How to Live a Hell Yes Life
There’s nothing that fires me up more than speaking with individuals who have chosen to say hell yes to life.
I define a hell yes life as one that while may be unconventional on the surface, but is in deep alignment with one’s inner truth.
One where someone is doing something in the world that you can just ‘feel’ is in their soul.
Like an acquaintance of mine, Baron, who’s a former NFL player who now spends an average of 16 hours a day producing beautiful art (you may check out his work here).
Or the recent conversation I had with a friend of mine, Jorge, who used to be an executive at Google for over 10 years, that is now coaching visionary and tech start up founders at being the best at their work without burning out.
Or my neighbor and good friend Jake, who formerly was an executive producer in both New York and Chicago in the entertainment industry, who’s now the CEO and Co-Founder of one of the top five-star retreat centers in Costa Rica, at the Imiloa Institute.
The list goes on and on, but the energy I feel when engaging with humans who are clearly going after or living into their dreams, always invigorates me.
I feel blessed for these types of interactions and the way I feel anytime I have the privilege of being in deep dialogue with these individuals.
One thing is common among any and every person whom I’ve interacted with that is living a hell yes life.
It’s that at some point they’ve jumped or pivoted into the abyss of the unknown.
I know each and every one of these men I mentioned above, deep enough to know their stories behind what’s led them to this point within their lives.
Each and every one includes periods of deep fear, frustration, and uncertainty, while navigating through actions embroiled by pure faith and commitment, which has led them to where they are today.
I was recently reflecting on my own personal journey and just how many pivots I’ve made throughout the years, in the essence of following the heart.
I remember my first love.
It was basketball at the age of 9 years young.
What started as just an interest in sports in general (as I grew up playing soccer, football, and track too), graduated into a completely different feeling when I first began dribbling a ball and watching NBA games.
I remember it like it was yesterday, the year was 1994 and the Dallas Mavericks had just drafted Jason Kidd with the #2 overall pick.
What started as a fascination soon became an obsession.
It felt as if my entire life was consumed by basketball in some shape or fashion.
I played every day at my 5th grade school recess, began collecting cards of my favorite players, and started studying and memorizing all of their stats.
I begged my parents to buy me shoes of the top players at the time (shout out Michael Jordan, Penny Hardaway, and Grant Hill), I rode my bike to play at the court of the city park close to home, and I played basketball video games until the wee hours of the morning (shout out to NBA Live 95 on Sega Genesis).
On Sundays after church I would buy a newspaper to look at all the sports articles and rush home to watch the double or tripleheader NBA matchups on ABC.
I created my own play-by-play during the games, pretending that I was a professional commentator myself.
It was pure entertainment and fun for me.
It brought out a passion and love that I had never really experienced before up until that point.
Fast forward I went on to receive 1st team All-District for the Varsity Basketball team my senior year of high school and even went on to play a year of college basketball too.
Why am I mentioning all of this you may be wondering?
To invite you to the experience of reflecting back to yourself if any memories come up for you when you were younger, where you can relate.
Rather it’s a sport, computers, artwork, writing, drawing, or really anything.
What was your first love?
One of the biggest aspects that I’ve noticed on my own journey is how easy it can be to either forget or downplay the aspects that bring us a sense of joy.
The older we get and more life experience we download, the more intentional it requires us to keep that spark of wonder and curiosity alive.
One of the aspects I love the most about my work is that I have the privilege of assisting others in really identifying the deeper aspects within themselves that bring them a sense of inner joy and happiness.
Those aspects that depending on the stage of life one may in, could be so stuffed behind the responsibilities of living, that one may forget that feeling and how to properly access it.
My life has taught me that hell yeses naturally can shift, as we grow and evolve on our journeys.
However, one aspect I’ve found that doesn’t shift is the energy of the hell yes.
I’ll give you an example of myself.
While my love for basketball still exists to a certain extent today, it’s graduated into a different form.
I haven’t touched a basketball in years and I don’t play video games anymore, but I still enjoy watching NBA and college games with the same sense of love.
My once obsession with all thing’s basketball has now transitioned into all things pertaining to helping others improve their lives.
Rather that’s within their personal health (I myself have completely transformed my health from extreme mental fatigue, lack of energy, and at one point being 60 pounds heavier, to feeling more vibrant and alive than I was even in my college years).
I also love helping others better identify and manage their emotions on a body awareness level too.
As someone who had a near death experience involving debilitating headaches at the age of eleven years young (which lead to the removal of a then unknown tumor the size of a grapefruit), I’ve been very familiar with the power of meditation and mindfulness for over 25 years (due to the pure reason of needing to embody both on a deep degree for personal survival).
This has given me a superpower in a sense of being very highly in tune with the sensations and intelligence of the body, which has allowed me to help 100s of clients throughout the years better relate and understand theirs.
And I also love navigating the art of communication, particularly how to create harmony from disagreements in both professional and intimate relationships.
This has been a recent pivot of mine over the past few years in particular, after realizing to a very deep degree that it was a major blind spot within my own life.
Rather it was in intimate relationships or on a professional level within the organizations I previously worked for, I used to stuff and suppress my emotions.
I didn’t know the impact this was having on my life, relationships, and overall vitality until I began requesting personal support to help me around this area.
Multiple men’s groups, Life Coaches, and even group therapy based on authentic communication, really flashed a huge light bulb on some of my insecurities and patterns of closing myself off whenever certain emotions like sadness or anger were triggered.
Those experiences really showed me just how important emotional maturity and communication are to living an authentic life.
What used to feel like a very vulnerable and sore spot for me is now one I recognize as a bonafide strength, and have assisted many men who could relate to the element of ‘holding back’ or ‘suppression’ from all around the world in becoming exceptional emotionally-intelligent communicators within their own lives.
Why do I mention all of these?
As a reminder to pay attention to where the energy is.
The edge is where the power lies, and I’ve found that the more I honor those edges with love within myself, the more capacity is created for me to carry that energy forward.
I’ve supported clients in four different continents ranging from executives in the NBA, NFL, and MLB, to doctors, attorneys, Ivy league graduates, government officials, senior citizens, a high school gymnast, artists, and start up entrepreneurs.
At the end of the day, all of these people who may hold different personalities, racial backgrounds, professional titles, and are located in different corners of the world, all have the same thing in common – a deep desire to improve in their lives, with an openness to speed up their progress by receiving transformative support along the way.
Nothing gives me more energy than being in connection with those who are both ambitious and courageous enough to proactively aim to bring out their highest potential.
To say yes to living a hell yes life, where they’re doing something that is far more important than just being about themselves. To be at a point where they recognize that each and every day isn’t promised, so they choose to lean into the cultivation or expanding of themselves into their purposes more and more, each and every day.
All of this to say if you feel stuck within your purpose, it’s probably for one of two reasons:
1. You’re at a time where a pivot is necessary, in order to better identify it or elevate to your next level
2. Your identified purpose isn’t big enough
Purpose comes from the soul level.
If it ain’t touching that, then I’m sorry to tell you but what you may believe it is, is probably not it.
You’ll know your purpose is big enough when it both simultaneously fires you up and scares the shit out of you at the same time.
It does this to require you to elevate into the version of yourself that would bring it further forward.
How cool yet humbling is that?
Cool enough that I consider it a great privilege, honor, and hell yes for me, in having the opportunity to support others in breaking through to their next level in life too.
If you feel led, you may read some of the life transforming stories shared by different clients from all around the world…..
A few of which include:
How a PR Marketer left a six-figure career that no longer served them (to start his own agency, while at the same time being the healthiest they’ve ever been in their entire life)
A client in Europe who left a 20-year career in corporate leadership to now lead a successful coaching practice
An NFL executive who was promoted to a Senior leadership role within months of our coaching partnership
A doctor who has recreated themselves and their professional career during the pandemic
How a highly sensitive man completely repaired a 4-year broken relationship with his father, to now being in loving dialogue with him on a consistent basis
The recent accepting of a promotion and 30% negotiated pay increase
The losing of over 40 pounds and complete transformation of one's overall energy and personal health (including the eliminating of taking two prescription drugs for high blood pressure and cholesterol)
How a former D1 scholarship athlete who’s now a Director of Sales for one of the top producing Audi Dealerships in the country, completely transformed his health just months before the birth of his first child
A San Francisco based Tech Executive who’s completely reinvented their relationship with food and their whole entire mindset (as well as outlook) on life
How an executive for one of the largest healthcare management companies in the world, went from having anxiety around communication, to winning two back-to-back presidential awards at their organization
All of these stories absolutely invigorate my heart, mind, body, and soul completely. You may check out more of them for yourself, by clicking just below.
Transformational Client Testimonials
This is possible for you too. What is your hell yes?
With Love,
Brandon
P.S. -
For the more vision preferred, I also created a 7-minute video where I describe “How to Truly Live a Hell Yes Life!”
I hope you may find some enjoyment within it too :- )