Chief Change Officer
#67 Athena Brownson: Shifting Mindpower to Rebuild Life After an 8-Year Battle with Lyme Disease — Part Two
Wed, 13 Nov 2024
Part Two. We dive into an extraordinary journey of resilience with Athena Brownson. At the peak of her real estate career—feeling invincible and unstoppable—Athena’s life took an unexpected turn. Strange health issues appeared, and she was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease, a condition that would change everything. For the past eight years, Athena has lived in chronic pain, relying on plasma transfusions four days each month just to keep going. Her life now revolves around battling this disease, something she never imagined facing. As she says, “If life didn’t give us adversity and challenges…” This story is too powerful for just one episode. Yesterday, in Part 1, Athena shared her experience with Lyme disease—a condition that remains poorly understood but has profoundly impacted her health. She talked about how she had caught it, what she had endured, and the fight to survive. In Part 2, airing today, Athena will reveal how she not only survived but found ways to thrive, rebuild her support system, and grow her career once again. Key Highlights of Our Interview: Retraining the Brain “Pain puts the brain in fight-or-flight mode, and it can get stuck there. So it’s on us to train our minds to tell our bodies we’re okay, to push through and find relief.” The Power of a Routine “For me, routines are huge. My toolkit includes morning and evening rituals – breathwork, meditation, journaling, writing affirmations. I remind myself every day: I am healthy. I am healing. My body can get through this.” The Art of Delegation “Delegation isn’t just about getting things off your plate; it’s about giving others a chance to shine. My illness showed me I can’t do everything, nor should I. Letting go allows others to thrive, and it’s empowering to see them do what they love.” Building My Tribe “Finding the right people was a decade-long journey, but now I have a team around me who would do anything for me. They’re not just coworkers; they’re my support system, my tribe. I know they’re here for me, health and all, and I wouldn’t be where I am without them.” The Power of Pen and Paper “Writing by hand does something special. Seeing the words you put down lets them sink in, letting you visualize and internalize them in a unique way.” Connect with us: Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Athena Brownson Chief Change Officer: Make Change Ambitiously. Experiential Human Intelligence for Growth Progressives Global Top 3% Podcast on Listen Notes World's #1 Career Podcast on Apple Top 1: US, CA, MX, IE, HU, AT, CH, FI, JP 2 Millions+ Downloads 50+ Countries --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.20 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 1% Podcast.Top 5 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>180,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Chapter 1: What is Athena Brownson's extraordinary journey?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change progressives in organizational and human transformation. Today, I'm talking to Athena Bronson, a real estate agent from Denver, Colorado. No, we are not talking about real estate. Instead, we dive into her extraordinary journey of resilience.
At the peak of her real estate career, feeling invincible and unstoppable, Athena's life took an unexpected turn. Strange health issues appeared, and she was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease, a condition that would change everything. For the past seven years, Athena has lived in chronic pain. relying on plasma transfusions four days each month just to keep going.
Her life has revolved around battling this disease, something she never imagined facing. As she says, if life didn't give us adversity and challenges, This story is too powerful and real for just one episode. In part one, Athena shares her experience with Lyme disease, a condition that remains poorly understood but has profoundly impacted her health.
She'll talk about how she caught it, what she's endured, and the fight to survive. Today in part two, Asina will share how she not only survived, but found ways to thrive, rebuild her support system, and grow her career once again. I really resonate with what you said about being our biggest advocate, especially in tough times.
We hear a lot about IQ and EQ, emotional quotient, emotional intelligence. But there's another measure, adversity quotient or AQ, which seems less talked about yet. So crucial. I think we are all starting to see how important it really is. Your experience is a powerful example of this. Physical pain is intense and medications might help here and there. Maybe make sleep easier.
But that's only part of it. It's the mental resilience that really keeps us going. Especially in those moments when you are alone, in pain, facing it all. What stands out from what you've just shared is how you found ways to mentally change your focus, even on the small things, to help you stay grounded. It seems like that's been your best defense and maybe even your offense.
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Chapter 2: What mental strategies helped Athena cope with Lyme disease?
Does that feel accurate? You couldn't say it better. I think that is a beautiful way of putting it. I completely agree. I believe that The mental aspect of it is at least 50% of the challenge.
Our brains are wired in a way that if we continue to think a certain thought, whether that's I'm in pain or I don't want to do this, I don't feel good, I don't want to get out of bed, when we're continually reinforcing those thoughts, we will have those thoughts because when you're in pain, you're in pain and your brain notices that. And unfortunately, that's an unavoidable truth.
But when we pair that with How am I creating new neural pathways? How am I creating positive affirmations in my life? How am I surrounding myself with positivity? What am I ingesting when it comes to what I'm listening to? What information I'm taking in? The people that I'm spending time with. For me, having Routines is huge. So I talk about having your toolkit to get through challenging times.
Something for me that is really critical for my mental health and thus my physical health because they do go so hand in hand. is having my morning and evening routines. And that involves doing breath work and meditation. That involves having time to journal and write out my affirmations and write out my goals. I'm constantly writing out like I am healthy. I am healing my body.
My body feels great because I want to tell my brain that I am doing OK. I want to convince myself that.
that my body can get through this because when I can convince my mind and nervous system that I'm going to be okay and that there's an end goal and I keep my eyes on really looking forward instead of downwards into the current state that I'm in, that is where we're able to keep... I really believe that you're able to...
create more healing in the body physically when you're mentally working on strengthening your mentality. And I have many doctors, like my pain doctor, for instance, last week we did a class on breath work and there's been a huge number of studies done that show that when you're in pain and your nervous system is activated and
is in fight or flight mode so frequently due to illness or pain, whatever you're going through, it's easy for your brain to get stuck in that pattern. So it's up to us to make sure that we're doing the work to teach our brains and our nervous system that we're okay. And we're going to get through this. And it's a challenge. And like I said, there will be good days, there will be bad days.
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Chapter 3: How did Athena establish a supportive community?
Chapter 4: What role does routine play in overcoming adversity?
But when we pair that with How am I creating new neural pathways? How am I creating positive affirmations in my life? How am I surrounding myself with positivity? What am I ingesting when it comes to what I'm listening to? What information I'm taking in? The people that I'm spending time with. For me, having Routines is huge. So I talk about having your toolkit to get through challenging times.
Something for me that is really critical for my mental health and thus my physical health because they do go so hand in hand. is having my morning and evening routines. And that involves doing breath work and meditation. That involves having time to journal and write out my affirmations and write out my goals. I'm constantly writing out like I am healthy. I am healing my body.
My body feels great because I want to tell my brain that I am doing OK. I want to convince myself that.
that my body can get through this because when I can convince my mind and nervous system that I'm going to be okay and that there's an end goal and I keep my eyes on really looking forward instead of downwards into the current state that I'm in, that is where we're able to keep... I really believe that you're able to...
create more healing in the body physically when you're mentally working on strengthening your mentality. And I have many doctors, like my pain doctor, for instance, last week we did a class on breath work and there's been a huge number of studies done that show that when you're in pain and your nervous system is activated and
is in fight or flight mode so frequently due to illness or pain, whatever you're going through, it's easy for your brain to get stuck in that pattern. So it's up to us to make sure that we're doing the work to teach our brains and our nervous system that we're okay. And we're going to get through this. And it's a challenge. And like I said, there will be good days, there will be bad days.
But I believe that having routines and being able to stay goal oriented in any aspect of your life is absolutely critical for overcoming adversity.
You've talked about how you help yourself normalize the situation so that life and work could go on. You kept earning, kept things moving, especially with those high medical costs. Even with insurance, it still adds up. But beyond that, you mentioned the importance of building a support system with mentors, coaches, and others, which I think is crucial.
Can you share more about how you started building that from scratch? and how you went about finding the right people, those who really became the perfect fit for your journey. Eventually, it seems like it grew into a really strong support system. One that not only provided you the help you needed, but also gave you a true sense of community.
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Chapter 5: How important is delegation in personal and professional growth?
Chapter 6: What insights does Athena share about mental resilience?
Our brains are wired in a way that if we continue to think a certain thought, whether that's I'm in pain or I don't want to do this, I don't feel good, I don't want to get out of bed, when we're continually reinforcing those thoughts, we will have those thoughts because when you're in pain, you're in pain and your brain notices that. And unfortunately, that's an unavoidable truth.
But when we pair that with How am I creating new neural pathways? How am I creating positive affirmations in my life? How am I surrounding myself with positivity? What am I ingesting when it comes to what I'm listening to? What information I'm taking in? The people that I'm spending time with. For me, having Routines is huge. So I talk about having your toolkit to get through challenging times.
Something for me that is really critical for my mental health and thus my physical health because they do go so hand in hand. is having my morning and evening routines. And that involves doing breath work and meditation. That involves having time to journal and write out my affirmations and write out my goals. I'm constantly writing out like I am healthy. I am healing my body.
My body feels great because I want to tell my brain that I am doing OK. I want to convince myself that.
that my body can get through this because when I can convince my mind and nervous system that I'm going to be okay and that there's an end goal and I keep my eyes on really looking forward instead of downwards into the current state that I'm in, that is where we're able to keep... I really believe that you're able to...
create more healing in the body physically when you're mentally working on strengthening your mentality. And I have many doctors, like my pain doctor, for instance, last week we did a class on breath work and there's been a huge number of studies done that show that when you're in pain and your nervous system is activated and
is in fight or flight mode so frequently due to illness or pain, whatever you're going through, it's easy for your brain to get stuck in that pattern. So it's up to us to make sure that we're doing the work to teach our brains and our nervous system that we're okay. And we're going to get through this. And it's a challenge. And like I said, there will be good days, there will be bad days.
But I believe that having routines and being able to stay goal oriented in any aspect of your life is absolutely critical for overcoming adversity.
You've talked about how you help yourself normalize the situation so that life and work could go on. You kept earning, kept things moving, especially with those high medical costs. Even with insurance, it still adds up. But beyond that, you mentioned the importance of building a support system with mentors, coaches, and others, which I think is crucial.
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Chapter 7: How has Athena's illness shaped her view on teamwork?
you have to understand that about yourself before you can attract or bring in the right people around you so for me coaching was absolutely paramount and it continues to be and i continue to learn how to delegate because i still have a tendency to want to get everything done by myself but illness has taught me that i don't have the physical stamina to do everything
And nor should I, because there are people around me that are much better at certain activities than I am. So for me to be trying to do those activities is actually robbing them of the opportunity to really thrive at something that they love. So it's taken me a good decade, I would say, to build a team of people that are
I look around me and I know that the people on my team would absolutely do anything for me. They want nothing more than for me to get my health back. And they support me unconditionally through my treatments and they take amazing care of our clients. Honestly, my executive assistant, I like to call her my boss because she's
Her skill set is so vast and incredible and the complete opposite of mine. I wouldn't be able to get any of this, anything done without her, honestly. So understanding that we're not meant to do life alone. We're meant to do life in community together. Whatever that may be, whether it's at work or outside of work, for me, my business has become my family. It is a very demanding business.
Real estate is to perform at a high level. We work very hard. But the most important thing that I've learned and I had to learn and continue to learn the hard way through business not having the physical ability to do everything is understanding that we're not supposed to be able to do it all ourselves.
And when we can find like-minded individuals that have similar visions in terms of why they're doing business and what motivates them and really find the people, I like to call them like your tribe. Who are the people that
have your back unconditionally they care just as much as you do about the business or about your clients or whatever it may be as you do and it's taken me years and years to find those people but now that I have it's truly the only reason that I'm able to continue forward with having a really successful business is because I have people around me that not only care about
Me and my health and making sure that I'm able to take care of myself. If I'm not able to get out of bed one day, I know that these people have my back and that they're going to take just as good of care of our clients. They want to build relationships. They put heart into everything that they do. And I honestly don't know what I would do without my amazing team.
But it's taken years and years of coaching and therapy and mentors to help me understand that I can't do it all by myself and I need to. Delegation is actually giving someone the opportunity to be their best and to empower them. And I will continue to learn how to do it, but I believe in teamwork more than anything.
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