Shawn Shewchuk: Helping Other Get What They Want

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Full Transcription Of Shawn Shewchuck Interview

Intro [0:00]
Life shouldn’t be hard life should be a fun filled adventure every day. So now start joining up dots, tap into your talents, your skills, your God given gifts and tell your boss, you don’t deserve me. I’m out of here. It’s time for you to smash that alarm clock. And start getting the dream business and life you will, of course, are dreaming of. Let’s join your host, David Ralph, from the back of his garden in the UK, or wherever he might be today with another JAM PACKED episode of the number one hit podcast. Join Up Dots.

David Ralph [0:38]
Yes, good morning to you. Good morning world. And thank you for being with us on Join Up Dots. Well, today’s guest is somebody who’s joining up with us for a second time because he first appeared on the show back on Episode 385, over seven years ago, and it certainly doesn’t feel like seven years ago because I can remember most of what we spoke about. Now he’s a man who from his hometown of Calgary Canada is on a mission, similar to a lot of guests that we’ve had recently, but with a different spin on it. In fact, it should be the mission that every one of us has, who listens to Join Up Dots, he’s committed to studying, understanding and helping others achieve more. But in less time, he’s a man driven to provide the kind of results that only others dream about, if you want to better your life, your career or business and of course, your results. But there’s no better way than to focus in on the needs of others. As the late Zig Ziglar once said, you can have everything in life you want, if you’re just help enough people get what they want. And it seems a great principle to live by. And he’s certainly working for today’s guest. And so for over two decades, he’s travelled and advised people from across the continent and around the globe, from Fortune 500 leadership teams to high achievers from all walks of life. So how did he know that he could see a problem that had been anchoring people to the future that they were not keen on? And then blow it to pieces? And does he still find that he has many of the issues that his clients have, but has managed to work to reduce them? Or does he still carry around? What should we call it self limiting baggage? Well, let’s bring onto the show to start joining up dots as we discuss with the one and only Mr. Shawn Shewchuk. Morning to you, Sean, how are you?

Shawn Shewchuk [2:23]
Good morning, I’m awesome. Thank you for that introduction, I’m gonna do my best to live up to it now.

David Ralph [2:28]
Now seven years, seven years has passed arm there’s been a lot of changes not just in the world, but in people’s outlook way, the way they run businesses. How much is yours changed in those seven years from where it was to where it is? Now?

Shawn Shewchuk [2:46]
You know, it does an interesting question. Because I think a lot of people have that, you know, over the course of the last two and a half or three years in some of the challenges that we on a global, you know, from a gold perspective, have encountered and dealt with some people it’s gone, you know, either through the roof, and I can you know, some of our clients or past clients where, you know, the the pandemic was fantastic for them. And others, of course, it was the opposite end of the spectrum. For us. You know, what, I’ve been very fortunate and blessed to be able to lead an incredible team, and work with people from really all over the world from a coaching prospective. And this hasn’t really impacted us in any way negative. Yeah, we’ve seen some, you know, interesting changes, because, obviously, doing events, live events wasn’t something we were able to do over the last two or three years. I think we’re at a place now where you know that that probably is something that we’ll take a look at doing again over the next little while. But generally speaking for us, it’s been really, really good. I think one of the things that I’ll emphasise, as part of my response to your question is very simply this throughout every challenge that we encounter, and for those of you listening today who have encountered challenges, and there are certainly some of you that there are lessons to be learned and I realised lessons don’t put food on the table or money in your bank account, what what I will say is this, when you’re looking for opportunities, no matter the situation, it is going to change the dynamic of what you do on a daily basis. If we focus in on a problem, and there are I get that, and I’m not daft. And I and I am not blind. But the reality of it is, if there’s a problem, there’s going to be a solution. If you are that individual, that team, that organisation, that company that comes up with a solution, it changes what it is you do on a daily basis. There are companies today that in March of 2020, we’re doing one thing and today they’re doing something dramatically different because they were looking for a solution to some of the challenges that certainly some of us over the last couple years or two and a half years have encountered,

David Ralph [4:45]
right so let’s spin that I’m gonna I’m gonna frame that because we’re going to come back to it because it’s interesting point of view. So if we look at businesses then what makes a successful business? Is it the mindset of the people that’s in the business or is it the concept of the biz business itself, what what actually makes a difference?

Shawn Shewchuk [5:05]
Great question. And I think it’s both if I’m being completely upfront, frank with you, because I remember very distinctly stepping off a stage in the United States was I was probably about four or 5000. People do that. And I had a, at one point in time, throughout the course of the afternoon, I had a lady come up to me, and tell me, she wanted to start a business knitting slippers. And I initially thought she meant, you know, something much greater, larger than she initially anticipated. So the concept is definitely something it has to be something that people need and want has to be something that people are willing to pay for. But I will say this in working with high achievers and working with leadership teams, one of the things that I get asked a lot is, what are we going to talk about? What are we going to delve into? What are those things you’re going to work with me or us as a team on? And the reality of this is, and this is an interesting one, is that about 50% of the time, I’m working with people based on their mindset, I’m working with people. Yes, there’s a transactional side, you know, every business needs to be a sales organisation, if you aren’t selling your business, how do we get there, who’s our target audience, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera? Those things are fantastic. And they need to be there implemented on expanded on etcetera. Half the time, it’s working with those individuals. It’s working with those people, because and you mentioned this in the introduction, I think we talked about limiting beliefs. And I think this is a societal norm and become an aid in a lot of us where, you know, we look at things and say, you know, that’s not possible. I’ll share a recent story with you. One of my one of my children, was asked by his school teacher recently, in the last two or three weeks, what are your life goals? And, you know, he looked at her, he said, I want to be wealthier than Elon Musk. In fact, nothing said, that’s unrealistic, she said. And that’s a perspective that so many people get well, yeah, that’s not possible.

David Ralph [7:00]
Well, I can tell you, there’s a story, a classic story about a football player in the United Kingdom. And he went on to become a very good football player, he ended up being the manager of England, got us to a semi final, and had a very good career. He’s a famous guy called Terry Venables, which probably means nothing to the Americans and of the world, but he is a known. And apparently, when he was a kid, he was asked the same question by a teacher. And he said, you know, what do you want to be when you grow up? He said, a professional football player. And the teacher said, probably only one in a million make that and he said, Yeah, and I’m gonna be that one. And he just had that fixed mindset of yes, I’m going to be about one. So if we spin back back to what I was framing, about, if there’s a problem, there’s a solution, it all comes to that moment of personal belief, doesn’t it? You’ve all got to have that at the beginning, to then want to move through to find both solutions.

Shawn Shewchuk [8:05]
100%, correct. 100%. And in some of the challenges we see, I get to see it on a daily basis in conversations. And sometimes it’s, you know, initial conversations where people reach out to us through through websites, social media, maybe they heard me on an interview, similar to what you and I are doing right now. And they say, Listen, I want to have a conversation with you. Sometimes it’s a leader leadership team, where the President CEO of a corporation, maybe it’s someone who’s done exceptionally well in their life. And they know that there’s more, they just don’t know how to get there. And the reason in a lot of cases that they either can’t or won’t, is because of conditioning. And I think you and I talked about this seven years ago, where you know, conditioning is really just those unsolicited gifts from parents, educators and religious influences in our lives when we were younger. And if you really boil it down and say, Okay, on what do I base my decisions, very typically, those decisions on our own, they’re based on that conditioning from other folks. And well, I’m sure those people whether their parents or educators meant well, it still was based on their own perspectives, and perhaps limiting beliefs or thoughts.

David Ralph [9:13]
I used to do well, I still do do a lot of coaching, but I do it in a different way than I used to. And one of the things I think was wrong, but I used to do, I’d go, Yeah, everybody can achieve it. Everybody can do this. And I kind of believed that. But now I say, look, even though I believe this, even though we will give you all the tools 50% of you won’t achieve because you just won’t put the effort in. You won’t have the drive you won’t have the commitment, numerous different reasons. But it’s not as easy as it used to be for me to stand up in front of people and say, whatever you want in life, you can go for it because I know they won’t.

Shawn Shewchuk [9:56]
Well, it doesn’t mean it’s not available to them, though. I agree with what you’re saying. 100% But It doesn’t mean that isn’t available,

David Ralph [10:01]
what it is, exactly means it’s not available, because it’s always going to be not available for them because they don’t have the the effort, the the mindset. So whether, theoretically, yes, it’s available term, it’s never going to be available to him.

Shawn Shewchuk [10:20]
I’ll take your point, you know, the largest gap in our lives. And I said this even before we went on the air, the largest gap our lives been what we know, and what we do. And if you think about that for a second, and you go back and you think about children, when when a child does something that they’re not supposed to do, and the parent looks at the child and says, Why did you do that? In the childhood? I don’t know, the parents did you know, you shouldn’t have done that? We’ll say, yeah. And we take that into adulthood. Right? Because there are a lot of people today that know their things, there are things they are doing on a daily basis regularly that they shouldn’t be doing because it’s negatively impacting their lives, their health, or whatever it is. And the reality of it is we still do it, but we being a general Sibbett not necessarily you are me. And why do we do it? Right? Or why don’t we do something? Your life, my life, and every single person that’s listening to our conversation today is predicated on two things, one, the decisions you make, and to the relationships, you make, establish and nurture.

David Ralph [11:24]
So let’s do that then. So why do people not take the action? Why if I lined 10 people up, give them all the same tools, or the same knowledge, or the same investment, we give them a million pound each, but a couple of them will make great achievements and be up as well, what holds them back?

Shawn Shewchuk [11:49]
I think this is probably that, you know, that multimillion dollar question that has been talked about for for years and generations. In my humble opinion, in my experience of you know, and I think somewhere close to 12,000 clients, I’ve had the privilege and our team had the privilege to work with over the last number of years, is elicited, that condition can be very powerful. I can think of an individual that I have I know very, very well, who comes from a home where they were never given that in knowledge, encouragement, that they could achieve more that there was this, this immense potential, there was nothing stopping them if they wanted something, and we’re willing to do what it took to get there. And that was never part of it. They were taught and conditioned that they have to go with minimum High School, and then go get themselves a job and work at that job for 2535. Whatever your whole green cross your fingers, that there was something left over to retire on. And getting outside of that no matter what they heard, they were unwilling to accept it. Because in their mind, it was GARBAGE. And they didn’t believe that there was more. They believe that this was their lot in life. This was what they were destined to do, because that’s how they had been taught and conditioned. And it there, let’s be very clear, you’re not wrong. What you said a moment ago is those people who refuse and I want to be very clear about something, they won’t do it because it’s a conscious decision not to accept. And somebody says no, I am not willing to accept the idea that there is more there is potential. If I was to take and do something dramatically different. It will change my outcome. If you refuse to accept that, for every single person listening to this, this conversation right now, if you refuse to accept the idea that there is more than what you currently have today, or what you believe today, you are doing yourself a massive disservice. Because there is more. You don’t have to believe, Shawn to chuck necessarily. But I encourage you to, because there is there is no limit to what you can achieve if you’re willing to make a shift and a change and do what it takes. But what to your point a few minutes ago, David, most people most 95% plus maybe even 90% Won’t do something different. Because it’s uncomfortable. It’s what we hear is it’s hard or perhaps too hard. It’s difficult, and most people don’t want to be inconvenienced. You know, it’s very interesting. My team and I did a study Oh, probably about six or seven years ago, right about the time even that that you and I did that our last conversation and interview. And we looked at people that were in this in North America. We looked at people that were born here versus people that were that immigrated here, especially those that were looking for a better life when they came over. And this is really interesting. There’s there’s actual numbers behind this and we’ll get into specifics. I don’t have it in front of me at the moment but 98% tend to the people that came over here were I’m sorry, immigrants were more likely to be highly successful than people who were born here. Now there’s, there’s, you know, the criteria to have a highly successful means why? Because they didn’t have any expectation of what what should be there was as a result of whether a birth right, because they were born here. And and this is interesting there is this at some level entitlement, whatever it is the the American dream or whatever it happens to be, depending on you know, the country, whether it’s US or Canada or you know, I was even talking to someone in Australia about this not so long ago, were people that that have committed to listen, I am here for a better life, I’m gonna do anything and everything that it takes to achieve what I want. They do it, and they achieve at a much higher level. So it’s, it’s an interesting and I know I throw this at you because it’s really interesting that that happens on a very consistent regular basis.

David Ralph [15:57]
But it’s not a surprise, though, is it? Because they’ve already set that board in motion they’ve already travelled across, you know, how many people grow up and die in the same town. Now, I probably do the same thing. I grew up in a town, I moved away, then met my wife, and I’ve moved back into the same town. So a lot of the streets and stuff are exactly the same. So I’m very much rooted in the past. But with these immigrants, they literally get to a point where they can go, right, I can go left or right, which way should I go is totally new. And that’s liberation isn’t there?

Shawn Shewchuk [16:35]
It is 100% Right? Now, 100%. But but it takes it takes somebody, you know, the the, to make a decision to say I’m gonna uproot my life, and especially those were the family, young children say, I’m going to take my entire family from everything that I know, and go, you know, to a country where I don’t have any network, I don’t have any support system, I don’t have any guarantee of income, or job or career or whatever it is. And that country may not recognise, you know, my education or my credentials. It takes a different perspective, a different mindset. And I don’t think that the average person about I don’t think a vast majority, 95 plus percent do not possess that. Why? Because there’s this attitude, or there’s this entitlement that you know, what the American dream should land on my lap, and I’m not picking on anyone United States, it’s a general statement. Because you know, there is, today there is nothing whether it’s, you know, the the Western world, you know, Canada, United States, UK, Australia, New Zealand cetera, et cetera, there is nothing that stops you from becoming highly successful. And you define what that means.

David Ralph [17:48]
Let’s hear from Jim Carrey. We’ll be back with Sean,

Jim Carrey [17:50]
my father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.

David Ralph [18:16]
So obviously, we touched into belief that that personal belief of I want something different, I’m going to make it happen. But is it then a case that people hold themselves back? Because they haven’t got the answers? You know, if you said to somebody, you just work through this methodically, and you will get whatever you want at the end? Do you think that is what’s people that so holds people back?

Shawn Shewchuk [18:44]
Well, I’ll comment on the on the clip from Jim Carrey. No, another great Canadian. So thank you for playing that. I think in some cases, you’re probably right with your question. There are some that don’t that don’t know. But there are definitely a significant segment I think of people that eat notwithstanding having been exposed to the idea that there is more that they can achieve more and that there is help out there example, we were talking about coaching a few moments ago, you know, I did a movie that came out a couple years ago called Game Changer. And it’s very simply that it’s if you walk down any street in any major city today in the Western world and talk about coaching, you’re very likely to get asked what sport because they don’t typically people don’t reference coaching to what you and I are discussing here today. And so, the movie is very much about, about exposing that that there is there is help if you want to call it that out there. If you want to achieve more whether in your business life, career relationships, whatever it is, there is that help available to you and what the outcomes can be when you embrace it. When you make that that irrevocable decision that you are going to do whatever it takes I asked the question I don’t work with a lot of one on one people, I’ve worked with a maximum of five, one on one and actually come January 1 2023, I will no longer be accepting one on one clients. And I asked one question if every individual usually, you know, come, come September 1 Labour Day long weekend over here, I there’s a waiting list because I don’t accept new clients over the course of the summer months. And I asked one question when I have that initial interview with them, and we make a decision whether or not that we’re going to be accepted to the one on one programme. And that question is, are you prepared to do anything and everything that it takes to get where you want to go provided that it’s legal, moral and ethical? And you would think at least, maybe, maybe I would think that the the answer is, yes, of course, anything. But surprisingly, it’s not always that. And I’ve had people hesitate. And I’ve had people say, I want to think about that. And that speaks volumes to I think what we’re discussing here today, there are people that want something, but and know that this is available, they’re there, they’re this, you can change your quote unquote, lot in life, there is nothing predetermined, you have the ability to shift that. But they weren’t willing to do what it takes.

David Ralph [21:16]
But a lot of them Shawn, will pay the money. And when not doing anything, that’s the thing that always blows me away. They will. They say, Yeah, I’m committed. I had this a few times where people have said, Yeah, I’m committed, I’m gonna do this, by hire me. And then that’s it. You know, they just disappear. It’s just like, they’ve handed me some cash, which is lovely, you know, but still, I can’t get to the bottom of why they do that?

Shawn Shewchuk [21:45]
Well, in my opinion, it’s fear. And I’ll share a quick story on that front. I don’t have a lot of them. If I’m being very honest, we don’t we we’ve been very blessed and fortunate over the years to not see I mean, you’re right, I think it’s about 45% of people that go into the coaching side of things fail. And you know, you said 50%, a little while ago, and so you’re right in that number. We’ve been very fortunate I can over the past, I don’t know what it’s been 2528 years, I can count on my, on my fingers, how many times we’ve had something happened where someone has achieved nothing. And I will go sometimes to lengths and most people can’t fathom to two quick things I’ll share with you. I recall one time I had a really good friend of mine, well known speaker in United States was in a certain part of the of the United States and just I just happen to be chatting with him on the phone. And he said, I’m in this town, I said, I have a massive favour to ask of you. I realised it’s crazy. I said, Would you go knock on a door and give a message to somebody for me? And here’s this very well known speaker went knocked on this door. This door he was knocking was a client of mine who had vanished gone and keto for probably the better part of six months, wouldn’t answer phone calls, text messages, email, anything. And so this gentleman went and knocked on this fellow’s door, and he answered the door and he said, Are you waiting to warn, said, yeah, he says, I’m actually here to give you a message from Sean shewchuk. And the guy was blown away, pick up the phone, he’s like, Okay, if you’re gonna get some celebrity speaker, come knock on my door to wake me up. And, you know, get me to pay attention. Let’s restart this. And let’s actually make this happen. And I’ve done this now. And I share with you one that doesn’t, you know, I had a lady approached me at an event I spoke out in LA, oh, probably eight or 10 years ago now. And and she approached me afterward and said, Can I buy you a coffee and the only in the hotel and we went and had a coffee and she said, I want to work with you. And we talked about it for probably an hour and a half or two hours and determine what it is that she wanted in order what the one on one or whatever that was, and I think we had a couple of coaching meetings and she vanished and you know, the it was up on the calendar, but 10 minutes before she was supposed to be with me on the Zoom she, she or Skype or whatever it was the time she vanished. And she told the office, our office and said I can’t make an appointment. And this went on and this went on. And you know, finally at one point in time, we sent her a letter after two or three years saying hey, listen, you know, you need to use these coaching meetings up because you’re gonna lose them. We can’t continue on the books forever. And she told us she said, Thank you so much for thinking of me and for and she booked a couple of meetings with with our team, and for me to coach and then she vanished. And, you know, I eventually I tracked her down, she worked for a large city for the city hall and I tracked her down after being transferred up 3040 times inside City Hall. And I finally got on the phone. I said, Hey, are we going to do this? Absolutely. Sean, thank you so much for sticking with me through, you know, the good and the bad, and I appreciate you and she never had another coaching meeting. And unfortunately, in my, in my experience, it all comes down to fear, fear of success, failure, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, whatever that is, but at the end of the day, I think it’s all just fear at it, frankly, in my mind whether it’s fear of success or failure. It’s One of the same. And, you know, there are many of those stories in my world. But certainly it happens. And certainly I see it, because people are afraid of the unknown. People are afraid of what happens if I can, what happens if I fail? What happens if? And I’ve had people say, Well, I can’t work with you get Shawn. I say, Well, what? Why is that? And they say, because what happens if I grow too fast? Or what happens? If I make a million dollars next year? What do I do with all the money? I’m like, Well, why don’t we cross that bridge? And we get that?

David Ralph [25:30]
The things that I want to jump in on that story, Shawn there, there’s two things. Number one, is it surprising but a celebrity speaker knocks on the door? It seems such a simple thing. But a lot of people don’t even do the simple things. And even people close to home to you, you know, when you ask something. But the bigger question is, why did you care so much about that woman? Why did you tracer and track her down? Why did you What was it that sort of made you put that extra effort in because that’s, that’s something to delve into.

Shawn Shewchuk [26:09]
I think a part of it is I’m I’m an individual, that when I make a commitment with somebody, I will do everything in my power to live up to that commitment. And a part of when I work one on one with people is the accountability aspect of it. Now, I don’t want it to sound like I’m trying to, I’m stalking anyone, because that’s not what it’s about. But it there is an accountability component to this. When someone says I make that commitment I make that I’ll use that term I used a few minutes ago, that irrevocable decision to make the shifts and changes to do those things that a vast majority of people today on this planet. Not can’t but won’t do, because I want a different outcome. And here’s that outcome, and I work with people to create that. What is that? Okay, so where are you going to be in two years? And let’s take that picture.

David Ralph [26:53]
But why do you care so much? Why? I can understand the reasons for doing it. But why do you personally bring those reasons to the fore?

Shawn Shewchuk [27:04]
I’m going to I’m going to, I’m going to I’m going to answer that question this way. I get asked many times in a month, why do you do what you do, Shawn? And this may seem a little bit interesting to some and it may seem a little simple to others. Many years ago when Bob Proctor was my coach, and and he said to me, Shawnee said, you know, none of us are getting out of this alive. And he was right. He also said that he said, you know when it’s your turn or checkout, you get to watch your life flash before your eyes. And I don’t know if we any of us really know that. But that’s what he had said. And if that is in fact the case, and we get to see our life flashed before eyes, I want to make sure it’s a movie worth watching. You know, I was asked a question by client recently. And he said, and he says, Well, after that year, or whatever it is, we work together that term of you know, time, he said, What happens if I phone you you just ignore my phone call? And I was actually very surprised by the question because I that’s not how I’ve ever operated or function in life or business, you know? And I said, Absolutely not. He said, Well, what if I asked you for help? Would you help me? And you know, it was a really interesting question. And my answer, of course, was, yes, of course, I’m going to help you. And it’s it presents an interesting question that he asked me next, which said, Well, if you’ll help me when I phone you, why would I pay you? And you know, it got me thinking, of course, because I care, I guess at the end of the day, and because I want to ensure that those individuals that I have made a commitment to I have done everything in my power to ensure that that I have done what I can to ensure they’re the outcomes that they you know, they’ve predetermined or they’ve decided on and I think that’s that the end of the day. That’s what it comes down to. I know what what I’ve done, and I haven’t done and I you know I for maybe it’s a maybe it’s a conscience thing for me, I’ll do everything I can to ensure you know, I asked people to do everything, and everything that it takes. And I guess it’s living up to that same sort of a commitment

David Ralph [29:09]
is interesting, though, isn’t it? Because what you’re saying fair, wouldn’t make an interesting film. If you’re at the end of your life, watching a film when you’re, you’re trying 30 times to get some and it’s the it’s the bad things in life. It’s the things that we do that we look back on and we go oh, why the hell did I do that? You know, they’re the ones that become the amusing stories. They’re the ones that become the interesting reflections.

Shawn Shewchuk [29:34]
You’re not wrong, but it depends who’s watching they go.

David Ralph [29:37]
Yeah, I like a dirty kind of feel. So I’m, I’m gonna go, I’m gonna go to the dirty side. But let’s let’s go. I’m not touching that. Now you don’t and my wife always says she’s not touching it either. Way. Let’s think about daily motivation. Okay, because this is something that you’ve got in spades. I can imagine that you wake up every day, I might stand up up this morning, and I spend half my time saying to the kids, and they’re 17 and 20, they should know better. Come on, put your happy head on, you know, things will bounce off if you’re and moping and moaning. Now, I know that you’re somebody that is on the go all day. Do you wake up in the morning? Do you reach out for daily motivation? Do you do have something to kickstart

Shawn Shewchuk [30:24]
to things and I’ll strongly recommend and there are people say to me, Shawn, I’m not a morning person. I think a morning routine is imperative, to the outcomes you want to see in your life. And I don’t mean that you open your eyes and reach for your smartphone, and scroll through Facebook and Instagram. That’s not what I’m talking about. I have no problem with social media mean, where I’m on social media or companies on social media. That’s not what I’m getting at. What I’m talking about is how do you kickstart your day. And yeah, I am a guy that’s on the go, I’m up at five o’clock in the morning, and I’m on the treadmill or I’m exercising. But beyond that, I did something that I have done for years, and I put it into print a number of months ago came out and it’s a book called daily motivation, Volume One, and it is 365 entries January one through December 31. And it really is some of them are one or two sentences, and some are, you know, two or three paragraph paragraphs. And what it really is, is, you know, there’s special days, there’s, you know, New Year’s Day and Christmas Day and Valentine’s Day and you know, and, you know, most of our client base probably 75% of our client bases in North America. So you know, things like Thanksgiving, and that that basically farmers. So the specific specific days Valentine’s Day, of course is, you know, pretty much universal. But But outside of that is instead of it being only on special days where we look at something adulty Yeah, today’s interesting days, every day, how do I start my day on the right foot, so to speak? How do I start my day motivated? And so it talks about how we show up in life, how we how we present how people see us what our perspective is when something happens that we didn’t plan for we didn’t want and it really is about staying motivated. You know, there’s, I’m a firm believer in something. When I hear somebody say to me at two o’clock in the afternoon, I need to go home and go for a nap. It speaks volumes. Now maybe did he get enough sleep the night before? But as a general rule, it does that mean that you weren’t motivated that whatever you are engaged in, whatever you happen to be doing is not something that drives you that motivates you. And if that is the case, my question to you is, why are you doing?

David Ralph [32:31]
Oh, I love an afternoon nap I do. I only need 10 or 15 minutes. But you know, at the moment as we’re recording this, what is it the sixth of October, we had a glorious day to day and it was one of those gift other days where you felt a summer was on its way out long time ago. And then suddenly it was warm. And I stood there with my son for a second. And I said to him, Look at that. I said we don’t have to go anywhere on vacation. We’ve got it shining down on us. And I sat in the chair in the garden, and I had about 1015 minute nap and I came back rejuvenated. So I think having naps is is when the kind of I don’t know the power comes back to you somehow I feel invigorated after a nap.

Shawn Shewchuk [33:19]
Well, either. Either that or you’re dating yourself one of the two. Yeah, yeah,

David Ralph [33:23]
it’s probably the latter is probably the latter on that. So with your daily motivation, what’s your your number one quote that you go? Yeah, that’s that’s one that stays with me all the time?

Shawn Shewchuk [33:36]
I don’t know, honestly, David, if I have a number one quote, but I will share this. I think there’s one there and and. And I get asked about this a lot. And there’s no specific question. But the general idea is, you know, how do you because when someone says to me, Shawn, how are you my my typical responses, I’m always awesome. I will have even even people I know acquaintances, or you know, parents at my kids school. And obviously you have a Shawn, like, be real. Like you can’t get always be awesome. And you know, I choose to have awesome days, that’s just a reality. I’m not going to tell you for a moment that there aren’t things that happened to me that I don’t want to happen, that perhaps I had no control over. But I really believe in this. It’s not about whether or not these things happen. It’s and I know that everyone’s heard this before, but it’s how you deal with them when they happen. So am I gonna have challenges? Yeah, May. That doesn’t mean it has to be a bad day. That doesn’t mean I have to go to bed frustrated, annoyed, you know, upset by something or multiple things that may have occurred throughout the course of that day. And I really believe that the determinant is how you start your day. And I’ve alluded to that already.

David Ralph [34:48]
I always say to people, when they say how are you? Good, I’m always good. And that’s basically my response. And not quite as good as awesome. But then again, you you come from North America. We, we like to build up to awesome. And so we stay we’re good. But most people over here UK is a little more conservative. Oh, very conservative most most of the time, if you say to somebody, you know, how are you today they’d go, well, at least I’m still breathing or not too bad. Or at least I’m not touching wood, you know, in the coffin, that there’s always a sort of, yeah, there’s, there’s a, a negative way of looking at things from the United Kingdom. So I’m a bit of a freak on that one. But it helps. Because if you believe that you’ve always good, then even if you get to the end of the day, and your day has been absolutely dreadful, you’ve made it through another day. So you know, it’s a gift, isn’t it?

Shawn Shewchuk [35:43]
Every day, every day? And I gotta be very honest, I don’t know that I have days that I would classify as dreadful. And I don’t think I do. I haven’t I can’t recall one. You know, that doesn’t mean I don’t have challenges. It just means that I think when, you know, the late, great Wayne Dyer, Dr. Wayne Dyer said, when you change the way you look at things and things, you look at change. And it’s so it really is about your perspective.

David Ralph [36:08]
Now, this is interesting, Ben, so we started off talking about belief, and we’re starting to talk about sort of action and non action taking. So we could pretty much say it’s perspective thing. So if the perspective is it’s not going to happen, that’s kind of more powerful than belief, isn’t it? Because belief is a kind of intrinsic one. But perspective is extrinsic?

Shawn Shewchuk [36:34]
Well, yeah, yeah. You know, everyone’s gonna have a little bit of a different definite definition and how they how they look at it isn’t again, perspective. But yeah, perspective is it listen, I think there’s two things, if I don’t believe I’m going to be successful, if I don’t believe I’m going to have a great day, or I don’t believe I’m going to get a specific deal, or I don’t believe I can grow my company. It’s not going to happen. But a perspective is more of I think about how we see it. If we can frame it, or the perspective of it is that this is, this is how I view it. I think it can change the belief. And that’s how I see it. And you know, I’m sure there’s all kinds of other explanations that people have that that resonate or ring true for them. But But yeah, I mean, I have the perspective that if I want to grow my company, to a certain level, whatever that is, 100 million dollars, $500 million, whatever it is, if I my son, and I believe I want to be wealthier than Elon Musk. That’s perspective. Now, let me be very clear about something, I can believe everything, and I can have the, you know, the most amazing outlook and perspective in the world, I still have to be willing to do those things it takes to achieve that. Right? This idea that, you know, I’m gonna let folks that have watched the movie, The secret of 2006. And I’m not talking to Billy or anyone that was involved with it. But But it’s interesting, I still to this day, have people that you know, will reach out to us to say, Oh, my goodness, I set my goal, my intention, and I read the book, I watched the movie, whatever it was, but I’m not seeing it materialise. And my question always is, what are you doing differently today than you were before you set your goal? And and have you changed what you’re doing? And they look at me and go? Well, didn’t say that?

David Ralph [38:12]
Yeah. And have you kept on changing? That’s a key thing as well.

Shawn Shewchuk [38:15]
Of course, right? Every every day is a new experience every day is going to present its own set of unique opportunities. And again, some at some level perspective also determines whether it’s an opportunity or a challenge.

David Ralph [38:28]
Now is on a the same things, is an opportunity, a challenge, because I think they are but other people see contra

Shawn Shewchuk [38:37]
work. And that’s that’s the perspective side of it. I think that and I’ll say this to you, inside every challenge, there is an opportunity. And this is where we were talking about earlier, you know, the big about solving problems, the larger and for those of you who listening who are entrepreneurs who are thinking about, you know, jumping in feet first become that entrepreneur. And there’s no right time other than now to do that. But it’s a different perspective, it’s a different way. And if you want to do it, you have to say yes to it, notwithstanding what other people say and just jump. And your perspective is that you’re willing to do something different inside of every challenge, there is an opportunity, the larger the problem you can solve, the more you’re worth, the more people want to engage with you talk to you do business with whatever that is. So yeah, I think you’re right. I would agree with you.

David Ralph [39:33]
I mean, that’s the first time on this show short, that’s the first time I’m going to, I’m going to bookmark that one. Let’s hear from Steve Jobs.

Unknown Speaker [39:40]
Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college, but it was very, very clear looking backwards. 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in Something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.

David Ralph [40:15]
Now I listen to that speech almost every day through this show. And I often ponder whether he’s wrong, whether you can actually join up the dots going forward with a little bit more than just belief and trust and karma that you can actually use them as stepping stones have a fixed price and have a fixed direction. What do you think?

Shawn Shewchuk [40:38]
Well, let me let me let me do this for a minute as I was listening to that, and I’ve heard it before, obviously. Do you believe that you can only connect them backwards?

David Ralph [40:49]
I know they do connect backwards, certainly. Because I think we can all look back with hindsight think, oh, blimey, I wouldn’t have met this girl if that hadn’t happened. And this hadn’t happened. But I think they work both ways. I think it’s just how you position your mindset, you’re either you’re driving your life, or you’re allowing it to float like a twig on the mighty stream of life, hopefully looking back and saying, Oh, this is how I got there. Now, in that point, I’m certain but geniuses and wonderful things happen to you, just by fluke, just because you happen to be in the right place, you happen to get off the train at the right time or the wrong time. I think there are coincidences that work that way. But I do think the more focused you are on directing your life, the more the dots join up both ways.

Shawn Shewchuk [41:38]
Yeah, and not in any way to, you know, to throw shade on Steve Jobs, I agree with you. You can’t wait for something to happen. Because you know, whatever is going to happen, someone else is going to dictate the outcomes, whether that’s the situation, whether that’s universe, whatever your belief system is. So at the end of the day, I agree with you in if you don’t have a destination, you use the you use the the analogy of driving your life, and I’m gonna go if you don’t have a destination, you don’t know where you’re going. And even further, how do you get there? So I would, I would concur with you, I think your life is an every single person, your life is a direct reflection of the decisions you’ve made. Full stop.

David Ralph [42:26]
100%, absolutely 100%. And this is what makes me wonder why people don’t take the action, because we take billions of actions in our life. And most of them are wrong. Most of them are, you know, really wrong. And then every now and again, you hit a good one. But every day, hopefully, you go to bed, you wake up the next morning to make another load of really bad decisions. Not many of them are game changes, you can just keep on changing direction and sort of moving to where you want to be.

Shawn Shewchuk [43:00]
I would agree for the most part, I don’t know that know, that we make more bad than good. I think generally speaking, most people put a focus on an emphasis on on making important decisions. I mean, we teach our children that, you know, was that a good choice? You know, did you make the right choice, these kinds of things. So I think it’s important that we that we preface that by saying, you know, I think most of what we do throughout the day is good. But could we make? Could we stretch ourselves a little bit? Right? You know, we talked about and I’ll share this because I had this conversation yesterday, it’s top of mind, I was talking to a very successful individual by all standards. And we’re talking about goals. And you know, we’ve heard for years and generations and you know, you have to set goals and you know, the book Good to Great, we talk about big, hairy, audacious goals where he does. And there’s a reality there’s only one reason we set goals. And that one reason that one word is growth, if you know how to do something, it’s not a goal. And so it’s very difficult to measure certain things. Everyone views love, or you know, whatever it is differently. But if we take you know, in the course of the UK it’s pounds and if you take money we’ll say dollar for example sake, we should hopefully by certain point in our lives understand the value of $1. Well, is that being said is what is that dollar figure you’re aiming at? If you if you made $100,000 last year, and you set your goal for next year $200,000, you’re not growing. That’s not really a goal because you know how to do it. A goal is to force yourself to grow and have a goal that the right way should motivate, inspire and scare you all at the same time. And the challenge is that most people are so afraid, they won’t write it down and they won’t verbalise the goal they want I’ve asked people, what’s your goal for the new year? Or like I don’t want to tell you so why not? Well, I just know what it is that because you’re afraid you’ll fail and and then you know you don’t want to do look like a failure to me or someone else. And of course, the thought you can you can see the gears turning when you ask that question or like, what kind of,

David Ralph [45:09]
they’re probably more frightened that you’re going to be phoning them 30 times

Shawn Shewchuk [45:14]
you make you make me sound terrible and say,

David Ralph [45:18]
You’re good, man. You’re good, man. So, last question before we send you back in time on the Sermon on the mic, is where are your dots heading?

Shawn Shewchuk [45:31]
Well, that’s a loaded question. And I assume you meant from a business standpoint. So I’ll say this, you know, I have a goal that we have set internally of how many people we want to impact. And so that that number is, is significant. And I think we’re certainly part of the way they’re based how many people we’ve had the privilege to work with. And, you know, there’s literally hundreds of 1000s of people that have, I’ve had the privilege to impact through the speaking that I’ve done over the years, and I think I’m I don’t know how many 1000s of presentations I’ve given over the years. So that’s one aspect. And I put a focus and emphasis on that. And that’s a reality. I have another company and we will get into the details of it. But I started about five or six years ago working in the space and nonfiction space in the the the expert space, and publishing books and being able to work with folks to disseminate this type of information that we’re talking about discussing here today. So that that ripple effect keeps growing and growing and growing. So that’s a big part of it for me is how do we how do we take this? Listen, I wouldn’t be today where I am if I had made a decision, you know, two and a half plus decades ago to work with Bob Proctor? And did I have was I scared out of my mind? Absolutely. Did I have the money to pay him? Absolutely not. But that decision dramatically shifted my life. But I wouldn’t be today where I am without having made that decision. And having had him, you know, kick my backside and hold me accountable. And if you think I’m tough, you should have seen what he was like when he was off stage. And that’s at the end of the day, you know why I do what I do.

David Ralph [47:08]
Let’s see what you’re gonna do on this. Because generally, when people come on the show, they get to choose who they get to speak to their younger self. But this time, we’re going to send you back to the person that you were last time he was on the show seven years ago. So I’m going to play the music and when it fades, this is your second time on the Sermon on the mic.

Unknown Speaker [47:36]
We go with the best bit of the show the Sermon on the mind, the same manner.

Shawn Shewchuk [47:54]
You know, I always find this an interesting question. I recall you asking it seven years ago. And of course, now I only have to back seven years, not so many more than that. And I’ll take this basically from a business standpoint, because I think we all want something more in life. And whether you’re in business or you’re not and you have a job, you still have have to show up in a certain way. And if I was to go back seven years, and that’s what’s being asked me now and really, what would I tell myself, you know what I think it’s about this, it’s about taking a different perspective, or a different look at what we’re doing. Well, I have committed to myself many, many years ago, long before I kids, I would spend a great deal of time with my kids. When when and if I have them. And of course I have been blessed with with two incredible two incredible children. But it’s, it’s not always about the time and it’s about results out just because you put in 18 hours a day doesn’t mean that you are actually accomplishing more. And I think that’s a really important aspect of this. The other one is to is and maybe this is because seven years have elapsed. And I asked everyone I have the privilege to interact with and work with is what is the legacy you’re building? I don’t mean necessarily the one that you know, you want to broadcast out, but what is the legacy you’re leaving, for those who care for? And if you happen to be in a wall like I am where I have somewhat a public figure and I speak to people all over the world, what is the legacy you leave, when you are no longer doing that when you’re no longer there? And I think that’s an important side of this. It’s not about having your name in neon. It’s about the impact. And I really think that’s what it comes down to. You don’t have to put in 80 hours a week to have an incredibly positive impact.

David Ralph [49:36]
Powerful stuff. So Shawn, for the people that have been listening, how can they connect with you? What’s the number one best way that they can connect with you?

Shawn Shewchuk [49:43]
You can go to change your results.com is our website. And I encourage everybody go to your productivity store your productivity store.com Sorry, high productivity store.com and take a look at a couple of things. There’s a book I just came up with, as I alluded to, I don’t know few minutes ago in the So called daily motivation, Volume One. And of course, it’s available on Amazon as well, or any other websites that sell books and then on the store high productivity store.com is something that I think every single person today who is serious about achieving more and changing that direction, that trajectory in their life, business career relationships, it really comes down to what you do on a daily basis. And so take a look at your freedom planner, and get yourself a copy of it and start working every day. And start understanding how you are going to be accountable to yourself. For the outcomes you need, want desire. And ultimately, these are

David Ralph [50:37]
shown. Thank you so much for spending time with us today, joining up those dots. And please come back again, when you’ve got even more dots or join, we’ll walk you into another seven years because I believe that by joining up the dots, and connecting our paths is the best way to build our futures. Shawn, thank you so much. Thank you. So is it belief is it perspective, what’s holding you back from going for it because we say time and time again on Join Up Dots, the dots join up and you try something and it works and it doesn’t work. And then you move forward and you find better ways of operating. You find the thing you want to do. You start working towards it. You then find somebody who’s already done what you want to do, that rocket powers you forward, and little by little you start taking control of your life. It’s been proven 1000s and 1000s of people have been on the show, and, and through my own life as well. It’s out there for you to go and make it happen. Until next time, as I always say you look after yourself. You stay sexy, and I’ll see you again. Cheers. See ya. Bye bye.

Unknown Speaker [51:41]
That’s the end of Join Up Dots. You heard the conversation. Now it’s time for you to start taking massive action.

Unknown Speaker [51:53]
Create your future create your life. Easy only you live God. We’ll be back again

Unknown Speaker [52:01]
real soon. Join Up Dots Join Up Dots Join Up Dots. God’s

Unknown Speaker [52:07]
joy Joe. Join Up Dots