Success isn't just about individual achievement - it's about showing up authentically and building genuine connections that raise everyone around you. I sit down with Junaid Ahmed, founder of HumbleZone and Home Studio Mastery, who demonstrates how being your authentic self creates opportunities and transforms lives. Junaid shares his journey from self-doubt and limiting beliefs to becoming a connector who helps entrepreneurs and podcasters show up professionally while focusing on what truly matters...storytelling and impact.

Junaid reveals how his upbringing taught him that anything is possible if you put your mind to it, but it was stepping into spaces where he was celebrated and supported that helped him see his true potential. He discusses the power of reflection, especially as we mature past 40, and how surrounding yourself with cheerleaders and mentors allows you to overcome the limiting beliefs that we often mistake for normal life. His story shows how changing your environment and finding your community can unlock possibilities you never imagined.

Your transformation accelerates when you stop trying to do everything alone and start building systems with team members who complement your zone of genius. Junaid demonstrates how delegating podcast production allowed him to scale from one episode per week to five daily episodes, freeing him to focus on his unique gifts of helping people create professional spaces and tell their stories. His approach to avoiding burnout through hobbies, community involvement and proper rest shows how sustainable success comes from balance, not just hustle.

In this episode, you will be able to:

• Master the art of authentic connection by showing up as your genuine self in professional and personal settings

• Overcome limiting beliefs by recognizing them as environmental conditioning rather than unchangeable truths

• Build effective delegation systems that free you to focus on your zone of genius while scaling your impact

• Develop meaningful mentorship relationships through books, podcasts, and distant learning opportunities

• Transform self-doubt into confidence by finding communities that celebrate and support your growth

The key moments in this episode are:

00:05:45 - How Limiting Beliefs Disguise Themselves as Normal Life

00:09:20 - The Tony Robbins Infomercial That Changed Everything

00:12:15 - Key Books That Opened His Mind to Possibilities

00:16:40 - From One Podcast Episode to Five Daily Episodes Through Team Building

00:21:30 - The Challenge of Implementing New Habits Like Gratitude

00:25:10 - Why Rereading Books Reveals New Insights Over Time

00:28:45 - Balancing Multiple Business Areas Without Burnout

00:33:20 - The Importance of Delegation and Letting Go of Control

00:37:50 - Finding Community in Cycling, Beekeeping, and Other Hobbies

00:41:15 - The Role of Sleep and Naps in Sustainable Success

Connect with Junaid Ahmed

Website

https://homestudiomastery.com

LinkedIn

https://linkedin.com/in/superjunaid

Instagram

https://instagram.com/superjunaid

Facebook

https://facebook.com/superjunaid

Connect with Mike Forrester

Podcast Website

https://LivingFearlessTodayPodcast.com

Coaching Website

https://www.hicoachmike.com/

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hicoachmike/

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/@hicoachmike

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/hicoachmike

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/hicoachmike

Well, hello and welcome back my friend this week.

I have a friend with me who is just wicked smart.

He is creative, energetic, and anytime I've gone to you know, podcast

conferences, I am always looking for him because I see his smile.

I know he's upbeat, he's a connector.

He just brings.

His best self, wherever he's going doesn't mean that life is, life is necessarily,

you know, always like rainbow and Skittles and unicorns and all that stuff.

But he's showing up in the best way that he can for himself and others.

And uh, man, it's always great to see, uh, Junaid Ahmed and.

Man, if you're looking on YouTube right now, you can see his smile, man.

It just glows.

So this is what I get to, uh, have the pleasure, you know, having, uh,

sitting in conferences with him, learning, talking, just being, you know,

encouraged and sharing the challenges.

I think this is what we as men often miss out, is somebody

that can, you know, listen.

Also speak, you know, that we're open to speaking back into our lives.

And so Junaid is that one of those men, he is that guy that shows up in so many

ways, but shows up authentically as him.

So Junaid is um, uh, founder of Humblezone, which is like

apps and websites and just all kinds of nerdy stuff, which I

love geeking out on with him.

As you also look at his background, man, you're gonna see his studio, man.

It just looks absolutely amazing.

You can see him now from the back there.

He's just got it all laid out.

So the guy, man, quintessential home studio designer, equipper,

uh, connoisseur, I guess.

I don't know.

What

do we say on that?

Junaid?

You got a gift for

it, my friend.

Thank you, brother.

Appreciate it.

Absolutely.

Well, dude, it looks great.

Always does.

And, uh, man, your smile both, you know, smile, uh, all over your face.

So welcoming and I appreciate it, man.

You always bring the best.

Mike.

I'm, I'm super excited to be here and I get to talk to

my brother over here, right?

I get to talk to my friend that, like, we hung out together for so many

times, talking about the deepest, deep darkness in our hearts, or, or, you

know, the, the things that we don't.

Get to talk about a whole lot.

We got to talk about those things.

So super excited that I get to share a little bit of that

here as well on the show.

I appreciate it, my friend.

Um, thank you for coming and, and being open to share 'cause.

Dude, we, you know, this is not something that is necessarily

the norm, uh, for us as men.

And so being able to have somebody that's like, yep, this is the challenges

I face, you know, gives that hope.

And also then being able to see, hey, you know, Junaid's now on the other side.

He's working through these things, he's on the other side, dude.

It gives a reality and, and, uh, kind of that transfer of belief.

So in you sharing your story.

You know, it, it changes lives that we're not gonna see in a

normal conversation like this, but by somebody else hearing it.

Another guy, yeah, dude, they can step up in a way that they weren't, you know,

weren't feeling like they could before.

Mm-hmm.

So, dude, let's, uh, let's step off with what does it look like today?

You know, you've, you've got the studio, you, you know, you've got

your family, you've got a, a lot of.

Plates, so to speak, spinning.

What does life look like today for you, man?

Yeah, exactly.

Spin 'em fast.

Well, I've got, uh, I'm a, you know, happily married with

to my wife for, you know, 19 years now, and four kids, uh, from ranging

from 15 all the way down to three.

And, you know, they're just, they're just, uh, such a pleasure.

To be around as well as in it's, it's heartwarming when you have kids

and you know, you know this, right?

You're a parent.

So that's who I am.

And I try to create scenarios or try to give them opportunities

to see what's possible.

And in this world that we're living in, anything is possible

if you put your mind to it.

The conversations that I've had on my own podcast, uh, that I've been running

for some years, literally show me.

Pathways of other people and how they've taken their passion to profit,

how they've overcome struggles.

And when you listen to enough stories like that, guess what happens, right?

You start to see yourself take those leaps and bounds and challenges and, and

take over, uh, things that hold you back.

The other thing that also helped me was reading the books, you know.

Putting more, the more good stuff we put in our minds, the more

good stuff's gonna come out.

So where I am right now, I'm held, I'm helping people, entrepreneurs,

podcasters, business owners, uh, set up their studio spaces in their homes

or in their offices for podcasting, marketing, whatever you call it, so that

they can show the best self they can show professionally, and it automatically

gives them confidence and, you know.

Speaks to their authority.

As soon as they show up on camera, people stop to scroll and like, okay,

this guy paid attention to his look.

I gotta listen to what he's gotta say.

And that's like an innate thing that us human beings do, right?

Why do we watch movies?

Why do we watch TV shows?

They put so much effort into creating something beautiful,

uh, telling those stories.

So I help with the backside of, before you even go in front of

the camera, what do you gotta do?

Set up the space.

So once you have that set space set up, now you can tell your

story it's almost like you.

Get to focus on that storytelling like.

I didn't start that way, but that's what I get to do.

And we've built actually some local studios as well, and then helping people,

you know, produce that content and, you know, get that out to the world.

So that's what, what it looks like right now.

Uh, some of the other cool products that I'm working on is building a

media school or teaching students.

Uh, how to podcast or be journalists and stuff like that.

So bringing in people around me to then teach these students, uh, from

high school and, you know, people who just graduated, Hey, there's so much

more that they can bring to the world than, uh, they are shown or, you know,

they're, they have taught to think about

one thing, like.

Dude, you're doing so much to equip and encourage other people.

To move them from where they are to where they can be.

And we've talked about, you know, self-doubt before.

Yeah.

And our limiting beliefs.

And that is like the kryptonite that just imprisons us.

Yes.

With where we are, stops us.

It's almost like the elephant that has been trained, you know,

by chains to, to stay in place.

Yeah.

And then they replace it with like a. Itty bitty rope that, that anybody could move.

Mm-hmm.

And that's much like our limiting beliefs that we buy into.

Yeah.

What, when you look back Junaid, how did those limiting beliefs

and that self-doubt impact you?

And how did you then move beyond it?

That's such a powerful question, and a lot of us don't

think about them as limiting beliefs.

We just think of them as life as a norm, right?

Because that is the environment we grew up in.

But as soon as you start stepping into places, or start going to places where

you are celebrated, you are encouraged.

You are supported, you are able to start seeing more of yourself.

Then the other thing that you, that a lot of people that, that a lot of us

we don't do is reflect on our lives.

It's easier to do when you're much older.

Like, you know, I'm in my late forties, uh, you know, so it's easier to, like,

our minds become a different animal, like human beings literally change.

Past 40 because before 40 you were a youth, past 40, you are now mature, right?

So that helps you overcome a lot of things.

But then you need people around you.

You need those cheerleaders, you know, the support people.

You need the mentors to actually enable you to see, hey, what else can you do?

So when I came first to the us.

You know, I came from a school system and my parents were very open.

You know, do whatever you want, you know, but make sure that you're

doing good in school, but you can literally pick anything you want.

But then growing up here, I was introduced by my uncles, you know,

Hey, I am buying and selling cars.

Hey, I am putting up these tents.

I am, uh, you know.

Selling these books and DVDs and, and VHS tapes at, at mosques.

So they're showing me anything is literally possible.

You just gotta keep doing it.

And the, the more I saw that, I was like, wow, this is really fascinating.

And it inspired me to continue to grow.

And self-doubt is something that, you know, we, you can either stay with

it and, you know, just beat yourself.

Upon it, or you can take action and write down what you're feeling.

Because what's happening is we're, we're thinking about all these things, but

you were not doing anything about it.

And the first thing that you can do about it is either speak about it.

That's why they have a. AA meetings like, Hey, you gotta acknowledge, right?

You find that community of people that are also going through the same

issue, so you can expel it out of your body or you start journaling.

And when you start journaling, you're now giving your mind space to actually

process, okay, what is it new?

And then what's beautiful is that we have so many books available

to us, so many different things.

Also, Invite us to, or inspire us to, you know, step outside of that comfort zone.

Now, there was one time I was, uh, on a road trip with my colleague.

My colleague is, you know, he's smoking, he's driving, and I'm

sitting here on the laptop.

Transcribing lyrics from songs that I'm listening to, and

he's like, what are you doing?

Like, it's like a 10 hour drive.

He's like, what are you doing?

So anyways, uh, long story short, it was 3:00 AM at night and I'm watching this

infomercial and Tony Robbins pop up.

This is 2003.

And as I watch him, I was like, oh my God, I need to have this.

I, I bought those DVDs and.

Again, I found a mentor that could, from far, far away help me realize what I can

be and step outta my comfort zone and, and be, uh, know that it's good enough.

Like where we are is the perfect place.

All you gotta do is just keep moving forward.

I think that's.

When we're used to talking about mentors, right?

It's like I have to have somebody physically in front of me or you know,

somebody physically that's mentoring me.

And yet there, like you've talked about you, you bought, you know, a

product from, from Tony, but there's books, there's podcasts, there's

so many different tools mm-hmm.

Where we can be mentored.

You know, taught, encouraged, coached along.

Absolutely.

Without having it to be dependent upon that person

being accessible when we are.

And it's like, you know, you, you've talked about some books, you know,

that books were pivotal thing for you.

Yeah.

So, as we're talking about like limiting beliefs and, and uh, you

know, mindset, what are a couple books that really started you?

On that change of, um, you know, seeing the bigger picture

and what's what's possible.

So that the beginning was right, the, the Tony Robbins personal

power CD set, that was the beginning.

And then I learned about, uh, audio tech with these sort

of 30 minute book summaries.

And I, I listened to, um, seven Habits of Highly Affected People on there.

30 minute version.

There's a book that I read, the Magic of Thinking Big, right?

And when you read stuff like this, it just opens your mind and you start,

you start changing and then there.

Then the other thing that I was crazy about was technology, right?

So as soon as I came to the US I was like, I gotta get on America Online.

I had no idea what it was.

Because in this, in, in Saudi, I would, my dad would bring these CDs and I'm

like, what is that America Online?

So when I came to the US in 95, I gotta get online.

So when I got online, I started seeing the chats, I started seeing all these things.

I put myself in places that were uncomfortable and helped

me to learn new things.

Right?

So, uh, one of the latest, one of the, one of the biggest book

that had a huge impact on me.

Almost eight years ago was Gary V's.

Book Crush It, and then later on his second book Crushing it and after

the second book is when I started my podcast because he literally said,

you don't need to have a story, you just need to document your journey.

Yeah, it's, it's one of those, I think.

We are on the journey, but just like we talked about self-awareness.

Yeah.

We're often not looking at the journey because we don't think

there's the worth of it, right?

Mm-hmm.

We don't see our worth, and so there's no worth in the journey.

And, and it's almost like this snowball effect, but when you're talking about

getting, you know, these books and being mentored through these different

resources, dude, that can change like our whole perspective on things.

Exactly.

Yeah.

And then it's like.

You know, I know you and I have talked about like the gap in the gain, right?

Mm-hmm.

The difference of seeing things of like, oh, I've made this progress, or, you

know, Hey, I'm, I'm not where I was.

Exactly.

But we don't celebrate that stuff.

We're more focused on like the negative aspect, right.

I failed, I didn't make this.

Yeah.

Instead of, dude, look at where I was a month ago, six months ago.

Anytime you're, you're focused on something, you're gonna grow.

You know, taking a look at that.

Um, is that something like that you do to kind of reflect occasionally just to like,

to look back and see how you've changed and how things around you have changed?

You know, that's something I'm still struggling with.

So I've read the book, I've read like five of the books by Benjamin

Hardy and Dan Sullivan and, you know.

10 X is better, easier than two x, uh, gap and the gain, like all of the books

that they mentioned, I've read them, I've listened to them, and now it needs to

come down that I need to take that action.

Right?

So some of the actions that I'm already taking is, you know, um.

Recording these podcast episodes, you know, having these conversations, but

then that when it comes time to do it, I'm like, okay, where do I even start?

There's so many things.

So that's something that I need to implement.

I need to have a notebook by my bedside so I can take those notes.

I'm like, okay.

What was, uh, what was the good things that happened today?

What am I planning for tomorrow so that I can, you know, streamline and get

back into, get back into that flow?

Yeah, dude, it, it's challenging, like implementing new stuff.

I mean, you know.

What is it like less than 21 days?

Every January it's like, Hey, I made New Year resolutions.

We're gonna kill it this year.

Mm-hmm.

Within three weeks.

It's like vapor.

So it's, it's very much the challenge of implementing new habits and new processes.

Um, gratitude is one of those that's super powerful.

But any, any new habit, a new skill takes some time and, and

that's where, you know, it's.

It when we implement and we do things, you know, that we're learning, uh,

through any of those resources, that's where the magic happens.

That's right.

But you know, I, I don't know about you, maybe you found this is I can

read a book ade or listen to a course or a podcast or something and if

I listen to it again, like three months, six months, a year later,

I'm picking up different stuff, man.

You know, you're in a different place.

Is that kind of the same thing?

Absolutely.

Like you're picking

up on stuff.

A hundred percent.

I, I, and I've done this multiple times, so I've read the book, um,

the Big Leap by Gay Hendricks.

Mm-hmm.

I've read that a couple of times.

Uh, I haven't done the crushing it twice, you know, but there are other books.

Uh, the one thing I've done that multiple times, and every time I

listen to the book, it, it opens up new channels of my mind, like, oh my God.

I was thinking about it this way because as human beings, we are on a journey.

We are learning new things.

And when you see, when you're on the other side of the door, you're

gonna see more things of what they were talking about behind the door.

So I think that's been, that's been really powerful.

Yeah.

New insights are revealed as we continue on the journey.

Yeah.

Um, so.

I think it's really easy for us as guys to, you know, get focused

on where we're getting our worth.

Mm-hmm.

And a lot of us get our worth from career, our business, you know that.

The working side of life.

Yeah.

Right.

But I think we can find our worth there and steer clear of other

areas where we don't feel like we have that worth or that confidence.

Yeah.

Um, how do you, 'cause you're juggling four children, you've got, you know,

multiple size, multiple parts of, of businesses, I mean, and then you're

attending events, you have a lot going on.

How do you balance it without becoming hyperfocused on just, you

know, the business side of life?

Well, my friend, we only have 24 hours in our day and we

can't be working every single hour.

So what I did implemented seven years ago was to bring on team members.

To handle the postproduction of my podcast.

Right.

I was, I was recording all these episodes and I was like, no, I'm gonna

be the one editing all of this stuff.

'cause I don't need to spend money.

I can do it.

I know the tech.

Right.

So it was 2019, I had recorded 40 episodes already and I still

had to go back and edit them.

As well as record an intro for each one of them.

I'm like, oh my God, how am I gonna pull this off?

I don't have time.

I'm working full time.

And that's when I was like, okay, now is the time to bring somebody on board.

So I brought somebody on board, trained them.

Got them acclimated, showed them the ropes, and then they were

like, okay, let me try it out.

They tried it, made some more tweaks.

Right.

So you're continually giving them feedback till they get it Right.

And now it's all set.

So I don't know if I told you, uh, we were talking in the green room, how I'm,

how many episodes I'm recording per week?

Yeah, so we were publishing one episode a week, then we

switched to two episodes a week.

Now we're doing daily episode on weekdays, so that's what we're

publishing and that's possible because I have a team, I have a team of people

that can help me take the load off of the stuff that they're good at.

I could be good at it, but I, that's not my zone of genius anymore.

Right?

My zone of genius is, is to see and help people figure out the

things that they can't figure out.

In the studio space, lighting all again, all of that stuff.

So that's how I'm able to do so many things because I've got team members

and yes, it's hard initially because you don't want to give up control.

It's your baby, it's your podcast, it's your book.

Like all of these things, right?

But at the end of the day, you're not going to like on, at the end of

the day, you're not gonna be in bed and like, oh my God, I should have.

Recorded that thing the other way.

No.

You're gonna be like, oh my God, I should have spent more time with my kids.

I should have spent more time building that Lego set.

I should have spent more time going out and riding bikes with them.

That's the thing that we're gonna talk about, not the things that take our time.

Yeah.

It's almost like those deathbed regrets that you'll hear people talk about.

It's not like, Hey, I wish I'd gotten these three contracts

through, you know, at work or, you know, anything along those lines.

What I love that you're talking about, it's like you are now at

five episodes, like one a day.

Mm-hmm.

But you didn't start there.

No.

You know, like your, your goal may have been the five a day.

But you, you built up to it.

And I think that's what so many of us can look at.

Yeah.

And go, oh my gosh.

You know, I would love to have somebody, you know, mow the lawn mm-hmm.

To do whatever.

Yeah.

You know, to help me have more space to, to have more breathing room

in life, or to be more effective.

Exactly.

And it's like.

Maybe it's just a matter of having, starting out with, Hey,

I'm gonna have somebody come and do this one time a month.

Yeah.

And grow it to two times, yeah.

A month.

And that perpetual.

Improvement over time, rather than seeing it as like a black or white, it's

either gotta be everything or nothing.

Yeah.

You're looking almost like growth, right?

It is growth.

I may not be able to, uh, my, to my toddler.

Right.

You, you know, looking at your kids growing up, it's not like you're going,

you, you've gotta run or you can't crawl.

Right.

You don't, no, no.

Right.

They, they're starting the crawling process.

They're starting the, like my youngest now.

I would say he is like 90% potty trained.

Right.

So he'll still have an accident, but he's there now.

Right.

But the rest of the kids, everybody uses the bathroom.

Of course, of course.

Everybody walks, of course.

But it didn't happen overnight.

It took time.

It takes time and energy.

And when I started the podcast, I wasn't publishing even weekly.

I would like, okay, I posted up plus, uh, episode this week.

I dunno if I have the energy to record one more or edit one more.

So there was times that I was missing publishing an episode, but that was

the first years, which is totally fine.

It's, it's the, it's the growth mindset.

You know, you continually improve 1% at a time, uh, on a daily basis.

And you get better over time.

Yeah.

So when you are starting something new, right?

Or you're, you're delegating, right?

You talked about doing that, giving it to a teammate.

When you're doing a new skill, and let's say Junaid, it doesn't, you

know, you're not firing on all pistons, some of the stuff drops through.

Yeah.

How do you focus more on the positive, the times that.

You know, you've, you have made it and then still be aware of, Hey,

I've got room for improvement.

Mm-hmm.

Without being like, oh my gosh, I'm such an idiot.

How do you keep that balance there where you're celebrating the success and aware

of the shortcomings without being like, I'm tossing everything out the window.

Yeah.

Because it's not going a hundred percent right.

You know, the, the hard, that's the hardest

thing to do for any of us.

To how do you give yourself grace?

How do you stay in a mode of gratitude?

Because just recently, uh, and I don't know if you heard,

but Todd Cochrane of mm-hmm.

Um, blueberry passed away at 61.

Yeah.

60. He's so young, right.

And you, so you never know when you're gonna go.

So having these regrets is not doing you any favors,

right?

Give away those regrets.

Give, give up those things, because the more present we are with the

people that are around us, the more.

At peace, you'll find your, your brain and, and yes, I'm not perfect at it.

I'm, I'm always working on it.

It's a, it's a continual process to, for us to find that gratitude and, uh,

you know, prioritize what truly matters.

And when you think about that bigger, why are you doing this?

On a daily basis, it makes it much easier to then give yourself grace to then

give yourself, you know, be grateful and celebrate the, the, the, the little wins.

So, perfect example, when you shared, when you talked about the book, the Gap and the

Game, we always are focusing on the gap.

We're never focusing on the game, right?

So how do you focus on the gain?

There's an exercise in the book.

It's like, Hey, every time you go to bed, just.

Just write down three good things that happen begin in the beginning.

It's gonna be hard.

And yes, I need to work on this.

It's gonna be hard in the beginning, but as you do more of it, guess what?

Uh, once you've built a habit, you're gonna find more things to write down

in there and, you know, have that gratitude of being above ground.

We are alive, we're living a luxurious life, right in this,

in this country, 8 billion.

You know, billions of people don't have this kind of, uh, access to what we have.

So look at the people.

So in, in Islam, we are taught to look at the people that don't have what you have.

Right.

We practice, uh, as Muslims and Ramadan, we're fasting for 30 days now.

It's not 30 days straight.

We're fasting from, you know, sunrise to sunset.

But it's, it's to bring that awareness that not everybody has what it takes.

Uh, I was interviewing this lady and she's like, she was homeless.

She didn't have food for days.

Now she's running this, uh, amazing coaching business, but she didn't have

all of that at one point in her life.

So look at those things and find where you are today and see who doesn't have,

I think there was a really cool story where there's this man, he has no arms

and no legs, and he's jumping around.

There's a guy who has no leg, no arms, and he's like, oh my God, I have no arms.

Why is this guy so happy?

Uh, or he has, I think, I don't know if he had no legs.

Anyways, he walks over to the guy's like, dude, why are you so happy?

And jumping around, he's like, oh my God, I have this crazy itch

on my back and I can't get to it.

Man, it's perspective.

What do we have God's given us, you know, sight hearing, all of these things.

So find the smallest thing that you can find and be grateful for it.

And guess what?

Everything washes away.

Yeah.

It perspective is so powerful and I think we kind of dismiss it.

Yeah.

Or overlook at Overlook it.

Mm-hmm.

And just kind of get so focused and.

Fixated.

Yeah.

On lack that we forget to say like, Hey, I, I have food.

Um, you know, or just whatever you have that you might be

without in another situation.

And it's not our fault either.

Yeah.

It's not our fault because the television, the news

station, like literally everybody's pushing this lack mentality.

The scarcity mentality.

Everybody's pushing it.

But if you just step outside into the sun, the sun doesn't say, I'm

not gonna shine over here today.

The sun just gives and gives the air just gives and gives.

When it rains, it rains completely everywhere.

Unless it's isolated thunderstorms, then you know that's a different story.

But think about that, right?

So there is abundance in this world.

We have so much abundance.

So, um, and if, if that's the thing that you're struggling with, find a community

that's gonna inspire you, that's gonna encourage you, that's going to help

you, uh, face the struggle that you might be, you know, running through.

Going it alone puts us in such a vulnerable spot.

Oh yeah.

That, uh, you know, you're, you're not, it, it's almost like

trying to build like a, a tower.

Mm-hmm.

With, you know, like missing one, one, you know, piece of wood.

Yeah.

Every part it's like, man, Jenga is not how you wanna build it.

No.

No,

sir. No sir.

Well, as you're, you're going through all this.

You know, like keeping an eye on all the different areas of life

and, and being present in them.

That's a lot of energy that you're both putting out to be aware and

be, you know, present in those.

Mm-hmm.

Those areas.

How do you avoid, you know, like burnout or just running out of energy?

I mean, it's something that is so prevalent.

Yeah.

And with go, go, go, you know, how do you, how do you avoid it?

How are you proactive to say like, Hey, I'm, I'm coming and showing up in the

best way that I can for all these things before me without sacrificing myself.

Right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's such a powerful.

Question.

And you know, the point of view of, you know, we live in this hustle

culture, and I was watching this video recently and this, uh, he's a Muslim

brother and he's talking about, you know, there's two, there's two ends.

You know, there's hustle, culture, you gotta hustle, hustle, hustle, everything.

And then there's the culture.

You just gotta pray.

Just gotta pray and everything says gonna come to you.

Well, that prayer is not gonna pay for nothing.

So you gotta come in the middle, you know?

Uh, and you gotta do the work.

But then you also need to, uh, you know, pray to God, ask for help.

So when I was taken on too much, when I was, uh, hitting the

wall, I was getting exhausted.

I was like, okay, the best thing I can do is take some more breaks,

take some more time, you know?

Get out on the bike, taking those hobbies, what, what those hobbies are doing.

You're no longer using your left side of your brain of logic, logic, logic.

Now you're using your right side of the brain with creativity,

building Lego sets with your kids or riding a bike out, bike outside

or beekeeping or whatever have you.

Those hobbies help you, uh, rejuvenate, you know, help, fill you back up.

Because you can't give anybody anything if you are empty.

Right?

And, um, when you have people around you that support you

in that way, that empower you.

Again, I, I keep going back to community because so much

of my life is dependent or.

Is built on top of communities that I was part of.

You know, I was part of community of cyclists, part of community of,

um, beekeepers when I was building computers and, and doing software design.

I was part of communities that did software design and

graphic design and whatnot.

I, I get to talk about different things and it just makes it so much easier to

then, you know, re reenergize and whatnot.

Another thing that people don't realize, they're taking all sorts of pills,

but to rejuvenate your body, you gotta make sure you're getting enough sleep.

It's built into our human body, right?

If you sleep enough, you're gonna get re that rejuve rejuvenation.

So yes, I take a ton of naps throughout the day when I can.

Right?

And it, it helps me get back.

Uh.

Get back into, uh, energy so that I can go back and do the work.

So when you're taking naps or going out for a bike ride and you're

doing stuff to help yourself, Junaid, one of the biggest barriers, um, for

guys seems to be almost like this guilt.

Mm-hmm.

You know, of, well, if I do this, then I'm, am I really, you know.

Invested in, you know, moving my career.

Yeah.

Like, it's like it's a detraction, right?

Mm-hmm.

This is me messing around and I think there's a difference between taking a

nap, going out, cycling, going to the gym, investing in ourselves, versus, you

know, scrolling through short videos.

Yeah.

Or, you know, playing games, you know, on our phone or on our.

Console.

Right?

Yeah.

Um, is there, is there a way that you look at it to say like.

This is an investment, not like a detraction or something that's taking away

Yeah.

Um, I do because you're, you're absolutely right.

I love the word investment, right?

You're investing in yourself.

And a lot of us, were not taught investing the way that we are, that we invest.

We spent a ton of money going to school.

We're investing in our education.

We spend a ton of money on those kind of things.

You know, I'm investing in my future by putting it in 401k.

Right?

But how are you investing in the present?

'cause this is where you are right now.

You're not in the future.

You're not in the past.

You are right here, right now.

How do you get over that?

Well, you need to again.

Write down that vision, write down that path.

When, when, for example, if you wanna go to Costco, if you wanna

go to a store that you've never been to, what are you gonna do?

You are gonna pull up the phone, type in the address, or search for it, type in the

address, and then follow the directions.

Mm-hmm.

So you gotta have that map laid off for yourself.

Where do you wanna be?

How are you gonna get there?

So you figure out, I want to get here.

Then like, okay, where is here?

Who's already there?

Right?

So you find somebody that you can model against, and James Clear talks about in

about this in his book, in Atomic Habits

become that identity.

If you identify as a runner, if you identify as somebody who's an

athlete, who's somebody who lifts weight or eats healthy, are you gonna

go middle in the middle of the night and eat something that's not healthy?

Probably not, and it's gonna get you to that destination much faster.

So then you reverse engineer and yes, I, it's very, it's not very, it's,

it sounds complicated, but it's very simple because you just gotta find

that one model that you wanna follow.

Now a lot of us that believe in religion or have, you know, strong beliefs, so

you know, Chris, Christianity, Judaism, Muslims, we all have those models.

Define for us what did Prophet Muhammad do?

Right?

And we have access to books like the Quran and the Bible and that

there's stories in there that tell you exactly what you need to do.

My habit has been to get up in the morning, I do my morning prayers, and

then I read the Surah is Surah number 73, um, il, which is the wrapped one.

'cause when we go to sleep, we're wrapping ourselves.

You know, we're gonna sleep.

And in the book it's in, in that chapter, it says, get up in the middle of the

night and pray and read from Quran because we will provide for you because we are

literally put on the earth to worship.

God.

That's it.

Everything else is.

Ancillary.

Our primary objective is to worship God.

That's why he put us on earth.

I mean, we came from Adam who was born and created on heaven,

which is not even on planet Earth.

We are all aliens on this planet.

We are being tested, so we gotta go back to the go, gotta go back to basics,

gotta go back to where we come from.

And when you redo that, it's so much easier.

To then say, okay, I can do this.

There's other people doing it.

Let's make it happen.

Yeah.

You're not the only one.

It's regardless of how it feels, we're not the only one.

Yes, we're not.

Well Junaid man, thank you so much for sharing your journey.

How.

You know, you've made the transition and if anybody thinks like, Hey, I

am here, I, there is nothing else available to me, I can't get out.

Your story shows that, you know, that is not the case.

Mm-hmm.

That things are always in motion and there is, you know, with intentionality.

Yeah.

You know, being focused and, and purposeful.

There's a way to change and it may not be perfect.

Mm-hmm.

Um, but.

Focus on that change and, you know, that, have that awareness.

Yeah.

So, you know, outside of this podcast, I know you've, you know, you've got,

um, the web development, you know, you've got the podcast editing and then

you've got the home Studio Mastery.

Mm-hmm.

You've, people are interested in, you know, one of those, how can they

get in touch with you to, you know.

Change where they're at.

Maybe that's where their roadblock, how do they remove that roadblock?

Yeah.

In, in connecting with Junaid,

well, um, head on over to any of the platforms.

Just look up SuperJunaid, Instagram, Facebook, whatever have you.

I'm, I'm there.

And if you wanna learn more about the home studio business, uh, head

on over to HomeStudioMastery.com.

I've also written a book, uh, 'Seven Stages of Home Studio Evolution', so you

can grab that book on homestudiobook.com.

Awesome.

Junaid.

Thank you so much my friend.

I appreciate it.

Thank you, Mike.

Always amazing to get, get together with you buddy, and

today has been no exception at all.

So thank you.

It's easy when it's with you, man.

It's easy when it's so.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it, my friend.

Thank you.

Thank you.