From Womb to Tomb: Life is What We Make It — Are You Living Your Legend?

Are you sleepwalking through life?

Shocking statistics reveal that a staggering 85% of people worldwide are merely existing, not truly living! Don't become another faceless statistic in this epidemic of disengagement.

Prepare to be jolted awake as I, Dai Manuel, rip away the veil of complacency in this explosive episode of The 2% Solution.

I'll reveal how a mind-bending encounter with Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist" catapulted me from a mindless drone in the health industry to a visionary on a mission. Brace yourself to confront the brutal truth about clarity, goal-setting, and why obsessing over lifespan is killing your soul. 

This isn't just another self-help sermon - it's your wake-up call to a life of purpose or risk withering away in mediocrity.

Buckle up for a no-holds-barred journey into living your legend.

I'll arm you with battle-tested strategies to crush complacency and ignite your inner fire. From ruthlessly identifying your core values to weaponizing gratitude, I'll show you how to infuse every moment with earth-shattering purpose.

Learn why surrounding yourself with average minds sabotages your potential and how cultivating a ravenous curiosity can skyrocket you light-years ahead of the pack.

Prepare to have your worldview shattered as I unpack game-changing insights from Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" and Brené Brown's revolutionary research.

This isn't just content - it's a manifesto for the bold.

Are you ready to defy the status quo and etch your name in the annals of greatness? The clock is ticking. Your legacy hangs in the balance.

Will you rise, or will you crumble?

BTW. Check out the BlueZone Episode here.

Chapters

• 0:08 Living Your Legend
• 8:24 Living Your Purpose
• 13:45 Thriving With Intention

Transcript

Dai Manuel: 0:08

Hey, hey, hey. Wellness warriors, welcome back to another episode of the 2% Solution. I'm your host, don Manuel, and today we're diving into a topic that's as big as life itself. Literally, we're talking about the journey from the womb to the tomb and asking the question are you living your legend? It'll be powerful, so buckle up, let's get into it. You're going to start with a simple truth Life is what we make.

Dai Manuel: 0:36

It Sounds like a cliche, but, as we all know, cliches are usually based on some form of truth and, from the moment we're born to the moment we leave this world, every choice, every action, every moment contributes to the legacy we leave behind. But here's the kicker Most people live on autopilot, me included at times, which I'm more hard to be more aware of what's going on in the moment. But as much as we're living on autopilot, we're also going through the motions without ever truly engaging with our fullest potential. Did you know that, according to a Gallup study, only 15% of people worldwide are engaged at work? That means 85% of people are just going through the motions, not fully tapped into their purpose nor their potential. I mean, that's a staggering number and I hope at least. When I saw that, I was like, okay, wake up call, and maybe that's what we're all feeling, because we have the power to change that narrative and live our lives with intention. But it starts with making a conscious choice to do so.

Dai Manuel: 1:51

Share a little personal story. When I started in the health and fitness industry, I was just like many others trying to make a living, unsure, quite literally, of where I was going and, honestly, just trying to keep my head above water. But one day something clicked and I really realized that if I wanted to create a meaningful life, I had to start living intentionally and make decisions that aligned with the legacy I wanted to leave behind. And the funny thing was, you know, this whole idea of legacy, I didn't really understand it until I read a book called the alchemist by um paulo coelho, and that's spelled c-o-e-l-h-o. Amazing author and he's written so many amazing books, but the one that's, uh, most acclaimed is the alchemist and it's really. It's just a. It's a wonderful story about the hero's journey. Right, we all go on this journey. Sometimes we we grew up in our, our towns or our situations or predicaments, and it's funny as we grew up, we just think our world is so small and we aspire for so much more, and sometimes we get to that place where we believe we just got to go out and carve our own place in the world and sometimes travel far, far away to discover that thing, that legacy, that purpose for ourselves.

Dai Manuel: 3:14

I won't ruin the book because it's freaking awesome and if you like audible books, like I do, there's an audible version of the book that's narrated and acted out by the great Jeremy Irons. If you're not familiar with that Academy Award winner, where have you been, I mean really, the last 30, 40 years? The guy's like the screams and he's just a phenomenal actor. But he's honestly the most entertaining version of the Alchemist I've ever had the opportunity to digest and consume, and I actually re-listened to it quite regularly. A little side note the Alchemist was the book I gave my wife on our very first date about 23 years ago. Crazy, right, but I thought that was way better than flowers. So make note of that. Write that down, guys, if you need a really cool gift that keeps on giving, because it could make quite literally someone's perspective on life completely change when they read, and it had that effect on me.

Dai Manuel: 4:10

And so, going back, he talks about this idea. Are you living your legend are you? Are you out there creating your legend? What is that? Do we know what that is? Are we intentionally chasing something? I mean big, big questions. But how many times do we take the moment to just sit back and ask ourselves a question and sit with it to the point where we start to find that inner clarity? When we feel that inner clarity, at least directionally speaking, we have the idea of what way we should be facing, what we should start walking. Confidence goes up. And when we start feeling more confident, cool stuff happens because we start to take more intentional, decisive action, and that in itself reaffirms more confidence, especially based on the traction, or lack of traction, we get. We can adjust and adapt. We can sort of see how this natural ebb and flow.

Dai Manuel: 5:03

So yeah, long and short of it all, I went through this sort of phase, especially after reading the Alchemist. I was 19 when I read it. This is going wait, that's a long time ago. It's like I was 19 when I read it. This is going man, that's a long time ago. It's like whoa, it's almost 30 years ago. Wow, I just had a little bit of a shivering moment there and goosebumps are up. I just realized, yeah, I'm going to be 48 this year, holy smokes. Anyways, I digress, but the book's great and I highly recommend it.

Dai Manuel: 5:27

And for myself, when I really got clear on this idea, you know that I wanted to create communities, support communities, but especially with just living healthy for as long as we can. It's funny 30 years later we have this concept of healthspan, not lifespan anymore. We're not worried about how long we live, we're worried about how long we live healthily right. Say that 10 times. Healthily, that's a weird word. It's kind of trips my tongue when I say it. So I got to say it again Healthily right. So keep in mind, you know. And what are we doing every day to ensure that we're following that path, if that's the path we want to follow? But you see, if you don't know what direction you ought to be going, I guess any direction is going to go.

Dai Manuel: 6:15

But through it all, you know, I kept returning to that question Am I living my legend? Am I living my purpose? And that question has quite literally guided me ever since. Now, there's been lots of moments where I've had well, to be quite frank, I've lost the focus or the clarity on my direction or the purpose, and whenever that happens, things tend to go wrong. I won't get into all the gory details today, but I've had some paths I've gone down and I've questioned why the hell did I go down it? And, to be honest, that lack of clarity or confidence easy way to get distracted and start seeing those shiny bright lights when we start chasing other things. Think of that. Maybe that's what I want. It's funny I always keep coming back to the same thing.

Dai Manuel: 7:00

Now let's get into some of the science of this, because living with purpose isn't just a great idea or concept, it's actually backward research. A study published in the journal Psychological Science found that people with a strong sense of purpose live longer, healthier lives. Now we've seen that, also edified and shown again to be true, or at least anecdotally, but also scientifically speaking. When we start looking at the research from the blue zones and I've talked about that in a previous episode, I'll link to it in the show notes but we see these centurions people living to be 100 plus years old and they're not just sitting around waiting in some sort of a home, if you will Like. I remember my old mom, my mom's or my dad's mom, you know, grandma Grace. She sat in a home for literally the last like 20 years of her life and she didn't move much between those chair to the bathroom, to the dining table and between those three points. Right, well, she was happy and she had family and it was good. But when I look at some of these examples of people in their 100, you know, hitting 100 plus, and they're out there competing in some sport. You know they're doing passion projects. They're out there, you know, picking up new hobbies, I just I'm inspired and I think it sort of shifts our belief around aging and what does that even mean, anyway, so that's a really cool study, especially the Blue Zone. So make sure you check out that episode. If you haven't, it'll be linked to the show notes.

Dai Manuel: 8:24

But there's less likely to suffer from chronic diseases as well, right? So this strong sense of purpose doesn't only help us live longer, healthier, but we tend to suffer less from chronic diseases, but they also have lower levels of stress and anxiety. Hello, sign me up. Right, but here's something you might not know. The same study found that having a grand overarching purpose wasn't the only requirement. Even small everyday goals can contribute to that sense of purpose. It's about finding meaning in the little stuff Helping a neighbor out, pursuing, maybe, a new passion project, or just being present in the moment with your loved ones. Either way, they're all great gifts, but they're also gifts that give back to yourself and realign with that sense of purpose. Now here's a few strategies to start living your legend.

Dai Manuel: 9:21

Number one you got to know what your core values are. These are the things that we know to be absolutely true, and you could do a little assessment. You can ask yourself what is something that I will not negotiate on? Maybe it's family, maybe it's your health. Maybe it's the way that you decide to treat brand new people when you meet them. Maybe there's a certain kindness that you believe should be always offered up first. Lead with kindness, right. Either way, these are values, these are things that you hold to be absolutely true and they're non-negotiables. So taking some time to literally reflect on what truly matters to you is important. Because what values guide your decisions every day? The automatic ones and the ones you have to sit back and ponder on? Because once you clear on these, if you start aligning your actions with them, watch out, it is like a vacuum just pulling you along. All right, or maybe a black hole is a better example. But it's this incredible amount of pull that you'll start to feel as you start crushing things on your list, starting chasing those goals, but especially doing things that align with who you really value yourself as. So, number one identifying your core values really excellent exercise. Brene Brown's got some wonderful resources on that. I'll link to a couple of those in the show notes as well.

Dai Manuel: 10:49

Number two set intentional goals. I mean these don't have to be massive goals by any means. Start small. You know we're all about 2% here, right? Start small. It's those small ones, those small changes, sometimes the hardest ones to make, but it's committing to daily exercise, spending more quality time with family or learning a new skill. These are all great intentional goals and if they align with you, great make it. But the key is to make these goals intentionally, but align them with your values as well, because if they're not aligned with your values, I'll tell you in my experience, procrastination sure feels easier than doing whatever the thing is that we said we should be doing. Because if it doesn't align with who you are and what your values are, and especially what you see as your overarching vision or purpose of your life, gosh you got yourself. Why are you even doing it?

Dai Manuel: 11:38

Number three practice gratitude.

Dai Manuel: 11:40

Take a moment each day to reflect on what you're grateful for.

Dai Manuel: 11:44

Simple practice can shift your mindset and help you focus on what's truly important. Number four surround yourself with like-minded people. Very critical, you know. Your tribe determines your vibe. Your environment literally plays a huge role in your success. Around this, too, surround yourself with people who inspire, challenge, uplift you and support you on your journey.

Dai Manuel: 12:10

And number five stay curious and keep learning. Life is a continuous journey of growth. Stay curious, keep learning and always be open to new experiences. So there you go Five accessible strategies, right? Any one of us can do that. They don't cost money. It takes a little bit of time, a little bit of effort, a little bit of intentionality right. But identifying your core values, setting intentional goals, practicing gratitude daily, surrounding yourself with people just like yourself or people that want similar things, and staying curious while you keep learning. You can do all those, but don't worry about trying to do all of them. Pick one and start there and see what happens.

Dai Manuel: 12:54

Now, if you want to dive deeper into this topic, I recommend checking out resources like the Journal of Psychological Science, books like Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I also, you know I'm going to link to some of the work by Brene Brown, even a couple of her TED Talks, but these are just great resources to start to stimulate your mind of what's possible when you start to lean into some of these ideas, strategies, concepts, especially around purpose. So, my wellness warriors, that's it for today's episode on living your legend. Remember, life is what we make it and every day is an opportunity to create the legacy we want to leave behind. So ask yourself, are you living your legend? And if not, what can you do today to start?

Dai Manuel: 13:45

Thanks for tuning into the 2% Solution. If you found value in today's episode, share it with a friend who might need a little push to start living with more intention. Don't forget to follow us on social. Leave a review if you're loving the podcast. That makes me feel so good, but it also keeps me excited to keep showing up and stay intentional, stay strong and keep pushing your limits. I'm Diamond Wall. You've been listening to 2% Solution. Keep thriving, keep smiling, keep trying to be that best version of you, because you're worth it. See you next time.