Hey everybody welcome to live with dr. Andre
Jerry Your prime time destination for bold conversations,
unfiltered truth, and real life inspiration.
I'm your host, Dr. Andre Jerry, and I'm broadcasting
live from my new home studio in beautiful San
Juan, Puerto Rico. And I want to thank you for
tuning in from wherever you are in the world.
Tonight's show is proudly sponsored by Amazon
Auto. Yes, you heard that right. Amazon has finally
entered the car game. Now you can browse, compare.
and buy your next ride online from trusted dealers
right from the comfort of your own home. Convenience
just got a major upgrade courtesy of Amazon Auto.
Now before we get into tonight, so let me ask
you something. Are you making good money but
secretly miserable at work? Do you ever feel
like you're just going through the motions? Are
you battling imposter syndrome and wondering
how you even got here? and if you even belong.
Have you put your dreams on hold because you
think it's too late to start over? And here's
the big one. Have you ever asked yourself, is
this really it? Like, is this what I was put
on earth to do? Is there more? If you answered
yes to any of those questions, then trust me,
you're in the right place tonight. We've got
a powerful, transparent, and possibly life -shifting
show lined up for you tonight. So grab your favorite
drink. settle in and let's get into it. All right,
so tonight's episode is deeply personal. We're
gonna be talking about the boldest decision I've
made to date, and that's walking away from federal
civil service after nearly a decade of service,
leadership, and dedication, and stepping into
a life that I made for myself right here in San
Juan, Puerto Rico. So if you've been following
me on social media, you already know I've...
recently made a major announcement that I officially
retired from federal civil service and relocated
to Puerto Rico. Of course, I shared this news
with my family and my close friends first, but
once I made it public, the response really was
overwhelmingly positive. I received a lot of
messages of support and congratulations, but
the one question that kept coming up over and
over was, but why? You know, it kind of had it
going on. What happened? Well, listen, there's
definitely a backstory to this, and we'll get
into all of that. But really, the truth, guys,
is that I've been planning this for quite some
time. Retiring early and moving abroad, it wasn't
a spontaneous decision. It was always the goal.
It was always the end game for me. So it was
never a matter of if. It was just about when
and where. But for me, this was the season to
finally make a bold change. So let's get into
it and talk about why Okay, so I Didn't exactly
plan to retire so early at age 45 Obviously,
I'm super excited, you know who wouldn't love
to retire at age 45, right? But my original plan
was to work until age 50 maybe 53 if I really
loved what I was doing But that's just the thing
right there. I did I didn't love what I was doing
and you know, I'm gonna unpack that a bit more
in just a moment, but you know given the current
climate that we're in and Everything that's been
going on in the public sector with the new administration
and doge and all of its initiatives targeting
federal employees It just it just wasn't a safe
space anymore you know the the federal work environment
had become unstable. It's really never been unstable.
That was one of the great things about being
a federal employee is that you had the job security,
but it become unstable and unpredictable. We
didn't know what was coming from week to week.
And, you know, in my experience, it had become
a toxic workspace, a toxic environment. And listen,
I can only speak for myself, but I don't do toxic
workplaces. I don't do toxic workplaces. I don't
do toxic environments. Anybody that knows me
knows I don't deal with that. You know, I put
too much time and effort into not just my professional
career, but also in my personal growth and development.
And, you know, just to continue to stay in an
environment that I feel compromises my mental
health and peace of mind. I just wasn't willing
to do that. Now if you've tuned into our last
episode it was called the future of federal civil
service You'll remember how I shared how federal
employees were being impacted by you know a sudden
string of Changes resulting from these executive
orders that were coming from the new administration
you know and I talked about where I felt we were
hitting in terms of our employment and You know
this all began with the hiring freeze back in
January. There was a hiring freeze on all federal
positions. And then the next thing was the return
to office mandate. Some of this we saw coming,
but, you know, a lot of it we didn't. After that,
there was the deferred resignation program, and
then the layoffs for the probationary employees
started. All of this within a few short weeks
now. And, you know, they're still telling what
else has happened since I retired in March. So
you can sort of imagine the toll that this was
all taking on the federal workforce. I can't
speak for other agencies, but at least within
the Department of Defense, we were already grappling
with a reduced workforce, you know, and other
challenges before all of this. And the reduced
workforce was due in large part to a significant
number of our workforce retiring after COVID
hit in 2020. So it kind of started there. We
had lost a wealth of knowledge and, you know,
our continuity of programs, a lot of our programs,
after some of our more senior workforce personnel
retired. And because of attrition, the number,
well, a significant number of these vacancies,
they weren't able to be filled. So at least within
the DOD, we had our shared challenges to contend
with anyway before the new administration even
came on. You know, so... When you take into account
our existing challenges and you couple it with
Doge coming for everyone's job, you can sort
of understand how for some it may have become
a toxic workplace. And I mentioned this in the
previous show, but in my case, I was in leadership.
So that sort of made staying with the federal
government even more untenable for me. There
were a few things that I was privy to. that I
couldn't share with the workforce. There were
a lot of questions that were coming from the
team that I wasn't in a position to answer directly.
And then there was the regular stress from the
jobs and having to deal with so many different
personalities and needs and interpersonal conflict
and just demands from our customers and our end
users. It was a lot. And if you know how I am,
I pride myself on being a top performer. So I'm
going to bring my A -game to any job that I do.
I'm going to make sure my team brings their A
-game. And if anyone on my team isn't bringing
it, they have to get up to par, or they have
to find another team. So I wasn't going to half
-ass anything, but when you keep pushing yourself
and your team like that, you risk burning yourself
out. And see, listen, I don't mind. you know,
working long hours and doing whatever I gotta
do to get the job done. But when you start to
feel like all of your hard work and long hours
and dedication and all the time you're sacrificing
away from your family and things like that, when
you start to feel like that's not appreciated,
it's not valued, you start to feel like, look,
why am I even here? And like I said in the last
episode, the last straw for me really was that
email. That what did you do last week email and
it's probably still coming every week It supposedly
came from OPM, you know, we It basically obligated
us to send five bullets outlining our accomplishments
for the previous week And listen, it really wasn't
about having to send the bullet It wasn't that
because most of us were already accustomed to
maintaining a monthly activity report or weekly
activity report that outlines our progress in
our activity for a certain period. For me at
least, it was the implication that most of us
federal employees are non -performers or underperformers.
And it was the completely unprofessional way
that they went about this entire thing. You know,
if their objective truly was to make an honest
assessment of the daily activity and contributions
of federal workers, then that's fine. But there
was a better way to go about it than sending
a random, poorly written email to the entire
workforce on the weekend, mind you, just arbitrarily
requesting five bullets. And then they had this
implication that a non -response would be considered
a resignation. And to add insult to injury, there
really weren't any consideration given to employees
who may have been on leave. or on TVY, FMLA,
you know, all sorts of things. Many people, not
every federal employee has ready access to email.
You know, so it was just a lot of things that
weren't even taken into consideration. There
was no signature on the email, no chain of command.
The subject line was very just tacky. What did
you do last week? That's like a text, you know?
It just, you know, it just looked like it was
sent from someone's cell phone. I still can't
get over that email. It just showed a total lack
of respect and a lack of regard for the entire
workforce. So, you know, like I said, I can't
speak for anyone else, but for me it was like,
you know, what am I doing? Why am I still even
here? I've never seen one email wreak so much
havoc across the federal workforce. People didn't
know where the nation was. They didn't know how
to respond. We didn't know if the email was completely
legit or could it possibly be a cyber attack.
And it took a couple of days for us to get some
guidance from the undersecretary of the Air Force
on how to approach it. It was just a complete
debacle. So while all of this is happening, I'm
thinking about all the hours that I actually
spend at work. and away from all the things I
enjoy, the people that I love, the things I really
love to do. I had to ask myself, is this really
where and how I want to spend the majority of
my time? And that's what sort of began the thought
process of making the decision to retire early,
as opposed to hanging in there another five years
or so. Another consideration is that I didn't
really love my job. I mean, don't get me wrong,
I had an awesome career path and trajectory.
I started out as a logistics intern and I worked
my way up to being the chief of logistics, not
once, but twice in my career. I got to travel
the world and represent my country as a U .S.
diplomat and help facilitate foreign military
sales with our cooperative partners abroad. And,
you know, all of that was exciting. It was really
exciting. But it never really ignited my passion.
And I noticed that very early on in my career.
But, you know, I just kind of hung in there.
Sometimes you just have to kick something and
stick with it. And I noticed that God gave me
favor in my logistics career, which I'm super
grateful for. But no matter how far I went up,
I still always felt like Sort of like an imposter.
Like, how did I get here? What am I doing here?
You know, this is not really what I want to do.
I'm doing it, and I'm doing it well. This is
not what I'm really doing. But when you've invested
so much time in something, you sort of feel like
it would be somewhat irresponsible to just throw
it all away. You know, I tried to pivot a few
times and pursue other roles. functions in the
defense sector, but it just seemed like all the
best opportunities just so happened to be in
the logistics career field. You know, so I just
sort of went with it and I embraced it. And for
those of you who aren't really clear on what
exactly logistics is, in basic terms, logistics,
we make sure that the military has everything
they need to operate. We're talking about their
supplies, their equipment, their training. If
any repairs need to be done. You know, we're
sort of the behind -the -scenes problem solvers.
We put out fires every day. We're not the program
managers. They're like the spokesperson for the
weapon system or the program. We don't fly the
jet, you know, but we make sure that there's
fuel, parts, tools, support, and even trained
personnel. Everything they need to stay mission
ready. And in my case, I worked on programs like
F15, C17. I coordinated with contractors, helped
to resolve all types of sustainment issues, and
just managing everything that was needed to keep
those systems running from purchase all the way
to the end of its life cycle. So on the bottom
line, if your logistics is messed up, you're
going to risk failing your mission. So my job
was to make sure that never happened. And in
a lot of ways it was a thankless position, but
if you take pride in your work and you enjoy
resolving challenging problems, then being a
logistician, it can be rewarding. And even though
I never really enjoyed my job, I do appreciate
that it provided me with a solid career and a
great livelihood. Wow, an awesome network of
people and a lot of wonderful experiences. But
at age 45, I still have a lot of life left in
me. And I believe I deserve to finally pursue
things that I enjoy and things that make me happy.
And speaking of things that make me happy, many
of you who follow the show know that among many
other things, I'm a three -time published author.
Back in February of this year, I was invited
to be the featured guest on The Author's First
Show, which is another popular radio show on
the network here. And we discussed my latest
book, Unlocking Your Best Life. Now, the reason
I mention this, of course, is the plug to the
new book. But I also want to convey here that
it was during this interview that it really hit
me that this is what I really love doing. I love
writing and publishing books. I love being on
the radio. I love live radio. It's nerve wracking,
but I love it. You know, I love content creating.
I love being a motivational speaker, using my
platform to educate folks and inform people and
inspire others to unlock their best lives. And
nothing that I do or have done in my day job
came remotely close to giving me the thrill that
I have when I'm operating in this capacity that
I'm operating in right now. I just love it. Something
else small but significant that happened during
that radio show, Scott Zalasco, aka V -Man, you
know, he interviewed me that day. He's also the
engineer for this show. He said something that
stuck with me. And, you know, when we were coming
back from break, I think it was, in his segue
to the second segment, he said something to the
effect of, you know, welcome back to the show
and your host, V -Man, and I really love my job.
And you know how, like in the movies, when someone
says something really poignant or significant,
the words they say after that sort of fade out
in the background? That's kind of how it was
for me when he said that. And I know it may not
be a big deal to anyone else, but for me, that
was confirmation of what I was feeling in that
moment. Because that's something I always wanted
to be able to say and feel. And Scott, I told
you this, but... That small, seemingly insignificant
comment that you made, it planted a seed. It
planted a seed that inspired me to finally step
out on faith and bet on myself and pursue my
passion. So that was really sort of the impetus
to me making the decision to finally leave federal
civil service and pursue what I love. Yes, all
the foolishness with Doge and the new administration,
all of that, the stressful work, that was a factor
for sure, but after that author's first interview,
I really had made up my mind that I was gonna
pivot. So, you know, after that, a couple of
weeks go by, I'm still working on the base, I'm
still doing the daily grind, but I got a little
bit of extra pep in myself because I know, at
some point in the near future, I didn't know
when, but I knew I was going to walk away from
all of this. But, you know, I start to notice
that I wasn't feeling my best. I had been having
these weird aches and pains in my body, and they
were sort of persistent. They weren't really
going away. And I'm a pretty healthy guy, so
if there's anything weird going on with my body,
it's going to get my attention. And I've always
been somewhat of a... hypochondriac anyway. I'll
run to the doctor in a minute if I feel like
something's off and have him check me out and
do blood work and make sure things are good.
So that's exactly what I did. I was given an
appointment with my doctor. I told him, you know,
what was going on with me and right away he knew
that was stress related. He knew it. He asked
about the type of work I do. I told him I work
for the DOD. This is a new doctor when I relocated
to Ohio. But he was like, yeah, I can imagine
that you guys are under a lot of pressure these
days You know, so long story short he prescribed
me some meds and he gave me a few days off from
work and I used those few days to really do some
thinking I had a lot of time to think I thought
about How I had sacrificed so much of my time
and my energy My talent all my work ethic. I
have an incredible work ethic I mean, I hate
to brag about myself, but I do. But I devoted
so much of myself to this career that I didn't
even really enjoy. I didn't like it. I thought
about all the stress I was under. I thought about
how my health was starting to be impacted. You
know, usually I go to the gym or go for a walk
or ride a bike or do some sort of like physical
activity to offset the stress. But I hadn't worked
out in over a year. You know, I just started
back going to the gym about a week or so ago.
But yeah, I had stopped making time for the gym.
So by the time I got home most days, I was just
so mentally exhausted that all I wanted to do
was just eat, relax, watch a movie or something,
just something to decompress my mind. And you
know, the little energy that I had left, I had
to save it for my creative project. I had to
work on my show. I had new book concepts I was
working on or a new music idea. And that's really
the sad part. That creative side of me, which
is really the authentic me, it was getting the
leftovers. And I was giving the best of myself
to something that didn't even belong to me. I
had no equity in it. All of this for a government
that was now content with harassing its workforce,
let's just say it, and terminating people via
email, hardworking people who invested years
and years with the government and made notable
contributions over the years. So with all of
this and with my future at the forefront of my
mind, by the end of that few days of sick leave,
I really felt like I was at a crossroads. I mean,
I knew I had to return back to work the next
day, but I kind of just knew if I did that I
would just fall right back into that routine
of work, work, work, grind, grind, grind, you
know, have very little time for myself and the
things I really enjoy doing. And I'm a praying
man, so I had been in prayer about this, you
know, beforehand, but I remember that night before
I was due to go back to work, I remember asking
God for dice. Because I really felt in my spirit.
I wasn't supposed to go back and It wasn't a
feeling of like dread, you know like that. I
really don't want to go back to work tomorrow.
It wasn't that It was different. It was uh, I
Don't know going back to work felt wrong It felt
like a season of change was finally here You
know, and I'm gonna tell you something that happened
that same night before I was Supposed to return
back to work and this is gonna sound a little
silly to some of y 'all, but just hear me out
and keep an open mind okay, so usually right
before bed, I put on some music and Remember,
I told you I just prayed and asked God for some
guidance. So just imagine I turned in for the
night. I have my pajamas on I'm nice and cozy.
I'm in the bed. I Asked Alexa to pay some soft
R &B that I like to fall asleep to The first
song that came on was Ain't No Way by Aretha.
And listen, before you laugh, before you laugh,
I've heard this song a million times, but when
it played that night, it just hit different for
me. For whatever reason, those lyrics, they just
kind of jumped out at me and I felt like, I'm
being serious, I felt like my authentic self,
my creative self was. Somehow speaking to me
You know and think about the lyrics that song
for a moment Ain't no way for me to love you
if you won't let me Ain't no way for me to give
you all you need if you won't let me give all
of me But how can I give you all the things I
can if you're tying both of my hands? It ain't
no way And then you know how the lyrics go it
goes on it says stop trying to be someone you're
not Hard, cold, and cruel is a man who paid too
much for what he got. Those lives, it's different.
They felt personal. You know, it spoke to that
part of me that felt suffocated and not being
given the nurturing it needed to really blossom.
It felt like that part of me was saying, you
know, stop holding yourself back. There's a lot
more to you than you're allowing people to see.
But in that last part stop trying to be someone
you're not hard cold and cool as a man who paid
too much What he got that's what really got me
because I Didn't sort of feel like an imposter
all throughout my career. Yeah, I could do the
work but There are so many people who were so
much better than in logistics and I was you know
So I just always kind of feel like Why was it
me getting the promotion, you know? but um The
job paid well and you know from the outside looking
in it looked like I had it all and To a certain
extent that was true, but yeah, I wasn't really
happy Not really because I wasn't doing what
I loved I was just earning a paycheck and climbing
the corporate ladder and doing what I thought
everyone expected me to do and The higher I climbed
it seemed like the more unhappy that I got so
I made an executive decision that night and I
drafted my letter of registration and I submitted
it like that. And really I haven't looked back
since. I haven't looked back since. I know some
of you are wondering did I give a two week notice.
I'll say this. I gave the government the same
courtesy they gave the thousands of people that
they laid off without a warrant. That's what
I did. So that's what led up to my decision to
walk away from federal civil service. It was
just sort of the perfect storm of a toxic work
culture, career fatigue, and just like a divine
push for change. It's just sort of a season of
change. And, you know, I may have been one of
the first to kind of step away and walk away
from, you know, the federal government like this,
but hopefully I won't be the last. I'm sure I
won't be the last. But when I left, I made sure
I left on my terms and not someone else's. And
sometimes you've got to bet on yourself and make
the best decision for you. We're going to take
a quick commercial break and hear from our sponsor
for tonight's show. When we come back, I'm going
to share how retirement's been treating me so
far, what's next in this second act. And I have
a special announcement that you definitely don't
want to miss. So stick around. We're just getting
started. You're listening to Live with Dr. Andre
Geary. So don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.
Looking for your next car? Amazon Autos has you
covered. With just a few clicks, you can shop
a wide selection of new vehicles, compare prices,
read reviews, and even arrange pickup or delivery,
just like ordering anything else on Amazon. It's
the future of car buying, simple, transparent,
and all online. Backed by Amazon's trusted network
and partnering with local dealerships, Amazon
Autos is redefining how we shop for cars. Visit
amazon .com forward slash autos and drive into
the future today. Are you an unpublished author
with a book idea or concept that you'd like to
get published? Need help with editing, copywriting,
formatting, and other tedious tasks that are
required to successfully publish a great book?
Fast -track your next book release with Just
Be Cards Publishing. Just Be Cards Publishing
specializes in helping new and unpublished authors
convert their manuscripts into completed published
works that are featured on Amazon, Audible, and
other major retail platforms. Ready to get started?
Email JustBeCards at gmail .com or visit JustBeCards
.com for more information. Just Be Cards, creating
a buzz just because. Hi, this is Ria Fry. Check
out my new book, Until I Find You, available
now wherever books are sold. You can learn more
at reafry .com. That's R -E -A -F -R -E -Y dot
com. And you are listening to the Artist First
Radio Network. Hey, before we jump back into
the conversation we were having, I got a special
gift for all of my listeners. So for today only,
Wednesday, April 23rd, you can download my latest
book, Unlocking Your Best Wife, absolutely free
on Amazon Kindle. You'll love it. It's filled
with tools and truths and a lot of inspiration
to help you step into your purpose and unlock
the next level of your life. So... If you want
to grab your copy, visit our show's homepage
at artistsfirst .com, or you can head over to
amazon .com and just search Unlocking Your Best
Life by Dr. Andre Jerry. And if you'd like a
personally signed copy, just send an email to
livewithdrandrejerry at gmail .com. I'd love
to get one in your hand. OK, so if you're just
tuning in, before the break, I shared the real
reason why I left the Federal Civil Service.
We talked about the stress, the toxic culture.
and the soul searching that led me to choose
peace, purpose, and try a new path forward. And
listen, my objective for the night show is not
just to brag or rub my new lifestyle on anyone's
face. The reason I've decided to share my journey
is to hopefully inspire others who may be in
a similar situation as I was and just need a
little encouragement from someone who's been
there, who's been in their shoes, they understand
how they feel. and can sort of just give them
that extra motivation or push that they need
to step out on stage and chart a new course for
themselves. It doesn't matter if you're 45, 55,
or 65, it's never too late to reinvent yourself
or to go after your dreams. So let's get back
into it. Okay, so it's been a little over a month
since I retired. And I'll be honest with you
guys, I'm still sort of getting acclimated to
my new normal. It took me about two weeks alone
to transition out of the state back to Puerto
Rico and You know, I just had a lot of loose
ends I had to tie up with my Airbnbs and my other
properties So I've only been back on the island
for a little over two weeks and it still just
sort of feels like I'm on vacation So it hasn't
really quite sunk in that this is My new normal.
This is my home again and a lot of you who are
new to the show may not know this but This is
actually my second time moving to Puerto Rico.
The first time was in 2018 when I worked for
one of the big four accounting firms. It was
only for a couple of years, but it was a great
time. I made some lifelong friends and it just
always felt like home here. So to be able to
retire here is definitely beyond exciting, beyond
amazing. For me moving to Puerto Rico isn't it
it's not just about being in a location a new
location a new environment. This is Symbolic
of a new life chapter that more slower pace and
more centered and more purpose to them Because
my life back in the state And I know a lot of
you feel this the same way it was just hectic
You know, I had a lot going on. I was juggling
a hundred different things, putting out fire
after fire. It seemed like every time I turned
around, it was something else. I had to fix or
address or solve or pay. Not to mention family.
Dealing with family can definitely be draining
at times too. So, you know, all of that combined
can just get exhausting after a while. And I'll
just say it, there's a lot going on right now.
in the state. You know, I don't even watch the
news. And I can just tell it's just a lot happening.
This is a really awful time for the country.
And I don't have to get into the details as to
why, you know, I think even the most delusional
among us can see what's happening. So yeah, it's
nice to be away from all the madness and just
enjoy good vibes and good people. And my decision
to retire early also was about reclaiming my
time and gaining clarity about what's important.
Because, you know, I had to sort of check myself
because over the years I noticed I had become
sort of caught up in this grind of, you know,
work, work, work, and, you know, trying to climb
the ladder and make it to SES. which is the executive
level within federal government. And I was definitely
on that trajectory. You know, had I continued,
my next job assignment definitely would have
been the Pentagon. But you want to talk about
toxin. The culture in the Pentagon has cut so
on a good day. But can you imagine how it is
now with this current administration? No, thank
you. No, thank you. But yeah, I had to really
stop and ask myself, okay, Andre, is this really
what you want? Or is this what you think everyone
expects you to do? Say you made it to senior,
they can say. Which I was just about one or two
promotions away from. But say I made it to that
level. Yeah, it would have felt great for a little
while. And then after a while, I would have been
right back to feeling empty. And the demands
of that position would have taken more board
of my time away from loved ones and the things
I really enjoyed doing. So yeah, professionally
and on paper, I would have had it going on. I
would be extremely successful to those looking
from the outside. But privately, I know I would
be miserable. And there are tons of people who
live like this. I know a lot of you listening
now, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
You make a good living, but you hate your job.
Or you're not treated very well. Or your efforts
and your contributions aren't valued the way
that they should be. Or the workload that you're
doing should technically be for two people, maybe
three. I know. Trust me, I know. And you see,
I do want to continue living that way. Now, do
I miss the paycheck? Yeah, absolutely. That's
about the only thing I've missed. But a six -figure
salary, it's not worth my peace of mind and my
time. Because your time is much more valuable
than any salary that a job could pay you. Because
here's the thing. Yeah, there's going to be a
lot more responsibility in terms of Managing
your activity and you know making sure that you
generate income for yourself but if you have
opportunity to work for yourself and redirect
your energy and your focus to your gifts and
talent You really can't lose Yes, it's gonna
take diligence and determination just like anything
else that you want to be successful in but you
will eventually succeed And you don't have to
take my word for it. Let me remind you of what
the word of God says Proverbs 18, 16 says, a
man's gifts make his womb for him and bringeth
him before great men. Now this is the cornerstone
verse in this. There's a couple of other scriptures
I wanna talk about too, but this particular verse,
it shows how your God -given talent will open
doors for you and create opportunities even in
high places. The next one is Matthew chapter
25, verse 29. This one says for, Whoever has
will be given more, and they will have an abundance.
Whoever does not have, even what they have will
be taken from them. And what I get from this
verse is that when you use your gifts, it multiplies
and it leads to increase. But the opposite can
also happen. If you have gifts and talent that
you bury and you don't lose, you know, that's
not a good thing. 1st Peter chapter 4 verse 10
says each of you should use whatever gift you
have to serve others as faithful stewards of
God's grace and various forms. So for me this
reminds us that our gifts are not just for us.
God gave us those gifts and gifts and talents
so that we can share them and use our gifts and
service to others to multiply its impact. So
my question to you is what gifts have you been
holding back from the world? What's the thing
that you really would love to pursue? And have
you given any consideration to what your purpose
might be? And that's something that you may want
to give some thought to because that's literally
what's going to fuel you and propel you forward
in life is your purpose. And it's okay not to
know what your purpose is. I used to stress myself
out in my 20s and 30s trying to figure out who
I was, what I was supposed to do, be, have, what
was I put here to accomplish. But at some point
you realize that it's about the journey and not
the destination so much. Your purpose is going
to eventually be revealed to you in the right
season. For some people they discovered early
on in their lives You know, but others like myself,
we're just discovering our purpose in our 40s,
sometimes even later. So it just varies with
each individual. But that's what life is really
all about. Life is a journey to discovering your
purpose and then going about the distance of
living out that purpose using your unique gifts
and talents and service to others. And really,
we can just end the show right there because...
What I just told you, it literally took me 45
years to learn and to put into practice. You
know, but it's all good. I'm grateful to Jehovah
for revealing my purpose to me when he did. You
know, I could have been 55 when I discovered
it, so I consider myself blessed. But now that
I know what I know, I got a lot of work to do,
right? You know, so now that I'm officially retired
and I own my own time, How do I plan to use all
this freedom? Well, I'm definitely not sleeping
in. And you know, I know you think that would
be the first thing, you know, is being able to
sleep late and sleep in, but actually what I
found is that now that I'm living a purpose -driven
life and able to devote 100 % of my time to me,
I'm excited to wake up every morning. I wake
up earlier now than I did when I had my job.
I'm up most mornings at 5 a .m. I meditate, I
read my Bible, I schedule my post for the day,
I plan my work for the day. Some days I'm working
on my manuscript for my next book. Other days
it might be getting prepared for my radio show.
And some days I'm just doing social media marketing
all day. But here's the thing, that same energy
and that same work ethic that I gave to government,
I give it to myself. You know I get myself and
sometimes I go a little harder because it's not
like before now everything falls on me and There's
no one to blame. There's no team to blame for
you know for leadership or anything like that
Everything falls on me and anything other than
success is unacceptable So but one thing I do
love now that I'm free from that job is that
I can personally handle a lot of tags that I
used to have to outsource to freelancers. And
not because I didn't have the skillset and couldn't
do it myself, it's because I didn't have the
time. You know, so now I'm saving money, I can
design my own book covers, I can design my own
marketing materials to do phone content. And
with AI, there's no excuse anymore. It's easier
than it ever was to do graphic design and video
editing or whatever other technical expertise
you need. So if you just take the time or make
the time to learn how to use these AI tools,
then really, the sky's the limit in terms of
what you can do. On the last live episode, I
talked about the importance of having multiple
streams of income. We all know this. And one
of the income streams that I mentioned during
the episode was starting a YouTube channel. Well,
that's one of the projects that I've been quietly
building behind the scenes is this new channel
that I launched back in November called Reality
of Truth. And some of you may already be familiar
with it. By the way, shout out to Arthur Zane
Edwards. He coined that phrase, Reality of Truth,
and he was gracious enough to allow me to take
it and run with it. He's also my brother -in
-law. But yeah, this channel started as a simple
space where I shared daily scriptures and spiritual
reflections. You know, just over the past few
months, it's grown into something really impactful.
And so Reality of Truth has sort of become like
a ministry in motion. You know, it's a channel
that's rooted completely in biblical truth, and
it encourages people from all walks of life with
daily authentic scripture -based inspirations
and messages. And I've been really amazed by
the response that I've gotten to this in just
a few months. We're quickly approaching 500 subscribers
on YouTube. I know there are a lot of strategies
to buy followers and run these fake engagements
and inflate the numbers. I'm not trying to do
all of that. That's not what this channel is
about. I've really been focusing on growing organically
through real connections and with real people
who are genuinely resonating with our message.
Here's what I found. With everything that's happening
in the world and in this country, I found that
people are really hungry for encouragement. They're
hungry for the word of God. And the fact that
Reality or Truth continues to grow without all
these gimmicks, it's just God and good content.
To me, that's confirmation that we're on the
right path. I've also expanded the platform to
TikTok. where we've had even more reach and more
of you than the response has been incredible
in just a few weeks. And you know, that's proof
that when you keep God at the center of your
plan, He'll take care of the growth, He'll take
care of the success. You'll have to put in the
time, the patience, and be diligent. And most
recently, Reality or Truth has branched into
a full -grown podcast. So we have the Reality
or Truth podcast now that's available across
all major streaming platforms. So now we're not
just reading scripture, we're discussing it,
we're breaking it down. We're bringing it to
life in ways that are relatable and relevant.
And not too long. People don't want a long sermon.
People don't have 20, 30, and 40 minutes. They
want to get the word, get inspired, and move
on with their day. So I try to condense it as
much as possible. So we're just getting started,
you know So if you haven't done so already go
on over to YouTube and just type in hashtag a
reality of truth and it'll take you right to
the channel and Hit subscribe join, you know,
you can also listen to the reality of truth podcast
on your favorite podcast platform and Another
thing if you want to support the mission you
can go into the work My cash app hashtag is reality
of truth So just wanted to throw that out there
All right, and so listen, before we run out of
time tonight, I want to talk about this special
announcement that I promised. I want to share
with you guys something that I'm excited about.
Some of you may not know this, but I have kind
of fallen in love with doing live radio. You
know, this all started about four years ago when
I was invited to be a guest on Irrelevant Risk,
but not a radio show, which is another show on
the August 1st Radio Network that airs. every
second Monday at 7 p .m. Eastern, so be sure
to check that out, relevant with or not. But
that one experience kind of lit a fire in me.
I just kind of fell in love with the energy and
the connection, the real -time engagement, the
stress of being live, and you can't edit anything
out. I just kind of walked away from the interview
knowing that, wow, this is something I really
wanna do. So I'm gonna continue to work at it.
you know, improve and, you know, as fate would
have it, I'd end up being blessed with the opportunity
to launch my own show shortly after that interview.
And over the years, Live with Dr. Andre Jerry
has grown and become one of the more popular
programs on the network. We've received a lot
of incredible feedback from listeners all over
the place, Saudi, here in Puerto Rico, and all
over the state, Switzerland, everywhere. But
there's one comment that I've heard over and
over. It was, we want more of your show. You
know, people were kind of angry. That was just
once a month. And, you know, I get it. I want
to do the show more. I want to do it four times.
But between the demands of my career and my other
responsibilities and all of the stuff I had going
on, I just wasn't able to get it done until now.
So here's my announcement. Starting Wednesday,
May 7th, live with Dr. Andre Jerry will officially
air every Wednesday at 6 p .m. Eastern. So we're
going from a monthly show to a weekly show. So
I'm super excited about that. I remember telling
our engineer one day, man, I wish I could do
this four times. And now I look at what God has
blessed me to be able to do. So I'm super excited.
And I hope you guys are excited too because this
next chapter is going to be bigger, bolder, and
more impactful than ever. So I appreciate you
for sharing this journey with me. Definitely
let's keep growing together. And I just appreciate
you. OK, so listen, we've come to the end of
tonight's episode. It went by pretty quick. We
talked about my bold decision, my life pivot,
and what it is. really need to walk away from
stability in order to chase alignment with yourself.
And I share my personal journey and why I stepped
away from federal civil service, why I chose
Puerto Rico, how I'm finally learning to live,
you know, my purpose. And so this new chapter
begins. So again, starting Wednesday, May 7th
at 6 p .m. Eastern live, Dr. Andre Jerry is going
to do a weekly show. We're going to kick things
off with a powerful episode that you won't want
to miss, my very first guest. And this new era
will be my childhood best friend, John Murray.
And the name of the episode is going to be, what
about your friends? How to know when to let go.
So we're going to talk about our decades -long
friendship. We're going to talk about our ups
and downs and our fallouts, our reconciliations.
And just have some real talk about when to hold
on, when to let go. So some friendships you're
not able to carry. through certain phases of
your life. So we'll talk about all this stuff.
We'll also dive into his journey as a podcast
host and a real estate investor and talk about
his plan to relocate abroad to the Dominican
Republic. So you definitely don't want to miss
it, but definitely a huge thank you to all of
you who tuned in tonight. I hope you're able
to take something away that's going to improve
your life in some way. Of course, special thanks
to our sponsor, Amazon Auto, making it easier
than ever to shop for your next vehicle with
confidence. and convenient. So, hey guys, listen,
until next time, stay grounded, stay grateful,
stay growing. I'm Dr. Andre Gerry and this is
live with Dr. Andre Gerry. I'll see you Wednesday,
May 7th at 6 p .m. Good night, everybody. Take
care.