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.

Everyone lives in their own story. They are a character in their story. If you want to offer them something, a product, a service, a message, your influence, a helping hand…whatever, you want to enter their story. The master of this is Donald Miller. I first met Don through his spiritually based memoirs. Don was a writer. An artist. Over time he sold zillions of books to people like me and along the way learned how to translate his gift of storywriting to the world of business. He started a company called Storyline and I attended his very first conference in Portland, OR with my Dad, brother, and uncle. Following is a conversation I had when Don had just released his book, Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. In it he flips our perspective of how to promote what we have to offer to the public. It’s not about our product or service, it is about the customer. Don takes us through the structure of a good storyline and how we can, and must apply it to our offerings in this format; “A CHARACTER who wants something encounters a PROBLEM before they can get it. At the peak of their despair, a GUIDE steps into their lives, gives them a PLAN, and CALLS THEM TO ACTION. That action helps them avoid FAILURE and ends in SUCCESS.” You can find Don at storybrand.com

I have a powerful story of drive for you. One that starts with tears and today is an impressive lists of stats. Let’s start with the impressive list. Talia Fox is a leadership strategist. She holds an M.Ed. in counseling psychology from Howard University and she is a Harvard University Fellow. With her extensive background in psychology and education she assists leaders in developing successful strategies for complex missions, ranging from defense systems to healthcare initiatives. As CEO of KUSI Global, Inc., Talia helps organizations like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Harvard University, Transunion, the National Institutes of Health, Howard University, and the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs maximize human potential by leveraging strategic intelligence and helps individuals and organizations foster connected cultures and promote conscious equity. Now Talia has a new book titled, The Power of Conscious Connection: 4 Habits To Transform How You Live And Lead. But where we start in our conversation is Talia as a single mom, holding onto her baby and crying in a stairwell in her apartment building. At the end of her rope. And that is where she resolved to not let her circumstances decide her fate and to quit identifying as a lacking and struggling young woman. Here is what Talia says, “I decided to choose a different way of existing in the world. People can often be completely absorbed by their problems, she said. They don’t jump out of bed, they drag themselves through feeling sad, tired, broken and disappointed. I started asking myself, what does this situation need from me today to be most successful? I became conscious how my choices impacted my outcomes. I became obsessed with human and social behavior and how our identities shape our choices and our lives. I was struck by how the seemingly small choices I made had the biggest impact on my mental well being. Sometimes veering off the well-trodden path of others and choosing a different path can lead to life-altering decisions. This is the story friends. This will be a good ride.

This is a story of drive. How a guy found his and how he helps others find theirs. Tom Bilyeu describes himself as a scared kid who worked his way out of his fear and ultimately co-founded Quest Nutrition. You’ve likely seen or bought Quest bars from the grocery store wherever you live. In 2017 he started Impact Theory, a media company focused on human potential to address as Tom says, the pandemic of body and mind. Today his Impact Theory podcast is one of the top shows in the self-improvement category and one you’ve likely heard or seen on YouTube. I sat down with Tom in 2017 not long after he started Impact Theory, and before he sold Quest Nutrition in 2019 for a tidy billion dollars. I was host of The Ziglar Show at the time and wanted to dig into a guy who really came from nothing to find success for himself and then devote himself to helping others achieve success, and what he felt the pillars were to increase human potential. You won’t find him touting hacks, but instead looking to just doing the work. Which I appreciate. It’s not a mystery, and it’s something we can all do.