Episode 223: Take the Leap

Fear can truly be a mind-killer. It can ruin a great thing before it even gets its start. 

Brian can attest to this because there was a point in time where he was afraid to make decisions and living for others and not himself. 

So what happened in the late summer of 2017 that shifted everything for him? 

Tune in to episode 223 as Brian details his COMPASS Framework, reveals a positive outlook on imposter syndrome and much more! 

For more information about Brian Ondrako:

Website: brianondrako.com

Instagram: @brianondrako

LinkedIn: Brian Ondrako

YouTube: @BrianOndrako

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

After this episode, I definitely have to say that the motivation was at an all-time high. Brian spoke so transparently from the start. I talked about really a good portion of his life living complacently. A good portion of his life just being fearful. A good portion of his life just not really making the decisions that he wanted to make, but rather the decisions that he thought others would want him to make. And how that really transformed his mindset and really what he did. I talked about really publishing a children's book seven years after writing it, just because he left it on the shelf, because he didn't know what to do with it. I talked about how it is never too late to do what. Just to get started. The three words that you'll hear throughout the episode, and three words that can almost be the mission and mantra for how Brian lives his life now. The message that he passes along to others coming across this episode just the same. And something that I took to heart in listening and chatting with him. Because something I will say is that oftentimes we delay. We delay, we overthink, we overcompensate, we work. Instead of just doing it, taking that step and building that foundation. So without further ado, enjoy episode 223 and take the leap. What's going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Down to Business Podcast here with Tamar Turner. So look, don't let Brian's setup fool you. He also can be a host, he also can be a podcaster, he also can get on here and do his own thing just the same. And I feel like he has an amazing message to really share today. Really, just almost, I'm not even gonna say really just, but I'm gonna say three words that really just in reading his bio and reading all the information that he sent over to me and even exploring some more, it's it's definitely that slogan, it's definitely that just that phrase that'll really just get you up, get you at him, and you it may even really just change the way that you look at some things. So before Brian gets into everything, before he tells us one why he's here today, and just a little bit about himself. Brian, how's everything on your end? How you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 1:57

No, doing wonderful, man. Excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Oh, absolutely. Thank you for coming on and joining us. You know, something that we were talking about pre-episode was one. I I know that by the time people hear this episode, if you're not tapping in live, that um it may just be a little bit after the fact, but I just do want to send out my prayers. Brian is actually based in North Carolina, I'm based here in Florida. So definitely two places that were hit very, very hard by the hurricane and by the tropical storm that passed through last week into this weekend. So definitely just want to send my prayers out to everybody um here going through that. And uh, whether it be, you know, whether you're down here in the Big Bend side of Florida or whether you're kind of all the way up in eastern or western parts of North Carolina, and even some of the other places as well. You know, that was definitely just a lot happening, but you know, we're we're definitely just staying diligent. We're definitely just here trying to support our friends, our family, even strangers, however, we can, because a lot of businesses, a lot of people, a lot of things were ultimately affected as we work back to some normalcy. So, all right, so down to business podcasts, Brian. So, one, as I said kind of before we got on here, I appreciate you joining me. I appreciate you taking the time. I appreciate even what you're doing in this space. So I know we're gonna have some people who you know are here in this intro or listening or tapping in and may not know anything about you, but you also may have some people on this side who may not know anything about me and down the business. But we'll probably have my favorite along the way. And those are people who know nothing about either one of us. And those are I love the newcomers, I love the people who are tapping in for the first time. But do me a favor to bring everybody up to speed, to put everybody on the same page. Can you just do two things for me? Can you one just tell me a little bit about yourself? And then can you two just tell me what brings you on the down the business podcast today?

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Yeah, I mean, uh, about myself could, I mean, you know, with even your story as well. I mean, we could be here for hours, probably if I go on the nitty-gritty. Let me give you the quick the difference I've found in my life is it's kind of a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde. You know, the first half of my life, you can say, or maybe the first, you know, six-tenths in in terms of where I'm at today, were this totally different person of complacency, this person that was fearful to make decisions, this person that was living life really just very reactionary. I don't know if you if you've experienced this, like all the decisions I made were very reactionary. They weren't thought out a lot. And a lot of the decisions that I made were based on other people's opinions and the judgments and the things that you know they thought were best for me. So I made uh maybe a move in that direction. And what I've really come to find out is that I could do the things that I want to do if I'm just willing to lean in and take control. And now the decisions might be more challenging or difficult. It might be into uncharted space, all right. You know, things that really get me out of my comfort zone, but I can live an extremely fulfilling life if I'm willing to make that leap. And as you alluded to, kind of my my story is around just get started, if if I'm willing to take that jump and to do that. And that's really what I, you know, I'm about is my the the gist, by the way, is intentional. Because I could easily be get started, but just has that that kind of action to it that's really it, it just it almost like when you even say it, there's that accountability. I have to take action to get started. And it's more immediate than we can spend hours upon hours that you know, if we want to start a podcast and say, let me plan out every you know little nuance of this thing, let me script everything out, let me get 25,000 guests scheduled before I do anything, instead of just I'm gonna launch one episode and I'm gonna go. So, and we can go deeper into that. But anyways, that's kind of and and that's really you know, kind of I appreciate you having me on the podcast, is I think that story needs to be, you know, discussed more. I think most folks live with a lot of self-living beliefs, just like I did, that they're not good enough. They can't do the things they want, they can't go after these dreams or goals that they have, and they live in a lot of shame. Um, and we shouldn't do that because you know, not only is life too short, it's life can be beautiful and it could be immaculate if we take a positive mindset. Most of the time, though, because I'm this is something I went through for many, many years and still challenged with, I take the negative mindset. I take the it's not gonna work out. Well, why can't I say it is gonna work out? Like, why can't I take that approach? Um, so that's really how I think about you know, my life in a nutshell right now at 41 years old is I'm I'm living the life that I want because I made a lot of decisions in the direction that I wanted to go over a long time horizon. It hasn't been quick, it hasn't been easy, but I promise you, and it's been worth it more than I can even imagine. I can't even imagine where I'd be if I, you know, 10 years ago looking to where I'm at today. Um, it's unbelievable, but I'm grateful that I decided to take control and move in that direction.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

And it's always so interesting just to really hear and take a deeper dive into seeing where you were and then seeing where you are, and then just thinking about that reflection of our past, about some of the thoughts that we had, about some of the, as you said, self-limiting beliefs, and and sometimes just what we even spoke about, spoke over our own life and did and things like that, and we didn't even really realize. So I think because uh something that a post that I've kind of been coming across more recently is you don't don't stress or don't worry, or don't I can't remember the exact beginning of it, and it's crazy because I just told you I was seeing it so much, but the ending is the part that speaks the most, and it's because you it's it's basically saying, like, don't stress or don't worry, you used to pray for where you are today, you know. And I don't, and I I guess I really it when I first saw it, I was just like, okay, you know, I I did always pray to be in a better position, whether it be you know, financially, spiritually, mentally, physically, all of the above. But I I when it wasn't until I really sat down and and really became introspective about it that I realized, wow, like that's that's really deep. You know, oftentimes when we feel like we're going through a struggle period, or oftentimes when we may want more for our lives, or oftentimes where things may just seem to be spiraling out of control, or naturally just praying and just tapping in and just not having that complacent factor or that trait within us. You always want more, you always think about the what-ifs, you always think about, oh, well, if I do this or if I do that, and then sometimes it's a comparison thing. It's you see somebody else kind of doing something, or you see another brand or another business kind of propelling and elevating to their purpose, and you realize, okay, well, why can't I do that? Why can't my business and my brand be the same way? But it's it's really just it made me become more grateful, and it made me really just appreciate the small things that much more because you know, sometimes I used to pray to I I used to pray to just stay steadfast with down the business. And now, well, by the time this episode airs, we'll be past 200. But I I would have never pictured that. Almost five years in in November, 200 episodes, live events in Charlotte, North Carolina, you know, just being able to be in different places in different spaces, the amount of people who I connected with, and I always used to think about, you know, the prayers that I had when it came to just I want people's story to be heard. I want more people to have that, I guess, exposure, to have that brand awareness to have, and sometimes not even really brand awareness, but I just want people to know who Brian is. Yes, I want them to know why just get started is important to you, what that is like, and why you decided to move in that direction. But I want them to truly know the person, the man behind the brand, and/or the woman behind the brand. And I think that's so important. So for me, it makes me think about that prayer when I want to tell these stories, and I've connected with over near, well, I probably would say over 200 people. I've connected with over 200 people, people who I've never met, people I've sat right across from, people I've grown up with. It's really just been amazing. So why that quote was just so prevalent and just so just to me, it was because like it really, and it was also during the time where I was practicing the strengthening just of my faith. It was also a time where I just wanted to tap in more, I wanted to be more intentional about that. Not because I felt like things weren't going right, or not because I felt like things were going completely right, but it was more so just because that's something that I wanted for tomorrow. So I love that, and I love how you said it too. Like you could have just said started, but I feel like just get started has a different mantra behind it. Because even we think about Nike, yeah, when you hear that just do it, it's just something about that. Like you said, it's just that okay, I could do it. Yeah, I'll I'll do it later. Okay, I'll do it maybe next week. Just do it now, you know. It it's not to say just do it now, but just do it or just get started. Just okay. So once you kind of say like that, it's like all right, because just for me, it gives me that simplistic mindset. It's just like, okay, I'm maybe I'm maybe I'm in my own head, maybe I'm procrastinating, maybe I'm just thinking too hard. If I just get started, maybe I'll realize that it's not as hard as I I I've thought about, and I can really attest to that myself. It was so many things that I shied away from, didn't want to touch on, didn't want to do, didn't even open, tried to avoid it just because you know I just thought it was something that it was it was way more than what meets the eye. And it was time and time again I proved myself. Once I submitted that application, once I opened that email, once I had that conversation, made that phone call, it was just like, wow, I could have done this weeks ago, I could have done this months ago, I could have, and who knows where I'd be had I done that in the moment. So for you, was there was there a particular like aha moment or did that did a light bulb come on? Where did really the branding of this, why did you choose? Because I see it on the shirt, I see it in the email signatures, I see it as you as well. Why did this phrase, or at what not even why, but at what moment did this phrase really become more than just three words for you?

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Well, I think it became three words. I mean, when I first uttered it, which was in the late summer of 2017, because you know, by the way, that you said all the maybes there. No, we are doing that, we are procrastinating, we are, you know, not probably living the potential that we can, and and we're playing small ball. Um, and I think part of that is the accountability, it's looking in the mirror and saying, hey, you know, what do I really want? And if this is not it, that's okay. Let's go in another direction forward. And that's what happened to me. You know, I wanted to start a podcast for over two years, and I hemmed and hawed over. I talked to a lot of people, I said I was gonna start it and I didn't start it. And it was gonna be uh I had a variety of different topics. I I I I thought about everything, but I wasn't starting. And that's why it's called Just Get Started, because in the late summer of 2017, I just said, you gotta just get started. And I remember it kind of just it wasn't maybe an aha, it might have been. I can't remember at that time. I don't have it on video, but it was like, wait a minute, you got something here. Why don't you do because I always wanted to do an interview show. Why don't you do a podcast where you interview people who have started businesses, who have, you know, authored books, who have done a variety of things that are kind of living this purposeful life and in the direction they want. And maybe you could be the one that steps outside of your comfort zone, you know, start the podcast, interview these people, share your journey along the way, and maybe that helps the people that were like you at this moment in time, or a year or two behind you, or whatever you you know you want to say, that are fearful, that are scared, um, that are feeling like their life maybe isn't what they thought it would be. And uh, and yeah, that's how just get started started. And and you know, now we hear we're recording this, you know, in the fall of uh 2024. You know, I'm I've done 400 and I mean it's in the mid 400s. Um, I've done a lot of solo episodes and and I've done 350 plus interviews. I think I'm at like 431 that just launched, you know, this past week. Like it's amazing talking about the people you met. Yeah, the amount of conversations I've been able to have and connections and and stories I've been able to share, it's been unbelievable. Never would have happened if I didn't take that leap and and just get started. And uh yeah, so that's it. What it means to me is is realizing that I'm no different than you or anyone else. And that's what's so cool about this. It's not like I'm sitting here as like a you know a billionaire being like, oh, do these three things and all of a sudden you'll be successful. It's like, no, like there's simple things you can do to become successful in your life, whatever success means for you. It's not about this comparison with you know other people that are big businesses, it's pulling the threads together of like, there's simple things that we can all go through. This is I I developed this compass framework. We can get into that if we want, but like I really think it's the crux of how to get people started because it's simple stuff everyone can do, and it's all tied into your life. It's not based on someone else's life. And, anyways, that's that's kind of what just get started means to me. And I and I think it's a powerful message for most people because I think so many people are stuck today in a life that they don't want.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

I would definitely agree with that. And I even think back to 2017, seven years ago, and really just where my life was, and just some when I was a junior in college, I was just getting an apartment for the first time. I was trying to figure out what I was gonna do as far as just work and and make some money and just figuring out, you know, junior year was also very important for me because it was the year I applied to grad school, and it was the year that you know Syracuse was just the only thing on my radar, all I was thinking about, and my organizational involvement joined my fraternity. So, no, I I think about you know, just that reflection period, just that time. But something that kind of stood out to me too before we get into the framework, because I definitely want to get into that because I even have a um I even have something that I kind of want to piggyback on for what you said. But something that I think about is that you spoke about a two-year period where you just didn't do it and you just thought about it and it was just it crossed your mind, and maybe you know, you may have put some research into it or some time into it or looked this up here, watched the video, or did that. So, over the course of that two years, you were just moving and grooving, whether it's just you know it was in the back of your mind, whether it was just at the forefront of your mind, but it never actually came to fruition. So when you debuted it, when you made it happen, when you made the announcement, when you just woke up and said, Okay, like this is it, when you said, I think I got something here. Did you did you ever feel like did you ever feel regretful? Did you ever feel like you wow, like what was I waiting on, or why didn't I do this already? Did you feel like time had wasted, or did you feel like you missed opportunities, or did you feel like you were stepping into your purpose exactly when you needed to?

SPEAKER_01 16:09

I I think I regret, yeah, I guess we can use that word probably in the first couple years, yes, but the more I've gotten comfortable, the more I've just realized that's part of the story, you know. And and and I'll I'll piggyback by taking by taking off a ramp that the podcast took two years, but you want an even funnier story is I'm about well by the time this comes out, well, I guess we're live here, but like in the end of October, uh my third children's book is being published. And I say that to say I wrote my first one in 2012 when my son was born. Um, and you know, it was probably the rough draft was done, and I put it on the shelf for over seven years. Over seven years. Think about that. Put it on the shelf, put it away. Didn't even look at it for seven years because I didn't believe I was a children's book author. I didn't believe that's something I could do. And I finally pulled it out in the spring of 2019, and after getting an illustrator and going through all that jazz of learning how to publish a children's book, it published in May of 2021. And now, like I said, I'm on my third, my second one published the year after, and this third one. And what's neat about that is it kind of confirms exactly what we've been talking about. Is there's no right time, and there's no reason for me to be regretful. It happened how it happened. All I could do is share how it happened and the fears and anxiety and all the struggles I had getting up to that point in hopes that maybe it helps someone else behind me say, wait, why am I waiting to publish a children's book? Why don't I do it now versus wait a year or two years? And that children's book, insert whatever you know you want to start. So yeah, I think that I don't think there's regret anymore. I mean, I know there's not regret anymore. I think there was regret in the first couple of years. I don't know when that dissipated, but I'm just more um, I'm more in belief that we should own our journey, whatever it is, whatever our story is, let's just own it. Let's not be fake. We there's plenty of people fake online that are saying that, you know, they're they're rolling in the Bentleys and they, you know, they're they're swimming in Scrooge McDuck money and they're doing all this stuff when they don't have that. Let's just be real and authentic and like this is who we are, this is how I am, and this is my story. And that's what I really try to share online is I want to share the raw and real of it because I want someone to believe that. Gosh, if they can do it, well, I certainly can do it. There's no fake stuff around it. There's no like, oh, I got into it, but there's 15 steps I never thought about. No, no, no. Let's just share the real and let's help other people get started. So that's yeah, not not a ton of regret, uh, because I I just I just think that's part of our story. Um, I just want to own it.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

And what I love the most about that too is that you know, in the beginning, you kind of spoke that regret might not be the word that you would use, but it took you really having to delve a little bit deeper, have more conversations, have those ups and downs, have those trials and tribulations to really realize what's going on and what's happening here. You know, I often tell people that I personally feel like I didn't really figure out the true meaning or message behind why I was doing what I was doing with the podcast until like my third year. You know, I was really just sitting and reflecting and looking at the conversations, looking at the feedback, even just thinking, praying, and just talking about things. And I really realized, you know, that's when it really came to me like, wow, this was what I was supposed to be doing. You know, I'm not really worried about the money and just trying to be this millionaire billionaire. I'm not really worried about just the two or three steps that I need to just hit that, you know, because there were points that I was worried about that. There were points that I was so worried about bringing on people that had the most followers, or so worried about bringing on people that were going to promote, or so worried about picking and choosing what I wanted to do, you know. So it became, but it also became a thing too, because I felt like I was drifting away from why I really got into this or why I really did this, you know. And sometimes a couple of bad experiences and trials and tribulations, they'll definitely veer you off track. But as I really started to get into the nitty-gritty, ask myself those questions and have those conversations because I think the whereas I'm big on accountability and I'm big on just surrounding myself with people who are like-minded and everything, I feel like my biggest accountability partner is myself. The biggest person who will stand in my way is Tamar, you know. So it wasn't until I really had to have those man in the mirror conversations, as I call them, those difficult, just introspective moments with myself to really realize, okay, Tamar, what are you doing? Why, you know, why are you doing this? What is what is really the mantra here? What is the message here? Sit down, write some things out. You know, people were asking me my mission or my mantra and my vision and my values, and I didn't really have things that I could go to. You know, I was kind of just spitballing things. I was kind of just saying what sounded good to me, but it wasn't really something that, and you know, I don't want any this document that I can just pull up and read from, but I want to be able to tell you look, down the business is this, this, this, and this. We do this, this, this, and this because of this, this, this, and this. And I felt like there was a long period of time where I just couldn't do that, or where it was one thing for this person or it was another thing for this person. And I wanted everything to just be succinct. So I love that. Now, the framework itself, you know, because I know that we're gonna have people that are listening to this episode, whether they're live or coming onto it at a later date, that are are just they feel stuck in layman's terms. They feel like you know, they don't really know what to do or where to go. You know, they see certain things or they wake up motivated one day and then it kind of goes away, or they know that they have a tall to-do list or some task or things written down or stuff that they want to do, but sometimes they just don't have that extra oomph, or they just don't have that push or that pull in some instances to really get them to do it. So, for you, why did you come in to this knowing that you wanted a specific framework or you wanted a specific just to be able to, I guess, expound or I guess explain. Into people, kind of what's going on, or what you can do. Or did you find that as you kind of worked through this, as you even found your own person, as you really began to get started but continue to get that, did you find that there were just certain commonalities amongst people or amongst experiences that you had? What was, or it could be a combination of both? You know, what was that really like for you as you now can can tell me that just get started? We operate by a certain standard, we operate by a certain set of guidelines.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

Yeah, there, I mean, that that's the thing. I didn't know up front, and and that's okay. I think this is important maybe to noodle on for a minute before we dive down the compass rabbit hole. You said a word earlier that I think is really important to underscore is gratitude, is being grateful. You know, that's one thing I wasn't I I've always felt I've been grateful, but I think for my journey specifically, I wasn't grateful as much. Like I didn't really sit and realize the opportunity I had in front of me. Like the fact that a lot of folks, and and and I hope everyone gets this realization. I think a lot of people live lives they don't, is to have the self-awareness that they're even look like like the fact that I even came to the fact of or that I came to the thought of just get started, you want to change your life, let's do this and let's move in a direction. I have immense gratitude for even have the wherewithal to come up with that, like to to almost like an awakening, if you will, of like, I didn't like the old life that I had and I wanted to change it and I was willing to change it. And I can only imagine, you know, in a hundred other scenarios, you know, in other dimensions, maybe I didn't, right? Maybe I I stayed down the path I was. So I think there has to be a level of gratitude of where we're at today. And if we're even considering, even sniffing at the fact to change and try to become better humans, we got to applaud ourselves for it. We're too hard on ourselves. We're typically our worst critic, right? Give yourself a pat on the back and say, you know what? The fact that I got to this point, okay, good. Now let's move forward. Now let's keep going. So I think that's really important to say is like I have immense gratitude now for the opportunity. And I'm I I've become very um, what's the term? I've become very patient with myself of not because I always I'm very ambitious, like I want to do a million things, right? I become very patient with the moment and staying present. It's okay. I don't have to move a mile a minute. Am I enjoying this moment in this day tomorrow? Am I enjoying this conversation? That's all that really does matter. We can set goals, we can look out in the future, and I think that's important, but at the end of the day, am I enjoying today or am I always looking for the future? Because if I'm always looking for the future, I'm not present in the moment today and enjoying it.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

That's so important. And I even I would I would definitely second that because I and I relate to that from a phone perspective. You know, I'm a type of person who sometimes I forget like what I've done or even um events or different things that I've been to because I'm so not that I forgot the actual event itself, but I can't maybe recall a date or recall a month. But I can tell you, hey, I went to the Janet Jackson concert, or hey, when 50 Cent and Buster Rhymes and them came to Tampa, I was there. Now, can I recall the month? No, but I I recall that night, I recall being on the lawn and them playing some throwbacks and me having fun, but I really had to tell myself to live in the now, live in the moment, stop trying to keep up with the Joneses in a sense from a social media perspective, though, because things move fast. The algorithm is I I hate that word when it comes to social media because I feel like it's just all over the place. And it's and just when you think you got it or you're you're feeling good about something, or this does really well, then the next day you're you're you feel like you're right back to square zero. So for me as an ambitious person and the ambition mixed with perfection, that's not a good mix. But as as I kind of just continue to work through that and continue just to that's why I pride myself on feedback because sometimes not necessarily that I just need somebody to hype me up or just give me that that one foam finger, but sometimes I need to hear what I'm doing. It's tomorrow, you're good. Like just take a deep breath, just woo-sah, it's fine. Like it's you know, I look at things especially different in my industry because I've studied this for now six to seven years. You know, I have a master's in in communication and journalism and writing and editing and things like that. So I can't even watch TV the same. You know, I can't even watch football or anything the same now because I'm just looking at it from a well, why did they do that? Why did they cut that? Why did they, you know, instead of just trying to enjoy the game for itself. So, no, I I think that whether you're a business owner, entrepreneur, or creative, no matter what, you have to live in that moment. You have to appreciate what is in front of you. You have to, you know, the the past is the past for a reason. The present is a is is the present, it's a gift. So enjoy it as such in the future, allow it to come when it's on its way. So I love that you you took that perspective from it because that's important. And I really like it because that's not the easiest conversation to have. That's not the easiest realization to make within yourself. But even making that realization, even having that conversation, do you stay steadfast with it? Because you know, I can tell myself that this needs to get done. I can tell myself, hey, don't do that again. But you know, I people slip up, nobody's perfect. We make mistakes if if things get a little, you know, sometimes if I get a little bit too content and I can just okay, now I'll let it off. But is that gonna put me, as we spoke about, and as you kind of touched on multiple times in this interview, is that gonna put you where you want to wanna be? Is that gonna put you in the right frame of mind or the right state to be able to move forward? So now as you as you really, I'm not even really gonna say finished, I don't really think that that's the right word, but as you started to get more comfortable with yourself, with having those conversations, with doing that reflection, with making those realizations, at what point did others come in? Or were were were you always just kind of that type of person? You know, because I've spoken to people in previous episodes who, whether they be consultants or whether they be fashion designers or whether they be in any industry, they felt like they were in their industry or in their purpose or helping people out within their niche before they even maybe branded themselves as such. So do you feel like you were that motivating factor for people? Do you feel like you were that even, I'm not even gonna really say consultant in a sense, but do you feel like you were that person that people came to when they needed to have conversations or maybe felt like they were in a rut, or maybe felt like they just wanted to get to something but didn't necessarily have the blueprint or have the ways to get there? What does that really look like for you? Because you know, as I as I kind of spoke to at the beginning, it's very, it's not easy, but as you become more comfortable with it, it can just be something that's second nature. You know, you can take time to set aside for yourself, you can take that time to pray, you can take that time to write things down, prioritize or anything like that. But once you start to involve others, once you kind of look, once people kind of come from the outside to look in, that's a totally different perspective. You're working with different personalities, you're working with different motivations, you're working with different mindsets, skill sets, everything like that. So, what was that like as other people began to get incorporated into what it is that you do?

SPEAKER_01 28:47

Well, you know, it's it's always been a theme in my life, which is kind of, you know, it's one my mentor Rich and I, we've really worked on, you know, kind of the things I'm trying to accomplish, what I enjoy, like where I want to spend time. And we came up with this one word to kind of define, you know, my mission and being a navigator. And that's that's kind of my one word as a navigator because what I've found is I've always been kind of a guide, you know, let people be the hero of their story, and I'm just a guide along the way. And it goes all the way back to I I remember I remember random stuff like in high school, like, and I was never the most popular kid, I was kind of like middle of the road, right? But I but I kind of like was friendly with everyone. And the what I'm trying to say is there's several kind conversations I remember having, like people that had like relationships, and let's say they, you know, they were in a in a rut, let's say, and I'd be sitting with them like at study hall and they'd come up and they'd start like there's almost like a comfort, a trust there they had with me, where they'd like talk about it. And now, whether I had great advice or not, I don't remember at the time. I just remember like asking questions, just making them comfortable about it. And and I remember this when uh my first career, I was a PJ professional. So I used to teach golf for a living, and that's where coaching has been like a thread throughout my life. But I remember, you know, teaching golf was not just about teaching golf. Like I'd have people talk about, I still remember this day. I had this student that I work with a lot, and he came, I was at some random day or whatever where like we'd work together for weeks and weeks in a row. He'd come to me and he's just off. And I stopped him halfway and I'm like, I'm like, dude, what's going on, man? And he like broke down. He's like, I think my wife and I are getting a divorce, you know, and we had a conversation, an honest conversation about it. And the reason I bring that up is like I felt I've I felt this comfort to talk with people about these difficult conversations. Um, and they've been comfortable talking with me about it and bring it up. So it's something that I've always tried to have those conversations. And sometimes they're tough conversations. You may have this with friends or colleagues or you know, loved ones or whatever. And those difficult conversations are really tough at times. And sometimes you're pressing people, sometimes you're giving them tough love. You know, it's kind of knowing when and where to you know push and prod. But um, yeah, it's something I I and I love doing, I love having those conversations because I know how important they've been to me. When someone, when a mentor pushes on me or in a relationship, you we're having a really a tough love type conversation that pulls out something that maybe I'm not doing correctly and I need to do better, those are so important. So I like to give that back to others as well. So it's it's always been and it always will be a part of my mission. Whether I blow this up into some big thing or who knows, I have no idea. I'm like, I don't care about that. There'll always be some sort of like one-on-one type coaching aspect because it's just something that really fuels me. And I love having those conversations.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

And when the passion is there, man, the the work and and really I say work, but it doesn't even really feel like a job per se. But the the rest will really and the results will speak for themselves. So, as you said, you know, and I really didn't doubt it whatsoever. I I just could tell just from listening to you that this was something centralized in your life, something that you know, you it almost inadvertently kind of just sometimes we can't help, like, you know, what we're what our strong suits are is what people kind of come to us for and what we're, you know, but we can capitalize on that, and we can also make sure that we're being authentic, we're being real and raw, as you say, just the same. So it's it's no surprise to me that you know, in some capacity, this was already work that was being done on your end. Now, one of the common themes of this conversation are the common themes I think of what it is you do, and even just being a business owner, an entrepreneur, a creative, those two words, imposter syndrome. You know, I even talked about it with keeping up with the Jones is from a social media thing. Comparison is the thief of joy. You know, I can get into a lot of just different knick-knack ways of putting it, but essentially, imposter syndrome is really what it can be. And you know, it's it's nothing to I will tell myself this, and I'll also tell the listeners to this. It's nothing to be ashamed of. You know, it's nothing to we're human beings, we have emotions, we have feelings, we see things, we go through things, but it's a matter of what we allow to consume us, what we allow, you know, because we whereas you know, I stopped watching the news in high school, probably well, high school going into college, stopped just really just felt like it was just a lot of negativity. It was really just way more um, we're hearing what's going wrong in the world and what's not really in a lot of those stories that should be front and center, they're kind of getting swept under the rug. But I say all that to say, you know, I had to begin watching the news again for grad school. You know, I was at Syracuse Communication Journalism, that was our bread and butter screens everywhere. Now, I obviously did not a fan of this, I did not want to do this, but I did not allow this to really shape shift me. You know, I was able to differentiate the news from my outlook, you know, because there were there were certain points where I just felt like I had to cut out the news because it just wasn't putting me in the right state of mind, where I just wasn't, you know, I had to be more careful with how I was speaking to myself, what I the thoughts that I was thinking, the conversations that I was having, what I was even looking at and listening to, you know. So I think about imposter syndrome, and I think about that being such a common theme, no matter what it is that you do in life, whether you stepped into this business ownership and entrepreneurial world, whether you're in the corporate world still, a mother, a father, anything, it can happen to anyone. So for you doing what you do, for you just getting started, for you propelling people to even just get started, but maintain that and continue that, how do you navigate imposter syndrome? And what even advice or what even insight do you have for others out there that may feel like this is something that's very prevalent in their everyday life?

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Well, and in terms of imposter syndrome, and I'll actually share something I learned from Seth Godin, which I think is valuable for everyone. Um, because I used to think, to your point, imposter syndrome was like I used to again cripple me. I'm I'm I told you a couple stories with the children's books and the podcast and probably many other things, right? Is I didn't get started, I didn't do things because I didn't think I was good enough. That wasn't me or whatever. But I actually I love Seth Godin's uh thought on this around if you feel imposter syndrome, you actually know you're on the right path because you should be an imposter. Like if you if you never wrote a children's book or never start a podcast or never start a business, you don't know how to do it. But that's a good thing. So you should feel like an imposter and you're moving in the right direction, right? It it it if it fuels you, if it's something that you feel is outside your comfort zone, but you want to do and it's scary, it probably means you should be doing it. Yeah. So I think Seth has the best, like I said, the best way of uh framing it of we think of it as a negative, but use it as a positive. Use it as a positive and say to yourself, yeah, you know what? I'm not good at this, but that's why I'm doing it. I'm gonna learn each and every day and try to get better at it. You know, instead of taking the negative approach of I'm never gonna be good, right? That there it's always a mindset thing. It's always, do I go positive or negative? I can't do this versus I can't do this yet, right? Simple phrasing, or I can't do this versus I'm gonna try it for X period of time and I'm gonna see where I come out from it, right? There's all it's all phrasing. I'm not good enough, or I don't know if I'm good enough yet, but let's try, right? It's just how we talk to ourselves. And as I mentioned earlier, we're our worst critics, right? We beat ourselves up. I started do something recently where I will not try to be crazy or anything, but like literally I'll like talk to myself. I'll like randomly be like, I love you, Brian. You're doing great, man. Or great, hey, great episode today. I thought you really had some good questions for the interview. Like, I'll literally talk, say it out loud. And someone gave me that advice uh to start doing that, and actually is a game changer because it's weird to do the first couple times, but then you're like, you know what? I always like to hear compliments from other people, I like to share compliments with other people. Why am I so freaking hard on myself? Why am I not giving myself any credit? So when you start doing that, it again it just changes the the framework in your mind of like, no, I can do it, right? I have this uh uh on my uh bathroom mirror, I've had it for many years. It's the question, why can't it be you? So when I feel like I'm not good enough, or if I'm getting down on myself, if I'm if I'm kind of feeling like uh I catch myself and it's like, why can't it be you? Why can't I be the one that does whatever now now I have a um a plethora of work that I've done, of published, you know, but whether it's the podcast or the books or blogging for years and years, all these things, right? That I could use to kind of pin up on the bulletin board to make it easier for me to have confidence. And like, hold on, dude, you've done plenty of things, and that helps me a lot more. But if you are just getting started, if you haven't felt like you've done a lot, ask yourself, why can't it be you? Like, why can't you be the one that does the thing you think you can't do? Because at some point, all the people, all the people you look at on social media and you envy and admire, at some point they didn't think they were good enough either. But they decide to get started and and they follow that journey to where they're at today.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

Perspective is is a man, it's a it's a game changer. And it for me, it was even like you said, the different. I'm a big words person and grammar person, so it was even changing how I looked at the connotation of words, you know. Whereas disrupt, uh, a lot of times, you know, growing up, you didn't want to be disruptive in class, you didn't want to be the person who had that on their report card or grades or anything like that. But uh previous interviewee of mine, Cynthia Corsetti, you know, she used it disrupt as in changing the narrative around something, as in disrupting the the what do we call it as the status quo. And I love that because it was just like, you know, and she put it in quotations on purpose. And I was just like, you know, oftentimes you hear that word and you immediately just think negative, you think bad. But when have you ever thought it about revitalizing something or bringing something new or or starting a new tradition or starting it? So, as you said, you know, for me, I I and I've spoken about this on previous episodes. I wouldn't say that I wasn't that person who didn't like the affirmations or didn't like speaking things into existence manifestations and everything like that. I would say I didn't just I just wasn't one to engage into it. So, but whenever people would come on and tell me the testimony and tell me the stories and just even tighten me up in some cases and just kind of tell me, hey, tomorrow you gotta watch what you're saying or watch what you're doing, or all that stuff matters, or what you're printing, you know, you wouldn't talk to so-and-so like that. So don't talk to yourself like that. You know what I'm saying? So as I started to have that shift though, wow, I felt like I was approaching the podcast differently. I felt like I was even just thinking more, my mind was expanding more. You know, I was having more intellectual and more insightful conversations. I was just even, and I and then I found myself checking other people like, yo, hold, hold on, you gotta be careful about that, man. We speaking a little now, you know. There's not a time where you know, whenever somebody tells me that there's something that they want to do, or whenever I ask the futuristic outlook question, we always say that it's gonna happen. We've spoken a lot of things into existence with the podcast, and we will continue to do so. So I love that point just about having that perspective and just looking at things sometimes from a different lens or from a different scope. Now, with the with being a podcast host as well, and with being a podcast host for quite some time now, I I've talked to a plethora of business owners and entrepreneurs that have stepped into the realm of podcasts, and whether it be just because they wanted to have different conversations with other experts, they wanted to, you know, further expound their brand or their business, or whether it was just because you know they've they enjoy having these conversations and wanted to kind of take matters into their own hands. So for someone who has been in this game for quite some time, you have some skin in the game for sure. You've recorded a few episodes here and there, we'll say. Um, as somebody who is who is definitely very experienced and and definitely curtailed in that respect, do you have any just insight or any just even realizations or eye-opening moments that you've been able to learn as not only a business owner, but also as a business owner that also has their own podcast and has also kind of branded themselves from a multimedia direction?

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Well, in terms of insights of just like, I guess in generalities, I'll speak to start and then we can go deeper. I I think we'd like to make especially people that are doing things, maybe they feel these celebrities or big folk, you know, folks that have big followings or whatever. We like to make it all sexy. It's like, oh, they did this thing or they got this lucky break. And sir, I'm sure some did, right? And but we all get lucky breaks. We might not even think of them at lucky breaks, but we get them. I it goes back to it's so simple, it's stupid. It's the blocking and tackling, it's the showing up each. Like I could would again, I don't know how many, because I've I've solo the reason I say I don't know how many episodes because I had solo episodes early on that I didn't put a the you want to go talk back about imposter syndrome? I had solo episodes I did, I did a handful of them throughout you know my seven years, and I didn't put a number on it. So when I had like an interview, I'd put like whatever number one, but the the solo episode I just kind of launch as an episode, but I didn't actually put like number two or because there was part of me like, well, is that technically an episode? Like that's freaking imposter syndrome, like that shit is like it'll get you, but you overcome that by realizing like, hold on, no, no, no, I deserve, I'm putting on an episode, doesn't matter if it's an interview or not. Anyway, so whatever mid 450 episodes, 460 episodes, whatever have launched so far. It's the simple things, and it starts out with consistency. I cannot have podcast 460 until I have podcast one, until I have podcast two. And we want again, it's one of these weird things as humans. Like we see, you know, we we just had the Olympics right this past summer, and we see someone, and we're like, did you know, Tamara? They they do this, they guess they do this study every year or every few years, and there's Olympics, and they they go out in the streets and they research people that like, hey, um, do you think in four years you can actually be in the Olympics? Like, and like the amount of people with the audacity to say, like, oh no, yeah, I could probably make if I had four years to prepare, I can probably make it. And like some of these people are preparing since they, you know, came out of the womb. It's anyways, it's just laughable. So it goes back to it's the simple stuff. Like, you got to build consistency. And then while you're building consistency, is when you're figuring out, like, okay, do I like this style or that style? Do I like, you know, like I started off on podcast, I had like really specific questions, partly because I was nervous and I had like, okay, I'm gonna ask this question, then this question. And now it's more just a conversation. Like I have topics, but I do a lot of research prior, probably 30 minutes to an hour of research minimum with every guess that I really dive into because I don't want to start surface level. I try to go deeper. That's something I didn't know though, day one or even year four, right? So I think those are the things that when someone's looking at again, if we think specifically the podcast, don't overthink it day one. Launch an episode. Maybe I I'd like to say use I'd like 20 as a number. Now some people might say, oh, you know, maybe I'll launch three or five. I think if you're not going to launch 20 episodes and see it, like think of it as a season, don't launch it. But commit to 20. Because 20 gives you at least enough to get through the suck to you know have that high of the first five or six or whatever, you know, whatever how many right that you have. And then you're like, oh my gosh, like I got to keep publishing. I got to find guests or I do whatever. And then you have that lull and then you come back up. So I think 20 is good. But if you're going to commit to 20 and then after 20 ask yourself a simple question. Do I love doing this or not? And if you're like, you know, I like doing this or hey this is good, but I'm, you know, I may have to pivot. Okay. Maybe I don't do the interview anymore. Maybe I just do me talking or maybe I do a more tactical episode or maybe it's not 60 minutes, it's 15. Like don't do just because Joe Rogan has a three hour podcast, don't do a three hour podcast, right? Do what works for you and what you want to do. So those are some of the things I've learned. And I think maybe to noodle on this a little bit, we talk about other people like the amount of mentors, amount of people that I've reached out to for help, like you have to be willing to step out and ask. And that's for help, that's for podcast guests, that's for everything. I had a conversation with my 12 year old in the car to car pool today about stepping out of your comfort zone and asking for things. So I think there's a few things there, right? We talk about consistency. We talked about pivoting and kind of knowing where you want to go and then I think leveraging other people and in conversations and people that have done it before you great learn from them. Get their advice just like you would read a book. And hopefully that helps you move not only just faster because it's not always about faster, but it makes your decisions more clear. And that's the most important thing. If you have a clear decisive idea of where you want to go you just maybe saved yourself six months or a year or maybe years doing something you didn't want to do because you finally got an understanding of really what you want.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

So those are just a few things pull me deeper where you want but that's I'm just thinking off the cuff here a few things that you know but I like that and it's you know it that that spoke to me even as as almost five years in and it was just like you know you wouldn't have gotten to this point you wouldn't have been able to have these conversations you wouldn't have been able to even speak to you know I I have people now reaching out to me for advice or just insight and things like that and consider me an expert in some cases. I have people telling me to start a course you know I was like hey hey hey by no means you know am I your you know your Joe Rogan's or your your top voices but you know why back to your mirror why can't it be you you know but I also think about I wouldn't have been able to get here I wouldn't have been able to have this knowledge have this rapport have these relationships have these mentors without one episode and that's where it started you know I didn't think about it wasn't until I was 15 episodes in that I realized hey well why don't I do I want to make seasons do I want to do this you know it was things that developed it was things that I was learning as I went along the way but now in 2024 I really think about that first episode in 2019 in the middle of a pandemic in my basement um with cars zooming by in my background that I still kind of cringe at to this day you know but I think about how I've learned and perfected audio and how I've been professional in certain settings how I went from all audio to now we're doing video how I've switched platforms how I've moved states how I've done all that but nonetheless the mission has really always just strengthened. So I think that you know that's important and I think that is something that we're even seeing more common now you know I hear people say that they feel this is saturated or they feel that is saturated they feel like everybody's doing this or everybody's doing that you know but nobody's really doing it like you you know I've made this joke before that I somebody could start back to business which was going to be the original name for this podcast. But it it's not to me that's no rhyme or reason. I've had people reach out to me and say hey I want to start a podcast doing interviewing business owners and entrepreneurs but I don't want to feel like you know I'm stepping on toes I said for me to think that you're stepping on my toes that would be selfish of me and that would take away everything that I'm doing and why I did this and why I started you know I do this so that other people may get motivated. I do this so that you can kind of get on here and you want to just get started after this conversation. I do this so that you can get into real estate and and secure that land flipping deal I do this so that you can realize that taking a podcast having starting does not require an elaborate setup with cameras looking at you from 12 different directions and eight mics around you you you can keep it very simplistic and very solid and still do what you want to do. But I do all of this nonetheless because I love what it is that I do. And there's never just anything as far as like a threat or anything like that. I'm always collaboration over competition. That's one of my favorite things so I would be remiss if I didn't you know give the gems or I would be remiss if I gatek and and just act like I just discovered no I had to learn things from you. I had to learn things from other podcasters I had to learn things from trial and error I had to learn things from other hosts who don't even people get on this podcast and don't realize that they don't even have a podcast but you've taught me something taught me something I can apply to down the business you taught me something I can apply to life or both for that matter so I love really just your I I really love the obviously I love what it is that you do. I love the approach and the and the lane that you're taking but I love your perspective with everything because it's so important and as the older I've gotten and the more I pride myself on being intentional um it's just been crazy. And while I'm actually on Instagram live right now and I call her my sister her name is Yachty she said we actually work together at Brightley such a small world so while that's actually really crazy. Yeah shout out to her for tapping in with this yeah very small world yeah he and that is true he told me he's based in Raleigh so I believe it to be true. So nah um but no I I really just as I said really just hearing you and speaking and really just being able to speak with you and kind of pick your brain about some things it's just been refreshing because it's one is confirmed some things for me but it's also just giving me a different outlook a different scope a different lens that you know I can talk to a fellow ambition a fellow ambitious person but still you know he's making sure that he's taking care of self he's making sure that he's living in the moment he's making sure that he's waking up every day and it's not a chore it's not a drag he's doing what he has to do to make that shake and make that quit so I don't want to end this just yet so we're not going to end it just yet now one of my big things here we even kind of spoke about it in the beginning I'm big on futuristic outlook uh and she said Brian is a closer in all caps so shout out to you for that he is a he did tell me he was a sales mentor so I I definitely believe it now when that's very kind thank you yeah she's he said thank you so well she's listening to she's tapping and I'm gonna definitely connect with her too after we get off of here but I always think about that while we've talked about certain things today we've talked about what you've done we talked about kind of what you're even involved in right now as business owners as entrepreneurs as creatives as podcasters whatever we want to deem ourselves as there are always that wheel is always spinning that wheel's always churning you're always thinking you're always kind of moving and grooving so for the people who are tapping and who are following along this journey now who are finding out about you for the first time or maybe even finding out that they used to work with you some years ago do you feel like there's anything that you're looking forward to there's anything that as we look to close out 2024 and go into 2025 anything that you're looking to kind of debut any new initiatives and obviously you know I ask this question I always tell my guests I don't want to spoil anything we don't want to reveal any surprise or anything too but I also want people you know to feel like them being on the podcast them listening to the podcast whether live or at a later date you know they can get some more insight but they can also just follow along that journey just a bit more closely. So for you for just get started is there anything in that realm or is there anything kind of on the horizon that we can expect to look forward to yeah I mean I'm um yeah you're right I always have the wheels turning on stuff.

SPEAKER_01 51:42

I think the two things that I'm really the most excited about at this point, I mean certainly the podcast and the children's books and those type of things I'm I am but I've been really um I've been working with some um early stage founders, you know, B2B um businesses and helping them in the founder led sales you know I find that and you and you may relate to this if if you're working with entrepreneurs and stuff is a lot of them struggle with uh sales process, how to talk with potential clients, how to close business, those type of things. So it's something I you know doing uh I call a mentorship because I think it really is again being that guide to work with uh founder led sales folks and B2B founders uh for early stage uh companies so that's kind of a fun uh thing for me as I go into 2025. Um I I think the biggest though and because it's the overarching of really Brian on Draco and and what I've been building and what I want to continue to build is really around this idea of the compass. And I talked about the compass framework we we touched on it briefly but like this idea that to get started and this is for anything for anybody whatever you're trying to do start a business get in the best shape of your life improve your in marriage whatever it is we have to know where the pump the the compass is pointing. And I think if we're really honest with ourselves most of us have no idea of how we got to where we are today. It's kind of just happened we've drug along in life so we're in a job we don't like our marriage or relationship we're not happy with we're not the best parent we think we could be we're out of shape whatever it is right insert maybe it's a couple of those boxes. And I think if we really get honest with ourselves and start pointing the compass, you think of that visual in the right direction, we have an immense opportunity to live a fulfilling life. And by the way, it doesn't mean the compass is going to stay point in that direction because like just like we talked of where you pivot with the podcast after 20 episodes, right? There's going to be things that happen in life or advances you make, achievements you make, things that go on where you might say, you know what, I did this for a little while but I actually want to I want to take that path a little bit to the left and let me tweak it. We're always assessing and always analyzing where we're at and it comes back to that awareness. So that's what I'm really keen on is really building you know Brian on Draco if you think of like a brand right this whole idea of you can't just get started until you really know where you want to go. And that's really the compass framework is helping me point in that direction. So that's really going to be the basis of my coaching, my courses kind of everything going forward is building out that compass. Because I think it's what by the way, the reason it's so important is because I kept looking back for the last couple of years, I did some deep analysis of why did I start and how did I start and how did I get to where I'm at today and the whole framework of the compass, which is a an acronym it stands for commitment, objective, mindset, priorities, accountability and support systems and then the final S is start. So once you go through those six, you are now more capable in your mind you have that confidence and conviction that you can get started with whatever you want. So it was all just by looking back at my life and realizing okay these are the decisions I made and a lot of them maybe were lucky at the time if I happen to do it. And that led me to kind of where I'm at today and where I'm going. So yeah those are some things I'm excited about.

SPEAKER_02 55:08

Just got me excited I love a good acronym so yeah that one that one riled me up a little bit so I'm I'm a big fan of that but no you know I whereas I met you here at this point in the journey I feel like I met you a little bit ago because we I I I I've been following you for a little bit since we since we kind of were in email contact but I also love the idea that you know there are people who are going to hear this episode and do nothing about you beforehand but afterwards feel like they have a better sense of direction for themselves a better sense of direction of who you are what you're going to and there are going to be people who now they they want to follow along with that I think that's the beautiful thing of just the podcast of life of hearing a story but of also telling a story and of being who you are but passionate and authentic about who you are because that's really what I see here. You know you you get on here and you recognize that there's no really just straight line to to success or there's really just no end all be all per se you know everybody has where they want to get to and and about where it's getting to I look like I'm in here kind of dancing but I'm also saying that there is just things to go and places that you can kind of end up and there is so much along the way but how do you allow that to shape you how do you allow that to influence you how do you allow that to affect you and what do you do as a result of it and I think that's really the most important part here. And as I said man your perspective is one of a kind it's it's really unmatched in a sense and it really spoke to me in a few ways that I'm excited to kind of run this interview back and really just you know because having the I've something I've learned about these podcasts is that having the conversations in the moment is one thing. There are definitely things that just peek out to me and that I love and that I emphasize and even sometimes come up with the episode name right then and there but it's not until I really go back and replay things or download that raw footage and really put it on that iMovie slate that I'm really just like wow they said all that like he said all that and I know this is going to be one of those episodes so I'm very excited for that. So again I just thank you for joining us here on Down the Business now before we officially close out before I tell everybody where they can find you best places to tap in with you everything of the sort follow along the podcast everything do you feel like there is anything that we have not touched on today that you want to leave the people with whether it be from a business perspective a podcast perspective just get started a Brian on Draco perspective whether it just be about life in general I love asking this question because you know I know that we have and something I spoke to you about in the beginning is the audience of the podcast. Whereas the interviewees they're always business owners entrepreneurs creators I know that we have a host of people who tap into these episodes not in that realm not in that field knowing nothing about that but also people that are kind of well versed in that and some people that are kind of well in between so do you feel like there's anything even some last words of inspiration or motivation that you just want to leave for everybody out there who's going to come across this episode yeah I mean I there's so many obviously I'd love to share but uh I'll share one and I and I think because it's an action item I always like to give action items like at the end of the day it it comes down to accountability like I'd rather challenge someone and say hey do this and there'll be most people won't and there'll be a few that do so I I would ask yourself one and so here here's the challenge.

SPEAKER_01 58:07

Let me say that first I want you to get a piece of paper and get a pen and I'd like to say 30 minutes I'm gonna even make it easier 10 minutes. Set your phone timer for 10 minutes and then put the phone away to the side where it's out of arm's reach and I want you to ask yourself a question. Am I happy? That's it. Start with that question Am I happy? And write down whatever comes to your mind. Yes I'm happy because of this or well I'm not happy today because this happened or I really want to do this and I think that'll make me happy and I don't care what the answer is all I want you to get to is a practice of reflecting on how you actually feel because I think obviously if we had time we can sit here and ask 20 questions but I think that's a good starting question because what most of our lives consist of is from the time we get up in the morning until the time we go to sleep we have phones buzz in our ears we're on a zoom call right there the the noise you know the podcast is in our ear we're going for a walk we don't walk with by ourselves we put you know the AirPods in and we're listening to something or music we're at the gym there's music playing we never have a chance to just get some silence and just think so for 10 minutes just think and ask yourself am I happy? And by the way most likely the answer in some capacity is going to be no there's some area in your life where you're pissed off or you feel like you got slighted or whatever it is. Once you come to that realization whatever it ends up being feel free to go down that path for the rest of the 10 minutes and write why. Why am I what what's what's going on what's bothering me hopefully that starts a reflection period to move you in the right direction. I'm gonna end on one thing with this because I think it'll be easy for folks there's a great book I would encourage everyone to pick up um by uh Byron Katie and it's called Loving What Is and she has the simplest way she has four questions that you ask yourself. And what it really is so if you want to go deeper down the path she's a great starting point go buy the book at Amazon for 10 bucks or whatever or go search online ask chat GPT whatever but go ahead and do that and ask yourself those questions and what you'll realize is that a lot of the crap that's in your head it can all be solved it can all be changed. You can move in a better direction you can be positive if you're willing to put it all up on the board and as we've talked about a few times right have that accountability mirror and look back at it and be like all right I'm not happy and these are reasons why but I'm willing to change it. That's where I'd start so that's a lot deeper than maybe you asked but 10 minutes timer away write down on a piece of paper and start there and at least get the brain churning on what you actually think that's the only way that you're ever going to change nah that that's exactly what we need you know I think that's something I'm gonna do when I get home and I'm definitely going to use that as we um as we push this episode out there too because similar to yourself I'm a call to action person even in this last statement that I give this is the call to action for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

So but I I I like that and I definitely do think that that's as you said that's a great starting point. But for me it also um I like questions like that because it whereas like you know when people kind of sometimes ask us how are you or like what's going on or a text or anything like that you know we're quick to just I'm fine or I'm all good or whatever could be better or anything like that. You know but we don't really you know sometimes we leave it there sometimes we don't necessarily always address it or get into it. But at what point do we really sit with that in a sense or at what point do we really go through that or do we just kind of let it pile up or just that you know because me I I used to be similar to that. You know I I've recognized that I wasn't happy but it wasn't always something that I reflected on or it wasn't something I took time to process or really take a deeper dive into but it was it sometimes it could be the simplest thing now that would just get me over the top and then that's when everything would just kind of you know explode and I told myself that I one that's just not healthy from a communication style of perspective but two it's just not good for me. You know when my mind isn't right the body's not right. When the body's not the spirits off the mental's off the financial everything is just all over the place. So I I definitely do love that approach and I'm encouraging not only myself but I'm encouraging everybody tapping in to to do that for sure. Now for my call to action you know this is arguably the most important part of the podcast for me because it really goes to show one who who who really stuck around with us for for this long or who who skipped around or who made it this far but nonetheless this is the part where I really feel like don't let the interviewee don't let the interview don't let what Brian is doing or what he says goes in vain. But you know I also just say that to say I want the people I want to work with the willing I always kind of use that quote I want to work with the people who are there. There's no question you know that you just show up you may not do it perfect. You may not knock everything out of the park but you just show up because I think that that's more than half of the battle so for everybody that is coming across this episode in some capacity what are the best places to reach you for people curious about following the podcast following is what you do as a personal brand as well and even gearing up for 2025 and everything that you spoke to to look forward to can you just give us the best places to find you everything you got oh well I think the yeah the thank you for that the uh the area that I'm more active on in terms of daily is LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:40

That's where you probably I mean you could I'm certainly on other platforms but I barely post on Instagram or you know acts anymore. I just really focused on uh LinkedIn from a social platform. So type my name Brian on Draco B-R-I-A-N-O-N-D-R-A-K-O. And then my website Brianondraco.com is you know it's home base it's got everything that I'm doing whether it's a podcast or books or coaching or blog um you can subscribe to my blog that goes out three times a week it's a micro blog and it's kind of a lot of around our conversation it's a lot of these things that um it's just my perspective on the world and and how to help people think a little bit differently to you know get them started in the right direction.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:23

Absolutely will do. So as somebody who you know I I've been connected and as I said I kind of felt like I met you where you were but in a sense I feel like I can also kind of just go back and see everything that's happened. That's the as I said the beauty of the something that I was talking to one of my friends about was that yeah I was just like do you know that like I've left behind like a a capsule in a sense or like a milestone not not necessarily a milestone but do you know that I've left behind what I feel like is a piece of me you know when I'm not here or for people who may have ever never met me in my life you would literally always be able to type in down the business and it'll just be there. You know you'll be able to hear different conversations see different things like that. So I just love that I just love that I love that idea. But again Brian I want to have to just thank you just one thank you for everything that you were doing. Thank you for the for the work that you are putting in both that what people see in both behind closed doors and behind the scenes just the same but I also just thank you for the perspective and the insight that you shared today man I I think that you know we we had a conversation and we took a conversation and a topic that affects many and not only did we take a deeper dive into it but we also looked at different things from a different scope and I think that that's important you know and I think that moving forward it'll one change my approach to some things but I also hope that it it it challenges somebody out there or that call to action or that 10 minutes as you said just get away from the phones get away from all of that and really just write down really just sit really just be introspective and really see what you come up with. But also just recognize that remember what he said about the imposter syndrome because I'm not gonna forget that I'm actually going to look up Seth after this as well because I'm not too familiar with him but I feel like I have come across a couple of his videos from time to time but I I just you know he said basically that if you're if you're not an imposter You're not doing something right. You know, he said that you should feel like that because at one point you didn't necessarily know how to do something. So you were learning for the first time, or you were getting your feet wet or taking that step. So I really think that that's important. So from down to business to let's to just get started, I I just I thank you so much, Brian. If there's anything that we can do to continuously support you along the way, please never hesitate uh to let us know. And to everybody who tapped in with us today, whether you were one of Brian's former co-workers or or mentees or whether you joined us on LinkedIn Live or Facebook Live or anything like that, see something told me to go Instagram live today. It's been like two weeks since I have. So look at that. But to everybody who continuously taps in, shows love. I think y'all, I love y'all. This has been another episode of the Down to Business Podcast here with Tamar Turner.