Notes for An Awesome Life with John Spence
Notes for an Awesome Life with John Spence takes you beyond the boardroom into the habits, reflections, and small decisions that can help you create more clarity, resilience, and balance in your life.
This show features one of the world’s top leadership thinkers, John Spence, named by the American Management Association as one of America’s Top 50 Leaders to Watch. John has lectured at more than 90 universities, including MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and Wharton, served as CEO of five companies, and advises organizations from startups to the Fortune 10.
But here, he’s not talking about business strategy. He’s sharing the principles, stories, and reflective tools that help people live more joyful, successful, and yes…awesome…lives.
Every episode delivers candid conversations about failure, resilience, and growth. You will also hear practical strategies to align your life with your values and stories that prove it’s never too late to design your life with purpose.
Follow now and start your journey toward an awesome life, one decision at a time.
Notes for An Awesome Life with John Spence
The Importance of Human Connection
The Importance of Human Connection - Busyness, anxiety, and introversion are real, but they don’t change a foundational truth of being human: we are wired for connection. John and Josh dig into what happens when we ignore that need and why loneliness has become one of the defining challenges of modern life. Blending research, lived experience, and small daily practices, this conversation offers grounded insights and doable ways to create closeness that sticks.
- Email us: awesomelifenotes@gmail.com
- Learn more about John: JohnSpence.com
- Familiar Wilsons Media: FamiliarWilsonsMedia.com
About John Spence: John is a globally recognized business thought leader, former owner/CEO of five companies, and advisor/coach to organizations from startups to the Fortune 10. He’s lectured at more than 90 universities and was named by the American Management Association as one of “America’s Top 50 Leaders to Watch.”
About the show: Notes for an Awesome Life with John Spence focuses on personal growth, happiness, clarity, and the everyday habits that compound into an AWESOME life.
Credits: Hosts John Spence and Josh Wilson • Produced by Josh Wilson for Familiar Wilsons Media • Special thanks: Amanda Wilson (writing and production), and Domingo Jimenez (writing and marketing).
This is a familiar Wilsons Media Product. John Spence is recognized as one of the foremost business thought leaders in the world, a global top 100 business thinker and advisor to companies from startups to the Fortune 10. But it didn't start that way. In college, John hit rock bottom, kicked out of one university and rejected by another. That's when he made a decision to change his attitude and take a systematic approach to building the life he wanted. Through hard work and relentless learning, he went on to create a life full of meaning, joy, and connection. I'm Josh Wilson, and this is Notes for an Awesome Life with John Spence. We invite you to join us in conversation as John shares with us the lessons, habits, and tools that he used and that you can use to build an awesome life. Welcome to Notes for an Awesome Life with John Spence. I'm Josh Wilson. And I'm John Spence. John, we are in the throes of what one calls Florida winter.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, it was an unbelievably cold, frigid 38, 39 degrees this morning.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, you must have gotten up early when I ventured out. It was an Arctic 51.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my gosh, I don't know how people can handle this. I was in Canada once with the wind chill, it was 70 below.
SPEAKER_00:I will till the day that I leave this earth contend that there is no reason for negative numbers with temperature. That makes no sense whatsoever.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it was brutal. It was like an 80 mile an hour wind or so, 70 mile an hour wind, too. And I was like, oh, 70 mile an hour wind and 70 below zero in the wind. This is pretty exciting. It was one of those places you could throw water up and it would freeze way up super, super high in Canada. Uh, I'll take the frigid 39 degrees over that every day. Oh, absolutely. It was 77 yesterday.
SPEAKER_00:So the high today, folks, who are who are actually in the tundra is going to be in the 70s here in Balmy, Florida. So oh goodness. What I want to talk about today, John, is the the power and the importance of human connection. Now, my observation the amount of loneliness and anxiety brought about by loneliness and disconnection is just increasing at an atomic rate.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, absolutely. And uh it's interesting that uh the younger generation right now is really struggling with lack of human connection. Uh, but yeah, yeah, and you and I know that we talked about this a little bit last time. It's the single most important factor in living, you know, when you get to the end of your life, a happy life where you feel that it was a good life, was I had close relationships with people that were important to me.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and just for grins, I looked up some stats. Oh, great. Um, loneliness and social isolation are as damaging to health as well-known risk factors like obesity and smoking. Um, loneliness increases the risk of premature death at rates comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Had you heard that? Oh that was staggering. Social isolation raises the risk of heart disease by 29% and stroke by 32%. Loneliness increases dementia risk by up to 50%. Conversely, people with strong social support are significantly less likely to experience depression and anxiety because social support buffers stress and protects against mood disorders across your lifespan. And on and on. I mean, there's like 50 different stats here. I think that I could have stopped at the first one, the 15 cigarettes one, because I heard that. And and emotionally I feel that, but it's staggering to know that that the science is there as well. So when you look at the world right now, John, and especially in all of your travels and the different people that you deal with across the spectrum of accomplishment. What tells you that human connection is in trouble?
SPEAKER_02:Uh I'm too busy is the one I hear the most. I don't have time to go do this. I've got to be at the office, you know, and and you hear this is really, really important, Josh. A lot of that is with their own family.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know, I mean, I have executives I've worked with in the past who just didn't had no family time, you know, 15 or 20 minutes a day with their kids, literally. And then the other one is uh is just the pressure and stress and anxiety that that they have at at work or parts of their life where they just don't feel like investing the effort or the energy to even connect with anyone because they're so tired. And I think also it's sort of my life is really, really tough right now. I'm not gonna open up to anybody. I'm not gonna admit that I'm nervous or scared or anxious, or like another level is uh imposter syndrome that I'm I don't belong where I am, and I'd prefer not to open up about my fears around that. Sure. But it's um it's people just not making the effort because they're too busy or they just don't feel like making the effort. That's what I see. What about you?
SPEAKER_00:I would tend to agree, and I do come at this from the point of view of an introvert, as as I know that you do as well. And I do think that I I hear some people saying, and I not some people, I'll be honest, I've used this excuse too. Oh, I'm an introvert, you know, I I can't do that. But you nailed it there when you said it's a choice and it's a skill. It's not it's not a thing that you're just born with, it's a thing that that you need to work at.
SPEAKER_02:No, it's really hard for me. Uh I it left to my own devices, I would sit alone. You know, I do have breakfast alone almost every day because I go out, that's when I read for an hour. But even then, I've tried to get to know everybody that works at the restaurant. I try to say hello to people I know at tables or you know, interact with people in a polite, kind way. But even then, like going, like you and I have said, go into a small meeting or a party or something like that, man, that is just so uh intimidating to me uh and uncomfortable because I I don't I had to work really hard to figure out how to interact in those sort of situations. And I think a lot of people do.
SPEAKER_00:Sure, but I will say that you're very good at it. I would have never guessed that first day that I met you that you were anything anything but uh just gregarious extrovert.
SPEAKER_02:No, it's my value system of trying to be kind and polite and uh genuine and generous to other people. Uh and when I say genuine, I mean genuinely uh thoughtful and genuinely grateful that I get to be around nice people.
SPEAKER_00:I want you to to reframe this a little bit though, because and I understand, I want you to do it for the people out there who are extroverts who maybe don't understand. It is tiring.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's really, really tiring. I mean, I I've mentioned before that after I finish a speech uh and I have to interact with all the people, or I I get to interact with all the people. Notice I just changed my internal dialogue to I get to. I get to interact with all the people. I have to go to my hotel room and lay down for a while because I'll get a raging adrenaline headache because I've had to expend so much energy. The other side of the coin, though, is if you're polite and kind and treat people respectfully and with dignity, the smile that they get and the fact that they you can see that they haven't gotten enough of that praise and appreciation. For me, it's worth it to go out of my way to be nice to people just to see the response and have realize that they're going. No one ever says, or very rarely does anyone say something like that to me. To me, it's worth making that effort just to try to maybe uplift someone else.
SPEAKER_00:So I think it's it's worthy then of repeating now that most people don't avoid connection because they don't care. They avoid it because it costs them something. And whether they are an introvert and it it just costs them that effort, or it is about the emotional risk, or about the fear of being misunderstood and being vulnerable. And then also, even just the energy that it takes to truly listen to another human being and all of the tremendous amount of possible things that they could verbally dump on you, it it that costs a lot for us to do. Yeah. So, what do you see in your experience? People, what what do they lose when they don't take the effort and time to connect? When when maybe you've gone through times or you've intentionally disconnected and you've suffered for.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I definitely have suffered for for not having uh people to close enough to me that I could go and that I wanted to wanted to go spend time with him because we were vulnerable and talked about um important things, not just like we did this morning, the weather. Yeah, that's right. Or at my age, what what happened at your checkup? Yeah, I saw a meme the other day that says for older people, uh, you don't meet at nightclubs anymore, you meet at the pharmacies. That's right.
SPEAKER_00:That's right. What hurts on you? Oh, really?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, what did your doctor have to say? Uh, I have a friend that I have breakfast with often. Uh, we've mentioned him, Roger Strickland, which is a good example of human connection. That I go out of my way, and so does he, to plan long meetings every couple of weeks. Uh, but I last time I sat down, I go, here's the deal. We're not talking about our aches and pains. And he's like, then what are we gonna talk about? You know, here's the interesting thing connecting with other people helps you get more in touch with your emotions. So I think it it um it increases your emotional awareness and the emotional part of your life. If you're sitting alone all the time, which I've done, uh reading or uh writing or something like that, and not interacting with other people, or for some people looking at their screen or watching TV, I don't happen to do that. Um, you're missing the ability to amplify your emotions in a positive way. Uh we know that from a negative side, you choose to get mad, no one else makes you angry. And but you can also choose to be happy and make other people happy. But it takes, like you said, it takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of courage and vulnerability sometimes. But the payoff is massively on the side of it turning turning out as a good conversation and something that makes you feel better after you're done.
SPEAKER_00:And this idea of processing your emotions through the mirror of other people is so valuable. There's like a magic that happens when you're in a room with someone and you're pouring out your life to them and it's non-verbal. It's just, I don't know. It's one of the things that we crave as human beings is to be understood and to understand. And it's that spark there that I think is the magic behind relationships and connections. And then if you don't have them, so many things can happen, so many consequences, you know. I think that there's been a slow erosion of trust in society that we have, and that can be directly connected to the fact that as individuals, we're isolating and and we're not building those bonds of trust between each other.
SPEAKER_02:I just saw an interesting and I don't remember the statistics. They looked at trust in different countries. Developed countries were in the middle of the pack, as the United States. And I think it was Sweden or Finland, like the trust meter of I trust people 100%. They were like 79% as a trusting uh culture. We were at 59 or 52, and so there's about seven or eight countries above us, and there the other ones below us were pretty close. So we were sort of in the middle of uh a low trust on the whole uh culture and country as compared to other countries around the world. I thought I thought it was interesting.
SPEAKER_00:Nothing shocking about that. No, not at all. Connections and relationships in your life that have been foundational and important, and we've talked about these. Um, we've talked about your parents and your parenting situation. We've not so much talked about your marriage and your wife.
SPEAKER_02:And I think that that's something that should be celebrated. I was uh teaching a class this week and I use and all my stuff I use scales, you know, how happy you scale a one to ten, blah, blah, blah. And I was talking about how much energy do you decide to put into a relationship? You know, because a lot of people, if you have a a challenge or an issue, someone will say, it's not fair, you know, they're not they're not uh trying to make it better, and they're not doing it. And I was like, you know, if the score is at a hundred, uh then you the relationship, you do anything to make it great, make it better, improve it. Uh my wife's 120. Yeah, very good. I'm yeah, she's absolutely my best friend. I'm willing to do anything to make sure that we have the best relationship possible, in good times and in bad times. I mean, if it if it's challenging, I'm gonna I'm gonna go all the way over to say to do whatever I can do to make it better. And if we're having a great time, I there's no place uh no one I'd rather be with. Um it's fun because you know it takes a while, uh, it's only been 25 years, but to really truly get to know another person and be completely open and vulnerable. And I'm very, very lucky that my wife and I have that that relationship where we trust each other. We're at the point where you know you finish each other's sentences, uh, you start laughing be before she even finishes the joke. You know, I know where she's going. So yeah, she and I'm I'm in a unique situation because she's my business partner as well. So we own we've owned two companies together, three, uh, and that adds a whole new dynamic, which, from that relationship standpoint, is the ability to create boundaries. And at XYZ time, for us it's about six o'clock, business ceases to exist. We're gonna focus only on each other and the dogs. We don't go into that.
SPEAKER_00:And listen, listen, that is also a connection, a lovely uh connection. So I'm curious though, as you were getting to know each other, was it difficult for you to be vulnerable in a relationship like that? Did that take developing or did you take to it really quickly?
SPEAKER_02:Uh no, uh, it takes developing for me. For you, yeah. Um, you know, because I'm a complete and utter freak sometimes. I asked her to sit down after we'd been dating a while, uh, and fill out the strategies for success workbook, which this pod, you know, this series is based on. And she sat at one end of the table, I did the other, and we went through all the exercises, and then we sat next to each other and compared our exercises. And they were pretty much identical. Uh, so I knew right there I had someone that was on the safe wavelength with me, and someone I could trust and had similar values. And by the way, I have all of those back to 1999, or that would have been a couple of months, maybe April of 2000, that we did that. I have them all, and uh it we do that every year to make sure that we're we're both being the best friend we can be to each other and supporting each other in our goals. So, yeah, that takes uh um, and she didn't trust me at first. Yeah, the reason was is I all these stories are like working for the Rockefellers, going here, flying in private jets, you know, fishing with my mom in the Bahamas. And she was thinking to herself, nobody could have actually done all this stuff he's talking about. And then she came to my apartment, and on the wall is pictures of me skydiving into this, that, and the other. She's like, Well, hell he actually has done all this, so I think that helped her trust me a bit more.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I step into a relationship and the person asked me to take a quiz. Uh, I'm I'm out, buddy. That you you found someone who wanted to do that with you, you knew that you had someone there.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, she was enthusiastic as could be. Well, that's why we've been married, super, super happy, married for 25 years.
SPEAKER_00:That's great. It's funny because Amanda, my wife, is the best person that I know. My apologies to anyone else listening out there. Um, but we have this theory, uh, because we talk about this stuff a lot in relationship dynamics. Marriage licenses should have to be renewed every year, like driver licenses. And you and you have the written, you have the practical, you pass all those things, and then you are good to go for another year. How do you guys do that? I mean, we don't fill out a quiz, but we're constantly talking about, you know, hey, you know, what what are we doing here? And for me, she is perfect because she is in many ways my opposite. She's an extrovert, she loves to to talk and communicate, and she's actually really taught me a lot about those things. You know, I'm I'm getting it right on the second marriage. And, you know, it's funny you say that she finishes your sentences. Amanda finishes my sentences and luckily usually finishes them in a way better than I would have finished it. That's how our relationship works.
SPEAKER_02:Well, it's fascinating. I always hear not always, but you often hear opposites attract.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh, my wife's very outgoing. She's gonna, you know, I send a text or I send an email, she picks up the phone and calls people.
SPEAKER_01:Sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, like CEOs of very large companies. I need to talk to a thing, or bing, bing, bing, bing, and they pick up and this guy running a multi-billion dollar company. I would never call them. And they're like, Oh, Sheila, it's so good to talk to you. How does this happen? I would never do that. And I, you know, I've got friends like that too. My best friend, Roger, uh, that my college professor, we talk about all the time. We often talk about the fact that on a disc profile, which is sort of a personality profile, we're pretty opposite each other. And then he goes on to say, you know, I don't, I'm not normally friends with people like you. And he goes, but I look back, and my very best friends over my whole life have been similar. And I'm not quite sure why, because it isn't the sort of person that I can see myself spending time with. And uh, it's a conundrum for him of why we get along so well.
SPEAKER_00:Well, for as as brilliant as he may be, then that just may be a misunderstanding of how human dynamics work. To steal from uh a movie line, you complete each other. You know, you don't you don't look at these facets of your personality and say that they clash, you say that they complement. I would agree. And you know, again, I'm living proof of that, and it sounds like you are too in your marriage.
SPEAKER_02:So I told you pre when we were getting ready to do this today, uh, which by the way, if you're listening, our pre-work is about 45 seconds. Uh we try to keep the on an exhaustive. Yeah, we try to keep this as real as possible and just have a good conversation, which we hope the listeners are enjoying as well. But uh, I've been reading a uh biography of Franklin, uh Ben Franklin. Okay. Uh and also I I've read one on Einstein and a few other people. And when Franklin first arrived uh in Philadelphia after he'd run away from home in Boston, uh, one of the first things he did was seek out other people his age that were that loved to read, that uh, you know, were trying to be uh educated. And you know, each of them had their own little library, which I also think is uh hilarious, as you run away from home, but you bring your library. Uh and uh they would switch books and talk about them and you know, go out in the evenings and sit and talk and do that. And I thought this is amazing. He sought out wherever he went in his life when he was in London and other places, a group of people that shared his absolute thirst for learning and knowledge. Einstein was the same way, but he would invite people. Over to uh usually to play music together or do something, and then they'd take a long walk and talk about physics or whatever. Then they go back and read poetry together, and I think uh, but I knew that they played music together. Um, I'm trying to think of his name right now, can't remember, but he was the same way, Feynman. Uh he would invite, he would say, Hey, I've always been interested in learning this. What do you what can I teach you? And I was like, You play the bongos, right? Yeah, I play the bongos. Well, then let's get together and I'll teach you how to play bongos. And you teach me how to fix my uh engine on my car. So it I yeah, it's funny that they sought out people that they said, I'm gonna create relationships, but I'm gonna be um more focused about the kind of people I want to have relationships with. And I and I, you know, they went out of their way to to form those groups, and they were the catalyst in all of them of I need to bring people into my life that are interesting, match my values, that I want to spend time with, and that I will learn from. And I don't know if everybody is as um intentional about that as they might or might want to think about being.
SPEAKER_00:It's the key to life, is what I think. There's an author, a podcaster, Scott Galloway. He's also an NYU professor of marketing, and you know, I listen to all of the his shows that he So do I. He's very, very good. Okay, so then maybe you've heard this saying that he says all the time our greatness is in the agency of others. Yeah, yeah, I have heard that many times. And that's like I want to get that t-shirt or tattoo it on my on my quite voluminous forehead, because it could not be any more true, is that our greatness is in the agency of others. You know, if we want to, and I'm not even talking about business greatness, although that too. I'm just talking about our ability to really live into this idea of an awesome life.
SPEAKER_02:Let me, while we were talking, I thought of something else that that I think that that helps people make great human connection, and that's being a mentor. You know, if you've walked a path and you're a few steps ahead of somebody else or you have an area of expertise, you know, what I just said with Einstein and Feynman uh was they they asked for mentors and they were mentors. But I would say in my own life, helping young people, uh for me, young is we've said anybody under 59, but helping other people in areas that I might have expertise or knowledge or experience in, that would be of value to them. And typically I learn as much from them as they learn from me. Uh, but it's that connection of knowing I'm there to be of service, or you know, uh for other people, you're there to be of service, you're helping other people, you're making helping to make their life better, uh, and give them knowledge and other ideas that will help them. But in the process, you're making a great human connection. You understand that someone is, I won't say looking up to you, but looking at you as someone who cares about them and someone that wants them to be happier and more successful. And I think that makes a nice relationship as well.
SPEAKER_00:I think that's great. And I wonder if that's something that society values anymore. Because I don't hear a lot about people just being mentors. Of course, you have fathers and sons or grandparents, and you have that kind of intergenerational interplay. But it's a great thing, and I wonder if a lot of people do it anymore. I could give you the answer, no.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Well, only because it's it's much more prevalent from a business standpoint of, you know, do you and they call them a champion or whatever, but do you have a mentor? I'd say very rarely does someone say, Oh, yeah, I've got a formal mentor I meet with.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh that we talk and they help me. And then, you know, as I always say, get as much help from them as you can. And then, you know, once you feel like you've got that topic or something fairly well under control, uh, ask them to introduce you to someone else that has a different skill or experience. Um, I've I still have mentors, several of them that I go to and ask for help and advice and input. Uh and very, I mean, some people are like, a what? A mentor, what's that? Ah, definitely I can't believe you said that. Uh so, and I think putting yourself out there to do it is a wonderful, wonderful way to make a great human connection and help other people.
SPEAKER_00:It all ties together too. You know, you are a mentor because, you know, it's part of your value system. You know, one of the things that we talked about a few episodes ago, and really what you believe about human connection, what you believe about the importance of relationships is going to guide how you behave. And I happen to believe that we are all interconnected, that we would that we all need each other and we all depend on each other. This is this concept um in Buddhism that was coined, I believe, by Tik Natan, who is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, called interbeing. Have you heard of this idea of interbeing? No, I've not. Okay, it really is just the idea that we are all interconnected, like I just said. He goes further and he talks about our connectedness with the universe, with with nature, how we need the sun and we need water and the soil and all of these things. Pulling it uh in a little bit, our ability to connect and our ability to form relationships, I think is is crucial to our thriving, not just surviving. And that's what I believe, and that's how I try to behave. So, hopefully, those listening have been convinced by these two handsome bald men that it is very important.
SPEAKER_02:There's some other people on here? Where are they?
SPEAKER_00:Ah, very good. Um, that this is something worth pursuing, even though, yes, it does cost you something. John, what is our homework for the week?
SPEAKER_02:It's two part. Uh, one is think about someone that you'd like to learn from, or just see, just someone you'd like to spend time with. You haven't really make an appointment for breakfast or lunch or a Zoom call. I mean, I've told you that some of my I was talking to a someone that I've been uh hanging out with and we challenge each other to read books, kind of like Franklin. That's why I was thinking about this is we assign each other books. And and the last time I talked to him, by the way, for those of you watching, he assigned me a book that was like this, thicker than this. Uh, it was 42 hours audio book. Oh and I told from now on, you know, I assigned him The Prophet by Cahil Gabron, which is about 45 pages. Yes, unbelievably one of my one of if not my favorite book ever. Um, and then another little book that was like 60 pages. I said, if you assign me a 42-hour book again, but find somebody that you just love to spend time with and find some time. Go to breakfast, go to lunch, get on a Zoom call, have dinner or whatever, go out for a coffee. Uh you'll find out that if you put it as part of your calendar, uh, that, and if you don't, it'll slip away. Every time I'm I meet with someone, we set another date while we're together, 30, 45 days out to touch base again and hang out. And I've got probably a dozen people like that that I make it a point to see them every couple of weeks to keep that connection and that relationship going. So there it again, it takes effort. Takes effort. And then the other thing is I would say put yourself out there as a offering to be a mentor. Um, figure out what you where you think you can help other people, and then be extremely generous if someone is interested in in getting better in that area to be their mentor and help them and support them.
SPEAKER_00:Well, thanks for that. I will add that to my list, especially the mentoring thing. I may have sons, um, but it's there's tremendous value in connecting with people because I am you know in my 50s now. Maybe I have a maybe I have a few things to tell people. For those introverts out there, I would just add that if interacting socially is terribly painful for you, but you recognize the importance of it. What I did was I just started really small, tiny steps. Make it a point to say um something nice to the bad boy or you know, to to someone passing by. You know, start with those little steps. And believe it or not, that helped me get used to the fact that, you know, it's okay to put myself out there, even if I am rejected, you know, it's very low stakes, and you just build upon that. That's what I did.
SPEAKER_02:Me too. I just slowly, one by one, got a little bit more comfortable saying hello to people or you know, inviting them to sit down with me if I saw a friend. Hey, come over, let's chat for a little while. Uh, which in the past I would have been, leave me alone, let me read, don't, don't even look at me, don't make eye contact, you know, just let me hide over here where no one can see me. Uh now I'm kind of a little bit the reverse. I'm looking around to see if there's somebody I know that I can go say hello to, compliment them, check on them, see how they're doing. So, and I'm looking, I've got friends that do that with me too. Out of the blue, I'll just get a call and just want to see how you're doing, John, how everything's going. And that feels nice too, to know that somewhere someone was thinking about you and wanted to talk to you.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I gotta say that that as we're recording this, we did it at the beginning, we batch recorded it, folks, where we did like three or four episodes at a time just so we could build them up because John travels a lot. But I was a little selfish and I said, when we can, John, can we record weekly? Because to be honest, I just like keep keeping up with you and finding out how you're doing and just hearing about your life. So you're very kind, even even with this, that's in practice. So, folks, let us know what you think. Email us at awesomelifenotes at gmail.com, awesomelifenotes at gmail.com, and let us know what you think about this or any other things. Ask John questions, try to stump him, that would be fun. Stump John should be a uh segment on our show. Um, but uh reach out to us awesomelifenotes at gmail.com. If you want to find out about John Spence and this information here just isn't enough, then go to johnspence.com. That's his website, that's his his internet hub. Of course, he's probably on a whole bunch of other socials and things as well. You can find all that information on johnspence.com. This is a dazzling production of familiar wilsons media, and that's little old me. If you want to get in touch with me, familiarwilsonsmedia.com is my website. Just go on there and and take a look around. John, this week I want to thank my sons and my daughter, and they remind me every day how important it is to continue to connect with them and keep up with them, and they teach me new things all the time. So that's who I have to thank this week.
SPEAKER_02:Me, it would be a young man I've known for years, haven't talked to in a while, and uh reconnected with him. He called me about a month ago. He's struggling in his life and uh reached out for help. And I want to thank him for being courageous and vulnerable enough to say, I'm in over my head here, I need help. Uh and uh he's moving in with us to for a couple of months, probably, and make sure, and had I had he not asked me, I would have not had the opportunity to be helpful and and make sure that he was going to be all right. So I for all of you out there, um I am extremely thankful that he asked for help.
SPEAKER_00:Being vulnerable, another important thing. All right, folks, uh drop us a line, but until next week, go out there and live an awesome life.