She works at an 18-hour Optimal Pace by finally making her own well-being a priority
Aaron Houghton
Aaron
Pamela
![[headshot] image of customer (for a construction company)](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6966b96391c9198a55e44b03/69752d868a5346d44548229c_Pam%20Mueller%20App%20Profile%20Image.jpeg)
Aaron
Pamela, you've been a Dory Mastermind member for four years and have completed more plays to support yourself in the Dory Protocol app than any other Dory member in history. With 44,999 lifetime points, you're in first place among over 10,000 high achievers who support themselves with Dory.
The intentionality you put into optimizing your mind shines through in everything you do, including your performance numbers in the Optimal Pace Protocol.
You also hold records for the highest sustained Optimal Pace (18 hours of high-quality work per day) and the highest Performance Score (167 out of 180 points) in this community.
Aaron
You've shared that this is the first time in your life you're prioritizing your mental self-care, and you finally don't feel guilty when taking care of yourself first so you can support everyone around you.
What's different about the Dory Protocol that allows you to achieve such incredible levels of personal performance now?
Justin
Before Dory, I often felt guilty prioritizing myself and my own self-care.
I’m someone who lives under a lot of pressure, both professionally and personally, and as a perfectionist and high achiever, my natural instinct has always been to focus on what needs to get done and keep pushing forward.
What Dory has done so brilliantly is reframe self-care in a way that actually works with the way my brain is wired. I’m naturally motivated by goals, task completion, and getting to 100%. With Dory, reaching 100% means I’ve done the things that take care of me.
That shift has been incredibly powerful. Instead of self-care feeling like something I have to make time for—or something I should feel guilty about prioritizing—it becomes part of what I’m accomplishing each day.
I still get that sense of achievement from reaching 100%, but now that achievement represents taking care of my mental and emotional well-being.
And ultimately, that makes me better at everything else I do. When I take care of myself, I can show up more present, more focused, and more consistent for my work, my family, and all the other demands of my life.
Dory helped me realize that taking care of myself isn't separate from being a high performer. Taking care of myself is part of what allows me to be one.
Aaron
Many entrepreneurs and executives dream of feeling as powerful and being as effective as you are, but they tell themselves they lack the time to be healthy, happy, and have a thriving career.
As a busy digital marketing agency owner yourself, how do you find time to check in with Dory and complete all the supporting plays you use?
Justin
I’ve made my morning check-in with Dory an intentional part of my morning routine. It only takes a few minutes, but those few minutes give me something incredibly valuable: an understanding of where I am and what my starting point is for that particular day.
Dory helps me pause long enough to recognize how I’m actually showing up that morning and how much “burn” I have available for the day ahead. Instead of automatically jumping into everything I need to accomplish, I have a better sense of my capacity and can be more intentional about how I use my energy.
I also love that the self-care activities, or “plays,” don’t require a huge time commitment. They’re realistic enough to fit into my life, even on my busiest days.
More importantly, Dory has changed the way I think about those activities. I don’t look at them as another list of things I have to do. I look at them as things I get to do for myself.
That distinction is really important to me. My days can be incredibly demanding, and it would be easy to put myself at the bottom of the list. Dory gives me small, achievable opportunities throughout the day to take care of myself so I can continue to show up with the energy, focus, and presence my life requires.
For me, Dory isn’t something extra I have to fit into my day. It’s part of how I prepare myself for the day.
Aaron
I know you love the Masterminds and they're your favorite day of the week. You've attended hundreds of Dory Mastermind sessions over the years.
What does it mean to you to have a group of inspiring peers always available to listen, share their experiences, and cheer you on when life's pressure mounts?
Justin
I’m a very private person, and I’ve always been much more comfortable being the caregiver than the person receiving care. I’m usually the one supporting, encouraging, and pouring into everyone else. So when I first joined the Dory Mastermind group, being vulnerable and openly sharing what I was going through didn’t come naturally to me.
What I discovered, though, is just how powerful it is to have a space where I don’t always have to be the strong one.
Being an entrepreneur and a high achiever can be an incredibly lonely journey. There can be so much happening behind the scenes that the people around you may never see or fully understand. The Mastermind has become a powerful reminder that I don’t have to navigate all of that alone.
There is something incredibly meaningful about having people pour back into you when you’re accustomed to being the person who pours into everyone else.
The Mastermind gives me a place where I can be vulnerable without judgment, where I feel supported and encouraged, and where I’m surrounded by people who understand many of the same pressures and challenges.
For me, one of the greatest gifts of the Dory Mastermind is realizing that being strong doesn’t mean I have to do everything alone—and allowing myself to receive support can be just as powerful as giving it.
Aaron
When you back yourself with the necessary support to become the high performer you are, more things feel possible and achievable because you can be confident you won't suffer or burn out when you raise the bar and aim higher.
What are some ways you've surprised yourself as a Dory member over the last four years—situations where you might not have thrived without the tools and support this community provides?
Justin
I honestly can’t imagine what my life would look like today without Dory.
Over the last few years, I’ve navigated an enormous amount of pressure, both personally and professionally. I’ve also carried this internal feeling that I’m somehow making up for lost time—that I’m not where I thought I would be at this point in my life, so I need to work harder, accomplish more, and keep pushing forward.
At the same time, I’m navigating the reality of having aging parents with serious health challenges, along with the responsibilities and emotions that come with wanting to be there for the people I love while continuing to pursue my own goals.
I think the way I’ve surprised myself most is discovering just how much I can handle and accomplish when I stop treating my own well-being as optional.
Before Dory, my instinct would have been to push harder, take care of everyone else, and sacrifice myself in the process. Eventually, something would have to give. Dory has helped me understand that putting myself first isn’t selfish—it’s actually what makes everything else possible.
The tools, the daily practices, and the support of this community have helped me continue raising the bar for myself while being much more aware of what I need mentally and emotionally along the way. I can pursue ambitious goals, navigate difficult seasons, support the people I love, and still make space to take care of myself.
That may be the biggest thing Dory has given me: the confidence to believe that I can keep becoming more without sacrificing myself to get there.
Instead of asking, “How much more can I possibly carry?” I’m learning to ask, “What else might be possible when I have the right support underneath me?”