Your Humanity: A Balancing Act of Authenticity and Well-being

George has been waving the humanity flag for over a decade. Happy, helpful, humble human. It's not a gimmick. It's a philosophy that shapes everything from how he approaches business to how he shows up at his own fire pit.

But what does it actually mean to embrace your humanity? What does it look like in practice when you're trying to become the best version of yourself?

This episode unpacks one of the core pillars of the superhuman framework. And it turns out being a better human starts with something most of us avoid: getting honest about the messiness within.

Compassion and Empathy Are Not Optional

George didn't ease into this conversation. He went straight for the jugular.

Compassion is the heartfelt desire to help others who are suffering. And suffering doesn't have to mean tragedy. It could just mean someone's having a hard time.

"For us, it involves recognizing when somebody is in pain and feeling a genuine impulse to help that person. This ties back to why I'm the hand up guy. I'm compassionate. I'm empathetic. I'm paying attention to where they're at, and I'm having a belief in where they can actually go."

Empathy goes deeper. It's not watching someone's emotions or feeling sympathy from a distance. It's experiencing their emotions as if they were your own.

"The keyword there is experiencing their emotions, not watching their emotions, not feeling their emotions, but experiencing their emotions and the perspectives as if they were your own."

He paused to ask listeners a question that landed hard: What was the last act of compassion you witnessed, and how did it impact you?

The Mother Teresa Quote That Changes Everything

George flagged one quote as the single most important takeaway from the entire episode.

Mother Teresa said: "It is not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving."

Read that again.

It's not about measuring your output. It's about the love behind it. And that reframing changes everything about how we approach helping others, showing up for friends, even doing our work.

"How much love are you putting into the things versus measuring just the things that you're doing?"

When's the Last Time You Opened a Door for a Stranger?

George got specific about what it means to help without expecting anything in return.

"Consider something as simple as a neighbor struggling to carry in the groceries and offering to help them without expecting anything in return. It's a simple yet powerful act of kindness that contributes to a greater good."

Then he asked a question that hit different.

"When's the last time you actually opened a door for a stranger? Is that gone in our society? Do you still do that? I challenge you today after listening to this, find a stranger and open the dang door for them and see what happens."

See what happens with them. See how it makes you feel.

The Missing Piece in the Superhuman Framework

Liz called something out mid-episode that stopped the conversation.

"Do you realize how much we talk about love, how important love is? It's the most important thing, and it's not even present in our superhuman framework. And I have a question about whether or not that needs to change."

She made the case that everything they'd been discussing was actually about love.

"Do you love someone enough to listen? Do you love someone enough to show themselves to you? Do you love yourself enough to allow yourself to be seen?"

When love is present, truth becomes a binding agent. When it's absent, authenticity becomes a weapon. Vulnerability becomes a wedge.

George agreed they need to have a strategic conversation about where love fits. It might not be its own section. It might be a piece of every section.

If You Remain at War With Yourself, You Remain at War With the World

Liz dropped something she'd written about in the Beyond Your Default newsletter that crystallized what they were discussing.

"If you forever remain at war with yourself, you will forever remain at war with the world."

She used two examples to illustrate how contradictions within us aren't problems to fix. They're what make us whole.

The first was galaxies. They're made of regular matter, the stuff we see, and dark matter, the stuff we can't see. We only know it's there because of its gravitational pull. But here's the thing: galaxies don't exist without dark matter. The darkness is what holds all the beautiful visible star stuff together.

The second was Athena from Greek mythology. Goddess of wisdom and war. Both. Not a passive philosopher preaching peace with no skin in the game. Not a bloodthirsty mercenary. Both equally.

"The more we become at home within ourselves of I'm a human being. I have shadow, I have light. I have edges, I have soft squishy parts. It becomes so much easier to accept it outside in the world."

George's Battle With Negative Self-Talk

George got vulnerable about his internal dialogue.

"I literally had to spend time with I am statements in a positive way because it was very easy for me to be like, you're dumb. You're stupid. You're a high school dropout. You're never gonna amount to anything."

That toxic internal voice was his reality for years.

"Pay attention to your inner dialogue and challenge these negative thoughts that so quickly and easily sometimes can pop up. Replace self criticism with affirmations and positive reinforcements about yourself."

He offered a simple reframe.

"Instead of saying, I'm not good enough, you might just remind yourself that you're doing your best, and that's okay. I've told my kids multiple times, I don't need you to be perfect. I just want you to try to do your best."

Your Physical Health Impacts Your Humanity

The connection between body and humanity wasn't something George expected to be as long of an answer as it turned out to be. But he's lived it.

"Neglecting physical health impacts emotional and mental well-being. Without a doubt, I could end right there. Period."

Poor health leads to fatigue and low energy. Low energy makes it hard to engage in activities. That causes sadness, which can lead to depression. And depression makes it nearly impossible to maintain the positive mindset required to grow.

He got specific about his own journey.

"I've had to deal with this one, and I'm pretty sure a lot of humans have had to deal with this one. And, frankly, if I'm being completely authentic, transparent, vulnerable right now, I'm freaking sick of dealing with this one. And it's negative body image."

The spiral is real. Negative body image leads to neglecting health. Neglecting health leads to social isolation. Isolation leads to more withdrawal. And suddenly you're in a funnel heading somewhere you never wanted to go.

The CPAP Confession

George shared something vulnerable that made a tangible difference in his life.

"The amount of sleep I've been able to get and the adequate sleep that I have been able to get ever since I listened to my wife and went to the doctor and got a CPAP machine is night and day."

Sleep isn't a luxury. It's foundational.

Liz added context that landed.

"Think about the last time you didn't get sleep and how well you showed up as a human for the other people in your lives."

Emotional Intelligence Isn't Just Corporate Buzzword Bingo

George broke down what emotional intelligence actually means beyond the LinkedIn posts.

"It's the ability to understand and manage your own emotions as well as recognize and potentially influence the emotions of others."

The layers build on each other:

Self-awareness. Recognizing your emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and how they affect your thoughts and behavior.

Self-regulation. Managing those emotions. Staying in control. Being adaptable. Reacting appropriately.

Motivation. Having the drive to improve and achieve goals based on personal growth, not external rewards.

Empathy. Understanding and sharing the feelings of others. Seeing things from their perspective.

He admitted this is where he doubled down when he struggled with traditional intelligence.

"I think because of my skewed self perception of my IQ, you're dumb, you're stupid, you're high school dropout, that I actually doubled down on EQ and emotional intelligence in my life."

Quotable Moments

"It is not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving."

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."

"If you forever remain at war with yourself, you will forever remain at war with the world."

"Being human is about progress, not perfection. 1% better each and every day is what we should be trying to achieve."

"Perfection is not real. It's false. So get over it."

Questions to Sit With

1. How often do you truly listen to understand rather than just respond?
2. When's the last time you allowed yourself to be truly vulnerable with someone?
3. How often do you catch yourself in negative self-talk? When you do, how can you change it?
4. How does your physical health influence your mental and emotional well-being right now?

Press play above to hear the full conversation. George and Liz go deeper into the layers of emotional intelligence, why love might need to be added to the superhuman framework, and the specific practices that help you show up as a better human for yourself and everyone around you.