Decent Exposure

If you got value from the What Drives You podcast, join me, Kevin Miller, in the Self-Help(ful) podcast where I've combined all my podcasts into one and bring new episodes to you every Mon/Wed/Fri!

#41: In this episode of What Drives You I continue on the topic of what drives your work and read through a bunch of listener comments that bring up a lot of incredibly relevant perspectives I feel will greatly benefit you and help you immensely enhance the depth of the drive you have for your work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#40: Most will say money, then purpose, but what you'll discover in this episode is this is akin to saying you like a romantic interest for their ears or nose, and it's not enough to truly motivate us and inspire us to jump out of bed with joy for our work in the morning. Chances are, when you uncover what your real drive for work is and what you want it to be, it will give you new glasses in greatly increased fulfillment for why you work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#39: In this episode of the What Drives You podcast I asked the audience, “What reasons drive you to pursue relationships and relational health? What is your motivation?” Only five people responded. Two weeks prior for episode 37 I asked, “What reasons drive you to exercise and eat well and increase and/or maintain your health and wellness?” and over 70 people responded. Which is intriguing, as we know statistically the primary drive of all humanity is relationships. The results here don't contradict this truth, but instead reveal that even as it is our primary desire, we are often the least, specifically clear, on what we want out of our relationships and why. Let's talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#38: There is no end to the content about purpose, so much so I fear it's seldom compelling anymore. Yet purpose proves to be the pinnacle of fulfillment. The holy grail, the fountain of youth, enlightenment, nirvana. As we as a culture fall further into depression and suicide, Rabbi Daniel Lapin stated the opposite of depression is purpose. I believe it is the ultimate driver of all we do, or want to do. So I bring you an expert. Richard Leider is widely viewed as a pioneer of the global purpose movement and is actually referred to as “the pope of purpose”. PBS had him do a special called The Power of Purpose and he has eleven books and three best sellers. In this episode I dive in, getting to what I feel are the root issues on purpose that will help you grasp and embrace it further. We get into defining “calling” and “gifts” and I felt the conversation was just tremendous. You can find more on Richard at richardleider.com and he has a wonderful new book titled, Who Do You Want To Be When You Grow Old?: The Path of Purposeful Aging, that I'll tell you is not for older people, it's for all of us. He makes a profound distinction between getting older...and growing older. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#37: We all have a level of health and wellness that is a result of our drive. Of what is motivating us. We have a reason. What is it? And are we in agreement with it? Just as important as our literal physical health, maybe more, is our peace about ourselves in regards to it. In episode #7 of this What Drives You podcast, Nov. 6, 2020, I talked through where we find life fulfillment and why. The first category I listed was health and wellness. Our physical selves. I don't list this first to say it's most important, but I'd say it's arguably first, sequentially. If our bodies are unwell we are less capable of doing or being much good. I asked my audience, “What reasons drive you to exercise and eat well and increase and/or maintain your health and wellness?” Over 70 comments. I'm going to talk through the issue and share some comments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#36: We all want to make change for the better. But when you think of making personal change, what aspects of yourself or your life are you thinking of? I surveyed listeners asking them. Was it their appearance, ability, emotions, character, self-image, behavior, circumstances, or something else? There were many responses that I'm going to talk through with you, but the results were this...number one was Ability, two behavior, and three appearance! Of merit to recognize as always with any survey I do, it's going out to listeners like you who I'm going to refer to as an “aspiring” demographic of people. This wasn't a cross section of people walking along the street. The most popular podcasts on the planet are crime stories and comedy. Bottom line, they are entertainment. The number one podcast in Business is Dave Ramsey's podcast and it only comes in at #39 overall behind all the crime and comedy and entertaining story podcasts that pass the time. The number one health podcast is Jay Shetty who ranks back in 69 overall and #1 in education is Jordan Peterson who just makes the top 100 at #99 overall as of this recording. My point, doing a survey to listeners of any of my podcasts is weighted towards those who are looking to learn and grow instead of merely being entertained. Which is of interest then to hear these kind of people put ability, behavior and appearance at the top of the list of things they want to change about themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#35: Change is going to happen to us. Either it will force itself like the pandemic or an injury, or we'll make it happen by trying to lose weight or start a business. What happens to us when we change? As you're about to hear, there are often great and terrible consequences. I bring you Maya Shankar. Maya is a cognitive scientist and former Obama White House Senior Advisor. Maya actually founded the Behavioral Science Team at the White House, called “the Nudge Unit, which used insights from behavioral economics to write better public policy. Pushkin Industries is a podcast platform cofounded by Malcolm Gladwell and they brought Maya in to host a new podcast called, Slight Change of Plans. From the interviews Maya has conducted it's altered her personal view of change, as she's seen so many people proactively pursue change and succeed, yet testify to negative consequences they didn't anticipate. Like the girl who lost 100 lbs and realized she was no longer who she was and who she liked, and she was disappointed at people's new behavior to her just because she lost weight. And the health nut who got cancer and from it realized if he'd understood what dealing with cancer did for his mindset, he wouldn't have feared it so much. Join me as I have a very candid discussion with Maya on the ins and outs of what happens to us when change...happens. And find her new podcast, A Slight Change of Plans, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#34: I bring you a new concept to help you conceive of why change is often so hard, and what it really takes to make new change. There is amazing research on the topic of change by people I revere. This is a compilation boiled down to an easy to understand perspective to help you make sense of it in a way I don't think you will forget, and you can readily share with others. Think of it as your Life CD (compact disc). Visit kevinmiller.co and sign up for our email list where we send you a brief summary of all my podcast episodes for the week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I want to flip your paradigm on...change, and our efforts to become a different person. The punchline? I don't think we want to inherently change and be different people. The prospect is actually offensive. But after a lifetime in personal development, I'll tell you what we do want. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s talk about values. When it comes down to it we all long to know what we value and have those values drive us to valiant achievements. We want a crusade and a quest. A purpose to live and die for. We love being with people who have values. We are drawn to watching stories about heroes with values. Yet we live in a society that has fewer and fewer clear values and if you state you have any you are narrow minded and bigoted and judgemental. There is another way. A different perspective. One I think you’ll be eager to embrace. Walk with me for a moment... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If I were hiring you for a position requiring leadership, creativity, or innovation or really anything beyond just menial work, I would ask you if you’ve ever encountered temporary failure while attempting anything significant. If your answer was, “No”, I would not hire you. If you haven’t dealt with a decent failure, then you haven’t tried much, or at least not much that required enough of you. Thus for any aspiring person, trying big enough objectives which bring you temporary failures is a desirable motive. In many sporting events for kids these days, everyone gets a “participation award” where there are no winners or losers. Few people encounter any real failure in the traditional education system and a majority of modest jobs offer fair compensation for work which has little to no risk. This breeds mediocrity and a stable working class. If you desire anything more you want to be trying things you can’t easily achieve and encountering temporary failures. Not absolute failures. Not high risk and damaging failures. But endeavors where you must face legitimate obstacles you must overcome. Where you may need to redirect and sometimes even start over completely in order to succeed. This is what grows intelligence, resilience, and wisdom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Achievements is our muse today. Why they mean so much to us, why they are so important, and what we miss out on when we don’t pursue them. The point is not what the achievement is, but what it means to you, and the value we receive by having achievements in our lives we are proud of. Proud of, just for ourselves, but I’m not going to discount the value of social credibility as well in regard to our achievements. We are social creatures and the societal aspects of our achievements are not to be discounted. Let’s dig in and unpack how you can more healthfully perceive of the achievements you will find fulfillment in.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What are motives of later age that provide fulfillment?This was not a retirement focus so much as just asking how motives help and hurt in the latter years. What came up however was the profound value of having work you don’t want to retire from as the primary motive objective. As I’ve been in Florida for an extended time I had my Dad, Dan Miller of 48 Days To The Work You love fame, join me. He is 73 and wakes every morning excited about what he’ll accomplish in the next 20 years, while many of his peers are just bored. Passing the time. The stats show people who retire decline in health and well being due to a lack of purpose. Which makes this an episode relevant for anyone of any age to listen to. If you want to connect with Dan Miller tune in to his 48 Days To The Work You Love podcast wherever you get your podcasts.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley worked in counter terrorism at a very young age and today has a large following around designing your dream career and a new book titled, “YOU TURN: Get Unstuck. Discover Your Direction. Design Your Dream Career." But it was her personal story that intrigued me. At age 10 her Dad had a panic attack about a business turned bad and he exclaimed to Ashley that money was going to kill him. Right then and there Ashley vowed, “I’m going to make a lot of money so that life is easy and I can save my dad from dying." She did that, but the thread I pull on is her lifelong quest to save and rescue and help people that is true to who she is, though today she does it with health and peace. From it you’ll find yourself clarifying what of your motives is true, even if you’ve pursued them, as I have at times, in some unhealthy paths. I encourage you to tune in with Ashley Stahl, find her at Y-o-uturnbook.com and her podcast by the same name. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being a victim. We are all victimized at times, and we all suffer from feeling the victim at times. But let me preface and tell you this episode is a compassionate look at it. This is a non-clinical, real world discussion around the issue, and I brought back actor Matthew del Negro. He was my guest in episode 13 where we talked about his story as an actor, which he says is a profession of being rejected. His book is called “10,000 Nos” and he understands rejection and the temptation to feel the victim. The conversation brought us to a point we were not anticipating, and it’s the role of faith in combating being a victim. Not religious faith, but faith in ourselves and life overall and that we have more going for us than against us. And faith that embracing a victim role offers us absolutely nothing. I encourage you to check out Matthew’s podcast, and book by the same name, 10,000 NOs! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chris Tuff is the renowned author of “The Millennial Whisperer." His initial motive that began the trajectory of his life? Beating his older brothers. In anything and everything. While that may not sound dramatic, the thread you’ll keep hearing in these shows is how often seemingly innocuous events in our youth direct the trajectory of our lives and we don’t even realize it. Chris found himself just 4.5 years ago, burned out. A wife, two kids, great success in work, and totally spent. He took a month-long sabbatical and reinvented his life. In this episode of the Motive podcast you’ll hear how his story unfolded, and through it I believe you’ll find aspects that reveal similar issues in your life, that you can reinvent. Find Chris at themillennialwhisperer.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The motive story of one of my favorite authors of all time, Donald Miller. Don wrote seven memoir style books that truly impacted my life. His book, “A Million Miles In A Thousand Years” is his take on living a worthwhile life and I recommend it to...everyone. Now he’s turned his focus to helping entrepreneurs grow successful businesses, and for act three of his life he feels he will put his focus into political activism which we dig into at the end of this episode. But what motivated a kid from a broken home to write his first book at 21 and go on to sell millions of books about his bumbling, curious, views on life and spirituality, then become a heralded expert in business, and now want to go after politics? Here is Donald in his usual candor and insight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m taking aim at leadership. I get new books across my desk weekly with a title...that has leader or leadership in it. And I greatly question whether this is a true motive for many people, and has a lot of people thinking they should be wanting to lead and be a leader, and feeling some are leaders and some followers. My goal in this brief message is to help many of you realize what you want, is influence, and how to find peace and traction in this “leadership” economy with a more fitting and relevant perspective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let’s focus on our vocational motives. The reasons we go into the job, the career, or the business are what dictate our overall happiness and success, yet most of us go into such arenas for the wrong reasons, and suffer for it. This is a show anyone working will want to listen to, but I’ll tell you, it should be a requirement for today’s youth. Dan Miller joins me today, and he is one of today’s foremost career experts and the acclaimed author of “48 Days To The Work You Love.” In my 50 years I’ve hardly spent a day of my life working at something I didn’t enjoy and care about it and I have Dan to thank for that reality. Long before he wrote his book, he was...my Dad. And I’m eternally privileged and grateful. Join us as we help you clarify why are are working at what you are, and how to better fuel your vocational success by getting into alignment with your desires and your motives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Motive Podcast I’m hitting on a key ingredient of our motives, and it’s how we feel about ourselves. I realized many of the good habits I engage with everyday, while all good and well, have less value in and of themselves in comparison to simply making me feel good about myself. I became aware of how important it is that we feel proud of ourselves, and that so often we are trying to push ahead in our lives and we are not...feeling proud of ourselves. I brought Jared Angaza on the show to talk about the issue. This is not an interview but a candid discussion and as you’ll hear, a discovery, of the power and nuances of how proud, or not, we feel about ourselves. And yes, we unpack some of the baggage around the word, “proud”. By the end you’ll hear that the discussion helped clarify and add much to Jared’s and my understanding of the issue. If you missed episode 21 of the Motive podcast, I walked with Jared through his story of motive, and it was significant. Jared, by the way, is my brother! If you are intrigued by what he shares, find him at jaredangaza.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let me take you on the most epic motive story to date. From the bowels of the Nashville music scene, to building airplanes for one of the father’s of mountain biking, to saving women and children out of sex slavery in Africa, to today sending people to space in an effort to change human perception, democratize space, and improve the state of the World. Jared Angaza is the Strategy Director for Space For Humanity and serves on a global environmental protection council and this is his story of what motivated him from gutters to mountain tops. The point as always is so you can see and find yourself as we share the common plight of man, and become inspired and equipped to hear first hand how getting clarity on one’s motives will take you to the heights you truly desire. Jared is also...my brother. Though we share the same parents, our last names are different. You’ll hear the motive behind that too. This was as raw a discussion as I’ve had, as I know more about Jared than most guests, and because he’s one of the more “woke” people I know. His level of personal awareness and introspection is rare, even more so when combined with a completely down to earth perspective. Even his elevated place in space is aimed right back here at our own terra firma out of love for the humans that tread upon it. Find him at jaredangaza.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m going to give you a massive paradigm shift by helping you take full responsibility for everything in your life simply by replacing one word you say over and over all day long that is robbing you of your personal power and fulfillment. That sounds gimmicky, but look. If you just changed every liquid you drank all day with water, for most of you it would overhaul your health for the better, which is what Kara Goldin shared with us in episode 8. This word, actually a word combo, will literally overhaul your life in a far greater fashion. Because the word gives away our power and energy and vitality. I’m confident in just a moment you will find yourself thinking, “Holy moly. Yes. Makes total sense.” And it’s a simple fix. Not easy because it’s dramatically habitual. But...you will want...to do this. Right away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Motive Podcast I bring you Jordan Harbinger. Jordan is podcasting royalty. He wasn’t a celebrity. He didn’t have a NY Time bestselling book. He didn’t grow a multimillion dollar business. He had a lonely childhood and ended up going to law school because his parents wanted him too. He got a job on Wall Street and realized progress and success was won by people skills. But instead of using that to become a Wall Street tycoon he started burning CDs of his learning and then progressed to early podcasting. Today his Jordan Harbinger podcast is one of the tops on planet earth and I cite him as being the modern day purveyor of Dale Carnegie’s “How To Win Friends And Influence People.” He is one of the best interviewers there is and doles out great guidance on personal relationship skills to get ahead in life. I get over 450,000 downloads per month in my shows. Jordan gets over 6 million. For perspective. In this conversation I of course quiz him on what motivated him all along the way, up until now. You’ll hear some top rate business counsel on keeping it simple, why he’s bailed on social media, and doing what gets the most impact. You’ll do yourself well to subscribe to the Jordan Harbinger podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is where we now begin to get clarity on your true, authentic wants. For a lot of people the biggest revelation is actually becoming aware of wants that are not in fact, true and authentic. Things you may have been pursuing a long time. Maybe your whole life. Expectations you’ve had but now you realize...they aren’t inherently important to you! That can be discouraging or freeing. In this personal development industry all our focus is on what we go after and achieve. Over my lifetime, especially the last decade, I’ve found some of my greatest joys, not in what I achieved, but from what I let go of. They may have been good things, but they weren’t great. Then true clarity on what we want and our motives for wanting it, is beyond powerful. You don’t need so much inspiration and motivation once you have clarity on what you want and why and confidence in the alignment.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I bring you the story of Chad Jeffers. Whether you know Chad or not you’ve likely seen and heard him, as he has been a primary performer with Carrie Underwood for the past 13 years. If you’ve seen Carrie on stage you’ve seen Chad face to face with her as he supports her with his majestic guitar playing. What were the motives, the reasons, that drove Chad to be able to climb onto literally, the world’s greatest stages? I’d be lying if I denied how impressive it is that Chad Jeffers is frequently on the world’s greatest stages as Carrie Underwood’s guitarist, playing live and on camera in front of millions and millions of people. It’s the rock star fruition of countless dreams. I’ve known Chad for a long time and been privy to his journey where he’s at times questioned his career trajectory. Today he’s at peace and I wanted to hear the story, of course, not just of what he’s done and accomplished, but why? What motivates a kid to do what it takes to end up having his guitar featured in the Country Music Hall of Fame? Why music? Why guitar? Why not his own band after initially getting picked up by a label? And of course my point as always is to showcase real motives to you so you can better discern and establish your own. Find Chad at chadjeffers.com and you can check out a new course he’s offering for performers at Backstagenotes.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the world of personal development and self-help we often find ourselves with a desire that just doesn’t light on fire. We really struggle to take action and find ourselves frustrated or feeling guilty and ultimately thinking less of ourselves due to the inaction and lack of progress. It finally dawned on me as I looked at some of my own areas of languishing that I didn’t fully want it. I wanted...to want it. I really did want the end result, but I either didn’t see myself doing what it took or I couldn’t yet envision myself having claimed the final objective. Or I was still comfortable remaining where I was. I’ve seen this happen countless times but the concept didn’t clarify in my mind till recent years. If this is you, which it undoubtedly is in some area of your life, it’s a powerful revelation because you can now address the root issue. And though I won’t claim it’s necessarily easy, though it may be for you...the step to flesh it out is quite simple. Join me now and we’ll walk through the concept and treatment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Benjamin Hardy has written two bestselling books that I reference over and over and over. Paradigm shifting tools in the personal development world I literally recommend everyone read. First is, “Willpower Doesn’t Work” that dispels the myth we are supposed to just grit our teeth and withstand anything at all times. Then more recently, “Personality Isn’t Permanent” which dispels the myth that we all fit into a personality profile, which we get into some in this show. But of course here I dig into his story. You’ll hear how his ultra religious parents divorced, left their faith, his Dad became a drug addict and his mom ran a health club and he barely graduated high school with no skills, work ethic, or interest beyond playing video games. And then...what happened? How did he go from that, to the most read blogger on Medium will millions of readers, in a very short time? Then to a multi six figure book deal on his first real book. You can connect with Ben at benjaminhardy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When I ask people to list out what they really want in life, a shocking amount of their answers are in truth, imposters. Two categories that make up so much of what we think we want but at the core, do not. This is why people go to college, get degrees, and go to work in areas they find no fulfillment in. And it’s why competent people who have success in some areas, languish in others even when they seem to apply the same effort that should equate to producing success. It’s not rocket science or any big secrets. We as humans and a culture are prone to veer away from what is good and true and it becomes lost like old Mayan cities. I’m merely going to point out a couple things and you will likely realize where you’ve been following your own motive imposters. Things you were pursuing for the wrong reason. And you can now...correct. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Del Negro is a celebrated actor credited for roles in some of TV's most-renowned and award-winning shows such as SOPRANOS, SCANDAL & WEST WING, and films HOT PURSUIT and WIND RIVER. He returns for SEASON 2 of his recurring role as Detective Caysen on the SHOWTIME series "City On A Hill" opposite Kevin Bacon that comes out in early 2021. In this episode with me he referenced talking with Kevin Bacon on set the day before, and I was admittedly honored he chose to spend time with me, a little bit lesser known Kevin, on this day. I had him on the show of course to talk about motives. As I quoted at the top of the show, Matt said being a professional actor is a career of being told no for a living, and three years ago he decided to give voice to this journey of overcoming rejection by starting a podcast called 10,000 NOs. From the success of that podcast he was offered a book deal and just came out with it, titled also, 10,000 NOs. That’s why he’s here. I was intrigued by his personal story of starting out as the peacekeeper in his family, being shattered by a breakup with his girlfriend and finally finding himself and taking up acting later in life. What were his motives? What drove him, good and bad? As you’ll hear, we really resonated as we got to the heart of...motives. You can connect with Matt at 10000nos.com/ and he said to please check out Season 2 City On A Hill, on Showtime. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I was pondering a pulse on the culture and did a random survey asking, “What is primarily driving you right now, in all truth. The waking thought that pushes you out of bed in the morning or is on your mind when you go to sleep at night? Duty, Pain, or Desire?" My motive was really to see what people were most cognizant of. I think we’d all like to say we are most driven by desire, and nobody wants to say they are driven by pain, and it’s sobering to realize how much we are driven by mere duty, but again, I wanted to get a feel for how people perceived themselves. We also can differ a good bit in how we defined these terms. Is duty valiant or drudgery? I’m going to talk through some of the comments and the point is awareness of what really is driving us, and what we want driving us. Get show notes and videos at kevinmiller.co Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let me lead off with an important concept. The world of personal development and self help and even business development is led by what to do to succeed. In all truth, I find most aspiring people like you and me are pretty knowledgeable of what we need to do. What we don't understand is why we so often don’t. This is what I’m covering here in this episode. Now we could write numerous novels on all the reasons why people don’t do what they want to do, so let me define our parameters here. By proxy of you listening to this show in the Education and Self-help category of podcasting, you are what I refer to as an aspiring person. You are seeking to improve and to grow. So these four areas are the primary Saboteurs for you. You who are striving and evolving and growing and mattering to this world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A primary motive for this guest was simply but profoundly, a different lifestyle. A different life, even. Dan Miller is the bestselling author of “48 Days To The Work You Love” and renowned as a leading, global expert on careers. Through all he does however the most fitting term is authentically, life coach. Leading people in lives they love. Which is a natural fit, as you will hear in this show, as it’s the main thread of his own story. His parents were born Amish and his lifestyle was similarly remote, conservative, and austere. He was up early milking cows at age five and expected to take over the farm someday. Instead he witnessed the town doctor visiting his home in nice clothes and a nice car who lives such a different lifestyle than he was surrounded by and he began a quest to understand and earn a different way, the threads of which still run true today. Admittedly my conversation with this particular guest runs deeper than most, as Dan is my father. Yet in digging into his motives I uncovered drives even I was unaware of. I trust this journey through a high achievers motives will help you discover and clarify your own, one step more. You can find Dan at 48days.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Relationship is a word that depicts the way in which two or more concepts or objects are connected. Aside from people in our lives we will occasionally hear talk about the relationship we have with food or our self-image, for instance, as often people have an unhealthy relationship with themselves in these areas. We in fact have a relationship, good or bad, with everything in our lives. In episode seven I walked us through the seven key areas we all seek and desire fulfillment in. In this show I’ll give insight into the reality we have an established relationship that overrides all our intent, in each category. The point is to reveal it, get it on the table, and deal with it accordingly so we can proceed on.

This is a story of overcoming obstacles to pursue what you care about because of a strong motive. Kara Goldin was the youngest of five children and at age eight realized both her parents had dreams they didn’t pursue. Then she witnessed an older brother overcome many obstacles to go after what he cared about. This gave Kara the impetus to do the same and she did so with a flourish. In this story you’ll hear her career trajectory and willingness to believe in herself and have faith in overcoming the obstacles that will present themselves with any endeavor of worth. If you’ve ever seen or had Hint water, maybe from Starbucks or Whole Foods or today possibly from any grocery chain, Kara started it out of her home kitchen. She has an incredibly impressive resume working with companies such as AOL and has been cited by Fast Company as one of the “Most Creative People in Business, Fortune’s named her as a Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs and HuffPost listed her as one of six disruptors in business, alongside Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. She’s appeared on nearly every news source worth listing. And now she’s written a tremendous book titled, “Undaunted” which we touch on in this show. Matter of fact, check it out at drinkhint.com/Motive and if you buy the book you get a free case of Hint water!. But as this is the Motive podcast, our focus here is not just what Kara has done from childhood to now with a 150 million dollar company that is saving people from the negative effects of sugary drinks. Our focus is very much her motives from childhood to now. Her reasons for what she did it and why she does what she does...today.

Knowing what we actually want is not so simple, so here is the start of how to audit yourself. There are key areas of life where we not only find the most fulfillment, but maybe just as important or more, they are areas where if left unaddressed we are naturally left feeling a significant void. How often do we find the seemingly successful person in the dumps feeling…”something is just missing.” One of these categories in this episode is where you’ll find it. I’m going to lay out seven key areas where we as humans naturally desire, pursue and find fulfillment, and explain why. Why are these areas so valuable to us? From it you will likely find confirmation and even more permission for the areas of your life you are fulfilled, but also insight into why you feel some discontent and possible emptiness in your life. But please hear, this will not just be a call to go address the areas you find lacking. You may not want or need to. This is simply awareness so you can discern where you want to invest yourself and where you don’t, but yes, be aware of where and why you may feel you are out of balance or found...wanting. 

Of course it is, but to what degree? Guilt is a primary hidden driver that we’ve accepted as a norm. How much of your lives and actions are being driven by this life draining motive? Probably more than you are aware of. But why, is the question. In this episode I bring you Valorie Burton. Valorie is founder of the Coaching and Positive Psychology (CaPP) Institute and has written more than a dozen books on personal development. She has a unique combination of research, faith, and personal transparency that inspires people to action and delivers practical tools to find fulfillment and purpose in work and life. She has a large following with almost half a million on Facebook alone. She’s just published a book titled, “Let Go Of The Guilt.” Her research into the reality and nuances of guilt and the hold it has on us is profound, which is why I pursued her to be on the show and shine a light on this very insidious and pervasive driver that is leading so many of us to frustration, exhaustion, burn out and unfulfillment. I begin, of course...getting very personal with Valorie. What were her early motives? What drove her to push and strive and get herself into the Air Force Academy on a presidential appointment, then what drove her to drop out. What drove her to realize how much of her drive was fueled by guilt and what drove her to start a PR firm then abandon it to be an author and speaker? What drove her to marry, then divorce, then to marry again? What drives her today? Type Valorie Burton in any search engine and you’ll find her everywhere, and her coaching business is at cappinstitute.com

We are creatures of want. We speak the language of want and the marketplace appeals to us from an economy of want. What we have wanted has shaped our lives and is the result of where we find ourselves today, for better and worse. But two stark realities exist; more and more we aren’t clear on what we truly want and we actually want less and less. Together, as a culture we are just settling for less and less and the less true and meaningful wants we have and pursue the more we sink into numbness, medication and disappointment. So on one hand we have a reality that wanting bigger things leads to more happiness, but we are also afraid to want much for fear we will be disappointed. In this episode I’ll walk you through how your wants have shaped where you are, for better and worse. And why “wanting it more!” is not the solution, but wanting it authentically is.

I bring you Silicon Valley legend and all around wise guy, Guy Kawasaki. I’ve read Guys books, had him on my Ziglar Show twice, hung out with him face to face in San Diego at the Social Media Marketing event, and I think our relationship was solidified after he butt dialed my cell phone one afternoon and we talked a while about him starting a podcast, which he did...called Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People. Guy was the original Chief Evangelist of Apple and has many stories about him with Steve Jobs and the early foundations of Apple. Today he’s an evangelist for Canva and Mercedes but much more than that just a big influence and all around fun guy. I brought him here to the Motive podcast to talk about his early and current motives, both personally and professionally. Honestly this is just a fun romp through Guy admitting he never had huge visions, but he did have clear motives and he went forth and accomplished them. This will be a good showcase that you don’t need giant killing, uber altruistic goals to get you going and achieving. Just clear goals you have faith in. You can connect with Guy Kawasaki...everywhere, he’s a social media giant. His website is guykawasaki.com and I really encourage you to check out his podcast, Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People.

Everybody has drive, and everyone has positive and negative drive. We generally speak of a person who is really “driven” in regards to them being in consistent action toward something positive or worthwhile. While we cite the person who seldom gets off the couch to participate in life as having no drive. My muse here is Motive...the reason for all we do and don’t do. We all have a reason, a drive, for all we do. We are just often not aware of it and we end up somewhere wondering…”How the heck did I end up here!” There is a reason, something driving you. I can show you two people with the same hard circumstance that was the primary ingredient in their drive. One is driven to overcome and achieve and do great things. And the other person from the same circumstances is driven to minimize themselves and hide and possibly engage in self-destructing actions. What I want you to see and understand the relevance is, it’s drive either way. Motive. A reason. In this episode of the Motive show I’ll help you unpack and understand the reality that you are...driven. In all you do. Where you are not getting the results you want, is where your drive is coming from an unhealthy or hidden source.

What would motivate someone to become a criminal defense lawyer? For 20 years. Then leave to become a humanitarian chocolatier? I’ve chosen this show with Shawn Askinosie as my first guest appearance on the Motive podcast because it got to the heart of my desired focus. His company, Askinosie Chocolate, was recently named by Forbes “One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America.” The Oprah Magazine “One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World.” Friends, if you are a chocolate lover...of real, fine chocolate, do yourself a favor. Go to Askinosie.com/. But to this show, Shawn's dad died at 14 and tore his world apart, he set a maniacal pace to accomplish big achievements and prove to God he didn't need him. He ultimately pursued law school and withstood 11 law school rejections, and went on to have an exemplary career. But he never overcame his dad's sickness and death. This led him to volunteering for palliative care at a hospital and starting a five year journey to a different vocation. A significant statement from him in this episode is this, “It’s a funny paradox, but the first step in sorting myself out was actually not to think about myself, and instead to focus on other people.” Shawn wrote a book that was first sent to me, along with some great chocolate, by my Dad, Dan Miller, who got to know and greatly appreciate Shawn. The book is called, Meaningful Work - A Quest To Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul. I highly recommend it and you can find it wherever you buy books, and at his website, shawnaskinosie. Let me say this, if you want a great taste of what this Motive podcast is about, this is a show to listen to.

It’s a question and a statement. We start by asking the question and end by stating the answer. What drives you is your Motive. Your reason. But it is often hidden to us, even when we think we know it at face value. I live in a world of aspiring people, like you. People pursuing and applying wisdom, blood, sweat, and tears and succeeding in some areas of life. But frustratingly, applying the same methods to other areas of life and not getting the expected results. Which is more than frustrating. Why? I’ll tell you here in this initial episode of my new, premier podcast. I believe it is a root issue to personal development and it’s not only the focus of this new podcast, but my book coming out in 2021.