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Join us on the Perpetual Success Podcast for an inspiring episode with Ross Ridenoure, a master of turning every task into a stepping stone towards success. From his early days retiling submarine floors to becoming a Senior Executive and Master NLP Trainer, Ross shares invaluable insights on embracing challenges, the transformative power of mindset, and the importance of continuous learning. Learn practical strategies to seize opportunities, refine your creative voice, and achieve perpetual success. Don’t miss Ross's actionable tips for building meaningful connections and paving your way to success. Tune in now and start charting your path to endless achievements with the Perpetual Success Podcast.
Dive into an episode that challenges conventional success narratives and unveils the hidden value in every task, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Join us as Ross Ridenoure, a seasoned Nuclear Engineer turned Senior Executive and Master NLP Trainer, shares his journey from retiling submarine floors to steering his path through naval and commercial nuclear power to embrace his passion for natural health and self-improvement.
Dive into an episode that challenges conventional success narratives and unveils the hidden value in every task, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Join us as Ross Ridenoure, a seasoned Nuclear Engineer turned Senior Executive and Master NLP Trainer, shares his journey from retiling submarine floors to steering his path through naval and commercial nuclear power to embrace his passion for natural health and self-improvement.
Key Takeaways:
- Embracing Every Opportunity: Discover how Ross's willingness to tackle every task with enthusiasm and dedication laid the groundwork for his success.
- Transformative Power of Mindset: Learn about the role of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) in reshaping our approach to challenges and opportunities.
- The Balance Between Realism and Optimism: Gain insight into maintaining a healthy perspective on obstacles and opportunities.
- Continuous Learning and Growth: Ross shares how a commitment to learning and personal development has been pivotal in his journey.
Featured Sections:
- Personal Experiences: Ross recounts pivotal moments where seemingly undesirable jobs became opportunities for growth and reputation building.
- Expertise in NLP: An exploration of how NLP techniques can help us see challenges as stepping stones to success.
- Practical Tips: Ross offers actionable advice for creating opportunities, networking authentically, and cultivating a mindset geared towards perpetual success.
Listener Engagement:
We invite you to join the Perpetual Success community. Share your thoughts, insights, and questions on social media or directly through Ross Ridenoure's website: https://www.mindbodyhh.com/
Creators & Guests
Guest
Ross Ridenoure
An average Nuclear Engineer with a long career in naval and commercial nuclear power. Later in life, tired of nuclear power, I pivoted to something I've always loved; natural health and self-improvement modalities like NLP, mBraining, Hypnosis and others. Became a certified trainer in all of them. Also became a Board certified Doctor of Naturopathy specialising in Anti-Cancer diet and lifestyle. Long terms goals are continually improving myself through education and experiences and helping others improve themselves using natural methods and improved, more focused thinking.
What is Perpetual Success?
Chart your path to an extraordinary life of endless achievements with practical tips, powerful insights, and inspiring stories in each episode led by Mindset Transformation Leader, Ondine D.. Let's set our compass for Perpetual Success together!
Imagine training hard for many years to hone skills that you know only a few people master. Your degree in hand, you embark into the working world full of enthusiasm and ready to show what you can do. You receive your first assignment, and it is the most unskilled task one can think of. What a shock. And while some might complain, our special guest today sees each task as an opportunity, an opportunity to prove himself, to build a reputation as a reliable and hard worker, and to set the foundation for a remarkable journey of success.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Perpetual Success Podcast where we chart your path to endless achievements. I'm, your host, and I'm Gidi to welcome on board on this transformative adventure with you a very special guest whose inspiring journey showcases the heart of creating opportunities and crafting one's reputation. Dear listeners, please welcome Ross Ridenour. He describes himself as an average nuclear engineer with a lone carrier in naval and commercial nuclear power. I know him as a very successful senior executive.
Speaker 1:Later in life, tired of nuclear power, he pivoted to the real passion of his life, natural health and self improvement. So through his experiences, today, he'll shed light on how he transformed seemingly mundane task into stepping stone of success and turned each challenge into an opportunity to excel. How are you, Ross?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great, Ondine. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having us. This episode is proudly brought to you by Orchestrador, the ultimate technology ally for coaches. Coaching is about people, not endless tech hassles. Ross, as I introduced you to our listeners, I cannot help but be fascinated by your journey in the navy, where you started as the new guy taking on the task that nobody else want to do or at least without complaining. And it sounds like it was a pivotal chapter that shaped your approach to embracing event as an opportunity.
Speaker 1:So could you take us back to that time and share with us this memorable experience where you turned, undesirable job into an opportunity for growth?
Speaker 2:So great question, Ondine, and I'd be glad to share that story with you. Many people in the commercial nuclear power industry in my age group, I started out in the United States Nuclear Navy on submarines. I was an enlisted person initially, and after 2 years of very difficult training and then 2 years as an instructor, I finally arrived at my submarine first assignment on what's called a boat. And as the new guy though, you're not really qualified to do anything on that particular nuclear power plant.
Speaker 1:So even though you train for so many years, you're not qualified yet?
Speaker 2:I was I was instructing people on how to operate nuclear power plants for 2 years at a land based facility in one of the northern states. So I show up, and I'm a senior enlisted petty officer, but I'm not qualified. So we show up on the submarine, and for the 1st 3 weeks before the submarine goes to sea, you're doing all kinds of maintenance and other types of work to prepare to go to sea. So my first assignment with the other new guy was to, chip up all of the flooring in the engine room, which was glued down and was very difficult to to get up. My companion had a heat gun and I had a scraper, and for almost 3 weeks we were on our hands and needs in the engine room.
Speaker 2:He would heat up the tile, I would scrape it up, we'd change every now and then. And, again, this was not the job I had thought I was going to have when I showed up on the submarine.
Speaker 1:So what was your first reaction when they told you it happened?
Speaker 2:Well, I was disappointed, to be I'm like, I'm a highly trained nuclear, you know, person, and here I am. I'm gonna be scraping tile off the floor for the next two and a half weeks. So I thought that, but at the same time I thought, okay. I'm new. I'm not qualified.
Speaker 2:I've got a job to do, and I'm gonna do it to the best of my ability. So, my friend whose name was Hubie and I were on our hands and knees for the next almost 3 weeks just scraping up flooring. And, of course, all the other qualified nuclear trained people were working on different things in the engine room and
Speaker 1:here we were. Fun of you
Speaker 2:a little bit? No. They weren't. But they were just sort of, I'd say, grinning a little bit because here I am as a senior enlisted person, So towards the end of the 3 week period, we're preparing to go to sea. One of the, I'd say more experienced and very seasoned enlisted mechanics in the engineering spaces.
Speaker 2:His name was Dale. And he didn't he didn't say a whole lot during the time, but he came up to me at some point, he just looked at me and he goes, you know what? He goes, you do good work. And and for him to say that, for me, you know, to receive a compliment from one of the more senior and respected people in the department meant a lot to me. But my point here is that every job you get, I don't care where you are, whatever stage in life, every job is a noble job.
Speaker 2:Whether it's doing something that takes a lot of experience or a very difficult miserable job like I had. And you can either complain about it, or you can say, Look, I'm going to make the best out of this, I'm going to learn something, but I'm also going demonstrate what I can do, demonstrate I can do hard work and not very fun work and not complain, and sort of developed my brand that set the stage for my time on that submarine. And after that initial job I was given, I became known as a good worker that didn't complain. And if you wanted something done, you'd go to Ross. He would get it done, he wouldn't complain, and he'd do good job.
Speaker 2:So, you know, again, that industry is much different than maybe what your listeners are involved in, but the point is still the same. At some stage in your career, you're probably going to be given a job you really don't want. And you have 2 choices, you can either complain about it, or you can go, you know what, it's a job that has to be done. I can learn something from this assignment even though it may not be a fun job, And so, you know, this whole idea of, I love the quote, every job is a noble job. I don't care if you're in trash cans, scraping tile off the floor, or you're a soloist in a world famous ballet.
Speaker 2:Every job is a noble job, and you have to approach them all from the same perspective and using the same frame of mind. And if you do that consistently, you'll build your brand, and you'll become known for, I think, values and behaviors that you want to become known for. And over time, those types of jobs will lead to more responsible, more senior, more challenging positions that you probably want. But everybody has to start somewhere. Everybody.
Speaker 1:Yeah. But even if you've Every because as you said, it's like no matter where in no matter where in your life, no matter what time in in your career. I know that when you first shared this story with me, you didn't find it very, insightful. And for me, I love that story at on so many levels because I mean, like, for me, there's so many lessons that we can draw from such a small event, which is, first of all, that well, as you said, that job has to be done. So someone has to do it.
Speaker 1:Is it beneath you? Nobody else to do it. Yeah. And if you feel that this is beneath you, that means that you believe you're superior to the others. And I feel that this is very important to realize that that we're all all human beings.
Speaker 1:And if that job has to be done, then why not you? Like, give me a real reason why not.
Speaker 2:Both of us. It wasn't just me, but both of us developed a really we we made a deposit, a big deposit in our reputation brand bucket or container. And all of us carry a bucket around with us or a pail or something, but you you make deposits that improve your reputation by, you know, things you do in your career.
Speaker 1:And I and I think this is the second lesson that we can draw from this, story is that every action that you make, you are building your reputation.
Speaker 2:You're building your reputation. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because a lot of people and I've probably done that when I was younger with less experience. We wait for the other to see us in a certain way. However, experience teaches you that you have to show yourself in that way if you want people to believe that this is who you are.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So show that you're a reliable, hard worker, that we can give you a task, and you'll do it because you understand that you're part of something bigger than you. And then this is how people will see you, and as you said, probably will give you more responsibilities, and you will probably get where you want by having first that behavior.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Ross, one of the many reasons I invited you today is because you're also a master NLP trainer. For for those of you who do not know, neuro linguistic programming or NLP for short is it's like a user manual for your mind. It's a powerful toolkit that helps us understand our thoughts, our language, our behavior, and how they're all interconnected and influencing our experiences in life. Of course, it's not magic. It's just actually very simple communication and thought pattern techniques to help us identify our beliefs and our habits, especially those that may hold us back and how to replace them with more empowering ones.
Speaker 1:My question to you, Ross, is, you have that unique understanding of the power of techniques like reframing or shifting perspectives, And we've learned that technique in episode 1. Can you share with, our audience how these transformative techniques have helped you see opportunities in challenges, turn obstacles into stepping stones.
Speaker 2:Good. Another good question, Ondine.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah. For your listeners, neurolinguistic programming was first discovered in the 19 seventies, And, the 2 PhD level researchers that were that were interested in neurolinguistic programming were evaluating why certain people were so much better at what they did than others, specifically in the area of counseling and and coaching, social work, that type that type thing.
Speaker 1:It was Milton Erickson, a psychiatrist. Fritz Pills, psychiatrist as well, Virginia Satyr, family therapist, and Gregory Battison, an anthropologist. I remember that they were saying that they identified them as the the experts for who the clients were not coming back. So they had whatever, coaching or counseling time for maybe 6 months, and they they did not come back. Whereas the others were staying in, in therapy for med In
Speaker 2:therapy for
Speaker 1:10, 15 years.
Speaker 2:Years, and they weren't they weren't, addressing their real issues and they weren't making the internal changes needed to fix whatever they were dealing with. But the point is that it's been around a long time and it really I love the phrase you use, user manual for your mind. You know, how do we how does our mind work? Not the biology of it, but how do we process information? How do we communicate with others?
Speaker 2:How do we recognize what they're communicating to us? How do beliefs and values, how do they impact our communication style and our behaviors? So how did it help me? NLP really opened my eyes to the power of communication in terms of how I can more effectively communicate with other people. And as you said, it's a user manual for mine, so now I understand better how my mind works in terms of how my mind helps me relate better or more poorly with other people.
Speaker 1:In the workplace or in in the personal space?
Speaker 2:Both. After my initial class, my initial formal training in NLP, I remember going back to my workspace, and this was where you and I were in the United Arab Emirates. And boy, the world just seemed so much different going to a meeting. It was like, woah, Now I'm seeing things in terms of how people are communicating that I didn't see before. So it helped me improve my communication skills tremendously.
Speaker 1:Did it help you because I remember in the in the UAE, there were people from lots of different culture. Did it help you identify potential misunderstanding and lower the possibility of being misunderstood?
Speaker 2:Yes. And especially when you're dealing with somebody from a different culture, and typically English is a second language for them. The applying NLP techniques to help me understand their preferred communication style as well as me understanding more their culture, where they came from. I became known over time as a very trusted person, and as you said I was a senior executive. And I had people from that part of the world and the the Arab world.
Speaker 2:Even women come into my office and talk to me very very seriously about some difficult topics. I had several people that trusted me enough to do that knowing that I would listen to them. I was doing my very best to understand them, and then I would provide some advice or guidance or maybe some suggestions on how they might address their particular issue. I don't know of any other person from the western world they did that with. And I attribute that feeling of trust they had with me to primarily to my understanding of neuro linguistic programming and my ability to communicate.
Speaker 1:Do you feel that it helped you see opportunities where other might have seen that it was a challenge or a task that you should just give up with?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Especially when you're dealing with conflict. Conflict or disagreements is where 2 people just don't, we call it don't see eye to eye. They're having some kind of disagreement, and you can, using NLP techniques, you can sit there and look at 2 people that are disagreeing. Let's say you're in a meeting, and you can quickly figure out where the source what the real source of disagreement is.
Speaker 2:And a lot of it typically has to do with differences in communication styles and this lack of rapport between, you know, one person on one side of the issue and another person on the other side of the issue. Once you know that, a properly worded question to both or either party can quickly bring them into alignment so they can see the person's other point of view that they weren't willing to see before. So NLP just has so many applications in everyday life, and it's personal, relationships with, you know, a friend or a loved one, as well as professional. And, I highly encourage anyone who is interested at all in self improvement and, again, give them some insight into how your mind works and especially how you can communicate more effectively, I strongly encourage you to take some kind of NLP training.
Speaker 1:Well, there'll be some there'll be some discoveries throughout this podcast anyway because, of course, I'm also NLP trained, so I I am using some of those techniques. Not all of them, of course. I'm just gonna choose the one that I feel are the most applicable to how you chart your past through perpetual success. Ross, in your journey from being the new guy on the boat to becoming a successful senior executive, I'm pretty sure that you've encountered challenges and obstacles. How do you find and how do you define the balance between being realistic about obstacles ahead and maintaining an optimistic outlook so that you can see the opportunity.
Speaker 1:Well, how do you find that balance between real realist really oh, how can I say that? Being realistic and being optimistic.
Speaker 2:Being realistic about yeah. Being realistic well, let's start with optimistic first. Being an optimist to me is a personal choice you make, and being an optimist means you tend to look on the brighter side of things, or the more positive side of things. To use the old metaphor about is the glass half full, the glass half empty, and not to at least say glass is half full. But it's looking not bud.
Speaker 2:And being optimistic also looks for opportunity in places where you may not think there is opportunity. For example, my that first miserable job I had on the submarine. And we've all had miserable jobs, and so looking at that differently from a pessimistic perspective, oh, that's really not a very nice job. I don't want to do that. Versus, well, okay, it's a job nobody wants to do, but somebody has to do it.
Speaker 2:And if I'm going to do that job I might as well do the best job I can. So being optimistic is a choice. You tend to look on the brighter side of things even when things aren't quite going your way, which can be a challenge at times, but I tend to look on the bright side of things. Being realistic is simply accepting, again, my definition, accepting what's going on around you, or accepting the reality. Let's say if I want to be promoted to a certain position, but I look at my skill set and I go, you know, even though I'd love to have that position I don't have the proper skill set, or relationships, or networking contacts to be in that position.
Speaker 2:So being realistic is simply looking at what's going on around you, and accepting it for what it is instead of making up a story that kind of fits your own belief system, and changing that reality into something that works better for you. Being realistic really to me is a lot all about being honest. What's going on and let's be honest with yourself about how do I perceive that? Is that something, I like or don't like? You know, what are some areas of that situation that I can use to help me?
Speaker 2:So optimism, choice, attitude, behavior all the time. Realism realistic is simply accepting what is for what it is and not making up some story about what you want it to be.
Speaker 1:So if I understand what you're saying is in your view, first, you have an honest outlook on things, which is being realistic. And then you can make the choice to be optimistic and see what you can do with that reality.
Speaker 2:Perfect. So this whole area of honesty is extremely important to me, being honest with others, but especially being honest with yourself. With yourself. Yeah. And and many times people simply aren't honest with themselves.
Speaker 2:And again, I'll I'll save that for a little later.
Speaker 1:Consciously or unconsciously? Oh, this is You
Speaker 2:have to act consciously honest with yourself. Okay?
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think I mean, you and I, we both know, and NLP is probably the training that helped you see it. Most of us are not doing that on purpose. It's very unconscious. And this is something we saw in the first episode about reframing our limited beliefs.
Speaker 1:The hardest part is to actually recognize that you have limiting belief.
Speaker 2:Well, exactly. And and in order to do that, what you have to do, you you have to be honest. And, again, as you indicated, a lot of these beliefs and values that you have, they're they reside in your unconscious mind. They're way below your conscious thinking, and yet they direct your behavior far more than you than you give them credit for. Yep.
Speaker 2:And so being able to determine what are my values, which is another NLP technique that I I went through which was great. And which values are more important to me compared to others? There are some values I have that are extremely important, others that are maybe not so important, and everybody's value hierarchy is different, and you can change those using NLP techniques. So
Speaker 1:It's a great journey through self awareness.
Speaker 2:Correct.
Speaker 1:I wanna try to to to to draw some other lessons from this, initial story that you shared with us. For me, it seems that you've mastered the art of making your own good luck through preparation and seizing opportunities. And I would love to hear your views on the balance between luck and preparation when it comes to opportunities? Because a lot of people talk about you have to make your own good luck to create your opportunities. What does that really mean for you?
Speaker 2:Another great question. Yeah. Luck is an interesting word. It seems to imply that fate is responsible for the positive outcome I wanted. And in in some cases maybe that's true, card games for example.
Speaker 2:However, when it comes to livelihood, career choice, being promoted, achieving a certain level of financial success, or however you define success. Luck is more a matter of really good smart preparation. It's a lot of hard work. I think one of our great American philosophers, Mark Twain said, Luck is a funny thing. It seems the harder I work the luckier I get.
Speaker 2:But for me, and I started out in the nuclear industry as the most junior enlisted person in the United States Navy. All I wanted was a good job, and I wanted some good training that would enable me to have a decent career in the nuclear power industry. And over time I ended up being the senior most senior executive, somebody called the chief nuclear officer, at 3 different companies which is much in terms of career advancement that is much higher than I originally thought I could achieve, and yet I did that.
Speaker 1:What a journey for an average nuclear engineer.
Speaker 2:From an average nuclear engineer. I'm smart enough, but I'm not, you know, Albert Einstein or anything.
Speaker 1:But the the point is I think what we're learning here, it's not about being so exceptional in so many ways.
Speaker 2:It's it's
Speaker 1:about So what drawing your own strength.
Speaker 2:Well, and it's developing yourself so that you are the best or maybe the most logical choice for a particular promotion, and you position yourself for that by everything you've done before that other person has to make that decision, like develop your brand. I took some risks early on, calculated risks in positions that could have gone very well or maybe not so well. In my case I did what was needed to make sure the outcomes were very positive. And that led to more advancement and more recognition and more successes. In my Navy career I was in the active duty Navy for 8 years, but my last year I was the Atlantic Fleet Sailor of the Year.
Speaker 2:It was wonderful recognition and I didn't expect it, it was just because I did a really good job all the time, and I didn't complain. And, I worked really well with my colleagues. They respected me. I respected them. I especially respected the people that I was leading in my division, helped them out to the extent that I could.
Speaker 2:So I developed a reputation as a really, really good leader that listened carefully to his subordinates, Took whatever assignment was given, did my very best work no matter what it was, whether it was a really really great job or maybe something I didn't want to do. And that after my active duty time I ended up in the commercial nuclear industry using those same principles. Take the jobs nobody else wants to do. I mean, hard work, you know, don't complain. I took every opportunity I could to educate myself, whether it was commercial nuclear power by getting certain types of operating licenses, as well as reading a lot of books.
Speaker 2:I I'm an avid, reader, and I collect books, and I read all the time.
Speaker 1:I have a question about your passion for learning and personal development. Good. Because if I can describe you with one sentence, is you're the person who always have a book to recommend for any topic or any question you may have.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. That's true. Yeah. Books, I developed a love of books when I was a young boy.
Speaker 1:What what are some key lessons that you've gained from your reading adventure that influence your journey through perpetual success?
Speaker 2:Great question. And let me put books into 2 general categories. You have books that are there to entertain you, and then you have books that force you to think differently about who you are as a person. They cause you to reflect upon who I am as a human being, and where am I going, and how am I going to get there. And so the books that had the most impact on me were the ones that caused me to pause and reflect on my life, and more importantly cause me to think about where do I want to go in the future and how do I get there.
Speaker 2:Several that stand out to me, one of them is called Seth Speaks, which caused me to think about how important it is for me to control my thoughts because your thoughts determine your reality. And you said you create the reality around you based upon the quality of your thoughts. If you're having positive outcomes and lots of successes, it's a direct result from how you're thinking. So if you control your thoughts and think more positive things and visualize about the future you want your brain will eventually make those things come true for you as long as you consistently reinforce that thinking.
Speaker 1:That's interesting. Something we saw in episode 2, I think. I was mentioning the book 7, lessons 7 and a half lesson about the brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett, which I think you recommended
Speaker 2:to me. Right. I did.
Speaker 1:And, she has this, novel view about neuroscience. She's a neuroscientist. And, she has that novel view that your thought, as you said, influence your perception of the environment, and then you trigger a vicious or a virtuous circle that you are always looking for a confirmation that you are thinking right.
Speaker 2:Correct. And there's many books written on that. One of my favorites is called, Mind Over Medicine where people have miraculously healed themselves from serious diseases just by altering their thoughts.
Speaker 1:Which is also discussing the biology of belief, another book I recommend that you
Speaker 2:book I was gonna mention by doctor Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief. Your your mind communicates with all 37.2 trillion cells in your body all the time, and your cells respond to what your mind is thinking.
Speaker 1:The most recent science actually showing that that, that the the brain is not the central command of decisions because it would be too impossible for an entire body to always have the information going back to the brain and and down to whatever cell. So the common system is actually very much delegated. So it's spread across the body. And so a lot of research is really going into that direction that, the brain function is much, much different than what we thought traditionally last century. You mentioned earlier on that you took calculated risks throughout your career, and I actually wanted to discuss that part.
Speaker 1:As you're going through the ranks of management or any kind of promotion, sometimes it's not upwards. It can be a horizontal promotions. How did you navigate the moment of self doubt or the moment of fear that may arise when you're taking a risk or when you're pursuing new opportunities?
Speaker 2:Evaluating risk, of course, is more art than science, even though there are risk management professionals in many industries. I've been one. You've been one, I know that. And yet it really is more art and science. And, you look at an opportunity and determine number 1, you know, what's the benefit?
Speaker 2:You know, if I am successful and I put that opportunity and I am successful what is the long short term and long term benefit? And then I would also do my very best to assess the risk involved with that particular opportunity. In most cases, the perceived risk is not the same as the real risk.
Speaker 1:So we're going back to realistically assessing?
Speaker 2:You know, I have my own risk, assessment scale, and so I would look at a particular opportunity and determine, okay, number 1, do I have the skill set to do that particular task? Yes. If I did, what's the likelihood of a positive outcome? Okay. Well, it's really high or maybe average.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, what's the risk if I'm not successful? What's the worst thing that can happen? Well, in most cases it really isn't that bad. So you'll have to determine what is your appetite for risk. Everybody's is different.
Speaker 1:So by appetite you mean like how much you're willing to accept?
Speaker 2:How much are you willing to accept? Exactly. There's no good or bad there, it's just whatever your scale is. You know, be realistic about the risk, not don't listen to everybody else. They're gonna tell you things.
Speaker 1:To do your own assessment.
Speaker 2:Do your own assessment.
Speaker 1:It's interesting you said that because in my experience, what I noticed is that the the way that you perceive the risk completely changed just by doing that work of honestly assessing it. And suddenly, everything is less less less of a problem than it than it was before you thought about it.
Speaker 2:But the the whole issue of risk is everybody has their own risk willingness scale, and then be honest, I mean ruthlessly honest about assessing the risk. Look at it objectively, determine what the risk is, what's my skill set, what's my likelihood of a positive outcome, and then balance the equation. And if it's in your favor, go ahead and accept the position.
Speaker 1:So you have a very practical and tangible approach to your fears. You're basically Correct. Go on the drawing board and just assess the situation.
Speaker 2:Correct.
Speaker 1:You know, I love things being practical, and I wanted to ask you a question to make it very tangible and practical for our listeners. You've had a remarkable journey, a remarkable career that took you maybe everywhere around the world, if not, almost everywhere. For many of our listeners who are eager to open new doors and create opportunities because I mean, if they're listening to the Perpetual Suicide podcast, that's because they want to tap into that level of opportunity. What are, to you, some of the most valuable tips that you can share about networking and cultivating genuine relationship that can lead to extraordinary opportunities?
Speaker 2:Many people believe that the bigger my network, the better my network, And I have a different view of that. It's not about the size of your network, meaning do you have 50 people in your your close friend network? It's the quality. You know, I want to make sure your listeners understand me. I'm not saying don't have a lot of people that you know.
Speaker 2:You have lots of friends. That's great. Well, how many of those friends are friends that you absolutely without question know would help you? No questions asked if you have them if you if you ask them.
Speaker 1:And maybe It's about assessing the quality of your network.
Speaker 2:Maybe everybody in your network, but it might only be a relatively small number of people. So networks are extremely powerful. They open doors. They help you through those rough spots in life. They do networks do many, many things for you.
Speaker 2:And so having a small group of people with, when I say quality, high quality people in your very close network is really important.
Speaker 1:And what do you think is the secret?
Speaker 2:The secret? This is going to sound a little bit odd but you have to love your friends. Love yourself first, and love your friends. And this is what I mean by that. The Greeks had a very, very great way of looking at this whole concept of love, and they actually had 4 words that they used to describe different types of love.
Speaker 2:First one was storge which is love for family. And then you have philos which is brotherly love or love for your friends and close acquaintances. Okay? Eros, you know, sexual love. The last one is the one I wanna focus on and that's called agape love.
Speaker 2:And agape love is different because it's behaviors. Things like honesty, kindness, forgiveness, courtesy, saying please and thank you, going out of your way to help someone, being helpful. I mean all of these are behaviors that describe again from the Greek's perspective something called Agape love. So if you practice Agape love with yourself, meaning am I kind to myself? Am I honest?
Speaker 2:Do I forgive myself for things I've done that maybe I shouldn't have done? Do I celebrate my success? I mean all of those things are behaviors. So love yourself first from an agape perspective and then practice that type of love with your friends, people in your close network, and you can develop those close relationships that will bring people naturally into that close personal network that you want, the quality piece that I talked about earlier.
Speaker 1:Did I hear you right? You said love yourself first.
Speaker 2:Yes. You will not be successful in life unless you love yourself first. You love your things you do well. You love your flaws. You love the fact that you are a work in progress and you're never ever going to be fully developed.
Speaker 2:But you can't be successful unless you have this deep faith and belief in your own value as a human being. But I love myself unconditionally in spite of my flaws, I know I have a lot of skills, but I'm humble. I can do lots of things. I help people. I love animals.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know, there's lots of facets or aspects to my behavior, but I love all of them. And that becomes the foundation that I've used to build my career and my life, and I'm not done yet.
Speaker 1:Of course you're not done yet. There's so much more coming up. There's so
Speaker 2:much more. That's You know what?
Speaker 1:I love this message so much that I think I want to close out on this because I know you and I, we can talk for hours, maybe days, maybe weeks restroom. Probably forget to eat and keep talking. We can always invite you for another for another one. I have a special mission for my listeners. If you found value in today's episode, share this podcast with your friends, with your relative, anyone whom you believe would benefit from the perpetual success mindset.
Speaker 1:Let's spread the message together of empowerment and transformation. We can chart the path for perpetual success together. Ross, I wanna thank you again for this delightful and insightful conversation about this seemingly uninteresting story that you shared with me. I remember couple of months ago, and you really thought that was the most uninsightful conversation. And I've kept going back to I've kept going back to that story because, again, I think there's so many layers of lessons that we can draw from.
Speaker 2:For me, I mean, what did I learn from that? What I what I thought at the time was a relatively unimportant experience, but I learned a lot from that. I learned the value of humility. Again, you said it, I'm not above that job. The job had to be done.
Speaker 2:I learned the value of sticking to something or perseverance. I learned the value of hard work. I learned the value of not complaining and just get it done.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, Ross.
Speaker 2:Well, Dave, thank you again for having me. And to your listeners, I would say if I can do this and I can be as successful as I've I've been in my career, then I'm absolutely certain all of your listeners could do the same thing. Build your brand. What is your brand? Ask yourself that, what do I stand for?
Speaker 2:When people look at me, what do they see? You know, do an honest assessment and then if you have some areas you need to be a little stronger in, okay, work on those. Maintain your strong areas. But again, if if if I can do if I can get to where I was in my career, then I'm absolutely
Speaker 1:can do it because you are an average nuclear engineer.
Speaker 2:Average nuclear engineer.
Speaker 1:As you know, perpetual success is a growing community, so feel free to reach out to Ross Ridenour directly through his website, which is mindbodyh h.com. Remember, success is not a destination. It is a daily journey. Next week we will talk about nurturing self awareness, the importance of understanding oneself for perpetual success. Thank you, Ross, for sharing your wisdom and your insight with us today.
Speaker 1:One last thing, this podcast is for you. So you can send me a request for a topic of your liking by submitting the podcast request on my website, perpetual success dot coach. Chart your path with your compass to remain in perpetual success today and every day. Until next time.