Permission to be Powerful Podcast Podcast By Anton cover art

Permission to be Powerful Podcast

Permission to be Powerful Podcast

By: Anton
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“Permission to Be Powerful” is your battle cry for breaking free from self-doubt, reclaiming your voice, and living life unapologetically on your terms.

www.antonvolney.comTeam Healthy LLC Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • New Phone, Who Dis?

    New Phone, Who Dis?
    Jul 24 2025
    EDITOR’S NOTE: Enter The Summer Slowdown Giveaway to win a free Smartphone. (Retail value: $250) Also get up to $750 in cash prizes. Enter to win right now.Chapter 12: New Phone, Who Dis?Dear Permission to be Powerful Reader,A brown paper bag filled with weed sits beside you. Brown rolling papers are scattered all over the floor. Scissors. You’ve become incredibly talented at rolling joints. That’s what happens when you’re smoking weed five times a day.You spark your lighter with a freshly rolled joint and puff. And then, you think…About the night when you moved to this new apartment.Without telling anyone.Without letting anyone know where you lived.You’re no longer answering their calls.Your grandmother texted you, saying, “You will regret this.”You deleted the text and blocked everybody.New phone, who dis?Life has become much quieter and more serene. Yet, you’re more depressed than ever. Around that time, you watch a horrible movie called Christine. It’s dull and sad, and she blows her brains out on live television at the end. You feel bothered by that movie for months. It’s terrible, tragic, depressing—and yet so relatable.You know you need to pull yourself out of this mess, or it might not end well. So, you start meditating. You fall in love with a spiritual teacher: Anthony “Moo” Young, also known as Mooji.Mooji is this Jamaican spiritual teacher. It’s like Bob Marley and the Buddha had a baby. The fact that you get wisdom packaged in a hilarious Jamaican grandpa’s jokes kills you. You guess you’ve found a cult you like. You’re so fake, but you don’t care.Mooji is giving you glimpses of beauty and serenity in the darkness. He brightens your day like an enchanting perfume. He’s awakened a new faith and hope about the bigger picture. You’re sure there’s more to this world than meets the eye.“He’s a fraud,” Erika says.Now, your headphones are always on when you follow his guided meditations.First of all, being Jamaican, he’s hilarious. And he’s profoundly eloquent. The poet Rumi was known for his ability to teach profound spiritual lessons with epic poems that could have won the Nobel Prize in literature if he were alive today. They were that good. And they sounded even better in his native Persian. And, well, you think Mooji has a similar quality.Mooji has some insight that other people don’t. His good vibes are contagious. You are not your mind. Your mind is far more clever, and it makes you unhappy. You are that which is beyond the mind. There are layers to this. And the mind corrupts perception. Awareness comes before the mind. And there’s something that comes before even that. This is where bliss resides.Suppose the mind is fighting to go unnoticed to continue running the show. Mooji has the right wit and charm to catch the mind off guard and help you see that you are not your mind. You are not the story of your life. You’ve had glimpses of the transcendent peace you experienced years before, but nothing like that first time. It’s enough to believe you should keep going.You’re not here to convince anyone. All you can say is the man touched your soul and continues to do so. True peace is accessible in this very world.Being so isolated has its benefits. You start drawing and painting more. You’re very good at it, and your art from this time is some of the best you’ve done in a long while.You read SO MANY BOOKS. The books you read during this phase set the tone for the rest of your life.You can see the difference between Erika’s output and yours. You’re determined to close that gap. At one point, you try to learn speed reading. Eventually, you figure out that you have dyslexia.And all the haters always ask: “Were you diagnosed? How do you know?” It’s as if you’re challenging Einstein’s theory of relativity or something—arrogant b******s. Well… you know that 50% of people with ADHD have dyslexia from other books you’ve read.Looking back, there were many years when you complained to your mother about your inability to keep up with your reading at school. They made you sit another test to get into your boarding school, which changed your life.Once your parents made you understand that you had a shot at leaving St. Lucia—not someday, but in just one year—you were on. You read morning, noon, and night. You didn’t care. You’d wake up at 5 a.m. Reading books you’d never have touched in St. Lucia.Like Ernest Hemingway. Maya Angelou. Mary Shelley. Instead of reading one or two books per year, you start reading one or two weekly. It was slow. It was painful. But you did it. Today, when you work or write, everything goes through a text-to-speech reader.You’ve learned a compensatory skill that turned a weakness into a superpower. Now, you can read faster, with far less mental energy, and understand the material better.This second-person perspective keeps the narrative’s original structure and depth while ...
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    18 mins
  • How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.

    How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.
    Jul 7 2025
    Dear Permission to be Powerful Reader,I used to be like this guy. The one texting three times in a row. The one waiting for a response that never came…Refreshing Instagram to see if they were online.Planning our entire future together while you’re paying me no mind.I finally nipped this pattern in the bud. It’s been great.Human psychology fascinates me. Before I get into it, let me just say that I’m stunned that I went my whole life, and not once did I ever seriously try the alternative that I’m going to show you in a little bit.If you think about that, this is hard proof that I am a slave to my patterns. No part of me would ever figure it out on my own. Not while living from my old codependent mindset.Here’s what the Chauffeur did:(I call the old version of me the Chauffeur)I would crowd everybody’s psychic space. There has been a desperate energy about me for a very long time. I wasn’t born with it. I finally think I’ve gotten rid of it…Because I held the core belief that I was not enough.Not rich enough.Not good-looking enough.That meant I was coming from the assumption that people don’t want to be around me. I’m a burden to them. I have to try to win them over and hide all of the shitty things about me so people will deem me worthy of their acceptance.My energy was off.People can smell desperate energy.It pushes them away instinctively.Another fascinating bit of psychology:Nobody ever talks about energy. But people can read the energy you put out. I think it’s the most crucial element of communication. People essentially estimate your value based on the energy you are putting out.People don’t just “smell” desperation—they feel it in the pauses, in the way you over-explain, in how you check your phone too much when waiting for a text.Ever send a text and immediately regret it? Ever feel that awkward silence when you try too hard to keep a conversation going?I’ve been aware of this phenomenon since my teen years. I knew that when I was feeling unworthy, people didn’t treat me so great.But every once in a while, I’d tap into a vein of inner strength. For any number of reasons…I’m feeling pumped about myself from all the hard work I put in the gym, and now I have a six-pack. The music at the party grabs me and possesses me. I’ve spent less time around my toxic friends, and now I’m starting to feel better.For whatever reason, I was feeling confident, and people were responding to me in the ways that I wanted. Now I can ask a girl out all calm and grounded, and she responds to that energy.But my problem is, I didn’t have any control over when I felt worthy and when I didn’t—and I felt unworthy most of the time.It helps none if you finally start feeling worthy… while you’re taking a dumpSomehow, that confidence didn’t come back when I needed it to.SO frustrating.But at this stage of my life, I’ve been able to hold onto my self-esteem in a much more stable and consistent way.There’s always more growing to do.But most of the time, I know my worth.The old me believed he had no worth, so he believed he had to chase people. Text them. Call them. Try to convince them.How to Lose Friends and Alienate People(AKA: How to Make Everyone Avoid You Like a Bad Tinder Date)Step 1: Text them three times when they don’t respond.Step 2: Check their Instagram story to confirm they’re ignoring you.Step 3: Double-text to ‘clarify’ your last message.”Step 4: Be available 24/7.Step 5: Stay past your welcome.Step 6: Say “yes” to every request.Step 7: Let them live rent-free in your head.Step 8: Feel restless when the person you’re fixating on isn’t around.Step 9: Go spend time with their family while they’re away.Step 10: Propose.That’s that desperation I was telling you about earlier. That desperate grasping energy turned people off.But I couldn’t shut it off.Until recently.My therapist snaps at me because all of my dating stories have sounded exactly the same.There are still some parts of me that need healing.He said:“I’m sick of you telling me the same thing every time.“Create negative space—Like a Vaccum.”What I’ve been doing for the past six months is standing perfectly still—and responding to the people I attract.That means no adding new friends to Facebook. No more calling you to set up the plans for tonight. No more carrying our entire friendship on my back. No more looking at people on social media. No more letting people live rent-free in my head.But still, I would slip into Chauffeur mode.Less needy but still too nice.I was still being a people-pleaser..Why?Please go away.There was still an element of desperation about me that baffled me.But that negative space concept was an epiphany. It’s not just staying still and naturally letting people come to me.It’s about being very selective with your time. It’s about showing people that you’re too busy being you to kiss their ass. Showing them that you don’t need ...
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    8 mins
  • Fired For Self Worth

    Fired For Self Worth
    Jun 23 2025
    EDITOR’S NOTE: 🔥 LIVE workshop this Friday at 2 pm EST. It’s called, “How to Get Hired For Your Dream Job (Without Bowing to the B******t!)” I’ll be teaching you the secrets that got Tony Robbins to hire me. You’ll learn:* The one question to ask at the start of every job interview that flips the script and makes you the boss. (They’ll say, “Nobody’s ever said that before.”) * How to become the best in your field.* What it was like working for some of the biggest players in the online marketing world, including Ramit Sethi, Neil Patel, Agora, Jason Fladlien, and more.* How to seed your future with career victories 2-3 years in advance.Reserve your ticket here.(VIP members get access for free. Upgrade here.) But first…Let’s drag Tony… Dear Permission to be Powerful Reader,I used to work for Tony Robbins.The guy who tells millions of people every year to raise their standards.✅ To know their worth.✅ To take massive action.✅ To never settle for less than they deserve.I believed him.I listened.I executed.And then one day, I decided to actually live that message.I went to my boss—Jesse Ecker—and asked for a raise.Not a crazy ask. Just a raise that reflected the A-list copy I was delivering for one of the biggest personal development brands on earth.What happened next?I got fired.Not for doing bad work.Not for slacking off.Not for missing deadlines.I got fired because I dared to believe I was worth more.Let’s just be clear about what that means:I got fired from a company that teaches people to know their value……because I knew mine.The irony doesn’t just sting—it screams.This wasn’t some faceless tech firm or soulless corporate giant.This was Tony Robbins.The "Take massive action!" guy.The "Raise your standards!" guy.The "Live with passion!" guy.And the second I did that—lived his teachings—I got slapped back into place like I’d committed some cardinal sin.Let’s call it what it is:Hypocrisy.Because if you’re preaching one thing outwardly—and practicing the opposite internally—what do you call that?A brand?No.A scam.Let me break this down:They didn’t fire me for being bad.They fired me for being brave.They fired me when I stopped being the “grateful freelancer” and start being the “true professional.”They fired me when my belief in myself threatened the chain of command.That’s what happened to me.And the worst part?I had looked up to these people.I studied Tony’s work for years.I dreamed of being part of this movement.And then—bam.One conversation.One honest request.One act of self-worth… and I’m out.Let me tell you something most people inside the personal development industry are too scared to say:These companies don’t build leaders.They build followers who buy tickets.They don’t want you to rise.They want you to clap harder.And the second you show up with an actual spine…The second you embody what they’ve been preaching?You become a problem.A “bad culture fit.”A “diva.”An “egotistical freelancer who’s asking for too much.”That’s how they spin it.But the truth?I didn’t get fired for failing.I got fired for being powerful.Jesse told me I was “undeserving” for asking for more money.Not “Hey, we can’t afford it right now.”Not “Let’s revisit this in 90 days.”Not “Here’s what we’d need to see to justify that number.”No.Just straight-up: “You’re not worthy of more.”Said from the inside of a self-worth empire.Ain’t that a b***h.That told me everything I needed to know.Outwardly: transformation.Inwardly: control.Here’s what I learnedThis wasn’t a death.This was a birth.It forced me to wake up to a pattern that had been governing me for my whole life:I kept asking OTHERS to validate my worth—because I hadn’t claimed it for myself yet.I thought I NEEDED permission.Turns out—I needed exile.Because it was only after Jesse fired me that I finally understood:Those who preach power will often try to crush it when it appears too close to home.But there’s no hard feelings.This is just the law of the jungle.Power is NEVER given. It’s taken. Because if you become powerful, who’s left to buy the ticket?Who’s left to stay in line, applaud on cue, and say, “Yes sir, I’m so grateful to be here”?Not you.You’re dangerous now.You own yourself now.You’re outside the story.And once you’re outside the story?They can’t control you.So here’s my message to you:If you’re in a situation where you’re doing excellent work…And the second you ask for more, they punish you?That’s not feedback. That’s fear.Their fear of your independence.Their fear of your self-belief.Their fear of losing control over you.It means you’ve already outgrown the room.And the door that closed behind you?That wasn’t rejection.That was release.Now, go build something nobody can ever take away from you. Or, join me this Friday to find your dream job. I’m not teaching you how to “...
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    6 mins
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