The Ryan Leak Podcast - You Can Do Hard Things with Pastorpreneur Guillermo Castellanos

Episode Date: October 30, 2023

In this episode, Ryan dives into the topic of overcoming personal challenges, emphasizing the belief that everyone can achieve seemingly difficult tasks. He speaks with guest "G" about personal experiences, leadership, and strategies for pushing past adversity. **Key Takeaways:** 1. **Mental Strength**: The conversation starts with the importance of mental strength and determination in facing challenges. 2. **Starting Point**: G shares a personal story about witnessing a man swimming 60 laps in a pool, emphasizing the significance of each individual's unique starting point and the journey to improvement. 3. **Consistency Over Time**: G advises listeners to give themselves time to develop and grow, likening business ideas to scribbles on a napkin that eventually turn into something significant. 4. **Mindset**: Ryan introduces the issue of facing change and the difference between saying "I can't" versus actually not wanting to. G suggests that with determination, grit, and willpower, we can achieve things we once thought were impossible. 5. **Visualizing Success**: G shares his motivation for pushing through tough times by visualizing the finish line and the accolades waiting for him. 6. **Taking The First Step**: The most challenging part of any task, according to G, is the initial step into the unknown. 7. **Championing Ideas and Vision**: G cites a book by Adam Grant called "Give and Take" and discusses the concept of "disagreeable givers". He emphasizes the importance of championing someone else's vision with full sincerity, leaving disagreements behind. 8. **Non-Verbal Communication**: Ryan and G highlight the importance of body language in meetings and the messages it can convey. 9. **Balancing Multiple Challenges**: Ryan praises G's ability to balance multiple responsibilities, such as leading a growing church, running a business, and managing a family. G stresses the importance of being present wherever he is and strategically planning his week to allocate time for various tasks. 10. **Systematic Thinking**: One of G's strategies is understanding when he does his best work and dedicating those times to important tasks. This engaging discussion not only provides listeners with insights into handling individual challenges but also offers strategies for juggling multiple tasks effectively. The recurring theme is the power of mental fortitude and the belief that with determination and proper planning, one can overcome any challenge.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to followership with Ryan Leak. I have a very special guest with me today. Guillermo Castiano. Now, here's the funny thing about me and G. Me and G. Talk almost every single morning during my workout. Now, I say it to workout, but by the end of this episode, what I do, you will not call a workout compared to what G actually does because G is a workout.

because G is he does real workouts. What do I mean by that? I walk every single day. That's what I do. However, G is a high endurance athlete, triathlet, which means he swims, he bikes, and he runs. So G probably does more in one of his workouts than I do all month. I'm all about sustainability,

and I know I can walk every day by the grace of God. G, however, is a master high endurance performer. And so when I do my walks, I call G every single morning. And what's crazy about it is is there's been so many conversations that we've had about life, business, family, faith, money, that at the end of an hour-long conversation, I think to myself, that was a podcast episode. yet I've never had G on the podcast. And so now I feel this pressure that this episode needs to be epic because I wish we could just take the cliff notes of literally hundreds of conversations we've had over the years.

But man, today I believe that today's conversation is going to add value to a lot of people's lives. So Guillermo Castiano, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be on today's episode. G is not very comfortable talking about himself, so I will tell you the things he won't tell you. Besides being a high-performance athlete, he is a pastor. He is also an entrepreneur, a term we're going to create today. He is a pastropreneur, which I fall into that category on most days as well.

He worked for Portia for a little bit. He also has a business that I'll let him tell you a little bit more. more about in terms of how it helps real estate agents and creating leads and whatnot. So he's got some vast experience on leading a church, leading a business. And G also was a campus pastor. What does that mean? When you are a campus pastor, it means you are following at a very high level while leading. So in terms of followership, there is no more. qualified person to speak on it than a campus pastor that is now a senior pastor because through the process of just the evolution of a church that G and I are part of called

Covenant Church. G was a campus pastor there. And then Covenant Church actually released G to actually lead his own church. And so that campus was gifted to them. And so now he is the pastor of North Rock Church, which is about 40 minutes north of where I live. I was just there on Sunday to come see my friend G. And another one of our friends, Nathan there, is also on staff. And so he's got a vast experience of being in a role where he's got to bring a lot of leadership to the table. But followership has been a key component of his journey.

He's also an executive coach. So he helps people go to the next level, whether they're an executive, whether they're I'm an athlete in training. He's got a vast array of experience, and I promise you if I told him to talk about himself, he would not tell you any of that. So, gee, I'm going to let you talk now. I'll let you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself, and I promise you most of what he's going to talk about is probably just his family.

So, Guillermo Casiano, welcome to followership with Ryan Leak. Ryan Leak, man. It is such a joy to be on the podcast, man. Thank you. And you're right. you know, some of my, some of my most cherished conversations I have every day are hearing you on the treadmill on your walk. Making it work, baby. It's a brisk walk.

I just want to throw that out there, ladies and gentlemen, it is a brisk walk. We're at about a speed of 4.1 to be exact. 12% incline. That incline is no joke. Like, I'm in a full Game 7 sweat at the end of this daily walk. and I can do that on the road and then I'll go I'll move on the basketball after that nice that nice warm up too. So listen, you you on a 12% incline would be equivalent to me trying to scale a mountain because I'm 5-7 and you're like 6-3 maybe 6-4. That's true.

That's true. I can't do the 12% incline. That's like that's rock climbing. Yeah. But just give the people just a little insight. Like what was what was your last workout? I mean like when you work out, it's like a half. day. It can be. Yeah, it can be. Yeah. It's a good. If I'm in training season, training for a race that I have

on the calendar, it's 15 to 18 hours a week of training. Wow. Six or 700 miles with, with riding and running and swimming and all that combined. So you guys talk about that for a second. Okay. All right. Let's just that what you just described. I know you said it lightly, but I know our listeners right now, somebody just pulled over and said, did he just say 18 hours a week of just training? Yes, sir. Did he just, did he say six to 700 miles casual? Yes, he did. He did say that. I just want to, I want to verify that. But number two, I, we're going to call this episode, you can do hard things. Let's go. I love that. Yes. You can do hard things. I want to encourage our listeners today, regardless of where they're at in the organization, leader, follower,

CEO, what, and you and I talk about this all the time, it's up here. The mental game. It's the mental game to be able to push past that. So let's talk about that. What have you learned from your vast experience in ministry, in business, in competing? what has allowed you to be able to do hard things? Yeah, man, I think I think it begins with being okay with where you start. Everybody has a starting point. And you can't allow your beginning to discourage you. So I'll give you a story.

The first time I was in a pool, there was a guy next to me, and I was just mesmerized. He never stopped swimming. Like, I was there for an hour and he was just swimming back and forth, like lab after lap after lap after lap, after lap after lap. And eventually he stopped and I said, hey man, good morning. How long have you been swimming? How far did you swim today?

And he says to me, oh, I swam 60 laps. And I look at the end of the pool and there was a sign that said 60 laps equals one mile. And I said to him, man, I can't believe you swim a mile. And he goes, yeah, I've been swimming for a long time. And at that time, for me to swim a 25, which means to make it to the other side of the pool and stop was exhausting. It was exhausted. Yeah.

And I remember, I remember thinking, wow, I'm never going to do this. This is too hard. I can't do it. And then it was like something inside of me said, you're going to have to be okay with being uncomfortable right now so that one day somebody can look at you and go, hey, how long have you been swimming? So it's pushing past that level of being uncomfortable, feeling like you just don't have it just yet.

And going, if I do this long enough with enough consistency and determination, these days will be behind me, but you've got to push your past that. So I say that to say is that we all have to start somewhere. Every great athlete, every great business was somebody's idea

of being a workshopped in some back office, scribbled on some napkin that nobody ever saw, started with 10 or 15 terrible logos, and eventually it became something. So my advice to people is give yourself time to become something. Wow.

Give yourself some time. I love the way you phrase, that because, you know, I think we've often heard the phrase, don't despise humble beginnings. Right. But I actually like the way you phrase that. Give yourself time to become something. It's a, I think that there are so many people, regardless of their position in an organization, they're handed a deck of cards that their response to that deck of cards is, I can't do this. I just, I, whatever their circuit, I, they have an eye.

can't mindset. Specifically, the number one thing that I'm seeing in our executive coaching practice is this idea around change. I can't do another change. I can't do another shift. I just can't. I just can't. And obviously,

we don't beat up people. We don't berate people. Yeah. However, I want to encourage somebody today, well, one, you can change again. You can do one more change. Number two, I'm not. sure that you have any other option. Right.

Yeah. I wonder sometimes in our minds if we're using the phrase I can't as a replacement for I don't want to. That's good. You know, we can, but do we want to? Once you just, if you sprinkle a little bit of will and grit on it. Yeah. We will all be surprised at what we thought we couldn't do that we actually can do, But we have to put a little grit on it, you know, and a little will and a little desire.

And then we can execute it. So there's, I believe that. What was the last thing you thought you couldn't do that you did? The last thing I thought I couldn't do that I did. Yeah. Wow. I think I just, some of the hardest physical challenge have been in endurance endurance racing. I'm going to go back to the first race I ever did.

it was in 20, I think it was 2016 Ironman Cosimo. All right. Now, before you go further on Iron Man, explain what an Iron Man is for people that don't know what that is. Sure. An Iron Man is a race where it has three disciplines and they're all done in succession on the same day. Because that's a question that I've been asked before.

Like, how many days do you get to do this, you know? Right. But it's all in one day. And it's a swim. then you transition to a bike and to biking, then you transition to running. So the distances for a full Ironman are a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile ride,

and then a 26 mile run. All right. So to put it in context, let's go back to the pool. Okay. Or you see a guy that is doing just swimming for days, 60 laps is a mile. Right.

So years in you, And at the time, doing one lap felt exhausting. Oh, I thought it was going to die. Okay. Now, now, I'm just, I just want people to follow the journey. Now we're talking about, what would that be, about 150 laps? Yeah. You said 2.4 miles.

So it'll be about, yeah, so about 145 laps would be the equivalent. Yes. And then after that, you will bike how long? 112 miles and that usually takes on average uh it depends my the ironman cosimo race took me i think was about five hours and 40 minutes okay so five hours 40 minutes after a 2.4 mile swim and after you do all of that you run a marathon yes i just want to throw that out there before you continue with whatever you're going to say about this iron man causeom because sometimes we say things so fast I don't think people really grasp what you are whatever.

I don't even know where you're going with this or what you're about to say, but I just want people to have that context before you say it. All right. Continue. So I make it to the start line, which we're standing on the side of this dog about to jump. And they pretty much say, follow all of those gooeyes until you see a red one. And then you're done. And I remember standing on the dock going in the middle, like jumping out in the middle of

Cosmel, 70 foot of water, beautiful. serene, clear water, and me thinking, I don't know if I can do this. Like, I've been training for a year for my first race. And I'm at the starting line. And I go, I don't know if I can do this. And to be honest with you, as hard as the race was, the hardest thing I did that day was just jump. Wow. Was just jump.

Just jump right in. Because the moment I got in the water, instinct took over. All the training. all the things I would say to myself during the swim, prepping for the bike before even getting on it, rehearsing the marathon, what I was going to eat, what I was going to drink.

And look, and let me say this, just in case anybody out there isn't clear on it. Any one of these races, you go through a cycle of emotions, okay? You're never in the race going, this is the best thing that's ever happened in my life. No, that's not what happened.

Okay. Okay. Let me tell you what you think about, what I think about when I'm in this. The day before I feel great. The day of, I'm like, I don't know what's going to happen here. Why am I doing this? This is the dumbest thing in the world. Okay.

Then during the race, this is the ebb and flow of emotions. Wow, I feel great. Oh, I feel like I'm going to die. I can't wait to sign up for my next one. Wait a minute. The people that are out here, they're crazy and they're out of their mind. Granted, you are one of those individuals in the race. And then it's like, I'm selling all of my gear.

I never want to do this again. And then here's what happens. You ready? When you get to like mile 23 of that marathon and you start to visualize that finish line and you start to hear the cheering of the people and the red carpet and you know that when you're going to cross it, they're going to say your name and they're going to go, Guillermo Conteanos, you are an iron man. And they put that metal on you.

You know what happens in that moment? Everything that you thought about during that race disappears. It just disappears. And in that moment you go, I can't wait to do it again. You know, so back back to your question. What's, what was the heart, one of the hardest things is just and with anything that I've ever done is taking that first step into the unknown. Wow. Because you don't know what's ahead of it.

I love what you said. You had to jump. Just have to jump. And some people just never do that. Right. Man, that, that's awesome. What do you do? from a followership standpoint, when you are,

you don't have to give a specific example, but when you are given a set of instructions that you don't agree with the strategy, what would you encourage someone to do in that moment? Yeah, so there's a book that I read a while back that really helped me tremendously with this. It's a book by Adam Grant called Give and Take. Yeah.

In that book, one of the things that he says is that you have different types of people And you have people that are, they're disagreeable givers, is the term that he. He says, these are the individuals that when you're in a meeting and you're in a back office, an idea is going to be presented and they're going to be very honest and forthright with how they feel about it. But when they leave that room, they're united with the vision and they're going to give to their team. They're going to give good vision, good leadership, healthy opinions, and they're going to champion the vision. They're not going to step into an environment with their team to try to be a huge. hero, because anytime there's a hero, there always has to be a villain.

So the lesson that I've learned in this and the advice that I would give people is when you're championing somebody's vision, champion it with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Do it in the same way that you would want somebody to do it for you. Meaning, if you're in a meeting, you're in a conversation with somebody and you're presenting vision and there's a disagreement. Let the disagreement rest at that table. When you leave that table, champion it in the same way. that you would want whatever you're presenting to be championed.

And sometimes that means that personal feelings, personal opinions, personal thoughts, at some point, those have to come to an end that that door has to be closed. You know, what I'm, what I've learned about myself first and then I started to notice it in other people is I used to think that the way that I championed other people's ideas was by doing something or saying something. But it's actually my body language in a meeting that sends the greatest message of whether I'm in this or not. Not by what I say about it, but actually my posture in that meeting actually determined

whether or not people feel like I'm truly in the room. A mutual friend of ours, Christian Hage, used to tell me this. So we were all in a meeting one day. And he said, Ryan, the room can feel when you're in the room and the room can feel when you're not. I'll never forget that. Yeah. Because I would be like, I didn't say anything. He goes, exactly.

Yeah. It's, you know, it is really amazing the amount of communication that we do that's not in room. It speaks volumes. Yeah. do you think for you, one of the hard things that you do all the time is really balancing a lot of hard things, you know, running a business, running a church. I think when people are here running a church, there's different sizes of churches. There's different levels to what that means. just to brag on G for a little bit, G became a senior leader,

a pastor about a year ago now, where, you know, things kind of happened pretty quickly. They had about, I don't, about 300, 400, 350 and on the weekend,

about 350, 350 people coming on a weekly basis in terms of weekly attendance. I was there just as past Sunday, there was a thousand fifteen, a thousand twelve, if you subtract me and in two two of my plus plus plus ones. So things have grown very rapidly for for their church and leading 350 people in in a space versus a thousand is actually a very, very large jump for people that just don't understand the context of church. And there comes lots of different complications with that you are taking care of people's families during services you have to

move service times around lots of different challenges and also your business presents challenges of its own and also navigating a family of 5G has a beautiful family and he's in a house with all girls and so and so he's yeah girl dad and And so you're having to do a lot of work-life balance, which I think is a very hard thing. So how do you do that well? What are some of the things, principles that you would even encourage? You know, a lot of our clients are extremely busy but still want to be good moms, good dads, good spouses. And so how do you do it all?

Because that is a hard thing. And sometimes you just feel like giving up on one. Yes. So yeah, I'm just not going to do this anymore. Right. But sometimes that's not always an option. And so what would you encourage our listeners with that are trying to not just do a hard thing, but are actually trying to do multiple hard things?

Yeah. Man, this is a, this is a, this is a brittle that it's hard to solve. You know, I've made a lot of mistakes. I still have made mistakes to this day on planning my days and my week. I think what has helped me the most is when I made the decision to be where I am. So like right now you and I are doing this podcast, I am here 100%. Now I know just because I know that there are things that are waiting for me, right? Right.

Emails. Yes. Phone calls. I'm not worried about any of that right now. I'm here. And then when I leave here and I go and I'm somewhere else, I will be there. And I've just one of the things that I've learned to do over time through failure is to say, I look at my week and I go, these are what my mornings are blocked for.

These are what my afternoons are blocked for. These days of the week are blocked for this. So what's helped me is to systematically think about when I do my best work and reserving those times to do the work that is needed and then filling in around that. And that has been just a huge point of strength because in the past, what would happen is I would be everywhere at the same time. I can't do that. And the best way that I can describe it is this,

I have a spot in my house where I put my keys. Right? I know that's where my keys go. If I'm ever looking for my keys and I can't find them, I know where to look because I have a little system in place that says, you've made this decision already that this is where you put your keys. And so I have little micro decisions that I make throughout the day that are very systematic so that I so that I don't have to go back and reevaluate something. I go, no,

no, this is the way that I think and feel about these things. So if I made a decision on it, it has to be congruent with those set values that I've already established. So here's what that does for me. It alleviates me from the pressure of having to revisit decisions multiple times. So I'm going to be where I'm at. I'm going to think very thoroughly through that decision. And when I make that decision, my my goal is to make. make it as final as I can so it doesn't require three, four, five separate visits. And again, that wouldn't be a big deal if we're talking about one area, but multiply that by three or five, you see.

So anyways, absolutely. That has been a big, a big benefit for me. How do you, so when you, and obviously I know this about you, you're probably the most disciplined person I know in terms of how you're able to pull off all of the things that you're involved in. I think the other thing people don't fully understand about being a pastropinear is being available for a lot of people. And you do that well. Typically, the more somebody has a growing business or a growing church, the less available they are. But you've managed to create a lot of discipline with your calendar and

and whatnot. And I think there's so many things that people cannot control, but one of the things that I think people can control is their own personal disciplines. What would you say are a few of your personal disciplines that allow you to be able to do hard things? Yeah, man, this is a core conviction that I have and it's this, is that I have to be healthy mentally, spiritually, and physically so that I can even be available for anybody else. So what really drives me to be a healthy person is my love for people, not my love for me. Like I love Ryan so much that I have to be the kind of person that if Ryan ever picks up the phone and says, hey, I need you, that I can be there for Ryan.

That for me is such a strong motivator. So, and I say this to people, you know, when we were in conversation, I say, hey, you want to be there for your family financially, make good financial decisions so that you can be there for them financially. Right. You want to have mental clarity. Feed your mind things that give you that. So that when you're engaged in conversation and you have to help somebody,

you have the right mental fortitude to help somebody. So my driver for discipline really at its core has very little to do about me and more to do about just my drive to be able to show up when needed for other. And so I would say that it begins with you. It all begins with you. We can't, you know, it's very hard to be unhealthy and help. It would be equivalent to me getting in a car with three flat tires. And one.

To go help somebody else. You know, it takes longer. You know, I mean, we can, we can draw that analogy out. But that's the point. Like, you just just focus on being as healthy as you can so that you can show up. You have to have a strong motivator in order to embrace a discipline lifestyle. And that would be my encouragement. I love that. Man, I love that, man.

My last question for you today is I just want you to take a few moments to encourage somebody that needs perseverance. You know, it's easy to tell someone to quit their job. It's rarely realistic. And so sometimes I think people can find themselves in a position where leaving really isn't a viable option. and they have to have the mental fortitude to be able to to persevere. I want to think about your life. I think about your business. I think about how you conduct yourself in all manners.

Man, I think about somebody that has persevered at a high level. What would you encourage someone with to be able to just, man, make it another year in that season that may not change. Right. Yes. I'm going to share what helped me personally, right? There were seasons in my life that I was very discouraged. I was really discouraged. There were things that I wanted to do.

I couldn't really do them within the framework of where I was. It made me feel a little empty. But here's what I'm saying. I was so focused on what I felt like I couldn't do that I failed to recognize that even within that framework, there was a set of things that I could do. And the moment that I went from, look at all of these things that I can't do to wait a minute, time out.

Look at all the things that I can do. That helped me persevere. Because it reestablished purpose and meaning in my life. So that's what I would say to somebody. Look, if you're in a season of your life right now where you're very discouraged and, you know, you have some heartache and some disappointment, I would encourage you to take inventory of the source of that

and ask yourself this question. Am I feeling what I'm feeling because I'm so focused on the things that I feel like I don't have instead of taking the time to focus on the things that I do have. What is within my scope of influence that I can focus on?

What is within my scope of creativity? What is it within my scope of workforce and effort and resource? And if you spend your time focus on that, here's what happened to me. list of things that I was focused on that I didn't have, it just faded away. They weren't variables anymore in the way that I felt.

Because it doesn't matter how small of a thing anybody gave me, I was going to put all my attention and all my focus on that. And then what I found is that that thing that started as nothing became something. Because I was giving my all to it. And it's just a core conviction that I have is, Look, it's what God told Moses, right? Hey, Moses, what is in your hand? What's in your hand?

And that's always an internal question that I have. Guillermo, what is in your hand? Okay, I understand. That creative element is not available to you, but what is available to you? Okay, let's start there. What can you do with that? Let's build on that. And then my mind switches.

And I go, okay, what can we do with this? And so I would say that's anybody that's out there that's discouraged. listen, wake up tomorrow morning and go, okay, I'm going to take time to take inventory. What do I have available to me? What resources do I have? What creative energy do I have? What is my burning passion? And redirect your energy and your focus on those things.

I love that. Dude, I'm sure we'll talk here in like an hour about something else. But dude, thank you so much for just taking a little bit of time out of your schedule to encourage our listeners. man, I think your life, the way you live, the way you pastor, the way you do business. Now, I also do the way you do relationships, I think is inspiring. And I think today's episode is going to encourage a lot of people, man. Gee, Guillermo Gaciano, also known as G, G, money in some in some circle. Dude, thank you so much for being on the podcast today.

Ladies and gentlemen, if today's episode had a value of your life, feel free to share it, rate it, and don't forget to subscribe. We'll see you next time.