
909Exec Episode 58: From Million-Dollar Success to Soul-Life Balance: An Executive's Journey to Emotional Fitness
Mar 29, 2026
42:27
Join Den Jones as he sits down with Sam Kabert, an emotional fitness trainer who built a seven-figure business by age 31 but discovered that financial success didn't equal life fulfillment.
Sam shares his transformation from chasing work-life balance to embracing soul-life balance, and introduces the neuroscience-backed concept of emotional fitness that's helping executives break free from burnout and negative thought loops.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
- From Success to Depression
- Sam discusses achieving seven-figure success while working minimal hours but experiencing numbing depression
- Key quote: "I was running on the programming of when I achieve A, B, C, I will feel X, Y, Z. So that always kept me in the future state"
- The Be-Do-Have Model
- Introduction to shifting from doing-having-being to being-doing-having for sustainable success
- Key quote: "For myself and a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of high performers, they're just stuck in the doing mode"
- Soul-Life Balance vs Work-Life Balance
- Sam explains his concept of soul-life balance that includes tending to inner world and spirituality
- Key quote: "Soul life balance is recategorizing work life balance to fit work underneath life because that is all the doing energy"
- The 90-Second Rule of Emotions
- Discussion of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor's neuroscience research on emotional processing
- Key quote: "We are feeling creatures who think, not thinking creatures who feel"
- What is Emotional Fitness?
- Sam defines emotional fitness as breathe first, feel second, lead with strength
- Key quote: "If people learn how to regulate their nervous system just long enough to feel that emotion for two minutes, a minute and a half or so, then all of a sudden they can get clear thinking"
- Three Ways of Working
- Sam outlines his service offerings: keynotes/workshops, one-on-one coaching, and certification training
- The Future of Emotional Health
- Discussion on the shift from mental health focus to emotional fitness prioritization
- Key quote: "I see the future of humanity and our wellness prioritizing emotional health"
