Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of
Vision Pros. I'm your host and coach, Fletcher
Ellingson. And today on our show, we have Kason
Morris. And before I introduce him, I want to
tell you a little bit about him. Something on
his website caught my eye. I've seen multiple
things. And I'm going to just read right off
the website because I love it. First off, Kason
is a strategist, speaker, systems thinker, and
he's a proud father of four. But he says... I'm
not here to talk about your job title. And this
is what I love. Because enough of the job titles,
right? Enough throwing around all that perceived
significance that's behind a job title. What
he's here to do is help you build a life and
a career that actually works. And he says his
systems were built in the Bronx and tested. in
boardrooms and i gotta say one more thing and
then i'm gonna introduce him for real but on
his website on the about page he says why i built
life work design he says after corporate burnout
and divorce i realized something nobody tells
you success on paper means nothing if your life
doesn't work for you case on morris welcome to
vision pros thanks for having me Yeah, man. So
much good stuff just right there to dive into.
But before we get to it, I'd like to start off
with a win. So, Kason, what's a win for you professionally
or personally that you can share with our listeners?
Yeah, I would say a personal win for me right
now actually is happening this week. I was able
to take a week away from my founder work, from
my executive work, and spent a couple of days
on the beach with my daughters and my wife and
my mom. Because it's one of those things where
sometimes you're always on go and you have to
recognize that you also have to take pauses to
renew and reset and re -energize so you can continue
to push forward. So those things matter to me.
So that's definitely a win in my book. And I'm
happy to come back with clarity and have this
conversation with you today. Yeah, right on.
So you took some time for some self -care and
some connection with family, it sounds like.
100%. Right on. um so i i've told the audience
a little bit about you but i want to hear from
you yeah uh case on morris what is your vision
yeah i think you you did a great job of introducing
uh the idea of my vision so again for those that
are getting to know me case on morris and ultimately
my vision is really to help professionals stop
surviving and to start designing i'm a big believer
that our careers and our work shouldn't be a
trap. It should actually be a tool. And we're
entering this new future that's really, it's
all about our clarity. It's all about optionality.
It's all about having a narrative that will matter
way more than any job title that you'll ever
have. Because when you think about the data that's
there today, more than 50 % of our skills are
going to be outdated within the next couple of
years. That's coming from Forbes. From World
Economic Forum, you know, they're saying that
up to 40 % of jobs will require reskilling within
the next five years. And as we all know, AI and
emerging technology is changing the game. So
with all that in mind, you know, my vision is
how do I help professionals actually step forward
and go into thrive mode when all we're trying
to do is figure out what's next. So much good
stuff there. Yeah, there is the juxtaposition
of going for the title, going for that role,
going for that next promotion, which is nothing
wrong with that, right? And it's not good, bad,
right or wrong. That's one way to live life,
not a bad way to live life. But what you're saying
is there's another way. And it can probably live
within even that model. that we're used to but
what you're talking about is and and the word
you used the word i'm going to call attention
to is designing your life yep because what that
says to me is that smacks of it smacks of um
intention and and a sense of deliberateness is
that accurate 100 i mean if you if you even think
about it what i what i call the concept is life
work design and even that term has intentionality
because when you think about it right what do
we typically when we talk about trying to figure
out work what do people say they say work life
balance like let's just take that and break it
down right first of all you know you're leading
with the idea of work and most people define
themselves by by what they do and that's why
i intentionally flipped it around i was like
work shouldn't define what you do and who you
are you should really be thinking about what
is your life what is your intention and how does
work become a tool in that and in other words
when i think about balance uh when you think
about balance right in a way work in life balance
is kind of a false dichotomy because these things
will never be equal and what i talk about in
in in my coaching um in my books and thought
leadership is that we're trying to find more
so synergy and alignment it's knowing the season
that you're you're in so i was very very intentional
about flipping that around is that it's not about
work -life balance it's about life work alignment
or life work synergy because that's what we're
trying to do we're trying to figure out what
wave are we in now how do we set ourselves up
how is our design for our life actually driving
what what we want to do next and how is work
a tool in that and and i think it's a very powerful
Because at the end of the day, we're trying to
design a life that you don't want to escape from.
Like even even though I went on a vacation and
within the last couple of days, it wasn't necessarily
an escape. It was more of a reset and me aligning
my life to know that I needed time with my family
so that I can energize and get back to my work.
Yeah, well articulated. And again, I'm just going
to bring a spotlight to a few things I heard
and expand a little bit because I really want
our listeners to get this. You said, pay attention
to the season of life you're in. And, oh, man.
I mean, come on, just take a beat, people. Just
take a beat and really answer this question.
Like, what season of life am I in? I mean, get
curious. What season of life are you in? And
answer that for yourself. If you can't answer
it, like, really get curious. Because there are
distinct seasons, right? It's a great call out.
Yeah. And then I also like what you said about,
again, that that intention, because a lot of
us, you know, and I've been and I've certainly
been in what I'm about to say. We fall into that
thing like, oh, man, I got to get a job. I got
to find a job. Right. Again, nothing wrong with
that. But so different than I got to design a
life that works for me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. this
is big stuff and to a lot of people maybe you're
not hearing the distinction so i increase i encourage
you to lean in like what what case on is talking
about is designing a life work uh a life that
works for you that includes um an intentional
some sort of intentional career here is really
good my next question for you is why is all this
important to you Why is it important to me? You
know, when I when I think about it, you know,
I feel like in this stage of my career, you know,
I think about my own journey and even some of
what you talked about in in my about section.
I think about it and I call it the relentless
climb. So for me, you know, I went the traditional
route. I chased the titles. I worried about the
promotions. I was thinking about how do I get
more access to opportunity? How do I make more
money? And frankly, all of that led to my burnout
and it led to my relationships falling through.
And what I realized was that that logic wasn't
serving me anymore. And once I had that reset
and that reframe and I started putting on the
hat of a designer. It changed everything for
me. And it allowed me to navigate through 10
different pivots and promotions across six or
seven different industries. So no longer about
title, but it was really more about how am I
creating leverage based on what I want to do?
and then how am i taking that leverage and creating
liquidity for myself using my skills as currency
in different ways whether it's speaking whether
it's workshops whether it's my nine to five work
whether it's something that is a business that
is is driven by my purpose and then how do i
use those things to to create options and and
through that whole sequence which is part of
what i teach and i talk about you know it's allowed
me to navigate corporate for the last 20 years,
but not from the position of being a passenger,
but from the position of being a true driver
of what's next for me. And when I think about
it in that way, I always feel like I have a sense
of ownership and a sense of freedom in that.
And I wasn't stuck in jobs and opportunities
that looked good on paper, but didn't feel right
for me. And that's why I do it, because I've
been doing it for some years now. And I didn't
quite realize what I didn't really realize what
I was doing until COVID happened. And when COVID
happened, you know, the entire world stood on
its head. It was a macro economic shift, not
even just in economics, but basically people.
had their their fancy titles and their degrees
and they thought they were you know basically
protected and covid shift shifted all those things
and what i realized at that time um was as these
shifts happened you know people people lost jobs
people's situations they completely changed and
yet i was good i actually around that time doubled
my salary and people were looking at me like
hey what are you doing That's different. And
I had to step back and think about that. And
that allowed me to start to distill the different
frameworks, tools, mindset shifts that turned
my career into a launchpad for my own life work
freedom. And so there's no no fluff, just the
proof. And I started helping others ever since.
Yeah, so good. And one of the things that I was
just getting present to while you were talking.
was your energy man it's so it's i love how calm
you are uh you're very present i really appreciate
that about you and i also really appreciate it
again want to call out what you um were alluding
to is you were there was a question behind your
statement was like who's in the driver's seat
of your life yeah yeah right who's driving this
thing right who Are you being caused in the matter
of your life or have you surrendered that to
the machine and you're just kind of looking for
a way to get on the machine? I love this idea
of like, who's driving this thing? And again,
I want to ask our listeners, are you in the driver's
seat? Are you calling the shots of your life
or are you caught up in excuses and the blame
game? And now I want to play devil's advocate
with you. OK, because there are no doubt some
people that are going to hear what you're saying
and they're going to love what you're saying.
But they're also going to say, you know, case
on. Let's get real, dude. How am I supposed to
do what you're saying when I got to pay the bills,
when I got to go to work, when I got to feed
the dog and take care of the kids and, you know,
make dinner? Come on. Come on. How am I supposed
to get off this merry -go -round? Is this only
for entrepreneurs? Talk to me about that. No,
I love it. I love that you brought that up because
one of the things that I think when people put
on this designer's mindset, one of the things
I evangelize is that you start from where you
are. So and I also emphasize the idea that, you
know, your skills are your currency and people
are sitting on a literal war chest of skills,
talents, things that are very unique to them
that they can use in different ways, whether
it's in their nine to five or in some entrepreneurial
fashion. Not everyone's meant or built to be
the traditional entrepreneur, and that's very
much OK. But what I want to emphasize is that
you have to start to think about your skills
and what you're able to do. how you're able to
serve others in a in a more diversified way you
are more than your job titles you are a story
and an embodiment of different experiences and
those experiences some of them are going to really
energize you and they can really help other people
and that's what this conversation is about it's
all about when you have that mindset shift and
you start to better understand what you're capable
of and what the demand is for for what you're
capable of you know now it becomes about what's
good enough for now so it's not about transfer
transforming everything overnight it's about
how you show up in the situation that you're
in there are shifts that you can make that makes
it good enough for now so that you're getting
up every day because now you have more of a purpose
you may be in that job that feels like it's it's
a rut or you feel like you're trapped in the
in the title but guess what maybe you have some
flexibility in the work that you do maybe you
can start to do projects in that work that are
a little bit more interesting and that give you
more energy projects that are highly valuable
that let you develop new skills that are rare
and valuable and guess what those skills become
they become leverage so it's all about helping
people start to look at their situation a little
bit differently and pick up their unique pieces
so they can start to put the puzzle together
and that's that's one of the first critical unlocks
in in what i teach and speak about is that everyone
can start from where they are. And it's just
about what is your journey to good enough? And
let's figure out what that is, because then that
becomes the springboard for whatever is going
to happen after. Right on. Again, I like I'm
a big fan of repetition. Right. So I'm going
to again, I'm going to call back some of these
things that you just said. So we hear this. Number
one, start where you are. Love this. We're not
trying to suggest that you start 10 paces ahead
of where you are. That would be ridiculous, right?
No, start where you are. And one of the things
that came to mind when you said that, start where
you are. And then you said, you're sitting on
a war chest of skills. And I love the imagery
of this because most of us, and I believe, and
I concur with you. Most of us are sitting on
a war chest of skills that we are not currently
using or that we have overlooked. And so get
curious about what are those skills that I've
got that I could begin to, as you say, leverage.
And this doesn't mean you have to go outside
of your current career to leverage these. In
fact, what I what I coach my clients to do is
look inside your current job, your current career,
your current position. are there things that
you could be doing or that you want to do that
you're not doing get into conversation about
that begin to build that perceived value right
because when you lead with value the opportunities
are going to follow um so really appreciate what
you're saying here yeah um uh let's see well
we're just about out of time here um If someone's
listening to this and it's resonating with them
and they want to either get in touch with you,
learn more about or get some of your books about
this, what's the best way to connect with you?
I would say the best way to connect with me is
my website, which is caseonmorris .com. I am
still building, still designing, still growing,
but you're going to find the latest and greatest
in relation to my thought leadership and services.
I also have a newsletter. and called the Life
Work Dispatch. And the last good place to reach
me is on LinkedIn. I try to keep active on LinkedIn.
I post regularly. I also share a bit of a weekly
live series that I've started up, again, just
to get these concepts and these ideas out there.
Educate and energize. And these are the best
ways to get in touch with me if you'd want to
collaborate and work together, because it's all
about clarity and confidence and helping you
unlock what you already have. Yeah. Well said.
Thanks. Thanks so much for being on the show
today. Definitely you are going to have your
back. We're going to dive into some of your concepts
more deeply. But again. Kason Morris, thank you
very much. Thanks for having me. All right. Thank
you for being here today. I'm really happy that
you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking
forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes
continue to move forward. This is going to get
more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement
as well. We'll invite people to participate in
the show. And thank you for giving us your time
and attention. Have an excellent time building
out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.