To the flight attendant’s credit, maybe she took to heart what Jeff said in his first encounter with her – that he was all set. She offered him a chocolate chip cookie when the flight was about to land, but he politely declined.
“Getting off the plane, she was like, ‘have a great day, sir.’”
Let it go.
“Don’t compare one situation to another situation,” he said. “Don’t compare your life to someone else’s life. I think sometimes when we do that, we raise our anxiety and stress us out more than we need to.
If you haven’t heard from someone for a couple of hours, it’s no big deal.
“We are all busy. We are all trying to work hard – but if you think that maybe you have hurt someone’s feelings – ask them.”
More times than not, you will come to know that it’s not about you.
To listen to this episode of The BOOM Podcast, go HERE.
Find out why Jeff Yalden is North America’s Number One Youth Motivational Speaker. Go HERE.
Check out Jeff’s new nonprofit, THE JEFF YALDEN FOUNDATION.
Jeff’s speaking calendar fills up fast. To book him now for your event, organization or school now, call 800-948-9289.
For a limited time, you can own Jeff’s new book, Your Life Matters, for only $0.99 on KINDLE.
SUBSCRIBE to The BOOM Podcast.
JOIN the BOOM Nation Facebook Group and share your BOOM moments with us.The Peanut Incident: Why It’s Better to Ask than to Assume
Most of us have heard the old adage, “If you assume, you make an ASS out of YOU and ME.” It’s a staple in journalism school, but more importantly, the wrong assumption can send your mental state into a downward spiral – sometimes resulting in anger or resentment – or both.
Mental health speaker and Amazon bestselling author Jeff Yalden says that the ability to walk away from a situation without letting it trigger a negative emotion like anger is key to living your BOOM life.
Recently, Jeff was on a plane from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Kansas City.
He had a Gatorade with him, and when the flight attendant asked him if he wanted anything while in-flight, he thanked her and said he was all set.
But then the warm peanuts came around, Jeff wasn’t offered any.
As he mentioned in episode 61 of The BOOM Podcast, he knows this sounds almost like a non-issue, but it didn’t seem like a non-issue at the time.
“When you have bipolar and anxiety, triggers like this really hit you – and by the way I love those warm peanuts you get on the plane,” he said.
Even though the flight attendant also offered everyone in first class warm towel, including Jeff (which he declined), it felt weird that everybody got the warm peanuts but him.
He decided not to say anything because he didn’t want to seem like a ten-year-old who didn’t get his candy – but somewhere in his emotions was the inkling that he might have done something wrong – as if the peanut exclusion was some sort of punishment.
Jeff is a man who lives with mental illness every day, and he was grateful to keep his emotions in check by repeatedly telling himself to let it go, and this was not a big deal.
But for something that isn’t a big deal, this perceived exclusion happens to many of us, especially on social media.
Let’s say you see a post from a friend who is having a great time at an event with other friends, some of whom you know. The first thought might be that you have been excluded for some reason. You weren’t tagged, and you certainly weren’t out with them. Did you do or say something to hurt this person’s feelings?
“There are little things in everyday life that can affect you, and you start wondering if you did something. My friends, sometimes we just need to let it go,” he said.
To the flight attendant’s credit, maybe she took to heart what Jeff said in his first encounter with her – that he was all set. She offered him a chocolate chip cookie when the flight was about to land, but he politely declined.
“Getting off the plane, she was like, ‘have a great day, sir.’”
Let it go.
“Don’t compare one situation to another situation,” he said. “Don’t compare your life to someone else’s life. I think sometimes when we do that, we raise our anxiety and stress us out more than we need to.
If you haven’t heard from someone for a couple of hours, it’s no big deal.
“We are all busy. We are all trying to work hard – but if you think that maybe you have hurt someone’s feelings – ask them.”
More times than not, you will come to know that it’s not about you.
To listen to this episode of The BOOM Podcast, go HERE.
Find out why Jeff Yalden is North America’s Number One Youth Motivational Speaker. Go HERE.
Check out Jeff’s new nonprofit, THE JEFF YALDEN FOUNDATION.
Jeff’s speaking calendar fills up fast. To book him now for your event, organization or school now, call 800-948-9289.
For a limited time, you can own Jeff’s new book, Your Life Matters, for only $0.99 on KINDLE.
SUBSCRIBE to The BOOM Podcast.
JOIN the BOOM Nation Facebook Group and share your BOOM moments with us.
To the flight attendant’s credit, maybe she took to heart what Jeff said in his first encounter with her – that he was all set. She offered him a chocolate chip cookie when the flight was about to land, but he politely declined.
“Getting off the plane, she was like, ‘have a great day, sir.’”
Let it go.
“Don’t compare one situation to another situation,” he said. “Don’t compare your life to someone else’s life. I think sometimes when we do that, we raise our anxiety and stress us out more than we need to.
If you haven’t heard from someone for a couple of hours, it’s no big deal.
“We are all busy. We are all trying to work hard – but if you think that maybe you have hurt someone’s feelings – ask them.”
More times than not, you will come to know that it’s not about you.
To listen to this episode of The BOOM Podcast, go HERE.
Find out why Jeff Yalden is North America’s Number One Youth Motivational Speaker. Go HERE.
Check out Jeff’s new nonprofit, THE JEFF YALDEN FOUNDATION.
Jeff’s speaking calendar fills up fast. To book him now for your event, organization or school now, call 800-948-9289.
For a limited time, you can own Jeff’s new book, Your Life Matters, for only $0.99 on KINDLE.
SUBSCRIBE to The BOOM Podcast.
JOIN the BOOM Nation Facebook Group and share your BOOM moments with us.
Find what you are grateful for, and this can serve as a roadmap to fulfillment.
Jeff shares a couple of examples of this in his life where his purpose is bigger than himself.
“Carolina Forest High School here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had a student make that forever decision about a week ago. I sent a message to the school and I offered my prayers and thoughts. I said I was sorry, and if there was anything I could do, please let me know.”
Because he reached out, Jeff was able to do presentation at the school.
“I feel very fulfilled in my heart that I got to do that,” he said.
He also recently spent two days in 
The point is this:
‘I know you’re busy. I’m busy too. I know we’re grinding so hard every single day and that sometimes we need stop and be present.”
Jeff recalled a similar moment when a young man bought one of his books after a school presentation a while back.
“Apparently, I didn’t acknowledge him – and I remember getting an email from him, just blasting me. I reached out to the school and to the advisor of this young student. I tried to do everything I could. I sent books, t-shirts, posters, pictures. That young man wanted nothing to do with me because of that one moment.”
According to Jeff, sometimes that first impression is a lasting impression.
Always remember that a little kindness and common courtesy go a long way.
“My moment of gratitude today is recognizing that it’s the little things every single day.”
Find out why Jeff Yalden is North America’s Number One Youth Motivational Speaker. Go 
“Sometimes we live our lives so fast that we forget just the little things. Remember this: Fast is slow and slow is fast. Just stop, take it all in – breathe, feel and appreciate – because health is not health unless we first have our mental health.”
Jeff says it’s imperative that we lower the anxiety we experience every day, and get to the heart of what is bothering us and taking up space in our heads.
“If you go out every single day and you are living at about a seven out of ten on the anxiety scale – how productive are you, really?”
Instead, start your day with a self-care routine – reflecting on the things you appreciate. Don’t be like 99 percent of the people who are on autopilot – merely going through the motions. That’s not living.
“Wake up every day with a purpose, my friends. Wake up every single day with love in your heart. Wake up every day knowing that life is a challenge – but as much as life is a challenge, life is also a blessing.”
Find out why Jeff Yalden is North America’s Number One Youth Motivational Speaker. Go 
Try waking up 15 minutes earlier to practice some positive affirmations: “I am strong. I am capable. I deserve great things in life.”
Positive behavior + positive attitude = positive outcome.
Negative behavior + negative attitude = negative outcome.
Jeff warns us not to allow a negative outcome to make us victims.
“My friends: You are not a victim. You are a victor,” he said. “Stop being bitter and angry about life or life’s circumstances and choose to become better every single day. That is what we do.”
Remember: Self-care is not selfish. Make time in your day to take care of yourself, whether it’s eating lunch in your car and listening to music or self-help programs.
“Meditate. Breathe. Lower your anxiety. Get involved in yoga or pick up the golf clubs and go swing those sticks,” he said.
Jeff is putting together a golfing event in Myrtle Beach in April. For more information, go 
“As we wake up the next day, we move forward with one foot in front of the other. I think it’s important that we remember that everything we go through shapes us. Everything that we go through makes us the people that we are destined to become.”
Life is a series of victories and defeats.
“Some victories are epic, like the Houston Astros. Some victories are a part of life, like little league baseball. Some defeats are forever life-changing [think the Las Vegas massacre or the and the October truck attack in New York City], and yet a high school football team loses too.”
Jeff reminds us that we are not victims in life, and we should never play that card. We cannot have that mindset. We are not victims. We rise up and become victors.
But I’m thinking of gratitude – we are not a victim in life – we can’t play that card. We can’t have that mindset. We are not a victim. Rise up and become a victor.
“We can all be bitter and angry over circumstances and situations, but what does that do? It doesn’t help. Let’s choose to become better. That’s a mindset,” he said.
We all have a story, but do our stories define us – or do they shape us?
“Do you live your life for titles or testimonies? That’s a matter of being selfish or selfless. My friends, I want to invite you to be really specific about something you are grateful for. As a matter of fact, I challenge you to go back to a painful moment in your life – and I want you to find gratitude in that situation.”
Find out why Jeff Yalden is North America’s Number One Youth Motivational Speaker. Go 
