 All right, let's kick off today's show. On today's toolbox, we're sharing how you can become memorable and stand out for the right reasons. Whether you're networking, pitching your business, or simply growing your social capital, the key to a lasting impression is showcasing your passion. And we work with our clients to communicate their X factor with everyone they meet to create opportunities in their lives. Johnny and Michael are joining me today to discuss the importance of exploring and sharing your passions, as well as the science behind grit to make an impact. We discussed how to overcome the opposite Dunning-Kruger effect, the secret to using passion to find success in life and forging high value relationships, how connections are solidified through engaging with your passions, and why we might not know our passions and the simple way to create community around what you love. Now, Johnny, we have to kick off today by first defining what we mean by passion. Yeah, you know what? I think so many people use this word in so many different ways, but for our purposes, it's very distinct. It's very defined. So for us, it's going to be an extreme interest in or wish for doing something such as a hobby or an activity. So an extreme interest, something that moves us emotionally and grabs our attention and drives us towards it. The other thing that I wanted to mention, AJ, in putting together some talking points for this episode, I couldn't wrap my head around how many mainstream articles that I had seen that talk about why following your passions is bad advice. So I wanted to talk about that first because what I've noticed in those articles was they, first of all, it was clickbait, right? It's contrarian. What? I've never heard that, so here's the read the article. And basically, the articles were all about why following your passions is a good thing. However, they explained some pitfalls such as anything that you fall into wholeheartedly and give up all the rest of your responsibilities in pursuit, right? So they talk about in following your passions that your passions might not be able to pay your rent and bills and things like that, which means that you're giving up your responsibilities to follow that passion. Now, I'll tell you what, my passion for psychology and human behavior superseded all of that, in which I just, I had to dive in more. But yes, of course, you should make sure that you wall off your responsibility so you can take care of business so that you can pursue your passions. But what those articles failed to mention is the importance of our passions in connection and that make us unique, special, and most importantly, what we're going to be discussing today, memorable. Well, these passions, they build a character around us, right? They even become part of our identity. These are the things that people remember. So I just want to say to anyone who is going to listen to this ago, I thought that following your passions was bad. Let's just throw it out in the trash right out of the gate. And of course, we're very lucky that our passions do overlap with our work. We're passionate about training the military. We're passionate about working with our private coaching clients. We're passionate about our X Factor Accelerator members growing and succeeding in life. But we also have passions outside of our work, whether it be golf, whether it be music, whether it be cooking, whether it be travel, these are all passions that we've explored in our own lives. And much of that advice that you're talking about, Johnny, well, it centers around trying to monetize your passion and trying to make your work your passion. And let's be honest, many of us don't have a lot of passion in our work. Our work puts a roof over our head. It's a great job. It's a great salary. Maybe it's gained you some status. Maybe you've been able to build a business network around it. But if you're not passionate about your work, well, you can't then become one dimensional and just be passionate about your family, be passionate about your spouse, be passionate about your best friend and your relationships. It is important for you to stand out, to engage with your passions or to find those passions if for whatever reason, you've let some of those hobbies and interests wane over the years. And let's be honest, the science shows that engaging in your passions is a step towards finding your purpose, right, Michael? So on this, there are actually two really interesting articles in psychology today. One is by Jennifer Hamity. And she writes that in her article, she explains that we shouldn't see passion as just a noun, but that rather we should look at it as a muscle and that we have to use our passion muscle in order to strengthen it. And she writes, and I quote, only when you choose to engage in life with passion, regardless of your circumstances, will you begin to see life, people and opportunities emerge for you in new exciting ways, end quote. And she continues explaining that if we don't bring our passion into our lives every day, then there's basically just one reason for that. And that is that we are afraid to put ourselves out there. No one enjoys risking failure. And if we go after our passions, there is a likelihood of us failing here and there. And at the same time, if you don't bring your passions into the world, what you lose is that sense of purpose in your life. And the other one, but this is a little bit more scientific, this is Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, who's also known as SPK in psychology today. And he looks at something that Angela Duckworth of the grit fame has done research on. So he writes, and I quote, research does in fact show that both passion and interest predict later success, independent of ability. Angela Duckworth and her colleagues have shown that grit, so that's passion and perseverance for long term goals predicts outcomes such as educational attainment, GPA, class retention and ranking in a national spelling bee all and above and beyond IQ, end quote. Now I want to point something out here that in this article he was quoting Angela Duckworth writing about GPA, class retention, spelling bees. Those are not things that are inherently fun topics for most people. Now imagine what that passion and interest can do for your later success if they're actually inherently fun and you choose something that you enjoy doing every day. Now, of course, many of our clients struggle with imposter syndrome or the reverse Dunning Kruger, meaning the more you start to learn about something, the more you realize you're not that good at it. Oftentimes we think of the Dunning Kruger effect, we think of below average people will assume that they're better than they are. Now the reverse is also true. Extraordinarily successful people will often view themselves in a negative light and think they're not as good at something as they actually are. And this imposter syndrome does rear its ugly head in our passions. You might be feeling not, well, I'm not that great at guitar. I'm not a great cook. I'm passionate about watching cooking videos and learning, but I would never want to showcase those skills in front of friends. I wouldn't want to go tell a bunch of strangers that I'm some highly successful chef when I'm just trying to learn this one technique like sous vide. So it's important to realize that your imposter syndrome might actually be getting in the way of you showcasing those passions around people. I love that. And everyone's heard of the Dunning Kruger effect, but I'm much like myself. I think there's a lot of people out there that don't realize that works in reverse too. And I have an interesting anecdote to this. There is so much creativity and work that we enjoy from people who bypassed that reversed Dunning Kruger effect. It didn't phase them of where they were in their passion and following it and their level of expertise in it. And I want to give this one example. So yes, I'm a musician. I've been playing for a very long time. And for a lot of things I do, I carry a punk rock ethos. And what I mean by that is that there's a lot of great punk rock bands. And I'm going to use the Ramones as an example, because that's probably the one that everyone recognizes specifically their shirts, right? They're everywhere. Even to this day, they're probably more popular today than they had ever been. But when the Ramones got started, it was their passion for wanting to play music professionally and to create, and with that medium, so much so that they started playing shows without really know how to play, right? And what's great about this is that there is even videos of them playing at the legendary CBGBs in the mid-70s, and they're arguing, they're fighting on stage, walking off. But their passion for wanting to play and communicate and showcase their work came through in those live performances that what they were doing resonated with all of the other young kids who were looking to find themselves and create. And they were parodied as the new beginning of a new rock and roll phase, which came to be punk rock. And without that arrogance and ignorance about their musicianship, they wouldn't have made the mark in history and changed its course as they did. So for me, I mean, that punk rock ethos goes into a lot of things that I do. If I have to learn a new skill, I get frustrated just like anybody else. But as AJ's known for the last couple of decades here, I will throw myself into it, make a giant mess, but figure it out. But the most important thing, and we're going to discuss this later in some of our showcases of some of the work that our clients have done that by you showcasing your inability or your learning process, it resonates with other people who are interested, who want to see other people struggling because it gives them permission to struggle through it as well to find those strengths and to actualize and get enhanced life through those passions. And it's totally normal to be passionate about something, but not be the greatest at it, not be a professional at it just yet. But that shouldn't keep you from sharing it with people you're meeting. That shouldn't keep you from sharing it with your friends just because you're not quite as good as you would like to be. And I know a number of our listeners are perfectionists. So you put that added pressure on yourself because, well, I can't just be passionate. I have to be the best. Now, another thing that we hear from clients is, yeah, but no one shares this passion, AJ. No one is in to what I'm into. I am not into sports. I'm not into normal mainstream, quote unquote, activities. So because of that, I got to hide this part of my personality. I got to withhold this passion and conversation because no one else is going to share this passion. And that's a mistake because it's not about finding someone who shares the same passion as you. It's about showing emotion in your conversation, making that impression through the expression of your passions that matters far more than overlap in actual interest in that passion. So don't hold back if your passion isn't mainstream. I know that I'm not a rock and roller, but my passions still resonate with Johnny's rock and roll friends and vice versa. So bringing that passion into your communication, bringing that passion into the conversation, even if there isn't overlap, is impactful. There is a lot of curiosities and interests that we all have. And when we see other people emote and share that passion, it ignites that curiosity and us go, oh, you know what? I've always wanted to check that out. What's that like? So you may not think that there are other people who can relate to that, but by you sharing them, you would be surprised. You could end up lighting that fire in somebody else. So sharing that passion brings emotion to the conversation. Emotion is that first step to making you memorable. And here's the best part. They're going to leave that conversation. They're going to leave that interaction thinking about your passion. And maybe they know someone in their network who could help you with that passion, who also enjoys that passion. And all of a sudden, that being memorable rapidly grows your network beyond just that conversation that you are having. And it's important to recognize that we don't want to lack emotion in sharing our passions. I know you might think your passions are boring to people who aren't as passionate about it as you, but that couldn't be further from the truth. If you lack emotion in sharing your passion with others, then they're not going to get excited about what you just shared. And it's certainly not going to make you memorable. So the solution of this is to recognize that your passions are memorable and that sharing them allows you to be memorable. It sticks in people's minds. Those emotions that you share through those passions are going to stick. So this reminds me of one of our clients. Her name is Susan. And we mentioned her last week in the shout out of last week's episode. And I wanted to bring it up here again, because it's been stuck in my mind. And I know for a lot of people, they might feel the same way that they're too busy to engage in those passions. So for Susan, she was a mom and a caretaker and a business owner. And those were the most important things in her life. You can imagine, of course, yes, if you have a family, those, you're going to be making sure that you are raising them and taking care of them to the best of your ability. And then, of course, making a business work. And in Susan's case, this business had been in the family for quite some time. And there's an obligation to continue that. So she put her efforts there. Now, recently, her son is now off the college and the other one is basically has raised himself and is a teenager. And she found herself now with a lot of extra time on her hands. And that was driving her a bit bad. He like, and realized, you know, perhaps it's time for her to focus on herself now that she has done her duty as a mom and a business owner. And now found and had to get permission from herself to then get involved in some new opportunities that she's always been wanting to. And she's now going to be dedicating a lot of her new time to traveling. It was something she's always wanted to do and never had the opportunity to take long extended trips and really explore some places. So I was Susan Luck in her long-awaited European vacation that's about to come up. I love that. And one of the frustrations that we hear from our X Factor Accelerator members, and we were just having a conversation about this last week in our implementation session, that when you have a passion, it often starts with you doing a deep dive online. You get into these rabbit holes and all of a sudden you're watching YouTube instructional videos on a jump shot, and then you're watching the NBA more closely. But inevitably, when you take all of that information and then you go to put it into practice and your real life and implement it, it can be very difficult. And it can actually be unrewarding in your pursuit of that passion. You can feel worse than you thought you would be. And oftentimes that leads you to quit too soon. Now, when it comes to your passion, just because you are going through a phase of being really excited about reading about something online and then trying it, don't give up before you've had a chance to really explore and pass through what we call the dip. Now anytime you're trying to master a skill set, you're actually going to get worse at that skill before you get better. Whether it's learning guitar, whether it's working on that jump shot, maybe it's on the golf course, or maybe it's even cooking. Once you recognize that there's a skill that you want to unlock, that you are passionate about bringing into your repertoire, oftentimes you're going to take all this great information online, they're going to make it look easy and effortless. And you're going to go and apply it and you're going to have some difficulty. You're going to run into some frustration because it's harder than you thought it would be. But we have to think of passion as a muscle, right, Michael? So when it comes to passions, it's important to note that these are often divided into harmonious or adaptive passions and a harmful form called obsessive passion or maladaptive passion. And now one might be easy to jump to the conclusion that one has to do with isolation, social isolation, and the other has to do with community. Meaning if I am doing my passion all by myself in a dark room, then this is an obsessive maladaptive passion. And if I'm out all day playing with friends, this is an harmonious passion. And there's certainly a lot of overlap in that direction. There's just not a very clear causality. So this is where I wanted to bring in some basic principles of psychology around the function of a behavior. So think about a video game, not because I want to hate or praise video games, just because this is an easy example. Think about why you would be playing a video game. Is it because you want to enjoy the evening? Is it because you want to get good enough to compete with your buddies at an esport event? Or is it that you want to escape being lonely, that you want to escape whatever else is going on in your life? And this gives you that escape. And so the function of the behavior for playing video games would be experiential avoidance. I just want to get out of here. I don't want to feel. I just want to numb out on the other side. The other function is pro-social. It's pro-self-care. I want to take care of myself. I want to play with my friends. So I'm spending time with this video game. So this is actually the parameter that we're using to see whether a passion is harmonious or obsessive. And in that same regard, I would make that same point for passion within a community. And this is actually a question that I'd like to post to you, AJ and Johnny, because my hunch is that starting a passion for the sole purpose of finding a community around it is going to be a maladaptive approach to it, because it's going to be inauthentic, it's going to be fake. And I'm basically just trying to use that passion so that I get access to a lot of people. So if you're listening to this thinking, AJ, Johnny, Michael, I don't even know what my passions are. I've been so busy with work, family. I don't really feel that I have much passions outside of just coming home, passing out on the couch, watching Netflix. It's important that you recognize in order to become memorable, in order to build the great high value relationships that you're looking for, you need to be exploring what you could even be passionate about. You need to be on a journey to find your passions, right, Johnny? Absolutely. You know, AJ, I had been lucky early in life because music was in my household. And so there was affinity for it. And I think my dad's band used to rehearse in the basement. And I think a lot of that of the reverberation of the sound coming through the floorboards as a baby pretty much infected me for life with the music bug. Now, out of the gate, was following that pursuit as closely as I could. I was trying to put bands together in junior high and high school. I mean, I was solely focused. I had tunnel vision on that world, because it affected me like nothing else. Now, as I was in my later twenties, where I started to explore some different passions and psychology and human behavior being one of those. And I loved what I was doing in music and I was having a blast. But I also recognized that on my downtime, I needed to find something else to explore, something to take my mind off of music because this is something we're talking about earlier. That was at a phase in my life where I was trying to make playing and bands music my career. And hey, I had some successes and some losses and it was difficult. And I think anyone out there in an artistic endeavor can relate to that. So I was looking for something else to take my mind off of that so that the gum band wouldn't get stretched so much that it would break. I needed to refresh myself. So for me, I was like, well, I'm interested in human behavior. Let me look into that. And I started going online and reading articles and grabbing books. And what made and turned that interest into a hobby and passion was I would take the little bits that I was learning and all these interesting psychological behavioral experiments and taking them to the bar where I worked at. And I've told this story before, but I would be I'd have to bartend and I had a captured audience, right? I had so many people to talk to every night. So a lot of the concepts that we discuss on the show, I was experimenting them and using the bar that I worked at as my laboratory. And I would measure their effectiveness in my tips. So by taking from gathering knowledge and reading about these subjects, then implementing them into my life and seeing the results. And for me, that opened the doors to what can this turn into? What am I as a human being capable of by building and learning these skills and a subject that we talked about a few weeks ago, a skill stacking, where you take all these different skills and you put them together and you become you start implementing them. And they they create this memorable, multiple dynamic person. And for myself, the human behavior aspect, I couldn't believe how different things were happening and how people viewed me and how I viewed the world by implementing all these concepts. So much so that it opened the doors for this to become a passion. What are the possibilities with this? And those possibilities then turned to opportunities. And of course, that is one of the stories of a couple that basically are the origins of this company. And here's the thing. What you're consuming, you can actually start producing to engage in that passion. So maybe your rabbit hole is history. Maybe your rabbit hole is shorts on YouTube. Well, actually creating your own shorts, vlogging, making music is a way for you to take all that consumption that you're doing and turn it into production of an actual passion for you. And if you're not sure where to begin, just think about what are all those time drains on your life, the ways that you are escaping reality. And how can you engage in them in a way that opens creativity into your life that's not passive, that's active in your engagement of those interests. That's how we start to learn what we're actually passionate about. And for myself, I love electronic music. And when we first started the company in New York, one of our team members was a DJ. And I used to talk about music with him. I used to watch him, spend some records and mix things. And one day it was like, Hey, do you want to give it a try? So I was just trying to watch what he was doing and emulate. And we ended up playing a show together in Manhattan. And then of course, the company moved to LA and that passion got shoved to the side. We're building the company and I got busy with a bunch of other things. And a few years had passed. And I thought to myself, well, that was kind of fun. Actually, I'd like to explore that again. So I bought a little DJ controller, and I would DJ with myself. I would basically play some music, try to learn how to beat match, try to learn how to mix techno and house music. But I was not good. And I was watching YouTube videos and trying to learn online. But I was hiding this passion and interest from others because I didn't think I was very good. And I certainly didn't want to be called out on it to showcase my skills or lack of talent. And one day we had some people over and I had left the controller out on the table in the living room. And my buddy David is like, hey, is that a DJ controller who DJs? And I was like, I kind of dabble in it. I tried to quickly put it away. He's like, no, no, no, let's connect it. Let me show you some things. And I didn't know he was actually a professional DJ. And he started showing me a few more things. And all of a sudden, I was learning directly from him. And I started to rapidly improve. And we would stay up late at night beat matching. He'd be teaching me different strategies to mix and remix songs. And then I started to learn a little bit of music production with him. And he said, Hey, AJ, I got invited to DJ a house party. Do you want to do it with me? And all of a sudden my reverse stunning Kruger stepped in. I'm like, I'm not good enough to DJ in front of an audience. I've not good enough to DJ a house party. He's like, no, no, no, we're going to have a ton of fun. Just just go ahead and do it. And I pushed beyond that limiting belief that I have this passion that I need to hide to myself and I can't share with others because I'm not good at it. And I actually had a blast rocking this house party with David. And then he moved, but he introduced me to some more of his friends who are DJs. And I actually got invited backstage at one of the bigger clubs here in LA, all because he found this controller sitting out at my table, one visit to our apartment. So understand that just because you're not good at something just yet, but you love it and you're passionate about it, you shouldn't withhold that from others. You should share the fact that you are on this journey of becoming better at something, of mastering something and sharing that passion in your pursuit of mastery actually attracts other high value people who might want to help you learn, make an introduction, do it with you, enjoy and share in that passion along with you and your journey along the way. Another excuse that I hear, and these are excuses because these are all limiting beliefs. When we're doing something outside of our comfort zone, our heart and mind will work together to figure out a way to keep us safe. And we will come up with every excuse in the world until we find the one that our mind and heart can settle on comfortably. And that gives us our excuse, but that's a limiting belief. And another one that I hear is, why bother? There's no money in it. And this stems from this hustle culture that is so prevalent today where if you're not working on getting your money together and getting financially secure and showcasing all of your money off, well, then you've lost the life. And I think this has been exacerbated in things like Instagram and whatnot. But first of all, that short sighted, you don't know what your passions can turn into at another point. We all have to start somewhere. And it's about engaging in these passions, something you're excited about, where others see that passion. And this is where opportunities are created. So maybe there's no money in it now. That doesn't mean there's not going to be money in it later. But also let's get to the main point of this. Your passions is not about money. It is about enhancement of life. And we are not put here to work and pay bills. We are here for many other reasons. And I'm sure that you have yours, but working and paying bills isn't one of them. And experiencing life is certainly one of them. And you're not going to do that sitting at home, playing video games all day, or just reading about interesting subjects. It's about putting that knowledge into action and creating and to see what comes from the fruits of your labor. And then another one is, well, I hear a lot of people say, well, I used to be into that when I was younger, but not anymore. Okay, why? What happened? Have you lost interest in it? Or do you think now that you're older, maybe your present won't be appreciated or that you won't be able to handle it? Now, I want to go back to an interview that we had what six months ago with Steven Kotler. That whole episode was about him learning intermediate ski tricks after 50. And he wrote a book about it. Ramps, jumps, 360s. Yeah. And yes, he got banged up along the way. He was laid up for a while, but it was all about him extracting the most enjoyment out of life and where he was at that time, and probably regaining some of that youth mentally, right? Regardless of how he might feel physically, but it is a state of mind. Now, AJ, I'm going to be 50 this month and probably when this podcast rolls out very close to it, if not, and there is nothing in my mind that is going to have me stop going to rock and roll concerts and getting involved in music and enjoying and creating something that I love so much. In fact, I mentioned it on this show more. I think with age, my appreciation and interest in music and fondness for it has only grown. I love, I probably love music more than I ever have at this stage. And I'm excited for everything that I'm going to be doing and I have been working on. So I don't want to hear the age excuse. In fact, one of Steven Kotler's, one of the lines or bits that I remember most was while he was doing this, him and his ski partner had a few rules that they had put in place to get the most enjoyment out of what they were doing. And one of those rules was no geesering, which means you can't bitch, moan and complain. There is only being positive and enjoying in the moment. I just think it's so important to point out that for so many of us, we don't think that passion has that big of an impact on our life right now because it's not growing our bank account. It might not be growing your physical health. And because of that, you're making less and less time for it. But here's the thing. If you overflow your passion cup, that's going to reenergize you on your health pursuit. It's going to reenergize you on your work pursuit. Don't allow yourself to lose the passion to become less dynamic because not only do you become less memorable, but it takes away exactly what Johnny was talking about, the essence of life that leads to that greater purpose for all of us. There's a line that I've heard and I'm going to try to say it and I hope I don't butcher it, but if you want to die before your time, right, then continue to live in fear. And so our solution for this is to create a why. We need an engine and fuel that not only gives you permission, but energy to dive into your passions. For our clients, we want them to go on a mission, right? To create a mission of a goal that has to do with your passions because when you meet people, they're going to ask you about you and you need a story about who you are. And if you don't have that story, one will be attributed to you. And that story will be attributed by behaviors and your presentation without any deeper thought than that. And that will be based on pattern recognition that people have. So for instance, when I'm out and being social, people typically are going to see a rock and roll dude. And what comes with that is a lot of stereotypes and behavioral recognition patterns that people have to that person. Now, if I don't talk to people and I don't discuss my mission, that is going to be the picture they have in their head, which is going to create the story about me. And if they had bad experiences with those types of people, well, that's going to be attributed to me as well. And what we're looking to do is to shatter people's perceptions. So they have to create one based on who you are in front of them at that time. And this is why creating your story is so important. Specifically, a story that has a goal and telling this story, it doesn't matter if you reach the goal or not. That's not what people are going to remember. People are going to remember where you are in that story and how they relate to it. So if I have my mission, and this is one that I chose when I was living in Vegas for the first time, that I was going about making a record due to the songs that I wrote in a dark time during the beginning of the pandemic. That was a mission that I had chose. And when I moved to Vegas, people who earned that story that I thought were cool, I would tell them of what I was doing here and what I was working on. And people went out of their way to try to help me. Oh, I know this producer you got to meet. Oh, I know this drummer you got to meet. Oh, I have a friend who's got a studio that would love to help you out. And they were going out of their way to help me out. And not because this mission was complete because this mission was not finished. And when you tell your story in a mission form, if it's not complete, it's stuck. People naturally go, how do we finish it? How do we get this done? And they go into their mind and their Rolodex to see how they could fix it because we operate on a problem solution oriented analytical mind. When that story happens, that's where people are going to go. They hear the emotion in it, and then they want to help. So they're looking for a solution. This is what makes you memorable. This is what sticks in people's heads. Don't let fear hold you back from your passions and certainly not expressing those passions when meeting and connecting with other people. Now, one of the patterns we've recognized in a lot of our clients over the years is they have passions, but because they pursue those passions alone, as a lone wolf, they avoid talking about it in conversation with others or bringing it up. Whether that's rock climbing, whether that's hiking, mountain biking, whether it's your pursuit of the piano, because you're doing it alone, because the passion doesn't involve other people. Well, I can't bring that up in conversation, AJ or Johnny. Like that's my passion. That's between me and myself. And what's interesting about that mindset is it actually holds us back, not only from connecting with other people who share that passion, but bringing people into our life and our passions. So when it comes to passions, it's important to recognize that there are two types of passions, right, Michael? So Cashton and McKnight in 2009 wrote this paper, Origins of Purpose in Life, Refining our Understanding of a Life Well-Lived. And by the way, that's the Todd Cashton we had on the show not too long ago. So Cashton and McKnight, they in the study, look at a variety of ingredients that can either on their own or as a mix, make up our purpose in life. And there are a variety of ingredients that can do that. But one of them, it turns out, are our passions. So Cashton and McKnight write that we come by them through self-expansion. Self-expansion is a term they use for how loosely translated as personal growth that is based on challenging our knowledge and skills. So they write, some interests and passions are at the core of a person's identity, and others are relatively tangential, lingering on the periphery. So I think that's important to point out as well that a passion doesn't always have to be at the center of our life at the core of our identity. And they also clarify this crucial point for our conversation here. While the presence of purpose can be defined as a passionate interest, not all interests or passions can be construed as a purpose. So there is not this absolute necessity that our passion is now also our sole purpose in life. And we've often talked on the show about what makes you stand out from the crowd. And I think that with this, we can also add passions to the list. And listen, I totally understand using your passion as an escape, skiing alone, hiking alone, playing music by yourself. But it is important to recognize that you can actually invite people into your passion. And maybe they haven't discovered that it's their passion yet either. So invite people to enjoy your passion with you. They'll get to experience you in a heightened emotional state. You'll get an opportunity to potentially mentor them, share the journey with them, get them involved and engaged with it. And you're now able to build a community around something that you're passionate about. And this reminds me of our client, Nate. When Nate joined X Factor Accelerator, he was telling us that he's super passionate about skiing. And he had a goal to hit a set number of ski days in the upcoming ski season. And in the past, he would invite friends on trips and he'd say, I want to go to this mountain and that mountain. And of course his friends are busy. So he would hear no. And oftentimes he found himself because his friends would go on the trip with them, finding something else to do that weekend and not actually going on the trip alone. Well, with this upcoming ski season, we put together a different plan. And Nate decided to rent a place in Utah for the entire season near all of the mountains that he wanted to go visit. And instead of chasing friends to go on trips with him, hoping that they would say yes and the weekends would line up, instead, he opened up his place to invite anyone who was interested in skiing to come join him on his mission to hit his goal ski days that season. And he went from chasing people for no's and not being able to go on trips and of course not hitting his goal to welcoming in friends who hadn't even skied before, who didn't even know that they liked skiing. In fact, some friends came out just to enjoy Utah and didn't even ski with him. But it flipped his idea of skiing as something he does alone and it's a pursuit of his. And if he can't get friends engaged, well, he didn't have an opportunity to go hit his ski season numbers to, hey, I want to involve people in this mission. I want to share this passion with others and I want to invite them on the mission with me. And that reframe was huge for him growing not only an opportunity to connect with friends that he hadn't seen in a while, but also to build community in Utah, which was a completely new place for him to live. I love that story and watching that happen for Nate was a lot of fun because I remember his frustration of being in that new town, trying to figure it out. And when he quit chasing others, right, and just stuck to his passions and his goals, flipped the frame of what he was doing and how he was going about it, others wanted to join in. And a lot of what works in life can completely be contrary to the way it is set up in our mind, right? And it's about trying different things to see if that will work. So it's very important to remember that passions make you memorable. They stand out in conversation. They create the emotional space and resonance that people walk away from thinking about you. And when you bring story and mission to those passions, it creates opportunity not only to build a network of high value people around it, but to get them invested in you. And that's ultimately how we become more memorable. And even if your passions, you love doing solo, we encourage you to invite other people to try it for the first time with you, to join you in that passion. And you're going to reinvigorate the opportunity for community and building high value relationships in your life.