Rewire Your Brain From Self-Critic to Self-Champion | Voices for Voices Episode 412

Rewire Your Brain From Self-Critic to Self-Champion | Voices for Voices Episode 412

A single lyric can say what a whole day of thoughts tries to hide. Gut Punch by Nick Jonas gave us that jolt—the feeling of self-talk landing hard, stealing breath, and making everything feel a size too tight. We took that spark and opened a candid, hopeful conversation about how we speak to ourselves, why perfectionism creeps in, and what it takes to find the person behind the mirror again.

We start with the honest parts: advice you can’t hear yet, the way comparison turns into a habit, and how people-pleasing quietly edits your identity. Then we unpack the mechanics of self-criticism—why it repeats, how it accelerates under stress, and the simple cues that slow it down. From there, we move toward self-compassion without fluff: turning the heat down on rumination, choosing B-minus work where it’s enough, and reconnecting with the inner child who cared more about curiosity than metrics.

Along the way, Justin shares personal stories about career plateaus, workforce cuts, and the competitive mindset that can make progress feel like a moving target. The throughline is clear: when external markers stall, the tone inside matters more than ever. Music becomes our bridge. A pop song turns into a map—reflecting the punch and pointing to relief through kinder language, better boundaries, and small, repeatable practices that restore self-trust.

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and felt like a stranger or wondered how you got so good at being mean to yourself, this conversation offers practical steps and a gentler way forward. Listen, reflect, and then try one kinder sentence today. If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find a softer script.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Global Welcome & Mission

2:24 Why Analyze “Gut Punch”

4:27 Reading The Lyrics Aloud

10:30 Verse One: Hair, Change, And Self-Doubt

16:50 Advice You Can’t Hear Yet

21:52 Chorus: The Mechanics Of Self-Criticism

27:12 People-Pleasing And Perfection Traps

33:32 Mirror Moments And Identity

39:20 Bridge: Inner Child And Self-Kindness

47:10 Personal Story: Career, Pressure, Plateau

#RewireYourBrain #SelfChampion #MentalHealthAwareness #PositiveThinking #SelfImprovement #MindsetShift #NickJonas #Jonas #Gutpunch #OvercomingSelfCriticism #PersonalGrowth #EmpowerYourself #justiceforsurvivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices412

Chapters

• 0:00 Global Welcome & Mission
• 2:24 Why Analyze “Gut Punch”
• 4:27 Reading The Lyrics Aloud
• 10:30 Verse One: Hair, Change, And Self-Doubt
• 16:50 Advice You Can’t Hear Yet
• 21:52 Chorus: The Mechanics Of Self-Criticism
• 27:12 People-Pleasing And Perfection Traps
• 33:32 Mirror Moments And Identity
• 39:20 Bridge: Inner Child And Self-Kindness
• 47:10 Personal Story: Career, Pressure, Plateau

Transcript

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: 0:02

Hey everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices. Thank you so much for joining us on the show and uh for your constant support, watching, listening uh from one of uh over 100 countries and over 1,000 cities across the world. Uh, let's see if together we can make it, and let's reach out and see if we can reach over 300 countries and territories and over 3,000 cities uh across the world. I know we can do it. We're here because of you. You're watching, you're listening, you're sharing. Uh, people are paying attention, and uh we are uh again, uh we we're very grateful uh to have this opportunity to uh come to you on the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. It's so amazing the to think that uh the work that we do and how small of an organization, how few people we have on staff, how few dollars and cents we have. Uh we're literally just blown by goals on a zero budget model. Uh when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Uh, and uh we we want to thank each and every one of you, uh, whether you're on our side or whether you're against us, we have nothing but love from us to you uh as human beings. Uh, so thank you for joining us. Uh what I guess whatever your prerogative is to be uh to be watching. Uh what we're going to do on this particular episode is uh we're going to dissect a little bit uh a song that just came out recently in uh preparation for an album release. And again, I guess first and foremost, this is not a voices for voices song. We're not trying to claim it's ours because it's not. So we're gonna just jump right in. Uh so what we uh have uncovered is a song uh by Nick Jonas. So Jonas Brothers. Anyone heard of them? Uh maybe, maybe you have. Uh and Nick is uh uh what it what it what it appears to be uh coming out with a fresh new album in February of 2026, which is just in a matter of a few short weeks, a couple short weeks, uh depending on when exactly it comes out, right? So sometimes uh release dates get pushed back, sometimes they get moved up. Uh, but what what it's looking like is you know the first or second week, maybe in in February. And so this is a uh song uh from uh the album that Nick Jonas is uh going to be coming out with uh to the to the public, and the song is titled Gut Punch. So like I guess if like somebody were to hit us in the gut, I guess would would be uh how that how that goes, I guess. So what I'm gonna do first, I'm I'm just gonna read through the lyrics, and again, uh for all the the copyright infringement people out there, uh, I'm not uh claiming this song is voices for voices at all. This is Nick Jonas's song. It is a song that looks to be coming on his upcoming album, and we just want to talk about uh how and and and how it comes together, uh talking about you know fatherhood and you know, maybe some mental health uh parts as as we go through. So first first thing I'm gonna do is read through the the the lyrics. So uh we're gonna do that, and then we're gonna go part by part. So there's verses, there's chorus, there's post-chorus, another verse, uh another chorus, another post-chorus, there's a bridge, a chorus, and an outro. So I will uh cue up each each part as we get there. So again, this is Nick Jonas' song titled Gut Punch, G-U-T-P-U-N-C-H. So this is verse one. And again, I'm not gonna this isn't one of my uh times where I'm gonna try to sing this or I'm just gonna read. Okay. Verse one, I think my hair stopped growing. Is that even a thing? Haven't lost any of it, but something ain't the same. Maybe it's a metaphor. Is it even that deep? I think my hair stopped growing, or is it me? I called Phil a couple times. He's probably sick of me. He said, Go easy on yourself, but what does that even mean? Sounds like good advice, but I just can't hear it right now. The chorus hit me like a gut punch. I hurt my own feelings. How did I get so good at being mean to myself? I should turn down the heat, I should turn the heat down, tell myself to chill out. Damn, I really hate the way I talk to myself. And then the post chorus is hit me like a hit me like a verse two When the hell did I start trying to be perfect and people pleasing? Is it ever really worth it? Fake smiling just to pass the time. It's the only way I've been getting by. Looked at myself and I can't even recognize who I am behind those eyes. One big disguise. Chorus hit me like a gut punch. I hurt my own feelings. How did I get so good at being mean to myself? I should turn the heat down, tell myself to chill out. Damn, I really hate the way I talk to myself post chorus, hit me like a bridge. Now what would it be like if I just try being nice to the person that I'm seeing in the mirror? Yeah, if you find that inner child haven't seen him for a while, let him know he's doing fine. Chorus hit me like a gut punch. I hurt my own feelings. How did I get so good at being mean to myself? I should turn the heat down, tell myself to chill out. Damn, I really hate the way I talk to myself. Outro hit me like a yeah, yeah, oh oh yeah. Hit me like a gut punch. Oh oh oh yeah. So the So the song Gut Punch by Nick Jonas is what we just finished reading the the the lyrics uh off of genius. That's g-e-n-i-us.com forward slash Nick dash Jonas dash gut dash punch dash lyrics. So that is where we found this song. Again, this is not a voices for voices song. This is a Nick Jonas song, and this is a song that uh was brought to us recently, and we thought it would be a good idea to uh again as we you know we're in 2026, uh, so we we are gonna have episodes that are are gonna have little little different twists sometimes to them. Um and so this is one of them. Uh so this album is looking to be released by Nick Jonas sometime in February of 2026. So very shortly. Uh looks like the name of the album is going to be called Sunday Best. So Sunday, like the day of the week, and then best B-E-S-T, uh, the producer, if everything is accurate, on this webpage. Uh Ryan Daly, R Y A N D A L Y. So we're going to we're going to start at the top and and uh and and put some some of our thoughts behind what we think parts of the song might mean and how it might relate to our own lives, because that happens a lot where uh music tends to transcend countries, uh it transcends everything, right? It it's it's music. So when you see or hear of a particular band or artist or musician uh that's traveling, you know, from you know my home country, the United States, to other countries, other cities across the world, uh, music is a big uniter. And that's what we uh what we do here at Voices for Voices. So as we get started here on verse one, uh where Nick's song says, I think my hair stopped growing. Is that even a thing? Haven't lost any of it, but something ate the same. Maybe it's a metaphor, or is it or is it even that deep? I think my hair stopped growing, or is it me? Uh, I think this part for me, again, we're we're talking our our opinions on this song. So it's not our song, uh, but we're we're just offering opinions, and uh I can I can very much re relay uh on I think my hair stopped growing, where things that would stay relatively constant. So whether I mean I'm thinking back in the days when my my hair would grow longer, uh, and then I and then it would grow in not just long longer, but more like the thickness, so it would be thicker as well. Uh and my hair, obviously growing up now in my 40s, isn't quite the same. There's also these grays that can't gray hairs that that tend to come in uh or have they come in uh more than what I what I'd like. Uh and so this hair part of the song of you know it that my hair stopped growing. Uh I haven't lost any of it, but something ain't the same. So it seems like Nick's just noticing there's just something that's just there's something just different that's going on at this point in time uh in hair of something, you know, we just think of hair it grows and then it gets trimmed, or sometimes it gets shaved all all the way off, uh, if there are certain maybe certain um health challenges, uh, or an individual just decides that that that they just wanna they just want to shave their hair uh off and and be bald. Uh and so it's really just thinking about that that growing and then that trimming, that growing and that trimming, uh growing and then that maybe coloring the hair, or getting a perm or uh you know those types of things. And so Nick in this part of the song is uh doing a lot of searching, it seems, like like hair stop growing, is that really it is that even a thing? Like, can it stop growing? Uh so that's kind of that first thought. The then the next the next area. I called Phil a couple times. He's probably sick of me. I don't know who Phil is, who he's re uh who he's referring to. I don't know if he's referring to Dr. Phil McGraw. Uh I I don't I don't know. Uh but this part I called Phil a couple times, he's probably sick of me, and he he said, meaning Phil, go easy on yourself. So this Phil, whether it's Dr. Phil McGraw or a different Phil, is telling Nick uh, hey I know you're I'm I'm not sick of hearing from you. That's kind of implied, and then saying, you know, go easy on yourself. It's it's easy in life to go hard on ourselves. It's easy to have these thoughts of what's going on, you know, the hair symbolism growing, and did it stop growing? Is that even a thing? And then here he has Phil, uh whichever Phil he he's talking about, uh saying, hey, just just go easy on yourself. Like everything's everything's okay, you're good. Um it's it's okay. Um then and then Nick says it sounds like good advice, but I just can't hear it right now. Um I've experienced this before where receiving you know information, advice at various times where like man, I like, yeah, that that sounds like good advice, but I don't know. I don't know like if if that is something that if I if I should do it, or it's just it just kind of passes through my mind. You know, you might might have heard I've heard over the years, you know, in one ear, out the other, where we're we're talking to somebody and they may be talking and sharing or offering advice, help trying to be helpful, and for whatever reason, whether we want to or not, that this advice or the this conversation, what we're hearing, it feels like we're not able to hear it because it feels like it's just gone like I can't I can't actually hear it where it sticks in my mind, or I can think about it at a little deeper of a level. Uh so Nick's saying, Yeah, yeah, Phil, you're saying go easy on yourself, but what does that mean? What does that even mean? Go easy on yourself, and I can relate uh where It sounds easy. It says go easy on yourself. Things sound easy to somebody on the outside of well, why did you do that? Or why would you be thinking that? Or why wouldn't you try this instead of that? Uh and and so this wholest like questioning of you know, if we talk about you know being a uh being a parent, being a mother, a father, of I'm trying to do the best I can, then maybe it's not good enough. Or you know, where can I get this, you know, quick help? And and yes, there's a lot of books and a lot of you know coaches out there that you know say that they can help, and yeah, they probably help a lot of people, but at the end of the day, we gotta believe it ourselves. So the person who wrote the book or who's given the talk uh or having a show, they've believed in it. That's why they're doing their thing, but it's up to us to get to the point where we have to believe it, and so I think that's what Nick might be referring to. It sounds like good advice. I just can't hear it right now. Um yeah, so let's so let's move on to the chorus. You know, the hit me like a gut punch. I hurt my own feelings, whatever symbolism we want to use, Nick's using a gut punch, uh, you know, kind of taking the wind out of our sail, out of uh just out of our body, like the just you know, taking the wind out. He's gotta, you know, slow down, take some deep breaths, and uh just take it easy. Uh talks about hurting his own feelings. Says, I I hurt my own feelings. How many of us have hurt our own feelings? Uh I've definitely done that. Um maybe you haven't, maybe you have, I don't know. Um, but I know I have. And so sometimes it's something that we've heard or we're you know on social media and we're seeing whatever these, you know, these what look to be perfect perfect pictures and stories, and like, oh my gosh, these people like they're just living like on the beach all the time. They're uh whatever, you know, driving this car, or they're doing these things, and uh it's easy for us to set you know to hurt our own feelings because what what do we do? One what's one of the biggest things we do as human beings is we judge and we look at others and we judge and go, Oh, like I may have done, you know, I'm maybe I was able to rent a car as nice as I'm seeing on social media. But at that current time, if I'm not driving that car, which I'm not, um again, I said I rented it so a couple days. Um It's like we're you know we're hurting our own feelings by continuing to look look at these these photos, these videos, these reels, these stories. Uh or we could have just taken something out of context that somebody may have said to us. Uh uh I again I I know I have I've done that, and and it's hard, you know, we're trying to do the best we can, the best way we know how, and you know, we're we're hearing you know, bits and pieces with conversations with others, but are we letting it sink in? Or are we not? Are we second guessing the other person or the other people? And then that makes us second guess ourselves. So this is deep. We just got verse one in the chorus. Uh and really the second part of the chorus says I should turn the heat down, tell myself to chill out. Damn, I really hate the way I talk to myself. So at the beginning, he said of the chorus, Nick Jonas says, you know, hit me like a gut punch. So knocking the wind out of me, I hurt my own feelings. I'm telling myself something, and it's hurting my feelings, and then it might make me want to close down and uh and yeah, just close down. Uh and then he said, How do I get so good at being mean to myself? Well, we we know what buttons to push on our minds, and whether we know it or not, uh we we do it, we do it from time to time. And I'm speaking for myself, uh you know, hurting my own feelings. There's a lot of times where we may not do it on purpose, but we just do. And then we say, how do we get so good at it? Well, because we've done it before, and so it's kind of like this whole, you know, if it's an athletic team, an athletic sport, you know, the more you practice in general, the the better outcomes are gonna happen. And so it's kind of the same thing here in the chorus where it says, you know, hit me like a gut punch, I hurt my own feelings. How'd I get so good at being mean to myself myself, because I've done to myself over and over and over and over and over and over and over again over the years, or months, or days, or weeks. Uh, so that's what I would say. So, you know, whether it's about being a parent of uh trying to have our our child or children around the uh you know, know the the right the right friends and the right people and the right situations. And sometimes you know, we can't control all the variables. Um, I know I've done that and done then that way, and and then obviously saying, you know, hey, let's just turn the heat down, let's just let's just chill out and and and just live. And and then it and then at the end of the chorus says, damn, I really hate the way I talk to myself. So then we're we're reinforcing how we're internalizing the conversation in our own mind. Um then the post-chorus, there's hit me like a hit me like a and then verse two, uh Nick Jonas is talking, you know, why the hell did I start trying to be perfect? And as we know, nobody's perfect, and he knows that as well, so he he's not claiming to be perfect, but like a lot of us, even though we know that to be a fact that nobody else is perfect on earth, um it's like you know, when when did I when did I start trying to be? And you know, he also talks about people pleasing. Is is people pleasing ever worth it? I would say no. Um that's really how Voices for Voices came to be. I was I wasn't even trying to like please others as much as I was trying to please myself with certain jobs and certain titles and uh working at you know organization where I could do some traveling, uh, and those types of things where it's like who am I who do I report to? Like what what am I what am I here on earth to do? Like why am I why am I still here at age 44? There's gotta be there's gotta be a big a bigger bigger reason why why I'm still alive, uh, other than just again, we we've talked about it before. You know, we go to bed and we wake up and then we do things and then we do more things and then we go to bed, and then it just the that repetition just continues over and over again. Uh and then the next line says fake smiling just to pass the time. You're the fake smiling, or or just that you know, that I don't want to say like reclusive, but you know, just kind of turning inward to ourselves, uh to pass the time. And and then Nick says here verse two, it's the only way he's been getting by, you know, this fake smiles and uh people pleasing, whether that's family, whether that's outsiders, uh when did you know trying to be perfect come about? Uh man, it it this so relates to so much for for me the with mental health and as a as a parent. Uh and then the last two lines of verse two are very telling. Uh so looked at myself, I can't even recognize. So he's looking at himself, I'm thinking, I'm I'm I don't want to assume, but for me, the way I I see that or see this line uh the verse too, where I'm looking in the mirror and I don't even recognize myself because somewhere, some way I've veered off the beaten path for whatever reason or reasons. And then the last line here in verse two who am I behind those eyes? One big disguise. So that's where I'm I'm picturing for myself. I'm looking in the mirror, and I'm not seeing who I feel I want to be, whether that's as a parent, whether that's a professional in the community, uh, with our shows, with trying to help over three billion people and reach over 300 countries from 100 countries and and to help reach over 3,000 cities across the world and not just over 1,000 cities. And so we have this in our mind of well, here's what I think I'm doing. But then I look at myself in the mirror potentially and go, Whoa, like that doesn't that doesn't look like the person that I'm trying to be. And yeah, it says I I got this big dis the who am I behind these eyes, one big disguise, you know, just as if somebody's I don't know, Halloween or uh whatever the you know the TV show or or the holiday where it's like, oh, I look like I'm wearing one big disguise, and I may be, and is that what I want to be? And then the chorus comes back in, hit me like a gut punch, I hurt my own feelings. How did I get so good at being mean to myself? I should turn down the heat, tell myself to chill out. Damn, I really hate the way I talk to myself post-chorus, hit me like a, and then here comes the bridge part of the song. Now, what would it be like if I just tried being nice? I get so previously it's how to get it so good about not being so nice to myself, and then now we're slowly moving in the other direction of well, what what would it be like if I just tried being nice to find to the person that I'm seeing in the mirror? So when I said about seeing myself in the mirror, and right here he has uh Nick Jonas has this uh part in in the song, uh and then the last three lines, the bridge, if you find that inner child, you know, where you have that drive and determination, and I want to do all these things, and I want to, whether it's getting a degree from a university or a college or working, starting my own business in the trades, uh, and you know, be an electrician or uh HVAC rep or it it's like if you find that person I haven't seen them for a while. Where like where they go. And I'll bring in my opinion here, it it falls so much in line with my own life in instances where growing up, you know, you have all these goals and doing these things, and obviously when sports weren't working out for me and I wasn't getting the grades, I I thought about joining the military, uh, and then I went to college and then almost flunked out, I guess, is the way to like put out where I would be in college for like 10 years, probably, if I wouldn't have gotten my act act together. Uh so I went on to actually be a better student, be a better, I don't know, be a better person, I guess, from because being a better student meant that I was able to help people and I was in group settings, even though I didn't really care for group group projects. Um, because I always ended up, at least what I felt, that I was always the one that was picking up all the slack in a group project. But I felt like I was doing some good by doing that to get the project done. And so then I graduated in my under with my undergrad. Then it took me, I think, six months or so, because I didn't have an internship. It took me, I think it was six months after I graduated college, uh, till I got my first job. And then I went back to school, got my master's. Uh and then it was at that point when there was a job reduct, uh job workforce reduction at the company I was working with or working at. And so I I think that might be part of like where like a lot of the nerve started really to come in, where every day I would come into work after that day that people are being walked out the door saying you don't have a job anymore. Uh good luck. And so I was always on edge after that. I mean, I might have been on edge before that, but that's when I really feel that it I started to feel it uh that I was on edge, like, oh my gosh, what if that happens next month or next quarter? Uh and so then that that caused me to look for other employment because it's like, well, I need to I need to go to another company because this would not happen at another company. Um news alert, it does, it happens on just about every company. Uh I'm not saying every single company, but a lot of companies it happens too. So I was wrong in that thinking. And then it was at that point when I was like, okay, I went to college, I got my undergrad, I turned it around, I became a real good student, and then I got my master's degree, my MBA master's in business administration. And then I was like, well, what next? And so I automatically was thinking, well, everybody, not everybody, a lot of people that I was in the master's program with, they were getting promotions after they finished their degree. And I wasn't, and so I was like, Well, there must be something. Wrong with me, uh, or I'm not being valued or something, and and so then the decisions really because I'd always had like these goals like finish undergrad once I got turned around, then find a job, then find uh go back to school and get my masters, and it was after that point I was like, now what? Like, is this what I'm gonna do the rest of my life? Is this work? And I wasn't enjoying it at that point. So when Nick says and got this the song gut punch, if you find that inner child, haven't seen him for a while, let him know he's doing fine. I could have, oh my gosh, and maybe I did hear it, maybe I did hear somebody say this. Uh, and I just again, I just thought I knew everything, which is totally not the case at all for no for anybody. Uh, but I'm I'm admitting it. I have no problem admitting it. And and so basically the song saying, you know, tell tell that inner child, you know, have that drive, that determination. Uh you're doing alright. I always learned when I when I first started to lift weights, and I I I I could get back into that. I that would be a good thing for me. When I was first started to lift weights, when the one of the one of the gentlemen that was in there seemed to be almost around the same times that I was I was in in the gym, he would just say, because we you know, we would lift weights, and then we would say, Oh, I maxed out, meaning I was able to do one repetition of whatever this weight is, 100 pounds, two whatever the number is. And he would always tell me, he said, Justin, that you're doing great, but try not to let this be the end-all be-all, meaning that there's always gonna be somebody, or just about always, is there gonna be somebody that's gonna be stronger than you? So if you're doing this particular exercise 200 pounds one time, somebody's gonna come in and do 205 pounds one time, and then somebody's gonna, and then when I started doing 205, somebody's gonna do 210. And at the time, I I I was just like, oh, yeah, like of course, but it wasn't getting through to my mind. I was still just thinking, like, oh uh, I'm I'm good, uh, that's fine. If but then I would get this competitive nature uh of trying to do is more and more and more. And when I was finding where I couldn't, you know, live more and more and more, kind of hit like this this plateau, it was like, okay, my my professional life was was stopped. There was very few. I could have gone for my PhD, I could have, you know, there's all different trainings and different things, but I was really at a plateau there, and then I was at a plateau at my job because I wasn't really on a rotation of getting promoted within the next couple of years, and so what I don't know if you know the how much of that encouragement of like you're doing you're doing fine, you're doing all right, like you're doing, you're doing fine. It was I had this competitive spirit, and there always was something next that I was able to like focus my my mind on. So when so when Nick says in gut punch here, or Nick Jones says, if you find that inner child, haven't seen him for a while, let him know he's doing fine. That that that part is me to a T. And then the chorus. So as we start finishing out the song, hit me like a gut punch. I hurt my own feelings. How did I get so good at being mean to myself? I should turn down the heat, tell myself to chill out. Damn, I really hate the way I talk to myself, and then the outro goes, Hit me like uh, yeah, yeah, oh oh, yeah, hit me like a gut punch. Oh, oh, oh, yeah. So the album coming out in in February by Nick Jonas called uh Sunday Best, produced by Ryan Daly. And it looks like this is going to gut punch this song that we just kind of did a review uh of kind of like my mental health and and parenting and and and school and accomplishments and how my life relates to this song Gut Punch from Nick Jonas. And uh it you know, we're just gonna close out by saying that it is it's just so it's we take ourselves so seriously. We we we take ourselves so seriously that man, life is so short. There's it's just so short. And this song is a perfect reflection for me of kind of bad mouthing myself inside my head. Like, okay, what are you gonna screw up next time, Justin? What are you gonna screw up today? What are you gonna you know, are you are you gonna amount to anything? Anything else? Is this it? And so that's why I'm doing all kinds of uh why we decided with the organization to really look at some different avenues which you've seen, some of them so far. So you've seen the shows, right? So this is like this is the lifeblood of the organization, the foundation, the voices for voices, TV show and podcasts. Again, if you can hit that subscribe button, give us thumbs up, like, follow, share, reach out to 25 of your closest friends, family, followers, let them know. Uh, we do want to we want to reach that goal of hitting and reaching over 300 countries across the world, uh, over 3,000 cities across the world from up from 1,000 cities where we're at now, uh, just over 1,000 cities uh across the world. And we want to help over 3 billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. And we can't do that alone. We can only do that with your your help. And uh it's because of your demand of watching and listening uh that we're we're even still here uh doing doing our shows, we're doing TikTok lives from time to time. We're doing uh uh we've we've published uh a few books. Uh look for more on that front. That there's gonna be uh additional media uh uh uh that's gonna uh be be coming because we we really are we're voices for voices. I'm lucky I'm able to speak somewhat somewhat decently, but there's some that aren't. And and so I'm trying to do the best that I can with the gifts that you know I'm a believer in God. Uh you don't have to be. Uh but I I feel like this is what this is a gift that I'm at least able to speak. And while it doesn't always make sense, uh I know I'm not perfect. I say um, um, um, I say like, like, like, I say so, so, so I get it, but I'm I'm being a human being because that's what I am. I'm a human being. Uh so thank you for joining us on this show. So much appreciated. We have nothing but love coming from us to you, no matter where you're at in the world, uh, no matter if you're a believer or not, and you believe in a higher power, you know, that's not for us to question uh at all. Uh, we are we're we're sharing what we're sharing. Um and uh, you know, we can what what we're one of the one of our kind of big overarching goals is we just want to help people, we want to unite people, we don't want to divide people. And this is one way we can do it where we can talk through music. Uh so I want to thank Nick Jonas uh for writing the song Gut Punch. Wish him all the best with uh not only that that single, but uh his upcoming his upcoming uh album, Sunday Best. Uh we hope nothing but the best success, prosperity, health, um, and and just by having the lyrics available, we're able to talk through things and how it how they relate to us. And just want to say thank you. And we are open to having uh Nick on on our show. Uh if you want to be on, uh you you got a slot that we'll make it happen. So until next time, this is Justin Alan Hayes with Voices for Voices. Let's celebrate the voices of everybody from coast to coast, ocean, I mean, all across the world. And lastly, let's be a voice for you or somebody else in need. Thank you. Take care. God bless the United States and God bless you wherever you may be across this beautiful planet Earth. We love you, and we invite you to come back for another episode. Take care. Bye bye.