#524 Why high achievers struggle with inner peace, and how to reconnect with your soulful authenticity, with Grace Najean.

Have you ever achieved outward success yet still felt an unsettling emptiness inside, like you’re living someone else’s dream?

If you're a high achiever navigating success without true fulfillment, this episode is your invitation to explore a deeper path. Grace Najean, a former elite Tony Robbins coach and founder of the Soul Fluence Method, shares her transformative journey from chasing external validation to living in soulful authenticity, and how you can do the same.

• Discover the powerful shift that occurs when you align your biology, neurology, and spirituality to live and lead more effortlessly.
• Learn how reconnecting with your inner voice and purpose brings clarity, presence, and even daily "magic" like synchronicities.
• Gain practical tools, including a unique countdown practice and mindful breathing, that busy leaders can implement immediately to deepen self-awareness and reclaim peace.

If you're ready to move beyond success and lead from your soul, press play now and unlock insights that could change the way you experience your life and leadership. 

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KEY POINTS AND TIMESTAMPS:

02:53 - Grace's Personal Transformation Journey with Tony Robbins

08:45 - Spiritual Awakening and Holistic Transformation

14:39 - The Importance of Self-Leadership and Inner Awareness

20:28 - Reframing Disempowering Questions and Thought Patterns

24:32 - Practical Daily Practices for Inner Reconnection

32:19 - The Power of Simple Meditation and Breathing Techniques

34:01 - Grace's Offerings and Retreat Programs

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MEMORABLE QUOTE:

"You're doing well. Keep going."

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VALUABLE RESOURCES:

Grace's website: https://gracenajean.com/

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Join our growing community at MasterySeekersTribe.com, where mastery seekers come together for connection and growth.

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🎙️ Want to be a guest?

Message Agi on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/member/personaldevelopmentmastery

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Actionable insights on personal development, self improvement, self mastery and personal growth for a life of purpose and fulfilment.

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Transcript

Agi Keramidas: 0:00

Why high achievers struggle with inner peace and what it takes to finally reconnect. Welcome to personal development mastery, the podcast that helps intelligent, busy professionals develop self mastery and gain clarity so you can thrive in a fulfilling, purposeful life. Join us every Monday for an insightful conversation with a guest, and it's Thursday for a shorter episode where I reflect and share with you. I'm your host, Agi Keramidas, and this is episode 524 if you are looking to reconnect with your true self and lead with greater authenticity, this conversation explores how inner transformation can create Outer impact. By listening. Today, you are going to learn how reconnecting with your inner voice and purpose brings clarity presence and even daily magic like synchronicities. You will also gain practical tools, including a unique countdown practice and mindful breathing, tools that you can implement immediately to deepen self awareness and reclaim your peace. If you are outwardly successful but feel inwardly unfulfilled or disconnected, then this episode is for you before we dive in. If you resonate with the topics on the podcast and find yourself in a transition, I offer one to one, mentoring and coaching. It's a space to gain clarity, reconnect with what truly matters and move forward with purpose. If you're curious about what that could look like for you, just reach out using the link in the show notes. Now let's get started. Today's guest is grace. Najean. Grace, you are a transformational coach, spiritual teacher and founder of the soulfluence method. You have a diverse background, which includes over 5000 hours of elite coaching, including years as a master coach with Tony Robbins. You are passionate about guiding high performance to reconnect with their true selves, so they can lead and live from a place of presence and soulful authenticity, Grace. Welcome to the show. It's such a delight to have you with me today.

Grace Najean: 2:53

Oh, thank you so much. Agi. I'm so privileged and honoured to be here with your listeners, and hopefully I can bring something very useful in their life.

Agi Keramidas: 3:04

Thank you. As I was telling you just before we started the recording, I'm very much looking forward to the conversation, and I think that anyone listening now, if you have ever felt disconnected from your purpose, this episode will really speak to you. I have the feeling so grace. The General, let's say theme or topic, I would like to explore with you, or at least start exploring with you, is what you call show, what you call soulful authenticity, which is very intriguing. Before we go there, just to get a little bit of background, I want to ask specifically, what was the turning point, if there was one that led you to move from the High Performance Coaching to the soul fluid to creating the soul fluence method.

Grace Najean: 4:05

Yes, I'm not sure if I can give you in one sentence.

Agi Keramidas: 4:11

You don't have to.

Grace Najean: 4:13

So, as you know, I was a Tony Robbins coach for eight years, and that started 2012 I was client before becoming Tony Robbins coach. So I did all his event and and after that, six months later, I became, you know, one of his coaches for eight years now, there are two turning events. One is when we work on our values. Yeah, so Tony asked, you know, what are your top values? And then we write down 12345, it was a day with Destiny event, I think. And of course, you know, as I as a high achiever, I hit a socks. Is on top of my list, yeah? And I was like, Yes, of course, you know success, yeah, but what else? And then he asked, why? Okay, what are the rules make you meet that value, right? And just also just surrendered. And then I start to write down, and then the first one was to make proud my parents, that was it. But you know what? At the time, I was almost 40 years old, and my parents passed away 15 years ago, that was eye opening moment saying myself, Grace, what are you doing in your life? For the people who are even not here to see you, what you're doing, of course, their soul is over there, and then they're watching me and they're proud, but I've been pushing myself, doing more, having more, you know, always succeeding something for them, we're not even there. So that moment was a ha moment for me, deciding I'm gonna live on my life with my own voice from now on. That was the decision, and I did so past 12, almost 13 years over the case, I've been really working on myself and finding myself and finding my true voice. So that was the journey. At the same time in that event, Tony had like a meditation, those energy centres, meditation. And he said, Oh, you know, like any meditation, some of you will have just a relaxed time, but some of you will have a little bit more. And there was me, and because I was in corporate world so long time before that, I didn't even know what was like a meditation, or, you know, yoga, these things was like so far for me, and I did that meditation, and something happened, and I realised later, almost one year later, I had a heart chakra awakening. So from that moment, like one day later, I became vegan, so I don't need anything alive. Since that time, I can't just, I can't just swallow, that's it. And so physical transformation and spiritual transformation, I also lost, you know, people that think, oh, wow, that should be great and amazing. No, it was a freaking scary because I didn't know what it was, yeah, so I went to check MRI and scanning, thinking, Oh, maybe I have a tumour. I have a, you know, brain cancer, something like that. And I told my husband, hey, if I have a tumour, I'm high achiever, I'm survivor. It's not a problem. I can go through it, but if it's not, I don't know what it is. I'm really, really bad. And that was the case. So I did all my spiritual journey, working as a Tony Robbins with the high achievers, of course, you know, and working with, you know, leaders, but I did my spiritual journey since then. Name it, Vipassana, twice, you know, twice, Vipassana, tea and meditation, landmark, and all these different things I did, you know, to grow my consciousness. Sorry, it was a little bit long Agi.

Agi Keramidas: 8:45

No, actually, it wasn't from my from where I'm hearing, but a couple of things that came up when you were saying was first that Self Realisation you had when you were writing down, you realised that you were still following some beliefs or some values that were from the past and you you didn't. And I think many of us find that we repeat some action, some behaviours, or even some drivers to what we do without reassessing them and re evaluate them from time to time to see, do they still reflect? You know, they what it should. So I think that is a very it was a very powerful story that you shared. Thank you. There the other thing now, because, since you mentioned the spiritual journey, what I want to ask, because obviously that is a little bit difficult or different, I will use the first word that I chose difficult for it to be, you know, described or maybe understood. Good compared to high achieving, doing more or following the tactics, et cetera. Because you say that transformation is not just mental. I read that some of you wrote that it is energetic, it is spiritual. Now you're talking about the heart chakra awakening. Walk us through, how does that look like in someone's everyday life, this situation?

Grace Najean: 10:30

And you're absolutely right. Agi, you know, over 12 years, so 13 years, what I learned, and finally I'm asking questions, okay, what brought me here today, who I am and with this transformation. So I look back everything you know Tony Robbins in a spiritual journey, and then you know yoga, Qigong. And last three years, I'm in work with Dr dispensers, so I do a lot of meditation from Dr dispense. I did all his retreats again and all that. And I realised, really, it's not one thing which helped me. It's combination of biological transformation and neurological transformation and spiritual. So conscious transformation, it needs to go together, because one is blocked and it will block the other part, right? So I I've seen so many spiritual people not healthy, right, or not having still right mindset, or some people very strong physically and mindset, but still not conscious. It's only me, me, me, me, me, right? They can go beyond themselves. So I think it's a combination of that three things together, and finally over the case the work I've done, especially since second of August, 2021 I do meditation minimum of one hour every day. So at the beginning the first er, I did even three hours sometimes, because I was, how can say, fighting against my thoughts. Yeah, and I really, absolutely wanted master that. So as soon as I got some emotions comes or thoughts coming up, I go back, and then I do meditation. That was it. And I was fortunate, because three during that two three years, I left 23 years ago, and I was supporting my daughter in her tennis journey. So she's a tennis player, so we've been travelling around the world. And so I had that opportunity to not working nine to five, and so in the morning or afternoon, as soon as I have a time, I could do that meditation journey. Now what is the result? So it's amazing, because I've been doing that meditation for two years myself, and last year I went to see Dr Dispenza in life, and I realised, Oh, wow. Okay, all those things are from meditation. And you know, have been working on my consciousness. So first is, I have a My metabolic age is 20 years less. Wow. So that's a big achievement, right? Yes, yes, I'm so proud myself. So that's first thing. And already, like of many years ago, he started a little magic happens. So people call me madam parking because everywhere I go, I have a parking spot, just here, there, ever, and never problem with a parking spot, little things like that, right? And if I didn't have a lunch, and I'm thinking, Oh, I didn't have a lunch. I needed a little bit more time. My clients cancel, or is this, oh, I'm 10 minutes late. You know, all this synchronicity. So therefore life becomes effortless. It goes in the flow, and more you got that you have a more trust, more faith, then you become more surrender, because you have a proof front of you everyday life, right? And more present. Whatever I do, I think nowadays, like 90% time I'm present, so I think that's a gift, yeah,

Agi Keramidas: 14:40

being present. I can't think of many gifts that would be more important for someone to have to be present. For me, personally, Grace. This is my my quest, my journey is this awareness, self awareness. So from moment to moment to moment, which I'm working on it, but I think it is, it is indeed the awareness of the present moment, and whatever is happening in the present moment is you were talking about the flow, or finding the parking spots, or when I heard you say that and about someone you know cancelling because what you thought of time or find the parking the word that was a phrase that came to mind is manifesting, Powerful. Manifesting is that sounds like quite powerful. So thank you for you know, sharing this side shall we say, or how, because you answered my question exactly as I was asking so. Thank you, Grace. What I would like to hear some of your wisdom on and I would like to I have two kind of two categories of people in mind that might be listening now, and let's take them one at a time to keep it simple, but the context I would like to ask the question to You is something we said just before we started recording about the quality of the questions that we ask ourselves and how that can really make a big, huge difference to everything really. So I want to ask the first category of people that I can think of that are listening would be people who are externally successful, you know, outwardly successful, and I know you have worked with many, you know, some of people will stop performance. Is there a pattern for people who are who do have this outward success, but internally, they're disconnected, they're unfulfilled. Is there some common thread between all those people? So maybe someone listening now can see if they identify with it?

Grace Najean: 17:21

Yes, absolutely, there's a common thing I see, and with that categories of people I start is I see leadership as two phases, self, leadership and leadership. It's like a child becoming like a parents. It's impossible, right? So usually, in our ideal world, we need to become self, leader of ourselves, right, and then becoming leader for others. But since young age, what do we have as education? You know you need to understand. You need to work hard. You know you need to become a leader, you know. But nobody teaches us how I can be happy, how I can be rich, how I can be a good mom or good dad or good person, you know, all these things, and suddenly you have the responsibility of a leader. So most of my leadership clients, they suffer because whole their life, they've been serving others, their team, their KPI, their company, their family, you know, children, and then they come, they come to the session, and they say, Hey, Grace, I want to be happy. And I ask them, what makes you happy? Excellence. No answer that I don't know. So how can you get something you don't know. That's the thing that's not you know, kind of a sad thing of being that position and that power, and then you know outside the world you have everything you know success, but not being able to identify who you are truly and what makes you happy, that makes empty, that makes empty. So how I navigate with that people is bring back to the self leadership. Go back to the basics. Let's go, who are you? You know, starting out, you know, self awareness, start with that. Most of people, it's really like me, when I had the success, yeah, as a value is eye opening this, Oh, am I? Oh, really, oh, you know, it's ensuring and then they discover, with that excitement and care. Right? It's really discovery, self discovery, and after that, once we got that, that part, and then after that, we go through that self mastery, okay, now you are this person. Who do you want to become as an identity, and then what do you need to become that person truly and what is necessary to align with your true self.

Agi Keramidas: 20:28

Thank you. Self Awareness, identity, you said many things there, but the self leadership, that's the the phrase I or that highlighted from your answer, because it is. It all starts with us, doesn't it,

Grace Najean: 20:47

absolutely and nowadays you know that the buzz word is an authentic leader, right? Authentic leader. They authentic here. But how can you become authentic if you don't know who you are? Exactly,

Agi Keramidas: 21:01

right, exactly. It's the first step, of course, of course, be true to yourself. But who are you? Exactly as you said, Know thyself. You know the most, one of the most ancient pieces of wisdom. I wish more people actually took time to contemplate on what it means and how we can know ourselves. Grace, let me, I said earlier I had two categories of people in mind. I think the second category is, I have a feeling it's a very interesting category of people. So I suppose you work with people like that, who are who are already highly aware. They have this kind, or some kind of, you know, self awareness, much more than the the average person is there. Have you noticed any? Shall I call it blind spot, something that comes up even with the most conscious and aware leaders that you work with?

Grace Najean: 22:11

Yes, absolutely, um, I would say it's more um discipline. For me, it's a discipline. Maybe, for other people, is a different word, consistency or discipline. So it's like a high performers, you know, athletes or, you know, you can't become high performer without practice. So my daughter was tennis player. Oh, she played like a three hours, six hours a day, and plus fitness, plus and myself. I was a professional pianist for 15 years, and I played three to six hours every day, and you know, in competition, even seven eight hours a day, yeah, is it a sacrifice? No, that's what is necessary to become who you want to be. So if you consider yourself as a leader, there are commitment and professionalism and and duty as a leader to complete. So I think there are lots of successful leaders, you know, having that morning routines, right? And if you look at them, what they do is all comes down to body, mind, soul, yeah. So, as I mentioned, the biological, neurological and spiritual, right? Usually they have the three areas covered in the morning for them to be ready as a self leader, and now when you are ready, and then you go, and then lead others

Agi Keramidas: 23:48

in terms of Thank you, in terms of the questions that we ask ourselves, and I will ask it as a different question, is there something common that you have noticed, that many people ask a question in a disempowering way, and therefore you know the result or the answer that I will take is not the ideal. So Can, can you give us a couple of examples, perhaps, of the these kinds of questions. And how can one recognise them and reframe

Grace Najean: 24:32

them? Do you mean the questions, self questions?

Agi Keramidas: 24:37

Oh, let's, let's talk about one. You know, sometimes people ask, let me try and find an example. Something happens that is not according to our expectations. And many of us will ask the questions, why did this happen? Or which is, of course, it is a question that is not going to give you a very good. Answer usually. So that's what I was referring to. If there is any, any question that you have noticed that is quite more common in these groups of people,

Grace Najean: 25:13

yes, yes, of course, of course. You know, and we are programmed, you know, kind of that I consider, really our brain as a computer, right? A software. You know, you programme and you condition, and whatever you put inside it is function and either operate with what you have, right? So unfortunately, you know, even our parents, you know, I'm I'm a parent myself, so with the best intention and love I have. I pass something, my baggage, you know, my luggage from past to her. You know, it's not intentional. But still, we have, you know, the heritage, you know, so from that parents or education, teachers or friends or schools or, you know, our boss, you know. So first thing is, I often ask to my clients, is it your voice? Is it your question, really? Is it you? So that's the first thing you need to really answer yourself to connect with your question. And second thing is, really your thoughts are not you. We think when thought comes and you believe this absolute truth, universal truth. It's not it's just random thoughts. It's just wired right? And therefore we have an absolute power to control our thoughts. And once you start dissociate with your thoughts and be able to say just, oh, this is just the thoughts. I can replace it. Then you can ask better questions. Of course, you know the as you mentioned, we mentioned before, as Tony said, quality of your life is quality of your questions. Yeah, stupid dumb questions. You will get stupid, dumb answers if you keep saying, Why did I do that? Why I'm so stupid? Of course you're gonna say you are stupid because your brain go and then search the databases and then all the things, dumb things you've done and will come out. Hey, here's the answer, right? So in that case, instead of why the things happen that way, you know, there are many other options. You can ask. You can make a list of things you can, you know, play with, you know, okay, what is the lesson here? What are the benefits of this? Or, you know, what are the other perspective from the other people's side, you know? Or anything, what? So, yeah, but anyway, I think you can make a list of things we which are more aligned with yourself, and practice it replace the questions into your daily life.

Agi Keramidas: 28:22

Thank you. And what you said to consider whether it is your question in the first place, that's, I think that's also very powerful to the origin of that question. Grace. I will start wrapping up soon, but before I do, I wanted to ask you, can you give us something actionable, one daily practice one can take in order to, let's say, reconnect more or move the journey of reconnecting with their inner self more? What's something that they can do today or tomorrow morning?

Grace Najean: 29:03

Yeah, I guess your listeners are all BG, like my clients, right? They don't have a two minutes in their head. They all have a two minutes, but in their head they don't right? So usually I start with a there are two different type of clients, the clients who knows meditation, or who knows a little bit of that practice, daily practice. And there are clients like me, you know, 15 years ago, no clue what is meditation? Yeah, for me, meditation was like after the death, oh, yoga was like after the retirement, right? So I was a dead, like a bad, yeah, novice. But anyway, so for the people who never done meditation, anything like that, two things. I suggest. One is just a discount number. It means 50 to one, but you can just say 5049 for. Eight, like that. You close your eyes, you visualise the number. Seriously you need to visualise number 5049, 4847 right, and you count out loud, or if you have a people around you, just in your mind, 5049, 4847 that will allow you disconnect with your brain at least 50 seconds. That is a huge gift for your brain. And believe or not, that's going to be really, really challenging. 80% of my client, they can't do it. They can't 50 to one. I had one client call me said, Grace, I can't do it. It's impossible. So because she's a high achiever, yeah, obviously she said, to make me feel better, I tried 20 to one, still couldn't do it. So I did a 10 to one, at least I can do this. So she did a 10 to one. So and then you can increase 20 to 130, to 140, 50. I usually do the 101 when I'm in sauna or the places you know that like that. I do 10, 100 to one. So you can increase that. That's one second. Simple breathing. You can breathe in for six and breathe out for six, but it needs to be even. And so back straight and be centred. And then using your diaphragm, your belly, because most of my leaders, they they breathe like that. No, use your belly and the six seconds, 123456123456, right? So five seconds to six seconds, breathe in and breathe out. Start with the two minutes, and if you can increase your five minutes. That's amazing. I know someone who changed his life doing it 15 minutes a day, everything start to change because you are you start to be aligned. But it's too simple. People don't believe it, so they don't do it. So that's the two things I would suggest.

Agi Keramidas: 32:19

Thank you very much, yes. And there are, it is simple things that make the big change done over and over again. You were talking earlier about consistency and discipline. There is, at least, I have not found any magic button or anything like that that will transform you into a master of your life like that. It takes determination. It takes effort. It takes these simple practices, but you have to do it. You have to take the time and breathe. And as for the counting down from 50, yeah, it, I can imagine it must be very difficult to maintain your attention on the number for 50. Yes, I will probably start with 20 or something. I don't think 50, but that will I will certainly try it. I have done something similar with breathing at the same time. And I know how challenging it is to maintain your attention, because your mind will drift off, usually at 49 from 50, it will start drifting off. Thank you for this simple and practical things that one can take grace before we start wrapping up, I want to ask where would you like to send our listener, the mastery seekers, to continue the journey with you? What's the next step? Yes,

Grace Najean: 33:55

that's all in one place, my website, which is www, Grace. Najin, my name so grace, G, R, A, C, E, N, A, j, e, a n.com, and I'm very proud of this website, because my designer did such a great job. And you can find who I am. My offers. I do a retreat in Lombok. It's near Bali. It's a 30 minutes from Bali. It's a magical place. So I do my retreat, seven days retreat, working each energy centre and our voice work voice transformation and consciousness work together. It's all leaders, you know, coming only 20 people. So it's a very intimacy. And then, you know the, how can say the like a family, you know, kind of environment. So that's the first of November this year in Lombok. And I also have a one year programme after that. Oh, can I tell just one thing? I have a 777, programme. Yeah, which is a seven weeks retreat right after that. Because I've been so many retreats and event and people come back and come back and come back. I was like, Why? Because when you go back in your life, you have a same husband, same wife, same children, same car, same bed, same colleagues, right? It's so hard to keep maintaining that transformation, right? So I was like, How can I support my clients? And the idea came. I downloaded the message, 777, I was like, Okay, that's it. So seven weeks after the seven day retreat, the 20 people meet in the same zoom group, and we hold that energy, and we hold each other seven weeks, keep maintaining that transformation, and after that seven months individual coaching with me, so I can support you, applying that transformation into your daily life. So that's my 777, programme.

Agi Keramidas: 36:01

Thank you, Grace. I have two final quick questions for you, and the first one is, what does personal development mean to you?

Grace Najean: 36:15

It's a self discovery. It's not about Yeah, of course. You know, as a by product, by product, you'll be more performant, you'll be more efficient, and your life is going to be easy. But you know, in this world, when you're born, the most important person is yourself, right? What does it mean leaving this world not knowing that person?

Agi Keramidas: 36:47

Very good question. And hypothetically, let's say you could go back in time and meet your 18 year old self. What's one piece of advice you would give her?

Grace Najean: 37:01

You're doing well, keep going.

Agi Keramidas: 37:08

Very nice. Grace. I want to thank you very much for this conversation we had today. There were some really powerful moments of wisdom, I will say, and I hope that the listener has found some some insight there. I'm sure that they have. I want to wish you all the very best with carrying on what you are doing and making a difference. I will leave it to you for your parting words and perhaps some actionable wisdom, again, for the listeners of this conversation,

Grace Najean: 37:49

sure, sure, when you're a leader, I think it's very difficult because you feel like you're selfish if you're focused on yourself, I think being selfish and you know thinking about you, so it means your intention is all about you, and taking care of yourself is different. So as again, as I mentioned, it's your duty to take care of yourself. Please take care of yourself, because word can be changed because of you, not because of others, right? So please take care of yourself and protect yourself from outer world noises.

Agi Keramidas: 38:46

Thank you for listening to this conversation with grace. Najin, I hope it has given you a fresh perspective on the importance of self leadership, presence and aligning with your authentic voice. If you have found value in this episode, consider supporting this show by visiting personal development mastery podcast.com/support Your support helps to keep the conversations going and reach more listeners like you. You will also find the link in the episode description until next time stand out don't fit in.