Jason Goldberg is a global keynote speaker on Future-Proof Leadership and is a mental performance and leadership coach for celebrities, change makers, and CEO’s. He’s been featured on ABC, CBS, and FOX and he’s the author of the #1 international bestseller on self-leadership called “Prison Break.” He’s also a former rapper who once opened for Wu Tang Clan. He’s truly a fascinating guy and a great storyteller.

How Jason got audiences to accept him as a rapper:

“What I did was, I started bringing comedy into it. And by bringing comedy into it, I saw people – figuratively and actually – uncross their arms and lower their resistance to what I had to say, and to me performing. And so, that was one of the first lessons I had in the power of humor to be able to actually get a message across and impact people with what you want to say.”

On when he decided it was time to lose 130 pounds:

“I had built this identity over time as the fat guy. As the guy who would cope with emptions by eating. As the guy who would cover up darker emotions with comedy. I had all these different things that can be a gift but can also be a curse. And so, the realization that I had … I had this day where I say, ‘The universe woke me up. The universe cut me off.’ It was this day where I finally stopped making excuses for as overweight as I was. So, there’s an element there of a mindset shift into personal responsibility instead of blaming other people, blaming my genetics, blaming my mom for not being a cook when I was younger (etc.). I finally had to take personal responsibility for the role I played in that.”

An opportunity awaits when you decide to be bold:

“There are all these gifts that come in when you decide to make a big change in your life. You’re going to be faced with all the things you haven’t dealt with yet, and it gives you the chance to work thorough those things in real time.”

Why he shifted from “accountability” to being “counted on”:

“I don’t always live 100% in integrity – I’m a human – but as somebody who tries to live in that way as much as possible, one of the shifts that I’ve had is away from accountability. And that’s because accountability typically is, ‘Help me do the thing I don’t actually want to do.’ That’s kind of basic accountability. ‘I don’t want to do the thing, but I want the result of the thing. And so, I need you to keep me accountable.’ And it works, so there’s nothing wrong with that. What I found has been more helpful for me, whether it’s physical-health-related, business-growth-related, whatever the container is, is to switch from accountability to being counted on. If I set myself up in a way where people are counting on me to do the thing that’s in front of me, that drives me even more than waiting for somebody to check back in with me and say, ‘Hey, did you do the thing you’re supposed to do?’”

How he reminds himself to take it easy:

“I wear this bracelet that literally says, ‘Not Batman’ to remind myself that any time I get too much in the weeds, I’m taking myself too seriously, I’m taking my business too seriously, I’m taking whatever too seriously, I’ve got to remind myself, ‘You’re playing that role again of that serious guy who doesn’t remember how ridiculous it is to be stressing about this thing. What would it look like if you put that role down for just a minute?’”

Don’t let your emotions govern you:

“You have more energy that’s recouped for creative endeavors and for making more money and for building your business and for whatever else you want to do, when you’re not using that energy to combat a perception of a threat that is your emotions. Your emotions are not there to hurt you.”