Celebrating 100 Episodes: Reflecting and Looking Ahead

Hey everyone, it's Sean. Welcome to the Meaningful Revolution Podcast. And today we're celebrating our 100th episode of the podcast. So this is from the YouTube live I did yesterday as we released this today. And so a really quick turnaround for this, which is great. And we talk a little bit about what people have said about the podcast. We've talked about these new ideas called Passion Path. And where are you on your passion Path? What is the Meaningful Matrix? And. And where are you on that? We talked about a little bit of the story of the podcast and why an introvert like me and I know, right, introvert it might not buy that would want to start a podcast. And we also talked about what is in store for the next, I don't know, a hundred episodes of the Meaningful Revolution Podcast. So as that future part getting set, which I didn't clearly state, but we have themes for the seasons moving forward, at least for the next three. And so we'll get to talking about the question and the next season coming up, why you need to increase your leadership skills to lead your personal Meaningful Revolution more effectively. And so I'm really excited to be sharing that with you for the guests that we'll have coming on soon. And so with that, enjoy this episode of the Meaningful Revolution Podcast. Hey everyone. Welcome to the Meaningful Revolution Podcast where we help curious knowledge workers who feel restless and uninspired find the inspiration and strategies to build their most purposeful, fulfilled, joyful life. I am your host, Sean Buttner, and this is number one, the 100th episode of the Meaningful Revolutions. I am really excited to be here today with you. This is the first time we're doing live, so hopefully there aren't any technical things or lawnmowers or things that'll go off in the background here for you. And today I just wanted to highlight you, right, I wanted to do something a little bit different, explain a little bit about the story of the Meaningful Revolution. Words been up to here, you've heard some run up if you've been a listener here. And yeah, we'll get into what people have really loved about the podcast so far. We'll talk about Passion Path, which is something I've noticed in all the guests. We'll talk about the meaningful the Matrix, which is a new idea I've had too. We'll also talk about why an introvert me would start a podcast. And then what we can hope for in the next a hundred episodes. And then hopefully if you are here, we'll get the questions. And I say hopefully there because this idea to do this live came to me last week. I didn't do a lot of extra promotion and planning about this. If you're on my email list and newsletter, which is linked below in the notes, you can get email notifications. But as you'll hear from me as we talk about getting a little bit more organized. So next month when I go live, because I think I'm going to try to do these monthly for a little bit just to see how that goes, we'll get a little bit more promotion, a little bit more buzz, and hopefully a little bit more community engagement, because that is one of the things that I'm hoping for in this. But if you're here on YouTube live with me, you can always go into the chat to ask any questions. At the end of today's episode, I'll go through and pick some of them. So be sure to do that. I'm going to not pay attention to comments because it's just me running this whole thing and there's a heavy reliance on technology. There's only one person looking at the stuff. What could actually go wrong? Hopefully nothing, but we'll see there. So with that said, I'd like to start off with I've been asking people this last month, what do you think makes the Meaningful Revolution podcast unique? Or what do you love about the podcast? And there's been two consistent comments that I've heard, and the first is that people have really loved the breadth of guests. So the different kind of focuses and passions that people have has been really something that people really loved. And part of that strategy for me has not been a strategy. It's been, you know, the nugget and gut instinct that if you interview somebody about what they're really passionate about and they're authentic in that passion, the conversation will be super interesting. And I'm very happy to say that's been the case for the last hundred episodes. And I know we've done a mix of solo episodes and interviews, but we'll get to that again a little bit later. I'm very happy that people have appreciated that. We've talked about branding. We've talked about if you're planning to partake in the psychedelic magic mushroom thing. We've had a couple of folks talk about that. We've talked about people that run men's groups, authors and business owners, and people that love running, people that love health. There's been a huge umbrella of topics we've covered and things that people have been passionate about that I've really Just enjoyed myself as a person learning about, but it's been really cool to highlight those folks. So if you've been a guest, the Meaningful Revolution. Thank you. I've really, I really do appreciate it. And I can't wait for the next set of guests. I can't wait for guests to come back. I have a couple of those feelers out for that. That's cool. Second, I want to thank you, the listeners, too, for enjoying that mix of guests. Right. So there's not been a huge coherent reason to maybe listen to the show. I tend to overthink things, and I've been in it lately. I hope that new listener mission or POD podcast tag that I did at the top, you'll be hearing a lot more. It might morph a little bit, but I think generally that's where we're going to be. But okay, so getting back to what people said, people have also loved this holistic approach to passion. And so what does that mean? That means we haven't just focused on people that have started businesses based on their passion. It's been people that have just been super interested in a topic and know a lot about it and now want to maybe share that information or are willing to have a conversation with some guy from the Internet to talk about something that they absolutely love. And. And so I thought this was very interesting. They didn't necessarily set out to be holistic, but I guess the tag that had been for the podcast of interviewing people about what they nerd out about to inspire you to follow your passions really helped pull that in. So I'm very thankful for that. And I hope, I don't hope we will be continuing to focus on this holistic approach where it could just be a personal interest, it could be a professional interests, could be both, something in between, I guess, that I haven't thought about. But that is part of what people have really loved. And so again, thank you to everyone that have been willing to talk to me about this. I know there's a lot of other different reasons that people said they love this podcast, but I'm just very thankful for that. Which gets me to this next idea that I wanted to share with y' all today, and that is what is Passion path? And so I've been thinking about what is the common phases that people are in their meaningful revolutions. And I came up with this idea of the passion path. So it's really just three components. There are people that start out having interest in something. You then develop confidence and competence in that topic, and then you Go to lead it, right? So the idea is that you discover an interest, you develop your knowledge, skills and expertise in it, and then you deploy your knowledge out into the world. And so, again, taking a look at the guests that have been on, we had people that are just interested in health or just interested in AI or just interested in sharing what they know about teaching or just sharing about what they know about creativity. And so these are folks maybe at the beginning of their meaningful revolution where they got interested in something, they're just starting to follow it, and they maybe aren't the expert in it yet, but they have that passion. And so we celebrate those people because it all has to start somewhere. We then have people that are really digging deep, right? So they're developing their meaningful revolution and reaching out to other experts, other people getting to know more about a topic or subject. They are pretty consistently, they could talk your ear off for it for a while. I think a lot of the people that I put in the just developing their interests first bucket are probably more in this bucket too, where they have all the stuff. Maybe they haven't synthesized it into a system that is in their voice or their words, or maybe they haven't, you know, explored everything there is to explore about it quite yet. But they're on the path, right? They are actively seeking and actively taking action on learning about the thing. And then the third part, they people that deploy. So these are the folks that have been on a podcast that have businesses that are trying to help people. These are the authors that have written books to get their knowledge out, get their interest or purpose or mission out in the world. These are the folks that create art. These are the people that are hosting meetings in their communities to talk about parenting or to talk about why you should travel with kids. The list goes on and on. And this is where the meaningful revolution is aiming to help people achieve, right? We want you to have leadership in your interests, where you are pursuing it with an interest of sharing it in the world in some type of endeavor somehow. So that's how I think through that passion path. And I think this last season of the podcast was an example of that, where I was interested in how AI can help you in business. I interviewed a bunch of folks and will continue to interview a bunch of folks on how they're using or thinking about AI in their craft and profession, in their business or in their personal lives. And so they went from an interest. I've reached out. I have. I've been in a couple of groups using AI for coaching. We Talked with Robert Murray. He's a group that's leading that. And that's been really fun and starting to build more of a network around it. And I hope. And my plan has been this year to release some type of course relating to how to deploy effectively AI in your solopreneur business. Right. So helping those people in that deploy phase of the passion path really get the word out. Yeah. So that. That's the passion path. That's what I've noticed is a common thread. And so I'd like for you to think about, where are you on your passion path? Maybe in something in your life. Right. And your hobbies and your career and something going on in your personal life. This isn't a single path. Like we might have several of these that we're currently developing in our life or that we've started and then lost interest, which is fine. Sometimes you think something's a good idea, you get doing it and you're like, actually, I hate this. And there's a lot of power in knowing when to stop. And for anyone, wherever you are on your journey, on your passion path, we're cheering you on. And I think it takes a lot of discipline. It takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of energy to go out and develop any passion or any interest that you have. And so it's important that we cheer each other on in that. And that's what I'm doing right now. Okay. With all that, I also have something I think I'll call this a framework for helping people determine, like how to move up in that passion path. Right. And that's what I call the meaningful matrix. It's really an access of 2 points. You're either in delay or you're in action. You're either clear or you're uncertain. Right. And so if you are in delay and you're uncertain, I call those the folks that are stuck. Right. And again, this is just a way that I've been kicking around. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. So get in the chat or reply that if you sign up for the newsletter, reply to a newsletter, tell me what you think about this. But you know, I'd like for you to think about you in, in your life. Are you in the thing that's most meaningful to you, right. Thing that you love doing every day? Are you not taking action at all or you're not certain what that is? And that's where everyone again starts. And so there's nothing wrong about being stuck. Some people, it can be very Comfortable to not be putting yourself out there and being vulnerable, chasing something that you absolutely love. And so maybe you're school just going with the flow and what happens here in my observation as a coach and in the podcast, but there's usually some type of call to action, call to change that happens when you're stuck here where it's a bad boss, it's a team that's really draining, it's a work environment that that's really bad, or it's you just doing what people expected of you, right? Culturally, you're supposed to go to college or you're supposed to become a doctor, or you're supposed to join the family business, or you're just supposed to be self sufficient. And that might mean working like 7,000 jobs a week or whatever. And so you haven't really made the decision that hey, there's something more in my life, there's something that I really want to see out in the world. And so once that decision happens, you tend to move into the second phase, which is taking action, but maybe not being clear, which I call a seeker. And these are people that are, are trying different jobs or trying different courses, personal development, you might have a bunch of hobbies you're running through because you're like, I need to find joy in something in my life and maybe if it's not my work or the status quo where I feel stuck, I need to do something different. Right? And so you cycle through tons and tons of ideas and activities trying to find your thing, right? And what really this is the phase where you're going to get clear on what's going on or what you really love. And for me in my career it's, I thought it was computers and software, became a software engineer, realized I loved the mentoring part of that the most. And then developing, pulling that thread, maybe becoming the world's best software engineer isn't my thing, but maybe becoming a manager, team leader or some type of guidance position would be more suited to me. So started developing some coaching skills, fell in love with that, then made the whole pivot towards, oh, I'm gonna build a business around coaching. And from there that's where we went. So that's why I'm here now. And so these kind of this matrix people are bouncing around in between them and you might be very clear on something and then as you're doing it, you get unclear. And so you go from the next phase, which is taking action or not delaying, but clear on what your meaningful revolution is. I call that the reactionary where you're waiting for opportunities, you are maybe not sure what the next steps are. You generally might have a very comfortable, successful life. And for me, again, I was a software engineer. I was like a software engineer at Apple, which is a dream job, and I was very comfortable there. But the stuff I was working on wasn't really lighting that fire in my heart. And then when that happened, I knew that I wanted to do coaching. I knew I wanted to not do software anymore. And so I was like, oh, but I'm not financially ready yet. This is the but oh phase. But oh, I have to think about how this is going to impact my spouse. But oh, I need to make sure that I have a certain amount of my business running up already before I start. So both those types of questions are come up in this space. And so you're, again, reacting to the world around you and not really being proactive and driving it, but once you get clear and you start taking action towards a meaningful revolution, that's when we're in this revolutionary phase where you are out there sharing your goodness, sharing your gifts. You're leaving your space. You are. And like, leaving your space doesn't mean that you're actually successful, but you are. You've decided to try to forge your life the way that you want to. And that's pretty crazy. Yeah, that. That's what I consider the meaningful matrix. Again, you might. It's helpful to think about where are you on this matrix? Are you taking action towards a very clear vision for your future, for your family, for your organization? Are you clear on that future? But you don't know what to do? So you're not actively taking action? Are you throwing a bunch of spaghetti on the wall, seeing what sticks to maybe have a better idea of what that vision is for you? Or are you just stuck and you don't know what you want for your future, for your life, for your family and your organization, for yourself? And you don't know how to start? Right. And this is. These are the folks. These are all the. The folks that I'm hoping to serve in this meaningful revolution. So again, let me know what you think about the matrix, if this makes sense or not. That's totally cool. But so going down the notes, I wanted to tell the story of the meaningful revolution. Right. And why would an introvert like myself start a podcast? And so initially I shared that I thought my passion was software. I actually found it was coaching. I made pivots to move to coaching, started a business, was leading my life in that direction. But not getting the results in my business. And I started to think, what do I love about coaching people one on one? I love having a relationship with people where you're challenging them, you have their best interests in mind. Most of the time, I'd say 99% of the time people are appreciative of that perspective of being pushed a little bit or being called out when they're inconsistent. It's a little bit held accountable. And you know, with a great curriculum too, people are always getting something out of the coaching. So it's a very, it's very fulfilling for me to be in conversation and providing value for people. So that's the thread I started to, to pull. And so I thought, what are some adjacent things I could do besides coaching that might utilize some of those skills but have the same feel? And so I thought, oh, podcast. So that was the initial spark of it. I also wanted. So I'm. Since I'm introverted and to define introvertedness, it's how you spend energy, right? If you can think of it as when I heard, I think it was Simon Sinek talked about this analogy roughly. But when you wake up as an introvert, you have a bank account that has a hundred bucks in it. And every social interaction you have, every meeting and thing that's outwardly focused takes a buck away from that bank account. So at the end of the day, you end up with 0 or with a negative balance and you're drained. An extrovert is someone that gets energized by social interaction. So they start with a bank account of zero and every social interaction they get charges them up and they get a dollar from it. And so they are abundantly energetic by the end of the day, right? And so that's a great analogy for introvertism. It's how are you expending energy, right? Doing an episode live like this is expending energy. I had to plan my energy today for this. Jumping around and dancing, moving. I listened to some good music, making sure that I had my fitness this morning, stretching and all that, to be here, to serve with energy, so that when this is over, I can take a break and just zone out for a bit and take care of my energy. Because this is an energy give, right? What I noticed though, with the one on one coaching is it's a social type of social interaction that will drain me by one. But give me two bucks in my energy account, if you will. And so it's the same thing with the podcast, right? As much as I will be Expending energy. As much as I know that I need to plan to spend energy to do an episode like this, as much as I know I will need to recover energy after this, it's still very energizing. Right. I feel like I'm working on my personal meaningful revolution and lifting people, helping them really follow their passions in life. And that lights me up. And that is something I heeded in coaching. And then it did translate over into the podcast world. So that's why Introvert would start a podcast. Oh, and and on top of it, there's one other thing in my notes that I forgot to share. This was a way for me to reach out and have something to work on with people that I wanted to network with. And I. I think with anything you do in life, you have to make it work for yourself, your personality. And I'm always the guy at the barbecue that's chopping vegetables or flipping burgers or has to have a job, so I don't get anxious or in my head or hide essentially to protect my energy. And so if I'm doing something of service, people can come up and talk to you. Usually they don't because they think you're busy, but you can add to the party. You can provide value to the experience, and it's a way to that. I have used to go to social cabinets, and so the podcast is the same. So there's a friend or someone that I know that I would love to reach out to. I might not just give someone a call and be like, hey, how's it going? Pick your brain about something that you're interested in. But if we're doing a podcast, it's a thing gonna go out to the world. We're gonna get some social media buzz around it. And it's really worked for me. So this has also been a very sneaky way to trick myself into networking, is what I'm saying. And so I'd love for you, if you're an introvert or extrovert, to think about where. What are the areas in your life where maybe you have that struggle, right? Maybe it's networking. If you're an introvert, maybe it's the quiet time you have to sit at your desk and focus and work by yourself as an extrovert and how can you do things in your life or your career or out in the world that kind of shift that to work for you, Right? Maybe if you're an extrovert that can't stand being alone in your office, working out at work, maybe you Go to a coffee shop so you have all that ambient noise around you. You don't have your earbuds or headphones on, so you feel that social energy. It drives you to complete your work even quicker and happier, Right? Or you create a podcast and find people you admire and invite them out as a guest, and then you're doing something. You have a job in the social interaction that helps with you. That's how and why an introvert would start a podcast. So those are my goals and my story and kind of how this all came to be. I wanted to talk to y' all about. Now, next question we have is, what can we hope for the next 100 episodes? The top of this, you heard the beginning of having a more focused listener mission statement on who this is for and what we're trying to accomplish here. And my thought and hope is to keep that nugget of interviewing people about what they're passionate about and inspiring you to find your passion, develop it, and deploy it out in the world. But it's also to focus the guests and interviews on taking. Getting some more concrete takeaways on how you can live your personal, meaningful revolution. Because ultimately, that's what I want for everyone. I want you to find your passion, I want you to develop it, and then I want you to deploy it out in the world in a way that is meaningful. In a way, it fills you up with joy and helps you have a bigger impact out in the world. So you can expect more of that. I know the upcoming seasons are going to be focused around a larger question, and then interviewing a bunch of experts and folks on particular question have things more focused. I'm actually really excited about this. We have a lot of people right now that I'm vetting that have requested to be on the podcast, which is always good. They're always a tough thing, because if you find people super interesting, even as an introvert, you find them a little bit draining. It's really hard to say no when you're like, oh, this would be so cool to just interview you. But it's not a hang show, right? I really want you to discover, develop, and deploy your actions. We can expect that you can have more focused content. So finding your passion, how do you develop it? How do you deploy that out in the world Again, those are going to be the words you're going to be hearing from me quite a bit moving forward. And then the other hope is now that there's focused seasons and a focused mission statement that there can be a little bit more Planning out. So like I said at the top of this episode, this was an idea I had last week. I'm like, oh, I should do this live. I wanted to switch up the format so we do some solo episodes. We do a ton of interviews. We haven't really done live. I've been really focused on trying to build a community experience around this. I thought maybe YouTube would be a great place to do some of these live videos. I do have a community space that I've soft launched and if you're interested in that, if you sign up for the newsletter which is linked in the show notes today, you'll get emails about this periodically from me as I'm developing this idea. So stay tuned for that. But yeah, so I wanted to have a spot for special add ons I wanted to do. I'm thinking maybe once a month going on. So the next Live will be on Wednesday, March 15th at 11:00am Pacific Standard Time. If you're interested in attending the next live, you now have a month's notice to get on there. I'll be talking about that each week leading up to that on the newsletter too. Yeah. So getting things a little bit more structured, a little bit more planned out and probably if the last hundred episodes are any indication, there's going to be tons of change, tons of testing things out, tons of becoming better as a podcaster, as an interviewer, as a promoter, all the things that go along with running a show. But I am really stoked for all of it. With that said, I'd love if you are a fan of the show, if you could share it on Apple Podcasts or however you want to on the YouTube channel with three of your friends that might find it interesting too to help grow the podcast. I'm very terrible at doing this type of direct ask promotion, but here I am, I'm trying it out again and by trying it out, I'm doing it by saying hey, go like subscribe. If you do the show too, leave a comment on Apple Podcasts. It helps us. You can go to themeaningfulrevolution.com where you can again sign up for the email, but there's also links for you to go and leave and write a review on the Apple show podcast so it's a little bit easier to remember and we'd love to help grow this show and help just inspire more people to discover, develop and deploy their purpose. So with that I don't see any questions surprisingly in the chat, but I also sent this out pretty quickly. So next month we'll have a better turnout, I'm sure. But this is Sean Butner saying, I'm very thankful for you for joining my meaningful revolution. I hope to inspire you to follow yours. And we'll see you next week. Take care, Sam.