4 Lessons Justin Bieber Taught Me - Nostalgia, Connection, Authenticity & Uniqueness

What on earth could I have learned from Justin Bieber’s Coachella performance? Honestly… a lot. In this episode, I unpack the viral, controversial performance that has everyone talking and why it completely shifted my perspective. From a stripped back stage and unexpected nostalgia to a level of connection you don’t often feel through a screen, this performance hit differently, and I’m breaking down exactly why.

We’re diving into the power of human connection in a digital world, why nostalgia can be so emotional (and healing), and how doing things differently can actually make you stand out more. I also share my biggest takeaway: the importance of authenticity and how being truly yourself is the key to confidence, success, and real connection.

4 Lessons Justin Bieber taught me this week that have changed my mindset:

1. The power of connection
2. How wonderful nostalgia can feel
3. Be different, when they zig you zag!
4. If you can’t be better, be unique

If you’re on a self development journey, looking for mindset shifts, or want to feel more aligned and authentic in your everyday life, this episode is for you. Expect real talk, relatable stories, and simple ways to reconnect with yourself, your people, and what really matters.

In this episode:

• Life lessons from Justin Bieber’s Coachella performance
• The importance of human connection and being present
• Why nostalgia is so powerful (and how to tap into it)
• How to stand out by being different
• Why authenticity is your biggest superpower

If you loved this episode, don’t forget to share it with a friend or pop it on your stories, it means the world! Love you bye!! xx

Follow me for more on Instagram @mindyourownbeeswaxpodcast & TikTok: @mindyourownbeeswaxpod

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Mind your own beeswax.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome back to another episode of Mind Your Own Beeswax. My name is Grace. I am your hostess with the Mostess, and thank you so much for joining me here. Today we have an absolutely exciting topic. Now you might have seen by the title of this episode, what on

Why am I talking about Justin Bieber?

SPEAKER_00 0:27

earth could I have learnt from Justin Bieber over the last week? Well, I have learnt a lot and I'm here to fill you in about why Justin Bieber's Coachella performance has honestly changed my life. I think I would go as far to say that it has changed my life. If you have not seen it, jump on YouTube or TikTok or Instagram and search Justin Bieber Coachella because it is an incredible performance. If you don't know what Coachella is, it's this incredible music festival. It happens every single year in California and it is so big it actually happens over two weekends. So they have the same events twice. And this year they had over 250,000, yes, 250,000 people attend. It was incredible. So many big names. They get basically the biggest and the best artists in the world to perform. And some Coachella performances are just insane. A few years ago, Beyoncé performed, and that will always be one of my top performances ever. It was just incredible. Artists just go above and beyond. They have fireworks, they have backup dances, they have outfit changes, there's choreography, they have a live band, like anything you can think of. They have special guests, they bring out celebrities. It is insane. They just throw the absolute kitchen sink at their performance. Now, my guy Justin, however, he did not do this, and this is why his performance has been extremely controversial. Justin

What did Justin do at Coachella?

SPEAKER_00 2:01

came out and he had a really cool stage set up, like it was just this weird big ring, um, and he kind of could like walk around the ring or stand in the middle of it, but it was just him. There was no band, there was no backing dances, it was just him singing. And I sort of was watching and I was waiting. I was like, is he gonna bring out dances? Like, where is this going? And it sort of got 30 minutes in and it was just him singing, and it was lovely, but it's not what I had expected. Now, myself, as well as I think pretty much everyone in the crowd and everybody watching at home, we were all waiting for Justin to play his old school stuff. I wanted to hear Baby, I wanted to hear one time, I wanted to hear Favourite Girl. We were there for the OG bangers. And when it came time for Justin to play those songs, he actually sat down and he opened up a laptop, he went onto YouTube and he would play the clip of the original music video to that song and he would sing along to it. This at first kind of felt a little bit strange to watch because I was like, oh, he's like on YouTube singing along with himself. But then as he continued to pick different videos, I was like, oh my god, I remember that video, I remember that clip. And he came to playing the song With You by Chris Brown, and the original video is him when he was like 13 or 14, like really young, way before he was famous. And it's him just like singing in his living room. He's got his like poster behind him of Bart Simpson, like it's original Justin content, and I just like had tears in my eyes. I was like, oh my god, like I remember seeing that video for the first time when I was young, like it was just amazing. And to see him now, like all grown up, and he was like singing with his younger self, it really got me in the feels. And then after that section of the performance, I was hooked. I was like, I am obsessed with Justin. And because he had the laptop and the little desk set up, there was a camera on his desk. So people like me watching at home, we could like see him right close up, like you were on FaceTime with him, and he would even talk to it. He's like, I can see you people at home, like I know people at home are watching. It just was like such an insane moment of connection, and I feel like Justin, you know, he was giving me the hairy eye. We were looking at each other, it was really great. And then he played a few more songs. He did bring out a couple of artists, he brung out Kid LaRoy and then two other guys that um he has another song with. But basically, it wrapped up. He played the song Daisies, and at the end of the song, he like bobs down, again, cuts straight to camera, like looking down the camera lens, and then he looks over his shoulders and like these fireworks just appear above him. But the camera angle was like a real close-up with him, just sort of like looking at the fireworks behind him, and oh, it just gave me goosebumps, like it was so beautiful. Again, I just felt like so connected. I was like, I'm so happy for you, Justin. Like, you're just you're all grown up, you're just doing your thing. It was just so nostalgic for me. I really, really loved it. Fans online had a lot to say about this performance, and it was fairly mixed. So, some people like me loved it, were absolutely obsessed. They said it was such a stroke of genius. I saw some commentary even around people saying how healing it was to watch this performance and to connect with their younger selves, connect with the Justin that they knew 10-15 years ago, and then of course, other people had commentary saying that his performance was just messy, lazy, and underwhelming. So I can totally see both sides of it, and yeah, it did catch me by surprise at the start, but I think when I went along with the journey, I was sold and I loved it. Now, at my time of recording this, Coachella the first weekend has happened, but the second weekend has not happened yet. So it's gonna happen all over again very soon. But considering we're technically only 50% of the way through Coachella, Justin has already broken basically every single Coachella record. So he is the highest paid artist ever in Coachella, he is the most viewed performance, the most searched for performance, and the highest ever merch sales. And again, we're only halfway. Like, imagine this weekend, there's gonna be way more merch sales, more people are gonna be tuning in, I'm gonna be tuning in live again, absolutely. He's broken every single record and he's just taken the world by storm. So, what on earth have I learnt from this performance and why has it had been an absolute emotional chokehold for the last couple of days? Well, number one is that

The power of Human Connection

SPEAKER_00 6:41

I really just took away from this performance the power of human connection. I think we live in this world of AI, digital technology, and yes, those things are absolutely great and wonderful, and they can add value to our lives. But as people, we are just craving that human connection. And that's what Justin did. He had our full attention, our eyes and ears were solely on him, and the way he was looking down the camera lens, it was just such a moment of connection. We get so caught up in social media and the digital world that we forget to just connect with real people. And I'm totally guilty of this, and I think if you especially if you live with someone or the closer you are to people, we forget that we want to connect with them. You know, how many times do you find yourself rotting on the couch, scrolling on your phone next to someone else? You could be connecting with that person, but instead you're having a bit of a sketchy online connection with your phone, really. We need to find that connection with people and humans, we love it. That's what I learned from Justin's performance is that it feels so good to connect with people again. Now, there's so many ways that you can connect with people and experience that human connection. Number one, like I said, put your phone away and be present with the people that are in your space. Just connect, make eye contact, make conversation, laugh together. It actually feels so good. And I guarantee that dopamine hit of having a laugh and smiling with someone next to you is gonna be way better than the dopamine hit you're getting from that TikTok that you've been scrolling and watching and stalking for the last couple of hours. I think as well, it makes me really want to experience concerts more. Like I really want to go to more live events and go be around people and go see music live. I think I'm really, really craving again that human connection. Not necessarily that I'm personally connecting with whoever's performing, but it's really made me crave that like live connection and being in that live space with other people, enjoying that same thing. So, number one, I have taken away from Justin's performance that I want to have more connection, more human connection in my life. My second takeaway from Justin's performance

Why you need to experience Nostalgia

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is that nostalgia is beautiful and I want to experience more nostalgia. Nostalgia is often referred to as like a fond remembrance of a time, and you often have that recollection layered with emotions. So you might feel joy, you might feel love, you might feel connection, or perhaps you have some maybe not so good memories. You might feel grief, you might feel regret, or maybe a sense of longing for who you were at that time. Revisiting those earlier versions of ourselves can feel really good for some people, but perhaps not as good for others. And for me, watching those clips of Justin on YouTube and him now singing along to that, that was that nostalgia for you know, it was sort of like 2009, 2010. Like I really just remembered who I was and where I was back at that time, and I just felt that nostalgia, like felt that love for those songs and those videos that I experienced back then, and I haven't felt those feelings in such a long time, and it was just so lovely. Like for me, it was really positive, and I would imagine for the most part, nostalgia is really positive for a lot of people, but it was so nice to just remember those memories, feel those emotions again, and it just had me hooked, and I think that was a big part of his performance, is that there was such that emotional connection via the nostalgia, people loved it. And throughout the performance, like I said at the start, I was not totally convinced, but once he did those older songs, he had me hooked. I really feel like for me, music is the easiest way to experience nostalgia. And I will put my hand up and say that I listen to a song on repeat. Like I will just play a song over and over and over and over for a few months until I hate it and then I never want to listen to it again. So songs for me are like really ingrained into my memory as to that specific period of time. So for me, a lot of Justin Bieber's early music and those YouTube videos he played, that was me as a teenager. Those were my core teen years. I think about the song by Whitney Houston, It's Not Right, but it's okay. Um, that song is what I was listening to when I got fired from my first job. And so when I hear that now, I like think about that time. When I was in Japan last year, Taylor Swift's new album came out, and I blasted on repeat The Fate of Ophelia. And I like would listen to it on the train, it was playing in like the shops that we would go into, and whenever I hear that song for The Fate of Ophelia, it just reminds me now of being in Japan. And those are all feelings of nostalgia, whether it's hearing Justin Bieber and reminding me of being a teenager, Whitney Houston reminding me of the time I got fired, or Taylor Swift reminding me of the time I was in Japan. Hearing those songs triggers that nostalgia for me and it triggers those feelings. You can also experience nostalgia from movies. I think again, it's such a good way to connect with where you were in the world at that time. Like watching movies that came out, you're like, oh my god, remember that, or looking back and watching a movie where they have like a flip phone or old technology or an old Apple laptop, you're like, oh my god, I remember that. That's so nostalgic. Movies and TV shows are a great way to experience nostalgia. Food is another one, like think about food that you used to eat and you don't eat anymore. For me, a happy meal is like a nostalgic thing. I have probably not had a happy meal again since I was like maybe 10. That is nostalgia for my childhood. I can't eat McDonald's anymore, unfortunately, but if I could, you best believe I would be getting a happy meal ASAP. That shit was so good. And how good, like back in the day, you'd be like, oh my god, what toy am I gonna get in my happy meal? It was so exciting. That's that nostalgia when you think about a happy meal. I'm like, oh, I remember that excitement. I remember being so keen, and it felt like such an exciting little treat that I'd get on a school holidays or on a weekend. You can also experience nostalgia for a place. Perhaps it's an old home that you lived in, maybe you and your family moved away. Can you go back and do a drive-by and suss it out and feel that nostalgia from when you used to live there? Could you go to a place where you used to go on holidays or drive past your old high school or your old workplace or maybe like a park or a playground you used to play at a lot as kids? Go and physically be in that nostalgia. It's so, so nice to connect with those old feelings and just feel those good feels. So get out there this week and go experience some nostalgia. Listen to some old music, watch an old movie or a show. When you're doing the groceries, grab something that you used to love when you were younger. Or this weekend, can you get out and go someplace that you haven't been in a long time and see, see how that nostalgia feels. My third takeaway from Justin's

Have the courage to be Different

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performance is the power of being different. And that's what he did. He did something different. People expect artists at Coachella to go above and beyond, to have the biggest backdrop, the most incredible costumes, dances. Just go balls to the wall and do absolutely everything you can think of. And Justin didn't do that, he went in a totally different direction. It was just him, his hood, and a laptop. I saw this quote and it says, When they zig, you zag. And I think that's what Justin did, is that everyone was going in the same direction, doing the same thing. He went the total opposite way, and it really broke through. It really connected with people in a way that no one else was able to, and it was super memorable. There's another quote I think of, and it says, if you can't be better, be unique. And I think this is true. And obviously, Coachella is a very crazy example, and I'm sure there's no celebrities or musical artists of that scale listening to this podcast. But if you can't be better, be unique. And I think about that in my own space, right? With my podcast. There's a lot of podcasts out there. There's many, many podcasts about self-help, personal development, and mindset. And I can't be better than some of them. I am not a multimillionaire, I'm not an influencer, I'm not a celebrity. I can't be better than those people. All I can do is be unique. And that's what I've got to offer is my authenticity and my uniqueness. And that's the key. I really, really believe that when you're authentic and true to yourself, that's the only way to be successful. I also think Justin's performance was incredible because less is more. I love that saying. Less is more. Sometimes all the bells and whistles and the above and beyond, it can distract from the core message or the core theme. And I think we are so guilty of this, you know. We're in a society where we want more of this, more of that. You know, it's so easy to place an order with Amazon and it's delivered the same day. We want this, we want everything. We all want, want, want. But when you strip it back and it's just plain and simple, sometimes that's where the power is. And like I said, when they zig, you zag, when everybody else is doing so much, can you pair things back and just be plain and simple? And finally,

If you can't be better, be Unique

SPEAKER_00 16:44

I think I just touched on it, but authenticity. I think that's what Justin did here with his performance, is that he was just authentic. He did what he wanted, and nobody could tell him different. And I think when you look at his most recent performances when he performed at the Grammys a few months ago and he sung that song Yukon, it was just him and his guitar and he was wearing boxes, like very stripped back, very peaceful, very quiet, like just chill, very different to what he used to do. And I think that's just what he wants. He was authentic to himself. And I seriously believe that the only way in this lifetime you can be truly successful and do your absolute best is when you're authentic to yourself. Because when you're being anything other than that, it takes effort and it's not genuine. But when you really live your truth, you are true to who you are, that is where the power is. And there is no way that you cannot be successful when you are authentic to yourself. And I think that about Justin, you know, he's been in the music industry for a long time. He knows his worth, and he just was able to say, I'm doing what I want to do, and I know it's gonna be great. And you know what? It absolutely was great because here I am doing a podcast talking about it. I don't think I could make a podcast about Sabrina Carpenter or Sexy Red or anyone else that performed. I'm here talking for like 20 minutes about Justin Bieber's performance. That's how powerful it was, that's how connected I felt, is that I can sit here and yap. And if you know me personally, I've probably tried to talk to you about this performance because it's just been all consuming. I can't stop thinking and talking about it. But that's how powerful it was, is that he did this performance that just connected, it created a sense of nostalgia, it was totally different to what's happening, and it was just authentic to him. And I just feel like so, so touched by that that I'm like, yes, I need to have more connection, I want to experience more nostalgia, I want to do things differently, and I want to be authentic to myself. I think it's so powerful, and those four key takeaways I'm absolutely bringing into my podcasting space. Those are four key pillars that I'm gonna try and live by. So, how can we have more human connection? For me, I'm gonna try and really be present with the people in my life, put my phone down or put it totally away and just be present with those people. And I think when I'm having those interactions throughout the day, whether it's someone at the gym, you know, someone at the cafe serving you a coffee, someone on the registers at the supermarket, can you just make that conversation a little bit more than just hey, how you going? Really connect with that person, make eye contact and just have a conversation. Enjoy some nostalgia. I'm absolutely gonna keep listening to my Justin Bieber playlist of his OG songs, but I think I really want to watch a really nostalgic movie. I think that would be something really nice. I'm thinking like probably like Camp Rock or Hannah Montana, something like really, really nostalgic. I think I really want to lean into Justin's doing something different and being the opposite of what's trending. I feel like with my podcast, right, I unfortunately I've got to put myself out there on social media because I think that's that's one of the best ways to reach a new audience, right? And hopefully, if you're listening to this, maybe you did come across me on social media, on my TikTok or my Instagram. I hope that's how you found me. But there's a lot of trends out there, right? There's Cap Cut, there's TikTok, there's so many resources, there's AI, like anybody can create any kind of content. And I think there's a lot of trends, and I definitely see the trends, and I save them. I'm like, oh, I should do that, I should do that. No, I want to challenge myself this week to do something different, do something that is not trending and see how it goes. And authenticity, I really live by this. That that is all I can bring to this world is to be authentic. So, this podcast, the things that I am saying, the things that you are hearing, that is me living authentically. I'm not filtering myself, I'm just here absolutely waffling. I'm being authentic to myself because I cannot deliver any other message than what is authentic to me. And again, on my social media, I'm gonna continue doing that. When I post content, I really want to sit with it and go, is this authentic to who I am? And you can apply this in your life, you know. At work, I think it's really easy to like put on your professional personality, you know, or your customer service personality. Can you just be a little bit more authentic to yourself? Can you send an email that's really authentic in your own tone of voice? Can you have a conversation or deal with a situation that's really authentic to who you are? And I guarantee that if you have a little bit more authenticity, you're gonna feel a lot more better in that situation. Feel a lot more better. I'm not sure if that's the proper English. You're gonna feel a lot more solid. You're gonna feel a lot more connected and a lot more true to yourself. And I think when you can be really authentic in your communication with other people, it doesn't leave you questioning or it doesn't leave you feeling like anxious. You're like, did I say or do the wrong thing? No, you just spoke your truth and really living authentically, it is actually pretty tough. So I challenge you. Can you be more authentic at work? Can you really connect? What is the authentic version of yourself? What do you really love? What do you really want to say? And can you live that more in any way at home, at work? Whatever feels authentic to you, can you pursue that this week? And

Episode summary

SPEAKER_00 22:47

that is what I will leave you with today. Can you have more human connection? Can you experience some nostalgia? Can you be different? And can you be authentic? Those are my four key life-changing takeaways from Justin Bieber's Coachella performance. You best believe his next performance is on tomorrow night. So I have got a reminder in my phone. I've got an alarm set. I've got a couple of friends that I'm going to text and be like, you need to watch this as well. I cannot wait to watch it again live. I don't know if it'll be different. I'm not sure. He may do exactly the same. He may do something different. I don't know, but I cannot wait to just be present and connect with Justin again. And I'm going to just keep listening to my Justin Bieber playlist this week because it's put me in an absolutely high vibe. I love it. Thank you for listening today. I really hope you've enjoyed this episode. I would love if you could jump on my social media, mind your own beeswax, on Instagram and TikTok. Give me a follow, give me a like, throw it up on your stories. If you're listening through Spotify or Apple, you can hit the share button, put it on your Instagram stories, or send it to a friend. Your support means so much to me. I'm on the road to a thousand downloads. It's my goal. So thank you so much for being here and helping me make that happen. I hope this episode finds you at a time when you need it the most. As always, love you bye.