Marcus Bales, professional speaker and author of "Don't Shut Up" joined me today to talk about how he overcame social anxiety from an early age and went on to become a pro public speaker. My favorite part? Marcus' story about building connection by starting with a compliment.
Here's where you can find Marcus:
Website - https://www.thespeechadviser.com/
Here's where you can find me:
Own Your Self Care Starter Kit - https://theselfcare.life/own-your-self-care/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theselfcarelifestyle
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarastrives/
Intro and Outro Music:
Summer Vibes by Simon More https://soundcloud.com/user-73416670
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_summer-vibes
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Marcus Bales, professional speaker and author of "Don't Shut Up" joined me today to talk about how he overcame social anxiety from an early age and went on to become a pro public speaker. My favorite part? Marcus' story about building connection by starting with a compliment.
Here's where you can find Marcus:
Website - https://www.thespeechadviser.com/
Here's where you can find me:
Own Your Self Care Starter Kit - https://theselfcare.life/own-your-self-care/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theselfcarelifestyle
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarastrives/
Intro and Outro Music:
Summer Vibes by Simon More https://soundcloud.com/user-73416670
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_summer-vibes
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FTUkaPnYdLU
With a thousand things on our to do lists, a lot of us are doing life without any pause, literally forgetting to care for ourselves, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with the constant buzz of anxiety in our head. I strive to help you, the everyday woman, to stop and to embrace the power of effective self care in order to reduce overwhelm and anxiety, and find nourishment and balance in your everyday life. I’m Sara Miller. And I’m here to help you stop flying through life and start being the happiest and healthiest version of you, all by caring for yourself like someone worth caring for. Join me for conversations about self care, wellness, mindfulness, and so much more that will help you find your own self care lifestyle. I’m Sara and you’re listening to The Self Care Lifestyle podcast. Already. Welcome. I am here with Marcus Bales. He is a professional speaker, author, coach, and his upcoming book is coming out very, very soon, a couple days after this episode is released. So Marcus, do you want to just take a second to introduce yourself?
Marcus Bales:Absolutely. And thanks so much for having me on. Like you mentioned, I'm a professional speaker. I've been doing this for about 10 years now. And my life actually started as a very socially anxious kid, I suffered from severe social anxiety and made a decision fairly early on in my life that I wanted to, you know, push myself and overcome some of the fear that was holding me back. And that eventually led me to becoming a professional speaker. So I wanted to kind of chronicle that journey that I took from a personal perspective, and also a lot of the tips, tricks and you know, different scientific approaches that I use to actually overcome that anxiety, and eventually become a professional speaker.
Sara Miller:That's great. And I was really fascinated by I got to read the first chapter of your book and just kind of get a little peek into what all you're talking about. And your story of just that that struggle from a young age really fascinated me. So what was it about the wanting to overcome that fear? What really spurred that on? I guess, was there a particular trigger in that moment, and a specific moment that drove you to wanting to overcome that?
Marcus Bales:Absolutely. And it's one of those rare moments of clarity from from childhood. I think everyone has them where everything's kind of, you know, jumbled together. But there's one clear moment that you remember. And it was I was in sixth grade. And I was really struggling with social anxiety to the point where I was actually being kind of held back in a reading sense, I knew that I could read, but I couldn't read out loud to my teachers or my classmates. So I was put in special reading classes, which, you know, at the time, felt humiliating and and very demotivated because I knew that I could read. And it wasn't until the end of sixth grade that my mother actually forced them to give me a silent reading test. And I ended up scoring right within the normal range. And was was placed back with my other classmates. And it was that moment that made me realize, if I don't figure out how to communicate better, I'm going to be left behind, there's going to be things in my life that I want to do that this is going to hold me back from doing. So that was really kind of the moment that started the journey. And there were many moments, you know, along the way that kept pushing me forward. But that was really the start of it.
Sara Miller:That's a great story. I can definitely relate to that. Just struggling to communicate and feeling like it is holding you back. I was always kind of bucketed is that like shy child that just was not. I didn't speak up in class. And I was smart. And thankfully, I wasn't in an environment where I was given the opportunity for silent reading tests and things that were one on one where it wasn't overwhelming for me in that sense. But with that, I guess my next question is, what would you say your first step was for overcoming that social anxiety? And is that the same first step that you would take today?
Marcus Bales:Yes, so obviously, as a child you're not fully aware of, you know who you are yet, and you're very malleable. And so part of my journey was starting to identify myself as a confident speaker. And I think that that's a good place for anyone to start is working on your own self identity. We can be so critical we'll have ourselves and, and very, you know, kind of negative. But if you can start to change how you identify yourself, it can really be a good place to start. So instead of saying, I'm not a good speaker, because I'm socially anxious, or I get nervous, you could say, I am a confident speaker, so I shouldn't be nervous. And now you've reverse the roles, you are identifying yourself, as someone who is confident, you're being positive and reinforcing that behavior in yourself. And one of my favorite authors, James clear, he talks about those identity based habits where, you know, science kind of shows us that being able to identify ourselves with what we want to achieve, will give us better results, and long term results as well. So I think that's a great first step for anybody who's suffering from social anxiety to kind of start to work on how you identify.
Sara Miller:I really liked that note, especially coming from that person that was identified as a shy kid, you know, you kind of you I think, is, as children taken a lot of what is said about you, right, there's a lot of value put into other people's opinions of you. So for instance, my family and friends were always like, Oh, you're so creative. You're such an artist. So that's the career path I started to follow. Right, I started to look into I originally, I was like an art education major in college, I wanted to go teach art and just go that like, very traditional route. And now I'm doing marketing, which there's definitely overlap in the like, creativity aspect, I like design and all of that. But I had cornered myself into being this shy kid. And being this artist because of the identity that I was given. From the people around me, I was relying on their perceptions to form my own identity for versus intentionally taking my thought patterns and thinking about who am I. And changing those thought patterns? I think what I'm so fascinated by is you were only in sixth grade, and you were working through these thought patterns. Is that what I'm understanding you're, you started this journey. It's that young of an age.
Marcus Bales:Yeah. And, you know, I won't claim to be this profound sixth grader who's, who's come up with all the answers, it was very much a Logical Journey, you know, it was just identifying that I did want to get better, which I think is an easy thing for a sixth grader to do, you can understand when you want to get better at something. And it was that small piece that kept the ball movie, and then around eighth grade, I was like, Oh, maybe I should do research, I was very much into the scientific method and how things work, I was always taking stuff apart and putting it back together. So I thought maybe if I start to focus that attention on people, and how they communicate, I could start to understand that better. So each step was very logical. And it took time because I was so young. And for, you know, people who read the book, who are who are listening to the podcast, most of them will probably have the advantage of being older and wiser, and able to have deeper thoughts than than I did in sixth grade. So you can expedite that process. But it very much was one of those rare moments of clarity as a child.
Sara Miller:Yeah, that's, that's very interesting. I feel like it takes a lot of self awareness to get to that point of like, both wanting to get better, but being at being able to start identifying the problem itself and what steps to take next. But how would you say that? I mean, you've talked a little bit through sixth grade, eighth grade, keep, I would love if you would keep going, what did your career path look like? And what are the steps you continue to take to go from that sixth grade boy, who is struggling with social anxiety? Who wants to improve? You've started working through those thought patterns? Where did you go from there to get to the spot of being a professional speaker of all things?
Marcus Bales:Yeah. So it is a crazy story all the way through as many are. And after, you know, in eighth grade, I started to really observe other people how they communicate. I became fascinated with some of the great speakers, Martin Luther King, JFK, a lot of really powerful people and breaking down the methods behind it. And then when I got into high school, that's when I really started to put it into practice, which I believe is the next step. You know, you can begin to kind of skip some of the in between because we're older we can understand on these concepts better, so once you change that identity, you can begin to put it into practice. And like anything else, if you wanted to become the best drummer in the world, or the best singer in the world, you wouldn't expect to do it overnight, you would practice every single day you get in your 1000 hours speaking is the same. But for some reason, we don't think about that. We don't think that it's a muscle that we can practice and build, you know, strength with. So I was like, Well, I'm just going to start practicing every day. So high school, I would push myself I, you know, and I think it's a time when everybody begins to push themselves. And I just happen to be doing it in a, in a more, you know, structured way than maybe a lot of people would have, I had the same Bumbles and, you know, falls that everybody else did. But I knew that I had to keep pushing myself. So I would try, I joined the debate team, so that I could speak and, and practice that way. I was in, you know, speech class. And that's where you kind of start to build that repetition. And you can become better at speaking because you do it so often. So I think that's a very logical next step is just just begin to practice. And then after high school, obviously, going to college, you get an even bigger pond to play in, and you have more people, brand new people, and you can reinvent yourself. So that's really what I did the things that I thought were holding me back I got rid of I let go of them and move forward, fully embracing my new confident persona of this is how I want to approach the world. And from there, I just met so many wildly successful people that helped me on my journey, which is one of the things I talk so much about in the book is, so many of us decide, Oh, it's okay. I'm just an introvert. I'm fine. I don't need to talk to people. And we live our whole life thinking that. But you don't realize that you're missing out on all of these amazing people that may change your life. And I've met many of those in that time. And one such interaction, I was working at a copy and print center. Doing doing, you know, manual work with with copiers and everything. And this man came in. And I started up a conversation with him because he looked interesting. He was making copies of his bingo card. So I asked him like, what's this bingo card for? And he said, Well, I'm a DJ, and I host bingo nights at the local bars, you should come by sometime. And not even think and I said, Oh, well, I dabble in music production and I DJ a couple of times. And he said, Well, we're looking for another DJ, why don't you come to the office, and we'll have a conversation. So that's exactly what I did. And they brought me on as one of their DJs. And that's what started my career in professional speaking. I quickly rose the ranks as their DJ, and then eventually became one of their MCS and eventually their most booked emcee in the company. So I was speaking at events every single Friday and Saturday, which is really where I built up my professional speaking chops, eventually speaking in front of 1000s of people, on any given night now. So that was what really propelled me. And it all comes back to that practice, you know, being able to get up every single night and speak in front of large crowds. Got me more comfortable with it. Because you realize a lot of the things you were afraid of, were not real, they were just kind of in your head holding you back. And then as I practice, the better I got, and then eventually, after leaving there had the opportunity to just kind of transition into full on professional speaking at conferences, virtual events, and the like. And that's what I've been doing ever since. And now hopefully with with the launch of the book, I'll make my next step and and become more of a advocate for social anxiety and speak on the topics that I'm really passionate about.
Sara Miller:I love that and I love that you've been open through that by publishing this book that is diving into this issue of social anxiety because I don't feel like this is something that is addressed very often. I don't know that I've seen another book about it recently. So I guess what I would really likes to dive into a little bit more is that middle part of the story? The starting to practice it every day. I'm sure that doing that you ran into Several uncomfortable moments of just that, like that anxiety that just is so overwhelming at times, what were your favorite coping skills for going dealing with that and for pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and managing that anxiety in the process?
Marcus Bales:Absolutely. And there are so many to to recount, and many have made it into the book as well, because I think it's important to show even as a professional speaker, I've made many, many mistakes and had many scary moments. But one thing has always kind of remained true in those moments is that I never gave up, even when I was most nervous. And, you know, there's a particular event, it was actually my first event as a professional DJ, I was DJing, at a birthday party, or a graduation party, in someone's backyard. And there was maybe 50 people, but I was so nervous, I could not talk on the mic at all. And it was I was just a statue. But in that moment, I was like, you have to say something, these people are relying on you to get this moving, or you're just going to be standing up here forever. So I eventually forced myself to get out, you know, my, my script on what I was supposed to say, and then immediately slink away to the bathroom to to recover. But in that moment, it was very much just telling myself, you, you can do this, you know, you can do this, you've practiced it. And that internal self talk is a really great coping mechanism. In those anxious moments. I usually recommend to my clients to do it before you're on stage. But it can happen at any point. So usually, what I do now, before I get on stage is all hype myself up, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of self praise, to get yourself confident and ready to enter how your presentation or your speech is going to go. Really depends on how you start it. So starting on a really positive note, entering confidently, that's all going to be what makes the difference. So that's the that's one of my biggest coping mechanisms. And then also just understanding the symptoms, because stage fright is just our body's natural response to stress, it goes back to the fight or flight mechanism. So understanding that you are in control of your own body. A lot of times, especially with mental illness, I've suffered from anxiety and depression, you like to feel like you're out of control. You know, it just feels like you have no bearing on how you're feeling. When, as we all know, you can affect those feelings, you can talk to yourself, and bring yourself to a more stable state. So being able to recognize those symptoms, and bring yourself back to a more stable place is key to have a great presentation or even just a conversation.
Sara Miller:I think what's interesting, and this is something I've recently been talking about with with my own coach has been catching those thoughts in the moment. You mentioned your self talk is a very powerful coping skill. But it can also be something that is very challenging if you've struggled with that negative self talk. So do you have any advice for somebody who's struggling with catching that realizing, Oh, I'm having this negative negative self talk and totally like screwing myself over and just working myself into this anxious into this anxiety that I that is holding me back from what I want to do? What would your best piece of advice be for that? I guess identifying those feelings, or thoughts?
Marcus Bales:Yeah. And it's inevitable that those negative thoughts, those invasive thoughts are going to come into play. And one way that you can help with that is to remind yourself of positive things. So you know, as humans, we're very quick to critique ourselves were usually our own worst critics. So being able to give yourself a compliment. Well, those thoughts are coming in and trying to override those negative thoughts. That that can be a big benefit, especially in those scenarios where they're, they're kind of coming in rapidly. You you feel like you, you know, can't have control over them. Just giving yourself a compliment just thinking deeply about something that you feel you did well, that can start a chain reaction of positive feelings of Because sometimes all you need is one, you've got so many negative thoughts piling up, sometimes all you need is one positive thought. And that can start to lead you to other positive things, and get you reframe to a better state of mind. And oftentimes, especially in public speaking, one of those invasive thoughts is Oh, the, the crowd is going to hate me, they're going to boo me they're going to, you know, they're not going to enjoy it. And the science doesn't really back that up. And that was one thing that helped me cope was understanding that the people in the audience, they're not there to see you fail, you know, there's going to be the odd jerk every once in a while. But 99% of the time, everybody in that audience wants to see you succeed, they're there for you. And you're on that stage, you're in front of those people, you're with that person for a reason. And you deserve to be there. And you have the capability to have a fantastic presentation. So understanding that the majority of people in that audience, they're not there to watch you fail, you're not going to you know that you can do this, that that really helped me in those situations, because that was a big fear of mine was, oh, I'm going to let these people down. Or they're not going to like me. So being able to identify that, hey, when surveyed, people actually don't want to see people fail. They're there to help somebody. And there's many, you know, stories of audiences actually pitching in and assisting someone to get through a difficult presentation, or to get through a performance, even for celebrities.
Sara Miller:Yeah. So I guess how would you see this trickling? Or how do you see this trickling into your into your personal life? Do you feel like, there were any shifts in how you interacted with people, when you're not necessarily speaking publicly? Maybe you're introducing yourself to a new person, maybe you're, you know, going on a first date, something like that? What, how did you see those shifts in your personal life?
Marcus Bales:Yeah, and I think that it's so important to work through your anxiety and in stages. So I actually break the book down into three sections, personal interactions, business interactions, and public interactions. And being able to, you know, come to grips and have a good understanding of personal interactions, dating, interpersonal relationships, building friendships, allows you to become a better speaker later on. So I've had many moments of growth, during, you know, dating during friendship making process. So I can think of one in particular, when in my dating sphere, my first date ever, I was so nervous to do so to ask this person out that I couldn't even do it in person, I just texted them. And that made me realize, oh, you know, I probably should have done this in person, I, I let my anxiety kind of take control. And I just texted them and kind of took the easier way out. And throughout that whole date, there was that little bit of underlying anxiety from that first interaction. So I always tell people, you know, start every relationship, start every conversation with it with a positive, confident approach, because that will start to build that positive relationship with that person, whether it's, you know, a relationship, whether it's just simply platonic, having that confident first interaction is going to lay that groundwork to build a great relationship on and build those feelings of trust.
Sara Miller:Yeah, I, I like that. Um, that makes a lot of sense. I one thing that I keep coming back to is in your book, you talked about practicing in those little moments of the day, right? Even things like simply I think it was like complimenting a barista, if I'm remembering correctly, is that right? Um, so I would love for you to share that story because I think it's really impactful and just how to utilize those tiny little moments of your day to to practice the skill of kind of coping with your anxiety and working to overcome it and thrive with it.
Marcus Bales:Yeah, I love that story so much because it illustrates a couple of points. Number one, it's how to start a conversation, starting the conversation is always the most difficult. Once a conversation is going, that anxiety continually gets diminished as the relationship builds, it's that first 30 seconds, that's always the most difficult. So in the story I talked about using an empathic statement. And an empathic statement comes from the root word empathy, which means to understand the feelings of someone else. And what an empathic statement does is it shows the other person that you are conscious of their decisions of who they are, and can highlight shared interests. So with one opening statement, you can show them that you care, and that you want to have, you know, a conversation with them beyond just oh, hey, how's the weather today? Those shallow conversations usually have no relationship building character to them. So in the story, I go to the coffee shop that I would go to quite frequently. And there was only one barista behind the counter. And it was very busy. She was very overwhelmed. But I noticed right away that she had that many reads. So I found my empathic statement. I noticed her earrings. I liked that man, it was a mutual, you know, connection. So when I got up to the counter, made my order, I mentioned the earrings, I said, Hey, I like I like your earrings. And she lit up and said, Oh, yeah, I was like, oh, yeah, they tiny, bad symbols. She said, Yes. So that opened up this conversation. And instantly, she knew that there was, you know, a connection of one shared interest, at least that we could build a conversation off of. So then I recommend following up with a personal question, something that keeps the conversation going, usually in the same theme of the empathic statement. So my question was, Michael Keaton, or Christian Bale, which are two actors who played Batman. And right away, she said, Christian Bale, no question. I said, Absolutely, no question. Love, Christian Bale knew that she had to continue working. So I moved down the line. And in that short interaction, we were able to relieve a little bit of stress, she, she got to have a relief from the slew of people behind her. And we had a meaningful conversation about Batman. Then, when my, you know, small chai tea latte came up on the other end, it somehow turned into a medium and written on the cup was was Batman. So it was, you know, a nice little reminder to me that these little conversations do have meaning and people remember them, and, and that it's worth being a bit more observant and having that conversation because it probably made her day. I never saw her again. But I'm sure in that moment, it was nice to have a genuine conversation with someone. And it allowed me to practice. So the next time I was having a bigger conversation, and I needed to introduce myself to someone, you know, quote, unquote, more important. Then I was ready. I was prepared because I had done it so many times before.
Sara Miller:Yeah, I and I think there's so much power in taking that first step. And letting yourself be I suppose vulnerable for a second and saying, and starting that conversation, right? And kind of getting over that that hump because it becomes so much easier. Like you were saying the first 30 seconds of the conversation is the hardest part. But once you get past that, and starting with that confidence that can be that can be a great foundation for bigger relationships. Which is something you touched on a little bit a little a little bit a few minutes ago was building connection and the importance of that even as somebody who might be an introvert I know I personally am very much an introvert. And it can be very easy to get stuck in though oh, well, I just don't need to talk to people which is not true just because just because yes, you need alone time to recharge, you're more introverted. You don't. You're shy, whatever. There's still so much that you get from that human connection. And by overcoming that social anxiety. There's so much there to take I'm losing my words here. There's just so much there to gain.
Marcus Bales:Yeah, absolutely. And I tell people all the time, you never know what you're missing out on, until you experience it. So being able to get out and have those conversations, some of the best people I've ever met, was from a random conversation somewhere. And it just snowballs, you know, I'm sure that's the way everybody meets their best friend. But it usually happens when you're younger. And it's easier because you're crammed in a, in a classroom together, or you're paired up somehow. But as you get older, you don't have that same, you know, conduit to be able to make those friends. So being able to introduce yourself, have those conversations can help you build those friendships that are so meaningful and those connections that means so much.
Sara Miller:That's really great. And I think that's a, that's a great place to just consider, you know, if you're, if you're listening to this episode, chances are, he might not want to be a public speaker. But I think this shows the value of still overcoming that social anxiety, regardless of what profession you may want to go into, and how much it impacts your personal life as well. You briefly touched on your experience with depression. And I'd love to learn a little bit more about that connection for you between that social anxiety and that depression. I know, I definitely had my own journey with generalized anxiety disorder and depression and that stuff go so hand in hand, so I would just love to hear more your story.
Marcus Bales:Absolutely. And mine is very similar, you know, I feel like anxiety and depression really do come in pairs. And so many people I know, including myself, suffer from one and then either the other starts to creep in. Or they've always suffered from them together. And a lot of my depression was coming from feelings that I was locking away. And I feel like that is something that a lot of people who suffer from, you know, really bad depression feel is that they can't talk about these feelings that they have. And I was in that same boat. i There's a very personal story in the book that I felt I needed to add, because I knew there was probably so many other people out there who experienced what I did. And what it came down to was, I had mastered speaking in front of 1000s of people. But I couldn't talk about my feelings with one person. And I needed to have that realization that my journey was not done. There was so much more that I could continue to do to be happier and be healthier. And that's really when I discovered one of the roots of my depression, which was I was not talking about it, I was not talking about how I felt. So the very next day, I scheduled my first therapist appointment ever. And I was terrified. Because I would I had that same social anxiety, because I didn't want somebody else to know what I was feeling. And I didn't want them to judge me. But the second I did, and the second I had my first session, it was like, wow, this is what I was missing out on. It was the same thing with, you know, Oh, these are all the friends I was missing out on because I wasn't talking. This was all the this was all the healing that I could be doing by talking to somebody else. And through that, through the conversations with my therapist, through the conversations, when I started to open up to my friends and my family, I began to see the value in myself that I couldn't before. And I I truly believe that even if you only overcome your social anxiety, for that one reason that is worth it 10 times over is to get that reassurance from other people, that you do have value that you are worth it. And even if that's all all, all people get from the book, I would be completely happy because everyone has their own needs when it comes to overcoming social anxiety. Whether that's you want to be a professional speaker, you want to, you know, be better in your job, or you just want to be happy. I think it's all accomplishable when you start to talk to other people and open up those relationships.
Sara Miller:I love that and I think that that is that's so powerful that is just so powerful. I'm gonna have to clip that, quote it somewhere So I like to end with two specific questions. So first off, we haven't done, we have not dove in into self care very much in this particular episode, but because it is the self care lifestyle, I still have to ask this question, what is your favorite form of self care? Bonus points if it's something that is kind of unusual different than what somebody would normally consider self care, because over here, we're over here, we really like to embrace what's effective for you and not rely on copying and pasting somebody else's routine. So what is your favorite form of self care?
Marcus Bales:Yeah, I have two, and one of them is very normal. And the other I feel like should be normal, but may not be for a lot of people. The first is I like to take baths. You know, I think it's very relaxing, and just decompress with my thoughts. But the other is to actually go and have really long form conversations with people, I'd have some close friends that I like to call or get together with, and just four hour long, which is wherever the conversation goes, just let everything out, have completely open communication, because we get to do it. So rarely, I feel fortunate that I've incorporated into my life having these long conversations, and I've collected so many people that are open to having them that you don't realize how powerful they are. From a self care perspective, you get to release all of the all of the baggage that you were carrying all of the stress that you had, you can talk about it, and you leave feeling so refreshed, like you can clean the slate and start something new. So those are my two big ones that I really enjoyed doing.
Sara Miller:I like that I really liked that. And I feel like they're, they're total opposites. One is very, like, solitary and alone. And one is very people oriented. I think that's a nice balance.
Marcus Bales:So extreme, everyone, everyone would think that I'm you know, would be labeled an extrovert but by by popular definition, I'm technically an introvert. I need time to be alone and recharge, I get paid to speak. But when I'm in my downtime, I do like to have a balance of those long conversations, but also, you know, solitary, reflection and, and relaxation
Sara Miller:of that. Okay, so final question. Where can they find you?
Marcus Bales:Yeah, so a bunch of different ways. The main way is going to be through my website, thespeechadviser.com. Through there, you can sign up for our email newsletter, so you can get monthly news on events that I'm going to be doing or different speech advice comes out as well. And then through different social media, so YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, all @thespeechadviser and then the book. I think that's my my main way I want people to learn about social anxiety and my story and hopefully get better themselves. Put a lot of myself in there and, and think that it's hopefully going to help a lot of people. And that will be coming out May 3, it's going to be available on Amazon, audible and Kindle stores.
Sara Miller:Great. I will definitely link all of that in the show notes so y'all can check out those links. Thank you so much for coming on today, Marcus and sharing your story and all this great advice. It was really great to chat with you.
Marcus Bales:Awesome. Well, thank you so much for having me again. It was an absolute pleasure.
Sara Miller:Hey sweet friend! Before you go, I want to share an opportunity with you. I’m offering one on one Self Care Coaching via Voxer, a walkie talkie style app where we can exchange voice messages or text messages. Whatever it needs to be. Self Care Voxer Coaching looks like having me in your pocket for unlimited encouragement, advice, and support; Monday through Friday. Together, we will work through how you can build effective and sustainable self care into your life, as well as navigate the overwhelm, anxiety, and frustrating mindset blocks that may be preventing you from practicing self care right now. Ultimately, I can help you build your own self care lifestyle that will help you reduce the constant buzz in your brain, and the exhaustion that comes with it, and leave you feeling more nourished and balanced than ever. If you’re interested in learning more about this opportunity, reach out to me via Instagram at @sarastrives, or email me at hello@theselfcarelifestyle.com. Thanks again for tuning into The Self Care Lifestyle podcast, I will talk at you, or hopefully with you, again soon.