A Recovery Journey - Men's Mental Health and Growth: Will Baptiste's Story

Will Baptiste is a coach, author, speaker, and the president and founder of Rising Men Alliance. Based in Montreal, Canada, Will's organization focuses on helping men deal with their emotional issues and learn how to be vulnerable. His own journey through childhood abuse, mental health struggles, and personal adversities inspired him to create a platform that empowers men to express their emotions and live purposefully.

EA and Will discuss the importance of finding oneself and the impact of vulnerability in personal growth. Will shares his story of overcoming childhood sexual and physical abuse, mental health issues, and multiple divorces to discover his purpose in life. They emphasize the power of connection, community support, and living in the present moment as key components of recovery and personal development.

Listeners interested in personal growth, men's mental health, and emotional vulnerability will find this episode enlightening. Key topics such as mental health awareness, emotional vulnerability, and community support are thoroughly explored. If things like "men's mental health," "emotional vulnerability," "Rising Men Alliance," and "personal growth" peak your interest, this is the episode for you!

Potential Listener Questions:

1. How can men learn to express their emotions and embrace vulnerability?
2. What are effective strategies for dealing with childhood trauma and mental health issues?
3. How can community support and connection aid in personal growth and recovery?

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If you are recovering from anything, this recovery podcast is a daily dose of positivity. I speak on mindfulness, and share thought processes and affirmations to help with your recovery journey. Recovery is not just about substances, recovery is needed for all kinds of addictions and thoughts and ideas that you may be addicted to. This podcast is for you!

Transcript

0:30

God gave me exactly what I need and sometimes I question it, but you know what, it is exactly where I need to be in my life and I cherish every moment of it. Today I have the pleasure, the honor, and the privilege sitting down with one of my brothers, man. I met this guy several years ago on an app, Clubhouse app, and we just, from there, we just formed an alliance. We vowed to one day get together and do some work together, some work in the recovery space. He's heavy, heavy, heavy. He lives in Canada. He's in Montreal, Canada. I'm going to let him tell you a little bit about him, but he's with the Rising Men Alliance. Mr. Will Baptiste, man, tell my friends about you, man. I'm going to shut up because if I talk, man, we might go for 30 hours, right? Right, right. The honor and the privilege is all mine, man. As I mentioned before, you and I have been going at it for the past three years and we had the opportunity. I know this wasn't in the making. It was just a matter of time. I do believe in the proper timing and divine timing. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Will Baptiste. I'm also known as the sensation, the only one in the nation, all the way from Canada, Montreal, to be more specific, where we eat pain for breakfast. That's an inside joke. You get it when you get it. When you do get it, you let me know. I'm a coach, an author. I'm a speaker. I have my book. My first book I wrote, How to Persevere in the Face of Adversity, is available right now on Amazon. Other than that, I'm also the president and founder of Rising Men Alliance. Rising Men Alliance really is there to help men not only to deal with their emotional issues, but also learning how to be vulnerable. Because we tell men all the time to be vulnerable, but most of them don't even know how to be vulnerable. We tell them to express their emotions, but they don't know because they've never been taught or they have never learned how to do that. I'm just coming in to fill that void. Guess what? I can't do it alone. You do it on your end. I do it on my end. When we put both ends together, magic happens. We're going to continue to do this on your end and my end. We're going to get together again. I'm looking forward to it. What inspired you? What inspired your mission? Because you're way over in another country. What the hell? I thought y'all men headed together over there, man. What's going on? What inspired the mission? Really, to be honest with you, and I don't want to come across as cocky or arrogant. It's my own story that inspired me, to be honest with you. Because I have dealt with all kinds of stuff from my childhood, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and not having my father around or having a father figure around. My mother abandoned me when I was six years old. It's just me finally coming up to the man that I was born to be. They say there are two important days in our lives. It's the day that we were born and the day that we find out why. Five years ago, I found out why I was born, and that's when I discovered my purpose. Because a lot of times we see we have found our purpose, but to have found something, that means you have been lost. My purpose was never lost. I had to discover my purpose. As a matter of fact, what I've learned to do now is to live in my purpose. Whatever I'm doing, I'm living my purpose. I am purposefully living. Really, what's inspired me is just me going through my mental issues, mental health issues, wanting to end my life after my second divorce. All of those things were preparing me to be the man that I am today. Guess what? I'm still on that journey, and I'm going to continue to be on that journey because every stage in my life is going to require a different version of me. Man, you see how powerful that is? I'm telling you, I've got to get my brother over to the States because there's so much value that you bring to the table. It's a part of your journey. Like you said, it's divine timing, so timing. I'm working on something right now. I've got to get you over here, bro. I really love it. I'm inspired. Just meeting you in the flesh, man, being able to get that hug, man, oh man, I'm still feeling it. I'm still feeling that high, that natural high, because when great people get together, great shit happens, man. You know what they say? Behind every great man, there's a woman. There has to be a woman in your life that's inspiring, that's pushing this narrative too. Man, speak on it, man. I know my listeners want to know, yeah, are you single, ready to mingle? No, not at all, brother. Not at all. Well, the first woman I have to say that's behind this is my daughter. I want to give a shout out to my daughter. She makes me a better man. For me, this woman that's in my life right now, I didn't see it coming. I wasn't looking for it. I think it's a lesson for everybody. Instead of looking for the person, make sure that you find yourself, because a lot of times we're looking for somebody else, but we have lost ourselves. Find yourself. Once you find yourself, work on yourself, right? Whatever it is that you like to have as a companion, as a partner, making sure that you can reciprocate and give more, especially as a man. For me, it had to be going back to my childhood and deal with that little boy inside of me, making sure that I'm making the right decision or sound decision, and making sure that this woman is going to show up in my life that I'm going to be ready for, right? Going to make sure that I'm ready emotionally, financially, spiritually. It's been a minute now, and we're doing great. I thank God for that, because this is exactly what I need. Not necessarily what I want, because a lot of things that I want in my life didn't last very long, because it was all flesh. It was all visual, but God knew exactly what I needed. I'll tell you what, sometimes I'm like, oh God, I know that's what I need, but right now, is this what I really need? God has to remind me that I know best, because I'm your father. What father that's going to give his son or his daughter a scorpion instead of a fish, right? They won't do that. Even us as a father, as a natural father, right? We won't do that. God gave me exactly what I need, and sometimes I question it, but you know what? It is exactly where I need to be in my life, and I cherish every moment of it. That's big, bro. I'm proud of you, man. Congratulations. They say he who finds a companion is powerful. Very powerful. Yes, because two is better than one. Two is better than one, absolutely. Not coming up, bro. Listen, man, I have to tell you, this weekend, actually, as a matter of fact, tomorrow, I'm leaving for a retreat, which I needed. I needed so badly to recharge, because sometimes we have to disconnect to reconnect. That's what I'm about to do tomorrow, because for the last six months, I've been working on this event. I'm disconnecting this weekend, but yes, about two months from now, we're going to have a brunch for men, and we're going to talk about effective communication in a relationship. We've got that coming up in the next two months, and then there are other things that are going to come, but definitely, at the end of the year, we're going to have a huge celebration, and we're going to celebrate our men that are doing big things that are making an impact in our community. Then after that, next year, we're going to go even bigger and better. We're going to do mother and son, and we're going to do again father and son. We've got a lot of things going on, and I'm really looking forward to it. With the help of our team and people collaborating and partnering with us, we can't do this by ourselves. Absolutely. This is not a one-man show. I may be the president. I may be the founder. I may be the face of Rising Men Allies, but guess what? I'm many faces, because there's something about each man that I can bring forth and definitely can speak loud for that. You are powerful at it. I saw you at work. I saw you at work myself. Man, I might even pull up on a two-man conversation. I might come just to be a fly on the wall. I might need to learn something, too. That's how powerful your events are. How can people support you? Success is a team sport. Guys, all my friends and my fans, I need you all to support this mission. It's very, very important. I know you're a non-profit, right? Right. Exactly. How can some people support you? Very easily. First of all, it's not always about the money resources. There's a big component that we forget. It's human resources. Because money will come in, money will go. But having human resources is the best resources. But let's not forget, we're doing it money to move things forward. Somewhere in the video or when you're going to be listening to this, risingmanalliance.gmail.com. You can always make it a donation right there. We're working on a website. You can always follow us on Facebook, risingmanalliance, or on Instagram, risingmanalliance as well. We also have a page on LinkedIn as well. You can always get with me and follow me as well and get all the information. If the information is not enough, check with EA because EA is a part family now. Absolutely. He's no longer a stranger. Just go ahead, donate even your time, even your expertise. We're still a young non-profit that's coming up. We still need a lot of people and whatever you can bring to the table, man. Because this table, it's Thanksgiving. There's all kinds of menu on the table. Oh, my God. So this is not just a table, just this type of food. There's all kinds of type of food because we're serving all kinds of people, right? So whatever it is, the table is big. Trust me. Yes. Trust me. Trust me. It's just as big as The Last Supper. Trust me. I was there. I'm telling you, it's as big as The Last Supper, man. One thing I love about it, man, support is an action word. It's not just talk. So guys, let's be intentional today. There's a link on my website. I'm going to make sure I put it. I'm going to be intentional. I'm going to get a space for you guys on my website, ericallenrecovery.shop. It's all about recovery. When you go to that site, man, make sure you all tap in. I want to make sure we get something to my brother, man, because he is doing phenomenal, phenomenal work. So guys. And I want to add something because you're talking about me. You're asking me about what I do, but I want people to understand because I know you talk about what you do, but I want people to hear from me. Because one thing that I've learned when you talk about recovery, because in my mind, I always see recovery as from, you know, someone who's addicted to kind of substance abuse or whatnot. And you taught me that everyone is recovered from something, from a lost job, from someone that they love, you know, that, all right, broken heart, broken relationship. So you taught me that. So for me to have learned that, you know, I was already 40 years old and I've learned from you, but from listening to you, from following you, that recovery, it doesn't have to be substance abuse. It doesn't have to be drug or alcohol. It could be anything. So I just want to thank you. And if you guys, you know, and knowing that we're all recovering from something. So whatever it is that you recover from, please, please, please check out my brother, EA on all his platform, because he's doing, he's doing a phenomenal job. And don't forget to get his book as well. Because we want this to be in every home and every person's hands, because the work that you're doing is phenomenal because I know you can't speak for yourself, but you know what, it's always good for somebody to speak, speak on your behalf as well. Absolutely, man. He just reminded me, the book just came out, guys. I got a new publication that's just out right now. It's Affirmations for Recovery. It's the guide. It's actually the guide that goes with the journal. And it's all about just helping you help yourself. Right? Right. Because this is, you know, we live in a world where, you know, people want to be self-made and I get it. I'm self-made. I understand. So my goal is to talk to the self-made people, help the self-made people, you know, be more self-made and do it for yourself, man. But you said something powerful, bro, because recovery is a mindset. It is not a substance. And I had to learn that. And once I learned that, man, I got to the rooftop fast as I could and start shouting and screaming to the mountaintop because that was something that was a blockage that hindered my growth. Because I really thought like, you know, I ain't got no problem. I don't need no help. And I'm telling you, man, once you really figure it out, when you really figure out where where recovery starts, it starts in the mind. Yes. And how you process information, how you look at things. Right. So for me, I learned to look at things that the glass is always half full. There's always light at the end of the tunnel, even in the darkest spaces, man, there's light. There is some light. Okay. You got to find it. That's the secret. Here's the thing. I'll go take it even further. You all the light. So wherever you go, if there's darkness, that means your light has been has been damned because wherever you are, there should be light because because really darkness doesn't exist. Darkness is an absence of light. And because we have the light, because we are we are shining bright wherever you go, there should be some hope. There should be light. If there's no light, you got to you got to look internally. Don't stop pointing fingers. What is the light? Why aren't you the light? So go back and work on yourself and make sure that you are the light. So wherever you are, there shouldn't be any darkness. Yeah. My brother is shooting. He is shooting. He is absolutely correct. That's why there's always light for me because I am the light. That's it. I look at myself in the high regards. You know how I got there, man? Journaling and I am not giving myself an opportunity to do a shameless plug. Right. But at the end of the night, man, journaling was what saved me. I'm going to the mountaintop again. Right. Journaling. I was able to take how I was feeling and actually write it down and look at it and be like, you know what? You know, I developed the actual saying in my mind. Like I always ask myself, I'd be like, you look in 30 days, is this going to matter to me? This is not this is how I problem solve something to come at. You know, I'd be like 30 days from now, is this going to matter? If yes, then I, then I, then I, then I, I pursue the thought further. But nine out of 10 times, it doesn't even get past 30 days. It won't even matter. So why is it? Why am I making such a big deal out of it right now? Okay. So then that's, that's half the battle is learning. Like, where are you at? Emotional intelligence is the learned practice art. And we all as human beings, you know what I'm saying? We all, for sure. Absolutely. Absolutely. Oh my goodness. I can go on and on about that, but man, I appreciate having you today, bro. You just like woke me up. But I just want to, I just want to add one more thing about the journaling. That's something that you taught me as well, because growing up, right. Growing up as a man, when we think about journaling, we're talking about little girls, you know what I'm saying? Back in high school, talking about, you know, this boy and the third. And I was a grown man. I'm like, I ain't going to journal. I'm a grown man. You know what I'm saying? I process things the way I, and I realized, yeah, it has nothing to do with being a grown man. It has a lot to do about how you process your thoughts because we've got about six to 70,000 thoughts a day. Could you imagine trying to process all those thoughts? So by journaling, it kind of reminds you who you are. Okay. It also reminds you, Hey, listen, it's not that big of a deal because now it's out in the open. Now let's deal with it. So one other thing that you really helped not only about what we're covering is really about, which is a mindset, but journaling is, it has no gender. It's no gender thing, right? It's an everyone thing. So thank you. Thank you. You've been pretty much saving me. So you probably saving the whole generation of men because those are the things that you have demystified for us that we thought that way it was something that only girls do or certain people do. Well, you know, the real bottom line to it is like, you can, we can talk to, we blew in the face, but without action, without people like you, you know, actually putting in the work and, and, and displaying the action, man, that is so powerful, man. I really appreciate that. I appreciate you today. I appreciate you every day, bro. And I'm glad we're going to stay in touch, man. Shout out to the team. I'm going to take a moment to talk about the team, Ocean Tree Creative, man. Shout out to y'all, man. I love you, man. They're the wind beneath my wings, man. I just, I can't say that enough, man. We strategize, we monopolize, we do it together. And I love it. I love the team, the LIE foundation, a nonprofit out of Atlanta, Georgia, doing great things for that community, which stretches to my community, right? So, cause I'm a part of that. And then last but not least, O-W-W-L-L-L me and my brother on there. So you can get us both on there. Yep. You can definitely download it in your app store, man. Make sure you call it's for today's working entrepreneur, man. It's a lot of great people on there. I'm telling you, if you really want a supportive community, O-W-W-L-L just and call me up and thank me and tell me how, how, how fresh it is. Okay. Yes. So Will, I want, before we go, bro, I want to, I want to know one mental health tip. What do you do? Like when you feeling like anxiety and depression, when you having a moment, what is one good tip that you have that you can leave my people? Oh, absolutely, man. One of the things that I always tell people, remember what anxiety is and remember what depression is. Depression is when you live in the past. Anxiety is when you live in the future and the time that we have right now is a gift. That's why it's called the present. It's a gift. So enjoy the gift. Enjoy the moment. Yesterday's gone, tomorrow may never come. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present. Be in the present moment. Right now, I'm present with you. Be in the present moment and be grateful because I always say gratitude, which is your attitude and your attitudes will change your attitude. So start out being grateful. Once you start being grateful for everything that you do got, you're not going to think about what you don't have. And all of a sudden now your attitude towards life, your perspective towards life start to change. And when they start to change, you start to elevate. Gratitude change your attitude and your attitude change your attitude. This is Will, your favorite brother from another mother. You already know. Hey, I normally give a long dismount, right? But I'm going to say this, man. People keep following, keep subscribing, keep liking and engaging. That's how we build. Okay. Follow my brother Will. He's the man. I'm telling you, man. And us together, we the man, right? I love it. I love it because success is a team sport. I'm on your team, bro, for life. Any final words for my fans? Well, listen, man, just thank you. Thank you for being here. I don't take anything for granted because you could have been anywhere to give me your time and that time you will never get it back again. So I hope and I pray that you got something valuable from this. And if there's anything that we can do to better ourselves, please let us know because we are here to learn. We are students for life. So again, I want to thank every single one of you who are listening to this and I hope it does you good. And if not, also, you know, share it with somebody else that may need to hear this because everything that we say is not just for us because we already know what we're saying. But if you hear something that can change someone's life, please share it because sharing is caring. Oh, we, I say that all the time. That's why I know this is my brother from another mother from another country. Yes, but we brothers for real, man. I love you, man. I appreciate having you. Man, make sure you guys make sure you subscribe. Make sure you like he said, share this message with somebody in need today. Until next time, take care of yourself and each other. Let's go. Post-production for the OWL podcast is done with care by Ocean Tree Creative.