Aug. 6, 2024

139 : Entrepreneurship As a Spiritual Practice with Colm Dolan

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Season 1

In this episode: mindfulness, entrepreneurship, financial independence, personal growth with Colm Dolan

Episode Summary
In this episode of the Mindful Fire Podcast, host Adam Coelho sits down with Colin Dolan, a former Googler and the founder of Pub Lift. They discuss Colin's entrepreneurial journey, the intersection of mindfulness and business, and the importance of creating a positive company culture. Colin shares insights on how meditation and mindfulness practices have influenced his life and work, as well as his thoughts on financial independence and self-improvement.

Guest Bio
Colin Dolan is the founder of Pub Lift, an ad tech business that supports online publishers in building sustainable revenue streams. With a background in ad operations and a passion for self-improvement, Colin combines his entrepreneurial spirit with mindfulness practices to create a thriving business environment.

Guest Contract Information
Colin Dolan, [Colin's email/contact info]

Key Takeaways

  • Entrepreneurship can be a spiritual journey filled with personal growth and learning.
  • Building a structured approach to daily life enhances mindfulness and productivity.
  • Creating a positive company culture fosters employee growth and satisfaction.
  • Financial independence is not the only goal; making a meaningful impact matters more.
  • Self-improvement is a continuous journey that influences both personal and professional life.
  • The importance of surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals to foster growth and motivation.

Text Adam w/ comments or questions

Whenever you are ready, here are 2 ways I can help you:

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If you're at or nearing FI and finally ready to start living the next chapter of your life let's chat!​

At the end of my 8 Week FIRE Starter small group program you will:

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If you're ready to get clear on your BIG vision for your next chapter

​Book a no-pressure curiosity call​ with me....

Transcript
WEBVTT

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Welcome to the Mindful Fire Podcast, a show about crafting a life you love and making work optional using the tools of mindfulness, envisioning, and financial independence.

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I'm your host, Adam Coelho, and I'm so glad you're here.

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Each episode of the Mindful Fire podcast explores these three tools through teachings, guided meditations, and inspiring interviews with people actually living them to craft a life they love.

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At its core, Mindful Fire is about creating more awareness and choice in your life.

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Mindfulness helps you develop self awareness to know yourself better and what's most important to you by practicing a kind, curious awareness.

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Envisioning is all about choosing to think big about your life and putting the power of your predicting brain to work to create the life you dream of.

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And financial independence brings awareness and choice to your financial life, empowering you to make your vision a reality by getting your money sorted out and ultimately making work optional.

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And here's the best part, you don't have to wait until you reach financial independence to live out your vision.

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Mindful Fire is about using these tools to craft that life now on the path to financial independence and beyond.

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If you're ready to start your mindful fire journey, go to mindfulfire.

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org slash start and download my free envisioning guide in just 10 minutes.

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This guide will help you craft a clear and inspiring vision for your life.

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Again, you can download it for free at mindfulfire.

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org slash start.

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Let's jump into today's episode.

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In today's episode, Episode I'm joined by my friend Colin Dolan, a former Googler and the founder of Pub Lift, an ad tech business that helps online publishers build sustainable revenue streams.

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He's an ad ops veteran and a sports fanatic with a passion for self-improvement and creating a better life situation for all.

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In this episode, you'll learn how his company pub came to be and how it all started from a conversation that he and I had seven years ago that kicked off his entrepreneurial and mindfulness journey.

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I've been blown away by what he's been able to achieve since then and I'm really excited to have him on the episode to share with you today.

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In this episode Colm and I explore the idea that entrepreneurship is actually a spiritual path and that there's so much learning and growth to be had from the challenges and ups and downs that come with being an entrepreneur.

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And Colm shares his thoughts on why it's so important to build structure into your day and why bookending his days with meditation is and finding moments of mindfulness throughout his day allow him to deal with the ups and downs and the challenges that come from being an entrepreneur and running a business.

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And we learn how Colm is able to build this structure in his life even while building a business and raising two boys and having a wife at home as well.

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And we hear how Colm has brought these ideas of mindfulness and personal growth and improvement into everything he does at his company.

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And how he empowers his employees to learn, grow, have fun, and to become the best versions of themselves.

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Colm also shares his thoughts on financial independence.

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And how to be honest, he's not really that focused on financial independence, but rather focused on building a company where everyone can learn, grow, and have fun.

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And Colum shares his top advice for those getting started with meditation and mindfulness.

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And he also shares his thoughts for those who pursuing financial independence.

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And you'll hear the advice that Colm would give to his younger self.

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I really enjoyed this episode with Colm and I hope that you enjoyed as well.

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Let's jump into today's episode.

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Colm.

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Thank you very much, Adam.

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It's absolutely fantastic to be on this podcast with you.

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And I'm very inspired by you, all you've done in the last few years, since we worked together at Google many moons ago.

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Yeah, that does feel like a really long time ago, doesn't it?

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It does indeed.

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It does indeed.

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The original young fella.

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Oh, that's right.

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That's right.

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Some good times we had.

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So I'd podcast by having you share with the audience a little bit about who you are and what you've been up to in the world.

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Yeah.

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Thanks very much, Adam.

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Yeah.

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I'm a founder.

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I'm an ad tech founder.

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I am a dad, two young boys one and a half and four years of age, which keep me very busy.

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I suppose my journey really has It actually involves you when you visited Sydney, Australia, where I live at the moment.

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Your part inspired me on the road down meditation and in starting a business.

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I think it's about seven years ago now, since you were actually here.

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And at the time I wasn't enjoying the job, but I did.

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And I always thought about having a startup or I knew it as a problem in the ecosystem, in the publisher ecosystem, but you always need a push sometimes and you push from some of your friends as well.

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So I've been working as an entrepreneur for nearly seven years now and built a successful business that is a global outreach and global audience.

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So I suppose it's.

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Actually, the exact same time I started meditating, with your help as well, so I owe a depth of gratitude to you, and two things have quite intertwined over the last couple of years, that I really think an entrepreneurial journey is very much a spiritual journey as well, because it's a very hard route to go down, and it tests your mental resolve, tests your skills, you've a lot of ups and downs, You've a lot of downs, the ups are never as good and the downs are never as bad, but it's a very much rollercoaster ride that you really need to have severe mental focus.

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And the thing about starting a business is that you not only do it for yourself, but you're doing it for a lot of other people.

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It's a big responsibility that a lot of my team have mortgages, they have young kids, and if you make bad decisions, it's going to impact on them.

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So there's a lot of constant worry and constant trying reinforcement that it's.

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going to all work out.

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So all the attributes of meditation and mindfulness and being in the present moment and giving everything to your team is so crucial.

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And I feel really thankful and blessed that it's tested depth of my character, like no end.

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being an entrepreneur and it's a hard route to go down, but with a lot of problems, you create a lot of growth and a lot of learning about yourself.

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And I think as well when you go down that journey, you get influenced by a lot of similar people that have gone down that journey.

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So it's like when you hear that quote, a lot of you are the average of the five people you hang around with.

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So if you started hanging around with other entrepreneurs or other people seeking financial freedom.

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That puts you on another stratosphere in terms of your questioning things a lot more.

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And you're questioning why are you on this planet?

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Why are you on this earth?

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Like the way you have to, you do your mission statement.

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And all that kind of stuff in business.

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You also do mission statement nearly for yourself.

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What are your values?

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When you're doing values for a business, you're doing values on yourself.

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Where do you want to be in five years?

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And sometimes when you work, when I work in a corporate life, I may not think about that because I'm just, Thinking about punching in numbers and going home and spend the time and you don't you shut off whereas having your own business You're always thinking about how can I have more impact?

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How can I have more impact on the customer?

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But how can I have more impact on myself as well and to the overall world?

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So yeah that's what I'm currently doing at the moment.

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I'm really interested in having an impact on people's lives or really focusing on our customers as well and have an impact on their lives.

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And I suppose I'm really motivated by an obsession with self improvement to improve the life situation of myself.

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My team members to improve my consciousness, to improve every aspects of health and being, really, and to have just a happy, fruitful life, really.

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So thinking back to when you started the business, it's so awesome to me to see what you've created in the seven years since we had that dinner together when I was in Sydney.

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We were hanging out with your girlfriend, now wife.

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Neither of us had kids, and we're just enjoying some Portuguese chicken, and talking about life, and how I was getting really into meditation.

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And just to see what you did, just, I think three weeks later, you quit your job and started this company.

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And it's become, an award winning company, getting all sorts of awards for innovative companies, and the workplace that you've created.

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I'd love to hear just a little bit more about that journey, right?

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What was it like when you were first starting the business and as you progressed, like how did you lean on your mindfulness?

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practice to build it into what it is now.

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Yeah.

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I suppose to give you a background there as well, like, I think you were the final kind of push I really needed because before I started the business, I was working at another startup, which they lost their series, be around investment.

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And I was, I needed to get out of there.

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The business was winding up and I had a time period and but I questioned myself having gone from a corporate business.

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Like Google, I spent a lot of time at Google and then another business in Australia, Telstra, and then I went to a startup and I really failed miserably.

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I couldn't sell to, to, to anyone what we were selling.

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It was a, an ad tech kind of product as well.

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And my mental resolve was gone.

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My confidence is at an all time low.

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I said to myself do I need to go back into the comforts of corporate?

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So I went, I remember vividly going for interviews with Twitter, with Facebook, Criteo and I couldn't get an interview for love nor money.

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Like I couldn't get past that stage.

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Obviously I had good on my resume.

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It looked good that I worked for Google and that kind of stuff, but I just couldn't, I had no self confidence at the time.

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And I was literally about to just go, or maybe I'll just go home or I had got this new girlfriend at the time.

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And you came and said yeah, why don't you do this?

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Because I had all this in the back of my mind of maybe starting something and you gave me the confidence to just give it a go.

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But I was at a low album and I just had nothing to lose.

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And that's the kind of key factor in anything of this.

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And I think as well, a lot of people that go starting businesses.

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It's very hard when you are in the comforts, you know it as well, in the comforts of Google, in the comforts of these corporate places, it makes you very hard to leave.

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You have always got your stock plan vested next year, they might give you a few more, they might give you a promotion, and then you're thinking job security, all this kind of stuff.

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But and if I still had all that kind of things in place, maybe I wouldn't have made the leap.

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So it's very much a circumstance kind of stuff.

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But getting back to your question, then I just thought I'd give you a bit of background to what made me make that decision.

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It was tough.

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The first six months were very tough because I was, you were in our apartment, we rented out a room in my apartment to my buddy and he came in and stayed with us for six to nine months.

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My wife had a good job at the time, so she was supporting us, but I maxed out my credit card six months.

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I remember having three clients for six months.

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I got one client and then snowballed to a second client and it I wouldn't say it was a long time taking off, but once.

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I started getting a bit of traction.

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There was a problem that needed to be solved.

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And I got a lot of energy from that.

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And I got a lot of energy from maybe winning those couple of clients at the start, but it was looking back on an incredible time and incredible.

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Test of character, because you've got your family concerned about you going out and starting a business yourself.

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You've got your friends thinking, Oh this person has built up a good image.

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He's worked at Google and now he's just.

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Doing the kind of startup and your character gets questioned.

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So you're, and you question yourself and you say, have I got the appetite for this at all?

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Do I have, what am I trying to really do here?

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And then you start getting a small bit of wins and a small bit of success.

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And then it's like, okay I think there's an opportunity to build something here to build the business.

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And then at that stage, later on in that.

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Year.

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I had a really good relationship, but my business partner at this stage, but he was a friend of mine from Google back then he worked in the Dublin office with me and I reached out to him and actually met him in Bali in August of 2014, maybe at this stage.

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and I said, I've started this business in Australia.

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It's going pretty well, but I need you over here because I can't do this on my own.

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I was good at sales and negotiation, but not very good from the technical aspect of what we needed to do.

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So once I got commitment from him, he moved over in March of the following year.

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So then I remember the Christmas time that before that I had about five or six or maybe even seven clients at that time.

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So there was a business model there.

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And there was, it could be successful if the right things went at that time.

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And so all those, at all those times really, I think meditation and mindfulness, I'm not too sure at that time was I doing that much of it to be honest with you.

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It was all about keeping my head above water and you're so focused.

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about just building the business side of the business and making a financial model that would work without I was just about scrimping on, paying for daily activities and paying your rent and doing all that kind of stuff.

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But after that, I think it's when Tobin came over, we hired our first employee, we, And that was around 2015 and I had been running the business myself and then we rebranded and came up the name Publift around August 2015.

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So that was a very exciting time when we had.

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I think about two, three other employees at the time, maybe two employees at the time.

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And it was around that time really that you started to say, Oh, what is this business about?

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What am I doing this for?

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And you start to read about getting your mission statement and your values.

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And then I would say then the real spiritual journey for me started, in being an entrepreneur, because Reasons you become an entrepreneur is because you have a problem to solve.

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I think I was at desperation level, but a lot of entrepreneurs started a business because they're pissed off with something and they want a solution to it, and it could be a personal solution for something that.

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It just really annoys them and you have to really be very annoyed before starting a business, especially getting away from the comforts, but then in, in starting the values of the business, why are you doing this?

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You have to share your vision to the rest of the team.

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You have to try and convince people to join your business.

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Why should I join your business rather than Canva down the road?

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that was, is given much more salary.

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So you have to say to them we want to build this platform.

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We want to have this many clients.

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We want to help customers because they're in really in need of this at that journey.

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And then you start reading some business books and the business books are very much about come from a spiritual kind of landscape, I would say.

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And it's when you're reading those business books and then you're doing a bit of meditation on the side and you see the similarities and then You say what I realized then my goal in life was not about making money.

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Really.

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I don't really care about making money.

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I'm more motivated by making an impact on people's lives.

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And then you look at some books and say, okay think about your, when you die, sounds kind of morbid, but when you die and you have your eulogy written out, what do you want to be known to be?

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And I suppose when I think about those kind of things, I want to be, I want to have a big impact on the world.

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I want a big impact on people's lives.

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I'm often referred to as a sponge.

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I'll take stuff in, I learn, and then I regurgitate it and teach people a lot about what I've learned.

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So that's the biggest thing for young people in the business is I'll teach them more about what has worked for me.

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from experiences about, Oh, mindfulness has made a big impact in my life.

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This, I think it could really help you.

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Visualizations have made a big impact on my life.

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This is how I see it could help you.

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So all of those things have intertwined with starting the business really.

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And that has led to the focus within the business and the culture within the business.

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And I suppose it stems as well from when I was working at.

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at Google or other corporates and that I knew what I didn't like and didn't want the business to be about.

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I wanted people to have autonomy to make decisions and a culture where people could grow and learn and could have fun as well.

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I think that was crucial.

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And that kind of was, influence.

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Again, as I said earlier, you can start hanging around with people who are entrepreneurial, who you're getting advice from people on how to run businesses.

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And then you realize that some people have different goals than you and you just go I'm on my own kind of journey here in the business.

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And it's the same with life.

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You're on your own kind of journey.

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Something that works for someone else has not necessarily worked for you.

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But it's having the balls to make those decisions as well to just go, actually, maybe this is a lifestyle business I want, maybe it's, and maybe it's not, it's up and down.

00:17:19.057 --> 00:17:23.336
It's like, I could have, I'm, I refer to myself as a walking contradiction.

00:17:23.336 --> 00:17:28.336
Sometimes I could have one idea, maybe six months ago, I said, Oh, definitely sell the business.

00:17:28.336 --> 00:17:28.586
Yeah.

00:17:28.616 --> 00:17:29.826
Just make as much money as possible.

00:17:29.826 --> 00:17:30.396
I'm sick of it.

00:17:30.436 --> 00:17:31.987
Two days later go, Oh, I love this.

00:17:32.007 --> 00:17:32.596
this business.

00:17:32.596 --> 00:17:33.866
I never want to sell this business.

00:17:35.326 --> 00:17:36.852
So it's up and down like that.

00:17:36.852 --> 00:17:43.442
And I suppose it's like your life in a way you have thought processes that say, I want this journey.

00:17:43.442 --> 00:17:44.551
I want that journey.

00:17:44.652 --> 00:17:47.951
And it's really just figuring yourself out.

00:17:48.662 --> 00:17:52.011
And that's what I love about running the business and doing that.

00:17:52.011 --> 00:17:53.511
Cause it's given, I'm so grateful.

00:17:53.521 --> 00:17:58.801
It's given me the opportunity to test my resolve and really find out what I want in life.

00:17:58.811 --> 00:18:05.642
So Colm, I really like this idea that you mentioned of the path of entrepreneurship as a spiritual path.

00:18:05.682 --> 00:18:11.747
Tell me, is there one or a couple of experiences that really brought that idea to your mind and taught you?

00:18:11.886 --> 00:18:14.576
where you really saw the similarities in those two things.

00:18:14.676 --> 00:18:16.836
Yeah, so many examples really.

00:18:16.836 --> 00:18:22.336
I think some examples dealing with people, we've been in a situation where we've met a lot of mistakes.

00:18:22.336 --> 00:18:28.376
We've hired some wrong people for the business and that affects us, but it also affects the person as well.

00:18:28.376 --> 00:18:33.336
So we, our recruitment process wasn't robust enough, wasn't the right way.

00:18:33.406 --> 00:18:34.656
And we hired some bad people.

00:18:34.656 --> 00:18:37.896
And with that, you sometimes have to move these people on.

00:18:38.086 --> 00:18:39.446
It's the best interests of the business.

00:18:39.862 --> 00:18:41.192
And it's probably best for them as well.

00:18:41.192 --> 00:18:49.672
You don't want to see people struggle, but in doing that, I remember the first person that we had to essentially fire and it was a big ordeal.

00:18:49.701 --> 00:18:54.862
There was many nights of worry and anticipation of this because you feel really bad.

00:18:55.021 --> 00:18:57.182
And this tests your mental resolve.

00:18:57.182 --> 00:18:59.221
So sometimes there's trouble sleeping.

00:18:59.241 --> 00:18:59.832
So you need to.

00:19:00.086 --> 00:19:01.297
You need to have something.

00:19:01.297 --> 00:19:16.176
You need to have your spiritual journey, whatever that may be, whether it's meditation, whether it's playing pool, table tennis, playing the piano, whatever that is, or going for a walk in the evening, you need to follow a process and you need to have a structure to your day.

00:19:16.217 --> 00:19:24.166
Like at the moment, the structure of my day is really get up, play with the kids, get them ready for, they go to daycare or get them ready.

00:19:24.166 --> 00:19:29.196
And then I have my meditation time for half an hour and then a cycle tour.

00:19:30.321 --> 00:19:38.021
Then at nighttime, it's again, it's play with the kids and do all that kind of stuff and have it a bit of downtime meditation and go to bed.

00:19:38.082 --> 00:19:46.832
And if I break that cycle, if some nights you're out and do things like that which happens, you can then go down that stream of thinking too much about things.

00:19:46.902 --> 00:19:54.231
And during the last few years running the business you have to really improve and balance all those different parts of your life.

00:19:54.241 --> 00:19:56.741
Because if you don't, things will consume you.

00:19:56.987 --> 00:20:02.586
And I've learned the hard way that all of those things like just maybe firing someone like that, it consumes you.

00:20:02.646 --> 00:20:07.207
And you get into endless streams of thinking, what's going to happen to the rest of the team?

00:20:07.247 --> 00:20:08.257
What are they going to think?

00:20:08.257 --> 00:20:09.467
What's going to happen to that person?

00:20:09.467 --> 00:20:11.007
Are they going to have a bad reaction?

00:20:11.656 --> 00:20:12.856
Is it a bad decision?

00:20:12.906 --> 00:20:23.086
And if you have those kinds of things going on in your brain all the time, it's not very good because you, it's how you come across the team, see you being worried that Team see you being vulnerable and that's fine.

00:20:23.096 --> 00:20:30.906
I think it's very important to have a vulnerable kind of stage, but it can work against you that you're not performing at your best.

00:20:30.987 --> 00:20:36.086
So those types of situations are so important and you double down on the mindfulness strategy.

00:20:36.116 --> 00:20:39.446
And again there's all those things that come up from a strategic point of view.

00:20:39.606 --> 00:20:40.767
Maybe there's a new competitor.

00:20:40.787 --> 00:20:42.176
Competitor takes your clients.

00:20:42.366 --> 00:20:46.696
Like we lost a client last week that I've been working with for six years and I was devastated.

00:20:46.836 --> 00:20:52.487
And again, it's, I'm better at, I've seen the improvements in me better able to manage it now.

00:20:52.537 --> 00:20:56.396
I haven't thrown the toys, toys out of the pram and gone mental.

00:20:56.446 --> 00:20:59.676
I've actually been calm and say, what can we learn from this?

00:20:59.946 --> 00:21:00.426
What can we learn?

00:21:00.477 --> 00:21:02.247
This is a great opportunity to learn.

00:21:02.307 --> 00:21:05.477
Whereas previously I would have went crazy and maybe blamed someone.

00:21:05.567 --> 00:21:10.257
So again, that is testing your resolve and testing your mental side.

00:21:10.636 --> 00:21:25.251
And every business book I've read, the famous ones, how to win friends and influence people, there's a lot of different kind of business books, the sales books recently I've read, it's all goes back to the fundamentals of consciousness and mindfulness.

00:21:25.402 --> 00:21:31.031
It's being present in the moment, listen to the person you're speaking with, being totally there with that person.

00:21:31.132 --> 00:21:38.721
And then it goes back to the goals and the settings that you have in the business and goes into laws of attraction, visualization.

00:21:38.731 --> 00:21:41.701
These things will happen for you if you look at them.

00:21:41.771 --> 00:21:46.852
And I think that the big thing that I've tried to really work on is that, it's all going to work out in the end.

00:21:47.132 --> 00:21:59.365
And just have that in the back of my mind, you have, and you so many setbacks in being an entrepreneur every week, there's a setback every week, there's a landmine around the corner and it's your ability to be able to master those landmines.

00:21:59.486 --> 00:22:00.885
And that's, it's a real struggle.

00:22:00.885 --> 00:22:11.086
It's still a constant struggle, but if you don't have structures in place that allow you to stop that constant thinking, because it can consume you and it has consumed me in the past.

00:22:11.320 --> 00:22:14.431
probably will again, but it's just about trying your best to let it not.

00:22:14.461 --> 00:22:15.820
Yeah, that's really interesting.

00:22:15.820 --> 00:22:25.730
It is all about coming back again and just realizing that, yeah, even if you've developed some sort of capacity of resilience, of mindfulness, it's a lifelong process, right?

00:22:25.750 --> 00:22:31.330
Like you're going to find yourself getting stressed out or overwhelmed or short tempered, right?

00:22:31.340 --> 00:22:32.141
Happens to me all the time.

00:22:32.141 --> 00:22:38.770
I'll literally get up from meditation, go upstairs and my wife will say something to me that triggers me and I'll react.

00:22:39.020 --> 00:22:40.740
Even though I was just meditating, right?

00:22:40.740 --> 00:22:42.861
And so I think it's important to realize.

00:22:42.891 --> 00:22:43.371
I've been the

00:22:43.371 --> 00:22:43.750
same.

00:22:43.790 --> 00:22:46.151
Yeah, I've been the same and I can understand that.

00:22:46.151 --> 00:22:49.820
And I think that's the thing I've noticed is that you said to yourself, right?

00:22:49.820 --> 00:22:54.471
I'll put the meditation in, but then you need to practice the mindfulness during the day.

00:22:54.925 --> 00:23:07.945
You need to, if someone, and we go into fight or flight mode, if someone like your wife does something to you like that, or like some colleague says something to you that tricks it off, you need to be able to just go breathe and take five minutes and just go, actually.

00:23:07.976 --> 00:23:10.286
And at the end of the day, everyone is trying their best.

00:23:10.526 --> 00:23:15.336
Everyone is doing the best in this world, and if you have that kind of attitude, it's really important.

00:23:15.385 --> 00:23:22.766
And it's again, going back to the attitude of, which I really struggle with, because I have this obsessive nature to improve all the time.

00:23:22.846 --> 00:23:27.335
And I think I have this things of, this is the way the world should be.

00:23:27.336 --> 00:23:28.855
It should be lined up this way.

00:23:28.865 --> 00:23:35.046
And I find it very hard to understand that it, okay this is the way it is and you just have to deal with it.

00:23:35.135 --> 00:23:38.875
So having things in place to help you do that or is difficult.

00:23:39.006 --> 00:23:39.496
Yeah.

00:23:39.615 --> 00:23:39.955
Yeah.

00:23:40.006 --> 00:23:50.435
I really liked the point you make about having that structure to your day as a support system for building that mindfulness, building that resilience that helps you throughout your day.

00:23:50.486 --> 00:23:52.846
And I'm wondering, having two small kids.

00:23:53.050 --> 00:23:54.961
How have you managed to do that?

00:23:54.971 --> 00:24:02.161
Because I've found since my son Carter was born, it's been extremely difficult to keep that routine steady.

00:24:02.191 --> 00:24:02.201
I

00:24:02.230 --> 00:24:04.171
think it's all about priorities.

00:24:04.340 --> 00:24:11.030
And I'm just after coming out of it now because our youngest Luke is a year and a half and it's getting a bit easier.

00:24:11.050 --> 00:24:16.941
Because before that there was a lot of up during the night and not that I was up that much during the night.

00:24:16.951 --> 00:24:18.260
My good wife does that.

00:24:18.506 --> 00:24:19.205
most of the time.

00:24:19.246 --> 00:24:26.736
But it's just about making sure that your mindfulness strategy is part of your, is the number one priority that you have.

00:24:26.796 --> 00:24:28.625
And you can't take too much on.

00:24:28.695 --> 00:24:39.715
And in a working environment, when you're taking too much on and going from meeting to meeting and being busy all the time, it creates this, and from my experience, kind of constant adrenaline.

00:24:39.816 --> 00:24:42.895
And you're going, you're doing deals, you're making sure.

00:24:43.101 --> 00:24:48.711
someone is happy, you're hiring someone, you're doing all these kind of things and you're going from one to another.

00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:50.580
There is zero down time.

00:24:50.621 --> 00:24:56.510
So then when you get home, there is just like, okay, I have to go to a different frequency, to family frequency.

00:24:56.560 --> 00:25:01.111
And that's very difficult to go from this frequency down to that frequency or whatever.

00:25:01.111 --> 00:25:02.315
I don't fully understand what that's.

00:25:02.486 --> 00:25:03.355
the way I look at it.

00:25:03.586 --> 00:25:08.276
And that's, you're trying to be present with your kids, but then you're thinking, Oh, is that deal going to close?

00:25:08.365 --> 00:25:09.756
Is that person going to sign?

00:25:10.036 --> 00:25:11.625
Is that customer, they happy now?

00:25:11.675 --> 00:25:13.425
Oh, I wonder, should I have done that differently?

00:25:13.445 --> 00:25:22.996
But if my calendar during the day, if there's time to refocus and clear your head a small bit without that constant meeting it's very important.

00:25:23.476 --> 00:25:27.875
Like that's the most crucial thing I would say, is to not let it build up.

00:25:27.935 --> 00:25:32.665
Even small things, like you go to the toilet and the natural thing is to bring your phone.

00:25:32.816 --> 00:25:35.256
Oh, what can I check on the toilet when I'm in the toilet?

00:25:35.536 --> 00:25:36.965
Some email or something like that.

00:25:36.965 --> 00:25:41.105
So the strategies I have are, I don't have any, I don't have any social media.

00:25:41.395 --> 00:25:42.826
The only thing I do use is LinkedIn.

00:25:42.875 --> 00:25:45.596
I don't have any email or work stuff on my phone.

00:25:45.715 --> 00:25:47.536
So I try to stay away from that.

00:25:47.905 --> 00:25:51.306
And I'm trying to be a bit more mindful during the day.

00:25:51.425 --> 00:25:55.605
Like if I have a spare two minutes, you can go to the toilet or something like that.

00:25:55.655 --> 00:26:03.006
Just have a few deep breaths and just let the buildup of energy and adrenaline dissipate.

00:26:03.316 --> 00:26:05.546
And you become a bit more centered.

00:26:05.746 --> 00:26:08.576
And that's so much, so hard.

00:26:08.885 --> 00:26:16.425
That is really very hard and it's a constant battle and I think the phone definitely is a constant struggle of mine.

00:26:16.425 --> 00:26:36.421
Some weekends I don't touch my phone and have a great weekend and it's hard because then some people are trying to contact you or different things like that but when you don't have that as your kind of crutch If you're staying present with your kids, you just have to, in answering to your question, you just have to block a lot of things out of your life and be happy with that.

00:26:36.500 --> 00:26:44.431
Like, I try and not watch the news too much because I don't have that much influence on all it, especially the world at the moment is just a lot of worry.

00:26:44.681 --> 00:26:50.711
that, that builds up in you and you start to get angry at the world and you start to get, oh, it should be this way.

00:26:50.711 --> 00:26:51.681
It shouldn't be that way.

00:26:51.730 --> 00:26:53.601
It's like, there's not much I can do about it.

00:26:53.601 --> 00:26:55.290
And that is the way it is.

00:26:55.290 --> 00:27:00.270
And sometimes that makes conversations with people easier or more interesting because you're asking, no, what's going on in the world?

00:27:00.270 --> 00:27:02.401
Then you just get educated from different people.

00:27:02.461 --> 00:27:05.050
And you can only do a few things right as well.

00:27:05.050 --> 00:27:08.931
I suppose you, you the one thing I always think about is, I think is health is very important.

00:27:08.941 --> 00:27:19.661
So I eat very well and maybe fitness hasn't been as good with the kids, but again, it's about making headspace the priority and try and get as little as you can into your head.

00:27:19.730 --> 00:27:22.661
Like definitely not the smartest tool in the shed.

00:27:22.661 --> 00:27:26.131
So I try and limit the amount of information I have coming in.

00:27:26.181 --> 00:27:35.109
That means, not being as connected in the world, not the social media has worked wonders for me personally, and it's just from my experience, the last four or five years I haven't.

00:27:35.221 --> 00:27:44.101
really been on Facebook or Twitter, those kind of social media, because I just think it's more influx of information that, that I need, but it has to be a priority.

00:27:44.131 --> 00:27:53.609
And you have to really say that the rewards you're getting from having a clear headspace and a healthy mind, far outweigh anything else that you can do, because.

00:27:53.770 --> 00:28:07.151
Everyone wants the best for their children and the best thing I can have for my children is that I am present and there with them because I've experienced when I'm beside my phone and checking my phone and when you have your son say to you, Oh, get off your phone, Daddy.

00:28:07.250 --> 00:28:10.375
That's a pretty, you'll put down your phone if your kid says that to you.

00:28:10.375 --> 00:28:13.346
And I've experienced that and it's not a good way to be.

00:28:13.346 --> 00:28:17.205
So I try and there's been there with your kids and there's been really there.

00:28:17.246 --> 00:28:21.385
So you have to try and really focus about for me to try and really be there.

00:28:21.385 --> 00:28:22.655
But, it's easier said than done.

00:28:22.655 --> 00:28:26.076
And sometimes, I was out for dinner on Friday night and had a couple of glasses of wine.

00:28:26.226 --> 00:28:32.205
And the next day I was definitely stayed up till 12 o'clock was up at six, you just didn't get enough sleep.

00:28:32.375 --> 00:28:35.566
And you're a bit ratty and you're a bit you're not as well there.

00:28:35.566 --> 00:28:41.405
So sometimes you fall off the edge of it and it's not going too crazy, but it definitely affects you.

00:28:41.546 --> 00:28:43.266
It affects you the next day.

00:28:43.316 --> 00:28:49.576
But I think that's a, what I'm working on myself is like, that's a bit of a poor excuse to just say, Oh, I didn't get enough sleep.

00:28:49.961 --> 00:28:52.280
Had a few glass of wine, so my head isn't feeling that good.

00:28:52.280 --> 00:29:01.361
So I'll just naturally not be that present, but it's going past those kind of times and trying to be as present as you can in those difficult times that, that make the difference.

00:29:01.361 --> 00:29:09.750
Because there's plenty of times I've had very little sleep, I've had two hours sleep and I've got into work and had a fantastic day at work just because I'll focus and knuckle down.

00:29:09.800 --> 00:29:14.871
Yeah, I think there's a lot there in kind of a couple of things that stood out to me.

00:29:14.901 --> 00:29:18.330
First is just how you've prioritized.

00:29:18.586 --> 00:29:24.046
that time to practice meditation both at the beginning and at the end of the day.

00:29:24.086 --> 00:29:37.246
And even finding those two minutes here and there throughout the day, it sounds like you really think about that as like a reset or kind of like a flushing out of the buildup of information, of stress, of worry, of meeting, right?

00:29:37.296 --> 00:29:40.046
And just using that as like a flushing out of the system.

00:29:40.105 --> 00:29:41.385
Is that kind of what you're saying?

00:29:41.425 --> 00:29:42.486
Yeah, 100%.

00:29:42.546 --> 00:29:45.036
And look, I am no angel here, Adam.

00:29:45.346 --> 00:29:47.145
This doesn't work out every day for me.

00:29:47.205 --> 00:29:56.425
Every day is a new day, especially I think it's only been the last two months where I've been pretty vigilant on the one hour per day meditation.

00:29:56.506 --> 00:29:59.885
And I've also been doing a couple of meditation courses.

00:29:59.925 --> 00:30:01.445
I think when you've gone.

00:30:01.576 --> 00:30:10.826
Over the last like six or seven years, my meditation journey started out from a very low base and continued for a very low base for a good while sporadic meditation.

00:30:10.885 --> 00:30:19.846
But then as you're getting better, it's very interesting to understand the theory and the theory about the chakras and theory about the mind versus.

00:30:20.066 --> 00:30:40.155
yourself and being a witness and all that kind of good stuff that get you on to the next level because then it's, you think you're getting a bit of a psychology degree and just finding out more about yourself and finding about more about even your childhood and your upbringing and what people would say to you and say, Oh, you should be doing this.

00:30:40.175 --> 00:30:41.816
You should get a college education.

00:30:41.816 --> 00:30:42.665
You should do this.

00:30:42.685 --> 00:30:43.405
You should do that.

00:30:43.455 --> 00:30:45.925
And it's the parent versus child in you that's.

00:30:46.391 --> 00:30:53.141
The constant battle, but it's just understanding that and, walking down the street saying to yourself, Oh, I'm thinking now, okay.

00:30:53.171 --> 00:31:00.691
Just being able to understand that you're thinking now is massive progress than personally where I was a few years ago.

00:31:00.711 --> 00:31:03.080
But getting back to your question, really, it's not.

00:31:03.500 --> 00:31:13.290
And I try to do it every day, the hour meditation sometimes doesn't work out, especially at the weekends where you naturally you're, I think psychologically, sometimes you eat a bit worse.

00:31:13.691 --> 00:31:15.230
I know I do myself.

00:31:15.230 --> 00:31:16.851
You maybe just go, Oh, it's the weekend.

00:31:16.861 --> 00:31:18.461
Like don't have to do the meditation.

00:31:18.461 --> 00:31:20.661
And even this weekend, I didn't do any meditation.

00:31:20.721 --> 00:31:22.780
And this morning I did a 30 minute one.

00:31:22.780 --> 00:31:26.401
And it was definitely not as good as previously, but very good to do it.

00:31:26.540 --> 00:31:27.080
And you get.

00:31:27.221 --> 00:31:33.111
back into it again, but it's, you always have these little hurdles that you're trying to improve and increase.

00:31:33.171 --> 00:31:45.980
And I think taking the couple of minutes each day to between meetings or something like that is something I'm nowhere near there because there's a lot of days where I just forget totally about, about doing that, but it definitely is.

00:31:46.030 --> 00:31:48.240
I know when I do it and it's.

00:31:48.381 --> 00:31:53.510
Sometimes importantly when you get in that fight or flight mode, if you get in an argument with someone, I'll notice it myself.

00:31:53.510 --> 00:31:56.621
I'll just go, Oh, actually, yeah, I've learned something here.

00:31:56.621 --> 00:32:00.740
I know how to, I know how to deal with this now, and you just go, okay, take a step back.

00:32:00.790 --> 00:32:06.055
And that's at those moments, you get so much confidence in yourself and you go, wow, I've made progress.

00:32:06.236 --> 00:32:08.836
I've made incredible strides here that I'm able to do that.

00:32:08.855 --> 00:32:10.266
Yeah, I totally agree.

00:32:10.316 --> 00:32:15.266
I think it's really powerful when you start to just notice the thoughts.

00:32:15.286 --> 00:32:18.685
Notice the story that's going through your head all the time, right?

00:32:18.695 --> 00:32:23.705
Like, I really resonated a lot with what you were saying about the way that things should be, right?

00:32:23.746 --> 00:32:25.285
Like, there's some right way that things should be.

00:32:26.256 --> 00:32:30.026
And it's either I'm not doing it that way or the world is not that way.

00:32:30.026 --> 00:32:40.145
And so if only it was that way, everything would be great, so I have thought a lot about that and meditation has really helped me to notice that story that I have.

00:32:40.195 --> 00:32:44.165
And that there's like, I'm explaining myself in my own head.

00:32:44.165 --> 00:32:44.779
I'm like explaining.

00:32:44.780 --> 00:32:47.780
Explaining myself to be like, look, I'm doing it the right way.

00:32:47.830 --> 00:32:51.101
And just noticing that gives me a degree of freedom, right?

00:32:51.131 --> 00:33:00.760
I'm observing and I don't need to be completely bought in and believe every single thing, I think, and that gives me a lot of freedom to look at things that happen, right?

00:33:00.760 --> 00:33:08.651
I gave the example earlier of I'll be sitting in meditation and come upstairs and then get triggered by my wife or something that happens with my son or whatever.

00:33:08.711 --> 00:33:10.631
I have a tendency to get pretty defensive.

00:33:10.671 --> 00:33:12.560
When something happens, I'm like, no, it wasn't me.

00:33:12.560 --> 00:33:13.161
I didn't do it.

00:33:13.226 --> 00:33:18.776
I didn't do it, but even when I react very quickly, I realize that's not who I want to be, right?

00:33:18.806 --> 00:33:20.905
That's not how I should have reacted, right?

00:33:20.935 --> 00:33:22.645
And I'll go and I'll say, look, sorry.

00:33:22.645 --> 00:33:24.435
I was being a jerk, like five minutes later.

00:33:24.486 --> 00:33:30.056
That would have taken me like two weeks before if I even was willing to acknowledge it, right?

00:33:30.056 --> 00:33:32.516
And so just that type of self awareness.

00:33:32.691 --> 00:33:36.580
both in the moment, but also just like overall of like, how am I showing up?

00:33:36.611 --> 00:33:38.000
Is that how I want to be showing up?

00:33:38.040 --> 00:33:45.181
And just checking in and trying to keep that in alignment is constant work, but also quite cool when I start to find times that it does happen.

00:33:45.250 --> 00:33:45.570
Yeah.

00:33:45.881 --> 00:33:46.131
Yeah.

00:33:46.181 --> 00:33:46.990
I couldn't agree more.

00:33:46.990 --> 00:33:50.060
And I think It's about not being too hard on yourself as well.

00:33:50.101 --> 00:33:59.750
And just see the mini kind of things that you're improved on and see how are you now versus this time last year, even, or this time last month to see those small kind of games.

00:33:59.951 --> 00:34:09.541
And there's times when you'll go back into being not there or in your thinking brain, but it's about not being too hard on yourself as well, I think, and just taking it.

00:34:09.956 --> 00:34:10.735
Day by day.

00:34:10.846 --> 00:34:17.126
It's a new day today and you can't do anything about the past anyway So you might as well just focus on the present and how you show.

00:34:17.206 --> 00:34:17.615
Yeah,

00:34:17.695 --> 00:34:18.056
Totally

00:34:18.056 --> 00:34:18.396
agree

00:34:18.465 --> 00:34:19.686
That's a really great story.

00:34:19.686 --> 00:34:24.826
And I really like how you talk about finding your own values, right?

00:34:24.835 --> 00:34:33.746
Developing self awareness over what you care about what your purpose is and what your values are so that you can move Your life in that direction.

00:34:34.235 --> 00:34:44.614
I'm curious as to how that kind of came about for You And if there are any specific practices that you'd recommend to the audience to start thinking about that in their own life.

00:34:44.885 --> 00:34:45.534
Yeah, sure.

00:34:46.324 --> 00:34:57.925
I think it's very hard in when you're working in a nine to five job and you potentially have kids and you potentially have other requirements to actually get a bit of time to think.

00:34:58.304 --> 00:35:10.905
And it goes back to the life we live in at the moment where a lot of people are constantly checking social media, checking the news, and you don't actually take a step back and to really think.

00:35:11.244 --> 00:35:19.585
In starting the business, when you have to create a set of values that you abide by, it gets you time to think and step back.

00:35:19.775 --> 00:35:30.764
And I can't remember what book I was reading at the time or what influenced me, but it was basically like Googling the values of businesses and how they came about doing this.

00:35:30.815 --> 00:35:36.454
So it wasn't any rocket science, but then it goes back to like, what are your real values as a person?

00:35:36.974 --> 00:35:40.085
And then it goes back for me, it went back to my childhood.

00:35:40.715 --> 00:35:53.574
Like my parents ran a bed and breakfast in the West of Ireland, the values that they had, they, I remember vividly my dad could have overcharged someone by two pounds.

00:35:54.014 --> 00:36:18.806
And he would have drove 30 miles to give the money back, these are transparency and doing the right thing and constantly times of customer service, when someone would be up at maybe 12 o'clock and they would be, It wouldn't be in time for breakfast and my dad would make them breakfast anyway and just be totally nice about it because he's the nicest person in the world.

00:36:19.195 --> 00:36:30.096
But these are things that is ingrained in you and ingrained and it comes out when you're starting a business like this and you really want to focus on that.

00:36:30.135 --> 00:36:37.996
And then you have some great young people like yourself, Adam, when you started at Google, I really wanted you To develop into being a great person.

00:36:38.005 --> 00:36:40.766
First of all, that's the same with the young people here in the business.

00:36:40.806 --> 00:36:44.056
I just want them to learn, have fun and grow.

00:36:44.115 --> 00:36:46.255
And if that's a pub lift, great.

00:36:46.266 --> 00:36:49.896
If it's not great, the number one focus is for people to grow.

00:36:49.985 --> 00:36:58.846
And when, practically when you go through that, you get like a lot of energy from it and you get so much enthusiasm.

00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:02.860
into the business that you're like, Oh, we can create a real difference here.

00:37:02.891 --> 00:37:20.110
And if I can learn more about what's good in life and trying to make people happy and enjoying the craftsmanship of the work rather than the end result, you look at a carpenter and what, how they make something and how they fine tune it.

00:37:20.380 --> 00:37:22.731
Like a big thing for me is efficiency.

00:37:23.481 --> 00:37:28.670
Like, I love being efficient in everything we do in the business, but home life.

00:37:28.690 --> 00:37:38.260
And it's about like, I want people to work nine to five maximum and less if possible, because you get to spend more time with your friends.

00:37:38.291 --> 00:37:44.260
You spend more time with your family, more time doing hobbies, rather than, excuse me, having to work.

00:37:44.300 --> 00:38:02.885
But I found work was in a, ability for me to be able to bring out my spiritual teaching to other people or bring out my values and what other if my purpose in life was to have a really big impact in the world and help people.

00:38:03.695 --> 00:38:07.166
improve themselves and live happier, healthier lives.

00:38:07.175 --> 00:38:19.166
I've had a lot of mental health issues in, in, in our family, like a cousin of mine committed suicide at 25, which so sad, and it's just like, he was a really good friend of mine as well.

00:38:19.166 --> 00:38:21.266
And you just see how people suffer.

00:38:21.485 --> 00:38:36.786
And if there's any platform like this, even our discussion now, if there's any platform that invigorates someone and says, Look, I, I can have an impact in the world, or I can do that, or I can help people out in some kind of way.

00:38:36.865 --> 00:38:41.255
Then we're doing a great job because mental health is such a, so important.

00:38:41.255 --> 00:38:44.436
And we're seeing it these days that people are really suffering at the moment.

00:38:44.655 --> 00:38:49.096
And it's going back to that structure of the day and having those things in place.

00:38:49.115 --> 00:38:52.945
And like, we're back, we're lucky enough we're back in the office here the last couple of months.

00:38:52.945 --> 00:38:55.536
And it's really been great because we have a lot of young people that.

00:38:56.076 --> 00:39:00.695
Like being part of a family, like being part of a bit of a tribe, and that's very important.

00:39:00.706 --> 00:39:06.806
Those social aspects as well are really important, and it's the things, the checking in with people.

00:39:06.936 --> 00:39:07.945
How are you doing today?

00:39:08.065 --> 00:39:08.795
Are you okay?

00:39:08.815 --> 00:39:10.606
Are you getting enough rest?

00:39:10.615 --> 00:39:11.565
Are you getting enough sleep?

00:39:11.666 --> 00:39:13.096
Are you getting enough, Do an exercise this week.

00:39:13.126 --> 00:39:14.306
Yeah, don't worry about that client.

00:39:14.326 --> 00:39:16.596
Make sure you're getting exercise.

00:39:16.706 --> 00:39:23.166
That may be wrong, I'm really focused about making sure that people have the right tools to go about that.

00:39:23.166 --> 00:39:45.266
And if we're the values that have in the business, like we've 11 values in the business, one of them is, Consciousness, healthy headspace, another is efficiency, family spirit, these kind of things, but they're all, I think, trying to improve as a person and that resonates with the customer that's going to make more revenue, save time for a customer, must be more reliable to the customer.

00:39:45.275 --> 00:39:50.565
And it's about having autonomy to improve a process, for instance, talks about craftsmanship.

00:39:50.621 --> 00:40:00.260
If we're building the kind of product that they're building, the best product fit for the customer, it mightn't be the best product, but the customer is gaining the most out of it.

00:40:00.371 --> 00:40:01.541
And it's like that.

00:40:02.001 --> 00:40:06.800
If you have that customer first kind of mindset, how can you have the most impact on the customer?

00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:10.771
You can do that for yourself really, because you're like, how can I have the most impact on my life?

00:40:10.851 --> 00:40:12.931
And it's about having that headspace.

00:40:12.945 --> 00:40:17.306
Space to be able to think and really go well, where is my life going?

00:40:17.306 --> 00:40:18.085
What do I want to do?

00:40:18.085 --> 00:40:19.376
Because anything is possible.

00:40:19.376 --> 00:40:21.925
You can achieve anything in your life if you just focus on it.

00:40:21.925 --> 00:40:22.226
Really.

00:40:22.436 --> 00:40:22.585
Yeah.

00:40:22.585 --> 00:40:28.405
I really like this idea of being clear on your values and really infusing.

00:40:28.550 --> 00:40:31.090
All the actions that you take with those values, right?

00:40:31.101 --> 00:40:36.650
It sounds like you have those values well agreed upon within the company and everyone's bought into that.

00:40:36.681 --> 00:40:41.731
How do you check in to see if you all, you and your team are living those values?

00:40:41.771 --> 00:40:43.010
Yeah, that's a good question.

00:40:43.010 --> 00:40:50.271
And I think one of the things I remember having a friend, a discussion with my friend about a year and a half ago and I was like saying like, look, I'm down the spiritual path and I really love it.

00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:53.610
And I think I can have more impact on the world, like doing something else.

00:40:53.610 --> 00:40:56.201
Maybe I should quit Publift and do this kind of stuff.

00:40:56.221 --> 00:40:58.851
And he said, why don't you just intertwine the two of them?

00:40:58.880 --> 00:40:59.751
So that's what I've done.

00:41:00.041 --> 00:41:12.760
I've said let's just, and as we get bigger, hopefully it might provide a platform where, it could be an opera telling, telling Oprah how I'm trying to do this in business and how I'm trying to impact people's lives as well.

00:41:12.771 --> 00:41:12.791
Yeah.

00:41:13.206 --> 00:41:14.005
for the greater good.

00:41:14.045 --> 00:41:16.096
So maybe there's an opportunity to do that.

00:41:16.206 --> 00:41:20.416
But in creating the values, we have gone through a lot of iterations of values.

00:41:20.445 --> 00:41:26.786
The latest one was about three months ago during the lockdown, actually, in Sydney, that we refocused the business.

00:41:26.786 --> 00:41:28.295
And we said, what are we doing here?

00:41:28.295 --> 00:41:32.451
What's The value we were creating for our client and what do we want as a team?

00:41:32.490 --> 00:41:34.550
So the values were created by the team.

00:41:34.621 --> 00:41:35.431
It wasn't me.

00:41:35.481 --> 00:41:49.030
It was actually, we did about a two month intensive two hour session a week where we discussed all of these values and put them down on paper and discussed them, started off with 20 or 30 and whittled down to 11.

00:41:49.181 --> 00:41:53.170
And then from that, they've really started to intertwine in the business.

00:41:53.170 --> 00:41:54.061
And we actually use.

00:41:54.215 --> 00:42:00.106
We are one on one template now uses these 11 principles and saying the number one is delivering service.

00:42:00.166 --> 00:42:03.255
And we're Oh how have we delivered service in the last couple of weeks?

00:42:03.255 --> 00:42:05.135
How, where would you see you're at with that?

00:42:05.376 --> 00:42:06.525
Have you a healthy mindset?

00:42:06.525 --> 00:42:11.175
So it's driving that accountability within the businesses is very important.

00:42:11.255 --> 00:42:14.356
And we're incorporating it now into 360 degree feedbacks.

00:42:14.556 --> 00:42:18.065
And so it's all based on, on, on the values in the business.

00:42:18.065 --> 00:42:30.425
And then when the decisions, and this is practical, when decisions have to be made, about a certain product or something that happens with the customer, we make a mistake and it makes the customer decrease their revenue by a couple of grand.

00:42:30.465 --> 00:42:31.655
Like what does our value say?

00:42:31.706 --> 00:42:35.766
Our value is we totally have trust and transparency in our DNA.

00:42:35.795 --> 00:42:40.626
So that means we tell them exactly what it is and then we just go I think this is the right thing to do.

00:42:40.766 --> 00:42:46.576
We'll give the money back or we do whatever, but it's all goes back to that stems from the values in the business.

00:42:46.626 --> 00:42:49.255
And values to me in the business, aren't just things written down.

00:42:49.266 --> 00:42:53.175
They have to just be like, it all goes back to practical examples.

00:42:53.405 --> 00:42:56.115
And we've done that in our weekly team meetings as well.

00:42:56.126 --> 00:43:05.706
We've given them examples of where we've shown our values or we did something on vulnerability or something like that and went around the room and tell me about a time when you've been vulnerable.

00:43:05.755 --> 00:43:07.811
So all those kinds of things, you have to live in the moment.

00:43:07.811 --> 00:43:14.690
And that's my biggest role I have is to always make sure people are aware of that.

00:43:14.701 --> 00:43:16.871
And that's the problem with scaling up the business as well.

00:43:16.920 --> 00:43:18.780
We've got about 25 in the business now.

00:43:18.780 --> 00:43:21.641
We're probably going to go expand into Europe next year.

00:43:21.701 --> 00:43:24.840
And you get more people into the business then.

00:43:25.365 --> 00:43:26.826
But it's about how we do that.

00:43:26.925 --> 00:43:34.846
And it's a big kind of challenge, but again, it goes back to giving people autonomy and giving people the ability to say, Oh, should we change our values?

00:43:34.846 --> 00:43:35.766
Are the values correct?

00:43:35.835 --> 00:43:37.706
And be constantly asking that.

00:43:37.865 --> 00:43:42.876
And as well as that, I'm pretty proud that we implemented profit share this quarter for the first time.

00:43:42.945 --> 00:43:46.045
And that has given people pure autonomy in the business.

00:43:46.161 --> 00:43:49.090
that they can go should we spend this money here on something?

00:43:49.141 --> 00:43:52.541
That's going to impact our bottom line and all those kinds of things.

00:43:52.570 --> 00:43:59.061
People can see why the values are in place, because one of the values is building a sustainable business model.

00:43:59.251 --> 00:44:07.760
Is, can we go down some other product avenue that is going to sustain our business and sustain the lives of our customers, because we've got over 230 customers now.

00:44:07.811 --> 00:44:13.101
So we have to make sure that our business is intact and state cutting edge technology for them too.

00:44:13.610 --> 00:44:21.851
Thrive and our mission statement and vision is basically to allow publishers to thrive and survive for a long time So it's built into that.

00:44:22.050 --> 00:44:41.365
Yeah, so it sounds like the values are really in everything you do And i've been trying to align myself with my values I'm, pretty clear on my values personal values learning and growing creating opportunity for myself my family and others building connection between myself and others and by bringing others together.

00:44:41.416 --> 00:44:46.326
Those are the things that give me immense energy and that I want to be spending my time on.

00:44:46.396 --> 00:44:50.945
And I've been trying to build the habit of really checking in.

00:44:51.056 --> 00:44:57.005
Checking in and seeing how much I am or am not doing that in my work, in my life.

00:44:57.005 --> 00:45:00.746
And there are many ways that I am and then there are many areas where I could be doing it more.

00:45:00.826 --> 00:45:04.346
And so I really like that you have that within your one on one template.

00:45:04.585 --> 00:45:19.936
within your team meetings, the way that you make decisions, the way that you incorporate the team in making those decisions and really giving them ownership literally with profit sharing and figuratively with the values and the whole thing to really embody and live those.

00:45:20.275 --> 00:45:21.896
And so I think that's really cool.

00:45:21.956 --> 00:45:28.025
Another thing I really like and would love to hear a little bit more about is how you think about using this.

00:45:28.331 --> 00:45:35.951
entrepreneurial path to develop and make the, create the impact that you want to create on the world, right?

00:45:35.981 --> 00:45:38.521
Because I've had this thought a lot as well.

00:45:38.780 --> 00:45:43.641
As you mentioned, I am very attuned to the comforts of corporate America.

00:45:43.990 --> 00:45:45.681
I have gotten quite comfortable.

00:45:46.101 --> 00:46:00.530
And in many times in my career, I thought that I needed to leave Google and I needed to leave, a corporate safe job and take a risk as an entrepreneur to truly make an impact and to develop into the person I wanted to be.

00:46:00.581 --> 00:46:08.101
And to some degree, I really still do want to be an entrepreneur, but I've found that I am an entrepreneur.

00:46:08.260 --> 00:46:13.471
I don't need to wait until some future time when I quit my job to be an entrepreneur.

00:46:13.541 --> 00:46:24.481
I can be an entrepreneur right now and I can live in alignment with my values right now within my job at Google with this podcast, which I can do on the side and that's entrepreneurial in itself.

00:46:24.541 --> 00:46:37.340
I'd really love to hear more about how you think about your work as the ground with which to Build your self awareness, your skill, your leadership skills and to create the impact that you want to create in the world.

00:46:37.471 --> 00:46:41.710
Yeah, I suppose it's like we have 25 team members.

00:46:41.710 --> 00:46:43.780
We've got 230 clients.

00:46:43.831 --> 00:46:48.240
We've got now, the big focus on my business, my part of the business.

00:46:48.525 --> 00:46:54.076
is not too much day to day, but it's PR it's people and it's strategy.

00:46:54.195 --> 00:47:10.900
And so if I can create, one of the best places to work in the world for people, if we can have structures in place, like, I'm pretty, I look at Basecamp and what they've done and the founder, Jason Freud, and like those guys are just incredible what they've done.

00:47:10.900 --> 00:47:15.740
And I, they've pioneered kind of the tech kind of self funded kind of startup.

00:47:15.740 --> 00:47:18.630
They had profit share for a while with their employees.

00:47:18.681 --> 00:47:20.701
They pay their employees are incredibly well.

00:47:20.701 --> 00:47:21.371
We actually got a.

00:47:22.010 --> 00:47:24.721
The head of strategy, give us advice on product strategy.

00:47:24.721 --> 00:47:28.360
And we've incorporated the jobs to be done philosophy in our product strategy.

00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:30.061
So that was really useful.

00:47:30.411 --> 00:47:40.170
And I get really enthusiastic about companies like Southwest Airlines, which a lot of their values are underdoing the competition and being profitable from where it go.

00:47:40.170 --> 00:47:43.360
And it's not about just looking for an exit for Publift.

00:47:43.391 --> 00:47:48.411
It's about creating like it's a self funded business, so not answerable to anyone else.

00:47:48.561 --> 00:47:50.840
Can just do what we think is the best way to go down.

00:47:50.840 --> 00:47:54.126
Obviously, you've got responsibility to your clients and to the team.

00:47:54.135 --> 00:47:54.945
But that's it.

00:47:55.246 --> 00:48:02.960
So you can create this kind of journey, and I can use this as a platform to share my experiences.

00:48:03.021 --> 00:48:06.021
I never want to share a gospel and say, this is such a should do.

00:48:06.110 --> 00:48:10.010
All I can say is this is what has worked out for me and my team.

00:48:10.146 --> 00:48:12.846
And I want to create incredible wealth for our team.

00:48:12.885 --> 00:48:14.496
I want to create autonomy.

00:48:14.496 --> 00:48:15.496
I want them to have fun.

00:48:15.585 --> 00:48:23.905
I often thought about going out and maybe doing being a, an advisor or being a consultant to companies and let them do it.

00:48:23.936 --> 00:48:26.596
And, but again you're saying, this is what you should do.

00:48:26.606 --> 00:48:28.456
This is what you should incorporate in the business.

00:48:28.565 --> 00:48:31.326
But if I have a working example, cause.

00:48:31.465 --> 00:48:33.746
Most of the time you spend most of your time at work, really.

00:48:33.746 --> 00:48:35.436
That's what most of the population do.

00:48:35.485 --> 00:48:50.096
So if you can create an environment where your work is fun and invigorating, and you can share that with the rest of the world maybe it's a, it's an impact that, that other companies can have that, that they can go there's a lot of businesses already doing this.

00:48:50.146 --> 00:48:52.036
It's give autonomy to employees.

00:48:52.036 --> 00:48:54.065
I've got so many friends that just are.

00:48:54.240 --> 00:48:56.141
Punching the numbers at work, go to work.

00:48:56.141 --> 00:48:57.501
And they say lockdown is great.

00:48:57.501 --> 00:49:01.411
Cause they can just do like two hours a day, because they don't have to do much more work.

00:49:01.460 --> 00:49:06.990
And, but their brain maybe isn't getting challenged enough in those kinds of environments.

00:49:07.041 --> 00:49:14.110
So maybe it's a change in what we I can maybe foster a change in, in, in the doing that.

00:49:14.110 --> 00:49:19.041
And maybe we create different products, maybe create different going to different industries or something like that.

00:49:19.110 --> 00:49:22.090
That that you can create that change as well.

00:49:22.161 --> 00:49:25.090
So look I'm not really too sure to be honest with you, Adam.

00:49:25.090 --> 00:49:31.190
I'm just trying to improve myself and try to do the best, the way I think it is.

00:49:31.190 --> 00:49:39.431
And if that's an opportunity to teach people the right way of doing things and take responsibility of their lives and that way.

00:49:39.570 --> 00:49:51.561
Maybe you can create a bit of PR about being on this podcast with you about doing other similar type of podcast that it's not all about making the most money possible that, that seems to fuel corporate America.

00:49:51.570 --> 00:50:02.960
It's not like I lived in America and I didn't like that when it was people judge you, but where you went to school, people judge you about what social class you're in, how much money you have, like, I don't have any care for any of that kind of stuff.

00:50:03.030 --> 00:50:06.181
And maybe if there's more people creating businesses that.

00:50:06.646 --> 00:50:10.565
Share wealth with the team and share it's not all about the end result.

00:50:10.606 --> 00:50:15.096
Like people ask me, even the team asked me like, what's the end result here, Colin, what do you want to do?

00:50:15.175 --> 00:50:24.286
And I just go like, look, I'm still figuring it out, but I just focus on trying to improve and trying to improve the value that we create for our customers.

00:50:24.485 --> 00:50:25.976
is the most important thing.

00:50:25.976 --> 00:50:29.795
And if we're adding value to customers, I want to add value to more customers.

00:50:29.806 --> 00:50:31.615
So that means getting more customers.

00:50:31.666 --> 00:50:32.115
Yes.

00:50:32.166 --> 00:50:34.675
But I want to do it in a conscious way.

00:50:34.675 --> 00:50:41.826
And I want to make sure that every team member that we bring on this journey with us is adding value and they're adaptable.

00:50:41.835 --> 00:50:42.585
They're changeable.

00:50:42.606 --> 00:50:44.896
They're all the right values that we need.

00:50:44.911 --> 00:50:54.481
To get us where we want to go, because if you have one bad egg on the bus, it's sets the business totally back, so recruitment is so important to, to, to doing those kinds of things.

00:50:54.501 --> 00:51:03.291
Yeah, I don't know if I really answered your question about where it can have the impact on the world, but I definitely think it's.

00:51:03.451 --> 00:51:06.550
It's like maybe being a school teacher or something like that.

00:51:06.550 --> 00:51:11.181
If you have a lot of kids that come every year, you can have the impact and you can help their lives.

00:51:11.181 --> 00:51:18.320
I definitely, I've written a few articles and I wrote one article a few weeks ago about my constant struggle with digital screens.

00:51:18.380 --> 00:51:21.061
And I make money through people clicking on ads.

00:51:22.606 --> 00:51:24.905
So this is a constant battle with me.

00:51:24.905 --> 00:51:32.726
I'm trying to align the spiritual kind of practice, not being on social media, not being on my phone, whereas I make money through that.

00:51:32.766 --> 00:51:32.985
Yeah.

00:51:32.985 --> 00:51:34.496
That's a total contradiction.

00:51:34.606 --> 00:51:40.925
But if I'm not out there saying that it is like you, you maybe watch the social dilemma on Netflix.

00:51:41.221 --> 00:51:44.501
It's scary what, what is going on out there.

00:51:44.501 --> 00:51:50.590
And it's definitely like, I really do like to create a good user experience for the users of websites.

00:51:50.661 --> 00:51:55.670
I want to have a targeted advertisement that, that works and adds value to their.

00:51:55.740 --> 00:51:56.791
internet experience.

00:51:56.981 --> 00:52:03.931
I am not a big believer of big flashy ads and manipulation and getting revenue growth in the short term.

00:52:03.931 --> 00:52:08.731
It's about long term creation and on ongoing adding value.

00:52:08.791 --> 00:52:12.670
And I definitely not an advocacy of spending more.

00:52:12.940 --> 00:52:13.581
time online.

00:52:13.701 --> 00:52:17.130
The average think person spends four hours online now.

00:52:17.231 --> 00:52:20.820
That's a lot, if I'm using a business ad and I'm saying, Oh that's great.

00:52:20.990 --> 00:52:22.530
I want people to spend more online.

00:52:22.550 --> 00:52:30.871
I don't, I definitely want people to be enjoying their life and being out in nature and doing all those good things rather than.

00:52:31.081 --> 00:52:32.831
and spending too much time online.

00:52:32.880 --> 00:52:35.831
Like, the internet has made massive efficiencies in our lives.

00:52:35.891 --> 00:52:39.161
It's, previously you would have had to go to the bank to do stuff.

00:52:39.190 --> 00:52:41.240
You stand in line to get there.

00:52:41.240 --> 00:52:44.601
Now you can do it in a couple of minutes on your mobile phone strings, for instance.

00:52:44.601 --> 00:52:54.280
And it's been massively useful, but I definitely don't want to get totally obsessive with more money and more going through that.

00:52:54.280 --> 00:52:56.195
I think it's not the right thing to do.

00:52:56.195 --> 00:52:58.146
It goes back down to that, back down to the values.

00:52:58.206 --> 00:52:58.576
Yeah.

00:52:58.766 --> 00:53:13.025
So with regards to this idea of building wealth this podcast is all about financial independence, but creating a life that you love and pursuing financial independence in a way that you're doing it mindfully, you're not in a rush to get there.

00:53:13.056 --> 00:53:16.405
What does pursuing financial independence mean to you?

00:53:16.436 --> 00:53:16.686
Yeah,

00:53:16.686 --> 00:53:17.556
It's a good question.

00:53:17.556 --> 00:53:22.920
I suppose when you start the business, you definitely see the steps that you The sun, sun and the stars.

00:53:22.920 --> 00:53:30.411
And you, you say, wow, incredible to have a couple of million dollars or sell the business or do those things like that.

00:53:30.451 --> 00:53:35.150
But what I found in over the years is that the wealth I have created.

00:53:35.365 --> 00:53:38.005
Is not much in, in my pocket.

00:53:38.005 --> 00:53:38.936
Any of that's for sure.

00:53:38.965 --> 00:53:43.340
Hopefully that's gonna change, but it's definitely the wealth of friendships I've made.

00:53:43.460 --> 00:53:47.126
I know it sounds corny, but like I've incredible clients that are friends.

00:53:47.195 --> 00:53:58.056
We lost a client last week and we're working with six years and they're still incredibly good friends because they, I'm so grateful to them for giving us the opportunity when I was a small business starting out.

00:53:58.206 --> 00:53:59.731
And then there's other partners.

00:54:00.436 --> 00:54:06.396
People at Google, Pubmatic, Rubicon, all these kind of people are great people and you learn so much from them.

00:54:06.465 --> 00:54:09.755
And then there's other entrepreneurs you meet along the way.

00:54:09.755 --> 00:54:12.885
And I can literally go to any city in the world basically.

00:54:12.885 --> 00:54:17.306
I can visit a client, I could visit a partner, I could visit a competitor.

00:54:17.445 --> 00:54:19.436
All this kind of stuff is just incredible.

00:54:19.655 --> 00:54:20.826
And that's well to me.

00:54:21.436 --> 00:54:24.956
On the I've always I did a jobs to be done philosophy.

00:54:25.065 --> 00:54:27.746
I don't know if you're aware of the product philosophy jobs to be done.

00:54:27.746 --> 00:54:31.956
So it's basically revolving around the job rather than a product.

00:54:32.076 --> 00:54:32.815
a persona.

00:54:32.826 --> 00:54:35.556
So for instance, you have an option to go for lunch.

00:54:35.565 --> 00:54:41.126
You could get a smoothie, you could get a sandwich, or you could get a salad.

00:54:41.135 --> 00:54:46.965
So it all, it's all about satisfying that, that job that you, you hire the product to do.

00:54:47.016 --> 00:54:53.045
So I built that for myself and the jobs to be done philosophy I have is that I want to grow.

00:54:53.056 --> 00:55:04.240
I want to have an impact on, Anything I learned that I want to reciprocate that to the rest of my team and maybe the rest of my clients, but I also want to be able to be in a financial position to do whatever I want in terms of experience.

00:55:04.240 --> 00:55:12.431
So if Ireland are in the World Cup final, which I dunno will ever happen, but I want to be there and if it costs me$50,000, I want to be there.

00:55:12.460 --> 00:55:14.740
Those are the kind of things I like in life.

00:55:15.061 --> 00:55:28.231
And just to be able to experience any of that, I'm not a material possession kind of person, I fancy dinners, I prefer a home cooked meal rather than anything else, or a takeaway of Portuguese chicken is very good too.

00:55:28.271 --> 00:55:36.240
I don't anyway think about spending money, I don't have a flashcard, it doesn't interest me, any of that kind of stuff, just experiencing it.

00:55:36.240 --> 00:55:47.661
experiences interest me going out to visit you and your baby or something like that and having the financial independence to be able to do that is, yeah, something that I'd really focus on.

00:55:47.661 --> 00:55:54.911
So it's, I suppose when I started out, it was just about getting a job that I enjoyed and it's still about that.

00:55:54.911 --> 00:55:57.181
And I think if you focus on.

00:55:57.436 --> 00:56:17.905
The wealth creation side of things, it's a bad angle to focus on from my experience, because if I'm just thinking about the customer and creating more value for them, the, it's like what I said to the team, you focus on the process, you focus on refining the process and the structure rather than the goals, rather than the financial rewards, rather than the end result.

00:56:18.036 --> 00:56:22.096
So I don't really think about the financial independence or.

00:56:22.990 --> 00:56:29.400
Sorry, I know your podcast is about that, but I don't really think too much about that, to be honest with you, Adam.

00:56:29.590 --> 00:56:32.820
It sounds like you're enjoying the process, right?

00:56:32.831 --> 00:56:36.811
Like, this idea of craftsmanship has come up a few times, right?

00:56:36.931 --> 00:56:40.721
Focusing on the process, honing your skills, getting better a little bit.

00:56:40.936 --> 00:56:41.556
by little bit.

00:56:41.615 --> 00:56:47.365
I'd love to hear your thoughts on that because I know that you fancy yourself a doer, right?

00:56:47.396 --> 00:56:52.396
Like you have an idea of what you want to create or what you want to do and you just go and do it.

00:56:52.445 --> 00:56:59.596
I have the idea and then I think about it a lot and then some more and then some more and then maybe I do some, right?

00:56:59.815 --> 00:57:04.246
And but I really do resonate a lot with this idea of craftsmanship and aspire.

00:57:04.346 --> 00:57:05.856
I'm an aspiring craftsman.

00:57:05.981 --> 00:57:10.240
But I'd love to hear just how you think about that in, in improving yourself, right?

00:57:10.311 --> 00:57:15.460
Yeah, I think I'll go back to that other thing about, it's about financial independence for one second.

00:57:15.460 --> 00:57:16.780
I just have a thought on that.

00:57:16.880 --> 00:57:28.490
It's not that I don't worry about like buying a house for my family or, making sure that we're financially stable because I keep getting from my wife, are we going to get money out of the business now?

00:57:28.990 --> 00:57:31.440
Oh no, we're just going to put some more money into the business.

00:57:32.005 --> 00:57:32.856
It would be okay.

00:57:32.936 --> 00:57:35.096
So I definitely have worries about that.

00:57:35.096 --> 00:57:42.436
And if the business kind of folded up in a couple of weeks time or something happened or there's some kind of change, it's definitely a worry.

00:57:42.556 --> 00:57:46.655
But again, I suppose it just goes back into your headspace at the time.

00:57:46.655 --> 00:57:49.735
And if you continue the process you'll get there in the end.

00:57:49.755 --> 00:57:54.215
And it's that mindset of just it's all going to work out in the end.

00:57:54.326 --> 00:57:56.726
And it's because I'm putting good energy out in the world.

00:57:56.726 --> 00:57:58.795
I'm being a good person and doing all that kind of stuff.

00:57:58.795 --> 00:58:11.646
But there's moments when, something happens, some trigger points, you lose a customer or you someone is going to leave the business or your product fails or competitor takes two customers in two days or something like that.

00:58:11.646 --> 00:58:12.786
And you just go, Oh shit.

00:58:12.835 --> 00:58:14.315
Yeah, I'm really worried about this one.

00:58:14.405 --> 00:58:15.565
But it goes back to that.

00:58:15.856 --> 00:58:17.496
Spiritual mindfulness again.

00:58:17.755 --> 00:58:19.376
So that's what I was going to say about that.

00:58:19.376 --> 00:58:24.666
But in the doing aspect, I would just say, Adam, I've yeah, always had that.

00:58:24.666 --> 00:58:29.005
I'm pretty stupid that I just don't think about too much things about too much.

00:58:29.005 --> 00:58:33.856
And I lack a bit of foresight, I would say, so it can have positives and negatives.

00:58:34.326 --> 00:59:03.596
We've been guilty in the business of not planning things out, and sometimes it works for us, sometimes it doesn't, and you just have to be comfortable in making those mistakes, because as we scale up the business, our processes and structures within the business currently are not where we want them to be at all, pretty poor, I would say, so it's only in the last while that we've tried to improve that, or say it's about the process, it's about the craftsmanship, it's really only in the last six months when we've gone through that bit of a change with Publif 2.

00:59:03.596 --> 00:59:12.775
0 and figuring out our values and our product philosophy side of things that's only been something that we've figured out in the last couple of months, really.

00:59:12.865 --> 00:59:16.016
But myself and Tobin have always had doer kind of attitudes.

00:59:16.266 --> 00:59:26.155
So it's all has been part of we just roll up our sleeves and get things done and that's to the detriment of scaling sometimes because we always come in and save the day and quench fires.

00:59:26.175 --> 00:59:32.635
If something's wrong with a customer, we'll come in rather than another team member dealing with it because we just know how to do it.

00:59:33.490 --> 00:59:41.971
It's always been the case, but I suppose, yeah, I just don't think about the repercussions of doing stuff and very impulsive.

00:59:41.971 --> 00:59:45.201
I would say, I'd say I'm very in tune with my intuition as well.

00:59:45.311 --> 01:00:01.141
And, from meditation going into intuition, feelings, maybe feelings, not as much for me, but intuition, if I have an idea, if I have a thought, most intelligence is high with me, I will just go do it and I'll back myself and deal with the consequences.

01:00:01.141 --> 01:00:01.360
If it's.

01:00:01.646 --> 01:00:02.255
If it's wrong.

01:00:02.326 --> 01:00:03.525
Yeah that's interesting.

01:00:03.525 --> 01:00:07.626
I've always known that about you and just watching you build the business, right?

01:00:07.686 --> 01:00:09.626
From the very beginning, right?

01:00:09.655 --> 01:00:12.005
Three weeks later, you're like, all right, quit my job.

01:00:12.045 --> 01:00:12.715
I'm doing this.

01:00:12.896 --> 01:00:13.806
I'm like, what?

01:00:14.076 --> 01:00:14.746
Good on you.

01:00:14.856 --> 01:00:18.525
I, and I think for me, just like in starting things, right?

01:00:18.525 --> 01:00:19.556
This podcast, right?

01:00:19.626 --> 01:00:21.056
This is something that didn't exist.

01:00:21.170 --> 01:00:33.630
This time last year and there was a long period of time where I was thinking about doing it and I have a tendency to jump ahead to what are all the things I'm going to need to know when it's this big podcast, right?

01:00:33.971 --> 01:00:37.260
And it's like no one, it's not, it's literally not even a podcast yet.

01:00:37.411 --> 01:00:38.686
So what am I worried about?

01:00:38.686 --> 01:00:38.996
I'll negotiate

01:00:38.996 --> 01:00:39.920
your deal with Spotify, right?

01:00:40.820 --> 01:00:42.141
Exactly, right?

01:00:42.190 --> 01:00:45.280
Like, what is, like, what am I worried about that far ahead?

01:00:45.311 --> 01:00:56.570
But what I found in doing this is that there's so much learning and growth that comes from just taking that step and then that next step, reaching out to you, saying, hey, do you want to be on the podcast?

01:00:56.601 --> 01:00:58.041
Okay, then we schedule it.

01:00:58.041 --> 01:00:58.920
Now we're doing it.

01:00:59.445 --> 01:01:01.376
then it's gonna come out on Tuesday, right?

01:01:01.425 --> 01:01:05.206
Like, you take one step, and then the next step becomes obvious.

01:01:05.346 --> 01:01:10.635
And if I take the time to take a step back and look at, oh wow, look at all that I've done, right?

01:01:10.666 --> 01:01:15.371
I've had eight or nine episodes, I've, gotten this much progress, I've learned how to do this, right?

01:01:15.460 --> 01:01:16.431
Like it's pretty cool.

01:01:16.471 --> 01:01:20.590
And that gives me energy and encouragement to keep going.

01:01:20.630 --> 01:01:22.300
And for me, that's really helpful.

01:01:22.311 --> 01:01:24.170
So I'm trying to be more of a doer.

01:01:24.260 --> 01:01:27.501
That's really my I'm in this program called the Inner MBA.

01:01:27.601 --> 01:01:31.161
And I had to pick a, like a learning goal.

01:01:31.231 --> 01:01:36.460
And my learning goal is I want to take more action in my life because of that thing, right?

01:01:36.481 --> 01:01:41.221
As I start to take the steps, I start to find new opportunities as I walk down the path.

01:01:41.476 --> 01:01:43.025
And it's cool to get your thoughts on that.

01:01:43.155 --> 01:01:47.505
So let's shift gears into what I call the mindful fire final four.

01:01:47.585 --> 01:01:53.856
And so the first question is what is your top tip for those getting started with meditation and mindfulness?

01:01:54.106 --> 01:01:56.976
I think it's always good to have a buddy.

01:01:57.025 --> 01:02:04.295
You were my original buddy, but I had another, I still have a buddy, Will who is down that, that's mindfulness.

01:02:04.400 --> 01:02:05.610
path with me.

01:02:05.731 --> 01:02:09.130
And we always discuss it, and keeping accountability.

01:02:09.141 --> 01:02:15.471
I think another thing is some great app apps out there like Headspace that give you those guided meditations.

01:02:15.681 --> 01:02:16.641
And that's so important.

01:02:16.721 --> 01:02:26.030
I think the guided meditations at the start, because you really don't know what you're doing and be very thankful to yourself for making the time to, to do anything.

01:02:26.081 --> 01:02:28.721
And I think it's starting off doing that.

01:02:28.760 --> 01:02:29.030
We'll see.

01:02:29.201 --> 01:02:30.130
Back something.

01:02:30.130 --> 01:02:31.541
And everyone's on their own journey.

01:02:31.541 --> 01:02:36.820
You can do yoga, you can do mindfulness through eating, you can do mindfulness through playing tennis.

01:02:37.021 --> 01:02:37.260
This.

01:02:37.530 --> 01:02:40.800
It's about doing those things that, in creating your present moment.

01:02:40.800 --> 01:02:44.521
Like I think we spoke about Michael Jordan's documentary, the Last Dance.

01:02:44.760 --> 01:02:48.690
I've got Phil Knight's book on my desk there that I'm gonna read.

01:02:48.690 --> 01:02:49.561
I think Phil Knight.

01:02:49.561 --> 01:02:50.755
Is that the name of the coach?

01:02:50.846 --> 01:02:51.956
Is it Phil Jackson?

01:02:52.076 --> 01:02:52.675
Phil Jackson.

01:02:52.675 --> 01:02:53.065
Sorry.

01:02:53.126 --> 01:02:53.485
Sorry.

01:02:53.545 --> 01:02:54.536
So no worries.

01:02:55.601 --> 01:02:56.471
Incredible what

01:02:56.771 --> 01:03:02.710
they were doing in terms of mindfulness, but Jordan was just so in the now, so in the present moment.

01:03:02.851 --> 01:03:05.110
And that's what set him apart from everyone else.

01:03:05.190 --> 01:03:06.541
He wasn't consumed by the mind.

01:03:06.621 --> 01:03:09.231
So you can do it in all walks of life.

01:03:09.351 --> 01:03:11.775
You can dare the flower, do all this kind of.

01:03:11.976 --> 01:03:29.585
Stuff that is very interesting, and I think it's good to, if you're, if you get a bit of something out of it, reading some books like The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle, stuff, and, it just set, it sets off different things in everyone's head, but I'd say that the apps like Headspace or Cam or these kind of stuff are really good tools, I reckon.

01:03:29.735 --> 01:03:36.340
And I'll also mention that I, Post guided meditations as well for free every other week.

01:03:36.360 --> 01:03:42.331
So this week we'll have an interview, this one, and then next week we'll have a meditation and so on and so forth.

01:03:42.380 --> 01:03:45.251
Definitely recommend getting started with Headspace.

01:03:45.340 --> 01:03:49.681
That's been very helpful for many people, but also we have some available as well.

01:03:49.760 --> 01:03:56.641
Second question is what is your top tip for those who are pursuing financial independence.

01:03:56.740 --> 01:03:59.391
I would say just go on and do it.

01:03:59.541 --> 01:04:10.740
If it's hard to, I think you're doing a good approach though, Adam, to be honest with you, I think the side hustle is the best kind of approach because it keeps your kind of security and build it to a stage.

01:04:10.880 --> 01:04:28.650
of I'm an all in kind of person that's very black and white with me, but if you can do something where you're working and then you're doing your side hustle and then your side hustle becomes big enough that you don't have to work, that's an incredible amount of our clients that a lot of our clients run kind of puzzle websites or coupon sites or something like that.

01:04:28.661 --> 01:04:30.856
And they would have been software engineers.

01:04:30.856 --> 01:04:37.096
And then they just made so much money from AdSense that they went and did their own thing.

01:04:37.106 --> 01:04:40.346
Yeah, that's really definitely how I'm thinking about it.

01:04:40.385 --> 01:04:47.186
I have my day job, which is providing the financial means to work towards financial independence.

01:04:47.275 --> 01:04:53.065
Allows me to save and live a nice life without having to worry too much and invest.

01:04:53.295 --> 01:04:53.956
and grow that.

01:04:54.036 --> 01:05:00.835
And at the same time, I'm able to explore these areas of purpose and passion for me that are aligned with my values.

01:05:00.945 --> 01:05:09.346
Things like teaching Search Inside Yourself within Google and leading meditations every Tuesday at Google and doing the podcast, right?

01:05:09.346 --> 01:05:17.076
So it's like, the podcast is really my foray into, what might I want to do after I retire early from Google, right?

01:05:17.126 --> 01:05:20.045
Do I, I think maybe I want to teach mindfulness.

01:05:20.385 --> 01:05:24.255
Let's talk to some people who teach mindfulness and see if they like doing it, right?

01:05:24.255 --> 01:05:33.135
And what are the pros and the cons and then talk to people who are just living life that Intentionally and what they're focused on like you building this business, right?

01:05:33.146 --> 01:05:38.115
You're looking at building this business as a path of personal growth and development, right?

01:05:38.126 --> 01:05:43.606
That's really what it's all about right growing and learning and creating opportunity is certainly in my mind.

01:05:43.896 --> 01:05:49.606
And so how can I test the waters while still having that financial security?

01:05:49.655 --> 01:05:54.235
And then also how can I bring more of that into my day to day work at Google, right?

01:05:54.315 --> 01:05:56.155
It doesn't need to be either or, right?

01:05:56.155 --> 01:06:01.356
I think you said that one of your friends said, why does it have to be One or the other, why doesn't, why don't you bring both together?

01:06:01.416 --> 01:06:02.985
And so that's really what I'm trying to do.

01:06:03.045 --> 01:06:06.835
So the third question is what advice would you give to your younger self?

01:06:06.896 --> 01:06:08.976
What advice would I give to my younger self?

01:06:09.056 --> 01:06:12.056
Just remember that it's all going to work out in the end.

01:06:12.266 --> 01:06:14.315
And that's the advice I give to myself every day.

01:06:14.396 --> 01:06:15.405
It's all going to work out.

01:06:15.436 --> 01:06:17.766
Don't worry too much about the small things.

01:06:18.065 --> 01:06:18.536
Perfect.

01:06:18.666 --> 01:06:24.630
And the final question is how can people get in touch and find What you're working on online.

01:06:24.791 --> 01:06:26.751
LinkedIn is probably the best thing for that.

01:06:26.880 --> 01:06:34.710
It's the social media I use for the business and put out a good bit of stuff in there and what we're doing and what can I focus on.

01:06:34.971 --> 01:06:36.601
So yeah, I think that's the best area.

01:06:36.641 --> 01:06:37.141
Very good.

01:06:37.170 --> 01:06:43.231
I'll put a link to that in the show notes and I'll also link to your website, which I believe is Publiff.

01:06:43.231 --> 01:06:43.820
com, right?

01:06:43.871 --> 01:06:44.411
Yeah, sure.

01:06:44.411 --> 01:06:47.831
And if anyone wants to reach me via email, my email is on LinkedIn.

01:06:47.831 --> 01:06:48.900
Call me at Publiff.

01:06:48.900 --> 01:06:49.201
com.

01:06:49.635 --> 01:06:54.135
I'm happy to have a discussion or give advice anywhere or help anywhere I can.

01:06:54.396 --> 01:06:55.076
Very good.

01:06:55.076 --> 01:06:56.356
This has been awesome, Colm.

01:06:56.365 --> 01:06:58.186
Thank you so much for joining me today.

01:06:58.235 --> 01:06:59.275
Thank you very much, Adam.

01:06:59.326 --> 01:07:08.376
And it's incredible what you're doing, the the impact you're having in doing those meditations every bi weekly and this podcast and fair play to you.

01:07:08.476 --> 01:07:09.626
It's it's great to see.

01:07:09.726 --> 01:07:17.505
And the mindfulness path is definitely, uh, It's a fantastic way to do it and how you're helping other people at Google and outside of Google is great.

01:07:17.505 --> 01:07:19.385
So well done and keep on doing it.

01:07:19.585 --> 01:07:26.525
Thank you very much for having me My pleasure, dude, and let's hope we can see each other in the not too distant future.

01:07:26.695 --> 01:07:27.635
Let's do it, dude

01:07:28.291 --> 01:07:31.740
Thanks for joining me on today's episode of the Mindful Fire Podcast.

01:07:32.081 --> 01:07:36.351
If you enjoyed today's episode, I invite you to hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this.

01:07:36.780 --> 01:07:42.710
This just lets the platforms know you're getting value from the episodes and you want to be here when I release additional content.

01:07:43.005 --> 01:07:46.846
If you're ready to start your mindful fire journey, go to mindfulfire.

01:07:46.876 --> 01:07:52.405
org slash start and download my free envisioning guide in just 10 minutes.

01:07:52.405 --> 01:07:56.206
This guide will help you craft a clear and inspiring vision for your life.

01:07:56.416 --> 01:07:59.496
Again, you can download it for free at mindfulfire.

01:07:59.516 --> 01:08:00.755
org slash start.

01:08:01.365 --> 01:08:05.326
Thanks again, and I'll catch you next time on the mindful fire podcast.