well. Easy to find us@somaticcoachingacademy.com or email us at info@somaticcoachingacademy.com.

rsation. I'm, I have so many [: 00:49:00

Brian: Cool. Thanks so much Theresa having me. I'm really excited to have the conversation with you and boy, like time just flew right by.

Wow, what a conversation from hidden belief systems to why your stomach might be a knot. Before asking for that raise, Brian gave us a masterclass in what it really takes to feel aligned, not just in your career, but really in your entire life. And I loved that Brian gave me access to the motivational map assessment.

I could not wait to take it right after our conversation. And it's a really cool assessment that helps you understand what truly drives you at work. And I just have to share my results with you. My top motivator came up as the spirit, which means autonomy, freedom, and the ability to make my own decisions.

corporate setting, there was [: 00:50:00

I felt stifled and misaligned and I was doing a great job. I was exceeding expectations, but inside I felt like I was operating in a cage. And fast forward to now, I run my own business and the difference is night and day. Now I get to follow my own rules. My gut, what can ideas I believe in create programs that generally change women's lives.

and those were spot on too. [: 00:51:00

It's absolutely possible to find work that lights you up because it's aligned. That's what truly motivates you. And if you're ready to explore what that might look like for you. You can go ahead and book a free career clarity call with my team so we can help you get crystal clear on your next career step and unlock that sweet career clarity in a record time because you deserve to feel good in your work and in your body.

Thank you so much for [: 00:52:00

And that's a wrap for today's episode of Career Clarity Unlocked, if you feeling stuck in that. What's next? Spiral and are ready to finally break free. Let's chat. You can book your free career clarity call where we'll uncover what's really important to you. Tackle any obstacles holding you back and map out your best next step.

Schedule your free 30 minute call today on career bloom coaching.com and before you head out, be sure to follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, so you never miss an episode. If today's conversation gave you new insights and inspiration, please leave a review. It really helps us reach more amazing listeners like you.

And don't forget to share this episode with a friend or on social media. Your support truly means the world. Thanks for hanging out with me and I'll see you next time.