What Am I Born to Do?

You got to plant the right seeds , you got to take care of them , you got to put into work , you got to harvest them so that you can share the goods when the time comes . Today is no different . We love bringing subject matter experts on . I'm excited about the guest today . You should be too . He's been called a lot of things .

Somebody even said he's like the modern day zig-ziggler . That's powerful , ladies and gentlemen . Author , speaker , influencer and spire , john Gordon , thank you for joining us today .

I know that you have a busy schedule and you could have chose a lot of different activities , but the fact that you chose to pour into our kids and our teachers , I just want you to know how much we appreciate it .

It's all about planting yourself . We know that if we focus on the fruit of the tree and we ignore the root , what happens to that tree ? It dies .

If we invest in that root and we make it our number one priority and that's our kids , that's our culture , that's their leadership , that's their growth and we invest in that , we will get a great supply of fruit . I'm all about planting the seeds to experience a harvest later on The fruit in the lives of other people , especially our kids .

they're our future and we need to invest in them .

When I have the opportunity to go out and make presentations and share about AgScience , education , the FFA , i like to use a quote by Abraham Lincoln . Lincoln said that the philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next .

The reason that shows like this and folks like you are so important is because we want to give seeds of greatness to our young people that will grow them into strong persons of character , resilient individuals that can one day lead and plant trees for those that will follow in their footsteps . So again , thank you for joining us , john .

Every show we start off and we ask the same question to every guest . I don't think you're going to have a problem with this one , so you get the same question everybody else gets What are you grateful for today ?

She goes I know I am , but I feel like I'm called to do this . God is calling me , and so she stepped into it And now she's been doing this , making a difference . She just spoke to 2000 high school kids in Boston . She just spoke to Haynes Brand . She just worked with Harvard Athletics teaching them about leadership .

So I'm thankful for her and , of course , her health . And I'm thankful for my son . He graduates from Clemson coming up here in May 12th and it's been a journey with him . He really struggled during COVID and , like a lot of kids , really struggled . We brought him home for a year and he decided to go back to school to finish up , get his degree .

So I'm really proud of his resilience and his overcoming and his really deciding to create his future and finish strong . So I'm proud of that . We're going to face difficulties . We're going to have challenges .

People look at my life , they think , okay , you're a best selling author , you've written all these best selling books , you've sold millions of copies , so your life is perfect , right , john ? No , of course not .

I have faced a lot of adversity in my own life and also with my kids , and you're going to face adversity and challenges and tribulations and you're going to get attacked . There's evil in this world and you're going to get attacked , and you have to be stronger than the evil that you face . You have to be stronger than all the negativity out there .

You have to overcome your adversity with faith , with joy , with love , with purpose , with optimism and hope . And I've had to live that myself and then watch my family live it . So I'm really thankful that we're all here , that we're all still healthy and that we're doing this , working , making a difference .

And my wife also has a podcast and is speaking that as well . So we seem to be a family of impactors . My wife's doing it , my daughter's doing it , i'm doing it . My son still thinks we're a little crazy , so he's not quite there yet , but maybe he'll join us some day .

The titles of the roads , the words that you see past plastered around . I was like how could you not be inspired here ?

I mean they call it Dabo Nomics around Clemson because of all the investment in real estate , because of one leader who's optimistic , who believes in his team , who has a vision , who has purpose , who focuses on excellence . It's been incredible to see what Dabo has done with that team , with that program and also with the university And also as an ag school .

It's an incredible , incredible school , great ag program . And you know I went to Cornell University , made an amazing ag program at Cornell as well . So my roommate , my college freshman roommate , was in the ag school . He didn't go to many classes freshman year but he was in the ag school and a lot of my friends were as well . So I know that well .

And , yeah , i'm glad you visited Clemson . It's a family atmosphere A lot of people talk about , hey , we're a family , but then do they really act like a family ? You go to Clemson . It really is a family . They do the things that make it a family .

A second ago I was one day at a coffee shop where the old men , gathered at Custon , discussed what's wrong with our country and they're drinking their coffee and they're talking about this world And they said Alejandro , they said to put this country back on track , we got to get back to the basics . I said , okay , i'm listening .

And they said reading , writing and arithmetic . We got to get back to the three hours . And if we could get back to the three hours , we'll put this country back on track . And I remember looking at them and it's before I took this job . I used to work in a boot camp .

I worked with true and offenders and I worked with at-risk populations And I told them I said , gentlemen , i mean you know disrespect , but I work in a prison . I work with boot camp kids and true and offenders . Every one of them can read , write and do math at some functional level . I said , but I agree with you about the three Rs .

It's not reading , writing and arithmetic . I would argue that it's respect , responsibility and resiliency . And when you said that about being resilient .

There's a lot of things behind the scenes that prop up that resiliency And I believe what you shared earlier people that I know that are grateful , they're more energetic , they're more visionary , they're more hopeful , and so , to your point , i like hanging around people like that . What do they say ? Your vibe attracts your tribe .

And what they have found is that because they believe in a brighter , better future , these optimists they worked harder , they took the actions necessary to create it . It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy .

So often what we believe determines what we create And the energy we put out there determines the quality of our life and also the quality of our relationships . I would add one more art to that that you said resiliency and respect , and I would add relationship .

Relationships are the foundation upon which winning teams are built , winning organizations , and we heal in relationship . We create from a standpoint of relationship and teamwork , and one of the things I do with a lot of leaders and organizations is I help them develop stronger teams , more connected teams , more committed teams , relationships where it's about we , not me .

We become a society where everyone's focusing on me and we got to get back to we . And here's what's great about focusing on we The more we focus on helping others improve , we improve . When we help others get better , we get better . So often we think that the best growth strategy or self-growth strategy is to focus on the self .

Actually , the greatest self-growth strategy of all is to help others grow . And when you're investing in others and you help others become great , guess what You find ? the greatness within you . Because great leadership is not about you being great , it's about bringing out the greatness in other people .

And it's about serving others , investing in others , developing a relationship with others , and here's why relationships important . How can you lead someone if you don't know them ? How can you motivate someone if you don't know what motivates them ? And we know what Zig Ziglar said about motivation . So , hey , zig , motivation doesn't last .

And Zig would say need this bathing ? That's why you got to do it every day . Well , guess what You got ? to motivate yourself every day . You got to motivate and encourage others every day , and I love the word encourage . The word encourage means to put courage into .

So when you're encouraging yourself , you're actually putting courage into yourself , And when you encourage others , you're putting courage into them . So great leaders encourage others and they believe in others more than those people believe in themselves . And I often say leadership is a transfer of belief .

So we're talking gratitude , we're talking feeding yourself on a daily basis so that you can feed others . And so , as you become more resilient , as you become more positive , as you become more hopeful , as you become happier , you're now feeding yourself and then you become a light that could actually infuse energy into other people around you .

By the way , but for a younger audience that might not know John Gordon yet , you didn't just fall into that chair . Something tells me that there was a little bit of a journey or a pathway there . Would you mind just kind of taking us a little bit through your journey of how you became an author and a speaker and a trainer and influencer ?

Kind of walk us through what that looked like .

I didn't grow up with a lot of money but I was able to actually somehow some way find a way to invest in this place , made it successful Eventually , went to go work for a dot com while I had the restaurant in the bar And then thought I was going to make a fortune with the dot com . With the dot com , industry crashed .

This was all the way back in 99 , 2000 . And I lose my job . We had just moved to Jacksonville from Atlanta . While I was working for , the dot com sold my restaurants We eventually had several back to my partners and we moved . And now I'm living in this home . We have a mortgage , i have two little kids and the dot com crashes and I lose my job .

How am I going to pay the bills ? How will I support my family ? And I got to tell you I was crumbling from the inside out , like I had no idea how I was going to support my family , pay the bills and get through this really challenging time . They say you don't know God is all you need until God is all you got .

And I'll tell you that was my low moment because I was crumbling from the fear , pressure , the stress . I had so much anxiety . I remember thinking like God , please help me , and I cried out . I said what am I born to do ? Why am I here ? Why am I so miserable ? Because my wife had enough of my negativity .

She's like if you don't change , we're over , even though , again , we're going through a tough time . I was blaming her for why our life was so bad and why we were going through that situation . We often will blame others when we really need to take ownership ourselves and , looking back , i was . I was being very weak and doing that and blaming her .

So she was strong and she said no , you're not going to blame me , you're going to look at yourself And if you don't change , we're over . I had to change . So I began this journey . What am I born to do ? Ask God . Writing and speaking came to me . I'll never forget . Like it just came to me . Okay , how am I going to pay the bills , though ?

What am I going to do ? We're crumbling Like we're about to go bankrupt , and I second mortgaged our home $20,000 in credit cards , and I opened up a Moes Southwest Grill Burrito place in Jacksonville , florida .

It was the first Moes in Florida , the fifth in the entire country , and somehow some way was able to get it open , and we're really just like hanging by a thread . Money is about to just dwindle out of the account , like about to like really be on empty zero , and somehow , some way , we start bringing business .

Business starts to flow , but we're not making a lot of money , but just a little bit where , like breaking even , breaking even , breaking even I get a couple of consulting jobs out of the blue that want me to teach them about wireless technology . Now , i didn't even know a lot about wireless technology .

I knew how to sell it , and they said well , just help us sell it , because this was during the dot com And they were doing mobile web development for mobile devices , so it was like on the forefront of everything And I was teaching them how to do it . I sold the NFL on NFL wireless , on how to do mobile scores on wireless devices .

And then I was like , oh , i'm a big fan of wireless technology , help them do that . So I was in the midst of this , but just hanging by a thread in the meantime , this company agreed to pay me a little money for consulting . That carried us . Eventually , we made our first profit .

All the while , i am literally saying , god , please help me and provide for me . God And I will do your work , i will make a difference , i will find a way to serve , i will write and speak , i will impact others , i will see how God carried me and my family . During this time I had my Jerry Maguire moment .

You know , show me the money , god , show me the money . And somehow , some way , he kept showing it . He was so faithful and it's really where my faith was born , because I didn't grow up with faith . I never went to church as a kid , never went to temple .

I grew up in a Jewish Italian family , so Jewish Catholic , and so wasn't a faithful personal or religious person . And yet I always believed in God .

I always had this faith that there was a God out there , out there , and that became a big part of my journey after that , because I saw God's faithfulness and I knew that he provided for me and I knew that I was here to serve to make a difference .

I also realized I was miserable when I was focused on myself and all the while leading up to that moment of losing my job , it was about me . It was about being successful , making a lot of money and finally it became about making a difference , making an impact . Writing and speaking wasn't what I thought I'm going to get rich on .

It was what I was meant to do . Now have I become very successful with it ? Yes , when you sell five million books , you do make money from selling books . Do I tithe ? Of course I do . I give a lot back to different charities and nonprofits .

You name it because my wife and I are so grateful and we feel so blessed and we feel like that God is here to bless through us , right ? So that's a big part of our journey .

But I gotta tell you it was about serving others , making a difference , and after the restaurant made its first profit , i'll never forget saying , okay , now I can actually start writing and speaking and getting out . There . I'm wiping tables down in my restaurant and there was a woman sitting there .

She was the managing partner of New York Life and I told her I was a motivational speaker as well as the owner of this place and she was oh , you should give a talk to my company . I had not given a talk yet , but I was a motivational speaker . She invited me to speak to her company .

I tried to get out of it because I was so afraid She wouldn't let me . She said no , you said you're going to do it . I did it and afterwards I thought okay , i think I can do this . And that was my first talk . I gave about 80 free talks after that , just to get reps in , just to make a difference , just to serve everywhere and anywhere .

Eventually people started to ask me to speak more . Other people saw me speak and now it's led to thousands of talks and doing this work and now I get to serve others and do God's work .

It's like that small band who who's playing all the little nightclubs along the way And I write the energy bus and I decided to go on a 28th city tour because no bookstores would carry the book And , by the way , it was rejected by over 30 publishers before it even got published .

So , being told no over 30 times and being rejected , and you don't know if your dream is going to happen , and you think that this is it . Like I decided I was going to do this work and yet no one's publishing my book . How am I going to do this work ? I'm going to be a failure .

I had all these thoughts , all these fears , all these doubts , and we always will have doubts and fears along the way , but I kept having this eternal hope and optimism that somehow , some way , it was going to happen , it was going to work out And John Wiley agreed to publish the book , and then I went on this 28th city tour because no bookstores would carry

it . So think about it . You have this dream of publishing a book and finally get a publisher , but now bookstores don't carry the book . So now I go around the country to all these different cities And I came through Texas and I came through Austin and Houston and Dallas and all these different cities And we had a pretty decent turnout .

In Austin , probably like 40 people . The most people we have were 100 people . In Des Moines , iowa , they thought Jeff Gordon was coming , but a lot of places were like two people and five people And , by the way , for those who don't know Jeff Gordon , that's their race car driver .

So we had like five people in some cities and 10 people another and 20 another . So it wasn't a very successful tour

at all . But when I remember I got home from that tour and I said you know what I got ? to just live my vision and mission every single day . And here's what it was to encourage and inspire as many people as possible , one person at a time , and that's what kept me going . So I know people listening have dreams .

I know they have goals , they have a vision for what they want to achieve . I did as well , and it was to encourage and inspire . It still is . It's the same thing . I don't have a five year plan . I don't have a forecast . I'm just here to do the mission every single day and make a difference . I've written five children's books .

I get to speak to high school students . I speak to school districts all the leaders of school districts . I work with the greatest NFL , nba , major League , baseball teams on the planet . Work with their coaches . I work with a lot of Fortune 500 companies , speaking to all their leaders .

I now know leadership , i believe , better than just about anyone on the planet I would say John Maxwell maybe you know because he's a little bit older , but in terms of leadership , having worked with the greatest leaders on the planet , helping leaders lead their teams and their organizations , helping build stronger teams , it's amazing how I can look back and realize

God was molding me and shaping me along the way , keeping me humble along the way . That tour Hey , john , you said it was about making a difference , but you're not going to be an overnight success . You're going to have to do the work and you're going to have a lot of failure along the way and a lot of rejection along the way .

Are you still going to do this ? Yes , and that's what continues to drive me to this day .

And if you listen to what John just shared with us , listen to the fact that you've got to go on this journey , You've got to make yourself available to the journey , You got to be willing to step out there And , as a result of doing it , you're going to have ups and downs , but what it is is it's things that are being put in place in your life

specifically for you to give to somebody else . Everything that has happened to this man and it's happened to me and it's happened to you , is there for a purpose . It's there for a reason . We may never see it revealed , but it's there for a reason And we just got a trust that we're serving .

You know , one of the things that I like to ask people when I go out and give talks is I said does anybody have a birthday ? And of course everybody chuckles and they say yeah . And I said you know , we got that in common , right ? And everybody chuckles again And I said you know , think about it , Mine was February 6 , 1966 .

A bouncing baby boy came into the world and the doctor slapped me on my behind and I went . My life started with an inhale . And one day , when that purpose is served , just like everybody else , I'll have an exhale . And when we think about life and we think about what you just shared , John , purpose , that's the breath .

That's the breath that you've been gifted with , that you share and that you pour into others , so that one day , when they exhale , it's an exhale of satisfaction , of wow , that was really good .

Well , if this is all randomness and there's no God and this just all happened by chance , then this is all an accident . I'm an accident and you're an accident , he goes . Well , i'm not an accident , i go . Do you have a purpose ? He goes yeah , i have a purpose , i go . Well , guess what ?

If you were just randomness and just here by chance , there'd be no purpose to your life , there'd be no meaning . We have a purpose and there is meaning to our life because we are here for a reason . You have this unique spiritual DNA within you , your soul . You're meant to express yourself and express your soul on this earth .

Having this human experience , this eternal soul , having a human experience that God put within you . You're also spirit . I wrote about this in the new book . I Have the One Truth your spirit , your soul and you have a temporary body . And when you die , guess what happens at temporary body . It goes away , but your soul is eternal .

So your soul is meant to have this experience right here , right now , and every moment , every moment is actually an eternal moment to make an eternal impact . Think about this Appearance is temporary , but essence is eternal . Why would we make a great bowl of wine if we're just going to drink it ? Why would we make great food if we're just going to eat it ?

If we're all going to die , why does this life even matter ? And people say , well , for the next generation . But guess what ? The next generation is going to die too , so we're all going to die eventually . So why does it even matter ? And it matters because the eternal moment is that is the essence , is what truly matters . Your purpose is what matters .

The love you bring into this world matters . How you show up and care about others is what matters .

And in every moment , when we're loving and we're serving and we're caring I wrote about this in the carpenter love , serving , care , and we invest in that way , that's how we build our masterpiece , that's how we build this world , that's how we create eternity right here , right now , and make an eternal impact .

So that's what guides me , that's what drives me every single day And is that purpose ? And you're not meant to go through life feeling fearful and anxious and stressed and chronically worried all the time . You're really meant to go through life with this purpose , with joy , with optimism , with belief and hope and power .

God actually has given you this incredible power to transform this world and impact this world with your purpose . So when you get in touch with it and you have this connection , this feeling of oneness , in this feeling of oneness to God , he starts to reveal your purpose , your life mission , what you're here to do .

And if you feel disconnected from that purpose and you feel separate and you feel alone and you feel isolated , it means that you're actually feeling disconnected and you're feeling separate . So you have to move back towards oneness to actually experience that . And I know so many young people right now .

They get fearful , they're worried , they're anxious , they're stressed about their future and that affects their mental health . The more we move from oneness to separateness , we actually move from positive to negative .

Think about people with mental health challenges and I'm someone who struggled with depression years ago , so I know this well And I don't judge anyone who's going through it . But it means you're actually feeling separate . It means you feel alone , disconnected and isolated . And guess what ?

That lets you know that I need to get back to oneness , to start to tap into my purpose , to tap into that love , to tap into that joy . And as you start living it , wow , you became a powerful force in this world to make a difference in this world , and that's what FFA is all about . That's what you're here to do .

And I remember my dorm parent one day gave me a sledgehammer and he told me to drive to the other side of the ranch and bust the water trough for the horses . And I remember telling Mr Chandler I said I don't want to go , it's cold out there . I'm at the winds blowing , there's , you know , it's the snowstorm .

And I'll never forget him in his old country wisdom . He said , darling , do you get thirsty when it's cold ? I said , yes , sir , i don't want you to think those horses get thirsty too . I said , yes , sir , i drove five miles that day and I busted the water trough for the horses .

And now when people ask me they say , Aaron , what separates these FFA and Ag Kids from everybody else ? My answer is real simple In the world of agriculture , if we don't do our job , something dies . If we don't show up , we don't take care of it .

It dies , and if it dies , an economy is going to die , a society will die , and so we put that value system into a young person , which they will translate into other things , and I think that's kind of where you were going and kind of where I want to go with my next topic . Here I'll let you take a stab .

Do you know how many high schools are in the state of Texas ? Thousands , yes , thousands , thousands , yes , and so there's over 3,000 high schools , and I think about that . Every one of them has a senior class . Everyone is going to graduate this year . Remember graduate kids .

They're going to get out and they're going to be looking for a job , a scholarship or an opportunity . And my question to the young people is what's your competitive edge ? What separates you from somebody else ? There are going to be people out there that know who Zig Ziglar is and they've read Zig books .

They've read Tom Ziglar's book , they've read John Gordon's book . You know what . There's people out there Guess what . They've equipped themselves with something that could be a competitive edge . So I want to dive into that just a little bit along the lines of purpose . You've already talked about it , but let's go a little bit more into that .

Why is it important for a young person to develop skill sets to develop themselves ? Number one you've already said because we need you to pour into other people . But go into that a little bit about why it's important to establish that competitive edge .

And when you care about your work and you care about the earth and you care about excellence and you care about those animals and you care about everything that you're creating and producing and working on , when you're doing that , that care actually determines the quality of what you created , determines the masterpiece that you're creating .

I think about Donatello in the 1500s . He received a three ton marble block of stone and he inspected the stone . He saw all the flaws and all the cracks and he said send it back to the UPS drivers of the day . I'm not going to use this . And the UPS drivers of the day were like we can't take it back . It's three tons . They had an idea .

Michelangelo lived down the street . They said let's bring it to him . He was known to be absent minded So he would never remember . He ordered the stone , so they brought it to him . He inspected the stone . He saw all the flaws and all the cracks , but he decided to do something with it .

He thought it'd be a great challenge to his craftsmanship to see what he can build . And out of that three ton marble block of stone , he would go on to create the statue of David , one of the greatest , most valuable art treasures in the world . Think about it Flaws , mistakes and cracks , and yet he built a masterpiece with it . Why ? Because he cared more .

And so when you care more , you put your heart , your soul , your spirit and your passion into what you're building , what you're creating . And that goes to competency , that goes to technical skills as well . When you develop a skill set , that's a skill set that you've invested in , that now you can use to benefit others and to solve problems . Here's the deal .

We live in a world of problems , and if you can solve problems and provide solutions , you will always be valuable . You will always have a job . If you make other people's life easier , you will always have a business or a product and a job , because we want to make our lives easier and better and we want to solve problems .

Well , when you have the technical skills that solve problems , that is the key . And guess what ? I imagine agriculture . There's a lot of problems that need to be solved .

There's a lot of work that needs to be done and there's a lot of expertise that is needed , and so when you're looking to hire someone , you want someone with competency and someone who cares .

In the next 25 years we're going to need 65 to 70% more food than we have today . There's not going to be 65 to 70% more land . There's not going to be 65 to 70% more water . The challenges of this world that are coming are not going to be geopolitical of religion and who's got the bigger guns . They're going to come down to who can feed people .

And you know Wayne Gretzky . When they asked Gretzky about you know what makes you such a great hockey player . You know most players skate to where the puck is . I skate to where the puck is going Right .

There's a lot of opportunity in agriculture right now for our young people that they will indulge and find out ways to study science and food , technology and geography and linguistics and how do we transport , because this world's about to get hungry , and I think there's going to be a real opportunity there for somebody .

And to your point , when you think about that , i don't know if there's anything more noble than to think that I helped feed somebody .

We're meant to be connected to the earth to soil And just as a tree is meant to be connected to that soil to grow , we're meant to be connected , i believe , spiritually to God and then connected to the earth , like it's God and then the earth Two key things for our growth and our life , and I think so many are disconnected .

Too many also don't appreciate agriculture . They don't realize all that goes into it and all that food that you see is provided by someone who worked to cultivate it , to farm it , and also created solutions and dealt with issues and all sorts of problems that we can't even imagine . And , like you said , what's coming into the future ?

I believe young people need to have vision and need to have purpose And you know your why , you'll know the way and you want obstacles get in the way And we don't get burned out because of what we do . We get burned out because we forget why we do it .

So when you remember your why and you remember your vision and you have your purpose and your mission , that will continue to propel you forward towards what you want to create . So I tell young people all the time think about your vision , think about your purpose And , by the way , it's okay to change it . It's okay to get a new vision and a new purpose .

What you want today may change from what you want in the future , but guess what ? Start thinking about what you want now And every day . You should be asking what do I truly want ? What is it that I want to build ? What is it that I want to create ? What do I see myself doing in the future ? What do I love ? What energizes me ?

Don't get worried about it . Get excited about it , because life is full of opportunities . It's full of moments where you'll have one moment that could change your life forever , and be open to those moments that come your way . Be open to the teachers .

Be open to the teachers that come your way that will guide you and mentor you and show you , because a teacher that comes your way can change the course of your life , and I've had several people have changed the course of my life And I know I've been that for people along the way . It's so funny because my books have been out since 2007 now .

So all people who tell me hey , i read your book in ninth grade and now they're in their 20s , i read your book when I was 18 , at college , you know Texas A&M or somewhere , and they'll say and now you know I'm using it for my company , where they're 35 years old , so it's wild .

So , as you said earlier , the books you read , how you invest in your knowledge and your growth and your wisdom will propel you in your leadership and your success and your career in the future . I know that so many sports teams read my books in high school and college .

Those young people are at a huge advantage because they're learning the leadership principles that the greatest companies on the earth that are using my books as well They're using them and learning them at a younger age . So by the time they get to these companies , they're way ahead of the game .

They understand the principles , they know the practices , they know the values , they know why this works from a leadership perspective , why it works from a team building perspective or the mindset perspective , and from there they're at a huge advantage .

So , going back to your competency and learning , i want to encourage everyone read , read books Doesn't have to be my books . Read books that will help you grow . Those books and the people you meet along the way and the teachers you meet will actually be the greatest influences in the course of your life .

To John's point if you put into your core of listening and , by the way , when we say listening , we mean with our ears and our eyes So pay attention , listen , look for opportunities , read . A good leader is a good reader . Read , because what you're doing is you're pouring into yourself and you're giving yourself new skill sets .

The fact that you're listening to the podcast there's a lot of your peers that aren't listening Guess what ? You're gaining a competitive edge . You may be inspired to find purpose . There's so many things here that we hope come from bringing guests on like you , john , because that's what this is all about .

If you want to know what the future is , grow it , and that's what we're trying to do is grow a better place for our families to live , work and raise their children . At the end of the day , john , we've got to get ready to wrap up here , but I'm going to give you a speed round here Three leadership

tips . Tell them young people . Here are three tips to be an effective leader . What are they ?

You talk to yourself every day with words of encouragement , words of belief , words of power , and you have to overcome that negativity with this powerful belief that allows you to move forward . That's essential for feeding yourself with optimism and belief . Another tip I would say is focus , as we talked about earlier , on serving others .

Find a way to help others grow and you will grow . Don't ask what can people do for me ? Find what you can do for others to help them get better and help them grow , like coach them , mentor them , guide them , and they will get better along the way . And then negativity .

Too often we allow negativity to sabotage our teams , our organizations and , as a leader , we have to address the negativity that exists . A positive leader doesn't attack people , but they attack problems And , by the way , they're demanding but just not demeaning . So it's key , as you're leading others , to practice accountability and hold people accountable .

So , accountability for yourself and then holding people accountable , but you love them along the way . So I call it love tough instead of tough love One of the keys to leadership . You love people , you support them and you encourage them , but you challenge them and you hold them accountable to your culture , your values , your principles and the standards .

So with your club , your organization , your team , your family , you have certain standards This is how we do things here And you hold people accountable to those standards .

So if they're messing up or they're not living up to them , you talk to them about it , but love them , encourage them and support them along the way , because that builds the relationship And when you do that , they're gonna wanna listen to you . Would you be open to people's feedback if you knew they had your best interest in heart ?

Of course you would , and so that's the key for you Let them know you have their best interest in heart . You're there for them . You earn the right to love and support and building that relationship , to now challenge them along the way .

Mike Rowe , the Dirty Jobs guy , was on the show And Mike Rowe talked about he's a broadcaster And he goes . You know , aaron , that's an agricultural term because farmers that's what they used to do is broadcast . That's where it came from broadcasting seeds . Oh , wow .

And so when I thought about what you shared with your family , i thought how incredible is that that y'all are a family of broadcasters and you're broadcasting hope and encouragement and empowerment .

I'll never forget meeting him And he was at a talk I was giving . He was in the front row . I ran over and I said , zig , one of the big goals of my life was to meet you . He said , john , you didn't have bigger goals , still sharp after all these years .

And while I'm speaking , he was taking notes , 82 years old , he's taking notes because he was a lifelong learner , still learning , still growing , still striving to get better , and he really taught me a lot that day just by his example . So he was always about planting seeds in others , and now we're doing the same .

We're going to plant seeds , and I know all these young leaders . They're going to be the people who plant seeds for our future . They're going to leave a legacy in the life of others . So a life touches , a life that touches a life . I always say the genius is in the audience . It's not you and I , aaron , we , we . we're not the geniuses .

The genius are the people who are listening . It's those young people listening And , wow , what are they going to do with what we said ? And if we can unleash the genius in them , the impact they're going to make is going to be unbelievable . I have so much hope .

You know , when I get around FFA kids , i have so much hope because I see incredible leadership , amazing character , unbelievable integrity , and that's what ultimately leads to success . By the way , integrity comes from the word integer , which means whole and complete .

So when you have integrity , you are whole and complete , whereas a leader who has a lack of integrity has gaps in their character . They are separate . So the more you are whole , the more you are one , the more powerful you become , the more separate you feel , the weaker you become .

So the young people listen just keep on focusing on your character , your integrity , your wholeness , and the more you do , you're going to lead an amazing and powerful way .

A recent one was Greta Van Vleet , which is a hot new band that a lot of young people like Wow , They were just getting going , Wow , And they were playing in Hawaii because I was there speaking to In-N-Out Burger And so I was speaking to all the leaders of In-N-Out Burger and they had their big meeting in Hawaii and they had the band come in and play for

everyone And they were just getting going And now they're , like you know , rock stars . They're unbelievable . But Greta Van Vleet was an amazing concert that I was listening to . That was pretty epic .

Now We've got the coffee shop and Greta Van Vleet , and this is awesome . So thank you for sharing that with us , John , it was an honor And I mean that in the most humble terms . You know , a friend of mine once said he goes there and his name's Cleo Franklin , and Cleo said his grandfather told him .

He said , boy , don't ever speak on the obvious And game recognizes game . And I just got to tell you you're ready , you're ready to go And I'm going to say thank you for your reputation preceded you And you lived up to everything that I thought this interview would be , and very much appreciate your willingness to join us For all of

our listeners . Thank you for joining us for the growing our future podcast . Like we said at the very beginning , if you want to know what the future is , grow it . That's in our homes , That's in our lives , it's in our jobs , it's in our chapters , it's in our organization . You got to plan them .

You got to take , you got to weed out the bad stuff , and then you got to harvest and then you got to share And there's nothing . It's about serving others . Until our past cross again , go out and do something great for somebody and just continue to make this world a better place to live , work and raise our families . John , thank you for joining us .

You're an amazing leader , a great great podcast host and an impact or influencer , and so I just I really admire you and I just learned a lot from you as well , and can't wait for people to listen to this And I hope they share with all their friends and also their kids , so that more people can learn about what we talked about today .