NOT YOUR AVERAGE OPERATOR

Mike and Melon still are not sure what Raf said at the beginning of this episode, but we couldn’t be happier to have him back on the show this week! (We’re pretty sure it was nothing but a nice complimentary introduction in Espanol)

This milestone episode brings an interesting topic to light, a famous quote written by G. Michael Hopf about the rise and fall of society. The team breaks down each line and discusses what they believe it means while addressing the key values and traits that ultimately manipulate this cycle for better or for worse and how we can self-identify with each other in our daily lives.

To finish it off, they each share their own opinions on where they believe our current society falls into this famous poem and the reasons why.

When you read this quote, what comes to your mind? Where do you feel you are in the spectrum? Where do you believe society currently sits? What is your reasoning? We’d love to hear from you and hear your perspectives!

Let us know via email or in a review what your answers are to these questions:

Paul “Melon” McFadden

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Raf “Tio” Espinosa

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Mike

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Melon has landed back in Saudi after his trip to Melbourne, and he and Mike catch up. Raf is still deployed and is very busy with his workload, so Mike and Melon carry this episode as a pair.

After catching up, Melon shares his insights after having the privilege of being an audience member for the past two episodes. Listening to those two episodes, Brothers in War, had a major impact on him, and he shares what he got out of listening to Mike and Jeremy discuss their life and shared combat experiences.

The quote that Jeremy shared “It’s not what I did. It’s who did I do this for?”, during that episode then kicks off a deep discussion between Melon and Mike about life and meaning.

All of us have a mission in life, but it can easily be lost in the day to day. We are all contributing to something bigger. It could be we are working to improve ourselves, or working to help family or loved ones, or it could be that we are working for the overall benefit of our community- or even society itself at the highest level.

This episode is a challenge to consider both why you are doing what you do, and who you are doing it for.

Let us know via email or in a review what your answers are to that question.

Paul “Melon” McFadden

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Raf “Tio” Espinosa

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Mike

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In this week’s episode, Melon and Raf  continue to make their movements around the world while Mike takes the mic and welcomes back his older brother Jeremy to the show. Two brothers who have both served in combat during the global war on terror, discuss what it was like growing up together entangled with military service and maintaining their relationship as brothers.

This is part 2 of Brothers in War 2 part series, Mike’s brother Jeremy interviews him and asks him some of the tough questions that most brothers would not want to ask. Hard training, warfare, relationships, and some of his future visions post of military career.

From troubled and confusing childhoods, to the disciplined and positive guidance from the uniform, and to the struggles and success that followed, you are about to continue to listen to two men, brothers and veterans, have some real talk about life and selfless service and what it means to them.

We challenge you to sit down with some family members and discuss the hard topics and ask the hard questions. Learn something new about one another!

Contact your hosts by DM on FB/IG or by email:

Paul “Melon” McFadden

[email protected]

Raf “Tio” Espinosa

[email protected]

Mike

[email protected]

LISTEN IN ON:

SPOTIFY:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6cQyL6nPDxPNFz4p8RN5PQ?si=Pm-chuufQGSYdcflJ5Xq0Q

APPLE PODCASTS:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-your-average-operator/id1522297477

After a very emotional week leading up to Memorial day, what better way to follow it than to have some of your own family who’ve served in war join the show?

In this week’s episode, Melon and Raf  are off taking care of family and priorities abroad, so Mike takes the mic and welcomes his older brother Jeremy to the show. Two brothers who have both served in combat during the global war on terror, discuss what it was like growing up together entangled with military service and some of the hardships that it ultimately presents.

In part 1 of this 2 part series, Mike interviews Jeremy and asks some of the tough questions that most brothers could not or would not talk about.

From troubled and confusing childhoods, to the disciplined and positive guidance from the uniform, and to the struggles and success that followed, you are about to listen to two men, brothers and veterans, have some real talk about life and what it means to them.

Have you served with your brother, sister, or other family members in the military as well? We’d love to hear your family story of service!

Contact your hosts by DM on FB/IG or by email:

Paul “Melon” McFadden

[email protected]

Raf “Tio” Espinosa

[email protected]

Mike

[email protected]

LISTEN IN ON:

SPOTIFY:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6cQyL6nPDxPNFz4p8RN5PQ?si=Pm-chuufQGSYdcflJ5Xq0Q

APPLE PODCASTS:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-your-average-operator/id1522297477

For some, Memorial Day is a day off of work, a day of barbecues, and a reason to wear fun red white and blue outfits and head to the pool and beaches.

To those who have served or who are serving, their meanings are much different. Some celebrate the lives of the men and women who never came home with them. Some silently visit their friends or family at military cemeteries. There are those who are forced to relive tough and tragic moments and retreat from the light of day or interaction with others.  Then of course, some have a mixture of all the above and cannot find the right balance to make it through the day.

Even though Memorial Day has been regarded as a national holiday, it was primarily ordered to be a pause in time to remember, reflect, and appreciate those who have fallen and sacrificed everything they had during wartime.

The team from Not Your Average Operator Podcast respectfully requests that you take the time this weekend with family, friends, and especially veterans, and have open discussions about service, sacrifice, and why we need to show our respect. They can be family stories that should be passed on to the next generation, stories you’ve read from the history books, or maybe one you heard randomly at the grocery store.

Share their stories. Say their names. Never ever forget what they did for you and this country.

If you have a name or a story you would like to share for Memorial Day, please feel free to contact us. We would sincerely love to hear it.

Contact your hosts by DM on FB/IG or by email:

Paul “Melon” McFadden

[email protected]

Raf “Tio” Espinosa

[email protected]

Mike

[email protected]

LISTEN IN ON:

SPOTIFY:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6cQyL6nPDxPNFz4p8RN5PQ?si=Pm-chuufQGSYdcflJ5Xq0Q

APPLE PODCASTS:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-your-average-operator/id1522297477

Productivity. Advancing towards a goal. Achieving an outcome.

We all need to create desired effects in the world. All of us have areas where we are naturally strong- where our strengths come to the fore and our output is excellent.

This episode is not about these areas.

How do you achieve your best in the other areas? The areas where you have to grind away and the success is anything but effortless?

Join your hosts as they go over tips and processes that they have used to create “flow” states that have resulted in them accomplishing results in areas outside of their natural strong suits.

Mike talks about generating a team environment, where the focus is off himself, and the importance of holding real world combat equivalents in mind to push himself in “routine” training.

Melon covers the importance of resolving outstanding issues in his personal life as a necessary precursor to finding his focus, the need to hold to big picture goal in mind while contemplating the next tough task and the need to tie small rewards to the completion of tasks.

All of us have to work outside our favourite areas and still complete tough tasks.

Let us know how you access your most productive state, and send in any questions for your hosts to answer. They might just become an upcoming episode.

Rafael “Tio” Espinosa

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Paul “Melon” McFadden

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Mike

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Take a minute and think about this…Who do you talk to when you are hurting? If you hurt your arm, you go see a doctor. If your emotions are out of sync, you go see a counselor or psychologist. Pretty simple right? Where do you go when your spiritual side is hurting?

This week, the team welcomes their teammates and fellow veterans, Mr Adam Bird and Jimmy “Papa Bear” Boggs, from the “Broken & Blessed” podcast. They join us to have an in depth, honest, and passionate conversation about our relationships with God, Jesus, and our purpose in life. Now reading the notes above may have just persuaded you to look the other way. We understand. We get it. That is why we encourage you to take a listen. This is not your average Podcast. In this episode, you’ll hear about how active duty and veterans have been brought together by God during war, how flirting with death has opened doors due to a higher calling, and how great relationships have been molded for a purpose by design, not by chance.

Do you think your spiritual side is hurting? Do you think the relationships You currently have effect your overall happiness? Do you struggle with identifying your purpose in this life? We would love to hear from you and invite you to this conversation.

Follow us on Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/NotYourAverageOperator/

https://www.instagram.com/notyouraverageoperator/

Contact your hosts on FB or by email:

Paul “Melon” McFadden:  [email protected]

Raf Espinosa:  [email protected]

Mike:  [email protected]

It’s no secret that today, in the age of social media, we are constantly being bombarded by influencers in politics, fashion trends, physical attributes, financial endeavors etc.

This social communication inter-web that has become a part of our everyday lives tells us about the world we live in and how to live in it…or does it? Today’s episode focuses on a topic that might rub some the wrong way, but it is absolutely worth a discussion. The Cost of Success.

How many times have you done a comparison of yourself to someone or something on social media? How many times have you based YOUR definition of happiness, success, self image, love, education, or “being healthy” off of a social media post? Is there always someone better than you no matter how much you accomplish and you still feel like a failure?

The question is, what are you willing to sacrifice to become just like that “perfect celebrity” to the faceless crowd of society? Time? Money? An Oath? Family? Lifelong friends? Humility? Empathy? Humbleness?

How much have you given up already? Where has it gotten you?

Join us now as Mike, Raf, and Melon from “the land down under” weigh in and discuss some of today’s hardest truths about the world of social media and it’s effect on us as both veterans and citizens.

Contact your hosts on FB or by email:

Paul “Melon” McFadden

[email protected]

Raf Espinosa

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Mike

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APPLE PODCASTS (Leave a review!)

The boys come at you with another absolutely incredible story, and had the immense privilege to have a sit down with The Great Russell “Ruthless” Ruth! A former Staff Sergeant with the storied 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, and now a newly minted U.S. Army Apache Aviator, he shares his story, and it’s one that needs to be told, and RETOLD.  At the surface, this episode is about a harrowing experience that is almost too incredible to believe. Challenging every listener’s preconceived notion of what is possible. However, after peeling back some layers, you quickly realize the framework of this story is a moment in time shaped in mere seconds and millimeters.  More importantly, this story pays tribute to Russ and people like Russ that don’t just spectate. They enter the arena, even when the odds are grossly stacked against them, and certain death is nearly assured. Ushering people to safety, then running towards the fray, unarmed. Armed only with self belief, principals, and the calmness and clear thinking that can only be harnessed through years of hard and difficult transformation. Undoubtedly giving credence to his former Special Operations community.  He rose to the highest levels of humanity that day.  Like a sheepdog, Russ utilized every skill and instinct he’s consciously and subconsciously learned in life…then ran towards an abyss of uncertainty & chaos created by a robber and his sawed off shotgun.  Put yourself in his shoes, and ask yourself, would you have followed Russ into the chaos?  With humor, banter, and respect, the boys were able to extract implicit details that Russ has never shared before. Like everything, there is a human cost, and it’s in this episode that the boys wanted to explore that. Please share this incredible story, and leave us a Thumbs Up and Review!

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