The Principle of Resonance
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Audio Transcript:
If you've come to this podcast, ready for someone to share with you all of the solutions and have it all figured out and articulately lay it out and the next 15 steps you need to make, like many of the posts we see out there, I'm sorry, I've let you
down. There are other folks out there that do that all day long.
But if you've come here ready for a genuine sharing of the journey and an authentic reveal of maybe there's some wisdom, maybe there's some tips, there's some goodness there, and also some failures and learnings and all that in between, then hey,
you're at the right place. Have you ever met anyone who absolutely brightens up a room by leaving it? It's not my joke, but I've met people like that, and I'm sure you have as well.
And today, we're going to talk about resonance, about the energy, the sound, the feeling that you put out there as in any one of your roles.
So I can tell you, in my role, I've got a ton of examples how I've realized my energy has affected those around me. And not that I'm some giant influencer, because I'm not, but in a role as a founder, certainly, there's some influence there.
And the energy I bring to a meeting or to a call or to just whatever, it matters. One-on-ones, all those things matter. As a dad, it matters, certainly.
And in your community, it's easy to grab the pitchfork and go rolling down with a torch and want to burn down the next thing with the rest of the mob. But boy, is that the right energy you want to be putting out there.
So I guess what we're talking about really is just it's about a vibe. It's about a frequency that you're going to put out there.
And when you're in sync or when you're out of tune with who you really are, with your virtues, with your character, whether it's a call a tuning fork, boom, you hit that and it just sounds good or maybe a musical harmony.
You hear some four part harmony or some bands that just are amazing in terms of their their musicianship. Those are matter or somebody pulls up beside you in a vehicle and their bass is thumping and you feel the hum, the mm, you feel that.
That's what I'm talking about. But more metaphorically then into our energy and how we're shaping those around us with our own resonance. It isn't just a concept for leadership.
It shows up in boardrooms, of course, but it shows up in kitchens, in quiet conversations. It shows up down at the library and across the street and it shows up in your neighborhood. It shows up everywhere.
It's just an important part of who we are. I'm not sure enough people are talking about it. I'm sure there's lots of people are, but in my daily life, I don't hear a lot about it.
You'll hear about good vibes, bad vibes, but I just think being intentional really matters.
And I could tell you in my roles as a founder, when I walk into a room or when I join a meeting, whether it's a remote meeting, and our company is remote, so I'm oftentimes on a Zoom or a Meet or whatever, or something like that, the tone I bring
with me absolutely matters. And again, and I don't run our company with an iron fist and you do as I do kind of thing, but it's just part of the role. I mean, if you ignore that, you're probably missing.
No matter how much you try to humble yourself and make that somebody else's prerogative, it's ultimately still you're the founder there. Or if you're a manager in a team or whatever role you have, there's probably some level of responsibility.
And so for me as a founder, it is. And there are many times we've struggled throughout the years with real challenges in our company and many more to come. I mean, that's part of running a company.
If you're not struggling, you're probably not trying as hard enough. You're not doing something difficult and somebody else can put you out of business soon.
And so I even look right now in the current climate, the business climate, with all the tariffs and trade wars and real wars and all the macroeconomic stuff, geopolitical craziness is going on out there. It's a challenge.
And there are folks in our company that are looking to me to help them set them up, not fully. They're adults and doing their thing. But I'm part of the equation for them.
And I can tell you, if I come in with a disingenuous energy, that everything's fine and that's terrible. And they're going to know that. They're going to get this fool.
Who's this guy on the flip side, though, if I walk around like it's a funeral and I've got a dirge playing in my head and also broadcasting for my body. Well, that's not good either. And that can create both those can create serious problems.
But if I, what I've tried to do over the years is I've tried to strike a tone. If we stay on the sound analogy, I try to strike a tone that matches with the severity of the situation.
So it can be a serious situation, be a real situation we're facing. But I also then try to couple that with who I am in my core, where my character and virtues lie, which is an encouragement and possibility and those kind of things.
And it's much more genuine for me, but it also, I think, is somewhat calming for others, for them to be able to... It's not a dissonance. My sound is no longer a dissonance to them.
Now they can work out their own melody, their own sound, and harmonize with mine, as opposed to whether I was shooting too high or too low on that. So I think that's something for me.
And I'll tell you, that's not so easy to do when so many people are looking for your sound. It's almost as if you're broadcasting that sound out, so they have to receive it.
So you have to amplify it, because you've got more people, depending on how large your company is or your team or whatever it may be.
And so for me, I have to be very careful and make sure I am preparing for resonance, and I'm making sure I've got clarity of my thinking, and I've taken pauses throughout the day or throughout the week or month or quarter, whatever it is, to make
sure I am aligning my energy, if you will, and harmonizing my energy to a tone that does resonate with who I am and what I want to see out in the world today. So I think that that's really important.
And I got to tell you, as a father, holy smokes, I mean, I sometimes feel like I am the family tuning fork. If I am off, now they always say, if mom ain't happy, nobody happy. And that is a for sure thing.
So let's just be clear there, that one hits hard and real. But ultimately, my kids also, and my wife as well, reflect from what I admit. And look, same thing, anybody has a teenage daughter, same kind of deal.
She walks in a room, don't know how she feels, that's going to have a real impact on what's going on here.
And I can tell you, there's been times, we've had times where this maybe story matters, maybe it doesn't, but with our kids, there's been times where we've had kind of serious conversations.
Now, as a toddler, serious conversation might be something about touching the stove. But as they've grown older and other teens, there's maybe some more important conversations going on, or more weighty conversations, I should say.
But there's been times where we're maybe in something, I don't know if you've ever been there, you're kind of the stalemate of the conversation. And it's been a serious situation. And all of a sudden, something funny happens.
Maybe it's a noise, maybe one of the kids farts, or you fart, whatever, who knows? Something happens that just changes the tone to this whole kind of comedic moment. And all of a sudden, the energy in the room is different.
And that is absolutely a blast. And all of a sudden, you find a way out. And so I think as a dad sometimes, I've actually purposefully created those kind of funny moments because it does help kind of shift the tone.
And so again, I think from a practice standpoint, I try to go in thinking, okay, if I misstep here, if I over speak, if I do something else, I got to make sure I'm modeling kind of a presence and a calm.
And oftentimes for me, humor is a tool there that my kids resonate with and we kind of get through. And so that's, yeah, hey, your mileage may vary, but that's something that works for me.
As a friend in the community or just one, I mean, being attuned is really the gift and seeing where others are. I tend to be a harmonizer. I tend to not be so boisterous.
And just, it's my signal only and get with it. But sometimes in a community, there are a lot of people, like I say, they're going through the streets with pitchforks and torches ready to do whatever.
Well, mobs are pretty well stupid together, and they're almost always wrong in terms of what they want to do as a mob. So try to be careful, but you'll find what the concern is, right? What is the energy from?
Where is it from? Is it fear? Is it anger normally comes from fear or something?
You know, so what is it? Loss? Is it?
I don't know. And so when you can figure that out, then you can usually harmonize with that and bring your own bit that can maybe be more encouraging or more hopeful and less of the other. So again, that's a tough one.
There's lots of different voices and energies and all that kind of stuff in communities that are tougher, but it certainly matters.
And then I think it's also important to know that sometimes you're going to be out of team, you know, I mean, for me, it happens. I mean, even even the best of musicians in the world go flat sometimes or sharp or whatever.
And I've I've had times where my energy is not how it should be. And I go back to Mountain Leverage, where there's times where we struggled and maybe I was a little more down on the mouth about it. And that that is tough.
And so everybody feels that weight, feels that struggle, feels the challenge. And the challenge is real. You're going to feel the stress is real.
It needs to be there. That's how we grow. We get stronger through stress.
I mean, people pick up heavy things and put them down all the time. You're going to find multiple sets of things to grow muscles. And so it's there, but, man, if you, oh, gosh, you got to pick this weight up again.
Oh, I got to put it down again. Oh, I got to pick it up. If you did that every time, who would want to ever go work out?
It's hard enough as it is. So I think, you know, for me, I often kind of check in on these. When I've found my energy is off, and so that, A, that means I'm trying to be thoughtful about that and be introspective.
Wow, what is my energy? But when I find it's off, I immediately go to, okay, where is my energy needed? Improvements, but where is it needed most today?
And how does it need to resonate? How does it need to manifest itself to reflect who I want to be when I leave the room, right? Or when I enter the room?
And so I think that that helps for me. I mean, sometimes sometimes just doing some Gratitudes. That's super awesome.
Gratitude is a secret weapon. I've talked about that a bunch. And anytime you start with gratitude in wherever you're going, your energy already is, I think, a couple of bars in the right spot.
And so that gets you moving. Now you've got movement, you've got momentum, and that helps me from an energy perspective. But this sounds all bunky when I'm talking, oh, energy and woo woo woo.
I get it all. But this is real, right? We've talked about the feeling of when you feel bass in something, you can feel that in.
You know, you go on YouTube, there's these videos of of guys who they have like a metal plate with a bunch of sand on it.
And then they play these, they play different frequencies of of sounds and and the sand will move into a different shape or whatever. That is absolutely fascinating. Now, maybe we'll find out that's all bunk than you guys.
I don't know. I've never tried it myself, but I get it. It's legit.
It's just amazing. This stuff moves. And so it creates different shapes.
And so I guess this is real. It's a real thing, even if it's not sound, even if all that would be debunked. I think we all get a feeling.
We know. There's energy that we felt others bring in and out of situations. And I just think it's important where you recognize our own.
I've found it to be important for me. It's not that I'm trying to manipulate people with that. It's just I'm trying to make sure I'm bringing my authentic best self to the situation and that I'm helping that person.
I mean, when you look at flourishment, there is a melody of flourishment that happens in the world. And I try to make sure I'm playing that melody so that you can come in and harmonize with that.
I hope you're feeling for me on this podcast that a genuine energy that's full of flourishment for you. And it is, and it's legit. It is genuine, and that's where I'm at.
So I think that's the kind of thing I want to portray everywhere. And I'm not always perfect at it, and that's okay. You know, this isn't about perfection.
It's just about intentionality and making sure you're aligned with who you are fundamentally and authentically. So, with that, I'm going to end today.
Again, your mileage may vary on this one, but for me, this has got a lot of bang for your buck when you focus on the kind of energy you're bringing to any situation.
And right now, it's super important, I think, for anybody in business and in life in general, there's always chaos happening around us. And think about the people you've been around in your life when chaos has happened.
The helpers, those, the people that have a calm demeanor about them, or maybe they have an excited demeanor, whatever demeanor you needed in that moment, they had it. Well, that was the energy they were putting out there.
And I don't know about you, but I want to be one of those people. I want to be one of those people that in a moment like that, people can look to and have a positive experience and be able to help them be their best self. So that's it.
So anyway, hey, I hope, like I say, genuinely you feel that for me today. And I hope wherever you are, I guess my challenge to you would be to think, what energy are you putting out there today and how? And does it match who you want to be?
And if you left the room, would people feel, feels lighter now? Or would they, not that you want them to go cry in their hands or anything when you leave, but when you enter a room, would you want them to be, hey, here's this guy or here's this gal?
You know, right? I think that'd be great. So anyway, but that said, this helps me flourish and helps those around me flourish.
And I hope wherever you are today, you also are flourishing.
Alex Reneman is the founder of Mountain Leverage and Unleash Tygart and host of Flourishing w/ Alex Reneman. For 20+ years he has worked as CEO of Mountain Leverage, honing the concept of flourishing and experimenting with it in the business. In July of 2024, he decided to begin to share this idea with others, which led to his podcast, social content, and the plans for other initiatives in the future.
