Why Mindset Shifts Aren’t Enough

In this episode of Uploaded and Unfiltered, Jermaine breaks down the “red sand” metaphor—a simple way to understand why affirmations, therapy, and positive thinking aren’t enough to break creative blocks. If you’ve been procrastinating, battling imposter syndrome, or feeling stuck despite all your self-work, this episode is for you.

He talks about how early, intense unconscious learnings (aka red sand) still control your behavior unless they’re cleared. From childhood shame to fear-based decision-making, Jermaine shares how these invisible programs are running the show—and how his method cuts through the noise so you can create with freedom.

🧠 If you’re tired of piling blue sand on top of red, and ready to clear the root of your stuckness, keep listening.

👥 Want to book a clarity session or join the December Content Reset?
 Check out available spots here: stan.store/CoachJermaine

📩 Questions or collab inquiries?
 Reach out: jermaine@radiantreflection.best

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Creator Mindset
• 1:15 December Sessions And Discount
• 2:07 The Red Sand And Blue Sand Model
• 5:29 Why Old Beliefs Block New Habits
• 7:45 Personal Red Sand Story And Podcast
• 9:58 Detaching From Opinions And Failure
• 12:10 Attention Spans And Long Form Value
• 14:20 Presence Over Past And Future Anxiety
• 16:20 One‑And‑Done Clearing Offer And Outro

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:06

Welcome, welcome back to another episode of Uploaded and Unfiltered, the podcast in which I your host interviews other content creators in regards to their content creation journey thus far. We also like to talk about the mindset of a creator. We also like to talk about some of the things that might be keeping us back from being our authentic selves. If you didn't know, when you show up as your authentic self, it is much easier to create content when you're not trying to emulate somebody else's success or somebody else's mannerisms. You show up as yourself, turkey and all. I promise you, content creation gets that much easier. Today is going to be uh an episode. I don't know if it's gonna be quick or not, but I did have something I wanted to talk about. Over the weekend, I made a little craft uh to aid me in explaining some of the concepts that I utilize to help people clear any stuffnesses they may have. Speaking of which, if you have thought about signing up for a session or you know you have something that's keeping you back from being the authentic self that you want to be, that you can be to show up and create that content that the world is waiting for. I have a few sessions left in December. I think I'm gonna be shutting down the office on the 20th. So from now on to the 20th, if you want to get a one-on-one session with me, you bring your stuckness, we talk about it, I say it, I set a clear intention, and then we get you cleared so you can start creating content without that feeling of imposter syndrome or perfectionism or anything that feels heavy when you're creating content. Hit me up. I have a discount code that I'll be giving out. I think it's 20% off of the fee of the one-on-one service. But yeah, this month I want to get as many piece people in as possible through the door so we can start next year, but fresh slate, clear, and ready to tackle any of our content goals that we may have. So again, link will be in the bio, 20% off. This is the December content reset. We're gonna talk about the craft that I made that aids me in explaining some of the things that might be going on in our mind. Now, if you look at the album mark for this episode, you should see a glass that's full of sand, both red and blue sand, and that is for a reason. Let's say, for the sake of me explaining this, and we're gonna jump right into it. If you didn't get your snacks, it's too late. Actually, go get your snack, go get your water. Okay, now it's too late. So let's look at your unconscious mind like a glass of sand. At the top of the sand, at the top of the glass is blue sand, and that's all of the things that you have learned that you may have picked up from therapy, affirmations, healing, just talking to other people, that's your blue sand. The red sand is everything that has been instilled in you from childhood up into adulthood, which everything that goes into your unconscious mind filters through that sand. So, for instance, if you maybe suffered some type of shameful act when you were a child, or you have some insane fear about something particular, more than likely that is red sand in your mind that is stuck there because it has nowhere to go, because you haven't cleared it yet. It does have somewhere to go, and that's out your system because that red sand is what's keeping so many people behind. And let's get into it. So, like I said, the red sand is early intense learning to your unconscious mind, stored as truth. So if you were younger and your mom told you not to run around in the store because it's dangerous, the red sand is running around in the store is dangerous. Even deeper than that, being seen, being the focal point of my peers or anyone of an audience is dangerous. So that red sand is buried beneath all of the blue sand, all of the I can't wait to make content, I can't wait to make this video, I can't wait to go live. Underneath all that is the red sand of your parents telling you, hey, don't act up in the store because you can get in trouble. That is red sand. That is a stuckness. And unfortunately, if you don't attend to that red sand, if you don't pay attention to that red sand, it just settles down at the bottom. Now, I don't know if you ever tried to uh separate sand colors or color sand, it is uh impossible. So the point of my practice, the point of my work is to assist in clearing that red sand. So you're no longer using old data that's telling you that showing up is dangerous. You now can go forward knowing that it's not dangerous and it is exactly what you want to do. See, the problem with new sand getting poured on top is the old sand is still there. So it doesn't matter how many therapy sessions you go to, it doesn't matter what affirmations you tell yourself in the morning, if that red sand is still there, I'm not saying it's impossible, but I am saying it's going to make moving forward that much more of an obstacle, that much harder. So you can know better consciously always, but still feel sucked because the unconscious mind is filtering through that red sand. So when you look at the things that are keeping you back from creating content through that lens, it is a little easier to understand that, hey, you're not broken, and B, this is something that can definitely be fixed. I had red sand myself early on in my career when I was working in IT. Any new venture that I would go into, because I never did it before, because I never worked in that exact environment, I the red sand was you've never done this before, you don't have a plan, therefore it's going to be hard or you're going to fail. That was the red sand I've had for years, up until probably four years ago. If I didn't have a plan, if I didn't have a goal, if I didn't have steps, then I thought the endeavor was impossible. Which is crazy to say because I believe, well, at the time, I still believe this, but at the time I was remembering thinking, I am capable of doing whatever I put my mind to. The other part of that is I didn't realize it was red sand keeping me back from doing the things that I wanted. This podcast is a testament to me overcoming my red sand. For years, I can't tell you how many podcasts I've been on or started or been a part of. So many. I was always hesitant to branch out on my own, start my own podcast, have my own schedule, have my own show, my own show notes. I was always hesitant to do that because in my mind the red sand was, oh, it's gonna take a lot of work, don't have time to do that, nobody's gonna want to hear what you're talking about. So once I cleared that red sand, the podcast came out. And guess what? We are a hundred and hundred and deep. I have not missed a week since I started this podcast, and it's because it is now part of who I am. It is now second nature for me to get on the mic and start talking about things that bring me joy or things that might be keeping other people stuck because at the end of the day, I want to help as many possible people possible overcome whatever stuckness or mental barrier that is stopping them from being great. So many, so many solutions. I just saw Tyler the Creator today. So many people who have made it always have the same advice. You never fail unless you quit. Can't put too much stock into what people think about what you're doing because if something you're doing is revolutionary, first few months or however, whatever span of time, you're gonna be alone. There are gonna be people who see this new thing and be like, oh, that's garbage, that's trash. Look at Crocs. When I first saw Crocs, I was like, yo, those are dumb. And now I'd rather just get a pair of Crocs. That's depending on the weather. Um and you know what? They have so many variations in Crocs. It probably doesn't depend on the weather. But first glance, I was like, these are dumb. Flash for it's now, and I have like six or seven pairs, probably more than that. I haven't I lost count. But I enjoy them. They're great, they're shoes, and most importantly, I don't give a fuck what other people think about me wearing Crocs. I hate to admit it, but there was a time in my life where I was still doing the thing, but I was still very aware of people talking about the things that I were doing. So for instance, in high school, I wore a pair of van skater shoes. Now, this might have been just in Florida, just in that specific high school, but vans were quote unquote white boy shoes. They were skater shoes. And if you were wearing them, then that was a problem. I still don't understand what the problem was, but that was a problem. And I remember, and I used to have regrets about this now that I'm in a better space mentally and I cleared that. But I remember my parents buying me these shoes, and those shoes probably weren't cheap. I don't know how much they cost, but I remember not wearing them, and I don't remember if I gave them to my dad or my dad took them and he started wearing them, but I felt so much like game because I was like, what the fuck is wrong with me? I'm not wearing these shoes and I'm forcing my dad to wear them. I don't know. But red sand. Red sand unfortunately runs a lot of events and and things that we do in our life. And that's why I've always said that a lot of people are making decisions out of fear. Fear is it is part of the red sand. You're scared because you don't know everything about the thing that you want to do, that you're going to somehow fuck it up. And then what? All like I know you don't like to fail, but again, we need to retrain our brain on the meaning of failure. Failing doesn't mean that you should not be doing what you're trying to do. Failing doesn't mean that you should just need to stop, never try again. The only way you're gonna get better at something is by doing it over and over and over and over again. You should listen to my first podcast. That thing was a hot mess. And I gotta get my homie Bombery Tank back on here and have a proper show. But I don't remember what happened to the audio, but it kind of like it chopped his up and it was out of sync with my audio. It was never used podcastle. Maybe they're better now. Haven't checked in on them because I'm using Riverside, but Podcastle, still on my shit list for that one. But at the end of the day, once you realize, and you know what? I'm not telling you this analogy of red sand because I want you to try to figure out all the red sand in your life. That's what I'm here for. That is my expertise. I can't tell you how many times a day I hear people talking, and I instantly know what the red sand is. Or I instantly know that hey, if you just worded that differently, your brain would love you for it. Because right now you're putting it into a fight or flight mode. What we say. Hey, uh, I'm a bit proponent on speaking what we want to happen and not so much what we don't want to happen, because words have power. And unfortunately, or fortunately, our unconscious mind hears everything, sees everything, and depending on what red sand you have in your life, will determine how it interprets that information. It's so fascinating to me that I'm in this place mentally where I'm at now because I see the world so much differently. There's things that used to anger me, the things that used to get me upset, the things that just straight up pissed me off. And it's because I was looking at it through my perspective. So if you did something to me, I would think there was something wrong with me. And now I'm on the other side of that. A lot of people tell their insecurities out loud, especially when they're talking shit about people in the comments or they're talking shit to people in real life. What most people bitch about or complain about or call other people out on are things that they have issues with, things that they are struggling with. And when you realize that and view the world through those lenses, everything gets so much different. There's no more spikes of anger throughout the day because of the content you're seeing or the shit that you're seeing in the news, because you understand that that's their perspective. That's all they know. One analogy, I've said this before, but the craziest thing to me to think about is there's somebody, let's pick Idaho. There's a little white boy in Idaho that the only thing that he knows about black people is what he sees on TV, what he hears in music, what he sees in video games, what he sees online. Like no real interactions, just the narratives that have been painted for him. So his thoughts regards to what a black person is and what they should be, far, far away from reality. And so with that information, why am I gonna allow myself to get mad when this person's being ignorant? I'm not. Me in a mass state is not good for me, it's not good for my family, it's not good for the people around me, and fundamentally it's not good for the world. I feel like if we all could get to a point where we're not getting spiked with anger or anxiousness, obviously the world would be at a better place. Because imagine, imagine if I was still as angry as I used to be, and I'm at the gas station, somebody does something to upset me, that could be an altercation. That could be a situation where I don't get to go home because I my anger took over and I let my anger dictate my actions. Even if I'm in a fight, I don't want to be angry. I want to be clear-minded because I guarantee you, if I'm clear and I understand the situation at hand, I don't think anybody's beating me. I just uh call me cocky, whatever, but 95% of people are not beating me if I'm clear and it's life or death. That's how that's how strong I want to live. Do with that information what you will. But again, uh I have put up a TikTok on the jar of sand, explained it a little bit real quick for the minute people out there, and I've decided that going forward, I'm not going to try to shorten my content because I think I owe it to the rest of the world, or at least the people who engage with my content, that I get my full idea out in that video. I think short form content, especially anything less than like 30 seconds, has fucked our attention span. There are things that we probably have lost to the sands of time because we don't have the attention span to listen to a conversation, to watch an entire movie, to watch an entire YouTube video. As much as I enjoy TikTok, I spend more time on YouTube watching full-length videos because I want to maintain my attention span. Now, don't get me wrong, if something comes through and it's 15 seconds and that shit's funny, it shit's funny. But I don't try to consume as much of that content as I do long-form content because I perish my attention span. Being able to just chill out, relax, sit down on the couch, and just let my mind go blank is a luxury. It's a superpower, and I'm figuring out a way to teach that to others because it's bliss when you can have it. Now, with that, before I get out of here, I just want to remind you one more time the only time that is real, that is in reality is right now. As you're listening to this, this is the time that exists. The past doesn't exist, it's a figment of our imagination. The future doesn't exist, and we don't have the ability to predict the future. So when we're thinking, man, tomorrow's gonna be a bad day because X, Y, and Z, that is bullshit that we're telling ourselves. That is a lie that we're telling ourselves, or that is something that we made up that we were telling ourselves. Because you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. And I know you want to use all the past experiences and all the context clues to try to infer what's gonna happen. And you can do that, but if it emotionally charges you, if it is affecting you emotionally, then I would say that that is a uh bad idea. And I'd much rather you focus in on what you want to happen, your ideal situation, and be okay if it doesn't happen. That's part of the process as well. Don't look towards these aspirations as things that need to happen. The word need flags a trigger in our brain that turns on a security system that's like, well, if we don't get this now, we're gonna die. If you say you need something, if you say you should have done something, that highlights the importance of whatever that thing is to our unconscious mind, and your unconscious mind goes to work. Because why? Because of the red sand that we have filtered in our system. Thank you for listening. I hope that made sense. And again, if you need a session, if there's something that you want to talk about and clear, hit me up. I'm not in the business of pouring more sand on. So I'm not gonna give you some affirmations. I'm not gonna get you, I'm not gonna let you talk about your problem for an hour and a half, we're not gonna see each other every other week. These are one and done for the situations that you have. So if you come to me like, hey, I'm feeling anxious about this interview I have tomorrow, I got you. If you're feeling anxious about showing up on lives to do what you do, I got you. If you have a problem with procrastinating, knowing good and well that the more content you put out there, the farther reach your content is going to get. If you're procrastinating and not putting that content out there, I got you. All of that shit is red sand. And fortunately for you, I am an expert at getting rid of red sand. If you know any other content creators who can benefit from conversations like these and more, please share the podcast with them uploaded and unfiltered. I'll be here until I decide one day that this is not for me anymore. But right now, I don't see an end in sight. And leave me a review on whatever platform you're listening to this on. Also, there should be a text message link in the description of this podcast. Send me a message. I would love to hear what y'all want to talk about. If you have any questions, hit me up. I'm always ready to answer. With that, I'm signing off. Thank you for listening. I really do appreciate it. And as always, protect your mental, keep creating content, and I'll see you in the next one.