1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,440 Welcome to Technically Short. I'm Shawn and I'm Thomas and today's episode is going to 2 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:15,280 be sort of like a review of other episodes. So it's really good. So stay tuned and we're 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:16,760 about to start right now. 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:22,360 Alright. Yeah. So like Shawn said, this is a recap where we're still in the perfectly 5 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:28,240 imperfect series on excellence and we decided it would be a good idea to look back at the 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:34,880 past episodes that we've had with Brandon, Mike, Josh, Michaela so far and just kind 7 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:39,760 of pick out. We picked out like some of the best lessons that we built that like stuck 8 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:44,560 with us personally and separately and we dive and we'll dive in a little deeper into each 9 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:49,480 one of those things. So Shawn, why don't you bring up your what's your first lesson that 10 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:50,960 you got up? 11 00:00:50,960 --> 00:01:00,920 Okay. So I'm going to take my first lesson which is Michaela's and it was don't strive 12 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:08,200 but seek. Right? So like we should be seeking for what God has for us, not striving to be 13 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:15,600 a certain person and that's what brings excellence. So like if we seek what God has for us or 14 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:22,440 for a person who doesn't believe in God, a person if you seek what is the best for you, 15 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,200 then you will be able to be excellent. 16 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,120 Well, I have the same thing written down that you just write that always because that's 17 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:33,040 what we bring up in like every episode. We always talk about striving versus seeking 18 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:39,720 aspect of excellence now that Michaela brought it up and I never in here the negative, it's 19 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,440 a negative connotations that some people could start to believe if they are always striving. 20 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:49,960 They want to get to that next big thing so badly that everything else falls to the wayside, 21 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:56,600 your friends, family, other responsibilities, etc. And then they burn out. Like it's the 22 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:06,920 striving that it's a constant. It's like if you're striving for like if you think financial, 23 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:13,160 if all you're striving for is to have more money, then you'll never be satisfied. And 24 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:19,520 all you want is that next promotion that we talked about that with Mike. You just want 25 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:26,560 that next promotion. You want that next step up. You want that title change. But that never 26 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:35,840 ends. There's no satisfaction to that. And so like really striving versus seeking is 27 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:42,760 more like it's seeking, like Shawn said, it's seeking who you're being called to be, but 28 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:48,480 not just seeking who you're called to be, but also kind of like bleeding into what Josh 29 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:54,480 I think Josh was talking about a little bit is like it says it says seeking for that end 30 00:02:54,480 --> 00:03:01,240 goal. Focus on what you're doing in the current moment and focus on the journey versus the 31 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,360 destination, right? Like you're striving, you know, striving. If you're striving in 32 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,440 the wrong way, then you're going to burn out. You're going to your life's going to go down 33 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:17,000 instead of up. But if you're in your striving, you are actually seeking, then what you're 34 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:22,360 seeking for like Michaela brought up is like you're seeking God out. You're seeking who 35 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:28,840 he is and how you can be more like him and be a more successful person, be a more successful 36 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:34,080 person, be a more successful person of faith. And what that means is for those who aren't 37 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:39,800 of faith, that means like you're doing what essentially doing what you believe God is 38 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:47,040 telling you to do without and I get that that might seem kind of weird to people that don't 39 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:53,400 believe in God and that's okay. And I think for people that maybe don't believe in God, 40 00:03:53,400 --> 00:04:01,360 that seeking part would be more like I'm seeking, I'm seeking improvement. I'm seeking to grow. 41 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:06,800 I'm not just seeking for the end result. I'm not just straight here or striving for that 42 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:12,600 end result. I'm seeking. I'm seeking out what how how I can be better and how I can 43 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:18,160 better be a better servant to other people. Yeah, that's good too. Oh, my second point 44 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:23,720 was, I love when Josh said this, he said, don't fall in love with the fruit fall in 45 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:28,960 love with the root. So I bring this back to what you were saying, Thomas, that was like 46 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:36,160 nail on a on its head. Oh, we can't fall in love with the product. We got to fall in love 47 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:41,640 with the product maker. We got to fall in love. Yeah, that's good. We I just honestly 48 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:47,760 think that like, oftentimes, we always are worried about the end goal. But if we've like 49 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:54,160 you said, fall in love with the destination, but even more than that, it's like your focus 50 00:04:54,160 --> 00:05:00,720 is on the root for us Christians, the root is God, which is Jesus, which is the Holy 51 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:05,960 Spirit, which is the Father. And when you fall in love with that, you become the person 52 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:11,480 you were always meant to become, because you're not worried about, okay, the person I'm supposed 53 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:19,360 to become without having a foundation. Yeah, I was reading Dave Ramsey yesterday, really 54 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:28,280 good stuff. And it's like, when life tests you, and it will, it'll test all of us, believers, 55 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:34,440 non believers, all that, but the foundation that you build on determines everything. And 56 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,360 this is why it's so important to fall in love with the root over the product. Because if 57 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,720 you just have the product, and you don't have a strong enough root, when the storms of life 58 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:48,560 happen, and they will, you just fall. It's like the three little pigs, the one little 59 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:53,600 arm pig, he built his house on hay, the other little pig built his house on sticks. The 60 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:59,240 third one was had a strong foundation, he builds his house on bricks. So when the storms 61 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:04,360 of life happen, the other two pigs had to move in with the little the biggest brother, 62 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:09,640 the wise one, because he had a good foundation. So fall in love with the root. 63 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:15,960 No, that's really good, Shawn. Like, I again, have the same thing written down for John. 64 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:23,000 But like, one thing that I want to say, like, having the having the good foundation, and 65 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:28,760 like we like we say, we say as Christians that our foundation is in Jesus Christ. And 66 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:34,440 it's what we believe like what we call the rock, we call the rock, like whether I rather 67 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:39,720 have their foundation built on a rock, then built on sand. And sand is like, it's always 68 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,880 shifting. It's like you can never really get a good a good foot, get a good fit and footing. 69 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,080 If you've been to the beach, you know what I'm talking about. But what if you're on 70 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,880 a rock, if you're on you're standing on a rock, it's a lot easier to get a grip. It's 71 00:06:51,880 --> 00:07:00,520 a lot easier to like hold your ground and diving a little bit deeper into what we're 72 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,680 talking about the process. Like when you're focusing on it, when you're focusing on the 73 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,760 journey, like you want to focus on the journey, because that's where the growth actually happens. 74 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:18,120 Like the destination is just it is just the end result of your of the growth that you've 75 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:22,120 experienced. Like you're going to grow either way, whether you're like but you're going to 76 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,280 grow a lot more effectively if you're actually focusing on the growth itself. And it's depending 77 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,840 on what you're going to actually going to grow in. And like I think Shawn already kind of 78 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:35,560 mentioned this, but as you grow as you grow as a person, you're risk getting deeper into who you 79 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:42,040 are and who Jesus is calling you to be. Because going back to Michaela, if you're seeking out who 80 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:51,320 you're being called to be versus like just some rudimentary thing that rudimentary goal of like 81 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:58,280 having more money or like you can't say something like or like I want to say like lose weight, but 82 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:06,040 you can definitely lose enough. There's an end to that. But like I think you guys get what I'm 83 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:12,760 saying. Like you want to focus on you want to focus whenever you have that foundation, 84 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,320 especially while you're on that journey. When that journey isn't even it's not going to be easy 85 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:23,160 because if you're growing, that means you're getting into uncomfortable situations. 86 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:29,960 And it's not going to be easy, which means you have to have a solid foundation under your foot 87 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:37,320 in order to not just in order to like so you don't fall down, it's easier to get back up. 88 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:43,800 But also because you will fall down like it happens that's life. Yeah, but like absolutely 89 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:49,400 you'll fail and then the failure though is it just a learning process. There's a book I want to get 90 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:55,080 by John Maxwell because it's called sometimes you win and sometimes you learn. And I'm like, 91 00:08:55,080 --> 00:09:01,400 I want to get that book. I want to get all of his books. But yeah, I think going forward, 92 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:07,640 if you're like wanting to grow in a certain aspect of your life, look at what your foundation is in. 93 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:14,040 And then if your foundation is your friend, maybe your foundation is your friends, 94 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:19,000 maybe they're constantly shifting. Maybe your foundation maybe like and you might not know 95 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:25,000 what your foundation is and that's okay. But maybe you're like think about like what is the core of 96 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:32,200 my life right now? What do I set things on top of? Like where do I how do I learn? Where am I 97 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:37,480 learning these new things? Like it could your foundation could easily be to some somebody on 98 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:46,200 social media, some influencer. And that's terrible. I'm going to be honest right now. 99 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:53,000 Uh, like there are great people and great people at church at our church, great people 100 00:09:53,800 --> 00:10:00,280 at great people around the globe that are like they're focusing on teaching growth. Yeah. So 101 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:08,280 today I guys I don't love the root but be in love with but don't love the fruit be in love with root. 102 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:15,000 I messed it up. No worries. Um, you care if I start this one off? Yeah, no, you can start that. So, 103 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:21,400 um, so for Mike, for my guys, he had two things and it caught both Shawn and I off guard. 104 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,760 One thing is if the people this one didn't if you're leading people, 105 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:33,240 if you're we talked about leadership and like leaders excellence in that leadership. And if the 106 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,400 people you are leading are being successful there and you're doing something right and doing it 107 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:43,880 right. But he then he said this, he said if you're doing more than the people you're leading, you're 108 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:49,720 doing something wrong. And we were like, what are you talking about? So true. Yeah, I, um, 109 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:56,360 I have right here, like I take this to mean that you as a leader set your followers up for success. 110 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:02,600 You give them the tools, the vision and direction. However, you don't do things for them. You let 111 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:09,080 them fail, learn, fail and learn. And you, you be their guide and their servant, but not their 112 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:14,360 detriment. Well, that's good. You not, or I should say you can, you be their guide and their servant, 113 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:20,600 but not to their detriment. So like, you don't like, I, you know, like a leader knows, 114 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:26,200 knows more than before. Yeah. That leader should know a good leader knows more than before the 115 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:32,360 people that he's leading. And then when he, he, and then he or she can hand that off, can be like, 116 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:38,760 this is the plan. This is, this is the vision. This is what we're working towards. And the leader, 117 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:44,200 though, doesn't necessarily execute every little tiny thing. Cause if they did, they wouldn't be 118 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,520 able to work on, they want to be able to work on people development. They want to be able to do, 119 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,240 they want to be able to take the time to do the, for growth that they need to take 120 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:59,000 so that they can pass that growth on to their followers that who are actually, who are taking 121 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:06,200 that time, who are taking their time to pursue the vision. So like there's work to, there's work to 122 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:11,720 be done. So like there's work to be done and the leader can't do it all. That is so good. And like, 123 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,360 I had to think about it for a little bit after, especially even after the recording was done. I 124 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:23,080 was like, what the heck did that mean? Yeah. Oh yeah. So like when I, when I take this means, 125 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:28,760 I actually had thought at the same point, which is so crazy in my head, cause my whole life, 126 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:33,960 I was taught like a leader works harder than everybody else. A leader does this and the leader 127 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:39,240 does that. And Mike brought such a good point of like the leader shouldn't be working harder than 128 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:45,560 everybody else. Why? Because if you're leading well, the people are already bought in. And if 129 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:52,280 people are bought in, they're going to work just as hard as you so they can achieve whatever goal 130 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:59,720 that is set, right? Achieve whatever standard of excellence is put out there if they're brought in. 131 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:04,760 But see, that's the thing. A lot of times when people are leading, they're leading to people 132 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:11,080 who don't actually want to follow. So if a person who's followed, not want to follow, then you have 133 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:16,600 to put in extra effort and then you have to try to get this person, persuade this person to get 134 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:23,640 their mindset on the goal to be achieved. But when people are bought in, they naturally want 135 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:29,320 to achieve the same goal. And if they're naturally wanting to achieve the same goal, 136 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:34,280 then the hard work should be shared among everybody, the leaders and everybody. So it makes 137 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:39,480 a lot of sense when I thought about it that way. First is the first way when I was taught as a kid 138 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:45,240 is like, okay, all leaders work harder than everybody else. And everybody else just follows 139 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:50,760 the leader. And then it's like, but now my mindset is completely different. And it was shout outs to 140 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,880 Mike, shout outs to Thomas because it's like, yeah, that question itself was so deep than the 141 00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:01,960 understanding. It's just, wow. And like, don't take this to mean that like the leaders don't work 142 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:08,920 hard. Yeah. Because they do and like leaders need to work hard. And it's because of their hard work 143 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:17,720 that the followers know what to work hard on. Right. And because they might not be working on 144 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:23,480 the same things that their followers are working on, but it's all working towards the same vision. 145 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,960 Like in the beginning, before a leader is a leader and they don't have any followers, 146 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:34,840 they're putting in all of this time and putting all this time and all of this effort into all this 147 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:40,520 time and all of this effort into like into building this vision out. And like they have 148 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:47,160 the vision and they're like, I'm working towards growth. I'm growing myself. And then like, 149 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:54,440 I'm growing myself. I'm growing myself that I'm maintaining and I'm maintaining, but also 150 00:14:55,320 --> 00:15:01,400 watching as my vision changes as I grow. And when it gets to the point where some people come 151 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:07,000 alongside of you, because they're not below, they're beside. Yeah. And people come alongside 152 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:12,280 of you that you're leading, then you can be like, okay, this is like, this is what I've learned. 153 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:17,960 This is all the work that was the front end work I put in that nobody else has seen. 154 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:23,880 And that this is what the vision now is. And if the, and like, like Shawn was saying, if those people 155 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:31,800 are coming alongside to follow you or they weren't just hired. Sometimes if they are hired, 156 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:36,920 obviously, like there's business leaders, things like that, and people will buy into their vision, 157 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:46,840 want to work for the company. And then they work in whatever area that their gifts are most pertinent 158 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:52,360 for, for that vision to be successful. And it's like within the church, we say we are one body, 159 00:15:52,360 --> 00:16:00,440 we are all different parts. So good. And so like if the leader is the head and the leader is like, 160 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:05,160 okay, it has the brain. So we're going this way. This is what we're going to do. This is how we're 161 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:13,640 going to do it. Like then the, like the people that want to do like, let's take the business 162 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:20,120 real quick. Like marketing. Yeah. Some people are going to do the marketing. Some people are going 163 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:28,040 to do outreach. Some people are going to be speaking. Some people are going to be, some people 164 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:33,160 are going to be some of your salesmen. Like there's going to be, there's so many different 165 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:39,560 aspects to any of the, any vision that a leader not only, like a leader can't do it by themselves 166 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:48,360 in order to enact a big vision. So like that's what I like in my in-depth, in-depth kind of 167 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:55,080 breakdown of what that one sentence means of like, if you're doing more than the people you're 168 00:16:55,080 --> 00:17:00,600 leading, you're doing it wrong. It means like, it kind of goes all the way back down to, or 169 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:09,160 or over to like what Michaela was saying and Josh and Brandon too. Like you can get to the, 170 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:13,960 if you're trying to do everything, you're going to burn out and you're going to fail. Yeah. 171 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:18,280 See any other people alongside you that are going to work just as hard, if not harder than you. 172 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:27,000 Yep. Agreed. 100% agreed. My next point would be, I'm taking this quote from my mentor, 173 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:34,040 Pastor Brandon. He said, we are a by-product of our friends, our community. So it's like, wow. 174 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:41,320 I'm thinking about that. You really keep your eyes open. In his episode, he was talking about like 175 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:47,720 how he had to eliminate certain friend groups or move away from that area just because of the 176 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:53,720 by-product, because people have to see and be bought in. So your friend group is very important. 177 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:59,400 Your circle is very important. You can't let everybody speak into you. You can still be friends 178 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:05,400 with that person. It's not saying that you can't, but what I'm saying is that your circle should be 179 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:14,280 wise counselors, advisors, mentors, people who can give you experience and knowledge that you 180 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:21,240 didn't have to help you in situations. People who could speak life into your situation. People who 181 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:28,280 can help you in areas where you're at. That's what you really want as your circle. You can have 182 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:34,360 other friend groups as well, but as your circle, it should be like you should have your as your 183 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:39,400 main circle, I would say, is people who are advising you. And then you can have a circle 184 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:45,000 underneath that where you're helping other people. And then you can have a circle like, you know, 185 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:52,760 like in the way I see it is like you have your mentors, you have your peers, and then you should 186 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:59,320 have people you're discipling. So I think that was wise when he told me, told us about that in his 187 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:05,880 episode. So yeah, I think like, trying to get off of that, like, they're like, you like you, if you're 188 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:10,120 inner circle, like we're talking about, we start to inner and outer circle, but if your inner circle 189 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:15,560 are people that aren't lifting you up and aren't growing you, then you need a new circle. Yeah. 190 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:20,600 And that's kind of what Brandon was alluding to, like you like moving away from different friends, 191 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:26,920 moving away from different friends, friend groups, and different and certain people in order to 192 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:32,040 be able to surround yourself with others, because you can only spend so much time with people. 193 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:37,400 Right. And so now it's like, like, who are the people that are pouring into your life? 194 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,760 Who are the people that you can pour into, like, who are the people that you can pour into them, 195 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:47,320 they can pour into you, and so you can grow each other. And then your outer circle is like the 196 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:52,280 people that you kind of, that you can still talk to, and they're still really good people, 197 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:57,080 and they can still grow you, but they're not the people that you maybe tell all the most pertinent 198 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,760 details of your life to, but they're still really good people that you want to surround yourself 199 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:07,080 with. And I do like the point though, that you've made it a few times throughout the episodes of the 200 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:16,120 three, the three layers of influence, and where it's not just, it's not just top down. Yeah, it's 201 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:21,960 it's not like, like you don't just look below you and be like, I can mentor these people down here 202 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:28,920 and bring them up, but you also look up and be like, who can mentor me? Yeah. Because you're not, 203 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,600 like nobody's perfect in everything. So there's always going to be something you can be mentored 204 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,480 in. So I think that was a really good point to bring up. My thing I got from Brandon, this was 205 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:43,400 the first different one we had, is if you see the gold in someone, you speak the gold. Oh, and it 206 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:48,120 kind of goes along the same lines because it goes down to your discipling point. And if you see the 207 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:54,520 gold in someone, speak the gold. Like he, like I mentioned, like he said, like Josh mentioned this 208 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:59,640 in his episode about Brandon, like he saw something in him, and I've had this experience as well, 209 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:05,720 and I'll talk about that in a second. Like the, Josh was like, he said he was just somebody who 210 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:12,760 was quiet, he was shy, but Brandon saw something in him that where he was like, he's got, he's got 211 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,640 like, he saw something in him and he didn't even know what it was yet. He was like, there's something 212 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:22,440 to this guy. And then he started discipling him and started speaking it out. And that's what I think 213 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:28,600 a lot of us should be able to do a lot more of is exalting each other and pointing out to pointing 214 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:35,160 out the, like we see something good and we tell you and we tell you about it. And we're like, oh, 215 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:40,680 and like for me, it's like, it's like, you, like, you notice something, you notice that thing. 216 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,600 That's just something I do all the time. It's nothing special to me. And, but someone else 217 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:50,120 notices it and they're like, wow, that's really cool that like, like Shawn, like it's really cool 218 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:55,560 that you're like, like you're so good at like talking to people about the Lord. Like you're so 219 00:21:55,560 --> 00:22:01,880 good at like, you're so good at like looking, having those conversations with people that maybe 220 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:06,600 otherwise wouldn't have had that, but maybe by and large I had that opportunity that day. 221 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:13,160 And like, that's something that you're really good at. And like, and obviously I believe you know 222 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:18,520 that you're good at that and you lean into that. I don't think, and I, so like that's something that 223 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:23,480 you guys with your friends can start doing. And I feel like you don't just wait for somebody to do 224 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:28,280 it to you. You also, you just go forward and do it to others. And when people notice that like that 225 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:33,480 kind of stuff is contagious. So you just, you keep speaking, you see the gold, you speak the gold. 226 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:40,120 But the other one was whenever he actually Brandon defined the excellence, cause they all had their 227 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:44,680 different ways to define excellence. But Brandon's first started off with what's saying, what's 228 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:51,720 saying like, what excellent isn't, excellence isn't, is in words. He said, it's not perfection. 229 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:59,080 It's like, it's don't live a life, a performance based life or in like, pursuing everything. And 230 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:05,080 what it is, is pursuing everything Jesus has called you to pursue. And this is stuff that kind of has 231 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:10,600 been said already, but like it's not perfection. So good. It's like, that's how you burn out. 232 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:17,240 It's how you, like whenever you're striving for like that, trying for that one goal of having so 233 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:22,040 much money that you let all those things fall to the wayside and you're trying to be perfect. 234 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:28,440 And you're saying it'd be so good that I mean, if I can make $10,000, if I can make $10,000, 235 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:35,400 like then like, like that would be great. So how do I get, how do I make those $10,000? What do I 236 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:41,480 have to do to just like, and that becomes the main focus and then everything else falls off. 237 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:46,760 And that, and I mean every, everything, like the good and the bad or actually the good will fall 238 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:53,240 off. The bad might end up getting amplified. That actually I want to go back, sorry, I know 239 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:57,320 I'm talking about this is really good. I'm enjoying it, but I want to go back to, like I said, 240 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:02,360 I was going to talk about how somebody saw the golden me. Yeah. And I forgot and then I remembered 241 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:11,320 again, but this happened, this happened a few years ago, whenever Pastor Kels, he's now in 242 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:17,400 down in Georgia, right? Yeah. In Athens, I believe. Yeah. And like he, whenever I started leading 243 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:26,360 production team is because he came up to me after like, I was serving with him to get his message 244 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:32,680 out during COVID and I was helping set up his tech equipment. And it was like the second time we were 245 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:38,120 back in person for a service on a Wednesday or Tuesday, whatever day we were having when we came 246 00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:43,080 back. And he just comes up to me right afterwards, Hey Thomas, can you build me a production team? 247 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:49,080 I'm like, okay. So I was like, I never did this before, but I'll try. I went and grabbed two 248 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:54,600 friends and like, here you go. Here's our team. It was like five minutes. He was like, oh, that was 249 00:24:54,600 --> 00:25:03,160 fast. I was like, yeah, I can build a team with both teams. And like, but it was that moment that 250 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:10,360 like, like I was years ago and now like 20, whatever time of what year was that? 2021, whenever 251 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:15,560 we were allowed to come back and be human again. Yeah, it was weird because the first coming back, 252 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:22,920 we had to still have a mask on, remember? Yeah. It was annoying. Yeah. But the, I'm still doing 253 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:27,640 production today. I'm still leading a team in Aspire Collective. And I was like, for a time, 254 00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:33,880 I was even, I was part time at the church called the production team for our East Campus. And 255 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:40,520 like, and like guys, like whenever you speak something, he didn't even have to speak it. He 256 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:45,160 just, he just like, he just put me in a position because he saw something. He said, he just like 257 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:50,840 gave me a role because he saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. I always knew I kind of 258 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:56,760 like thrived in leadership positions, but like, yeah, I always liked them growing up. And we talked 259 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:03,800 about that in past episodes, but like, but I never, I never like volunteer wise, I'd never put myself 260 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:10,840 in that position. And it took, and then, and then like, so Kelv was like the first person to do that. 261 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:15,240 And he was like, and it was like, hey, are you going to do this? And then like Pastor Ed started 262 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,920 doing that as well. It's like, he was like, he was the first person that talked to me about 263 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:24,760 possibly joining the production team that didn't get paid for that. And like, and then I got to go 264 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:30,200 to Philly, there was a production there. And I, like, it just opened up, it opened up so many 265 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,040 experiences to me that I wouldn't have had otherwise. And that's like, that's why you need 266 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:39,720 to speak to go out and people. Because if you, like, cause like, like, if you don't, nothing's 267 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:44,040 going to happen. And like, so nothing bad will happen, but nothing good will happen either. But 268 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:50,200 so like, whenever you do, like only good can come out of that and only good for that person. 269 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,760 And it will be, it's not, and it's not just for that person. It's also for you. Because whenever you, 270 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:59,240 you can see, like you, like you see that out in somebody, when you speak to somebody, 271 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:04,840 tell them, you exalt them in the things that you see, that that goal that they see, that you see 272 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:10,920 in them, like that changes, that shifts your heart even more every time you do it. Absolutely. 273 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:16,440 It causes your heart, it makes it easier the next time. Oh, so, so good. So you can keep doing it, 274 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,840 keep doing it, keep doing it, keep doing it, keep pouring into people and also making sure you're 275 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:26,840 important into it as well, obviously. But like, guys, that's like, like for me, that's like one 276 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:31,640 of the pinnacle points of our series so far. Yeah, absolutely. It's like excellence and like, 277 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:37,880 we like excellence isn't just striving for the things. Excellence isn't just striving, 278 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:44,600 or striving or even seeking the things out for ourselves. It's not about us. It's about the 279 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:49,480 people that are like our visions and our goals will affect and for the, for the better. So, 280 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:55,960 whenever, for excellence, isn't just being like trying to reach a goal and doing that excellently. 281 00:27:55,960 --> 00:28:02,200 It's, like we said before, it's exceeding expectations. Most people do not expect to be, 282 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:08,920 be exalted for something that they've done that they may, might think is normal to them. Like, 283 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:13,880 that, that is an excellent thing to do. Yeah, if I could speak on that for a second. Yeah, 284 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,840 I've been talking a lot. No, I think that, I think that's good. I was just going to say, Thomas, 285 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:23,320 you do that so well. That's actually what I was about to speak on. It's like, God has given you 286 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:29,560 the power to not like just be a leader and just like certain people, when they just become a 287 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:35,240 leader, they're like, oh, okay, great. I'm in charge. I'm better than everybody else. But like, 288 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:40,040 Thomas, your heart's never been that way. Like when God puts you in leadership positions, 289 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:46,200 your goal is always like, okay, how can I help serve this other person? How could I do that? 290 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:51,320 And I think it comes down to what God calls us all to be leaders, right? But a lot of people don't 291 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:57,480 realize that they're the called to be leaders, so they don't know how to. But I love how the fact 292 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:04,280 that you are able to just like speak into people and then you're raising up people and you're 293 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:11,560 serving people because it comes down to what God calls all humanity to do, which is to love God 294 00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:19,400 with all your heart, mind, soul, spirit, everything, and then love people. When you truly love people, 295 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:25,960 you're able to say, okay, I see the greatness in you. How can I, how can I help you get to 296 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,880 your greatness? You know what I mean? When you don't love people and it's all about you and it's 297 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:34,760 about pride, then you're just worried about, okay, me, me, me, me, me, how can I be better than 298 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:40,360 everybody else? But when you truly are a great leader, which all the people who have been on 299 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:51,160 our episodes are, that is Mike, Michaela, Josh, Brandon, Thomas, me, David, Nathan, so many great 300 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:57,320 leaders of who have been on our show, but all of them are. And that's because they realize it's not 301 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:04,760 about them. Yeah. So that's good. And, uh, you know, I think that's a good way to wrap it up. 302 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:11,240 That was like, I feel like this, this was, I think this was a great recap, but we also got a dive in 303 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:16,200 a little, got down a little bit. And so guys, like, I really hope you enjoyed this episode. This was 304 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:24,280 kind of something we decided like last night to do. And it's the next morning and we, uh, we prep in 305 00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:29,000 different ways. Like he is all in his head and I have my stuff written out and like that works and 306 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:35,560 that works for us. And like, um, honestly it works, it works better than I initially would think it 307 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:41,480 would work. Uh, so guys, I hope, I hope you guys honestly really enjoyed this episode. If you liked 308 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:47,560 it, like it, if you would give us five star review when I ever platform you're on Apple podcast, 309 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:53,320 give us a review on there. We don't have any yet. And I know you're there and I know you're listening. 310 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:59,720 So give us some reviews and get, uh, and like, let us know what you think. If you're on, if you're on 311 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:06,520 Instagram, share out, uh, one of the podcast or any podcast episode that you liked and tag us in 312 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:13,560 your stories so that we know, so we like, so we can know, know who, who our fans are and reach out 313 00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:19,960 and reach out and, uh, thank, and thank you. Um, but yeah, guys, thank you for listening to this 314 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:34,040 episode. We'll see you next time. Love you guys.