[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:11] Speaker B: What'S worthwhile healing Mind, Body, and spirit. I'm Ramsey Zimmerman. I choose peace of mind, vitality of body, and joy of spirit over stress, exhaustion, or overwhelm. Together, let's explore and pursue the many ways to build holistic health and wellness.
[00:00:31] Speaker C: There's lots of people out there like us, who are high achievers and want to continue to be high achievers, but it pays a price. You know, you pay a toll to do that. Often that price is your own personal health.
Finding ways to support yourself, your body, your mind, your body and spirit. That was very much in line with what I was discovering through this NTP program. And so that's what I signed up for. And I'm just getting ready to finish with the NTP program. I am guilty of just loving the really big picture, but I also understand that it's really hard to make an impact exclusively from there. So I did think to myself, okay, what is kind of the most tangible, most specific thing that is doable for myself to have a direct impact?
[00:01:25] Speaker A: Hey, everyone, this is Parfait here. Hi, there. That was Ramzi Zimmerman. I am Parfait Basile, and I am guest hosting the what's Worthwhile podcast. Ramsey and I are good friends, and today for the podcast, we turned the tables on Ramsey. He was in the hot seat.
We got to hear from him about where he's been, where he's at and where he's going, his story, his hopes, which are really to help us all live more healthily and more holistic lives. And so, as I heard Ramsey lay out his vision, his plans, I'm really excited for him, and I'm also super excited for all of us as we go alongside on his journey to figure out how we live healthier lives together. So let's do it. Hey, Ramsey, how are you doing today?
[00:02:15] Speaker C: I am doing so well, Parfait. How are you?
[00:02:18] Speaker A: You know, I'm well. The sun is out. It's a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest.
[00:02:22] Speaker C: Yes, it is.
[00:02:25] Speaker A: Well, thank you so much for inviting me as a guest host to your podcast.
[00:02:32] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: This is, like, my first time hosting a podcast.
[00:02:37] Speaker C: I'm sure it won't be the last.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: I kind of like being in the interviewer seat.
Yeah. Because if my memory is correct, this is kind of a full circle.
I believe about a year or so ago, I was your very first guest on your podcast.
[00:02:54] Speaker C: Yeah, I think you were my second. But really, I had no idea what I was doing back then. So it was really great for you to. For you to come on and, yeah, appreciated you then. Appreciate you now.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: Well, April, is a pleasure and honor to be here and to have you on the hot seat.
[00:03:16] Speaker C: I can't wait.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Well, let's begin.
I'm just curious. I would love to talk about your journey.
[00:03:24] Speaker C: Right.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Quite the journey you've been on for the last year or two.
So you walked away from a nearly 30 year career in sustainable energy.
[00:03:36] Speaker C: Why?
Yeah, well, I had gotten to a point in a place where I just felt like every time I made a sort of job move, I was just getting further and further away from what was really important to me and sort of why I was in that space in the first place.
And I also felt like the industry had come so far and it really didn't need me anymore as much. And also I felt like I sort of wasn't really contributing. And so when I sort of made a clean break from the last company that I had been in, I didn't, I didn't feel like I wanted to jump right back in. Right. I didn't want to just settle for the next thing I could find.
And so I really took the time to explore and look into different things. And so the one thing I was really excited about doing was starting a podcast. I had done some podcasting in a previous. Previous in a previous post, but this time I just wanted to take the time to kind of explore some of my other interests beyond sustainable energy.
And so I was asking myself this question, what's worthwhile?
You know, what's worth my time? My attention.
And, you know, I think that's a question that lots of people ask themselves at various points.
And it's even more sort of relevant and difficult these days because you don't even know what's real and what's true anymore because we have just so much information coming at us from every direction.
But it's difficult to really find wisdom. So I really just wanted to take the time and felt like I needed to take the time to step back and sort of figure a few things out.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Well, first, kudos to you for taking the time. You know, as you were sharing about your journey there, one thing that strikes me was that you were paying attention to your own internal state as you looked at the industry as a whole and how you felt like you were contributing or not.
And whether that line of work was still resonating with you and your current aspirations. That takes a degree of awareness and intentionality. Would you say?
[00:06:13] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you for that.
I really did well, I'm very mission driven. I'm Always. I've always been mission driven in my life and in my work and, you know, sustainable energy and the environment and renewable energy, all of that has been, I've always been really passionate about that. And I also still sort of believe that that is really important. I haven't ever stopped. It's not like I think that that's wrong. I just feel like I needed to move on and look at something else.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: And what I really resonate with, with that is, you know, to tie to your question and your podcast name, what's worthwhile?
I believe it requires recognizing when something is not worthwhile for you anymore.
[00:07:06] Speaker C: Right, right.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: And so have you answered that question though? You know, it sounds like you recognize what it wasn't worthwhile. And you have been asking the question to a number of great guests on your podcast about what's worthwhile. So do you have an answer yet?
[00:07:25] Speaker C: I do. I think I do have an answer.
The sort of, the first answer that I came to was building mind, body and spirit wellness. Okay.
That was, I think, part of sort of a couple of different revelations in the sense that the more I sort of dug into things, the more I began recognizing and seeing just how much more mind, body and spirit are connected.
My sort of interest that I was pursuing in addition to the sustainable energy, I was looking at some questions about politics and about health and fitness and about bridge building between people and spirituality.
And where it seemed like most of these things were connecting or colliding was in sort of mind, body and spirit connections. And also about how in order to be really a complete person, you have to look at and address all of those three things in different ways, but simultaneously and they work together.
And then I think what kind of happened, and I didn't even realize this at the time, but I think that my sort of mission driven and passion for sustainability in many ways transferred from kind of the natural environment and the world in a much bigger sense to sort of people and in a personal sense, you know, how can people be healthy and sustainable?
And you know, the, the timing around all of this, it was kind of just post Covid era and you know, that was such a strange time of history. And I think for everybody. And I think people came to, they. Everyone had their own kind of version of the experience of COVID But in a lot of ways I think it taught that our wellness and health, you know, specifically here in this country, in America, really need some help.
Like we really need to work on our general health. And we're talking mind, body and spirit health in Many ways.
And that the conventional answers and looking to doctors and needles and drugs, you know, that's not the complete, real answer. There's got to be something else. And so that's really what I've been really kind of pursuing.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I like that. I like that the key word there. It's not the complete. Right, right. I think, you know, every time we are offered just a single package solution, you know, we got to follow the money.
Right. And also not throw the baby in the bathwater.
[00:10:17] Speaker C: Right, right.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: I think there's a place for, for some of the conventional approaches to health, and we have to be looking at more holistic things. So I love these three big categories. They're broad, you know, mind, body, and spirit. So as you zeroed in on those three as being what is worthwhile, can you drill down for us? Right. In concrete or practical ways how you pursuing those now?
[00:10:48] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So I, I am guilty of just loving the really big picture, but I also understand that it's really hard to make an impact, you know, exclusively from there. So I did think to myself, okay, what is kind of the most tangible, most specific thing that is doable for myself to have a direct impact? And so I started looking into different training programs, and I found the Nutritional Therapy association, and they provide a certification called a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, or ntp.
And so I was really looking closely into the. That program.
Right around the fall of last year, I was digging into that, and it was right around the timing, you know, late stages of the 2024 election. And I have been a big RFK junior booster.
And he came out and, you know, supported Trump and the Maha Make America Healthy Again movement was sort of crystallized and born.
And it was right around that same time where I was deciding kind of what I wanted to do. And the reason I bring that up is because in many ways, the Maha movement is about finding really foundational solutions to this variety of health crises that we have just happening in our country with helping people be more generally healthy and making sure our kids are healthy. And that was very much in line with what I was discovering through this NTP program. And so that's what I signed up for. And I'm just getting ready to finish with the NTP program.
And that's really based around several foundations of health.
It's about looking at food as medicine. It's like looking at food as a way to get the nutrients that we need so that our body can be healthy. So looking at nutrient dense diet just in the foods that we eat, Eating whole foods, it's looking at fine tuning people's digestion so that we can acquire those nutrients that we're taking in and our bodies can use them effectively. It's about having steady blood sugar regulation throughout the day.
You know, blood sugar, often for a lot of folks, myself included, up until recently, is. Is a roller coaster. And that affects your mood, it affects your.
How you're able to do things, it affects how you feel throughout the day.
So keeping blood sugar steady and then stress is the. The fourth out of five foundation. So managing how you deal with stress in your life, because of course, we all have that. And finally, sleep. You know, how well people sleep and whether. Because there's a lot of things you can do to get high quality sleep and it's more than just like hitting your head on the pillow.
So again, like, big picture, right? Like, I can't even pull it all.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: The way down, but it's coming together, I guess. As you were talking, I was just curious if you would be kind of one of those personal coaches or assistants that I can kind of put into my phone that I'm listening to about what am I supposed to eat right now? Should I be eating this or should I be going to bed having a Ramsey in my head? Right. But yeah, really curious in practical terms, now that you've obviously gotten this training and you're going to be certified very soon, there's all this wealth of information that you certainly have acquired through the program.
How do you see yourself utilizing that to help people in concrete ways and helping me? Yeah.
[00:15:08] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, in a variety of ways. First of all, I am having way too much fun with the podcasting to ever let that go. So I'm just going to keep.
Keep the pedal to the metal with the podcasting. I'm getting close to 100 episodes with my podcast.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. We need like a bell here, you know, like a cheering bell. This is awesome. Wow. Yeah, 100 episodes in about a year time frame.
[00:15:32] Speaker C: Yeah, less than two years for sure. So it'll probably be a good year and a half.
So, yeah. So continuing to talk to really interesting people on the podcast and also getting more develop. Building more episodes that are sort of practical in terms of giving advice, but then also have been developing the website that supports the podcast, and that'
[email protected] so in addition to just hosting the podcast, also having a section where people can learn more about the topics that we discuss. And I can recommend books and other audios and videos to really dig into that having a section to help people live out these things and live better through, you know, healthy products and practices and strategies. So have, you know, real concrete connections to specific things and then also to do, like you said, one on one coaching or advising.
So I have formed my LLC as worthwhile advisors.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:16:52] Speaker C: So I'm officially a business owner now, which is exciting and terrifying.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: Here comes the taxes.
[00:16:59] Speaker C: Yes, exactly. And so doing a combination of personal coaching and professional advising, like I see those in my mind, they sort of smash together because at least it's been my experience where when I'm ever trying to accomplish anything professionally, it's still personal.
And there's lots of people out there like us, who are high achievers and want to continue to be high achievers, but it pays a price. You know, you pay a toll to do that. And often that price is your own personal health.
And so finding ways to support yourself, your body, your mind, your body and spirit to, you know, that's a way to continue at peak professional performance. And so like, those lines for me are pretty blurry, you know, intentionally so, because I think they often collide. And working through, it's also working with business clients, whether it's, you know, organizations, businesses, state sort of agencies.
And this is something I know that you are very in tune with.
Having teams work well and team dynamics, you need to have healthy people.
And so working with those organizations in order to support the real people that work for them are ways that I will be pursuing.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Yeah, no, that's awesome. I mean, there's a few things I want to pull, some threads I want to pull out there that I think are worthwhile.
I think this idea of a blurry line between professional and personal life, I think it's one that I'm seeing more and more in the workplace in organizations where I think a lot of leaders are really trying to figure out a way to ensure that the workplace is a place that is holistic in terms of the experience that their staff have. And so I think, I don't know if all employees are quite there yet. Right. Because we live very fragmented lives.
And so people often don't see the connection between how one is affecting the other. And so I wonder if you've given some thoughts to how you can support organizations with that effort to create and foster holistic workspaces for the people.
[00:19:35] Speaker C: Yeah, very much so.
From a, from a functional kind of logistical standpoint, like, this is only part of, I think what you were getting at, but may as well start there.
I've done and really Love to do a lot of group facilitation.
So getting groups of people together in a room for a variety of reasons and finding ways to talk through different ideas, trying to accomplish certain things in particular.
So I think that talking about and broaching topics of health and wellness in a group sense would be and is really powerful.
If we're talking about teams of people who work together on a regular basis, you know, have they sort of thought collectively about their own individual healths and about their group health?
You know, some examples are like, okay, what is, what are the dynamics like in the office? You know, do people think that it's a treat to bring in a box of donuts?
Okay, well, that box of donuts may not actually be helping people's productivity. It might be causing sugar crashes.
It might be causing people to eat socially when they know that they really ought to be having something much more healthy. And you can flip that on its head by bringing in a much healthier and still delicious and fun snack.
There's an example or team dynamics. Okay, we need to do a team meeting. How about we go and take a walk together?
You know, we can walk around the lake. We're in Olympia. We have a nice little lake to walk around doing. Walking meetings, everyone has different abilities, Right. So you have to be sensitive to that.
But getting together for a little bit of movement or group exercise.
Powerful. Or building in programming into like meetings that are throughout the day, building in a 15 minute fun movement break maybe right after lunch, it's good for everyone's digestion and keeps people awake.
So there's lots of things that can be done in an organizational setting that are personally healthy for the people involved.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: This is rich. This is cool, because I don't think, again, going back to that point where I don't think a lot of folks necessarily connect the dots.
[00:22:12] Speaker C: Right.
[00:22:13] Speaker A: But some very practical strategies that you just listed off that could impact mood. Yeah, right. Team dynamics and ultimately productivity, which I think in a line of work that I do, really ends up helping with cultures of belonging. Right. Like, you know, the example that you, you shared with regards to a meeting, for example, outdoors, again, being mindful of people with different abilities and how to support and accommodate for those. But the very fact of doing something in addition to the meeting piece, Right. It's an activity outdoors just, you know, aligns with what neuroscience tells us about neurons that fire together, wire together. And so you're creating a stronger bond because you are having a shared experience together. And so this is good. So all these nuggets Right. That you just kind of spilled here. I'm sure there's a lot more in that, you know, brain bank of yours. And so are there plans to maybe publish some. Some books to help people out?
Is there a book or two in you?
[00:23:25] Speaker C: Yeah, you know, I've like, basically, probably everyone in a similar position. I've sort of toyed with the idea of writing books, and I think I have sort of crystallized finally, sort of actually two books that I am working on concurrently.
The first one, the title, it's tentatively titled Stress Response.
And I just. I really love double meanings.
And it refers to.
And we'll talk about the sort of instinctive stress response that people have that we experience, and that's that, you know, traditional fight or flight.
But that was very well suited for humanity kind of before the Industrial revolution in many ways, because it's like, you know, your body is accustomed to amping up and getting ready to respond to physical challenges.
So the second part of that or the second meaning is that we as people today can have a different response to stress.
And so as we sort of see and understand that stress is coming, we can be mindful of that, and we can do a variety of things to respond more healthily to that.
It sort of speaks to meeting people where they are, and it speaks to being really reactive to situations.
The second book that I'm looking at is kind of the next step. And my hope is that these books will look. Will work together.
But I'm tentatively thinking of the second book as a vital decision.
And it's really choosing vitality.
It's choosing that we want to live in a way of health and energy and vigor and joy.
And that in order to get there, it really is something that you choose and then something that you need to sort of figure out why it is that you want to do it. If you want to be able to make sustainable, significant kinds of lifestyle changes and impacts to carry yourself forward into, you know, a better version of yourself that you can accomplish your goals. You know, you have to understand what your goals are in order to be really inspired to find ways to really accomplish them.
And so maybe after people have a better means and toolkit to respond to the stresses of their everyday life, maybe they'll feel like they're in a better position, they have some momentum in order to make that vital decision, that I'm going to make lasting changes and, you know, really work towards that. So my thought and my idea there is that the two books could really work together. And so I'm really trying to get them out quickly and bring them out sort of one after the other.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. I love the progression there in terms of stress Response and then what you call the second one, Vital Decisions. Vital decisions and the play on words there. It's really cool.
So how do I lay my hands on those books? And obviously I know you're still working on them. So what. You know what I mean? Here is what sort of timeline we're looking at as it relates to not only the book but also a completion of your certification and getting to.
To have you as a personal coach.
What's the timeline?
[00:27:18] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, no, I'm working really hard this summer to get everything ready to really launch in the fall.
So my certification will be kind of mid September.
I'm hoping to have advance reader copies of Stress Response hopefully as soon as August, maybe even so that people, I can start distributing them and get feedback and if people want to read those and let me know what they think and start posting reviews and ratings and that sort of thing.
The website is up and running. I'm sort of just beginning to put content on there. So I just have looked at a really cool book called Metabolic Freedom by Ben Ezadi. I just did sort of a response to that and that's up on the website and also in the live section there is a product there. It's a moisturizing cream that contains a therapeutic dose of magnesium.
And it just so happens that something like 70% of the population is deficient in magnesium, which causes all kinds of problems.
And I found this cream by a company called Rooted in and they were kind enough to provide our listeners with a discount. So I have that connection made. And so, you know, my hope is to just continue to build content like that into the website as we go and to have the release of the first book here within the next couple months and you know, follow the other one with that and am already starting to have conversations with people about coaching and advising and that that, that shingle is definitely hanging now above the door.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: Well, that's awesome, Ramsey. I'm really excited for you and really inspired by the journey you've been on.
Like we talked about early on. Takes a lot of courage to look at a career and that you've been in and by from all regards and it will be like you are comfortable. You know, why don't you just stay in that lane? But you were able to pay attention to the.
Your internal state and what was going on around you and ask that question, what's worthwhile. And you've been on this journey. And one thing that I want to highlight for our listeners, that and that I've always valued in our friendship is this, you know, what I call transparency and vulnerability with your process. No matter what the process, you're like, this is where I'm at. This is what I'm doing.
I don't necessarily have it all figured out, but this is where I think I'm going. And I'll keep you updated. And so I really appreciate that as you kind of share about your journey because I believe there's a lot of parallels in, in all of our human experience and going to these moments of asking those deep questions, is this worthwhile, what I'm doing, what I'm stuck at? And am I being called to something else? Something richer, deeper, bigger, more fulfilling? And as you go into that journey and you've invited all of us onto that journey, we can only just wish you the utmost success.
And so I guess maybe the last question I have for you, for those who might be just listening to the podcast for the first time today and heard all these really, really interesting and intriguing ideas that you are and products that are coming down the road and, or even opportunities to work with you if they manage a team or part of an organization and things of the sort, how can they get a hold of you or keep up with you so that when those, those books are out, they're the first to snatch it?
[00:31:27] Speaker C: Yes.
Well, so probably the best is through the website, which is whatsworthwhile.net and please definitely send me a message through the website and of course listen to the podcast, which is available on all your favorite podcast platforms.
You can also find me really easily on LinkedIn or through Instagram or X definitely out there. And I would love to hear from anyone and everyone that would be interested.
And I appreciate you, Parfait.
You inspire me. You do, you do great work and you've supported me a lot throughout, you know, this journey and as a good friend and as a, as a business associate and collaborator. So I appreciate you coming out today and doing this and I'm just really excited for all the, all the good work that we get to do together.
[00:32:31] Speaker A: Totally. The appreciation and respect is mutual, Ramsey. You know that. And yeah, for the sake of our listeners, yeah, I've been really excited about some of the collaborations we've already had with some business and agencies in the, in the community here in the Pacific Northwest and helping them think about how they do belonging well with also a lens of wellness right for their people. So it's been really awesome to work with you. So I think this was a wrap. I wonder how I did as a, you know, guest host.
[00:33:09] Speaker C: I think you are by far the best guest host that I have ever had on the what's Worthwhile podcast.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: Well, I'll take that, but I'll ask our listeners to let us know. Was this episode worthwhile?
[00:33:23] Speaker C: Yes. Thank you so much.
[00:33:25] Speaker A: Thank you. Until next time.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: Looking for more? Visit whatsworthwhile.net to listen to podcast episodes, learn from books and articles and live the better by choosing healthy products and practices. I'm now offering services through Worthwhile Advisors for personal coaching, professional advising, speaking and group facilitation. If you or your team are ready to reduce stress and anxiety, build vitality and momentum and accomplish your goals without burning out, then please contact me, Ramsey Zimmerman through the website or on social media like Instagram X or LinkedIn.
[00:34:00] Speaker C: LinkedIn.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: Thanks.
