[00:00.5]
Welcome to Inside Personal Growth podcast. Deep dive with us as we unlock the secrets to personal development, empowering you to thrive. Here. Growth isn't just a goal, it's a journey. Tune in, transform, and take your life to the next level by listening to just one of our podcasts.

[00:19.9]
Welcome back to Inside Personal Growth. This is Greg Voisen, the host of Inside Personal Growth. And sitting across from me on the video is Chris Robinson. And Chris Robinson has a new book out that we're going to be speaking with today.

[00:36.1]
And that book is called From Drift to Drive. A High Achiever's Guide to Breaking the Chains of Complacency. Chris, good day to you. How you doing? Hey, I'm doing outstanding. Thanks so much for having me on today. Looking forward to having a great time with you. I am too as well.

[00:51.9]
And really, the way Chris came to us was actually referral from John Maxwell's coaching, group. A, gentleman out here in California. And Chris, you're located where, where are you joining us from?

[01:07.2]
Yeah, so I'm in the Jupiter, Florida area and I've, been here for about five years now. Just absolutely love it. Well, it's awesome to have you as a guest and I'm gonna let my listeners know just a tad bit about you. Really, Chris is a dynamic leadership speaker.

[01:25.8]
You can go to his website if you click below, you're gonna see it in the links. We're also gon mention it during this podcast. He's got an awesome website and this is his new book and he was telling me before we got on how well it's really doing and that's fantastic. Let's keep that momentum going for Chris.

[01:44.0]
He isn't your typical motivational speaker. With over two decades of experience, he's built a reputation as a high energy communicator who transforms teams and organizations through practical results driven strategies. Whether he's addressing a crowd of 4,500 or leading an intimate executive training session, Chris delivers insights that don't just inspire, they ignite real transformation.

[02:11.0]
And I would say this what sets Chris apart is his focus on a challenge that many high achievers face but rarely discuss openly. And that's the trap of complacency. Even the most successful leaders can find themselves coasting on past achievement, feeling stuck despite their accomplishments, and struggling to maintain the momentum that got them where they are.

[02:36.5]
His new book here, From Drift to Rive, he tackles this head on with his seven step framework designed to help leaders break free from stagnation and Reignite their ambition. Chris has trained CEOs, executives and teams across multiple industries, and his insights have been featured on new, numerous publications.

[02:57.1]
He's also a contributor to Maxwell Leadership Podcasts, where he shares real world strategies with high impact leadership lessons. So we're going to dive deep into the psychology of complacency, explore how high achievers can transform routine into momentum, and discover actionable strategies to drive extraordinary success.

[03:18.1]
Well, Chris, again, welcome to Inside Personal Growth, the podcast that endeavors always to help the listeners, do better in life and transform their life. And you know, your personal journey is an interesting one and I'd really kind of like you to get into it and tell the listeners, you know, how did Chris Robinson get to where he is today?

[03:42.7]
I mean, you start this and it begins with some dire statistics about life expectancy incarceration for black men. And you mentioned getting kicked out of college six times from the same institution. So you have an.

[03:59.0]
And a foreclosure is a powerful story as well. So tell us a little bit about that because that'll set the stage for why, who you are and why you wrote this book. Yeah, I think that's, you know, that's great. I mean you really start right down there at the bottom of the, arrow there.

[04:17.2]
We've all been there, all been there. I love it, I love it. You know, that's, know if you can't be at the bottom, how do you get to the top? Well, let's just level set here. I started from the bottom level set here.

[04:32.8]
All those accolades that Greg, you know, you read off, you know, that's great. But at the end of the day, I start out just like every person out there with the goal or dream and desire. And you know, when it really came to this book, you know, that journey of this book started 20 plus years ago.

[04:49.4]
Even I go back further into, you know, childhood of what my aspirations or vis. You know, I grew up in a, middle class family, working class, blue collar, both parents worked at General Motors and you know, but what that did was that took us out of St.

[05:05.2]
Louis City, moved us to Oklahoma City, and now placed us in a middle class area. So it took us out of inner city St. Louis, and then into a middle class area. And what that did was that exposed me to opportunities and things that I had not seen before that my parents did not grow up around.

[05:23.2]
And that environment really helped shape me and change me. I know I had, you know, I share a story in there about going to A friend's house. And, I remember going to this friend's house and we get inside the. He comes to my house to pick me up and he gets there and he says, well, Chris, why is your room a closet?

[05:41.0]
And you know, I'm looking at my room, hey, this is my room. And it's got these little, you know, sliding, two panel doors that looks like my pantry door, or it looks like a pantry I've had at some point in time that was really the door to my room. And then it didn't make sense until I got to his house.

[05:57.3]
I get to his house, Greg, and his closet is the size of my bedroom. Like it was that I thought, oh my goodness. And it was like I was in this magical wonderland of wealth. You know, because they had snacks, they had, you know, he had a room, he had a gigantic closet that was the size of my room.

[06:17.2]
He had all these different things. And what I realized today, looking back on it, was just an average middle class house bust. But it was a visual point for me to in a queue that there was something more. Now, I didn't grow up in a bad home at all.

[06:32.5]
You know, like I said, I. My parents were phenomenal. I wasn't exposed to, you know, any harsh lifestyle. But the imaging and the things that were coming off of TV at that time through the 80s about African American young men, you know, it was one of those things that those PSA stuck.

[06:50.0]
You know, I spent a lot of time watching TV as a kid and those were the statistics back then. The average African American male lives to be to the age of 21. And, you know, I mean, this was the thoughts that were being put in. And so, you know, I really didn't have a vision beyond the age of 25, to be honest with you, was, a very good athlete.

[07:10.2]
Being a good athlete, that opened up doors and allowed for me an opportunity to be able to, be a part of teams, go to places, experience things that I would not have as an athlete. But then that opened up doors to go to school, which in turn got me kicked out of school because I went there to do one thing and it wasn't learn.

[07:29.1]
You know, I was actually. You're the playboy, I was actually speaking with the dean of a college the other day and he says, well, Chris, what'd you go to college for? I said, baseball. He goes, no, no, no. What'd you major in? I said, partying.

[07:46.4]
He didn't find that that funny, Greg. He didn't Find that. That funny. Well, you know, you're honest, that you're authentic, man. You're the real deal, you know? But you. You had this said. Judge Pelican seemed to have been this pivotal point in your transformation.

[08:05.7]
Right. So what specifically did you see, did he see in you that you couldn't see in yourself at the time? Because, look, you've been through a lot. I mean, people can get this book and read it, and they're going to be able to get this story. But this was a very pivotal moment for you.

[08:24.2]
Yeah. Yeah. So I'd been kicked out of college six times, and then by the age of 21, I had T2 DUIs. I was coming up for the second DUI. But when I got kicked out of college, I went and got an internship at a financial planning firm, and I got licensed as a stockbroker.

[08:40.3]
So I'm showing up in front of Judge Pelican for, this second dui, and he says to me, he says, chris, he goes, you know what's interesting? He goes, you sure, you got kicked out of school, but you've got a Series 7 license, which is the highest license you can have as a broker.

[08:56.3]
I've had it. I've driven. Right. Like. He goes, so you're not dumb. He goes, this is not an easy test to pass. And in fact, a lot of people don't pass this test. Like, you've got some potential. I didn't pass it the first time, so I'll just tell you.

[09:13.1]
I was sitting in downtown L. A. In a place, and it was the old days where the guys used to go up and down the aisles. Yes. On you, to make sure you weren't looking at anyone else's paper, that their eyes. Actually. Actually, I did not pass it the first time. So I'll proudly admit that it's a tough test.

[09:30.6]
It's a tough test, but I passed that. And I guess that glimpse of. That glimpse of potential, you know, stood out to him. And he said to me, he said, chris, he goes, if you continue on this path, you're going to be dead or in jail.

[09:45.7]
Okay, that's fine. That was par for the course. We were on the same page, Greg, because that's where I thought I was going. He says, but I want to give you an opportunity. He says, I'm going to give you everything I can in the book, except for going to jail, because I want to give you this opportunity.

[10:03.9]
So he gave me everything, Greg. He gave me, say, top. He gave me a blow tube on my card where I had to, blow into the car. He revoked my license for six months. I had to go to aa. I had to do community service. Every was on probation, everything that he could do besides jail.

[10:22.9]
And, he said, I'm going to take this chance on you. Well, that was the chance that I needed. That was the chance. How did that all sit with your stockbroker office? I mean, how were. I mean, you know, did they knew about the DUIs and all that? Yeah, well, yeah, they did, Greg, but we.

[10:39.6]
We were at a time in a culture where, that was not a. You know, it was part of the lifestyle, you know, to some degree in the industry. So it wasn't like you. I wasn't working for Merrill lynch or any of. Okay, okay.

[10:55.3]
All right, I get it. So he gave you a break. He gave me a break. And you saw it as a break. Yeah. And that became very valuable to you. That's something that stuck with you for a long, long time, my friend. It did. It did.

[11:10.8]
But it wasn't. I wish I could just say, all right, that was. It. It was clean. And I walked away from it. But I did what most people do. I drifted back into some old habits and. And I was doing it now, but I was doing it more so not to get caught.

[11:26.6]
I was doing it. I was drinking still just to be. But I was doing it safely. I wasn't driving or I wasn't participating, you know, to. To the longest degree. But what happened was one night, Greg, after that, about six months later, I am drinking at a party, and I'm with my wife.

[11:44.2]
Girlfriend at the time, wife now of 22 years. And, she's driving. We get pulled over after this party, and I am violating probation like I 1. I should not be in the car. I should not be drinking. I should not be riding with the person.

[12:01.4]
I've got handcuffs on. I'm sitting on a curb, hands behind my back. And at that moment, there was a friend of a, family friend of my wife that was a police officer that heard her name called over the pa.

[12:17.4]
And he told the officers that had us to let the us go. Now, it was in that moment, Greg, that's a big one. And you were in Oklahoma this time. That was in St. Louis. That was in St. Louis. St. Louis. Okay. But it was in that moment, Greg, I said, that was too close.

[12:37.2]
I've. I've got to do something different here. And then that's when we began to make that shift of I'm not going to drink anymore. And so it's, it's been since October of 2021. Or 2001. Not, not 21, 2001.

[12:54.0]
Long time ago. Since I've had it 44 years ago. Yeah. Well, congratulations to you for, taking the judge's advice. Congratulations that your wife had a friend that was really close by and they let you out of that situation, because, you know, God's looking over you.

[13:12.5]
So here's the thing. You define complacency. Now I look at what you did as complacency. You got really just sloven about what you were doing. So the secret place of satisfy, you say satisfactory success.

[13:31.4]
So why do you think high achievers are particularly vulnerable to the trap? I mean, like, there's a lot of people that are high achievers. Yeah. That do drugs, that do alcohol, do all the things that you are doing because it is their way or their choice to let the weight of the world off their shoulders.

[13:55.6]
So they think, sure. So would you tell, another high achiever out there, maybe they don't drink, but maybe they're just complacent, period. Not a lot of things. Yeah, well, we're all, we all have a degree of complacency in, in many different areas of our life.

[14:12.2]
And so the way that I redefine complacency in the book is as a secret place of satisfactory success. You know, oftentimes when we think of complacency, we think of laziness or apathy. But complacency really comes from after success.

[14:28.8]
You know, most high achievers, they think that, well, when I get the Ferrari, I'll be fulfilled. When I get the Rolex, I'll be fulfilled. When I get the house that I want, when I have the business hitting the number that I want, then I'll be fulfilled. And what I've found and what I've found with many people is that none of that stuff ever fulfills.

[14:46.5]
But we've got to find out. But we've got to do it to find out that it doesn't do it. And so there's still this hole in our heart. So what happens is once we reach a goal and we become goal oriented versus growth oriented. Goal oriented. We get to a destination nation and we stop.

[15:02.8]
We've achieved it. All right, Growth oriented says, well, how far can I go? And so when we get to that secret place of satisfactory success, that's usually a place of average. That's usually a place of routine versus reflection of something that we're doing.

[15:18.2]
Automatically that we think, oh, good is good enough. So what I'm trying to do inside this book, Greg, is pull you and bridge the gap between your good and in your potential. There's a gap there. There's. Here's the thing, here's the thing.

[15:34.0]
I want to talk this psychology for a second because you're deep, you're a deep thinker. There's extrinsic motivators and intrinsic motivators. Yes. The extrinsic motivator is that motivator that drives me to go get the Ferrari and the Rolex watch and all the rest of stuff.

[15:51.4]
And they think it's going to bring satisfaction. The intrinsic motivators are those things that are around my purpose, my meaning, my spirituality, what it is that I want to do to help the world. How do you help, really high achievers see the differences between those two motivators?

[16:12.3]
Yeah, well, I don't really think they need to see the difference. They know the difference, but they don't know that. And what we talk about a lot inside of Maxwell leadership is going from success to significance. Success is about what I can achieve.

[16:28.6]
For me, Significance is about what I can do and help others achieve. And that fulfillment that you get from significance versus success is tenfold, a hundredfold better than what you get just on focusing on yourself. So if, when I'm speaking to high achievers, you know what I'm really trying to get them to do is shift from me to we.

[16:49.4]
Because when you do that, the impact, the legacy, the imprint on the world that you leave is going to be so, so much greater. Yeah. Well, so define if you would or differentiate between healthy contentment and dangerous complacency.

[17:08.9]
You know, there's a line and how can people recognize when they crossed it? Yeah. I love that. I'm flipping straight to the book here because there's actually a chart that I have inside the book, Greg. We can actually put a. We go with that chart.

[17:24.3]
We'll put up on the screen for the listeners. Yep. When they watch this video, my video editor will put it across so they can see it. So yeah. So you know, in here I talk about this because we want to find that place of contentment. Right.

[17:39.6]
Can you hold the book up too? Oh, sure, sure can. Because I don't have a copy there. We did not get. You didn't get that. Okay, I did not. So that's okay. All right, Frost. You can't miss it. You can't miss that book. Okay. Right, right. I love it. So we talk about commitment.

[17:56.3]
Contentment is really, you know, something that we're all looking for. That's a place of fulfillment, and that's where you want to be. But let me just give you a couple different examples. I'm gonna give you two off the chart here. You know, when it comes to growth, in your view, and growth and motivation. All right? Contentment says, I'm happy with my work, family, life, relationship, and I look for ways to improve it and contribute.

[18:18.2]
Complacency says I've accomplished plenty of, I don't need to try any harder anymore. That's someone else's problem if they don't like it. All right, now, how do we respond to challenges when it comes to contentment versus complacency? Contentment says, sometimes the work is hard, sometimes it requires me to push myself, but I love what I do, and I'm happy to be doing it.

[18:40.2]
Complacency says I'm good enough. I don't need to change anything to keep up with the times or learn any new skill. I've earned my spot, and I shouldn't have to do anything more. You know, I believe that the difference between contentment and complacency is.

[18:58.6]
Contentment says that there's more to be desired, but I'm happy with where I am. Complacency says, I've arrived and I've made it. There's no more to be done. That's a great definition for people. I think they would really get that. So in that you have this concept of victory disease, which is.

[19:21.4]
That's kind of what you're talking about. Fascinating. Could you share that personal example of when your own success led to complacency in your life or your career? So this defined, complacency and contentment, this victory disease concept is really kind of more like, the, I don't want to say not the contentment, but the other, side.

[19:51.6]
Complacency. Yeah, it really is. So victory disease, that's a Japanese term that they used, in the military term, they call it sensu. And so basically what this means is that, hey, after you've had success in a certain area, what they tend to do is not look at new ways to innovate, not look at ways to change, but believing that what got them there will work again.

[20:15.1]
So a great example of this, is. Was many years ago, as a communicator, I began to go to a local Toastmasters Club, and I would go into Toastmasters Each and every single week. And I remember competing in my first Toastmasters contest.

[20:30.9]
They have the International Speakers contest and then they have the table topics contest. And I loved impromptu speaking. And so I began to study impromptu speaking. I began to work on it so I can compete inside this competition. And Greg, every single day I was doing 22 minute presentations on different topics, different questions, different phrases.

[20:53.2]
And I breezed through the club level, through the district level, through the area level, all the way to the highest level of the competition. Ctm. Ct. Yeah, I'm up in that Toastmaster. I was there. Did you ring the bell, Rugged?

[21:08.5]
The bell. I run the bell, you know, so I'm competing in this contest, I make it to the highest level, I end up winning second place. And, you know, it was great because the guy that had beat me actually joined Toastmasters the year I was born, had a little bit more experience on me, so. And so I come back the next year, Greg, and the next year I said, you know what?

[21:30.6]
I knew that it was gonna. I knew how much work I had put in the previous year, but I did what a lot of people do and think, well, I'll ramp up again because I've. I've done this before. So I said, well, what I'll begin to do, Greg, is I'm going to start my heavy practice routine at the second and the third level to get me to the fourth level.

[21:53.6]
Greg. I got to the club level only competing against three, four other people. I got to the club level of the table topics contest. They give me the question and I forget the question. I completely blank out. Needless to say, Greg, I did not win at the club level.

[22:13.6]
I lost at the very base level of competition because I was relying on yesterday's success to push me through tomorrow's future. That's victory disease in its finest. And I can think about so many other areas of my life where I've relied on my good in my past in order to kind of get me started and move me through when I need to have that learner, that beginner's mindset each and every single day to keep learning and keep growing.

[22:43.2]
Well, you're a guy who's curious, and I think people who are entrepreneurs are curious and they always are open to learn. You know, are you on the goal line, as you said, or the learning line? You're on the learning line. It's very evident you've spent your whole life learning from, you know, hey, I really shouldn't be drinking, I shouldn't be driving, I should Be paying attention in school.

[23:05.8]
I got kicked out six times. I got it. You got to do things different. So that's the way some people. It takes some hard learning lessons. Now you've set up this seven step framework in the book, and the framework took you from drift to becoming the executive VP of Maxwell Leadership.

[23:27.7]
Which is quite an accomplishment, because John Maxwell is a wonderful man. But the point is that it's a huge organization. So can you share a specific example of how you personally worked through all seven steps for a major goal and if you want, you can go through the steps and repeat them for the listeners if you like?

[23:52.7]
Yeah, absolutely. You know, and just to touch on it, to give context to it, you know, John Maxwell, number one leadership author in all the world, written more content on leadership than anyone in the history of the earth. Like, right. 96 something plus books.

[24:07.9]
And, we have over 59,000 coaches around the world that I get the privilege of, of leading. It's the largest leadership training company on the planet. How I utilize this seven step framework, it works for any and everything that you want to grow in.

[24:24.1]
I've used this process to become a teaching pro for pickleball. I've used this process to learn how to trade stock options. I've learned this process how to become a coach, speaker and trainer. I've learned use this process, you know, as a parent.

[24:40.1]
And so this process is literally the loop that I go on anytime that I want to grow in an area. So the first step to the framework is clarity. You cannot have what you cannot see. So you have to be clear on what it is that you want. I think you're going to hear that in 99.9% of all personal growth books that you're going to find out there.

[24:59.7]
Everything starts with your vision. The second step that I take in, anything that I want to learn and I'll just use pickleball, for example, here, just so you see that it applies to everything. Okay. And so, when I played pickleball for the first time, I knew instantly, oh, I want to get good at this game.

[25:19.8]
And so what I did was I got clear. I'm going to get good at pickleball. This was my goal. This is what I wanted to do. I saw that there was five levels at that time inside the pickleball range system. I said, hey, I want to make it to the 5.0 level.

[25:35.1]
I just started today. I'm at 1.0. How can I grow? So I knew I wanted to be clear. I Wanted to be a 5.0 player. The second step in the cycle that I teach you is gathering. And that's gathering, purposefully collecting insights, experience and lessons to your desired direction.

[25:52.8]
So inside of this method I teach you what's called BV acc. You want to collect and gather information by books, videos, audio content, courses and coaches. Okay, so I gather all of this information on a specific topic.

[26:13.2]
Now the third step that I do, Greg, is we filter it. It's one thing to have access to a bunch of information. You know, our success in the past was based upon the access that we had information to. Now we have access to all the information on the planet right here on this phone.

[26:30.2]
Now your ability to filter information determines your success, not the information you have access to. So I filter the information so that I can layer my learning, meaning that I want the books, the videos, the audios, the courses, the coaching, the conferences all to line up on the same topic.

[26:48.2]
What happens all too often is people reading a book on one topic, watching videos on another topic, taking a course on another topic, going to a conference on another topic. They're going, I'm overwhelmed. Well of course you are. Okay, you're taking the slow path after the filtering phase, Greg.

[27:06.9]
What I'm doing is I'm looking for guidance. I'm looking for somebody that has already been there, done what I've done and want to do and I'm looking for a coach or I'm looking for a mentor. So after gathering some information about pickleball, after watching some videos, after lining things up, three days later I'm in a clinic with the coach getting personal coaching on pickleball only three days after playing.

[27:30.6]
That's how serious I was about to Greg. The fifth stage is through relationships and that's getting around like minded people that want to go in the same direction. So I began to get other friends that not just wanted to play for fun, but those that wanted to get good and progress.

[27:46.9]
And man, we progressed. The sixth step is action. Nothing happens unless you do something. You turn plans into progress by consistently taking action. And then the seventh step is evaluation. That's when you reflect on the progress, and take an honest self assessment of where you are to re enter back into that clarity step again.

[28:06.8]
And that cycle, Greg, over and over again has been a loop in my life that has got me from you know, just trying to get by with the desire as a speaker, coaches, trainer to leading the world's leading leadership training plan on the comp, on the, on the Planet.

[28:24.2]
It's a fantastic approach. I mean, these seven steps, and I think it's all outlined in the book. And I'll let the listeners know that. So definitely look below. We'll have a link to Amazon for you to go purchase Chris's book. Chris, also, you know, we live in a world where technology with AI and everything is going all over the place.

[28:45.0]
And you're talking to executives, executive leaders, all over the place. What is it that you've applied in your life? Because I know Tiego Forte talks about the second brain, right? And it's like, okay, we have all this stuff just like you mentioned.

[29:02.4]
I watch videos, I listen to podcasts, I read books, I do whatever. And then you say, well, we filter them. So my question is, what are some of your tricks around the filters that you might be doing using technology? Because I have a few.

[29:17.6]
But I'm always curious what some other people are doing and the ones that I'm using. I use a little app called Reflect, and it's just phenomenal because it shows me where everything pinged from where it came from. Right. It's almost like a big tree. So I always look for ways to filter things because I'm a technology geek at heart that way.

[29:39.6]
But I was curious, have you found anything that helps me find the right podcast and find the right book and find the right business and write that? Right, right. Yeah. No, From a gathered standpoint, I'm pretty manual. In the context, what I will try to do is I will try to tell all the platforms that I'm on what I want.

[30:01.5]
I will consistently, over a period of days, continue to type the same thing. So now it begins to. The algorithm begins to feed me. Other than that, I'm really a manual process of going to Amazon. What books do I need? All right, let me look to the table of contents through these books.

[30:17.9]
Let me order this one book for this one chapter out of this book. Let me order this book because I might read the whole entire book. You know, so I'm really manual in my filtering process because one of my giftings, or my working genus, as, you know, Patrick Lyncy would say, is, is discernment.

[30:35.8]
And so I have a natural gifting to be able to filter. But in this book, I give some handles on how to filter information, which I teach you some different strategies to read. You know, some of the different speed reading courses that I've taken, I teach you, you know, some of the steps that I take to fragment that information like mind mapping.

[30:56.4]
So it may be a little bit like your Reflect app that you're using. So I utilize mind mapping for everything. You know, whether I'm reading a book, whether I'm putting together a presentation, whether I'm putting together a business plan, that's all going through what's called a mind map. And so that's been an incredible tool and resource for me as well too.

[31:14.8]
When it comes to AI today, you know, I'm a heavy chat GPT fam. I utilize it more so as a thinking partner. Great book on that, by Jeff woods called, you know, the AI Driven Leader. You know, really talking about, you know, how to utilize AI as a thinking partner to extract more from you versus relying on it to give you the information.

[31:37.8]
So I am doing and learning and using AI, every single day. I think it's something that we do have to learn, grow, embrace, because that's the future and that's where we're headed. Well, I'm with you. I use it all, an awful lot and I'm not dependent on it, but I have used it as an aid.

[31:56.5]
And I think the reality, as long as we look at it as our assistant, it then becomes a really good assistant. Right. So that's really cool. I'm glad that you at Maxwell are actually, when you're working with these leadership coaches, that you're giving them all of this pertinent information to tell other leaders, hey, you know, these are kind of tools that we're using because look, the tools are ramping up pretty fast.

[32:25.8]
This is all pretty new to most people out there. So you use the old index card method? Oh, yeah, card method for daily action steps. So look, my son who was an executive at Adobe, sent me these little cards, right? They're in a little thing and it's a thing to put your, like your to do's on, right, for the day.

[32:48.1]
Really fascinating approach because it sits in a little box on the desk and then you just make a little note. And you know, when it really comes down to it, we can have all these to do computer things and put these things wherever, but there seems to be a connection between handwriting and actually getting something done.

[33:04.9]
So what makes those five daily questions so powerful compared to, to the traditional to do at lists? Yeah, you know, so I, I love this because I, I love high tech, but I love low tech. And you can't get any lower tech than a 4x6 index card.

[33:24.4]
This is as low tech as it gets, right? Right. And a pin. And a pin. Oh, actually here, this one's actually written on. There we go. I love it. I love it. You know, but, but what that does is that gives me something that's tangible and carry that I can carry.

[33:40.4]
There's no distraction that can come onto that card. When I pick up this phone, what happens is I've got way too many options. I've got notifications, I've got different apps, I've got different things that come up. And so when I can extract what it is that I need to do on a daily basis just to a single car that I'm carrying to answer those five questions that gives.

[34:03.3]
What are those questions? Yeah, five questions. What do I need to read today? What do I need to listen to today? Who do I need to call? What do I need to do? And what am I looking for? Okay, that very last question.

[34:19.5]
Last question is an interesting one. I could probably answer all the others. Give us the key to the number five. Yeah, number five. What am I looking for today? Gary Gunderson said this. He says, you cannot tell the difference between an opportunity and a distraction if you don't clarify your purpose.

[34:39.6]
Okay. And so what we're looking for every day, think about this. If you've got your to do list and, you find what you're looking for, right? But what happens is when we log in online, we begin to scroll just for a little bit, just, we're good, we're disciplined, we're doing it during our structured time.

[35:00.5]
But then now all of a sudden, an ad comes up. This way, you're on a webinar now for 20 minutes. Another ad pops up here. Now you're over here on this different topic. What we're looking for allows for me to laser focus on the opportunities versus the distractions.

[35:16.7]
So give you a great example that I give inside the book here is had a friend call me, a client of mine at the time, and says, chris, give me a quick call. I've got an incredible opportunity. Greg, he calls me, says, hey, I've got this opportunity to buy this five bedroom house on a lake with the boat slip. I said, whoa, pause.

[35:33.3]
I said, let me ask you this. Were you looking for a five bedroom house today? No. Were you looking for a five bedroom house with a boat slip? No. Were you looking to buy a boat? No. One more question, one more question.

[35:50.9]
Are your roommates looking to buy a five bedroom house? He goes, no. Hung up the phone, Right. We have opportunities that come at us all day. Long, that may very well be distractions. So when you can identify daily what it is that you're looking for, you're going to, it's going to be more prevalent, you're going to move towards it, it's going to keep you on track.

[36:14.6]
It's like setting your intention. I say, what am I looking for today? Is really what is my intention today? What do I want to attract into my life today and see it? And I think that's wonderful because that's actually going to the spiritual side.

[36:30.0]
You're actually asking, guidance from a higher source to bring to you today what you really need. And I totally believe in that. Now look, you've coached so many people over your career. What's the most common pushback you get from successful people when you suggest they might be complacent?

[36:50.2]
Let's say you've looked into their world and Chris, has said, hey, you might be complacent in this area. I'm sure you get pushback. Yeah, well, I really don't because I never approach it as a, hey, you have complacency in your life.

[37:08.1]
But I invite them into a question. Where are some areas in your life that you haven't really put the work in in quite some while? Where are some areas in your life where good has become good enough? Where are some areas in your life that are just average, that you're not satisfied with? Where are some areas in your life that you know that you have more potential, but yet you've let go of it?

[37:29.5]
And so what I try to do is, is, is to begin to identify some different signs that they may be drifting. You know, when I define come, when I define complacency, I give you that secret place of satisfactory success. But I also want to give you a picture what it looks and feels like. You see, because complacency, it looks like busyness, it feels, it feels like comfort, and it sounds like excuses.

[37:52.5]
So what areas in your life have you just really got comfortable in? What areas of your life are you really busy but you're not actually accomplishing anything? What areas of your life are you just making excuses? And you know it. And so I more invite them into a question versus actually going to accuse.

[38:12.7]
Because in all of our lives we have it somewhere if we just pay attention, if we're honest and aware. And most high achievers, they're open and open to, a greater awareness of where they're at and they do have a desire to be, do and have more.

[38:30.9]
So you're actually Making them more mindful of what they're doing every day. And the questions that you're asking them are getting them to be more mindful of where they're spending their time, what's important. Just like you said, I get distracted because I'm over here watching this or I'm over here doing that or whatever.

[38:50.1]
Whereas if I just used your three by five card and I wrote it down and I wasn't being pinged by my phone, I would be much more focused in achieving my goals, my aspirations, and my purpose in life. In other words, I would be more fulfilled.

[39:06.4]
I'd have more meaning, you know, for someone who's listening to this podcast, who's achieved significant success, but feels that this kind of nagging sense. Is this it, right? Is.

[39:21.7]
Is this it? What would you want them to know? Know before they even pick up your book? Yeah. That. That nagging desire is. Is a call and a signal from somebody on this planet that needs you to be more. And, that desire is real.

[39:40.0]
That feeling is real. It's a matter of, are you going to answer the call to be, do, and have more than what you're doing right now? What is Chris's call? Yeah, so my call, or I would say this, Greg, is what I would like people to say, you know, at my funeral on the day that I die, would be one sentence.

[40:01.5]
My life is better as a result of the words that Chris taught and the life that he lived. That's what I want, Greg. I want people to be changed by the words that I've taught and the life that I lived. I want to be a model. That's a simple, good purpose.

[40:18.9]
Now, last. Last, question to kind of wrap up our podcast. Yeah. You know, you built this relationship with John Maxwell, but you were watching videos in a church basement. Yeah. Oh. How did you and John build your relationship to a point where I can see how you approach things, but that you became the executive VP of his organization?

[40:43.9]
Yeah. Well, that's a great question. It was really because of, one thing, two things, you know, and inside the book I teach you this on how to get those mentors in your life is two ways to get. Get around people that you want to be around. Seek to serve them or pay to play.

[41:01.4]
Seek to serve them or pay to play. Getting to and getting proximity to John Maxwell was a combination of both. I paid to play to be a part of the Maxwell certified team. That got me in the room.

[41:17.6]
I continued to pay event after event after event. But more Importantly, I began to raise my hand to say, hey, how can I serve? How can I add value? And so it did not matter what we were doing. Yes, I was still paying and I was still serving, but I wanted to add value.

[41:35.0]
So a lot of times when people are trying to attract. Attract mentors in your life, it's really, hey, I just want to sit down with you, pick your brain. You know, what can I take from you? But anytime that I'm trying to get around anyone is, I'm going, hey, how can I add value to this person? How can I serve this person?

[41:51.1]
And I believe that as the results that I got as a Maxwell leadership coach, as a result of continuing to consistently show up, as a result of consistently serving, when they were looking for this vice president role, my name, there was no other name that came up.

[42:08.8]
And so among him, the CEO, Mark Cole, among, the previous past founders, I was the choice. And so for me, I didn't. This wasn't a role that I applied for. This was something that I was called to do, not something I was, you know, seeking to do.

[42:25.2]
And so that's how I ended up here in the role today, not out of pursuit of passion, but truly out of a calling. It's a tremendous story you have, Chris, and I want to let my listeners know to go to ChrisRobinsonSpeaker.com ChrisRobinsonSpeaker.com There you're going to learn more about the book, speaking about him, about how to get involved.

[42:50.3]
Obviously Maxwell has all of these courses, but here you can learn how to actually, get in touch with him. There's a podcast, it's called Maxwell Leadership Podcast, where there you can listen to Chris, who I would assume you are on the podcast many times.

[43:09.7]
It looks like three by the sense of your, program here. But congratulations to you on the release of this book, on the success that you've achieved and on your continued support to show people how to awaken within themselves their awareness, to stay more focused so they can achieve the goals that really have meaning and purpose to them.

[43:34.9]
That's really it. And I think for all the people who go out and get this book, that's what you're going to get, by reading Chris Robinson's book. So, Chris, blessings to you. Thank you so much for being on Inside Personal Growth and sharing your story, your tips and tricks, your wisdom and your knowledge with our listeners.

[43:55.0]
Any last words? No. That's it. Thank you so much, Greg. I appreciate you. Thank you for helping me, letting me add value to people. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to this podcast on Inside Personal Growth. We appreciate your support. And for more information about new podcasts, please go to inside personal growth.com and or any of your favorite channels to listen to our podcast.

[44:18.8]
Thanks again and have a wonderful day.