Life Is More Than Policy And Procedure—How To Find Purpose

Hey, it's Mark Podolski, the land geek with your favorite niche real estate website, www.thelandgeek.com. and today's guest I'm really excited about for various reasons. But before we talk to our guests, I'd be remiss if I didn't properly introduce my co host. You know him, you love him. Scott Todd. Scott Todd.net landmodo.com Most importantly, if not automating your Craigslist and your Facebook postings, posting Domination.com TheLandgeek Scott Todd, are you ready, Mark?

I'm ready.

Scott Todd, what's your purpose?

My purpose?

Don't even answer it. Don't even answer. You know, come on, because we're gonna help you.

We're gonna rewrite it.

We're gonna help you find your purpose because today's guest, Dr. Jason Brooks. And Dr. Jason Brooks helps people change their lives and grow as high impact leaders from the inside out. He has worked years and has been able to help countless individuals, teams and organizations. He helps people transform their lives and organizations and loves doing it. And let's just get into it, okay? Let's just, just stop the pleasantries. Dr. Jason Brooks, welcome to the podcast the Art of Passive Income. You know, it's so interesting because too often we're on one path, right? We go on that path and then we find it empty and kind of meaningless. And we all kind of, you know, are looking for more purpose in our lives personally, professionally, and yet we don't learn this stuff in school. Our parents are full of anxiety. Get a good job. Get a good college degree. Go work for the man. I don't care about your purpose. Just pay the bills, right? But finally there is someone out there that will actually help us with this. So let's rewind the tape. Tell us how you started and then how you became Dr. Jason Brooks.

Well, Marg, I am so honored by that introduction. That's incredible. And you hit the nail on the head. I think that so many people, folks that I've worked with, but also folks that I've just talked to through the years, have experienced the exact same thing. So let me tell you real quick my story and why My passion for helping people to align their purpose with what they do every day is so important to me. So I started out, got my undergraduate degree from Purdue University in management, and I wanted so much to get my degree in music. I loved being creative and I love bringing all of that. And I remember sitting down with my dad when I was making a decision to go to college. And I told him what I wanted to do. And he said, you'll never be able to make a career out of music. And I was devastated. So, like a great, dutiful son, I went, I got my degree, I went into corporate world, and I worked in that for about, oh, 15 years or so. And you know, in all of our lives, we have those defining moments that really are pivotal for us that can take us in a different direction. And I remember Mark and Scott, I was sitting in my office at. I actually worked at Cracker Barrel Old country stores. I was the corporate human resource manager. And I was getting ready to terminate the employment of a gentleman that had been there for about six years with us. And it was going to let him go for attendance issues. And look, here's the thing. It was the right decision to make from a business standpoint. But I knew this gentleman and his wife had recently let him know that she was going to be leaving him. They were separated. His teenage daughter had found out that she was pregnant and they were dealing with all that in his younger teenage son was struggling with drugs and it was wrapped up in the juvenile system. And I sat down with this gentleman and I told him, today is your last day. And man, he just put his head down in his hands and he sat there for about 30 seconds. It was the longest 30 seconds of my life. And he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and he said, I understand. Thank you. And he walked out. And Mark and Scott, at that moment, I decided my life was going to mean more than just policy and procedure and rules and regulations. So I went back to school, was working full time in an executive level role. I got my master's degree in mental health counseling. My doctorate in psychology and my dissertation for my doctorate was focused on the relationship between life balance and work stress and corporate executives. And it was really important, important for me because I saw that group of individuals and I was one of those that suffered with a life out of balance, but trying to be everything for everyone else. And then I continued on and got my mba. So I'm probably the most educated, ignorant person you'll ever be because I'm learning every single day. But I'll tell you this, it was through those experiences that I finally realized what my purpose was. And every day in being able to live that out in different ways is what makes my life come to life for me. And also hopefully the legacy that I'm leaving as I'm pouring into others every single day.

Wow.

I've got the chills that was a beautiful story, Scott. Todd, what are your thoughts?

You know, I think that, I mean, I like the story. The story was like, you know, I've been in that situation similar to that, you know, like in my corporate job. And it is funny because a lot of times, you know, when you're in a corporate environment, you can't necessarily do what's right, like, necessarily the right thing to do for somebody because of the policies and procedures. Right. You've got to deal with, you know, this is what the book says, and you got to follow the rules and you got to do the right thing. And there's not really a sliver for somebody who's like, life is like, falling apart in front of them. But at the same time, you know, I think that it's. It's really cool when you can, like, have your own company or your own purpose that you can deliver value or change people's lives and just, you know, get rid of some of the corporate stuff and. And, you know, obviously live. Live the life the way that you want to, but also help people to create the lives that they want as well.

Yeah, well. And Scott, I think you're exactly right. For me, that was what was such a driver and a motivator for me to. To write the books that I've written and to speak across the country and into build an organization that's focused on being very intentional and living that purpose. So for me, it's not just about what I do, but it's more about who I am first, and then the opportunity to live that out authentically in so many different ways is where my purpose comes to life.

Can you give us an example of that?

Yeah, absolutely. So you're just kind of getting very practical. For me, my purpose is I change lives and I grow leaders. And look, that did not come to me overnight. I worked for almost three years to really refine that and wrestle with it and boil it down so that it made sense for me. But for me, that changing lives and growing leaders happens in a lot of different ways. So part of what I do is I am chief people officer for a company called Addiction Campuses, and we do inpatient addiction and mental health treatment across the country. So we build campuses for folks that are struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction and have a mental health issue. So in my role, I know that I'm building an organization that is changing lives of rescripting families that have struggled with the disease of addiction for years and years and years. But also in my role, I am building the leaders in our organization so that we can be stronger and have an even greater impact. So for me, that's a calling piece that I do that allows me to live out my purpose. I've written a couple of books. One is Reset. It's about pushing the reset button on your life. And, you know, for me, that is bringing a tangible value to help people change their lives. I also do quite a bit of work in the area of leadership with your online learning and executive coaching and those type of things. So all of that coming together to help grow leaders. So, you know, for me, it's not just one thing that I do, but, man, it's bringing all of those together so that it crystallizes in every moment of every day. I'm living my purpose of changing lives and growing leaders. And the cool thing is, if one of those comes and goes and something else comes in its place, that's okay, because my identity is not resting in what I'm doing, but it's in who I am.

Right, Right. I mean, yeah, I'm sure you've heard this joke before. There's. There's three bricklayers, right? And one of them says, I'm a bricklayer. I'm putting out bricks. And the second one says, I'm. I'm building a church. And the third one says, I'm building the house of God.

Yeah, right.

And so. So one of them has a job just to pay the bills. The other one has a career, he's building a church. And the other one has that. That calling or vocation. Building the house of God. They're all three doing the same thing.

Absolutely.

With three different lenses. So how often does someone come to you with, let's say, existential crisis, that they have no purpose, they're sort of feeling. Not challenged in their job or their life or their career or, you know, they don't feel. They feel disconnected with their family, and they come to you. And how do you help them see that? With a little bit of a change in mindset, you can actually make this a calling. You can see the purpose. You can see the meaning in almost anything if you listen to your advice. Which would be what?

I don't know.

Oh, that's. That's great.

Or am I off the wrong track? Or do you say, look, this isn't for you. You got to find something else?

No, no, absolutely not. And. And I tell you, in my experience, there is not a day that goes by that I don't have at least one person come to me in some form or Fashion asking that exact same question, how do I add value? I feel like that I'm off track. I feel like I'm not bringing my best. I feel like that there's so much more that I have to offer and that I can bring for me in helping someone to start down that road of exploring, one of the things I love to do is ask the question. So let's go back and talk and have you reflect on your life. Because in my experience, our past gives us clues for where we are today and where our future should be.

Okay.

And again, this doesn't happen in one conversation. Oftentimes it's over a couple of conversations. But I'll say, you know, tell me about the times in your past where you experienced the greatest sense of joy or the greatest satisfaction. Tell me about the things that when you hear about this happening, that it raises up almost a righteous anger inside of you that you feel like, I've got to do something about this. This is just something that needs me to touch. You know, I'll ask the question. Tell me about a time where you made an impact in someone's life, and what did that mean for you? How do you define your success? You know, what. What does your life mean? And when you ask a variety of questions in those areas, you start to see connect points that you can then help to lay out for someone. What I'm hearing from you, where you have experienced life in the fullness in the past may be an indicator of where your heart is calling you for your purpose in the future. And I tell you, oftentimes, it's that starting point that then gives folks the opportunity to breathe a little bit and say, okay, I get it now. Now we can start asking the questions about what that looks like. And, you know, again, it doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to do the exploration and then to also consider what the next steps are.

Yeah, those are some really powerful questions. And, you know, while we're talking, I was kind of thinking of Scott Todd, because, you know, to pick on Scott, he loves being on his boat. He just got his pilot's license and he's a pilot. And so, you know, I could just imagine Scott hearing like, you know, these things I'm passionate about. But, you know, he also makes a huge impact the world in the sense that he leads so many people towards helping them create passive income in their lives so that they can go out and explore the things they really want to do in life. And so I was wondering, Scott, when he was asking those questions, did any of that connect with you?

Yeah, I mean, it does because, you know, there's, there are times where I felt better about things. You know, there's times where things have connected with me and it energizes you. And you know, I think that those things can change over time too. Right. You know, like it's something that just because it energizes you today doesn't mean that it's always going to. And I think these are questions that are kind of dynamic in nature. You have to continue to ask them. But Mark, I mean, I've never even told you this before, but it's kind of crazy, you know, like, you know that like for a while I was trying to do something with real estate investing. I didn't know what. Right. I can't tell you how many times I literally thought about buying a property. Like land, and specifically land. Like, I can count the times because I've driven past, like I drive by those properties today and I still think, like, I could have. I almost bought that one. I almost bought that one. And so in a way, I think if you just kind of listen to what your, what your heart is telling you to do and don't be afraid to kind of go down that path, don't be afraid of failure. You might be surprised at where your own internal soul takes you and what adventure takes you on. Because it's almost like if you just say yes to more things, your mind, your spirit, your body might be leading you down a path that you were meant to be and you may not be on there today.

Yeah, I mean, you know, and I can imagine that for most people and Dr. Jason, you can tell me if I'm wrong. A lot of it is that that critical voice in their head saying, well, yeah, maybe my purpose is this, but I could never do that. Right. And, or, you know, I'm, you know, that there, there's some type of excuse because ultimately there's that fear of being judged.

Right.

And so how do you help them? You know, not only explore what, what really lights them up inside and is going to help them find their calling or their purpose, but also how to break through that barrier that could be so deep of fear and, and just paralyzed by it. Right. And then how do you, how do you help that person?

Yeah, you know what, you're exactly right. And it's funny, I see different scenarios almost with people in different life phases. So for example, I have a 20 year old son and he's in college and he's actually taking a semester off now. To kind of, you know, explore himself and think about where he wants to be. And the conversation that I have with him over and over and over again is, the decisions that you make today are not final for your entire life, for the next 40, 50 years that you're going to be working. I said, it's going to shift, it's going to change. So follow your heart, take that first step, but then be flexible to where the road may lead. I then also have conversations with senior leaders that may be in their 40s and 50s and made a decision early on in their career. And because they started seeing success with that, they built a life around the decisions made. And then when they get into their mid-40s and they start exploring, you know, the questions of purpose and direction and why am I here and legacy and all those type of things, they look in the rearview mirror say, oh my goodness, why did I make those decisions and how did I get almost in this rut? And they feel like they can't get out. I heard a quote, I absolutely love this, that a rut is a grave with just no ends. And I think all too often people feel that. I mean, they're stuck in this rut and they feel like they're dying inside. So what is the step that you can take that would move you into a healthier place? But you know, Mark and Scott, it's so interesting. When I commute into the office in the morning, I'm one of the happiest people you ever meet in the morning. I'm a morning person. I'm up, I'm ready to go, I'm ready to tackle, you know, your wife must hate you. Oh, she hates me because she's an evening person. We really only get along well from about 1 o' clock to 3 o' clock in the afternoon. But. But all that to say, when I drive into the office, I look at the faces of people that are driving by me and I see just, I mean, almost a sense of defeat and of your drudgery. And, you know, for me and for the folks that I have the opportunity to speak with and to touch and hopefully leave an impact for my desire is to see that light of passion come on in their lives. I mean, it may not be an explosion, but gosh, just one thing that we can do that would help us to move in a more positive direction can make such an impact and really change the trajectory of your life.

Yeah, it's amazing what you're saying. And really what's such a gift is that, I mean, I Don't know about you, Scott. There aren't that many people out there that have Dr. Jason Brooks, you know, background with an MBA and a doctorate and experience that can help guide you. Like, you know, when he's talking, I think about church or synagogue and spirituality and leadership there or other core sort of corporate retreats, but I don't see anyone else that has the whole package to sort of have the. The credibility to kind of guide you. I don't know. It's like, how come there aren't, like, more of you, Jason? I don't know.

Maybe my unique place is to do exactly what I'm doing. So I don't know.

But.

But I'll tell you this. People are desperate for it. People are just desperate for it. They. They want. They want that sense of fulfillment, and they want that. That knowledge that they're making a difference and they're making an impact. So, you know, it's. It is interesting. It. You know, I kind of, when I wrote my book, some of the things I talk about your life balance and life direction and finding your purpose and all those type of things, you know, when I was putting it together and I was talking with folks about it, I thought, you know, this isn't, you know, revolutionary stuff that I'm thinking about and that I'm bringing. But somebody told me something that really stuck with me, said when.

Technology gets in the way again.

Technology, yeah, sorry about that, guys. No, but something that somebody said was when the student is ready, the teacher arrives. And I think that that is so powerful that, gosh, you know what? There's, you know, I may just say it in a little bit different way and bring a little bit different perspective, but when the light bulb comes on, it can change a life forever.

Well, you know, that leads me to this question. How does Dr. Jason Brooks define success?

Yeah, that's a great question. And for me, it is having an impact every single day to change a life or grow a leader. That, for me, is success. And it's not what I think your life should be, but it's what you believe your life should be. And there's three questions that I absolutely love to ask. I call it my big three questions. And this applies to a lot of different situations. But I'll ask what's working well, what's not working well, and what could be different that would be better for you? And oftentimes, if we can get folks to think in those ways, we can leverage the strengths that we bring. We can guard against the challenges that may stand in our way. But then also we're looking at what is that next step that we can take that would just help things to be a little better? We don't have to solve world hunger or eradicate the flu virus from our lives, but just one thing that would be better for you, and how would that change your life? So that, for me, is what success is.

I love it. Scott. Todd, what's your takeaway, man?

I'm telling you, like, Mark, I've said this before, and I'll continue to say it, but when parts of your life are so it's not frictionless, right? When there's things in there that's like an uphill grind or things in your life that are, you know, just like a battle, it's not the right thing, right? Like, you could go to, like, even the counties that you work in or the business that you're working in, every day is a grind. Well, then you're kind of doing it wrong. And I think that you really have to really start to ask these three questions or maybe even say something like, what is the biggest pain point I'm dealing with? If this one thing was resolved, how much better would my life be? And then how do you resolve that one thing? And unfortunately, sometimes I think that we don't necessarily want to deal with the answer to that question. I mean, I'm not advocating that. You know, I'm gonna give an example, but I'm not advocating that someone do this. But, like, look, if. If you're, like, if your marriage is nothing but friction and, you know, it's an uphill grind, well, you have to figure out how to solve that, right? Like, and sometimes the answers may not be what you really want, but you. You have to have the courage to face the stuff that's uncomfortable if you want to resolve the problem. Otherwise, it's your problem and you're not doing anything to make it better.

That's interesting. I mean, I was going to ask you, you know, Dr. Jason, how often do people come to you thinking they have one problem and then discovering that's not their problem at all? It's something completely different, and they just.

Needed your help to see it all the time. And. And that's. I think that if we got better at asking ourselves the deeper questions, and we also surrounded ourselves with folks that would ask us even deeper questions, the world of awareness that would come for us, I think we just knock our socks off. One of the things that I love to do to help people to kind of process through what the real issue Is. Is. I'll ask multiple levels of why. So, for example, Scott, go into your scenario. If you have challenges in your marriage, so why are you having challenges? Well, he doesn't listen to me. He doesn't pay attention. So why do you think he doesn't pay attention to you? Well, he's always consumed in his work, so why do you think he's consuming his work? And asking those multiple levels of why get us down to a deeper level where we can really see what's going on. And then when we get to that point, nine times out of 10, the person has an emotional experience of some kind, they break down in tears or they are just overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude because finally I've got to that root cause issue. Now I can start building my life from this point forward, and that makes all the difference.

I love it. I love it. One last question for you before we get to the tip of the week. What is some of the worst advice you hear given your area of expertise?

Oh, wow. There's a lot of really bad advice out there. You know, I think one of the things that just grinds all over me is fake it till you make it. And I think that that is just something that, I mean, we're just asking somebody to strap a burden on themselves and just trudge through, and it doesn't put them in a place where they are really learning and growing and maximizing the value of who they are. I would rather replace that with make it. Not fake it till you make, but just make it. And that means exploring yourself, asking yourself those questions, surrounding yourself with individuals that can help to support you. But there's a whole lot of people today that are out there faking it till they make it, that are absolutely drowning in regret, in the pain of decisions that were not the best for them, and ultimately looking at their life through a lens of regret as opposed to a life well lived and a legacy created.

Wow. This has been a tremendous, tremendous podcast and interview, and I'm so glad you were able to take time out of your busy schedule to provide us with all this mentorship. And it's my pleasure. It's a shame I got the treadmill desk. I would have just loved to lay down and just.

I'm laying down. It looks like I'm standing up, but I'm laying down.

I don't know. I. I feel. I feel more relaxed. I. Like, he's like. Like human Prozac for me. Like, I'm just gonna call him up and be like, I feel so much More calm.

I mean, I. I really don't want this podcast to end, Mark. I mean, like, you know, can. Can we just keep it going?

I'd love to. I just have another call. I mean, poor.

I will. I will come back anytime. You guys are amazing.

All right, well, we're going to hold you to it. Well, we're going to ask you for your tip of the week. A website, a resource, a book, something actionable where the art of passive income listeners can go right now, improve their businesses, improve their lives. What do you got?

Well, I tell you, I had prepared for this, and I wanted to make sure that I brought something that was amazing. I wish I had known about this when it first came out, but there's a book that I read probably four months ago that continues to just rock my world. It's called Essentialism, the Discipline.

I love that book.

You know this.

I love it. It's such a good book.

It completely rocked my world when I was going through. And for someone that has such a desire to make an impact in lives, I recognize for myself that I will just take on and take on and take on and take on to help and help and help and help. And one of the things that I read in this book, and I just wanted to share it with your listeners, if you don't mind, it says essentialism is not about how to get more things done. It's about how to get the right things done. It doesn't mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It's about making the wisest possible investment in your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what's essential. And, you know, when I was thinking about, you know, the. The art of passive income in and all of those type of things, and how do we keep laser focus on those things that bring the greatest possible value? How are we living our lives to the highest standard and highest level of impact? We can't be cluttered by everything that's going on around us. We got to stay laser focused on what's in our heart, what's in our hands, and what's in our area of impact and give our best to that every single day. So essentialism by Greg McCowan. If you haven't read it, if you haven't got a copy, you need to go out and get one.

I'm gonna reread it now. It was. It's such a great book. It really is. I don't have you read Give and Take by Adam Grant.

I have not amazing.

It's a great sort of. I mean, I don't know if it's as sort of impactful as essentialism, but I think it's a good. A good book to, you know, read right after that one because it talks about givers, matchers, and takers. And for someone like you who could be giving and giving and giving with maybe not as many limits as you might need, this would really help crystallize for you how to do that and how to sort of leverage your impact without burning yourself out.

Oh, I love it. Thank you for investing in my life today because I need all the help I can get. Mark.

Hey, I'm happy to help. I don't believe you, but I'm happy to help.

That's awesome, Scott.

Todd, what's your tip of the week?

Mark, how valuable would you find it? If you could, like, I guess, dig into 35,000 sales calls and uncover the research of what it takes to really.

Sell, I would find that invaluable.

All right, check out this book.

As in, I couldn't put a price on it.

Well, I'm going to tell you the price is $15.38 because check out this book. It's on Amazon. I mean, before the show, we were talking about all the stuff, cool gadgets you can get on Amazon. But check out this book. It's called Spin. Selling S P I N. Selling. Spin is an acronym for situation, problem, implication, and needed payoff. And basically what they did was this company basically looked at their sales calls, 35,000 of them, and developed a sales system that follows this acronym so that, you know, it really, really helps you to uncover a sales method that works.

Is this by Neil Rackham?

It is, yeah.

This is 1988.

Yeah. Check it out.

I don't know, you know, the 80s, that 80s sales strategy.

Listen, man, I'm pretty hardcore. I'm telling you. I understand, I understand. We, we've been to the same guy, but it's great insight. It's great insight, I'm telling you.

All right, all right. Well, my tip of the week. Not to put down Scott's tip of the week, but mine's the better tip is Learn more about Dr. Jason Brooks at, of course, Dr. Jason Brooks.com DrJasonBrooks.com he has a podcast, he has actual books which you can get on his website, Reset and your Daily Reset.

So.

This has been just a phenomenal, phenomenal interview. Dr. Jason Brooks, are we good?

Well, we are amazing. And again, gosh, Mark and Scott, thank you so much. For having me on. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share. You guys are absolute rock stars, and I've had a blast today.

Thank you so much. Scott, are we good?

We're good, Mark.

All right. I want to thank the listeners and just remind them the only way we're going to get the quality guests like a doctor Jason Brooks at DrJasonBrooks.com is if you do us three little favors. You got to subscribe, you got to rate, you got to review the podcast. Send us a screenshot of that review to support the landgeek.com we're going to send you for free our $97 passive income launch kit course. So please do that. And Scott, you ready to do this?

Ready, Mark.

Jason's just gonna shake his head.

Can he just, like. Can we just knock him off the call now? Ready? 1, 1, 2, 3. Let. Let freedom, freedom ring, ring.

I love it.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right, thanks, guys. Thanks, everybody.