This is More Than Work, the podcast reminding you that your self worth
Rabiah (Host):is made up of more than your job title.
Rabiah (Host):Each week I'll talk to a guest about how they discovered that for themselves.
Rabiah (Host):You'll hear about what they did, what they're doing, and who they are.
Rabiah (Host):I'm your host, Rabiah.
Rabiah (Host):I work in IT, perform standup comedy, write, volunteer, and of course, podcast.
Rabiah (Host):Thank you for listening.
Rabiah (Host):Here we go.
Rabiah (Host):Hey everyone.
Rabiah (Host):So today I have a guest who I have known for 20 years because my first job
Rabiah (Host):outta college is where we met, which was yeah, back in San Diego at ProFlowers.
Rabiah (Host):We both moved on from there and we both moved on from that city as well.
Rabiah (Host):It's Patrick Alcoke.
Rabiah (Host):He's he's the co-founder at Find Your Steady.
Rabiah (Host):Thanks for being on Patrick.
Patrick Alcoke:Yeah.
Patrick Alcoke:Thanks for having me, Rabiah.
Rabiah (Host):So where am I talking to you
Patrick Alcoke:from?
Patrick Alcoke:Uh, Yeah.
Patrick Alcoke:So I am here in Maryland right outside of Baltimore.
Rabiah (Host):Nice.
Rabiah (Host):Nice.
Rabiah (Host):And so you've been in Maryland how long?
Patrick Alcoke:We moved here from San Diego about seven years ago
Patrick Alcoke:when our first daughter was born.
Rabiah (Host):And I've been outta San Diego and then I went back, so I guess
Rabiah (Host):I was there more recently, but it's a lot different on the East coast I guess.
Patrick Alcoke:It It is, it's, it's one of those things where we probably
Patrick Alcoke:talk about moving back to San Diego, my wife and I, 30 times a year, and
Patrick Alcoke:then we'll go out there ,and then once we come back for the next three
Patrick Alcoke:months, we're trying to plan it.
Patrick Alcoke:And then life kicks back in, and then we're still here in Maryland.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, no, I get it.
Rabiah (Host):I I've faced that similar thing of like I went home last winter or for the holidays
Rabiah (Host):and I was like, Oh, I miss being home.
Rabiah (Host):But then I got back here and I'm like, miss my life here too.
Rabiah (Host):So, yeah, it's totally understandable.
Rabiah (Host):So let's just get right into Find Your Steady.
Rabiah (Host):So you wanna talk a little bit about what the company is and what you do there?
Patrick Alcoke:Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Patrick Alcoke:So Find Your Steady was started by me and my business partner, Brian who
Patrick Alcoke:is another really long time friend.
Patrick Alcoke:I met him at college in Virginia Tech.
Patrick Alcoke:We actually played in a band together back then.
Patrick Alcoke:But it's, it's us.
Patrick Alcoke:He's here in Maryland too.
Patrick Alcoke:And we rekindled our friendship when I got back and have always
Patrick Alcoke:been throwing ideas around.
Patrick Alcoke:But when the pandemic hit, we were kind of approaching keeping our mental
Patrick Alcoke:health in check, trying to just stay ahead of everything in different ways.
Patrick Alcoke:And I've been.
Patrick Alcoke:Avid meditator and journaler for going on 10 years now.
Patrick Alcoke:And he actually makes candles and that's kind of his therapeutic activity.
Patrick Alcoke:And we were talking one day and he was showing me his candles and, you
Patrick Alcoke:know, I was like, These are legit.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, when he first told me about 'em, I thought he was gonna show me
Patrick Alcoke:like, you know, like a mason jar filled with like melted crowns or something.
Patrick Alcoke:But no, it
Rabiah (Host):Ha.
Patrick Alcoke:it was a really legit candle.
Patrick Alcoke:And we started hashing it out and I was like, Yeah, you
Patrick Alcoke:know, Businesses in the past.
Patrick Alcoke:I said, I'd love to help you bring it to market.
Patrick Alcoke:And we kind of started looking around and, you know, there's a ton of candle
Patrick Alcoke:companies out there and it, so it kind of got to how do we differentiate ourselves?
Patrick Alcoke:And something that I've always I'll say worked on, and, and sometimes
Patrick Alcoke:that means I'm working well, sometimes that means I'm struggling,
Patrick Alcoke:to keep my levels of stress down.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, I get pretty stressed out being a parent and entrepreneur and, you know,
Patrick Alcoke:person living through the past few years.
Patrick Alcoke:Candles have always to me been linked to like de-stress and you come in, you
Patrick Alcoke:light a candle, it kind of sets the mood, whatever mood you're going for.
Patrick Alcoke:I was like, what if we try to figure out a way to help people
Patrick Alcoke:reduce stress, but we tie it to a physical product being a candle.
Patrick Alcoke:And since then we've actually came out with the journal as well.
Patrick Alcoke:So that's really where all of this started.
Patrick Alcoke:We.
Patrick Alcoke:A web app built that has different tools people can use on a daily
Patrick Alcoke:basis or on a weekly basis to just kind of find their study.
Patrick Alcoke:That's the best way to describe it.
Patrick Alcoke:Like find that medium place where you're not totally stress free.
Patrick Alcoke:Cause I don't think that's possible, but you're going through your
Patrick Alcoke:day, you gotta smile on your face.
Patrick Alcoke:You can handle the challenges that come your way.
Patrick Alcoke:Yeah, that's, that's kind of what we're setting out to do.
Patrick Alcoke:We're setting out to help.
Patrick Alcoke:Do the things they need to do to better manage stress.
Patrick Alcoke:We just do it with a candle, as funky as that
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, well, and so just looking at your site and knowing a bit
Rabiah (Host):about your background with work, I mean, it's a very, the website's very clean and
Rabiah (Host):simple and you have basically, I guess two products bundled in different ways, right?
Rabiah (Host):Is that fair?
Rabiah (Host):Like you have candles and the journal and then the different candles.
Rabiah (Host):And so what I've noticed is a lot of people will say, Oh, I'm doing a
Rabiah (Host):company that does X and then they'll do Y, Z, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, And so
Rabiah (Host):how has that been for you to make the conscious decision to stay in your lane?
Rabiah (Host):So to speak.
Patrick Alcoke:It's really hard.
Patrick Alcoke:Like I, I totally get it when people start a company and then there's,
Patrick Alcoke:there's 15 things they're offering.
Patrick Alcoke:When you're starting, like when you're small and you're starting this company,
Patrick Alcoke:you get feedback from one person and that's a good amount of feedback.
Patrick Alcoke:So, you know, if one person says, Oh, I like this, but you should try
Patrick Alcoke:this, and you know, when we're first starting, we're not selling very much.
Patrick Alcoke:So like, oh my gosh, that's a great point.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, we should go do this and this and this.
Patrick Alcoke:So you're trying to appease everyone that gives you feedback.
Patrick Alcoke:And what we've really had to do is we set our mission and that
Patrick Alcoke:was we're gonna help people.
Patrick Alcoke:De-stress, right?
Patrick Alcoke:Reduce stress.
Patrick Alcoke:Manage stress.
Patrick Alcoke:And I don't know about you, but for me, when I am the most stressed out is what
Patrick Alcoke:I'm trying to manage a bunch of stuff.
Patrick Alcoke:There's just clutter.
Patrick Alcoke:I have 15 different things going on.
Patrick Alcoke:So our whole approach was, let's keep it as simple as possible.
Patrick Alcoke:It started off just the candle, right?
Patrick Alcoke:And a candle.
Patrick Alcoke:if you scan it with a QR code and it brings up our web app.
Patrick Alcoke:On our web app, there's a a three minute breathing exercise.
Patrick Alcoke:There's we call 'em a de-stress activity that's updated daily.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, go out, take a walk.
Patrick Alcoke:Drink enough water.
Patrick Alcoke:There's a journaling prompt that changes daily and then there's a playlist.
Patrick Alcoke:Started off just like that.
Patrick Alcoke:And what we found is people are using the journal prompts a lot.
Patrick Alcoke:So we actually came out with a journal to compliment the candle, but then we said,
Patrick Alcoke:you know, let's prove that this works.
Patrick Alcoke:And so we have all these different ideas and it really is just about saying, does
Patrick Alcoke:this help someone reduce their stress?
Patrick Alcoke:No.
Patrick Alcoke:Put it on the back burner.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, we have a big list.
Patrick Alcoke:I don't think things is audio, so a big one.
Patrick Alcoke:I'm, I'm using my hands to show really big um, of things we could do and we'd like
Patrick Alcoke:to do, but it's just not the right time.
Patrick Alcoke:So we really want to focus on what we know works from personal
Patrick Alcoke:experience, and from feedback we're getting and then build it from there.
Rabiah (Host):Awesome.
Rabiah (Host):And were the candles being sold somewhere before this or was
Rabiah (Host):it just like hobby slash gift?
Patrick Alcoke:Yep.
Patrick Alcoke:Exactly.
Patrick Alcoke:It was it was my partner Brian's hobby, Like, it was, it was, it was really,
Patrick Alcoke:it was his, his therapy, you know?
Patrick Alcoke:One of the things that I'm fortunate enough to have found out.
Patrick Alcoke:Brian is fortunate to found out you with comedy I'm sure have found this
Patrick Alcoke:out, is that if you find something you really love doing, a lot of times it
Patrick Alcoke:provides you that therapeutic outlet.
Patrick Alcoke:And it doesn't have to be anything crazy.
Patrick Alcoke:It could be something as simple as exercise, making candles.
Patrick Alcoke:I do a lot of woodworking.
Patrick Alcoke:This was Brian's therapeutic thing that helped him just clear his
Patrick Alcoke:head, Focus on one thing, let all the complicated parts of life kind
Patrick Alcoke:of fade away for an amount of time.
Patrick Alcoke:So, hadn't been launched.
Patrick Alcoke:That was kind of how we got it started.
Patrick Alcoke:But then it started to build into something a lot bigger where you know,
Patrick Alcoke:candles are great, but I think with what we're doing, we can actually
Patrick Alcoke:make an impact in people's lives.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, it Well, and it's interesting with those,
Rabiah (Host):those hobbies that can, can help.
Rabiah (Host):And sometimes, I mean, and I was talking to you before we came on, like
Rabiah (Host):I canceled a gig this week because though being on stage is something that
Rabiah (Host):I really love doing if I'm not doing it.
Rabiah (Host):Maybe with the right people or for the right purpose, then it takes
Rabiah (Host):it away and I, I almost think like any hobby is like that, right?
Rabiah (Host):If it becomes too much of a burden, then it's like, forget it, basically.
Patrick Alcoke:And I think also we, we were talking about expectations earlier.
Patrick Alcoke:I think that that's a big player in that as well because I think when
Patrick Alcoke:you have something you love doing, you know, you hear a lot of people
Patrick Alcoke:say, "Find your passion and you'll never work another day in your life."
Patrick Alcoke:And I think people's expectations get wrapped around that.
Patrick Alcoke:And what they find is they, they have something they love, but the reason
Patrick Alcoke:they love it is because it's not work.
Patrick Alcoke:And then when they turn it into work, now it is work.
Patrick Alcoke:And so no matter what you're doing there, there are good parts and bad parts
Patrick Alcoke:and frustrating parts of everything.
Patrick Alcoke:So I definitely know what you mean because I've had things, I mean, I did
Patrick Alcoke:music for years and once I went after that and tried to make that an actual
Patrick Alcoke:profession, that's when stress came.
Patrick Alcoke:That's when, you know, you're on the road and you don't know how you're gonna get
Patrick Alcoke:to your next show and don't have enough money to eat and you're like, Ah, I really
Patrick Alcoke:like doing this, but is it worth it?
Patrick Alcoke:You know?
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Patrick Alcoke:you have those right expectations, I think, I
Patrick Alcoke:think you can get through anything.
Rabiah (Host):that's true.
Rabiah (Host):And what's your relationship with music now?
Rabiah (Host):And can you talk a little bit about how your music career went
Rabiah (Host):and then we'll go back to Find Your Steady a little bit more.
Patrick Alcoke:Yeah, absolutely.
Patrick Alcoke:I mean, honestly, my music, my relationship to music right now is I write
Patrick Alcoke:songs still and I play 'em for my kids.
Patrick Alcoke:That's about it.
Patrick Alcoke:Which is, and you know, completely a 180 from, from what it was.
Patrick Alcoke:I started playing guitar when I was 10.
Patrick Alcoke:I always thought it would cool to be, would be cool to be a rock star, you
Patrick Alcoke:know, That was, that was the dream.
Patrick Alcoke:Be a rock star.
Patrick Alcoke:And so that, that brought me out to California after college.
Patrick Alcoke:And I played in a band out there for I think seven years.
Patrick Alcoke:We didn't make it big or anything, you know, we went on
Patrick Alcoke:some tours around the country.
Patrick Alcoke:So that was cool.
Patrick Alcoke:That was, that was kind of the goal I'd set, you know, at least want to do that.
Patrick Alcoke:And then, like I talked about the the work side of it came in.
Patrick Alcoke:Like if you're an independent band and you're booking shows across the country
Patrick Alcoke:where absolutely nobody knows who you are it can get, it can get really stressful.
Patrick Alcoke:And, you know, the people that make it, you know, I, I
Patrick Alcoke:have so much respect for 'em.
Patrick Alcoke:Cause they're the, the ones who can just keep going and going and
Patrick Alcoke:going and they hold onto that goal.
Patrick Alcoke:I was going and going and going and realized that I didn't, I didn't
Patrick Alcoke:think it was what I thought it would be and kind of reevaluated
Patrick Alcoke:my priorities and stuff like that.
Patrick Alcoke:So still play, still love it.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, I, I write more than anything these days.
Patrick Alcoke:I was playing with a band and then the pandemic hit, so that
Patrick Alcoke:kind of, I took that as a sign.
Patrick Alcoke:So we're, we're not doing that anymore.
Patrick Alcoke:But yeah.
Patrick Alcoke:I think I played bands from the time I was 15 until I was 27.
Patrick Alcoke:So that was a big part of my life, and it helps, you know, when you're, when you're
Patrick Alcoke:starting a business, if you can convince someone to let your band come play a show
Patrick Alcoke:that maybe two people show up to and pay you a hundred dollars in gas money to do
Patrick Alcoke:that, i, I think you can sell anything.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, that's true.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, that's a good point.
Rabiah (Host):Well, and then looking at your other work experience, I mean,
Rabiah (Host):we worked together for a while.
Rabiah (Host):So we were at ProFlowers, so that was the e-commerce, early
Rabiah (Host):e-commerce, really, back then.
Rabiah (Host):And then you went into other businesses, into real estate and stuff.
Rabiah (Host):So how do you look at the career you've had up till now and how it
Rabiah (Host):prepared you to start your own business and kind of decisions you make now?
Patrick Alcoke:Yeah, absolutely.
Patrick Alcoke:I I've, I've started a handful of businesses.
Patrick Alcoke:I've got, I've got the weirdest work experience ever.
Patrick Alcoke:So I did, we were at ProFlowers.
Patrick Alcoke:I worked at a guitar shop before that.
Patrick Alcoke:I did a stint with Enterprise Rent-A-Car before that.
Patrick Alcoke:That was, that was fun.
Patrick Alcoke:And then I did music full time.
Patrick Alcoke:And then once I kind of hit that point I actually started a beer cheese business.
Patrick Alcoke:So my grandfather grew up in Kentucky, here in the United States.
Patrick Alcoke:And beer cheese is a big thing, so anyone from Kentucky will know what that is.
Patrick Alcoke:And I was out in California where there was like this big,
Patrick Alcoke:you know, microbrew scene.
Patrick Alcoke:So I asked my grandfather if I could use his recipe and I started
Patrick Alcoke:making it with craft beers.
Patrick Alcoke:And again, it was one of those things where I didn't know what I was doing.
Patrick Alcoke:I had to go to, I made it, I went to Farmer's Market.
Patrick Alcoke:I had to be in front of people.
Patrick Alcoke:So, that really taught me just being outta my comfort zone.
Patrick Alcoke:And if you want something, there are gonna be things you have to do.
Patrick Alcoke:Are not in your, your kind of existing tool belt, but you
Patrick Alcoke:gotta go figure it out anyways.
Patrick Alcoke:After that I started a business called Easily with a buddy of mine
Patrick Alcoke:from San Diego that was early drag and drop graphic design online.
Patrick Alcoke:So it was like all based around infographics.
Patrick Alcoke:And again, same thing, you know, we're pitching to VCs and trying to raise money
Patrick Alcoke:and building something from scratch, convincing people to go use it and that,
Patrick Alcoke:again, got me way outta my comfort zone.
Patrick Alcoke:I had no idea what I was doing, anything, you know, with online
Patrick Alcoke:or tech or anything like that.
Patrick Alcoke:And then went into a sales job and that led me into real estate.
Patrick Alcoke:And I had a real estate investing company for four years.
Patrick Alcoke:Where again, I had to learn on my feet.
Patrick Alcoke:And I think to, to kind of bring it full circle, it all prepared me to
Patrick Alcoke:get outta my comfort zone with what I'm doing now, because I do know how
Patrick Alcoke:to, you know, I know how to meditate.
Patrick Alcoke:I know how to journal, I know how to coach people through that stuff.
Patrick Alcoke:But there's a difference between knowing how to do something and
Patrick Alcoke:then convincing people to go try it.
Patrick Alcoke:And that is, you know, like, well outside of my comfort zone, like the whole,
Patrick Alcoke:you know, online marketing thing is not something I have a lot of experience with.
Patrick Alcoke:So that's, what my heavy focus is on right now is just convincing people
Patrick Alcoke:to give it a try and educate 'em and, you know, Who's gonna, who's gonna
Patrick Alcoke:automatically think, Oh, here's a candle.
Patrick Alcoke:I should go de-stress with it.
Patrick Alcoke:You know?
Patrick Alcoke:So I think realistically what, what all of that does it, it
Patrick Alcoke:taught me how to get uncomfortable.
Patrick Alcoke:It taught me how to be okay with failing as long as I learn something from it.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, you hear all the fail fast, but I don't think enough people say,
Patrick Alcoke:make sure you learn something from it.
Patrick Alcoke:And that kind of got me to where I am today and got me comfortable with being
Patrick Alcoke:uncomfortable and willing to take some risks, and, y ou know, a big part of
Patrick Alcoke:that also is understanding that even if it doesn't go well, I can figure
Patrick Alcoke:it out and I can land on my feet.
Patrick Alcoke:I think that's something that a lot of people who start businesses is one of
Patrick Alcoke:the things that they can be confident in is like, even if this goes completely
Patrick Alcoke:wrong, I've done it enough times to know I can get back up on my feet.
Rabiah (Host):Hmm.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Rabiah (Host):It's that resilience and and belief that, yeah, that you can do that.
Rabiah (Host):It's not saying everything will work out in the end, though that's part
Rabiah (Host):of it, but it's also that you can be active in getting back on your feet.
Patrick Alcoke:Absolutely.
Patrick Alcoke:It's, it's, it's asking, it's asking yourself, "is there a
Patrick Alcoke:chance that this could work out?"
Patrick Alcoke:and "is that chance worth the work it takes to put in?"
Patrick Alcoke:If it is, go do it.
Patrick Alcoke:If it's not, don't.
Patrick Alcoke:There are plenty of great ideas that people didn't go after because they
Patrick Alcoke:would've, you know, wasted their time.
Patrick Alcoke:But as long as you, you truly feel like there is even the most minute
Patrick Alcoke:chance and you feel like it's worth it, if you can accomplish what you're
Patrick Alcoke:looking to accomplish to go out and put the work in, then go for it.
Patrick Alcoke:I mean, I look at what you're doing now.
Patrick Alcoke:I, I, I love watching your comedy and, you know, knowing from when we
Patrick Alcoke:first met, and I always thought you had one of the best senses of humor.
Patrick Alcoke:It's so dry and the fact that you're in England right now, I think's just perfect
Patrick Alcoke:because I think of like dry humor and the original Office and stuff like that.
Patrick Alcoke:I'm like, Oh God, she's gotta be killing it.
Patrick Alcoke:But like I look at that and if I was like, I wanna be a comedian, I
Patrick Alcoke:would immediately think, Is there a chance this could succeed for myself?
Patrick Alcoke:And the answer being no.
Patrick Alcoke:So that would answer that first question.
Patrick Alcoke:And then the second part would be, is it worth the work that I've seen you put in?
Patrick Alcoke:I'm like, No, that chance is so small for me and I'm not that funny.
Patrick Alcoke:So no, it wouldn't, but
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Patrick Alcoke:there is a chance I could help people better deal with stress,
Patrick Alcoke:especially right now, everyone's stressed.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, well, and just listening to you talk about, and thank
Rabiah (Host):you by the way, and I appreciate that and I kind of recently have had that.
Rabiah (Host):I didn't ask myself that question of if I could possibly succeed until a while
Rabiah (Host):into it because I didn't have the belief in myself other than, I just had more,
Rabiah (Host):like this was my goal is to get on stage.
Rabiah (Host):It wasn't having a belief in myself.
Rabiah (Host):And recently that's changed a little bit, which has made it even more difficult
Rabiah (Host):in a way, but in a good way, right?
Rabiah (Host):It's just kind of like, Oh, I, there's a purpose to what I'm doing.
Rabiah (Host):And it's not the one I thought it was, you know.
Rabiah (Host):But, so for you with Find Your Steady and just in listening to you talk,
Rabiah (Host):I mean, one thing you touched on is that you do meditate and you do know
Rabiah (Host):how to journal and, and so you're writing all the blogs for this company
Rabiah (Host):and you're handling probably the text in the app and stuff like that.
Rabiah (Host):And so is that a shift for you in, in a different kind of purpose around
Rabiah (Host):what you're doing business wise, which is now he like seeking to help people
Rabiah (Host):versus maybe what you did before?
Patrick Alcoke:Yeah.
Patrick Alcoke:I've always tried to find some sense that everything I did help people.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, I, I worked for a company that that sold education product and
Patrick Alcoke:y ou could look at it either way.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, some people would look at it and say, that's a waste of money, and
Patrick Alcoke:you're, you know, it doesn't help anyone.
Patrick Alcoke:And then I saw plenty of people, like, I still keep in touch with someone that
Patrick Alcoke:bought something from me, who there's three guys and they went on and they built
Patrick Alcoke:a very successful business out of it.
Patrick Alcoke:So, you know, helping people and serving people in some ways has always been
Patrick Alcoke:kind of an underlying principle of mine.
Patrick Alcoke:Very principled, very idealistic, to a fault even.
Patrick Alcoke:With the writing with the journaling prompts, I've, I've always been into that.
Patrick Alcoke:I've always liked doing it.
Patrick Alcoke:I haven't necessarily done it in this capacity, but I do do some coaching.
Patrick Alcoke:I've done it for years on the side where you know, I work with people who are
Patrick Alcoke:looking to accomplish different goals.
Patrick Alcoke:It's never necessarily been anything I've done in this business.
Patrick Alcoke:I just love doing it.
Patrick Alcoke:And so what I found is that the experience I get from that coaching
Patrick Alcoke:side of things has helped write some of the articles has helped me come up
Patrick Alcoke:with, you know, the daily journaling prompts or things that I've asked myself
Patrick Alcoke:in the past questions that have helped me and that I really wanted to answer.
Patrick Alcoke:And you know, even like with, with our de-stress activities, it's things that
Patrick Alcoke:I constantly have to remind myself, like sometimes, you know, every now and then
Patrick Alcoke:it'll, it'll like, it'll legitimately.
Patrick Alcoke:The daily de-stress activity is go outside and go for a walk.
Patrick Alcoke:Like the simplest thing anyone can do, but there is so much research that is shown
Patrick Alcoke:by going for a walk for 10 or 15 minutes can drastically reduce your stress levels.
Patrick Alcoke:It's insane.
Patrick Alcoke:And so that, that is something that I've, I've really wanted to, to put out
Patrick Alcoke:there and communicate with people and help people better understand, and you
Patrick Alcoke:know, a lot of it comes from also habits.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, I, I've meditated for 10 years now, not because I want to, or
Patrick Alcoke:I'm trying to achieve, you know, Zen or Nirvana or anything like that.
Patrick Alcoke:It's just cause I'm literally stressed out.
Patrick Alcoke:I get anxiety and I have to do it.
Patrick Alcoke:But it didn't come easily at first, but now that I've done it for this
Patrick Alcoke:long, it, it, it's ingrained in me.
Patrick Alcoke:So, you know, part of what we're looking to do also is help people build
Patrick Alcoke:these habits of, you know, whether you wanna call it meditation or taking
Patrick Alcoke:a few moments to breathe every day.
Patrick Alcoke:Whether you wanna call it journaling or writing down some thoughts
Patrick Alcoke:in the morning or before you go to bed, like getting stuff outta
Patrick Alcoke:your head is an amazing medicine.
Patrick Alcoke:Things like drinking enough water every day, like I had to, I literally
Patrick Alcoke:had to build a habit to where now I drink about a hundred ounces of water
Patrick Alcoke:a day and I thought I was drinking.
Patrick Alcoke:In reality, I was drinking maybe half of that and I was always dehydrated.
Patrick Alcoke:That made me tired.
Patrick Alcoke:So, that was a very long way to answer your question.
Patrick Alcoke:But all of these things combined allow me to go write an article
Patrick Alcoke:on why you should drink water.
Patrick Alcoke:Or.
Patrick Alcoke:The most recent one, why you should just pause before you react to anything.
Patrick Alcoke:Or, why journaling or taking a walk or taking five minutes or
Patrick Alcoke:three minutes to breathe every day can drastically change your life.
Patrick Alcoke:All of that is kind of full circle on helping.
Patrick Alcoke:Understand that there are small things you can do to find that
Patrick Alcoke:equilibrium within stress.
Patrick Alcoke:Again, you're never gonna get rid of stress and you don't want to, You know,
Patrick Alcoke:there's good and bad stress, but if you can do little things one at a time,
Patrick Alcoke:build 'em into habits, then you really can go from say an eight to a six.
Patrick Alcoke:If you go from an eight to a six on a daily basis, your life is
Patrick Alcoke:gonna be drastically better, and that's what we wanna help people do.
Rabiah (Host):Hm.
Rabiah (Host):That's great.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, and so just people can basically go on buy candle, they can buy the
Rabiah (Host):bundle with the journal if they wanna try the journaling, or they can just
Rabiah (Host):get the candle and do the app and
Rabiah (Host):and see what it does or send it to someone basically.
Patrick Alcoke:Yep.
Patrick Alcoke:I've, I've I've sent it to quite a few people just because, you know, this
Patrick Alcoke:isn't something especially, you know, like, I hate to say it, but there are
Patrick Alcoke:a lot of, a lot of guys that could benefit from something like this.
Patrick Alcoke:That I know won't you know, whatever, whether it's a machismo
Patrick Alcoke:thing or not into it or just the whole, you know, candles thing.
Patrick Alcoke:But it, it, if you're, if you're listening and you know, this isn't to sell a
Patrick Alcoke:product cuz there's a lot of other things you could get somebody to help 'em out.
Patrick Alcoke:There's, there's some amazing apps, There's, you know, programs
Patrick Alcoke:out, there's a lot of good stuff.
Patrick Alcoke:But if there's someone, you know, who, who is stressed out or, you
Patrick Alcoke:know, struggling for mental health issues or something, you know,
Patrick Alcoke:sending them something thoughtful by.
Patrick Alcoke:Helps immensely.
Patrick Alcoke:But making that thing something they can actually utilize to help in the
Patrick Alcoke:littlest way is, is a huge thing.
Patrick Alcoke:So we definitely, we always recommend people, even if you don't think
Patrick Alcoke:this is for you, if there's someone you think could benefit from it,
Patrick Alcoke:you know, definitely send it.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Rabiah (Host):Well that's great.
Rabiah (Host):So as far as, I mean we've talked quite a bit and you talked about your
Rabiah (Host):practices and stuff, but is there any advice or mantra that you wanna
Rabiah (Host):share that just, you kind of think it's something that's important for
Rabiah (Host):everybody to remember than what you've
Patrick Alcoke:Yeah, absolutely.
Patrick Alcoke:And I'm gonna reiterate a couple things.
Patrick Alcoke:If, if, if you take nothing else from, from, you know, this interview or this
Patrick Alcoke:podcast, There are, there are a few little things if you do daily, you will, dr.
Patrick Alcoke:You'll see drastic difference.
Patrick Alcoke:One go to bed, just people go, go to sleep, get sleep.
Patrick Alcoke:Like everyone these days is, you know, I'll sleep and I'm dead.
Patrick Alcoke:Or five, five hours of sleep is not enough.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, try and get seven, eight hours a night.
Patrick Alcoke:I know I'm preaching here, but it's, it, it drastically changed my life.
Patrick Alcoke:Especially if you can, if you can get in a routine where most of the
Patrick Alcoke:time you're going to bed at the same time and you're getting up at
Patrick Alcoke:the same time, it's a life changer.
Patrick Alcoke:The other thing is try and find a few moments a day to breathe.
Patrick Alcoke:If you can just sit in a quiet space, breathe in, and just focus
Patrick Alcoke:on your breath and breathe out.
Patrick Alcoke:Breathe in for three, hold it for three seconds, Breathe out for three.
Patrick Alcoke:It's, it's a game changer.
Patrick Alcoke:Takes a minute, two minutes, five minutes, however long you wanna.
Patrick Alcoke:And then, like I said, drink more water.
Patrick Alcoke:It's, it's one of the things that I never would've thought would've
Patrick Alcoke:contributed to stress like it has for me.
Patrick Alcoke:But I found that when I drink enough water I am not as tired.
Patrick Alcoke:I'm not as worn out, I'm not as cranky.
Patrick Alcoke:And they say minimum you should be drinking about half your body weight and
Patrick Alcoke:ounces of water a day and up from there.
Patrick Alcoke:So that's, that's, if, that's what I want people to take away from this
Patrick Alcoke:call, if nothing else, and, and hope.
Rabiah (Host):Nice.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, that's great.
Rabiah (Host):And it's funny, I've had this, I didn't do it this time, but every time you
Rabiah (Host):say "Drink water," I drink water.
Rabiah (Host):It's like a Pavlovian response.
Rabiah (Host):So we should just record your voice saying that every hour I should hear it and I'll
Patrick Alcoke:I'm gonna do that.
Patrick Alcoke:I'm going to do a, a drink water meditation where someone just sits
Patrick Alcoke:there for three minutes and it's just me saying drink water every five seconds.
Rabiah (Host):Perfect.
Rabiah (Host):And then, and then they'll be really mad at you about 25, 30 minutes from, from
Patrick Alcoke:True.
Patrick Alcoke:But then, you know, a day later they'd be like, Oh gosh, that
Patrick Alcoke:guy Patrick, he's so swell.
Rabiah (Host):Great.
Rabiah (Host):All right.
Rabiah (Host):So now I just have the last set of questions are called the Fun five, and
Rabiah (Host):they're questions I just ask everybody.
Rabiah (Host):So the first one what's the oldest T-shirt you have and still wear?
Patrick Alcoke:I have a t-shirt, so I'm 39 years old now, I have a t-shirt that
Patrick Alcoke:I got when I was 16 at a Goodwill store.
Patrick Alcoke:It's a DARE shirt.
Patrick Alcoke:I don't remember what it stands for.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Patrick Alcoke:drug.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, it was, Yeah, I know what you mean.
Rabiah (Host):It was the dare, like dare to keep kds off drugs
Patrick Alcoke:Yeah, exactly.
Patrick Alcoke:So it's like neon.
Patrick Alcoke:It's a black T-shirt
Patrick Alcoke:and it's neon.
Patrick Alcoke:When I bought it when I was 16, what was that, 23 years ago?
Patrick Alcoke:It was probably 20 years old at that point.
Patrick Alcoke:So it's like, it's one of those you like, you can tell when it came out
Patrick Alcoke:it was one of those like beefy tees, Incredibly uncomfortable, doesn't
Patrick Alcoke:fit well, but it literally just like the most comfortable shirt I own.
Patrick Alcoke:And I love people, everyone like every time I see it, people
Patrick Alcoke:are like, Oh, I remember dear.
Patrick Alcoke:It's cool.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Rabiah (Host):Nice.
Rabiah (Host):That's cool.
Rabiah (Host):And then if every day was really Groundhog's Day, like it used to feel
Rabiah (Host):like during the pandemic and sometimes now what song would you have your
Rabiah (Host):alarm clock set to play every morning?
Patrick Alcoke:Oh man.
Patrick Alcoke:There's a song that I don't, I don't know when it came out, but a buddy of mine from
Patrick Alcoke:high school sent it to me last summer.
Patrick Alcoke:It's by a band named Koala and it's called Ticket to Ride.
Patrick Alcoke:I call it my summer song, and it is one of these songs where you can't not
Patrick Alcoke:a, be in a better mood when during and after listening to it and start dancing.
Patrick Alcoke:So yeah, that, that would definitely be one of those,
Patrick Alcoke:I can't get tired of it songs
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Patrick Alcoke:drink water.
Rabiah (Host):I was, I thought you were gonna talk more, so I, I did.
Rabiah (Host):I drank water.
Rabiah (Host):All right.
Rabiah (Host):Coffee or tea or neither?
Patrick Alcoke:Uh, both.
Patrick Alcoke:So, coffee in the morning and then there's a tea.
Patrick Alcoke:I actually just drank some now and that's why I'm talking so fast too.
Patrick Alcoke:What is it called?
Patrick Alcoke:Goyo.
Patrick Alcoke:It's like a, they call it, they, they, I'm a total marketers dream.
Patrick Alcoke:They sold it as like Amazonian Warrior Tea that they've been drinking for centuries.
Patrick Alcoke:And I'm like, All right, sign me up.
Patrick Alcoke:So I do do coffee in the.
Patrick Alcoke:One, one and a half cups.
Patrick Alcoke:And then tea.
Patrick Alcoke:If I need to pick me up, I'll do tea, but nothing after 2:00 PM or I can't sleep.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, that makes sense.
Rabiah (Host):I know, and I had coffee late, but I I just reheated it, you know, and
Rabiah (Host):it'll, if I have it late enough, it won't get me until later.
Rabiah (Host):So I, I get to sleep and then I wake up and edit podcasts in the
Rabiah (Host):middle of the night or something.
Patrick Alcoke:You should just drink water next time you wake up.
Patrick Alcoke:It'll help.
Rabiah (Host):I know I should drink wa I'll just have it in my head, drink water.
Rabiah (Host):All right.
Rabiah (Host):And can you think of something that just like cracks you up or like last
Rabiah (Host):time you like laughed so hard you cried?
Patrick Alcoke:So I have two, I have two daughters, one of them's seven, one
Patrick Alcoke:of them's three and a half, and they've gotten really into the the Sing 2.
Patrick Alcoke:There's a movie called Sing 2.
Patrick Alcoke:It's a kids movie.
Patrick Alcoke:Yep.
Patrick Alcoke:And Lately they've learned the songs.
Patrick Alcoke:But they don't know all the lyrics, but they keep singing 'em
Patrick Alcoke:and just make 'em up as they go.
Patrick Alcoke:So that, that I almost crashed our car cause I was laughing so hard.
Patrick Alcoke:Which is terrible to say, but I, I, I, it was, it was one of the
Patrick Alcoke:funniest things I'd ever heard.
Patrick Alcoke:The, I forget what song were we listening to?
Patrick Alcoke:I don't remember the song that was from, it was from the soundtrack, but the name
Patrick Alcoke:Steve was in it, the name Roger was in it.
Rabiah (Host):Mm-hmm.
Patrick Alcoke:It has nothing to do with the song, but it's one of those things
Patrick Alcoke:that, like my kids, kids are so funny.
Patrick Alcoke:Like that whole kids say the darnest things like when you have a kids
Patrick Alcoke:these age they can be like the most frustrating people in the world.
Patrick Alcoke:But the gold, like if we had a recording at all times, not at all times, but like
Patrick Alcoke:around them, I, we'd be millionaires.
Patrick Alcoke:They'd just say the funnies.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rabiah (Host):No, they're, they're great.
Rabiah (Host):And I mean, just the misunderstood song lyrics are funny anyway, but kids do
Rabiah (Host):come up with, with wild ones, you know?
Rabiah (Host):For sure.
Rabiah (Host):That's awesome.
Rabiah (Host):Okay.
Rabiah (Host):And then who inspires you right now?
Patrick Alcoke:You know, that was a, that was a journaling prompt the other day.
Patrick Alcoke:Man, you ever get those questions where, It's you, you,
Patrick Alcoke:it's hard to think about it.
Patrick Alcoke:And so it seems like you don't have anyone, but really you're trying to like
Patrick Alcoke:go through all these people in your head.
Rabiah (Host):Well, and I purposely did right now versus like ever
Rabiah (Host):cuz like sometimes, Yeah, it.
Rabiah (Host):But I'm inspired by someone today that maybe a month ago I didn't
Rabiah (Host):even know them or something.
Rabiah (Host):You know what I mean?
Rabiah (Host):It could be, yeah.
Rabiah (Host):person.
Rabiah (Host):You can say whatever you want.
Patrick Alcoke:So there's, I just read this book, it's called Stolen Focus.
Patrick Alcoke:And it's by a guy named, I hope I don't mispronounce his name.
Patrick Alcoke:Johann Hari.
Patrick Alcoke:Johann.
Patrick Alcoke:Or Johann Hari.
Patrick Alcoke:I just finished it and it talks about how how as a society, our
Patrick Alcoke:focus has really diminished.
Patrick Alcoke:And it starts off him taking this trip for three months to somewhere in Cape Cod.
Patrick Alcoke:And he leaves his phone and his internet, his computer that has internet behind,
Patrick Alcoke:and he only has a, he's a journalist.
Patrick Alcoke:He has this laptop, does this whole thing.
Patrick Alcoke:He starts to get his focus back and starts to notice things, stuff like that.
Patrick Alcoke:And so it sends him on this kind of journey.
Patrick Alcoke:Better understand what's causing our attention.
Patrick Alcoke:And, and it really comes back to the idea that we can only do so much as
Patrick Alcoke:individuals to get our attention back because there are kind of external forces
Patrick Alcoke:at play that have a lot of money and are very smart at taking our attention.
Patrick Alcoke:And then it started to talk about how kids are affected by that.
Patrick Alcoke:It, it kind of had me look at, you know, how my kids interact with
Patrick Alcoke:technology and stuff like that.
Patrick Alcoke:. I would say him because that book could have gone a completely different direction
Patrick Alcoke:and the stuff he was writing is not gonna be a popular id popular idea, but it
Patrick Alcoke:seems like he hit the nail on the head.
Patrick Alcoke:So I like, I'm always inspired by people who go out on a limb to do what's right.
Patrick Alcoke:And I think that's what he did with that book.
Patrick Alcoke:So if we're saying right now, say it's him.
Rabiah (Host):Amazing.
Rabiah (Host):Cool.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah, I'll have to check that out.
Rabiah (Host):I think it's, it's interesting when people kind of are looking at the impact
Rabiah (Host):of stuff on kids too, because I think from the pandemic and then technology
Rabiah (Host):and everything it's not gonna be really known for another 10 or 20 years.
Rabiah (Host):And then it's gonna be kind of, we would wish we would've done
Rabiah (Host):something, probably is my guess.
Patrick Alcoke:Yep.
Patrick Alcoke:He, he, he did a really cool job cuz he also presented like if
Patrick Alcoke:there was if there's contradictory evidence to the point he was
Patrick Alcoke:making, he, he was transparent.
Patrick Alcoke:He said, look, this is this, but there's also other people within
Patrick Alcoke:the body of science who disagree with this and here's what they say.
Patrick Alcoke:I, I thought that was really cool.
Patrick Alcoke:Cuz you know, most of these books you read, it's, it's very one sided and
Patrick Alcoke:they like give you these facts, but they don't tell you that there are 10
Patrick Alcoke:other facts along with this one that say something else and let you as the, the
Patrick Alcoke:reader, the consumer, make up your mind.
Rabiah (Host):No, that's great.
Rabiah (Host):Cool.
Rabiah (Host):And then if people wanna find you, Patrick, where should they go?
Patrick Alcoke:Honestly, Find Your Steady.
Patrick Alcoke:I, I'm completely off social media by choice for about three years now.
Patrick Alcoke:When it comes to stress, I um, I found that when I was on
Patrick Alcoke:Facebook, it got very divisive.
Patrick Alcoke:Instagram took all my time.
Patrick Alcoke:I just there and, you know, was, I mean, maybe I was
Patrick Alcoke:addicted to it, I have no idea.
Patrick Alcoke:But three years ago I made the choice to completely get off that.
Patrick Alcoke:So I mean, really, if they wanna find me, follow me through Find Your Steady.
Patrick Alcoke:You know, I'm writing all the articles.
Patrick Alcoke:I'm running a lot of the social media we do through those
Patrick Alcoke:sites, but that's, kind of it.
Patrick Alcoke:I want be able to know me for the work instead of me.
Rabiah (Host):Yeah.
Rabiah (Host):No, that's great.
Rabiah (Host):Cool.
Rabiah (Host):Thanks Patrick.
Rabiah (Host):I really appreciate you being on More Than Work and it's nice to catch up.
Patrick Alcoke:really appreciate you having me.
Rabiah (Host):Thanks for listening.
Rabiah (Host):You can learn more about the guest and what was talked about in the show notes.
Rabiah (Host):Joe Maffia created the music you're listening to.
Rabiah (Host):You can find him on Spotify at Joe M A F F I A.
Rabiah (Host):Rob Metke does all the design for which I am so grateful.
Rabiah (Host):You can find him online by.
Rabiah (Host):Searching Rob M E T K E.
Rabiah (Host):Please leave a review if you like to show and get in touch
Rabiah (Host):with feedback or guest ideas.
Rabiah (Host):The pod is on all the social channels at at More Than Work Pod
Rabiah (Host):(@morethanworkpod) or at Rabiah Comedy (@rabiahcomedy) on TikTok.
Rabiah (Host):And the website is more than work pod dot com (morethanworkpod.com).
Rabiah (Host):While being kind to others, don't forget to be kind to yourself.