What does it mean to be grateful? Often, we find ourselves focused on the negatives and our everyday problems. The constant flow of thoughts such as “I don’t have this” or “How did I lose that?” never seems to end. What if we can take a step back for just a few moments a day and realize that we really do have a lot? That maybe things are not as grim as they seem. That there truly are blessings in each day that we wake up with a beating heart. This week, the team takes their own step back with special guest and recently reunited wife, Cherie “Chez” McFadden, and discuss some of their own recent and current journey’s, and what they have  come to be profoundly grateful for.

Take a few minutes today and think about what or who you are profoundly grateful for. We would love to hear from you and share some of your stories as well. We are grateful for all of you who continue to listen and support us on this podcast.

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Paul “Melon” McFadden

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Raf Espinosa

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Mike

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Leadership. We have all experienced it- military, civilian, sporting or family. We have all seen it work well, and we have seen less than stellar examples. Join us as we extract out some key elements of leadership that have worked in routine undertakings and have also been tested in combat operations on the ground, at sea and in the airborne environments. For this episode Mike and Melon are once again joined by US Army Captain Pauline Johnson as Raf is in transit.

Topics covered include:

Let us know what aspects of leadership you have seen implemented well. If you get some value from this episode, please leave a review and share it.

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Do any of these phrases or thoughts sound familiar:

Self-belief is one of the strongest determining factors in each of our personal journeys. It drives us, strengthens us, unites those like us, and sometimes even denies all logic along our way to success and completing our goals. What happens though when our self-belief struggles and becomes questioned? What happens when we lose the belief that we can do something that may make us uncomfortable or feel pain?

Grab your gear and jump into the deep end with Melon, Mike, Raf, and our special guest, U.S. Army Captain Pauline Johnson, as they discuss personal experiences in which self-belief was tested to the limit, what they drew on to gain perspective, and how they were able to drive on and persevere.

Please, reach out and share some of your stories where your self-belief was limited or challenged, and how you negotiated through it.

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Childhood influences are powerfully significant because they drive our paths into adulthood, but similarly help shape our perspective of the world and our role in it. The boys, with their special guest, COL (R) Kelly Hines, discuss their own personal childhood influences. In doing so, they realize the uncanny similarities that they all shared which seemed to have thrust them into military service. Melon unlayers the benefits of structured and unstructured lifestyles for children, because he witnessed the massive benefits in that healthy balance in his own life. Highlighting the advantages of letting kids resolve conflict on their own among their peers.  Not surprisingly, sports who’s core tenets revolved around teamship were the only sports that drew their attention for all four of the guys. Kelly Hines discusses how his success in almost any endeavor was by applying the enlightened approach of learning what not to do. His father being one of his biggest contributors to that philosophy. Mike sought counsel in his path to Special Operations and witnessed calm in the face of panic in the morning of 9/11 from the most unlikely of agents, his government and world culture teachers. Finally, Raf shares the ironic dark twist in the first significant role model, where he gleans his early years of leadership training by a Boy Scout troop leader who unfortunately succumbed to twisted antisocial behavior and was subsequently imprisoned. These are just some of the stories you’ll hear on this episode.

Please share with us who your childhood influences were, and a pointed story on how they paved the path into adulthood.

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Expectations, beliefs and a world view. We all have them. We all have lenses that we view the world through. We have all had moments where our beliefs crashed into reality and we had to make a major change to the way we live our lives. Change can be hard, but being static in a changing world or in the face of new information is a guaranteed road to long term failure.

Join in and listen to the conversation as our regular veterans, Melon, Mike and Raf, are joined a special guest: Canadian Forces Veteran Gordo- as we go over some of the biggest viewpoints we have changed our minds on. Gordo brings a world of experience- a veteran of Gulf War 1, who started as an enlisted aircraft mechanic and became one of the most experienced instructor pilots flying in Canada, South Africa and the Middle East.

You will hear hard stories from Raf about the importance of family compared to a career- being married to a job but dating a family, and the realization that time is finite. Our Special Forces Operator, Mike, talks about changes around expectation management and a profound shift in understanding his inability to ultimately control outcomes. Gordo follows up with a more experienced man’s view on the impact of trying to professionally “be the best” and how that impacted his marriage, and the realization that past goals were set by a less experienced younger self. Melon covers the shift that came from always rigidly sticking to a viewpoint, to the ability to have a well-researched but loosely held system of beliefs that can always adapt to more accurate or truthful information.

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Please share with us the major things you have changed your mind on and how the change has impacted your life.

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You’ll recognize them by the impact they left behind. The trajectory of your life shifted in measurable ways as a result of them being in it. Mentors are the force behind a paradigm shift in our lives, usually before we recognize it ourselves. They mold us, pass on wisdom, and nurture us. Whether we spend decades alongside them, or just a few years, their impact is indelible. The significance of a mentor can’t be overstated. On this episode, Raf, Mike and Melon discuss who their mentors are, and the impact they played.  The guys unlayer the significant sojourn that developed from having these encounters. Consider thinking about the people in your life in the present and the past. Friends, fathers, mothers, coworkers, anyone who gave you emotive counsel when you needed it the most. 

Please share with us who your mentors are, and a pointed story on how they caused that paradigm shift in your own life.  

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Travel can be a gift and a teacher. The experiences you garner will broaden, and never narrow your knowledge. It can embolden your gratitude towards your own origins, and the roots of your ancestors. Helps shift and elevate some of your own troubles categorically and shows you that maybe your problems are not as bad. What you take for granted at home, could be tenuous across the world. Travel also has the ability to redefine your definition of luxury. More importantly, travel will always make memories, change perspective, and highlight humanity’s achievements. So, travel often, and travel as soon as possible. All three hosts share what they’ve gained in their personal life from traveling across all four corners of the world. From the sand of Africa, to the archipelagos of the pacific, these are some of those life lessons:

-Travel can be your best teacher

-Helps mitigate unwarranted fear of the unknown

 -Increases appreciation and changes perceptions

-Create everlasting memories

-Elevates even the most mundane activities

-Only broadens knowledge, never narrows

-The more different the culture you explore, the greater your personal growth

Please share with us what your views on healthy masculinity are. Reach out to your network and make a positive impact on those around you.

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Masculinity seems to be poorly understood in our modern western world. It appears to only be defined up as an unhealthy, aggressive or misogynistic trait. Masculinity is not manliness- it is a group of traits available to all people, not just men, and we all need to develop some of them to live an effective life. All of us will also have certain feminine traits that are needed to maintain balance and not veer too far off the path. In this episode, all three of our hosts share insights they have gleaned into what healthy masculinity looks like. You will hear clear examples of traits being used either in combat, or during later reflection upon the impact of combat. You will hear examples of how these traits can be applied in work, relationship and family situations. Traits identified in this episode include:

• Stay the course to achieve goals at work and in relationships
• Enhanced emotional IQ and the ability to remain calm
• Empathy- the ability to understand another’s point of view
• Staying power
• Maintaining your humanity
• The ability to reflect and integrate experiences
• Self-discipline
• Decisiveness

Please share with us what your views on healthy masculinity are. Reach out to your network and make a positive impact on those around you.

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Wish you could go back and tell your younger self something that would have made a huge impact in your life? Now is the time for some REFLECTION! Link up with the team and listen in as Raf, Melon, and Mike discuss some of their own reflections and share sound advice to their younger selves. Some of the topics covered in this episode:

• Follow your passion
• Establish good habits
• Aim for long term fulfillment
• Consistent discipline
• Travel often
• Try Yoga
• Follow your heart, not your head
• Be decisive
• Be the example

What would you want to tell your younger self or to todays youth? Share with us! Reach out to your network and make a positive impact on those around you.

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