#18 Milestones: Positively Impact your Next One

Have you ever reflected on the significance of milestones in your life and how they shape your future? Join me in this episode as we unwrap this thought-provoking topic and explore the future possibilities that accompany each milestone. As we step into the new year, I share my personal journey of experimenting with a mushroom-based drink, Mudwater, after taking a break from coffee. Let's discover the potential benefits of this unique concoction together.

The holiday season brings with it a sense of warmth and nostalgia. I invite you to step into my world as we discuss the joy of Christmas, my unique approach to gift-giving, and the essence of the holiday spirit. Let's take a trip down memory lane as we talk about the evolution of Lego kits from simple building blocks to a paint-by-number system. The journey isn't devoid of challenges though. I open up about the ups and downs of my motivational speaking career, and the learning that lies within these personal struggles.

Reflecting on the fear and uncertainty that looms around sustaining success, I delve into my own milestone of 20 years as a professional entertainer and speaker. The prospect of a career change and the fine line between hobbies and career pursuits is something we all grapple with. As we celebrate our milestones together, let's also embrace the unknown future with a positive mindset. Let's ponder on what we want the theme of our next milestone to be and share our thoughts on what we want to be true for ourselves in the future. Don't forget to rate and comment on the podcast. Looking forward to meeting again in the next episode with an exciting guest!

TRY MUDWTR! (“Mudwater”): http://mudwtr.com/devin 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Hello, welcome to the possibility mindset podcast. I'm Devin Henderson, I am your host and I truly believe that something greater is always possible for you. Well, here we are, everybody. We are coming to an end of another year, the end of 2023. And today we're going to be talking about milestones. So what are milestones exactly? Are they significant, what do they mean to you and what does it mean for your future? So that all just came off the top of my head. All I knew is that I wanted to talk to you about milestones, and so we're going to get to that later and I'm excited to just talk about that.

Speaker 1: 0:55

I always get excited for the new year, for new goals, for new possibilities. For me, I feel like it's kind of a time of year where my possibility mindset always sort of gets reset and focuses on some kind of new goal, new word, new venture and new opportunities that are out there. So get excited, it's going to be fun and, by the way, I haven't done a solo podcast in a while. I've been doing all these interviews, which have been awesome, and it's funny because, you know, for so long I did so many solo podcasts and I kept saying I'm going to have guests, I'm going to have guests and finally it came and then it just hit and it was awesome and with etc allowing us to use our space, I've just really loved that format Just meeting with sometimes old friends, sometimes new friends, over breakfast. That etc provides in their really fun space and I can bring very minimal equipment, the set ups easy and the conversations have just been really rich and sometimes surprising. But for sure I'm learning something from the people that I talk to. So I hope you've been enjoying those. I mean I've already got some guests lined up. I've actually got two more in the queue right now and then I've got some exciting guests I can't wait to interview next year, even in January. So it's been a good time.

Speaker 1: 2:26

I feel like I'm bringing to different energies today. A lot of times when I start the podcast I feel like I'm coming in with the motivational speaker energy, like how's everyone doing, what's going on? You know bringing that best early morning version of myself. But today I just felt like being more conversational and we'll see over time, you know, who wins inside me the motivational speaker or the more conversational Devin with the podcast. But I have an idea, I have a good idea, I have a yeah, I think it's going to be the conversationalist because to keep that energy going every time, it's just a lot, you know, a lot for me, probably a lot for you listeners too. So hopefully you're enjoying this energy today.

Speaker 1: 3:10

This feels a little more, a little more natural, all right. So I do want to let you know about mudwater. Mudwater is awesome. This is the product right here. It comes in a canister like this. It's powder. You mix it with hot water, all right, and then I put honey in it and this is incredible.

Speaker 1: 3:29

I'm actually 37 days off coffee now. So you'll actually watch a later episode with me with interviewing Candy Whirly, where at that time I have only been, like, I think, 23 days off or something like that. So you're going to be like what, is he going backwards? Is he counting backwards? No, these are just a little bit out of order, but I am 37 days off coffee and I mainly quit coffee because for now I'm trying it right. I decided I want to go two months. I want to go into January a little bit and just see if it helps me sleep better, helps me out of sleep better, helps me have more energy throughout the day.

Speaker 1: 4:07

I drank too much coffee. I love coffee, I love the taste, I love the ritual of it. But it's hard for me just to stick to that one cup a day, and I'm not even sure if one cup a day is good for me or not. That's why I'm sort of going cold turkey, backing way off and figuring out will my body respond better to just lower amounts of caffeine? You know, because what's great about this mudwater thing? This has 35 grams of caffeine with each serving, where coffee has more like 100. So it's like a third the amount of caffeine. So I can drink more of this. You know, because I like to have that hot drink in my hands throughout the morning. Just one cup of something won't do. So I've thrown out the coffee for now, thrown out the black tea, I'm drinking mudwater. I also drink green tea just to have, you know, some variety. But this stuff's great.

Speaker 1: 4:55

So let me talk about mudwater. It's basically it's a mushroom based mixture, right? So it's meant to not just like replace coffee and replace caffeine, but it actually has, like health benefits, right? So it's got these elements in there. Lion's mane is kind of mushroom for mental performance I'm not going to see all these, right probably, but Cordyceps for physical performance, reishi for recovering immunity, chaga for overall health, turmeric for inflammation, cacao for mood, cacao also for the taste, you know, because who doesn't love chocolate? So it's good for those things. Now what it's, what, what they claim and what I'm experimenting with is that it's supposed to induce alertness, not dependency, improve my mental capacity and function, improve my physical stamina and performance and improve my immunity and overall health. So it's really multifaceted here. It's not just a coffee replacement. I'm using it also just to see if I can, you know, feel better, be healthier and be more alert throughout the day.

Speaker 1: 5:51

I was usually with with coffee in the past. I'm going to blame it on coffee for now, because it's the only culprit I can think of. I haven't. I haven't slept well. I've always had problems with not sleeping well, but I've never really been caffeine free my whole life. I drank pop when I was a kid and then I went straight to coffee. Once I got off pop about 10 years ago or so, and so now I'm like, let me just see if I make this change.

Speaker 1: 6:12

So the reason I'm telling you about this is because maybe it'll be fun for you to watch my possible quitting coffee journey, but I also wanted you to know that you can get this too If you go. Just go to mudwatercom slash Devon. You can get a good deal right now. And mudwater is MUDWTR they left out all the vowels from the word water, so mudwatercom slash Devon will put that link in the show notes. You can use code Devon If it asks for a code. Go on there and get yourself a deal. Just try it out. Maybe you're at the same place where you're trying to quit coffee. You know, maybe you're not at the place where people on YouTube are like I quit coffee for 365 days and I'm never going back. I'm not there yet, but maybe I will be in a year. So try it out. Try mudwater, see if it's right for you. Get on there, get a deal now, and by doing that, by using the code Devon, you can help support the show. So and so many good things can come out of that.

Speaker 1: 7:08

All right, well, just just an update where I'm at right. Today it's like the middle of December, it's December 14th. A lot of you may know this day as the day after Taylor Swift's Swift's birthday. My daughter right now seems to be obsessed with Taylor Swift, so yesterday being Taylor Swift's birthday. She was going to try to get with her best friend one of her best friends to just kind of celebrate the birthday together, but the friend couldn't play, so it was kind of a downer. But anyway, that's neither here nor there. I don't even know what that means, but it felt fun to say it's neither here nor there. Or some people say what have you? But the reason I'm pointing out it's the middle of December is December is my favorite month. I love the lead up to Christmas, I love the energy, I love just the holidays without a hole. Do you say happy holidays or Merry Christmas? I don't really get into that fight. Okay, but anyway.

Speaker 1: 8:11

Thanksgiving, christmas, new Year's, it's the holidays, it's a fun season. There should be snow out there. Hopefully there will be. I'm like bring on the cold, bring on the snow, bring on the Christmas decorations, bring on the music. I think Christmas starts the day after Thanksgiving. That's when all the decorations and the music should go up, and I have this theory. By the way, this is just a fun aside. This is neither here nor there. Reminds me of Green Eggs and Ham. My two year old's favorite book right now is Green Eggs and Ham Haven. She's just like. Do you like them here or there? Do you like them anywhere? I do not like Green Eggs and Ham. I do not like them, the same I am. I need to memorize that book. That'd be a fun one to memorize, but with the I just derailed myself big time.

Speaker 1: 8:59

Talking about December and I love the holidays, I can't remember where I was going, but I will tell you where I ultimately wanted to go with. It was, I think, we. I think, like December goes by in a blur if you're not careful. I think you can slow it down, but it goes by in a blur. It's my favorite month because I love Christmas. Right, I love everything about it and my guilty pleasure is that I love the good coziness of Christmas. I love, like Silent Night and Fire Places and Stockings and Calm Snow. I love all that.

Speaker 1: 9:35

But so the Christmas shopping, I think, is what kills the Christmas vibe and the Christmas season and everything is about getting those presents. When people say are you ready for Christmas, that means have you bought all of your Christmas presents for everyone? We kind of just don't really buy gifts around here very much. I mean we get some stuff for our kids, yes, and it's not like we are anti-gift just because we're like we don't believe in gifts, but we believe that the hustle and bustle of it just can kill your spirit and kill the joy during this time because you just have this checklist, you're trying to get done and yeah, it's fun in the moment where you can. You know Christmas morning you've got all these presents to give to everybody. But it really really kills that. So we've kind of just at one point told our extended family hey, we're not really getting gifts for everybody, we just don't have. We don't want to spend December in that way. So it does slow time down for us a little bit, helps us enjoy this time more and really appreciate it for what it's actually meant for and what it's worth. So that's, yeah, kind of how we handle Christmas and I don't regret it one bit. I mean, I had, you know, a lot of presents growing up as a kid and good memories. But yeah, ultimately we want to teach our kids too just about giving and that's okay. That's enough about all that.

Speaker 1: 11:03

It's the middle of December, can you tell A little foggy up here. I'm a little off my game. Not a lot of keynotes going on right now. So this is, we're just chilling. We're just chilling. I hope you hang in there. I hope you stick around.

Speaker 1: 11:15

Got some fun things to talk about. I haven't done, yeah, the solo thing. It's almost like I forgot how to do a solo cast and just sit here and talk by myself. I'm so used to having a guest now to bounce things off of that. It's like, man, what do I talk about? Well, let me, let me do this. Let me give my trivial complaint. My trivial complaint for today is this Excuse me, lego kits.

Speaker 1: 11:40

Right, when I was a kid, you had to be a little more creative with your Lego building, but now it's more like a paint by number system or a model airplane system, which I guess is fine if that's the goal. But it's more about like, where's the creativity? I think it was just it evolved over time, because I remember, okay, when I was a kid and Lego's I guess had already been around for a while, but when I was a kid in the 80s, they were starting to paint little eyeballs on Lego pieces. They were starting to make Legos with the slanted pieces. I say started. Maybe that's how Legos first came out. Maybe you could, like, you know, with the Lego with the slanted side you could make a roof. So it seemed like, oh, that's cool, you can do more things with it.

Speaker 1: 12:27

Well, as time went on, I think that just got more and more out of hand, for lack of better words, and now it's like you can make the Batmobile or Hogwarts or the Titanic or the Delorean from Back to the Future, just because they give you these pieces that fit into that mold and then they show you exactly how to build it and it's like. It's like going to Ikea and just building a dresser. It's the same kind of thing. You know which Ikea dresser thing? I'm fine with that, because you need a dresser. That's how you put it together, that's how it works. But Lego the whole goal is like creativity.

Speaker 1: 13:00

So my trivial complaint is that we're taking creativity away from the kids, where it's like, man, just take these like blank slates, these blocks, and what can you do with the block and make out of it? Right, how can you make the slant of the roof? By staggering the Legos, rather than me just giving you a piece with the slant. That's how I feel about it and, yeah, maybe you need more pieces so that you can make the creation bigger, to get the slants that you need within your structure. But that's how I feel about it. I felt the same way when I used to do balloon animals back in the day and for me it was like you should just have the normal balloon animal style balloons and twist it into shapes and twist different colors together. But now they have the balloons that are like heart shape, they have eyeballs, they have all these things where it's like these accessories that you can add to, just I don't know, make it easier. So I might be alone on this. I realize that this is just a trivial complaint. I'm just telling you I just I feel like it's cheating. I think ultimately that's what it is like. It's cheating. No, get creative, find a way to make that structure and have people recognize it without using all these accessory type pieces. So there, it is Okay.

Speaker 1: 14:09

So I'm out from what I've learned from doing the solo podcast. I don't like to give a complaint without some kind of thanks. So my thanks for today. I'm just going to say I'm thankful for my mom. So, mom, hopefully you're listening to this one. I know she listens to the podcast. I hope you're listening to this one. And I don't know where to start. Even talking about my mom. I could do a whole episode on my mom. Maybe one point I will have her as a guest and just be like what's it like having a son who wanted to be a magician? People is really going through your head because you supported it. You seem like you're on board, but what were you really thinking? No, I'm sure she was always for me, but I could say I'm thankful for my parents and my dad passed away back in 2018 and I am thankful for my dad. But I'm focusing today on my mom because you know she's we live just around the corner from her, so she's in our neighborhood.

Speaker 1: 15:02

So many awesome things about my mom. Now, she is the person who likes to buy gifts Mind the hustle and bustle of December, which I can appreciate that. I think her love language is gifts. She likes getting gifts. She especially loves giving gifts and watching the surprise of you know her grandchildren especially opening gifts and being excited about what they got. So it's fun for fun for our daughters and really appreciate that.

Speaker 1: 15:27

What's been really cool about my mom recently is she's been. She plays the violin and she's been giving violin lessons for free right now to two of our kids, and Charlotte, who's 13 now, is in like an orchestra, you know. And she learned everything she knows about violin from her grandma. So how awesome is that? That grandma bought her a violin, taught her how to play it and prepared her to the point where now she plays in an orchestra Pretty awesome. And they just had their first orchestra concert a few weeks ago. It was awesome and I was like that's my daughter. And I told my mom. I was like thanks, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. And now Cambry's learning also Cambry's 11. So this is just really cool that someone would, you know, devote their time to something like that. So, mom, so many things I could say about how wonderful you are and how awesome you were when Jason Gretchen and I were young, and how awesome now you are still to my wife and I and our kids and really appreciate you and love you. All right, that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 16:36

Now, confession of a motivational speaker time. All right, here we go. This is I'm going to say something you're not going to hear a lot of motivational speakers or maybe entertainers or maybe entrepreneurs talk about. I'm just guessing. So here it goes. I'm telling you that Modewater is good, modewatercom slash Devon. Go check it out, especially when you put honey in with it.

Speaker 1: 17:03

The honey that I put in there is Labr2 Honey from Sylvan Grove, kansas. That it's amazing. My wife is from a small town in Kansas, sylvan Grove. Population about 300 people and yeah, there's the Labr2 family in town makes this honey and we get these huge jars of it and I put that in the mud water. So it's incredible. I love it. Okay, it's the honey that's not runny, it's the honey that's like crystallized, and I don't know how they do that. I don't know what the difference is between the two in terms of how they prepare it. Someone told me well, all runny honey eventually crystallizes, but not like this. I don't know what it is. This stuff is like you have to scoop it out with a spoon from the big container, put it in your mud water. It's amazing. I mean, it's like it is like drinking hot chocolate. It's amazing. Okay, well, I'm getting into the mud water today. Okay, confession I always get nervous about this time of year.

Speaker 1: 18:00

This. I'm finishing my 20th year as an entrepreneur, as a full-time entertainer, slash speaker 20 years, and God has been so good throughout my journey. He's always provided it's. You know people talk about feasts, famine or feast. I haven't really experienced that so much, but there are times where I get nervous about what's gonna happen next year. I'll just be honest I had my best year ever this year, just in terms of you know what's the word when you make money profit it is December 14th, y'all. I am slipping into hibernation, but this is gonna be one of those episodes where I look back and I'm like why didn't I just throw that one out Anyway, where I made my best profit this year in terms of income, it was awesome.

Speaker 1: 18:58

Now, this is a weird time of year and I'll just speak for myself. I don't know about other speakers, but inquiries slow down and bookings slow down To the point where you're like, well, this happens every time this year. Why aren't I used to this? But I guess there's something about just the survival mode in people, in me, where it's like I need to provide for my wife and our seven children and I have to make money, I have to keep this up. And then, when you don't get as many calls to go speak and you're not getting booked as much, you know, even though it's normal, and I've seen the pattern with it this time of year, because I mean, honestly, associations, companies, corporations. They're kind of like they're in shutting down mode right now, trying to get ready for the holidays. They're not like let's plan our conference for spring of 2025 or next fall or whatever. They're kind of like let's find a way to like hit the pause button. So I'm trying to embrace that this year you have to where it's like, hey, kind of go on the break with them, shut down with them, take it as an opportunity to rest a little bit.

Speaker 1: 20:08

And then also, you know, just to go along with the confession part. I mean, you know, when you listen to the media, it's like inflation's crazy, prices are going up. You know people aren't gonna be able to afford speakers. It's kind of like that part of me freaks out, and so what I have to do is I have to just like pause, I have to breathe, I have to look back and look at how my career has grown and think about other times where I got nervous about money coming in or number of gigs booked, and just be like it's gonna be okay. You know, trust the big man upstairs. There's a plan. Even if all of this speaking and all of that went away, there's it's gonna be okay. There's a greater plan. I always lean on that, so, but that is my confession, right, that I still, even when things are going the best that they ever had, I still kind of lack faith. So there you go, there it is. And the reason I share the confession with you is, again, I'm not asking you to be my counselor, but just to remind you that even motivational speakers, as much as we may seem to get up like we have it all together, we have it all figured out, we're telling you how to run your life. We're still dealing with things too. So, all right, there is that.

Speaker 1: 21:23

Okay, time for a little girl talk, right? Some people's favorite part of every podcast. I actually don't know if that's true or not, I'm just saying that, but I will say that when we put the shorts of the girl talk stuff on social media, it seems to get the biggest hits. So I've, we got some doozies today. Here we go, girl talk. This is verbatim from my daughter's, from the mouth of babes, or here it is Five years old, it was a hot day and five year old said why don't the weather people just make it cold. I mean simple solution, right? Okay, let's see.

Speaker 1: 22:02

Here we were watching Les Mis and my daughter said what do you think was worse, acting as a wife, hair or teeth? There you go. If you've seen Les Mis, hopefully you can put that together. Also, while watching Les Mis, same kid, my 10 year old, said actually I, during one of the songs. I said I didn't know that in the play version the other guy could hear him singing this part, cause apparently they could hear each other singing. My daughter said me neither. I just thought he was singing to himself. So that was kind of an epiphany moment, not hilarious, but interesting. And one of my daughters said to the other stop breathing. I mean, stop breathing like that. I guess she was breathing loudly. One kid said I wish this night would never end. I had taken her to a sporting game and how precious is that. I just wish this night would never end. Very cool.

Speaker 1: 22:49

Five year old, are all boogers different? Like are your boogers big? 10 year old, when I get things wrong, I stutter and burp, don't we all All right? One kid said I have to pee, don't play it. This one's good Treat life like a popsicle. Enjoy it before it melts away From a nine year old crazy. All right, and we're gonna end on this one, because I'm not gonna be able to top it. Five year old daddy does Uncle Lyle have a weenie too? I said yes, he does. And she said what? All right, and there it is.

Speaker 1: 23:29

That is Girl Talk for today. What a joy. How fun, right? You just get the best things from the mouth of kids, whether they're your kids or someone else's your nieces and nephews. Kids are such a joy. All right, love my girls.

Speaker 1: 23:46

All right, we got some comments. I don't wanna brag, but on Apple Podcasts I now have two comments and I've only been doing this for six months. People and I already have two, not one. Two comments. I read the other one like three months ago when it came out, cause I couldn't wait to read it. But now I have a second one.

Speaker 1: 24:07

This is from Reichen W-R-Y-K-E-N, and it said inspiring, encouraging and uplifting. And Reichen also said Devin does an amazing job inspiring others with his positivity mindset. Asking yourself what else is possible, like Devin does, can give you that extra gear you didn't know you had to push things to the next level rather than hitting a wall and getting stuck in the lie that this is as good as it gets for you. If you need encouragement, motivation or just something that will brighten your day, then this podcast is for you. That's awesome. Well, thank you for that, reichen. And I like how Reichen said positivity mindset. I don't know if he or she, whoever Reichen is meant possibility mindset, which is the name of the podcast. But I will say a lot of people, instead of saying when they're like, hey, I'm watching your podcast, they'll say positivity, or usually they say positivity, which makes me think should I just change the name so that to help everyone else be right all the time? But anyway, I think you could substitute possibility with positivity. They very much go hand in hand. So, anyway, reichen, thank you so much for that comment.

Speaker 1: 25:18

And then here's an email that I got from someone which was really also really cool, but it was an email after a keynote. This person, this lady, said hi, devin, I previously attended one of your keynote presentations. My husband and I enjoyed your presentation and found ourselves saying I wish our kids could see this. You see, we homeschool our children. They are currently in eighth and 10th grade and they would just love to see you love all caps. That's why I said it like that.

Speaker 1: 25:42

I don't always say love like that. I don't say to my wife I love you driving nuts, or at least I would love to show your presentation to them, because it would be really exceptional for them to hear as well. It's a good message that a lot of kids could benefit from hearing. I say this as a mom and as a school psychologist. See, dishing out the creds here. I like it. School psychologist, you have an important message to share and you share it in a way that makes people want to listen to you. My son would go crazy over your tricks. He recently spent hours learning how to juggle a golf ball with a golf club and has recently passed 100 juggles. That's awesome. Your combination of message on mental health along with intriguing tricks would keep an audience of kids captivated.

Speaker 1: 26:31

And then she went on to say more things. But I did get my start doing kids shows, speaking of milestones Maybe this is a good transition Doing birthday parties back in the day, and at one point I thought I'm gonna be a like a kids or a youth speaker right To talk to whether it's elementary school, middle school, high school, and I did some of that, you know, before I kind of went into corporate speaking. But that's cool that someone sees that value and I think, honestly, what I get from this isn't oh, I should just be speaking to kids, because I don't feel like that's ultimately my calling. I think what I hear is the message is easily understandable and easy implementable, and that's what adults need, too right? Sometimes we overcomplicate messages, strategies, solutions and then they're just too complicated for people to really grasp. But it's like hey, here's what you want and here's a really easy way to get there. Now go do it. And people are like we got it. That's what people need, especially from a keynote presentation. Not a workshop with deeper dive type stuff, but a keynote where it's like hey, here's inspiration. Right, something greater is always possible. Never stop asking the question what else is possible? And then everything you are achieving in life or attempting to achieve, and anything that would be in a breakout session really can fall into the umbrella of hey, now here's another, here's a greater possibility for your life. And that's what I love about the keynote setting the tone for the conference, helping people realize that it's time to ignite untapped potential and defy limits and go out there and keep exploring new levels of greatness. So thank you so much for that email. I appreciate that and hopefully now you're a listener of the podcast. Her name is Tracy, I'll just say that. So, tracy, thank you for that, really appreciate that and wish the best for your kids, and I hope your son just keeps going on with the golf ball juggles. That's really cool, all right. So now let's get to the main event. As I take another sip of my delicious, healthy, incredible mud water here it is OK.

Speaker 1: 28:45

Milestones what is a milestone? Well, I went ahead and looked up the definition, because I used the word quite a bit and I was like I should probably look it up and, before I talk more about it, make sure I really understand what that means. Google when I googled it, it just said milestone is a significant event or stage in the life, progress or development of a person. Significant event or stage in the life, progress or development of a person. They gave an example to help us out in case that didn't quite become clear to you. Are you ready for the example? Her getting the job of supervisor was a milestone in her career. I don't know why I'm getting so sarcastic and snarky all of a sudden. I don't know where that came from. I think maybe I'm just trying to be funny and have a little fun. Ok, well here's.

Speaker 1: 29:36

I guess the question for you is what milestone are you at right now? What milestones have you achieved in your life and have you celebrated those moments? Have those milestones made you happy, made you sad? What upcoming milestones do you have? And how do you allow milestones to inspire you, make you feel proud and then propel you on to the next thing? Because to me, milestones are all about. They're just as much about the future as they are about the past. When you hit this milestone, you're like man, I've achieved this now. So then, if you have a possibility mindset, you're asking what else is possible now? What's that next milestone? Now I do want to say that, since it's middle of December and it's kind of time where we're shutting down and hibernating, in fact for me I'm trying to clear out the next three weeks. I'm trying to get all of my marketing, sales-y stuff, office kind of things just done. So the next three weeks I can just focus on Christmas, focus on the family, new Year's, hang out before I jump back in in January.

Speaker 1: 30:50

So the reason I bring that up again is because when I say something greater is always possible and what's that next milestone? I don't mean that we should wear ourselves out trying to hit that next milestone. I think sometimes something greater just means greater peace, greater rest, greater contentment with where you are right now. So sometimes something greater is always possible. Doesn't mean more success in terms of the world or money or you're standing in society or in the eyes of other people, but something greater is always possible in your mental health, your peace, what's going on up here between your ears, so that you can enjoy the accomplishments that you've made. So, ok, wanted to throw in that caveat because I don't want people to think that I'm saying work harder, work harder. Come on more milestones, get there. It's like there's times for that. There's times to grind it out, there's times to push hard, there's times to get there. But don't forget that to everything there is a season Turn, turn, turn and it's like man. There's a time to chase milestones. There's also a time to kind of just like chill. I'm not trying to add to scripture here, I'm just saying life's about balance, right? So here's the milestone that I'm at right now and as I reflect on it, I hope that you can also be thinking about your milestone and celebrate that and also look forward to your next milestone, so finishing up 2023 right now.

Speaker 1: 32:15

As I look back, 20 years ago I was graduating college, so I graduated at semester in December from Kansas State University in the fall of 2003. And I can't believe it's been 20 years and so much has happened. I am I'm Excuse me I moved out of my parents' house, I got married, started my career, had seven kids, transitioned from magician to speaker in that time I mean this. You know we bought a house. So many things have happened in 20 years and it does go fast. Your kids do grow up quick.

Speaker 1: 32:53

As I look back, I just remember how things started for me with my career, and I don't want to get into how I landed my first restaurant gigs I want to save that for another time. But basically what happened is I graduated semester with a degree in family studies and human services, and I was. The plan was to take the spring semester off and then start in the fall with a marriage and family therapy program. So, yes, I was going to cancel married people and I was either going to get the master's degree in counseling at Kansas State University in Manhattan, kansas, or at Friends University here in Kansas City. So those are my two options. I was like I'll figure it out, I'm going to take the spring off, I'm going to go back and work at the after school day care, which I had been working at on and off for like eight years, and it was like the perfect job when you're, you know, in transition with anything, so went back, worked there.

Speaker 1: 33:43

But at that time I was also like I had an entrepreneurial like spirit, I, and there was like a fire lit in me, like I had been wanting to be a restaurant magician for a few years and it just didn't work out for me to pursue that, you know, as I was finishing up college. But I was like now I've got the time to do it. And so during that sort of Christmas season which would have been, you know, a little after this time right now I started hitting up the restaurants and again, I'm going to save that deeper story for later. But I landed two restaurant gigs and that's what started my career and, honestly, the rest is history. You know, from there, working in the restaurants, I started handing out business cards advertising that I do birthday parties, private parties, corporate parties and my repertoire just began to grow.

Speaker 1: 34:27

I could do not only close-up magic but a kind of a standup show, like a standup comedy magic show that led into mentalism, that led into speaking. And so at this 20 year milestone marker, I'm kind of like man, what's what's next? You know, and and I share that I already in the confessions part that I have that fear that well, even if things are going well right now, what's what's going to happen next? So there's there's so many questions, you know, in the sense that I'm not only coming to the end of year, but I'm coming to the end of 20 years now, of, oh my gosh, two decades of being a professional, full-time entertainer. And so where to go with this exactly, I think?

Speaker 1: 35:16

I think first, first thing for me with milestones I have to deal with is like uncertainty and fear, because there's a fear factor in there of this has gone so well for so long, but how am I going to sustain this? How am I going to keep this up? So there's the fear factor. There's also the is this what I want to do for the next 20, 30, 40 years? You know, do I want to continue on this path that I am, that I'm on, because sometimes I look at a milestone like a fork in the road. Well, maybe here's a chance to make a change and do something different.

Speaker 1: 35:46

And honestly, my personality is always to keep trying and exploring new things and thankfully, the things that I've wanted to explore or try really align sort of with this speaker thing. So when I wanted to try like soccer juggling, well that fit in with the speaking somehow Mentalism comedy, you know, like stand up comedy it was like I can use that in my speaking and so everything is kind of converged into this, which which, by the way, kind of means like I don't really have hobbies, because every time I have a hobby it comes into my career. That's just the way it works. So I think it'd be good for me to have a hobby sometime outside of the career so that I can do some fun activity without having to think about work. But so that's been fun for me.

Speaker 1: 36:29

I've been told that my personality type it's there's like a name for it. It's called a scanner. You're always looking for the next thing. You're like I'm tired of this, I want to move on. I'm tired of this, I want to move on. So for me, like starting a podcast was something else. That was that's been really fun for me to do. But that also aligns with the speaking thing, right, because I can, I can get the message across to more people, right, I speak to them on stage and then hey, let's, let's go deeper with this, so.

Speaker 1: 36:53

So anyway, I'm not saying I'm going to quit being a speaker, but I'm saying it does make me really open up and think man, what's, what are the next things that I want to try? You know, what have I not accomplished? I want to accomplish at that point and that's the next point that it's like what in the last 20 years? Like what quote unquote regrets do I have? Or what things could I have done better, could have gone differently, could have worked more in my favor? So and then, and then I think how can I learn from those mistakes? Like the biggest one is the America's Got Talent audition. You know that I didn't make it through and I have now a new acronym for AGT.

Speaker 1: 37:30

If you've seen my keynote, you know, instead of America's Got Talent, in my mind now, agt means always give thanks, because I realized that everything in that whole audition and me not making it through was part of a greater plan. You know part of where I'm supposed to be today and I wouldn't be exactly where I am in my life right now, surrounded with the exact people I'm surrounded with, had that not happened, so it's. You know. In that way, it's like we don't really shouldn't really have regrets, because it's all comes together, it's all meant to be so. So I do find peace in that, but sometimes I do, even though I, even though always give thanks you know, gratitude is my theme, a major theme of my life I still look back and think, oh, what could I have done differently to get through that audition? I would have picked a different trick, I would have said things differently on stage, you know, I would have prepared differently, and so I still get in my head about that stuff.

Speaker 1: 38:21

So, so as as I look forward, then, right, like what's what's next, there's certain things that I want to be true for myself about how I handle certain situations, and I think I think, going in, I'm thinking of a word for the new year. Right, I always try to think of a theme or a word. A recent word I had, I think it was not for this year, but was for 2022. It was like the year of the Maverick. I wanted to just be someone who was like doing things my own way, not worrying about what's what's happening with everybody else out there, but like just just, you know, handle your family, your career, your body, your mind the way that you think is best. You know, do it, do it your way. And that was really fun.

Speaker 1: 39:06

And I think that the what I want my theme for this next year to be, the word I want to settle on, is authenticity, because I feel like so many times in the past I have just been inauthentic, right Like I act the way people want me to act, that I think they want me to act. A lot of that's based on assumptions, or I say the things I want. I think they want me to say do the things I think people want me to do, feel the way I think people want me to feel. I mean, I base so much of how I'm thinking, doing, feeling, off of my assumptions, of what do the people expect from me. And I think if you, if you chase that, if you're just trying to please other people all the time, you're not going to be authentic and authentic. I don't mean that in like a bullying way, like I don't care what nobody thinks, man, but I want to do it in a way that, where I can, if I am authentic, I can serve and love my family and my audience members and my community better. And I just want to be a more true version of myself.

Speaker 1: 40:10

Recently I thought about you might have noticed a little gray in my beard. This beard is going to go away at some point. I'm not, you know, I got, I say, a little gray, I got a lot of white here on the chin I've been recently I saw an ad about oh, you know, stay young, color your beard. And I was like am I supposed to color my beard? You know, because my hair isn't like really turned yet. So what should I? You know, bring the beard back. And I told that to one of my daughters, my 13 year old. I was like I was thinking about just putting some color on my beard and she's like, really she goes. That just doesn't seem very devin. And I was like that's true, you know. And I was. I was thinking about you know, I would be fun to like have a full beard. And then you know, bring, bring the color in.

Speaker 1: 40:53

But and I'm not, I'm not saying something against people who color their hair, okay, I'm just talking about me here. I'm not taking a stand on the fact that people shouldn't do this. If you want to color your hair, get highlights, color your beard, go for it. Okay, I'm not not going to judge you. I'm just saying for me, with my theme being authentic, I don't feel like for me that would be an authentic move.

Speaker 1: 41:15

So as I look ahead to the future and think about you know, what is that next milestone? And sometimes we know the next milestone, like we're like well, it's when I graduate or it's when I retire. But sometimes it's like you hit a milestone and you're like, whoa, that was a surprise milestone. So I'm not even sure what the next milestone is for me yet. But when I do get to that milestone, I want to be able to look back and say, man, maybe everything didn't go exactly the way that I wanted to, maybe I could have been more successful, maybe I could have less regrets, but at least I was authentic. Right, I did what I believed in my heart was the right thing to do. I followed the Lord's leading in my life. I wasn't acting, saying, thinking, feeling things based on my assumptions of other people's expectations. Right, because whether you're right in your assumptions or not, about what people expect from you. That's not the way I want to live my life, right, I want to be authentic.

Speaker 1: 42:15

So my question, my charge, my challenge to you is this First of all, think about what milestone are you at or have you recently hit and have you celebrated that in some way? And I think that is one thing I need to do. I need to be like it's been 20 years. What's some way that I can celebrate, and I don't even know what that looks like yet. Right, for me, usually it's like Mexican food and ice cream, and I could do that. But I'm kind of like I kind of want something different. You know something special, something I'll remember more, because Mexican food and ice cream a lot of memories of that. But what's something special I could do to really commemorate the achievement of 20 years as an entrepreneur, even making it through COVID? I'm so thankful that I had a great coach helping me through that time transition to virtual keynotes, so that I could, you know, keep making money, keep feeding my family Celebrate that accomplishment. Okay, so what's your milestone right now? How have you celebrated it?

Speaker 1: 43:11

And then, number two, during your next milestone, whether you know what that is or not, and you look back between this time, this milestone and that milestone. What do you want the main theme to be Like? What are you going to look back and say, man, everything didn't go right, but at least blank. You know, at least I left a legacy, at least my marriage became stronger For me, at least I was authentic. What is that thing? So? What is it All right? Well, what I'd love to hear is from you in the comments, let me know, you know, whether it's on Apple or Spotify or YouTube just say, hey, this is the way I want to feel when I hit my next milestone. This is what I want to be true for where my headspace was and how I approached life and relationships and work, et cetera. So there it is. Y'all Milestones so awesome.

Speaker 1: 44:12

Thanks for hanging in there with me today. Yeah, this was a great day. Yeah, this was kind of a. It was. This was fun. Fun for me. I hope it was fun for you. I hope you got something out of the milestones thing. Hope you enjoyed this.

Speaker 1: 44:25

If you know, merry Christmas, I won't do a solo podcast again until I don't know, sometime after the new year. Again, stay tuned, because in a couple of weeks we've got some. I got to have a really fun friend that I had on the show and then another friend that I had a few weeks from there. So it seems like the podcast we've been going. I've been doing about it every other week schedule. That seems right now like it's more doable for me to still be a family man, to still be effective in my keynote work and enjoy life. So, who knows, maybe that'll change someday, but for now it's about every other week. So thanks for hanging in there. Rate the podcast comment and, yeah, just let me know what you got out of today. All right, so perfect. Hey, don't forget about Mudwater. Mudwatercom slash devon. Go on there, try it out, maybe, maybe it's for you. All right, just give it a shot. So thank you so much for joining and remember never stop asking the question. What else is possible?