The Energy Fix Episode 137 - FINAL.mp3
2025-09-02
Transcript
0:00:13 Tansy Rodgers: Welcome back to the Energy Fix, a podcast dedicated to help you balance your energetic body by diving deep into the sweet world of all things health and spirituality. My name’s Tansy and and I’m an intuitive crystal Reiki energy healer, energetic nutrition and holistic health practitioner, and a crystal jewelry designer. It’s time to talk all things energy. Let’s dive in. There comes a moment. Sometimes it’s quiet and sometimes it’s really catastrophic. But there comes a moment when the version of success that you’ve been chasing, well, it just stops working.
0:00:52 Tansy Rodgers: And sometimes you’ve hit the milestones, you’ve checked the boxes you’ve built the life that you were supposed to want. And yet still something is off. And maybe you know what it is and maybe you don’t. You feel this pull towards something that’s just more honest, more authentically, you, less performative, just more present. But the thought of unraveling what you built, well, honestly, it’s terrifying.
0:01:22 Tansy Rodgers: I’ve been there. I get it. It’s so frustrating when you feel like you have put all of this energy and work into creating something and you’ve done great. You’ve created things that you never thought you would create until all of a sudden it just doesn’t feel so great anymore. If you’ve ever felt that tension between being seen and being real, this episode is going to meet you right there. Because this episode is all about looking at what is real, not performative.
0:01:58 Tansy Rodgers: Not just being seen, not just doing the things because you think that you’re supposed to do them. Or somebody told you one time that to do what you’re doing means you’re successful, means that you’re enough, means that you’re okay, means that you are worthy. That’s not where we are going anymore. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today in this episode. But before we drop in, just a couple updates for what’s coming up in my world so that we can connect and we can deepen our relationship.
0:02:34 Tansy Rodgers: I have launched a Crystal series request contest for the next podcast miniseries. If there’s a crystal theme, a theme in general, an energetic concept that you would love me to cover, now is your time to speak up because I want your thoughts. I want to know what you want to hear. You can submit your ideas by September 15th to infoansy rogers.com and yes, if you head down to the show notes, there will be a link there for you to click on.
0:03:07 Tansy Rodgers: But infoansyrogers.com I can’t wait to co create this series with you. I want to know what you want to hear and for whoever’s theme crystal energetic concept that I do choose, I will be gifting a free crystal healing bag of your choice. So make sure you reach on out. Especially if there’s something that’s been laying on your heart, I want to know what it is and if you want to connect in person. Here’s where I’ll be in September.
0:03:42 Tansy Rodgers: Coming up this weekend I am at the Greater Wellness Holistic Expo in Lebanon, Pennsylvania is at the Lebanon Fairgrounds. It is on Sunday, September 7th. Come on out and join in the fun. I got some new pieces. I will be rolling out new crystals that will be on display. So I would love for you to connect and see what’s new. Then that following weekend I’m going to be at the Lehigh Gem Jewelry and Rock show in Brenningsville, Pennsylvania and that’s on Saturday, September 13th.
0:04:16 Tansy Rodgers: So again, same concept. The new pieces will be there, new crystals will be there, but I can’t guarantee what’s going to be left. So if you can come out to one of those first two shows, definitely make sure to come out, say hi, connect in. That is my favorite part when I get to meet you and you tell me you heard about it here on the podc. And then finally for here in September, I’m going to be at the spiritual holistic expo September 20th and 21st in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Again, you’ve heard me talk about this one before. This is one of my favorite shows.
0:04:49 Tansy Rodgers: It is in Allentown at the fairgrounds the entire weekend. September 20th and 21st is a huge show. So make sure you come on out, hang out, say hi, check out what’s new and if you would like, I would love to give you a hug too. So now let’s talk about today’s guest, Dr. Camille Preston. Camille is a business psychologist who blends deep psychological insight with sharp business strategy. She’s worked with leaders around the world to help them really strip away the performance and reconnect with what actually matters.
0:05:31 Tansy Rodgers: We’re going to be talking so in depth about authenticity and the post performance stress that often happens. In this conversation. We’re going to be diving deep into what happens when success stops working, the quiet unraveling of post achievement anxiety, how to stop performing authenticity and actually live authenticity because there is a big difference. And we’re going to be talking about what it means to really integrate instead of just pushing forward.
0:06:06 Tansy Rodgers: This one’s for the woman or man that is really feeling like they are holding it all together. This one is for the leaders with a smile on their face and a storm behind their eyes. And this is for anyone who’s tired of doing it all and ready to just be, be. And this is the last episode in the little miniseries that we’re doing here over at the Energy Fix called the End of Summer Book Tour. This is book number four.
0:06:40 Tansy Rodgers: Here is Dr. Camille Preston. Let’s dive in. Welcome to the Energy Fix podcast. Camille. Thank you so much for being here today.
0:06:52 Dr. Camille Preston: I am thrilled to be here and can’t wait for this conversation.
0:06:55 Tansy Rodgers: Let’s just jump right in and get the ice broken. I want the listeners to really get to know you for who you are in this world in the season of your life. And so to do that, I would love to talk about where you’re at with either one word or phrase that you’re really embodying right now in this season of your life. Let’s get a little candid right off the bat.
0:07:21 Dr. Camille Preston: Okay. What I’m really leaning into is radical presence. This idea that I’m fully present where I am with, who I’m with, and in this moment. And I’ve got these, like, two kids that I just adore, 10 and 12. And I’ve. They’re like, they have a full life, and I have this book launch and I have my business and I have friends and I have things I love to do, and I. I have a tremendous amount of impatience, which I think generally serves me, but I’m trying to be present wherever I am, if that does that resonate. Do you ever feel that? Okay.
0:07:56 Tansy Rodgers: Oh, yeah, for sure. And so when you’re saying that, I’m kind of giggling to myself over here, because radical presence, especially right now, is, number one, not only, I think, one of the most important attributes to have, but also one of the hardest. And so I would love to know, Camille, what are you doing to stay radically present when it is so hard sometimes to stay even in the moment, in all the chaos?
0:08:27 Dr. Camille Preston: And so let me, like, differentiate. I think presence is when you are fully here, now in the moment. And I experience radical presence as when I’m listening in as much as I’m listening out in the world. And I’m able to bring those two together. And so radical presence is. Is trusting your inner knowing, your intuition, your wisdom, being able to listen and integrate that with what is. And I wanted to define it. What am I doing?
0:09:01 Dr. Camille Preston: It’s a little counterintuitive. I feel like the more I build systems and structure, the more fully present I can be. And so what that might look like is like, five in the morning. I am out the door Tuesday, Thursday, for a fitness class. That is just like church to me. Right? So, like, that’s a structure that helps me be more present later in the day. I have a wealth of other practices that I. That are really designed to put the structure in so that I can be more present in the moment. Like, it’s a little counterintuitive. Does that resonate?
0:09:34 Tansy Rodgers: It does. It does. And so, you know, do you feel like radical presence is that piece that you really needed to have or maybe that even just guided you in the first place to your book?
0:09:50 Dr. Camille Preston: It’s a great question. I’m definitely present to deep longing for it. And so that factors into my meditation. My meditation and my physical practices. But your question’s actually funny, because I had two kids, two books. I wasn’t interested in a third book. And December 8th, at 4am it was like. It was like 403. It was like, knock, knock, knock. I, like. I feel like spirit woke me up in the middle of the night because it was the only time it would get my full presence.
0:10:20 Dr. Camille Preston: And I was like. I remember seeing an entire outline in my head of the book, and I rolled over. I was like, two kids, two books. I’m done.
0:10:27 Tansy Rodgers: And.
0:10:27 Dr. Camille Preston: And then I was like, okay, maybe I’m really meant to write this one. So, like, I got up and I was like. I just did a voice memo of what it was, and I then tried to go back to bed, and I was like, oh, man, it got me. This is so. I do think presence comes in very unexpected ways.
0:10:43 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
0:10:43 Dr. Camille Preston: Unexpected times.
0:10:46 Tansy Rodgers: So two kids, three books. Does that mean you’re gonna have three kids too?
0:10:51 Dr. Camille Preston: I think that ship has sailed. But I. I believe the older I get, the more I believe that you have lots of people in your. Like, I have an older brother and older sister, but I think I have, like, thousands of sisters and tons of brothers. So I’m not planning on birthing any more kids. Did you hear that?
0:11:13 Tansy Rodgers: Well, Camille, the title of your book, Living Real, it really kind of stopped me in my tracks because it’s just so straightforward. It’s something so many of us, I think, crave. That authenticity piece, living in alignment, showing up as our full self, but also something that gets tangled in with performance. And so it can be hard to take the mask off and to just be in that realness. What does Living Real really mean to you, and where did this exploration in your own life start?
0:11:51 Dr. Camille Preston: It’s a Great question. And there’s multiple threads there. Um, let me preface this to say so. The central thesis of the book is this idea that oftentimes we take hard things or uncomfortable things or ugly things or messy things, and we put it in a box and we put duct tape over it, and then we pack it in the basement of our metaphoric house, like who we are. And we do this time and again, clearing out where we’re living, putting things in the basement so that we don’t have to necessarily see, feel, deal with.
0:12:21 Dr. Camille Preston: But what we don’t realize is that every time we put a box in the basement, we’re putting another box in the second floor of our house, which is where we feel joy and delight. So the more stuff we put in the basement, the less capacity we have to experience joy. So if life is reeling R E A L I N G it’s about the highs and the lows, the full range of life. What I see is that we’ve started shallowing where we’re only living on the first floor of our life.
0:12:53 Dr. Camille Preston: Relationships become more thin, content topics we cover more thin. Our emotional range is more thin and it’s less satisfying. And so what I see is a lot of people who have shallowed all of a sudden are picking up skydiving or car racing or like, you know, sex, drugs, rock and roll, like that type. They want to feel alive and they’re going out for stimulus. But what they actually really want is that aliveness that comes from within.
0:13:20 Dr. Camille Preston: And so it’s this idea of the full range of life and it’s uncomfortable and it’s hard, and we aren’t taught how to do that. We’re often rewarded for putting things in the basement and like, playing nice, being pretty. That’s all you see on your social media feed is like, what people want you to see. And so, you know, my journey into this came. I had five deaths in five months. It was like. And the first one was the hardest. So it just was like this experience of like, seeing how we dealt with grief. But then I started realizing everybody has grief, everybody has hard things, and everybody’s craving this connection. It’s, it’s, it’s palpable how much people are craving it and how scared they are of it.
0:14:02 Dr. Camille Preston: So it was a long winded answer. How does that resonate?
0:14:05 Tansy Rodgers: No, I love that analogy that when you box up, you tape up those boxes of traumas or things that you don’t want to look at and you put them in your basement, it literally starts to fill the Rest of the house. And then that first floor becomes super shallow. And so that is such a beautiful analogy. And it really helps to explain, too, of two things, really. Number one, of how people can chase that success because of all of those.
0:14:34 Tansy Rodgers: Because of all of the stimulation and all of the outside rewards, just hoping to find something that’s going to fill up their house with happiness and joy again. Right. But then also stepping into burnout and becoming in this wretched cycle of masking stimulation, burnout, masking stimulation, burnout. And just over and over and over again. I love that.
0:15:03 Dr. Camille Preston: Over and over. Yeah, you. You nailed it. And. And I just, for our listeners, broaden it. It’s. We put in the basement anything that’s hard and uncomfortable and messy and sloppy and like, that we have shame about. And it’s. It stacks because all we see is the highlight reels of our friends on Facebook or YouTube. And. And we always see is the bloopers in our life. Right. So the tension amplifies.
0:15:30 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. You know, it’s so funny. I love. And you don’t see this often, but I love when I’m watching a YouTube video or I’m listening to a podcast, but especially YouTube because it’s visual and you see the blooper reels that they put in at the end. I love that because I’m like, oh, they’re just like me. Even though they seem that they got their act together, they’re just like me. That’s awesome.
0:16:01 Dr. Camille Preston: Yeah. And I think everybody’s navigating something hard.
0:16:05 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
0:16:07 Dr. Camille Preston: You brought up a point, too, that that was really a catalyst for me to, you know, when I. When I had kind of a rough outline of the book and I was sitting with it, and then, you know, I was prayer, meditation, head to the ground, like, really trying to listen, like, what am I meant to do? What is it. What is it that I’m being called forth with? I think as a business psychologist, one of the things I see so much is that we are in this mental health pandemic.
0:16:35 Dr. Camille Preston: We’ve never seen rates of isolation, loneliness, burnout, depression, anxiety. It’s unprecedented. And I really think it’s a stacked consequence of our shallowing. And then you’re depressed. What do you do? You take a medication that shallows you further. You don’t feel the lows, you don’t feel the highs. And so we’re in this, like, perpetual cycle that I. That scares me.
0:17:01 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
0:17:01 Dr. Camille Preston: And is fixable.
0:17:04 Tansy Rodgers: Well, that. That brings up another really good point then. So when we talk about when this success stops working and, and all of a sudden you’re continuing to chase that high. What do you think happens psychologically or spiritually when we realize that the thing that we built just isn’t working any. And have you ever had a moment where it looked right but it just felt so wrong?
0:17:32 Dr. Camille Preston: Totally. Totally. And actually that’s usually when people come to me. We talk about like a compounded crisis and we’ve all bought into different rules of, like, what is success? Like when you get the house, when you get the job, when you get the kids. Like, there’s always some metric that’s externally put out there when you get the promotion. We bought into these external rules, so much so that we don’t know how to listen to what our definition is. So the subtitle is Redefining Success, Presence and Happiness.
0:18:06 Dr. Camille Preston: And so many of us haven’t spent time saying, like, what is happiness for me? What is a good relationship? I know what my parents wanted me to marry, but what is it that I want as a partner? And what does partnership look for me? Look like for me? And so the second chapter, I think it’s the second chapter of the book is all about the lies we’ve been sold. Not maliciously, but like we’ve, we’ve bought hook, line and sinker what success is. And the former Attorney General Vivek Murthy said, you know, we’re so attached to power, fame and money as our definition of success that it’s undoing us because we can’t get enough to satiate ourselves.
0:18:49 Dr. Camille Preston: Yeah, I get my book here. Yes, yes, Double check that. That is the chapter. I think it is chapter two. So, so your, your question is spot on. And I think your question invites a second question, which is how do we learn to hold the tension? Like, how do we learn to be real? How do we learn to have hard conversations? How do we. Where do we start in unpacking that basement? And it’s, it can be that simple question can be paralyzing.
0:19:25 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. Well, I would love to dive a little bit into that in just one moment, but since we’re talking about that aftermath, let’s. I don’t want to, I don’t want to use the scare tactic. Right. But I think that the whole concept of change chasing that stimulus and also then falling into burnout is so real for so many people. So before we start we talk about the unpacking part of it, let’s talk about the burnout in disguise.
0:19:53 Tansy Rodgers: So when high functioning people don’t even realize that their energy has Been depleted so deeply, what are the subtle signs? What does somebody need to look for? For when somebody says, you know, if somebody says I’m fine, but their energy saying otherwise, what does that look like? What are those subtle nuances?
0:20:15 Dr. Camille Preston: I think it looks like I’m fine with a big old fake hand and, like, I have my hand out basically saying, don’t come near me, Tansy. Don’t come near me. I’m fine. It’s like putting up those walls and those buffers so you will experience it energetically. Let’s talk about the listener. If life feels fragile, where you’ve, like, duct tick, tape together everything, and it’s like one thing out of alignment will throw things off, right? Like, your day is so highly packed that when the nurse calls to say your kid’s sick, it needs to be picked up, you’re like.
0:20:49 Dr. Camille Preston: Like, it all unfolds. I. I see it a lot in people who get that promotion they’ve been working for for so long, and they’re like, huh, that’s it. Like, why aren’t I feeling alive? I see it in people who thrive in crisis. They love a crisis. Like, it gets them activated, gets them engaged. They’re firing on all cylinders. I see it in people who charge so fully towards one thing, and they get that one thing and they come home and they’re, you know, they realize their child has a significant mental health problem or their spouse walked out the door, right? Like, so you see it in these different manifest stations.
0:21:32 Dr. Camille Preston: I think everybody’s hitting up against burnout or not everybody yet. I think the way we’ve talked about burnout needs to change, and it’s requires a much more systemic response. It’s like changing your mindset, changing your biology, changing your habits, changing your relationships. It’s like a systemic response to. To. To find your way out of it. And I say this as someone who’s. I did my dissertation on burnout, so I’ve been. I’ve been in this field for almost 30 years, and it’s changing because of technology and so forth.
0:22:08 Dr. Camille Preston: So again, sorry, long winded.
0:22:11 Tansy Rodgers: No, I love the long winded. So, okay, let me just expand on that a little bit. What about for those neurodivergent folks, those folks with adhd? Those folks with ADHD or with autism that may really be struggling because that is part of how their brain operates. How would you. But, but yet. But yet they’re holding these positions that demand that they are. Are that they are functioning at a higher level and that they need to be on what is your, what is your thoughts here of how to really address that?
0:22:54 Dr. Camille Preston: The first of all, neuro divide. I work with a number of neurodivergent individuals. It is no longer a barrier to success. It is no longer a barrier to the C suite or even the CEO’s seat. What is a barrier is lack of self awareness. It’s when people know themselves and understand themselves and can articulate it and then they can redesign how they operate to be that best version of themselves. So I think, is that, is that responsive?
0:23:28 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. No. I love that. And so I will say too, when I learned that I was neurodivergent and had adhd, that was a game changer. I was, I’m going to be honest, I was a little pissed off when I learned about it because I learned so late in my life and I couldn’t believe, I couldn’t believe that I didn’t know about this my whole life. But then when I realized and I learned, it made so much sense. And honestly, honestly, now I can look at what I do and I can start to shift and maneuver and set up my day and my actions to make it completely more manageable than what it used to be, 100%.
0:24:10 Tansy Rodgers: Now I also understand why I responded or did certain things and now I have the awareness of what to do different. So I love that you’re saying that, that you’re absolutely right. It is no longer a barrier to high level performance, to these incredible positions in the career that you are striving for, but yet it’s all about awareness. Isn’t everything about awareness though, Camille?
0:24:37 Dr. Camille Preston: It is. So much of it is. And if you’re willing to be real in relationship, people will give you feedback like where things are and like you, it’s ironically easier to develop that self awareness if you are living real. Yeah, yeah, you said something that was. I just wanted to throw out for the listeners. I don’t know your target demographic, but someone brought forth to me the knowledge that menopause actually activates even more add.
0:25:07 Dr. Camille Preston: So when you go through menopause, you know, certain hormones go down, certain hormones go up. People can ping me, I can send you the graphic. But many women find when they enter menopause that they had a lot of coping strategies for their add. But the menopause is that thing that’s like click. And it sets them up actually what I find really powerfully to change some strategies that really have the potential to amplify their impact, their satisfaction, their wellbeing with that awareness.
0:25:37 Dr. Camille Preston: So if that resonates for some of your audience.
0:25:41 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, yeah, we have. We have a lot of neurodivergent folks that listen to this. So that’s why I wanted to bring that up, because that’s an important conversation. And kind of how we talked before we hit record, you know, we both talked about how we’re the bridge, right? We’re a bridge to bring people into awareness. And so there’s a lot of people who are living unaware and not realizing what’s actually happening within their bodies, within their brain, within their energy field.
0:26:10 Tansy Rodgers: And so just knowing this, I think, is important. And so, Camille, let’s talk about that unpacking. All right, so we know that we have the burnout. We know. Or the burnout potential. I mean, we know that maybe we’re chasing that stimulation where. And you may say, okay, I’m done. I got to take that step back now. Where do we go from there? How do we start to live real? How do we start to unpack?
0:26:43 Dr. Camille Preston: You know, it’s interesting. I just did a keynote on Monday on this, and there’s two very different ways to approach it. One way is to go into the basement and start to take out a box and start to process it and start to feel and open up those channels. So that’s being fully present in a contained, finite space with a certain emotion and, like, just. Just experiencing it. That’s really helpful. What is even more helpful in doing that is setting up a container.
0:27:14 Dr. Camille Preston: Like, I’m going to sit with this for 20 minutes. Afterwards, I’m going to go for a run, or I’m going to sit with this for 20 minutes, and then I’m going to Journal for five minutes, and then I’m going to get on this work call. So putting a structure around it is really helpful. The key is we want to start to let things in and feel them, but not be consumed by them. Some people have said to me, there is so much going on in the world right now. I.
0:27:39 Dr. Camille Preston: I can’t read the news. I can’t feel. I can’t do any of that. So you don’t even have to go into the basement. You might just say, I’m going to consume news for this amount of time. I’m going to feel it. I’m going to be present. I’m going to understand what that means for other people, and then I’m going to go back to my life. That’s actually a really healthy strategy. Those are both kind of going down, which some people, again, have some resistance to.
0:28:01 Dr. Camille Preston: The other way to access, reeling is to start to say, who is it that you feel most yourself with? Where do you feel most alive? Who is it that sees you? And then start to unpack. What is it about that relationship? Why is that so enlivening? What is it about who you are in that relationship and how you show up in that relationship? You and what’s created and. And then start to build more of those because you’re again, one is activating the hard emotions and walking through them. The other is activating the easy, the, the joy and the delight.
0:28:38 Dr. Camille Preston: You have to do both. You can’t, you can’t just do one or the other, if that makes sense. Too much time in the sadness can be wallowing, constantly chasing joy can be. Becomes a little bit more like a Snickers bar than a great nutritious meal.
0:28:59 Tansy Rodgers: I love, I love. All those tips were great. I love that last one. Who and where do you feel most alive? And then start to unpack. Why? Because that’s really your authentic self being given permission to expand and be fully present.
0:29:19 Dr. Camille Preston: And then you can start to say, like, what is it about that person? What is it about where I show up? And then you can say, just as you did with your own journey, it’s like, how do I design a life that has more of that? And you can start to see, oh, in these relationships, I tend to shallow, I tend to check out close down, talk about the weather, what have you. These don’t feel safe, but these do. I had one woman, she had. She had a scowl on her face. And I adored this woman. I ended up talking with her afterwards, but she just scowled on her face. She’s like, no way in heck am I going to open up and be real with my colleagues at work.
0:29:55 Dr. Camille Preston: And so we were kind of in this, like, darker place and I was like, well, what. What is it that brings you so much joy and delight? She’s like, my dog. I was like, tell me about your dog. And she just like unfolded about her dog. I was like, what if he spent like an extra 10 minutes with your dog, just like fully presencing yourself to his love? And she’s like, she could barely sit still the rest of the day, right? Like, she was so excited to get home to her dog.
0:30:20 Dr. Camille Preston: And it’s that simple. You know, it could be as simple as when you’re at the checkout aisle at the grocery store, looking the person in the eye and having that deeper connection. It’s really. Can be micro shifts. Really, really micro shifts.
0:30:36 Tansy Rodgers: There’s a version of you that feels clear not because everything is perfect, but, but because your energy is finally flowing again. If you’ve been holding too much, you’ve been feeling off, or just disconnected from your own rhythm, it might be time for an energy healing session. These sessions combine intuitive insight, crystal healing, and energetic recalibration to really help you clear emotional weight, to help you reset your nervous system, to help you reconnect with your body’s inner guidance so that you can slow down and hear again.
0:31:12 Tansy Rodgers: Whether you’re deep in a healing journey or you simply are craving a reset, this is a sacred space to soften, release and come home to yourself. Head on over to tansyrogers.com where you can book a session, reach out to me and ask any questions or just learn more. Remember, energy healing knows no time, it knows no space. So these sessions can be done in person if you are local to my area, or they can be done in distance, you’re allowed to feel good again.
0:31:48 Tansy Rodgers: Let’s make space for it. Head on down to the show notes, click the link and I can’t wait to see you on the table. And that feels like that’s a really good tactic for that post achievement anxiety as well.
0:32:05 Dr. Camille Preston: Say more about. You mean the lull that happens after you have achieved something?
0:32:09 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, yeah. And so just kind of bringing you back into that realness. And, and, and the. Because when, when we’re chasing, when we’re chasing the, the achievements, when we’re chasing that stimulation and then you achieve it. And like you said earlier, when you achieve, it’s like, oh, is this all that it is? Okay, what’s next? And then there’s this anxiety that starts to build and build because you don’t necessarily know what’s next and what the next steps are.
0:32:39 Tansy Rodgers: And I feel like just taking that moment, like you just said, to come back and get real with what does bring you joy, what brings you peace, what brings you excitement in order to get you out of that anxiety state so that you can have more clarity.
0:32:57 Dr. Camille Preston: Absolutely, absolutely. And what you’re alluding to is a little bit more advanced, but control or certainty is an illusion. Right. And so being here now in the moment is the greatest antidote.
0:33:10 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. Well, let’s talk more about that. Let’s talk about the depth of this post achievement anxiety and what starts to happen. Because most people think that success is going to bring this peace, but often brings pressure and the shame and the emptiness. So why do you think that high performers often feel so unsettled after achieving such a big goal?
0:33:39 Dr. Camille Preston: Yeah, it’s great. It’s a stellar question and it’s going to be a hard answer. I think people get wired towards achievement and they are, they are so conditioned to think this is the next thing. Then it actually becomes close to what’s called toxic success syndrome. Toxic success syndrome. And this, I first came across this. Michael Phelps had won like, I don’t know, 7, 8, 12 gold medals. He had won a lot of gold medals.
0:34:06 Dr. Camille Preston: And you know, people asked how he felt and he was like, by day three, he was like, yeah, right. He’d, he’d done something that no one had ever done. And then he felt meh. And, and what had happened is he had put all of his joy and happiness and sense of achievement was externally located as opposed to internally located. Does that resonate?
0:34:30 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, yeah.
0:34:31 Dr. Camille Preston: And, and let’s be honest, that’s the, that’s the illusion. The world wants, they want us to want to work 10 hour days. They want us to be constantly wanting more, consuming more, buying more and needing more money. Like that is the, the mantra. The, the com. This, the structure. And so living real could be about being more present in your relationship and how do you do that? Which it is. But it also could be a manifesto to disrupt your, your understanding of the world.
0:35:04 Dr. Camille Preston: And it could challenge you to really rethink. How is it that I want to live? What does happiness look like? Who am I in the world? What is it that I meant to be. It’s an invitation to be curious, to design it how you want, which many people say is a lot and it’s.
0:35:24 Tansy Rodgers: Magnificent to do, which is that integration process. Right?
0:35:31 Dr. Camille Preston: It’s. It’s the integration process. But a lot of times it goes back to that idea. Have to tension creates consciousness. You have to hold the tension of like, wait a minute, I thought this is what I wanted with my life. Everybody around me wants this. If they want this and I want this, what does that mean? Am I different from them? If I said I wanted this and I chased this, but I actually want this, what does that mean about my work?
0:35:56 Dr. Camille Preston: Right. Like, it’s, it’s a really complex structure, which is why we often shallow and go back to what’s easy and safe and familiar. And like the Joneses are doing, we’re way down. But this is exactly what I think your audience is really curious about, which is like, who am I at my core and how do I design a life? That’s the best version of my life.
0:36:19 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, yeah. And so that’s a great question because I mean, as you Said that. I know I’ve been there when you are in that place, but the familiarity is so comfortable, and it’s just. Just right over there. I could easily just step right over into that familiarity instead of being in the uncomfortable. So how do you. How do you coach people? How do you lead people to stay present in that uncomfortable so that it becomes less uncomfortable over time?
0:36:55 Dr. Camille Preston: Big question. I would say read the book because we break it down. It’s first a mindset, and then it’s. So it’s my awareness mindset. And then we have to activate new skills. Right. Just like the water in the Grand Canyon has run that path for so long. We need to build some new neural networks that open into new watersheds, if I take the metaphor. And a lot of it is. So we have to put genuine heat on something that we want.
0:37:27 Dr. Camille Preston: And then we have to practice that with attention and intention. And then we have to be in an ecosystem of support, a friendly ecosystem. I’ll make it. That sounds big. I’ll go back to that workout class. There’s this group of women that work out at like 5, 5, 15 in the morning. And I might not have the energy one day, but that group has the energy for me. And then other days I have the energy for them.
0:37:54 Dr. Camille Preston: And that’s true in everything. Like, if you were. I’m beyond humbled and grateful for my network and I’m so blessed by rich relationships because there’s someone who’s doing something better than I want to do, and I can often understand what is it that’s working for them and how can I model that? How can they support me in that edge? Is that helpful?
0:38:18 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, I love that. I love that. Community is very important in this process.
0:38:23 Dr. Camille Preston: And you have a community in this listenership too. Right. People have been with you and listening through this, and this becomes an ecosystem of support.
0:38:31 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. Yeah. Well, okay, so let’s take one just tiny step, maybe back or sideways. I’m not quite sure which direction we’re moving here. But with that anxiety. I had brought up the word integration. And you have. You talk in the book about this anxiety moving into integration. Right. Taking that anxiety moving into that. How does somebody tell if they are starting to integrate the. The structure integrates the healing, not just coping.
0:39:03 Dr. Camille Preston: It’s a great question. Yeah, that’s a great question. So the analogy, like, if I were to make it really tangible, the first death was my uncle. And the world doesn’t understand uncles. Like, they’re like, he’s your uncle. Get over it. Like, move On. But after my dad died, he was my dad’s best friend. He was my everything. Like, I called him every day during COVID He was my person. Like, we spent all our holidays with him. He had no kids, and he was widowed. So we were, like, we were tight.
0:39:38 Dr. Camille Preston: And the world just couldn’t see it. The world couldn’t understand it. And so then grieving that, the world’s like, move on to your uncle, right? So I, in grieving it and fully grieving, shifted from a sadness of having lost him to metabolizing that energy so that he is within me and he is a part of me. And a simple example, just this morning, I bought his car off the estate. And that’s how dorky I am. Like, I just.
0:40:07 Dr. Camille Preston: I wanted to feel his presence. And I love. Like, I love so much about him. And I pulled in from dropping my kids off at camp, and I was like, ah, I miss you, Phil. I miss you, but I feel you. Am I making you proud? Was kind of like the thing that went. I literally said, hey, I’m missing you right now, Phil. Not like. Right. And so there’s that integration. I think the part about the anxiety. So is that I can. And then I can pivot to anxiety.
0:40:36 Dr. Camille Preston: Is that. Is it okay? One of the lives that we’ve been sold is that, like, you can do this, and yet this. Like, that life can. You can work nine to five, that you can separate things, you can move in all these different ways, and that people can have all of this stuff so that when you don’t have it, you feel less than. And all we see is other people. So part of the anxiety is driven by the filters of what we let in from other folks and what we.
0:41:06 Dr. Camille Preston: The filters of the illusions we bought. Like, we should have this. We should have that. We should have this. So the first step with anxiety is thinking about taking that voice, and you can’t eradicate it, but you can turn the volume down. You want to turn the volume down. So it’s. No, you could think about putting that voice in the trunk of your car. Start to move that space away so that you can create space for the voice of.
0:41:32 Dr. Camille Preston: Here’s what you’re doing really well, Tansy. Here’s where you’re thriving. Here’s the impact that you’re having in the world. Here’s where your ADD is one of your greatest gifts, because you can connect dots and see patterns that other people can’t see. Did you just see how much you got done, Tansy? Because you did all of that because of your. The way your brain connects.
0:41:49 Tansy Rodgers: Right.
0:41:50 Dr. Camille Preston: So you move the critic that I should away and let the other voice come forward. Does that resonate?
0:41:56 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. Yeah.
0:41:58 Dr. Camille Preston: How do. How do you see integration showing up?
0:42:03 Tansy Rodgers: I was gonna say say more. Say more.
0:42:06 Dr. Camille Preston: Well, you.
0:42:06 Tansy Rodgers: You.
0:42:07 Dr. Camille Preston: You talked about the presence of anxiety and wanting to integrate a more holistic way of being in the world. And so I’m just curious what wisdom or what practices or what rituals or what habits you have that help you with the integration.
0:42:24 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. And so this whole question really started because as. As you were talking, as you were thinking, I. All I could think about was so many times throughout my own personal journey, my own personal healing, when I would try to be more mindful, I would try to be more spiritual. I would try. I should be doing this practice or taking this supplement or taking or eating these foods to be more health, healthy.
0:42:56 Tansy Rodgers: And honestly, Camille, it just creates more anxiety. It created so much anxiety. And I would love to expand on that in just one moment, but when you ask, where am I integrating? This is going to sound so silly, but I literally just stopped doing stuff. I literally just stopped because what that was doing was me. It was creating more anxiety for me. I stopped doing exercise, everything that I was being told to do, and I stepped back and I said, what feels like right now I need to do because my soul is telling me to do that.
0:43:38 Tansy Rodgers: And some of those things were unconventional. Some of them were not what the experts tell you to do, and some of them were the things that the biohackers of success, it’s the complete opposite of what they would coach. And so I found, though, that for me, things like when I can, of course, because it’s not every morning like this, but when I can, to not set my alarm and to just sleep and let my body get the rest that it needs.
0:44:15 Tansy Rodgers: Right.
0:44:16 Dr. Camille Preston: That’s brilliant.
0:44:17 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, I found that. And this. Some of this is just a little bit more recently as I’ve been discovering about myself. Right. But I found that the more I can really just isolate myself and give myself that downtime so that I can be back in my own personal energy, the more I can do that, the more I can take as much stimulation out of my world and just literally, metaphorically, sit in a white room with nothing in it, the more I’m healing myself on a deeper level.
0:44:55 Tansy Rodgers: And so then I can come back fully and know that I can now adjust and shift myself a little bit more with grace and not feel like I’m completely flying out of whack. Immediately. Does that make sense?
0:45:11 Dr. Camille Preston: It makes a hundred percent. And it is exactly the process, like, it is so powerful. What helps you give yourself permission for that? Because that’s where I think a lot of people, they’re like, I don’t have time for that. That’s selfish.
0:45:24 Tansy Rodgers: In all honesty, that’s a work in progress for me. It is. It is. It’s a work in progress. But what I will say, what I will say, Camille, is one big powerful thing, because that voice inside of me can say, you deserve this, you deserve to do this. But also that other little voice inside of me says she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, Right? And so sometimes, even though I know I can trust myself, sometimes that little niggle of doubt within me says, you might need to ask somebody else. And so I will find people that I trust, that I know, that I know deep down will be straightforward me and say, listen, right now you are being a little selfish.
0:46:12 Tansy Rodgers: Or right now, no, you’re not being selfish. You’re being too giving, right? And just really being able to get that clear viewpoint from an outside opinion who knows me and that I trust is going to be honest.
0:46:29 Dr. Camille Preston: So I’m hearing two things. One is like, I trust myself, but if I start to doubt, I calibrate externally. So you’re not reliant on the external calibration. It’s a validation, which is beautiful. Really, really beautiful. What are the gateways? When you. What are the gateways into this type of integration? Like, what is, what is it that you are doing that helps people have the courage to reel, to be more present to do this integration? What are your gateways?
0:47:01 Tansy Rodgers: That’s a great question. I think, I think you mean as in just for me being able to give other people support.
0:47:08 Dr. Camille Preston: No, I’m as a role model, like, got it. You’re doing it. What works for you because you have a listeners that love you and that follow you?
0:47:18 Tansy Rodgers: That’s a really good question. Okay, so number one, I’ve started much more like I have on this podcast episode. I’ve started much more talking about some of my struggles because I want people to know that I am just like you. And I’m on that same journey. I may just be a little bit ahead in the process because I’ve worked on stuff, right? And I think that’s important for people to understand that we are all in this together.
0:47:45 Tansy Rodgers: So I try to be just. I try to be real. But also, number two, when I am out and about in my, in my community, community, literally, who you see on the street is how I live my.
0:47:59 Dr. Camille Preston: Life, level of authenticity. And that’s, that’s why it’s easy or safe or accessible for you to reel. It’s when we have these images, these masks, these brands that we’re trying to put up, it gets really, really hard. Really, really hard. Yeah, that’s beautiful. That’s beautiful. And you’re real with yourself, so you’re able to be real out in the world. There’s something that, as you were talking, came up for me was I think one of the reasons people get afraid of doing this level of work is what happens when I find out I don’t like my best friend from fourth grade who’s been in my life forever, and like, what do. What does that mean if I have to start to make these changes? So I’m curious how that shows up for you.
0:48:44 Tansy Rodgers: That is a really great question. And in all honesty, there’s levels of that, so. And I think that there’s levels of that for a lot of people, because when it is something or somebody or a situation that is really, really heart corded, heart connected, that’s going to be way harder of a conversation, harder of a. Of a realization to accept that maybe somebody who’s kind of like, if we talk about that house, maybe somebody who lives over on the second floor. Right. Like, you don’t see them that much or it’s.
0:49:22 Tansy Rodgers: You love them, but they’re not as corded into your heart. Right. And so for me, yeah, for me, I would say that. I will say that on my own journey, I’ve really tried to start looking at the lowest. At the lowest hanging fruit, as they say, and start to practice letting go, saying no, setting the boundaries, doing the things that I need to do to heal myself with the places that feel a little bit easier for me.
0:50:02 Tansy Rodgers: Because not only will that help me to clear away some of the chaos and the clutter, but it also helps me to gain the courage to be able to then look at the other stuff and also helps me to learn how to trust myself that it was the right decision for me. I hope that answers your question.
0:50:22 Dr. Camille Preston: Yeah, I’m going to say it as a metaphor for listeners so they can understand it, which is, I know I need to purge my closet, but I’m not ready to do that. And I know there’s a lot of things that I don’t necessarily wear. I’m going to take the first sweep where I take out things that I know I don’t like, and then I’m going To sit with that and be like, yeah, I really didn’t like those. There’s much more space now. I have courage to do the things that feel a little closer, a little more vulnerable.
0:50:47 Dr. Camille Preston: That’s what I heard say, and that’s what we talk about in chapter 12. Like, how do you. How do you discern? Discern? Is this a relationship I should lean into? Is this something I should lean out of? Like, how do I discern what it is that I really, really want in my heart’s desire? I love that comment. You use that, like, heart corded.
0:51:06 Tansy Rodgers: Right.
0:51:06 Dr. Camille Preston: Like, things cord to our hearts and have this massive impact. I’m not going to tell the story, but I ended up getting a pacemaker. Like, I literally broke my heart because I didn’t listen to it. And stories in the book. So can people tease people to dive into it, but it is that important physiologically to start to listen inward?
0:51:29 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. You know, I love that. I actually did an interview with somebody else, and we had this whole conversation about that term. Heartbreak is literally real in that it can create. It can create massive sickness. And when somebody says, I’m dying from heartbreak, that can actually happen to them, listen to them. Yeah.
0:51:52 Dr. Camille Preston: And I’m very careful of putting it out in the world. I get that. I made some choices, and now I’m really conscious about that. And maybe that’s also part of what. Where the book comes from. Of, like, life is short. You never know.
0:52:07 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. Yeah. And so, okay, so thinking about all the questions you just asked me and all of the candid, vulnerable responses that I put myself out there with, let’s talk about that misunderstanding when it comes to authenticity. You know, I’m gonna. I’m gonna also fuse in part of what I had already brought up. I talked about the anxiety around the performance, mindfulness, the performance healing, the shoulds, the things that we think we’re supposed to do. Right.
0:52:41 Tansy Rodgers: And so when we get. Some people in the spiritual world, call it spiritual bypassing. Like, everything is just fine. I’m doing everything. It’s all good. What do you see as the biggest misunderstanding when it comes to authenticity and these shifts, shoulds, and these places that people think that they need to go or they. They need to listen to instead of actually trusting that little voice within themselves that’s guiding them into alignment and authenticity?
0:53:17 Tansy Rodgers: There’s.
0:53:17 Dr. Camille Preston: So I just started writing a couple of notes. There’s so many parts to that. I think the spiritual bypass is a really important thing to look at because a lot of times I see people who are like, done. I’ve done my work. Check. I’m moving on. But I’ve done the, like, happy, easy, light side of the work. And the real work is in your shadow, in the darkness. And that’s work that’s really hard to do yourself. It’s really hard to do without a professional.
0:53:47 Dr. Camille Preston: And that’s illuminating. It’s like almost a layer below the basement. The basement is the grief. The illuminate shadow is even below that. And ego can’t see shadow. So our ego is what keeps us in the. In the performance, focused desire. So there’s a lot of complexity. So spiritual bypass. I think I would urge people, if they’ve done a lot of work, just a small micro shift, not. I’m good. I’m pausing here, because then it keeps the open invitation for that work later on, and it’s honest about where you are.
0:54:36 Dr. Camille Preston: I will share in my own journey. You know, one of the things that’s really scary about bringing a book to bear like this is like, people will go through your closet, through my shadow, through my, like, basement, and say, well, what about this and what about this and what about this? And so I’ve spent a lot of time thinking, well, like, there’s relationships that are not healed in my life. And I’m conscious of, like, right now, I’m choosing this.
0:54:59 Dr. Camille Preston: I’m not saying it’s perfect. It’s not lollies, pops, rainbows, and unicorns, but I’m making conscious choices as opposed to putting an illusion that everything’s great. Is that responsiveness?
0:55:10 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
0:55:12 Dr. Camille Preston: The idea of a. The performance healing. I think there’s a. There’s a part there that you almost have to get below that. The, the glare or the, the polish or the illusion or the halo, like a halo effect to really get what’s underneath it and what need is performance serving. And I think this goes back to. It’s like a thread back to the burnout. If it’s performance in service of ego and identity and self worth, it’s a very different energy than if it’s performance in service of something greater than us, in service to a greater calling. And so that’s a whole other inquiry that is.
0:56:00 Dr. Camille Preston: Feels big, but it’s a lot of the work I do with. I work with mostly really successful folks who have gotten to a pinnacle in their career, and they’re saying, okay, I want what’s next. Like, they’re so used to. In condition for more. And we get them more, but we get them depth. Right. Like, so people come oftentimes they’re saying, I, I saw what you did with Punit or Peter or Joe and I want that. And the deeper work is like a, it’s like, it’s like, it’s like a whole new layer.
0:56:33 Dr. Camille Preston: It’s a whole new depth and it’s delightful.
0:56:38 Tansy Rodgers: Let’s talk gut health, my friend. And I’m not talking about the gut health that is trendy. I’m talking about the gut health that is a literal foundation. When your gut is inflamed, nothing works the way that it should. Not your hormones, not your immune system, and definitely not your brain. That’s why I’ve been loving just Thrive probiotics. It’s a spore based probiotic that actually survives the stomach acid battlefield and actually makes it to your gut where it can do real healing work.
0:57:11 Tansy Rodgers: It helps to repair your gut lining, to reduce inflammation and to support mood, energy and even skin clarity. This is one of my personal go to’s. When I feel off, especially during seasonal transition transitions or stress heavy weeks, you can head down to the show notes and click the link for just Thrive probiotics. And when you head on over there, make sure to use code TANSY15 to get 15% off your entire order.
0:57:40 Tansy Rodgers: Because real healing starts where everything else begins. And that’s in the gut. Remember, head down to the show notes, click the link link and use code TANSY15 for 15 off. It is delightful. It’s. I will also say though, it’s not for the faint of heart because it can really bring up a lot of stuff. But the one thing I will say to that, for the listener, I want to emphasize this, that when you do go into that shadows, when you go into the unfinished basement, the, the layer under the house, that foundation, and you go right there, it’s a foundation for a reason, is because when you start to shift that everything else starts to.
0:58:28 Dr. Camille Preston: Shift 100%, a thousand percent, 2,000%. I mean, yeah. That’s why, that is why it’s the foundation. And that is also the greatest call to action. Change this one thing, your whole world can shift.
0:58:45 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
0:58:45 Dr. Camille Preston: Just one habit. Yeah. So beautiful. Handsy.
0:58:49 Tansy Rodgers: So, okay, so let’s talk about that now. Shift somebody. Somebody’s come, they’ve worked with you, they’ve read your book, they’re, they’re diving in. They’ve said yes to stepping into their foundational support and working through some of their shadows a lot of times. And I will say this, especially if we’re talking, this is really for anybody, but especially if we’re talking about High functioning, high achievers, very successful people.
0:59:17 Tansy Rodgers: They’re so used to trying something instead of just being. But that liminal space in between, it just can feel so raw, so vulnerable, even lonely, perhaps. And so what would you say to someone who’s in that weird in between place of undoing and just becoming.
0:59:40 Dr. Camille Preston: It’s a. You distill it beautifully. They have conditioned themselves to be tenacious and gritty and scrappy and hard and successful. And all of those are beautiful attributes. And it’s almost just thinking of, we need to build out the counterbalance muscle and the way of thinking. One of the things that I’ve been asked for, for years that we’re just rolling out is some retreats. Because what people want is to come into an environment with people who have worked these muscles, had these conversations, and are ready for a depth and they’re ready for a presence. And so we, we have both a ski retreat and a biking retreat. I’m fairly active, so you don’t have to ski your bike to do these. But in be.
1:00:27 Dr. Camille Preston: So bringing people out of their normal world into an intentional community of like connected people, but bringing them also into spectacular beauty. We do these in Eden, Utah. So Powder Haven, this incredibly untouched, pristine skiing and snowshoeing is the next one we have available. We have a mountain biking one coming up after that. But what we’re really about is creating space where people can come together.
1:00:58 Dr. Camille Preston: Rather than having to change your relationships like you’ve studied, you’ve learned, you’re building these skills. How do you put yourself in an environment where you can actually use those skills and muscles and practice so that then you can come back? And we see that with a lot of executives too. We do a lot of work with C suite executives on themselves, and then we often will come in and work with their team to say, now that you’ve got this, how is it that we can help amplify your team so that they have a common language, a common set of values, they understand where we’re going. That’s more than just a mission statement. That actually is a financial statement in disguise.
1:01:38 Tansy Rodgers: So a mission statement that’s actually a financial statement in disguise. I like that. Yeah.
1:01:45 Dr. Camille Preston: The way I always gauge it is like, can you tell me what your company values? Right. And you learn pretty quickly what. What people value. Right. So I ask my kids on that all the time. What is it we value?
1:02:00 Tansy Rodgers: Well, okay. And so I’m curious. We’ve talked so much about mindset shifts and behaviors, and I know you talk all about that. Within your book Living Real. But how about the nervous system regulation? Are there other practices that you really find or recommend of importance for nervous system regulation? Because the reality is that is a key factor in stepping into this work and being courageous enough to allow yourself to hold space for what comes forward.
1:02:34 Dr. Camille Preston: Absolutely, absolutely. And that’s. That goes just pulling the thread of the integration. That’s why I’m a business psychologist. Right. Like executive coaching. Sure. But I’m bringing the psychology into the business world. It’s the fusion aspect of it. And so when we think about the nervous system, right. The burnout has. It’s the integration of the head, heart, mind, body. It’s bringing those pieces together.
1:02:58 Dr. Camille Preston: I find so often people are what I call walking heads. Like this is highly developed and there’s no connection from the head down to the body. And a lot of times, you know, they say the greatest distance is from your head to your heart. Like the path of a thousand miles, the trail of a thousand years. Is. Is this like the integration of. Actually it’s the third chakra to the fourth chakra, the me mine to the we heart center. Right. That’s. It’s an inch but it could be feel like a thousand years.
1:03:32 Dr. Camille Preston: I often tread lightly on chakras and dantians and all of that for executives until they’re. I’ve built enough trust because a lot of times it makes people go running for the door. I had, I did have one CEO of Israeli CEO who worked in with us based but was I. I had encouraged him to go to a Miraval a canyon rants and he learned a practice that I do all the time. He’s like, how come you didn’t do that with me? How come you didn’t trust me with that? But this idea of shaking. Have you heard of tremoring? Neurogenic tremoring?
1:04:05 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
1:04:06 Dr. Camille Preston: That’s a really simple, really actionable, really effective practice. And, and so people can write me on the, through the. Through your show notes. You can write me and I’ll. I’m happy to share more information. But the idea is that as humans we can shake to reset our nervous system and that animals do this naturally, kids do this naturally. We contract as we get older and are more rigid and we don’t do this.
1:04:38 Dr. Camille Preston: And we think everything has to go through talk therapy, journaling, writing, talking it out. But actually neurogenic tremoring is a way that you can shake and reset the nervous system, removing stress, optimizing systems. And it’s so popular it’s now standard operating procedure for The Navy seals. So it’s something I do daily, can happen really, really quickly, but it is profound. Profound.
1:05:03 Tansy Rodgers: I love that. And I also think that’s why activities like dancing or jumping are so effective. And also, if you think about, you know, what’s a big tip that people say if you’re going into a presentation you’re nervous about, maybe you’re going to be speaking in front of people and that you’re feeling like everything’s really tense. Just shake it out. Just shake it out. Yeah. You’re losing the muscle, but you’re also decreasing that nervous system response, right?
1:05:30 Dr. Camille Preston: Yep, yep. You get hurt, shake it off. Like so that’s a way that we dismiss emotions like shallow emotions, but it’s also has its roots in something that really works. So it’s a both and absolutely.
1:05:45 Tansy Rodgers: I also, I want to comment on something that you said. You talked about the solar plexus heart connection, and I love that so much. When you were talking about that, I was thinking about a couple of my clients in particular in my energy work that I do. And I see it’s so often high achieving clients that come onto my table almost always if their heart is open, their solar plexus feels open as well. If their heart is shut down, they’re. One of the top things they say to me is, man, I’ve really been struggling with feeling confident, feeling like I have the courage to move forward.
1:06:24 Tansy Rodgers: Forward. And so I love that you just brought that up because I see that, I see that with my own two eyes on my table when I’m working with people.
1:06:33 Dr. Camille Preston: Yeah, yeah.
1:06:38 Tansy Rodgers: So in your book Living Real, were there any sections you wrote that really made you pause that said like, oh, wow, this is going to hit close to home for someone. And what did it feel like to put those truths out there to the world?
1:06:54 Dr. Camille Preston: Oh, so true. It’s like a whole other podcast. But I do think the process of birthing a book is a. Is profoundly humbling. Both what comes out of you, the process of honing it, the process of hearing it, the process of putting it out into the world and then surrendering. Like, it’s a massive surrender of control because you can’t control who reads it, who doesn’t read it, like how they interpret it, what meaning they make out of it. Like it’s. It’s a massive surrendering of control.
1:07:33 Dr. Camille Preston: And I think the thing I keep my mantra is like, from that 4 o’ clock in the morning on December 8th, my mantra was like, if, if I’m meant to do this and it is needed in the world for me to serve in this way. Make it clear and make it easy. Make it clear and make it easy. And I just saw time and again the way the doors opened, and I was like, okay, you’re making it clear and you’re making it easier than I could have imagined. It was not easy, but it was easier than it could. They could, like, they. It was.
1:08:09 Dr. Camille Preston: It was humbling.
1:08:11 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah.
1:08:12 Dr. Camille Preston: And so there’s a vulnerability. But I would also say anything that’s going to enliven and fill your soul and have an impact on the world, it’s going to be scary. It’s going to take some serious courage. I heard something yesterday which is the scariest person to meet on your deathbed is the person you could have become. So if not me, then who?
1:08:43 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. Well, you just said something that I would love to expand on if you feel comfortable. I would love to know how that process and that surrender of bringing this book out into the world really challenged you and yourself with your commitment of maybe some of the concepts in your book, Living Real. And what emotions did it bring up?
1:09:12 Dr. Camille Preston: I really think it challenged my perception of who’s in control. Right. Like, I had an illusion that I was in control, but life actually happens through us. And that’s. It’s such a big question. Can you ask it again in a. More like. Because it’s. It’s like, what was it like to write a book? I mean, it’s surreal. It’s. It’s humbling. It’s gobsmacking. My husband was just an absolute saint.
1:09:48 Tansy Rodgers: I will tell you.
1:09:49 Dr. Camille Preston: Like, I had this. A window of time opened in January, and I. I seized that. And then I was supposed to do a client retreat for a family business, and I just helped the CEO. I had just done a generational transition. It was a new CEO. And he said, camille, I don’t think I should be doing this at a ski retreat with you. Like, I shouldn’t be announcing this acquisition at the ski retreat. I was like, you are absolutely right. So we postponed that retreat.
1:10:14 Dr. Camille Preston: And I was like, oh, my gosh, there’s the universe saying, here’s another week for you to. To. To write. And I kid you not, my husband took a red eye home from Utah with our kids, who were 9 and 11 at the time, with a broken leg. And then he’s single parented with a broken leg for probably like eight more days. So, like, it takes a village to do something like this. We didn’t know his leg was broken at the time. But, like, so I’m not sure I’m answering your question as directly, but it was an incredible journey of head to the ground. And then also, like, am I writing this story? Oh, my goodness. I’m writing this story and then writing it, and then trusting, like, can this go out in the world?
1:10:56 Dr. Camille Preston: Can this person hear this? And then reaching out to clients, saying, I had, like, one guy who’s just absolutely amazing who had hired me because he wanted to be CEO of his company. And three weeks into our engagement, he stumbled on a family trip. And I was like, you need to get that checked out. He’s like, I was like, I just had this. This knowing that you need to get that checked out. Like, I. And he went and got checked out. And it was the first diagnosis. It was the first step of his diagnosis of Parkinson’s, and it, like, pivoted his entire life. And, like, he went through so many different things. But, like, then I was like, I was meant to be in your life, to help you through this journey, and I was meant to learn from him in this journey. And actually, he’s the one person in the book who. I didn’t change his name. He’s like, that is my story. I want my name there. It’s Dave.
1:11:45 Dr. Camille Preston: But it’s. But it. So I think there’s a lot of client stories, because we learn best through stories, and we can absorb things. And one of the things is, I fall in love with all my clients, even if even some really tough people. Like, that’s part of the transformational journey, is finding what’s beautiful in them and helping them flourish into the best version of themselves. So, yeah, it’s. It’s a really intimate book in a scene way. And yet I also think it’s a business book, which is funny.
1:12:15 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. And so you did answer my question. I was just. I was. I was. I was more curious how that helped to crack you wide open. And you use some of those words like humbling and vulnerability and surrender, and it just sound like. It sounds like it challenged the depth of how much you can actually let go and trust others to come in and support you on something that you knew your soul needed to express and to get out there to come through.
1:12:48 Dr. Camille Preston: So that is absolutely true, 100%. And an example, like, an example, if I pull that thread through, is that at one point, it started coming so fast that my fingers couldn’t type it. And so I started recording it, and I was like, well, okay, I gotta toss this aside. I gotta just start, like, it’s Coming. And then that forced me to use like, all this new technology, like Notebook LLM. Like, how am I pulling voice? And so, so.
1:13:12 Dr. Camille Preston: And let’s be honest, that’s my modality is I do my work through my voice and my spoken word. And so it was actually, when I shifted gears, like, just changed how I operated. I actually came back to almost like a truer sense of myself, if that makes sense.
1:13:27 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah. Oh, I love that. It was like. It was like your higher self was coming through and just saying, here’s the words that you need. Here it is. Oh, I love that.
1:13:36 Dr. Camille Preston: Yeah, it’s funny. I have this. I have this wonderful sage soul in my life. And I was talking to him a couple weeks ago and he’s like, aren’t. How is it? How was it? And I was like, well, it was really fun writing. I hated the, like, Cinderella work of all the details. And. And he said, well, you had fun writing it. I was like, I had a blast. He’s like, good, there’s another book coming. And I was like.
1:13:58 Dr. Camille Preston: I was like, no. He’s like, don’t worry. You built your systems. Like, this one’s going to come even faster. I was like, even faster. But so, like, that’s where I’m like, okay, I’m totally not driving this boat. Like, may I be the best steward of the message that you need to bring forward and may I help people open into more happiness, more presence, more fulfillment and success.
1:14:24 Tansy Rodgers: So, yeah, so can you. So since we’re. We’re talking about the book and we’re. We’re talking about the contents and how you felt within yourself. Let’s talk about the contents and how the book is really kind of structured. What if somebody was to read your book? What could they expect from it? Can you just walk us through a little bit about how you went through. Through the process to help bring the transformation?
1:14:51 Dr. Camille Preston: Yeah. That’s fabulous. That’s absolutely fabulous. The introduction is a little longer than most introductions, but it was really. How was I called to live more real, like, understanding what was that thing that knocked on my door? And then this. The first part is really the problem of shallowing. Like, what is the curse of shadowing? What does that mean? How did we get here? What is it costing us?
1:15:15 Dr. Camille Preston: And if I didn’t want to shallow, what do I need to do going forward? So that’s setting people up. The second section is this idea of, like, what does it mean to real? What is the opportunity? How do I embrace the both and how do I break all these Cycles that I’m caught in that are like, so familiar and comfortable and easy and so not serving my highest self. And then how can I hold that tension? Remember I told it said, tension creates a consciousness so that I can connect more deeply to myself.
1:15:44 Dr. Camille Preston: And that’s the second section I’ve had people say, I read the introduction. I skipped a part two. Right. I just, I. I didn’t want to, like, I didn’t want to face the reality of how shallow our world is. I got it. I wanted to jump in. And that’s. That was an absolute avenue. The third section is really a guide for living real. And it’s like, okay, so now that I understand what it means to real and I’m bought into this, like, how do I live it in my own life? Like, how do I continue to grow and build my own capacity, my sense of who I am?
1:16:18 Dr. Camille Preston: How do I learn to listen inward even more? And that’s like a peeling of the layers. How do I engage with more depth with the people I’m interacting with and. And maybe thin some relationships and deepen other relationships? And then the last chapter is how do I create space for even more presence and this idea of connecting more deeply. And I, I will share that. I was teasing, teasing my husband. I was like, I don’t even think you read the book. He’s like, I read the book. I reread chapter 12 all the time. And I was like, oh, I stand corrected.
1:16:51 Dr. Camille Preston: He’s an incredible champion. I’m very blessed. I’m very blessed. So is that helpful? So, yeah, really kind of. It’s. Obviously, it’s a cohesive whole, but there’s really three different sections. Like, help me understand the problem. What am I going to do about it? How do I live this going forward? And we have built worksheets that are on our website, where we have asynchronous curriculum, we have retreats, we have ways that people can engage more deeply with a concept.
1:17:19 Dr. Camille Preston: Because it’s one thing to get it, it’s another thing to live it. And we know that many people are really in that place of saying, like, time is now.
1:17:27 Tansy Rodgers: Yeah, yeah, I love that. I love it. And so that concept of time is now. If somebody’s listening to this and they are constantly performing at life, but they are starving for something more real. And they know time is now. What’s one first step that they can do to reconnect to their truth?
1:17:49 Dr. Camille Preston: I would love to say go to livingreal.aimleadership.com because there’s resources there there’s ways that you can engage. We are actively helping people set up reeling events, like, how do I have friends over and have a really real conversation as opposed to talk about the latest show. And there’s a. There’s a wealth of resources on that. The easiest step would literally be looking in the mirror and saying, I see you, I honor you, I love you.
1:18:25 Dr. Camille Preston: We could be better. I see you, I honor you, I love you. Like that first stage of being present with yourself and then feed it forward. Give your presence to one person today. And again, it could be as simple as the person at the checkout aisle. I’m going to leave. I’m going to tell you one more story. I live really close to Whole Foods, like a block and a half. We call it our local bodega. And I’m a morning person. I like, off the charts morning person.
1:18:56 Dr. Camille Preston: And I go in there and I. I see the same woman every single day. I never realized that her daughter is one of my. Is the classmate of one of my daughters. And she came up to me at a thing and she was like, you know, like, I never made that connection. So you never know which heart you’re going to open, which heart you’re going to connect, how you’re going to show up. But I’m very grateful for Patty and Jasmine in their. The ways they’ve opened me up.
1:19:23 Tansy Rodgers: Oh, I love that so much. Oh, Camille, this has been an incredible conversation. What a gift you are giving out to the world. Not just a physical book, but also really your heart and your soul. That is the, the. The soul. The song of your soul, really. And so I want people in your world. Where can they find you? Where. Where can they find the book? Where can they get their hands onto everything you got going on?
1:19:53 Dr. Camille Preston: Oh, that’s great. Question. Living real. All1Word.aim.leadership.com. we have links to buy the book. We have a chapter you can download. I have it on Audible, but I would love to connect on LinkedIn. That’s where we’re doing a lot of LinkedIn lives. That’s where we have a lot of free resources. So those two resources would be great. And I’m really eager to hear what resonates with your soul. Tell me what stood out or what you’ve tried or what’s lighting you up. Because we’re all in this together.
1:20:23 Dr. Camille Preston: We need this community, we need this vibrance. We need to bring this awakening out into the world. Because at the end of the day, I believe your life depends on living real and the quality of your relationships and the data supports it. So. So I’m excited to hear how people take this into action and what folks have to share. Thank you so much for this opportunity 1000%.
1:20:48 Tansy Rodgers: I love it. As always. Those links will be down in the show notes, so make sure you jump on down and grab the links and get into Camille’s world. Oh, this has been an amazing conversation. I love it. Is there any. I almost. I hate to end it, but it’s time. Do you have any last words that you’d like to lay on the hearts of the listeners for today?
1:21:15 Dr. Camille Preston: Living real, feeling the full range of emotions is perhaps the greatest gift you can give yourself. It’s your greatest legacy.
1:21:27 Tansy Rodgers: Thank you so much, Camille. And thank you so much for the work that you’re doing and for how you’re changing the world and the communities around you.
1:21:35 Dr. Camille Preston: It’s a pleasure. I am excited to see what comes from this. Thank you for the opportunity.
1:21:42 Tansy Rodgers: What an incredible interview. Remember, the world will always reward performance. Always. But your soul, it will only settle for the truth. Dr. Camille Preston reminded us that living real isn’t just about self expression. Expression. It’s about self ownership. It’s choosing presence over perfection, peace over people, pleasing stillness over speed. So this week, I invite you to reflect. Where am I performing? Okay.
1:22:15 Tansy Rodgers: When I’m actually craving support? And what version of success have I outgrown but I haven’t let go of yet? And finally, what would authenticity really feel like if no one else was watching me? If this episode resonated, please share it out. Leave a review Let someone else hear what their soul has been needing to hear too. This is how we let the show grow. This is how we have amazing conversations.
1:22:47 Tansy Rodgers: This is how we all come together and change people’s lives. And until next time, keep spreading that beautiful energy you were born to share.
