A Call To Leadership

EP272: Be Perfect - Impossible or Inevitable? with Joe Thompson and Travis Revelle

• Dr. Nate Salah

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What if the real definition of perfection wasn’t flawlessness but wholeness? In this thought-provoking episode, we will unpack one of scripture’s most intimidating lines and reveal how it speaks directly to high achievers striving for purpose. We will explore why external success often leaves us feeling empty and how redefining perfection as maturity, integrity, and alignment can lead to deeper fulfillment. If you've ever felt successful but still unfulfilled, this episode will shift your perspective.


 Key Takeaways To Listen For

  • How true leadership means becoming whole, not chasing unattainable perfection
  • Why chasing wins can leave high achievers feeling empty and how to reconnect with what really matters
  • What if spiritual, relational, and physical health mattered more than your bank account?
  • How to escape modern culture’s obsession with shortcuts and pursue lasting transformation instead
  • Why the best leaders prioritize relationships over revenue and end up with both


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Master your context with real results leadership training!

To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.

For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.


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[00:00:00] Dr. Nate Salah
Hello, my friend, and welcome to this episode of A Call to Leadership. I'm Dr. Nate, so your host, so glad you are here. On this episode, we tackle a monumental question. Is it possible to be Perfect? In the fifth chapter of the book of Matthew? Jesus says, be perfect. Well, hmm. Is it possible? Is it plausible? Is it. Even worthy to attempt that pursuit? Well, I think it comes down to understanding the meaning and the message for leaders, for people in business, for people, in families, for people in life, and unpacking that in such a way that helps us to embrace this amazing call to rise higher. I've invited Joe Thompson and Travis Revelle back on the show to help me unpack this worthy construct. Can't wait for you to listen in. This is A Call to Leadership. Well, hello fellas. Hello. Hey, welcome. 

[00:01:13] Joe Thompson
It's nice to be here.

[00:01:13] Dr. Nate Salah
Yes, absolutely. Good to, good to get together and talk about some leadership. A lot of what we do at Great Summit and our thrust of our desire to help leaders is, is around. One phrase in scripture that's extremely intimidating for high achievers, and it's in the the fifth chapter of Matthew. Matthew 5:48. And Jesus ends his sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes, that whole chapter, and he says, therefore, be perfect, as your father is perfect like it's just a little intimidating and not heavy at all.

[00:02:01] Travis Revelle
Light lift, first thing that comes to mind. Intimidation. That's scary. And I think most high achievers, right? I think that we like to have goals that are achievable because we're used to achieving those goals. And so when you say live a perfect life like my father. That does not sound like an achievable goal to me. Right? So, so most, so most people would just say, that's not, that's not, I'm out me, I'm out, I'm out. I'm not even gonna try because why try if I can't win? Right? High achievers win. That's what, that's the feedback loop that keeps you going is the win, right? And so when you put, when you put something in front of them that is unattainable. The sense until you dig into it, right? it's, I'm not even gonna try to do that. I can't do that. And that probably turns a lot of people off from that, which therefore turns a lot of people off from just Christ in general because you set this unattainable goal that I need to try to achieve and I can't achieve that.

[00:03:10] Dr. Nate Salah
I'll never be worthy, I'll never be enough, I'll never be worthy. So why try? 

[00:03:21] Joe Thompson
We talk a lot about radical love and Jesus as a tactician. When I read this, I see a tactic that he uses here that I think is genius because he says, be perfect as my father is perfect, not perfect like I am perfect. Which he was perfect. Right, right. Right. You know, whenever you talk to somebody about, you know, whatever problem they're going through, and you try to give them advice or, you know, even if someone's giving you advice, you're like, you know, I can't do it. I'm not Jesus, you know, I'm not perfect. 

[00:03:53] Dr. Nate Salah
Mm. You know what I mean? Yeah. You hear that, 

[00:03:55] Joe Thompson
you hear that a lot. And, I think tactically he shows a very human side of himself here, which, we forget a lot, you know? We forget about his a hundred percent humanity. And, if he can identify with that, like, that strive to be perfect. I think we can strive towards is to have a fuller life. Yeah. A more whole, a whole, a whole life. That's what I get out of it. 

[00:04:25] Dr. Nate Salah
And that's exactly. The nature of the original language. When we look at the Greek for perfect, I love looking at the Greek in the in, in scripture, especially in the New Testament 'cause it makes it more robust. The Greek word is teleios for perfect. And that word means complete. It means mature. It means walking in the virtue of Godly integrity. A little more attainable, I can get behind that. Right? Right. Not only can I get behind that, I wanna get behind that. Absolutely. That's doesn't take failure off the table. Well, it doesn't take failure because it's important because this is not flawless.

[00:05:08] 
Because when I see the word perfect, I think flawless, and I would love to attain that because we're all high achievers. We know like in this context it ain't happening, right? Mm-hmm. But in the context of I'm calling you. To God's very best for your potential as a human being, as a leader, and this is the pathway to completeness. This is the pathway to raising that standard higher then you ever thought possible. Not because I want you to fail, but because I know you have it in you. Like, that's exciting. 

[00:05:49] Travis Revelle
That is exciting. Right. And I think, I think the challenging part of it is that, you know, each day you get to wake up and, and try again, right? Yeah. Like it's not, looking back on your life and saying, you know, did I, did I achieve perfection? It's every decision you make, taking that into consideration, that lens that you're looking through and saying, how can I try to be more perfect in this decision that I'm making right now? 

[00:06:16] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. More mature. More mature, more complete, more complete walking in a greater sense of integrity, walking in greater sense of virtue, like that's a call. It just makes you a better person.

[00:06:26] Travis Revelle
Yeah, it just makes you a better human being. 

[00:06:28] Joe Thompson
Think about the difficulty it is in doing, like in your lifetime, doing one thing perfect. Now, a gymnast scoring a perfect 10 or throwing a perfect pitch, it takes up so much of your life to achieve like that. One perfect thing, right? So like at Great Summit, we're just saying, Hey, take that energy right and make the thing you, because I've, you know, I've strived for a lot of things in my life to be perfect or to be perfect at them, and it's constantly failing 'cause you're flawed, right? Mm-hmm. 

[00:07:09] Dr. Nate Salah
Speak for yourself. 

[00:07:10] Joe Thompson
But the way he lays it. We're not all doctors. Stop, the way he lays it out here. this is something like worth spending a lifetime doing, right? And it is something that is attainable in this sense, almost easier in, in a way than being, you know, the perfect runner are perfect at anything.

[00:07:35] Dr. Nate Salah
No, and there's no, there's no need to even, like, you can break down that misunderstanding of like what we think a, a full life looks like. Right? It's, it's such a, it's such a misnomer because we often lean heavy, especially those of us in the business world. We lean so heavy on the business side. We lean so heavy on the financial side and, and truth be told, there's merit. In providing, financial safety and financial needs for your family. And that's important. However, it's, it's such a heavy lean that we're like, okay, let's make sure our financial health is so strong. And then our spiritual health bankruptcy, our relational health with our families is torn. Our community health is in isolation.

[00:08:34] Travis Revelle
There's no way we can ever be complete. Our physical health is completely torn down. Mental, our mental health is depression. I mean, just look at, look at the world. I mean, all you have to do is turn on the, turn on the TV for, you know, 30 minutes and look at the commercials that the drug industry is, is, is running, and you can see the bandaids, all the things that they're trying to sell you to make up for the, the whole that you have in your spirit, basically.

[00:09:03] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. Yeah. It's like, okay, let's just, let's just cover all this. It's just, take this pill.

[00:09:07] Travis Revelle
Yeah, just take this pill. You won't be depressed anymore. Take this pill until, until you take the next pill. Right? Right. Take this pill and then three years later it's, well, you took this pill so you need to take this other pill now. And it's funny 'cause I saw, I saw this commercial and it was, it was, it was, it was for a, a depression medication, but it was because your current depression medication isn't working quite well enough. Take this new one that together will make you better. Right. And it, it's goes through the whole pitch and then the last 10 seconds are all the things that it does to you. May cause death, may cause this. Right. And it's just like we're, that society has become that dependent on quick fixes. Yeah. Right. To fix this, this longing that everybody has inside of them, that we're willing to just continue to play this game. That is no end. Right? Right. There is no end. There is no, there is no magic pill. Right. It's not there. 

[00:10:03] Dr. Nate Salah
And Jesus like speaks to that right here. He speaks to that crisis that we face in our journey, crisis in life. And says, Hey look, you know what? Even at the time, I mean if you look at it in context, 'cause at the time, like the magic pill, if you wa, if you were, was, um. More, more land or, or more oxen or more wealth. Right? It was a lot of material. Oh wow. 2000 years ago. My, how much has changed? Right? 

[00:10:33] Travis Revelle
It's like humans don't change, it's just the environment in which they're in.

[00:10:35] Dr. Nate Salah
That changes, right? Yeah. Right. It hasn't changed. And yet in that same chapter, I would encourage anyone to read that chapter. Matthew five. He starts with what we call the Beatitudes on this sermon on the mount. And he starts going through these, what he calls, you know, the, the blessings. Blessed are, you know, blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are are those who are pure and hard. He goes through seven of 'em and none of 'em say blessed are those who pull up in their fancy Cadillac or their, you know, designer pants or rolex watch or all that. Now, granted, we've all experienced that, that cool stuff, right? Mm-hmm. That's an outward, that's, that's outward. Interesting. The word blessed in the Greek that, that he uses is vicarious, and that word, that word means a life joy. That is not dependent on any external circumstances.

[00:11:41]
 So when he's using this language to contrast, because people are like, because at first you could take it as patronizing. So how is being poor in spirit a blessing? Because I got issues, right? Lots going wrong in my life. How are you gonna tell me I'm blessed? And he's saying, look what I'm saying. Is that true? True blessing isn't. All the stuff coming in. 'cause guess what? That's fleeting. It ain't gonna last. True blessing is knowing that God's love for you. This radical love that Joe was talking about, it's internal. That's where joy comes from. It's irrelevant of what's happening outside. And if you can get ahold of that, you're blessed. Yeah. That's unstoppable blessing. Just imagine that, and I know we haven't arrived because confess. Outward stuff still sometimes get a little down or I'm like, ah, why? Right. I mean, we're human. Absolutely. We're human. 

[00:12:48] Travis Revelle
But it's, I don't think it's, it's not focusing on the fact that you still have that, it's realizing that you still have that and focusing on the internal side of it. Right. So it's, it's, yeah. We all want nice things and we have nice things, and we still want nicer things. And you see somebody who's got a nicer car or a nicer house and you're like. I like that. I wish I had that right. But I think true wisdom is coming to the point of saying it's okay to like that. It's okay to want that, but to understand that that's not going to make you happier. That's not going to make you feel any better because we've all done that. We've all bought the new watch, we've all bought the new car, we've all bought it, and it's cool for, you know, I would say like I get a new car, it's cool for like a month, you know, like I love it for a month. Don't. I still like it, but the newness wears off. Yeah. And what are you left with? You're still left with that longing for something more. So it comes down to the message, right? 

[00:13:46] Joe Thompson
So you're going to get, and, and we talk about this all the time. There's, there's the dichotomy between, you know, the laws from from God and then the laws from man. Travis and I were talking earlier about, you know, that's really what separates one belief system from the next is they're a man's interpretation of something and then the laws they build around it. So here you have like two different messages. You have the message from Jesus, or you have the message from society. And what does society wants you to do? Wants you to consume. Mm-hmm. Want you to, to buy. Mm-hmm. You know, happiness is a vacation. 

[00:14:31] Dr. Nate Salah
Happiness is, you know, a pill. Yeah. Or whatever. 

[00:14:34] Joe Thompson
So it's our, you know. I think we're tasked with, and by us I mean anyone who has, Jesus as their Messiah, right? They're tasked with letting people know, you know, hey, there's, there's another message out there. Like if this one, if you're achieving it and it's still kind of filling empty, there's another message out there that you can work on achieving that makes you feel fulfilled. Yeah. Right. So, you know, there's, you know, commercials are pounding stuff at you. Like you can't look at anything now without some kind of advertisement coming at you telling you something that you need. Right. And it's easy to get caught, caught up in that, right? Because. First you want something and then you want a better version of it. Right? And that's all trying to fill that hole that stuff can't fill. And that's not a profound statement. People have have known this for a long time, but like we said, in 2000 years, things haven't changed very much. So it's, it's the in, I'm as guilty as anyone else. It's the message that Christ gives us that we need to be spreading. Right. Really the goal of Great Summit, right? And let people know that, hey, there's, there's another way to be fulfilled. Mm-hmm. Right? I mean, you could, you could work a job that doesn't pay you a lot of money, have a family, and you're perfectly fulfilled with your family life and your relationship with your wife or your community and things around that. So something to keep in mind is, you know, if you're a Christian and you know this message to share it,

[00:16:21] Dr. Nate Salah
The depth of, of how Jesus describes this. It goes even deeper with the blessed. That same word, vicarious is a word that was reserved for the Greek gods to explain their joy outside of space and time. It gets pretty deep. Mm-hmm. It gets pretty deep like, and his heroes would've understood. To say that's you. I totally understand and I am with you through these struggles and these challenges. We've gotta go deeper. We've gotta go to a place of true, authentic fulfillment that is not broken by what's happening around us. That is not contentious by what's happening around us and does not seek to find its deepest sense of authenticity and significance in what's happening around us, but what is within us. And sometimes we don't even know where to look sometimes we're in such a place. I've been there, I've been on a one way road to nowhere and I thought the parties, the.

[00:17:44]
 The party favors. All of that was going to be fulfilling. In fact, by the world standards, the cars, the motorcycles, business, the world standards. You know how you're labeled? You were labeled. This is the nineties, by the way. I know. You make fun of me for living In the nineties. You are labeled as the man. You've heard it, right? Right. You've heard it. Yeah. Oh, you are the man. Yeah. You're the man. Well, why do I feel so empty? Right. Tell me that riddle be that Batman. Yes. Another nineties term kicking and screaming. We're dragging you out of that. And so it's like, okay, yeah. All right, well what happened? Because I checked all those boxes. Where's my prize? 

[00:18:30] Travis Revelle
Emptiness, loneliness, depression. Right. And I think, I think that even worse, right? Is that like. When you're, when you're younger, you're in business and you're starting out, right? It's always, when I make this, I'm gonna be happy. Right? And then, you know, God blessing. Willing. You, you make it and you're still not happy. So it's, lemme make more, right? And then you're on that cycle and then you're like, well, lemme start buying some stuff that'll make me happy. And so, you know, you buy all the things and you're not happy. And then it's, let me do the experiences, right? I'm a kid that, you know, I'm more of a two thousands guy, right? So, so it's always about, you know, the experiences, right? Like the festivals, the, the vacations, right? All these, and, you know, you feel good in the moment. When that moment's over, you're not fulfilled and you're constantly seeking the next best thing. And just like a drug, it's gotta be bigger and better and more expensive, bigger experiences. So finally, you've, you've done it right? You've done all the things, and you're still left there and you're lonely and you're broken, and you think that you're just mentally broken because you don't know what. I've done everything that everybody told me to do that's gonna make me happy, and yet I'm not happy. And you have no idea what you're missing exactly. But we do.

[00:19:51] Dr. Nate Salah
Because. 10, 10. Jesus says, I have come to you, should have life and have it abundantly. Have it to the full. I'm like, okay, I'm listening. That was the crossroads of my life. 25 years old, got challenged. You should get to know Jesus like, all right, I accept the challenge. Like go where the rabbit hole takes me, because guess what? It ain't working out so good right now. Right. And I think I've got everything that I ever thought I wanted in life. And it ain't doing the job and this is the path. This is the path that he says. It's like, okay, let's roll. Be perfect. Like slow your roll. Hold on a second, right? It's like, no, lemme explain what that means because you're fragmented. You're so far from complete, you can't even see it. 

[00:20:41] Joe Thompson
I think a lot of this comes down to defining what are you working for? I you. Physically grow and get more mature or you, you grow in spirit. I think defining why you, like, I don't feel guilty working hard because now I know what I'm working for. Like it's a purpose outside of myself. It's a purpose for mission. It's a purpose for, you know, great summit. I wish I would've thought that at a younger age like that. I wanna work for. Like the betterment of that person. Yeah. Not me, right? It's worthy cost, but, but, but you don't have the emotional maturity to think that when you're 22, 23, 24 years old, you just don't have it. So you let all the messages that are coming from the outside influence you, but purpose-driven hard work is, is good for you. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? As long as you, you, you, you have a, I think, I don't wanna even say a higher purpose, as long as you have a purpose that you're working for, that benefits something other than yourself. Then I think you can work as hard as you want. 

[00:21:56] Dr. Nate Salah
That's part of what we're talking about is you lose your sense of purpose. You lose like, okay, well I thought this was all the, the why. Mm-hmm. Right? And then you're like, okay, well the pur, this has no purpose. I mean, not outside of the moment. And then you're like, okay, well there's gotta be something deeper. There's gotta be more. There's gotta be, there's gotta be more purpose. And I, we talk to people all the time who are like, I don't have purpose. And what happens when we don't have purpose? We're really like not even living at that point.

[00:22:23] Travis Revelle
Yeah, agreed. And I think we've all probably had points in our life when we'd, we've lost purpose. Mm-hmm. Because we were looking for that external validation, right. Instead of internally. Mm-hmm. And understanding where our true north is, where we're headed, where we need to be headed. and I think that's what Great Summit provides for people. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:22:43] Joe Thompson
I think it, there's no life lived without trauma. There's no life lived without. And if you are that person, get ahold of me because I wanna, I wanna know how you, how you pulled that one off, off the person who never had a crisis in life or trauma. And you know, sometimes you'll find yourself not only with a lack of purpose, but like, you're just trying to survive. Yeah. Right. You are just living like to the next minute because your crisis can be so bad, it could be so debilitating. And whether that's physical or emotional or spiritual, what you know. Whichever, way you want to put that. It is easy to lose purpose in the face of pain and crisis, right? And no one tells you to focus. Like, no one tells you to focus except your pain and follow Christ. You know, they tell you, here, take pain pills. They tell you, well go do this and go do that. You know, because when you're in pain, humans have a natural aversion to pain.

[00:23:47] 
Right. That's how we stay alive. Mm-hmm. But when you get to the point where you can accept pain and kind of. Leaving, leave it in God's hands. I don't mean to sound cliche, but like that literally saved my life. Just leaving it in God's hands. Your purpose is knocking you over the head at that point. Right. But you, you won't find it without like taking that, you know, step to seek it. Mm-hmm. And being open to the things around you that tell you, hey, this is a message that you're getting. Right. So if you're open to that, if you know there's something more, that is what Great Summit is about. Yeah. Like it's really, you know, we're, we're building that safe place, right?

[00:24:35] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. Because if you can, if you can have a place, if it's safe to be brave, that's where you can really begin to live. You can really begin to exhibit that courage. I think that's what he's saying here in a way. He's saying, look. I'm not calling you to a flawless life, right? You're a human being. I'm telling you that I'm not here to condemn you. I'm here to elevate you to your true identity and rise outta these shadows that you're living in. I'm like, okay, it's a message you can get behind. I can get behind that message for sure. I can get behind that message and reclaim. Really, it's reclaim. Reclaim that fire. That started this journey and got sideways. A lot of ways it gets sideways and it's like, no, no, no. You know what? Let's get back on track. Let's have spiritual health. Let's have mental health. Let's have physical health. Let's have financial health. Let's be strong. Those are our pillars. Those are our community pillars, and they hold up our building a life that houses these relationship, our primary relationship, our relationship with God, our relationship with our family, our. Who doesn't want strong relationships in that way? Who doesn't want complete relationships? Who doesn't want whole relationships? Who doesn't want to, perfect, if you will, in this understanding of it, that like I could get up in the morning excited, I'm ready to roll, like suit up. 

[00:26:03] Joe Thompson
Yeah. It's easy to not know that you need strong relationships. It's easy to, to not know that you, you know, should. Treat your body better or take time for your mental health. Were you ever injured as a kid? And they tell you to walk it off right? All the time. Yeah. Ignore your, I still tell my kids, ignore your emotion. Right? Ignore your emotion, walk it off. You know, you just took a fastball to the groin, he walking, walk it off. We do that so much. We, we dissociate ourselves with, feelings. That would guide us to those places where, community and, and, and our health and our, our mental wellbeing and is all in good order. Mm-hmm. Because you're constantly told be in good financial health. Mm-hmm. Right. That comes at jet lot. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Being good financial so you can be a better consumer. Mm-hmm. Too. 

[00:27:06] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. So you can buy more drugs for your, your work, long, poor mental health. Yeah. And your physical health and your spiritual health. 

[00:27:11] Joe Thompson
So that deepening of your, of your faith. Right. And God. I think opens you up to being more aware in general of like how important the relationships in your, in your life. Yeah. Like how many times have you have you, and I'm just talking about us in the room. Mm-hmm. Like how many times have we, you know, I. Shortened time that maybe we spent with our spouses, or I don't have kids, but mm-hmm. Your kids. Yeah. Or because you were working on your financial health. Right. 

[00:27:40] Dr. Nate Salah
I mean, that's easy. Yeah. Too many times it's, and it's celebrated. 

[00:27:44] Travis Revelle
What are you gonna, you celebrated, you know? 

[00:27:48] Joe Thompson
Oh yeah. But what are you gonna miss most? Like if you had to write down, you're on your deathbed. These are all the things that I don't want to miss. 

[00:27:55] Travis Revelle
Nobody's gonna say, I'm gonna miss work. 

[00:27:57] Joe Thompson
Nobody say that closing that extra deal, right? But we're, we're so brainwashed by society into. 

[00:28:04] Travis Revelle
I agree. And I think, I think, you know, another way to look at it, right? Like, you know, there's, there's all these challenges, right? I mean, I think that's kind of the, the new thing, right? Like it's a physical challenge or hey, this is a financial challenge, or, Hey, this is a, you know, a juice challenge, right? Everybody wants to do a challenge, so, you know. I think, I think this is just a, a logical next step. This is, this is a, this is a life challenge, right? Mm-hmm. This is a holistic life challenge that's made up of four key components. And we believe that if those four key components are in alignment, you are gonna have a fulfilled life. Mm-hmm. And at the end of the day, right? Like, I think that's, that's what people are searching for, right? They, they want to feel their life is fulfilled and we want to help people get there. Yeah. And I think that's our calling, right? Like as a group, as a, as an organization, it's to help people find that fulfillment, so that they can reciprocate that. And push that down to somebody else so they can also find it. And I think that that's really important. And so I challenge people to, to just take a look, see, see if this is for you. 

[00:29:08] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you're ready to, to take that next step in your leadership journey. Truly. 

[00:29:15] Joe Thompson
Look, I wouldn't even consider community Look, I, I, I, I don't wanna sound like off put by it, but like, when I'm trying to be healthy, I don't think about, oh, you know. Being involved in my community, you know, helping people in my community. You know, I do a lot of charity stuff. Mm-hmm. But I don't think of it as community. like I have a, I have a soft spot for veterans, right. I'm not, I'm not a veteran myself, but especially wartime veterans that come back. And I spoke with someone who. Went to their city hall and they kind of got a program together for veterans to come there. And it gives them a safe place to be. You know, they play pool, they play darts, they can talk amongst themselves and we know that's like very therapeutic for people going through, through something to know other people are going through it. But like never considered doing that because like, I gotta work or something, you know? How am I gonna squeeze that in on my calendar? But like that, compared to what I do on a nine to five, nine to nine basis, it's just so much more important. 

[00:30:21] Dr. Nate Salah
Well, and that's, it's interesting you bring that up because even in our, our model for these four elements or these four components of your relationships, your four relationships, your relationship with God, family, community, and business. A lot of programs, you know, this, this is nothing new, but business creeps its way up the ladder. Right? And we purposely put business last. It was a hard, kinda, a hard decision, if you will, because it's so, it's so, that's the drill counter. It's so counter-cultural, right? It's so counter what we should be doing. It's like, no, no. Get your relationship with your creator. Solid. Pour that into your family. Invest and be invested by your compu, your community. Guess what? It's all gonna pour into your business. Absolutely. It's all gonna pour right into your vocation. 

[00:31:13] Travis Revelle
That's it. 

[00:31:13] Dr. Nate Salah
And make it stronger. That's it. 

[00:31:16] Travis Revelle
Make it sustainable as well. It's a more sustainable model. Yeah. 

[00:31:21] Dr. Nate Salah
Just like be perfect is like, does not compute. Does not compute, right. This doesn't compute, but it adds up. 

[00:31:31] Joe Thompson
You know, you said something there, you said it's like counter, counter-cultural, counter-cultural to not think about work right at first, but it's, it's really not counterintuitive, right? Because intuitively we attach ourselves to our families, right? Early on, or we attach ourselves to our friends. Like we know that the people element of our life is. And if you can attach yourself to your faith, right, it really does start to make a pecking order of. What is most important to What's important, but not as important. Right. Like I would never tell anyone, Hey, quit your job and love your family. Right, right, right. Because you gotta, you gotta provide. 

[00:32:20] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. You gotta provide, because loving your family means me providing and sacrificing to provide. It's, it's only one kind of provision though. Yeah. And that's what you have to do is like, okay, financial provision, what about everything else? Mm-hmm. I mean, there's so many other provisions that we make as a leader, a spiritual leader, as a, as a confidant, as a person who shows up. Who's fully present, right? These are ways that we provide, yet we just focus on one vertical, and that one vertical leaves us with a life that's unfulfilled. And I guarantee you, when you get to your deathbed and I get to mine, that's not how we want this story to be written.

[00:32:53] Joe Thompson
Right. I'm super guilty of that. Like I, I really am guilty of not putting those things first. And whenever I do a podcast or you know, the three of us hang out and I go home, I. My wife always says, oh, I love the mood you're in. When you come home, you know, you're, you're more considerate. You know, you're, you're more supportive to me emotionally, blah, blah, blah, because I'm, I'm in that state. I'm with like-minded people, right? But you don't have that. You don't always have that accessible to you on your regular everyday life. And this is how we build the accessibility to that 24/7. Yeah. Old adage, show me your friends, I'll show you your future. Right. 

[00:33:37] Dr. Nate Salah
A million percent. And this is community. Like when we, when we're together, we're, we're doing community. Mm-hmm. And then that, that pours naturally into the vocation. In fact, I have one of my team members who, started, coming to a Bible study on Monday nights. I invited 'em to a, a, a study. It's community, right? It's a bunch of guys getting together and going through different books of the season. And so in the traditional sense. Right. Nobody would ever fault me. Of course, you know, if you're been a listener, you know, we have a, an an accounting and advisory firm. Nobody would ever fault me for saying, Hey, you know, it's tax season. You can't leave at four 30. Now for that, for that time with community and Bible study, because we've got returns to do, nobody would ever say, oh, Nate, you say no. That's the right thing to do. Right? I mean, you got got work to do here. However, based on this model, it's like, Hey man, you're free to go. Go now, if you feel you need to stay for any reason, I'm not gonna tell you not to stay, but I'm gonna tell you that that needs to come first. We can file a few extensions if we need to. You having a strong sense of community is only gonna make you better when you show up. To do your daily duty. 

[00:34:54] Travis Revelle
That, and that's the thing, right? Like how much better of an employee do you have by doing that? Right? How much more loyalty do you have from your employee by doing that, right? So by making that sacrifice as a leader, right, or as a business owner, right? Your growth is exponential. It's more than those two or three extra line items that that person can do. Those tasks. That can do. Right. Because you're pouring into that individual and I think then the leadership side of our component, right? Like that's what we want to teach you as well. Yeah. Like there, there is a huge component in there which will have a direct impact. On the income of your business. ROI, it's, there's a huge ROI. Not only is there an ROI on how you feel, right? How your family feels, how you're viewed, right? Like all the, the stuff that isn't necessarily tangible, that isn't quantifiable, but there's an ROI on your business as well. You will see growth from this.

[00:35:50] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. I haven't met a spouse yet who we're talking about faith infusion here, right? Mm-hmm. Who you, we've said. Hey, your spouse who's working all those late nights at the office and sacrificing all that stuff for family. We're going to teach God first, then family, then community, then business where they've said, oh, no, that's horrible.

[00:36:08] Travis Revelle
That's terrible. Never, never, never. 

[00:36:10] Dr. Nate Salah
Like, oh my goodness. Where have you been? 

[00:36:11] Travis Revelle
Right? 

[00:36:13] Joe Thompson
Where have you been? I mean, speaking of ROI, taking this and applying it to your own customers, right? Like loving your customers radically. Yeah. Yeah. Unconventional. 

[00:36:30] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah, it's 'cause we, we always talk about differentiation strategies, right? In business, right? Isn't, the application is on and on. Like we'll have more obviously episodes, which we'll talk about this. The application not only is relevant, and I don't wanna say it's, you know, a competitive advantage 'cause we don't necessarily talk like, talk about that. But what it does is it sends the message to your ideal customer. Look, we do things in such a way that's gonna give you the best possible experience you can get. Why? Because I wanna have the best possible experience in my own life and I can't possibly understand how to give that to you unless I'm living it. 

[00:37:06] Travis Revelle
Correct. Buckle up, buttercup.

[00:37:08] Dr. Nate Salah
Thanks for being here, guys. We'll keep it going. 

[00:37:13] Joe Thompson
Thanks for having us. Appreciate it. It's good to see you guys. 

[00:37:17] Dr. Nate Salah
Well, my friend, we did it again. I'm so glad you joined me on this episode of A Call to Leadership. If you've been with me on the show listening in, you'll know this, but if you're new, you may not know that I created a free course for you, that you don't need to provide an email address. You don't need to go anywhere. But to stay right here in the podcast, I created the very first six episodes of the podcast because I wanted you to have the kind of value that you need to take advantage of to thrive. As a leader. So if you haven't done that yet, listen to episodes one through six. I'll see you on the next episode. I'm Dr. Nate Salah and this is A Call to Leadership.

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