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Welcome back, you beautiful people, to episode 18 of the DVP, the Dan Vegas program, brought to you by your host, myself, Dan Vikus. We have a new little accessory here today, and hopefully the audio is going to be a whole lot better for you. If you're just listening, you might be able to tell. If you're watching, you'll see the microphone in my hand. I needed to sit down immediately for this. I'm in the process of trying to build an alternative avenue of work. I've always enjoyed working with people, coaching people, leading people. I've enjoyed the ability to have an impact on people just by the grace of God, is the way I'll put it. The way I live, the way I engage, the way I listen, the way I interact. It seems to, based on the feedback from others, really encourage and inspire other people. And so I've been leaning into that or trying to and trying to build something around it. And I'll be completely frank where I'm at. I'm building this program online. I've been working with people one-on-one in person for several years now. Just friendships, coaching relationships, general conversation where I talk and I work with people, I help people work through things, work on things, build, reframe, focus on God, reignite that fire in their soul. That is the core of who they feel they are and who God created them to be. I've been doing that for shoot, as long as I can remember, but actually doing it for a couple last couple of years and intentionally doing it for like the last two years. There's a minivan going by and has some crazy aftermarket wheels on. That's cool. If you're seeing the fence, there's slots through, I can see through. Anyways, been doing that very intentionally for the last like year or two. And there was a part, being totally frank, there's a part of me that is trying to move away from the corporate world. I know how to operate in that space. I know what to do, and I've done it, and I've done it successfully, and I've made six figures, well over six figures, and been fine, cool. But it's soul sucking, at least for me. You know, I don't enjoy it. And I've so I've been looking at something, looking at something else, trying to do something else. And where I'm at right now, where I'm at today, is the last few weeks been trying to build a program online. Been using Claude and ChatGPT, and it's been really great. So much so to the point where now I have an eight-week program. It's a cohort, small group of men, you know, five to twelve men, and it's an eight-week program. We meet for one day a week for two hours, and it is all about helping faith-based, highly motivated, and successful men reignite their life, live with clarity, passion, energy, focus. And it sounds great, and it is, it's wonderful, but I can't help but feel as I'm building it that something's off. And not with the program, not with the work that it's doing, but with the mentality by which I'm approaching it. And that doesn't mean that the program's wrong or I should stop, but the mentality behind it, something's off there. I know it is, I feel it. It is that sense of trying to force things to happen rather than doing entirely, completely what God set before you and then allowing him to lead you and guide you. What my mind keeps on going back to is Abraham and Sarai and or Abra or Abram and Sarai, Abraham and Sarah, how God was like, Hey, you're gonna have a kid. And they're like, Oh, awesome. We're kind of old, but awesome. And it doesn't happen on their timeline, and so Sarah or Sarai then says, Alright, go have a baby with my maidservant. And that leads to a whole bunch of problems for the rest of the Bible, the old testament in the Bible. And God still blessed that, but but not in the same way that He would have like that He would have blessed his instructions if Abraham and Sarah were just patient, and eventually they had their son that was promised to them, but they forced it beforehand, they didn't wait on God. So that that is consistently in my mind, that is constantly there, that is pushing. That I cannot escape that, I cannot get away from that, which is annoying. I really wish I could. I really wish I didn't have that. I say I really wish I could, but it's a very clear signal that, hey, maybe you've got to reorient, re-look, reconsider what you're doing, what's going on. And so that's that's a very real true aspect of what's going on. Along with that, I saw something, I think it was earlier today, where this young lady was talking about how Christ was a carpenter for however many years, we'll say 20 odd years, before he began his ministry. And her message was that work is important. Even if the work is not necessarily related to your quote-unquote calling, the work is still valuable and important. And as I reflected on it further and was thinking about it, there's not a single passage in scripture, there's not a single message, there's not a single anything where Jesus talks about his work as a carpenter. I don't know about you, but so often I feel like, oh yeah, you know, what I'm doing now is gonna serve me in the future. And there's a part of my brain that goes, like, cool, this is good, because this is like it'll be a good story for later, I can apply this for later. But it made me laugh this morning when I was thinking about what the lady said, because Jesus, God, the creator of the universe himself spent 20 odd years working, doing work, and not once in his three-year ministry did it ever come up, did he ever talk about it, did it ever surface as the punchline of a story, as the arc of a parable. Never. But it was still important. And just because the things that he learned or practiced or used or worked with or dealt with as a carpenter were not spoken about in his ministry doesn't mean they didn't have value, it doesn't mean they didn't have their place. Which highlighted two things for me. The first one being do the work. And even if you don't see the value in it, or if you don't see where it's going to be applied in the future, it doesn't actually matter. The reason the work in front of you matters is because it's a gift that you woke up that's today is a gift from God. He has given it to you to use. And so if there's something important in front of you that needs to be done, even if it's work, then do it. And do it as if you had chosen it. Do it as if God had given it to you because he has. And in this particular instance, you might be like, it's not really work. I love, I don't feel passionate about it, I can use my skills and creativity another way. Alright. Pray, give it to God. And this has been the hardest part for me because my mentality has always been do it, fix it, figure it out myself, go push, keep going, keep going until either you break or it breaks. Actually, saying that now, it's the first time I've ever verbalized that thought process all the way through, so it's kind of wild. Um, either you break or it breaks. Because I have broken. I think I was at a certain point like that in my life earlier, where I really wasn't paying attention to God and got literal broken bones. Um or bone. It was one bone. Broke multiple places, but just one bone. And so I'm trying to approach this in a different light. Acknowledging that feeling that what I'm trying to do can still be very real true in a gift in the proper direction. But why and how, why I'm trying to do it and how I'm doing it, are even more important. And in fact, I might go so far as to say that the only thing that matters, because you can do the what. A lot of people can do the what. Meaning, if there's something you want to accomplish, there's a million ways to probably do it. But the why and how are what is conveyed. The why and how are the emotion and power behind it. There's 101 people online that have really good knowledge and skills. But they're not all Tony Robbins. They're not all billionaires. And I believe that comes down to the why and the how. It has nothing to do with the what. The what is an expression of the why and how. So the why and how matter. Incredibly so. And so the what I want to do is encourage and inspire and light up other people to help them see that the creator of the universe saw such value and treasure in you that he died for you. And not just so that you'd be redeemed and you could live without that heaviness, the guilt of the transgressions and the mistakes that you've made. Not just so that you can feel good and have access to his spirit and his wisdom, but take it a step further so that you can live eternal life, so that you can live, should you choose, forever. Literally. Literally doesn't mean physically. We're body and soul, mind, body, soul. The soul lives on forever. Um, but these the creator of the universe decided, not even decided, he just sees such value and treasure in you that he chose to die. He chose to give his only son so that you could have access to the opportunity for that eternal life, for living fully, even if you don't choose it. That's the insanity of it. Think about it. I'm not a dad yet. I hope to be one day, but Lord willing, but think about it. You can probably at least comprehend the situation. If you were a dad and you're standing in an auditorium, and next to you is your daughter or your son, and there's a guy moderating the whole thing, and he goes, Alright, Dan, my name's Daniel. So, alright, Dan. If you give the life of your son, everyone in this room will have the chance to live fully and freely and totally alive. Let's have him. I run so fast out the back door. I don't even I do my best to use eloquent language. I wouldn't even have time to guess anybody out. There would be no reaction. I would just scoop that kid up and be like, this is some psychotic BS gone. Holy cow, are you kidding me? You want me to let you kill my son? No, thank you. Um, and by the way, and just so that people might have the opportunity, they're not even gonna use it or take me up on it? No. But I wouldn't even get there because that would be like actually considering and thinking it through. I would just be gone. I'd be gone before I even finish the sentence. That's me. Human being. But the creator of the universe, Jesus, Christ Himself, God the Father, looked at you. And if you're listening to this podcast, you can hear me, but if you're uh watching it, you can see me. He looked at you and said, I see so much value in you that yes, I am. I'm gonna give my son the word incarnate, the word made flesh, to be brutally disfigured, tormented, and killed, so that you might have the opportunity to choose to live well. To choose fullness and life with me. I'm gonna let him die and suffer, suffer and die, so that if you want to, you can do this life with me. And live in a completeness and a fullness that you have never experienced and will never experience any other way. I want I mean coming back to present now, Danny is here now talking to you, episode 18 of the DvP. I need people to know that. The amount of individuals that are are are brilliant and so capable and so spectacular that I have met and interacted with and engaged with, and when you watch that, when you watch them light up about whatever it is that they're passionate about, it doesn't matter, but when you watch them actually come to life, holy cow, it it's an instant transformation, it's a gift. And everyone is capable of that. It is there for every single human being. And there's a lot of reasons why we forget that. There's a lot of things that will cause us to get distracted, especially if you've if you've had any form of worldly success, status, money, whatever it is. We can get really easy really easily distracted, very easily. Very easily distracted. Really easily hardened of heart, if that's the right way to put it. But a transformation happens, and not a good one, where where people will forget that. We forget the love of the person who created us, we forget the life that we're actually made for. And we begin to associate all the good things in our life, and I'm not talking about the nice car or house you have, or the watch or whatever. But all the good things in our life, like waking up and feeling excited about the day. Waking up and feeling encouraged or motivated, waking up with a family that loves you. We forget that all the good things in our life don't come from what we've done. Doesn't come from you. Listen, habits are great. But there are just as many billionaires who sleep till noon as there are that wake up at 4 a.m. Habits are brilliant. There are just as many people that journal every day as there are people who have never journaled in their life. There are just as many people who read 200 books a year as there are who read none. That might be an exaggeration. I don't know anyone who reads 200 bucks a year. But the point is, there's just as many people who read a whole bunch and say, That's I have to read every single year so many books. And people be like, I don't read, man. Life is my teacher. Who are successful. The thing that works for you is different than the thing that works for the next person, and that's fine. That's how we're creative. We're different people. We're not meant to be the same. You can learn from people, yeah, that's great. But everything that you have, and everything that you've done, and everything that of real value that is an aspect of your life, it does not come from what you have done. It is a result of who you came from and who you are and whose you are. When everything flows from whose you are, it is superfluous, it is abundant, it is never ending, it is without lack. It's the greatest it can be here on earth. And we have a tendency to forget that. I know this because I've been there multiple times. What's that trend going around right now? Not proud, but man enough to say it. Not proud, but man enough to say it. I know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And yet, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, four hundred times, I've tried to do things without him. Not proud of it, but man enough to say it. There's nothing that matters more than being in right relationship with God and living as he's called me to. But I have, knowing that my entire life, too, willingly chose not to live that way and suffered the consequences and hurt a lot of people, and then thrown a big fit about it. Wondering why something's not the way I'd like it to be. Not proud enough, but man enough to say it. Or not proud of it, not proud of it, but man enough to say it. I've looked at something, I've looked at a situation, I've observed a scenario, known exactly what I ought to do, and done the exact opposite. Thinking that my flesh in the moment would actually satisfy me. Not proud enough, but man enough to say it, I have felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit in God be like, hey, slow down, and just kept pushing ahead with the mentality of I'm going to make it work. Either I break or it breaks, but I'm going this way. Uh in news slash, I broke. So to make this all very real and present, I'm sitting there going through stuff, working on this program, early mornings, late at nights, because I still have my job, and that's important to do. I believe it is of the utmost importance. I'm getting paid to do work, and so I ought to be doing it to the best of my ability. I'm working on this program, feeling, knowing that I'm just not going about it the right way. I'm trying to force something, and rather than acknowledging and stopping and thinking, just kept trying to push, push, push, push, seeing all the signs that I'm trying to force and recognizing it too, you can't listen. The camera magnifies everything 10, 100, 1000 times. If deep in the darkest, tiniest depths of your heart and soul, even though the intention is good, or even though the reasoning is good, the intention is off. Like you want to help people, but really you want to gain some followers so that you can get some money, so that you can do change jobs, it comes through, and that feedback is real. If there's the tiniest hint of it in the back of your mind, everybody's gonna see a clear as day. It's very, very simple, it's very straightforward. If you're a tiny bit anxious, mail truck, if you're a tiny bit anxious, that anxiousness is magnified a hundredfold on the camera or in a microphone if you're listening. If you are a tiny bit cautious or reserved or not certain, that cautiousness, that reservation, that uncertainty is magnified a thousandfold. And you wonder why you look. This is I say you as in someone who has done this, guilty, I've done it. But I or we wonder why certain things, certain people, get attraction or attention, and you're trying so hard, but it doesn't happen for you. Something's out of alignment. And you can do as I have done in the past and just fight it, fight it, fight it. Nothing's gonna change. You're just gonna erode away your soul, and then sooner or later your subconscious mind doesn't actually trust your decision making anymore because you've been fighting what your subconscious mind has been telling you for so long. The decision-making part of your brain no longer understands that hemisphere in your brain no longer understands what is true, what is not, what you feel is right, what is not, what you ought to be doing, and what the world is demanding that you do, even though the spirit and God are like, hey, pause, don't do that. So leaving that aside, you can do that, or you can stop and be like, you know what, this sucks. This feeling sucks, this situation sucks, whatever it is sucks. But I'm not gonna do the Wrong thing just to get out of it. And again, I'm kind of laughing because this is as I'm talking to you now, it's the first time I've ever really thought about it. Also, salamanders. I've seen a ton of them lately. Super cool. I love them. I've never really seen them before in real life in my life. That was a side note. Um but I'm laughing because this is this is I'm realizing this as I'm sharing with you. And so it's because it's been very easy for me to get that concept in certain situations, like, hey, if you're unhappy in your relationship, you don't cheat on the person. Nope. Will that get you out of your relationship? Yeah. Most of the time, and if it doesn't, it's not the relationship you should be in. Um like you could do that, or sit down and talk with the person. Is it awkward? Is it weird? Might there be difficult conversations? Yeah, but that's that's how it ought to be done. And if you really don't want to be there, then have the self-respect and also respect the other person enough to be like, this isn't it for us. You don't just go cheat on them. And that's such an easy concept for me. But then when it comes to things like this, hey Dan. You want to ignite within other people that life that's already inside of them. You want to help them see it. You want to help them speak clearly, you want to help them live with more clarity and purpose and intention and fire and excitement and joy. Gotta make sure he picks up the mail I dropped off for him. Sweet, thanks. You gotta you want to make sure people that live that you want to make sure people live with more clarity, excitement, and joy, ferocity, authenticity. That's great, cool, got it. That's that is what you want. That's what you're after. And that's a good thing. There's a true desire for something good, awesome. Don't do it by forcing anything. Like if you begin to do something and it feels very forced, it's wrong. Stop. Just like in the relationship, if it's not right, don't begin to get mean and so that the other person breaks up with you. That's not right. The right thing to do would be pause, sit in the suck. Alright then, you want to do that, you're not doing it. There's a disparity between where you're at and where you want to be. Pray about it. Seek the right way to do that, to move and go about that. There will always be answers. Seek and you shall find. If you want the quick, easy answer, you're gonna find something that might seem quick and easy, but it's actually gonna destroy your soul. But whatever you look for, you're gonna find. So if you're like, God, I'm looking for your guidance and wisdom, and I want to do this in a way that is in alignment with who I am and who you call me to be. It might require you to sit in that pain, suckiness for a little bit longer. But on the other side of that is tomorrow or the next day or the next week being able to live and move and know that you did the things the best way that you could. With the very purest of intention. And insofar as you believed, you did it with God's grace. And so I'm all laughing. This is this is not hearsay or fun talk or random. I'm I'm laughing because I say I'm laughing, I would look kind of stern, but my mental track, the monologue, the soliloquy, is humorous. Because I'm actively doing this. I'm actively catching myself, stopping myself, and I owe this entirely to my fiance. Um, she's such a gift and such a graciousness. But very gently, um, I don't want to say called me out, but she didn't call me out. She just was like, hey, look at this. In an encouraging way, it was beautiful. But I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to apply this, how to use this. And I felt it worth sharing. Energy, joy, excitement, that comes through very authentically. For me. And I don't need to alter that. I don't need to filter that. I don't need to edit that in order for it to be impactful. I'm I'm trying to think of a the words to say this, but I'll just give an example instead. So I've posted videos that have by metric standards done well, got a lot of attention, outreach feedback. Of me dancing or doing something silly or getting hyped like a white girl song or something like that. Or jumping around upstairs on my bike. And it's fun. Those are fun for me. And yes, I'd like people to see the joy and contentment and energy and excitement that is out there and available to them in life. But I don't post it for attention. And I think there's a subconscious part of my brain that was thinking, oh, people would people would think that you're only posting this for attention. And so I was self-sabotaging and not doing things that I felt like I actually wanted to do because people would think that I'm doing it for a certain reason. And so I was like, I can't have them thinking that, so I have to cater and do something a certain way. Bleh blah blah blah blah blah blah. As Drac would say, blah, blah, blah. Or he wouldn't say. If you get that reference, you're a legend. Um, but I wouldn't, I I wouldn't post the sort of things that I wanted to post or share. Or I don't. I could say don't. I guess it's not wouldn't, because I've been actively existing this way. Um because there's a part of my mind that would think that thought people would think I was posting it just for attention. I'm like, I don't want to be that guy, I'm not doing that. Let them think whatever they want to think. It doesn't matter. This is now me talking to myself, having a little therapy session with myself. It doesn't matter. You know why you're posting that. You know why you're talking about it, you know why you're sharing it. You're having fun. You are 120% alive right now, existing, ferociously energetic, and just enjoying every ounce of this very real, practical, small little human being moment. And you want to share that, you want to post that. You want to that excitement excites you, and you know that you have the opportunity to allow people to see that in their own life. You know that in living that out fully, somehow, your actions can give other people permission to do the same. It is witness to them that this is available for you, you can live like this, you can do as you wish in a good way, and it is worth it. You ought to live like that. That is why you post and you share. It's not because you're trying to get views, it's not because you're because you're trying to get attention, and it's funny because those things get the most views and attention, and it's not because you're trying to, it's because that's what you actually like to do. That's funny. I gotta listen back to that like 14 times. What on earth? You just like to do it, so you do it. It's fun to you, and that's all that matters. And I'm gonna reiterate it because I need to say it again for myself so that I can hear it. It's not like you're trying, it's not because you're trying to give use for that stuff, but that's the stuff that gets the views. It's not because you're trying to give views for that stuff. That is you loving and being excited in a moment and laughing, be like, yeah, I'm gonna share this because I'm excited about it. Boom, post, and that's what gets the views. And it's like obviously, because that is that is the spirit moving through you. That is the most live and authentic real version of yourself. Hello, bada bada bing, bada bang, bada boom. You don't have to sit down with a microphone and talk real bluh or with a notebook in order to seem real or legit. Be yourself and be it fully. This has been just as much a confession to you, to the world, as it has been an acknowledgement. I saw a video the other day of of Bailey Zimmerman, and I remember him starting to sing a couple years ago. I remember watching the whole arc on in on TikTok, and he told the story about like, yeah, I was working in an oil field, and I was just like, This sucks. I want to be a singer, and so that's what I did. Gave it to God, and I just went for it. And people loved that, and then people hated on him because he sounded rough at a concert, and his acknowledging his acknowledgement to that was like, Yeah, I know, I know I sound rough. He's like, guys, I'm getting better, I promise. It was funny because people were like hating on him, and he's like, Oh, no, that sounds terrible. Yeah, he's like, But don't worry, I'm getting good at it. And now he's freaking phenomenal. The emotion and the excitement, the energy behind him is is nuts. I'd love to see him in concert. Um that's cool. But it made me think about he just went, he said very clearly, very straightforward, very outright, very deliberately, this is what I want to do. And he just kind of went for it. He didn't have to fake, he didn't nothing. He says, I just I want to be a singer, and I go for it. But he did it because that is what brings him the most joy authentically, and so I love to sing, yes, I love to dance, yes, I love to be crazy energetic. Yes, I I loved to babysit when I was younger because to me it just felt like hanging out with kids. Like I was super energetic and and love to go outside and do things, and so at random points through high school, I think eighth grade was the first time I babysat someone but aside for my siblings. Um but it was great because to me, I was like, I just no, I like I like having fun, like running around outside, and so babysitting was easy because I'm like, this is fun. You're gonna pay me just play board games or play with cars with your child and make sure they just don't burn the house down, fine, easy, I can do that. I like life, I like being energetic, I like being outside, I like singing, I like dancing, I like encouraging other human beings, and so just go for it, Dan. Just freaking do it. That's it, that's all there is to it. Just do it. As Shiloh Buff says, just do it, do it, yeah, do it. That's all there is to it. But and until this very second, this very moment that I'm sitting in front of you right now talking about it, I've always tried to then be like, okay, that's what I want to do. Now how do I fit that into a nice little presentable box and do it? No, forget the presentable box, forget the trying to fit into a certain mold, forget the I have to act this way so I can get this, or I have to act this way so I can do this. Just do it. The same way Bailey was like, Well, I want to be a country singer, so I'm gonna post some music videos, I'm gonna talk about stuff, I'm gonna try and sing in concert. That's what he did. And he built it and he grew, and he grew. And when people pointed or made fun or laughed, it really didn't bug him. And he was able to acknowledge, like, I'm I'm sure on some level, that's a really, really pretty bird sound. I'm sure at some level he was um bugged by it. But his response was always like, Yeah, no, I'm working on it, I'm getting better. Because it wasn't about trying to prove something or trying to fit into a box, it was just about don't do a field, I'm gonna sing, so I'm gonna do it. Wasn't trying to prove anything, wasn't trying to do nothing, he was just trying to be who he wanted to be. And I need to lean into that, I need to take lessons from that. So, this is my acknowledgement, my statement, my standard, my outright commentary, my conversation, my talk, my declaration. UPS. What up? They can't see me, it's no defense, but I can. Anyways, my declaration that I'm tired of sitting behind desks. I'm tired of of being. I'm tired of trying to fit into some mold that doesn't necessarily exist, but trying to, I'm tired of and I'm I'm I'm just done with curating so that I can try to be something. I'm I'm tired of trying to fit those things that I'm passionate about and those things that I really care about, and those things that I believe are incredibly impactful, and every human being in the world needs. I'm tired of caring about those things and then trying to fit it in a nice, presentable little fashion or a way. I'm just going to lean 110% into that. Because I love it, and because I want to share that, and because I need people to know that Jesus Christ died for them so that they could have eternal life. And have it abundantly. So that we could have life and have it abundantly. Not just have life and wake up and work through my day. Have life and have it abundantly. Wake up at 5.30 in the morning and feel on freaking fire. You might be a little bit tired, but your soul is on fire. It is available to every single freaking one of us. I'm not gonna try and fit that into a box anymore. I'm not gonna try and curate it. And I'm gonna let it be, and I'm gonna let me be in that, whatever that looks like. It's hump day. It's Wednesday. This has been episode 18. I could probably go on for hours, but I feel that this is the appropriate place and a good place to stop. So this has been episode 18 of the DVP, the Dan Vikus program. Thank you for listening. Thank you for spending your time with me. If you have any comments, thoughts, concerns, feedback, issues, debatable topics, let me know. It'd be fun to see him. I love you guys. God bless your every breath. I'll see you next time.