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Season 6, Episode 304

The Power of Surrender and Trust with Jerrid Sebesta

A conversation with Jerrid Sebesta

41:42

About This Episode

Welcome back to another episode of The Amberly Lago Show! In this episode, I'm in San Francisco sitting down with my good friend Jerrid Sebesta, best-selling author, transformational coach, speaker, and event creator.

Jerrid and I have both experienced what it looks like to have success on the outside while quietly struggling on the inside. In this powerful and vulnerable conversation, Jerrid opens up about the turning points that forced him to stop running, step out of a defensive posture, and begin living with greater authenticity, faith, and purpose.

Jerrid shares how, on New Year's Day in 2022, at 43 years old, he told his wife that he was done playing small, done playing defense, and done running away. He realized that much of the success he had built had actually been a coping mechanism rooted in uncertainty and fear.

We talk openly about the anxiety, self-doubt, and fear that can happen behind the scenes, even for people who appear confident and successful. Jerrid shares what it feels like to wake up at three in the morning questioning whether he has a message or a business, only to later experience powerful breakthroughs that restore his belief.

One of the biggest themes throughout this conversation is surrender. Jerrid explains that while there is a time for work, effort, and action, there also has to be a willingness to release control and trust that everything doesn't have to be figured out by us.

We also dive into what it means to receive life's challenges instead of simply enduring them. Jerrid shares how shifting his perspective has helped him see difficult situations as opportunities to learn, grow, and become the person he is meant to be.

Jerrid opens up about his family and the people who help him grow. He talks about his wife, who serves as his encourager and rock, and his daughter Everly, who has challenged him in ways that have forced him to look at his own behavior, emotions, and areas that still need healing.

One of my favorite lessons from this conversation is Jerrid's simple reminder: "Respond, don't react." When someone triggers us, instead of immediately firing back, we can pause, recognize the situation as a gift, and ask ourselves what it is trying to teach us.

We also talk about burnout, alignment, and the pressure high achievers put on themselves to constantly do more. After an intense 2025 filled with events, travel, speaking, and coaching, Jerrid realized that his joy was beginning to disappear. Instead of simply taking a break, he chose to reevaluate and realign his business around what he actually wanted to build, and what would bring him joy.

If you've ever felt exhausted, overwhelmed, stuck in self-doubt, or like you're constantly trying to keep everything together, this episode is a powerful reminder that sometimes the breakthrough comes when we stop running, surrender control, listen to what life is teaching us, and have the courage to realign.

We Discuss

  • Jerrid's journey as a best-selling author, transformational coach, speaker, and event creator

  • The major turning point that happened on New Year's Day in 2022

  • Why Jerrid realized he was tired of playing small and playing defense

  • How success can sometimes become a coping mechanism

  • The difference between what people see on the outside and what can be happening internally

  • Dealing with anxiety and self-doubt before stepping onto a stage

  • What Jerrid does when fear and negative thoughts hit at 3 a.m.

  • Turning to God, surrender, trust, and releasing the need to control everything

  • Why high achievers can be especially hard on themselves

  • How other people can sometimes see our potential before we see it ourselves

  • Learning to receive challenges instead of simply enduring them

  • Asking, "What is this trying to teach me?"

  • How difficult experiences can help us grow and become who we're meant to be

  • The importance of having people in your life who encourage you and challenge you

  • How Jerrid's daughter Everly has helped him recognize areas within himself that needed healing

  • Why the people who trigger us can sometimes reveal something that needs correction in ourselves

  • The powerful practice of pausing before reacting

  • Choosing to "respond, don't react"

  • Why challenges and difficult people can become opportunities to harvest important lessons

  • The difference between being tired and being out of alignment

  • Recognizing when your joy starts to disappear

  • Why high achievers struggle with erasing goals from their whiteboard

  • Re-evaluating your business and creating something that brings you joy

  • Letting go of excess and being open to receiving the right people and opportunities

  • Finding greater alignment instead of constantly pushing, scaling, and doing more

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Jerrid Sebesta and the Better Human Project

03:00 Jerrid's journey and the success that was happening behind the scenes

05:00 The January 1, 2022 turning point and deciding to stop playing small

08:00 When success becomes a coping mechanism

11:00 The hidden anxiety and self-doubt behind success

14:00 Waking up at 3 a.m. with fear and questioning your purpose

17:00 Turning to God, surrender, and learning to release control

20:00 Why high achievers are often so hard on themselves

23:00 How other people can see things in us that we don't see ourselves

26:00 Receiving challenges instead of simply enduring them

29:00 Asking what difficult situations are trying to teach us

32:00 Learning to see challenges as opportunities for growth

35:00 The people who help Jerrid through difficult seasons

38:00 His wife as his encourager and rock

40:00 How his daughter Everly challenges him to grow

43:00 Why the people who trigger us can reveal something within us

46:00 The "pause, respond, don't react" framework

49:00 How to respond differently when someone pushes your buttons

52:00 Praying for difficult people and situations

54:00 Burnout versus being out of alignment

57:00 Losing joy and recognizing when something needs to change

01:00:00 Re-evaluating goals, letting go, and creating a business that brings you joy

To Connect with Jerrid Sebesta

Instagram instagram.com/jerridsebesta

Website jerridsebesta.com

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Full Transcript

0:00
Amberly Lago

Easier to focus on the one negative than it is the positive. And there's something like an equation of all the numbers of if you can hear one negative comment, one person that leaves a bad review on your book. And then all the other reviews are five star reviews and you're focused on the one star or the one star review that was left. That happened to me.

0:21
Jerrid Sebesta

High achievers like that too. You know, if you put, you know, 100 high achievers in a room, how many of you feel inadequate? How many of you feel like you just. You just don't have a figure? They'll all raise their hand. So I think high achievers are naturally really hard on themselves. And it's interesting, our mutual friend Arjun, you know, let's rewind the tape. A couple weeks ago, I'm sitting here going like, I don't even know how I'm gonna go up on stage here next week. I got two big stages next week. How am I gonna go up there? Not only just get out a talk that is viable, so they're not disappointed that they hired me. That's what's going through my mind.

0:53
Amberly Lago

Right?

0:54
Jerrid Sebesta

You got a guy like Arjun saying like, dude, you are. This is your trajectory. It is.

1:01
Amberly Lago

And.

1:01
Jerrid Sebesta

And see things in us that we don't. Right. And so to answer your question, who do I turn to? I'm getting better at turning and releasing and surrendering and trying to not get rid of that voice. But understand that when that voice is speaking to me and it's loud and it's way down here, if I can just hold on, there's something really powerful coming on the other side of this, and people really relate to that.

1:29
Amberly Lago

Hey, thank you so much for tuning in to the Amberly Lago show. I have a real treat for you Today I am in San Francisco. My good friend Arjun has let me use his studio to record this amazing man. Jared, thank you for being here on the show. I can't wait to share a little bit about your journey, y'. All. He is a best selling author, transformational coach. He runs his own events. I was so blessed to speak at one of your amazing events. And we're here in San Francisco to speak at Arjun's event, Better Human Project. And I was like, maybe Hashim could like get us in and we could get you on the show.

2:10
Jerrid Sebesta

We know people.

2:11
Amberly Lago

Yeah, yeah. So we pulled some strings and here we are. And you know, your life. I mean, gosh, what are you, seven foot two?

2:21
Jerrid Sebesta

No, six. Six. But I show it well. I carry it well.

2:27
Amberly Lago

Yeah, well, I. I mean, to look at you, you've always got a smile on your face. I've seen you before an event when I know of putting event together. Putting events together is crazy. And you've got the best attitude and you're so loving and giving and always have a smile on your face and always look so sharp and stand so tall and you've got the family and on the outside, everything looks great. And I think there are a lot of people that on the outside, I know I was in that place once where on the outside every. I was trying to hold it all together, but on the inside felt broken and my outside didn't match my inside. And I know you have gone through a huge transition and you are helping and inspiring so many people with your book and your speaking and your coaching and all that you do. But what was the moment that was the turning point for you where you were like, wait a minute. I. This is not in alignment. I know I'm meant for more. I know I can have joy in my life. I. What was the point of that point for you?

3:30
Jerrid Sebesta

I think that those points, it's not just one point. There's probably one big turning point which I'll mention. So I kind of have two dates for you. The first one was January 1, 2022. It's just over four years ago. I was 43 years old. I talk about in chapter one of my book. I share this story from stage. You'll hear this and other people will share this at this event, but this was kind of the time where I was 43 and I, not to sound cliche, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired, and I was playing life in a purely defensive posture. I had a lot of success in my life. I realized that my success, honestly, was just a big coping mechanism. You know, I was running like people are fight or flight and flight. And so there was so much uncertainty that I was raised with. And I'm not, trust me, I'm not blaming my parents, I'm not blaming my childhood. But because of that, I developed this mindset of just running away. And I got so tired of it. In fact, I said to my wife on a walk on New Year's Day, 2022, on a snowy gravel road in Minnesota, I said, I'm done. She goes, done. I said, I'm done playing small. I'm done playing defense. I'm done running away. I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted. You know what I mean? And again, to your point, on the outside, you never guess it and when I share these stories, people are. They're like, really, you? There's something going on on the inside. So that was the biggest turning point. I'll share another one with you. No kidding. Three weeks ago. Three weeks ago, you know, I'm sitting in my home, January again in Minnesota. And I'm sitting here going, do, do I even have a message? Like, do I even have anything, you know, up at 3 o' clock in the morning, you know, and my wife can hear, you know, can sense that I'm kind of scurrying around, pacing around. And she asked me, she goes, what are you afraid of? I said, I'm afraid I don't have anything. I'm afraid I don't have a message, I'm afraid I don't have a business. And that's not a. That's not the end of the world. But when you're 47, four kids.

5:25
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

5:25
Jerrid Sebesta

And it, you know, you feel the weight of the world and the world's getting kind of weirder, you know, as we speak. It makes me afraid. And just recently I had, you know, a couple of really cool opportunities to share and speak from stage and, and I'm like, forget about trying to, like, hit a home run. I just, I just want to be able to go up there and not, you know, not freak out on stage and not, you know, show my truth. Yeah.

5:48
Amberly Lago

Because, like, I just, I just want to not trip, go on stage.

5:53
Jerrid Sebesta

Like, some people are kind of like, I. I wish, I wish I could do what you do, you know, I just go and talk for an hour and get paid. Trust me, I don't wish this on your, my worst enemies because it messes with your head. You know, like, nothing messes with your head more than you kind of having an anxiety attack at 3 o' clock in the morning, and four hours later you're on stage in front of a couple hundred people telling them how to live their life. That messes with you like that, that deeply messes with your soul. You know what I mean? And so I had, I had another moment, you know, where I was like, I don't know if I have anything. And then I had these moments on stage over the last couple of weeks, and they were the most powerful moments from stage. And then all of a sudden the belief comes back, right? And so you have this breakthrough that always follows this, like, incredible low, like this incredible pressure that you feel on the inside that probably nobody would ever know unless you articulated it. And then there's these things that happen. These, these you know, these opportunities, the, these things that come out of nowhere, these, you know, these, you know, coincidences and they, they, they, they hyper accelerate your belief. And so I've had those moments. I mean, there's been several big ones, but they kind of, they kind of happen a lot, you know, and so you see these cycles in your belief and then there's a breakthrough and then there's, then you go down to the depths and you know, you're fighting with your own self doubt. And then there's something that happens. You believe again. And every time you have this, you kind of go through this circle, you come back a little bit more authentic, a little bit more powerful, a little bit more who you actually are. And I'm just learning to engage with that now instead of running away from it, which is what I did for, you know, literally the first four decades of my life.

7:35
Amberly Lago

Well, thank you for sharing that and being vulnerable about that because so many people get caught up in their ego and I would never admit, admit that I get frayed or I'm afraid or I'm up at 3 o' clock in the morning. I don't know why, but it's when I go to bed, a lot of times that I'm in bed and I'm like, oh my goodness, I'm about to speak in front of 3,000 people and I get, I feel my heart start going. And in those moments for me, I turn to God and I'm like, God, God's got this, you know. And I so relate to you saying how you ran, because I ran my whole life. And I always say that, you know, that pain pushes you. It just pushed me and pushed me until purpose pulled me. What do you do at 3 o' clock in the morning when you're having this panic attack? Who do you turn to? I mean, I love your wife, she's an amazing lady. But who do you turn to? What do you do in those moments? Because I'm sure there are a lot of people that, or sitting out there going, well, gosh, he's talking. I do the same thing. How do you get through it?

8:48
Jerrid Sebesta

It's three o' clock in the morning for me. I don't know why, you know, like you get that the haunting of the three, three o' clock hour. And, and, and there was a period again, I was going through that a couple weeks ago where it was like, I'm so exhausted by the end of the day, I just can't wait to go to sleep. Why? Because it shuts this thing off. Right.

9:04
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

9:04
Jerrid Sebesta

But yet at the same time I'm, I'm afraid to wake up because I know as soon as I wake up that thought's going to come and I've got to deal with the darkness, you know, and it would come at like 2 or 3 o'cl. And I have to. Who do I turn to? Of course I turn to higher power. I turn to God. And, and I'm not, I'm getting better at doing that sooner. And there's surrender, trust, right? That's part of the equation that I teach. Like there, there has to be work, there's doing, there's effort, right? But then at the same time there has to be surrender, there has to be release. It's not us, it's not up to us to figure it out, right? It's not even that God will figure it out. He already has it figured out. And my, my wife is really good at saying this and I hate when she says this. She says, what would Jared tell you right now? You know, because my, you know, the ego, the fear, wants to sulk, wants to, you know, sit in that self pity, you know, wants to complain, wants to share all the things that are, that are wrong. It's kind of like feeding the beast almost, you know.

10:01
Amberly Lago

So I think we're wired, like it's easier to focus on the one negative than it is the positive. And then there's something like an equation of all the numbers of if you can, one negative comment, one person that leaves a bad review on your book and then all the other reviews are five star reviews and you're focused on the one star or the one star review that was left. That happened to me.

10:24
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, high achievers like that too, you know, if you put, you know, a hundred high achievers in a room, how many of you feel inadequate? How many of you feel like you just, you just don't have it figured out. They'll all raise their hand. So I think high achievers are naturally really hard on themselves. And it's interesting, our mutual friend Arjun, you know, let's, let's rewind the tape. A couple weeks ago, I'm sitting here going like, I don't even know how I'm going to go up on stage here next week. I got two big stages next week. How am I going to go up there? Not only just, just get out a talk that is viable. So they're not disappointed that they hired me. That's what's going through my mind, right? You got a guy like Arjun saying like, dude, you are this is your trajectory. It is. And so other people see things in us that we don't. Right. And so to answer your question, who do I turn to? I'm getting better at turning and releasing and surrendering and trying to not get rid of that voice, but understand that when that voice is speaking to me and it's loud and that's way down here, if I can just hold on, there's something really powerful coming on the other side of this. And people really relate to that. Really relate to that.

11:32
Amberly Lago

Well, yeah. I think that every time I go through a painful situation or anything hard or challenging, it really, you know, I feel like I'm always a humble person, but it. It really humbles you, you know, and it reminds you. It reminds me to get on my knees. And so I. It's what I do every morning. And I've gotten better at it because I would want to, like, I can do it. I can take care of it. Just self will. And I'm like, that is not going to work out. Like, I need to get.

12:07
Jerrid Sebesta

It will only get you so far and it will get you really, really tired. And you will be capped as to what you can achieve on your own. But you know, again, you're. You're understanding, you're farther ahead in this process of understanding that if you can surrender to how life is trying to mold and shape you, life won't feel so punishing and scary. That's not how I looked at it. For the first 43 years, I always had my head on a swivel. I was always trying to look for the next fire I have to put out. I always have to look for the next problem that I have to solve. You know what I mean? It's exhausting. It's exhausting. And then I started to see, like, huh? Is it possible that my life is actually conforming in such a way? Because this world looks chaotic. It just does. But is it possible that it's actually perfectly harmonized and it's actually coming together in such a way that goes beyond my own understanding to actually help elevate me and become somebody that I'm supposed to be? I think that it is. And so if you have that mind switch, then when the tragedy strikes, when the difficulty comes, the challenge of the rise, right. You see it and you receive it. I think there's powerful. I teach this. Do you have the audacity to receive those challenges, not just endure them, not just put up with them, receive them with honor? And that's a really interesting concept. Don't Try to pray them away, Receive them with honor. Because there's something here that's trying to help you get to the next level. And that's been a big shift for me, and that's really helped me.

13:38
Amberly Lago

That's really good. And I like how you said, don't try to pray them away. My grandfather always said, you've got a shovel in your hand. You can lean on it and pray for a hole, or you can start digging. Meaning, like, yeah, it's good to pray, but you got to do the work. Faith without works is dead. And so I love that you say that. Do you find that you're getting. It's starting to get easier to shift your mindset to that? Because I always think when something bad happens, that. Or something that I really don't want or something that you're not expecting, I'm like, you know, it is easy. You go to the place of, oh, gosh, I can't believe this is happening. But even, like, you know, when I. I just recently broke my foot, and I had this big event that I was speaking at, and I was on the phone with my mom, and I was like, yeah, this is really slowing me down. And my mom goes, well, maybe this is God's way of finally slowing you down. And I said, well, you know, he could leave me a little love note or something. And she goes, well, he knows you probably wouldn't read it. And I'm like, you're right. You know, But I always look like, okay, what is this teaching me? What are the questions you ask yourself when you come up against a challenge or something that you really don't like? What are some of the things you ask yourself to shift your perspective? Sure.

14:57
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, I think you nailed it again. What is this trying to teach me? That's the obvious one. You know, at least, especially in Christian circles. It's like, never pray for patience. If you pray for patience, buckle up.

15:06
Amberly Lago

You're gonna get all kinds of.

15:08
Jerrid Sebesta

But, I mean, there's. You know, it's interesting because it's so trivial. You'll see. You'll say things like, I gosh, I just wish I was more patient. Then you'll get stopped at every single stoplight, and then you'll curse.

15:18
Amberly Lago

Oh, yeah.

15:19
Jerrid Sebesta

You'll curse at every single one and wonder why you're getting hit with the stoplight. So it takes in a tremendous amount of awareness. And I would even say audacity. What you're suggesting is audacious, because what you're suggesting is that I'm getting Hit with something pretty sizable, a challenge, like a broken foot. And you've got to now go up on stage in front of thousands of people and. And not just endure it with a positive attitude, because some people will accuse, you know, people like us, like, well, I'm just trying to be more positive. Well, listen, that's not what we're talking about.

15:48
Amberly Lago

I'm actually just laughing at myself. Like, I really. I'm like, oh, well, I'm setting a new trend.

15:53
Jerrid Sebesta

Correct. But that is an outflow of you embodying something new. Again, if I look at how I operated, I operated out of pessimism and contempt and anger and bitterness, and that was the outflow. So as soon as this challenge hit, what was. What was the. What was the fruit that was being produced? Anger, bitterness, contempt, negativity. Right. And so, you know, you asked the question, like, am I getting better? Yes. But it. I'm still not there. I'm a lot more patient than what I was. I'm a lot more aware than what I was. I would say that those. Those moments are just that there are moments or maybe bad days. Before, it used to be seasons. Perhaps it was entire years. Right? And I'm learning. This is the thing that gets me when I get down in the dumps. I know enough now. I know too much, Amberly. I know too much because I know that if I sit in this too long, I'm actually repelling the ability to receive something bigger and bolder and better. You know what I mean? And so that is what allows me to click out of it if I truly believe that this world, the universe, God. I call it God. Whatever word you want to use. If he's trying to give me something and I'm sitting down here in, like, this level one energy down in the dumps, you know, sulking in self pity, he can't. I'm closing the door to receive those things. And that's what really motivates me to try to pull out of that.

17:16
Amberly Lago

Do you have people in your life that help you kind of pull out of that?

17:24
Jerrid Sebesta

Yes, I do. I have two people, but they're from different ends of the spectrum. Right, of course. You have my wife. Who's the encourager?

17:31
Amberly Lago

She is.

17:31
Jerrid Sebesta

She.

17:32
Amberly Lago

She's.

17:32
Jerrid Sebesta

I married a gem. Okay, please don't edit this out. I'll make her listen to this. She is a gem. She plays the long game. She sees the long game and everything.

17:42
Amberly Lago

You know, I just have to say, yeah, she is a true gem.

17:45
Jerrid Sebesta

Yeah.

17:46
Amberly Lago

Because you know what? She not only shows up to your events. She cheers you on. And she will. She got on stage, and she told me beforehand how she did not want to get on stage, and she did it because that's how much she loves you. And she came to the VIP party.

18:02
Jerrid Sebesta

Yeah.

18:03
Amberly Lago

Just saying that for you, Johnny, if you're watching this.

18:06
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, I was her ride home, so she kind of had to.

18:10
Amberly Lago

Because, you know, I've actually learned, like, you know, there's certain people that are cheerleaders, certain people that are like, I guess the motivators, certain people that will call us out, certain people that are.

18:28
Jerrid Sebesta

She'll do that.

18:29
Amberly Lago

You know, that's good. And they all have different roles. And I used to get upset because I was like, my husband doesn't want to come to my VIP event. He doesn't want to come to my. It's not his thing. He supports me in so many other ways, and I've had to learn to, like, okay, he supports me with this, and I'm grateful.

18:48
Jerrid Sebesta

You don't want to be married to somebody with Amberly energy.

18:51
Amberly Lago

We are totally awesome.

18:52
Jerrid Sebesta

Yeah. You don't want that.

18:53
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

18:54
Jerrid Sebesta

Now again.

18:54
Amberly Lago

Yeah. You don't want. Nobody needs this.

18:58
Jerrid Sebesta

Stop it. Stop it. You asked the question, are there people that help me? Yes. I have my wife, who's the. Who's the rock? And then on the other end of the spectrum, and I. And I. And I feel okay sharing this because I wrote about her. My book, and she knows this. It's my second daughter, Everly, who's also at my event. But now she's the. She's the. She's the button pusher. Right.

19:19
Amberly Lago

She's awesome. She's like, how old?

19:21
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, she's now 11. Right. She's a lot.

19:24
Amberly Lago

About 21.

19:25
Jerrid Sebesta

Yeah, 27 plus. Right. And she is. She is the one person in my life that takes me to the edge. Right. There's more parental horsepower on her than all of my other children combined. Like, she. I joke from stage. You'll hear this tomorrow. She is. She's like the one child. Child that makes me realize why some animals eat their young.

19:51
Amberly Lago

Like, that is hilarious.

19:53
Jerrid Sebesta

She is like, she came out of the womb different, I promise you. Like, I kid you.

19:56
Amberly Lago

I can tell now. I've met her.

19:58
Jerrid Sebesta

She came out of the womb, and I literally on Facebook, because it keeps getting. My memory keeps coming up on her birthday every single year. I said, 24 hours outside of the womb with Everly. I said, first night with the new baby, dot, dot, dot. Yikes. That's what I said. Because I'm like, wow, we're on this one's journey. And from the moment she has been born, she has taken us on a ride. Turns out she has adhd, which is not a. It's not a handicap. This will be her. This will. So I sort of want. Yeah, to some extent, we're all.

20:28
Amberly Lago

We're all kind of thought you did.

20:30
Jerrid Sebesta

Just saying we're all undiagnosed and. But that will be her superpower. She will change the world 100%. But she pushes my buttons like. Like no one else. And there have been so many times, especially in those first six to eight years of her life, and I admit this in the book, where I loved her, but I did not like her because of the strife and the division that she created and the. The atmosphere that was created in our home. And again, because of her brain condition, she can't regulate emotion very well. And I was raised in an environment where the emotions were all over the place. So it's very triggering to me. And inevitably, I would get triggered. And I'd say to my wife, I'm like, can you believe you talk to me like that? You know, disrespecting man in this house, you know, And. And my wife would very gently remind me that her behavior mimics exactly my behavior. And so I have learned. This is. I have learned that the people that trigger us the most, they trigger us because they're reflecting something that needs correcting us. The reason why it triggers us isn't because of their behavior. It's because it's revealing something inside of us that needs correction. And so does she still drive me up a wall? Yes. Yes, she still drives me up a wall. But I'm getting better. And so I have these personalities in my home. You know, you got your rock as my wife, you know, and you have kids, and they all have different personalities. Then you have this ever kind of this. This person that, you know, she's the. The sanctification child.

22:10
Amberly Lago

Yeah. Yeah.

22:11
Jerrid Sebesta

Who, like, is there. And it's interesting, too. And again, I. I share this from stage and. And I. Everly and I have a very, very deep relationship, but this is a true story. She was the only one of my children. That was not planned. Now, I'm not saying she wasn't wanted. She just wasn't planned, and she was a good surprise. Is it possible. Again, this is a rhetorical question, but is it possible that God knew. God knew that I needed a child in my life at a very specific time. That's just like me. That was Going to take me to the edge, literally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, all the things. So not to punish me, but to actually help me identify things in my own heart that needed correction and healing so I could actually become somebody more and actually receive something greater. And I choose to believe that the answer is yes.

23:06
Amberly Lago

I believe that too. And I think it's great. It's such a good reminder that if somebody's triggering you and you want to point your finger at them, there's three fingers pointing right back at you. Because, you know, because it really, it does. I've got a couple of family members that trigger me. And I'm like, it's really been a good thing because it has really forced me to dive more into my own healing and self development. And it's a journey for sure.

23:38
Jerrid Sebesta

I'll give, I'll get nothing to rub. I'll give you a really quick tool for you and for people listening, for people that really trigger you in that moment. Because it has to happen in that moment. Like that's, it's in that moment where like somebody says something and you want to fire back, pause, stop, don't do anything. You know what I mean? Like, you're, you're wired, right? Your neurology is wired to like fire back and say something right in that moment. If you can just stop and pause and then like, be thankful that they're there, say, what a pleasure, what a gift. Because the truth is, is that my daughter is a gift. She's a gift. That's. That's the truth. That's the truth. Capital T, right? And then respond, don't react. We get ourselves into trouble when we're, we're just in this constant state of reacting, which again, if I look back, that was the way that I lived for the first 43 years of my life. It was just a constant state of reacting to the world around me. Can you stop, Say what a gift she is or this person is, or this, even this situation, even this challenge, what a gift that you have. This broken foot is bizarre. To say that and say, how can I respond and not just react? And if I can follow that framework, boy, then, then I, then you harvest the lessons because that's why you're, that's why these people are here. This is why you have these situations, to harvest some lessons. And the best way I know how to do that is to do, is to follow. That's a very simple process.

24:57
Amberly Lago

Yeah, that's good. Well, I, I'll tell you some advice I got years ago when I got Sober. My sponsor told me, my ex husband, we've been divorced for 30 years, and it's been a journey. And she said, well, you need to pray for him. And I was like, oh, anything but that. Pray for it, Seriously. But you know what I did every day, and it worked. So I'm just saying it works. Pray for them. And even if you don't believe it at first, it does start to work. Well, I know we're running out of time. I know we're. And I got so many other questions for you.

25:40
Jerrid Sebesta

We got through, like, one question.

25:41
Amberly Lago

I know. Well, I want to talk about burnout, because there's a lot of people that are. They feel like, burnt. They're burnout. They are not excited to wake up. And, I mean, even for me, I changed so much in my business this year. And I'm not kidding you, it's the first time in a while that I wake up and I'm, like, excited to wake up. And. And I used to kind of get annoyed at people. Oh, yeah, you're excited to wake up. And I'm not saying I jump out of bed because I hobble out of bed, to be honest. But I. I am excited about the day, but I've changed a lot. I feel like last year I was kind of on the brink of burnout because I was doing a lot.

26:22
Jerrid Sebesta

Join the club.

26:24
Amberly Lago

Yeah, well. And you talk about burnout, like, being related. Like, maybe it's a misalignment, but what. How do you differentiate between somebody saying they're burnout and they're, like, misaligned or they're just really tired? How do you tell the difference?

26:41
Jerrid Sebesta

That's a great question. I. I experienced the same thing last year. 2025 was an incredible year, and I'm very proud of myself. I'm proud of that guy because he just went all in. Like, he just. He was doing events, and he was traveling and speaking and coaching and doing the whole thing. But as I got to the end of 2025, and that probably led into some of the darkness a little bit at the beginning of 2026, I'm like, I don't. I don't even know if I can recreate that, let alone, like, try to 2x it. You know what I'm saying?

27:05
Amberly Lago

The thing is, though, I don't. I don't think people realize how much goes into an event.

27:11
Jerrid Sebesta

Just that. Yeah.

27:12
Amberly Lago

I mean, I've done an annual event for. It'll be six years now, and I will end an event and then finish paying off the hotel and the next week I'm already signing a contract for a new event. Yeah, it's like. It's like plan. It's more than planning any wedding I've ever had. And I've been married three times.

27:35
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, again, to answer your question, is it. Is it just I'm tired or am I out of alignment? That's a great question. That's a great question. Like, because how do you know? I think again, feeling the pressure of trying to rise to the occasions. Good. Getting to a point where for me personally, it was when I saw the joy starting to go down. When the joy. When the. When. Because you said I jump out of bed. And I know you don't mean that literally, but it's your spirit. I'm excited.

28:03
Amberly Lago

Your joy filled with joy.

28:05
Jerrid Sebesta

And then I hit a point where I'm like, this is not fun anymore. And I could feel myself slipping into a place where I'm like, I don't want to do this. If my heart is not in it, I don't want to do it. And you know what did it for me was actually pulling away. And like taking my whiteboard that I was so proud of that was filled with all of these goals and ambitions and intentions that I teach. This is why I teach people. And I erased about three quarters of them. I said, I'm just going to focus on these. And then I had the surrender. That's another piece. Right. So you got to be aligned, but then you need the surrender piece. And I. And then all of a sudden I started sleeping through the night just like that. And then hamburly. Then all of a sudden these people started popping into my movie that were going to take those things that were left on my wall to the next level that didn't exist in my movie before. And I'm like, ah. God had to take me to a point where I actually had to strip away some of the excess.

29:04
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

29:05
Jerrid Sebesta

Before he could then release the people in my life that I needed to then take what was left and build it the way that it should be built. Right. And so there's a stripping away. And sometimes we need to strip away or sometimes God will do it. I lost my identity right after I launched my book, which was like one of the worst days of my life. And I look back at it and I was like, I needed. I needed that stripping away. I needed that course correction in my own identity. And so for me, it's when that joy goes down, do you have the audacity to really have that hard conversation, maybe pull Back on a few things to where you feel peace and then be open to receive what needs to happen for those things to actually take you to the next level. Because as a high achiever, we don't want to erase stuff off our whiteboard.

29:54
Amberly Lago

Oh, exactly. We want to do it all. I want to do it all. I'll do this, this, this, this. Yep. I'll do that coaching program. I'll do that community. I'll do this mastermind and that retreat and that event and then be in the hospital. You know, I mean, I think we were going to record. We were going to record.

30:12
Jerrid Sebesta

We were going to show like three years ago now.

30:15
Amberly Lago

We were going to record virtually and I don't know, I was sick. I think I was.

30:19
Jerrid Sebesta

I'm not, I'm not laughing because it.

30:22
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

30:22
Jerrid Sebesta

And again, this is full disclosure because. And I don't share this. I don't share this online a lot. You came to my event last November and it was so much fun. I'm so thankful. But I gotta tell you, I don't know how I didn't end up hellaciously ill or in the hospital at the end of 2025. And then I felt my joy, started to get sucked out of me in the early 2026. And I'm like, jared, I think you need to take a little break. I don't mean take a break for you though. It's not take a break. It's like re. Evaluate. Realignment. That's what it was. Reevaluate the business that I actually want to build. That. I can see that.

31:00
Amberly Lago

That's right.

31:00
Jerrid Sebesta

That's right.

31:01
Amberly Lago

That you want to build.

31:02
Jerrid Sebesta

Yes.

31:03
Amberly Lago

That brings you joy.

31:04
Jerrid Sebesta

Yes. Because if you, if you do this on Instagram for like, I don't know, five, ten seconds, this thing will have you convinced that you need to be out there doing everything.

31:14
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

31:14
Jerrid Sebesta

Building everything. Scale, scale, push, push, push. Yes. But the way that you want it built, that's in alignment to you. And when I did that, I felt tremendous peace. And then again, people started popping into my movie out of nowhere, air quotes that were there that I need to build this the right way.

31:36
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

31:36
Jerrid Sebesta

So it's just being super aware and being able to surrender it.

31:40
Amberly Lago

Well, that's one thing we're going to do. This event with Arjun is encourage people to get radically honest with themselves. And it. If you want a successful business, it starts from the inside because you can achieve all these things. You can do all these things if you are not internally in alignment and in a place where you can Sustain that your joy is going to go away. And so I think it's good to. When I wrote my book Joy through the Journey, I was like, I can't write this until I spark some more joy. Because I was feeling kind of on the brink of I'm doing what and I got what deadline.

32:24
Jerrid Sebesta

And so it was your joy. Again, listeners, do a heart check. Do an inventory of where your joy is as we get older. Amberly, our joy should be going up. Yeah, it should. It should be going down. If you're. If your joy is going down as you get older and as you build, something's off.

32:42
Amberly Lago

Yeah. Well, and I'm so sensitive to the word should now because our friend Dr. Ramin is here in the studio with us and we have a little. We have an audience today. And Brian Bogart, my friend, would say, don't say should. Don't. Should all over yourself. That's what. So now every time I hear that word, I'm like, oh, I can't say that.

33:04
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, how would you rephrase that?

33:06
Amberly Lago

Need or can. I don't know.

33:10
Jerrid Sebesta

So our joy. Our joy can go up?

33:13
Amberly Lago

Yeah, our joy can go up. Our joy needs to go up.

33:18
Jerrid Sebesta

There you go.

33:18
Amberly Lago

You know.

33:19
Jerrid Sebesta

Right.

33:19
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

33:20
Jerrid Sebesta

Right.

33:20
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

33:20
Jerrid Sebesta

What's. What's the alternative? You turn into the old crusty person that gets, you know. I know, I know, I know. That's the thing we do. We do. And I'm like, I am not going

33:30
Amberly Lago

to be an old crusty person.

33:32
Jerrid Sebesta

We laugh, but it's true. They're there in our family probably. I know.

33:38
Amberly Lago

I don't know.

33:39
Jerrid Sebesta

Because we're that age.

33:40
Amberly Lago

Okay. Well, I appreciate you being so open and honest and just sharing the real, like what it's really like being a high achiever and those moments that take you down and how you get out of those moments, just like moments that kind of get us down. Sometimes I feel like sometimes our courage can get knocked out of us. Our confidence can get knocked out of us. When you feel like you have your confidence knocked out of you, what is one thing that you do to like, get your confidence up again?

34:12
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, I would, I would equate confidence to belief. Right. So it's like if our confidence is down, that means our self belief is down. And so what I encourage people to do is like, whatever you're doing, just go all in. Because when life beats you up, your confidence goes down, your belief goes down. You could you probably interchangeable words, right? Michael, Mike Tyson has a quote. He goes, everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the face, right?

34:35
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

34:35
Jerrid Sebesta

And life will punch you in the face. If you're in business, you're gonna get your face kicked in. You know what I mean? Like, if you're trying to sell something, you're gonna get a lot of. No, it's rejection. And then the imposter syndrome flares up.

34:46
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

34:46
Jerrid Sebesta

And you think you're a failure. And at 3 o' clock in the morning, you're pacing around your house wondering what you're doing. I've been there, done that. Right. So what I encourage people to do is just go all in. Pick one, go all in. Not 99, 100. Go 100 all in. And if you do that, there's going to be some sort of aligned action that's going to be a result. And if you do that, over time, you'll see a new result. And that new result will then do what to your belief and confidence? It'll make it go up. Right. So, like, the antidote isn't like, just, I don't know how to believe, more like, do I just white knuckle it? Come on. I've done that. It doesn't work. Right. I could try to pray for more belief, but you know, that's, that's hard to measure. And so when I'm down here, I'm like, all right, Jared, let's just buckle up and like, you gotta talk next week. You just bring it. You just bring it and you surrender it and you go up there and it's not about you, and you just bring it and you just try to be a channel of truth and light. And by golly, what happens? Boom. It goes really well. You see a new result, right? And then what happens to my belief and confidence goes up. So I just challenge your listeners to go all in.

35:51
Amberly Lago

I think sometimes people think that they have to wait until they're confident to take that action. And it's just the opposite. You have to take the action and the confidence comes, but you have to go all in.

36:04
Jerrid Sebesta

Right? And so this, this, this equation only works if you go 100% in. Now, the problem with that is, is that if you've been kicked in the face and you're, you're all bloodied up because of life, beat you up, Right. You will be very hesitant to do it a hundred percent.

36:20
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

36:20
Jerrid Sebesta

Right. And so this equation works only if you go into the land of 100. So I would challenge your listeners. What does it look like for you guys to go all in? What does it look like? Does it, Is there Something you haven't done in your business. You know, an un. An unturned stone, so to speak. Right. Is there. Is there something that you are. You're doing, but not to its fullest extent. I think a lot of people don't get what they want out of life because they're just kind of. They've got their toe dipped in a couple of spots, and as soon as it doesn't work, then we just kind of pull out of there and try this and. And just like, just pick one. Yeah, but what? Yeah, but. Yeah, but what if it's the wrong one? The right and wrong decision doesn't live in the land of all in. It's right because you go all in. And even. Even if it doesn't air quotes work out, it will open some door. It will create a connection. Something will happen that will take you to the next level, but that only happens when you go all in. So again, Confidence, all of it. Resilience. Go all in.

37:18
Amberly Lago

What is your definition of resilience?

37:21
Jerrid Sebesta

Resilience to me is a offshoot of surrender. So resilience and surrender, to me, I use interchangeably, right. I build resilience. It's not something that I conjure up. It's something that is a result of me surrendering. And then God allows me to experience things and I grow because of them. And that's, I think, how we probably define resilience.

37:42
Amberly Lago

Oh, that's beautiful. I love that. I've never heard that defined resilience defined like that before. That's beautiful. Okay, we're just about out of time, so I have a couple of quick speed rounds.

37:56
Jerrid Sebesta

Okay.

37:56
Amberly Lago

All right. This or that?

37:57
Jerrid Sebesta

This or that. Okay.

37:58
Amberly Lago

Okay. You ready?

37:59
Jerrid Sebesta

Sure.

38:00
Amberly Lago

Plan it out or wing it?

38:02
Jerrid Sebesta

Oh, plan it out. I'm too much. Type A?

38:04
Amberly Lago

Yeah. Yeah. I do both. I think I do.

38:08
Jerrid Sebesta

You know, it's crazy because I'll say. I'll say plan it out, and then I just, you know, I'll go into something and be like, we'll just wing it. Yeah. Like this interview, clearly I had it,

38:16
Amberly Lago

all the questions written out. I haven't asked any of them. Security or freedom?

38:22
Jerrid Sebesta

Oh, man. Gosh, I love my freedom.

38:28
Amberly Lago

Process or results?

38:33
Jerrid Sebesta

Probably process, because there. That is my type. A type of scenario. Coming through.

38:38
Amberly Lago

Okay. Discipline or motivation?

38:41
Jerrid Sebesta

Discipline.

38:42
Amberly Lago

Me too. Faith or fear?

38:44
Jerrid Sebesta

Wow. Faith.

38:45
Amberly Lago

Okay. Risk big or play it safe.

38:49
Jerrid Sebesta

The first 40 years of my life. Play it crazy. Safe to fault. And now I'm learning to love. Kind of the uncertainty of life.

38:57
Amberly Lago

Okay, I love that. Build fast or build right. I know you're top A. I like to go fast, but I know I gotta trust.

39:09
Jerrid Sebesta

I'm learning to love, to build fast, because I'm believing now more than ever that you can make these massive shifts and what, what some people say would take decades to build. Why does it have to take a decade? Yeah, it takes six months. What if we could do it in a month?

39:23
Amberly Lago

Yeah, I think it depends on what we're building.

39:24
Jerrid Sebesta

Correct. But I'm learning, I'm learning to love the, the big wins.

39:29
Amberly Lago

Yeah. Money or meaning?

39:33
Jerrid Sebesta

Oh, man.

39:35
Amberly Lago

Well, I'm really tripping.

39:36
Jerrid Sebesta

I, I, I'm learning to double down on my purpose, on why God put me here. And as a result, I'm making more money. And I really enjoy both, to be honest with you. I'm okay with both.

39:48
Amberly Lago

Yeah. Yeah. Deferred or undeferred?

39:51
Jerrid Sebesta

Undeferred.

39:52
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

39:52
Jerrid Sebesta

Undefered.

39:54
Amberly Lago

You guys check out his book, Life Undeferred. Who? I actually read your book, and I read it again because you first reached out to me and I wrote praise for your book, and now I get to sit here and interview.

40:10
Jerrid Sebesta

I would have never have guessed when we connected. When I reached out, you barely knew who I was and you graciously wrote a blurb for me. And now we get to cross paths all over the country. It's really awesome. I know that was not, by the way, that did not just happen. That was something, that was an intention, that was set. And that's something I believe was going to happen. And I told you a year ago, I said, amberly, we're going to share the stage someday. And I was just this little peon down here in your way, and I said, amberly, we're going to share the stage someday. And here we are.

40:37
Amberly Lago

Here we are. Well, I just love you, my friend. You're amazing. Likewise. You're doing amazing work. Thank you for being on the show. Tell everybody where they can see you speak on stage or be a part of your event and grab your book. And where you hang out most on social media.

40:53
Jerrid Sebesta

I'm on all of them for the most part, but LinkedIn, Instagram, my favorites. Just my handle is my name.

40:58
Amberly Lago

Jaredsilvesta.com Anything coming up?

41:02
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, I mean, I get, I get around. I do a lot of private, I do a lot of private stuff. Off the record. I'm going to hold off to probably later this year to do do another live event. Yeah, it's coming. It's coming. When the time. When the time is.

41:13
Amberly Lago

Well, I'll be there.

41:14
Jerrid Sebesta

I know.

41:15
Amberly Lago

Just so you know?

41:16
Jerrid Sebesta

I know.

41:16
Amberly Lago

Yeah, I will be there. I can do B roll for you. I can. Whatever you need.

41:20
Jerrid Sebesta

Well, I mean, I want to be your hype man. I want to follow you around.

41:23
Amberly Lago

Well, come on. Let's do it. Come to the unstoppable success summit.

41:29
Jerrid Sebesta

I want to go to Texas more.

41:30
Amberly Lago

Yeah.

41:30
Jerrid Sebesta

Come on.

41:31
Amberly Lago

Well, thank you all for tuning into the show, and I just love when you share it on your social media. Tag me Jared, and we will see you next week.

Pain to purpose to joy.

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