Unstuck with Jay Abbasi

172: The Warrior Mindset for Everyday People

What happens when pressure slowly turns you into someone you no longer recognize? Meet Dino. He’s a treasury manager leading a team through layoffs, pressure, and nonstop demands. At work, everyone is overwhelmed. At home, he feels disconnected from the family he loves most. The habits that once kept him grounded, exercise, journaling, meditation, have disappeared, replaced by exhaustion, stress eating, and nightly escapes. What he wants most is the strength to lead without falling apart himself. In this episode, Jay sits down with Mark Divine, retired Navy SEAL commander, bestselling author, and founder of SEALFIT and Unbeatable Mind. Together, they explore how everyday people can develop resilience, discipline, and mental toughness without needing to become Navy SEALs. Notable Quotes “If you’re not training your body and mind, the world is training it for you.” — Mark Divine “You don’t have to overhaul your life overnight. Crawl, walk, run.” — Mark Divine “The breath is the bridge between the body, the mind, and the spirit.” — Mark Divine About Our Guest Mark Divine is a retired Navy SEAL commander, bestselling author, leadership expert, and founder of SEALFIT and Unbeatable Mind. Drawing from decades of military leadership, martial arts, Zen training, and mindfulness practices, Mark helps individuals and organizations develop resilience, focus, emotional control, and mental toughness in high-pressure environments. Resources & Links Mark Divine SEALFIT Website – https://sealfit.com/ Website – https://markdivine.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdivine/ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/markdivineofficial Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/markdivineofficial YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@markdivineofficial Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/mamiekstewart/ X – https://x.com/MarkDivine Jay Abbasi Website – https://jayabbasi.me/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayabbasi/ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jayabbasi_/ YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@jayabbasipodcast Get Featured on “Unstuck” Want to have your story featured on “Unstuck”? Submit your story through the link below, and Jay may choose to highlight your story on a future episode and offer you personalized advice on how to overcome any challenge. Submit Your Story [https://yb57saub5n2.typeform.com/to/gTvni0Ta] Join Us Next Time On Friday, Jay takes a deep dive into the systems and routines that helped him become more consistent over time. If you’ve ever struggled to stick with habits, follow through on goals, or maintain momentum, this episode will walk you through the practical mindset shifts and systems that made the biggest difference in his own life.

171: Your Phone Is Draining Your Brain

What if your phone is exhausting your brain without you realizing it? In this solo episode, Jay explores eye-opening research on how smartphones impact attention, cognitive performance, and presence, even when they are not being used. Drawing from a study out of the University of Chicago, he explains how simply having your phone visible can drain mental resources and reduce your ability to focus fully on what matters most. Jay breaks down the neuroscience behind attention and distraction, why our brains are wired to respond to phones the way they do, and how this constant pull impacts relationships, meetings, and overall well-being. He also introduces a simple but powerful strategy called “trial separation” to help you reclaim focus, improve presence, and free up cognitive energy for the people and priorities that matter most. Notable Quotes “Your phone doesn’t even need to be on to negatively impact your cognitive ability.” — Jay Abbasi “Your brain is literally wired to treat your phone buzzing the same way it treats someone calling your name across the room.” — Jay Abbasi “When your phone is visible, you don’t have access to your full cognitive capacity.” — Jay Abbasi “Free up your cognitive ability for the things that matter.” — Jay Abbasi Resources and Links Jay Abbasi Website: https://jayabbasi.me/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayabbasi/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayabbasi_/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejayabbasi/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jayabbasipodcast Get Featured on “Unstuck” Want to have your story featured on “Unstuck”? Submit your story through the link below, and Jay may choose to highlight your story on a future episode and offer you personalized advice on how to overcome any challenge. Submit Your Story [https://yb57saub5n2.typeform.com/to/gTvni0Ta] Join Us Next Time On Monday’s episode, you’ll meet Dino, a treasury manager overwhelmed by pressure, stress, and unhealthy coping habits as he struggles to lead effectively while neglecting his own well-being. Jay is joined by Mark Divine, retired Navy SEAL commander, bestselling author, and founder of SEALFIT, to explore how leaders can rebuild mentally, physically, and emotionally from the inside out.

170: Meetings Don’t Have to Suck

Why do so many meetings leave people feeling drained instead of productive? Meet Heather. It’s 8 p.m. and she’s still staring at her laptop. Her days are packed with back-to-back meetings, leaving no time to think, plan, or actually do the work. By the end of the day, she feels exhausted, behind, and disconnected from the life waiting for her outside the screen. In this episode, Jay sits down with Mamie Kanfer Stewart, founder of Modern Manager and author of Momentum. Together, they unpack why most meetings fail, how poor meeting culture quietly drains energy and productivity, and what leaders can do to reclaim time, attention, and focus. Notable Quotes “A conversation can grow to the size of its fishbowl.” — Mamie Kanfer Stewart “Running meetings is a skill.” — Mamie Kanfer Stewart “There’s almost always someone in the meeting wondering why they’re there.” — Mamie Kanfer Stewart “Meetings don’t have to be the bane of existence at work.” — Mamie Kanfer Stewart About Our Guest Mamie Kanfer Stewart is the founder of Modern Manager, host of The Modern Manager Podcast, and author of Momentum. She works with leaders and organizations to improve communication, collaboration, and meeting culture through practical systems that help teams work more effectively and intentionally. Resources & Links Mamie Kanfer Stewart Website – https://www.mamieks.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mamiekanferstewart/ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/leadershipwithmamie/ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/mamie.kanfer.stewart/ YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@themodernmanager Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/mamiekstewart/ X – https://x.com/mamieks Jay Abbasi Website – https://jayabbasi.me/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayabbasi/ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jayabbasi_/ YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@jayabbasipodcast Get Featured on “Unstuck” Want to have your story featured on “Unstuck”? Submit your story through the link below, and Jay may choose to highlight your story on a future episode and offer you personalized advice on how to overcome any challenge. Submit Your Story [https://yb57saub5n2.typeform.com/to/gTvni0Ta] Join Us Next Time On Friday, Jay explores fascinating new research from the University of Chicago on cell phone use and cognitive performance. The findings reveal that distraction is not just affecting productivity when you’re actively using your phone, but even when the phone is simply nearby. If you’ve been struggling to focus, stay present, or feel mentally clear, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.

169: Stuck? Here’s How to Find Your Way

Feeling stuck does not mean you’re lost. It just means something needs to change. In this solo episode, Jay walks through a practical four-step process to help you gain clarity, create a meaningful vision, and move forward with intention. Whether you feel lost in your career, uncertain about your future, or overwhelmed by too many ideas, this episode is designed to help you reconnect with direction and purpose. Drawing from his coaching work and personal development principles, Jay explores the common patterns that keep people stuck and how to work through them. He breaks down how to identify your strengths, reconnect with your passions, and align them with real problems that need solving so you can create a vision that is both meaningful and actionable. Notable Quotes “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time.” — Joel A. Barker “You can’t fix what you can’t see.” — Jay Abbasi “When you combine strengths, passions, and problems that need solving, that’s how you craft your vision.” — Jay Abbasi Resources and Links Jay Abbasi Website: https://jayabbasi.me/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayabbasi/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayabbasi_/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejayabbasi/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jayabbasipodcas Get Featured on “Unstuck” Want to have your story featured on “Unstuck”? Submit your story through the link below, and Jay may choose to highlight your story on a future episode and offer you personalized advice on how to overcome any challenge. Submit Your Story [https://yb57saub5n2.typeform.com/to/gTvni0Ta] Join Us Next Time On Monday’s episode, you’ll meet Heather, a senior product manager whose overloaded schedule is draining her energy and impacting her personal life. Jay is joined by Mamie Kanfer Stewart, author and host of The Modern Manager Podcast, to explore how leaders can reclaim their time, reduce unnecessary meetings, and create a more sustainable and effective way of working.

168: The Beliefs Quietly Running Your Life

What if the biggest thing holding you back… is something you didn’t even choose? Meet Ava. She’s successful, disciplined, and respected in her career, but lately something feels off. Deep down, she knows she wants more freedom, creativity, and alignment in her life. But every time she thinks about making a change, fear rushes in. The stable paycheck. The expectations. The pressure of being “the successful one.” She feels torn between the life she built and the life calling her forward. In this episode, Jay sits down with Dianne Allen, nationally recognized speaker, author, and host of the Someone Gets Me podcast. Together, they explore how childhood belief systems quietly shape our decisions, why intuition matters more than most people realize, and how to reconnect with the version of yourself beneath the conditioning. Notable Quotes “The moment the intention is set, then the universe conspires to assist us.” — Dianne Allen “Your ego is not your amigo.” — Dianne Allen “The time is going to pass either way.” — Dianne Allen About Our Guest Dianne Allen is a nationally recognized speaker, author of 10 books, and host of the Someone Gets Me podcast. Through her work, she helps highly driven and visionary individuals reconnect with their authentic selves, strengthen self-trust, and create lives aligned with their intuition, creativity, and purpose. Resources & Links Dianne Allen Visions Applied Website – https://www.visionsapplied.com/ Website – https://www.msdianneallen.com/ Someone Gets Me Podcast – https://www.visionsapplied.com/category/podcast/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianneallen/ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/dianne_a_allen/ Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/msdianneallen/ YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOu4J24z4iz3Dskj8RIg5jQ Jay Abbasi Website – https://jayabbasi.me/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayabbasi/ Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/jayabbasi_/ YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@jayabbasipodcast Get Featured on “Unstuck” Want to have your story featured on “Unstuck”? Submit your story through the link below, and Jay may choose to highlight your story on a future episode and offer you personalized advice on how to overcome any challenge. Submit Your Story [https://yb57saub5n2.typeform.com/to/gTvni0Ta] Join Us Next Time On Friday, Jay takes a deeper dive into creating a meaningful vision for your life. He walks through the three key areas to evaluate so you can better understand your strengths, reconnect with your authentic self, and gain clarity on what’s next for you.