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Refired, not Retired with Bill Hennessey · Christian Business Growth Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to the Business Growth Podcast.
• 0:03
  Today I'm here with Bill Hennessey.
• 0:05
  Bill, tell us, how did God get you into business?
• 0:08
  Well, it's a funny thing.
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  I had no intention of going into what I'm doing right now.
• 0:14
  It's just that I started observing back in the day I was the youngest guy in the room usually.
• 0:19
  And then I realized I was in the room with my peers.
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  And then I realized I was older than a lot of guys in the room.
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  And what happened in that is I kind of watched the guys that were still older than me exit the room.
• 0:31
  And there were two different kinds of people that exited the room.
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  One, they seemed to do kind of poorly.
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  And generally speaking, they were gone, you know, dead within just a couple of years of retirement.
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  And then the other group seemed to thrive.
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  It's like they shifted gears and suddenly
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  they had found their stride and I wanted to be in that camp.
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  So I started watching and began to observe patterns and out of that, God gave me the burden to write a book called, Finding Meaning and Purpose in Retirement, Making the Next
• 1:03
  Season of Your Life Your Best.
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  And from that then came the idea of doing a podcast and doing retreats and workshops.
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  so over the last year, I've been preparing for a lot of that.
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  And just in a couple of weeks here, I do the first church based
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  workshop uh down in Texas, which I think is around your home turf.
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  And so I'm really excited about where this is taking me.
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  God has been leading me one step at a time.
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  And it just seems like he's been asking me to do as Martin Luther King would say the next right thing.
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  That's great.
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  And tell me, how old were you when you kind of got this vision in your life for this direction right now?
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  I was probably 55 when I started thinking about this and I wasn't, you know, doing anything with it, per se, the ideas were incubating, they were just kind of working in the
• 1:50
  background.
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  And you know, my motto is dance with the chaos till order appears.
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  I'm very ADD.
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  And I have to really allow things to take shape before I execute them, or I move around like a squirrel from one nut to another.
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  And so with this, it gave me the focus to, you know,
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  amplify what I was experiencing, realizing that I'm in the largest segment of the American culture right now.
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  My age group is the largest segment of population.
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  And there's a lot of us could be entering into this season about the same time.
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  And so it was just a good time.
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  And so two years ago, I really did started in earnest writing the book.
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  And now, know, God's unfolding all this in front of me.
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  That's exciting.
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  So tell me more about this Dancing with the Chaos.
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  I love that concept.
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  Well, you know, oh God is incredibly creative.
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  He spoke the word into existence.
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  I'm a verbal processor, I get an idea in my head, and I start talking it out and scares my wife to death because she is not a verbal processor.
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  So I'm starting talking about things that I had this working and that working before she's ever put anything down on paper.
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  And so, you know, this dancing with the chaos came out of the fact that I need to work in a world that doesn't always think like I do.
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  And I need to be able to thrive.
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  in a world that doesn't think like I do.
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  So some things are gifts and some things are skills.
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  I started working on the skill of putting shape to things that were up here so that other people could relate to it.
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  That's great.
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  See, I'm also ADHD and I understand that.
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  I call it the ping pong.
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  You get in your brain, the ping pong's around until you get it out of your brain where you can see it and you can visualize it.
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  That's big difference.
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  I call it the quick brain concept because ADHD comes with a stigmatism of negativity, of a dysfunction.
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  But in reality, God created us in a unique pattern and we just have to understand our pattern in order to use that and fulfill our purpose in God's creation.
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  I've often described it as being otherwise wired.
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  It doesn't mean that the wiring doesn't work.
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  It just means that it works in a different sequence.
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  And so as I've learned that, I've been able to adapt my thinking and my expression of my thinking to make other people less uncomfortable.
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  Right, yes.
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  Yeah, there are times where I can be around those people and let myself be a little more enthusiastic, shall we say.
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  Yes, well, when I'm around a creative, I just revert back to who I am, you know?
• 4:18
  That's great.
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  So tell me, what is God currently doing in your business right now this week today?
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  Well, I'm working right now on a retreat that comes up in May in Branson, Missouri.
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  And that's going to be exciting.
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  It's the first time I've tried this.
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  so there's been a lot of prayer and a lot of uh anticipation and a lot of fear that went into this.
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  But it's going to be basically three and half days in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
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  And we're going to focus in on what makes retirement something that people want to live for.
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  And my goal
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  is it's actually called the Ignite Retirement Retreat.
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  And the goal is to ignite that spark of God's purpose for this season.
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  And so I'm now down to the point of where I'm marketing and trying to make people aware of it.
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  So I'm doing that through the podcast, through social media, and, you know, through networks that I've built over the years.
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  That's great.
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  So how did you get in?
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  Was it just something God laid on your heart as, we want to get people together and do this retreat?
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  What made you think about a retreat specifically?
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  Well, I think people are just better off doing life together.
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  And one of the things that happened out of COVID years ago, I hate to even mention the word because it darkens the room when you do that.
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  But uh this idea of isolation, people were really struck by that.
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  And a lot of people never came back from that and began interacting with others again.
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  And one of the biggest things in retirement, that is the enemy is isolation.
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  You're no longer in the room with people, you're no
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  longer interacting with them because you have to be there.
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  And so suddenly people opt out.
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  When they do that, they're going to die.
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  And so getting together in an environment like a retreat, you're actually building a relationship with eight or nine people over three and a half days that those become your
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  ongoing relationships.
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  The iron sharpens iron factors the Bible would teach it.
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  Yeah, see that's really cool because in retirement when people slip into retirement they tend to lose their social context, especially in their work and their career environment.
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  I think it's unique that you're sharing about retirement but you're calling it ignite.
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  Most people think the opposite that when they retire they stop, they don't ignite.
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  So why did you choose the word ignite?
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  Tell us more about that.
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  There's absolutely no sell by date written on your forehead.
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  God intends to use all of us the rest of our lives.
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  And he did not create us to sit around for 20 or 30 years as many will in order to do nothing.
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  We've got to have some purpose or plan.
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  And the truth is that we don't have to create one God already has one for us.
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  And if we can key into what he already has planned, well then I have a reason to get up every morning.
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  I'm excited about life.
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  And it allows me to anticipate and to really dream and think
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  large about the things that God did.
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  And so many people in the Bible are old.
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  When God chooses to use them.
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  There's Old Testament, New Testament, it's all through the Bible.
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  And you know, Paul encourages older men to teach younger men and older women to teach younger women.
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  And you know, these are things that people ignore, because they pick up the remote, they sit in the recliner, and they watch Starsky and Hutch reruns.
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  It's just, it's too much of a loss.
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  We have all this accumulated wisdom that we can
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  sharing with someone else.
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  you know, the opportunities are literally endless now.
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  As we age better, as we age healthier, we're able to continue contributing to the people around us.
• 7:53
  Yeah, and with advances in technology and advances in healthcare, we've seen that it's possible that we can start living longer and longer, so you have more time to give back.
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  that wisdom factor that comes with aging is being lost for people who are just beginning to become consumers in their retirement.
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  And you're asking people to step up and not be a consumer, but be a contributor to share that wisdom and impact other people.
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  Right.
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  And you know, there's all kinds of uh ways of doing that.
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  mean, within the church, for example, missions agencies are now offering short term missions roles to senior citizens.
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  And so you can go overseas without selling everything here and leaving all behind.
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  You know, when I went overseas as a missionary years ago, I literally had to sell everything that wouldn't fit in a container.
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  And we packed up, moved away.
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  was, you know, uh life changing.
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  But now you can go and fill it.
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  for maybe a missionary who's on furlough or someone who's sick and take on a temporary responsibility and within just a matter of weeks or months you're back at your old house
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  and doing the things that you were doing but having made a world-changing difference.
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  Yeah, and you get a little more freedom when you're retired to do those kind of things.
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  You don't have to check in with your boss.
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  Unless you're married, unless you're married, then you got to check in with that boss.
• 9:12
  Yep, absolutely.
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  And so I see that there's, you know, so many different ways that people can contribute.
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  There's nonprofits all around you that would die to have more people coming in and helping them because there's more to lift than they could lift themselves.
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  And, you know, it's just a matter of opening your eyes and seeing what's going on outside your four walls and realizing that what you have, other people don't have to give away.
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  And you know, you've worked on your 501, you know,
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  401k, you've worked on, you know, all this financial planning stuff, probably spent years doing that, and never spent a minute oftentimes thinking about what you're going to do
• 9:52
  with your day now that you have the money.
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  And so, you know, my point is, let's discover those things together.
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  Yeah, that's great.
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  That's exciting.
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  I love to hear that because I had a pastor one time say, there's no retirement plan in God's purpose.
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  Yeah, I have got a good friend, a mutual friend of ours, Johnny Ortiz, who talks about being refired instead of retired.
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  And I kind of like that phrase, you know, in fact, I'm using retirement igniter as my marketing because I want to ignite the spark that God has placed in each of our lives for
• 10:28
  what's going to happen in that fourth season.
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  That's great.
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  All right, so as we shift now, we're gonna shift into the business growth concept.
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  What are some tips you have for someone who wants to get into business or maybe they're new in business and they wanna take their business next level?
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  What are some little tips you might give them?
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  Do not go it alone.
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  find someone who can help you find someone who's walked the path, find someone who can coach you.
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  ah If you're needing two coaches because of the aspects of your business, for example, mine is both production and sales of material, I have to have two coaches.
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  And I love the fact that I have two coaches.
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  And I'm a part of a community that that encourages me weekly.
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  And I try to be an encourager there.
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  Because if you do this alone, you will get discouraged and discouragement leads to
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  an early exit.
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  Early exit leads to failure.
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  And truth is, this is something like planting seed in a field.
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  You're going to have to bear through the growing season to get to the harvest.
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  And harvest isn't going to come right away.
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  So how do you stay focused on what God gave you?
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  How do you stay encouraged while you do that by being around people like Lyle Eads?
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  mean, uh talk about an encourager.
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  There he is.
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  other people in the communities that I work with
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  on a weekly basis.
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  I'm in community with them and they are helping me to see where my blind spots are and they're helping me to strengthen my strengths.
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  So if someone's never had a coach before, we're gonna kind of dig into this just a little bit.
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  What are some tips you would give someone for finding the right coach for them and kind of assessing who fits their life and where their direction is going?
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  or find someone who
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  you're comfortable with the way they present themselves.
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  So, you know, there's a lot of people out there that will tell you that you can be rich overnight and they look like a used car salesman.
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  They sound like a used car salesman.
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  come, you know, they leave you feeling somehow uh tainted when you're talking to them.
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  Stay away from those guys.
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  They're not going to help you find someone who's genuine, someone who's real, someone who's following Christ.
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  And, you know, it's going to help you a lot to be able to relate to that person on a human level.
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  They're not just a coach.
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  they are a friend.
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  And if they aren't approachable at that level, then they're not a good coach.
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  Yeah, and I think it's important to have those values alignment.
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  Like you said, find somebody who's a Christian coach.
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  There's nothing wrong with getting coach that's outside of the Christian faith.
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  But when you find somebody who's in the Christian faith, there's just more power because they're empowered by God and you're empowered by God.
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  And that power just kind of unifies to something even better.
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  eat dog mentality, you know, where there's only so many dollars out there.
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  So go grab yours.
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  It's actually what do you have to offer that adds value to someone's life where both you and that person win.
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  So it's a totally different perspective.
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  Yeah, absolutely.
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  And if somebody's never had a coach before and they're like, I just don't know if I want to do that.
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  I'm in retirement.
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  I'm just ready to give it.
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  What would you tell them?
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  Why should they need it?
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  Why do they need a coach?
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  Well, you meet someone who's gone on before you.
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  It's like if you were going out to the Grand Canyon, you'd want a guide.
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  You wouldn't want to try and do that without someone to show you where to step and where not to step.
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  The dangers are rife.
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  There's all kinds of places where you can get into trouble.
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  In business, it's the same way.
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  A coach is there to serve as a guide on a trail they've walked and they are familiar with.
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  And if you find that coach, they're going to keep you from making a lot of stupid mistakes that are avoidable.
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  that you cannot avoid if you're going in alone.
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  Yeah, that's a good point.
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  I always like to talk about the speed of implementation.
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  It may take you three years to get somewhere, but if you get a coach, it may pull that back to a year or six months or three months.
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  If you find the right coach who can help you align not just your business, but your values, align with Christ and align with your direction, the goals that God's placed in
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  your heart, your purpose, I believe you call it, in what you do.
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  it's really about pulling the trigger at the right time.
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  You can pull the trigger prematurely and you can pull the trigger too late.
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  So finding that sweet spot where you're pulling the trigger at just the right time, that gets you to be able to shoot the target in the right way.
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  And for me, that's what coaching has done is that I got a podcast coach and my podcast started to thrive and oh I get feedback that I wouldn't otherwise get.
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  Not everybody who listens to a podcast or watches a podcast is going to leave feedback, but my coach will and I earn
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  sharpens iron.
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  And again, it's just that matter of I don't know what I don't know, but other people do.
• 15:04
  Can you share one little story about you and how a coach helps you and take some of those first steps in your current direction?
• 15:13
  Sure, well I'm able to concisely tell people what it is that I'm trying to do.
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  I'm trying to ignite them for the next season.
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  That came through coaching.
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  the idea of meaning and purpose in retirement, that was where I was focused.
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  But to represent that, uh that idea of igniting and having a little spark, you know, come off the tip of your finger, that came from working with a coach who said, you know, it
• 15:39
  would really work well if you did this.
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  And you know, so in processing all of that, that's where retirement igniter came from.
• 15:47
  That's great.
• 15:48
  And yeah, as people get older, they tend to think they know a lot more, but they also know enough to know that they don't know it all.
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  So having that attitude.
• 15:57
  Yeah, the old adage of jack of all trades, master of none.
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  I want someone who has sales mastery to be my coach.
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  I want someone who has podcast mastery to be my coach.
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  Good work.
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  Yes.
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  So how can people get in touch with you?
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  And I want you to think about one little tidbit of wisdom you'd like to leave us with today.
• 16:15
  Sure, well the best place to get a hold of me right now is retirementigniter.com and there you'll learn a little bit about me and a little bit about the retreats and the things that
• 16:26
  we're doing.
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  The other thing, as far as a tidbit, know, God created you creatively and he put inside each of us
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  the seed of creativity.
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  Now, whether or not you've ever grown that seed depends on your experience and who's been influencing your life.
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  But I promise every person here, if there is God in you,
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  then there is creativity in you.
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  And to be able to unleash that is to not only know God's will, but to know his pleasure and to sense his pleasure every day.
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  And when I'm creative and when I'm doing the things that I'm able to do because of the doors he's opened, I sense his proximity to me getting closer and closer.
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  I'm leaning into him.
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  And out of that, I just get to sense his joy in the relationship.
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  And that's a rare thing in this day and age.
• 17:21
  That's great.
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  Thank you for sharing.
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  Thank you for being with us today.
• 17:24
  my pleasure.