Hey lovely humans,

Today I’m excited to feature Brandon Lee and his Wellness Wisdom Stack. Brandon currently runs Operations at Searchlight.ai, a YC company helping teams hire diverse candidates. Prior to that Brandon has lived many lives - from flipping houses, starting a personal development coaching program for teens, to moonlighting as a Quora writer with over 17K followers.

Unsurprisingly, I got to know Brandon through his writing.

I was impressed by the vulnerable (“An Answer to Loneliness”) and intentional (“How I found out what I want from life in 2000 words”) ways in which he approached his own personal growth.  

Now I’m excited to share his Wellness OS across Mind 🧠(emotional and intellectual) and Body 💪(self-care, fitness, nutrition) with you all!

And it begins with throwing away the notion that wellness is just comprised of Mind and Body.

Brandon started off by pointing out that there are many ways to define wellness outside of those bounds. First and foremost, financial stability begets wellness. Achieving a certain degree of financial stability is required before one can afford an Airbnb glamping escape, $150 therapy session, or cult gym membership. Consumerized wellness in popular culture is a privilege for many. Taking time off to ponder self-actualization is a luxury.

Now assuming a certain threshold of financial security is met, what does wellness mean?  

Spiritual wellness is an important facet of wellness outside of mental and physical wellness. In other words, finding meaning and purpose. In fact, Brandon argues that although there’s been periods in his life where he was at peak mental and physical wellness levels, it was a lack of purpose that caused him to be extremely unhappy.

So.. what does finding purpose and meaning actually mean?

2 things: making a positive impact on others and honing your creative expression.  

Life oscillates between impact and skills

If you don’t have skills you’re likely not finding much meaning in life. If you spend a lot of time developing skills you’re probably also not feeling much meaning. Calibrating the % of your time dedicated to simultaneously developing skills and impact is ideal and depends on your phase in life. Once you’re competent in a certain skill you have the ability to modulate how much of your time is focused on learning vs. making an impact

For example: Brandon’s life in the last 10 years

🎓Dropping out of college:

🏠 Real estate

💪 Orenda: Teen Coaching Academy

👨🏻‍💻 Searchlight.AI

You can’t calibrate when you’re on autopilot.

One must slow down and reflect in order to identify their balance and shortcomings between skill and impact. Here are Brandon’s tips to do so:

And this concludes Brandon’s Wellness Wisdom Stack 🥞

Some of my key takeaways?

If you enjoyed it would mean the world to me if you could share! 💌

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Wishing you peace & health,

Patricia