Alise Cortez: How to Stop Chasing Success and Start Living with Gusto

This episode is for the visionary entrepreneur who has achieved success on paper but still feels like something is missing. You're constantly pushing, hustling, and trying to outrun a feeling of being stuck in the fog. Dr. Alise Cortez, a deeply insightful organizational psychologist, is here to show you that there's a better way to navigate. This isn't about another tactical business plan or a new productivity hack. It’s an honest conversation about the profound difference between motivation and inspiration, and how to find a rhythm of growth that feels authentic to you.Most people don't know the difference between being motivated and being inspired, and they confuse the two, leading to burnout and frustration. Dr. Cortez reveals that motivation is a cheap fuel—an external, pushing force, often rooted in fear or lack. It can give you a temporary boost, but it's not sustainable. Inspiration, on the other hand, is like "cold fusion perpetual energy". It's a pulling force that comes from a place of love and a compelling vision, lighting a fire within you that burns endlessly. This is the key to creating a business and a life that truly works for you, not just for the bottom line.Alise is a "Latina converta" who absorbed the vibrant, passionate, and expressive culture of Spain and Brazil. She's also a visionary who has spent decades on the "front curve" of new ideas, and she understands the frustration of being a "soul island". She and Jeff discuss why many "driven" people—the innovators who make up a small minority of the population—feel like they don't fit into the conventional world. They explore why a 9-to-5 life feels like a cage and how a business can unintentionally "smother the human soul" by stapling people into rigid rhythms that don't work for them.This episode is for you if you've been looking for external solutions and cookie-cutter systems that don't seem to work for your brain. Dr. Cortez shares her approach to "waking the walking dead"—those who have lost their spark and are stuck in a trance. She explains that the first step to awakening is to become aware that you've lost your light, which is often an uncomfortable realization. But once you acknowledge it, you can begin the journey of rediscovering your purpose and finding a path forward.Join us to learn how to stop chasing success and start living with gusto.You're going to want to listen to the full episode to learn:How a simple question can help you recognize if you've lost your purpose.Why the traditional way of managing people out of bad behavior will never work.The truth about why being "ahead of your time" can feel like a disadvantage, and how to find your community.