The Science of Empowerment: Laura Brennan Ballet on Shifting Thought Patterns for Lasting Change

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Living the Dream Podcast with Curveball. If you believe, you can achieve. Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast. Laura, thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Thank you, Curtis. Is it your birthday?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

I wish it was. Oh no, it's just the background, but I like to tell everybody. Every day is my birthday.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

I love that. My brother says the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Yep. He believes every day's a celebration. So absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

So let's celebrate you and uh start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_00 1:47

Yes. Well, I love to give a heart uh felt acknowledgement to my brother Christopher. Uh, he was the creator of this very empowering methodology, the J3 equals E formula. And it really was the catalyst uh for me to create the science of empowerment. But the love of writing and the intention of creating a book actually uh began when I was about 14 years old. And uh my mom and I we talk about it. Um, you know, she and I still remember when I told her someday I'm gonna write a book and it will change the world. And of course, she was like, great, go for it. Uh life got a little bit in the way, and decades later, I spent five years creating that body of work titled The Science of Empowerment. And I just really believe in human potential, uh, human-to-human connectivity. And I appreciate when I can learn from others, and it also um warms my heart. And uh when when when I can contribute value and education and uh maybe some inspiration for people to design an empowered life. And so I don't I take it, you know, pretty seriously when I coach or I speak or I'm being interviewed and certainly talking around the book. Um, I just spent a year creating my first course for you know home study um around the science of empowerment. And I just think the way life is going, we can all use uh a bit of elevation uh and evolution. And that's what I try to do when I speak about the science of empowerment.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Well, talk about the defining moment that led you to explore the connection between thought energy and personal transformation.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Yeah, I love this. I love this bridge. It's something that I was tapping into when I was quite young, but I didn't know it back then. Uh, my best friend Jill, who has since unfortunately passed away at a young age, um, she and I were on this, we'll say spiritual consciousness path when we were young, just exploring, you know, all the options uh we had in the world to better ourselves. And I was always tapping into energy. I wasn't quite sure what it was and what it meant. Uh, my mind was not developed enough, but I could, you know, really feel people just looking at their facial expressions or their body language, or if we began to have a conversation, I would pick up on a frequency or a vibration. And I don't mean that in scientific terms and I don't mean that in spiritual terms, but I do express that as the bridge between the two. And I started to think about how I am thinking and what are they thinking? And then what is that creating between us? And I really wanted to bring influence in a positive way and bring value and contribute value in all my interactions. So not only could I personally transform, elevate, and evolve, but when I left that experience, the other person felt a bit lifted or a bit more uh full and they felt like they had something that they could take away that maybe would matter to them uh down the road in their life.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Well, I know you you are the inventor of the groundbreaking J3 equals E formula. So break that formula down to the listeners and talk about how it helps uh you help your clients.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yes, thank you. I love this. Again, my um my brother is a former USA uh Olympic gymnastics coach, and Christopher was working mindset material, writing it and instructing it, uh being at the directive of it, raising champions in a very challenging uh sport. However, when he retired from that and he opened up a neuromuscular training facility, I started training there. I wanted to look at this formula and find a way that I could write about it, coach and speak on it so it would help everyday people. So we all know Olympian-minded people are set up already to train, right? They'll know I've got to do that skill 3,000, 8,000, 12,000 times to try to attempt to get a gold medal. But what about all of us who'd want to have a better relationship with ourselves, with our family, with our coworkers, with our community? How could I take this formula and work it into the mindset, not only for personal development, but certainly for collective elevation? And so when I looked at the formula, which really was the impetus to me creating the science of empowerment, the formula itself is uh consistent of five principles and three fields of energy. And it is so applicable and so simplistic, yet it really creates lasting transformational change. And this is looking at awareness, principle number one, willingness, principle number two, accountability, principle number three, critical thinking, principle number four, and the fifth principle, energy. And then when we look at a given challenge, a limiting belief, uh, something that we're really stuck on, and we ask ourselves, you know, what am I aware of around this challenge? What am I willing to do about this? What is my personal accountability to this block or limiting belief or struggle? Critical thinking is such a, for me, just such an empowering uh principle, skill, and tool to have. This is where we suspend the doubt around that challenge and we think through a clear and rational mind. And even if we are not, let's say, readily equipped with a clear and rational thought process. Here, when you decide to activate the formula, it gives us permission to think as if we already know how to heal, how to have a breakthrough, how to gain confidence and clarity through this, because we're giving ourselves to think as if we've already arrived there. And then when we move into energy, the fifth principle again, and we position ourselves into that power seat of choice, negative, positive, or neutral. Which one am I? We get to then look at how are we showing up for ourselves and for each other, or again, in any interaction, and what energy am I infusing into this experience? And then we get to come right back around. So I'm talking with someone, and let's just say there's a little bit of dissension, we're in an argument, and I'm feeling this pattern repeating. I ask myself, which energy am I? So I'm probably gonna say I'm negative right now. This is a negative repeat, a negative pattern. What am I aware of? I don't want to experience, uh, experience this pattern anymore. What am I willing to do about it? Take a break, you know, interject, take a step back, take a breath, acknowledge that we're in this pattern again. Accountability, it's not all just you. I am half of this equation. So let me take some accountability that we continue to find ourselves in this repeatable pattern. And now we're both beginning to think more clearly, more rationally. We've taken some of that emotionality out by suspending the pattern, suspending the emotion, and we're starting to neutralize that negative pattern. Now we begin to move into a more empowered life. So it's really five principles, three fields of energy. We train many, many kids in our neuromuscular training facility, and then we apply this with seven-year-olds. I think our youngest was six. Uh, and I have clients all the way up to 75, and we work on this mind, body, consciousness uh transformation all the time, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. And it really does create, again, lasting, uh, lasting transformation because you can always apply the formula in every given experience.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Well, I know that many people still feel stuck after reading books, going to seminars, and setting goals. So talk about the subconscious contracts that keep people trapped, and what can they do to break them?

SPEAKER_00 11:26

I love that. That's such an insightful question because we've all experienced that. Uh, we all gather information and maybe we become inspired and then we lose it. The patterns are right there. And that is because they are subconscious contracts that we continually resign. And we do this through a lack of awareness. It we are really kind of hooked into the story, and then that story becomes the belief, and then that belief creates the personality, and then the personality creates the habits, the habits become the behaviors, and off we go. Where again, if we take a moment and we question, what am I? And we're using this obviously as a metaphor, what kind of contract am I continuing to sign within my own mindset or in that particular relationship? Why am I showing up the same way? And why am I reflecting back the same dialogue, the same behavior? And again, just the same pattern. And this is because there's so much going on on those deeper levels, and we really are like kind of locked in to what happened to us a long time ago. We all have a story. I have not met one human being that is without trauma or drama or some kind of chaotic event in their life. We're in the human condition. We've been abandoned, we've been neglected, we've been born into and with challenge. We've all had some, some of us, some really crappy things happen along the way. And when we when we take that moment to just calm it all down and be in reflection, why is this in repeat? This allows us again to go back into I'm aware that there is something that is just not letting go or it's not being released. What am I willing to do about this? And that may be, well, I can read a book, but then maybe I can get coached. I can then get coached, but then maybe I can really, really be accountable to applying the skills and the tools that my coach gave me. And now when I see that pattern arising, when I feel that conflict coming into view, I can immediately position myself into that power seed of neutrality. It may not feel neutral, but I can begin to use thought energy. And all that means is I'm choosing the energy around my thinking in order to begin to shift the story, belief, behavior, pattern, habit, etc. We are all capable of changing and transforming and shifting. We just need to allow ourselves space and grace to give it time to create itself into a new contract that we can now sign so that we can release and not repeat.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Well, what is the big biggest misconception that people have when it comes to mindset, work, and personal empowerment?

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Um, I have found that a lot of individuals don't feel worthy of it. They think that mindset is a word that belongs to, and then you can fill that in, right? A guru, um, someone that's super successful, uh, someone that's made a lot of money, or someone that maybe has gone through great sacrifice and has a story to tell. But I've had many, many clients that are just like me. We're just normal, you know, people moving through life, and there's nothing grand happening. So they're like, well, how can I create a new mindset? How can I create an empowered life when I'm just this person, or I don't have a certain, you know, education. And I just think that the misconception is we don't have what it takes to transform our mind, our bodies, and our consciousness or soul or spirit. And I, you know, so much of what I write in the book is to activate that opening, that invitation, that welcoming in. I am a genius, I do have a brilliance, I am on purpose, I matter, I matter to the collective, you know, frequency that reverberates on this blue jewel that we all float on. I matter. And how I show up, that is at my directive. And gaining confidence into thought energy, i.e. mindset development, sometimes we do need help. We do need, again, it could be listening to a book on tape, it could be, you know, becoming coachable. Um, it's just one small step that maybe opens this new perspective that allows that part of you that's been dormant to just be kind of, you know, love tapped. And all of a sudden, you know, you get that little spark in you, or a little butterfly gets set free, and you start to think and feel just a little bit different, like just maybe I can do this. So I just think the misconception is something some of us just don't feel worthy of change. We don't feel worthy of growth. Um, we also get very comfortable um aligning ourselves with the struggle rather than the resolve. And I find that that's a big block in so many people I meet around the world. Um, you know, they'd rather put the energy into staying stuck than transfer that energy into releasing and growing.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Well, I know you mentioned thought energy. So talk about how people can recognize when that thought energy is working for them instead of against them.

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Yes. Um, well, we all know what it feels like to feel good, to be happy, to have a sense of calm. That's thought energy being aware of itself. It's moving in a more neutral to positive direction. And then we all know when we're feeling negative, unhappy, sad, depressed, insecure, inadequate. And that's thought energy on the negative side of the scale. So this is where when you wake up in the morning, I've done this for years with my children. You know, when you wake up and you put your feet on the floor and you first open your eyes there, ask yourself, how can I prime my mind so that this day is a good day? And that doesn't mean everything will go your way. It means that you are setting the intention to experience a good day. Then we can get deeper into that. We use the energy around our thinking to intend. It could be a day that I want to experience kindness, or maybe I'm nervous. You know, when my girls were in at one of my last ones at university, and she's a 4.0 student and takes great pride in holding that grade average, and it's very stressful. She works part-time and all of what our you know, our youth is going through. And so I'll tell her: you set the directive. No one has control over you or authority over you. Obviously, within reason, we have laws and rules to follow, but we're talking here about autonomy. And I explained to her, you get to go through your day exactly how you want and how you think, and the energy that you place within the thinking process is what's going to stir up feelings, anxiety, uh, nervousness, um, or it's going to calm what's coming. And then you have the skills and the tools and the mindset already primed, already in set point position, so that what does come at you, you know. I'm gonna take a deep breath, or I'm gonna count to 10, or maybe, you know, splash a little water on my face, take a little walk, have a cup of tea, whatever it may be. You know, put your feet in the grass, listen to some music, something that brings you back into alignment, into connection to that part of you that knows better than the pattern that no longer serves you.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Or can you share a powerful transformation story of someone who applied your methodology and completely changed the trajectory of their life?

SPEAKER_00 22:27

Yeah, I have I have two really great examples that um just popped in and they're very different. So one is from a young girl, her name is Brooklyn, and um I always tell her when her face and name come to my mind, do I have permission to share this in the world? And she's like, of course. She trains uh physically as a gymnast. However, her mindset at a very young age needed support. And she would come in very early to train with my brother, hard training at a young age. You know, when kids are still watching cartoons in their pajamas in the morning, she'd already be at uh our facility and, you know, doing serious skills to become what she now is National Regional District. Champion. And she would come in and she'd have a very specific look on her face. And we all know what that look is. And again, it could represent tired, sad, just angry, mad at her mom and dad for you know making her do something, whatever the the scenario may be. But she showed up and we expressed to her to give that negativity a name, almost give it an essence. You don't give it energy, you don't give your power away, but you recognize it, you're aware of it. So she called that part of her personality, that that reaction to being tired or having to work really hard above and beyond what the normal seven-year-old kid is doing on any given day. And so she calls him negative Bob. And as the years went on, she's now 15 and still trains mind coach as well as physical uh training for her gymnastics career. And she'll walk into what we call the cage. It's the whole area of where all the equipment is. And you'll know if she's in a good mood or a bad mood right away. And so we'll look. And as a coach, you know, I'll say, good morning, B. What's going on? And she'll know to tell me, you know, they're they're very honest. She's like, well, negative Bob is with me today. And I said, okay, what are we going to do about it? And we have the principles all up on the wall. And so we look, you're aware, negative Bob is showing up, you know, and is he negative, neutral, positive today? And he's always negative in her eyes. So we're like, what are you willing to do? And now she's learned. She'll say, give me one moment, and she'll step outside and she'll go back out the door and she will come back in. She will have a smile on her face. Her energy has shifted. She has learned that she again is at the direction of her choosing. She's learned that you can position yourself into that power seat of choice. You are an empowered individual. You can empower your day. Negative Bob showed up. We get it. We can put him aside. We don't push him under the rug. We don't blow him away. We don't, we don't ignore him, because then that creates many other challenges. We see him, we're aware of him, we're willing to put him aside, taking accountability to her choice. This allows her to exercise critical thinking. And now she comes in with a neutral to positive attitude and ends up training like a champ all the time and leaves in a very positive way. Now that was a young girl, and we still work this formula with everyone that comes in. I have a client that came in to physically train her body, very large woman, not healthy, lots of health issues, and a marriage, a 35-year-old marriage that was falling apart. She then became a coaching client through the science of empowerment and was at the precipice of a divorce. And we, of course, went through our discovery sheets. We, you know, went through the exploration of everything that I do in my program. And there was one moment where she was complaining and complaining about her husband. And I said, I want you just to stop. And I want you to think as if you had healed this relationship, that you felt love and loving again. I want you to just suspend all of this and go back into that place in your mind, in your heart, in your spirit, in your soul, when it was something that really mattered to you. There was a love that was shared and a purpose that brought you all these decades through, children and college and building houses and careers. And she started crying. And I kind of knew what was going on from all the coaching. And I looked at her and I said, When is the last time that you said thank you to your husband? And that's when, as we would say, kind of all hell broke loose. And she said, It's been years. She became so entrenched in the pattern of blaming him and holding him accountable for what was wrong. You know, he worked a lot, he golfed, he was away on trips, but all of the things that he provided, a beautiful home, uh, the children, you know, going through private schools, being educated, um, all of what they experienced, she took that for granted and never thought about the sacrifices that he made to take care of his family in that way. And I'd love to share that they have healed, they're found a new level of love. The boys are long gone out of the house, and um, they're happy again. And sometimes it's just that simple. It's to really hone in on the awareness of what is the other person thinking and feeling? And what am I willing to do, not only for my again, my own personal development, but for the unification of this relationship. Where is my accountability to what has created us to fall and break apart? And if I stay connected to all this emotion and drama and chaos and trauma, I'll never be able to put my head above water and catch my breath. Now I'm starting to understand how to neutralize the negative energy, the negative thought energy. And I'm starting to work towards a more neutral set point. And we all know when we're at neutral to go to positive is a much better leap than the negative to the positive.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

What tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of?

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Yes, I actually, Curtis, I just finished my first at-home study course for the science of empowerment. It is kick butt, if I must say so myself. Um, everyone that has um experimented through and with it loves it. Uh, it is uh something that some of us can go through uh in four or five hours, some of us can take four or five months. It doesn't matter. It um just is a powerhouse of knowledge that is applicable no matter who you are and what you are going through. And it really does create lasting transformation. And of course, at the foundation is the J3 equals E formula. But I I just I'm so proud of that. I worked uh for a year on that and it's up and loaded on the website. Um, I'm getting ready to offer a free PDF worksheet download that's just going to give everyone a little bit of a taste of what the the course andor the book is about. And then also, and I think um I shared this with you, but uh I recently landed at uh number one international best-selling author and book. So that was quite an achievement. Um, I've done everything on my own. Um I've you know just created um this book and this course and this website, and so much of what I do is from my heart, and to be received out in the world and to know that people read material or listen to a podcast or become coachable and that you are a part of that support system. Um, I just it's an honor. So I take nothing for granted, but the book and the course and the coaching are all available, all on the website. And I have lots of people around the world that um you can go on my website and you can leave a comment and uh I answer everyone personally. I don't have any AI bots. Um, I use no AI generated anything at the moment, uh, never will for my writing or my content creation, meaning my books or my courses. Um, I'm old school in that way. Um, but I I just love what I do, and I have a phenomenal assistant that uh helps with the uh branding and the graphics. Simona, I always love to give a heartfelt shout out to her, but it's uh a labor of love, and I feel all of us have um a spark of brilliance in us. We all do have a measure, measurable amount of genius. I write about this in the book that I truly believe coded in the DNA uh really is is that that alchemy that's in the universe. And um, I just want everyone to find resolve and calm and neutrality in their life and really become an empowerment designer and live a life of their own creation.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

Well, uh, you mentioned your website for go ahead and go out to contact info.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

Yes, so that's www.thescienceofempowerment.com. And if you go to the science of empowerment course page, it's very short. You'll love it there. And again, there's so much free knowledge and and wonderful shares. You can just kick back with a glass of, you know, water, soda pop. I don't drink, but if you want a glass of wine, um, and just chill back and just kind of move all through uh the website. Your brain will actually uh really begin to expand. I've the way I write creates, you know, some new neuronal pathways in the thought processes in the book. There's a science behind the way I write. Uh, there's a really um wonderful area where it talks about my brother and I and Jekyll and some of the neuromuscular training. Um, but again, right on the course page, uh, the PDF will probably be available for free download, uh, I would say within the next week or two. And then the book is available. Um, I have it for $20 right now on Amazon. There's wonderful reviews. Um, and it's it's not an easy breezy read, but it's an important life transforming read. And it would be well worth uh, you know, your time to read. I'm not out on audiobook yet. That's my next project.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

All right, then science of empowerment.com. So it closes out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on, or any final thoughts you have for the listener.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Yeah, again, just remind yourself every day that you're not stuck. And regardless of your present environment, and I know some of us have some really challenging environments, you have what it takes. Think differently and move on something, create one step, don't overwhelm yourself with these big, you know, grand intentions. Just one simple step at a time. It may be to purchase a book and read one verse every day and write something that you feel is stirring up on that. It may be listening to a podcast, it may be reaching out to a coach, it may be getting a home study course, or it could just be a simple. I just I'm recently helping a client, taking a pair of sneakers, putting them by her bed, putting them on, and walking out to the mailbox and back. Lots of obviously personal issues going on there. And she's doing it one simple step. Now she's hearing the birds, she's saying hello to a neighbor. You will be amazed at what happens, how you manifest and attract towards you that that beautiful feeling of change. Don't be afraid of who you can become. Be more in question of who you have settled to be. Those are big, big differences there. And so don't forget that you're just a beautiful, purposeful, important part of the human family and live into your potential. And as we always say, do not glance at the power, become the power.com.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

Please be sure to check out Laura's website and pick up her book and keep up with everything that she's up to. Also follow regular view, share this episode to as many people as possible. And to keep up with all things live in the dream, please visit www.7.com and share the website and the show to everybody you know. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. Lord, thank you for all that you do to try to make the world a better place. Thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

Thank you, Curtis, and thank you for everything you do as well.

SPEAKER_01 37:21

For more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, visit www.curveball337.com. Until next time, keep living the dream.