S2.01. Knowing Yourself & When To Pivot

Welcome to Season 2. Here I sit down with Rachel Barnard and discuss her time of founding the Organization called Young New Yorkers which prevented over 1,400 adolescents in New York City from being incarcerated. We discuss the burnout that can come along with pursuing a dream, knowing yourself and staying true to who that is.

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Episode Summary

We dive into the power of creativity as a tool for social change and personal healing. Rachel explains how she pitched a public art project as a court-mandated program, effectively humanizing young people in the eyes of the law beyond their mistakes or past decisions. Rachel & I then discuss the bittersweet reality of burning out from the very work she loved and the courage it took to eventually step down and pivot.

We explore having personal, internal integrity —the practice of deeply listening to yourself and the deep knowing inside of you even when it contradicts your external commitments. Whether you are an entrepreneur, a creative, or someone navigating a major life transition, this episode serves as a reminder that your worth is not tied to your productivity and that resting is an essential part of the creative cycle and flow.

Key Takeaways

Art as Advocacy: How creative expression can disarm systems of power and advocate people by showing who they truly are, apart from their mistakes or past decisions.

The Paradox of Fulfillment: Why it's possible to be fulfilled and burnt out at the same time.

Internal vs. External Integrity: Learning to distinguish between the promises we make to the world and what we owe to ourselves.

The Beauty of the Void: Navigating the uncomfortable space between ending one chapter and starting the next.

Self-Compassion in High-Performance Cultures: Strategies for dropping self-judgment and becoming a better friend to yourself.