Ep. 60 - How to Quiet the Noise, Overcome Self-Doubt & Become Who You Really Are with Jesse Israel

What if the parts of yourself you've spent your entire life trying to suppress are actually your greatest gifts? Jesse Israel went from being an expressive, rebellious kid who learned to make himself smaller, to experiencing debilitating anxiety and panic attacks, to eventually standing in arenas leading tens of thousands of people in meditation alongside Oprah. Jesse joins Alexis Artin for a deeply personal conversation about **anxiety, self-doubt, meditation, authenticity, purpose and overcoming fear**, revealing how founding a record label that helped launch MGMT ultimately led him toward an entirely different calling with The Big Quiet. Together, Jesse and Alexis explore why we shrink ourselves to feel safe, how comparison distorts our definition of success, why silence can become a competitive advantage in an increasingly noisy world, and what happens when you finally stop running from the thing that scares you. Jesse's realization is powerful: sometimes **the other side of fear isn't simply courage—it's your power.** **"There's something so powerful about creating quiet in the face of all that noise. I felt like I was the eye of the storm."** — Jesse Israel *-----* 00:00 — Welcome to Look At Me Now 00:30 — Jesse Israel's Origin Story 01:48 — The Childhood "Mutiny" That Changed Jesse 03:12 — Learning to Make Himself Smaller 04:57 — Leadership, Rebellion & Growing Up With Rules 06:14 — How Parents Pass Their Own Fears Down 11:11 — Why We Shrink Ourselves to Fit In 12:36 — Suppressing His Gifts Led to Anxiety 13:50 — Jesse's First Panic Attack 15:36 — Finding a "Safe" Way to Be Creative 16:00 — Discovering MGMT & Starting a Record Label 18:10 — From College Shows to 100,000-Person Festivals 21:04 — Hiding Behind Other People's Success 22:30 — Jesse's Vision of Being on Stage 23:31 — Discovering Meditation in the Music Industry 24:17 — Meditating in the Middle of Coachella 25:34 — How Silence Became Jesse's Competitive Edge 27:10 — The Vision That Became The Big Quiet 28:43 — Getting Out of the Way of Your Purpose 31:31 — Why Silence Can Be Incredibly Loud 33:15 — What 20,000 People Meditating Feels Like 36:39 — Giving Thousands of People Permission to Feel 38:23 — Leading Mass Meditation With Oprah 38:57 — Redefining Success, Purpose & Authenticity 39:55 — Walking Away From the Music Industry 41:02 — "What I'm Doing Isn't Enough" 42:04 — Comparison, Self-Worth & Cultural Definitions of Success 44:32 — Ego, Service & the Soul-Body Paradox 47:28 — What's Next for Jesse Israel? 48:27 — Quieting the Noise to Hear Who You Really Are 49:43 — Returning to the Stage That Once Terrified Him 51:25 — The Cave You Fear to Enter 51:47 — Why Fear Gets Louder When You're Growing 52:15 — "The Other Side of Fear Is My Power" 53:33 — Jesse's Look At Me Now Moment 54:50 — Learning to Be Proud of Who He Is 56:13 — Where to Find Jesse Israel \----- Follow Jesse @jesseisrael Follow Alexis @alexis\_artin Learn more at AlexisArtin.com Save 50% on any SoulSway experience with code LAMN50 This is an Operation Podcast production