“Embrace the moment of what’s possible right now and just choose joy.
Choose kindness. Choose gratitude. ”
— Yasmin Nguyen
Welcome to the Steve Show! Today, we have Yasmin Nguyen on the show! Yasmin is an amazing leader, speaker, and inspiration— helping leaders and organizations amplify their impact by reducing burnout in their lives. He has an incredible story that hard-working, caring human beings can relate with.
Before becoming a speaker, Yasmin was a hardcore serial entrepreneur for over 20 years. He was your classic overachiever. He was running five businesses at the same time— three rental properties, a web design business, social club, a food business, and an e-commerce store.
One day, he found himself paralyzed in his office— his relationships were suffering, his health was falling apart, and he was in a really dark place. For a while, he had woken up every day in so much pain. So much that there were times he would stand at the intersection, waiting for the light to change, and consciously make the decision not to step out in front of an oncoming bus. In Yasmin’s words, “I closed my eyes and I took a deep breath and I just had this feeling like I should just give myself one more day.”
Back to the office scene: there he was, completely frozen. Then, he had an urging feeling that told him to just drop everything and hope into his car and drive. That’s when he found himself at the Oregon coast. He took off his shoes, buried his toes in the sand, and felt a moment of peace and calmness again— something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
“So, I remember one of the times when I was sitting out on the beach on a Wednesday, I would go during midweek to avoid traffic. I thought, “I guess this is what it’s like to retire even though I’m… But I started to accrue these days over the course of a year— 52 days of retirement.”
That’s how his mini-retirement practice started! He continued to do that week after week for a year, and he found the energy to rebuild his life from scratch— his relationships, body, and businesses!
“I lost touch with who I was. I discovered that pain comes when we’re out of alignment with ourselves…”
Yasmin has a simple and powerful practice that can transform your life: it’s called taking mini-retirements regularly.
Now, you don’t have to take a day off a week. It could be an hour, a minute— whatever. But taking these little ‘retirements’ that create a space just for yourself. This practice literally saved Yasmin’s life and transformed it. It can do the same for yours.
So, are you up for Yasmin’s mini-retirement commitment? Try it out. We would love to hear how you go! If you have questions and want clarification, please comment on this post. I read every comment and respond.
As always, until we meet again…
Choose Gratitude Create Freedom
Steve Napolitan
