Hello visionaries, creators, innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders of all types. Hi, my name is John
Miles and I wanted to welcome you to this episode of the passion struck podcast where
it is my job to interview high achievers from all walks of life and unlock their secrets
and lessons to becoming passion struck. The purpose of our show is to serve you the listener
by giving you lessons, tools and activities that you can use to achieve a passion Driven
Life. Now, let the journey begin. Welcome to momentum Friday and Episode 35 of the passion
stroke podcast. One of my favorite TEDx talks was from Sean Stephenson, who was an American
therapist, self help author and celebrated motivational speaker. And in that TEDx talk,
which was viewed by over 4 million people, he said these famous words, I can't tell you,
I'm an expert, and only one thing, and that's how to be me. And I do it. Well, when you
see Sean was special, because for him being normal was anything but being normal. He was
born with a very rare birth defect and ended up living his life at only two feet, eight
inches tall. But although he was short in stature, he was so motivational in his presence
in in the words that he spoke. But he often talks about how throughout his life, so many
people would make predictions about what he could and could not accomplish because of
these limitations. And that actually started out when he was born, the doctors after a
very traumatic birth, told his parents that he wouldn't even live 24 hours. And boy, did
he prove them wrong, john ended up living to the age of 40. And he credits much of that
by learning how to say no any learn how to do that by never giving in the predictions
that didn't empower him. You see, he always thought he is not disabled. The only disability
that he had was his refusal to adapt to whatever his disabilities might have been. And it got
me thinking about today's episode about predictions that people make in our lives. And he talked
about the fact that you don't want to listen to predictions that don't empower you. And
today, I'm going to talk about why you should never listen to predictions that don't ignite
you. Because there is a difference between being empowered and igniting empowering is
the authority to be or do something where ignite or ignition is that spark that fire,
that emotion that takes you from wherever it is you are in your life and allows you
to get that burning desire to accomplish more. And so sometimes, as I look at this, I think
it's even more important when those predictions impact that very spark that you actually need
to live a Purpose Driven Life. And that's what I'm going to talk to you about in today's
episode. How many predictions are thrown at you your
entire life? I know for me, they started at a very young age, and I'm sure they did for
you, too. you predict someone's going to be an athlete, are they going to be a musician
when they get on this coveted team, when they get this spot in the play? you predict that
they're going to be the valedictorian, you predict they're going to be the anchor person
in their class, do you predict they're going to go to college, you predict they're going
to be in nothing in their life. And I find in life, those predictions end up leading
to self limiting beliefs. And it is those beliefs that hold us back from achieving our
true capability. And just last week, I covered a staggering 2019 survey that I just discovered
from Gallup. And in this survey, they reached out to the 1 billion full time workers across
the entire planet. Now I'm covering this again in today's episode, because this statistic
was so overwhelming to me that I thought I had to repeat it again today, their survey
found that only 15% of those 1 billion full time workers are actually engaged in what
they're doing said otherwise 85% of them absolutely hate the job or career path that they were
in. And there are many reasons for that. It could be the company they work for, and their
boss, it could be the atmosphere that they're in. But I believe there's something more to
it. Because if you're not fulfilled in what you're doing, there's no way that you're living
your full capability. And sometimes I believe that all starts with the predictions that
we've heard all throughout our life on what other people think we can or cannot achieve.
And that is why I think it is so vital that we never listen to predictions that don't
ignite that internal Spark, that hope that dream that aspiration of where we can take
our life. And that's why I started this podcast out by saying that I believe that there's
a difference between empowerment in that simple fact of ignorance. Because without ignition,
that empowerment will never come, you will never take those steps, you will never make
the choice to do something different. And you will continue to live as being part of
the 85% who aren't fulfilled in their life, which then leads to you likely not living
to your full capabilities. I think if we listen to these predictions too much, they can actually
cause our demise, maybe not in a physical standpoint, will they make us die, but I can
guarantee you that inside they will impact your mental fortitude, your happiness, and
your eagerness to have the courage to actually go out and pursue something that you were
meant to pursue. And for me, looking back, I had an inflection point when I was in high
school, when one of these predictions was thrown at me at this point by an esteemed
teacher who was beloved by much of the student population at York Catholic High School. And
I went to her because I was at a point my junior year where I was thinking about where
I should go to college, what I wanted to do with my life, and I wanted an outside opinion.
And I will never forget what she told me, she looked at me, and in very direct words,
told me that "I was a failure, and that my life would not amount anything great." Can
you even imagine being a junior in high school only to a person that you trust, and that
others trusted, and to have that authority figure tell you something like that. And I
can tell you at first, like probably most of you would have been I was devastated. And
then I went through outrage as I started to think more and more about what she said, It
ignited a spark in me that has never died for this day in time. And that spark was that
I was going to live my life in constant discomfort because I was going to choose a path less
pagan. And that is the one that I've chose to pursue throughout my life. It started by
making the choice of going to the Naval Academy instead of going to the University of Michigan.
And from that point, it's led to choices when everyone has made predictions that I wouldn't
be able to achieve those steps that I've wanted to along the way. And it's led me here today,
when people told me and predicted that actual stock would go nowhere. And I didn't listen
to them. Because to me, it was more important to light the spark in my passion to see that
people do not listen to apathy or indifference in their life, similar to Sean Stephenson,
but they're not listening to that inner voice that is telling them like it is for so many
people throughout the world that they can't achieve their full capability. And so I wanted
to use today's episode to give you three important lessons that I've learned in my own life that
I hope you can learn from and use and apply in your own. Did you know that Forbes
magazine recently cited that 70% of individuals who do personal development, masterminds and
one on one coaching benefited from better work performance, increased communication
skills in overall better relationships, and we have passion struck, are obsessed with
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to help you unlock your hidden potential, because people doing great things
in business and life are just like you only they've had a coach along the way. And we've
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individuals to help them step into their sharp edges, execute on their passion journeys,
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right now. And let's get igniting. The first important lesson is that we are both the storyteller
and the performer in our own life. And as you think about your life and the story that
you want to tell you want to do that from a position of strength or a position of weakness,
do you want a story where like three lemons and you didn't adapt? Or do you want to tell
the story where you're the hero in it in life grew whatever it did at you, but you were
able to overcome it because you ended up achieving far more than any predicted you could and
who's to say that anyone can predict your own story because you get to write it. Maybe
you weren't born into the same zip code that I was, maybe you weren't given the same opportunities
in your life that others have. But one thing I've learned and my friend Chris Cassidy,
in our recent interview said it very well. When he was going through buds and becoming
a seal. He realized in his own story that some had it much worse, and some had it much
better. But it was up to him to decide which direction did he want to take his life and
similar to Chris you to get to write your own story because you are the hero of it,
and you're the performer in your own life. And how do you want to tell your story and
how do you want to perceive yourself in this story? It's so important to you unlocking
that passion inside and that place that you can go in your life. The second important
lesson is that we write the screenplay you are who you believe you can be. If you weren't
Sean Stephenson, you could have believed I'm only two feet eight inches, my life is doomed,
nothing good is going to become of it. No one is ever going to want to be with me. I'm
never going to have a wife, etc, etc. But he didn't believe that he learned to adapt.
He got married, he lived a very fulfilling life. And you can too, I remember one of the
most impactful on casts that I've listened to was one with Hillary Swank, because I didn't
realize the struggles that she had prior to her doing boys don't cry, and how she and
her mom lived in a van for months and months before she got that breakout moment. And when
she looks back, and people ask her, who are you, she tells them, I am a storyteller. You
know, you may think of me as an actor, or producer, a director. But more than anything,
I tell my own story. And through my act, and in producing, I tell important stories of
others. And that's a great way for you to think about your own life. You are your own
storyteller. And what story do you want to tell through your own screenplay. But third,
and probably most important lesson is that we are living that story that we create, when
you think about that story, and where you are in your life, and you're performing it
day in and day out. Are you happy about where you are? Do you feel fulfilled? Are you living
at your full capability? Are you living the life that you want to live, the purpose that
you were put on this planet to achieve? And that's why I think those predictions that
people make, and be so disastrous to our psyche, and why we cannot listen to them because it
deters us from igniting that story, that story of our life, the story that we get to live,
you see, it's up to us to create it, we get the choice to direct our life, we get the
choice to make the best use of what makes each of us unique, and it's that uniqueness
that makes us who we are. And I'm going to end today's discussion with one final quote
from Sean Stephenson. He says you have to live what you believe he believed when he
was alive, that everyone was rooting for you to win, even those who don't know you. But
it all starts with you wanting yourself to win. And that is why you can never listen
to predictions that don't ignite you. And I wanted to end today's episode by talking
about predictions and a little bit different light given that it's June and National Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD month, I'm going to talk about predictions rubellite
of PTSD, because oftentimes, I think people make predictions that cause intense trauma
in our lives from that causes us to have stuck points that impact everything about us from
our emotions, for security, both within relationships, and in our careers, points that impact our
happiness, points that impact our ability to get out of our own way. Because our minds
listen to this trauma and listen to these predictions that others have given us
or that we've had have experienced. And I know this firsthand, because I've had my fair
share and more prominent throughout my life. But as Sean Stephenson said, if you don't
choose to adapt for that trauma, that disability, where do you think we're going to be in the
same place that you are today. And so one thing I have learned through my own counseling,
and going through much of it to get over my own trauma in my life is that it all starts
by stop listening to the predictions, start by igniting that spark, that you're going
to do something about it. Or maybe if you aren't a person who's experienced PTSD, and
you know someone else who's who has that you're going to help them or find them that help
that they need. Because I can tell you living with trauma, living in your mind with predictions
or things that other people have said about you is such a place of pain, regret remorse,
and it doesn't have to be that way. And so I am reaching out to you to make the choice.
Work hard, start stepping into the sharp edges that I talked about, whether it's the predictions
that you've perhaps listened to the trauma that you've experienced in your life, seek
out and get the help you need, whether that's through a counselor through a company like
passion struck through a close friend, or somewhere else, ignite that step in your life
to make the choice of change. I know it's not easy to make some of these changes, and
that it seems easy for me to be talking to you. But I can tell you, I'm doing this today
because I made the choice in my own life that I wasn't going to let the disabilities that
impact me define who I am and the path I want to take in my own life. And you can too if
you want to talk to me personally about any of this, you can contact me on Instagram at
John Miles and I'd be happy to reach out and talk to you more about that. But thank you
so much for joining us. The purpose of our show is to make passion go viral. And we do
that by sharing with you the knowledge and skills that you need to unlock your hidden
potential. If you want to hear more, please subscribe to the passion stroke podcast on
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make a choice work hard and step into your sharp edges. Thank you again for joining us.