What drives you?
I recently recorded the longest podcast of my life. I was interviewed for three hours . . .
. . . and I loved every moment of it!
The podcast is called “What Drives You?” and it’s hosted by Kevin Miller, a former pro cyclist and entrepreneur who has founded 15 (!) businesses. His interview style is unlike any I’ve ever encountered: His questions were deep, powerful, and caused me to feel extremely vulnerable.
The premise of the podcast is to help people leverage their inner drive. Kevin interviews guests to learn more about who they are under the surface and get to the core of what really drives them.
Most podcast interviews I’ve done have been an hour long at most and usually stuck to topics like my book and my company. Kevin and I certainly chatted about those things—we spent about half of the time on them—but the other things we talked about are what I want to focus on here.
Before we recorded, Kevin asked me to reflect on my life and think about what drives me in each of the following categories that resonated with me: spirituality, relationships, health and wellness, mind/mental health, work/career/business, money/finances/wealth, achievements, and personal interests. He told me that we would talk in-depth about where I currently find myself in each category.
As we chatted, I had an unexpected realization: What drives me today is very different from what drove me just a few years ago. Had Kevin and I done this interview five years ago, I would have said that work/career/business was the main driver in my life. That’s where I put most of my energy and it’s how I measured my success. My whole identity was about being a leader and entrepreneur. Success to me was about the size of my company, and the goal was to get bigger and bigger.
Now, I think about achievement very differently. Don’t get me wrong: I still care a lot about my career. But I no longer measure success by how large my company is. Success to me is about how many people my team and I can impact as a result of our work. It’s about having a calm company where we love coming to work and where growth isn’t causing a nonstop cycle of burnout and stress.
Perhaps the biggest difference I noticed is that I actually had stuff to say about the other categories on Kevin’s list. In the past, my work always came first. Over the last couple of years, I have made a conscious effort to shift my focus away from my business and toward other categories that have become more important to me, like relationships. Today, I block out time with my loved ones before I put anything else on my calendar. I’m also focusing on my physical and mental health more than I ever have in my life. I recognize that without my health, I have nothing, and it matters to me more than my work. Recently, I’ve been prioritizing personal interests, which include learning new things and cultivating hobbies (my latest one is Lagree fitness!).
This might not seem like a huge shift from the outside, but for me, it is. For so long, my identity was only about being an entrepreneur. It was all I could think about, and it determined every action in my life. And I don’t think it was wrong; during that time in my life, that is what made sense for me. What I realized, though, is that my identity has expanded. Being an entrepreneur is still important to me and still a big part of my life, but it’s not the only part of me. There’s so much more. I'm no longer saying yes to everything like I might've once done. I'm being more intentional with my time because I realize that there are so many other parts to my life that I value and want to make time for. Every time I say yes to something, it means I have to say no to something else, and I want to make sure I have the space to say yes to all the things that drive me.
This experience of recording this podcast showed me the power of curiosity and connection. Had I not been asked these questions or had the space to be vulnerable, I might not have been able to recognize how my definition of success has evolved in recent years.
I go a lot deeper on the podcast, and I’m so excited to share it with you! While you listen, I encourage you to ask yourself: What drives YOU?
It’s such a simple and powerful question to think about, and the answer evolves as we do.
Big hugs,
