PODCAST PEOPLE: A Summary from the Real Leaders Podcast
“Leadership is not a job title or how many followers you have or how many books you’ve read or written. It’s the ability that you have to become a better version of yourself and to lead others forward toward their possibility.”
John O’Leary is a keynote speaker, best-selling author, and host of the Live Inspired Podcast. His heartfelt discussions are teaching people around the world how to live inspired.
The following is a summary of Episode 118 of the Real Leaders Podcast, a conversation with keynote speaker John O’Leary. Watch, read, or listen to the full conversation below.
From Victim to Victor
John discusses the tragic but formative incident that changed his life when he was nine years old. An experiment with fire and gasoline created an explosion that burned 100% of his body, and he was given a less than 1% chance to live.
Despite the odds, John chose to triumph over his circumstances, but he emphasizes that he couldn’t compare his struggle to anyone else’s. He now uses public speaking as a means of inspiring others to transcend whatever might be holding them back.
“It is popular in a victim society to choose to remain beat down. Or, and here’s the invitation for all of us, you can choose to rise up. And every single time you walk into the room others may see what remains possible for them in their life. And ultimately, it’s your choice. It’s your individual choice and how you want to represent yourself in your life going forward, what an important choice it is to make to choose to be a victor.”
More than Comparative Happiness
Today’s culture of comparison is keeping many of us from feeling successful. John explains social media’s role in producing “comparative happiness,” and how its emphasis on self-interest leads to a genuine lack of fulfillment.
“My message is to make sure that we make our lives and our messages not only about us. I think if we do that, we get to the end of our life, and we realize we got to the very top of a ladder, and we had it leaned against the wrong wall. So we want to recognize the foundation of where that ladder rests, and make sure daily, as we climb, that we have it leaned against the right wall. Nothing would be worse than to become successful at things in life that do not matter.”
Advice for Living Inspired
- Be aware of all you have to be grateful for
- Have a vision of tomorrow that is far greater than the challenges today
- Pursue your purpose
- Lean into a network
- The answer is “Yes”
“I think in the universe, work, professional journey, leadership, the answer to the question in front of you is ‘yes.’ Now go to work. Figure the thing out. “
Transcript
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Find John O’Leary at: JohnOLearyInspires.com
