Ep. 16 - Fear Is Lying to You — Gigi Santos on Self-Trust, Bold Decisions & Becoming Everyone's Hype Woman - Everyday Conversations

0:00 I will always, always, always be cheering you on and rooting you on for you to do the exact thing that you want to do. Doesn't matter how crazy, doesn't matter how stupid somebody has made it seem to be because everyone's a little bit crazy. Everyone has their own version of craziness, right? But you're crazy is the best crazy because it is the most aligned and the most genuine and true to you. So lean into it.

0:36 Welcome back to Everyday Conversations and I'm your host, Amin Mumbani. If you haven't subscribed on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you are listening right now, do that because the lineup coming up is one of the strongest yet. Today's guest was called a tattletale growing up. Not because she caused trouble. That's the second case. We will ask her if she called the trouble or no, but because she told the truth even when it wasn't convenient. She played softball all the way through college, and there was something about her energy that her own team mates and coaches couldn't always match.

1:13 To her entire professional career. She was an outlier who spoke her mind and rooms that were mundane, pessimistic, or just just low energy. She's a keynote speaker, mentor, and certified life and success coach who help people overcome fear, take aligned action, and make confident decisions. Her core message is so simple, and it doesn't leave much room to hide. Fear is lying to you. You already know what to do. She has built a career and a following around proving that no matter how much judgement, failure or loss someone has faced, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

1:58 Because that's exactly what she's lived herself. Welcome to Everyday conversations, Gigi Santos. Thank you so much, Amin. I appreciate you having me everyday conversations. Here we go. How are you? How was your day started? I think. So far, so far so good. It is bright and early here in Miami, FL. The sun is out. Yesterday it was a little bit rainy but you know, it's a beautiful day to make it a beautiful day, especially when I'm here with you.

2:30 GD how's your day going? My day is good. It's evening over here right now. I'm pretty much good, but just down under the weather. People can just know from my voice as a moment right now. It's OK, I'm sending you all the positive energy so that we can get up on top of this weather. Thank you so much, I really need that. Certainly. So JD, Florida, I think it's a little bit hotter than most of the states, right? Yes. Well, right now, compared to what Arizona is looking at, they're looking at like 100°F.

3:06 I think that's, I'm not sure what my conversion is, but heat waves, almost heat waves when it comes to Florida, it's not that bad, especially if you were born and raised over here like me. You get used to it. You get used to the humidity. When you have this curly hair, it actually helps out a little bit more. So why not? You know, once you get used to it, you'll be fine. A lot of us walk outside with sweaters and sweatshirts anyways, and it's OK. We look crazy, but it's OK. That's why I need to tie my hair because I also have curly hair.

3:39 I have. I have it helped a lot and grow curly and I love them actually. There you go. So what do you do? How are you? What's your work like? Just a small intro of yours from your end. So listeners should know before we start, go dive deep into. Absolutely. So I'll make it really simple. I am everyone's certified hype woman. So when it comes to them approaching a certain obstacle, approaching a challenge, approaching a goal that they have a dream that they have in mind, there are so many things that go through your minds that stop you from moving forward, from taking action, such as overthinking, the fear of failure, the fear of loss, any of those things.

4:25 That's when I step in your certified hype woman, Gigi Santos. And we put all of those things over to the side so that you are able to take action. I am a life, life and success coach. So literally in the name, I'm helping you in life and to gain success and I'm coaching you through it. I'm also a keynote speaker, being a former operations manager. I just like to go from A to B all the way to C and getting it through as smooth as possible. I like to say that we could do the same exact thing 1000 different ways, but it's up to you to pick what's most efficient and effective for you.

5:02 And so as a keynote speaker, I like to speak to my clients, to my audience, to my people, to my tribe, and inspire them to get to the other side of their dreams of their goals. And today you are speaking to my audience. And you're gonna get ready for the energy because it's going through the screen, it's going through the audio right now. If you're listening, if you're watching online right now, then this is the episode for you. If you've been feeling down the dumps, if you have been overthinking a decision, then this is the conversation that you want to sit into.

5:38 I'm so excited. To me, thank you for having me again. Welcome so much Gigi. Tell us something about the freebie you are going to tell on this show. Absolutely, Absolutely. So very easy. You know, there are some decisions that we procrastinate on, decisions that we overthink because we're thinking about all of the outside external perspectives that are around us. You know, that decision that we have been delaying for a week, a day, a year sometimes has just just been dependent on our overthinking or because of the judgement of others.

6:14 No more of that. You are just one decision away from changing your entire life. And so with that, I am offering to you, if you're listening to this, if you're watching this online, I am offering to you a free decision making checklist. It is a free decision making guide. 5 simple steps that no matter what decision it is that you're making, whether big as in leaving the country and changing your entire household or something as small as what should I eat today? You could go ahead and take this free checklist.

6:51 And with that free checklist will take you through the five easy steps so that you can make a final decision, a decision that's aligned with you, a decision that you will feel good about, and also a decision that you could take immediate action on. And so I'll be offering that to you, the audience, so that you could use this in any different type of occasion so you could finally make that decision and move, take the action that you've been needing to take all of this time. It's very simple. You know what to do, you just need to act on it, right?

7:24 I'll put down that freebie link in the show notes below. So before we deep down into anything, I want to tell the listeners that she's so much active on threads. Actually, what make you use thread a lot? And I think whatever threads you're putting, those are something meaningful because whenever I read them, it's something we resonate into our daily lives. Or sometimes it's resonate how you take your life and how you want to take your life. Absolutely. You know, we're just always coming up with new parts of social media.

8:07 You know, we started off from Facebook, then from Facebook, we had Twitter and Twitter is now X and then we have Instagram, all of these different platforms. And here's the thing, it goes back to the center of how I see my audience, how I see the clients, how I see the customers. You could do the same thing so many different ways, but it's about what's most effective and efficient for you. And so we learn in different ways as human beings. We're so unique and we intake information in different manners that apply to us.

8:43 A lot of people are more of auditory listeners. Some people like to be like to be very visual, they make an image in their head or some people just like to read, you know. So depending on where you were, let's say growing up in school, sometimes the teacher didn't just have to write it on the board, but they had to show you a video on it, or maybe they had to give you the textbook and you read it off yourself. And so I like to talk to the person on the other side who's having the exact same problem as every other unique human being, although I like to give them another outlook.

9:22 So therefore, why I use threads as another means to speak to that little part of your mind that is going off on the very thing that you should be doing, the very thing that we are all experiencing, You know, as human beings, we're doing the same exact thing. There is no unique problem on this earth. There is most likely someone else that has done the same exact thing as you. So it's not unique, but it feels unique to you. It's your own unique experience. And so I use threads as a means of here's the message that you need to hear for the day, every day.

10:02 I will put in a message that may or may or may not resonate to you maybe at that moment, but you are able to apply that same idea in your life no matter where it is that you are. And so Instagram will be the videos and the pictures. Then we have TikTok. We have little short messages, but as far as something for you to be able to go into and to read, then threads will be something that I would use and luckily we got to connect. That's the thing from threads, just unrehearsed message I put on threads and I connected usually in my show, I asked everyone, every guest at the last stage that what are the ways to connect with you, where can they find you?

10:50 But as we started the things, everything right now with social media. So I would like to ask you what are social platforms which you are using and how people can find you? Absolutely, very easy. I always say let's go for everything and everything that is enthusiastic is optimistic. I'm always like let's go because I want to be able to celebrate and so very easy since I always say let's go and my name is Gigi. On all platforms you will find me as Let's Go Gigi. My most active will be Instagram, then TikTok threads, YouTube and LinkedIn, LinkedIn, very simple.

11:32 You'll find me under my name Gigi Santos. But everything else? Let's go Gigi. Perfect. So Gigi, let's go dive deep into You were called a tattle tale growing up for your honesty, and even in softball, your energy didn't always land with teammates or coaches. What is actually what was it actually like? Like being the outlier in every room you walked into.

12:01 Being the outlier in every room was, I'm not going to lie, a little bit scary. Sometimes you just want to fit in so badly and you kind of just want to blend in with everyone else. But I noticed very early on there was something about me that there was just a little bit extra. Even now, I will call myself extra. Some of my friends say, Oh my gosh, Gigi, you're so extra. Extra as in there's something there and which is outside of the norm that it makes makes me unique. I like to say that there's no such thing as normal.

12:39 And so I like to create my own narrative. So growing up when it was, it was my family members growing up that they would say, Oh my gosh, she's such a tattle tale. Like, you know what, being the youngest one also, I like to always work morally and ethically. So if I saw something out of the norm that maybe something wasn't supposed to happen, I was very quick to say something. Going into my career, it was the same thing. I was always the manager in a room of other managers. That was the first one to speak up.

13:15 And I had a lot of my peers that were kind of like, oh goodness, Gigi's about to say something. What is she about to say? Because here's the thing, you're never going to know what you don't know. And if you are, if you don't have the courage or the boldness to ask the questions, then you are forever going to be going off of whoever it is that's telling you what to do. Or maybe you're going to be acting out of alignment and nobody wants to be in that way. And so when it came to even being on the softball field, I was usually the person to stay quiet or stay a little bit timid.

13:55 You know, we had our team captains, we had our our more tenured players. And so I was very observant. Although once I started learning the move of things, it's like, if anything's out of the ordinary, then why not call that out? You know, who knows who could be put back on track because you called something out? You know, we want to be human beings that are acting out of a line, out of alignment. And we want to be, you know, very honest with ourselves and know that you know what, once I make a decision and once I take an action that this is truly what I wanted to do.

14:33 And so being the outlier, it's scary, yes, but you never know what's going to come out of you. Being honest and being truthful and being genuine. The worst thing that could happen is what, a little bit of embarrassment, a little bit of shame. But I think that's a trait that is that is not celebrated as much as it should be. Why not? Nothing's going to happen. You're not going to die. It's going to be a little bit scary. But on the other side of this fear might be something that's so empowering and so useful that you'll go away from that learning a lesson or being the best, knowing that that was the best decision that you could have made.

15:16 So walk me through what it actually looks like when you are in a session helping someone make an aligned decision. What does that process really involve? So good. So I was working with somebody that was in between a decision of completely changing their life or staying the same and trying to work something out. Here's the thing, people do not want to be advised, right? As a coach, people like to think, OK, this is the person that's going to give me the answer. This is the person that's going to tell me exactly what to do.

15:54 No, no, no, no, no. My job is to show you you. It's to show you a mirror of you, of what's really going on beneath the surface. Here's the thing, You're not going to make the decision that is unaligned with you. Think about it as if we're flipping a coin. If I flip a coin right now, you have your two options. But at the end of the day, whatever it is that it lands on, that's the thing that you're going to how many times, I mean, and I want you to think about this. If you're listening to this, think about this.

16:27 How many times have you been faced with a decision that has two different choices, and then part of you wants one choice over the other? I think most of the time this thing, most of the time this thing is there. You have to select either this or this. Right. But then there's one that's just a little, I want it a little bit more. And so my job is to step in and allow you to discover that, right? Because if this is something that you want a little bit more, that means it's more aligned with who you are and who you are becoming and who you want to be.

17:03 And so I am not going to allow you to make a decision just because it's convenient. Because usually when we make things a decision out of convenience or what we think it is that we want, usually when we go into that, we start having regrets. We start thinking that oh, it was a mistake or oh, I failed because I made that decision. No, when you make a decision that is aligned with you, it will never be a failure. It will never be a mistake. It will only be a learning lesson that you could take from and say, you know what?

17:34 I did that because I chose it and I learned this moving forward and we keep on moving on. So what it actually looks like is exploring both of those options and exploring the options that you have and diving into the actual option that is most aligned with you. Hey, I I kind of feel uncomfortable with this, although I feel like it could be worked out OK. What are you willing to do in order for it to be worked out? I'm willing to do AB and C&D. OK, perfect. So that sounds like something that you're wanting to put effort into.

18:13 And that sounds like something that is more aligned with you, who you are and who you are becoming. And so that's the route that we're going to take, because if you don't feel so aligned with the other option, then there's no point in you forcing it and trying to explore it and trying to make it into something that is not really true to you.

18:36 So what's a recent moment? Or was there any recent moment where you watched someone go from completely stuck to taking any bold action and right in front of you actually?

18:48 You know, I am a firm believer of if I can't do something myself, then I won't make you do it. I won't, you know, So I like to experiment, experiment on myself before, before bringing it over to someone else. And so perfect example, I was working with a with a friend and I had just met this friend, you know, we just built a really good relationship, a really good bond really quickly. And so they had these services in which I was considering in working towards. And so looking at it from a distance, looking at a perspective, I said, oh, these services will definitely help me and my business and what it is that I'm trying to do.

19:39 And as we're having the conversation, I'm actually building my own goals, my own dreams, and making it seem more lively. It's it's, it's more true. OK, cool. Now that I'm having this conversation with you, I could see this coming into life. I'm visualizing this and it's aligning with who it is that I am becoming. Here's the thing. Once I took a step back and I gained my own perspective, I said, wait a second. Although this is aligning with who it is that I'm becoming, it doesn't align with who it is that I am right now, you know?

20:17 Maybe this is something that I could consider for the future. Maybe this is something that I need to go ahead and try myself and allow myself the option and give myself the permission to explore my my options and try and do it myself before I outsource. Even though I just made really good rapport with this person. Even though I made a bond with this person, I don't want to break that bond, but I also have to be true to myself. And so looking at that situation, I had one option of working with this person and possibly making all of my dreams come true, or still making my dreams come true.

20:55 And also giving myself the chance and the, the learnings of doing it myself, of taking it step by step of being aware of where I am right now so that I could be where I want to be. And so I had to do that exercise myself. I mean, and I said, you know what, let me go ahead and give myself the shot. I'm going to work this through myself because that is what I'm putting most effort into because I could go ahead and, and make it really easy and work with somebody else and allow them to do everything for me.

21:29 Although that's not who I am yet. I'm not that person yet. I'm not becoming that person. I'm becoming the person that does it themselves, that is willing to learn, that is willing to grow step by step rather than just taking a leap over to the moon. And so with that same situation, because I'm able to do that for myself, I'm able to offer that same mindset to whoever it is that I work with. Because it's OK for you to not jump to the moon on the other side from one place to another. It's, it is also OK to take it step by step and be in your own pace and be in alignment with who it is that you're becoming so that you feel in alignment and you feel like you're taking the appropriate steps that align with you right now.

22:19 Very well said. Did you? Your entire message is about like stop seeking permission, trust yourself, and yet in your own intake form you asked me for permission to mention your free checklist on air. So how do you square the coach who tells everyone else to trust themselves, but still checking in for permission for yourself? Absolutely no. That's so good when it comes to the permission of the decision making checklist, that one is just to respect what it is that the host has, right? I don't want to come in here and say, oh, hey, I have a decision making checklist.

23:06 And then I, I all of a sudden you're, you're in shock, like, wait a second, what checklist is she talking about? Where did this come from? I don't allow anybody to offer anything on the podcast. You know, I don't want to be, I don't want to cross anybody else's boundary, right? Because if that's something that's not allowed, because usually even on stages, even as a keynote speaker, sometimes you are allowed to sell on stage. Maybe if you're listening to this, maybe you have been in an environment where you were in a conference or that you were listening to something and then all of a sudden someone says, oh, hey, I have this book coming out and here it is, right?

23:47 A lot of the times we need to ask for that permission because, you know, that's self promotion. That is, you know, being able to connect with someone else in a very genuine and specific way. So therefore why I have to ask for permission because I'm not going to completely shock you with something that you didn't expect. No, no, no, no, no. We're not going to do that. On the other side, we're talking about self trust, right? This is where you're making the decision for yourself. For example, in that same situation, I'm thinking, well, I want to go ahead and give this free decision making checklist.

24:27 I'm going to ask myself for permission because I go ahead and I trust in my product. I trust in what it is that I do and do I trust myself enough to offer it to somebody else, right? So there's a difference. Do I trust myself in it being something very valuable to the listener? Absolutely. So I'm gonna go ahead and present it now. I'm gonna also ask for permission to present it to the audience, right? So when it comes to self trust and asking yourself for permission rather than someone else for permission, it's almost like if I were to ask my mom, my dad, my best friend, hey, I'm about to go on the Everyday conversations podcast.

25:13 Do you think I should go ahead and offer my decision making checklist? And who knows? I mean, I actually have a story about that where I was actually in a, in a middle of a decision and I got two different perspectives. One person that told me absolutely yes, let's go ahead and do it. And the other person said absolutely not, do not do that. You are crazy for even thinking about that. And that's what sometimes the external voices outside of us that are giving us all of this feedback, giving us their own opinions and don't allow us to move forward because we're not usually thinking about the person that's hyping us up and giving us that encouragement to do the thing.

25:54 We usually think about the person that is discouraging us to do the thing because of AB and C reason. And that's when fear takes over. That's when overthinking takes over. And now we never know the opportunities that we're missing because we didn't bring out our own audacity. We weren't bold enough or we didn't have enough courage to go ahead and do the thing that we knew in our body and in our mind to go ahead and do. And so when it comes to asking permission to self, it's better to ask yourself for permission, Hey, do do I think I should do this rather than asking someone else?

26:31 Hey, do you think it's a good idea to go ahead and do this? The idea versus the execution and with your permission, if I could go, the idea is great. If I could execute this in front of you, then perfect. With your permission, I will go ahead and offer that over because I don't want to cross that boundary because I know it's going to be valuable to somebody. And I would say I have brought you in the show for my listeners. So definitely a success coach, a certified coach knows better what to offer to the what to offer to the listeners over there, the audience over there.

27:11 So definitely you ask the permission, yes, you do not need to seek the permission for this kind of stuff, which is beneficial for the audience because if you haven't asked about permission for this free checklist, but I would ask you even that. Do you have anything or a tip to take for the listeners to take away from this episode? So somehow indirectly it would be somewhere how to take decision or this and that. So you asked, that's very good of you and I think listeners could get benefit of that.

27:46 Yes, absolutely. When it comes to decisions, there is always going to be a decision that you are you are leaning towards. But here's the thing, there are so many outside factors that will get into our head that will get into our mind. Most of the times when we are not making decisions is because we have an obstacle in the way and we need to be able to tell what is the obstacle. So if I could give the audience 1 tip, it would be working through and actually realizing what the actual obstacle is. For example, some people delay having a conversation with somebody for whatever their reasons are.

28:30 Maybe it's because they are already replaying the conversation into their minds and thinking or assuming what the other person will say. And so therefore because they are assuming in their own mind what the conversation would sound like in their own mind, they delay even having the conversation. Here's the thing. What's actually happening in that situation? You are making up a completely false narrative in your mind before it even happens. And so. This is a very biggest, very big debate. I think so.

29:07 Yes. Because in my previous, sorry, in my previous episodes also I've spoke about this. If you have something in your mind, be yourself, Speak out what is in your mind. Speak to the conversation. Do that conversation. Because one conversation can click something either about anything. Yeah, anything. It is. But if you will lack that conversing thing, it's not about the skills. You cannot converse. You cannot communicate properly. That's not an issue. But sit with someone for a while, Speak out what you want to say.

29:45 It's nothing going to change. It's going to help you and forget what others think. It doesn't matter. It's not your business actually. Right there, right there. I mean, and that's, that's where some people get stuck. They call themselves stuck because now I'm thinking about what everyone else is thinking. And it's very easier said than done. Forget what everyone else, whatever what anybody else is thinking, sure, great. But then when I'm going into the conversation now I'm not even being honest with myself.

30:20 Maybe now I'm putting some fluff around the very thing that I want to say and I won't even get to the point because I am too scared that if I'm too bold or if I'm too courageous and I just put it out there on the table, that there will be something that goes against me. And we can't think like that, you know? So that one tip instead of, oh, stop thinking about what everybody else is thinking or just be bold and do it. It's what is the truest line to you? What is the most true and genuine thing to you right now?

30:55 Where will you be most aligned? Because it let's say you're asking for a, a raise, right? You can go ahead and ask them. Hey, I have been a very good worker and I've been here for so many years and I love my job and I've helped out this and I've done this and I've done this and I've done this. So I was thinking, you know, my compensation has been this. And if we continue on the ramble, the other person on the other side is not going to be clear on what it is that you're asking for. Rather, if you just start the conversation, hey, I have something to ask you.

31:29 Would I be able to get a raise? Simple. One sentence, one line. That's all you need. I thought this, I thought this problem is this problem is most in the Asian culture that they cannot ask something directly, but I don't know that it's over there as well.

31:49 I think it's a universal thing. Don't matter where it is that you're from or what it is that you do. Like just fear itself. It's a human thing. Like it's in our human brains and our human psychology. You know, growing up, we were all scared of something, whether it was the dark, whether it was a scary movie, right? You know, if it's more of a scary thing, if you're in a scary movie and you don't jump at something that just pops out out of nowhere, right? It's a human instinct. There's always going to be some type of fear in your mind, in your body.

32:29 Although some people are able to grab that fear by the neck and just completely demolish it and let it get out of the way. That's one of the things that I teach. That's one of the things that I speak about because you absolutely can get fear by the neck and say, hey, fear, I hear you and I see you here, but I don't need you right now. Because what I really need to do is have the conversation is ask the question is go out of my comfort zone and do the thing because that's what's going to make me more powerful.

32:59 And it takes a little bit of convincing. And so with that, you know, going ahead and ask the question there, I believe it was Cody Sanchez that says that said this, that or Leila Harmozzi. Once you do something once, thereafter it just becomes so much easier. I would I want to ask you something. What actually changed? Like how did being the outlier who didn't quite fit growing up turn into something a hype woman in the room as an adult?

33:37 What actually changed? What changed, I mean, was the mindset, the way in which I was approaching these challenges. All of a sudden things became easier. I remember one of the first challenges that I had received was I was in school and I was in PE or physical education class. And my coach at that time, he had me compete in these different physical activities. And these were, these were competitions that each school was competing against in, in little courses. Was it running or tug of war or picking up flags or jumping or shooting basketballs, right.

34:22 And so I had confidence in all of these things except for one, basketball. I was not good at basketball when it came to the physic, to my physicality. I felt like I was pretty confident in everything except for basketball. And so I remember approaching that competition and it was really simple. Whoever made the most baskets in a minute, OK, perfect, very simple, very easy. But I didn't have confidence in my shooting. And so I was scared and it was something that I wasn't, I wasn't courageous. I didn't have the courage.

34:56 I didn't have the boldness. Just like if you were to put me in a race, cool. I will stand at that, at that start line and be ready to race and run faster than anybody else. Because it was something that I've done before then something that I've won at before, something I've been successful at before. But when it came to basketball, I wasn't as bold, I wasn't as courageous because I knew that I wasn't as successful at it because there had been other people beside me that were better than me at it.

35:28 And so with his words, he looked at me and he said, you're going to do it. Just go ahead and put yourself, put your confidence in. Where's your confidence when you're doing everything else? I need you to show up here. And so I did, and I didn't. And I didn't win. So here's the thing about not winning. The worst thing that you can that can happen is that you walk away from it, you don't win. And that's it. Lesson learned. And now here we are 20 plus years later, telling the story about it, about it, right?

36:00 So now it's a learning lesson. But here's the thing, all you need to do is try something once and if you're successful at it that one time, you never know what will come out of it. And it's just a skill that you practice, right? The more that you do something for the first time, the more courage and confidence that it builds in you for anything else that you are willing and wanting to try for the first time. And so that's what changed. What changed was the mindset of I don't want to try something for the first time in fear of failure versus you know what, this is my first time.

36:39 And if I fail, OK, cool. Now I learned a lesson. Now I know what I'm good at. Now I know what I'm not good at. Now I know what I could practice a little bit more on. And who knows? Sometimes you can absolutely be successful at the very first time. And that was that is what has made me who I am today because a lot of things maybe I was scared of, but once I tried it the first time, it was the most successful. Again, the decision making process came there, right? Absolutely, Absolutely. You have said that you have experienced real judgement, failure and lost yourself, right?

37:17 Yeah. And that's exactly. And that's exactly why you believe there's a light at the end of the tunnel. What's one of those low points, in your own words?

37:28 OK, doesn't matter if you have been in sports before. But here's the thing. You know, when you try something and you try it again and you try it again and you try it again and you're not as successful as what you want it to be. And so you have to make a decision. Are you going to continue to do the thing that you've been not so strong at, or are you going to completely flip it around and try something new? Right? Change nothing and nothing changes. So in my collegiate career, before going into college, I was always a righty hitter, right?

38:06 Think about it. That's if it as if you're writing with your right hands your entire life. Here's the thing, going into college, into my first year of college, I had the worst season that I've ever had in my life. And I remember, like if it was yesterday, there was a tournament where we had multiple games during that day and I did absolutely horrendous, terrible, terrible, as in I couldn't hit one ball. And just to to recap, it was softball. So again, you don't have to understand the sport, but this, but the main idea is that I've been doing the same exact thing, the same exact way for so many different years.

38:50 And I was still failing at it. And I remember, like if it was yesterday, my coach screamed at me in front of the entire team and said, you better do something different next season because I don't know how the heck you're going to make it. And so I knew automatically that not only was my RIP, my rapport with my team on the line and even with my coach, but also my own education because I was on scholarship on that point. What happens after that was that I said, you know what, We're going to completely fit this around.

39:27 I'm fast. I've never been a lefty in my life. And so we're going to try this. And so for one full summer, three months, I trained myself on how to hit on the complete opposite side. So again, for context, this is as if you're writing with your right hand your entire life. And then in three months, you said, you know what, I'm going to start writing with my left hand. Now you know what happened after that. I mean, it was the best season that I've ever had in my life. I went from my coach possibly not even putting me on the lineup, not even allowing me to play the games.

40:06 So then being the first or second hitter of the game, playing every single game? Hats off to you for this. Thank you, Thank you. One of the best things that I could have done. Also, when you start exercising both sides of your body, you will be surprised at what it is that the results in. Your outcome comes in because you're working both sides of your brain at that point. I was about to ask you that, go back to that softball player thing and tell us that what you did or what you know to do that and you already believed it, that it's all about the mindset.

40:45 You said fear is lying to us. So did Gigi knew that time which you don't? Which, like, did she knew what that time? That fear convinced her otherwise for years. So good. Here's the thing. That fear was around for so long that I just decided to kill it. I decided to kill that fear because for years I wasn't as successful as what I wanted to be as a writer. And I knew it. I knew it right And it didn't have to take a whole another season of it being a non successful season for me to know it again. Here's the thing, some of our even with habits right?

41:32 It is so easy for us to continue a bad habit than for us to start a good habit. Why? Because we like to convince ourselves that this is actually helping us or because it's keeping us in what we call the comfort zone. And we all love our comfort zone. But here's the thing. The longer that we stay in there, the longer that the very results that we have been seeing for years are going to still stick around, are going to still linger around. And so at that day when my coach was screaming at me to my face, like I started crying, I started crying in front of my team.

42:12 You know, I tried to hold in the tears a little bit more, but they they were there. They were very much there. And here's the thing, the fear that was in me of possibly losing my scholarship, of possibly never playing again was not as strong as the face that I had in myself of completely changing something around. So I decided to kill that fear. You know what? I don't want to suck anymore. I don't want to fail my team anymore, I need to find a way on how to succeed. And I'm not going to lie, I I might just fail doing something completely different.

42:49 But I'm not even scared of that anymore. Because here's the thing, if I'm fearing failing again as a writing, I could just fear that just as much now learning something completely new. But who who's going to know if I don't try? And so that's where I started to build discipline every single day during that summer. And you know, my mom was working from home at that time and she was even surprised. And she knew every single day in the morning there was something wrong if I didn't get up in the morning to go do my mile run, to go outside and start hitting and practicing.

43:31 And that if I was in inside and indoors within 4 hours, there was something wrong. And that's where discipline is built. How bad do you want it right? Because if you don't want it that bad, then you're just going to be sitting back and you're going to be lying to yourself again, right? And you're going to allow that fear to be like, you know what, maybe this isn't what I'm supposed to do. But when you notice that, hey, that fear, it's lying to you because it's going to tell you. It's trying to convince you otherwise.

44:02 Or when you lean into it and you're like, well, you know what? This is actually what's going to make me most successful. And if I actually try, and if I'm if I'm going into it without fear, then I'll become unstoppable and I will be successful no matter what. It's all about leaving out of the comfort zone as well. Absolutely, absolutely. Don't let that fear lie to you. Be more confident and notice what is the strength and what is the opportunity that you're actually missing out on so that you can build the courage, build the confidence and leaning into that more.

44:40 Gigi, what does self trust actually feel like in your body in the moment versus the noise of wanting someone else approval? I actually did it. Right now it feels like standing up straight. Self trust feels like when you walk away from a conversation and there's nothing in your mind. There's no overthinking. There's no, oh, I should have done this, I would have done this, I could have done this. None of that is in your mind anymore. Self trust feels like when you take an action on something and then you walk away from it with your head high, with your shoulders back and with you being able to think ahead and take action on what's ahead of you, right when you're feeling confident from something, let's just say a conversation and you told somebody your truth and you said, hey, this is my truth.

45:39 AB and C and the other person took and they said, OK, well thank you for telling me that. And then you walk away from that situation, not even overthinking it now. You feel like you're truly aligned with your genuine self, with your true self. You have no regrets. You're not overthinking what could have happened, and you're definitely not replaying the situation over and over again. And if you are, it's because you're training your mind now to feel that every single time. Oh, I'm proud of myself.

46:12 It feels like pride. It feels like confidence, self trust feels like you being your most true and honest self with full pride, without thinking what anybody else is going to think about you. So who is Gigi Santos if she's not a keynote speaker, if she's not a success coach, if she's not training or coaching someone to take the decision, who is Gigi Santos in actual life if exceptional of these things?

46:46 Gigi Santos, outside of life coaching, outside of keynote speaking, outside of professional world, Gigi Santos is the person that's going to give you all the encouragement and all the energy. No matter what situation it is that we're in. Gigi Santos will always give you that reframe in your mind because here, you know, perfect example. I mean, I used to live in this neighborhood where I would walk, do my daily walks and just walk around. Look at the look at the sky, look at the grounds, look for animals around.

47:21 And I would always pass by any strangers. Sometimes they're walking their dogs, sometimes they're on the phone or sometimes they're just literally taking the walk themself. And people nowadays, I don't know if it's not like we're recording this in 2026, but I don't know if it's nowadays that people just walk by and they don't even know how to interact with each other. You know, sometimes people just look at their phone just like to distract themselves so that they don't have to look at you and they don't have to say anything.

47:48 Yeah. Here's the thing about Gigi Santos. She's going to walk by you and she's going to look at you and she's going to smile. And sometimes the other person will will make like a weird face, like, Oh my gosh, like she's smiling at me weird. Gigi Santos is going to stay very true to herself and say, well, I wanted to smile, let that person and maybe brighten up, brighten up their day. But that's not what happened. Fine, OK. But here's the thing. There are more often times where the per the other person wasn't smiling, where the other person isn't having a great day.

48:24 And once I smile or I even say hello, they just automatically light up. Oh, wow. Like, hi, you know, human interaction, wild crazy, you know, so I always say that you can flip somebody's day around. You never know what other people are going through. And no matter what, no matter what setting it is that I am, I will always bring that optimism, that positive energy, that enthusiastic mindset because life is too short for us to just be down in the dumps. So just be sad all the time, or just be thinking about the most negative things that have been happening to us lately.

49:01 Why not be happy? Why not be positive? Why not add that brightness and that shine from your own light to others? And that's who Gigi Santos is. That's, that's true. That's your aura, your energy, your vibing. And I feel like I've known you from years and years, like we are speaking right now before the recording, we eventually chat. That's something different or and good energy coming from you. Amazing. Absolutely. What do you want someone to walk away trusting about themselves that they didn't trust before the conversation?

49:44 Before this conversation, you were overthinking. You were thinking about the people that haven't even done the thing that you want to do, thinking about their opinions, thinking about all of the judgments that you've had before, the experiences that you had before. But here's the thing. Now in this conversation, you are more confident. You are allowed to listen to yourself. You are allowed to have that self trust that nobody else is going to give you permission for, right? All of these outside opinions are not part of you.

50:20 You would like for somebody to be in your side. You would like for someone to encourage you to do the same thing that you want to do in your heart. But here's the thing, Because you're listening to this, you are now more true to yourself. You are now more aligned to yourself because you know what you truly want. You just have to lean into it and you don't need anybody else's permission. Here's the thing. I will always, always, always be cheering you on and rooting you on for you to do the exact thing that you want to do.

50:52 Doesn't matter how crazy, doesn't matter how stupid somebody has made it seem to be because everyone's a little bit crazy. Everyone has their own version of craziness, right? But you're crazy is the best crazy because it is the most aligned and the most genuine and true to you. So lean into it. Lean into it because if that's what you truly want, then that's what truly you deserve and what you should be getting and you will get it as long as you believe in yourself. Because I believe in you. We believe in you.

51:25 We're here for a reason and you're here for this purpose. And if you're listening to this, I am a firm believer that it's for a reason and that there are things that are aligning that has brought you right here, right now. And if you haven't taken anything else from this time that we have been together, it's this. You know exactly what you need to do, now act on it. I'm cheering for you, I'm rooting for you, and let's go. That's great. Lovely message for the audience and I think that they should not enter the fear lying to them as well.

52:00 Gigi there is a rule in this show that every listener who comes, they speak, oh sorry, they sing a song in Spanish.

52:10 Just sing a song in Spanish. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I. Could definitely. That's the Miami anthem. If you're from Miami, you know the song. I'll, I'll get to it then. So you said you're hilariously bad at basketball and you speak fluent Spanish, but your family still teases your pronunciation of yours of certain words. Can I get some real recent story of those both?

52:45 So quick short story, I have a cousin that he became a pilot and we were sitting at around the table and all of a sudden I had said tenemos Y aura tenemos unavionista in la familia avionista. So the word plain is translated to avion, and the way that I translated in my mind, I said, oh, like a plain IST avionista. And I'm like, wait a second, that's not the word. And then all of my family was laughing at me at the table. And then they're like, you mean piloto, which is the Spanish word for pilot.

53:31 And I said, Oh yeah, that makes sense. Well, yeah, so that was one of the most perfect examples that I could give you when it came to my family making fun of me with my Spanish. Because here's the thing, you know, Spanish was my first language. But you know, when you're going into school and you're so trained in one language now, your brain isn't used to switching from one language to the other. You know, growing up I even learned French and now I'm even learning a little bit of Portuguese and sign language.

54:04 So there are going to be moments where you're trying, where your brain is trying to just shift from one place to another and then it just completely just just doesn't align. So yeah, if if you took anything from the Spanish lesson, a pilot is UN piloto in Spanish, not Avionista. But now you've learned that a plane in Spanish is an Avion and. What about the basketball? You know, and it goes back to their original story with my coach, right? You could put me to play soccer, put me to play badminton.

54:44 Not to basketball. Not basketball, not basketball. There's just something about me, you know? And I won't even put the excuse of my of my height. I'm not sure how how tall I would be in meters, but I'm a solid 5 foot 1 1/2 inches, so I'm not that tall. I'm not a basketball player. Put me to play anything else. But for some reason me and jumping and this flick of the wrist up here, it just it doesn't work. It doesn't it doesn't work. I don't know. It looks it looks weird. It feels weird. Put me to play anything else, I'll do it, but basketball, I'm sorry.

55:23 I'll try my best. What's your favorite genre? My favorite genre? Oh, chocolate. Yeah. Oh, really?

55:34 My favorite. Sorry. Just to make sure, you said chocolate. Genre. Genre like oh. Oh, genre. OK, my favorite genre of music. Oh, that's such a good question because I love all of them. I would say right now my favorite genre of music is is like a house music. I love house music because you don't even need lyrics. You're just listening to the beat. And there's something about if you haven't tried it before, clean your house to house music. You just feel more productive or do some work to house music.

56:12 You just feel like there's just a rhythm, you know, like when you go into a store and you hear like, this music and for some reason you're just more enthusiastic to shop around and to look through all of the all of the the aisles to look for a shirt. Yeah, I feel like house music does that for me. Perfect. So a softball player whose energy didn't quite fit the room. A woman once called a tattletale for telling the truth to turn every reason she used to feel like an outlier into the exact thing people now hire her to bring into her.

56:50 Gigi, thank you for reminding everyone listening that fear has been lying to them the whole time, that they already know what to do and the permission to have been waiting for was never anyone else to give. All of Gigi's links, including her free decision making checklist, are in the show. Let's spin up and we'll see you guys in the next episode of Every Conversations. Till then, goodbye. Thank you so much, Gigi. Thank you so much for such an amazing amazing, amazing episode. Thank you so much for having me.

57:23 I was so excited and per usual, I'm rooting for you. I'm training for you and let's go. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.