I’ve had many mentors come into my life and help shape who I am, from my dad, soccer coaches, my older cousin and college professors. One person has had a major impact on me– and I’ve actually never even met him. His name is Tom Bilyeu. He is the founder of Quest Nutrition Bars and Impact Theory. Impact Theory is a show where Tom interviews world-class guests with the goal of giving listeners the tools to create an empowering mindset. I have found this show so critical to my current journey that I had to share it with you all too. Here are my favorite takeaways from January’s Impact Theory guests.
#153 Jocko Willink on Respect, Influence and Leadership
If you are a leader and/or develop leaders in any capacity, you have to listen to this episode with Jocko Willink. He is known for his take on extreme ownership, an important lesson every great leader must embrace, but Jocko also shared tons of leadership wisdom.
My favorite was his response to when Tom asked how to gain influence and respect from others. Jocko quickly fired back with some brilliant insight – to gain the ability to influence someone, you must first allow an opportunity for that person to influence you. We all want trust, respect and influence, yet we don’t seem to be so giving with ours. Absolutely brilliant observation.
#154 Les Brown on Explaining Everything That’s Holding You Back
Les Brown is known for being an amazing public speaker with illustrative language. He didn’t disappoint in this episode. He had so many punchy quotes but my favorite was…
“You can’t read the label when you’re stuck in the box.”
Les recited this quote when referring to the importance of surrounding yourself with mentors and coaches that will challenge you and the way you think. This is critical to your success. You need people rooting for you and showing you your capabilities. You also need others who care about you enough to deliver ugly but truthful feedback in a constructive manner. This is conventional wisdom but common knowledge isn’t always common practice. Thanks for the reminder Les!
#155 Brendon Burchard on Changing Your Life by Changing Your Thought Process
I absolutely adore Brendon Burchard. Ever since I read High Performance Habits, I’ve been a super fan, so naturally when I heard he was back on Impact Theory, I was ecstatic. From consciously designing your life to generating emotion, he made a lot of great points that had me thinking but my biggest takeaway was Brendon’s perception of guilt.
“Guilt is a signal for learning.”
Brendon challenged me to rethink the way I perceive guilt. Guilt should be an indication for whenever I do something below my standard. Rather than beat myself up over it, I should instead ask myself “how can I show up better tomorrow?” If you want to become great at something, you have to listen to guilt and begin to grow. I loved this episode. Go to the B section in the bookstore.
#156 Kelly McGonigal on Revealing One Change That Will Dramatically Improve Your Life
I hadn’t heard of Kelly before I listened to this episode, but one thing I do know is Tom and his team are great at finding astute guests with a plethora of knowledge. Kelly McGonigal sure fits the description.
The last 15 minutes of the episode, I found myself nodding along as Tom and Kelly discussed how to have more self-compassion. My greatest breakthrough came from Kelly’s thoughts on why self-compassion is difficult for most of us.
“Compassion doesn’t function ideally or naturally when we have to be the object of it and the source of it.”
It’s easier to have compassion for someone else, but it can be more challenging to have compassion for ourselves because we have to fight other internal feelings such as shame, sadness, depression, anger and anxiety. Yet we all have a desire to be happy, to be loved and to contribute to the world. I believe knowing this makes it easier to have self-compassion.
Also, if you listen to anything, pay close attention to when Tom speaks on the insight that even the average human is the ultimate adaptation machine. My whole belief system revolves around this very thought.
If you haven’t, I highly encourage you to check out an episode of Impact Theory. You can find it on all your major podcast players, along with YouTube. A new show is released every Tuesday. They also produce a health-focused show called Health Theory and a more casual discussion-based show called Conversations with Tom (which is also phenomenal if you enjoy long-format). If you listen or watch a show, let me know. I’d love to discuss it with you!
As Tom would say, until next time my friends, be legendary.
Justin Peters 