The catalyst for writing my book, What Drives You, was realizing what I most wanted for my children, was for them to know what they truly want, and wrap their lives around it. From this inspiration I realized that while I had always been driven, I had often been unclear what I wanted, and what I was driving toward. As time goes on, I continue to perceive that truly, clearly knowing what one wants is one of the most elusive things of life. And getting clarity on one wants, may just be the ultimate success. So in this show, I bring on another expert on discovering what you want. Tracey Gee has also devoted herself to this quest for helping people understand what they truly, authentically want. Tracey is a leadership coach and consultant who has done extensive research in workshops and personal coaching with individuals seeking to discover what they want. She has a new book that caught my attention, The Magic of Knowing What You Want: A Practical Guide to Unearthing the Wisdom of Your Desires. We sat down to discuss how unaware people are of what they really want, and then talked through methodologies Tracey uses to help people, that I am very intrigued by. You can find Tracey’s new book, The Magic of Knowing What You Want, at Amazon, and find her at traceygee.me.

I get to have deep conversations with people who have had great influence in the lives of so many people. Dr Henry Cloud became synonymous with the term boundaries after his groundbreaking book, Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life, and has influenced millions of people in doing just that, taking control of their lives. I was a mere 21 years old when Dr Cloud’s Boundaries book published and wouldn’t become aware of boundaries for another 21 years, and wouldn’t truly implement them in my life till much later. Today, 33 years later, as I record this, the book is ranked #256. Incredible. I got the chance to sit down with him and Tom Ziglar a few years ago when Henry brought his focus and insight into leadership and influence. We began talking about boundaries, then got into leadership and influence. Influence is one of my favorite topics, as we all want influence. Without it, we can’t help anyone. I think you’ll get great insight from our discussion. You can find all Dr Cloud has to offer at his website, drcloud.com. And I don’t know anyone who would not benefit from reading his book on Boundaries.

Following is a story of…drive. It’s one of those stories of someone who turned their life around. But the story is not about them. It’s about you. My intent is that it gives you ideas, inspiration, and alters your perception to help you consider your own capacity. Not a capacity to do more. Most of us need to do less. But do more of what matters. My guest is world-record mountain climber, entrepreneur and mom of seven, Jenn Drummond. In 2018 she had a car wreck that should have ended her life. But it didn’t. It did, however, change her paradigm on life. Her epiphany was, “You don’t get to choose when you leave this life, but you sure can choose how you live it.” Strengthened by this awareness, she set out to live in a more authentic and adventurous way. Inspired to climb a mountain for her birthday, her son raised the stakes by suggesting Mount Everest. She accepted the pursuit. During her training, her coach upped the ante and proposed that she go for a Guinness World Record and become the first woman to climb what is called the 7 second summits. The pursuit matched her desire to live a life of significance, not just success. Today, Jenn is a world record holder who elevates others to master their own summit in life. Jenn is Host of the Seek Your Next Summit podcast, who’s focused on inspiring others to go beyond success to a life of significance. Her new book and my muse for this conversation is, Break Proof: 7 Strategies To Build Resilience and Achieve Your Life Goals.

Michael Jr. is a world class comedian who is not out to just get laughs. He is out to “give people the opportunity to laugh” and help set the stage for meaningful, purposeful content of the heart and soul. His personal mission is to “comedically inspire people to walk in their purpose.” He is accomplishing this in massive numbers while on stage with The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel, Comedy Central, Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday and Tedx Talks. He’s featured in the movie, “Selfie Dad.” So I connected with Michael Jr while he was on set somewhere and we had our conversation via phone, which I never do. So while the audio is clear, it’s via phone. I was also with renowned businessman and author, Mark Timm, who actually introduced me to Michael Jr.. In this conversation you will hear how Michael views that all of us, in living our lives, are preparing and setting the stage. For what? For the punchline of our lives. The deliverable. Without that, it is simply a life of always preparing but never coming to the table with an offering. So listen in to this interview and we believe you will be significantly inspired and empowered to do just that - Deliver. Connect with Michael at www.MichaelJR.com.

Purpose is one of the most overused topics in the self-improvement world. Everyone is talking about it. But as we look at the culture, we see more apathy and depression then ever. It’s similar to all the talk on being healthy and happy and we are just getting sicker and sadder. Why? With purpose, why are we constantly talking about it but not finding and experiencing it? I have with me, Jordan Grumet, and you are about to hear a very different look at what purpose is and how we can start experiencing much more of our purpose. Jordan is a medical doctor turned hospice doc. He is host of the Earn & Invest Podcast. He’s author of Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor’s Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life, the book that landed him here on my show the first time. Now he is back with a new book titled, The Purpose Code: How To Unlock Meaning, Maximize Happiness, And Leave A Lasting Legacy. And we breakdown and dissect purpose. What it is, why we are missing it as a culture, and I’ll give you what to me is the big takeaway, right here in the intro: you will find much more of your purpose in the day to day activities that light you up, than pursuing the big, grand purpose of saving the world. It’s a very different approach to purpose that I found to be much more relevant, realistic, and attainable.

Now it’s time to get literal and candid. Patrick Kilcarr again is Director of Georgetown University’s Center for Personal Development. He was my guest four episodes ago where we talked at a higher level about emotional intelligence. In this episode, we get granular. Patrick is a master trainer in emotional intelligence and certifies professionals to use the EQ-i2.0, rated as the most valid and reliable self-assessment of emotional intelligence. It assesses and evaluates the social and emotional competencies of individuals. This is not something available to the public. Patrick uses it as a professor, he administers it for business and academic organizations, and he uses it with his personal counseling clients. In this episode, he walks me through mine. As you will hear, he has never done this in a public setting and was fairly surprised I was willing. For disclosure, you will not be hearing how emotionally intelligent I am. You will hear how I am very high in one area, and Patrick showcasing how I am compensating for another area where I am very lacking. However, you are not here to learn about me. The point is for you to gain understanding of your own emotional propensities, and this is why we are publicly sharing what would otherwise be an individual therapy session. Patrick’s book is Leading An Emotionally Intelligent Life: Expanding Your Emotional Intelligence to Make Courageous Decisions and Transform Your Life. Dr. Kilcarr maintains a private practice in Washington, DC where he offers individual, couples, group, and family therapy. More information at his website https://theeilife.com/

I spent a lifetime pursuing external performance. What we achieve athletically, entrepreneurially and even altruistically. I upheld the skill and ability of social awareness and reading and influencing people. I put a high value on controlling oneself. What I missed was knowing myself and understanding emotions. If I could go back, I’d trade in so much…maybe everything, for emotional intelligence. I find no greater understanding, wisdom, and power than that which comes from having high emotional intelligence. Which I don’t have. I still feel I’m in early training. And I’m ecstatic that I found my guest in this episode, Patrick Kilcarr. Patrick has been the Director of Georgetown University’s Center for Personal Development since 1999. He is a master trainer in emotional intelligence, certifying professionals to use the EQ-i2.0 (the most valid and reliable self-assessment of emotional intelligence) to assess and evaluate the social and emotional competencies of individuals in a variety of professional venues. All of Patrick’s work is directed toward strengthening the individual with respect to his/her innate talents and abilities. He has written extensively on emotional intelligence, addiction, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I found Patrick through a book he published in 2022, called Leading An Emotionally Intelligent Life: Expanding Your Emotional Intelligence to Make Courageous Decisions and Transform Your Life.. Dr. Kilcarr maintains a private practice in Washington, DC where he offers individual, couples, group, and family therapy. More information at his website https://theeilife.com/

We all have areas where we are lacking. Weaknesses. I spent a long time trying to deny mine, and it limited my success. Many people recognize their lack, and let them limit their success. Then there are those who understand and accept where they are lacking, and adjust accordingly to not let themselves be limited by it. Case in point, Erik Weihenmayer. Erik is blind. Completely. He lacks the ability to see anything. He wasn’t born blind but lost his sight due to a rare eye disease at age of 13. There is nothing he can do about it. He accepted this, and adjusted accordingly. And then went on to climb Mt Everest. He has climbed all 7 of the world’s greatest Summits. He has kayaked the Grand Canyon. And he devoted his life to helping everyone overcome the lacks in their lives and do great things anyway. Tom Ziglar and I sat down with Erik to talk about his message and I’m bringing the show back to you from the archives to help you look to the coming New Year with more hope and possibility. Find Erik at ErikWeihenmayer.com and his book, No Barriers, is a great story of his rafting trip across the Grand Canyon and his message of overcoming.

My experience is most everyone thinks they know what their core values are, and in truth, very, very few do. And due to this we find ourselves doing things that are not fulfilling to us, and not engaged with what does fulfill us. Amidst that we grow…frustrated. Even to bitterness. Or fairly apathetic and just going through the grind. So I’ve brought someone on to the show to hear his story, of going from not understanding his core values, to getting very clear on them. I think it will help you better understand what core values really are and how to get clarity on yours…and adjust your life accordingly. Robert Glazer was walking aimlessly through school with his drive…disengaged. He decided to travel abroad and found his interest in business outside the school walls. He started learning the ropes, but it was still later that he found a desire to clarify his values. He spent six months getting clear on four, key core values. When he discovered them, he says the next 15 years were just fantastic. He founded a global marketing agency, started an inspirational newsletter called Friday Forward that reaches over 200,000 readers worldwide each week, and hit the #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller list as author of several books, including Elevate, and now is host of the Elevate Podcast. His show has many similar guests as I do here, and what drives them is a key focal point, but he gives more space to a business focus. As you enjoy the What Drives You podcast, I’m confident you’ll greatly appreciate Robert Glazer’s Elevate podcast. And if you go to robertglazer.com you can sign up for his Friday Forward newsletter on Substack.