Life-Changing Books Podcast Episode 26. Adrienne Bankert: Author of Your Hidden Superpower

Hello, Book Thinkers family, and welcome to episode number 26 of our brand new podcast, Book Thinkers Life-Changing Books. During each episode, I interview one of the world's top authors, and as a listener, you can expect to discover new books, new mentors, and new resources that you can use to achieve more and live better. In this episode, I have the pleasure to interview the author Adrienne Bankert. Adrienne is a national news correspondent with ABC News. And she has won 2 Emmys for her work as an interviewer, reporter, and weekend entertainment anchor on Good Morning America. Doesn't get much bigger than that. She will tell you that the genuine warmth and relatability she exhibits in her interviews comes from the habit of practicing connection and kindness. Kindness is gonna be a big word today. Our conversation is all about Adrienne's new book, Your Hidden Superpower. It was excellent. This book is a game changer in business. It's the door opener to fulfillment. And it's also the key to authenticity and confidence. I learned so much during this conversation, and I know you will as well. So without further ado, please enjoy this amazing conversation with Adrian Bankert. Well, Adrian, thank you so much for joining the Book Thinkers Life-Changing Books Podcast. I'm very excited to have you on today. For those in the audience that don't know who you are, can you introduce yourself to everybody?

My name is Adrienne Bankert. I'm the author of Your Hidden Superpower: The Kindness That Makes You Unbeatable at Work and Connects You with Anyone. I'm also a journalist, a national network broadcaster for ABC News, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and all the shows that we broadcast.

When did you realize that kindness was your superpower, and what made you decide to write this book?

Well, I think a lot of us look for a reason or a attribute to stand out. Like, as soon as we get old enough to realize that we're so different, or that some people want to be in sports, or some people want to be in media, or some people want to be in politics, or law, or medical, you're sitting there and you're thinking, what makes me so special? You know, even if you never say those words out of your mouth, you are thinking them. Well, if everybody's special, then what makes me so special that I'll get something special? And so You know, rather than make it a competition, kindness actually allows you to have this authentic expression of your personality. And I didn't realize or put the dots together about that until my mentor suggested that I write a book on kindness. And I had already decided, like, I would be the calmest person, you know, when news is happening and how busy it is, like, I would bring the calm. for the crew, for other people, for the people back in master control and in the director's booth. Like, I would maintain my composure because when you get stressed out during a news broadcast, it doesn't help anything.

Hmm.

You need that adrenaline pumping, but you need clearheadedness. And so that is one facet of kindness. But throughout my career, I've realized that my kindest self was my best self. And that's what made it my superpower because you couldn't duplicate who I am anywhere when I was being 100% me. And that's what kindness does.

I love that. Talking about your mentor a little bit, you actually have a line in the book where you say that there's an epidemic of insecurity in the world. And then you reference your mentor Bill, and you say— you actually give a quote that he said, which was, amateurs compete against others, but professionals compete against themselves. And so that's why I love your definition of kindness. It's all about being your authentic self. It's not about competing with everybody else, right?

No, because at the end of the day, you know, it's like we're comparing apples to oranges when we compete. And the truth is that sometimes I think we feel like somebody can steal our destiny. You know, they're as pretty as us for the ladies, or, you know, for some of the men, they're as handsome, they are as smart, or they are as talented. And then Like, it just becomes this scarcity mentality of there's only so much, there's only so many spots. Like, I learned when I moved to New York that there were only, I want to say, 60 people on the planet who actually do what I do at any given time. And so that's not a lot of people. I mean, in history, that's not a lot of people. But I made this rule when I worked in local news to never compete with everybody and like reduce everyone around me to a rival because I didn't know if down the road they were going to help me or I was going to help them. I didn't know if down the road one of them or myself would be each other's boss. I don't know where I decided it. I just, I didn't want that toxic thinking to enter into my mind. And so competing against myself meant measuring myself up against what I used to do. and who I wanted to become. Yeah. And so if I, you know, that, that it's simple. Like when you walk into your house and you think, okay, my destiny is to be, you know, I'll just say a New York Times bestselling author. Is my fridge the fridge of a New York Times bestselling author? Like, am I, if I, if I'm giving myself the proper diet and feeding myself, you know, the right nutrition so that I'm clear-headed and I have sharp focus and I have the right sleep, then I'm going to be a lot more ready to conquer that New York Times bestselling author category. It doesn't mean you have to be qualified by all these different rules. It's more like, am I living the excellent life that I'm telling people to live? Am I really living the life of an expert? And so just examining ourselves, I think, is important. And for me, I'm always examining myself. And that's that competing with yourself. It's like looking at your results And looking at what you could do better to actually not contradict yourself, because who you are in public is really who you are behind closed doors.

Now, that, that thing that you just said was a big subject in the book. It's operating as if somebody is always watching. And I love that because my mom used to say that to me a lot when I was younger. You know, somebody's always watching, God's always over your shoulder, that kind of thing. And I think that, you know, integrity is what's happening when nobody's watching. There's all these definitions that lead you in that direction, but when did you realize that? I know—

As a kid.

Yeah, as a kid.

As a kid. My mom would say it constantly, just like your mom, and it really put a little bit of anxiety in me, 'cause I thought, who's watching me? Who's gonna jump out from behind the bushes, or who's gonna get me in trouble? And I just think that she was always telling me, your brothers and sisters are always watching you. Even when you don't see them, they consider you a role model, so do the right thing. And it just followed me into television, you know, where I thought, well, if you have a microphone on and it's hot, then even though we're in a commercial break, somebody could be listening to you. Or even if we're in a commercial break and the cameras are still on you, there's somebody watching you. And so even when I'm standing on a street corner in Manhattan for a story, and I don't— I'm not on live, I'm thinking whatever I say, whatever I do, There's somebody in a booth somewhere who could pull up my microphone at any given time. So what I decided to do was just act like that when I'm at the nail salon, act like that when I'm at the grocery store, act like that when I'm picking up my dry cleaning. Because if I snap at somebody or if I treat somebody disrespectfully, there could highly likely be someone who recognizes me, not because I'm on TV, but recognizes my actions and thinks, that was so messed up. Like, what kind of person are you? And it's not a guilty thing. It's not always looking over your shoulder in fear. It's more knowing that we all affect each other and we change the atmosphere of where we are. And so for me, knowing that I'm the oldest of 7 kids and I could affect the atmosphere in my home growing up, I can certainly see how I would do the same thing for my office if I'm doing it at my job or at, again, a public gathering at the park. Like seeing the domino effect of my mood on other people.

Yeah, it's very important. And backing up to a point that you made a little bit earlier, I just sort of had a realization as we were talking because when we were offline, we were talking a little bit about insecurity. How do you get rid of it? What happened for my life specifically? And I realized that when I started to look at myself and not compete against other people, I said, okay, here's where I am today. Here's where I want to be. There's a gap. What are some things that I can do to progress in that direction and ultimately end up at that place that I want to be? And so I stopped caring about what other people were doing to accomplish their goals. I started to care more about what I needed to focus on. And I think a big part of insecurity is the judgment that you feel from other people. It might limit your actions. But if you're always kind and if you're always focusing on how you can be a positive impact, I think that naturally over time, that'll start to get rid of the insecurity. Does that make sense?

Exactly. Well, I mean, it's what you're focused on. And, you know, we all fall prey to different levels of weakness in our lives, whether it's insecurity or it's doubt. Like, self-doubt is so toxic where you— yeah, you're not sure if you can make it. Um, I think that affirming yourself is important, like saying words out loud, because, you know, we communicate by speaking. I just did a talk on momentum, and I talked about how anything that gains momentum in the public space You know, whether it's a campaign or a movement or an advertising promotion, it gains traction online. Something's trending because people are talking about it. And so that's how we're engineered. So what are we talking about when it comes to ourselves? And so to say, I am kind— no, wait a minute, I am a kind person, out loud became a little bit of a mantra for me that kind of sounds like, if somebody was to overhear you, sappy or self-righteous.

Mm-hmm.

And it's like, no, I have to say I'm kind because the alternative is I'm unkind. That's not cool. And the other alternative is you think I'm not kind enough. And when I came to the— you know, when I wrote this in the chapter, I think it's the end of chapter 5, I said, wow, what really was happening is I was saying I'm not enough. I'm not kind enough. That's like saying I'm not pretty enough. I'm not smart enough. I'm not driven enough. It's like, You're literally self-critical of yourself. And to say, I am kind, became like my DNA. That's who I am. That's who I operate as. That's what I— that's what guides my life and my attitude. And it really helps me to stay focused again in a place of confidence and security instead of insecurity.

I had a guest on earlier this year, Jim Kwik, and he says that I am are the 2 most powerful words in the English language because your brain is a supercomputer. And you're programming it through either positive or negative affirmations. And so by identifying as somebody that's not kind enough, you're programming your supercomputer to identify opportunities to point that out to you. And so that's obviously pretty bad. And you actually say in the book that kindness leads to more kindness or makes you aware of more kindness. And so by identifying as a kind person, the reticular activating system in your brain will, will filter for that. Which is how the momentum starts. I find that really fascinating.

Yeah, you'll attract more kind people and you'll expect more kindness shown to you because you have it on your mind. It's like buying a new car and then you start to see all these cars on the road that are exactly the same model, exactly the same color. It's like, before I never noticed that, but you're so conscious of what you have. And so we really are very conscious of ourselves. It's just sometimes we become numb because of the disappointments in life, because of hardships, and because of our own like coping mechanisms. And so to say, I am kind, you actually recognize that it's not just you involved, because kindness always— it's mutually exclusive to involve other people when you are talking about kindness. You're not just kind all by yourself and alone in a room. You are kind to someone else, and then you can know that those someone elses will actually help you along your path too.

In the book, you talked a little bit about fast friends, and I bet that The more you're aware of kindness in your own life and the more you identify as a kind person, the more opportunities you'll see to make some of those fast friends that you talk about. So could you tell everybody what fast friends are?

Yeah. So whenever I'm out and about, it just— I don't know, it's something that I think you need to be kind to your fellow man. So it's something in my DNA, like where I'm like, well, people need a smile. People need somebody to open the door for them. Right. So it's like just acknowledging people and then it's Acknowledging people who do kind things. You know, I talk about in the book this gentleman opened the door for a lady and I was so touched I turned around walking in the opposite direction and chased him down and said, I just want to say thank you for being so kind. That was so sweet. Don't ever stop. Don't change, you know, who you are and be that way all the time. And he just had this huge smile on his face. But just the other day, a makeup artist was going to do my makeup. You know, it's this interesting time that we've been in. And so she had a dog with her and the dog spa wasn't open. The hours posted were not legit. And so she had her dog with her and my doorman offered to take her dog and watch the dog. And he just said, I just wanna help. And it was just the sweetest thing. I just remember thinking, this guy, I just— When people are so generous to you, like that man was a friend to the makeup artist. Fast friends, doing something for someone who, quote unquote, is a stranger, but you actually are giving to them like you would to a buddy or a family member.

Now, I love that. I was actually telling my girlfriend after I read the book that I'm going to start to— because I see people do kind things sometimes and I don't point it out. And I don't know why that is. And I, I stem from a place where I used to be very socially anxious. So that might be part of it. I don't want to make a public scene or something, but I'm going to make an effort after reading this book to implement that. I think it's brilliant.

Well, thank you. Yeah, I— you end up connecting with people at a different level when you actually engage people that you don't— you don't know their name, you don't know their background, you don't know anything about them. And you just know that they did something kind. And it's like recognizing that in humanity gives us this opportunity, like a lightning bolt, to connect with someone who we would never ever have the chance to speak to. Like, what's the reason? Like to go up and just say, hi, how are you? Hi, my name's Nick. What you doing? You can't do that for most people. They think you're crazy. Like, they just think, what's— why are you bothering me?

Yeah.

But if you go up to them and say, I just saw you do something kind. I want to say thanks. That could open up them to say, what's your name? And automatically you make a friend. Automatically you make a business connection. Automatically you just say hello to a stranger who will now be encouraged the rest of their day. I think it's powerful.

And there's that butterfly effect or the momentum of that spreading out because now they'll be kind to somebody else or they'll be a little bit happier. That kind of thing happens.

They'll keep doing it. They'll keep being kind because I think that it's a— it can be a thankless job to be kind. And people don't always say, hello, I want to tell you, I commend you for being that way. But when you do it, you actually create a ripple effect in them. They will not forget that someone thanked them. And they'll pass that on to the next person, like you said.

Yeah, that's great. I was watching a documentary about an author recently, and he was at a book signing and he was shaking a bunch of hands and he would have 15 seconds with each person. And he was crying in the interview reflecting about it because he was saying that, you know, most people don't get a kind act each day or maybe even each week or each month given to them. Like, they'll go months sometimes without other people appreciating them. And so for him to be able to impact hundreds of people maybe in a day, Shaking their hand, they read his book, whatever, it impacted their life. That's a very powerful thing. And so just to stop and slow down. In the book, you talk a little bit about everybody's so busy moving, moving, moving. If you could stop and make eye contact and just slow things down for a minute, it could have a big impact.

Yeah, that's part of my favorite facet of kindness is that especially now with these— as much isolation as we've had, we need each other. And sometimes we're not going to get the love we need from our family. Sometimes you don't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. or a partner or a spouse. Sometimes you feel isolated even in the midst of a crowd of people. But to see one shiny face, to see one smile through the eyes now, because a lot of us have to wear masks everywhere, it's just part of the new dynamic. It's like, wow, you just gave me oxygen. I mean, you just gave me a chance to breathe. You just gave me a chance to think, oh, maybe I haven't lost hope.

Mm-hmm.

And I think that we want to be purveyors of hope right now more than ever.

Let's back up a little bit to the start of our conversation. We talked a little bit about why kindness. Now in the book you say Kindness 2.0. What's the difference between how we traditionally define kindness and how you define kindness in this new 2.0 world?

So for most of us, we were taught to be kind when we were little kids. I think of most adults, and I'd often find articles on kindness and find out, oh, like This is, you know, something I want my child to grow up to be. I want them to be a kind person. I want them to help people.

Mm-hmm.

It becomes a trait that we want to see in a spouse, or our grandparents encouraged us to be as we got older. You know what I mean? Like, it's like a nice idea. And kindness means helping a lot of times those in need. In the basic form, you know, the original thought of it is it's more sympathetic than empathetic. And I am a firm believer in sympathy. I am, in terms of, you know, giving to those, feeling sorrow for those who are grieving. I actually write a lot about grief in one of the chapters. But if we're not going to be kind to everybody, if we're not going to be kind to the people who look like they have everything together, if we're not going to be kind to the people who are smiling, if we're not going to be kind to the people who have more than us, you know, in terms of finances or home or business. then we are prejudging who our kindness is deserved or reserved for. You know, we all— it's not about deserving kindness. It's just, it's a basic human need. And so to elevate it to something where we're more universally kind, because most people have one facet of people they'll be kind to, they'll be kind to homeless, they'll be kind to children, they'll be kind to the elderly, they'll be kind to family members, but then other people and other factors of life get cut out. Because consciously we just have— we haven't made that universal switch. And then the second part of it is just seeing how powerful it is at connecting people. Because in my career, you know, a lot of people would say, oh, you've worked so hard. Yeah, I worked hard. I could have worked harder. Or, oh, you deserve all the success you've had. No, if I told you some of the stuff I did, you know, that wasn't perfect, that, you know, I didn't get the 4.2 GPA. You know, I didn't have a really high SAT score. I didn't even go to as many markets as a lot of people do in terms of where I worked in television to come to this place. You could say, no, I really didn't deserve it. I was given open doors of opportunity because of kind people. And so recognizing how much we rely on kindness to become who we are and to step into our destiny shoes is to me something that we have not focused on enough.

Mm-hmm.

We haven't even been aware of, and that is why it's needed to be elevated to this 2.0 status.

A lot of my audience asks me questions about networking. And so you just started talking a little bit about how you got to where you are today. Kindness opened the doors for you. You have a quote that I'm going to read from the book. It says, kindness doesn't try to impress, but it is impressive. You can almost hear you saying it because I rewound it to write down the exact quote. I thought that was fantastic. And that's happened with me too. I mean, I, I was definitely not the best student. You know, like we talked about offline, I came from a place of ego and insecurity prior to reading personal development books, and I was underperforming financially for sure back then. And so, you know, being kind and starting to learn more about myself and be vulnerable and transparent definitely helped open a lot of doors.

Yeah. And you were kind to yourself. I mean, I think a lot of people who are nice and they show that nice face and they express kind acts to people, Don't often receive the kindness that, oh, I'm fine, or they don't take the time for personal development like you did, which is an investment in your future and the future of anyone that you love. If we're not kind to ourselves, if we don't take time for ourselves, we will take it out on other people. And so when it comes to networking, I like the term connecting more than networking because a lot of times when people network, Mm-hmm. it's about what can I get out of the situation. But when you're connecting, it's about what can I bring to the situation? But if you don't value yourself first, like I've just found that in my life, I didn't always value myself at the level I should have. And so how could I expect anyone else to? So rather than try too hard and try to fit into a mold of what I should do, I had to discover what I was that no one could duplicate. And that's what makes it impressive because most people haven't met 5 real people I mean, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but seriously, like, the world is crying out for the authentic. They're crying out for people who say, this is me, you know, it doesn't have to be perfect. It's 100% authentic. It's 100% genuine. People are so refreshed by seeing that, that you'll have doors open for you because they're thinking, I've never met anybody like you before. Well, no, you won't for the rest of all history, for the rest of all time. Because there's only one you. So if I could help anybody to connect in their career, in their life, I would want them to get into the shoes that only they can fit. And, and to me, kindness is the trigger. It's the trigger switch. Just start focusing on kindness and you will be radically— and I don't want the right— let me get the right word. You will be radically revealed. Because there's sometimes things in life that cause us to hide from who we are. Or hide from other people. And it's like, be kind and people will finally see you like, oh, there you are, you know.

No, it's very important what you just said. And the authenticity, you know, coming from a place of insecurity to a place of radical transparency and honesty and authenticity, there's almost some adrenaline to it. There's almost a little bit of swagger to being kind sometimes. And it's not, it's not an external ego thing. It's you feel really good about it. Right.

I like that. I think I'm putting that on a t-shirt.

Yeah, please do. I'll buy one.

I love that. No, it's because when you're really kind, and I don't mean just doing something nice for somebody, I mean really thinking consciously, okay, like, I'm meeting Nick for the first time. I want to know a little bit about his story. I want to know a little bit about what makes him tick without feeling put on the spot because I'm here to be interviewed, not interview him. But, um, just Being aware that someone has a life path before I met them and what their dreams are could possibly align with my dreams, but without any expectation of doing anything except for making the day better for that person. There's something that is— It's just amazing how confident, how bold. You don't think about, oh, I've got to do this because this would be the right decision. You literally are just like, I gotta do this, and you do it, and people might be surprised, like, what gave you the gumption to ask for that? Like, where'd that chutzpah come from? It's like, I'm just being myself. That's what happens when I'm just me.

Mm-hmm.

I just, I think that there's so much freedom in that. It's so fulfilling. We talked about the word fulfillment before jumping on this call, but it's so fulfilling to just know you're being 100% you and Who cares? I mean, the money's gonna come, the fame or whatever it is that you're looking for, the status is gonna come. The, you know, the spouse or the, you know, house with a big backyard, the business idea, the innovation, it's all gonna come out of you being your irreplaceable self.

Mm-hmm. I love it. I love it. What role— in the book, you talk a lot about mentorship. And so you have a very special mentor, and now you're mentoring a lot of people as well. What role has mentorship played in your life, and how has kindness kind of been the overarching theme there?

Mentoring— what I've learned, you know, and I talk about this, is that a lot of people want a mentor or have had mentors in some capacity. But when you get with a mentor who's really invested in you as if the dream you have is theirs, Like they care more about the dream than you do, but for your sake, not to take it over, not to steal your ideas, you know, not to take the credit. There's something really priceless about that. And the other side of mentoring is, I call it the tour guide to your life. You know, like I, I'm a tour guide for people who are navigating their way through the greatest adventure they'll ever have. This is way more important than going to Nepal and going mountain biking. This is way more important than going and seeing the Great Wall in China. This is more crucial because you're navigating this treasure map to the end of your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And if I can help you, then that ends up making your journey a lot less bumpy. And so for me, mentoring helps make life a lot less bumpy and helps you recover when you do fall or when you do have what looks like a failure happen or a shortcoming or a character flaw. In your life, you can have somebody, wait a minute, I'm right here, let me help you out of this hole that you dug. And I found that mentors, a real mentor, will not always express themselves in the sweet sugary way that a friend or a teacher would. Not that teachers can't be direct. But a lot of times you'll have somebody in your life who invests in you, but they'll say it in a really sweet way and they'll beat around the bush and they don't want to tell you directly how messed up you are. But a mentor will tell you how messed up you are. And how, like, listen, you're messed up, but we're gonna get— we're gonna get this right.

Yeah.

How many people do you know who are that honest? Like, I don't know that many people.

Yeah, no, it's— I mean, it's tough. And there's that line that Will Smith popularized. I'm not sure who said it first, but you're the average of the 5 people that you spend the most time with. And having reflected on that for many years now, I've actually built an accountability group that I meet with on a weekly basis. And right now I have 3 other people in the group with me and we give each other brutally honest feedback. But the first thing that you mentioned is also really important, which is that they celebrate my wins just as much as I celebrate their wins. It's a very mutual relationship that we have. And so do you find that it's important to have your friends celebrate wins with you as well?

I think that, well, there's different levels of friendship. Yeah. You know, So, and when you talk about an accountability group, there could be friends in that group. There could be mentors in that group. There could be people you mentor in that group, right? And so I think that celebrating wins is fun with anybody who's willing to celebrate you.

True.

But I definitely have learned to put different hats on people because when I treated my mentor as a friend, I still had them in my life. They still helped me, but not to the level a mentor would. When I had people in my life who wanted to be my friend versus me mentor them, I learned that there was only so much I could say. So celebrating was a lot more— I don't know, I'm still rah-rah, you know, let's go, like, let's have a party. But I found that the best help that I've received, or the most fun in terms of celebrating, has been when I've had to listen to someone who's going to tell me no, or listen to someone who doesn't act as happy as I do about something happening because they know It's kind of like, and again, I love celebrating, believe me, but it's kind of like when you have a personal trainer and they're pushing you and you reach a certain level, like in your development, where you're like, yes, I could do, you know, 200 crunches, no problem now, where before I could do 7. That trainer isn't necessarily going to celebrate with you at that point. Yeah. Because their goal is to get you to 500 crunches. I'm just using a really random number. But you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, no, it's a great point.

I celebrate, but then it's like, and in fact, like I've had my mentor say, we're gonna go celebrate, we're gonna have fun. But then I find out that fun includes some really tough truth that isn't fun. I'm like, okay, I'm glad you let me eat cake tonight, because now you're giving me everything that I got to do in eating my vegetables. But not just eating my vegetables, I got to eat my vegetables on a tightrope over the Grand Canyon, and that's how hard this next challenge of self, personal development is going to be. And so, again, I love celebration. I hope I didn't take it too far off a tangent.

Yeah, no, no, not at all. I mean, you know, the role, the role, the role of my group is definitely very balanced in that. I mean, celebrate wins and milestones that were previously determined, but then, yeah, then it's the next step. It's, it's always progress. Progress is my one word. It's what makes me fulfilled, like we talked Is that your word for 2020?

Is that your word always?

It's my word for 2020. I defined it this year, but in the past I would have been fulfilled by it, but I didn't have as much definition, you know. Now I've got a whole, whole backstory to why it means so much to me.

What's your word for 2020?

Is it kindness?

Yeah, no, it's fun.

Speaking of fun, before we jump off, because I know we need to end in a couple minutes, you've done a lot of traveling for work.

Yeah.

Where is where is one place that you would recommend everybody has to go visit? Because I love international travel, so hopefully it's somewhere internationally.

Prague, I would definitely say go to Prague. I mean, the history of the buildings—it's just amazing. If you've never been to Lyon, France. I mean, obviously Paris is one of the international cities of all international cities, but Lyon was extremely cool. And then I would go back to Tokyo in a heartbeat because I worked there, but I didn't have a lot of chance to like explore as much as I wanted to.

Mm-hmm.

So if anybody wants to go to Tokyo, go there, but like give yourself enough time to maybe like take the train to Ginza. And incorporate shopping with sightseeing and some of the most beautiful restaurants in the world. And I don't know what travel's like now internationally, personally, but I know that we will travel.

We will.

Especially people like you and me who love to. So yeah, those are my top 3. You asked me for one, I gave you 3.

All right, well, now I added 3 to my list.

Yeah, you've never been to any of those?

No, I haven't. Yeah, I just went to Europe for the first time last year, but I only did Portugal. And then I've never been to— I've never been to Asia. I've spent a lot of time in Central and South America. So those have been my destinations so far.

Well, before you go to Asia, like, talk to me. We'll have a nice chat. And I mean, I'd love to explore it some more. But there's— I mean, there's just so much beauty in the world. And there is, again, there's a chance to connect people with kindness. So Yeah.

Awesome. Well, for people who want to learn a little bit more about you or your book, where should they go? What should they do?

They should log on to adriennebankert.com, my website. You can learn more about the kindness book, Your Hidden Superpower, but also about other projects that I work on. I do some— I do a number of e-courses, and then I've got more projects coming out, so I'm excited. There's a little bit more about what I do, my bio, and some of the work that I've done around the world. So I'm very, very grateful. I've had a great opportunity to have many adventures And I see now more than ever that kindness is needed to be that ticket to a fulfilling and happy life like you were talking about.

Well, I'm grateful that you came on. It was a brilliant conversation. So thank you so much. And I look forward to talking about Tokyo sometime soon.

Yeah. Oh, you would love it. Yeah. And I think I'm going to take some of what you talked about and actually, you helped spark my interest in progress and in purpose. So thank you for sharing yourself like an open book. I really appreciate it.

Good. You're very welcome. I look forward to talking soon.

Thank you. Bye, Nick.

That is a wrap. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this week's episode of Book Thinkers: Life-Changing Books. To discover more books, more mentors, and more resources that you can use to achieve more and live better, Make sure you check out our website at www.bookthinkers.com. There you'll find links to our mobile application, more podcast episodes, our shop so you can get some Book Thinkers swag, and our socials. With that, I'm signing off and I'll see you for next week's episode of Book Thinkers Life-Changing Books. Bye.