Design Your Exceptional Life

Welcome to another episode of the podcast featuring Brian Lunt. As the Chief Creative Strategist for Seed Level Creativity Lab, Brian guides clients through a holistic process of building their own, customized user manual for their life or business with access to a comprehensive network of resources. He specializes in helping entrepreneurs and companies identify their primary mission and effectively deliver value to their current and prospective customers.​

How do we achieve more in life? (02:15)

- Set the path for them. I've seen doctors being doctors who didn't want to be doctors. And so how did you make that jump? How did you get the courage to say I'm going to go my own path and not in banking.

- Being a fish out of water being in a situation that just did not feel right, even though on the surface, it looked incredible. 

- And so I finally said, this is too uncomfortable for me to continue to try and live this life. That appears so wonderful when it's not. I think it takes that moment of discomfort to say, I can't do this anymore.

Mastermind success group (24:36)

- We meet on a regular basis. What a true master mind is meant to do, which is give insights from all those different arenas. And so our business club is built around that group.

- Dr. Hill is great at that building a network Finding that nugget, if you have an idea, you don't know how out there, iyou don't have to know how to do everything. You can really leverage your network, leverage knowledge, leverage, expertise, experience, and to get to the end goal.

- So if you have a great idea, don't get stuck that you have to know everything, bring in, be humble enough. To bring in the help and ask for help and collaborate. 

Connect with Brian Lunt here.

Welcome to another episode of the podcast featuring Dr. Gargiula (Dr. G.) who lives in St. Louis, MO with his beautiful wife, Sue, and they are blessed with four wonderful children. He has been coaching clients and patients since 1990. His knowledge has been the result of working with thousands of patients whose underlying cause of their health concerns was the inability to adapt to the stress in their lives.

How do we achieve more in life? (02:15)

- That's kinda my big umbrella is making sure that I'm helping people in that way. And what excites me about that is even though I love being a chiropractor, and again, I plan on being a chiropractor a lot of years, cause it's a wonderful service. Um, I can do other things, but still be fulfilling the same exact purpose in my life.

How do you maintain consistency? (20:36)

- I follow my calendar. So that keeps me doing things consistently that I know are important to me. But then I also have accountability people in my life for the if and when I fall off of though, even those routines, um, or people that just challenged me to make sure I am doing. As much as I could or should do as well, because it's easy to get complacent with where we are and they helped me grow.

Connect with Dr. G on his website here.

In today's episode, we have DeWayne Ables who is providing a method for growth for this generation of Pioneers who are designing and building America. Guiding leaders with a conviction to utilize their craft and grow an organization that serves a need and intentionally impacts their world.

Over the past 18 years, DeWayne has evolved a unique growth process for design and construction firms that uncovers their unique purpose, empowers leaders and employees to deliver it, and explores the market to find owners who need and desire it.

What is the vision and purpose of DeWayne's life? (05:15)

- There's a clear vision there, a clear blueprint or a plan and it takes a whole lot of different people with skills, gifts, and talents to make a phenomenal construction effort work.

- DeWayne loves building companies because people spend, 40 to 60% of their life in a company.

- The vision is kind of morphing based on the environment

- Importance of focusing on very heavily on a ten-year perspective of a vision. 

What do people need to reach their full potential? (19:36)

- Crucial thing is to help executives with what is to come for the next 10 years versus the last 10 years. Make adjustments as weather conditions on a mountain could be rain or wind or fire.

- Know that things that could be affecting your journey and learning how to identify it, learning how to jump back on track are something that's mission-critical.  

- How entrepreneurs need to come back down and actually apply and put it into action, moving from just a vision and a dream to an action, which is probably why a lot of businesses don't make it is that they're missing that piece. A company is only as good as the leader.

- One of the big frustrations in my career and starting the businesses is attract a lot of visionary forward thinking, hard driven entrepreneurs but without a proper foundation.

Relationship between company success and vision? (30:23)

- Focus on the greater need that the company serves and the vision that they have in a great plan to execute and achieve that second reason why we do that, so that you get everyone working in their personal sweet spot

- Once people really start to understand that they really aren't a great fit for a CEO, which most people are not they start to realize where they are good fit. Everything starts to fit into place. 

- More importantly, leaders respect one another more because they understand their own weaknesses and the strengths of someone else that, that overcome some of them. That synchronization is where a lot of trusts happens and more respect.

- The Pioneer method is really simple in concept but a little bit more challenging and application. Every human being in every organization is uniquely prepared to serve a need with a certain group of people in the world.

In today's episode, we have Lawrence Kellogg. In this episode, we talk about how to create the well-balanced quality of life that you desire for yourself. 

We also talk about taking calculated risks, getting into the financial industry and its implications, and about religion and the role it plays in our daily lives.

What influenced you to get into the financial industry? (11:15)

- It was just something that Lawrence looked up to. His father was in the lumber business, which was one of the companies my grandfather had started, but he always wanted to do some sort of business from the time I was a little kid, 

- Everybody has heard of Tony Robbins and he talks about six human needs and why those human needs is for variety for we need certainty, but we need a level of uncertainty, but he seem to thrive on a little bit of uncertainty because even though he stayed for 13 years, The job though, gave you a lot of challenges because you had a variety of roles.

Explain about your religious belief? (16:18)

- A lot of religious aspects apply to modern times and things that are, that are happening in your life now.

- Ask yourself other than going to church? Do you meditate? Do you often read the Bible. Do you journal, how do you maintain a high spiritual area? 

What do people often misunderstand about success? (19:36)

- You shot for the moon and you're not to behold the old saying you shoot for the moon.If you miss you end up with the stars. And that's what that 4 million steps was. It was all about right. You just got going. 

- Lawrence has dropped 40 pounds. He's ran a half marathon. He's basically, as he said, shot for the moon. And, you know, even if he doesn't hit the moon, he's the star. So if you're out there now listening, and you're at a point when you are frustrated or. Daunted just take your first step. The journey of a thousand miles begins with that first step.

Welcome to another episode of Design Your Exceptional Life podcast with Alvin Brown here he interviews Paul Young, author of The Shack, Cross Roads, Eve & Lies We Believe About God. Young originally wrote primarily as a way to create unique gifts for his friends, until his wife repeatedly urged him to write something for their six children in order to put down in one place his perspectives on God and on the inner healing Young had experienced as an adult. The resulting manuscript, which later became The Shack, was intended only for his six kids and for a handful of close friends.

The Beginning (03:15)

- Jesus is God, but then there's really God, the father who is the one you really have to deal with

- My dad met my mom into Bible school and get married. 

- As a firstborn missionary kid preacher's kid, I guess I'm going to be cleaning toilets and shipping out soldering tips, the rest of my life.

- We need to find someplace to plant our feet

What can we inspire the people around us? (19:36)

- If you can do the magic words and say the center's prayer, Jesus will cover you up with his righteousness so he can get you into heaven, but you're still a piece of crap. What happens next?

-  You know, if you have a daughter who begins to see in the mirror, I'm not enough, right. Or I'm damaged goods, or I'll never be enough. What will you do?

-If Jesus is supposed to take the punishment, why isn't he an eternal conscious torment? Right? It's a problem.

- Do no harm, which is the Hippocratic oath. And two to completely restore you back to fullness of life. That's the judge, right?

Dan has 27 years of experience leading, training, and coaching high performing individuals. He has risked everything and started over twice career wise in 1993 as a benefits broker and again in 2005 with his Sandler Training office.

How did your background inspired you to be where you are today? (03:15)

- I was working for a company as a sales person and they decided to shut down a division that I was part of. We spun off and start our own company. I was 29 at the time, and I just thought this is an opportunity to start something on my own.

- I knew these other three people. I thought, you know, now's the time. If it doesn't work out, I can always go back and get a salary job

-  I was a client of Sandler when I was a benefit broker. I was working down here in Kansas city and I hired them to help me get better at my craft

What can we learn from success and failures? (09:36)

- I was considering joining a much larger benefits, brokerage like way larger. And I kinda felt like things were negative as I was moving towards it.

- I just look what doors are opening, what doors are closing. Pay attention to the little things and not just look for the one decision.

What can we inspire the people around us? (19:36)

- We gotta give it enough time to make sure that it's working, but we don't want to stay in something that's not working. 

-  We always think that you have to give something up to get something else; which is not true most times

Connect with Dan: 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstalp/

In today's episode, we have Ken Blanchard on the show. Organizations are being called upon to reimagine the way they do business and care for their employees. Learn about Blanchard's approach to human-centered leadership development in today's learning environment. One great leader can change a person's life. But when inspired leaders at all levels, act with courage to connect and engage those around them, an entire business can be transformed.

How did your background inspired you to be where you are today? (05:15)

- Few people have influenced the day-to-day management of people and companies more than Ken Blanchard. A prominent, sought-after author, speaker, and business consultant, Dr. Blanchard is respected for his lifetime of groundbreaking research and thought leadership that has influenced the day-to-day management and leadership of people and companies throughout the world.

- They want me to write a textbook and I've been looking for a good writer. Like you they're good writer. He read my papers, you know? And I said, well, we ought to be a great team. And so he wrote management of organizational behavior.

- I moved to California on a sabbatical leave for one year and I ran into Spencer Johnson. And he wrote children's books. I don't know if you ever remember any of those now, the value tales for kids. If the value of courage, the story of Jackie Robinson, the value of believing in yourself, the story of Helen Keller, and then Margie met him first and I got to a party in hand, carried him over and said, you guys ought to get together and write a children's book for managers

What can we conclude about the ideal leadership? (09:36)

- If men would realize to get their egos out of the way and listen to their wife. Then you're really a team. The only time I've seen people get divorces and all was when he get in the way and they're arguing, who's brighter than the other.

- Those are times when yeah, there was, you know, marginalization of the female. And I mean, now it's now it's makes sense. You know, the bill are changes, but even back then you were a game-changer back then having your wife lead the way. And you know, that wasn't a common thing. No, but I was smart enough to know who was smarter than me.

How the more you don't know, that's just how you grow? (17:23)

- When it comes to talking to our audience about designing life, when we take it from the six areas. Are you consciously have a routine or how does that play a part in your design? Yes. Well, one of the things that when I worked with Norman Vincent Peale, and we wrote a book called the power of ethical management

- Enter your day slowly, take some time. Do you, do you purposely. Section amount of time for connect, reconnection for 20 minutes to half hour.

Derrik Kassebaum is Co-Owner of Cosmos Corporation which is a family owned manufacturing company that makes Health and Wellness products in the pet industry. In addition, the Kassebaum family's nonprofit organization, GOLI, oversees a couple different endeavors in Guatemala and Haiti.​

How did your background inspired you to be where you are today? (05:15)

- Derek started listening to Zig Ziglar's of the world and got education on wheels as opposed to my education behind a desk 

- His dad was in the military, actually got an honorable discharge for when he was sick and wanting to do something. So he became a barber and for the next 22 years,

- His dad is a loud praying guy- practically screaming.

- He remembers his mom and dad are just crying and my dad said, I can't do this anymore. God, you either grow this or take it away from me. And it was within about a year that a lady called him and said, Hey, I was in a dog or in a beauty shop getting my hair done. The shampoo that was being used on my hair would work great for dogs. Would you consider making it for dogs? He started a company in 1992. That's really where I got my foothold. 

What can we conclude about the ideal leadership? (09:36)

- I have one brother who oversaw finance once oversaw manufacturing, one over marketing, and I of course oversaw the sales. And when we stayed in our lane, there was peace.

- When we tried to get into each other's lane. Then there were, there was turmoil. So I think, I think if you can find your lane in life and go, this is my lane and not to cross over into someone else

How the more you don't know, that's just how you grow? (17:23)

- And at one point I surrendered, let go. And, you know, I realized that ideas and options started to come to me because once you let go, you're letting ideas and, and, and the faith come in, you know, when you're busy, fighting, you're all that energy is expended on the fight and you're not letting the opportunities come to you.

-We need to learn to listen and hear when speaking, you know, if we can just hear the hurts in another or hear the feelings of another person, we can learn, go grow into a new area of our life.

Contact Gifts of Love International: https://www.goli.org

In this episode, we have Joe Clendenny. Joe was a businessman selling shoes who decided to take a missions trip to several countries that year. One of the stops along the way was to the leprosy colonies in India. A mission trip Joe made in September 2002 changed their lives forever.

How did your background inspired you to be where you are today? (05:15)

- Grew up in a little town of 48 people. It was predominantly a farm country and my parents owned a general store. We sold everything that I think the slogan was. We sell everything from soup to nuts. But it was groceries and hardware. We had the lunch counter, packaged liquor for a lot of years, my dad sold appliances, televisions, washing machines, just about everything.

- We spent a lot of time on the Mississippi river, boating and water skiing.

What can we conclude about the ideal leadership? (09:36)

- I had this yearning or desire even fairly young age to try to get into business for myself. It wasn't really sure what that was, but  after spending a little over a year in Denver, I got transferred with the gallows down to Colorado Springs to run their distributor ship continental distributor ship, and became acquainted with a franchise at that point in time called the athlete's foot.

- Gone bankrupt in St. Louis and had been taken back by the parent company. And over the next two and a half years, we were able to turn those stores around to the point where they were become very profitable. Stream in that the parent company who I was actually in partnership with. Got acquired. It was a large group out of France that acquired the parent company of the athlete's foot. So I was partners with them.

- They ended up buying me out. I went to work for them for a short period of time. But after having owned my own business or operating it as my own, just wasn't as comfortable working in the larger corporate setting any longer.

- Excellent training, they demanded a lot, but it was phenomenal. Foundational training,  from a business standpoint. And when I say took a chance to a risk in getting involved in this business in St.Louis. It wasn't so much all about the location. It was more about how the people were being handled and treated.

How the more you don't know, that's just how you grow? (17:23)

- Being stripped down to nothing, thinking that there was that, that I had blown it all and he opened up this little crack that, um, you know, allowed me to put one foot in front of the other.

- What's the right mix with confidence and what you, the wisdom you have now to know that, you know, you can't do it alone and right. Faith. And how do you what's that? What's that right mix for that. Now, looking back at those early days, um, you know, had confidence

- There's really a purpose also for what this is all for. And so you're leading right into some of Tom's principles where I wanted to touch on Tom has six areas of life. When he delivers his message, you'd like some in this order of importance where spirituality, your health relationships, intellectual, professional, and financial, where back then you were fulfilling a lot of those.

- I would never been a person of prayer or you know reaching out to the Lord. A pastor actually told me what you need to do is start taking your start, taking your problems to the Lord first.

In this episode, we have Nancy Erickson, The Book Professor. Her entire life and all her experiences have led her to this point. She has worked in big business, small businesses, nonprofits, and has been self-employed. She has written books, developed curricula, published other people's books, and taught university classes. And now she is The Book Professor, your personal book writing coach.

Who Nancy was before the book professor? 02:50)

- My original career was in high tech, and I was a systems engineer for IBM.

- Sometimes you get trapped in a job, or a job category. In this case, the money was so good, how can I leave, but I didn't like it

-I went back to school and I got a master's degree

Do you believe there's a writer and everybody? 07:45)

- I think that everybody has a story

- Well afraid of being vulnerable or afraid of exposing others is also a drawback for some people.

How did Dr. Tom Hill impact your life(20:40)

- I met Tom hill at how long it's gonna be about seven years ago, I think, and I wasn't planning to meet him but I had the good fortune to and it's weird because I was connected on LinkedIn with a person who was connected with Tom.

- Every 18 months, we achieve certain goals that we set goals are achieved in cycles, and you can write out the big hairy audacious goals in six years, three years. 18 months and so on, where are you in 18 months,