The Allure of Hyena Energy and Weaponized Humor

Sometimes the universe has a way of getting your attention.

Liz had a deck of animal spirit cards sitting in a drawer for two years. A friend gave them to her as a gift, and she'd forgotten about them. Then she found them again. And one card started showing up over and over.

The hyena.

She shuffled the deck. Threw it against a wall. Shook it in a bucket. Didn't matter. The same card kept appearing.

"The hyena personality is a jokester and a crowd pleaser. But below the surface, there are unfulfilled dreams to be realized. When the hyena card appears, it is time to reflect on your reliance on sarcasm and humor to express your truth. Are you using jokes to hide old resentments in relationships or to mask things that you feel uncomfortable discussing? What would happen if you took your goals seriously?"

That last question hit different.

The Class Clown Who Was Told He'd Amount to Nothing

George had an immediate reaction when he heard that card read aloud.

"Have you met me?"

At seventeen and a half, his math teacher told him he'd never amount to anything. Why? Because he was being a class clown. Being a hyena. Joking around and having fun.

"Natively, even at a younger age, this is who I was and how I've kind of programmed to be."

The card described him with uncomfortable accuracy. Jokester and crowd pleaser. He gets paid to speak on stages in front of crowds so they have fun and get educated. He's on a podcast mic right now for who knows how large an audience.

But it went deeper than that.

"Below the surface, there are dreams to be realized. Sometimes the hyena is so busy joking around and pleasing people, they don't get down to the root of what they wanna do with life."

He admitted something he'd never said out loud before.

"The first 25 to 30 years of my life may have been wasted. While there was life lessons along the way, it was very surface level."

Humor as Shield, Humor as Sword

George was direct about what humor has been for him.

"I think for me, humor has always been a shield. But when I say that, don't get me wrong. There's a ton of times that I'm simply funny in the moment because that's how I'm built. I'll just say some random ish in a podcast or random stuff on stage or out with friends and not even really mean to be funny. But there are many times where my humor is to put somebody at arm's length."

He likes to have fun. He likes to laugh. He feels good when others around him are laughing. That feeds him.

But he also recognizes something darker.

"Like most comedians that are out there, and if you've seen interviews, the humor comes from dark places. As humans, we get really good at hiding because they're about 37 layers under the last joke we just told."

He made a distinction that landed hard. A shield is for protection. But sometimes, especially when he was younger, humor was a sword.

"I would use humor to take others out. Just take them down. And that was just wrong. And now something that I am always watching out for and keeping the old George, that portion of old George at bay."

The Lonely Only Child Who Learned to Be Funny

Liz's relationship with humor came from a different place.

"My relationship with humor for a really long time was the way I would find love and liking."

She's an only child. Both her parents were only children. No aunts, uncles, or cousins. Her parents had her when they were forty. Most of her extended family passed away when she was young. She moved out on her own at nineteen. She grew up in an abusive household.

"I really never felt the family connectedness that a lot of people feel."

Humor became her way to achieve connection. Hey, she happens to be a funny person. That's cool. She's the life of the party.

"She's exhausted."

The hyena card forced her to confront something uncomfortable.

"Do you want to be entertaining and loved or do you want to be effective?"

She had to go a question deeper. Do you even know what your goals are?

"It tricked me into believing that being liked was the goal. Because it was the one thing I always lacked or felt I lacked."

The Newsletter That Changed Everything

Something shifted in Liz's writing over the past few weeks. The Beyond Your Default newsletter became more direct. More aggressive. Less reliant on humor as the main course.

George noticed but didn't say anything. He was afraid feedback might change the outcome.

"Finally. She's taking no prisoners. She's setting them up and knocking them down. If people don't like this, they don't need to read it. But the people who like this are gonna freaking change."

He described the shift using a food analogy.

"Design is supposed to be the salt and pepper. It's not supposed to be the sandwich. If humor is the whole meal, fine. It's great. It's a meal, but it might not be healthy. But if humor is the salt and pepper inside the meal, the steak, something that really fills you up, now we're heading in the right direction."

The last few newsletters still had humor. But mostly steak.

The Episode That Wouldn't Record

This episode got delayed three times. Technical issues. Scheduling conflicts. Things that seemed reasonable individually but felt suspicious together.

George got frustrated. Then he heard something.

"See, it wasn't no. It was wait. Wait for the conversation. It's brewing. It's percolating. It's not ready yet. But when it's ready, I'll let you pour a nice juicy cup of humor as a shield."

Liz had a similar realization. Each time they tried to record, her answer to the central question would have been different. A month ago, she would have given a surface-level response about being a jokester. Now she was somewhere else entirely.

"I have forced myself into a space where I can no longer hide."

The Real Cost of Using Humor to Hide

George laid out what happens when humor becomes a shield or sword without awareness.

Emotional avoidance. Using humor to deflect serious issues prevents you from addressing underlying problems. It leads to unresolved emotional distress. Trying to build a life beyond your default with unresolved emotional distress is like trying to climb a cliff with a Volkswagen strapped to your back.

Relationship strain. Excessive or inappropriate humor can harm relationships and reduce trust, especially when used to mock or belittle others.

Misunderstanding. Using humor too much as a shield leads to unintended offense and can escalate conflicts.

Credibility damage. Overuse of humor, particularly in professional settings, can harm your reputation and hinder opportunities.

Then he dropped a quote that landed hard.

"The irresponsible use humor to escape from responsibility. Are you using humor as an escape mechanism?"

The Tiger Woods Advice About Goals

Liz shared something a friend sent her at 4 AM. A video of Tiger Woods being asked about the best piece of advice he ever got.

Don't shoot haphazardly. Pick a spot. Your spot. You define what that spot is. It's rarely shooting directly at the hole. It may be to the left. It may be to the right. But you define it.

Most people just aim for the hole and shoot for the best.

The difference? Once you pick your spot, you go after it aggressively and without fear.

What Taking Your Goals Seriously Actually Looks Like

George broke down the practical side.

Clear planning. Define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals. Create a detailed action plan with milestones. Without this, what you have is a wish, not a goal.

Commitment. Dedicate time and resources. Stay consistent. Prioritize tasks related to your goals. Watch out for distractions. You might be the distraction.

Accountability. Track progress regularly. Adjust strategies as needed. Find external accountability through mentors, support groups, friends, or even Facebook Reels documenting your walks.

Growth mindset. You're going to have to do something different to become what you've never become. Embrace learning. Seek feedback. Acquire new skills.

Self-care. Maintain a healthy work-life balance to sustain long-term motivation and productivity. You can't reach your goals if you burn the candle at both ends.

The Question Behind the Question

Liz landed somewhere unexpected by the end of the conversation.

"What would happen if you took your goal seriously? What would happen if you believed you were worthy of even setting goals? What would happen if you believed you were worthy of achieving them?"

For a long time, the cost of answering that question was too great. She was afraid of what she would find.

"The one thing I don't think I've ever shared with you is that every single time you talk about the moment you had that conversation with me and I said, what would happen if you showed up as a whole ass human and it opened you up? I didn't know how to answer it because I didn't know who I was."

But the actual cost of not doing this work is a life unlived. Wildly inauthentic. Chasing things that don't feed you because you have no internal compass with a true north.

"Are you entertaining or are you effective?"

Quotable Moments

"The hyena personality is a jokester and a crowd pleaser. But below the surface, there are unfulfilled dreams to be realized."

"There are many times where my humor is to put somebody at arm's length."

"Like most comedians that are out there, the humor comes from dark places. As humans, we get really good at hiding because they're about 37 layers under the last joke we just told."

"Do you want to be entertaining and loved or do you want to be effective?"

"The irresponsible use humor to escape from responsibility."

"If humor is the whole meal, fine. It's a meal, but it might not be healthy. But if humor is the salt and pepper inside the meal, the steak, now we're heading in the right direction."

Questions to Sit With

1. Have you used humor as a shield? Have you used humor as a sword? What part does humor play in your past, your present, and who you're trying to become?
2. What would happen if you took your goals seriously?
3. Are you using jokes to hide old resentments, mask things you feel uncomfortable discussing, or escape from responsibility?

Press play above to hear the full conversation. George and Liz go deep into their personal histories with humor, the card that wouldn't stop appearing, and what it actually takes to move from entertaining to effective.