Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Are You Living a Pinball Life w/ John Miles EP 25

Episode Date: May 7, 2021

You may not think about it, but are you living a pinball life? Like a ball that drifts aimlessly without intentionality and with constant distraction. In this powerful Momentum Friday episode, John explains how so many of us do. we continuously react to what others are throwing our way, instead of being intentional with our passion. John gives a historical example of a famous American who was leading the pinball life and how he went on to not only discover but live his passion. John breaks down the pinball life concept and provides actionable advice on how to avoid living one. Enjoy!!!  What You Will Learn On The Show What makes successful entrepreneurs according to Jim McKelvey Story of a young man who goes from poverty to national hero John introduces the pinball life concept How to avoid living life without intentionality Saying yes to the most critical mission in life Quotes from John R. Miles "You see, a vision is like a porous bucket. And that's why we need to repeat it continuously until it's known by heart and becomes part of our personal character or organizational culture. That is why it is so critical that you get away from living this pinball life and that you start creating a vision for the future that you would like to attain." "Prepare and your chance will come to take your vision for the future and make it a reality. When you say no to 100 other missions, you say yes to the most crucial one there is. And that is exactly the reason I created Passion Struck. To become the catalyst that helps you who are struggling to understand how do you take this idea and take it to action. We can help you with that. We can become that catalyst that helps you take action on your ideas." "Why would you want to live your life like a pinball machine without intentionality and with constant distraction?" "Because by leading a pinball life, we're not creating new innovation. And we're not really practicing vital leadership either. We are living a life that is necessary, but not strategic, valuable, but not value-added. Its indifference or apathy at its pinnacle." Follow Passion Struck on Instagram -https://www.instagram.com/passion_struck_podcast -- Combat veteran, multi-industry CEO, and Author John R. Miles is on a mission to make passion go viral by helping growth seekers to overcome their fear, self-doubt, and adversity. He loves taking his own life experiences, lessons from his time as a CEO and Fortune 50 C-Level Executive, and the truths he has learned to help make other's lives better. His new podcast Passion Struck provides inspirational interviews and powerful guidance for people to take their lives to the next level. Watch as these high achievers weigh in on life's biggest questions and challenges as we journey on the path to becoming passion-struck. -- Follow John R. Miles Here: Website - https://passionstruck.com/​ ​​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_r_miles Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Johnrmiles.c0m ​Twitter: https://twitter.com/Milesjohnr ​ ​​Medium: https://medium.com/@JohnRMiles  ​John's Website: https://johnrmiles.com/​ - John's New eBook - The Passion Struck Framework https://passionstruck.com/coaching/​

And I just have to ask you, why would you want to live your life like a pinball machine, like a piece of driftwood without intentionality and with constant distraction? But so many of us do. We continuously react to what others are throwing our way instead of being intentional with our passion. Welcome to the Cash and Struck Podcast. My name is John Miles, a former combat veteran and multi-industry CEO, who turned entrepreneur and human performance expert. Each week, we showcase an inspirational person

or message that helps you unlock your hidden potential and unleash your creativity and leadership abilities. Thank you for joining us today on the show and let's get igniting. I am John Miles, the host of the Passion Struck podcast, and welcome to this episode on Momentum Friday. This show today is specifically tailored to those entrepreneurs, creators, and visionaries who are out there listening or watching, and thank you as always for spending your time with us on the show. During my discussions with my friend and one of my favorite entrepreneurs, Jim McElvy,

co-founder of Square and the founder of a new company called Invisibly, we often talk about what makes successful entrepreneurs or creators and why does so many fail. And he told me that he considers a bold leader where that entrepreneur, where that, is someone who is doing something that hasn't been done before. But on the flip side of it, he says that so often, what gets in the way of those entrepreneurs is that they lose sight of that main thing, that problem, that they

sat out to achieve, and they end up losing their vision for the future. And in his new book, The Innovation Stack, he says, if you view every problem through the lens in Serenity Prayer, a small set of problems comes sharply into focus. Those unsolved problems we have the power encourage the solve. They are our perfect problems. But the problem is he meets thousands of entrepreneurs who have lost their passion because they have lost their way. Over time they veer off course and get themselves into conundrums that take

them away from the very issue they were called to solve. That very issue they were focused on to begin with. And that's what I'm going to talk to you about today in this episode on Affoiting Living Up in Ball with. And that's what I'm going to talk to you about today, in this episode on Affoiting Living Up in Ball Life. Now let's get on with the show. Once upon a time, there was a young man whose life was plagued by poverty and scant resources. However, years later, his life fascinates. Now, he went through a steady rise of overcoming poverty, deprivation, and discouragement to a place of the highest national esteem, but his life started

without any path to passion, any direction to knowing what that main problem that Jim McElvy talked about, he was going to solve. In fact, in the first few years of his life, he went from odd job to other odd job and then eventually joined his state, militia, and participated in the Black Clock War. And coming back from that war, he was still directionless, but he decided to go after politics. And he ran for his state house, an election that he would end up losing. Following that, he went a completely different direction and ended up buying a general store with a friend of his. And that venture lasted a very short time.

And he decided to become a postmaster. And again, he was a postmaster for a very short period of time, left that profession and ended up graining himself on how to become a surveyor. And he was a surveyor for about 18 months when he was again called to be a politician. And this time he again ran for the House State seat and one, but it was a very short-lived existence. And after that, he decided to teach himself how to become a lawyer, and he ended up passing the bar examination in 1836. Move locations, and for the next six to

seven years, was a successful attorney. And it was during his time as an attorney that he started to look at case law across the United States. And through that examination, he began focusing on a social issue that was becoming such a burden in his mind that he decided that he was going to dedicate his life to solving it. And along the way, he ran for Congress, actually won his seat, but ended up upsetting his constituents so much that he was forced to resign after one term. That didn't deter him. He again went back to practice law and continued to hone this passion inside of him to focus on anti-slavery as a platform

that needed to be solved, crisis that needed to be dealt with. And so this time he ended up running for Senate. And on his second try ended up winning his seat and Senate and caught the attention of many in the Republican Party who after one term in Senate put him on the ticket to become president and in 1861, he became the president of the United States

during the Civil War on a platform of anti-slavery. And that young man who historians say is the greatest president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, throughout most of his life, described himself as a piece of driftwood, going aimlessly from side of the riverbank to the other side of the riverbank without intentionality or purpose. Yet, although he lived a driftwood life, he eventually found his purpose and became a national hero in many ways. Now let me describe this scenario through a different phenomenon.

I have always loved going to the arcade, especially when I was younger, and one of my favorite games that I would play was Pinball. And I have found over time that our life is very much like a Pinball machine. You see the creators of pinball purposely develop an engineer the game so that it creates so many distractions that keep you from being successful in beating the game. Things like bumpers, lights, noises, hidden ramps, ramps that come and go, all to keep you distracted

from learning the keys to winning the game. And isn't our life so much like that? We get so consumed, especially today, in our all digital futures, all the distractions that are around us, that we lose focus on what is most important. And those who love pinball know that over time, you can master the game,

and you can learn the techniques to overcome those distractions. And isn't our life just like that? If we know how to take actions and thoughts and great values and beliefs, we can get out of the pinball life we're living and focus on that passion-driven life, that pursuit of becoming passion struck that this entire show is about. Because by leading a pinball life, we are not creating new innovation and we're not really practicing vital leadership either. We are living a life that is necessary, but not strategic, valuable, but not value-added.

It's indifference or apathy at its pinnacle. And if you listen to this show, you know I talk about the contagions that I feel are impacting humanity so much. It's that indifference, comfort, and showmanship that are keeping so many of us from living passion, struck lives. Did you know that Forbes Magazine recently cited that 70% of individuals who do personal development,

masterminds, and one-on-one coaching benefited from better work performance, increased communication skills, and overall better relationships. And we at PassionStruck are obsessed with self-development, coaching, and mentorship. That is why we've created a free resource to help you unlock your hidden potential. Because people doing great things in business and life are just like you, only they've had a coach along the way. And we've got that covered too.

Let us show you the systems and frameworks that we teach for both minded individuals to help them step into their sharp edges, execute on their passion journeys and get predictable results time and time again. Go to passionstruck.com slash coaching right now and let's get igniting. And I just have to ask you, why would you want to live your life like a pinball machine, like a piece of driftwood without intentionality and with constant distraction. But so many of us do, we continuously react to what others are throwing our way

instead of being intentional with our passion. So this leads me to ask you a very important question. What is that problem that burning desire within you that is worth solving? That big goal is Jim McElvy said at the beginning that separates entrepreneurs, creators, and visionaries who succeed from those who fail. You have a mental picture of what it is. What is holding you back from achieving it? You see, a vision is like a porous bucket. And that's why we need to repeat it continuously until it's known by heart and becomes part of our personal character or organizational culture. That is why it is so critical that you get

away from living this pinball life and that you start creating a vision for the future that you would like to attain. I often talk about it in terms of creating a personal contract with yourself or if you're in an organization creating a passion-struck culture. And once you've created that vision for the future, you need to set a path for it, and you need to practice it regularly, which means every single day, and get into those routines, habits, beliefs, values that are going to take you closer to it and away from that pinball life that you may be leading today, which so many people in the world today who are beaten, broken, battered, or bored,

are living. What was true for Abraham Lincoln is true for Jim McElvy, is true for so many successful entrepreneurs who are out there and was true for me. Prepare and your chance will come to take your vision for the future and make it a reality. When you say no to 100 other missions, you say yes to the most crucial one there is. And that is exactly the reason I created PassionStrupp to become the catalyst that helps you for struggling to understand how do you take this idea and take it to action. We can help you with that. We can become that catalyst that helps you take action on your ideas. And if it's not us, find a mentor that can help you spear your course so that you are living a life that you're passionate about where your reality becomes your passion. I hope you enjoyed today's message

in the examples that I provided. It's up to you to make the choice. To stop living that pinball life, to stop living this existence where you're reacting to the things around you instead of controlling your environment. It's time for you to step into your sharp edges, to step into those dark shadows,

those fears, those obstacles. Though out there, every single day, and do something that scares you, overcome those things that are keeping you back from achieving that passion-driven life that you want. Get away from that pinball existence that you may be living. And if you want more keys to understanding this, the last two episodes I recorded are great ones. One is on my six secrets defining your purpose in life and the one before that was on the amazing hour of

choice. And have a choice that we make in our life. Take us from living that pinball life I have described today and into the choice of living your passion and becoming passion struck. As always thank you to all of you for helping us on the show make passion go viral. And we're doing it every single day. And because of your help, we now are over 50,000 downloads between YouTube and the podcast channel. And it wouldn't be possible about you. And if there's a different topic that you would like to hear or a podcast guest that you would like to have on the show. Please DM me at Cash and Start Podcast on Instagram, and I will do my best to get those shows scheduled

and reach out to those guests to have them on the show. And until then, thank you so much for being here today, and I hope this message resonated with you. Thank you so much for joining us. The purpose of our show is to make Passion Go viral. And we do that by sharing with you the knowledge and skills that you need to unlock your hidden potential. If you want to hear more, please subscribe to the Passion Start podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your podcast ad. And if you absolutely love this

episode, we'd appreciate a five-star rating on iTunes, and you're sharing it with three of your most growth-minded friends so they can post it as well to their social accounts and help us grow our passion-struct community. If you'd like to learn more about the show and our mission, you can go to passionstruct.com where you can sign up for our newsletter, look at our tools, and also download the show notes for today's episode. Additionally, you can listen to us every Tuesday and Friday for even more inspiring content. And remember, make a choice, work hard, and step into your sharp edges. Thank you again for joining us.