Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 0:05

Welcome to Transacting Value, where we talk about practical applications for personal values when dealing with each other and even within ourselves. Where we foster a podcast listening experience that lets you hear the power of a value system for managing burnout, establishing boundaries and finding belonging. My name is Josh Porthouse, I'm your host and we are your people. This is why values still hold value. This is Transacting Value.

Noven Jaisi: 0:33

Life is always happening for us and not to us. Sometimes you listen to someone, go, you know, life is like that and that's just the way it is. And you've made your bed and now you got to lay in it. Well, not really, because you know when problems come, you can either use it or it uses you.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 0:51

Welcome to Transacting Value Today. We all have days when we have trouble focusing, some people more than others Today dreaming in class, losing track of belongings or appointments, difficulty paying attention for a sustained period of time. But does that change depending on our passions or our industries, or is it always even bad? What pulls you through simple distractions and brain fog or major episodes of PTSD may not be the same for everyone, but are our friends and our values enough to pull us back? Our next contributor says that sometimes zoning out can be a positive flow state too. He's a movie producer, certified meditation coach and, most recently, a new author with his book Make History how to Make the Most of your Time on Earth, Noven Jaisi. Today we're talking our January core values of self-discipline, self-improvement and tenacity. If you're new to the podcast, welcome, and if you're a continuing listener, welcome back. Folks, without further ado. On Porter, I'm your host and this is Transacting Value. Noven, what's up, man? How you doing?

Noven Jaisi: 1:49

I'm doing good. Thank you so much for having me on the program.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 1:52

Yeah, I appreciate your time. I understand you're all the way across the world. I'm in Virginia, right, and you're in what did you say? Kuala Lumpur? That's right.

Noven Jaisi: 2:01

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 2:02

Unreal man, the technology we have today just to have this conversation alone.

Noven Jaisi: 2:07

Crazy. I know it's crazy and you know, if you're like in this situation and you have family on the other side of the world, having to FaceTime makes a big difference. You couldn't do that 20, 30 years ago.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 2:19

No, I mean in some cases and even in some countries, you can't do it yet. Yeah, absolutely, you know it's a luxury, I think which is sort of unfortunate saying it out loud, but it's a luxury, I think to be able to stay in touch with family. It's a crazy For sure, absolutely Crazy backwards sort of perspective on it. But speaking of perspectives, let's start with you Now. As I mentioned, you just wrote your book and you've got all these other claims and things you've done in your life, but as far as our listeners are concerned, you may be just a total stranger and they don't know who you are. So let's just start there. Take a couple minutes. Who are you? Where are you from? What sort of things have shaped your perspective on life?

Noven Jaisi: 2:57

Well, most people would know me from being in the film business a movie producer, film producer and a lot of people actually know me from my association with the Beach Boys, who I've been working with since 2016, really. And of course, I also work with bands such as the Jackson Brothers, John Stamos, the actor, and just a whole heap of other people. I've also written a book which I'm very proud to say. We've fed over 10,000 people as of last month, as the proceeds went to charity and basically through my favorite app, which is called Share the Meal, and I don't know what it is in dollars, but in ringgit it's about ringgit, , which maybe comes up to, I think, maybe even a dollar, and you can feed someone and it's a really easy way to do it. That's through an app. I think everyone who wants to give back but maybe you're busy, you got things to do and this is a very easy way to do it. So I've been with them since, I think since the pandemic, and I kind of got involved in and given back. When I got the book out, I got in touch with them and I said you know, for every book I wanted to give a meal, and they said, yeah sure, let's do it. And then early this year, since the book sales were pretty good, I thought let's do two meals so, and then with that we got 10,000 meals that we gave away. A lot of it went to the Ukraine, some of it went to Yemen, and I'm really proud of it. Out of all the things I've ever done, I'm probably most proud of that, I would think.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 4:20

Yeah, I mean it's a huge accomplishment in and of itself, first off, to be able to feed so many people, but out of, essentially, proceeds that you're taking from everybody that helped you write the book to just your own pocket, essentially giving up your meals conceptually so other people can eat, which is pretty cool too. It's not something that you hear about publicly being a trend as often today as maybe in the past, and so when we're talking about other things, though, that have sort of influenced and help you grow through life, this is a segment of the show called developing, character Developing character. And so for anybody new and Noven, and I suppose for you too, it's two questions, both entirely as vulnerable as you want to be for the answers. But what I'm looking for here is your value system. Right, all of these things you've been able to accomplish have to come from somewhere. It's not just it sounds great, and maybe it does. Don't get me wrong. It sounds great I can make a profit, or this sounds great, I can help somebody, but what's the why behind that? In this segment? My first question is as you were growing up, what sort of values were you exposed to? What were some of your values?

Noven Jaisi: 5:24

You know, for a long time I didn't have a great emotional home. I was extremely sensitive as a kid and if something happened and it didn't go my way, I'll be really upset and I wouldn't ever it wouldn't be done so openly really. It's kind of done internally. And then when I got older, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in my early 20s and it led to me being unemployed and I couldn't pay for anything. I was completely broke really. But it put me in a position where I needed to learn and I said to myself you know, I don't want to be this helpless person that was so young 21 to be diagnosed and to be unemployed. So I went to books really and I got a lot of learnings from essentially all these books. That's where my core values come from, whether it's stoicism or something that's not too old, like Tony Robbins' work and Chloe Medanis and people like that. But if you were to ask me when I was growing up, I was a very sensitive kid and if something didn't go my way I would get upset. I wouldn't. I wouldn't take it out on someone, but I just didn't have the tools that I have as an adult.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 6:29

Well then, okay, so let me ask you this Now that all this time has passed, over a few decades, and you've made your way through, I'm sure, a couple dozen books by now at least, what are some of your values now, then?

Noven Jaisi: 6:40

One of my favorite values that has gotten me through like the most hardest times in life, and it comes down to a sentence, really, and that is life is always happening for us and not to us. Sometimes you listen to someone, go, you know life is like that and that's just the way it is. And you've made your bet and now you got to lay in it. Well, not really, because you know when problems come, you can either use it or it uses you. And had I known that when I was younger, it would have made a world of difference. But I'm glad, I'm happy with how my life turned out, because now I'm even more grateful for all these great tools. So making the use of whatever happens to you in life is one of my core values. So no matter what happens, no matter what gets thrown at me, I'll use it, even though in the moment it might feel really bad.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 7:27

Already, folks sit tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value.

Noven Jaisi: 8:16

Making the use of whatever happens to you in life is one of my core values. So, no matter what happens, no matter what gets thrown at me, I'll use it, even though in the moment it might feel really bad.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 8:28

Yeah, there's a lot of circumstantial things, I think, where we have choices. We may not realize we have choices. Don't get me wrong. I know I certainly haven't. I've gone through some pretty low spots. For example, there was a point in time, maybe seven or eight years ago now, where I was married at the time and I was living long distance from my wife and we had a son or have a son. But at the time right, we had a son and I didn't know how to communicate with him. I didn't know how to communicate with her. I didn't know how to talk to myself. I had totally lost sense of who I was and I hit a bottom. All we were doing was arguing and I felt like no fault of hers. But I felt like everything that was happening to me was happening to me not because I was involved. I felt like I was maybe even victimized a little bit. But over time I did it to myself and I came to realize I hadn't been really taking ownership of how I was responding to situations which you mentioned Stoicism and a lot of that's in meditations and Marcus Aurelius and he talks about. You can control what you do, how you respond, and it took me a while to realize that. And now look at you. You're decades on in life, I'm assuming somewhere in your 30s, maybe late 20s at this point, or you've just got really good skin, I don't know. But you've worked your way through all of these issues and it sounds like self-taught a lot of these principles and self-induced, I guess, a lot of their teachings and applications. What is that meant for you to be able to move through that and then sort of stand on your own? Are you finding you're more of an independent kind of guy, or do you work well on teams? What has that done for you in your perspective?

Noven Jaisi: 10:11

See that last question, whether I work better in teams. I certainly work better in teams, but there are times where because I started off in video editing and that you're completely alone and it's an introverted dream really, because you don't have to rely on anyone you could be emailing someone and then you work on the thing. But if you're a camera operator, you can't do that. You got to interact with people and get to talk with the lighting guy and everything. But if anyone out there is an introvert and you don't want to deal with anyone, well that's the job for you, because I didn't have to talk with anyone the first couple of years in my life and then I realized I actually wanted to do different things and I wanted to work in teams and all that. So I actually I think the only thing is you have to really find a team that you wouldn't mind having dinner with, because sometimes you work with people and you would never want to hang out with them. And if you never want to hang out with them, well, it's fine. That happens. You don't always get too lucky, but if you're hiring you know hiring people you'd want to have dinner with, it makes a world of difference. It makes it even more exciting when you come in at work and you interact with them. It makes a world of difference. But to your first question about how I felt about going through all of that, I think one of the things that I've noticed is that there are times where I fall back to bad habits and I go. You know, when I was young I was very superstitious and I was even OCD. And there are times where I kind of fall back into it and I go oh no, no, you don't have to go back there anymore, we've learned. And then it's kind of like going to the gym. You know, you don't go to the gym once and you're ripped. It's the same with your mental health as well. You might learn all these things, but then if you don't keep learning and putting them into practice, you're going to fall back and be a fat ass again. So it's a practice that they keep doing, it continuously, keep learning. And it just comes with age as well. But the older I get, the more I realize that I get a lot of gems from people, everyday people, whereas when I was in my early twenties I'd be like, oh, I want to get the best from the best books, but you can get it from a cab driver, from anyone. Really, they got great stuff. You know everyday people.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 12:07

Yeah, some of the best meals I've ever had have been from little mom and pop shops for little hole in the wall diners and dives, sort of in parallel to mental health. I 100% agree with you Now saying that, though not all of those people that have insight and that have perspective that maybe could benefit you at, for example, some lower points in your life or higher points in your life or whatever, write books about it, how do you get that information? How do you reach out and find these things you know, like when you get depressed? Let me ask you this here's a better question when you find that you're sort of in a low zone, at a low point in your life, where do you go to fight your demons? Where do you go to process and choose light side or dark side? What works for you?

Noven Jaisi: 12:55

To me it's a lot of learnings really that I've learned. It's the lessons that I've learned in every year. I always write them down and I put them into sentences, really. And Nietzsche had a very good quote it's my favorite quote really and he says it is my ambition to say in 10 sentences what it takes most to say in a whole book. And then it got me thinking. I was like 10 sentences, what would those 10 sentences be? Because he never said what the 10 are. And like five years ago I went you know, I want to find out what those 10 sentences are for myself and then write a book called 10 sentences, which I haven't done yet, but I'm just doing it for myself, but I happened to. I found 15 really, and in these 15 lines that I found it wasn't mine, it was compilation really. That's where I go to whenever I met my darkest and I remind myself and get myself the right perspective. And one of those lines is trade your expectations for appreciation. And when I'm at my lowest, I remind myself, because I'm a big World War II buff, and reminding myself of the Holocaust, reminding myself of what happened in history, it's my go-to when I go down, because the worst day I could ever have. It's someone else's dream for sure. I am extremely fortunate. I mean, I'm not Jeff Bezos or anything, but even what I have, I'm extremely grateful and I realized just how hard people in the past have had it, how my ancestors have had it and people around the world today have it. So that's my go-to is trading my expectations for appreciation and realizing how good I actually have it.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 14:30

I think. Well, I know that's not where I was expecting your answer to take us. I figured it'd be a place. I figured it'd be walking in nature or going to the gym or sort of the more common responses. What's interesting, though, that I got out of that is where you go to get out of those spots is deeper into you, and that was one of the points that, when you and I initially spoke, you alluded to this flow state. I mean, you're a meditation coach, so I can't help but think there's some correlation between these points. What role does meditation have for you in that process?

Noven Jaisi: 15:07

Well, I got anxious a lot in high school. I really did. Now we're pacing back and forth, pacing back and forth, and I was restless. People used to tell me you're pretty restless, why don't you sit still for a little bit? And I'm a really shy guy as well, especially in high school and even after high school. And then I took the TM course Transcendental Meditation and even before I took the course, people would tell me are you shy? Are you a shy guy? But after you learn it I don't make any promises, but you probably won't be that shy anymore I'm like, yeah, I don't really buy it, I'm just going to try it. And then I used to go for because there's an introductory course, and I met some of the other meditators and they were saying do you smoke? Yeah, I smoke. And I'm like do you drink? Yeah, I drink. Well, you don't have to stop. But you don't have to stop. I'd be willing to bet with you probably we'll stop in a couple of months if you learn this stuff. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I just want to learn it, just to relax. Really, yeah, and it did, it happened, and they never told me to or anything, and it completely did it completely stopped smoking, stopped drinking. All I thought, wait, the best part was I got to relax and I got to be present and all that and meditation is something anyone can do, and I must I'm the only guy that says this in the group. It can be really boring a lot of times and there are times where I go and there are times where they go okay, do it again. But when I'm going through a lot of stress I just want to do it longer and I don't feel the same without it. But it's like working out. Some people really enjoy working out and they love it, and some people they have to kind of push to do it but they wouldn't want it any other way. Meditation has been. It's provided solace and discomfort and also mental strength as well, and it also helps with anger, for sure.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 16:46

Well, when you say meditation, it's easy for me to picture spiritualism and chakras and graphics and designs and patchouli and incense and whatever else to get you there. But what do you actually mean? What is that process? What is meditation to you?

Noven Jaisi: 17:06

The type of practice that I do is you're given a mantra Basically it's a word which means nothing to you really, because there should be no association. So it usually goes back to scripture, to Hindu scripture really and then you're given the phrase and basically you sit down quietly and you repeat this phrase for close to about 15 minutes. Remember, I told you it was boring. Yeah, I told you it was boring, but you do it and it's kind of like getting in a cab and you get to a cab to get a certain destination and the mantra is the cab and once you get there, you don't need the cab anymore and you get into this real relaxed state in which it feels like there's no thoughts. I mean, you can't be devoid of thought. That's just crazy. Yeah, this is not what meditation is, but it's pretty close and you get to be really relaxed and time stops, and now it doesn't happen every time. This is the ideal meditation, which happens from time to time. There are times where you do it and you have a headache and you're like I don't really feel it today. But if you get a really good meditation session, it's really relaxing and you kind of lose track of time. There have been times where I've done it and after I came out of it, I go what day is it, what time is it? You know where am I? And I've done it in airports, in the back of cabs, all over the place, and it's just beautiful. And I think everyone has experienced some form of meditation, whether in prayer or when you're being grateful or thinking of someone. Yeah, it's just great to just take a breather and really put into perspective, as opposed to just walking about and thinking of I got to do this and I got to do that. And there are times where it's best to just take five minutes and stop. You don't have to do 20 minutes. I think five minutes, 10 minutes of gratitude and just focusing on your breath and calming yourself down makes a world of difference.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 18:53

Alrighty folks, stay tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value. Alrighty folks, here at Transacting Value, we write and produce all the material for our podcast In-house game perspective alongside you, our listeners, and exchange vulnerability and dialogue with our contributors every Monday morning. But for distribution, buzz brought the platform to use. You want to know how popular you are in Europe or how Apple is a preferred platform to stream your interviews? Buzz brought can do that. You want to stream on multiple players through an RSS or custom feed, or even have references and resources to take your podcast professionalism, authenticity and presence to a wider audience. Buzz brought can do that too. Here's how Start with some gear that you already have in a quiet space. If you want to upgrade, buzz brought has tons of guides to help you find the right equipment at the right price. Buzzsprout brought gets your show listed in every major podcast platform. You'll get a great looking podcast website, audio players that you can drop into other websites, detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes and more. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. The team at Buzzsprout brought is passionate about helping you succeed. Join over a hundred thousand podcasters already using Buzz brought to get their message out to the world Plus. Following the link in the show notes let's Buzz brought know we sent you gets you a $20 credit if you sign up for a paid plan and help support our show. You want more value for your values.

Noven Jaisi: 20:18

Buzz it's best to just take five minutes and stop. You don't have to do 20 minutes. I think five minutes, 10 minutes of gratitude and just focusing on your breath and calming yourself down makes a world of difference.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 20:32

Well, especially when you're going through a rough patch, whatever that means to you or to anybody listening, but especially in those moments. Here's an example. So I'm stationed in Virginia. I mentioned that earlier. Well, my dad lives in Florida and whenever I go home, which is usually about once a year, I make it a point to stop by his house. Even from there, only for a few days, or maybe a few days to a week on average, I make it a point to stop by his house. And I'll tell you, in at least the almost 14 years I've been in the Marine Corps and at least the last 25 or so since I moved away from home, it's always the same thing, it doesn't change. We sit on the front porch, we put a fire in the fire pit and then we just stare at it. Maybe we have a beer and we just, maybe we don't even talk. But in those moments they say a lot more than I think either of us is able to actually verbalize or remember to ask in those moments. And so now, as you're describing, meditation, that's the moments I'm picturing, where it seems kind of like daydreaming because you're not really present, necessarily consciously, sort of, but spiritually it's almost like this healing out of body type, nostalgic comfort. Is that kind of what you're getting at?

Noven Jaisi: 21:47

Absolutely, and I love that that you do that. How often do you get to do that?

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 21:52

About once a year.

Noven Jaisi: 21:53

Yeah, we should do it more often. That sounds beautiful Porter. I love that.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 21:57

Well, it is I mean, at least for me and I assume, because he continues doing it with me probably for him to. But you're talking about getting into these moments where you sort of detach. It's like intentional distancing, because a lot of time in life and even in my experience I've been on I don't remember, I think five or six deployments at this point, and detaching is the easy part You've got to shoot your rifle and so, for example, in the Marine Corps infantry, so you've got to shoot your rifle, and so some of our paper targets to practice for accuracy or whatever, are silhouetted. They're blacked out, but they're silhouetted Because the last thing you want is somebody to be shooting at you and you freeze because you're like there's a body I don't know if I can shoot, and so it's a little change like that to desensitize. But then it's also complimented with ethics, ethical decision games, we call them. But ethics, morals, conversations, communication skills, humanity, empathy type conversations, especially at a squad level of about a dozen or so people, and it balances out the harshness or the brutality of whatever environments we might find ourselves in to people, or people first, at least in their own opinions. And so how do you marry the two. I've read Voltaire, for example, Dan Grossman on killing, for different stories about this, where essentially the only difference between sociopaths and warriors throughout history has been the moral implication of their ability to attack, and however they view that justification. But that's really it. The actions are essentially the same in a lot of war zones today even. And so to be able to detach and process that sort of intentional distancing for something positive, it's one thing to get back from a combat deployment and not be able to talk to your spouse, not be able to relate to your kids, not be able to integrate into society, just as much as it is for a convict to get released after 20 years. Well, a lot of service members, technically speaking, get released from their contracts after 20 years, albeit voluntarily but still, and find it difficult to reintegrate and socialize because of the distance they've created and lose sight of themselves and lose sight of how they want to portray themselves. And so I'm curious, in your opinion and in your experience, to be able to use that essentially same skill set of detachment and distancing. Do you see that there's a benefit in being able to do that, in your case through meditation, to improve your ability to socialize? You had mentioned it would make you a better speaker, more extroverted. Has that been the case?

Noven Jaisi: 24:29

For sure. I'm reminded of a quote from Buddhism which goes all suffering comes from attachment. And you mentioned attachment, which is to me the most valuable lesson when it comes to spiritualism, even in life, because, if you think about it, all of our suffering comes from being attached. And sometimes that attachment is beautiful. You're attached to your child, your wife, your family and all that. But if you're so overly attached you can't even love them because you're just so worried about losing them. And then when you kind of let that fear go, you can connect even more to them, because if not, then you're just going to be too anxious and worried too much. But I'm sorry, I forgot what the question was.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 25:13

No, that's fine. I was just asking if meditating and intentional distance has helped you to become more extroverted or socializing. Get to know people.

Noven Jaisi: 25:20

For sure I think just detaching in general gets you more. We'll loosen you up. Because if you're attached to the outcome, for example, and you're like I want to be perceived this way and I want them to think of me in this way, you're attached. But if you don't have those attachments, you're like all right, this is who I am, take it or leave it. So you're naturally just going to be going out there. You're like I'm not attached to how you're going to perceive me. Now, it's of course human to have an expectation. For sure I mean, that's just realistic. We have an expectation of how we want to be perceived, how we want people to see us. But through detaching, bit by bit, you get better at it, you loosen up and you can go this is who I am, take it or leave it.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 26:00

What do you think about, I guess, balancing that with, maybe, pride and ego, because there's a threshold, in my opinion at least, there's a threshold where, unapologetically, I'm going to do what I want where I want, and I don't mean the extremes outside of social norms, I mean within those parameters, right, but I'm going to do what I want when I want, and this is just who I am compared to. Yeah, well, you got to compromise in a public view to a certain degree. I mean, you make movies, right. How do you balance out character portrayals with reality? It's sort of the same comparison, I think.

Noven Jaisi: 26:32

Yeah, Well, it's completely different movies and movies you really exaggerate, you know, hyperbolicize the human condition, so it's almost never accurate. And often, asked me, they go why do you dramatize so much? There's nothing like that, like we did a show on the airline business, really. And they go, it's nothing like that. And I tell them the reason why we do that is because if I don't, you won't feel like you're there. If I portray it as if exactly like how it happens in real life, you won't feel like how it does in real life, because things that might look mundane on video when you're there in person it could be really, it could really get to you, but you have to dramatize it Now you won't really feel how it is. But having to detach from your ego is something that I think all of us have to. Well, let's look at the word ego in general. What is it? If you look at it through Freud, it's a complete different thing and holistically, I've always looked at the ego as basically just fear.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 27:32

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Noven Jaisi: 28:30

Holistically. I've always looked at the ego as basically just fear. And the bigger your ego, the more fear you have. And what do we fear the most? What do human beings fear the most? We fear that we're not enough. Now everyone feels I'm not young enough or I'm not old enough, I'm not fat enough or I'm not. I mean why? I'm not fit enough, I'm not rich enough or I'm not handsome enough, I'm not something enough. That's the ultimate fear. But if you dig down deeper than that, it's that we all feared we're not enough and if we're not enough we won't be loved. And the more fear we have on that, the bigger the ego is. And if you can have a practice to combat your fear of not being enough, which we all absolutely have, I don't care who you are. I mean, if you look at the biggest celebrities, politicians, whoever, the most extroverted guy at the party, whatever, we all fear that we're not enough. And if you can combat that and do whatever you need to do to kind of fix that, well then your ego kind of just it's manageable, you can go through it. But if you're someone who's really fearful that you're not enough and that you won't be loved, well then you're going to have to deal with the ego so much more often. That's what it essentially is.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 29:44

Isn't it crazy to think that of all the things that could be impacting people today, materialistically or otherwise, of all the things that could be impacting people today, it still comes back to love and gratitude and acceptance and these sort of like woo type things that you can't see, the invisible things that impact everybody the same. More importantly, that impact everybody the same. There's a certain degree of equality and fairness in that, which is kind of comforting to know that there are things in the world where that applies still. Yeah.

Noven Jaisi: 30:16

And to those who, maybe, who are maybe like agnostic or an atheist, or which I had completely have no judgment at all. It kind of makes you wonder, because there must be some benevolent force, because if you were someone who was completely maniacal, there's no way you could be happy. If you study human psychology people who are evil, who do bad things there's no hope for you to have a felt life, which to me, I mean I believe in God, but even though I believe it, it makes me think, wow, it's just the human mind. It's worked for you to be a good person, and if you're going to be a bad person, no matter what mental practice you have, you can never win, because that anguish will just kind of come back to you. So it's interesting that you say that as well. Is this invisible forces that apply to all of us?

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 31:02

Yeah, and here's the crazy thing I've never met you. We're literally geopolitical or opposites, east to west at least, yeah, yeah, and we still came to a similar conclusion. So we really can't be that far off. You know what I mean. All our influences are totally different, with the exception of I've heard Kokomo on a cassette in the early nineties and you work with the beach, you know, I've Full House house and you know, John Stamos, like we have some things in parallel, but, man, it's so wild to think that, as far as the human condition is concerned, despite all of our uprisings, perspectives and differences and issues, and whatever influences, impacts have applied there in that process, we still see that there are things we have in common. And I think that's the beauty of having conversations like this, all things considered, with strangers, because it's possible and I think if we focus on those things more than the division, and maybe we have that in common, don't get me wrong, but, like you said, when you get into low points and there's more conflict and more stress, sometimes it's easier to take that and then process it with its counterpoint, like, yes, there are those things, but there are also these things. And to that end, I think and this is probably for the sake of time, going to be my last question but to that end, what influences, what impacts? What did you take to process and write a book about making history?

Noven Jaisi: 32:26

Well, the book came by. It was really naturally. Really it was my journal and, as I said before, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and I read over 150 books that year because I was just so I needed to find some answers. Because before that yeah, because before that I was not the self-help guy or I wasn't into psychology. I wasn't into all of that. If you'd given me a book on stoicism and I can see I've been like thank you so much, I'm like I'm never reading this but 21,. I was like I need something. So I just I went through one of the best books in psychology, one of the best self-help books. How could I improve my life? And after reading all those books, as I was reading them, I took notes and I took these notes over five, six years, really these notes and writing them down and this is really great. And I went to courses and, as I said, I went to a meditation course. I even took the teacher training course and through all of that and I even took an NLP has also been a huge force in my life, learning NLP and body language and just a whole bunch of things. And I came up with a bunch of journals that took up this huge box really, and I was going through the journals, I was going, you know, really like to kind of compile and just come up with the best stuff, what I've learned for myself not to put out there. And I went, you know, it'd be kind of nice to put out a book with the best stuff that I've learned over the last decade or so. And I did that and it took longer than I thought it would. I think it was the two years of compiling it and putting it down and distilling it down. And then once I was done and I hated the process it took so long and I'm perfectionist I was going, oh, not this spot, not that, not this and that. And even my editor got so he got so angry at me. I was like, say Noven, but this was due last month. And I mean he was cursing me out essentially during the whole process. But I'm saying you know what we got to get this done and we did. And then the book came out last year. I'm really proud of it and I think, because I spent so much time on it, I think I'll be proud of it in 10, 20, 30 years from now. And I think the thing I'm most proud of the book is, as I've said, we fed over a little over 10,000 people as of last month to Share the Meal, which is an amazing app and for anyone who's never heard of it, I would say check it out. It's a great way to give back to people and it's a really easy way as well. Feeding America is also a really easy way to give back for my friends in the United States. But if you're out of the United States, share the meals an amazing app. For those who haven't checked it out, do check it out. You'll feel amazing really being able to help people out and it's a really easy way to do it as well.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 34:53

Well, so then, as far as that's concerned, for anybody that wants to check out your book, or wants to check out the app, or even you in general, and just find more out about your perspective and how you've been moving through things and processing stress or coping or meditation, or all of these outlets and impacts you've been bringing up, how do people find out more? Where do they go?

Noven Jaisi: 35:13

I'm on all social media platforms. You can just type in an Noven Jaisi, and I'll be there, but the best place to give my book would probably be Amazon still, so you can just type in my name and pop up. I only got one book out so far. I'll work on the second one.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 35:27

Well, hopefully it doesn't take as long as two years. But I'll tell you this, man I've talked to a couple of authors Now you included in that group but the writing process like the hard skills of typing or writing or whatever is nothing compared to sort of the spiritual journey of going through these things to be able to communicate them effectively. So, who knows, maybe it'll take you 10 more years, but I think it'll be worth it in either case. So yeah, good luck to you, man.

Noven Jaisi: 35:52

For sure. Thank you so much, Porter. This is a great program and I'm so glad I got to be on.

Joshua "Porter" Porthouse: 35:57

Me too. Me too, I really appreciate your perspective and obviously taking time out of your evening. So, yeah, thank you, man. I appreciate it For everybody else who's been tuning in and listening to our conversation. I appreciate you guys taking some time out as well. I hope you got something from this just as much as I did. It was a great conversation and I've also got to thank I guess now indirectly also the Beach Boys and Jackson Brothers and John Stamos, Tony Robbins obviously share the meal Feeding America your editor I didn't catch his name but all these people that gave you opportunities to process life in the way that you have and impact your perspective and your worldview and your ability to focus and distill and communicate effectively. Man, because ultimately, without them and then considerably, I suppose, to the stressors you had to go through to make all of that worthwhile and apply it effectively this conversation wouldn't have been as cool as it was either. So I got to thank all of those influences and I guess I'm grateful they happened. In the long run. Thank you to our show partners and folks. Thank you for tuning in and appreciating our value as we all grow through life together, to check out our other conversations, merchandise or even to contribute through feedback follows time, money or talent, and let us know what you think of the show. Please reach out on our website, transactingvaluepodcastcom. We stream new episodes every Monday at 9 am Eastern Standard Time through all of your favorite podcasting platforms, and we'll meet you there. Until next time, that was Transacting Value.