Forrest Willett is sought-after speaker and survivor of two traumatic brain injuries. The first was at 2 years old and the second was when he was 31, his life was forever as a result of a violent car accident. He had to relearn all the basic necessities over again – reading, writing, the ability to speak fluently, memory was a big issue. Forrest suffered from depression for over 5 years. He was 31 years old with a 2 year old son, he had an excellent career, his business was booming. He felt helpless and hopeless. He was forced to make some tough decisions, like taking 100% responsibility for his life and giving up all blaming and excuses and complaining. To begin to overcome these limitations he had to quit looking back. He would wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and expect his former self to be there. He realized he did have a new chance at life, he could start over and make his new life a great life.

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Contact Info

• Website: www.ForrestWillett.com
• Book: Baseballs Don't Bounce by Forrest Willett
• Book: 12 Hugs To Happiness by Forrest Willett

Most Influential Person

• Jack Canfield https://www.jackcanfield.com/

Effect on Emotions

• I would say that mindfulness has taught me to love and accept myself just the way I am. When I can do that, that's all I need in the world.

Thoughts on Breathing

• The breathing lessons that I've learned from my speech therapist and my occupational therapist are that they fill the brain with oxygen and get the oxygen flowing in the brain.
• People who are depressed and anxious …. would probably take short, shallow breaths. Take in deep breaths and hold it for a few seconds and relax, it calms your whole body.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
• Book: How To Start Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie
• App: Headspace.com

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Episode Transcript

Note: The following transcript is a draft transcript, and as such, may contain computer-generated mistranslations.

Bruce (00:00):

Forrest Willett is a sought after speaker and he's a survivor of two traumatic brain injuries. The first was at two years old and the second was when he was 31 and his life was forever changed as a result of a violent car accident and had to relearn all of the basic necessities over again like reading and writing and his ability to speak fluently. And his memory was a big issue and he suffered depression for over five years. But the great news is that he overcame all of this and he learned how to move forward. You learned how to take control and to pivot and so it's very exciting to have you on the show today for us. And we talk about mindfulness on the show all the time. And it sounds to me like you live a life of mindfulness, but what does mindfulness mean to you, Forrest?

Forrest Willett (00:59):

To me, I feel that it's just being present in the moment, not living in the future, not living in the past, just enjoying each day as it comes and being aware of what's around you. You know, in a lot of times we get distracted, the phone rings or your cell phone dings from an email. You may be distracted by that as you're talking to your children. Yet, the most important thing is the person who's in front of you at that time. And we lose focus on that. So I make sure that, you know, when we're having a conversation with someone, it's just with that person, not with all the other distractions that life throws at us.

Bruce (01:44):

Well, you were 31 years old, you had seven businesses. Your life was just so successful and you had employees and then suddenly wham, the bottom fell out of all of this. How did you move forward? What, what were some of the ways that you were able to come out of this and, and start to succeed in life again?

Forrest Willett (02:09):

Well, you described it well, the, you know, the bottom fell out. It says if I was in an elevator and the bottom of the floor of the elevator fell out and I was dropping fast, I didn't know when I was going to land.

Speaker 3 (02:22):

Mmm.

Forrest Willett (02:23):

In the, in the beginning, I didn't start moving out of this. What happened was I went inside and I, I went into deep depression, suffered from anxiety attacks. I was hospitalized for anxiety attacks. I felt like a lot of people feel today with this covid19 pandemic going on, I felt fear, anxiety and the unknown of what's going to happen. What is my future going to be like? Am I going to be able to keep my home? Am I able to keep my businesses? These were all thoughts that were going through my head. So at that time there no mindfulness, there was no sense of calm. There was just fear and panic.

Bruce (03:04):

And you were the father of a two year old son and how did that go? Did you have a partner? Did you have a wife or a partner to help with raising your two year old?

Forrest Willett (03:14):

Yes, I had my wife at the time and I still do. I've been married for, it'll be 25 years in May and we've stuck together through all of this. She was a big key in helping me get through all of these issues I went through. Yeah. My son was two years old at the time. And what happened was I missed a lot of his childhood from the time he was two until he was seven. I spent more time with my poor me thoughts and my depression than I did with my son. So there was just a huge gap in his life that I missed out on and I can't go back and change that.

Bruce (03:59):

So it took you about five years and what caused you to come to the point where you were able to turn things around after five years?

Forrest Willett (04:09):

What happened was I was laying in bed one day and uh, you know, I chuckle about it, but I was contemplating suicide. I thought, if this is the way my life's going to be, I don't want to be here anymore. You know, I thought I, I'm done. There's nothing I can do. I can't work. You know, it was all these, I can't, I can't going through my head. Uh, I've lost my income, my businesses were going not well at the time. People were stealing from me and I was being taken advantage of and I wasn't doing anything about it. So what happened one morning as I was lying in bed, there was this television show in Toronto called Breakfast Television and they said, coming up next is Jack Canfield, the creator of Chicken Soup For the Soul, a star of the movie, The Secret with his new book, The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be.

Forrest Willett (05:09):

And I remember pulling the blankets off my face and sitting up in bed and I thought, I don't know where I want to be, but I don't want to be here right now. And after the commercial break, they brought Jack onto the TV and interviewed him. And he went on to say, it doesn't matter your current circumstances, your background or what you've been through in life. If you apply these principles, you can totally transform your life. And then he went on to ask, what would you do if there were no limitations, if anything were possible? And as I was lying there, I asked myself, what would I do if there were no limitations? And I thought not only would I learn to read and write again, I would become an author like this guy on TV. And not only would I learn to speak fluently again, I would get out, be a speaker and advocate for mental health issues and overcome the depression and anxiety that I was going through.

Forrest Willett (06:06):

And I went and bought the book. And with the help of my speech therapist, it took me a year and a half to read the book. Now you have to realize it's, it's really thick book. So as I read the book, I, I started to apply these principles, you know, taking a hundred percent responsibility for my life and my happiness. And within a year and a half, I was able to get off all medication completely, all anxiety pills, depression pills, sleeping pills, everything completely and return to school. And my life started just turning around in amazing ways. Then I wrote a book titled Baseballs Don't Bounce: The Three Words That Changed My Life. And so as I was recovering, people were saying, well, would you share your story here and would you share it there? And I was so nervous about public speaking let alone, speaking to anyone, right.

Forrest Willett (07:04):

Because I was still in speech therapy. Yes. I thought, wow, I'm so anxious that I can't do this. And I remember the first talk I did was at the March of Dimes and I was so terrified and my psychologist actually helped me out there. And that's who introduced me to mindfulness was, uh, my psychologist. And I'm not embarrassed to talk about that. Years ago, I wouldn't tell anyone I was seeing a psychologist. Right. And then he was the last person in the world I wanted to see. And so I held it off for years because I was in denial, you know, just give me a few weeks, give me a few months, I'll be okay. I'll be back to normal. And things spiraled deeper and deeper into a black hole almost until I was at the point where I said, okay, I'll, I'll get some help and I wish I would have seen a psychologist years earlier, he introduced me to meditation, being mindful, being at peace with myself, and it was just so calming and relaxing and, and I really can't thank him enough for helping me turn things around.

Bruce (08:20):

Wow, Forrest, this is an incredible story, an incredible story that you got that book and that changed your life. And I was fortunate enough to interview Jack Canfield two days ago and we talked about his new book, The Success Principles Workbook, but he spoke so highly of you and he said, Bruce, you need to get Forrest on your show. And now I know why. So when was the first time you actually connected with Jack Canfield?

Forrest Willett (08:54):

I actually wrote him a letter, an email to his, uh, his assistant at the time and just sharing how, uh, this book has changed my life and transformed my life. And I sent, uh, a rough copy of my book to his office. And then, uh, we started communicating back and forth. Then I went out to Los Angeles with my wife and son, and we met with Jack. Uh, we spent a week there doing a training course that he had. Uh, and then I started working with Jack, actually teaching the training course called train the trainer. And so I couldn't believe it. I thought, wow, I'm on cloud nine and here's this guy that sold over a billion dollars worth of chicken soup for the soul books, wants to work with little Forrest from Tiny, Ontario. It was just unbelievable.

Bruce (09:51):

It is, it's surreal.

Forrest Willett (09:54):

Yeah. So, you know, 10 years ago I could not even spell New York Times Bestseller. And now my story is featured in the New York Times Bestseller, The Success Principles, a 10th anniversary edition with over a million copies in print. And it's, it's just, uh, unbelievable what can happen when you focus on your goals and, and you be mindful and, and I think a big part of my recovery …

Forrest Willett (10:21):

emotionally, was helping others, you know, how can I be of service for you? And I do three things every day and it's one, I do one good thing for my family, one good thing for myself and one good thing for a stranger without any expectation of anything in return. And what happens is those things come back to you tenfold. So you know, imagine what your life would be like a year from now if over 1000 good things happen to you. Wow, I can share with you, my life is changing every year for the better. And it's, it doesn't cost anything. Just being kind and helping it when you can and being of service.

Bruce (11:04):

Wow, your story, Forrest is just bringing tears to my eyes and just sitting here looking at you and being able to see you and hear you and tell that story is so incredibly moving because our world has changed much the way your world changed. You know, so many of us listening right now, Mindful Tribe, I'm sure so many of you have lost your jobs or you're wondering whether your business is ever going to survive this or you're wondering, you know, other thoughts about the economy and, and of course maybe you have a loved one that has this virus. What is the first step for us to do for us when we're facing such a challenge as this?

Forrest Willett (11:56):

I would say number one is acceptance, accept where you are. And I could not start moving forward in my journey of recovery until I accepted what was going on. I was in denial, which many people are today. They're in denial thinking this is going to pass in two weeks. Yes, everything will go back to normal and it may. I hope it does and it may not. I was in denial that, you know, just leave me alone. The depression will go away, leave me alone and I'll be able to walk on my own. Without therapy, I'll be able to speak fine without the help of others. And that didn't happen until I was able to accept what was happening in my life. And that was a deep talk I had with my psychologist where I said, okay, I accept that I have a brain injury.

Forrest Willett (12:50):

I accept that I cannot work at this time and I cannot drive. You know, I just felt like a burden on everyone where other people in your audience might feel like a burden on others right now. Whether if they have to borrow money to pay their mortgage payment or make a vehicle payment, if you accept where you are and then set goals to move forward from there. Life will change in big ways and once you accept where you are, that's when you can move forward. If you're still in the denial stage, you can't move forward, you can't improve your life.

Bruce (13:30):

Well, it does make me sad to see when I look on social media and I see so many people in denial, I see some people on the other side that are accepting what's happening and realizing, hey, our economy is changing very fast, as is the world in so many ways. But then there are a whole group of people saying, Oh, this'll probably be over in a week and we'll be back to work and we'll be back to normal. Well, I'm like you. I say, wow, that would be great. Maybe things will happen sooner than it looks like, but I'm a realist. You know, I am an optimist, but I'm a realist and I'm looking at the real situation out there and I do think it's so important to accept what has happened and be prepared to pivot into another area if we need to. So after you accepted what happened, tell us what the next step was. Forrest.

Speaker 4 (14:29):

Okay.

Forrest Willett (14:30):

After I accepted the situation I was in, that's when I set goals to move forward in small incremental steps. I'd say, you know, what can I do other than the business I did because I was no longer able to do the business I did, which involved counting and dealing with people in banking and computers. And at the time I was just learning to read books called Bernstein bears. They're little children's books that I was in my thirties reading kindergarten book with my speech therapist. So for me to say, Oh, I can go and run this complex company, I was, I was really in denial, uh, was unable to do that. So I said, what else could I do? And, and I tried all kinds of different things, you know, uh, my, my occupational therapist helped me and you know, I started doing carpentry work and I all kinds of different things that I wanted to try and I did those things and uh, found all kinds of things I love to do.

Forrest Willett (15:41):

And, and moving forward, we're all going to have to find something new. You know, if you go back to work in a few months and your company is no longer there, you may have to change occupations or direction in life. If your occupation is no longer there. And I think what's going on is going to humble a lot of people. And for me, what I went through really humbled me. So if you look back when I was 31 years old, had these businesses when I was making all kinds of money, living a a hundred mile an hour lifestyle, I had boats and Seadoos and jet skis and motorcycles and you know, all these things that I thought were going to bring me happiness. I no longer have any of those. It humbled me so much. I thought all the money I had in the world could not make me better from the state I was living and I could not trade everything I've amassed to make me better.

Forrest Willett (16:48):

So it, it did not, those material things did not help me in the long run. And a lot of people think that, you know, I have a cottage or I have a boat and all these toys. Well you may have to get rid of them going through what we're going through right now in the economic times. And a lot of people will have to come down to earth and, and be humble and accept that, you know, this is what I have to do now is get rid of these. But it doesn't have to be forever. You know, things will come back around eventually, but it's going to be tough for a lot of people, like you say on social media that are saying I'm doing this or that and moving on. Like nothing's wrong. Right, right, right.

Bruce (17:41):

Your family stuck around and supported you and they're still part of your life. Right. Your wife and your son, and how old is your son now?

Forrest Willett (17:51):

My son is 20 years old and, uh, he's in college and then he also works at Foodland, stocking grocery shelves, which he's nervous about right now because of, uh, you know, everything that's going on and you know, and I said, whatever decision you make to, to stay there or not is up to you. And I love you either way.

Speaker 5 (18:13):

Wow. Wow.

Bruce (18:17):

And so now you are part of Jack Canfield's team, more or less and you teach people. Tell us more about that and what you do in relation to that.

Forrest Willett (18:28):

Well, during the train the trainer sessions, I teach people who want to become speakers and trainers, teach The Success Principles and facilitate group workshops. Um, keynote speeches and it's, it's amazing because I've been able to meet many, many people from all over the world and make many friends and family. I called them and they are my family now. Um, since going out on this little journey with Jack has changed my whole life and my family's life. You know, I've spoke in nine different countries around the world.

Forrest Willett (19:09):

You know, Dubai, India, the Philippines, London, England, all the places when you're a child and you dream of going and then you think, wow, now people are paying me to go there. It's a, it's a big change. So out of something bad came something good and you're just moved towards the direction that your heart pulls you and, and it's really, it's not work for me. It's, I enjoy doing it and meeting people and sharing love with people and letting know people that they are loved. You see, I grew up, uh, in a very violent and abusive home where there was no love. And, uh, so I missed out on that as a child. I didn't know what that experience was to feel loved and wanted and accepted. And so what happened was I put this shield around me, you know, nobody's going to break my heart.

Forrest Willett (20:11):

Nobody's going to get in, um, at all because I've been, you know, hurt your whole life. So you put up this invisible shield around you, you're not going to let anyone in. And so when I was, the first time I met Jack, there was say a hundred people in this room. He's doing a workshop in. And he said, I'd invite you all to get up and get two and a half hugs. And I thought, well, this is weird. And, uh, Jack hugged me and said, I love you. And I, uh, I started crying like a baby that this is, this is so odd. Why am I crying? But I never known what it felt like to be loved. And uh, until then, and these were complete strangers. So for me it was a big experience. And that's called getting out of your comfort zone, you know, and people are going to have to get out of the comfort zone.

Speaker 3 (21:08):

Yeah.

Forrest Willett (21:09):

To change what's going on in the world and to be able to be mindful and enjoy your life no matter what happens.

Bruce (21:18):

And you ended up writing a book, a children's book called 12 Hugs To Happiness. Tell us about that book and, and what led you to write it?

Forrest Willett (21:30):

Well, what happened was, uh, I was hired to go and speak in Dubai. So when we flew to Dubai, my wife and my son came with me and the airport security pulled me into the airport and it was Dubai airports and Emirates airlines who I was speaking for, and it was their annual safety and security awards. They pulled me into the office and said, we know you're a hugger, but there's no hugging here. And you know, you don't even shake another person's hand unless they put their hand out first. And so I respect their, their religion and their rules. I thought, wow, this is really odd. They don't know what they're missing out on. You know, I really didn't get a hug and feel real love until I was in my forties and now I wanted to share it with the world. And these people here in Dubai, they're unfortunately not experiencing this.

Forrest Willett (22:26):

So it was three o'clock in the morning in Dubai, which was say, 10 o'clock in Ontario. So I was wide awake and I just grabbed a sketch pad and started writing out this story of 12 hugs for happiness, about story, about, uh, you know, a child that feels, doesn't feel loved and wants to feel it, but they're a little bit shy. And the story included all the people that I'd met all around the world, including Jack. And, uh, it was a great experience writing the book and, uh, and you know, it's great experience going to schools and sharing it with children, you know, up on the big screen. Uh, that's just really fun and, uh, really enjoyable.

Bruce (23:09):

Oh, that sounds fantastic. And then you wrote another book. Maybe you wrote this earlier, I'm not sure it's called Baseball's Don't Bounce. Why did you call it Baseball's Don't Bounce?

Forrest Willett (23:21):

That's a good question because you know, a lot of times wherever I'm speaking, people say, well, I'll buy that book. Baseball's don't bounce because my son loves baseball and the book has nothing to do with baseball. The book, the title of the book, baseballs don't bounce. Those are the three words that changed my life. You see, in the success principles, the first principle is take 100 responsibility for your life. Right? And for me, I skipped past that chapter, you know, I said, it's not my fault. What happened to me? The other guy was driving the car. I was a passenger. It's not my fault at all. I'm not responsible. And as I was saying that and being in denial and my life was whizzing by me, uh, it was my son's seventh birthday. And his friend gave him a gift and he opened it up and it was a ball and a glove, and he ripped it open and he dropped the ball to the ground and he looked at it and it just rolled in the dirt and he picked it up again and threw the ball down and just went thud and rolled in the dirt.

Forrest Willett (24:28):

And his friend showed it. Baseball's don't bounce. And at that moment my heart exploded. And I broke down crying. I had to go in the house. I thought, wow, this is so true. It's baseballs. Don't bounce. How would my son know that? I've never thrown a ball with him. Someone else taught him how to ride a bike. Somebody else taught him how to skate. I spent more time with my depression and poor me thoughts than I did with my son. And it was that, that moment that I said, enough's enough. I have to make a change and things have to change now. And that was the day I took a hundred percent responsibility for my life and for my family's happiness. And I started changing and spending more time with my son. And it just is. So those three words affected me so much. That was my wake up call.

Bruce (25:24):

Wow. And you had written the book and then later you republish the book with Jack Canfield doing an introduction, doing a forward, isn't that right?

Forrest Willett (25:36):

Yes, that's correct.

Bruce (25:38):

And yeah, now it's got a new subtitle, my journey from hopelessness to happiness and the three words that changed my life. Wow. And having you tell us that story is just so moving. I'm just sitting here and I am, I'm so moved. I've got tears here because I don't know, it's just incredibly moving to hear you tell this. And I want to know about your meditation practice. You had talked earlier about how, I think you had mentioned that through Jack Canfield, you learn to meditate. Tell us about that and how you learn to and what meditation is like for you now.

Forrest Willett (26:22):

Uh, for me, each night I listened to a meditation. I have these, um, it's an eye mask that, you know, you see people wearing on an airplane and it has been built in Bluetooth speakers in it. So I'm each night before I lay down to sleep, I listen to this meditation and uh, puts me to sleep. It's something good that rather than listening to the news and falling asleep to the bad news, it's something good and creative that that goes in your mind each night that you go to sleep. And then during the day, uh, most mornings I will also do a meditation and it's really changed my life. And I've probably the calmest person you'll ever meet, you know, somebody could back into my car right now and it would not phase me one bit no where years ago I would get all excited about, Oh wow, what are you doing and what's going on now there's very little that would get me upset or excited or frustrated, you know, I still get frustrated sometimes that things that happen, but I don't, I don't get angry. I don't get, um, fly off the handle, uh, able to remain calm and, and love myself just the way I am.

Bruce (27:56):

Wow. And you attribute a lot of that to the fact that you meditate every day? Yes. Wow.

Forrest Willett (28:04):

Yes, sir. I, I took a study with the, uh, um, st Michael's hospital in York university years ago. And they had, uh, you know, every day a doctor would call me and do half an hour meditation and they did a MRI of the brain before and then after and showing that your brain does improve with meditation. And what happened was I realized that when I was having trouble speaking, when I was recovering harder, I would try the worse that would be, you know, I would be get excited and I would say Ababa, I would start stuttering because I'm trying so hard to get the words out. And the more frustrated I got, the worse my speech was. But as I started to begin to meditate and relax and think about what I want to say before I say it, words come out smoothly. And I volunteer a lot with people with brain injuries now with brain injury groups. And I'll visit families at st Michael's hospital and I share that while they're, you know, while their loved ones are in there with a brain injury, you know, they may have just came out of surgery and I'll go down and visit families and I share that with them to meditate and relax and just calm down.

Speaker 6 (29:30):

Forrest Willett (29:31):

it's really changes a lot of people's lives. And I've seen so many people also that have had brain injuries and strokes that, you know, I've taught them how to, and now a lot of their speeches come back because a lot of times when we, when you have a stroke or brain injury, you know what you want to say, but the words don't come out right. That's called aphasia. So I would be pointing at the refrigerator saying that the in the, the, I know it's a refrigerator. I know what I want to say, but it doesn't come from the brain to the mouth. Right. Because I'm so frustrated and excited to get this out. But once I started to meditate and then I could think about what I want to say before I say it, things now come out, uh, easy. And most of the time it's what I want it to say.

Bruce (30:23):

Forrest, I'm, I'm curious, during this pandemic now, I'm sure you've been thinking about things. Are you thinking of ways personally to pivot as a result of what's going on in the world?

Forrest Willett (30:36):

Yes. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I'm still volunteering. I'm still helping people. My wife and I, we're making meals for people who we know that either can't afford to get out and go grocery shopping or they lost their job, or they're elderly and they can't get out and get their medication. Uh, and then also this is a big pivot doing these podcasts. I've done more this week than I have in probably the last year for podcast interviews and, and so on. So there was a one talk that I had for a group in may. They had just asked if I could do it over a, a large zoom call with 94 people. And so, so that for me is new and I'm going to do it and you know, we're, we will all have to pivot. I think what's the biggest challenge for me is that I'm a big hugger and now I can't go out and do that. It's a, yeah, it's hard. And my wife said, Oh, I know it's killing you because everyone, I meet it, I'd give them a hug. It's always good to say, I love you and give someone a hug. And, and now you can't do that. Right.

Bruce (31:55):

Yeah. I, I certainly share your thoughts on that. My wife is a trauma nurse, so she's with covid19 patients when she goes to work. And so since mid March we have not had any physical contact because of course with his virus, we don't know whether I could have picked it up, whether she could have picked it up and be bringing it home at any time. You don't know, you can be given a negative result on a test and then you could pick it up and be spreading it around. So my son is 18 and he's home from college living with us. And so the three of us are living in the same house, but we're separated by at least six feet all the time. And we now have, you know, my wife and I are sleeping in separate rooms and everything and so I totally hear what you're saying. That's a complete shift. And so we stand six feet apart and we put our arms up in the air. It was my son's idea. We sort of put our arms up in the air as if we're hugging, you know, and then we speak with each other about gratitude and how grateful we are to still be in the same home and still be able to share and support each other.

Forrest Willett (33:13):

That's beautiful. And it's important to share what you're grateful for in all the talks that I do, I, I share that with people and I'll say, turn to someone beside you or behind you and share one thing you're grateful for and just take five seconds in. And as people do that, the I say, now have a look around the room and what do you see on people's faces? And it smiles, right? Because when you're grateful for anything, whether it's that it's sunny outside today or you're grateful for your health, it makes you feel good. And all the little things that are going on in your head, the negative things go away. Even if it's for that short little time when you're sharing something that you're grateful for, the negative goes away. So the more things you can be grateful for, it will block out these negative thoughts.

Bruce (34:03):

Exactly. Yeah. Well I know that you can be found at your website www.forrestwillett.com and it's F O R R E S T, W I L L E T T, ForrestWillett.com. You have your book, Baseballs Don't Bounce and 12 Hugs to Happiness. I want to ask you five questions as we move forward in the interview. So just 30 second answers are perfect. And here we go. The first question is this, who is one person who has been most influential at bringing mindfulness into your life?

Forrest Willett (34:53):

I would say Jack Canfield.

Bruce (34:56):

I figured you'd probably say that. And number two, how has mindfulness affected your emotions? Now you already talked about that. Is there any way you could just summarize it?

Forrest Willett (35:08):

I would say that mindfulness has taught me to love and accept myself just the way I am. Um, which when I can do that, that's all you need in the world. You know, the three things that you need for happiness are someone to love, something to do and something to hope for. And I have all those three things. Beautiful.

Bruce (35:35):

Now this is something we have not talked. Tell us how breathing is a part of your mindfulness practice.

Forrest Willett (35:44):

Yes. So that's a big thing. And um, the breathing lessons that I've learned from my speech therapist and my occupational therapist, uh, and deep breaths, uh, you know, they fill the brain with oxygen and get the oxygen flowing in the brain and a nice deep breath. You'll notice that if you, if I was to picture someone standing behind a curtain over here who's depressed and anxious and I would say describe their breathing to me, you would probably say like short, shallow breaths. You know, panicking where when you take in deep breaths and hold it for a few seconds and relax, it calms your whole body down. It lowers your heart rate and, and just gives you a sense of wellbeing and relaxation. So nice deep, slow breathing.

Bruce (36:43):

Thanks for that. And if you could recommend a book somehow related to mindfulness, what book would that be?

Forrest Willett (36:55):

I'm thinking of a hundreds of books. I would say The Success Principles for me is, is the, uh, the number one book I would recommend, uh, for anyone. There's also an old old book by Dale Carnegie and it's called How To Stop Worrying and Start Living and it's probably a hundred years old, this book, and you may find it in a library or somewhere, but it's a really good book on mindfulness.

Bruce (37:30):

We'll put those suggestions in our show notes at www.mindfulnessmode.com. So check that out, Mindful Tribe. And my last question is, are there any apps which can help people to be more mindful? Maybe it's helped you or maybe you recommend them or any thoughts on that?

Forrest Willett (37:51):

I have one that I listen to called Headspace and I'll listen to the meditations when I'm on an airplane. When I'm flying, I'll listen to those meditations.

I would suggest to a subscribe to Mindfulness Mode.

Bruce (38:15):

Thank you very much, Forrest. Thank you very much for the vote of support with the podcast. I've got over 515 episodes now and over 2 million, 2 million downloads. So I know a lot of people are listening. So Mindful Tribe, I'm sure you've absolutely loved this interview with Forrest. It's been such an honor for me to have an opportunity to meet you and talk to you. And uh, you know, I was thrilled when Jack Canfield connected us and you know, he's such a well known author with all his Chicken Soup For the Soul books and, and his book, The Success Principles that's an amazing book and he's now got the new one, The Success Principles Workbook. So a lot of ways we can face what's happening, accept it and move forward. And many people will do that, and the people who do that I think will thrive.

Forrest Willett (39:16):

Oh absolutely. And you know, that's where I was sharing with you earlier in the talk that The Success Principles book was the book that really changed my life by taking action and doing the principles suggested in the book. And now the workbook is out. I received mine yesterday. And for anyone that's dealing with stress or anxiety right now, I would highly recommend that workbook. You have the time. Most people are home now, and you can go through those exercises and you'll be able to see, you know, where am I not doing what I should be doing in life to move forward and get to where I want to be?

Bruce (39:57):

Right. Well, thank you so much for being on the show Forrest. And again, it's Forrestwillett.com with two R's, two L's and two T's. So thank you so much, forest. Thank you Bruce. Right, bye now. Bye.