The Jefferson Fisher PodcastHow To Outgrow The Version Of Yourself That's Holding You Back ft. Hunter Hayes
At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Hunter Hayes on outgrowing fear, finding flow, trusting yourself always
- Hunter Hayes argues that if you play the “what if” game, you should list what can go right as seriously as what can go wrong.
- They explore personal growth as a recurring choice—outgrowing your current self, making course corrections, and intentionally choosing who gets a “seat at your table.”
- Hayes describes a major career pivot around 2018–2019 where he learned to trust his own experience in rooms full of industry veterans and to advocate for ideas he believed in.
- The conversation frames “flow” as a practical decision-making compass: moments where you feel carried versus dragging something uphill indicate alignment or resistance.
- Hayes shares how therapy, understanding ADHD/OCD tendencies, journaling through music, and practices like neurofeedback helped him break patterns and create work that connected deeply (e.g., the rule-breaking song “Dear God”).
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasGrowth is always available—choose it on purpose.
Hayes emphasizes you always have the opportunity to outgrow who you are now, but it requires actively taking that opportunity rather than waiting for change to happen to you.
Balance fear-based scenarios with equally vivid positive ones.
If your mind lists everything that could go wrong, you “owe it to yourself” to list what could go right—e.g., losing a job could create freedom for a better opportunity.
Curate who influences you like “seats at your table.”
Fisher’s metaphor highlights that your inner circle changes by life season; being selective about who gets access to your decisions and mindset can shape your trajectory.
Trust your lived experience, even in rooms full of veterans.
Hayes’ 2019 tipping point was realizing executives hadn’t met fans the way he had; he learned to respectfully say, “Try this—if it fails, it’s on me,” and bring conviction into the room.
Use “flow” to find the line between standing firm and yielding.
Hayes tracks whether something feels like resistance (climbing uphill) or clarity/purpose emerges; sometimes new information reveals the “why,” and he can get in the backseat and let others lead.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesIf you're gonna list all the things that could go wrong, then go ahead and list all the things that can go right.
— Hunter Hayes
None of them have done any of the meet and greets that I've done.
— Hunter Hayes
I was constantly learning how to hold the truth of, "Yeah, but so do I."
— Hunter Hayes
If I hadn't created the space, the space would've created itself.
— Hunter Hayes
Because I fell in love with it before it was a job or before it was a decision... I've never had to make the decision. I make music.
— Hunter Hayes
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
