Julie [00:00:01]:
If you’re new to the podcast, you might’ve missed some really amazing episodes that kind of came before your time, so to speak. One of those episodes is with my friend and quite honestly, inspiration, Darin Olien.

Now you might know Darin as the co host of the Emmy award winning show, the number one Netflix documentary series Down To Earth. He co-hosted that with, I don’t know, some of you may or may not have heard of, Zac Efron. And if you have not watched that show on Netflix, go watch it right now.

And there’s actually 2 seasons out now and Darin has spent 20 years exploring the planet, discovering new foods, and he’s kind of earned the title as a superfood hunter. And get this, Darin, this is how I met him.

He developed the superfood shake that I drink every day, Shakeology.

Shakeology has grossed over $4,000,000,000 in sales since 2008, and Darin created it. How cool is that? Like, I literally drink a shake that he created every single day and I have since it came out.

He’s also created other programs, nutritional programs, and has a great podcast called the Darin Olien show where he explores people’s solutions and health.

And he’s just, I think, smarter than most of us can ever hope to be. I think he’s got more knowledge in his pinky finger than some of us will ever have, and I’m okay with that because that’s why I love staying connected to him.

So if you have not heard this podcast or even if you have, it’s worth a relisten. It’s definitely worth diving into his Netflix documentary and into his books as well as his podcast.

So sit back, take some notes, and get ready to hang out with my friend, Darin Olien.

Cultivating an Extraordinary Life through Mindful Consumption and Personal Growth

So we’re just gonna dive in. I was talking with author speaker Dave Hollis a couple of weeks ago, and he’s gonna be on the podcast in a couple weeks.

And it was funny because I said to him, I’ve listened to his books. I’ve heard him speak live. I’ve listened to him on social.

And the beautiful thing about social media is I feel like he and I are friends, even though we are not at all in real life. And then I was thinking about you and coming on and talking with you.

And I can very vividly remember the first time when I heard you speak in that hotel conference room, you know, 12 years ago or whatever, talking about this new super food shake that you were developing.

And I remember thinking that you might possibly still be one of the smartest humans I’ve ever heard speak in my entire life.

And here we are all these years later, you’re an author, you’re a podcaster, you’re the star of a Netflix show.

And we actually are friends in real life, not just in my mind, like I am with other people. We’re actually been friends in real life for a long time.

So I’ve got this, you know, I feel like this long connection with you and you’ve just, my gosh, your platform and what you’ve done has just made such huge ripples in such waves.

And what I find so interesting too, is most people don’t grow up and say, I’d like to be a superfood hunter when I get older. So tell my listeners how you got from Minnesota to, and this will have to be a cliff dose divergent, because it’s not a short journey.

I’m sure. How’d you get from Minnesota? It’s just sort of where you are now in 2021.

Darin [00:04:05]:
Yeah. Well, I also didn’t ask myself that I wanna be a superfood owner. Like, it’s one of those things where goals are great, but then pursue them for sure, and then they open up other doors, and then you get more information, and then you’re free to change your mind and move towards something with new information.

So, I wanted to be a vet, as a kid. But, you know, being influenced in the agricultural community.

My grandfather sold tractors in South Dakota. My grandmother fed Native Americans, like, full on in 1907. And so and all my cousins and second cousins and third cousins still wear cowboy hats to this day and farm in the Dakotas.

My father was an agricultural professor at the University of Minnesota, so he taught business to elevate farmers and get them from just normal farming into kind of now, which unfortunately, has a monocropping side of it. But, so I was surrounded by all of that.

And so, you know, how did I end up here? You know, it was just little doors at the time, were open. So, as I got hurt playing football, everyone, if people have heard that story, and then that set me towards studying physiology, nutrition, kinesiology, all of these kinds of a wide variety of physiological things in school, and then that just got a lot of things turning.

I then took off, went to Colorado, hooked up with a physiologist, exercise physiologist, and we started doing stuff. I started getting lectured by a retired medical doctor on nutrition, and he would send before the Internet was a big thing.

He would just send me stacks of nutritional information they would get from the medical library, and I didn’t realize the impact that both of those people had on my life, because I was able to kind of use my studies immediately out of college with understanding the body and then also had this guy who just hooked on to me and said, this is the future.

What I did as a doctor isn’t what the future is. Getting people the right nutrition allows your body to thrive. And at the same time, it did really sink in.

And then I think long story short, my father ended up passing away. It’s now been 21, 22 years ago.

But that was at that moment, in maybe 2003, 2004, I said no more kind of playing around. Let’s take the knowledge of what I’m seeing in the supplement industry and food industry, and I wasn’t sure why, you know like anyone, I was naive to, like, isn’t these things supposed to be great for us?

And and so realizing that supplements weren’t what they were marketing and claiming to be, and food wasn’t either. Before functional food was even a category, I just said, well, I’m starting to formulate in my own way.

I’m starting to research. In order for me to really do this, my father passed away, coupled with the responsibility of someone, putting these things together, that I needed to see, feel, touch, taste, learn from the direct people. And it just so happens those people lived in far off places. They weren’t regular farmers.

They were foragers, collectors, all of that stuff. So that’s really the innocence of that. The innocent Midwestern kid was just like, okay, well, I gotta go meet them.

And the more that I did, the more my mind would get obviously blown wide open, and I’d come back with a suitcase full of new information, new exposure to botanicals, foods, supplements, you name it.

And so that just created this cascade, and so I just started formulating. I started putting stuff together, and I said, listen. People don’t know about this stuff.

And there’s an extraordinary history, ethnobotanical history, and this can help the people. This can support an economy that doesn’t exist. And so all of these elements and many more came together, and I said, let’s just do this.

So I took what my dad had left me a little bit of money, and I just started working, to formulate and put these things together. And then, of course, never having built a business, I hired, you know, I hired a guy. We started doing stuff. I was gonna put this stuff out, and I kinda burned through all my money.

And then that’s where, just literally serendipity came in. And it’s like, you know, the field of the dreams thing when you just kinda go for it. And then and then all of a sudden, this.

If I didn’t go for it and start really doing the work then there’s no way that this other serendipity or call it an onramp opportunity came in, and that was meeting Isabelle Daikeler, and then and then eventually, obviously, Carl.

And they said, hey. Can you help us, you know, create the shake?

And then because I was already in it and I was already, like, resourcing stuff and sourcing things and having had traveled, I was like, hell, yeah.

I can do it. And then and so that’s where it came. And so then the Beachbody journey, obviously, now it’s like, holy cow. It’s been 12 years.

And so, you know, obviously, I keep that hat, I keep with me. But with that journey and listen, you know, superfood hunting wasn’t even a term. I didn’t come up with it.

It was just an article that was written that was given, and it just kinda stuck, which I’m grateful for.

But, that also opened me up to the environment and to how people were living and billions and billions of people living in impoverished ways, not having water, power, food, shelter that we are used to. And so you can’t help you can’t unsee what you see.

And so, obviously, then that just became, for me, an environmental activation that got me involved in so many other things and some things that I’ve never even publicly talked about that I’m involved in.

Julie [00:11:27]:
So here I am changing the world. That’s the short version of it. I mean, it’s really remarkable. And so much of what you said, it’s, it’s like those stories that you know, you hear on the podcast, how I built this, whatever.

And I remember listening to one about the man who created Zumba and what he’s like, and then I couldn’t speak English. And then I just taught a class and now you’re like, and it’s Zumba, you know, it’s like one step at a time, one little bit at a time.

But the important part was you were putting yourself in the room where it happens. So you’re always constantly putting yourself in that path of opportunity to then be open, as you said, to the next opportunity.

The Key To Living an Extraordinary Life

Darin [00:12:04]:
And you have to, you have to do it. You actually have to, you have to take the steps. You have to know, I think the universe responds to you at your willingness to give it a go. Right?

So, you know, it’s not being reckless. You know? It’s like, okay. You wanna do this thing, but you have another job. Don’t quit the job. That’s silly.

You know? Do this thing, but then create opportunity, create time, space, and a place for you to nurture your dreams and nurture what you see, what you feel. And if you’re not sure about it, then also nurture that. Write about it.

You know, write things down, hints of things, and then build that muscle up. And then you’d be then you’d start developing this trust of knowing about where and what and how you wanna go forward in your life.

And then I think that muscle just kinda gets bigger and stronger. And then, you know, it gets metaphysical also because it’s like I attune myself, and I feel stuff sometimes before it happens. I’ll get a vision. I’ll get a thing. I’ll have a sense of something. Right?

So I feel that out, and those are kinda my bread crumbs. But it’s practice. But that without opening up that too much, but I, you know, I just had a friend who has his father just, you know, abruptly passed away, and he came over yesterday.

And he’s just he’s just spiritually in this place, an incredible place for him through the pain, but incredible opportunity. And I said this.

I said, listen. Yes. Do all these things that you want that are connecting you to your spirit, what you’re finding. He’s Native American. He’s all the stuff that he just suppressed, and he’s also Christian. And so he had this conflict.

But the point I said, don’t ever cut off the connection that you have to you and to your spirit, whatever that is, whatever your God, your creator, you’re connected to nature, whatever that is.

Nurture, grow, give time and place and space because that to me you know, even my attorney just today said, oh, man. Congratulations.

I just signed a book deal. I’m just doing another book.

And he’s like, oh, man. Congratulations. You’re doing all this stuff. And it’s like, yeah. It’s cool. For sure. And I’m grateful. It’s not that I’m not grateful, but I’m like, I’m barely getting going.

And so and so so it’s not about the things that I’m accomplishing. It’s about the why and the what and the when you see, you can’t unsee. When you can contribute to areas that you’ve seen in the world, you can’t. I can’t just turn that off.

Recognizing and seizing opportunities, and maintaining personal integrity

And so I say yes, and you have to be discerning. Sometimes you get way too busy, which I am. I’m actually trimming a lot of things away from myself right now and getting more and more focused. But, anyway, that’s a big part of the topic, but that is what I’ve always said and I’ve always built that part of me that says yes in a sense, on a feeling in my heart. ~Darin

And then I’m willing to… behind that, I would say, reckless abandonment, but it isn’t. It’s just really focused and really committed energy once it hits me here.

And then I use my mind and my actions, to do the best I can to create whatever it is that I wanna then put my energy towards.

Julie [00:15:53]:
I hope your next book is all about that because I could listen to you talk about that piece forever. That’s the piece that I I mean, I like the food stuff. I do.

I need to know more about it, but this, the whole spiritual part of it, I call it my Spidey sense. I’m like my Spidey, I can feel my Spidey sense, but we’re Scorpios.

So we have a little bit of that, you know, there and you get that Spidey sense. However, I think what, you know, and I speak to a lot of female audience in that they might get that spidey sense. They might get that feeling.

And then there’s a lot that holds women back from them pursuing that. And so just to listen to you, you know, encourage us all to like, you what’s to lose? I mean, what do we have to lose?

Importance of listening to one’s intuition and internal signaling

Darin [00:16:32]:
Well, we have a lot to lose if we don’t say yes to it. Right. You know? I’ve missed many opportunities without a doubt. Several. I know that I did make a choice. And then I’m like, oh, I can feel that would have opened up x, y, and z.

But, also, I can’t be in judgment of that. For whatever reason, I decided it, so own it. But, also, when you really get that and you really cultivate that and and, again, it’s I said to him too, there is a language that whatever you believe in, it doesn’t even matter to me about anyone else’s personal beliefs. It’s a personal thing.

It’s so personal that it’s a language that is only written between you and source, you and creator, you and your God, you and nature, you and the animals around you, you and your animals. ~Darin

That is a language that no one really can tell you about. They can point to it, but they are listening to their own deciphering of the language.

So that is because the more you say yes so what is that spidey sense? What is that tingle? If you ask a question in there, then you start getting a little more, okay. I need to follow this.

The more we follow that, the more that that language starts to get created between you and the creator and the more you start to attune to that, it could be you get a sense someone else gets a different kind of sense.

Someone else has a different kind of language coming to them because it’s a personal thing. So it’s a soul to whatever this is. Unbelievable thing is that we have life, you know, the immortal kind of omnipresent thing .

It’s such a great mystery that it’s impossible to say what it is, but it is all around us and always communicating if we’re willing to listen. So, anyway, that’s a big, obviously, topic, but that informs everything for me.

So, I work every day. My journal. I meditate. I do all those things that cultivate that sense so that I can not be yanked around by someone else’s ideas.

Personal Development and Holistic Health

Julie [00:19:19]:
Right. Right. And I think that that’s an important piece to hone in on too in that if you stop listening to your intuition or stop letting it have a place in your life, you won’t have it.

So you do have to make space for it and practice it so that when you get that little, that sounds interesting.

And I think that that was always sort of the I mean, my goodness, how many pursuits in my life and yours too, and so many people have you gone on or done where you I didn’t know anything about teaching fitness when I said, sure.

I’ll teach a fitness class. I know nothing about it, but there was something about it that went, oh, this sounds interesting. I feel something here.

This makes me feel something. So let me just kind of follow that path and see what happens. And, like, 3 months later, I’m like, oh, this is what I was supposed to be doing all along. Right? What if I hadn’t said yes at that moment? And then so it’s learning not to suppress that, but to really amplify that and let yourself feel that and then follow it. ~Julie

Darin [00:20:17]:
It moves and changes too. So you have to be willing to of course correct it because it could be leading you, and you may think it’s this.

But it’s all of a sudden, like, no. It’s that, and I didn’t even know. So, you know, it’s a way that, again, if you’re following someone else, it’s tricky because you have to follow your own knowing in this whole process.

And, also, don’t be tricked by the no either because sometimes the no is a limiting belief, and it may stop you from the opportunity.

Julie [00:20:58]:
That’s good. That’s that those are powerful reminders too and lessons. So, you know, speaking of opportunity, I would love for you to talk on your podcast because I was, for 1, very excited when you started that podcast because I liked more of Darin’s knowledge of the world in this kind of platform.

And then you started this little spinoff called fatal conveniences. And there are these we laugh about it.

Our house is like, oh gosh, now Darin’s gonna tell us we can’t wear sunglasses, but it’s funny because it’s like what you said.

Once you know, you can’t un-know. As you and I were talking about earlier, we had listened to the one about the microwave and then our microwave, you know, thanks to the universe, suddenly stopped working.

And then one day my husband came home and we had no microwave in here. He’s like, what’s going on? I’m like, well, Darin says we don’t need a microwave in here.

However, there’s something mentally, I just feel better that the microwave is not in our house anymore.

So talk to us about how, because you tackle really broad, amazing, contrasting topics on your podcast, but you’ve then distilled it down to these little bits.

And I love how you’re always like, look, you do what works for you.

I’m just giving you the information. How did you sort of distill, and then how do you decide what you’re gonna talk about, what’s gonna make it into the fatal convenience list?

Darin [00:22:19]:
That in particular is, you know, lately, it’s easy to kind of, when I first started, just to write out, like, you know, cell phones, Wi Fi, you know, that was one of the first ones. Headphones.

Bluetooth. It’s the same, it’s the same frequency just in a smaller amount of the Wi Fi and of that cell signal. So that’s what’s cooking your brain. Right?

And so think about it. We are electric beings. We are electrical. Right? And DNA, when you have to send the encoded information of your DNA, and that has to happen for any cell to be created and repair anything in your body at all times.

So it’s happening 1,000,000,000 times a second. When you do that, it sends RNA.

The Electrical Symphony of DNA Repair

Darin:

Our body is a marvel of biological engineering, with cellular processes so complex and precise that they could match the rhythm of a symphony. One such process is DNA repair, a crucial mechanism that ensures our bodies can recover from injuries such as a cut on a finger. But how does this process work? The answer lies in our DNA, the blueprint of life.

When an injury occurs, such as a cut on your finger, the DNA in your body springs into action. It’s as if the DNA says, “Hey, we’ve got to repair this damage.” It’s a call to action for the body’s repair mechanisms, and it all begins with the DNA’s instructions – the unique genetic code that makes you, you.

In response to the injury, a part of the DNA, the RNA, peels off the instruction for the repair. This is akin to a musician reading a sheet of music, interpreting the notes, and playing the appropriate tune. The RNA, using the encoded information, tells the amino acids – the body’s building blocks – how to shape themselves and where to go to repair the injury.

Interestingly, all these interactions are conducted electrically, magnetically, and even biophotonically, meaning they’re orchestrated by light.

This symphony of interactions plays out beneath our skin, invisible to the naked eye but crucial to our everyday functioning. It’s a testament to the wonders of the human body and the intricate processes that keep us healthy and alive.

So the next time you get a cut or a scrape, remember the remarkable symphony playing out inside your body. It’s a reminder of the incredible complexity and precision of our body’s repair mechanisms and the wonder of life itself.

So the microbes are also communicating through light, biophotonics, and light speed. So if you’re so now going back. So if you’re putting a cell phone up to your head, that type of frequency and that Hertz frequency is very disruptive for that cell signaling.

Cell Phone Radiation Concerns:

“20 years ago, I was I had another doctor in my life that was feeding me information. So doctor Hoomanis was the first person who told me, like, you cannot put a cell phone up to your head. And he showed me the first study that they’ve suppressed way back in the day that was showing tumors in people’s heads because it was disrupting the electrical encoding of that RNA signaling, and then the body would then create tumors as a result because it was disoriented in its signaling.”
— Darin [24:42]

So if you’re putting Bluetooth in your head Right, in your head.

So that frequency itself and now in between your brain in your brain, in your head, echoing throughout your brain, keeping it in there forever, you’re totally disrupting circadian rhythms, causing systemic systemic biological and chemical stress. You’re disrupting that RNA, DNA signaling.

That is just a prescription for disaster. Right? We’re already stressed. Every fatal convenience that I can say for the rest of my life, there will be a fatal convenience I can talk about for the rest of my life.

This is how insane we are as humans to create all this stuff that ultimately affects us so dramatically. And so all of that stimulus is creating systemic long term stress and disruption.

Health and Technology – Concerns About The Prevalence of Chemical Exposure in Everyday Items

So that cell phone stuff freaks me out. The Bluetooth stuff freaks me out. It’s adopted all over the place, and that’s a scary one. And, obviously, microwaves, is a freaky technology where they’re, you know, that that signaling, they’re going from the inside out to disrupt and shatter the cells and create friction from the inside out of the cellular structure.

So that’s totally now destroyed the cellular structure and now forces calcium outside of the cells when you consume that stuff. So it’s very disrupting for the body.

There’s nothing safe, especially oh my God. Especially when you have children involved.

Julie [00:27:12]:
I mean, we always have. I mean, we got that. Like, we talked about, I can remember my brother got my my parents, had me when they were much older. So my brother was much older.

And I remember him bringing this microwave home. That’s what’s the size of what’s now like our kitchen table, you know, bringing it in and sitting in on this counter, this ginormous dial, whatever, you know, microwave.

And from that point on, however old I was at that point, up till 2 months ago, 2021, I’ve had a microwave in my house.

Isn’t that crazy? Because it’s just because it’s so accepted.

Darin [00:27:50]:
That in lies the fatal convenience why I put those two things together. Well, actually, that was told to me by one of the first doctors. He had this terminology, and it just freaking freaked me out. I was like, holy shit.

And by the way, just a little history on fatal convenience. This was hitting me in the nineties when my father actually, late eighties, early nineties.

My father had the first of that we’ve ever seen in that area of chemical sensitivity disorder. So now there’s a lot of people, perfumes and chemicals and deodorants and shampoos and all of this stuff.

Now it shows up a little more, but my dad, as a professor, was having to be around people.

And so he had this neurological switch that would happen, and he would get brain fog. He and this is, like, double masters, professor, counselor, like, really intelligent dude, and he was, like, toast.

And so he would have to start writing letters to all his staff on the floor, explaining to us explaining, you can’t use these shampoos with these chemicals.

Here’s some alternatives. So, again, the foundation Yep.

I didn’t even understand it. At first, I did think it was in his head, for sure.
Because it sounded so strange. And then later on, I said, dad… Then I started putting it together. He was a part of the Dragon Keepers in the navy.

That is a very small group of guys that worked on atomic bombs. So he had his thyroid completely wiped out. His liver was shot. He was also, at one point, a very strong alcoholic.

He was toast. He had no more ability to take in any other stress stimulants from chemicals.So so I started to put that… but that was too late at the time. Like, right? So he was kind of off the deep end, and then passed away.

But, that was the foundation of fatal conveniences. All of that stuff happened, and he was suffering. He was suffering every day, all day, and couldn’t do anything.

Julie [00:30:25]:
And couldn’t figure out why.

Darin [00:30:26]:
Yeah. He couldn’t figure out why. Everywhere he went, anywhere he went, from paints on your house, inside your house, from carpets to fire retardants in the sofas, mattresses, off gassing of this, that, and the other thing, formaldehyde in clothing. Clothing is such a gnarly one. Oh my God.

Julie [00:30:51]:
It’s a whole industry that needs…

Darin [00:30:54]:
It’s a bad one. Even some great companies that I know are doing recycling and all of that stuff, but you’re still toxifying. So I’ve actually had a bunch of clothes made for myself, in the process.

I actually wore a bunch on Down To Earth. They’re all they’re, like, literally plant-dyed, fully plants. Like, this one was a walnut. This one was Wow. A bunch of green leaves.

Darin [00:31:21]:
I actually used chaga, mushroom for another one. So it’s like they’re healthy and beautiful. And so it’s like all these fatal conveniences and a lot more, and then, obviously, you mentioned the sunglasses.

You know, a lot of these things when you hear them, we don’t like to hear them, but they’re common sense. When you unpack them enough, you just go Yes. Oh my God. That totally makes sense.

The Role of Light in Circadian Rhythm and Immunity

Darin:

Our body is a miraculous machine with a multitude of functions working in harmony. One of these functions is the regulation of our circadian rhythm – our internal clock that aligns our sleep-wake cycle with the day-night cycle.

This rhythm is primarily influenced by light, specifically the natural light we absorb through our eyes and skin. However, when we wear sunglasses during the day, we disrupt this process, confusing our body’s natural rhythms.

When you wear sunglasses, you’re essentially creating artificial darkness. Your eyes perceive this darkness, and your body, in turn, believes it to be night-time. This confuses your circadian rhythm, disrupting your sleep-wake cycle and potentially affecting various bodily functions, including your immune system.

A key player in this process is the pineal gland, a small endocrine gland in the brain that controls the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep. When you wear sunglasses, you’re blocking the light input into the pineal gland, potentially affecting its ability to modulate your sleep cycle.

Wearing sunglasses also disrupts the communication between the light entering your eyes and the melanin in your skin. Melanin, the pigment that gives your skin, hair, and eyes their color, plays a crucial role in protecting your skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

But it also plays a key role in the synthesis of vitamin D, a hormone that is critical for immune function.

When you wear sunglasses, you block out the light input, confusing the melanin in your skin. This confusion can disrupt the synthesis of vitamin D, potentially compromising your immune response.

So, while sunglasses can protect our eyes from the harsh glare of the sun, it’s important to consider the potential effects on our body’s natural rhythms and immune function.

Striking a balance between protecting our eyes and allowing natural light input can help us maintain optimal health.

And your melanin, if you don’t have the melanin, you are now your body’s not preparing itself to deal with exposure to the sun. Sun and exposure is super healthy.

Impact of Sunglasses on Vitamin D Synthesis

But if you go out and you burn yourself and do all that stuff, you’re setting yourself up to burn yourself because your melanin needs to interact with the sun, and that’s what this that’s what a tan is.

So you keep putting yourself in a volatile situation where your skin’s not getting the signal, so you’re damaging your skin just by having your bloody sunglasses on. Holy cow. That is like when you unpack that. But think about it. Again, common sense.

You’re creating night for your eyes. So it has a cascade effect on your entire system. So again, the solution is don’t wear sunglasses. Train your eyes to receive more light because they do get super sensitive if you’re just throwing on sunglasses all the time. So, again, there’s a zillion fatal conveniences. ~ Darin

Julie [00:34:08]:
So many. It’s so And it’s so eye opening.

Darin [00:34:11]:
Yeah. And there’s big ones too that I can’t get into, which is part of what I’m gonna put into the book… That I’m gonna do big ones.

Darin [00:35:36]:
Like, think about factory farming. It’s a massive fatal convenience.

Julie [00:35:40]:
Yeah.

Darin [00:35:40]:
Exactly. You have a bunch of meat.

Julie [00:35:43]:
Yeah.

Darin [00:35:43]:
How healthy is that for you? How healthy is that for the environment? Really, you wanna take in glyphosate hormones, steroids, tumors, fecal matter.

That’s what you wanna consume that you’re not knowing, so you’re not getting informed consent on what you’re consuming. So let’s give you a little more information.

Pay a little extra for better food so that you avoid the things that don’t have your best interest. And that’s what I wanna get across to people. Unfortunately, we have become… the prophet has become our God.

We worship. And everyone, if you take an assessment of your life, you, at one point, and probably even now, are making money your God. Do we need it? Absolutely. We do.

But it’s a part of a wheel. Right.

We can’t compromise ourselves. We can’t sacrifice our bodies, our morality, our ethics. And also we have voting rights every time we have a dollar in our hand.

Right? So my whole thing is do the best you can, get the greatest amount of food for every dollar, every cent that you get because that’s sacred, and that’s also changing the trajectory of business and companies.

And if you keep giving money to cheap, poor quality… even though it may be volume condensed food and you say I can’t afford it. Well, you’re just getting a volume of poor nutrition with a lot of other toxins that we could unpack for eternity. ~Darin

So there you’re doing yourself no good when you can sprout, like, for 3¢, you could sprout a salad in 5 days of broccoli sprouts in a mason jar. So there’s a million different ways that you can hack your way into.

And listen, as we grew up, right, my mom had gardens all throughout the Midwest. You know? There were north of 60% of people who all grew the majority of their vegetables that they ate every day, and we were one of them.

Julie [00:38:13]:
Or had someone that you knew that was doing that too. You were doing some, and your neighbor was doing some, and everyone was doing some. And so in the summer, no no one was buying tomatoes or lettuce or whatever. You were growing it or your neighbor was giving it to you?

Darin [00:38:28]:
Totally. Totally.

Julie [00:38:29]:
Well, it’s just it’s first of all, I’m growing mint in a mason jar on my windowsill right now. Just so you know, this is really big for me. It’s really big. If I keep it alive, it’s a really big deal.

But it’s interesting when you talk about voting with your dollars, because I think that applies to you know, the older I get, the more informed I get, the more passionate I get about the ocean as a cause and doing more to help the ocean.

And I think there’s I think it’s worth reminding people too that you’re not gonna be able to save the ocean by yourself or whatever your cause is by yourself in one day. But every day you could do maybe a little something. So, you know, it used to be okay.

I don’t, I’ve never been a tap water kind of person, but okay. I’m gonna drink better water. Well, that was smart water for a while, so I could hydrate myself better, except smart water comes in plastic.

So we don’t do that anymore. You know? And it’s a step by step. So now it’s this, and now it’s this. I really love a certain brand of shoes, but this brand actually is made from recycled plastic from the ocean. So guess who gets my dollars? This brand.

So when I talk about that on social, I’m like, you have to vote with your dollars. And it might not be the best. It still might not be perfect, but it’s these little small steps every single day. I think that’s what fatal convenience is too, is this here’s this information.

What could you do today that could start to make a difference? And then could you do something else maybe next week or something else, maybe next week? It’s not that we need to overhaul everything right now.

Growth Day

Curated by world-renowned High Performance Coach, Brendon Burchard, Growth Day is packed full of masterclasses and messages from some of the world’s top mindset and motivational coaches.

Darin [00:40:00]:
Well yeah. Yes. And you’re absolutely right. And and that can be that can be creating, like, paralysis for people when they feel like the the thing is so big That they can’t do anything.

But there’s also this interesting other layer to it. When you act in integrity with yourself, when you walk down the street and pick up trash, that isn’t yours. That also is an act of kindness for yourself, for your neighbors, for the environment at that moment.

And in that moment, you then are producing oxytocin, vasopressin, serotonin. You literally I’m not even joking.

You’re literally producing super compounds in your body at that moment, and that is boosting your immune system. It’s boosting your mood. It’s boosting your strength. It’s and it’s making you feel good. And then think about that. Your neighbors see you, and they’re like, wow. I really like that. They’re cool.

I’m gonna do that. And so we don’t want people… because listen. I’ve been exposed to really big issues. In season 2, even bigger issues and other things. Yeah. But, literally, even, like think about Zach and I when we were in the Thames River in France, and we’re picking up trash. Yes. That felt really good.

And at the same time sorry to swear. And at the same time, it does feel overwhelming but you literally are feeling good because you did something.

But that’s a real chemical thing. So don’t let it stop any of the action because you are contributing to yourself. By doing a selfless thing, you’re actually producing so much self worth inside of yourself and your positivity.

And you’re coming home with, like, look at that. I made an impact. And that’s… How many reptiles, how many birds, how many fish did not consume this and die as a result of this action I took today.

Well, you don’t know that, but you do know know that. On a deep, soulful level because you’re in alignment, you’re in attunement… Going all the way back full circle to what we’re talking about with yourself.

Your soul, yourself, your thing that is never wavering, always there for you. Regardless of anything going on in the world.

You can go back to the stillness and the space of this witness that you have throughout eternity. So and and then aligning that stuff up by taking actions, being kind, being generous.

You know? That’s why they say it is a selfish act when you’re kind because you get a lot of benefit and you benefit others. There’s no downside.

Julie [00:43:18]:
And taking a moment too to realize, oh, that felt good. Like, just actually taking a moment to realize that and to acknowledge that and then trying to string together.

I mean, not to have it or whatever, but, like, when I drink my Shakeology, I go, I will say, I will say to my husband.

I’m like, do you ever think about like, when you’re drinking this, what this is doing on your insides and you don’t even know? And he goes, no, but you do. And that’s why you are doing what you’re doing.

Like I’ll do, I’m thinking about that. Like I drink that shake and then, I think that I just like, I’m changing my life and that makes you feel good. So then that makes you keep wanting to do that, to feel that good, and then your children see you, and they’re like, oh, my parents take care of themselves.

So that’s what we do here. We take care of ourselves, and then that’s what they grow up knowing, and then that’s what they start to pass on.

And then you think it’s just a shake or just a shoe or just a water bottle or just a and nothing’s ever just a… it’s so much always bigger than that. ~Julie

Darin [00:44:16]:
For sure. I mean, I love that. And it’s so true. I mean, just since you brought it up, unpacking Shakeology. Like, for me, it’s all of that and all of these special botanicals, the way we put it together, all of these aspects that we aligned ourselves with and found and put together and tested and all of that stuff.

And it comes by way of, for me, I see the people of where these countries are from. I know the economy that we’ve supported for 12 years that wasn’t, you know, consistent.

I see the workers that work for us that are dedicated to quality assurance and making sure that that shake is badass and tested.

And so it goes for me, it goes to countries and people and economies and indigenous and the infinite qualities that I mean, some of those adaptogens have. Like, holy shit. The history behind these things.

Prioritize Health For Better Learning and Personal Growth

So you’re right. We live in a reductionist kind of way. And I am so over that. Like, there is so much complexity in everything. And that doesn’t mean that you need to know all of that.

But, like, for anything to change in the world, it’s so complex. But it needs people coming together with common interests in order for things to change.

You know, I mean, look at the world today. Everyone is, like, concluding this, concluding that, and this and that, and blah blah blah. And then I’m right.

Julie [00:46:09]:
You just cancel that.

Darin [00:46:11]:
Yeah. And it’s like nothing is that simple.

Nothing. And you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.

Hell, I don’t. How am I supposed to know all the complexities of all that stuff? But if we stop learning and we stop seeing all sides, we’re screwed.

And For sure. There will be people that will just run down that road, and there’s nothing you can do about it. But it’s the same as health. Like, listen.

“This shake (Shakeology) is a badass shake.” 

It’s not meant to replace everything in your health journey.

It’s a part of it. We knew it’s always been a part of it.

But you gotta sleep well. You gotta you gotta drink water

And eliminate the water with plastic for sure.

Right. And eat good and celebrate and have healthy relationships. Be honest with yourself and lift yourself up and learn about what you’re putting in your freaking mouth. Yeah. Because that’s yeah. That’s a big deal.

Right? And and if anything, with the state of the world, I’m guaranteeing you that health is extremely important.

That’s regardless of anything going on in your life. Your health is a commodity. Yes. And it’s necessary.

Julie [00:47:45]:
And, you know, not to be simple about it, but the better health you’re in, the more you take care of yourself, the more you prioritize your health, the more able you are to learn, to grow, to have conversations, to change, to shift.

If you just feel crappy. And I think there are so many people who walk around not even knowing how good they can feel. And if you feel like that, and then someone wants to have a conversation about it, I don’t care what it is, what race relations, I can, it doesn’t matter what it is and the hard stuff that needs to happen and have conversations around.

You’re not even in a good head space to talk because your physical self is. And if you just take care of yourself a little more, it feels like so much. I always say that it’s always more than a workout.

It’s more than a squat and a lunge, you know, it’s, it’s like, it’s who you are in your life. And I think that’s true with every bit of your health journey. And then that keeps you open, okay. Oh, I can have a conversation about something that feels hard because I actually have more patients. I’m kinder because I took care of myself.

Darin [00:48:48]:
Yeah. Like, you know, we are an ecosystem. And we’re we’re we’re giving time and attention to certain things. And is this easy? No. No. Do you wanna go to sleep and just wake up every day and just do whatever? Okay. There’s a lot of people that can do that.

It’s a choice.

If you want extraordinary, if you want more in your life, if you wanna figure out the legacy that you would love to contribute to and go for and fulfill you in a way that you can’t possibly even imagine right now.

And even if you can, it will pale in comparison to the actual. I guarantee you when you actually experience the good and the bad, by the way. Like, everyone’s like, oh, sorry that your house and everything burned down. I get it.

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Curated by world-renowned High Performance Coach, Brendon Burchard, Growth Day is packed full of masterclasses and messages from some of the world’s top mindset and motivational coaches.

For sure they are. But then when you actually feel it, because it’s you know? And the same goes with the good stuff.

If you’re not willing to risk your own self and your life just like you’re saying, most people, I am who I am.

 

I feel how I feel.

 

But if you don’t… for a little inconvenience to change how you’re sleeping, how you’re eating, what you’re consuming, if you’re willing to just take that little inconvenience because you’re gonna create a new habit, and it won’t even be a big deal at that point. ~ Darin

Julie [00:50:25]:
And it’s not an inconvenience anymore.

Darin [00:50:27]:
No. And it is now lined up to the compass that you actually can then have an extraordinary life. And your dividends will just add up and add up and add up. And that’s for your health, for your life, for your goals, for your spiritual growth, everything discipline as it relates to what you’re clear about, what you want.

And, you know, some people look at me. I go to sleep at 8- 8:30 every day. I wake up at 4, and they think I’m nuts. I don’t care.

Like, I love what I do. I love where I’m going, and I am just getting started. And extraordinary is not for just a few. It’s for people who are willing to go for it. And you can’t just sit there and pray about it.

You have to actually then take a step, make a move, and take a risk outside of the comforts.

Julie [00:51:40]:
Mic drop right there. The extraordinary is not just for a few… will be the title of this podcast because that’s so good. So tell us a little bit about also, let me say this before we get into just a little bit of season 2 of Down To Earth.

It was so interesting because Jesse, my youngest daughter, is in nutrition school right now and is with everything that you’re doing.

She’s like, can I come on and talk to Darin? I’m like, no, you cannot. She was saying, do you think he ever feels pressure, like, to eat well all the time and dah, dah, dah, you know, just kinda talking about that.

She goes, because you’re coming at it from a female perspective where females feel so much pressure about everything and anything. And I said, I wouldn’t say he feels pressure.

I would think not to put words in your mouth, but I would bet that you are convicted and there is a responsibility, not a pressure to do it.

You are so convicted in what you’re doing and what your path is, that this is what you’re doing, regardless, as you said, with what anyone else thinks or is doing.

This is what you’re doing, and you’re gonna take as many people along with you as you possibly can because you’re so convicted that this is what you’re supposed to be doing.

Darin [00:52:58]:
100%. Well, just to, you know again, I definitely don’t know what it’s like to have the pressures that women have. That it’s exponentially greater, from what I see. That’s incredibly challenging. I can’t imagine.

But, again, you’re right. Does anyone give me crap about eating vegan? No. If they did, it literally is like water off of me. It doesn’t matter at all.

And in fact, the conviction without judgment, zero. I just am in my space.

Someone has a question, I’ll share it. But I am totally cool, anyone around me doing anything unless it’s harming someone.

……

[Julie]
Okay. Tell us quickly when do you know when Down to Earth is just coming out? Is that filmed all in Australia or lots of other places?

Darin [00:55:19]:
Yes. So the primary place, you know, well over 90% would be Australia because of the restrictions.

Even in areas in Australia, we couldn’t. So we don’t know when it’s gonna come out, because we’re but we’re editing. We’re it’s a huge amount of work, but we, you know, we think, I hope, I don’t know, the first of the year, thereabouts.

But we have no idea. Like, we’re just doing our part. We have a few little things to catch up on and film, but, yeah, it should be, it should be good regardless.

Julie [00:56:02]:
It’s just so great to get information out in a way that feels relatable and accessible to more people. You know, the minute you started talking about water and my husband watched that episode is the minute he started being more conscious of the water he was drinking.

Cause you’re saying it and it’s, he’s watching it and it makes sense to him. So it’s digestible. It’s accessible. It’s relatable.

And so the more I would like you to do lots and lots of seasons because the more you do that, the more people get this information into their daily lives, and we can all make some changes.

Darin [00:56:30]:
Thank you. Yeah. We took on some big topics this time, and there were some intense moments, but unbelievably beautiful. So we’re excited.

It was interesting because we’re able to dive into stuff and also have a kind of a through line with all of the episodes that we didn’t that we had, but didn’t necessarily have the same way the first season.

So, we made the best of what we had and, extraordinary situation. Life is life changing for Zach and I and the whole crew.

Julie [00:57:07]:
I’m so glad. Okay. Last question. Wrap up quickly. I know you gotta go. You’ve seen a lot. You’ve done a lot. You’ve seen a lot of ways of eating.

You’ve seen a lot of you, you’ve seen a lot. What would you say if you had to sort of pinpoint a couple, whether it’s actions, behaviors, mindsets, something that’s a through line of people that you see living vibrant, healthy, sustainable lifestyles.

What’s something that you see them wherever they are in the world? These pieces seem to continually pop up.

Darin [00:57:40]:
It’s a good question. I think I teed it up already subconsciously. It’s discipline. It’s aligning yourself. And then the layer to that is lining yourself up, continuing to course correct who you are, what you are, what you care about.

The people that I admire are disciplined. The people I admire are attuned. The people I admire aren’t necessarily working themselves to death, but at the same time, they can work 20 hours.

Because they’re convicted in that. So, and there’s and there’s a difference with people I’m inspired by by others because I don’t I’m not inspired by cash alone.

But I also love cash because there’s a lot of things I wanna do in the world with it.

So that’s a part of it. So you can’t divorce things that are part of the wheel that creates things in this world.

But another thing is there’s a reception, I think. People are willing to receive and not react. So smart people receive really well, and they don’t react.

They don’t come unglued. They learn from people. They receive people. They’re open, and they’re solid in themselves. I can hang out with those people all day long.

We don’t even have to be necessarily aligned because we’re not trying to convince each other of anything. Right.

And then where we cross over, there’s a lot of people I do business with that have their lifestyle that is not even close to mine, but there’s powerful ways that I respect and that I’m touching.

And I guarantee you, without trying, they’re gonna adopt some shit that I’m doing that’s gonna help their life. You know, if they’re gonna hang out with me, that’s gonna happen.

You know? Yeah. So I am gaining tons of incredible information.

So there’s a receiving that smart, effective, and successful people have, that is different. Not all successful people. There’s controlling freakazoids out there.

So I’m not saying all, but the people I see are successful.

There’s a calmness, there’s a strength, and the reception to be able to receive information and use that information. There you go.

Julie [01:00:41]:
I took, like, 4 pages of notes. Just so you know, that’s what I was furiously writing about as I do every time you speak, Darin Olien. I’m so thrilled that you gave me a little bit of your time. This is why I started this podcast so I could hang out with cool people and just talk to them all day long.

This has been amazing. I thank you so much. I really appreciate it. We look forward to season 2. We look forward to the new book and they can find you @darinloien on Instagram.