Remember to Live with Corean Canty

The Power of Words & Why Age is Just a Number with Sam Yankelevitch

• Corean Canty • Episode 24

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Summary

In this week's episode, I'm joined by Sam Yankelevitch, Author, TEDx Speaker, and Communication Expert. I had the pleasure of coaching Sam for his newly released TEDx Talk that teaches us about the power of words.

In this episode, Sam and I explore the essence of living a meaningful life, emphasizing the importance of community, the power of words, and the journey of embracing failure. We discuss how mindfulness and self-reflection can enhance our experiences, the cultural differences in approaching life, and the significance of fostering joy and connection. Sam shares his insights on learning and growth at any age, the myth of retirement, the concept of 'Infewencer', and the importance of taking time to pause and breathe.

Takeaways

  • Living a meaningful life is anchored in experiences with family and friends.
  • The power of words can significantly impact our lives and relationships.
  • Embracing failure is essential for personal growth and understanding.
  • Community plays a crucial role in our happiness and well-being.
  • Mindfulness and self-reflection are vital for navigating life's challenges.
  • Cultural perspectives can influence our approach to life and work.
  • Breath serves as a powerful tool for grounding ourselves in the present moment.
  • Learning and growth should continue throughout our lives, regardless of age.
  • Fostering joy and connection is essential for a fulfilling life.
  • We have the power to influence our lives through the words we choose.


Sound Bites

"Failure is just a word."
"It's okay to pause and reflect."
"Age is just a number."

Chapters

00:00 The Essence of Living Well
02:40 The Power of Words and Connection
05:51 Understanding Failure and Self-Reflection
08:58 The Impact of Culture on Mindfulness
11:49 Navigating Negative Bias and Fear
14:50 The Importance of Community and Connection
17:56 The Need for Reflection in Work
20:50 Embracing Change in Work and Life
24:13 Embracing Lifelong Learning
27:52 Redefining Retirement and Purpose
30:46 The Joy of Giving Back
33:29 The Power of Words and Influence
36:57 Finding Joy in Daily Routines
42:33 Preparing for the Future
44:15 The Importance of Breath and Presence


Guest Info


If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share with a few friends so we can all help each other Remember to Live.

To connect with and learn more about me and how I am Remembering to Live, you can find me on Instagram @coreancanty or at coreancanty.com.

To work with me and explore freebies, check out: https://coreancanty.com/links/

If you are ready to re-imagine, re-claim and re-design your life, book a possibility call today.



Corean Canty [00:00:00]:
Welcome to the remember to live podcast, a place where we explore what it means to live a life and live one well. I'm Corinne, your guide on this journey through the art of living. Along the way, we will learn tips and tools to live more fully and ditch those end of life regrets. We'll hear stories from people who have chosen different paths and new ways of living and delve deeper into how we stay human in a world of rapid technological advancement. Life is too short not to show up to it. It's time to do life better. Together let's learn how. So get cozy, grab your favorite warm drink, and let's dig in.

Corean Canty [00:00:43]:
Hello, friends. Welcome back to the remember to live podcast. I have to start this podcast by just taking a moment to hold space. It's been a week, and I've been focused on leaning in to my joy and my peace and my happiness and moving forward. And so I just wanted to take a moment to put that positive energy out there as I get ready to introduce you to my guest for this week's podcast. As many of you know, I am a TEDx speaker and a TEDx coach. And this week, we have the pleasure of having Sam Yakalovich on today. His TEDx talk came out today right before we recorded.

Corean Canty [00:01:28]:
I'm so excited. I got to coach Sam and help him bring his big idea to that big red dot. And this is a special talk because I feel like we are in a time and space where our words matter, where communication and connection is so important. And being able to do that with kindness and compassion, especially with ourselves, is going to continue to be important as we end out this year. Sam's originally from Colombia. He had a very interesting multicultural upbringing, and it's really shaped his perspective on communication. And he really aims to empower us to rewrite our individual narratives so we can really contribute positively to the communities that we are a part of and improve communication and connection. Sam's had an amazing career.

Corean Canty [00:02:22]:
He's currently a LinkedIn learning instructor, a corporate trainer, and he is just passionate about transforming how people communicate to help address today's complex questions. He has an amazing book called An Interview with Failure. I think everyone should read it. And his TEDx talk teaches us how to use the power of our words. I'm so excited to share this talk with you today. So let's dig in. Hello, everyone. I am so excited to have my friend, Sam, on the podcast today.

Corean Canty [00:02:54]:
It's a very special day. We will talk about that in a moment. But, Sam, welcome to the remember to live podcast.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:03:00]:
Thank you for this invitation, Corine. Very excited.

Corean Canty [00:03:04]:
Yes. Yes. Yes. And so let's take a breath and a moment to be here because I know that there's a lot going on in the world. There's a lot going on in life. I'm excited to have this conversation with you. So let's just take a moment to get present and, like, be in this moment together. So take a quick breath.

Corean Canty [00:03:22]:
And just be here in this moment, and we'll kick it off. We'll we'll dive right in and kick it off with a question I like to start all the podcast episodes with when I have guests, and that is, what does it mean to live a life and live one well?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:03:37]:
Very cool. Very cool. Good good reflection. Good reflection. So for me, Corinne, it's, I have to say it's family, friends, and, and travel. Yeah. Family and friends for sure. It's kind of a that, you know, that thing where there's the trust, there is that love, the the warmth, that that you that you have that is so important.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:04:04]:
That social, you know, the social connection. And, and travel for me. I don't know if it's because of my upbringing that I've been, you know, hopping hopping the globe since an early age. And I just enjoy meeting and talking with people, probably because of all this diverse perspectives that you can actually gather. And you can start seeing that what that that your reality is just one one of so many. And so that for me has been kind of a good, indicator of when I'm, you know, I mean, the that I'm living a good moment and, and enjoying.

Corean Canty [00:04:40]:
I love that.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:04:41]:
So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's been that's been kind of my, my guiding, principle. And I have to say, you know, because you and I met because of Ted Mhmm. Because of the TEDx in Buckhead. I I have to say that the community that that group has is is that warmth. So I I, I felt it, you know, it feels really good to be in that in that group and with the people and have conversations.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:05:10]:
I've been having, you know, conversations with you, with Tasha, with some of the other speakers. And, yeah, it's it's just great because, all these other perspectives and and everybody with an with a keen interest on sharing good things for people.

Corean Canty [00:05:28]:
So Yeah. Oh, I love that.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:05:29]:
That's part of the friendship. Yeah.

Corean Canty [00:05:31]:
Yeah. I love that. And so what I'm hearing is, like, it's anchored in our experience. Right? Everything you're talking about is experiencing life, of being in the moment with our family and our friends and sharing that experience, and being in the world and sharing that experience, and finding the community and the people that you can connect with and commune with, and just really show up to life. Yep. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:05:59]:
And, you know, I mean, we're we're both on social media. I'm I'm, you know, I'm big on LinkedIn because that's that's been kind of the business and that I ended up with. And we seem to have communities on LinkedIn and and, you know, Instagram and Facebook. But it's never the same. Yeah. You know, when you meet people face to face, when you have that that shared moment, there's something magic about that. There's something just different. And so that, you know, that's that's part of that life thing that we that we, that we still cherish, you know? So it was pretty good stuff.

Corean Canty [00:06:37]:
Yeah. And so you mentioned TEDx. It was so fun to be your coach and to hold your hand as you went through that process of making it to the TEDx stage. And let's just take a moment to celebrate because as we're speaking, your talk just went live.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:06:53]:
It it did. It did. Yeah. That's why I have a big smile on my face today.

Corean Canty [00:06:58]:
Yes. And I just love your topic, and I think it's so timely, especially where we are in this time and space, and just thinking about the power of our words. Right? And because we're finding ourselves in a time and space where, especially online, there's a lot of disconnection, and there's a lot of, like, divisiveness. And sometimes we don't think about our words. And there's also a lot of fake words being generated online right now with just different, you know, bots and fakes accounts and things like that. But when we're talking about community and connection and the power of words, share a little bit about how you decided on creating a talk that really helped us to connect with the power of our words and how by really understanding that we can change our lives.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:07:53]:
Yeah. So, I mean, the the the idea came from writing. You know, writing is one of these things that you start and you you just don't know what's going to be put on on paper.

Corean Canty [00:08:05]:
You

Sam Yankelevitch [00:08:05]:
know, you have the idea but when you start developing it, it just goes any any which way that it might end up, right? You know? And, I started writing a book maybe 5 years ago. I've written it. It's my first fiction, you know, fiction book. I've written business books and published business books. But I started writing this book and the topic was about failure mostly because, like you and I, you're coaching professionally. I was coaching as a as an executive in a company. I was coaching my employees, you know, mentoring and coaching, sometimes tormentoring and coaching. But but, you know, always trying to get them to to grow.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:08:50]:
And so the topic I chose was about failure. You know, because it's a big effort that, you know, in the in the news today or in the media, you you hear a lot fail fast, fail forward, fail this, fail that. But my the people that that were coming to me and opening up, they said that word for them was, like, devastating. And, maybe because it was ingrained at an early age or whatever and they were told they were a failure. And so whatever Mhmm. If they made a mistake for them, it was tough. So I started writing about the topic. And let me tell you, the first manuscript, because I, you know, I sent them to an editor, and they pretty much threw them in the garbage, you know, which is which is part of the journey.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:09:34]:
Right? Part

Corean Canty [00:09:35]:
of the journey. Yes. It is.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:09:36]:
You're right. And I said, well, now what? Is that a failure or or or what? Right?

Corean Canty [00:09:40]:
Right. Right.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:09:41]:
And then, and then I started realizing that, at the end of the day, it's just a word. And so I started with the topic of that and I started writing and, you know, and so, if you if you remember in my talk, I say I interviewed failure and so I gave it the spirit of a person. And I'm at and I'm sitting there writing and I'm asking failure, you know, who are you? What what is it that keeps this power over over some people? And the and failure answered, I'm just a word. And that's, you know, that's kind of where it came and then I started, you know, I mean, I I I I've always been surrounded by languages. My mother tongue is Spanish. I had to learn German. I speak some French, some Italian. I speak Hebrew.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:10:27]:
And the words, each each, they open up worlds because each, let's say each culture and each language has words that mean something very specifically that you cannot translate. You know, there's words that just can't be translated. And so I started thinking, okay, well, that, you know, that's for and I teach communication, for example, with others. And I said, well, how do words then impact the way we communicate with ourselves? And, and, you know, I started developing that. I said, well, that's probably something to get out there. And, you know, thus thus the, the topic and, it's a big topic. Very Yeah. Generic.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:11:15]:
And then to tie to tie that with just this one one very important thing to me. So I'm a LinkedIn learning instructor. And one of the things that we work on as instructors, online instructors, instructors, we are always focused for the benefit of the learner. Mhmm. It's always whatever you write, whatever you're gonna do, it has to be for their benefit and the way that we put it out there. And so I said, you know, how do I put a talk together so that somebody will get something good from from from my talk, you know? Yeah. It's something something that I that I wanted to do, and and here we are. You know? It is, you know, one one step forward.

Corean Canty [00:11:58]:
Yeah. I think something that you said is so important is, you know, we're we're taught a lot of different things as kids about, you know, how we speak to people. As we get older, we may change our language when we're in different environments. We're seeing the power of words in bringing people together, but also tearing people apart. But I think the most important thing you said is that, like, it starts with the words we say to ourselves. Right? Every it's it's like leadership starts with self is something that I talk about a lot. But how we communicate, how we approach others, how we think about the world really is a reflection of how we think about and talk to ourselves.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:12:42]:
Yep. Yep. Yep. Exactly. And and unfortunately, or, you know, I mean, it's a the reality is we, you know, we live with negative bias. Our brains are wired,

Corean Canty [00:12:54]:
to

Sam Yankelevitch [00:12:55]:
it to it, you know, what what I mentioned to attract Velcro, You know, it's we're negatively biased because our brain and it's not an it's not a bad thing. I mean, our brains are are trying to keep us safe, protect us. And that's the first thing is survival.

Corean Canty [00:13:12]:
Yeah.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:13:12]:
And so we but we forget that. And, and so we get attached, you know, we get attached to the to the negative. And, and so it you, you know, when we started the podcast, when you you we started with the breath, And I think the breath is one of those things that can help us, pause that past brain that is continuously trying to protect us Yeah. By overthinking and the self doubt and all this other stuff. And with the breath, we're able to pause Mhmm. And say, oh, wait a second. The negative bias is acting. What what what else can happen here? What what can we gain from this situation that can benefit us instead of letting that craziness, you know, run run its mouth?

Corean Canty [00:13:58]:
Yeah. Yeah. I've I studied positive intelligence and, you know, in in that framework, it's our saboteurs talking to us. Right? And recognizing that our saboteurs were established to protect us. And as we get older, though, and as we become adults, we don't necessarily need that protection anymore, but we're conditioned to think that way. And one of my favorite ways to think about it, because we can't necessarily turn it off, but we can, like you said, pause and be conscious of what are our thoughts? Are they real? Are they serving us? And then also, how do we react to things that trigger these thoughts? But one of my favorite things that I keep with me is from Elizabeth Gilbert's book, Big Magic. And in it, she's talking about fear. And so, for those who don't know, she's the woman who wrote Eat, Pray, Love that turned into a big movie, and she has a book about kind of creativity, called Big Magic.

Corean Canty [00:14:55]:
And she talks about fear, and she says, you know, I learned that I had to hold space for it. And she gives the metaphor of being in a car and says, you know, I have a space for fear. It sits in the back seat, but it can't change the radio station and it can never drive. So, like, it can be there. It can have it say, but it doesn't get to run and control things.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:15:15]:
Yep. Yep. Yep. Yeah. It's that that that's exactly that's exactly the way. So that's a great way. I like that I like that Seneca quote that says, we suffer more in imagination than in reality. And I, you know, I tell my kids they they repeat that to me because, you know, I mean, I'm I'm human too and I I I fall into the negative bias.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:15:39]:
And they'll, you know, they'll say, hey. What words are you whispering to yourself that, you know, I say, oh, yeah. Yeah. We suffer more in imagination than in reality. And and this, it's this, hey. When was the last time you were chased by a white tiger?

Corean Canty [00:15:53]:
Right.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:15:53]:
You know? When was the last time? And, heck. I haven't seen I haven't I don't think I've ever seen one. So but Yeah. That that that's kind of what we're being you know, we we're trying to protect ourselves from. And and at the end of the day, they you know, we're, you know, pretty safe, relatively safe, you know, when there's no wild animals chasing us. So that's something to to always reflect on and remember. But it's tough, you know, that it's it's tough. It's, you know, pausing pausing is tough.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:16:24]:
And, and I have I have to say, you know, talking about cultures, I've been in the US for wow. This time around for over 25 years. I I went to school in the US, you know, as a, you know, as a student. And the that you start to see some differences where we live here with constant speed. If if you're idle for 5 minutes, it's like you're wasting time. Whereas if you're in another in another place of the world, another part of the world, it's okay to slow down. It's okay to have dinner and enjoy dinner and enjoy the conversation. It's not like, hey.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:17:05]:
Let's eat. Bring me the food quickly. You know, let's pay and get out. You wanna enjoy the moment. We have such a hard time doing that here. I mean, not all of us. I'm generalizing. But Yeah.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:17:16]:
But it's a lot of that you know, it's speed, speed, speed. You you know, it's like fast food and fast this. And it like, so so I think it's important to reflect and say it it's okay to pause. It's okay to slow down. And, I mean, yeah, I I know that you're you're you're, you do meditation as well. Right?

Corean Canty [00:17:37]:
Mhmm. Mhmm.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:17:38]:
And so in meditation, that's, you know, that's just that's the work. You know? Pausing and just sitting there and not doing anything. Nothing wrong with that.

Corean Canty [00:17:52]:
Yeah. Yeah. And I think sometimes we don't even recognize the thoughts in our like, they're we're on such a hectic pace, and the thoughts were constantly, you know, worried about the future or fretting about the past or replaying it in our minds that we're rarely ever, like, right here in the moment. And then put put that into a society that's constantly go, go, go, speed is the badge of honor, quickness, speed,

Sam Yankelevitch [00:18:26]:
you

Corean Canty [00:18:26]:
know, sleep when I die, all of these things. And so when you do get to experience different parts of the world and different cultures and so I haven't lived in other parts of the world, but I definitely do enjoy traveling. And you get to realize that there are places where there is a different pace of life, and people do slow down and connect. And Yep. The places where the people live the longest and are the happiest are anchored in that community and that connection and in movement and not, like, sitting at a desk all day and having real conversations and getting to know each other and knowing their neighbors and knowing everyone at all of the local places. And I feel like we're starting to wanna get back to that a little bit here. Like, I feel like post pandemic, we're starting to see more of a gravitation towards community and getting back together and gathering. And I'm just hoping that that continues and that we don't start going back to a time where we're even more disconnected and not Yep.

Corean Canty [00:19:34]:
Fostering community.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:19:36]:
Yeah. Yeah. Totally. You know, there's a so going back to the topic of words, you know, I, I borrowed a lot of words from my business or my technical background, which is, helping companies, reduce waste and and and do improvement. And I learned a lot of this stuff from the people at Toyota, Japanese folks at Toyota. So they they talk about kaizen, which is always looking to improve, always do something good. But there's another word and oh, the kaizen the concept of kaizen is really cool because it it you know, you're talking about fear. It's one of those things that helps you avoid fear because you're you're thinking of doing small steps.

Corean Canty [00:20:18]:
Mhmm.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:20:19]:
And not a big goal all of a sudden. But there's another word that that I I really have borrowed and and it has to do with meditation, which is Hansei, which is self reflection. And, and one of the things we try to, show leaders and future leaders is to is to share with them that it's okay to pause to self, to do some self reflection during your work day. Yeah. So, typically, if you're walking around and you're the boss and you're walking around, you see something at somebody at their desk and they're just not doing anything, there's you immediately, you're you're judging. You're saying they're slacking off. Mhmm. You know? They're slacking off.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:21:00]:
And and what we what we're saying is, like, no. I mean, if you if you have to pause to reflect and take a moment to say, you know, how should I do this? Did I do well? Who should I who should I go ask for help? You know? I mean, I'm sure that there's, you know, people that are that are going to abuse of of of of some of some time. But at the end of the day, I think, Hansei is something that we all need. We can all benefit from not only at work, but during the day, you know? I mean Yeah. Hentai is good. You know? So, I mean, I I'll do a lot of hentai while I'm cooking because

Corean Canty [00:21:36]:
it's Yeah.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:21:37]:
It's it's not it's not real work. And I'm just there, you know, preparing a meal for my wife, for my family. And it's a moment to reflect. And I think those moments are are very important. We can't we can't just be running around all the time. I think that's that's more of an excuse to avoid, you know, sometimes for some, you know, maybe trying to avoid reality or something like that. But I'm not a psychologist, so I don't know. Yeah.

Corean Canty [00:22:05]:
Yeah. I mean, we do spend a lot of time, either distracting ourselves or just not even sitting with ourselves because sometimes it can be uncomfortable if we haven't done it in a long time. And having that mindfulness is really important. Right? To be able to pause and as and I, you know, I was an executive for a long time, and I would encourage people, like, put thinking time in your calendar. Like, we're operating off of a system that was designed for how long a body could stand at a factory line. Right? Like the 9 to 5, all of that came from how long can bodies do body work. But most of us are doing knowledge work now, and our brain doesn't operate that way. Our brain actually has to pause.

Corean Canty [00:22:51]:
Otherwise, we're not being productive. We're not able to be creative. We're not able to be innovative. It's actually producing a negative ROI for companies who are just trying to look at the bottom line. We need time to get up from our desk to see different things, to be inspired, to take in nature, to just pause and breathe and sort out our thoughts because, as you know, our brains are moving a mile a minute. And if we don't slow down and sort through it and give our ourself time to just, like, let it settle, let some new ideas come in, then we just don't move forward at all.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:23:27]:
Yep. Exactly. Well, hopefully, I've seen I've seen change, you know, little by little, depending on the on the leadership and, you know, their level of understanding this. But it's still, you know, in a lot of places, I mean, a lot of places I mean, I left I left the industry in 2013. So it's about 11 years that I've been out doing consulting and and training, corporate, you know, corporate training. And a lot of the companies, unfortunately, they don't they they don't live that way. And after COVID,

Corean Canty [00:24:00]:
yeah,

Sam Yankelevitch [00:24:00]:
Corinne, a lot of the I mean, they they they let go of a lot of folks and they're they have a hard time bringing people in to work in some of these environments. And there's not enough people to do the work. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, so it's difficult, but it but I I see it the opposite. I think that the pause needs to happen. Let the people rest and and the efficiency will come, you know? So Yeah. But it's a difficult, you know, it's a difficult formula to to instill.

Corean Canty [00:24:31]:
Yeah. I think we're gonna see we're definitely gonna see changes, continual changes over the next several years of just how we do work, because it's just the way that we've done work doesn't work anymore. So we're gonna keep seeing it. We're seeing so many people learn many different ways to make a living. There's not one cookie cutter, here's the ladder, here's the box. This is the only way to be successful way of living. You know, we're we're way more connected to different people and different cultures, and I think that we're we're learning from each other, and we're learning how to be more present in our lives. And we're also you know, a lot of us are at the age where we are taking care of our parents who came up in a generation where you did get, like, one job, and then you got a pension.

Corean Canty [00:25:18]:
And then there was this idea of retirement, and you were taken care of. We don't have that really anymore. And we're also seeing our parents, in real time, live end of life regrets. And I think for a lot of us, especially me, that's one of the reasons I started this podcast was, you know, seeing my mom live real end of life regrets and, like, having that and coming to this reality that, oh, there is a such thing as too late. Like, we we may always be able to dream Mhmm. But, eventually, we won't be able to do. Like, eventually, our body and our minds aren't gonna be able to do the things that they used to be. And that's why it's so important to live now and be conscious and intentional about how we choose to live each day, how we choose to engage in each with each other, how we choose to connect and communicate so that we can make life and work good.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:26:14]:
Yep. Yep. No. It's yeah. Absolutely. And and and I think you're talking about choice and agency. You know? You have to choose. So my wife retired in December.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:26:24]:
She, she worked for a school for the school system here in in South Carolina for, I think 15 years. Special ed special ed and special needs children.

Corean Canty [00:26:37]:
Mhmm.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:26:37]:
So, I mean, the energy that that's an energy suck because that's like, you know, so she retired and, you know, I'm I'm 66, and I'm thinking what I wanna do.

Corean Canty [00:26:49]:
Mhmm.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:26:49]:
I'm not gonna retire. For me, I just wanna as long as I have my health, I wanna continue learning. So I'm on a I'm on a learning journey. And, and and and give back. So, you know, this I've been working on this motto that is, I'm too old to grow up. I'm too young to stop learning and delighted to give back. And so I'm trying to live that. You know, I'm trying to live that.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:27:16]:
And, every moment I get and it's it's, sharing like your knowledge because you have you have an incredible corporate background also. Right. And so sharing this knowledge with the younger ones, but at the at the same time, understanding that they are what you were saying. They're seeing a completely different world.

Corean Canty [00:27:38]:
Mhmm.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:27:39]:
I'm telling my kids, go out there and find the next thing you're gonna be doing, because every 5 years, every 7 years, it's gonna change. It's it's a the pace has picked up, and you have to be nimble. You have to be adaptable, flexible, and it happens through learning. I think, you know, the time that that we spend on on TikTok or watching the news is better spent, you know, learning. I'm a I'm a nerd, you know, by nature, and I'll, you know, I'll I'll just be reading books and watching master class and and learning videos and trying to absorb. Yeah. So that because I'm I'm fortunate enough that I have the time and and the availability to do this, but then use that to give back. Use that to to, you know, to share and say, hey.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:28:33]:
Here's a different way of seeing things. Here's here's something that's happening in the world that you should pay attention to because you could be doing this and and earning a living and, you know, stuff like that. So so, yeah, it's it's the pace the pace has definitely picked up, in a in a very crazy way.

Corean Canty [00:28:51]:
Yeah. And and what and I do wanna just highlight because I do think a lot of us grew up with this, idea or this notion of, like, give, you know, give 40 years of your life to be able to then live. Right? Like, then you get to sit and relax for 20 years. But the reality is for our brain and our body to stay healthy, like sitting in a chair watching TV for 20 years is not good for us, number 1. And number 2, like, just because there's a, quote, unquote, retirement age in this country or, we've been programmed and conditioned to shoot for everything we do. Right? For for all okay. What age do you wanna retire? We've just been drilled this idea of retirement. Yep.

Corean Canty [00:29:39]:
But life is not over because you gave decades of your life to a company or to work. Like, as long as you have breath in your body, you get to experience. You get to live. You get to find joy. And I think it's just amazing that you are finding all these different ways to not only continue to learn and grow and have fun in your life. I love that in your sixties, you said, you know what? I wanna do a TEDx talk. Because I think so many people out there might think, oh, I'm too old for something like that, or I've already had a career or whatever they're telling themselves where they kinda give up on these things that they might not have done or not given themselves a chance to consider for themselves. And you're like, I am excited.

Corean Canty [00:30:25]:
This is just a new chapter and I get to

Sam Yankelevitch [00:30:27]:
Yeah.

Corean Canty [00:30:28]:
Watch it unfold. What do you what do you have to say to kind of inspire people that you can do and be and create at any age?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:30:40]:
Yeah. Well, it it I I I think a lot of this has to do with, with the way I was brought up. So my my, my grandfather brought me up. My dad left us. He left my mom, like, you know, when I was when I was a toddler. And my grandfather, who was a Holocaust survivor, ended up in Colombia after the war. He was 50 years old, and he started a company when he was 50. I worked I was lucky to work for him for about 10 years, you know, before he passed.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:31:15]:
Mhmm. And he was he worked until he worked until the last day until he died pretty much. You know? He was, like, 86 or 87, or maybe older. And he said, what what am I gonna, you know, what am I gonna do? And he said, I will keep on planting seeds, to so that the trees grow and provide shade for somebody even I'm not even if I'm not gonna be around. You know, and, you know, I've heard, you know, he used to say that. He used to say so he he had so many different proverbs and things that he that he shared. But that was one of the things I learned. He said, you know, what He said, what am I going to do? I need to keep on building things for others, you know? And, and he was he was a he was a mentor to all his employees.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:32:08]:
He just kept on building leaders. And, so so it has to do with that upbringing. And and for me, I can't understand the mindset, even though I've been in the US for, you know, for a long time. I can't I can't understand the mindset of retiring because of what you mentioned. Oh, you get to 65 and and then and then that's what you do. I said, who said that? Right. Where is it written? You know, is it

Corean Canty [00:32:35]:
Right.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:32:35]:
And, you know, and I could, you know, I could. But, you know, hey. Next week, I'm going to, California. I'm gonna shoot another LinkedIn learning course. I'm gonna be in front of the teleprompter and, you know, and I'm writing 2 more courses. And if I can get away with even more and it's fun.

Corean Canty [00:32:52]:
Yeah. You

Sam Yankelevitch [00:32:53]:
know? So why not? You know?

Corean Canty [00:32:55]:
Yeah. It's it's

Sam Yankelevitch [00:32:55]:
it's good stuff. And let me let me just share this one one story with you. So when I left the industry, Corinne, in 2013, I was an automotive executive and I left, and I I knew I wanted to do consulting or training or whatever. My one of my first customers with was BMW here in South Carolina. I was very lucky to get in. And I was we were running workshops, training, training some of the folks at BMW with some of their very important suppliers from from all from countries from all over the world. Right. And we would train them.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:33:40]:
And I mean, they have a very difficult schedule. Automotive, it's a very difficult thing. And, you know, it's a very fast paced, very stressful. And in these workshops, you know, people used to walk in and, you know, look gray and heavy and, you know, they weren't happy. Mhmm. By the end of the 1st day, they were smiling. The 2nd day of the workshop, we had them dancing. And and then at the end of the workshop, they would come up and hug me to thank me.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:34:14]:
And I would come home and tell my wife, I said, hey, you know, they hugged me today. They were very happy with the stuff they learned. It it gave them something, an outlet to de stress. Right?

Corean Canty [00:34:25]:
Mhmm.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:34:26]:
And so it's not it wasn't only the pay, you know, it wasn't only the the fees that we were that we were receiving. When we say we is I had to form a small team of trainers and, because they were very big groups. And and for me, coming home and having that feeling of, hey, I helped somebody today

Corean Canty [00:34:47]:
And

Sam Yankelevitch [00:34:47]:
or or or on LinkedIn when somebody from India or Pakistan or Dubai sends me a note. Say, yeah. I love your course. I learned so much. Thank you. I can use this in my I can use this in my office and, you know, blah blah blah. It says for me, that's like it's it's that's that's that's part of the happiness, you know, that you get. You you gave back and you you, you know, you're thankful also that you're able to do that.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:35:14]:
And then Yeah. And then the things that you're getting back. So it's it's great. It's it's it's a good thing. Age is just a number.

Corean Canty [00:35:22]:
It is. It is. I love that. Like, I I totally get what you're talking about too. Because when I go into companies now and do play sessions, and watching them remember how to play and, like, have belly laughs with their coworkers and light up when, you know, when you step in, they're kinda like, oh gosh. Here's another training. You know? And they don't think that there's gonna be any joy or fun in it. But when you add the joy and the fun, and they remember what that's like and they connect and they come up and they and they're thanking you for this nugget, like, they all they walk away with learnings, but more so they got some joy, which gives us joy.

Corean Canty [00:35:57]:
Right? Because the more we can foster joy, the more we receive joy, and the more our cups all stay full and we can help each other with the overflow. And even if it's just a few people. And that makes me think of in your talk, you have your own word that you made up that I think is so cool that I think applies to this.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:36:19]:
The influencer or Yes.

Corean Canty [00:36:21]:
The influencer. Do you wanna do you wanna share share the concept behind influencer?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:36:26]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So in the in in the talk, you know, I mentioned that, you know, all words are made up and that new generations make up words. My kids taught me cap, no cap, and riz and samp, and all these words that that you hear on social media. And so I decided I'd make up my own word. And I, you know, I made up the word influencer. You know, and it's it's put it's put together, you know, the word few and influencer.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:36:53]:
And it gives you the power to, influence the vital few starting with yourself. And this is the power that you get, the power of words. And, you know, so the I I kind of give the call to action is, you know, be an influencer. Choose your own words, words that will actually, help you. And, you know, maybe that's what I whisper to myself when I'm when I'm saying, hey, I'm 66. So what? You know, what does that what does that mean? It's, you know, so Yeah. But, yeah, you know, it's a it's a good, you know, it's a good concept. I'll I, one of the things that I that I teach, Corinne is, lean the concepts of lean, which comes from Toyota.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:37:40]:
Mhmm. And it's mostly for well, it used to be mostly for manufacturing, but I've I'm I, I consider myself a lean influencer. And so I train people. For example, one of the things I I teach is problem solving. Problem solving methodologies. You don't have to be an engineer. I, you know, I have, you know, I have a couple of problem solving methodologies that are very simple for anybody to learn in HR or finance or, you know, in these departments that usually you you don't imagine you have to participate in. And so as a lean few answer, I consider that as something where I can where I can teach the vital few how to solve problems.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:38:24]:
And I say, teach you. I'm developing people one problem solver at a time. And this is how you build a community problem solvers. And then you get all this, this power of diversity that you need to solve today's problems because you can't solve them from just one from one perspective. You gotta have the diverse perspective. So that kinda ties into making up words. So

Corean Canty [00:38:51]:
and I love that, especially now. Like, let's make up joyful words. Like, we if there's people spewing words that aren't very nice and we don't really wanna hear them, first of all, we can protect our energy. We can protect our peace, but we can also have fun. I just don't think we have enough fun anymore. Like, let's play. And like you said, in your talk, like, when you look up the amount of words that are removed from the dictionary every year, like, we don't think about that. We don't think that, like, oh, there's words added and removed from the dictionary every year.

Corean Canty [00:39:20]:
So that means we get creative license to be able to use our words in ways that make our lives better.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:39:27]:
Absolutely. When life gives you demons, just make demon aid.

Corean Canty [00:39:30]:
Yes. Oh, I love that. I think that's a perfect button to move into, some of just the fun questions that I like to ask as we wrap up our conversations, if that sounds good.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:39:45]:
Sure. As long as they're fun.

Corean Canty [00:39:47]:
Yes. Yes. Definitely. The first one is what's currently your favorite part of the day?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:39:56]:
Probably 5 AM.

Corean Canty [00:39:59]:
Oh,

Sam Yankelevitch [00:39:59]:
when it's quiet and, and I get to drink my first cup of coffee. And it's usually the only cup of coffee. But, you know, yeah, My wife is is, you know, also waking up. We sit down. We're drinking our coffee. We don't even have to talk. We're just enjoying the moment. And, as of late, I guess for the past 6 months, that is my meditation hour.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:40:26]:
So I'm, you know, I'm getting out. I'm just sitting, doing my meditation. And I do a long meditation. I use the power of the sutras, to go very deep. And so 5 AM is it. And, you know, less less noise. The sun hasn't come out yet. It's still kind of out there.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:40:45]:
And, yeah, it's quiet. So I love it.

Corean Canty [00:40:49]:
Yes. I love that. You fill your cup first. Right? That's that's one of my mantras is fill your cup first. When you first wake up in the morning, fill your cup first so you can pour into others for the rest of the day. So that's great.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:40:59]:
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And and that's a that's a perfect moment for Hanse for,

Corean Canty [00:41:05]:
you

Sam Yankelevitch [00:41:05]:
know, you get all you that that reflection comes in and you start seeing things differently. So it's it's it's great. It's really a good moment.

Corean Canty [00:41:13]:
I love that. The next is what's your current cozy?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:41:19]:
Oh, swimming. Yeah. Yeah. Swimming. Well, it would be also the cup of coffee in the morning, but I have to say. So. I have there's 2 different versions of my swimming. So I go to the Y, which is close by.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:41:36]:
They have a they have a big swimming pool, but I travel a lot like you, Corinne. I travel a lot and often the hotels will have very small pools. So I have a stretch cord. It's a it's a bungee. They sell these they sell these on Amazon. I have I've had mine for 20 years. You tie yourself with a with a belt and you tie the bungee to the end of the pool, to the stairs, to the, you know, to the, like, the railing on the stairs. And you're swimming with the stretch cord away.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:42:11]:
So here's the advantage. You get to close your eyes because you're not going to hit the other side of the pool.

Corean Canty [00:42:18]:
Oh, wow. Yeah.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:42:19]:
So so for for one thing, you're getting your workout, but at the same time, I'm doing my meditation and my yoga in the pool. So that's when I travel, I'm usually doing that. And then Mhmm. Lately, I've just you know, you're swimming on a lane. You're doing your laps. There's no phone allowed. You can't go in there with your phone.

Corean Canty [00:42:39]:
Right. Right.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:42:40]:
So it's a moment of quiet, cozy, the water surrounding you, the magic of the water, whatever it is. You know? And, my kids think I'm a little bit cuckoo. They probably they're probably right. You know, I I 2 of the places where I was, assigned for a long time, one of them was, England Mhmm. And the other one was San Diego. Both had both on the beach. I was both both places on the beach, but very cold water.

Corean Canty [00:43:09]:
Mhmm.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:43:10]:
That's my cozy. Mhmm. The cold water. Yeah. You know? So yeah. It's good. I

Corean Canty [00:43:16]:
I as we're learning, cold plunges are good for you. And I think I think you win the award for the most creative answer to that question. I love it.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:43:27]:
Answer, but it long answer, but it it's it's it's you know, that's my cozy.

Corean Canty [00:43:32]:
So You know what? And this is what I love about this podcast is we get to share our different lived experiences and inspire people and see like, we all just create these lives and live in different ways, and we can learn from each other and try new things. And so I love that. The next question is, what's your go to feel good song?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:43:55]:
Oh, you know, it depends on the moment. I I'll I'll listen to, you know, old rock like Queen. You know, usually Queen, many of the songs. As far as creativity for the creativity moment, I'll listen to Prince.

Corean Canty [00:44:15]:
Yes. Yes.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:44:17]:
You know, because he he is the master of creativity for me. Yes. It's unbelievable, you know? So I'll listen to, you know, to to his stuff. And then, you know, that's pretty I mean, it really depends on the moment. And now on Fridays, we will do a happy Friday at home and it will be salsa.

Corean Canty [00:44:39]:
Oh, I love that.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:44:41]:
Or yeah. Or, you know, that music and really, you know, live it up. But, you know, in the car, I'll listen to Queen and, you know, and that that kind of stuff. So yeah.

Corean Canty [00:44:49]:
Yeah. I actually have a you can't see it, but I have a poster of prints right up here above me on the wall to inspire my creativity of me and my improv team. We went to Paisley Park together. And just to be in that energy, it was it was pretty cool because we we perform in Minneapolis on a, probably around once a year. So I love that. The next question is, what do you do for your 80 or 90 year old self now?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:45:21]:
Health. Workout health. Take care of yourself. You know, every moment I I I get I'm trying to do something every day, at least 20, 25 minute workout. Sometimes intensive, sometimes relaxing, but, you know, just get the bones moving, eat healthy, whatever that means for, you know. Yeah. But eating healthy and. And spending moments with others, you know, spending moments with others.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:45:54]:
You know, I'm I'm I'm very, fortunate. You know, my wife and I have been married for, gosh, 37 years, 36 or 37. And we have a, you know, we have we we we have a lot of conversations. Mhmm. You know? And so that's that just feels good. And so I'm thinking that now as as we move on, we're thinking, where are we gonna go? Because you said eighties nineties. Right?

Corean Canty [00:46:24]:
Mhmm.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:46:25]:
It's different. Right? I think in 70, 75 is one thing. Eighties nineties, you really have to be in a place where you have community, where you can move around without having to depend on a car. Mhmm. You know, so we're already thinking about, you know, where is that gonna be? Yeah. So that you can you can get out wherever it is and, you know, have have your your needs close by, you know? Yeah. So

Corean Canty [00:46:53]:
yeah. It all comes back to community. It sure does. So the, final question is, how do you remember to live?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:47:03]:
How do I remember?

Corean Canty [00:47:05]:
Mhmm. How do you remember to live?

Sam Yankelevitch [00:47:08]:
I think if I understand your question, I'm going to go back to how we started the podcast with the breath. Yeah. You know, for me, it's, that's one of the things that helps me pause is taking that breath. I was listening to a YouTube, somebody talking on YouTube. I don't remember who it was. He said, when you're having a moment and you need to get back to yourself and to live life, the first word out of your mouth should be your breath. So, you know, I'm I'm there listening. I'm saying I've been talking about words, and he's saying the first word out of your mouth should be your breath.

Corean Canty [00:47:48]:
Yes. Oh, that is the perfect button for our conversation. That is

Sam Yankelevitch [00:47:53]:
Yeah. Yeah. And so Yeah. Yeah. And you're you're talking about, you know, the buttons. You remember the that was easy button?

Corean Canty [00:48:00]:
Mhmm. Yes. Yeah. The Staples commercials. Yeah.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:48:03]:
I, I I'm thinking of, ordering some buttons. I don't think I don't know exactly what I'm gonna put on it yet, but it will have something to do with my talk.

Corean Canty [00:48:14]:
That's fun.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:48:15]:
You know, to have people remember that they have that button that they can press, and and get back to to life because it's like you get you can get dragged in so easy. Yeah. Get dragged in very easy. So yeah. So it's, so the breath probably would be yeah. So did I did I win a $1,000,000?

Corean Canty [00:48:38]:
I I I'll send you a 1,000,000 energetic dollars. Right? It's so good. I'll give you all the good positive energy in the world, and we will call in the 1,000,000. And so this has been such a great conversation. How can people connect with you? How can they learn more about the interview with a failure book? What's the name of the TEDx Talk? I'll put all of this in the show notes as well so they can just link to it. But, let them know how they can reach you and learn more.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:49:06]:
Thank you, Corinne. Yeah. So Sam Yankelovich dotcom. If you look beyond the screen, you see my name. Just put samyangkelevich.com. That's my website. It's not updated but, you know, you can see kind of where where I am there. The name of the book is called An Interview with Failure.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:49:24]:
It's on Amazon, and, both on Kindle, paperback, and there's an audible version that that I recorded with also with a, with a female with a female, voice actress as well. So that's on there. And, I'm very active on LinkedIn. I will start to get active on the other social media because that's the thing to do and, you know, with with the TED talks and all that other stuff. But watch my TED talk. It's, it's choose your words, change your life. Discover the power sitting on the tip of your tongue.

Corean Canty [00:50:04]:
Yeah.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:50:04]:
You don't need to go any further. You don't need to you know, I mean, it's like we have so much power right there.

Corean Canty [00:50:10]:
Yeah. We do.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:50:11]:
So, yeah, that's, that's that's probably the, you know, the the best way to to connect with me, and, I look forward to doing that.

Corean Canty [00:50:19]:
Awesome. Well, thank you again, my friend. It has been a pleasure.

Sam Yankelevitch [00:50:23]:
Thank you, Corinne, for the opportunity. Lots of fun. This was fun.

Corean Canty [00:50:27]:
Yes. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you learned something, laughed a little, and were inspired to remember to live. Share that nugget and this podcast with a friend to inspire them too. And don't forget to like and subscribe so we can all help each other life better.