Loss reshapes identity, and nobody comes out unchanged. In this episode, we name the hard parts of grief and show a path from raw pain to purposeful living that holds space for anger, tears, and faith.

Daniel Gomez shares how losing parents and siblings led to a crisis that became a calling to help others reclaim value, purpose, and joy. His story shows how grieving honestly and accepting spiritual and practical supports creates lasting resilience.

Press play to hear a clear, faith-friendly roadmap for moving from surviving to thriving, then use these takeaways to start small and steady change today.

• How to grieve without getting stuck and why men must be allowed to cry
• Recognizing grief for living people and pets and how to respond
• The difference between self-pity and healthy grieving release
• Practical rituals: celebrating life with three memory prompts
• Faith, prayer, and routine as emotional replenishment
• Choosing legacy over bitterness and reframing the obituary question
• Accept the Upgrade: shifting identity, work, family priorities
• How to get a free 30-minute discovery session with Daniel

03:34 Facing Grief and Turning Point: Losing Mom and Dad

07:30 The Cost of Bottling Emotions

13:35 Find Your Own Path: Rejecting Comparison and Social Media Pressure

19:12 Learn from the Palm-Tree

24:04 When Loving Someone Means Letting Them Go

29:34 Accept the Upgrade

34:44 How to Support Someone Grieving

37:18 How Will Your Obituary Read?

Books

📖Grid: Once in a Lifetime You Get to Start Over by Dr. Kimberly Hubenette

📖Live, Love, Survive, Thrive! by Dr. Kimberly Hubenette (COMING SOON)

📖 Accept the Upgrade: You Deserve It by Daniel Gomez

Thank you for listening.

To keep my podcast alive,

Wanna buy my dog Dakota a bone?

• https://buymeacoffee.com/livelovesurvivethrive

03:36 “Death is something that’s going to happen, whether we’re ready for it or not.” —Daniel Gomez

05:59 “Life has a way of catching up to you when you suppress your emotions… You have to let that stuff out.” —Daniel Gomez

11:08 “The duration of the grieving process varies from person to person, from loss to loss.” —Daniel Gomez

11:33 “You could still live even after all this tragedy.” —Kimberly Hubenette

13:52 “Your path is different than everybody else, whether it’s through life, through business, through the loss of a loved one. Allow yourself to follow your own path.” —Daniel Gomez 

16:16 “You don’t need a degree. You don’t need to be validated by man. You don’t need to be approved by anybody else. You’re already approved by God. You’re already validated by God. You don’t need anybody’s validation.” —Daniel Gomez 

17:45 “Wealth is helping other people prosper and succeed, and letting them see their own value.” —Daniel Gomez 

18:34 “Something that I had to learn is to be able to do without somebody, and it helped me be stronger, to learn how to do things on my own, but then also think about how to be with others as well.” —Kimberly Hubenette

25:35 “When you really celebrate somebody else’s life, even though they’ve passed, it just gives it a different perspective.” —Daniel Gomez

25:50 “We can laugh and cry and celebrate all in the same sentence… They don’t want you to sit there and cry yourself to sleep every night. Your loved ones who pass on want us to flourish and celebrate.” —Kimberly Hubenette

29:51 “No one’s ever told you they believe in you. I’m telling you right now, I believe in you. I want people to believe in themselves. So many people don’t believe in themselves.” —Daniel Gomez  

30:10 “Accept the upgrade, you deserve it. Accept the upgrade in your happiness. Accept the upgrade in your joy. Accept the upgrade in your identity.” —Daniel Gomez

33:47 “You can never care and love too much, so I’ve allowed myself to care and love even more in this new season of my life.” —Daniel Gomez

34:46 “Have a listening heart…Sometimes people don’t want your advice; they just want you to listen.” —Daniel Gomez

38:35 “Allow yourself to live in love and realize that there’s nothing in this world that you can’t do when you invite God to help you.” —Daniel Gomez

Daniel Gomez is a catalyst for change and a beacon of hope. As an acclaimed motivational speaker and influential coach, Daniel infuses each session with the power of spiritual principles, transforming lives and businesses worldwide. His dynamic presence and profound insights bring not only energy but a deep connection to divine values, sparking breakthroughs and nurturing lasting growth.

Driven by a fervent belief in the transformative power of faith, Daniel guides clients toward monumental success with integrity. His best-selling book, “The Makings of a Millionaire Mind,” charts a unique path to prosperity that honors God’s way, ensuring that leaders not only succeed but also thrive by staying true to their spiritual roots. Embrace a journey of leadership that integrates professional excellence with deep spiritual commitment—Daniel’s promise to you.

Connect with Daniel Gomez:

• Website (Makings of a Millionaire Mindset)
• Website (Daniel Gomez Global)
• Facebook
• Facebook Group
• X
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Pinterest
• YouTube

Welcome to the  Live, Love, Survive, Thrive! Podcast that helps you embrace life’s challenges, grow through adversity, and discover your true potential. I’m your host, Dr. Kimberly Hubenette, anti-aging dentist, widow, Author and inspirational Coach. I live by the “Can I” philosophy of constant and never ending improvement, and I’m here to help you do the same. Each week, we’ll dive into real conversations, powerful stories and practical tools to help you heal, grow and thrive. Whether you’re rebuilding after loss or ready to step into a more purposeful life, this space is for you. Let’s grow, evolve and thrive together. 

Kimberly Hubenette: Welcome to another episode of the Live, Love, Survive, Thrive! Show. I’m Dr. Kimberly Hubenette, and we’re here to inspire you to move forward after the loss of your loved one. We help you find ways to live, love, survive and thrive in your life as you know it, taking little steps towards creating life, and what we’re trying to do is learn how to live again. I’m so excited and honored today to welcome all of you to listen to Mr. Daniel Gomez. He is all the way from Texas, and he’s an award-winning keynote speaker, Business Coach and Trainer, and book publisher. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today as well. I would like you to introduce yourself, Daniel, and let the listeners know how dynamic and energetic you are.

Daniel Gomez: Well, Dr. Kimberly, thank you so much for having me on your amazing show, and I’m pumped up to be here. And Daniel Gomez is a person who loves people. I truly believe that most people don’t see how amazing and special they are, so I’m here to drop some value. I love doing these podcasts with your audiences, just show them that there’s another level inside of all of us. And whether you choose to take it through a book or speak on stage, we can help you both ways, because your story has power. The world needs everybody’s story, because somebody out there is going through what you’re going through, just like we’re going to share here on this podcast. Sometimes, we have the illusion that we’re the only ones going through something, and we’re not. And when you find out you’re going through that too, and that’s the power of a story. Dr. Kimberly, thank you so much for having me today.

Kimberly Hubenette: So you’re such an amazing and inspirational coach. And I’m sure my listeners will gather more tips about how they can learn to live again after the loss of your loved one. And the whole premise is telling us about who you lost as a loved one, and how that pain turned into something of a purpose. So can you tell our listeners about what happened to you in your life?

Daniel Gomez: Yeah. First of all, death is something that’s going to happen, whether we’re ready for it or not. And for me, I lost my mom when I was 10, and that loss didn’t really affect me as much. I always wonder what it would be like to have a mom in high school. But my dad, when I was 26, that’s the one that really hurt. And we have a choice at that moment. We have a choice. I’m 26 years old, I’m an orphan. No Mom, no dad. And a lot of people at that point, they feel sorry for themselves, and it’s easy to swallow yourself in self pity. And I hear my heart in this because I’ve lost my dad, I’ve lost my mom, but you can’t feel sorry for yourself. And I think a lot of people get stuck feeling sorry for themselves. What I did is I just said, okay, well, what do I do now? I’m 26. I’m married. I had my own family going, but I cried and listened. What I’m about to say is, sometimes, it’s okay to cry as a man. I think so many times, men hold it in. Especially being a Mexican man, Latino, and I just allowed myself to grieve. And I think so many times, people don’t allow themselves to grieve for Dr. Kimberly. For me, I didn’t have self pity because I allowed myself to grieve, if that makes sense?

Kimberly Hubenette: One thing you said, a Mexican man, they’re very machismo, normally, right? And then thinking about how it affected your life, first your mom, then your dad, and basically, you could have just shut down. But look at the life that you’ve created and the things that you’ve blessed with, and the people that you touch.

Daniel Gomez: Yes. To go back when I lost my mom, you don’t really understand the impact of what losing a mother has on the child. In so many ways, I was traumatized. Because after my mom passed away, a lot of our normal family days were gone. We started moving a lot. I moved to another city. Then when that didn’t work out, I came back to San Antonio. And then next thing you know, I’m 18 years old and I shot myself. I wasn’t drunk, I wasn’t stoned that evening. But I think life has a way of catching up to you because you suppress your emotions. You don’t talk about things. You’re not taught how to talk about things as a young Mexican kid, and to express how you’re feeling. And that it’s okay to do these things. And no, it’s not a sign of weakness. When you talk about your problem, it’s not a sign of weakness. 

And I think somebody out there listening to this needs to understand, whether you’re a male or female, you have to let that stuff out. In my book, The Makings of a Millionaire Mind, there’s a part where I write about how to stop sweeping it under the rug. So many people sweep their emotions, they sweep their feelings, they sweep their problems underneath the rug, and they think they’re going to go away. And this is a lie that we tell ourselves because we heard it from somebody else. Oh, it doesn’t bother me. Oh, it’s nothing big. No, it is something big. No, it does bother you. Because the thing is this, you add up all those little things that you say don’t bother you, that really do bother you in the micro. And before you know it, that’s where arthritis comes in. That’s where sickness comes in. That’s where depression comes in. And for me, that’s where trying to kill myself came in, because it wasn’t a thought that I had. Just in the moment, it’s something that happened to me because I never really dealt, I call it the deeper. When you come to our conferences, whether it’s our Speaking Academy or Millionaire Mind Bootcamp, I always say this, God is taking us higher. He’s always going deeper. He realized, the truth is this. I didn’t realize how much junk I had inside of me from everything I suppressed my whole life.

Kimberly Hubenette: Yeah. Keeping it all in, people have just the sickness in ourselves. And then if you push it out and allow others to learn from your mistakes, or talk about it, it helps others, keeps others associated, and learns about things to help them grow, change and move forward.

Daniel Gomez: Yeah. What happens is this, I’ll paint a picture for you. We’ll just say that you, as a human being, you’re a water heater that is overheated inside a house. What happens to a water heater? Well, it can explode if it doesn’t have a release valve, and the release valve is what allows it not to literally explode. It was a human just talking about how you’re feeling or talking about your emotions when you’re losing someone is great. But there’s something that I learned also along the way about grieving is that you can grieve someone who’s alive too. Somebody needs to hear that. And I can tell you, because after my mom passed away when I was 10, my sister’s the one that had a big part of my upbringing. I still love her. She’s still alive, but she’s not the same because she got vertigo about 12, 15 years ago, and she’s never been the same woman again. And it hurt me because I missed my older sister. I missed the laughter. I missed the joy. I missed her whole demeanor, her whole human being of who she was. And literally, it’s night and day because you get used to taking these pharmaceuticals, and it alters who you are as a human. I remember one day just really pondering on this man. It hurts because you remember the smile someone had, you remember the laughter someone had, but they’re still living. But we’re not taught that you can grieve somebody that’s alive because they’re not the same person anymore. That old version of them is dead. That old version of them doesn’t exist anymore no matter how much you try to pull that out of a person. 

So I think for me, I’ve experienced so much death, losing my mom, losing my dad, losing my brothers. Out of five brothers, I’m the only one alive. Think about that. But it’s part of life to me. Not the problem I have, but something that I have to understand. My wife’s Mom just passed away a couple of years ago. It’s easy to learn how to cope with it, that someone else is new to it and like, don’t worry about it. You don’t mean to pass it over. But to me, it’s like, we’re gonna live, we’re gonna die, and it’s part of life because I’ve experienced it so much. As to someone who’s experiencing that loss, maybe you’re out there and watching this episode, and maybe you’ve lost some loved ones, and your partner, your friend hasn’t well, you got to be considerate of how you respond to that. Because one thing I had to learn is that my wife’s feelings were valid, and you got to respect and understand that not only are they valid. Write this down, ladies and gentlemen, everybody’s going to grieve differently. Everybody grieves differently. And what takes one person a month may take another person six months or even a year. So it’s very important to understand that the duration of the grieving process varies from person to person, from loss to loss.

Kimberly Hubenette: And so for you being seasoned with these challenges in your life, I think that people gravitate towards you naturally, because you have a way of, look at your face, you’re smiling, you’re thinking about this, but you also understand that you could still live even after all this tragedy. How do you pick yourself up and keep yourself going? Because you’re such a positive person even after all of these things that have happened to you.

Daniel Gomez: Well, for me, it’s putting God first. I think when God came into my life, really, and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 26. When I really, truly committed is when everything changed for me. And I’m not talking about religion. I hate religion. I’m not religious, but I have a relationship with Christ. And when God came into my life and I really accepted it, I always say this, you need a little bit of Jesus in your life. So when Jesus came into my life, it just healed those pain points. Even this morning, even though it’s a holiday weekend, it’s Thanksgiving, I still make time to pray because prayer is what keeps me grounded. Prayer is what keeps me peace. Because I know that when I spend time with my father, with God, it soothes my soul, it heals my soul. And not only that, we pour out so much to people in our community, in our environment around the world, it’s just like you need to replenish yourself, and it’s like you can’t give from an empty soul. Because if you keep pouring, pouring, eventually Daniel has to be filled up again too. So for me, it’s putting God first, and then family, and then business. And when I really structured my life to have God, family, then business, everything just seems to work out. There’s no such thing as a balanced work life. I think the facade that a lot of people say is, well, you need work life balance. Well, when you love what you do, it’s not work. But also, when you invite your family to do what you’re doing, then you’re able to have fun and play at the same time. And one thing that I love is our wife helps us with a lot of events. Mari and my daughter, Brittany, we get to travel as a family, but we’re working.

Kimberly Hubenette: So you see your family more.

Daniel Gomez: It’s just understanding that, what is the belief that you have in your mind that’s a lie because you’ve heard it so much from somebody else that’s their truth or their reality, but it doesn’t have to be your truth. And I think for someone listening to this right now, understanding that your path is different than everybody else, whether it’s through life, through business, through the loss of a loved one, allow yourself to just follow your own path. And I think so many times in life, we see somebody else’s path and we think ours should look like theirs. And no, it doesn’t. Not at all, that’s why you’re one of a kind. God didn’t create you to be a copy. You’re an original, and you have to remember that in life. Because it’s easy to get lost in so many different places you shouldn’t be because of social media nowadays also is a big factor of that.

Kimberly Hubenette: And with that being said, you touched something about when you’re with your family and you inspire them. And sometimes, somebody else is down and depressed, but you touch the life of them. And somehow, you created a spark in their life. Can you touch upon that? Because I know that you’ve sparked a lot of others and your listeners too about your life and what you’ve sparked in them. I think that you’ve created a great coming of everybody in your life.

Daniel Gomez: Sometimes, we can be so beaten down that we lose our own value. We lose sight of who we really are. Because whether it’s for me, I can tell you when I got fired for one of my positions because my ego got too big. You can get caught up in the identity of thinking you’re your position, you’re your title, you’re who the world says you are. And what I love to do when I realize it for myself is, no, I don’t need Harley Davidson. I don’t need to be this guy. I’m Daniel, a child of God. And I think for me, I help people realize that you’re valuable no matter what. There’s value in you. And the reason I bring that up is because I don’t want the first time I traveled and spoke in Asia. I realized, man, whether you’re in America, Asia, or the UK, over 90% of human beings undervalue themselves. And what I try to do is come in, whether it’s through our coaching or through our events, tell people, no, you’re valuable. Realize how valuable you are. You don’t need a degree. You don’t need to be validated by man. You don’t need to be approved by anybody else. The simple fact that you’re alive and you’re breathing, God has a purpose for your life. And you’re already approved by God. You’re already validated by God. You don’t need anybody’s validation. 

And so many times in life we’re going through every day, every week, every year, seeking somebody else’s approval and validation when the truth is this, you’re already approved, you’re already validated. And when I’m able to give you, I’d say this in our events, I’m not here to motivate you. I’m not here to give you motivation. I’m here to give you revelation that it can bring transformation to your life, to your business, to your finances. And when you realize that there’s a truth inside of you already that you’re born with, and I’m able to say, hey, this is true with you. I’m revealing it to you because you’ve never seen it for yourself. People start crying and start saying, man, no one’s ever told me that way. Because motivation is temporary. But revelation, once you see who you really look at, you look at who you really are, you’re doing amazing things yourself. You’re not just Dr. Kimberly. That’s part of who you are, but you’re an author. You’re sharing your story to the world. You’re speaking. You launched this amazing podcast because now you’re saying, when? What I say has value, and look at what you’re doing. So when I’m able to do that for you and for other people around the world, that’s what true success is. Money is part of wealth. Because wealth isn’t just money. It definitely includes money, but wealth is helping other people prosper and succeed, and letting them see their own value. And when you find that this person brings value and you help them see their own true wealth, you can’t be stopped. 

Kimberly Hubenette: When my husband passed away, my identity changed a little bit. Because when you’re married, you have this other person that is part of your life, and it was kind of a crutch to me a little bit because I had somebody to do things with, and to be with, and to help me with things. I got forced to think about what I could do on my own. And I’m not saying that doing things on your own is always the best. However, it was something that I had to learn to be able to do without somebody, and it helped me be stronger, to learn how to do things on my own. But then also think about how to be with others as well. And it’s kind of a catch. So you help people find themselves. Can you touch a little bit about not just having somebody to do stuff with, but also to be able to learn to live and survive without somebody as well?

Daniel Gomez: Yeah. I want to paint this picture for your audience. The Bible talks about the palm tree. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. And when I say palm tree, a lot of people’s first image of a palm tree is you’re either in sunny California or you’re in sunny Florida with coconuts and all this other stuff with the beautiful sun, which is great. They see that form of the palm tree, Dr. Kimberly and Daniel, because that’s our first picture. But what a lot of people don’t realize is, in order for that palm tree, you, ladies and gentlemen listening to this, to be strong, upright and shining in that radiant sun, letting the sun gleam off your leaves is that there’s some hurricanes that that palm tree has been through. There’s some storms. And what people don’t realize is when those winds come at 150 miles an hour, and that palm tree bends this way, and then it bends this way, and it’s almost touching the ground. That wind, that hurricane that was meant to destroy, and that hurricane destroys many things in its path, but it doesn’t destroy the palm tree. It makes it stronger. It makes you more resilient. And when you realize that the loss of the loved one, for me was my mom, my dad, my brothers, even though I was bending to the left, bending to the right, I lost a couple of throngs along the way, but guess what? After the wind blows, after the hurricane goes, you pop back up, and then the sun comes out. And now, you’re shining again. 

So even though it’s painful, and even though you’re being bent back and forth, and you lose some frongs, what destroys other people won’t destroy you because you’re a palm tree. You got to remember that, ladies and gentlemen, it’s not for you to understand. But what I realized, because I really thought that when I was 26, that my dad was going to be healed. They gave him three months to live. And by God’s grace, he lived a whole year. And there was a point of his journey that he was normal. He was like, man, praise God, he’s healed. Then all of a sudden, a couple of months later, I don’t want to say he relapsed, but he just kind of lost his strength, and we lost him that November. I had a choice in that season. So understand this, ladies and gentlemen, when someone loses their fight with cancer or some disease, you as their child or as their loved one has a choice. You either become better or you become bitter. And the sad part, a lot of people become bitter in that arena because they don’t understand that their season is over. My dad’s season was over. But I look back now. I’m 52. I look back 26 years later, and I’m like, if my dad hadn’t gone through what he did, if we hadn’t lost him, my entire family wouldn’t be where I’m at. Daniel Gomez Inspires wouldn’t be here. Because part of who I am today came from my dad. Accepting God, coming to know who he was. And then eventually, he left. He was the seed for our family. 

And in some ways, think about this, would there be a podcast for Dr. Kimberly today? Maybe, maybe not. But your husband, your late husband was the seed for who you’re becoming now. And there has to be. In order for a seed to bloom, it has to die. What a seed does is it dies within itself, and then it germinates, and then you get new life. Well, as a new life that Dr. Kimberly is experiencing is because of that seed of your late husband, Mark. And I want people to realize that, because what we’re going through a season right now too, where my father lost 90 something years old, and he’s been on dialysis, and I just had this conversation with my wife. I said, look, I get that you love your dad, but he’s tired. Do you want him here suffering because of your own selfish feelings? Your own selfishness. And I didn’t tell my wife in a mean way, but understand that you can’t be selfish to want someone to be alive in pain and agony just because you want them to be alive. What is good about that? When your dad’s time to come home, then let him go home. But don’t want him to linger to be here because of your own selfish reasons. And I think a lot of times, people want someone to stay alive even though they’re suffering from cancer, diabetes, or whatever the strain is, and you can’t be selfish that way. And yes, I’m being a little direct. Because the reality is, you’re being selfish because they’re ready to go, but you’re holding on to them. And sometimes, emotionally, they’re not. They can sense that, and they don’t pass. And they suffer even longer on this planet.

Kimberly Hubenette: In actuality, that happened to my late dog. I wanted him around so much because I needed him, and that he was old, he was tired, he wanted to go. And I think I kept him around for another six months or so when he was ready. And at that point not thinking, ah, I’m  selfish looking back at it. But you know what? There are lots of things that we can learn from our loved ones, and we can be able to help others grow to think about, and memorialize them in the fact that we can tell their stories and help other people grow, learn and listen.

Daniel Gomez: Yeah. You’re right. So one thing that I share with my clients if there’s a loss of a loved one. I like, celebrate their lives. I challenge them even in the time of loss, hey, write down three things that bring a smile back to your wife, to your husband. What are three things that bring back a good memory, and just celebrate the good memories. It’s easy. I understand that you’re gonna grieve. I’m not saying don’t grieve. But what has helped my family with the losses that we’ve had is celebrating their life and remembering three good memories that you remember with that person, and it made a difference for us. Because when you really celebrate somebody else’s life, even though they’ve passed, it gives it a different perspective to where, man, thank you God that they made a difference in my life. Or thank you for this, thank you for that, and you allow yourself to grieve at a deeper level. 

Kimberly Hubenette: We can laugh, cry and celebrate all in the same sentence. That’s a good thing. It’s okay to cry, it’s okay to laugh because they would have wanted you to. They don’t want you to sit there and just cry yourself to sleep every night. They wouldn’t have wanted you to do that. Your loved ones that pass, they see us, and they are around us all the time, and they want us to flourish and celebrate. And we still have a purpose in life. The people that are living still have a purpose. What is your purpose? How are you guys celebrating? How are you thriving? How are you surviving in life?

Daniel Gomez: And I would add to that too that it’s okay to get mad. I think sometimes, we make ourselves feel guilty. Trust me, God’s a big God, and God’s the one that created us. God’s not going to be offended when we lose a loved one and we’re going to these thoughts in our head. I remember that I was mad for a while too when my dad passed away. I’m like, why? I’m trying to do good in the world for you, and my dad leaves. So just understand that. Allow those emotions to come out, allow that junk. I call it junk. Because if we don’t release those emotions, they can poison us, they can harm our body, and then that’s where the bitterness comes in. The anger stays in me. I had a lot of anger when I was younger, but you got to release that anger. You got to release that frustration along with the laughter, along with the joy because it’s part of it’s part of grieving. It’s part of just the loss of a loved one. You can prepare all you want, knowing that someone’s sick or someone’s not going to make it. But the truth is, you’re never truly ready. You’re never truly ready. You can have an understanding of what may happen or what’s probably going to happen. 

A good example is talking about dogs. We had our dog Bucket. Bucket was with us for 14 years, and I just told you, I lost my mom, dad, my brothers. When my last two brothers passed away, I didn’t really cry. I didn’t really have a lot of emotion. And I thought, man, what a butt head. Talking to myself. But when Bucket died, well, we had to make a decision because he had a massive hemorrhage. He had a stroke. He was running into the wall. His brain was frying, is what they were saying. So we had to make a decision if we’re gonna put him to sleep or keep him alive. I mean, he just wasn’t there. He wasn’t aware. And they said he might live another week, another month. So we made the decision to put him to sleep. I cried more for my dog. Then my son got there. We cried more for our dog than I did for my last two brothers. So allow yourself to grieve with your pets too, like Dr. Kimberly said. I still talk about Bucket. I miss him. I wish maybe I had more patience with him when he got older. But dogs get older and they start to pee a little bit here and there, and I would find myself getting more upset with them. Like, dude, what are you doing? But it’s just part of the cycle of life, whether it’s a human or an animal. It’s okay to cry for animals too. For your dogs. I never thought I’d cry for a dog. I just mentioned, I cried more for my dog Bucket than I did for my brother that passed away. I don’t feel guilty about it because I was with Bucket every day.

Kimberly Hubenette: Yeah, it’s the process. Do you have a special quote you live by?

Daniel Gomez: Well, I have two quotes, actually. So my first quote, so we’ve been in business. I always tell people, no one’s ever told you they believe in you. I’m telling you right now, I believe in you. And I was with my speaking quote in Daniel Gomez Inspires, I just want people to believe in themselves. So many people don’t believe in themselves. And just this year, by God’s grace, we launched our new brand, Accept the Upgrade. And that’s our new quote, Accept the Upgrade: You Deserve It. Accept the upgrade in your happiness. Accept the upgrade in your joy. Accept the upgrade in your identity. For me as I’m accepting the upgrade in my marriage, in my bank account, there’s so many ways that’s great. Everybody wants an upgrade on the rental car, everybody wants to upgrade their phone, but they don’t want to upgrade themselves. It’s okay to accept the upgrade. And that’s my quote that I live by now, accept the upgrade. Because when you realize that there’s so many things that God wants to upgrade for us in our life, and our business, and our relationships, and our happiness, and our relationship with Him, just accept the upgrade. And so many people, they resist the upgrade instead of accepting it. And it breaks my heart. So that’s the quote I live by now, accept the upgrade.

Kimberly Hubenette: I love it. You have more than just that one book. You have three other books, right?

Daniel Gomez: Yes, yes. Actually, this is the one that kind of got us known around the world. It’s under the same branding, this is the mama of all of them, The Makings of a Millionaire Mind. This book, go get it. It’s on Audible, it’s on Amazon. And then Accept the Upgrade. It’s still known as The Makings of a Millionaire Mind brand. This is one kind of thing that opened us up to the world worldwide. Go get your copy. And then Accept the Upgrade, it’s available on Amazon too. And then we have our sales accelerator. And then my first book, You Were Born To Fly. And because I’ve written so many books, now we have a book publishing company. So if someone’s thinking about publishing their story, we’d love to help you here at DG Publishing, because there’s power in sharing your story. There’s power in talking about what you’ve lived. Because, like I mentioned earlier, there may be somebody listening to this podcast and  you were thinking to yourself, man, I’m crazy for missing my dog. No, it’s okay to miss your dog. It’s okay to talk and grieve your dog. There’s nothing wrong with that. But we have the belief, or the illusion sometimes that we think we’re the only ones that feel this way, and we can be embarrassed about it. No, it’s okay. There’s no right or wrong way to grieve or not to grieve. You don’t want to become this angry, irate person. You do have a right to grieve the loss of a loved one or an animal.

Kimberly Hubenette: So think about this, ladies and gentlemen, think about what it is that you could be helping somebody else? What is your story? What purpose do you have in life? What is it that you could help with your life? Are you living? Are you loving? Are you surviving? Are you thriving? Think about this and say, think about this, and put it in your own words. I used to be this, but now I’m this. Daniel, can you fill in the blank? I used to be this, but now I am this.

Daniel Gomez: That’s easy for me. I used to be non caring, and now I’m more loving. And it’s not that I didn’t care. I think everybody has that natural caring to a certain extent. But I can tell you, this past year, my heart has opened up tremendously because I’ve allowed it to heal. And sometimes, we don’t realize how much hurt and trauma we have deep, deep down inside of us. And I used to be non caring. It was easy. In the automotive industry, it can be very cutthroat so you learn to continue to move on. If you lose a great employee or a great salesperson, it’s part of the business. They say back in the day, it’s easy to get a cold heart. And the bad thing is you don’t think it affects you. But looking back now, I’m like, man, you can never care and love too much, so I’ve allowed myself to care and love even more in this new season of my life. 

Kimberly Hubenette: The holidays are coming. It was Thanksgiving, and then it’s Christmas time, and this is a moment in time where people sometimes get depressed, or they want to shelter, or they don’t really want to get out there and celebrate some buddy that lost a loved one. Even those that are out there that haven’t lost a loved one that’s very close to them, what could they say to somebody and help somebody, maybe their friend or their co-worker that has lost a loved one? How can they be of support to somebody that has lost a loved one in this time of holiday season?

Daniel Gomez: It’s pretty simple. Just have a listening heart. I think for me, something that I learned this year, and not that I didn’t know. But I’m going to use this frame, these two words down even more. I’ve learned how to hold space even more for people. And what I mean by that is hold space and just let them talk to you. And I think as someone who’s entering a conversation, for instance, I’ll give an example. We’ll just say Dr. Kimberly calls me and says, Daniel, I need to talk. I got to get some stuff off my chest. Just stuff’s happening in my life. Can you give me a year? Yeah, I’ll listen to you. But ask this question after that, do you want me to listen? Just to listen with no response. Or do you want me to listen, and at the end, give you some input or feedback? And I think when you do that, it makes a world of a difference. Two things happen. You set the expectation from the conversation to let Dr. Kimberly know, hey, I’m here for you. I love you. I’m going to hold space for you. But sometimes, Dr. Kimberly doesn’t want any feedback. She just wants to talk and let me know what’s going on inside of her. And the mistake that we make on this side is we want to put our two cents in when you don’t want your two cents. You just want somebody to listen to you. So I think when you ask that up front and say, hey, Dr. Kimberly, what you’re about to share with me, tell me if you want me to reply to your emotions, to your story, what you’re about to say. Or do you want me just to listen? Because sometimes, people don’t want your advice. They just want you to listen. So I think that really helped me in my new season of who I’m becoming. Because sometimes, people don’t want Daniel’s advice.

Kimberly Hubenette: Yeah. That’s a good point. Is there something that you want the listeners to take away today? As far as thinking about those things that Daniel’s talked about, the water heater that explodes, or you thinking about the dog that you’re losing, or the brother, or the sister, or the parent that you’ve lost, and the things that happen in your life when it comes to feedback, what is it that you want as to takeaway to our listeners here today that you can give and shed them some light?

Daniel Gomez: I would say this as I see the title of your podcast, to really live, to truly open your heart to love, and not just survive, but thrive. And what does that mean? I want your listeners to say this, I’m going to get a little bit heavy because we’re talking about death here. I want them to take away, what is your obituary going to read when people read it? What is your obituary going to read? Is it going to read, Daniel was an angry, bitter man that was heartless, like I was in the beginning of my life, in my 20s and my early 30s. Or don’t want my obituary to say, Daniel Gomez inspired millions of people globally around the world in his podcast, in his books. Help people realize how amazing they are by God’s grace. Which obituary would you want? And when I really put thought into it, man, I want to leave a mark. I want to leave a legacy. I want to help people. So I challenge your audience to really say to themselves, what is my obituary going to read? And think about that. Oh, he was a good guy. Well, good is good. But good at what? No, go out there, leave your mark on this world. Truly allow yourself to live in love, and realize that there’s nothing in this world that you can’t do when you invite God to help you. That’s my word of wisdom for them. 

Kimberly Hubenette: This is so amazing that you’re telling everybody this. If somebody wants to find you, again, and listen to you, or have you help them, how are ways that they can find you?

Daniel Gomez: As a matter of fact, because I know what we’re talking about is pretty deep, it might just stir some people to need help if I’ll give them a complimentary discovery session. They can send me an email at daniel@danielgomezspeaker.com. That’s daniel@danielgomezspeaker.com, and I’ll give them a complimentary 30 minute discovery session. Or you can go to Instagram. My handle is Daniel Gomez Inspires. That’s Daniel Gomez Inspires. Send me a DM and just say, Live, Love, Survive, Thrive! Podcast 30 Minutes, and they’ll get their complimentary discovery session, and we’ll send them their link to do that. And we love to pour into your community, because what we’re talking about is pretty deep in people. People definitely need help in this area. I say that because I needed help in this area.

Kimberly Hubenette: Yeah. And listeners, I just want to thank Daniel for being here today, for opening your mind and your heart to him, and basically having some openness to learn to live, love, survive and thrive in this time of the year, and any time of the year. You guys know that you are always welcome to call us, listen to my podcast, find us on Instagram, find us on Facebook, and go to my website as well at drkimberlyhubenette.com to live, love, survive and thrive. And I’m thanking everybody for listening today. Daniel, thank you for listening and giving your words of wisdom.

Daniel Gomez: Thank you for having me, Dr. Kimberly, in this holiday season. And ladies and gentlemen, remember, if no one’s ever told you they believe in you, I’m telling you right now, I believe in you. Accept the upgrade in your life. Accept the upgrade in your business, and go out there and get this copy. It’s a great book to read during the holidays. Accept the Upgrade. It’s going to bless you, because we all deserve more. 

Kimberly Hubenette: Thank you. And I’m doing a 30 Day Challenge right now for the Live, Love, Survive, Thrive! community. So go to my website at drkimberlyhubenette.com, and you will find our 30 Day Challenge. Till next time, make it a great day. 

Thank you for joining me on this episode of Live, Love, Survive, Thrive! I hope our time together has inspired you to embrace life’s challenges, find the courage to overcome obstacles, and create a life filled with love, purpose and fulfillment. If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast. Your feedback means the world to me, and to help us continue to bring you stories and tools to empower your journey. And if you have a story of resilience, transformation or thriving after adversity, I’d love to hear from you. Reach out to me directly at livelovesurvivethrive@gmail.com. You never know, your story might just be the inspiration someone else needs to hear. 

To learn more about me and my work, visit my website at www.drkimberlyhubenette.com. While you’re there, be sure to check out my current book, GRID: Once In A Lifetime, You Get To Start Over, a guide to rebuilding and rediscovering life after loss. Get a sneak peek at my upcoming book, Live, Love, Survive, Thrive!, a powerful companion to this podcast, and a heartfelt roadmap to reclaiming joy, resilience and meaning after life’s toughest seasons. You can also connect with me on social media. Follow me on Facebook at authordr.kimberlyhubenette. Follow me on Instagram with the same name, and subscribe to my Youtube channel at Live, Love, Survive, Thrive! for more inspiration and insights. 

Remember, you have the power within you to write your story and thrive beyond your wildest imaginations. Keep relearning to live love, survive, thrive every single day. Until next time, I’m Dr. Kimberly Hubenette, and this is Live, Love, Survive, Thrive!