The Leader’s Secret Weapon

In this episode, we explore why personal development isn’t just a “nice to have” for leaders—it’s essential. Strong leadership starts from within, and the most effective leaders are those who continuously invest in their own growth,  skills, self-awareness, and mindset.

Whether you’re an emerging leader or a seasoned executive, this conversation will challenge you to rethink how you approach growth—and inspire you to lead with greater clarity, purpose, and impact.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:26

All right, and welcome back to the Second Mile Leadership Podcast. We are your host, Jason and Isaiah. And today we're going to talk about a subject that is uh incredibly near and dear to both of our hearts. Um it's one of the things that the areas I think Isaiah and I have the most in common when it comes to leadership. It's an area that we he and I preach, and I hate to use that word, but I think we do, preach to all the people we coach. And it's also one of those areas that it's it can be very difficult to get people to acquiesce to and and buy into. Uh and we're going to get into some reasons of why that might be. But it it's the area of personal development and why it matters so much in the world of leadership. And I'm a I'm a fervent believer that you can never be a great leader if you're not personally developed to be one. And the reasoning is, and if you go back and listen to our prior episodes, everything we talk about so far in these episodes is personal development or or up-leveling in those areas requires personal development. Whether that's increasing your emotional intelligence, whether that's building humility and managing your ego, whether that's building influence. All this requires personal growth and development. And it's interesting, I I had a phone call with one of my private clients recently, and this topic came up, and some of the things he had to say about it, um, he's a he's a big time person in the corporate America world, and some of the things he had to say about personal development and the way it's viewed in that arena was very fascinating to me. And we'll talk about that here that here in a little bit. But I want to turn it over to Isaiah first, and and you know, I know you are a personal growth, personal development fiend like I am. So what are your initial thoughts around this topic and and how it pertains to leadership?

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Yeah, I don't really think it's important at all. So I'm I'm a little confused why you said that I like I really like it and everything.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

All right, well, thanks for tuning in. Uh we'll be back next week with a new episode and uh hope you guys enjoyed.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Good chat. Good chat. Yeah, that was great. That was a good job. Good work. That's all, dude. Run the ad right now, and we're good to go.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Yeah, this is this is the episode we're gonna make an ad out of.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yep, 100%. Um it's it's paramount in your life for a lot of reasons. Um the the first place I kind of want to go, and um Jason and I talk a lot about this. This is we talked about this a little bit in past podcasts. Um, but I want to approach it from kind of the why perspective first, and then we can actually get into the the more practical stuff, go work through personal development, all that. Um but I really, really want the listeners to hear this because I was talking about this with also a a personal client recently, and there's there's no reason really not to. Um you can you can try to push against that anyway. Tell me one thing that like personal growth um hinders you in. Like, what does it hurt? Um, the only thing that it could potentially take away from you is time. Um and I I would argue that there are very, very, very few people in the world um that go so hard on the personal development side that it actually takes time from like what matters in life. Um, because it's kind of like a a domino effect. You you want to personally develop, then you want to pour more into your people, into your family, into your business. Um, so there's there's really no negative, there's no downside to personally developing, wasting time, scrolling, whatever it is, um, there's all the downsides too. Like what what benefit does that bring to you? Um so first off, the there's all the benefit to you in the world from it. Um and then two, this is a thought that I've been like really, really diving into recently. But the the brainstormers of sociology and psychology really just like run into theology. Theology already knows all of the ways that you should live your life. It tells you how you should personally develop. Now, not the specifics, but it tells you the general idea. And really, psychology and sociology are just essentially catching up to theology. So when we view it from that perspective, like, hey, the Bible tells us to personally develop. Um, I think it really, really changes the way that we actually view things. So I'm gonna pull a verse real, real quick. It goes, Colossians 3.23, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters. For some of the business owners that listen to this podcast, it's a really good verse for your employees. But for some of the employees that have a boss and you are struggling to find why you should work for them, God doesn't call you to work for your boss, God calls you to work for God. So every single thing that we do should be run through the lens of, hey, I am doing this for God. Because you see NFL players, you see any professional athlete that that has a relationship with Christ. At the end of the game, they're like, all glory goes to God. Well, how did they get that platform? Well, they worked really, really freaking hard to get to that place to then they can talk about Jesus publicly. Um, so that's yeah, it's in general, that's kind of where my mind goes first. What your what are your thoughts on that, Jason?

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Well, let me ask you a question first. Something you said even before that part was that there's a payoff for personal development. For someone who maybe is new to this world of personal development or is maybe deciding if they want to invest time into it, because it is a time investment. It it to your point, you know, I can invest my time in a lot of different ways. And there's a lot of ways I should. You know, we're not recommending that all your off time spent in personal growth and development. You know, you got to spend time with family, friends, you know, uh spend time with God, all those things that you gotta do, which can all also fall under the umbrella of personal development. But if you're talking about intentional reading, coaching, listening, all the things that that grow our skills specifically for the workplace, when I invest time in growing me, so why not, hey, if I'm an attorney, let's say Isaiah, why not just be a good attorney? I went to school, got the degree, I know the law. Why would I spend time developing myself? What's the payoff for it?

SPEAKER_01 6:25

So I'm gonna start on the opposite side of that, but I'll I'll go on the payoff side on the back end. The first side is like you truly only grow or decay. Um so when you are not personally developing, like yes, you can stay the good attorney and that's that's awesome. And um it probably pays pretty well, your family's probably doing all right. Um, but why would you not want to reach 100% of your potential? That that's a question I ask very, very often to people. Um and then I'll ask the question, okay, well, if you do want to reach 100% of your potential, because everyone says, yes, I want to reach 100%, no one has ever told me, ah, like 60% seems good. Everyone wants to reach 100%, but no one wants to do 100% of the work. And when you do 100% of the work, I would argue, and this is from personal experience, um, there's also neuroscience to back this up, but I would argue that your life feels so much more fulfilling because your brain keeps score of literally every single decision that you make.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

All right. Yeah, I like that. And and I I bring that example up because I I mentioned earlier on the podcast that I had a conversation with one of my clients recently. And let me tell you the mindset that he gave me around personal development and growth in the corporate world, especially big corporations, because I've had a kind of a hard time getting him to buy in. He understands it, but he he I asked him the other day, I said, why do you think you're not devoting time to growth and development outside of work so that you can be better in work? And he said, Jason, honestly, there's no payoff for it. I adamantly disagree with that. And and you know, he and I talked about that, but I but I wanted to know more. And I said, Well, why do you say that? He said, Because the it is a bottom line business, it's a bottom line deal, and and you know, the the people above us who are making the decisions, if I come in and I produce at a high level and I I build a good team and we're crushing it and we're doing really good work, all that's gonna happen from the people above me is they're gonna give us more work because we're crushing the work we already have. There's no real direct payoff to being good at at people skills or human skills or psychology or leadership because it just makes me good, the team good, and they just give us more work. Okay, that's an interesting, interesting take. Um and and uh, you know, so I I gave them an analogy. I've got a family member who owns a restaurant. True story. And they have a really, really good product. Uh they've been in this the industry for a very long time that they're in. Um not going to give a ton of specifics, but they they uh they've been in this industry for a very long time. The whole family has, and they do a really good job. Their product is amazing, and and we love their food and and um you know they're they're great people and and a lot of positive things to say. When you go to their restaurant, there is not a lot of attention placed on hospitality. There's not. There's there's there's they they're relying on the quality of the food to drive the bus. And I wonder sometimes, man, and they're successful, so let me be very clear. It's working on some level, but what would happen if you added hospitality to it? What would happen if you just became, yeah, your product's amazing, you perfected it over 50 years in the industry. But what if when you walked in the door that customer felt like they were at home? How much more successful could you be? And I think it'll be infinitely more successful. And that's very analogous to this situation to me, because it's one of those things where I can have the hard skills, I can have the technical skills, and I can be a really good engineer, you know, software designer, attorney, insert hard skill in there. But if that's what I rest on, there will be a limit to my success. And if I can match the hard skills with, and I hate the term soft skills, so I'm not going to use it, but if you can match it with human skills, psychology, understanding people, leadership, if you can match it with that, your trajectory to success will be quicker, steeper, and it would bring you so much more. And here's the the integral part to me, and this is where me and my client ended up leaving things, an incredible amount of job satisfaction, too. Because one of the things that that really gauges whether or not I love a job. So Isaiah and I work for Chick-fil-A, and it's it's a really hard job. It's very challenging. The goals we have, we mentioned on prior podcasts, we have very lofty goals. Less than 2% of Chick-fil-A's accomplish these goals. So we're trying to be in rare air with the things we're trying to accomplish. It is really, really, really hard. But what makes it fun, part of it's the challenge, but it's it's the people I get to do it with. Well, I would not feel that way if though the team that we built didn't have these human skills, did not invest in personal growth and development, if people were stagnant, if inner relations, uh interrelational dynamics were broken, if if we didn't know how to handle conflict together, and it was just not a a or let's say it this way, it was a toxic slash dysfunctional environment, it would who cares? This had this is irrelevant to whether or not we accomplish the goal. Just like in corporate America, it's irrelevant whether or not we get the promotion. What about showing up every day and loving your job? And and the role that human skills and leadership skills play in that cannot be un uh overstated. It is, it is, it is massive. So I get to show up every day to a job and do it with people I really enjoy. And that's not just because we got lucky and and and found perfect personalities. No, it's because we have a group of people who who think alike in this area, want to grow, want to get better, want to push each other, want to challenge each other, want to accomplish great things together, and they understand the dynamics that go into that. So I think when when people say that there's no payoff, and oh, by the way, I do think there is a financial payoff for this. I do think there will come a day and time when people will notice this and you will get promoted. And if you own a business, it will absolutely grow your business and grow to grow your bottom line. But at the same time, let's not discount the overall job satisfaction that comes with it because that that matters too. And you know, you can make a lot of money, but if you hate your life every time you go to work, that's not a very fun way to go.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

100%. 100%. The uh I think one of the things you're hitting on there, and this is something that like I actively think about every day, uh, is someone who struggled to see things that way for a very, very long time in my life. If I had uh put a number to probably about 21 years of my life, there was the mindset of like, why waste energy doing that? It's it's it's the thought of like, oh, I'm trying to conserve all the energy that I have. Why would I pour more into um trying to grow myself to grow the business? Why going back to the uh the restaurant example? Why care about the hospitality aspect when our product is so dang good? Well, I'm gonna relate that. I mean, you and I talk about it ad nauseum, but the um the the whole concept of Chick-fil-A, like we serve really dang good food. It tastes solid. I eat it almost every day. Um, and then two, we have really, really dang good hospitality. And I believe that that comes from all of the leadership development that Chick-fil-A is is known for. Um listen, when we talk about Chick-fil-A compared to other restaurants, I mean it's it's day and night. Like there's there's frankly, and I I mean this from the least egotistical spot, there's not a comparison because Chick-fil-A is that far ahead in that industry. Um, and as long as I believe Chick-fil-A continues to care about the leadership development side of things, um, which comes with personal growth, that will continue to breed success for Chick-fil-A. And I think that it puts the the mindset kind of in like a orientated to success. Like, hey, if we want to continually get better in this area and get better in this area, and oh, we want to do really good hospitality, but hey, like the the fries aren't quite crispy enough, we want to make that all of that that much better, then it puts us in a continual state of trying to be ourselves. Um, we we want to become a better version of our past self. Um, and when you live your life that way, so let's take it outside of outside of the the work realm. You you want to grow a relationship with your with your spouse, um, you want to become more physically fit, you want to have a better diet, you want to grow closer to God, whatever it is. Um, when you continually try to develop that, at some point you will develop it. Um, consistency is absolutely key. And I'm a I'm a firm believer that every single decision kind of sums up who you are. So if you were to take your entire life, you are the summation of all of your decisions. So every little thing that you decide to do, whether it's, hey, I have a free second while I am like laying in bed before before I go to sleep, I can either read a book or I can scroll on my phone or whatever it is. Uh decide to scroll on my phone. Okay, well, you just take a small vote as to who you want to be in the future. Um if we decide to read, then it's, hey, I took a small vote towards personal development, and that's who I want to be more like in the future. Um so I think when we think about it through that lens, it's extremely helpful because it applies to literally every single aspect of life.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. It's very well said. And it it's interesting, one of the reasons that I I wanted to touch on this topic this week is because in three of my private client phone calls this week, three separate people, something around this topic came up. And it just illustrated for me there's just a misunderstanding of how powerful personal development can be. And Isaiah, you said something when you first started talking there about in the past, maybe you looked at is you were trying to conserve energy and and personal development expends energy. But it's it's it's kind of paradoxical because the more uh energy I put into personal development, the less energy I have to put into the other things at work. Meaning, because when I develop myself and I learn human skills and and and people skills and leadership skills, it it uh builds my influence, right? It it increases my ability to delegate, it increases my ability to get buy-in from the team, it increases all these things, it increases my confidence that we're gonna accomplish the goals we're gonna accomplish. I know, because I develop, that I have answers that will help lead us to the goal we're trying to get. And we have a team that feels the same way. They have answers that are gonna lead us to the goals we're trying to get. And so I and Isaiah, I think you would agree, I spend less energy the more I develop. It's not the opposite.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

100%. And so I want to real quick, I want to talk about so like physical energy, the law of thermodynamics. Yes, a calorie is a unit of energy. Um there, there, there that does expire at some point. Mental energy is completely subjective. Completely subjective. So when you think, oh man, like I I just I need to rest or I I need to I need to take a second for myself, whatever it is, sometimes that may be true. However, most of the time I would argue that it's not. Um the your mental capacity is way further than you really think it is. And the only way to figure that out is by continually personally developing.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Yeah, and remember your brain's number one job is to protect you. So the reason your brain tells you to stop, or you know what, it's getting too hard, or you need to slow down, or I need a mental break. And and I'm not saying you never need mental breaks, we all do. That's not the point, but your brain will stop you before it actually needs to stop in an effort to protect you. And you have to recognize that and and and understand that's what's happening sometimes, so you can push through. But one of the conversations I was having with a client of mine this week, one of the first questions she asked me was I don't like when I get into leadership situations where I have to convey messages, I don't have the vocabulary. What do I do? Well, the number one way to build a vocabulary is read. The number one way to understand what to say is to read about the concepts. Here's the thing about reading books. All right, I I say this a lot, and I want to be clear on this for people listening to the podcast. Here's the the the reason I, and maybe Isaiah does it for the same reason, but the reason I am so heavy into reading books and recommending books is not because they're the end-all-be-all. There's there's a lot of ways. You learn a lot from experience, obviously, from coaching, from mentors. Uh there's a lot of ways to learn. But the reason I like books is because books are typically written by somebody who has dedicated their life to one sliver of leadership. How to communicate better, how to give feedback better, how to handle meetings better, how to develop more leaders. I mean, there's a lot of things you can talk about in the world of leadership. And a lot of these authors have dedicated their life studying this topic at a level that you and I can never study it because we don't have the time to do that because we have other jobs. So I get to take a book written by an expert and literally be coached by that expert for$15,$20, the cost of the book, right? Uh, the payoff in that is massive. Well, guess what those people do? They develop concepts. Sometimes it's theory, and we don't know if these things work until we put them into practice. But they develop concepts and they develop the vocabulary. So you learn those things, you read those things. So when you get into those situations at work, and what I've told this this client of mine was when you read and develop, and she's not doing much of that right now, unfortunately. We're trying to nudge her to do that. I mean, she's developing, you know, give her a lot of credit. She's got coaches and all that, like me. She's developing, but she's not just, she's not taking the reading seriously, is what I'm trying to say. So so I said, when I read, here's what it does for me. It enables me to understand concepts that allows me to diagnose things that are going on in the business before anybody else can. And that gives me the vocabulary to lean into it and handle it. Those are very powerful skills. And I promise you, if you have those skills across a lot of different areas, it is going to build your influence, build your business, and make you more successful. It is impossible for it not to. And I would submit that it will do it at a level higher than anything else you can do. So when we talk about leadership development or personal development, it builds skills, it builds vocabulary, it enhances your ability to diagnose, it enhances your decision making because of your ability to diagnose. And I could go on and on. It just checks so many boxes that will make you more successful. And the payoff, it's funny. People who really pour into their personal development beat that drum like you and I do, Isaiah. Like it's almost like we found the cure to cancer and we need everybody else to take the cure. Because dang it, the other side of personal development is so unbelievably beautiful. We just can't get enough people yet to invest the time into it and believe that it's going to work for them and and and enhance and improve every area of your life because it bleeds into your relationships, it bleeds into your finances, it bleeds into your your your happiness, it believes it ble blees into your fulfillment. It has so many tentacles that reach out from that that it it it it just it's a life changer, and that's something I wish everybody took more seriously.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Aaron Powell Jason, I think one of the things that I truly love about this podcast that we do is for for lack of a better way of saying it, our age gap. You are you are more experienced. I'll I'll put that out there.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

I am um as one of our coworkers call me, I'm more lived than everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

More lived, more lived. Yes. That's that's a good way to put it. But you've been in the sphere of like trying to personally develop for a much longer time than I have. You've experienced a lot of up and ups and downs with businesses way more than I have. Um you've you've experienced in total just a crap ton more than I have. And so I think that in in partial, you speak to a little bit of a different audience, like when people are listening to this podcast. And then I take it to my life and I'm like, well, I'm literally five years removed from being what I would consider like a deadbeat. Um And so there there's like I I'm a little bit closer to those people, also in age. So you'll probably notice I use different vernacular and all the things because I'm I'm closer to that that younger age bracket. Um I am still called uncle by a lot of uh people at Chick-fil-A, which is completely fair. I'm getting to that status now. What do they call me grandpa? Uh you were like great grandfather, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Great grandfather. At 50 years old, good night. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Grandpa seems like kind of too young. So Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

I got you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

When you add like the full when you add the full grandfather, it it comes across, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

I'm not uh spry and sprightly enough to be a grandfather anymore.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

No, no, fortunately not. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

All right, we'll go on.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

Yeah. Um but like for my side, so I I've I've personally coached people, I've I've coached people inside of Chick-fil-A, um, that like the concept of reading a book to them is like it's not unattainable, but it's something that they're extremely opposed to. And for those people, what I would have to say is just like there is really one book that kind of changed my life and started my personal development journey, um, which was Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins. And I've I've given that book to people and it hasn't always gone the the way that I would like for it to go for them. Um but that book was for me. Like that it spoke directly to me. So I sought out a book in the personal development sphere that I like it it personally kind of grabbed me and was like, oh crap, like this this stuff could actually change my life. Um I wouldn't even say when I first read that book, then my mind was like, oh, I'm personally developing. It was just like, no, like I I kind of suck at the moment. I need to be better. Um, this book is just kind of like partially beating me down, partially like saying that there's a future. Um and that's exactly what I need in that moment. So for the younger listeners that that maybe haven't read a ton of um personal development books before or listened to a podcast or audiobook, whatever, whatever, whatever your form of media is, um, I would just say find something that specifically speaks to you and then just attack it. Like you have to stay at the very least diligent and persistent through reading that book, or else you will not stay diligent and persistent through any other personal development journey.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

Yeah, one of the things I've noticed, because in you know, in my private business, I don't coach young people. I have no young people that I coach, is usually people 35 and up. And that's not the only people I can coach, obviously, but that's just the way it's worked out because I think that 30 and 30.

SPEAKER_01 25:06

So just to put you on record, like 35 and up is are you saying that's old?

SPEAKER_02 25:10

No, I'm saying that is the best generation. Okay, gotcha. Yes, your generation, not so much. No.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

Um Just want to make sure I was hearing you correctly.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

No, no, yeah, I hear you. So I uh, you know, that that that is what in my private business I tend to coach is that age bracket where at Chick-fil-A I'm coaching people much younger. And there's such such an interesting dichotomy between both age groups because and don't get me wrong, this does happen in older age groups as well. I just spoke about somebody who I'm having a hard time getting them to read. But but for the most part, the advantage I have at 50 years old is I get to see the other side of personal development. So I have evidence that it works. I have evidence of how it up-levels your life. When you're young, you don't have that evidence. So for you, not you, Isaiah, but young people, it's a leap of faith. You just have to assume that Jason and Isaiah are right and that if I invest time in my development, there will be a payoff. And that can be a tough sell sometimes. And and but at the end of the day, uh one of the ways to combat that is to look around at the people who you want to model your life after. And I say that in a very specific way. I don't mean who do you see in your life that has a bunch of money. Who in your life is successful in every facet that one can be successful? They have a great family, they have a great marriage, they have a great relationship with their kids, they maintain good friendships, they have a career they actually enjoy, and they make good money, and then most importantly, they have a strong relationship with God. There's people out there like that. Go see what they did. Go read about those people, go look at their journey. You will not find one of them, and I mean not one that did it without extensive personal development. So while young people don't have the evidence, there's plenty of evidence out there to see, and meaning they don't have the personal evidence, the personal experience, but it's out there for them because nobody hits success in all these areas of life, and I'm not saying everyone's a anyone's a hundred percent in these areas, but at least some semblance of success in all these areas of life without personal growth and development. It's just not possible. And one of the areas that I don't think is talked about enough when it comes to this is just the role that personal growth and development plays in anxiety. You know, we also have uh uh a nation, if you will, of people who are riddled with anxiety. It's the number one medical issue in the in the country, I believe, if I'm not mistaken. They estimate like 30 to 60 million people suffer from it, and those are just the people we know about. I would venture to say it's much more than that. And and Isaiah, your generation, that Gen Z generation, is suffering from it more than any other generation ever has. And we can talk about why and the smartphones and all that, but at the end of the day, I've never found something more powerful to squash anxiety. And I don't just mean generalized anxiety that we deal with every day. I'm talking about anxiety about your job. Uh actually, I I had two client phone calls this morning. The first one I had early this morning, uh, she was talking about she she just changed industries, and she's talking about having po having imposture syndrome and the anxiety that's given her. And I'm like, you know what I do when I feel that imposture syndrome is a good thing, by the way. Like we we put a negative connotation on that. Imposture syndrome tells me you're trying new things. It tells me you're up-leveling, it tells me you're pushing yourself. And everybody who's ever done that gets imposture syndrome. So it's a good thing to have it. We just got to know how to how to get rid of it. And the way you get rid of it is preparation, learning, development. That's the way we get rid of it. And she had impostor syndrome, and that was giving her anxiety. And I was like, you know what? In your industry, there's these resources she can turn to. I don't want to give the industry away, but there's these resources she can turn to that will teach her the things she needs to know. And I'm like, every time you feel anxious, go read one of those. Every time you feel uneasy and stressed, go read one of those. And I promise you, every time you do, you'll feel better because development can squash anxiety. And it's a very powerful tool. Taking action is one of the best elixirs to anxiety there is. So as we get towards the end of this episode, do you have anything to say about that? Then I want to go just a little more specifics.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

I I got a quick question for you. Yeah. Um I just want you to tell me if these things you like, if you think that these are common or if you think that these are extremely uncommon in in today's world. Um impaired focus and working memory.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

100%.

SPEAKER_01 29:23

Um overthinking. I mean spades, yes. Uh bad sleep and fatigue.

SPEAKER_02 29:28

Uh like one of the biggest issues on earth right now.

SPEAKER_01 29:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 29:31

Cardiovascular disease. Again, one of the biggest issues on earth. It's the number one killer. Yep. And you know, IBS is a funny one because it is on the incline like I've never seen before. So it it's a mass massive one.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yep. Hypertension. Yep. So all of those. So this is according to PubMed. I'm a nerd, so I like to look at these things and go through them. All of those things, according to PubMed, are can be results of anxiety. And so we just talked about how personal growth is kind of the antidote to some anxiety. Um, and then all of these effects come from anxiety. So if you want to avoid all those things, which I personally do, um, personally growth.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

100%. And and you know, the when we're talking about anxiety, just for clarity's sake, I'm not talking about, like I said earlier, general general um anxiety disorder, what needs to be treated by, you know, a doctor therapist. Not that. I'm talking about the anxieties of your day, the imposter syndrome, the worries, the stress, those kind of anxieties, what we speak of. So let's let's end the end the podcast with some l logistical things here. One of the ways I introduce this is I think it was John Maxwell, and I want to give proper credit. I think it was him. If I'm wrong, I apologize, who created the LEAD acronym, L E A D. And it's kind of one of his entrances to personal development. And the way he says it is this is it's an acronym, like I said, L stands for learn. We have to proactively so I'm gonna I'm gonna use his acronym, but put my own spin on it. To me, the L is proactive learning, seeking out resources to grow and get better. And that could be books, that could be podcasts, that could be coaches, that could be mentors, that could be friends and family that have maybe knowledge or expertise in a certain area. One of the things I do is I am not an anti-social media guy. I am an anti-using social media the wrong way guy. And social media the right way is curating the algorithm to show you things that grow you and develop you. I do this all the time in my coaching. I'll pull out my phone, give my somebody my Instagram and say, just scroll, tell me what you see. And it's leadership, being a better father, being a better husband, being a better business person. That's all they see. And maybe Instagram will show throw one video in there about something else. But 95% of what you'll see in my feed is growth and development stuff. So I've curated the algorithm to know that's what I want to see. And so it's it's it's proactively seeking out knowledge to grow and get better. That's the L. The E is more reactive and it's more experience-based. I need to, you know, we talk about reading books. If all I did was sit in a room and read books all the time, I would be a crappy leader and a crappy businessman because a lot of what you read in books is theory. And we have to take what we read and apply it and build experience and put ourselves out there and try it, try new things and do hard things and build experience. And then we get to take the things we learn in books or through coaching and all that and apply it and see what works for us and what doesn't. And then also it enables us to take these things from books or take these things we've been taught by other people and put our own authenticity into it and do it our way instead of trying to mimic the way they do it. So the L and the E are learn and experience. And so we learn lessons through the proactive learning and we learn lessons through the reactive learning of experience. And then we need to find as many areas of our life where we apply those things. So the E and the A, the apply, you know, A is apply. Sorry, I didn't say that. So the A and the LEED acronym is apply. Apply the things you learn in everywhere that you can. So it's very akin to experience. They're they're they're very close cousins, but but you apply. And again, you build your authenticity. You see what works for you, you see the way you want to do it, the spin you want to put on it. And you live a life of doing those three things L E A, L E A, L E A, all the time. Proactively learn, build experience, apply what I learned, learn from that, start over, and you just live a life of doing those things all the time. And it's then and only then can you get to the D. And the D is develop others. Yeah, I knew right when I said it. Um I'll I'll let the audience figure out why we're laughing. Um but only then and only then can you get to the letter D of the acronym, and that is develop others, right? Because when you do all those things, it gives you the moral authority and the ability, the knowledge and the influence to pour into others and develop them as well. And when you get that to that level, what happens is you've grown, you've developed, you've become a great leader, and now you're able to give that back to other people and build more leaders. And if you're talking about the world of business, you div you develop and build more leaders around you, and now you have an organization of leaders and not just followers. So that's uh uh just kind of a practical acronym to use to think about personal development, what to read, the things you choose, what to learn, what to study is very individualistic. That's something Isaiah and I can help you with if you need it. But that's a a great framework to to go on. Isaiah, you know, what do you think about that? And also, you know, what what's your spin on it?

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Yeah, I want to first off, I want to focus on the uh on the D part of that. I bet you did. I do.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

Um the I I remember going back to like my first time like running meeting or trying to develop someone or trying to pour into someone just outside of work. And like I honestly feel like I owe all those people a sincere apology because that like just thinking back on it, those times sucked. Like I was terrible. Um, I think I actually have apologized to some of those people. I did so sorry that that I don't I have no idea what I was even saying in that moment. Um but like through trial and error and then also just through continually developing myself. Um the Bible makes it very, very clear that it's more blessed to give than receive. And when you are truly pouring into someone, the way that you feel after it is like it's it's unlike anything in this world. It is, it's life-changing. Um, it is perspective altering. And I believe it's one of the most and one of the most intense joys in this world is when you get to bring life to someone else. Um, that could be by sharing the gospel, that could be by a fitness and nutrition tip, that could be by communication or emotional intelligence, whatever it is. But when you can help someone become a better version of themselves, um that it's it is life-changing, not only for them, but for you as well. And then I would just say, I mean, like it it has to start somewhere. Like there there there has to be some little piece and there and this exists for everyone. Everyone either wants to avoid pain or chase happiness. And so if you want to avoid pain, then find one thing that will help you avoid pain. Like if that is leaning into some aspect of so let's say that that you don't want to like really, really dive into reading a book or whatever it is, we'll just use that example. Um, and you struggle to make time to do that, um, you need to take the time to push out or carve out an hour of your or of your week to invest in yourself. I think a lot of people struggle to do that because they just want to feel comfortable for the second and kind of numb the pain. And there's there's a reality to that. And I I I feel for those people, but I'm just telling you on the other side, it is it is gorgeous as someone that's that's seen truly both sides.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

So you're saying that that and and I agree with this wholeheartedly, build a routine around it.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Mm-hmm. It's key. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

One of the things, let me let me tack on that just for a second. One of the things I've really pushed a lot of um people that I coach is you should do one short-term investment per day and then one long-term investment per day. Um, and then eventually you'll wake up 10 years down the road and you'll be like, holy crap, like how did I get here? But a short-term investment can just be setting your net next day up for success. So that's setting your clothes out for the next day. That's, you know, doing whatever little thing that that could be meal prepping. But I would say anything that's like two weeks or less is going to be on the short-term investment side. Anything that's two weeks or more would be a long-term investment. So let's say that that is like you needed to get an oil change on your car. Like that is a very, very it's it's not a big thing, but that's a long-term investment. It saved you a little bit of time on the back end. It could be literally investing into something financially. It could be, hey, I'm gonna take this class to develop myself, or hey, I'm gonna listen to this podcast or read this book or whatever it is to develop myself long term. You do a short-term investment in a long-term investment every single day. Um, you wake up 10 years down the road and you are in a wildly different place than where you are today.

SPEAKER_02 38:26

Yep, I love that. That's great advice. And then uh to close it out, I would say, you know, because I think where a lot of people get stuck is well, what what book do I read? I get that question, that might be the number one question I get on a on a weekly basis, is what can I read next? And it it and my answer is always, well, what do you want to get better at? You know, what are you trying to grow? Where are you suffering? Where are you struggling? Um is it in relationships? Is it in your ability to communicate? Is it you know, you can't get anybody at work to listen to you? Is it you know, you don't know how to delegate? Is it, you know, I don't know, are you overwhelmed? Are you stressed? Are you anxious? You know, where where are you struggling? And that's a good place to start. And again, you you're more than welcome to reach out to Isaiah and I am more than happy to give you some guidance on that. But um, but but yeah, to to Isaiah's point, you gotta start somewhere. Don't let don't let the the stress of the decision of what to where to start be the thing that stops you, right? That's the uh the analysis, uh paralysis by analysis phenomenon. I'm gonna be paralyzed because I can't figure out where to start. Well, then you'll you're gonna stay stuck. So reach out for help. Ask people in your your world, in your sphere if they can help you. But pick a book, pick a podcast, pick something to begin your growth and development journey. And if you stay with it and you stack those little micro investments on top of each other day after day, week after week, year after year, your life will change radically forever. So we'll close it out with that. And I appreciate you guys listening. Isaiah, anything before we leave? Amen to all that, brother. All right, guys. You have a great week, and we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 39:50

Adios.