Young and Profiting with Hala Taha - Ken Coleman: Get Clear on Your Purpose, Find the Work You're Wired to Do | Career E296

Episode Date: June 24, 2024

In broadcast school, 30-something-year-old Ken Coleman stood out in a class filled with students 10 years younger. But he was a man on a mission. Leaving behind his soul-sucking job and political ambitions, he pursued broadcasting despite fears and self-doubt. Ken worked for free and endured many humbling moments to build a fulfilling career as a nationally syndicated radio show host. In this episode, he offers insights into discovering your dream career by leveraging your unique talents, passions, and mission. Ken Coleman is a career expert and bestselling author known for his practical advice on finding meaningful work. He’s a regular co-host on The Ramsey Show and the host of The Ken Coleman Show.  In this episode, Hala and Ken will discuss: - Ken's early career struggles - Practical steps to discover your dream career - Why you must align your talents, passions, and mission - Trial and error in finding the right career path - Tips for continuous personal and professional growth - The impact of AI on the future job market - Finding meaning in work for personal fulfillment - The power of proximity for achieving career goals - Why it's never too late to pursue a new career  - Strategies for improving employee retention  - And other topics…  Ken Coleman is a bestselling author and host of The Ken Coleman Show, a nationally syndicated radio show that helps individuals discover their dream jobs and live fulfilling careers. Known as America's Career Coach, he also co-hosts The Ramsey Show, providing practical career advice to millions. He has authored books like The Proximity Principle and his latest, Get Clear Career Assessment. Ken regularly speaks on personal development, career advancement, and leadership across the country.   Sponsored By: Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at youngandprofiting.co/shopify  Indeed - Get a $75 job credit at indeed.com/profiting  Facet - For a limited time Facet will waive $250 enrollment fee for new annual members! Visit facet.com/profiting for details. Kajabi - Get a free 30-day trial to start your business at Kajabi.com/PROFITING  LinkedIn Marketing Solutions - Get a $100 credit on your next campaign at linkedin.com/YAP     Active Deals - youngandprofiting.com/deals Key YAP Links Reviews - ratethispodcast.com/yap Youtube - youtube.com/c/YoungandProfiting LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Instagram - instagram.com/yapwithhala/ Social + Podcast Services: yapmedia.com Transcripts - youngandprofiting.com/episodes-new Entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship podcast, Business, Business podcast, Self Improvement, Self-Improvement, Personal development, Starting a business, Strategy, Investing, Sales, Selling, Psychology, Productivity, Entrepreneurs, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Marketing, Negotiation, Money, Finance, Side hustle, Startup, mental health, Career, Leadership, Mindset, Health, Growth mindset, Career, Success, Entrepreneurship, Productivity, Careers, Startup, Entrepreneurs, Business Ideas, Growth Hacks, Career Development, Money Management, Opportunities, Professionals, Workplace   Learn more about YAP Media's Services - yapmedia.io/

If I'm not doing work that matters to me, I eventually start to wonder if my job matters, and then it gets really scary. I start to wonder if I matter. One of the three human needs that workers have to have met is meaning and purpose in their work. Two is recognition for their unique contribution, and three is a relationship with their leader. Those three needs. Those are all heart stuff, and that just shows our humannes. Ken Coleman. He's a Ramsey personality and number one bestselling author of the Proximity Principle. Career expert and the National Radio host of the Ken Coleman show. A nationally syndicated radio show.

Where he helps people discover what they were born to do. What are some of the feelings that people have when you're not in the right career? So number one, there's a feeling of loss. They wouldn't define it as loss, but it really is a loss. It's an emotional loss because you feel like you've lost time. What that looks like is that discouragement. You get anger at yourself. Things haven't worked out the way you want to.

I also think there's a fear of the unknown. Talk to us about the problem. being disengaged and bored at work right now. So the answer is, young end profiters, I am pumped for today's conversation because I feel like it's going to really change lives. Many of you guys tuning in right now are unhappy with your jobs. You're frustrated with your careers.

You're bored at work. And you want to figure out how you can find a career that really fulfills you. And for my entrepreneurs tuning in, you need to understand how your employees are motivated. What's going to drive them to be engaged at work and be productive. And so it's really a twofold thing, whether you're in your career right now, you want to find your dream career, you want to figure out what you're good at, what you should focus on, or you're an entrepreneur, and you need to figure out how to keep your team motivated and

productive. This episode is going to uncover that for you. Our guest today is Ken Coleman. He's known as America's Career Coach. He's also the best-selling author of Paycheck to Purpose and the Proximity Principle. And he's a very well-known radio host of the Ken Coleman Show. as well as the co-host of the Ramsey show. Amazing guest, so energetic. I can't wait for this conversation without further ado. Ken, welcome to Young and Profiting Podcast. Thanks for having me, Hall.

I'm excited. I'm excited for this conversation, too. So for everybody tuning in, you are right now living your dream career. You are a host of a nationally syndicated radio show. You are frequently co-hosting on the Ramsey show, which is an Uber popular podcast. You're known as America's career coach, but there was a point in your life where you were pretty

unfulfilled. So I thought that we could start in your early career days. Talk to us about your first soul-sucking job. Well, it's funny that you asked that because it was working for me. I was in my late 20s, and I was on a path that I had carved out or certainly envisioned when I was 16. and I was in the process I thought of gaining a legitimate business resume, and part of this journey was stepping out on my own so that I could take the next step. And I realized that the thing that I was preparing for, a potential run for political office, that was no longer the goal.

And so here I am running the small business, which was just a means to an end, just a day job. but it was working for me, but it was soul-sucking work. I didn't enjoy it. It was in a sales role, and I could always sell, but it was a means to an end, and then the end changed. And when that changed, and I realized I had no longer wanted to be involved in politics, I got disenfranchised with both sides of the aisle. It's just the whole process.

It just was no longer a place where I felt like I could make the difference that I desired to make. And so that was something that was shaking for me to, my soul because I had been thinking about this since the age of 16 and had made strides and had been involved in politics, then got back out into the business world and was trying to build this caricature, if you will, to be this impressive person that could potentially get elected. And so when that changed, two things happened. One, it left me wondering, if not this, then what? And then the second thing that happened is I began to beat up myself and I felt like

I had wasted all this time. Here I am in my late 20s. Bro, what are you doing? I was really crushing myself. You just pissed away 10 years. Now here you are on the precipice of 30. I know we have a younger audience, but 30 really freaked me out, more so than any other decade because it felt like I was now supposed to be certain things and this and this and this and the time was ticking away. You don't think about it much in your 20s. So that put me in a position where I was really discouraged. and confused at the same time. And that's a dangerous place to be in. And so I snapped out of it eventually

and just began to work with some great life coaches, people that I had access to. They gave me some exercises, and I began just to walk through some life mapping and went back. And that's when I figured out, ah, there's a different direction. Yeah, it's so interesting that you were so focused on politics,

and I feel like a lot of people are in this boat. They're younger, and they decide, oh, I want to be a doctor, for instance. And then they go down this whole path and they go through school and then they become a doctor and they hate it. And they don't know what to do and they feel like it's too late. I wasted so much time. What are some of the feelings that people have when you're not in the right career? All right. So number one, there's a feeling of loss. And this is deeper than most people. I don't think most people would say to me, are you and I, if we went on the street and we started asking young people this or people that feel this, they wouldn't, I don't think define it as

loss, but it really is a loss. It's an emotional loss because you feel like you've lost time. So what that looks like is that discouragement, there's some anger. You get anger at yourself, maybe angry at others. You know, if things haven't worked out the way you want to. I also think there's a lot of fear. Fear of, okay, if I now pivot and go after something else, what are other people going to say? Maybe I got a degree in this. I love your example. You go to med school. I mean, that's a lot of time and money invested. And by the way, we all know this. In pretty much every society in the world, doctors are considered to be very prolific people. They're respected people for obvious reasons. So now you're dealing with fear of

rejection. What are my parents, my friends and family going to say, what? You're walking away from being a doctor? Have you lost your mind? That's the fear of peers, the fear of rejection, if you will, fear of the unknown. And that's what I was dealing with. Once I knew that politics wasn't it, I was sitting in this fear of the unknown, which I think, Hala, is the greatest fear that we as humans face. This idea of if I'm walking in a dark cave and I can no longer see the hand in front of my face, it's paralyzing if we're driving in a car and a torrential downpour. The fear of what's out there, and I don't know what's next, is paralyzing. That's a big feeling. Then I would say doubt, the cousin of fear. Fear is I afraid of something bad happening if I move forward.

Doubt is I don't believe something good will happen if I move forward. There are cousins. They like to hang out together and feed off of each other. But I think those are the emotions people are feeling. So let's talk about how you discovered your dream career because now you have an awesome career in broadcasting. We actually have a lot of similarities in terms of how we got to our dream careers in broadcasting. So talk to us about this 10-year journey to get to the upper levels of broadcasting,

essentially. Yeah, I'm glad you asked this because trial and error is really huge. and the key word here is trying, I think the best way to get over doubt is to try something. Because when we try, we figure out an actual measurement to see, do I actually have any potential?

If I try to play golf, which I did a couple years ago, I found out really quickly what my potential is. And it's not good. I've tried pickleball since, and I've got a lot more potential in pickleball, right?

So we think of this in hobbies, but this is also true of our profession. So the answer is, I felt like I always had this desire to perform. And I went back on a life map and it goes real quick. I went, okay, I always love performing. As a kid, I was volunteering to be in the play. I was a little bit of a class clown. I wanted the pressure.

I would do things in front of the whole student body. So I found the theme here that I actually liked the pressure of people looking at me. Sometimes we get on kids for that. But I think that's a beautiful thing because most people are terrified of public speaking more so than death. know this. This is a piece of data that's been out forever. So I've figured out, okay, I like to perform. I like the pressure that comes with the performing. So now I have to start to go, what type of performing do I want to do? Do I want to be a corporate speaker and go out and speak and be a keynote speaker? Do I want to go into some type of nonprofit or ministry work where maybe I'm speaking

on behalf of a cause? Do I want to go into hard news broadcasting, where you're looking at a teleprompter and you're just kind of reading, do I want to go into sports? I love sports. Okay, I thought I wanted to run for office. Do I want to go into political media? And so I went down the list. And sports kind of jumped out to me because I still love sports. I love talking about sports. So I tried it. I got into it. And I did, it wasn't a major break, but I got some little breaks. And what I figured out is, is that talking about sports was a form of entertainment. And I wasn't motivated to entertain people. That led me to realize that I want a community. to encourage people, to coach people.

So it was a process of elimination. I'm giving you the super short process. But that's when I got to the point, I was like, okay, how can I now do broadcasting to encourage to equip people? And that's how I started to figure out, okay, there is an actual world out here where you can communicate to help people transform their life. And the key to that was,

I love the sports broadcasting. It was fun because I was, I was performing. But I really started to realize that if I did this every day, I'm going to get bored with this pretty quick because I'm not deeply passionate about giving people my opinion on a sports team organization or a league. So that was a process of elimination. And we're going to talk all about why passion is so important, not just your talents

and things like that later on. But what I think is so interesting with your story is that it wasn't like that big of a change. Like if you think about it, being a politician, it's like you're still. up there on a stage, you're still motivating people, you still have to use your voice. And sometimes it's not necessarily like a 360 degree pivot. It's just a slight pivot to a different career, right? Great analysis. So for example, when I was developing my career, I wanted to be a singer my whole life. And I would perform. I always had a solo. I was always a star of the plays. I was writing music in

college. And actually, I've started interning at Hot 97. I would work there for free for three years. And I was Angie Martinez's assistant for the reason of pushing my music at the station not to become a personality. And then I learned about radio and I loved it. And I realized, hey, I don't know if I'm really going to be make it as a singer, but I could probably really make it as an on-air personality. So I just pivoted slightly and used my voice in a different way. And then same thing with podcasting. It was like a slight pivot. So I think that's important. for people to understand. You don't have to totally change what you're doing. It just might be that something is a little bit off with the career that you chose. That's incredible. I love that you shared

your story on this. I hope your audience knows that. If they don't know it, they need to keep diving into that because what you did is you just saw greater opportunity over here. It didn't make you less talented. It didn't make you less valuable to the world. And I think in some ways we can see the value you're providing now. It's hard to say. It's hard to say. It's hard to say. whether or not you would touch lives and truly transform and have a role in people's transformation if you had made it as a big-time artist. So it's fascinating to see that, and I think that that's a really key point. I realized that there was a thread. The thread was communicating on behalf of people. I thought it was politics, found out, nope, I can make way more difference over here

if I'm communicating in this lane on this issue. So fun little exercise for people that may be in a position that you and I were both in, that I didn't know back then, Hala. And so I've developed this now coaching 10,000 people on the air. Three little fun questions. If you're figuring out, it's not this, what is it? And Hala, you made a great point. There's going to be some similarities.

Even on the pivot, there's going to be similar. So here's how you figured out. Ask yourself, who are the people I want to help? And think of this through work contact because all work. certainly honorable work helps people. So who are the people I want to help? Second question, what's the problem or desire that they have? And then the third question is, what's the solution or solutions to that problem or desire that I get excited about? So real quick review, who are the people I want to help? What problem or desire do they have? What solution to that

problem or desire do I get excited about? This is where we ideate. And this is where our heart, These are heart questions. These three questions are designed to get the heart to open up. And when the head, the brain sees what the heart is pushing up to say, I want to help these people. So I want to help people who are struggling with substance abuse. Great. What's the problem or desire they have? Substance abuse, a destructive world, life that traumatized them. And so they reach out here, whatever. So I want to help them through therapy. I want to help them through whatever. So the three questions are essentially the same question, but you're coming at it from three days. different vantage points, and each answer builds on the other. And by the way, you don't have to

ask them in that order. You could be a person that goes, I know what kind of solutions I want to give to the world. And you go, okay, what is that? I want to code. Oh, great. Who do you want to code for? And you can reverse engineer. Well, I want to code for kids and make video games. Okay, great. So that's something that's really helpful that I wish I had developed for myself years ago, but now having coached people, those three questions help us go deep within so we can see who we really are and where we can really contribute. I love that. And I think that's super great advice, especially for people who are maybe a little bit older,

maybe in their 30s to be asking that question. So I recently had an interview with Gary V. And one of the things that he says is that in your 20s, It should be all about experimenting and figuring out what you're doing. So I'm in my 30s now and I have a multimillion dollar company. I have a podcast network, a social agency, a top 100 podcasts. And I attribute all this success because I experimented a lot when I was in my 20s. I was working for free at a radio station.

I was blogging. I was selling underground rapper showcase tickets. I was working at the mall. I was getting so much different experiences. And I really didn't have it figured out. I had other friends who already had corporate careers when I was still trying to create a blog site and do all these other things, right? But I'm happy that I did that and I experimented. And I know that you also did a lot of experimentation and working for free.

So talk to us about the importance of acquiring skills so you actually know what you're good at because you've got a test to know what you're good at. Yeah, that's so true. You have to figure out what you're good at first because once we figure out what you came into this world, hardwired to do from a talent standpoint. I've got three teenagers. Any parent can look at their kids and go, this kid's talented at this, this kid's, they just know, and we all know. And you've been complimented for this stuff your whole life. So even the most doubtful person watching us right now and listening to us right now, the most doubtful person you just down, your self-esteem is down, your confidence is low, can I just tell you something? You need to pick me up. I want to just rewind your

life. And throughout your life, there have been times where people said, you're a natural at that, or that just comes so easy to you. Maybe you saw your sibling struggle at it, and you went, huh, it's easy for me. Here's my point. Once we all truly get self-aware enough to go, okay, this is what I'm good at naturally. With education, I'm learning and experience doing,

I can take a talent and I can make it super, super sharp. I can make it a skill. I'm going to use an old school kind of example here. You think of a potter. I don't know if any of your audience has ever watched. to potter make pottery. It's fascinating to me. They take a lump of clay, and put it on the potter's wheel, and through water and their force of their hands, working with the wheel, they shape this inanimate object of clay into something extremely usable. That's the idea of taking a talent and

turning it into a skill. We start there. And once we figure out what we're good at and how we can turn that into a sharpened skill, now we can see the world through the lens of, I've got these tools, think of them as power tools, not the old school handsaw, but like, you know, we're doing it in six seconds as opposed to six minutes. So now I can see, I have these tools and these tools, skills, do this. And so as I begin to see what these skills can do, then that allows me to do two things. Number one, it allows me to build confidence. Confidence is everything. I'll just tell you this is a guy who's been blessed, and I mean this, to just coach people. They've called in for years, and it's just mind-blowing. And I have to coach them in about eight minutes, which is, that's intense,

but I tell you what it's taught me. It's taught me how to quickly discern what's going on and get to the heart of the matter fast. But what I've learned is, is just about every caller or every person I've coached from a live stage, they're sitting there with an alternative they think is the right choice, and they're ultimately looking to me for confidence. That's what I know. So I'm speaking about confidence being really, really important. So once I'm confident, I know what I can do, I'm confident, that's what happens. And then clarity starts to come in. You know, look at me, I suck in math and science skills. I mean, that part of my brain, I should have my brain study when I die because it's dark. It's just math and science really hard for me. And so I was always good in the English or the

history, much more verbal guy. So if I'm looking at me and I'm going, what do I do best? Well, communication, verbal skills. So I tell you what I'm not going to be doing. I'm not looking into health and medicine. That's the idea. And it gives me clarity. Oh, I probably am wired to do people work. So that's the idea. What's so interesting is that we always hear about imposter syndrome, right? And really, imposter syndrome, in my opinion, is when you're in a job that you don't have the right skills for. You don't have the right talents for and you feel inadequate because it's not your strengths. Would you agree with that? I think it can be that. Yeah. Let's take that scenario.

In that situation, you realize I don't think I'm cut out for this because I don't have the talent. It's like me trying a new sport. It was the golf example earlier. I get out there and play enough and play with better golfers. I'm going to have some doubt as to whether or not I'm ever going to get there. In that situation is not a syndrome. That's reality. That's me going to be good enough.

I just don't have the skill set. the mental makeup to be good in golf. So yes, it absolutely can be a sign that, and I'm glad you brought this up, because a lot of times, even a guy like me in my world, I'll poo-poo fear and doubt, because they are enemies of progress. But many times fear and doubt are protecting us, and in the scenario you just brought up, which I think is insightful, we've got to have enough self-awareness that when we experience doubt, we know whether doubt is lying to us and holding us back, or doubts going, there's a reason that you have doubt. You're average at best.

If you bust your ass, you're only going to be average. And people don't pay for average. Yeah. It's almost like a dictionary problem where you need to learn the ropes and the abbreviations that everybody's using. Or is this really like a skills problem and it's not your strengths? So let's talk about boredom and disengagement at work. Because I remember last year, so many of my conversations people were talking about

quiet quitting and so many people were quitting their jobs to become freelancers and entrepreneurs. I feel like it's studied out a bit, but talk to us about the problem of being disengaged and bored at work right now. Yeah, I love that you bring up boredom. It doesn't get talked about enough, I think, when we talk about these work trends. So boredom is just a function of there's just no challenge. And there's no challenge. And challenge comes at us, I think, with two key characteristics. I'm challenged because it's difficult, but I think I got enough chops to handle it. Or I'm challenged because I love it so much that I want to take that to the next level. The guy who's the goat on this, his name is Mihai Cheek Sent Mehi. He's got a very popular

TED talk on the topic of flow. And here's what his research over 30 years found. Part of being in a state of flow, which is mirror kind of a state of ecstasy, actually. This is not drug or sexual. It is a mental state that he describes. And part of getting to that flow is challenge. It must be challenging so that I am engaged to, I got to really lock in, I got to focus, I got to put heart, I got to put effort in, I got to be at my best. So that's the challenge piece. But the challenge and the aptitude or the ability to meet the challenge are the same. And so that's a huge part of this. And so boredom happens when one or both of those are really off. And let's be honest with you, boredom happens when we're doing a job that takes very little effort. And so we're scrolling on

social media or we're talking to our coworkers because there's just no challenge. There's no challenge mentally and there's no challenge emotionally. And that's what I was saying earlier. The mental challenges, obviously it's got to push me and I got to really lock in. But the emotional challenge, too, is like, do I actually give a crap? Does this work that I got to do? Is it enjoyable for me? And then does it create a result that I actually think is great? So if you put me on a spreadsheet, I'm telling you I'm dead because I'm not naturally good at spreadsheet and organization and all that stuff. And I could give a crap about organization. I got people around me who do all that that that I love an organization.

I'm a creative. So the more I'm bouncing from thing to thing to thing and I'm engaging with you, that's fun for me. So that's what boredom does. And so here's the deal. To wrap this up, boredom will suck the soul right out of you. Because when a human being isn't challenged,

then what happens is they begin to think that there is no challenge to be had and you just retreat and settle. It creates a lot of stress, by the way. That's what's crazy. The more bored you are, the more stress you have. Let's hold that thought and take a quick break with our sponsors. At Yap, we have a super unique company culture.

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I know there's so many people tuning in right now that end their workday wondering why certain tasks take forever, why they're procrastinating certain things, why they don't feel confident in their work, why they feel drained and frustrated and unfulfilled. But here's the thing you need to know. It's not a character flaw that you're feeling this way.

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So I like to rally people and I like to invent new things. I used to be really shameful and had a lot of guilt around the fact that I didn't like enablement, which is one of my working frustrations. So I actually don't like to support people one-on-one. I don't like it when people slow me down. I don't like handholding. I like to move fast, invent, rally people, inspire. But what I do need to do is ensure that somebody else can fill that enablement role,

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You've been really passionate about helping people with their careers for years now. You have multiple books under your belt related to careers. And I read a quote from you that I want to read. You said, we are all souls and we are created to contribute. And if you don't contribute something that matters to you, then there's something missing. And so we talked a bit about challenge, but talk to us about meaning. Why do we have to have meaning in our work? Because we are spirits.

and I don't care where you come from in the world, what your religion is, what your political affiliation is, strip all of that away. And the one commonality that all humans have is somewhere along the way in our journey. We all wonder, what should I do with my life?

And then we also think, what's the contribution I'm making? And we all kind of want to make our mark. And I just think that's the way we're created. I'll just leave it at that. I think it's just there. And nobody has to teach anybody to wonder that. Because I think we all just want to make a difference.

I think if you're going to find one thing that humans can unify around is, good, healthy people want to help others. They just want to help others. So that is the issue. And so when we look at this innate desire to make a difference, make a mark, you can say it 80 different ways, then we realize meaning matters so much. I'll give you an example.

Throughout history, we've seen dictators, evil people, use meaningless work as torture. I mean, multiple civilizations. Just go do your homework. You can pick any time of history, certainly not in modern history, but I mean, right now I know of countries around the world where people are just pounding rocks to pay off debts. Now, they're selling those rocks, so that's not what we're talking about. I'm talking about literally meaningless work as torture. So that's a fascinating thing. If there's no meaning behind it, You're like, why am I doing this? And that's psychological torture, not physical torture.

And it's fascinating. And so why is that? Because we as humans are creatures of progress. So if I'm not, here's the danger slope. If I'm not doing work that matters to me, I eventually start to wonder if my job matters. And then it gets really scary. I start to wonder if I matter. So I think that that's the reason why meaning matters.

By the way, the data from Gallup shows up all the time. You know, one of the three human needs that Gallup said that workers have to have met, one of them is meaning and purpose in their work. Two is recognition for their unique contribution, and three, is a relationship with their leader. Now, here's what's funny. Those three needs, those are all heart stuff, and that just shows our humanness. So related to this point, I think the average age of my listeners is 35, 37, and that's not young, it's not old, it's sort of in the middle. And I'm sure there's a lot of people tuning in that are like,

man, I feel like my job is meaningless. I feel like my life is meaningless. But I feel like I'm too old to make a change. I always say, you're never too old to start something new. I started my podcast pretty late considering, you know. How old were you? I was 30 years old when I started my podcast. That's great. And I did so much in the last five years. I like basically dominated the industry in five years. I had a lot of experience in radio and other things before that. So I started with a head start, but still, I got a lot accomplished in that short amount of time, and a lot of people don't realize that in five years, you could do so much. So talk to us about that. Is there really an age where it's too late to start thinking about a new career? No, I think you're right. Here's what I've told people

when I've coached them on this, because I've had people in their late 50s. I had a lady call my show recently was 61. So here's what I told her. I said it's not too late. The only thing that you've got to adjust is it's not too late to start something new, but the amount of time you have to do that thing is shorter. But you've got plenty of time to start it and do it. You just don't have as much time to stay in it as a 25-year-old, right? At least that needs to be the expectation. But let's also to be honest, you know, certainly don't want to freak anybody out here, but this is the kind of thing you and I talk about and that we do. You know, you're not promised tomorrow. You could be 25 and something awful happened to you, completely out of your control, and you don't make it to 30. So from that

standpoint, to the 20-something, let's get after it. Don't put all this pressure on you to figure it out in your 20s, but do what Holla did, do what I did, go do something and work your way up. So to that older person, it's not too late. The only mindset adjustment here is All right, if I'm starting at X date, then I don't have the runway that I would have had much younger. So what am I going to do? I'm going to have proper expectations. You just measure reality with your timeline of life and go, I may not be able to do this, this, this, this, this, this, and this. But I can do this and this.

And I think that's how you go, all right, the time I have left from this point on, I'm going to do something that matters to me. And here's what's cool about this. A hospice nurse in Australia wrote a bestselling book about the regrets of the dying and one of the top five was I didn't live the life that I truly wanted to live.

And so I'm a guy that preaches reminiscing over regretting. At 55 or 65, you still got some time, go do it so that you can look back at least on a certain period of your life and go, I'm so glad that I did that. And not regret that you never took a shot. And also doing it in a smart way.

For example, using your books and your assessments and things to make sure you know your strengths, you know your passions, you know your mission, and you know what is a likely path that you'll succeed at rather than sort of just going at it willy-nilly without a plant. So this is a great segue into some of your work. So before we get into your new book, it's called Get Clear Career Assessment. I'd love to touch on some of your previous works. In 2019, you wrote about the proximity principle. And you say that can change everything people thought about they knew pursuing a career that they love.

So what do my young improfitors need to know about the proximity principle? Yeah, we'll start with what the principal is and then what it does. The principal says this, in order to do what I want to do, you can fill in the blank there, I've got to be around people that are doing it and in places where it is happening. Young Hala did this. She thought she wanted to be a singer. So what did she do? She went to the place where they were playing all the songs.

and that was a brilliant move, right? Now, your idea changed, but again, what's interesting is that you've also could have used the radio as that idea of this is the right place. So the proximity principle is about people and places. The right people plus the right places equals opportunity. In other words, if you're constantly getting around the right people, people that are in the space that you want to be in, or similar to the space that you think you want to be in, that proximity is just there.

I think your life is actually a wonderful example of this. And you talked about it earlier. Because you were in proximity, you pointed it out. It wasn't that big of a departure. You are, in fact, a performer. You're a top-notch performer. You may only sing for friends and family now, which, by the way, I'd love to hear you sing.

I think your audience would too. There might need to be a single coming out later. But anyway, that's my ADHD flaring up. But I think that the issue here is, if I understand that being around the right people is going to allow me to meet more of the right people. Being around the right people, they're going to point me to the right places. I go to the right places.

I see, I learn, I observe. Oh, by the way, I connect with more of the right people over here. And so what you've got is if I were going to draw it up, it would be an arrow here, an arrow here, and we'd have the right people, the right places. And it becomes this cyclical process of learning, doing, and connecting. That's what it spits out. And that formula equals opportunity to where you do it right, how people will knock on your door.

fact, some of the coolest experiences I got in my career where I got huge opportunities were because of proximity. I was the second option, but they needed another option. But the only reason they thought of me is because I was in the orbit, if you will. So in order to do what I want to do, I got to be around people that are doing it in places where it is happening. In other words, if I'm around the right people and in the right places, the right time will happen on its own. Oh my gosh. I love that. I love that concept so much. I can think about my past experiences, and I know that's true, like figuring out podcasting, it's like going to all the podcast conferences, trying to get podcast mentors, taking calls with every single podcast company,

and trying to understand what everybody does. That's how you become the top of your field. I'm curious. Can I flip it on you? Yeah. Because your audience loves you. They're here for you. I'm just the guy guesting today. I'm curious, how did the proximity principle play into your specific story where you actually got the gig you got it. Like it led to the show that's rocking it and you had this meteoric growth. I'm curious. What was your situation? There's so much that goes into it. First, to your point, getting that job at Hot 97, I thought I was going to be a singer, ended up learning the ropes of radio, took every opportunity that I could where if the DJs wanted me to blog, I was blogging. If they wanted me to come to a party, I was going to the party. If they wanted me to

sell showcase tickets and host a showcase. I was doing that. So I was taking my opportunity B avenues is what I call them and getting all these experiences. Also, I'm a type of person that isn't afraid of going out on my own. So I started a blog site, but I didn't start it on my own. I recruited other women that were in the entertainment industry. So people who worked at Def Jam and IHart and VH1 and then worked with them and learned from them and started this blog site. Then I went into Corfret. That's the whole other story. A ghost period of four years where I just didn't think I was going to make it. I got rejected from satellite radio MTV. I almost had a show on MTV. So it was like a dark period. But then I started my podcast. And when I started

in the podcast industry, once I decided that I was going to really do this, I just tried to learn from everyone. So for example, Jordan Harbinger, who's one of the biggest podcasters in the world, He's one of my best friends. He's my podcast mentor. He came on my show. And when he came on my show, I didn't just leave it at that. I was like, what can I do for you? Can I write your commercials for you?

Can I show you how I'm growing my podcast? Because he's sort of old school. And I was like this new school podcaster. So I was trying to teach him stuff. So he would give me the time of the day. And then finally, he was, wow, like you're really on to some stuff. I'll teach you how to grow your show the way that I know. And you can teach me how to grow your show the way that you know.

and I was just doing things for free to get him as a mentor. So that was one of my first big breaks because he taught me all the secrets of growing shows traditionally, right? And then when I started my network, I literally started a podcast network, have never joined a network, no idea how podcast networks work. So I would just take all these calls with all these agencies and I would just act like I knew what I was talking about, but try to investigate what the hell are they doing and pieced it together going to all these conferences and just trying to meet everybody until I figured it all out.

To your point, it's how do you just get in contact with people who know what they're doing and work for free for them, ask them lots of questions, do favors for them so that they help you in return. Hopefully that was a good example. That is the principle living it out. Throughout the whole story, I could have just circled while you were talking. I could have pressed pause and circled right people. Like we heard of Jordan was the right person. these women from Def Jam and these massive companies, right people, showing up the podcast company, right places. So yeah, it's a simple little idea. And honestly, I didn't expect the book to do as well as it did. I was just trying to simplify the climb. Like, if you just keep

showing up around the right people and right places, good stuff's going to happen. It's not romantic. It's just simple. But most people in today's world, they want to fast forward everything. because we see a lot of unbelievable fast stories. And those are rare. Those are rare people. Because you look like a fast story. Because if you just look at your bio, it's like, so all these young women could look at you and go,

that's what I want to do. She did it. I want to do it. I can do it. And I'd go, okay, that's true. But are you aware of what she did that's not in the bio? that led to everything that she was able to stack together that then let her go like this.

The challenge for young people, and I was young once, okay, so I'm like the dad on this podcast. I don't mind. You're still young. Thank you. I'm older than you probably realize. But here's what I want you to hear. I was like the young.

So this is not a knock on young people, and I can't stand when people crap on the younger generations, like millennials and Gen Z. It bothers me to know it. Here's the thing. The thing about being young is you don't understand how long things take, and then you realize, wait a second, successful people, they're willing to do what it takes, because a lot of you're going, I'll do what it takes. I'll do what Holla did. Okay.

But you also waited as long as it took. That doesn't mean you were sitting around, because waiting, by the way, is not a passive posture. It's actually a mature posture. In other words, you get up, you were busting it at that radio station, you were going out here, doing this, hanging out. I love that on this conversation, you've mentioned work for free, I think five times. And I can't wait to interview you about that. It's going to be a huge theme because that is a very controversial position in the world of TikTok because they've got a lot of snowflakes to freak out over that.

What they don't understand is that Hala was willing to wait as long as it took. In other words, she kept showing up, showing up, showing up, showing up, doing this, doing that, meeting this, learning this, and waiting is an active posture. It is, I'm going to keep showing up, doing what it takes, knowing that if I keep showing up, the right time's going to find me. And that's your story. It's your story, too. Yeah, well, it's every successful woman and man, every one of them, they don't quit.

They keep showing up. And then we look at their story and we go, oh, you know, wow, right place, right time. Bull, they were in the right place and then the right time found. them. So are you willing to do what it takes? If I wait on the street with a camera crew, they all, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I said, are you willing to wait as long as it takes? So that means, are you willing to show up for five years, seven years, nine years. Not many people are. Amazing. Well, let's talk about your 2021 release. It was called Paycheck to Purpose, another bestseller. And in it, you talked about talent, passion, and mission. And this is a theme that even now you

talk a lot about, talent, passion, mission. So can you define those three words in your own and tie it all together. Yeah, talent is what we do best. Passion is what we love to do most. Mission is that result that we care deeply about putting into the world. So if I use what I do best, talent, to do what I love passion,

to produce results that matter to me, mission, I am by definition on purpose, doing what I'm supposed to do, doing what I can uniquely do. You know, the reason I came up with that methodology is through coaching people, and I was trying to help them see there's a formula here.

The answer to what should I do in my life lies in those three things. What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? What results? Move your heart. Okay. So, for instance, an activist, their heart is angered. Their heart is broken.

Angered by an atrocity, broken for the people that are the victims. And so their heart moves into that kind of work. Your heart, my heart, probably very, very similar, right? Our heart is about achievement and influence. We want to help people. We want to help people win here. mediocrity is our enemy. And so when we understand that last piece mission, the results that motivate me, we tap into

the magic of motivation. So talent, those are the tools so that we can do work that we enjoy. We love. We look forward to the work. We get in it. When you were singing, when you were on the air, when we're doing this right now, you and I really, really enjoy this communication piece, this learning, this digging. How can I learn from?

How can I pass this on? But the last piece is so important to understand. intrinsic motivation, and that's a sense of mission. We all have it. In other words, a person who gets up at 5 a.m. in the morning to work out does it only because they want to. My teenage boys, holla, only clean their room because they have to. Do you see the difference?

I say to them, you're not going out with your friends this weekend, and to this bathroom doesn't look like a crime scene. Clean it up. And what do they do? And then they do it, but that's extrinsic motivation. They do it to avoid punishment or to get something they want. that is going to be withheld from them. So the person who gets up for the reward itself

just because they want to, that's the idea. So those are the three elements. When we can see that about ourselves, that's when we get true self-awareness. We'll be right back after a quick break from our sponsors. Happy New Year, Yap, gang. I just love the unique energy of the new year. It's all about fresh starts.

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So your latest book, it's get clear career assessment, find the work that you're wired to do. You already put out two books about careers, so why did you feel the need to release this new book? Because this is actually just a manual. It became a bestseller, but we actually wrote this to get the assessment on Amazon. It was because I wanted to have more district

because you can't sell a digital product on Amazon. So kind of a fun lesson here. You got to do what you got to do. And the assessment actually measures those three components. So I'm glad you asked me that. Paycheck to Purpose was providing that seven stages of what it looks like to get on top of your professional mountain. And we do it all through getting clear as that first step. Well, I developed an assessment because I wanted to give people a tool that in about 18 to 20 minutes,

you could get a direct report. of the world of talent, this is your top three, and then here's where you're above average. In the world of passion, the types of work, here's where your top three are, here's where you're above average, and your missional results, there's six driving missions from the world of psychology. I just adopted that, and it kind of tells you this is your primary motivator, and so you get a deep dive report in those three areas. Then we put your top results in a purpose statement that is essentially like a job description for you, a dream job description where you can lay it over the world of work and go,

does this career path, does this job allow me to spend most of my day, let's call it 75% of my day, using what I do best to do what I enjoy to produce results I care about? That's as simple as it gets. And the assessment does that and it's a fabulous tool. It's not a personality profile. You notice I didn't talk about personality. It's not going to predict some career for you because that's crap, junk science. Can't do that. No assessment can. But what it does is give you self-awareness. And self-awareness is a superpower.

Because when I can see who I really am and what I have to offer to the world, that clarity will lead to confidence. And confidence will give you courage when you step out and life throws something at you. Courage just isn't this thing that we can will up. It must come from a place of clarity and confidence. And so that's why we created the tool. The book itself, it's about a 45-minute read. And all it does is catches you right at your assessment results.

The Get Clear assessment will give you what I just described. And the book is written as though I'm coaching you. So how do we take this purpose statement and start to ideate, well, what can I do professionally? Is it medicine? And so we pick up with those questions I gave you earlier, people I want to help, problem or desire they have. So that the little book is more of a companion to the assessment. So that's why we wrote it.

honestly didn't expect it to be a bestseller, just wanted to get the tool out. So here we stand and I'm getting an opportunity to talk about. What I think is life-changing methodology, because it's just self-awareness. And here's what I would say to young people, everybody's chasing greatness. And I think that's misguided. I want you to chase uniqueness because it is in your uniqueness that your greatness lies. Because it's your contribution. This is so good for anybody who's thinking about making a career change. So again, I think one of the biggest fears is, oh, I don't want to waste more time. Well, you stop wasting time by having a plan and having self-awareness and thinking through things and not just shooting in the dark, right? So I highly recommend this for everyone.

But this is an actionable advice podcast. So what are some questions that people can ask themselves to understand what their core talents are? What have people always complimented me on? How do I wow others? Let's just hit the rewind button and ask those very practical questions because there's evidence. I want to recognize something. For people that have had a lot of trauma and a really tough life, this will take some time to keep asking. But for most of us, who've had a relatively healthy life and not overwhelmed by challenge, there's going to be multiple times where you can pull up answers, how I wow others,

what people say about me when they compliment me. these are basic questions that will reveal right away. Oh, well, there's a pattern here. And something that I love in this book that you talk about is super talents, which is something that I've never heard of. So what's the difference between a talent and a super talent? Super talents are the things that I'm excellent at, just absolutely through experience or education or just pure nature. I'm excellent. I mean, I'm up here. And that's what we give in the assessment, your top three. We call those your super talents. Now, that indicates that below that are some solid talents. Let's use a simple analogy, one being suck, 10 being great. If you are

an eight or a nine or a 10, I'd call that a super talent. If you are a six or a seven, I'd call that a solid talent in the form of if I get more education, more experience, I put some hard work in and I really hone my craft, then I can become super. I'll just be real personal. So in the why world, I write books, I write articles, I give keynotes, I do. I do. I'll just be real personal. So in the why world, I write books, I monologues on a show every day. I coach people live in front of thousands of people, just me and a mic, and it's kind of just, woo, you know, or I'm on the air, and I got eight minutes. So that's what I do. Of those things that I do in my super talents, it would be the discernment and coaching piece. When I'm on the spot and I'm listening to somebody and I'm asking and digging, I'm really,

really good at that. The other thing of that is a super talent for me is the actual interview themselves, you know, when I'm interviewing people and pulling stuff out of them. If I'm honest, and I am, and by the way, I get feedback from my team, my solid talent on that list is the keynote. I'm good. I'm a good speaker. I'm not great. I'm working to become great. And that's my own analysis and also feedback. I think you've got to be honest about that. Writing, same deal. Good writer, not a great writer. So that's the difference between a super talent. Now, I can get better at the speaking and have, and I can get better at writing, and I have, but I still got more work to do, whereas the other ones, just from my natural talent, and I've had more time. I've got more

experience in the other two with the interviews and coaching people than I did with the speaking and writing. So what do you do? You get better at it, but then you also hire really good editors so that I can take what I'm good at, which is a monologue. By the way, I'm better at monologues than I am a 40-minute keynote. I'm better at the quick. Here's three points. So you go, okay, I need help over here with the writing. So I'm going to go hire really talented writers to edit my stuff and coach me and say, you're missing this here. You're not weaving this in.

This needs a story. This is a little too kind of nebulous kind of out there. You need to simplify this for the reader because I can't do that for myself. So I hope that answers your question. I think that's the difference. And in my own life, so I've got to pay attention to that. Yeah, totally. It sounds like you're not focusing on your weaknesses at all.

It sounds like you're just trying to strengthen your talents and your super talents. And are you focused on your weaknesses at all? Only to the fact that when we have a new team member joined, like we just got a new associate producer on my team and she's awesome. And on our first meeting, I spent 10 minutes trashing everything that I do that's awful. And she was laughing and she really enjoyed it. And it did two things. Number one, it let her know that I'm aware of these things that I suck at.

being on time, details, can't ever find my own keys in my house. God bless my wife. I'm really open about it. So I'm only focused on it to tell everybody they work with. Number one, I'm weak in this area. Number two, I'm aware of it. And number three, in order for us to work well, both of us need to be aware of this. And the reason that you're hired is because you're actually strong where I am weak. So understand our job as a team for each other, not just for Ken. This isn't all about Ken. of us have got to say, this is where I'm weak, and to the extent that we remove stuff off of our plate and move it to someone else's plate, we delegate, we hire for it, or we eliminate it altogether. So yes, I'm not focused on it, but I'm super aware of my weaknesses. And my life,

by the way, is organized. I use that loosely because I'm not very organized, but my life is structured probably in a way, and I've got team where, again, I operate in my strengths all day along, which is really, really rewarding. And it's freeing. By the way, it's freeing to just go, I suck at this. Because by the way, your team already knows. But by the way, it's because you focus on your strengths to become the top of your field, so you could get a team to help you with everything else. That's a great point.

That's the beauty. In Western, I don't know, and I'm going to bang on the Western Hemisphere because I'm a Western Hemisphere product so I can make fun of it. I don't see this in the Eastern Hemisphere. I really don't. This is a Western way of thinking, and I'm not trying to follow. Just hang with me, folks. Western thinking is we go to school from kindergarten through 12th grade and then it's

college. And it's largely the same system. We memorize and we regurgitate and they grade us on what we get wrong. So your whole life you've been conditioned to be afraid of getting anything wrong. So what happens is that translates to your weaknesses. You experience a weakness as you begin to go to school or you try out for an extracurricular activity and you begin to experience weakness. And she goes, oh, I got to fix that weakness instead of going, I suck at playing the clarinet.

I should probably not play the clarinet. So true. Do you know what I mean? But we've been conditioned by a Western thinking to work on your weaknesses. And here's what's crazy. That's not a thing in the real world of work. I don't care what hemisphere you're in. It's so good.

Let's go a little bit broader and talk about the jobs economy in general. And also for some of the entrepreneurs and business owners who listen to the show, I'd love to understand how we can translate some of this into empowerment. our employees. So first off, I got to talk about AI. I've been doing so many AI episodes lately. And a topic that keeps coming up is AI and jobs. So how do you think about AI's impact on jobs and what people need to think about? I don't think AI is going to change jobs any more than Apple changed jobs or pick another technology, right? It's just the internet. If you think about it, any time in our history where we've had a major technological advancement, has it eliminated some jobs?

Yeah. Some. But what did it do? It spun off more. And so I actually think that AI is going to spin off jobs that you and I can't even imagine and create in our heads right now. I think the job market that my 15-year-old daughter is going to experience, we don't even know. We can't even describe it. So I'm not afraid of AI.

I would say this. I've talked to Chris Doe, who I think is one of the great minds on AI, I had him on my show. I just asked him, I'll tell you what he told me. He said, we can't forget that AI's effectiveness is completely predicated on the human who programs it. So AI's ability to do anything is based on a human programming it to do that thing. And I think that I'm less concerned about AI replacing your job. I'd be more concerned about a person who works really well with AI replacing your job.

I still think it's the human component. So, for instance, I do believe the experts that say you're going to see a pretty good percentage of clerical jobs maybe go away because they can program AI to do all the customer service. And we're already seeing in the hiring process where there's AI software where a human's not even involved sometimes even until the second or third level of a job interview. So is it going to create efficiencies? Yes.

But you will still need the human to human. contact. So I'm not scared of AI from a work standpoint. AI as it relates to warfare, that freaks me out. But that's not what we're here to talk about. But that freaks me out. AI in the world of work, no, it's not going to be a bunch of machines doing the work and the rest of us are sitting around eating Cheetos. I don't think that's going to happen. Yeah, I think your internet example was so good. If I think about my job now, it's literally 100% based on the internet. There's nothing else. I don't even have any, like, office or anything. It's just so good. Okay, let's talk about companies and employers. So something that I've noticed, I have 60 people on my team now. I've been running my company for four years and some of the rock stars that I had in my company that used to be rock stars. And I love them still. They're still great. But just giving it as an example. Star players four years ago, four years later as we've grown so much as a company, I feel like they're struggling to stay developed, evolve with the company.

I see some star players that two years ago, strongest players on the team, now I'm like, ooh, you guys are struggling suddenly and you're not keeping up. How can we develop our employees and help them develop their strengths and skills? What can we be doing as bosses? Really good question. Let me give a quick context and then maybe dive into specifics. I may ask you a couple of questions to fully answer this. First, we've got to understand as leaders and founders specifically that there are a good amount

of people who got you there. who won't get you to the next level. It is very natural for companies to outgrow some of the key people who actually were fundamental in getting them to this certain spot. But this comes back to, again, talent, passion, mission.

If you look at the wiring of some of these people that may be struggling with you now that didn't struggle back here, some of it could be fit. So as the leader, you've got to go, is this a fit issue to the point that there's another seat and I need to get them on another seat

where they are now able to plug into the new version of our company? Or do they simply just not have the right makeup for where the company is and where the company's going to go? That would be from an executive and a leadership analysis. That's my practical advice. And you've got to be okay. And sometimes this really sucks. I mean, I've coached a lot of CEOs on this who I have to say,

look, they don't have it. They can't take you where you want to go. A silly example to try to drive this home. I'm big into sports, right? So it's like a college football coach comes in, and he's replacing another coach who left, and that coach ran a very different style of offense. So they had different kind of players.

Maybe they were run-based, big guys, and it was a power offense. And this guy comes in and he goes, we throw the ball all the time. So those first couple of years, you know what he's got to do? He's got to go, which one of these kids can stay with me and adapt?

And if they can't, I've got to let them go. And I'm going to go recruit other players. That's the simple metaphor there that I think is the issue. To answer the second part of your question quickly, how do we develop our people? Well, number one, you got to know them. And I really like this methodology that I've shared. We were talking about people trying to find their own career. But from a leader standpoint, knowing what someone's talents are,

knowing what their passions are, knowing what their motivating mission is, you kind of got yourself a profile here. then you go, okay, where can they grow? And let's look at their solid talents. And let's show them, hey, I want to invest in you. Or I'd like to see you invest in yourself here. This is where you've got some solid talents. But I think with some learning and doing, you can turn these into super talents.

That's the idea. Constant communication so that they have awareness. They also know that you care about them and you want them to get better because when they get better, their paycheck gets bigger. At least it should in a healthy company. So that's the idea. It's a really smart thing to do as well, because if you find out that maybe there isn't a place in your company now, it's the best thing for them to go to a company where they will thrive. Part of being a boss is understanding that people are going to work for you forever and you can help guide them in their career. Okay. So last question, two-part question, and then we'll round this interview out. What do you feel like are going to be the biggest challenges for employers when it comes to the workplace? And also, what are the biggest opportunities? The biggest challenge is retention.

We just are in a day and age coming out of the pandemic where we saw so many people job hop. There's this tension in the workplace right now between coming back to work. We're actually back to pre-pandemic levels on people working in the office. So those numbers have shrunk back and so there's this tension because a lot of people still want to work remote. Remote's drying up as a percentage. Hybrid is still there. I think hybrid will be the dominant model going forward. but we're in this weird tension.

So retention is everything. To your point, people aren't going to stay with you forever, but to the extent that we can keep good people longer than we're going to see productivity and profitability go, and that's the key to winning, and that's the competitive advantage is people, keeping good people longer. The opportunity there is engagement.

The single most important factor to retention is engagement. If people don't want to be there, they won't want to lead there. so you're hoping to develop leaders from within. It doesn't mean you have to. You can recruit from outside. But we want to create a culture where people want to be there. And people want to be there if they aren't engaged.

What does engagement look like? Well, I hate to keep singing the same note, but it's true. They need to be spending three-fourths of their day using what they do best to do what they enjoy to produce results that matter. It's your job to get them in a seat on the bus where that's the case. Here's what's going to happen. they're going to be really, really engaged because they're going to enjoy it. Think about that. That's not a bad day.

So that's what keeps them coming back because there's true fulfillment. Oh, by the way, there's proficiency because they're good at it. And the fulfillment comes in with the love of the work and the work creates a result that they care about. Now, after that, you've got to care for them. Two questions you're asking every week in a one-on-one. How are you doing? That's a personal thing. Hala, I know your dog's been struggling.

That's got to be tough. Is she going to make it? You know, whatever's going on in their purse? Like know enough about them where they go, do you need to take a day? Take a day. Go be with the sweet pup. That's real leadership. How are you doing?

It's a personal question. Now, they're not going to give you that right away, but you ask it enough and you show them that you care about them to begin to tell you what's going on. And for the purposes of not creeping or overstepping, but just they know that you care about them and you give them what they need as a person so they're not dragging stress from home into the office. That's key. Second question is, what can I do to help you win in your job?

What can I do for you so you can win? That second question, they'll begin to tell you that, the more you ask the first question. Because until they know you care, they won't trust you enough to go, well, I don't feel like my training was long enough. And I'm struggling here. If I got a little bit more training on that, I could turn the corner and I could crush it. But that's a really tough thing for people to share. That's a vulnerability. So I think that right there is where you can get engagement.

because then people are saying, I'm cared for here, I'm valued here. I don't know if I'd get treated that way somewhere else. And that will lead to that loyalty and the longevity, which is what we want in engagement. I think that's the game changer. I love all of this advice. You gave me so much to think about for my own company. I feel like all the things that you told me about just how other people need to think about their career for me and other entrepreneurs listening, I feel like probably was super, super

insightful. So thank you so much for all of that. I end my show with two questions that I ask all my guests. You can steer away from the topic. It doesn't have to be about today's topic. Just answer from your heart. The first one is, what is one actionable thing our young improfitors can do today to become more profitable tomorrow? Reflect at the end of every day on two questions. Where did I win and where did I lose? So good. That sets you up for tomorrow. And just really being. present enough to go, what did I learn today about where I won and where I lost? And I think it's a game changer. And what is your secret to profiting in life? And this can go beyond just

money and business. Being the best version of me, and I've got multiple versions, I've got husband, dad, son, brother, friend, coworker. And if I can continually look to where can I be better in each of those roles, I'm truly profiting. Well, Ken, you are awesome. I had so much fun in this conversation. You are so smart. You're so energetic. It was such a pleasure to interview you.

Where can everybody go learn more about you and everything that you do? Thank you. Ken Coleman.com is the place to connect on all the things and really appreciate you and what you're doing. You're a bright star and you're a big screw you to all the people who said millennials, they were the generation that was going to be soft and all this. The millennials are the number one demographic in the workforce now, and you represent them well and you're crushing it.

You're leading, and our economy depends on your generation, and I'm cheering you on. Oh, thank you so much. Thanks so much for joining us. Well, yeah, bam, that was probably one of my favorite conversations of the year because Ken just had such a great energy, and I feel like we had great chemistry, and I hope you got a lot out of my conversations.

with Ken Coleman because so many of us go through that period, especially in our 20s and even our 30s or 40s. It doesn't really matter how old you are, but you feel discouraged and confused about what you want to exactly do with your life. And you're never, ever too old to make a change. This point in your life can happen where you feel that deep feeling of loss that Ken talked about, the feeling like you're wasting your life, you're doing the wrong thing. Nothing matters. You have no passion, no purpose. And it's a horrible feeling.

I was there. I was there having that feeling before I started this podcast. But it's never too late to turn that page. And sometimes you don't have to turn that page all that far to get started. Remember, you can get an enormous benefit from even just a slight pivot, from leaning into something a little bit different. from pursuing an interest or a talent in a slightly new direction. I know I felt the power of that slight pivot

when I shifted from singing to radio to podcasting. And maybe it's not a pivot that you need. Maybe it's just some life experiences. Go out there and experiment. Find out what you really like to do. Work for free if you have to. Even if you don't have to. It will pay off in the long run,

promise you that. There's no better way to discover your own talents or even your super talents, as Ken calls them. And so, for example, guys, I'm running a multimillion dollar company right now, but I work for free all the time. One way that I work for free is I started a charity project. I have a volunteer organization where we're working on a documentary series that I hope to announce soon. And it's something I've never done before. I've never done documentaries. It's all these new learnings, we're working together, we're bonding, and I'm learning so many different skills. It's just a slight pivot from what I'm doing, but I'm learning new skills. And guess what? I'm not making a dime. I'm just getting the experience. Another way that I work for free now is I

take speaking engagements. And if it makes sense, they're going to fly me out on a big stage, but they say, hey, Hala, it's going to be a thousand people in the room and your name's going to be on that stage and it's great experience, but we can't pay you. We don't have a budget to pay you. Right now, I'm okay to say yes because I'm not the number one speaker in the world. I don't have all this experience. I'm still growing my experience. And so it's enough for me to get flown out right now if it's a big enough stage. And I want to just rack up those experiences. I want to get the footage. I want to feel confident. Because when you figure out your talents and you use your experiences paid and free to sharpen them, this builds confidence. And confidence is truly

everything in business. And part of being confident, like Ken said, is to also be able to say, I suck at this particular thing. I suck at it. I'm not good at this. And it's okay to not focus on what you're not good at. You're not going to be good at everything. For example, I'm really good at making money. I'm really good at innovating. I'm really good at marketing. but I'm not that really good and I'm not passionate about tracking all of it and figuring out finances and figuring out the books. I don't want to do that. I have a CFO who does that, a business partner who does that because I know that if I focused on those skills, I would be taken away from making my super talents like selling, marketing and all that kind of stuff, even better.

and it's better for my company for me to get better at the things I'm already good at. So lean into the things that you can do and get help when it comes to those things that you can't. Thanks for listening to this episode of Young and Profiting Podcast. I'd love for you to take a slight pivot right now. Instead of turning this podcast off right away or skipping to the next episode, please take a couple minutes and write us a five-star review on Apple Podcast or Spotify or wherever you listen, CastBox.

I know I have so many listeners on CastBox. Please take a moment, write us a review, write us a comment. I would love to hear your feedback. I read our reviews every day. And I'm so thankful for the thousands of reviews that we have on this podcast. And if you want to watch your podcast on YouTube, you can find us there. One thing to note is that I'm moving to an in-person studio setup later this summer. I'm so excited for that.

I feel like it's going to level up our whole YouTube experience. and I think it's going to really grow the podcast. And I'm just so excited about that. So cross your fingers for me and say a prayer that I find the perfect studio in Manhattan. And if you're looking for me, you can find me on Instagram at Yap with Hala or LinkedIn by searching my name. It's Hala Taha. This is your host, Hala Taha, aka the podcast Princess, signing off.