What do teachers, coaches, pastors, parents, mentors, counselors have in common?
In this motivational talk, the speaker reflects on a question he posted online asking what teachers, coaches, pastors, parents, mentors, counselors, trainers, and speakers share in common. He reports receiving 50 responses and uses them, along with his own observations, to argue that the core thread among these roles is a genuine heart for people and a purpose‑driven desire to help others reach their best. He describes how each role— from teachers nurturing youth to pastors providing spiritual tools— begins with a passion for growth and service. The speaker highlights the risk of burnout when service providers neglect self‑care or try to pour from an empty cup, emphasizing the need for supportive communities and networks (e.g., the National Speakers Association). He stresses that merely giving information is insufficient; the real impact comes when recipients activate that knowledge through action, noting a personal anecdote of a friend who earned a doctorate after applying his goal‑setting tools. Throughout, he reiterates that influence, leadership, and the opportunity to shape lives are central to these positions, and he calls listeners to assess whether they are helping others thrive rather than merely surviving. The talk concludes with encouragement to stay purpose‑focused, build supportive relationships, and recognize that everyone, regardless of title, holds leadership influence.
Chapters
Hey, great people! I wanted to just jump on real quick. Um, hope everybody's doing well on this Tuesday. Um, I put a question out there on my page, so if you haven't seen it, go check it out. But it simply says, what does the teacher, the coach, the pastor, the mentor, the counselor, the trainer, and the speaker have in common? And I didn't think it was gonna get that— this big of a response, but I got 50 dope comments, uh, responses from that question of what do all those people, those people in those positions, those roles have in common. And, you know, I can only speak for myself and only speak, uh, to people that I know personally that are in those roles of service. And at the I would say at the beginning of the reason why they're in these roles, and or we're in these roles, is we have a heart for people. We have a heart for people to become better, or even better, or to be, to live their best lives, right? Um, when you think about your teachers from grade school Um, when they initially started teaching— I'm gonna say they initially— when they initially started teaching, they really had a heart for youth, for young people, uh, to, to help them to grow. Same thing with a coach, whatever type of coach, whether it's a sports coach or whether it's a life coach, whether it's a career coach. When they first started their careers And those who are passionate about it, those who feel that they're— it's their purpose, they— their number one goal was to help people grow and become who they felt, uh, to become their best. Simply as that. Pastors, same thing. A pastor's— when, when they first started pastoring and when they got that, that call, they felt called to people and to give people the tools, uh, to make their lives better. So all those people in those positions— parenting, same thing. Parents, we want, at the end of the day, the good parents, we want to instill all the nuggets, the wisdom into our young people so that they can become their best. Same thing, mentorship, their best. Counselors, they want to help people become their best, reach their fullest potential, um, reach a healing place. Um, they may have had trauma or whatever it is. They want to, uh, them to become their best. Same thing with trainers and speakers, equipping, empowering, inspiring, motivating, encouraging, pushing forward, nudging for people forward. So what do they have all have in common is they, they genuinely— those who, who really feel that this is purpose work really want you to, to win. They want people to become their best. And win. Like, I, I don't know what else to say. Like, all the people who responded, uh, Don Tyler Lee, serving others, yeah, purpose, roles that support and guidance, leadership, influence, and communication. Uh, J.R. Edwards says involving guiding, instructing, or providing support and advice others in various aspects of life, education. All those things— influence, leadership, discipline, um, God, an oath to guide, support, and protect. Yeah, everybody has signed up for this. Now, now, Bonzel— Bonzel said, uh, titles, however, character determines the effectiveness of the titles. And, and again, I think that's from a perspective of people have gotten lost in these different roles of what they initially— or why they initially got into these roles, um, and where it becomes a little, little shoddy sometimes. Um, that's people. However, those who are focused and this is their purpose, then they're doing things to, to make sure that their purpose, their why, is continually at top of mind and not backwards. Because in all of these roles, people can get burnt out I don't know if you knew that. In all the roles that the titles that I described, people can get burnt out if they are not taking care of themselves well, if they're not surrounding themselves with the right people, um, and continue to get poured in. Because some people pour from an empty cup, but we ain't got time for that. Some people pour from an empty cup, but we're trying to stay full and filled. If you are in these roles of Inspiration, motivation, encouraging, and coaching. Okay, imparting information. Alfonso said an audience, they have a way of pulling something out of you and that, and that yourself, that yourself don't always know is there, right? That's what coaches do. We help see, we see things before the person who's in it sees them, sees the things. And so, yeah, that, that's a part of what we do. And that's a part of what all those other people do as well. The opportunity to shape lives. Now, I like the way Darlene, she, she put that, the opportunity to shape lives. It truly is an opportunity to shape lives in all those different roles. And for me, the biggest one is, is I can give the information, but if you don't activate it, if you don't take steps with the information that I give you, then it's just information. Like, nothing's gonna happen, you know. I was just— a good friend of mine, Gina Jones, she just graduated with her doctorate, and she was like, she was like, Kenston, you you know, thank you, 'cause back in 2019 you did this goal setting class and I actually, I applied what you, the tools that you have given, that you had given in that class. And I was like, wow. So you got to be a whole doctor because you attended a session where I was giving information, some tools, some resources, and then you took that information and you activated it And now you are Dr. Gina Jones. What? And so all those— these people in these different titles and roles, because they, they, they love people— I think at the beginning everybody, all these people in these roles love people. However, we're just givers of information. At the end of the day, we're givers of information and motivation and encouragement and resources. But at the end of the day, the people that we're giving this information to, they're the ones that have to put it into play, put it into action, right? I can speak life all day long and motivate people and inspire people. That's what I do on a day-to-day basis. Is give out so much information, but it's on the people who are listening to, one, take notes, two, take action. Because at the end of the day, like my father always said, I can't want it more than the person that I'm giving this information to. So that, that's an encouragement to teachers, coaches, pastors, parents, mentors, counselors, trainers, speakers, you can't want it more than someone else. Like, when you're giving the information, the resources, the tools, the nuggets of wisdom, at the end of the day, you can't want it more than the people that you're giving it to. Yes, it is a strong desire, a strong hope that you get it, that the people will get it, and run with it. But that's a way to burn out, is if you want it more than the people that you're giving it to. Hmm. Yeah. I got some amazing people I'm connected to. I'm looking at y'all responses. The opportunity to positively or negatively impact and shape the lives of others. That is so true, Vicki. And again, those who are really about these, these roles and in these, in these positions of great influence and great impact, hopefully it's positive. Craig Collins says the ability and interest in having a relationship with people around them. That's what happens. Opportunity for influence. My cousin Dan said we all have these types of people in our lives, but if you think about it Uh, about it, but one person in my opinion unites all of these is Jesus. Well, well, amen, amen. Uh, Brooke Boyd, she— unless she didn't write a thesis. Here we go. Teaching, which provides development, passing on skills to others, seeking helping and developing to change, enhancing the abilities to be productive in someone else's life while demonstrating the focus on what takes— what it takes to be a leader Leaving a standard to be reached, represented, and reformed to one's ability of success. And y'all, listen, y'all gotta go read that and read that slow. Uh, fulfillment and potential you get by seeing someone you assisted thrive. Taking full responsibility in position governed to you with wisdom, experience, keeping God in it. As I mean, that's, that's dope, that's dope. And, and that wraps all everything up. Wisdom and experience. Leandra, my good friend. Uh, Jeff Haywood— Heygood said influence. Yeah, like all of those roles says influence, right? You know, if you, if you're close to John Maxwell, he'll say leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less, right? All those roles have the potential to influence people. In hopefully a positive way. Uh, Dr. Leroy says they all impact others. That's the potential. And I like somebody did say that potential, potentially, or has the opportunity to make a great impact. I like, I like those because at the end of the day We're just givers of information, and, you know, and it's different delivery methods of it, right? All those roles deliver that engagement in, in different ways, and it is our hope that people run with it. Michelle says the opportunity to serve, influence, and foster growth. Monte says the ability to impact lives. That is, that is really What they have all in common is they have the potential— well, look, the potential to impact lives in a mega amazing way if people take action. Like, that's, that's really it. If people take action, if they follow through. You know, many times when I'm speaking and training, I'll give— I'm a content speaker, y'all, and so I give a lot of nuggets, I give a lot of wisdom during my engagements, and I encourage people to take notes because that's the first part for me, is you take notes, taking in information. But then being able to apply it. And so when I'm speaking, when I'm training, I'm saying, hey, this would be a good time to write this down, because, um, you know, I know it's going to be a good takeaway for them, and they're going to be able to apply to whatever, um, you know, their roles are in the workplace or in ministry or whatever it is. Because if they get this, if they apply it, if they take action on it, then great things are going to take place. Like, it just is. It just is. And so, um, but again, I'll leave those who are in positions of impact and influence to take the pressure off yourself and make sure you're not wanting it more than the people that you're serving. Like, be very passionate about it because that's going to help you be the best you but also encourage yourself, surround yourself with the right people. If you're doing any of these positions alone, you're doing it all wrong. So make sure you got the right people around you so that way you provide the best impact as much as possible. You know, I, I recently joined National Speakers Association to surround myself with other speakers, other people of influence that will allow me to keep growing in what I do and the services that I provide. And so get you a good network of people. But I want to encourage you, um, so everybody who wrote a comment, yeah, I mean, you're, you're correct, uh, you're correct from what I've seen. And, um, we, we all have those things in common, but at the, at the core is we genuinely want people to win. Boom, that's it. We genuinely want people to win, to be their best, to do what they were created to do on this earth, to not just exist but to live with purpose and to live abundantly and not barely make it. Not just surviving, we want you to thrive. Because just think about in a counselor world, if you can get healed, if you can get whole from whatever that experience or experiences of life that you've been through, if you can get healed, if you can get whole, how much better are you going to be? Is your life going to be— how much better is the people around you going to be because you You did that. You took the time. Yeah, so many benefits. But anyways, that's all I got. Hopefully you learned something. Um, definitely, uh, like and subscribe. YouTube, um, IG, LinkedIn, all those places. But I know for me, Live With Life is, is all about Purpose. My why is— it stands for purpose. Why do I do what I do? How can I help you do what you do? What you would do, what you were created to do. And because once we, we, we get into purpose, then we're better, and we're going to continue to get better and build ourselves and build the people around us. Again, I always ask, are the people around you better because of you? Like, are they growing because of you? Are they wiser? Are they healthier? Are they stronger because of you? Whatever it is that you do, is it helping the people around you? All right, that's— listen, that's, that's all I can keep going. I can keep going because this is, this is good work. This is good work. But again, I want to encourage you, those who are in any of these roles, to keep going, to keep moving forward. Those who are not even in these roles, you still have influence. I always say that everybody is a leader because somebody is looking at you. Somebody is watching you, whether it's at work, whether it's at home, especially, you know, somebody is watching you and they're they're taking action, um, because of something from you. So anyways, peace and blessings. I holla at you. Take care. Peace.
