Internal Permission: Sean McClellan on Breaking Free From Perfectionism

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Connection, man. I mean, I love people. I think connection in general is, you know, we're, we're here for connection. We're human beings. We are social creatures. We, we thrive on connection. And if you don't have that, if you can't connect with another person and talk about your feelings or what you're like, that's why we're here. Like, if I can't explain to you what I'm feeling about anything, then what's the purpose in that? There's no reason for me to be here if I can't like connect with people and and talk about my feelings.

Step into the world of success with Your Brand Amplified, the ultimate podcast designed to unravel the intricacies of thriving businesses. I'm your host, Anika Jackson, and I'm on a mission to uncover the stories, strategies, and secrets that have propelled entrepreneurs and business leaders to success. I am thrilled today to have another podcast on the show who I met through the world of podcasting. Sean McClellan, thank you so much for joining me today on Your Brand Amplified, but also I'm thrilled that I am your first appearance as a guest, not as a host.

You are absolutely correct, and I cannot thank you enough for having me on the show, Anika Jackson. It's really a pleasure to be here with you.

Well, your brand is built around the space between Right? Your coaching, your podcasting. So before we go on any rabbit holes or any other areas, I wanted to make sure our audience is really clear on the concept from the start. So what is the space between and why does that gap matter so much to entrepreneurs and business builders?

I think it matters a lot because I realized on my own journey that I was stuck of who I was and who I knew I should become. I think a lot of people are very successful on paper. They have the title, they have the status, they have the money, they have everything that looks like success on paper, but internally they're dying inside because they feel like they should be doing something else. They're not fulfilled. I think a lot of people have a life, they're seeking purpose and significance, but they're seek— they're not seeking that. They're seeking something else, and they really should be seeking purpose and significance through sharing their message, sharing their voice. And having an impact in other people's lives.

Yeah. And so when we talk about that, what made you decide that this is what you're going to hang your hat on?

Well, I've tried a bunch of different things. Ironically enough, I've tried to develop a couple of apps. I did that successfully, and I kind of went down the rabbit hole of creating audio assets for app developers because I'm a music guy. Clearly, I got all this gear behind me from DJing and production. And I kept listening to my coach tell me, take a shot, take a shot, share your message, teach a lesson. I'm like going through all these other phases, like trying to be an entrepreneur. And finally I'm like, you know what? I've got a story to share. And it took me getting to a place in my life where, Anika, honestly, I almost lost everything. My family, I contemplated my life a few years ago. And during that moment, I found a sermon from our pastor. It said, uh, God will turn your life upside down to put you on display to yourself, to discipline you, to claim you. In that moment, everything just kind of came full spectrum for me. It's like, okay, why am I here? You kept me here for a reason. What is that reason? To share my voice, to share my story, to share my struggles, to help other people who are out there maybe struggling with something. What I realized, Anika Jackson Jackson, is that my podcast coach was holding the keys to my success, and only him having the courage to speak about that, to give me the keys, Okay, so now I hold the— you hold the keys. I hold the keys to somebody else's success around the world. And we all— we have to do is show up and talk and have courage to do that. What's a beautiful thing, man.

It is such a beautiful thing, but so many people are afraid to use their voices. They don't think that their voice is important. They don't think their story is important. They don't realize how much they can impact others, but also how much that can impact them, them internally. To start sharing, right? And to believe and have other people see that within them that they are meant for more, that they're meant for greatness.

You're absolutely right. I mean, it really is a— I don't play golf. Um, if I did play golf, I could only maybe equate podcasting to golf because it's a, it's a me versus me thing. You know, nobody's going to tell me to record content. Nobody's going to tell me to show up on social media. Nobody's going to tell me to do all the things that are necessary to get the message out. So for the first time in my journey, in my life, I was able to trust myself again. I was able to be disciplined with putting routines in place and boundaries and blocking off time. And I'm not allowing other things in my life to really distract me from the mission, my ministry of getting this message out, because it's that important. It's like oxygen to me these days. Like if I don't record in a week, I'm like, I'm like jonesing. I'm like fidgety. I'm like, I got all these notes in my phone. I just got, I gotta get this message out, man. I can't. Not do it. It's like I'm obsessed because I realize the time is of the essence. I don't know when my last day's gonna be. I think a lot of people procrastinate themselves to the grave with a message locked inside of them and gifts they're not using. And I just, my job is to agitate them to the point where they just say, you know what? I gotta do this because I don't know when my last day's gonna be either.

Hmm.

You talk about building success, right? You've built apps, you tried different businesses. You had that moment where you were looking at other people as well as maybe yourself, the titles, the money, the influence, but there was something that was missing, that purpose, right? So you mentioned some of the troubles that you went through, almost losing everything, including your life. Can you talk about that moment a little bit more? The success on the outside, but feeling disjointed on the inside and how that now ties into your mission?

I don't ever really think that I've looked at myself as being successful. I, I carry a lot of inadequacy with me from being a kid. You know, I was picked on, I was bullied, and I always felt unworthy, inadequate. So I think right now during these moments of like trying to perform at a high level, I'm trying to prove my worth to not only myself, my wife, my kids, all the people who counted me out, the people who said I couldn't do it. And it really, like, I've already been deemed worthy by God, in my opinion. So, but it's still like, I still feel like I'm trying to prove something to somebody, you know. That makes sense because I'm just like, feel like, you know what, I'm going to show you, you know, all the people that count on me, I got something for you, you know. And I know essentially the destination, whenever it comes, it's not going to be what's important. It's going to be who I became in the process to get there. Because I've listened to a lot of stories about people who get what they're chasing and they feel completely empty. Yeah. On the inside. So I think that comes back to an alignment issue. Like your ambition has to match your alignment. Like you can achieve, but if it's, if it's out of alignment, when you get it, it's, it's meaningless. It means nothing.

I see that time and time again with the people I interview as well. They get to the, what they should be the pinnacle of their corporate career, and then they realize that they don't feel what they think they should feel, right? Exactly what you're talking about. And I think that's so interesting that we live in that world that tells us who we're supposed to be and what we're supposed to achieve. And it actually looks very different. I mean, when we talk about our podcast journeys and the journeys of the business that we're building, right? I did not think a few years ago that I was gonna be podcasting full-time, right? And building a whole business around it and teaching graduate school and all the things that I'm doing now. And a large part of that is because of where I was and having that doubt, like you are talking about, that doubt within myself of what I could achieve and how people would look at me and would they accept my value that I knew I had, right, but they couldn't necessarily see. And obviously now I'm on that journey and I don't think there's ever a destination that's gonna end. I think it's gonna continue being a really beautiful journey that unfolds. And there is risk though at being vulnerable. Being willing to live in this space and help other people through this. So I want to hear a little bit about when you started the show, when you started the business, what was it like? Did, did people have trouble unraveling and being vulnerable and being themselves? And what were those aha moments for them, right, that helped you see that what you're doing is the path to go on?

They do have a lot of trouble being vulnerable. I think men in particular have more of an issue with that because we're always taught to be hunters and gatherers and warriors. And being vulnerable is a sign of weakness. So for me in particularly, I would not want to be vulnerable. I would avoid those things. And that's when I would get into trouble because now the avoidance of my emotions, I'm starting to fill that hole with something else that's not really healthy, you know. So, but I have, have helped seeing other people when they launch a podcast. I mean, uh, their reasons are different from different reasons for different, uh, perspectives. But they were passionate about something. It was, uh, Byron Copey is one of the guys I helped launch, and he, he wanted to do a baseball podcast. And he was— his son was the reason why he wanted to do this, because all the memories he had with his son. And so, like, watching him go live, like me going live, and like knowing that anticipation, like seeing the first download come in from like Russia or Switzerland or someplace I'm probably never gonna live or visit Like, it's like, man, there's a person behind that number who heard this. And whether they reach out to work with me or reach out to work with him or you, like, I have to believe that it is making a difference in somebody's life, and I have to be okay with that. And I've gotten the emails of people who were talking about stuff about their father. My father passed away a few years ago, and like, I talked about— I share this stuff, I get really vulnerable and even cried on some of these episodes because I'm just like This is what I'm going through. This is where I'm at, guys. And like, you know, just don't take a day for granted. You can't take your day for granted. So I let people into my world. I let people see all the good, the bad, and the ugly, because it is messy. It's not easy to, to speak out about things that are really personal and intimate with pretty much the world, if we're just being honest. But people relate to that. I want to be able to look at somebody, relate to them in their message and their story, what they've been through. And I think podcasting allows us to relate to other human beings. It lets us feel like we're not alone. I'm not alone in this journey. Somebody out there is going through the same experience as I'm going through. And then community is what kind of ties all that together because now you're powerful because you're not going through this alone. You have a community of people who understand, who, who relate to you, who have been through the same struggle, who can support you, encourage you. Lift you up and also call you on your BS when you need it. And it's powerful.

It is very powerful. And I think we lose that thought about the power of community. And that could be your online community, could be your podcast community, could be your coaching community, could be your church community, right? But when we have people around us who are giving, feeding into our love and care, if you will, right? And that we can feed back, it is so powerful to realize that we're not alone. And that we have people in our corner, people who do believe in us and do wanna support us no matter how we feel about ourselves at any one moment or how much we're trying to prove. And one of your concepts is internal permission, right? Which is something that people are often missing. So can you talk about what does it mean to give yourself internal permission and what happens to a brand or a business or a person when they don't?

For me, internal permissions means to stop allowing the opinions of other people to really validate what I should be doing with my life and, and give myself permission to fail, give myself permission to try, give myself permission to just put it all out there and like go all in as a man. This is like a WSOP. I'm putting all my chips in the table. I give myself permission to play big because for far too long I played small in life, Anika Jackson Jackson. I've settled for far too long. And I think a lot of people settle, and I think they settle because what we're doing is hard. It's hard to be in the top 1% of anything in the country, much less podcasting or being an entrepreneur, because it's hard. Nobody wants to talk about that. They want to talk about the finish line. Let's talk about the effort, because that's where the result comes from, the effort. Most people are— social media is horrible for that because we're looking at everybody else's finish line. Well, Let's talk about the struggle when you first started, when you didn't know what you were doing, when you were addicted or living in your car, you know, like bills weren't getting paid. Like, let's talk about that. That to me is much more relatable than millions of dollars and 10 homes all over the country. Like, I can't relate to that.

Yeah.

But it's, it's be— but it's giving yourself permission to actually have these mindsets to even try because most people don't because of the fear of rejection, the fear of failure, the fear of prosperity. The list goes on and on. And then you just slowly go back to default, and then before you know it, you're 65, you've not done anything you wanted to do in life, death is knocking, and you're, you're on your deathbed with a bunch of regret going, I wonder what happened if I would launch that podcast or started that business, or fill in the blank. But time's up, man. Yeah, it's over. Your one shot, your lottery ticket to be here of life is gone. And I can't accept that, man. So I have to give myself permission to, to at least try.

What do you say to people who are trying to get there but keep experiencing hurdles? And I'll give myself as an example because I do have a podcast that does well, right? I get to teach at university, which I absolutely love. I get to shepherd my daughter through her last year of high school right now. And I have a great supportive community, but I also just transparently, I've had a lot of health issues lately. And, that has made me feel like I keep, like I keep trying to take steps forward and I can't get there. So, what do you say to people, whether it's a health issue, whether it's a family issue, whether it's their own mindset, who are experiencing that lag or that delay and that frustration of not being where we know we want to be?

Well, health issues, I probably wouldn't come at you with a lot of different things of the health issue depending on what the issue was. But I think the thing that I tell most people is that time's going to pass anyway, and the only thing that's going to change between now and then is that you haven't got started yet. So your problem really isn't going to go away. You just now neglected to do anything about it, and you could have been 6 months, a year further along. But you haven't even started, or you stopped, or you allowed— I mean, listen, life happens, man. Life happens to me. Life happens to everybody on this journey. It's figuring out how to continue to set boundaries for yourself and block out time to ensure that the things that are important and a priority are a priority. And it's like non-negotiables. Um, I've had to be real particular with my phone as far as getting certain people out of my life. It just didn't suit my life anymore. Then that's not that they're bad people. I just— where I'm going, what I'm trying to do, I can't allow certain things to occupy my time anymore. Because if it doesn't help the mission, what I'm trying to achieve, I can't give time away to it. Because I know now time is really the only commodity that I'm not guaranteed. I've given so much of it away for so long to so many different people that just aren't really honestly worthy of it anymore these days. So I've got to be really particular in what I'm doing to make sure that I can move the needle forward.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I mean, I think no matter what the hurdles are, you can find little baby steps to take, probably, right?

Just do one thing a day. If you have to do, okay, I need to record a video today, I need to record an episode today, just do something. And that doesn't have to be anything large or grandiose. Just do something to move the needle forward. Because when you don't do it, that's when the, the mindset starts really messing with you. Like, oh well, you didn't record today. See, I told you you weren't going to be able to do this. You're a failure. Like, this— when you, when you stop giving love and attention to it, that's when the thoughts come in. That's when the, you know, I think the enemy tries to get a hold of your thoughts and kind of— see, who do you think you are? I told you you're gonna quit. You're a quitter. You're a failure. Don't you know all the other stuff you've done? All that stuff, man. So you have to keep pushing and doing things that are a priority for your, your mission. Because if you don't, your, your, your thoughts are gonna carry away and you're gonna get wound up like a pretzel pretty quickly.

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One of those things that I think really helps And it's funny because this is your first C. I was gonna say clarify how to stay on the right path is you do have the 5C framework. And I think each of those points on it helps us not just to stay on task and on our mission, right? But also to remember to take that time to pause. So can you talk to us and give us examples of clarity, consistency, commitment, Connection, celebration.

I love these frameworks. I got coached on these by a, a lady by the name of Carol Mix. She was our mindset coach for a few years in my podcast group. Just an amazing, amazing person and human being. But clarity, you know, I think clarity, when I think about that, people throw that word around like everywhere. Do you have clarity? You gotta have clarity. You gotta do this. Gotta, you gotta have clarity. Well, clarity only comes from taking action. You're not gonna get clarity. By sitting around hoping and wishing and thinking you should do something. So you have to take continuous action to figure out what your clarity is. And I think most people get that wrong because, I mean, you could sit there and say you have clarity, but do you really? You know? So for me, the clarity aspect comes from showing up consistently and just figuring out what I really wanna talk about. And I think when you show up consistently and start talking, you're gonna be like, wow, I talked for 20 minutes about this. I must really like that. And then make a notation. Okay, well, time. I like talking about time because it's running out. So you start doing this process over the years, you start really getting a good picture of what really matters to you, what really matters in the messaging, what really matters in the ministry. And then you can really start building things around that content, ideas around your— the real core of your message, which it takes time to do this stuff. Time, time is what it takes. You don't just show up on the scene and It just happens. And, and that's really, to me, I'm understanding that all this is a process. It's a learning process. It's a growing process. I mean, transformation takes time. Change can happen in an instance. You could get a text message or a phone call. I could get one of those as well. My life's going to be completely different after that. That's instantaneous. The journey that we're on takes time. It's not instant gratification. And that's why most people quit. You already know it takes 10 episodes to be in the top 1%, and people can't even do that.

Hmm.

So I think just showing up and being, get, getting your reps in, basically repetition kind of decreases resistance as it may. So the more repetition you have, you decrease the resistance of whatever it is you're doing because you're getting better at it. And that's when you really find the clarity that you're seeking, I think.

Yeah, I agree with you on clarity because I think we can think we're going one direction, but I mean, you alluded to this earlier too, it might not be for you. It might be a completely different thing, or it might be like one step to a different part of the path that is actually what you're supposed to be doing and what's really aligned for your business, your podcast, right? And then you talked about consistency, continuing to get the reps in, which takes commitment. Talk about connection and celebration. Where do those come in?

Connection, man. I mean, I, I love people. I think connection in general is, you know, we're, we are here for connection. We're human beings. We are social creatures. We, we thrive on connection. And if you don't have that, if you can't connect with another person and talk about your feelings or what you're like, that's why we're here. Like, if I can't explain to you what I'm feeling about anything, you know, what's the purpose in that? There's no reason for me to be here if I can't like connect with people and talk about my feelings. But I think more specifically for podcasting, you need to be around other people to connect with who are doing the thing that you're doing. Because we're out in a silo for the most part. Like I record in my car. Every time I— every episode I record in my car. I don't record in my studio, I record in my car. So like, I'm in this little silo and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go to my car, record the episode, we're gonna publish it out, it's gonna go all around the world. It's just, you get lost because you think we've— I think everybody does this stuff, I think everybody knows about all the things that we do, and they don't. So I need to be connected around other people who understand what I'm trying to achieve and, and hold me accountable. I mean, I think that's a big, big part of being connected is people to hold me accountable because if we don't get held accountable, I'm gonna drift. I'm gonna get distracted. I'm not gonna focus. I'm not gonna do the thing I should have did today cuz I allowed something else to get in the way and I wasn't, you know, just we're so distracted. So being around a community keeps me connected to people that can keep me accountable to the mission and myself.

Before we talk about celebration though, I want— you record every episode in your car.

Yeah. And that's how I was coached. My coach, Sam Crowley, recorded in his car in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot, Dunkin' Donuts parking lot for— Wow. Almost 18 years, well over 20 million downloads. Just, I just love this guy so much, man. He's just such a good dude, you know? So my first episode I recorded, you know, I gave him honnage and went to a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. I'm sitting there and just like, what are you doing, dude? Like, what are you doing? Like, this is so dumb. What are you doing? You're talking to yourself in the car in the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. And then just like, I just had to do it, you know? And then when after that, you know, I kind of sitting here in the driveway at the house, but like, I just Yeah, in my car. Here's the thing, Anika Jackson Jackson, it isn't— the studio doesn't matter. You don't have to have fancy equipment. All you have to have is a microphone and a message and courage. That's all you need. You don't need anything else. I mean, it's nice to have a proper setup in studio, I mean, for different, different things, but I don't think you need any of that. You need a microphone and a message and courage.

Yeah, I agree with you completely. Yeah. So let's talk about celebration.

That's the hardest thing. That's the hardest of the 5 C's for me to appreciate, honestly, because I'm so fixated on the finish line. I neglect to like really understand that everything I'm doing, as much as I'm doing, I should celebrate. I should celebrate, you know, having, you know, 60,000 downloads, 100,000 views on YouTube. Like I should celebrate that, but I'm like, ah, I don't have enough clients. I need more clients. I need to work with more people. Like I'm so fixated on where I want to go that I often miss everything in between because I'm so hyperfocused on the finish line. And I think that's something I really need to work on because I think, you know, like we talked about earlier, once you get to the finish line, if you don't celebrate the steps along the way, well then it's just kind of meaningless. It's kind of worthless. And I, I don't want to feel that way whenever the harvest comes. I, I want to make sure that I can say, you know what, I appreciate it. Every step along the way when I wanted to quit, when I wanted to throw in the towel, when I just thought that this was pointless and worthless. And, you know, and I've endured a lot the last 4 years— my father passing away, animals passing away. I got 2 daughters. I mean, I got— I could— I could tell you all these things about my life, but that's not really the point. The point is that it's important to me to, to understand that every little thing we do in this process should be highlighted and some somewhat celebrated, because it's important to kind of monument your achievements in this, in this role of being the podcaster And for your coaching clients, would you say celebration is the hardest one for them as well?

Or is there something else that you see?

I think a lot of people struggle with finding their voice. And I think, I really think that's the, the biggest hurdle they have to cross in the beginning is finding your voice is the most important part of all this. I like to have a, a vision of like telling them, listen, this is purpose-driven first. Find your voice. The first 100 episodes you record, honestly, they just don't even matter. They, they really don't, you know. Even say the first 50, like, you can say the first 50 don't matter, the first 100 don't matter, but they, but they really don't. Like, you really have to find your voice, and then once you have that, you figured out your voice, you have purpose now. Okay, I know why I'm doing this. I have that, that is dialed in and locked. Now we can move into profit-driven, but it's got to be purpose-driven first, because if it's not purpose-driven, you don't have a strong enough why. You're going to quit, man. You're just like, you don't have a strong enough reason to keep you going on the days you just feel like not doing it.

That is so true. And I think often, I mean, many of us start podcasting or start different ventures because of our passion, because the money comes if you're passionate. But if you're not passionate and you just are doing it for the money, that's where you might come into conflict with yourself, with your actual purpose.

Absolutely. I, I wholeheartedly agree. I mean, initially for me, the goal always was to monetize, but like I have to recognize like, who am I doing this for? Am I doing this for me? Am I doing this for my clients? Am I doing it for God, my family, my kids? Like, who am I doing this for? That's got to be in alignment. You know, if I'm out of alignment with that, it's just, it's just not gonna work. It's not gonna make sense to me because I want to help people. Like, like for me, you know, my father passing away, he was 76 years old. He was here for 27,340 days. That was his lifespan on it. And so I look at my age, I'm 52. If I live to be as old as he is, I got about 9,340 days left. And I take sleep out of that equation, we'll call it 6,000 days and some change. What am I going to do with 6,000 days, man? And they're like, I can't— like, what am I going to do with 6,000 days? Because I don't even know if I have that many. That gets me a sense of urgency to get moving. And I don't understand why most people in life don't have that. I talk to people, and I talk to them, I'm like, you know, if you, you know, if you knew your last day you were going to be here and be alive, how differently would you be living your life? And they say, oh, Sean, you know, I'd be doing this, that, and the other, and this, that, or the other. So, well, um, are you doing that? And they stop for a second and like, they They— it clicks. Well, no, I'm not. Well, go do it, because the reality is you don't know your last day is going to be. And it just like, it gives them something, a fire, like it sets a fire in motion, because they don't look at it— they don't look at that from that perspective, like being here for days. How many days you have on Earth before you're not going to be here anymore? And it's not many. It's not many.

I'm someone who has multiple podcast ideas, right? There's always a book I wanna launch. There's an AI product I wanna finish, a YouTube channel that I haven't given much love to, unlike yours. So for somebody like myself who I, I know, but I also feel like I do usually approach things with like, I'm just gonna get started. And you do have this ethos of speak before you're ready. So why is waiting when you wait, it makes it harder to start.

Oh, absolutely, because you're allowing your old self to, to rule your life. You know, I realized it was a vision. I— there was a vision in my life that I had of myself, and the only way I found that vision is to actually start speaking. Because now this person that I kept believing that I was, I now can see him through the power of speaking and using my voice. And I, I wasn't ready when I started, Anika, and I still feel like most days I'm not ready. You know, I applied to speak for, uh, for Mark and those guys in, in August. I don't know if I'm gonna get picked. I don't know. Am I ready? I don't know. But if I get picked, I'm gonna show up and try, you know, like I'm just gonna go through, like, if he, if he chooses to pick me and to give me the opportunity, of course I'm gonna show up and, and do what I can. But I don't think I'm ready. But speaking before you're ready, it really is kind of— that's a movement to me. That's not just something that you do, that's a movement. That's something people can get behind because I think most people want to be heard.

Yeah.

And they, they allow the opinions of other people, they allow their past mistakes to define them and really keep them stuck in this current version of themselves, even though they know there's another person locked inside of them that is just screaming at them to be released.

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I just— everything that you're saying, I'm just internalizing, thinking about my own experiences. And I'm just, I'm really appreciating this. So thank you.

Oh gosh, you are, you're a gracious host. Thank you so much. This is so much fun.

It really is. And I want to talk a little bit about your podcast, right? So you talked about recording in your car. You put out a lot of content. Can you talk about how you decided to structure your podcast specifically and You know, what changes have you made? Because I think, I know for mine, at first I was only interviewing publicists and it was going to be 5 specific questions and I was going to keep it under drive time, United States and all these things. And eventually I was like, this is really boring for me. I threw it all out the window. Right. But I, I feel like every 50, 100 episodes, I make a little tweak here and there because it's something that'll make it more fun and more engaging, hopefully, and more interesting for me and for the people who are listening. So can you talk about that experience for yourself?

Yeah, so I, I've been coached on episodes being really short and that's why I have so many pieces of content out because 8 to 12 minutes is kind of where I land. And I, I think, you know, right now the attention span of a human being, uh, statistically, a goldfish has more attention span than we do, which is crazy to think about, right? So I think it was a study done in 2012 that, you know, it was like 9 seconds for human beings and then today it's like 8 seconds is our attention span, like, cuz we're so just all over the place. So 8 to 12 minutes is kind of where I land for episodes, which is pretty easy. You know, I'm kind of have a philosophy, kind of get up in the morning and tell myself I will draw inspiration from life happening all around me today. So as I'm out my day, just going through my day, I'm looking for pieces of content. It could be from something, a conversation I have with somebody at work, or it could be in a conversation with my kids, uh, could be coming from a sermon or a book I'm listening to. I'll pull concept from somewhere that way I have ample things to pull from to make a quick episode. But as far as things that have been changing on the back end, I use AI to kind of script all my notes these days, on my, my show notes, you know, whatever I'll talk about. I prompt it pretty well to kind of give me a good 150-word article for that. And so I'll use that for LinkedIn. Um, I did meet a guy named John Taylor. He has proprietary software and he has a thing called Learning Discoverability Optimization. So what he's done, Anika, he's taken my RSS feed He put it into his AI software and it gives him, over my last 800 episodes, it gives him like a spreadsheet of core beliefs, things I've said over and over. Like it really kind of stamps my brand of like what I've said. So what I do now, uh, after the episodes, I'll, I'll take the transcript from an episode, I run it through his software prompts, and then tell him to give me 20 pieces of content for LinkedIn, 150 words. And it just spits it out. So like, that's kind of really where I shift my focus these days as far as social media. I do some recording with video, and that's really kind of like you, man. Like, I'm— the video portion is kind of— I'm having to relearn, almost like back when starting the podcast. It's like, oh, I don't know what I'm doing. What am I— God, what are you doing? So now the video, I'm having those same thoughts. Who do you think you are? You're gonna put yourself on video? You got people gonna look at you and blah blah blah. All the same stuff I experienced in the beginning of podcasting. I'm experiencing now in the video portion of what I'm trying to do, because it's different. People really, they know, they see me now. I'm not just hiding in my car talking in a microphone, rambling about a bunch of stuff that's important to me. So it's trying to get out of my head in that process, but it's slowly happening. But it, but it's, but once again, it's just a process. I just got to get the reps in and I'll get comfortable eventually, but it's still just a process that I'm still getting used to as of May at the moment.

Well, and I love this because hopefully everybody who's hearing this understands that what we're doing, this is a living, breathing, right, changeable format. And we are constantly upskilling and trying new things to make sure that our messages are reaching the audience at the right time.

Yeah, you're right. And that's one thing I don't really do. I know there's a lot of people that they'll seek out like Uh, vidIQ is a pretty good site for like keywords and like what people are actually looking for online. I don't really do that a whole lot for visibility purposes. I mean, I probably should. Like, what are people actually looking for in regards to podcasting? They're looking at how to start one, they're looking for personal development, they're looking for growth mindset. What are they really looking for? I haven't really done a whole lot of that. Maybe I should. Maybe you have some thoughts on that as well for, uh, what you're into. You do need that software.

Yes and no. Yes and no. So I think it's important to have the right keywords in your show notes. Like, I mean, the, the overall description of your show. I do think it's interesting to see what things rank for, and it's, it can change a lot depending on the guest and their topic, right? Because it might be all business marketing or branding content, but if somebody is in the travel world, I see that I'm ranking for words that are normally not in my lexicon and not in my show. So I think it's, it's something that's fascinating to look at. And I think it is something we need to do to an extent, but it also depends, like you said, on what your goals are, what you're trying to do and who you're trying to reach. And, you know, if you're trying to reach more people versus a small niche segment.

Yeah. I mean, I think for me, I've always just kind of spoke from the heart. You know, I've had my podcast analyzed by Mark and his guys and it was, you know, I hadn't had a really an evaluation in a long time. I'm like, yeah, sure, give me an evaluation. Let's see what you guys think. You know, you're, you're podcast professionals, you got awards and all this stuff. Let me just see what you think. So some of it was kind of harsh to kind of hear like other people's feedback. I'm just like, okay, well, I can take that with a grain of salt, you know. That wasn't how I was coached. Or what I understand though, like with all that stuff, is like, I'm not going to be everybody's cup of tea, okay? Like, it's okay if you don't vibe with me, then you're just not part of my tribe. I'm not trying to talk to you anyway. Just keep scrolling. So Some of the stuff was good, but it was more about strategy. Like, I don't really approach any episodes with strategy. It's more like, I'm going to speak from the heart. This is something that happened to me. I can tie this to my 4 core pillars of purpose, passion, faith, freedom, motivation, inspiration. I can tie that into an episode, not just go. I just kind of let the, let the episode land where it lands, let the seed hit where it hits. And if it doesn't hit, well then it doesn't hit, but I just got to keep planting seeds. That's my job is to be a sore and let the person on the other end decide whether it's something they wanna let impact them or maybe apply to their life and their journey to give them some inspiration, uh, for their life.

Nice. That is very authentic. So you have to be happy and excited about what you're doing, whether somebody else is giving you advice or not, and whether they're, they're a professional or not. Right.

So, Yeah, it's a, it's a definitely, you know, I think some people, and I've tried to talk from a script before, I can tell it sounds like I'm talking from a script. I've been speaking for so long just off the cuff. I gotta have like a grip it and rip it mentality. Like, so what I kind of get coached on is like, before I record any episode, I sit there and think for 5 minutes about the ending, the beginning, how I'm going to tie it up. I feel like I always have trouble like putting a bow around everything, kind of landing the plane. I feel like I need a little bit more work with that. So I try to think about how it's gonna end, how it's gonna begin, and then usually the middle is kind of easy to just kind of talk your way through it. But landing the plane for me is, is a kind of art that I'm still kind of working on as of May. But yeah, so think for 5 minutes about what you wanna, wanna talk about, and then when 5 minutes goes off, the alarm goes off, I just hit record and just go.

That's a great, um, not just for podcasts, but also for content in general. Because I do think it's really easy to tell when it's superscripted, whether it's your eyes tracking back and forth or whatever the case may be. It can be really easy to tell that somebody's being scripted and prompted. And if you at least have, like you said, you have the intentionality, you know where you wanna start, you know where you wanna end, you know, you know what your call to action is for yourself, for other people, then you can create that gold and it really is from the heart and it, authentic and real that people resonated with, with it more.

Yeah, I think I can definitely tell when something's coming from somebody from just being genuine. I mean, I think most people, most human beings can tell if you're kind of full of them up and say it's just like, you know, ah, I don't know if I believe that. You know, that's, you know, and that's really, that's a good and a bad thing because, because people know, you know, they, they, they can sense it from a mile away if you're being serious, if, You know, you're just trying to sell them something or you're just like, who is this? Who is this guy really trying to get from me here? Do I believe him? Do I think he's full of it? Or, you know, people were just, as consumers these days, we're more aware of all that stuff than we probably ever have been before. So it makes it more difficult to really attract people into your ecosystem, I think, because most people are just like, eh, you're full of it, dude, I'm not listening to you, I don't vibe with that, or this, that, or the other. And they just kind of go on to the next thing.

So, okay, you've talked about speaking before you're ready, jumping, you know, leaping, taking that chance. So I want to ask, if between perfectionism and procrastination, which one do you think kills more brands?

Here's the thing, perfectionism doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. We can strive for excellence, but perfectionism— there's nothing perfect in this life. No, there's no— absolutely nothing is ever going to be perfect in this life. So you can use those in tandem because now you're procrastinating because you're waiting for it to be perfect time. Oh, I gotta, I gotta wait till this Saturday, the other, before I launch my podcast or do this. Well, why? It's not going to be perfect. It's never going to be perfect. Accept that and get moving. Now you're just making excuses for yourself why you can't do something because you think it's going to be perfect. I'm gonna go and help you out. It's not going to be perfect. It's going to be messy. And if you're okay with that, that's what's real. That's what moves people. That's what people are going to come back for because it's relatable. I can't relate to somebody with a perfect life and it's got all this stuff and jets and how— I can't relate to that, you know. And I'd be curious to be like, how happy are you? Like, are you really happy? I don't know. I met a lot of people that are really successful, the millionaires, and they're miserable. I don't want that. So procrastination, I mean, that's just an excuse we tell ourselves of why we can't do something, but there's no perfect anything in life.

To me, that sounds like it's a lie. So I'd also love to hear what's a lie that entrepreneurs tell themselves about why they're not visible yet.

Why they're not visible yet. I think it goes back to their ego. I think they have an ego problem because there's a lot of people that I follow or listen to and they say that, They're just not satisfied. Like, I think if you hit a certain plateau in your, on your journey, you're very successful. You have a lot of money, but you still have that inert desire to drive and push. Why? You've got everything. Like, you have a life that most people would die for. So what's the real issue here? Do you feel like you don't have enough? Like, I think that's a, that's kind of a trap. I think there's, you're never going to be satisfied. You're never going to have enough. There's never— there's never enough pleasure. There's never enough money. There's like— it's never enough. That goalpost is always going to move. When you hit it, oh God, I should have set the bar higher now because I got it. Now I'm bored. Gosh, now I don't know what to do in my life because I hit the goal, we hit the target. I mean, that's why you hear like most Olympics Olympians, gold medalists, they kill themselves. You take their life because why? Because they strive their entire life to get this piece of metal, this gold medal, and they get it, and then now they're like, now what am I going to do with my life? I'm going to take my life because I've got the thing that I've wrapped my identity into for the last 20 years. Now I don't know what to do. They're depressed, and they take their life. It's crazy. They go to drugs or alcohol or whatever it is to like numb out from like sheer depression of attaining the thing that they were after. It's sad, man. It's never going to be enough for anybody.

This is a really deep conversation.

Did you wear your boots today? I'm just checking on you, make sure you got your boots on today.

And I appreciate that because I think this— I mean, like I said, I've been pausing a lot because I'm just thinking through everything that you're saying and that we're talking about. These are all things that anybody who's thinking about getting visible, thinking about starting a business, or has a business that is not going the direction they want it to be going, you know, needs to take that time, pause, and take that next leap to make sure that they really are living in their purpose, bringing it back to what we talked about at the beginning. Because when you live in your purpose, the things that are for you come to you so much more easily. And when you're not in alignment, you know, you may taste the money tree, but then something else is gonna happen. And I've, in my own experience, it's always been when I live in purpose that the right things appear and that the right people appear, right? And the right friendships and the right business opportunities versus when I'm trying to do something just to make, make money or just to, you know, oh, this is kind of aligned with what I'm doing. You get sidetracked and it's never ended up going well.

I think you have to have a lot of awareness. And that point to understand, like, is this really aligned with what I'm trying to do?

Yeah.

You know, I think most people don't— I mean, that the first, you have to start with awareness. Are you even aware that you have purpose and what that is? And if you don't, how are you going to get it? How do you even know what you're doing is right? Because you don't even have awareness about your goals, your mission, your purpose, why you're here. And I think a lot of people ask them, like, Why am I here? What am I supposed to do while I'm here? Now, I had to ask myself that question a lot in the last 5 or 10 years. Why am I here? What am I supposed to do while I'm here? What's my mission? Like, what am I really supposed to do? You know, how many people am I supposed to— if I'm supposed to help people, I mean, I've— trust me, I've had plenty of conversations with God, and I was like, listen, man, this isn't the path I need you to slam the door in my face because I'm an idiot, okay? I'm going to keep marching down this path. Unless you show me that this isn't what you want me to do. And so far he hasn't closed the door. So I have to believe that right now. I think the hardest part is waiting for, for to see what's going to happen. Because when I think you're in a waiting season, I think a lot of your character development is being tested. It's like, you, are you going to give up? Are you going to quit? There's something going on in a waiting season of life that you, you really build your character. And I think for me personally, I'm being tested to see if I'm going to show up, be obedient, continue to have a positive attitude even though I don't have the result I want. Am I going to continue moving forward and be a light, or am I going to just be, oh God shucks, man, this sucks, like let the negative thoughts kind of take over what I'm doing, which is going to derail everything I've worked for. But it's hard because your, your ambition and your drive and your patience have to match. Those are two completely different things of like our mindset. It's like, go, go, go. Oh, but you gotta wait. Like, that's very difficult to balance without getting frustrated, down on yourself, and just like, you know, beating yourself up to the point of stopping, man. It's hard.

You have an ebook, you have a podcast, you have coaching, all, and we're gonna of course share the link, which is your name. SeanMcLellan.com. So we'll have that linked in the show notes so people can find all of your resources. But I'd love to see if you have a favorite quote, mantra, verse, poem, family motto to share.

You know, I have to go back to Hebrews 12:11 for my life. You know, it says, no discipline is pleasant at the time, but painful later on, however, produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who've been trained by it. So for me, in my darkest moment of life, hearing that message, like I was being disciplined for the error of my ways and behavior, but there's a harvest coming for me because I chose to turn and show up in a very powerful way to live in the purpose that God has called me to walk in.

You don't do anything by half measures, Sean. You sure don't.

I mean, here's the thing about measures. We're talking about music, uh, you know, The music is created between the notes in the measure. So a little fun fact for you. Music's just notes, but it comes to life in between the actual notes itself. That's where the music's actually made.

And how appropriate is that to end a conversation about the space between?

Who would have thought?

Who would have thought? Yes. So thank you so much for being on Your Brand Amplified. Thank you to everybody who's watching this episode, who's listening to it. And has been able to follow along with some of the things that we need to do to show up as our best selves with our passion, to get the right clarity for where we're supposed to go, to be consistent, to commit, right? To form the right connections and to make sure we're celebrating along the way, which I think most of us forget to do. So those are all good reminders. And, you know, I encourage everybody to take a listen to Shawn's podcast, check out his free ebook. Which is available on his website and his community. So Sean, any final word that you want to leave us with today?

Don't wait. Time is of the essence. If you want to do something in this life, just go do it. You could thank me later. Just go do it. Don't wait.

And with that, I will be back again with another amazing guest to share their story, their journey, and some things for you to think about to make your life better in a few days. Until then, have a great, wonderful time. Thanks for listening or watching to this episode of Your Brand Amplified. Don't forget to leave us a rating or review on your favorite podcast listening platform. And if you want to learn more, check us out at yourbrandamplified.com.

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