Loura and Stephen explore whether your passion should be your profession and the importance of addressing your ego and its need for validation. They share how they both put Mike Brcic’s advice about knowing what you want from your company to work in using their companies for what makes them fulfilled and happy.
Transcript
Stephen Christopher 0:03 Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of connect the dots. I'm Maura Sanchez, and with me is the amazing Stephen Christopher, what's up everybody, hope you having a great day so far. Hey, I'm excited about today's connect the dots, we're going to dig into the episode with Mike Brcic and talk a little bit about the nuggets that we got in maybe some patterns that we're seeing with all of our guests. Steven, you want to jump in with anything to start off? Yeah, let's rock. One of the things that I took away from the episode with Mike is that our passion doesn't always have to be our job. So you take somebody that went into the workforce at an early age, like so many entrepreneurs realize that that wasn't for them, leaves the you know, the standard corporate lifestyle doesn't really know what they're doing, find some sort of a passion and then makes it into a business. And not only did he do that with the the mountain bike company, sacred rides, but he did it with music, too. And just that whole conversation that we had with him around that, that that your passion doesn't have to be, you don't have to turn it into a career. And I think a lot of times I can speak for myself as entrepreneurs, we think, Oh, well, we're passionate about something or we're good about something, our brain just starts thinking about, oh, we can market it this way, we can build a program like this, or we could go on tour like him. I mean, he built a whole band and literally toured, I think he said hundreds of shows per year. So I think just that consciousness about choosing what we what we picked to be a job, what we what we picked to be a career, what we picked to be a business versus what we just picked to be a passion. And we just do it just because and as the entrepreneurial brain. A lot of times, we're always trying to turn it into some sort of a business or we're thinking about how we could grow it or how we could scale it or something like that. But that was just a really good takeaway for me to just pay attention to. And since the episode since we recorded it, I've thought about things where I'm like, Oh, I could turn this into a little business. Or I could turn this into a little program. And I would ask myself the question, maybe I don't want to do that. Maybe I just enjoy helping people with. Let's use like meditation, for example. Right? Like, I've, I've taught a lot of people, they've asked me questions about how to start a meditation practice. And I've done it enough to where I'm like, man, maybe I should just build a little course on it. But in, in taking away what Mike talked about in this episode, I was like, You know what, I actually have no desire to build a course on that specific thing. But I just love doing it. And I love sharing information about it with people, when they ask when I feel like I want to not that I'm going to have to do it. Right. If I turned into a job, that's interesting, because that point, kind of hit home with me too, but in a different way. And for me, it was like, you know, I think so many times we you know, we go to seminars, and you know, you're trying to figure out, Okay, what do I want? And one of the first questions I ask you is, what are your passions, right? And I've always felt as if I can't find my passion. Like, there's, there are very few things that I would say, Oh, I'm really, really passionate about that. I really love that. And so therefore, I keep thinking, Well, I'm not going to be able to figure out what the next big career in the next profession is, until I figure out the passion. And so I kind of took it on the flip side, which is, you know, what, wait a minute, your passion doesn't have to be your profession. So you have a passion, great if you don't great, but just still figure out what's going to make you fulfilled as you move forward. interesting how we both picked up on that. And it ended up being in different ways. Yeah, yeah, I mean, to elaborate a little bit more on that. I know, I've always felt similar to you, or I'm looking for something to be like massively passionate about and just, you know, wake up every day and think about this thing. And I've just started to become okay with the fact that you don't have to have this one passion in life that you follow forever and ever and ever. You can have a lot of things that you're passionate about, and those and there's like a scale of passion, right? There's, oh, well, you know, like, Hey, I can be passionate about it today or in the moment when I'm painting or driving a racecar but it's not. It doesn't have to be a daily passion. It doesn't have to be a forever passion. So just taking, taking it for what it's worth in that moment. So something I might be passionate about, like doing a two or three day racecar driving school, super passionate about what I'm there, but when I actually went to go look and potentially buy a racecar and started thinking about everything that went into it and I was like, I am not passionate about doing this as like anything other than like fun than enjoying it for what it is in the moment. It's kind of like me with Polonius. I mean, I've been doing it for 10 years now. I would say I'm passionate about why I love it, I believe in it. If I don't have it in my life, I feel kind of a little lost. And so many people said, Oh, Laura, you should teach polities or you should buy a plot studio. And it sounds really cool. But then I start thinking about, okay, Unknown Speaker 5:29 what does that really mean? And I think Stephen Christopher 5:31 it would take away from why I love it. For me, I love it. Because it's a place I go, I escaped. I feel as if it's the one thing that just kind of mine. I don't have to share it with others. I don't have to I can, but I don't have to. I get rejuvenated from it. And then I start thinking about, okay, well, if this was a business, and I did it every day, or I taught it every day. I don't know this, but I have a feeling that it might take away from some of what I actually get out of it personally. So it's probably not the right thing. Yeah, that's great. I mean, you know, I've known you for a long time. But just even for the last couple years, you've been talking about becoming a police instructor forever and ever, and you keep going back and forth on it, you're like, Oh, my gosh, I just, I just got to do it. And then you kind of start doing it. And it feels like you lose the passion for it a little bit. But yet, I don't know, maybe this is an interesting thread to pull on. Or maybe not, it doesn't. We can go either way. But how much of that is like self judgment? Or maybe guilt even around like, well, I'm passionate about it, I should just go and do the course to be an instructor. How much of that is what you actually desired? You know, back when you were thinking about a lot versus how much of it was like almost like guilt, like, well, I should do something with it. I like it, I should do the next step, as opposed to just being like, I don't know, I just enjoy going Yes, I think that was actually I think it was, well, I have a passion. Therefore I should try and do something with this that is either profitable, or I get to share my passion with the world. Because I felt like I should do that. And I don't really think that that's really what I want to do. So Interesting. Interesting. That's a really good. That's a really good takeaway from, you know, not only just from Mike's interview, but specifically with that polities thing. And you in the last couple years around, not necessarily needing to make our passion, something that we also make profit from or something that actually turns into a business, it can be something that we something we enjoy, like to do. Yeah. But I think it also tied for me to the other thing that Mike talked about, towards the end of the episode with him was the whole issue about connection, and isolation and how we, we all know, as a society, we were looking for more connection. And I think I was thinking about the melodic thing. And it was almost like, that's part of why I like it is there is a connection, it's a place to go, it's a place to belong. And so that's one of the things I get out of it is what we're all desiring, not necessarily, then it's a business. So recognize your passion can lead to other things that you need in life besides just profitability or giving back or whatever it might be. I like that. And kind of to follow that piece of the interview. You know, Mike shared how he has been through depression, and he's battled with some of that type of stuff. And I like one of the things that he said, As a first step, like if you are somebody that's experiencing something like that, and you're struggling to take some sort of a next step, one of the first things he said was, basically go do volunteer work. And I know in the past, for me, when I felt that way, I didn't know what I didn't know what to do. And I didn't have somebody to tell me go do volunteer work. And so I just think that was a really good point out of that, and it helps maybe start to start the process of overcoming some form of depression, but also ties in with that connection piece. Right? Yeah, go do some volunteer work. And I thought it was interesting that, you know, and it's not necessarily that volunteer work doesn't have to be surrounding something you're really passionate about, because that's not the purpose of it. The purpose of it is to be around other people if you are feeling isolated, right, so it probably doesn't matter where you volunteer. Now, if there's something you particularly like, great, you should do that. But it's just the mere fact of interacting with others is what we're seeking. Yeah, yeah. Giving of ourselves. Right. Right. Right. Thinking about somebody other than us. Yeah. Yeah. You know, the other thing that I really liked that Mike shared with us is a little bit of his process in terms of him selling sacred bikes, and you know, that the fact that he really started off by asking, what is it that I want from my company? And he almost applied kind of the five why's, why is that? Why is, you know, continuing to, to delve into? What is it that you want from your company? Because I think so many entrepreneurs, particularly when they hit that stage of saying, you know, Hey, man, I started my company, because I wanted to have freedom, I wanted to be able to spend time with my family, I wanted to be able to travel more, and then they wake up one day, and they're like, what the heck, I don't get to do any of that I am now tied to this business. And it's all consuming. And so him sharing his process of, you know, first saying, okay, we reevaluate what is it that you want from your company now? Right? And then once you figure that out, then you can start to say, Okay, how can I, what do I need to do for my company to be able to give me that, and he talked about, you know, that He then took several months and said, okay, we need to have some new processes in place, we need to develop some, some systems. And then when he did that, he was able to step away and be like, okay, I can now see that I can have more time, how my company is structured now. And I think that just that general process is really important for all of us to hear, which is really aligned with the new program that you and I are going to start is, there is a way to get back to what you started from, but you have to be willing to really look internally about what is it you want? And then do the work on your company to get you there? Yeah, yeah, I think we forget. I think we forget to continually ask those questions, right? Why we started something may be fulfilling a need in that moment, but a year or two or three or 10 years, it's, we forget to ask the question of what do we actually want now? Why Why do we Why are we actually doing what we're doing now? And a lot of times we get trapped? Right? I mean, you mentioned the new program that we're building, that that will help take people through some of this type of thing that will help them understand. Why are you doing what you're doing now? What do you actually want out of it? But yeah, I think that was a great, great thing that Mike brought up. And then he had also kind of talked a little bit about ego, right? Like our ego can get tied up in that. And we start doing things for reasons that are not really in alignment with our true self. You know, we do things to inflate or to feed our ego, when really ultimately that's not actually what we that's not actually what we desire deep down. Right, right. Yeah. I mean, it's that whole thing, right? You get caught up in it, you get caught up in the moment, you get caught up in your own success, right of like, oh, wow, I have to say yes to this opportunity. Because it's the next evolution in my career, whatever that is. Or I have to say yes to taking on this new client, because it's more money, which means my company will I can say I'm now at x level, when in reality, that's not really what's important to you. It's more important to be able to spend time with your children, but you don't make those decisions. Because we get caught up in it's that rat race. Yep. Okay. He mentioned that about the rat, the the wheel, the mice on the real rarely takes you where you want to go or something like that. Oh, nice. I don't even remember that one. Yeah. Great part of connect the dots, right? Yeah, the hamster wheel doesn't lead where you want to go generally. Nice. Yeah, I love that analogy. And I'll just, I'll just point out to two of the people that two of the people and one of the books that he mentioned consistently throughout the interview was Philip Mckernon. Who if you've never heard of him, just Google Philip Mckernon and go to his website, he's got some some really cool stuff, he puts out really good content around helping get clarity, especially for like high level athletes, high level entrepreneurs, high level organizations, he has a lot of good stuff, and then also ego as the enemy book by Ryan Holiday, those were two really good resources that he mentioned, on the podcast, both of which I very much I get a lot of good value from both of those. I've read egos the enemy, I can't tell you how many times so those are really good books too. Um, I, you know, the last, the last little thing that I have in my notes that I kind of have been practicing since the interview is dropping the armor you taught, you talked about relationships, but just thinking about dropping the armor, and being more more vulnerable. We get caught up in these patterns of having conversations with people through the lens of who we think we actually are. Just because we've had that conversation so many times. So starting to be a little more conscious about like, Okay, wait, what do I really want to say here? What do I really want to share here and so just taking into your daily life, these ideas of dropping the armor on vulnerability that'll help create some really cool connection. So in your, in your personal life and your relationships in your business, whatever it is just be a little bit more conscious about the conversations that you're having. And are you just saying stuff and sharing things that are based on a pattern? Or maybe even ego? Or are you actually having some real conversations based on your true self and being vulnerable, and actually creating connection. So that was something that I took away and have been practicing since the interview. I think that's really awesome. You know, I think that the whole discussion about vulnerability, I mean, for those who are listening, if you've not read any of Bernie Browns work, I would highly encourage you to do that. She's got four or five great books, but a lot of the premise is about vulnerability. And I think there's a lot of confusion in the world about what vulnerability means. And vulnerability doesn't mean you share everything and your deepest, darkest secrets with anybody in everybody. But it really means showing up as yourself and dropping that armor. There's a great quote in one of her books, and I will get it wrong about going into battle and putting down your armor and showing up as you truly are, and how, that's how people who win at the end of the day actually show up as without their armor. Maybe I'll put this in the show notes if I can actually find the exact quote, but maybe someday we'll get to have her on as a guest. Because I think there's a lot to be learned from all of that. Yeah, I love it. Hey, no, maybe? Unknown Speaker 16:33 No, maybe when? There you go. I love it. I love it. Okay, awesome thing else? Stephen Christopher 16:38 No, I think that was great. It was a fantastic interview. I learned a lot. You know, from somebody that's so humble. So well traveled and so open and vulnerable about his past experiences and where he's been. Mike is just an absolutely amazing guy. Yeah, the only thing I'd add is if you listening and you want to see more about what Mike's doing now and some of his amazing programs, certainly go check him out on wayfinders.com. And there's some things are pretty exciting could get you really inspired to do some stuff. So thanks, everybody for listening to another connect the dots episode. And as always, we'd love to have your reviews or feedback if there's somebody you'd like to hear from if there's a topic that you'd like to have us discuss. Drop us a note and we'll make sure that we can cover it at some point. So thanks for listening, and until next time, embrace the exciting unknown.
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