J.R.: [00:00:00] Hello everyone, and welcome back to One Thousand Gurus with me, your host, J.R. Yonocruz. 

So today's episode is our end of season recap, so this is episode number 80, recap of season eight, which was recorded from February through early April. I'm pretty excited about these. This is the second one I'm doing because it's nice to go back and sort of recap the last nine episodes as a kind of endpoint for the season.

And it's always a good review for me to see all of the episodes as we went through them, but also to pitch and to give you kind of an overview of the episodes this past season in case you guys missed any. And if some of these sound interesting, you can always go back. Look and re-listen to those episodes.

I'll link all of them in the description below. But overall, just for the intro of this, season eight was a really fun mix that we recorded from February through early April this past year. These past few months, we kicked off with two special non-interview episodes. One of them was a book [00:01:00] highlights from one of my favorite books, and one of them was a thought leader breakdown from a podcast that I really enjoy.

We had some in studio conversations with a variety of guests and capped the season off with episode nine, which I'm still wrapping up the editing as of this recording. But as always, this recap is mostly to lock in the lessons from each episode, but also to give you guys a taste of what the season had to offer.

And like I said, hopefully you guys will go back and re-listen to any episodes that catch your ear. So let's dive in.

Episode number 71, Tony Robbins, decision Making Science of Achievement and Arts of Fulfillment. This was a great way to kick off Season eight, as this was a special solo episode where I broke down a conversation between Jay Shetty and Tony Robbins from the On Purpose Podcast.

Tony was on my original inspirations when I first got into personal development after college, so it was very meaningful for me to revisit his ideas and distill them for the show. I also used a gamma presentation for the first time in this format, which I think really elevated the experience for video listeners [00:02:00] or video viewers, and you guys can see, check out the episode and click the links for that presentation.

My favorite takeaway was the distinction between the science of achievements and the art of fulfillment, which really stuck with me. Western culture drills achievement into us, but fulfillment is more personal. And more important, and most people skip it entirely. The formula Tony lays out is growth plus contribution equals fulfillment.

And his quote, success without fulfillment is the ultimate. Failure is something that I've been sitting on for a while. Also, love quote, not deciding is the worst decision, end quote, which is a good reminder that indecision in itself is a choice.

Episode number 72 with My Vo: growing up, frugal to buying your first home teaching chemistry and enjoying life through hobbies.

My is a college friend and it was so cool to hear his full story in depth, the kind of conversation we'd never quite have, just hanging out his path from UCI to being a community college professor was very interesting, especially his deliberate choice to prioritize teaching [00:03:00] over research.

The fact that he bought a condo on a single income is genuinely impressive and something I think a lot of our peers would want to know more about. My favorite takeaway, the frugality first approach to home ownership was a big one. The idea of living below your means and using programs that most people dunno about to get into a home on a solo income, but equally interesting was his philosophy on hobbies, which is getting good at many things and approaching life as a learner.

I think it pairs well with that idea that mastery doesn't have to be singularly focused. You can and you should spread out your interests and your focus on all the things that interest you.

Number 73, Maximilian Navarro, retail sales to LinkedIn, recruiting fashion tips, and building a 10 year relationship.

So Max is someone I've known for a while as he's my younger cousin, and I was genuinely curious about his career arc, going from retail sales to working at LinkedIn as a recruiter. It is a more interesting journey than it sounds on paper. He's also someone with a lot of opinions on fashion and personal [00:04:00] presentation that I always find fun to hear.

And of course, being in a 10 year relationship gives him some real credibility when it comes to talking about long-term relationships, which I think a lot of people strive for or aspire to have.

My favorite takeaway was the recruiting lens on how people present themselves online and in person, which was eye-opening. He made it clear how much your LinkedIn presence and how you dress or carry yourself shapes how seriously people take you even before you open your mouth.

It was a good reminder to be intentional about personal branding, whether you are looking good for a job or not, and also just the general takeaways of how to approach finding a new career and also balancing your interests and hobbies and passions.

Episode number 74 book highlights the life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

So this was our second special solo book episode of the season, and the KonMari Method is something that I've been wanting to cover for a while, as it was a book and a concept that really changed my life and shifted the way I saw owning possessions, but also how to prioritize and [00:05:00] schedule my own life.

It's one of those books that has clearly resonated with millions of people, and once you dig into why it makes a lot of sense. The idea that tidying is a one-time transformative event rather than a recurring chore is a complete reframe.

So my favorite takeaway was the spark joy principle, which sounds simple, but it's actually profound.

It's a way of forcing yourself to clarify your values by asking whether the things in your life are earning their keep emotionally. I also love the broader message that your physical environments reflects your internal states, and that getting your space right can have a real ripple on how you show up for the rest of your life.

In my opinion, it's all about prioritization and maximizing the things and people and time or activities in your life that can give you the most return and the most joy and fulfillment.

Episode number 75, Herbie De Guzman Dance and DJing to audio engineering, aging parents, and learning from breakups.

So Herbie is a friend who I actually met recently, but he's been [00:06:00] in the dance community for as long as I've been, and it was nice to have him on to finally sit down and pick his brain on a deeper and more personal level rather than just the in person dance related events or DJ music related events where we don't really get to sit down and chat about these sort of topics.

So he's done quite a lot of cool things. Moved from dancing to DJing into audio engineering and the more personal topics around aging parents and relationships, and of course, moving on from relationships made for a really grounded human conversation.

There's something about the show that gives me an excuse to have these deeper conversations that I wouldn't necessarily initiate otherwise. And also, it's nice to connect with people who are down to open up about their lessons and stories and experiences For me and for you guys listening.

My favorite takeaway was the conversation around aging parents that really hit home the shift in roles that happens when your parents get older, and you have to be proactive about that relationship before it's too late.

I feel like that's something that most of us should consider more, especially as we all will deal [00:07:00] with aging parents or family members.

And his reflections on what he's learned from his breakups were very honest and very practical in a way that doesn't come through in these kinds of conversations.

Episode number 76, Richard Hardy, door-to-door sales, mental discipline of 75 Hard and the power of self-talk.

So Richard is a newer friend from my Bible study group, and he's someone whose energy I find genuinely infectious.

The world of door to door sales is one that most people want nothing to do with, but hearing how it shaped his mindset and his relationships with rejection was also fascinating.

He's also someone who has done 75 Hard, which is a program I think about a lot, and hearing his firsthand experience was invaluable.

I'm not quite sure if it's for me yet, but I'm still intrigued about it and willing to learn more. But it seems like for the people who do that mental discipline challenge, they've seen profound results and a change in themselves, which is awesome.

My favorite takeaway from this episode was the self-talk angle was the biggest thing. Richard was very direct about how the internal narrative [00:08:00] you run, especially in high rejection environments, like door-to-door sales, determines almost everything about your results and your resilience. The way you speak to yourself in the hard moments matter more than most people give it credit for.

Episode number 77, Andre Malicdem. Childhood reminiscing male modeling, overcoming depression, and building a family.

So Andre and I obviously go way back from when we were born, since we're basically two weeks apart. He's my cousin and we grew up basically as brothers, and this was one of those episodes where just catching up and walking through someone's life story produced more depth than I actually expected, even though I was kind of expecting a lot.

The male modeling chapter in his life is something that not a lot of people know about him. And his openness about going through depression and coming out the other side with a family and a clearer sense of purpose was genuinely moving.

So my favorite takeaway, his arc from depression to building a family felt like a real testament to what's possible when you decide to deal with your internal stuff rather than outrun it.

And also the importance of. Reconnecting with your faith. For Andre and I were both Christians and we grew up that way, and I [00:09:00] think it's very inspiring to see him reconnecting with his faith, which he felt like helped him realign with what he wants out of his life and his true values, which is great.

Also the modeling world and the fitness world is a fascinating subject, beautiful on the surface with a lot of psychological weights underneath. And hearing him talk about navigating that environment with a sense of self intact was something that I appreciated.

Episode number 78, random Show with Julie Huynh. Careers in an AI apocalypse, buying versus renting productivity coaching, avoiding internet stalkers and more.

So Julie is one of my favorite people to talk with, and just random topics here and there, especially in this format where we just tackle whatever's on our minds. And this produced one of the longer episodes that we've ever done on this show, I think nearly three hours. Which surprised even me. Even though usually with Julie and I, our non-recorded talks can go upwards of five to eight hours at sometimes.

The topics ranged from very timely, AI and job [00:10:00] displacement to very practical like buying versus renting, to internet stalkers and safety and et cetera. So it had a little bit of everything.

My favorite takeaway was the AI careers and conversation felt urgent in a way that a lot of the discourse around this topic doesn't. Julie and I had real thoughts about what skills and postures are actually going to matter moving forward. And we kind of do a thought experiment of, okay, if there's like an AI apocalypse, what realistically do each of us have in terms of skill sets that will allow us to survive in that sort of new world apocalypse?

And it challenged me to think more concretely about how I'm positioning myself. Also, the mastery trade-offs framing, like how specializing costs you deeply in terms of breadth and vice versa. And it was something that I keep coming back to.

Episode number 79, Kenta Thomas Naoi: Joyful Movements, creative Design, business Coaching, and Building a Life in Europe.

So Kenta and I go way back from high school [00:11:00] and we haven't really caught up since then, since high school. We used to hang out a lot. Then in our 10 year anniversary, high school anniversary in 2019, I believe we caught up a little bit as well for an hour or so.

So it's really been huge gaps in between. And even though Kento was a close friend of mine, I really wanted to connect the dots on where he was at from high school through college, post-college, and then now where we're at today in our basically mid thirties.

So we were both in the high school hip hop dancing community at Irvington High School, and it was incredibly healing to reconnect with someone from that era of life. His journey from the Bay Area to New York, to Germany to Denmark, building his creative practice and eventually becoming a business coach is the kind of unconventional path that the show was made to highlight, honestly. Getting to talk about movement presence and non-attachment with someone who embodies those ideas was definitely a treat.

My favorite takeaway, two things actually. First was this concept of non-attachment drawn from Buddhist and yogic traditions [00:12:00] as distinct from apathy of course, and that's something that really resonated with me as that's something that I have been struggling with and trying to learn from and grow from as well is non attachment.

It's not about not caring, it's about seeing things clearly without layering on all the expectations and judgements that distort reality. Second is his reframe on movements. His advice is to find what's joyful and do that, not discipline driven, not have it stacked, just find the thing that makes you want to move and let that be enough.

That one hit me personally because that's where I'm trying to take my own advice and follow that and in my own dance journey as I try to reconnect with my roots of dance movement and trying to find the joy again with dancing.

And so that's it. That is the season eight episode recap and of covering the last nine episodes.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this sort of quick overview of all the episodes. Honestly, this was a great season. A lot of good variety, a lot of good takeaways, a lot of good reconnecting with people both virtually and in person. I really [00:13:00] enjoyed it. Hopefully season nine will be just as good.

Although I have no doubts, I have complete faith that every season's always super fun to have and to record and to look back on.

So I will do my sign off now. So thank you guys for being here. I really appreciate it. Be sure to like, follow, subscribe, leave us five stars on whatever platform you guys are listening to this on.

And reminder to always be kind to other people, but especially yourself. And remember that you can always learn something from someone if you take the time to listen. So thank you guys for being here.