1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,800 Adam, welcome to the Evolved radio podcast. Thanks, 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,560 Todd. Happy to be here. Great to have you. So, 3 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:14,840 got a fun story of like, how we connected and this lens to 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:18,080 kind of you giving us a bit of your background. You reached out to me 5 00:00:18,080 --> 00:00:21,840 on LinkedIn and I had to take a little bit 6 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,160 to review your profile because it looked like one of those things of like, is 7 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,960 this legit? This can't be real. This person, like, sounds 8 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,640 far too impressive and like, all the qualifications and 9 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,480 where you worked, obviously a big component of this. So at 10 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:40,320 first I ignored it for, for a little while. Then I kind of recognized 11 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,480 your name from a group that we were in. I was like, wait a minute, 12 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:46,320 maybe, okay, maybe this guy is like legitimately reaching out to me. I was a 13 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,000 bit confused. So that's sort of the fun way of like, 14 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,760 you know, I was a bit suspect of, of you connecting with me on 15 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,520 LinkedIn and, you know, gives you a good intro as to like, who 16 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,140 are you? Why was I so. Of why you're reaching out to me. 17 00:01:03,580 --> 00:01:07,020 Yeah, that's a really great point, Todd, because I'm also 18 00:01:07,100 --> 00:01:10,420 finding that a lot of other people have been quite 19 00:01:10,420 --> 00:01:13,980 suspect and in particular people I've been trying to help. 20 00:01:15,340 --> 00:01:19,140 So I'm taking in stride. But to 21 00:01:19,140 --> 00:01:22,460 your point. I have recently 22 00:01:22,620 --> 00:01:26,220 left the Federal Bureau of investigation after 15 23 00:01:26,220 --> 00:01:30,070 years as an intelligence analyst with them, where I 24 00:01:30,070 --> 00:01:32,750 covered and was responsible for 25 00:01:33,390 --> 00:01:36,270 cyber issues, counterintelligence issues 26 00:01:36,990 --> 00:01:40,550 like tracking people that they, what they 27 00:01:40,550 --> 00:01:44,070 weren't supposed to look into and they were 28 00:01:44,070 --> 00:01:47,790 stealing things that they weren't supposed to, and then even terrorism 29 00:01:47,790 --> 00:01:51,350 issues as well. So I have been responsible 30 00:01:51,350 --> 00:01:54,990 for all the national security related programs at the FBI and, 31 00:01:56,030 --> 00:01:59,870 and recently left where the US Government 32 00:01:59,950 --> 00:02:03,750 had a deferred resignation program. And I resigned as 33 00:02:03,750 --> 00:02:07,550 of late September, early October and then met 34 00:02:07,550 --> 00:02:11,349 you and yeah, sent you that sort of weird message on LinkedIn. So 35 00:02:11,349 --> 00:02:15,190 I appreciate you being curious about what's this guy 36 00:02:15,190 --> 00:02:18,510 from the FBI reaching out to me about? Yeah, 37 00:02:19,550 --> 00:02:22,870 yeah. I mean, there was, you know, I deal with a lot of 38 00:02:22,870 --> 00:02:26,270 conversations and security and things like that, so it felt related. But 39 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,040 I suppose when the FBI comes knocking, even though I don't live in 40 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,560 America, at first I was like, what the heck? This can't be real. Is this 41 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,360 real? It was indeed real. So very cool. Really 42 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,000 neat background. I wouldn't mind spending a little time on this just because I think 43 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,800 it is an area that is just on its face, 44 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,680 a little fascinating of the work that you do. 45 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,800 Only so much that you can talk about it. But I guess what led 46 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,300 you to the FBI and the security 47 00:02:57,380 --> 00:03:01,140 services. Part of that was that were you in security first or were you 48 00:03:01,140 --> 00:03:04,820 kind of more into investigation and then security and 49 00:03:04,900 --> 00:03:08,420 cyber became sort of the area of interest, I guess, which came first. 50 00:03:09,060 --> 00:03:12,700 Yeah. So I might throw in a wrench in your 51 00:03:12,700 --> 00:03:16,020 thought process. Thought process there and 52 00:03:16,740 --> 00:03:20,580 select. See none of the above. I actually 53 00:03:20,900 --> 00:03:24,630 was planning on being a doctor when I was in college. 54 00:03:24,710 --> 00:03:28,270 Wow, that is a hard right turn, isn't. Is 55 00:03:28,270 --> 00:03:32,070 isn't it? And at the time I 56 00:03:32,070 --> 00:03:35,350 was learning Mandarin Chinese and really 57 00:03:35,350 --> 00:03:38,990 enjoyed more about languages. This was like 58 00:03:38,990 --> 00:03:42,470 2009, 2008 time frame, I think. 59 00:03:43,190 --> 00:03:46,830 And the bureau was going to college 60 00:03:46,830 --> 00:03:50,080 campuses and recruiting. And it just 61 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,160 happened that one day I was actually planning on going 62 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,720 to a hiring event for a 63 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,200 biological research company, put more emphasis on that. 64 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,400 And that was actually late at the FBI recruiting event 65 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,560 and ended up being in the back of the room. But 66 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,960 I knew that I wanted to do something more with languages. And 67 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,410 at the time the bureau was hiring, 68 00:04:16,890 --> 00:04:20,570 had a hiring blitz. I think the phrase is for individuals 69 00:04:20,570 --> 00:04:24,130 who had experience in certain languages like 70 00:04:24,130 --> 00:04:27,690 Chinese or. Or Farsi or more 71 00:04:27,690 --> 00:04:30,570 than the Asian languages. So 72 00:04:31,450 --> 00:04:34,730 I decided to put in my 73 00:04:34,730 --> 00:04:38,330 resume on a whim because I really enjoy learning 74 00:04:38,650 --> 00:04:42,330 Chinese language. Not so I didn't really have a 75 00:04:42,330 --> 00:04:45,210 goal of getting into security or investig. 76 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,040 It was more about serving my country and 77 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:52,680 also the enjoyment I had around 78 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,240 analytics and languages. So from that 79 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,920 point on, everything just sort of lined up at the right time 80 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,680 and it really worked out. But I think for me, looking back 81 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,280 on it in retrospect, it was just following my intuition, my gut 82 00:05:08,280 --> 00:05:12,000 on. I really enjoy this and I'm just gonna go with it and see 83 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,480 what happens. But yeah, no interest in security 84 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,100 or investigation at that time. 85 00:05:19,860 --> 00:05:22,900 So the work that you did, I don't know how much you can share, but 86 00:05:23,060 --> 00:05:26,420 I guess you can probably talk about the broad strokes, I suppose, but like 87 00:05:26,500 --> 00:05:29,860 intellectual property theft, those sorts of things. Like what types of 88 00:05:30,180 --> 00:05:33,780 work did you do there? Yeah, yeah. So I started my 89 00:05:33,780 --> 00:05:37,300 career looking at terrorist financing and 90 00:05:38,340 --> 00:05:41,540 following, broadly speaking, where 91 00:05:41,540 --> 00:05:44,920 individuals were, where they were sending 92 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,040 money and why. And because a lot of times, you know, 93 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,880 if you are. Looking 94 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,080 at different business opportunities and 95 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,640 activities, money is a big component of that. So 96 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,800 started off doing that, the money, as they say. That's right. That's right. And 97 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,240 then from there I transitioned because of my 98 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,000 Chinese language background, I transitioned to looking at intellectual property 99 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,860 theft issues and mainly looking at technology 100 00:06:14,020 --> 00:06:17,380 transfers, how we characterize it. And 101 00:06:17,620 --> 00:06:21,460 I really enjoyed that experience because I began 102 00:06:21,460 --> 00:06:25,140 to develop more My strategic analysis mindset 103 00:06:25,140 --> 00:06:28,660 and skills, I really honed in on how 104 00:06:29,300 --> 00:06:31,700 I could look at the bigger picture from 105 00:06:32,980 --> 00:06:36,660 looking at the entire United States, on what was happening on 106 00:06:36,820 --> 00:06:40,500 specific economic issues and national security 107 00:06:40,580 --> 00:06:44,090 policy issues and technology trends, 108 00:06:44,090 --> 00:06:47,610 and looking at all the different intersections of everything. And it really 109 00:06:48,170 --> 00:06:51,850 excited me a lot. And at that point, 110 00:06:51,850 --> 00:06:54,010 actually I came to the aha moment, that. 111 00:06:55,690 --> 00:06:59,450 Big picture critical thinking and analysis is what I really wanted 112 00:06:59,450 --> 00:07:03,130 to do. And then from that, actually I began to 113 00:07:03,770 --> 00:07:06,090 transition to doing more 114 00:07:07,290 --> 00:07:10,770 mission management issues. So in the United States, the 115 00:07:10,770 --> 00:07:14,350 intelligence community, the US Intelligence community, there's a group called the 116 00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:17,670 Office of Director of National Intelligence. And that 117 00:07:17,670 --> 00:07:21,470 organization is essentially responsible for helping the 118 00:07:21,470 --> 00:07:24,950 intelligence community agencies work together. 119 00:07:25,350 --> 00:07:28,790 So they're all generally on the same page. 120 00:07:28,870 --> 00:07:32,070 They're working in sync, everyone's partnering with one another. 121 00:07:32,950 --> 00:07:36,510 So I transitioned my expertise in 122 00:07:36,510 --> 00:07:40,230 counterintelligence issues to that skill set because I really wanted 123 00:07:40,230 --> 00:07:43,750 to get the big picture experience on how to 124 00:07:43,830 --> 00:07:47,190 be more mission management focused. And then after that experience, 125 00:07:47,670 --> 00:07:51,390 I decided I would do something uncomfortable and 126 00:07:51,390 --> 00:07:54,870 learn about cybersecurity. I don't know, do you have much experience in cyber? 127 00:07:56,150 --> 00:07:59,470 I always say I know enough to be dangerous, so I suppose I know more 128 00:07:59,470 --> 00:08:03,190 than most, but it's not an area I consider myself an expert in either. 129 00:08:03,190 --> 00:08:06,830 But because I'm in technology and it like it just 130 00:08:06,830 --> 00:08:09,790 happens to be around me a lot. Yeah. So I've just, I've learned a lot 131 00:08:09,790 --> 00:08:12,740 on the fly, but it's never been a sort of an area of focus for 132 00:08:12,740 --> 00:08:16,460 me either. Yeah. Okay. Well, yeah, I'd say we, you know, 133 00:08:16,460 --> 00:08:20,300 we may have similar expertise there, but just because I enjoy 134 00:08:20,620 --> 00:08:23,940 the bigger picture. But when I transferred to the 135 00:08:23,940 --> 00:08:26,620 FBI Cyber Division, I got 136 00:08:27,580 --> 00:08:31,220 a lot of. Experiences 137 00:08:31,220 --> 00:08:34,780 where I had a hard time translating the technical side 138 00:08:35,580 --> 00:08:39,020 of, you know, the IP address and the router 139 00:08:39,260 --> 00:08:43,110 and packets and all these very detail 140 00:08:43,430 --> 00:08:47,070 oriented technical concepts. Whereas my mind 141 00:08:47,070 --> 00:08:50,390 was a little bit more conceptual and. 142 00:08:51,990 --> 00:08:55,590 Looking at themes and it was really challenging. But I dived 143 00:08:55,590 --> 00:08:59,430 into looking at how hackers do what they do, 144 00:08:59,430 --> 00:09:03,270 why they do it, what are their priorities and that sort of 145 00:09:03,270 --> 00:09:07,070 thing, and helping protect us critical infrastructure. And 146 00:09:07,070 --> 00:09:10,910 I really enjoyed that. And then I ended my career 147 00:09:10,910 --> 00:09:14,510 on engaging more with the private sector. And it was a good experience 148 00:09:14,510 --> 00:09:18,270 as well. Pretty cool. So 149 00:09:18,430 --> 00:09:22,150 I think that lends, well, actually to what 150 00:09:22,150 --> 00:09:25,990 we're sort of set to talk about here is. You kind 151 00:09:25,990 --> 00:09:28,870 of got to a point where there was a bit of a transitional moment for 152 00:09:28,870 --> 00:09:31,950 you. Right. And we were kind of talking about 153 00:09:32,590 --> 00:09:36,230 the way that this approaches in Many people's lives. And I think a lot of 154 00:09:36,230 --> 00:09:39,750 people, you know, listening to the podcast will sort of feel some 155 00:09:40,630 --> 00:09:44,470 familiarity with this of like, you get to some moment in your life where 156 00:09:45,030 --> 00:09:48,630 there's either an external event or just sort of a series of emotional 157 00:09:48,710 --> 00:09:52,510 circumstances that. That kind of send you in a different direction or make you 158 00:09:52,510 --> 00:09:56,310 at least very much reflect on, you know, where am I in life? Is this 159 00:09:56,310 --> 00:10:00,070 really what I intended to do? Like. Like, you know, this is it. This is 160 00:10:00,070 --> 00:10:03,190 the things that I'm doing. I think, to a large degree. 161 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:07,120 Luckily and unluckily, this came to me quite early in my life and in my 162 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,520 career. I worked basically in 163 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,280 corporations and fairly significantly sized corporations 164 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,480 even before I was out of high school. So worked. 165 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,080 It was very much a part of my core identity of the work that I 166 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,880 did, and then at some point recognized that it was 167 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,480 probably too much of my identity. And that recognition 168 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,290 was like, you know, you know, this. If I. I lost my 169 00:10:33,290 --> 00:10:37,010 job, basically I decided to quit. But, you know, it, it things have gone sort 170 00:10:37,010 --> 00:10:40,650 of sideways a little bit and realize, you know, I 171 00:10:40,650 --> 00:10:44,490 don't really know who I am or understand sort of what I want in life 172 00:10:44,490 --> 00:10:48,090 because all of that had previously been framed for the things that I 173 00:10:48,090 --> 00:10:51,810 wanted to achieve in my career. And that was a really big aha moment 174 00:10:51,810 --> 00:10:55,250 for me. And what I sort of feel was a transitional moment for me of 175 00:10:55,250 --> 00:10:58,980 like, okay, I need to kind of go explore the world, figure some things 176 00:10:58,980 --> 00:11:02,140 out and just spend some time with me and run into a bunch of wild 177 00:11:02,140 --> 00:11:05,580 experiences and grow a little, and then figure out what I want to do from 178 00:11:05,580 --> 00:11:09,420 there. And so I think that those types of moments, I think, are really 179 00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:12,060 important for people. And I see a lot of this in business. You know, people 180 00:11:12,060 --> 00:11:15,820 have run an IT shop for 23 years, and they're just 181 00:11:15,820 --> 00:11:19,460 like, I don't know, do I want to keep doing this? And if I didn't, 182 00:11:19,460 --> 00:11:23,090 what would I do? Right. So I'll maybe turn it back to you 183 00:11:23,090 --> 00:11:26,490 because I think this is obviously something that you think a lot about and probably 184 00:11:26,490 --> 00:11:30,290 had a very similar experience of, like, coming from your career. And then, you know, 185 00:11:30,290 --> 00:11:33,290 what do I do now? What does this look like? You know, how can I 186 00:11:33,290 --> 00:11:37,090 continue to grow and help people? Right. So what was your experience in that? Yeah, 187 00:11:37,090 --> 00:11:40,450 I mean, everything you're saying, I can relate to a lot, actually. 188 00:11:40,610 --> 00:11:44,290 Todd, where? On two fronts. The more recent 189 00:11:44,290 --> 00:11:48,050 one, actually, I'm still like, exploring, as you will, 190 00:11:48,050 --> 00:11:50,870 as a new business owner, what it's like to 191 00:11:51,910 --> 00:11:55,270 send a connection request on LinkedIn for example, 192 00:11:55,510 --> 00:11:59,310 and you know, seeing how that lands and like, do I really want 193 00:11:59,310 --> 00:12:02,950 to be to keep doing this, posting on LinkedIn 194 00:12:02,950 --> 00:12:05,750 and trying to talk to people and so forth. But 195 00:12:06,870 --> 00:12:10,310 to your point on, what really 196 00:12:10,470 --> 00:12:14,310 shifted for me on that pivotal transition earlier 197 00:12:14,390 --> 00:12:17,510 on was about actually 198 00:12:18,740 --> 00:12:22,500 mid point in my career when I was at the FBI. I 199 00:12:22,500 --> 00:12:26,300 was in a relationship at the time and it was going 200 00:12:26,300 --> 00:12:29,900 well and I really enjoyed my work as an 201 00:12:29,900 --> 00:12:33,220 analyst there at the FBI. But unfortunately 202 00:12:33,460 --> 00:12:36,660 I ran into a personal situation where. 203 00:12:38,260 --> 00:12:41,460 My identity was sort of wrapped in with 204 00:12:41,940 --> 00:12:45,710 this individual and, and the Bureau at the same time. 205 00:12:45,870 --> 00:12:49,590 But unfortunately their relationship ended. And after that 206 00:12:49,590 --> 00:12:52,790 I was kind of at a 207 00:12:52,790 --> 00:12:56,430 crossroads where I'm like, okay, I'm single 208 00:12:56,430 --> 00:13:00,229 now and I kind of knew who I was, but I 209 00:13:00,229 --> 00:13:03,990 really didn't. Most of my identity was wrapped up doing my 210 00:13:03,990 --> 00:13:07,470 best work and trying to really exceed 211 00:13:07,470 --> 00:13:11,320 expectations at the FBI. But then personally I was like, 212 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,040 who am I? What's my purpose? What's, you know, 213 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,680 what am I going to do from day to day? And so I 214 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:22,120 started to really explore what that would look like. 215 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:26,280 And I was encountering emotions 216 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,880 of pain, sorrow, sadness, 217 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,400 but also a little bit excitement like, oh, I can 218 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:37,340 explore this. Actually, funny enough, I had a bucket list that I 219 00:13:37,340 --> 00:13:40,780 tried from break dancing to rock 220 00:13:40,780 --> 00:13:44,380 climbing to, I mean, a lot improv acting 221 00:13:44,380 --> 00:13:47,900 actually. But through that 222 00:13:47,900 --> 00:13:50,700 transition, it was really difficult to 223 00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:54,780 come around the corner and figure out what I was going to do next. 224 00:13:55,100 --> 00:13:58,620 And you know, the short version is I 225 00:13:58,620 --> 00:14:02,220 became very much an intuitive person, started to meditate 226 00:14:02,980 --> 00:14:06,660 to help me heal and move on. And then from there 227 00:14:07,060 --> 00:14:10,900 I came across an idea of a 228 00:14:10,900 --> 00:14:14,180 business that I wanted to do, but it just took a long time to really 229 00:14:14,180 --> 00:14:17,860 get to this point, to be honest with you. Coming, you know, 230 00:14:17,860 --> 00:14:21,700 trying to identify my purpose, which is to show and teach 231 00:14:21,700 --> 00:14:25,460 others how to integrate logic and intuition to make 232 00:14:25,460 --> 00:14:28,100 aligned decisions and then figuring out 233 00:14:29,260 --> 00:14:32,300 how do I make this into a business. So it took a long time, but 234 00:14:33,260 --> 00:14:36,980 the breakup really. Created a 235 00:14:36,980 --> 00:14:39,180 rift and a big pivotal moment for me. 236 00:14:41,740 --> 00:14:44,780 I mean, important growth points. I think 237 00:14:45,420 --> 00:14:49,180 a bit of that exploration and just sort of throwing yourself in different 238 00:14:49,180 --> 00:14:52,940 things for those experiences. Again, kind of similar in my experience as well. 239 00:14:52,940 --> 00:14:56,730 Right. So I think that what I was going 240 00:14:56,730 --> 00:15:00,490 to say is the lead in earlier aligned well with 241 00:15:00,490 --> 00:15:04,010 where I knew the conversation was going as well. You 242 00:15:04,010 --> 00:15:07,610 followed an intuition in your career that led you to a great place, 243 00:15:07,610 --> 00:15:10,890 had a great career, and had all of this success and growth 244 00:15:11,290 --> 00:15:15,050 in a professional capacity. And I think not to 245 00:15:15,050 --> 00:15:18,010 put words in your mouth, you can Tell me if I'm wrong here. I felt 246 00:15:18,010 --> 00:15:21,610 like that intuition just took you in a different direction at another moment. 247 00:15:21,850 --> 00:15:25,380 And I think it's interesting because a lot of what you talk about, what you 248 00:15:25,380 --> 00:15:28,740 do, revolves around intuition. And the part that I find 249 00:15:30,180 --> 00:15:33,780 really fascinating is sort of the. Usually people 250 00:15:33,780 --> 00:15:37,260 are intuitive or intellectual. Right. Like, I do behavioral 251 00:15:37,260 --> 00:15:41,020 profiling. I'm sure you guys, you've done tons of sort of study on this in 252 00:15:41,020 --> 00:15:44,740 your work as well. And those are usually opposite poles 253 00:15:44,740 --> 00:15:48,380 in behavioral profile. Right. Like, usually someone is very, I'll follow my 254 00:15:48,380 --> 00:15:52,220 gut, or, you know, I need to think through this. So 255 00:15:52,220 --> 00:15:55,740 you kind of having expressing sort of the marriage of those things and 256 00:15:55,740 --> 00:15:59,100 understanding how to leverage both sides of that, I think is a really 257 00:15:59,100 --> 00:16:02,900 interesting component that lends to another piece that we'll kind of get 258 00:16:02,900 --> 00:16:05,980 to there in a second. But as I sort of, sort of 259 00:16:07,260 --> 00:16:10,860 dump this word salad, how's that land with you of like, the following, that intuition 260 00:16:10,860 --> 00:16:14,540 and how it's been a major character in sort of the arc of where you've 261 00:16:14,540 --> 00:16:18,140 gone in your life? Yeah, it lands really well. And it's a. That's a good 262 00:16:18,700 --> 00:16:22,060 capture of where I'm at now and how I've gotten here. 263 00:16:22,460 --> 00:16:25,340 In particular. When 264 00:16:26,460 --> 00:16:30,060 that sort of life pivoting moment occurred, 265 00:16:30,140 --> 00:16:32,620 everything logically just did not make sense. 266 00:16:33,740 --> 00:16:37,540 I. Everything. Had you been logical up to 267 00:16:37,540 --> 00:16:40,940 that point? Yeah, I mean. I mean, yeah, very heavily, 268 00:16:41,260 --> 00:16:43,820 heavily used a lot of analytic. 269 00:16:45,940 --> 00:16:49,460 Frameworks and structures and critical thinking approaches. 270 00:16:50,340 --> 00:16:54,180 But I mean, there was always sort of a gut hunch 271 00:16:54,180 --> 00:16:57,140 of, oh, let me try this, like the Chinese 272 00:16:57,780 --> 00:17:00,580 language example of how I got into the FBI. But 273 00:17:02,020 --> 00:17:04,420 I was very much driven by. 274 00:17:06,100 --> 00:17:09,860 How I could solve a problem logically. And 275 00:17:10,819 --> 00:17:14,419 when I didn't have a. I had a support 276 00:17:14,419 --> 00:17:17,859 system, but my support system at the time was this one individual. 277 00:17:18,499 --> 00:17:22,099 And when that individual left my 278 00:17:22,099 --> 00:17:25,379 life, it. Really 279 00:17:25,459 --> 00:17:28,979 changed my mindset around how to. How to 280 00:17:28,979 --> 00:17:32,699 solve my problems, how to survive, how 281 00:17:32,699 --> 00:17:36,499 do I have fun now? And so the intuition 282 00:17:36,499 --> 00:17:40,250 part really started to grow at that point 283 00:17:40,810 --> 00:17:44,410 because it was really the only way that I could 284 00:17:44,410 --> 00:17:48,050 cope because everything else was thrown out the 285 00:17:48,050 --> 00:17:51,850 window and I didn't see any 286 00:17:51,850 --> 00:17:55,530 sort of solution at the time. And so I was just sort 287 00:17:55,530 --> 00:17:59,130 of following what it felt like. Oh, I'm like, okay, let's. 288 00:17:59,130 --> 00:18:02,170 This feels good. I mean, I was also trying to 289 00:18:03,460 --> 00:18:06,420 heal at the same time. So it was 290 00:18:07,380 --> 00:18:11,140 really much an exploration of what does my intuition feel like? 291 00:18:12,340 --> 00:18:16,140 Am I safe doing it? How am I going to use it to make 292 00:18:16,140 --> 00:18:19,700 decisions, so on and so forth. So I really started to hone in 293 00:18:20,020 --> 00:18:23,780 on more the intuitive side and what my body was telling me at that time. 294 00:18:26,020 --> 00:18:29,540 So this is perfect because that lends to one of the 295 00:18:29,540 --> 00:18:33,210 major themes that I wanted to talk with you on the here today 296 00:18:33,210 --> 00:18:36,890 is, is critical thinking. And I think that 297 00:18:36,890 --> 00:18:40,650 that is, you know, one of those frameworks that probably has 298 00:18:41,370 --> 00:18:45,210 a large logical component to it, but also I 299 00:18:45,210 --> 00:18:48,769 think is better fit when there is more of an 300 00:18:48,769 --> 00:18:52,490 emotional or intuitive element that is. Is at least sort of 301 00:18:52,490 --> 00:18:56,050 woven into it in some way. And I think this, this helps strike this balance 302 00:18:56,050 --> 00:18:59,470 because one of the things that drives me crazy is like, I feel that 303 00:18:59,470 --> 00:19:03,150 critical thinking is something that in my mind is difficult to 304 00:19:03,150 --> 00:19:06,950 actually teach people because it requires a bit more of that intuitive, 305 00:19:06,950 --> 00:19:09,950 that gut feeling, or at least kind of the wisdom or experience 306 00:19:10,430 --> 00:19:14,110 of seeing certain circumstances, understanding how you can approach 307 00:19:14,110 --> 00:19:17,870 it, what your options are. And what I find with business owners 308 00:19:17,870 --> 00:19:21,630 is this is an area that they really struggle with, especially sort 309 00:19:21,630 --> 00:19:25,310 of junior growing to senior staff as they're like, well, you 310 00:19:25,310 --> 00:19:28,790 know, they just don't seem to have great critical thinking skills. Like, they don't think 311 00:19:28,790 --> 00:19:32,410 through these problems the same way that I do. And part of my 312 00:19:32,410 --> 00:19:36,250 feeling is because those people don't also have 15 years of experience 313 00:19:36,410 --> 00:19:40,010 of encountering similar scenarios and they can't draw upon the experience, 314 00:19:40,490 --> 00:19:44,250 but yet, you know, you can't teach that either. Right. So 315 00:19:44,330 --> 00:19:48,170 what's, I guess, what's your broader thinking on, like, how 316 00:19:48,170 --> 00:19:51,770 do you learn critical thinking skills? And the how 317 00:19:51,770 --> 00:19:55,450 does sort of that, that, that line up between, 318 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,760 you know, the objective and the subjective experience of 319 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,760 seeing something and thinking through it? Gosh, Todd, do you want to run my 320 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:05,600 business? Because that is a great insight. 321 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,320 I have not heard many people capture it in that way, 322 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:15,040 summarize it in that way, but we're on the same page. So 323 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:19,480 I think first, if I heard you looking at it 324 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,960 objectively, if I'm looking at a problem objectively, 325 00:20:23,870 --> 00:20:27,350 I could go a lot of different ways. I could 326 00:20:27,350 --> 00:20:31,030 relate to my previous experiences, as you touched 327 00:20:31,030 --> 00:20:34,670 on earlier, on how to approach the problem. 328 00:20:34,910 --> 00:20:38,550 But if you don't have experience solving 329 00:20:38,550 --> 00:20:42,350 that problem, there are a couple ways you could 330 00:20:42,350 --> 00:20:45,910 look at it. First, if you have a problem and 331 00:20:45,910 --> 00:20:49,470 you have. Some data that could 332 00:20:49,950 --> 00:20:53,530 lead into breaking it apart, you could start that 333 00:20:53,530 --> 00:20:57,050 way. So categorizing the issue in different 334 00:20:57,210 --> 00:21:00,890 themes, concepts, ideas, so you can 335 00:21:01,130 --> 00:21:04,690 break it up in little pieces so you can better understand it and have it 336 00:21:04,690 --> 00:21:08,410 more relatable to you, that's one approach. You could also look 337 00:21:08,410 --> 00:21:12,210 at it From a big picture and a small picture point of 338 00:21:12,210 --> 00:21:15,930 view. I like doing that often because my go to, 339 00:21:15,930 --> 00:21:19,600 as I mentioned before, is strategic big picture thinking. But 340 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:23,320 often as you're looking at it from, you know, a forest versus the 341 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:27,160 trees sort of mentality, you have 342 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,920 to be mindful of how long you're looking at 343 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,400 the big picture or the small picture and whether you get down a rabbit hole. 344 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:38,120 I know oftentimes when I was doing analysis at the 345 00:21:38,120 --> 00:21:41,520 FBI, I started to and I would actually get 346 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,040 into the flow state and really enjoy the analysis and the puzzle 347 00:21:45,710 --> 00:21:49,550 I had to be mindful of. I was 348 00:21:49,790 --> 00:21:53,190 going to many different directions and wasn't getting 349 00:21:53,190 --> 00:21:55,710 anywhere. So then you have to also 350 00:21:56,510 --> 00:22:00,310 incorporate the subjective side that you mentioned, which to me 351 00:22:00,310 --> 00:22:03,710 is more the emotional intuitive component. 352 00:22:04,190 --> 00:22:07,550 And so looking at it from 353 00:22:08,030 --> 00:22:11,880 the emotions and intuition part 354 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,720 of the critical thinking. Framework 355 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:16,520 or equation. 356 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:22,960 Following how your body responds to data I 357 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,680 found is a major factor 358 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,360 in how you want to navigate the critical thinking 359 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,680 equation in your mind. So for example, 360 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,550 if I'm looking at, we'll say, 361 00:22:39,430 --> 00:22:43,070 okay, Todd, we'll go back to LinkedIn for example, for a minute as an 362 00:22:43,070 --> 00:22:46,710 example, if I want to send a connection request, I'll look at it. 363 00:22:46,710 --> 00:22:50,470 And that's my problem, I guess, actually honestly at the 364 00:22:50,470 --> 00:22:54,070 moment. And I want to figure out, you know, 365 00:22:54,710 --> 00:22:58,110 looking at it analytically, how do I want to approach it? Does the 366 00:22:58,110 --> 00:23:01,190 individual have the 367 00:23:01,750 --> 00:23:05,390 ideal target profile that I want to look at? Does the 368 00:23:05,390 --> 00:23:09,080 individual have a background where I feel I can relate to the person? 369 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,920 Does the individual have like an issue 370 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,760 that he or she may have communicated on LinkedIn so that, 371 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,360 you know, logically looking at it that way you can see 372 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,120 that makes sense. I'm going to approach that person now intuitively. 373 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,200 You could incorporate, well, how do I feel 374 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,120 in my body about assisting 375 00:23:32,930 --> 00:23:36,370 individual with a certain problem? Like if the individual has 376 00:23:36,370 --> 00:23:39,090 mentioned on a post or something that. 377 00:23:40,770 --> 00:23:44,610 You know, I'm having trouble doing an interview or I'm having 378 00:23:44,610 --> 00:23:48,370 trouble networking on so and so problem, 379 00:23:49,170 --> 00:23:51,890 you can look at it, how big of a, 380 00:23:53,330 --> 00:23:56,970 an emotional resonance does that have on you? 381 00:23:56,970 --> 00:24:00,670 I'm talking about me as a business owner with at that 382 00:24:00,670 --> 00:24:04,390 point in time, what ideas are 383 00:24:04,630 --> 00:24:08,470 coming up within my consciousness, within 384 00:24:08,470 --> 00:24:12,030 my awareness that I could assist that individual 385 00:24:12,030 --> 00:24:15,110 with? So often for me, 386 00:24:15,510 --> 00:24:19,190 intuition is not only how your body responds, but sort of the, 387 00:24:19,510 --> 00:24:23,030 the immediate sort of nudges or gut 388 00:24:23,030 --> 00:24:26,230 hunches that you get on how to approach 389 00:24:26,790 --> 00:24:30,150 helping that individual. And so the critical thinking 390 00:24:30,230 --> 00:24:34,070 equation or framework becomes even, I'll say 391 00:24:34,470 --> 00:24:38,310 more complicated or more simple Depending on how you want 392 00:24:38,310 --> 00:24:42,110 to approach it and what feels right to you in that current 393 00:24:42,110 --> 00:24:45,830 moment. Because the next day or the next 394 00:24:45,830 --> 00:24:49,550 week, how you approach the same individual could change. So that 395 00:24:49,550 --> 00:24:52,930 also. Either broadens 396 00:24:53,250 --> 00:24:57,010 the options of the critical thinking approach or 397 00:24:57,250 --> 00:25:00,610 it minimizes it, depending on where you are in that state. 398 00:25:00,850 --> 00:25:04,370 So maybe I'll just pause there. I know it probably said a lot of different 399 00:25:04,370 --> 00:25:07,090 things, but a lot of different 400 00:25:07,650 --> 00:25:11,330 complexities to it. Yeah, I almost 401 00:25:11,330 --> 00:25:14,810 see the difference between objective and 402 00:25:14,810 --> 00:25:18,370 subjective inputs on decision making. And sort of like 403 00:25:18,770 --> 00:25:22,570 understanding something I think is actually now that you talk about it, is maybe more 404 00:25:22,570 --> 00:25:26,370 of a spectrum than sort of previously a thought. Right. Because usually 405 00:25:26,370 --> 00:25:30,210 objective data is things you see, you can measure, you can point to subject 406 00:25:30,210 --> 00:25:33,570 data. Subjective tends to be more sort of like feelings, 407 00:25:33,570 --> 00:25:36,850 intuitions, those sorts of things. But, you know, 408 00:25:37,490 --> 00:25:41,210 maybe those intuitions and that sort of, that gut is data 409 00:25:41,210 --> 00:25:44,890 you can't see. But you still have to factor in and sort of figure out 410 00:25:44,890 --> 00:25:48,330 how to apply those things. That's sort of an interesting way to sort of think 411 00:25:48,330 --> 00:25:52,070 about this of like, because again, people that 412 00:25:52,070 --> 00:25:55,910 may be intellectual or more intuitive, one side or the 413 00:25:55,910 --> 00:25:59,670 other is not necessarily the right way. You know, I'm very much 414 00:25:59,670 --> 00:26:03,390 a logical thinker. Like I'm, I'm almost overly cerebral about things 415 00:26:03,390 --> 00:26:07,070 I've been told by people. And so 416 00:26:07,070 --> 00:26:10,270 yeah, I can make good judgments on good data and I always go hunting for 417 00:26:10,270 --> 00:26:13,950 data. But I know people that are incredibly good at what they do and 418 00:26:13,950 --> 00:26:17,710 have a huge track record of success and they're entirely intuitive. 419 00:26:18,130 --> 00:26:21,570 Right. So there's not necessarily one that's better than the other. 420 00:26:21,810 --> 00:26:25,250 So I think like not thinking them as polar opposites 421 00:26:25,570 --> 00:26:29,410 and thinking of it more of a spectrum, I think maybe benefits 422 00:26:29,410 --> 00:26:33,250 that of like they absolutely matter. Having, you know, 423 00:26:33,250 --> 00:26:36,890 the poles of those that spectrum to help you to complete sort of your 424 00:26:36,890 --> 00:26:39,890 picture of your understanding of things can be really helpful. 425 00:26:40,610 --> 00:26:44,410 And you know, I've described using data for your 426 00:26:44,410 --> 00:26:48,050 managerial detective, hat is how I describe it, right? Like, 427 00:26:48,050 --> 00:26:51,810 I think this is true. So this is my assumption, this is my 428 00:26:51,810 --> 00:26:55,610 thesis. How am I going to go sort of verify that some of 429 00:26:55,610 --> 00:26:59,410 these things are the case or that my gut sense is correct? Or 430 00:26:59,650 --> 00:27:03,129 if this data tells me this is true, do I know that that's 431 00:27:03,129 --> 00:27:06,010 correct? And like, who do I have to talk to? What do I need to 432 00:27:06,010 --> 00:27:09,690 know in order to validate those things? Right. Like it does take this 433 00:27:09,690 --> 00:27:13,170 full spectrum of information and inputs to make 434 00:27:13,430 --> 00:27:17,030 good decisions in order to not only satisfy your 435 00:27:17,030 --> 00:27:20,830 need to feel like you've made A good judgment about something, but also that you 436 00:27:20,830 --> 00:27:24,310 can point to something and validate. Like, yeah, this is why I did this. 437 00:27:24,630 --> 00:27:28,190 Because in my mind it's always been because it felt right. Doesn't 438 00:27:28,190 --> 00:27:31,790 necessarily feel like a good answer, but as I said, some people have been 439 00:27:31,790 --> 00:27:35,470 incredibly successful with that. No, you make a 440 00:27:35,470 --> 00:27:38,150 good point again. And I like the way you describe. 441 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,960 Looking at critical thinking from as a spectrum point of view, 442 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,600 especially when the data that you have 443 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:50,400 available may not be telling the entire story 444 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,640 and. You may be left 445 00:27:54,879 --> 00:27:58,600 with following your gut on what's telling you 446 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:02,440 to do next, maybe telling 447 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,680 you what to leave out, maybe telling you to 448 00:28:06,330 --> 00:28:09,690 reframe a data, a logical data point that you have, 449 00:28:10,650 --> 00:28:14,490 maybe telling you to leave it out altogether. But 450 00:28:14,490 --> 00:28:18,210 the the spectrum part, overview summary 451 00:28:18,210 --> 00:28:21,730 that you talk about really hits home for me, 452 00:28:21,730 --> 00:28:25,490 especially right now as a business owner, since I 453 00:28:25,490 --> 00:28:29,050 don't really have a strong business. 454 00:28:32,570 --> 00:28:36,130 Experience around having to solve a lot of 455 00:28:36,130 --> 00:28:39,930 problems. So I'm using more, you could say more or 456 00:28:39,930 --> 00:28:43,690 less the intuitive side, but looking at things 457 00:28:44,410 --> 00:28:47,370 strategically as well to help navigate my next decision. 458 00:28:51,290 --> 00:28:54,970 I think one of the points that you made of the impact 459 00:28:55,130 --> 00:28:58,450 that some of these changes in your life and therefore led to some of these 460 00:28:58,450 --> 00:29:02,290 decisions, I think is a really important one. Maybe we can talk a 461 00:29:02,290 --> 00:29:05,850 bit about how you know those things to be true because of 462 00:29:05,850 --> 00:29:09,610 potentially feelings or, you know, some objective data that you see 463 00:29:09,610 --> 00:29:13,450 around you. But I think it is really important, you know, in any 464 00:29:13,450 --> 00:29:16,770 person's life and certainly in business, that you, you, 465 00:29:16,850 --> 00:29:20,130 you're looking for some of those indicators that things are not 466 00:29:20,530 --> 00:29:24,290 working the way that they need to, to serve you right. This 467 00:29:24,290 --> 00:29:28,090 can generalize in, you know, certainly stress. I think any business 468 00:29:28,090 --> 00:29:30,850 owner will certainly have a level of stress, and some of that is good for 469 00:29:30,850 --> 00:29:34,510 you because it keeps you motivated, it keeps engaged. I've always 470 00:29:34,510 --> 00:29:38,350 joked if, you know, running your own business were easy, everyone would do it. 471 00:29:39,150 --> 00:29:42,750 It's not. Guess what? But I also 472 00:29:42,750 --> 00:29:46,510 know I learned very early lessons of entrepreneurship, 473 00:29:46,510 --> 00:29:50,150 of the hard lessons that I took note 474 00:29:50,150 --> 00:29:53,630 of in the people that I saw as mentors in my career, 475 00:29:53,870 --> 00:29:57,710 including my own dad and some CEOs, in the 476 00:29:57,710 --> 00:30:01,260 companies that I worked for, where a lot of damage was done to their personal 477 00:30:01,260 --> 00:30:04,660 life in pursuit of business. And that was something that I was very conscious of 478 00:30:04,660 --> 00:30:08,380 protecting myself against. I want to do well. I want to grow a 479 00:30:08,380 --> 00:30:12,220 business. I want to help people and be successful, but not at any cost. 480 00:30:12,300 --> 00:30:16,020 And that was always front of mind for me. So I've always been very 481 00:30:16,020 --> 00:30:19,820 sensitive of, like, how much is too much and not kind of giving 482 00:30:19,820 --> 00:30:23,420 myself an out because, oh, well, maybe this is too hard. Maybe 483 00:30:23,420 --> 00:30:26,900 it'll impact things and be negative. Right. I feel like that's a 484 00:30:26,900 --> 00:30:30,680 difficult line to balance between, of wanting to be able 485 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,240 to pursue things and be successful, but recognizing, like, 486 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,200 my body is starting to scream at me and, you know, it's showing up 487 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:42,040 as, you know, panic attacks or, you know, God forbid, like 488 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,799 a heart attack or something like that, or your family starts to fall apart. 489 00:30:45,799 --> 00:30:48,560 Right. Because you're not paying attention to your family. You're not available. 490 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:53,960 I think, like, you had a similar experience of this, of, like, your. Your professional 491 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:57,490 and your personal life, you know, kind of had a bit of a cross in 492 00:30:57,490 --> 00:31:00,690 between them. And part of the reason that I go down this line of thinking 493 00:31:00,690 --> 00:31:04,330 is like, you're simply just mentioning the fact that you've started to spend more 494 00:31:04,330 --> 00:31:07,810 time meditating and things like that, of looking after, you know, the 495 00:31:07,810 --> 00:31:11,490 temple a little more, of reflecting on what makes me a good 496 00:31:11,490 --> 00:31:15,290 person and keeps me balanced despite my need to pursue things 497 00:31:15,290 --> 00:31:18,250 that challenge me and grow me. Right, yeah, 498 00:31:19,130 --> 00:31:22,330 that definitely resonates as well, especially as I'm trying to 499 00:31:23,150 --> 00:31:26,990 figure out how to balance all the different responsibilities as a 500 00:31:26,990 --> 00:31:30,430 new business owner, especially as a solopreneur, 501 00:31:30,910 --> 00:31:34,510 and being mindful of not being spread 502 00:31:34,510 --> 00:31:37,230 thin and having to. 503 00:31:39,070 --> 00:31:42,910 Keep track of every little task and 504 00:31:43,230 --> 00:31:46,430 making sure I'm not going crazy. And 505 00:31:47,230 --> 00:31:50,490 so everything you're. You're talking about definitely 506 00:31:50,650 --> 00:31:54,330 lands with me, especially as I figure out, 507 00:31:54,490 --> 00:31:58,290 like, my posting routine on LinkedIn, for 508 00:31:58,290 --> 00:32:02,090 example, or what am I going to do Monday through Friday, 509 00:32:02,730 --> 00:32:06,090 even maybe sometimes on the weekends, but 510 00:32:06,970 --> 00:32:10,570 making sure that I'm not doing too much 511 00:32:11,530 --> 00:32:15,290 altogether in the very beginning stages, so I don't get burned out, 512 00:32:15,290 --> 00:32:18,290 essentially. But, yeah, I definitely 513 00:32:18,770 --> 00:32:22,610 feel what you described right now, 514 00:32:22,770 --> 00:32:26,490 especially as I'm looking to build more 515 00:32:26,490 --> 00:32:30,250 momentum going forward. What 516 00:32:30,250 --> 00:32:33,370 would you advise to someone kind of in a similar position to maybe what I 517 00:32:33,370 --> 00:32:37,130 described is like, hey, I've run this business for 20 years. It 518 00:32:37,130 --> 00:32:40,930 feels kind of hard. And maybe I question sort of, is this worth it? 519 00:32:42,130 --> 00:32:45,900 How do you. How would you sort of advise that person to sort of reflect 520 00:32:45,900 --> 00:32:49,700 on where they're at, what they want, and potentially how they should move forward? Yeah, 521 00:32:49,700 --> 00:32:53,340 that's a great question. And I can relate to that 522 00:32:53,340 --> 00:32:56,540 as well, because I did that sort of earlier this year in 523 00:32:56,540 --> 00:32:59,980 2025, when I was 524 00:33:00,300 --> 00:33:03,780 contemplating leaving the FBI. So, for 525 00:33:03,780 --> 00:33:07,540 example, one first 526 00:33:07,540 --> 00:33:10,860 step, I would advise is you could look at it logically. 527 00:33:11,180 --> 00:33:14,380 Looking at that critical thinking logically, you. 528 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,680 Consider. What 529 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,560 have I accomplished so far and what do I still want to 530 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:27,120 accomplish? So looking at more that goal setting frame of 531 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:30,720 mind is probably an easy go to 532 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,760 direction you could explore. From there you could build 533 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,400 upon that answer if there is more 534 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,980 to do that you, you could then break it down further 535 00:33:44,100 --> 00:33:47,380 and look at different priorities that 536 00:33:47,940 --> 00:33:51,220 surround that goal and how it may impact 537 00:33:51,940 --> 00:33:55,460 your life in different areas. So how would this decision 538 00:33:55,620 --> 00:33:59,060 affect my family? How would it affect my day to day 539 00:33:59,860 --> 00:34:03,140 situation with how I feel 540 00:34:03,780 --> 00:34:07,300 from day to day? What's the energy is it going to take 541 00:34:07,700 --> 00:34:09,540 to do all these responsibilities? 542 00:34:11,610 --> 00:34:14,570 Do I have the resources to continue. 543 00:34:16,410 --> 00:34:18,570 Making this decision and moving forward? 544 00:34:20,810 --> 00:34:24,410 And then from there you could break that down even 545 00:34:24,410 --> 00:34:27,930 more and say, is this 546 00:34:27,930 --> 00:34:29,930 goal that I want to do. 547 00:34:31,850 --> 00:34:34,970 Align with my purpose and what I meant to do 548 00:34:35,940 --> 00:34:39,300 while I'm still here on planet Earth, for example, and 549 00:34:39,460 --> 00:34:43,100 making sure that the vision for yourself and 550 00:34:43,100 --> 00:34:44,020 any sort of. 551 00:34:46,820 --> 00:34:50,500 Next steps that you decide to do is continuing to be 552 00:34:50,500 --> 00:34:54,140 in alignment with that. And then you can make it 553 00:34:54,140 --> 00:34:57,900 even more complex or fun. As I say, have a puzzle 554 00:34:57,900 --> 00:35:01,460 and integrate more of your intuitive side into the intuit 555 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:05,560 and look at it from. You know, what's my 556 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,560 gut telling me? Is it telling me to 557 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:13,360 go in a certain direction over another that may not logically make 558 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,200 sense? You could also look at how your body is responding. So 559 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:20,680 these different decision points that you have, are you 560 00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:24,160 excited, are you sad, are you frustrated with 561 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:27,880 certain decisions decision points 562 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:31,640 that you have come up with? So there really is 563 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:35,320 a lot. The puzzle just keeps getting larger and larger. Like you 564 00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:39,040 said earlier, like that spectrum, it can get 565 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:42,160 cumbersome if you don't apply 566 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:46,160 certain approaches. So just to recap there. 567 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:51,440 I would advise someone. If they 568 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,280 are a seasoned business owner and they are wanting 569 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:00,440 to figure out what they do next, I would first 570 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,440 start with that long term goal and 571 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,800 see if it's still in 572 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,400 alignment with their vision and their purpose, and then break that 573 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:15,000 down from there into subcomponents where 574 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:19,880 you could look at impacts of that decision to their 575 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,210 life and others and to the globe writ large. 576 00:36:23,770 --> 00:36:26,330 And then as another component, 577 00:36:27,450 --> 00:36:30,850 incorporate more of your gut and your body's 578 00:36:30,850 --> 00:36:34,490 responses to these certain or these new 579 00:36:34,970 --> 00:36:38,410 frameworks that you've created to think through your decision. 580 00:36:39,210 --> 00:36:42,170 So there's like a lot of different layers you can add on 581 00:36:43,050 --> 00:36:46,570 after each. Round of 582 00:36:47,060 --> 00:36:48,020 of exercises. 583 00:36:51,300 --> 00:36:54,500 Great. I imagine there's many people in 584 00:36:55,220 --> 00:36:58,980 business in general, but certainly in the federal 585 00:36:58,980 --> 00:37:02,500 space that are either leaving on their own accord or not, 586 00:37:02,980 --> 00:37:06,820 I suppose as well. Any advice for them in. 587 00:37:08,580 --> 00:37:12,060 Your initial journey in this or potentially how you can help some of those people 588 00:37:12,060 --> 00:37:15,790 with your own experience. You know, if there is a person 589 00:37:15,790 --> 00:37:19,470 in transition, I think it would, would provide 590 00:37:19,710 --> 00:37:23,070 similar guidance to a business owner then. 591 00:37:25,150 --> 00:37:28,950 I think, though, for especially the federal workers 592 00:37:28,950 --> 00:37:32,430 that I'm supporting right now on transition, identity 593 00:37:32,430 --> 00:37:36,270 is really baked in to the 594 00:37:36,830 --> 00:37:39,630 mindset and embodiment of 595 00:37:40,910 --> 00:37:44,710 what they're leaving behind or what they could be leaving behind. So 596 00:37:44,710 --> 00:37:47,950 I think approaching that 597 00:37:48,190 --> 00:37:51,150 challenge is going to be key. 598 00:37:52,510 --> 00:37:56,309 Looking at how will my identity shift? Why perceive 599 00:37:56,309 --> 00:38:00,030 myself? What do I need to do to 600 00:38:00,030 --> 00:38:03,710 keep going when my identity 601 00:38:03,870 --> 00:38:07,470 changes? What's going to excite me on the other 602 00:38:07,710 --> 00:38:11,050 end of the, the journey once I leave? 603 00:38:12,730 --> 00:38:16,090 You know, how do I keep momentum? Do I have a support system 604 00:38:16,650 --> 00:38:20,250 in place to keep me 605 00:38:20,250 --> 00:38:24,010 going? All those different areas I think are really important to 606 00:38:24,010 --> 00:38:27,610 consider, especially if you're, you know, if you are 607 00:38:27,610 --> 00:38:31,170 leaving the federal government like I did, Identity 608 00:38:31,170 --> 00:38:33,130 is, I think, a critical component. 609 00:38:36,820 --> 00:38:40,460 Okay. And if people wanted to connect with you, continue the 610 00:38:40,460 --> 00:38:43,860 conversation, understand a little more, get some further thoughts from you. 611 00:38:43,940 --> 00:38:47,220 Just DM you on LinkedIn, I guess. 612 00:38:47,540 --> 00:38:51,340 Any other avenues? Yes, it would be a lot easier if 613 00:38:51,340 --> 00:38:55,100 someone could DM me. But yeah, 614 00:38:55,100 --> 00:38:58,780 you can find me on LinkedIn. My moniker there is 615 00:38:58,780 --> 00:39:02,460 Adam R. Dickinson. D I C K I 616 00:39:02,460 --> 00:39:06,180 N S O N on LinkedIn. And yeah, feel free to, to 617 00:39:06,180 --> 00:39:09,780 reach out there. That's kind of where I am housing my business 618 00:39:09,780 --> 00:39:11,100 operations at the moment. 619 00:39:14,300 --> 00:39:16,380 Perfect. All right, thank you so much.