Coloring Outside the Lines - Creativity, Resilience & Authentic Client Relationships with Will Baggett

Audio file

Transcript

:: 00:00

Hi everyone. I'm Sam Sivarajan and welcome to the Future Ready advisor. Today I'm joined by Will Baggett, author of Hughes of Hope, a colorful journey outside the lines.

:: 00:11

Will is a dynamic speaker and thought leader who uses creativity to.

:: 00:16

Fire resilience, optimism and personal transformation. His unique framework challenges conventional thinking in helping individuals and teams embrace imperfection and unlock their full potential.

:: 00:31

Join me for an engaging conversation packed with actionable insights.

:: 00:36

Will welcome to the show.

:: 00:39

Awesome. Thank you so much for the wonderful introduction. Sam, you gotta send that to me, man. I need. I need that for my sage intros. Man, that was awesome, man, but yeah, but I'm. I'm super excited to be on your platform, man. I followed it for a very long time now, and it's an honor.

:: 00:45

I will do. I will do.

:: 00:52

And a blessing to be here.

:: 00:53

Well, I'm grateful for you to be there. And I think that the audience is going to truly resonate with the the message that I think you then generally give. So let me start by saying.

:: 01:04

For the audience's benefit that your journey spends roles as an author, as a keynote speaker, and as an advocate for creativity. Using it as a tool for resilience.

:: 01:16

Can you share before the audience's benefit a bit about your background, what sparked your passion for these themes and how they've shaped your work and keep focus areas?

:: 01:27

Yeah, absolutely man. So I'll make a short story long and I'm, I'm joking, you know, quite honestly, man, I was. I'm born and raised. I'm a born and raised true Southerner from North Mississippi. Very proud of that. I would say man, first and foremost, I had really great parents. I had great parents that.

:: 01:43

That did not put limits or bounds on me. Honestly. You know, it really allowed me to explore, to learn, to make my own mistakes. And I think that's what inspired a lot of creativity. Right. They never told me what I couldn't do or what I wasn't wasn't possible. And I think I've carried that into my adult life. And so I've been really appreciative of that as I've grown older. And so as far as my actual professional background.

:: 02:05

Old Miss graduate Mailer grad.

:: 02:07

At school and I also spent about 10 years in sports and entertainment. And so I worked at places in the in the states such as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl IMG, the College football playoffs, Super Bowl Final four, anything the ball or an event I probably have seen it done it and have a T-shirt.

:: 02:27

This morning, right? So I really enjoyed my sports and entertainment career and I could still volunteer actively. I was a former friend and conditioning coach somewhere in all.

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note speaking journey back in: 2017

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And so I came into the game with the industry, so to speak.

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My original message was about executive presence and executive image. That was pretty much the name of my business. I became known for and I mostly worked with collegiate and professional athletic teams in terms of teaching them about being professional, how to speak without speaking through how to present themselves through body language, the power connection, and I still incorporate some of those.

:: 03:20

Comments into my keynotes today, but I've also, like you said, have moved over to a more creative aspect, right. A less structured aspect.

:: 03:27

Because I think in a post pandemic world you see a lot of people that are trying different things that are that have seen different versions of themselves that are realizing that their mortality is is real and that we have to as Einstein once quoted as was was quoted as saying that if we want to make our life a masterpiece, we have the color outside the lines.

:: 03:48

And you think about someone like Einstein creating like the theory of relativity and E equals MC square.

:: 03:54

And he even talked about the importance of coloring outside the lines, right. And so in terms of creative thought. And so whatever that looks like for you, I wanna use that creativity, that boldness and then not having imposter syndrome to go after whatever you want. Because I believe that we are here not.

:: 03:58

Hmm.

:: 04:11

Long time, right? So we should have a good time. And that's where coloring outside the lines and genesis of that came from.

:: 04:19

This is such an important message, and I think you said something that really kind of resonated with me and that is that post pandemic that there's a lot of differences that we've sort of understood. It was always in the background, but it's now become front and center to me. I see this concept of uncertainty. You know, nobody really predicted the pandemic.

:: 04:39

Nobody predicted how we would adapt to it, how we would move on from it and what a post pandemic world would look like.

:: 04:46

And I see a lot of what you're talking about, that creativity of living, the life that we're meant to lead as encouraging this idea, thinking outside of the box or coloring outside of the lines of being resilient and optimistic. And, you know, saying that you don't need to have the answers, but you can figure it out.

:: 05:06

How do you see this kind of mindset benefiting individuals in this type of world where nothing seems to be certain anymore?

:: 05:14

Absolutely. Yeah. You know what there were, there was a time when we were all kind of opening our emails. Our e-mail greetings with. I hope you're doing well. These unprecedented times. Well, now every day is an unprecedented time. Right? You know, the old saying goes that the the only constant is change. And now more than ever that is true because it used to be. Maybe things would change.

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One to 2-3 years now things are changing every one in three days. Honestly, right? I mean, there's.

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There's a platform called. There's an AI for that. That's over 13,000 AI features and applications that person can choose from to do nearly anything. And so I think in this world that we're living in, if you can look at some of the predictions from the link, the LinkedIn CEO who was actually right on some former predictions.

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M.

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to five, job being extinct by: 2034

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Meant with a four day work week because of low birth rates. Right, you know, so I'm. I'm seeing all these different things where people are realizing they're having to loosen the reins a little bit because people are not necessarily wanting work life balance. It's more much as work life integration, right? They don't want to like live to work, so to speak.

:: 06:14

Right.

:: 06:31

Right. And now there's so many different ways for people to earn income and so many people have side hustles now to where, in some cases, moonlighting is still frowned upon in some places. But in some places, they're like, hey, we get it, right. We understand.

:: 06:44

And and so I think embracing that is is inevitable if you want to stay competitive for top 10.

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Because people are realizing they have options and they have leverage. And so when you realize you have leverage and you have a collective movement force that understands that, that in a way forces the hand of the establishment and that's why I think you're kind of starting to see a seismic shift and change because Gen. Z is not coming, they're here. And I think right now you have give or take.

:: 07:13

You almost have about four generations in the workforce, like very much on the edge, right on the higher range. And there's a lot of volatility right within that, a lot of different mindsets in terms of what the value based rewards may be. A different generation may have said, hey, I want to get my pension 401K and, you know, get my get my, my, my corner office.

:: 07:34

Or my corner cubicle.

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And I'm good. And you know the new age workers may say, like, hey, you know, I want to work for a company that has a cause that's making a difference. I do want to make a good income. I want to have more flexibility. Right. And so it's one thing that one person says when you got a whole generation that's saying it.

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And you have now millennials moving into decision making role as well. And what I call the bridge generation that saw pre Internet pre social media and also hosts things are changing constantly and that's why I think the need for creativity and creative leadership is.

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Mm-hmm.

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More important than ever.

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I think you're absolutely right. We've seen how quickly we shifted to a digital world or a work from home world. I think that pre pandemic.

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There was always this talk about that we were going to get there and it was like 3-4 or five years away and when push came to shove, we had to do it in five weeks, right. And we figured out a way to do it. So I think we're seeing these kind of tectonic forces that are moving, that are forcing us to rethink. And so you're right, we need to think about it. We need to be prepared for it and.

:: 08:40

Part of it is being less rigid and open to new ideas and new ways of doing things.

:: 08:46

And you kind of passed that message to your audiences when you speak in front of companies and corporations to some extent, financial advisors are in the same boat as you like they're dealing with on a one-on-one or, you know, a few on one kind of scenario where they're dealing with clients. And this idea of.

:: 09:07

Thinking differently or less rigidly, I I think applies to the financial advising space and clients as well to think differently about their financial goals and their challenges. What advice or view would you have?

:: 09:23

To financial advisors that are listening to this, this episode about applying this idea of creativity or coloring outside of the lines to help their clients achieve their financial objectives.

:: 09:37

Absolutely. You know, I would say this as a as a person that is not licensed in the financial space. I would say this is.

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From a starting point, is first and foremost your connection with your prospective clients and or your current clients.

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Right. Because I always say that the shortest distance between two people is connection, and so the days of sending the LinkedIn message templates with no personalization, no connection those days are quickly coming to an end, right? People are becoming inundated with those things and they want people, they want real people. They want people that gonna cut to the chase.

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Be real about about. About what they're looking for with their.

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Speaking and also that it may be taking some time to learn about them right and not just send them some stock message and just into the abyss and just hope for the best. And so I think first and foremost is how are you connecting and attracting your clients? And I say this from a different side of the tracks is a licensed real estate agent. Once you obtain a certification or a license such as real estate.

:: 10:36

And I speak uneducated about the financial devising world. Once you get to that point, if you have your.

:: 10:43

And certification the licenses are in good standing. There's not much difference or variation in what we can do from a practical standpoint, just an application. Can we do this, we produce vary duty, blah blah blah, what have you. So what becomes the difference maker the how you do it the connection right, the creativity your communication.

:: 11:03

How you make them feel? How how on the cutting edge you are of what's coming down the pipe like I that's what's going to create some difference because of the day it's why would I choose you? The same thing goes for me, the keynote speaker.

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Anybody on the planet that has the ability to talk is technically my competition and there's no barrier to entry. It's a First Amendment right, right in the states, right. So I look at that and saying, OK, for me to create top of mind awareness and differentiation, I should do what a lot of people have the ability to do at a really, really, really, really high level, right to create that level of separation.

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And so I think the same thing goes for financial.

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Classes and and understanding, hey, there were the traditional ways that I think are tried and true. You know you think about on the accounting side generally accepted accounting principles, they're generally accepted I would imagine financial principles that are tried and true get your 401K and get your robbed. You figure these different things out. But now people are going to have questions about blockchain.

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In crypto, in coins and things like that, they're gonna have questions and it may not be.

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It may be still very risky and volatile, right? And it may not be what they recommend, but the ability to speak about it in an educated form and say, hey, you know what, I may not recommend this, but here's why. Not because it's it's new, not because it's not the traditional way we used to do it. It's because I've done my research and here's why I say yay or nay.

:: 12:26

Right, right. I think because now people are getting so much information so quickly at their fingertips that sometimes the information they have can be mistaken for knowledge. And I believe information is something you may get in 30 to 60 seconds on Instagram or TikTok video, but that doesn't indicate knowledge right from younger folks. They may say, OK.

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100%.

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TikTok told me all I have to do is go open an LLC and I can go buy.

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You act. It's not that simple. And so having people that can come in like yourself and your colleagues with an understanding of what they are seeing, what they are engaging in, what they're listening to, and being able to balance that with sound tried and true financial principles and and counsel, I think that's going to be a difference maker.

:: 12:54

No.

:: 13:11

Aside from the ability to attract and retain clients with great connection and realness and authenticity.

:: 13:19

That's a great point and I think you hit the nail on the head. In my opinion that the there's a difference between information.

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And I would say application and the the example that I've used in the past is that look, I can go look up on the Internet and look up what you know, I have a stomach ache and what that means and there's information that says there that ohh it could be this. It could be that it could.

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Be this other.

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Thing right, it could be something very serious that you need hospital for.

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A doctor, when you go to them, they're providing you application of that information. They're able to look at it, look at all of the other factors, your history, knowledge of you, and then be able to sit there and say based on everything that I know, I'm taking this information that's out there and I'm bringing it down to this.

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Application to say in your case.

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Please we can rule out all of these things. Take an antacid, go to bed and tomorrow you'll be OK, right? And look not for everyone, but for most people, I think there's a value in that to be able to provide that specific application of knowledge. Because to your point, the Internet is full of information.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And you can find 10 different opinions on any particular topic. How is somebody supposed to sift through all of that and come up with the right answer? That is, you know, giving them Peace of Mind? That's where a financial advisor or any professional, that's the value that they add and.

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I think ultimately the way you differentiate yourself to your point, to your clients or to your market is to show that you can apply the, the, the, the, the same information in a better, easier, more personal way than they might get otherwise.

:: 15:02

Absolutely. You nailed it. Absolutely. Absolutely, Sir.

:: 15:06

Now this is something that I think to me is near and dear to my heart because it is something that we as a society aren't comfortable with and I think particularly in the industry of financial advice.

:: 15:19

We're not comfortable with because again, they're we're regulated, there's rules, there is liability. But one of the core themes in your book is this idea of embracing in imperfection.

:: 15:29

That we're all imperfect and we're all a work in progress. Maybe that's a better way of putting it. I think that's a very valuable mindset to have, particularly in our current world. How do people, particularly advisors, apply this mindset?

:: 15:34

Yeah.

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Do you see in practice to guide clients through the fear of making?

:: 15:49

Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, I actually made a note right before we got on the podcast that that, that perfect isn't real and real isn't perfect. And there's actual psychological research to back that up. There is a study that they did or a concept called the Pratfall Effect, AKA the blemish effect that basically says, what does it appear?

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Perfect is more relatable and more widely accepted by the average person than what seems to be from and perfect. The reason is they did a study where.

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let's say both books each had: 1000

:: 16:41

Star rating right? Still very high. But you know, there's some realness in there because nothing is perfect right now. Could be in the eye of the beholder. And in fairness, I'm not saying that the five star book isn't amazing, but just by nature of people and how they live and just the mistakes we make every single day.

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We know that it's just nothing is actually perfect, right? It may be perfect for a person in a given instance or season. And so it the blemish effect basically says that things that are not perfect appear more real, more relatable, and are more widely accepted. So that's research in psychology and studies that back this up right there.

:: 17:20

Or actually some company. I think Coca-Cola did this one time. They actually they purposely put a misspelling in one of their marketing emails just to gain.

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Hmm.

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Publicity. Right. Right now you have the grammar police that are gonna come in like you did this and this. And you did this and this and that.

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Well.

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But it got shared so much, right?

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I was going to say they're talking about.

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It at least then.

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Right now they're talking about it because we're not selling dictionaries.

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We're selling cokes.

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Right. You see what I'm saying? And so depending on your industry and what you're trying to drum up interest about, right?

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It can be any publicity can be good publicity, depending on what you're selling. In that case, we just trying to sell coke. We don't anything about dictionaries and grant, right? So there have been examples of people playing on this blemish effect to create a level of connection with other people. And so I think the same thing goes, you know, for us and everyone is falling short, everyone's making.

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Made made a mistake and made make a mistake. You know make a mistake daily and I think that there's so many people are scared to start or scared to try anything.

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is that I became very sick in: 2020

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And I realized that there were only a few people around me that I felt comfortable with in my vulnerable state.

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And I said, why am I worrying about the masses if at my lowest point these are the only people that are around me that are supporting me day in and day out, and it's not to say that, you know, we shouldn't still like for us, you know, have, you know, great networks of people. But when things are not going well.

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The people you're comfortable with sharing it with is going to be a really, really, really small group of.

:: 19:09

People right. And so I said, you know what? I'm gonna begin to live my life the way I wanna live it. Right, because no one's paying any bills over here with me. You know, I'll have to give an account for what I did. Right. You know, where, where, where, where? I'm no longer here. And I think that is something that everyone should embody and appreciate. Right. Because you know, everyone maybe lost a little bit.

:: 19:30

A little bit of money.

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Before and so I think someone can come out and say, hey, I made a mistake.

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I may be wrong. I may have done the wrong thing that creates a level of trust and vulnerability because vulnerability, in my opinion is actually strength. It comes across as weakness. But if a grown person can look you in the eye and said and say I didn't do the right thing, where I made a mistake where I felt short, that's a strong, strong person that's done a lot of introspection.

:: 19:54

A lot of inner work.

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We have to speak with that level of strength and not fear the blowback or what may come from that, or the judgment that could come from it, or the loss of the client. Right. And they say, you know, and they say, you know what? Hey, that wasn't my person. I did my best.

:: 20:09

Look forward. I was honest. I was authentic. You can't win them all. And so that's what I would I would submit to people is because you think about it when you think about the financial advisory world. Right. And in any kind of space, I'll give a different example. Let's say you're thinking about McDonald's, right. McDonald's may not have the best customer service reputation. They probably don't have the best.

:: 20:29

Reputation for customer service. So the bar is set kind of low, right? But let's say you walk into a McDonald's, you go through a drive through and you get extraordinary service, right? That's gonna send the impression of.

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Mm-hmm.

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That.

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Super high because the bar was kind of low, right? It's right. It's such an aberration from the norm which the.

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Expect the same thing may go OK? Well, maybe financial advisors don't have personality. Maybe they aren't fun. Let's say financial adviser comes in, cracks a joke or says something that is, you know, culturally relevant. That's not cheesy. That's authentic to them. Right. And mixes up a little bit instead of, you know, the the same old jargon that's going to give a whole different impression.

:: 21:08

Right. Right from a, you know, from a perception standpoint and again we have to understand what the perceptions may be.

:: 21:15

Right. There are some perceptions that maybe around speakers, right, same old jokes, same old story, same this and that. Right. And so I have to make sure I'm combating that with personality and charisma. And so I'd say no matter what industry a person is in right, there may be some drawbacks to some downfalls. And so when I try to do is focus on what those kind of wide perceptions might be.

:: 21:35

Even if they're incorrect and I try to work against them, because the best marketing is having a solution to your customers problems before they even ask it.

:: 21:44

Right. That's the best marketing you can do. You can already address their question.

:: 21:48

Or address their potential issue before they even have a chance to voice it. And so that's what I would submit to people in terms of think about your industry, what's the perception? How can I just mix it up just a little bit, right? How can I mix it up just a just a tad bit and just I just watch your reception, how receptive people are to say, you know what, I didn't know that this was possible.

:: 22:08

I didn't know. I never met anyone like you. I never seen anyone that was willing to send an e-mail like this or a subject line like that, or name a keynote like this or pass out fries with a smile like this, right? Never seen that before. And that's going to create a lasting impression that will be rivaled by very, very little.

:: 22:26

That's such a powerful message, will. There's so much packed in there. So first of all, thank you for sharing your personal story. And I love your characterization of vulnerability being actually a superpower. And I I think it's true. And I think particularly in a situation that a financial advisor finds themselves in, they are the expert that the client is coming towards.

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And there's almost this teacher student kind of feeling to it. And most clients don't like it because they are.

:: 22:56

Experts in their own right in their own field in their own lives, so to be kind of being in a put or feeling like they're in a position where there is being taught by an expert I think is is not a fun feeling. So to the extent that the and again the the the question is is the advisors objective to be seen as an expert?

:: 23:17

For it to be seen as a solution to a problem that I have and to be a trusted partner to the client, I would submit that it's the second, not the first, in order to be that second. Then you have to kind of show a degree of vulnerability. The degree of connection, the degree of.

:: 23:32

Meeting the client where the client is and not having them.

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Meet you where you are.

:: 23:38

So I love all.

:: 23:39

Of that characterization, and I think you're absolutely right that, that understanding what the perceptions are of the the industry, understanding the client and their particular challenges or their perceptions and how you might counter them.

:: 23:54

I think it's critical and to add on to the one point that you made your own personal experience that that there's only so many people that are actually paying attention to you.

:: 24:04

It's a very hard thing for people to get out of their own head, but there's enough research that says that, you know, most of the things that we think.

:: 24:13

That people are paying attention to what we say, how we dress, how we move and the reality is that 95% of people.

:: 24:21

Are not thinking at all about that right? That said, they're focused on their their their own thing. I mean, just imagine yourself there is.

:: 24:29

A really, really.

:: 24:30

Great exercise. This is written by a guy. The authors name is Oliver Burkeman. He's written a book and he's talked about an exercise that a psychologist had him do.

:: 24:39

And so he's on the subway in London, OK. And the psychologist had him run this experiment where, like, as they're coming up to a station. OK, and you hear over the the intercom, the announcement of the station that they're coming. So he made this guy, this author say, out loud, every station that they're coming to so that everybody in the car can hear him.

:: 25:03

Say this right? And so the first station that he's doing this for, he's.

:: 25:07

So in his head, he's sitting there thinking, Oh my God, I'm going to look like there's something wrong with me. And so he says it the first time and one or two people look at him, but most people aren't paying attention. The next station, he does it and it becomes easier. And by the 3rd or 4th or 5th station, he just realizes that like, nobody's really paying attention to him or judging him or thinking anything about it. Right.

:: 25:31

ding on what you read between: 6060

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What you read?

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Half of 1/2 of 1/2 of one may be dedicated to.

:: 25:58

Right. Half of 1/2 of 1/2 of a one right, if if even that. And because people have so much going through their minds, they have their own, you know, challenges their own things they're dealing with. They don't have time to be just focused on another person because it's not going to get them anywhere. And quite frankly, this is a very unpopular opinion. But you know, that's what I do. I color outside the lines, right. I personally think that, you know, we.

:: 26:18

I I I talked to at least two people a week that are dealing with imposter syndrome.

:: 26:23

At least two a week minimum.

:: 26:25

I think that and again, it's unpopular, lose some subscribers. I'm sorry. I'll pay you back.

:: 26:31

I think that it can be grounded and positive syndrome can be grounded in conceitedness and selfishness.

:: 26:37

I really do. Let me tell you why. Because when you have something to give as a speaker, as a financial advisor, as a confident, as a friend, as a Barber, as a a service member, whatever it is, you got something to give. The unwillingness to give that because of what you think someone will think of you when you have something to share. I think it's very selfish, personally. And then also pursuant to the spotlight.

:: 26:58

That and then knowing what we just talked about, if you're constantly thinking people are thinking about you all day long, I think that's a little bit of self absorption right then we need to kind of work on a little bit and it could be a little bit like a confidence as well. I I see that I see that.

:: 27:12

Well, but I think that an over fixation of thinking that people are thinking about you, what you're doing at all times, I think that could be grounded in a in a very, very like weird way and not a malicious way. And consider this and maybe arrogance, right. And so I think people that have something to share, I think it's incumbent of you, it's your responsibility.

:: 27:34

To give that I talk to somebody about that one time, it's like, well, you know, I wanna do this and this and that. And but, you know, I don't wanna do this and that I'm like, do you have something to share? Is it gonna help somebody? It's like, yeah. Well, why?

:: 27:44

Don't.

:: 27:44

You do it well. What you gonna think about me? So is it about you, or is it about your audience?

:: 27:50

It's like it's about me, I said OK. So now we now.

:: 27:54

We're getting something.

:: 27:55

I think it's a I think it's a very, very powerful observation. Well, I think, look, we live in a society where we've been colored to think about.

:: 28:08

And it's not a bad thing to think about how replace in society and what others think of us. But I think we've also.

:: 28:16

Almost inadvertently come to the view that everything that we do, everybody has to like, OK. And I think that there is not.

:: 28:24

And I'm I'm making it up, but you take any beloved celebrity or like the Pope for instance. And not everybody loves everything that the Pope does either. And I'm pretty sure the Pope's not losing a lot of sleep worrying about it. Right. Yeah. So I think to your point, if there is if if your.

:: 28:42

Advocation or occupation is to add value to your clients financial lives as a financial advisor, you need to accept that not every client you're going to be able to help or not every client is going to be help.

:: 28:54

Right, like this from from your athletic days and needs to say this, managing teams, every team member needs to have a good coach, but it's a two way St. the the player or the the team member needs to be coachable, right? Right. And so the greatest coach in the world can't do anything with the with the an athlete who is not coachable.

:: 29:07

That's.

:: 29:15

That doesn't mean that the coach doesn't have value to add or should not be being a coach. It just means this person that can't help when you, you, you.

:: 29:21

You.

:: 29:22

You become OK with that.

:: 29:23

Right. Yeah. You're we're at an impasse at this point and we agree to disagree and go different separate ways. And you brought up something else I thought was very common.

:: 29:29

Telling and that you know by by the third time the guy didn't care. People are thinking about him. I think that you bring up a point. I don't know if this has actually been researched and it's actual like real term, but rejection immunity.

:: 29:42

You know when you just get immune to rejection, like, you know what? Hey, missed a couple Times Now. It's like, OK, I don't care. Couple messages didn't responded to, OK. Missed a couple. You know of pitches here in proposals.

:: 29:52

OK, you know what I mean. You know, you're going to the next. You know what I mean?

:: 29:55

No, but I I think it's a I I think it is a term and I think it's bang on. I think the rejection immunity like I think most financial advisors would have started by doing cold calls. It's not a fun or a glamorous way of starting your career etcetera. But it's important because it makes you comfortable with being rejected. You realize that this is a numbers game, right and bringing an athletic metaphor in place.

:: 30:16

Like the best baseball players in the world, bat 353 hundred 350. Is that means that they're missing 6 times out of 10 etcetera. So it's a numbers game, right? And again, like I'm I'm, I'm.

:: 30:20

100.

:: 30:21

150 yeah, 3.

:: 30:23

This.

:: 30:26

That's correct. That's correct.

:: 30:30

Mixing metaphors, it was Jordan Michael Jordan that said you you miss 100% of the shots that you don't take. All right, once you accept the fact.

:: 30:38

And get comfortable and immune to rejection. I think that the the world is your oyster. It opens it up right at that stage.

:: 30:45

Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, that was a great movie here in the states. You senior night with Eminem, a famous rapper called Eight Mile. And at the end of the movie. And he'd had a tough life. He had a tough go in the movie. And at the end, he knew all of his flaws and basically talked about himself in his in his rap and his cipher.

:: 30:57

Hmm.

:: 31:06

To the point where his opponent.

:: 31:08

Just backed out of the battle because he had nothing to say like this guy knew every flaw he had, every mishap, everything that happened to him and he was open and vulnerable about vulnerable about it in front of everybody, to the point it basically made the guy just choke, choked up and say, hey, I got nothing to say. And so I think when you do the.

:: 31:28

Inner work and you you are self aware you know where you come when you fall short. You know your weaknesses. You don't allow people to put you in a prison, a prison of their own paradigms, right. You don't allow that, right? You just like, hey, I know that I got some things here. That's OK. But you do too. You know, these look may look different from mine.

:: 31:47

Right. But I'm doing my best and no one's gonna make me feel bad for doing my best and or not being able to change some things I cannot control, right? If I'm working towards, I'm trying to get better. I'm trying to treat people the right way, and that's what I think about when it comes to even just some.

:: 32:02

People that have.

:: 32:03

Different belief systems listen. Most belief systems revolve around.

:: 32:07

Working working hard treating people the right way and being good.

:: 32:10

1st.

:: 32:11

Can we agree on that? I think we can move, you know, and that's why I look at it like can we agree on that part? Can we agree on it? If the answer is yes, we can keep pushing for it. Not to not to change the subject. But you know, I just, I'm just trying to, you know again my message is all about the the creativity and connection. So let's just boil these things down, all these very complex systems and things we created in our today society.

:: 32:32

Or division, boil them down to the simplest form and they're not that.

:: 32:36

Different. No, it's a much needed message today, but I 100% share it. I think that we're so busy.

:: 32:43

And we're allowing people to kind of look at the little minute differences that you like wearing this designer. And I like wearing this designer when it comes down to the core things.

:: 32:55

Most people are not that fundamentally different, right? And I think to your point, if you go down to foundational levels and do the work.

:: 33:02

And say on these.

:: 33:04

Core values. Can we agree? I I actually think that you can find that most people will agree on most things, right? It's just. Excuse me. I think it's it's really like the the the divisions are to some extent manufactured than anything else. Again the inner work is important to understand yourself.

:: 33:20

But I think it's also, especially if you're a financial advisor, etcetera, part of your role I think is to see where you can bridge that.

:: 33:29

Connection with that client of yours. There are people like that. Now we're talking about different sets of values, but there are people that if you are somebody and I'm I'm making this up as a as a financial adviser that absolutely thinks that crypto is danger or kryptonite or what have you. And you have a client that says I want all of my.

:: 33:49

Assets in crypto.

:: 33:51

I think there's a question whether you should be working together or not, right? But beyond that, I think you're trying to find ways that you can bridge. What is the common ground that you have to work with?

:: 34:02

Which segues very very nicely to the next question I had for you, which is you've been sharing your insights with audiences around the world.

:: 34:12

What have you learned from these experiences about how to connect with different groups and diverse groups so you have an audience with different personalities, different people, and you're trying to engage with all of them with the, with the common message? What lessons do you think the financial advisors you can impart to them that they may be able to use to be able to engage?

:: 34:33

Better with their clients.

:: 34:34

Absolutely. I think it comes down to a few core foundational things that we like. We've kind of mentioned here in the last few moments, but you have to think about foundationally and holistically what do most people care about. Most people care about their family.

:: 34:51

Their time and their money.

:: 34:54

I would argue that those things maybe in a in a different order and you may add in different different spiritual beliefs and things of that sort and friends, things like that. But I would argue that their, their family, their time and their money would be in the top five to top ten of most people.

:: 35:12

For everybody.

:: 35:13

Right for everybody. I would. I would argue that right. And so knowing that.

:: 35:18

You have to understand that outside of that people are very complex, right? People are very complex beings of what we're made of. So how we think no one sees life the same way that you see it through the same lens, the same lived experiences. And so I think there has to be room left for that, right. That though that volatility and that those oscillations, right and differences in perspective.

:: 35:39

But the great thing is you can stay open to it, right? You can stay open to being able to hear something different, someone that came from a different part of the world or thinks differently. And that's why I was so appreciative to be able to go to Colombia. I met us in Colombia in the last couple of weeks because I realize, like, man, I am miles and miles away from.

:: 35:56

These people don't live really anything like me, yet they're surviving and thriving. They're they're happy and it just makes you realize there's so many different ways to do this. And so I think at the end of the day, they cared about their family.

:: 36:09

Their.

:: 36:09

Time and their money. And so I think it kind of goes back to the how to win friends and influence people. Principle of when you.

:: 36:16

When you can speak in in terms of other people.

:: 36:18

'S interests, right?

:: 36:20

And knowing what those big, broad umbrellas are, but then you can kind of use that to get to the core. Like, OK, tell me about your family. Right. Right. Tell me about your relationship with money. Was that there? Was that was money, a traumatic experience where you growing up. Right? Because I think sometimes people think that money going to.

:: 36:39

Fix all their problems.

:: 36:41

Right. Money only fixes money problems, right? It can buy you you it can buy. You can buy, you can buy your convenience. It can buy you in some cases freedom. It can buy you resources, but it's not gonna repair a relationship with a family member, right? If you if you wanna pick up the phone. Right. And so I think it's the. It's the ability to understand the broad, you know, the broad based principles and take those things and create a connection of understanding.

:: 36:52

Mm-hmm.

:: 37:02

Say hey, let me learn more about you so I can tailor what I'm what I would recommend to how aggressive or how moderate you want to be, or lack thereof, depending on your history and your relationship with money. Right. Because people are growing in their relationship with money. If you experience money, trauma and now you come into a lot of resources.

:: 37:22

Well, it's kind of like we know when I first started making an income to where I wasn't living paycheck to paycheck, I was still going to the grocery store and only shopping for the next two weeks. My mindset had not shifted to my new income level.

:: 37:31

Mm-hmm.

:: 37:34

Mm-hmm.

:: 37:36

Right. And not to say that lifestyle creep should come in and you know, and that brings you back to 0 or whatever it is. But my mindset was, you know what, I can shop for the month now shop for two months now, but my mindset and my kind of money relationship was conditioned to think I can only shop until my next paycheck.

:: 37:54

It takes time to catch up, right?

:: 37:54

Right. Yeah. It takes time to catch up the mindset and take time to catch up, to take that kind of mental cap off, so to speak. And so I think that despite what a person may have, you may see their resources on paper when you're prospecting, you don't know what their relationship with money is just because they are a lot.

:: 38:11

And so being able to boil it down to, you know, time your money and their family and really focusing on those core things and be able to unpack those person to person. It takes more time. It's not the most efficient. It's not the most economical, but it's going to make you a make a difference and it's going to create a connection that's more long lasting, right? Even if they hit a rough spot, a rough patch, they'll come back to you.

:: 38:33

They remembered how you treated them.

:: 38:34

Hey I need to make a you know they can pull something out of here and from that, but I'll get it back and I'll come back to you. Right. So I think you want to create that connection to where even if something changes, they want to come back to you. You have that top of mind awareness. And last thing I'll say to that end just for my own personal relationship like my virtual assistant who lives in the Philippines, he's been with me for about a year.

:: 38:54

And on your anniversary, because of our connection, how much research he did on me in our interview, what he does to make sure we stay connected, what he knows about my family, the extra steps he takes, I decide to give him a lifetime contract and tell him he's hired.

:: 39:09

Life, right? Because of all the soft skills and all of the small things he did on the on that were not a part of his job.

:: 39:19

Description We interviewed.

:: 39:21

He had went through and read the last years worth of all of my posts on LinkedIn. The last year's work.

:: 39:27

You can't coach that you can't teach that, and that's what made him earn a lifetime contract. So I would say that that same could apply to financial advisors if they apply that in their own.

:: 39:37

I think that's such a great example. Will, I think look at the end of the day before anything matters, whether whether that's your virtual assistant or a financial advisor to a client, they'll starts by showing that you care, demonstrating that you care. There's one thing to say. I care. And there's another thing to have your actions prove that you care, right? Once you prove that you care.

:: 39:58

They always used to say that in advisor to be successful, they have to tell, show the client that they care about the clients money almost as much as they care about their own.

:: 40:07

And when you can do that, then it's a whole different ball game, right? Well, if there's one lasting message you want readers and advisors to take away from your latest book, The Hues of Hope, what would it be? And why do you think that's specially relevant in today's world?

:: 40:23

Yeah, I think I would say one of the my key takeaways would be.

:: 40:28

Be the best version of yourself and not a second hand version of someone else.

:: 40:34

Right. I think because of the visibility we have into everybody else's live lives, I think there are some benefits, right in terms of exposure and different ways of doing things and creativity that can that can be generated from that exposure. But I also think that if you look at now just based on the research, people are spending a lot more time alone now.

:: 40:54

People the Happiness Index has gone down in a lot of cases.

:: 40:58

Passes just because people are not connecting and they're doing a lot, spending a lot more time comparing, right, whereas back in Yesteryears, I mean, you didn't know what the Jones has had. You know, you may look across the street, but you really know what's going on. You know, for real. And so I think that gave people an opportunity to kind of run their own race without the the kind of.

:: 41:18

Benefit or drawback of knowing what was going on, you know, across the world or across the street. And so I would say the ability to unplug and do nothing has changed my life because.

:: 41:30

You get your best ideas when you're doing nothing. That's what research shows, and I know you're going on your retreat here soon, so I'm excited for the insights and the ideas that you're going to gain from. Essentially, I'm not saying I'm not saying doing nothing because I know meditation is important and it takes work to do to clear your mind. So I don't want to denigrate or diminish that importance.

:: 41:52

But be able to clear your mind and be able to not like you have to be constantly in motion or constantly doing something with something. I had an issue with, you know in in years past. And so once I got past that and I was able to just really just unplug, get away.

:: 42:07

That enabled me to be the best version of myself instead of trying to mimic and copy to be the secondhand version of someone else. Right? And so there's a quote I forgot who said it. That says no one has your fingerprint, so no one has your imprint.

:: 42:24

On the world or on life. And so that's what I've chosen to pursue and do. And the way I've chosen to kind of live my life, so be the best version of your.

:: 42:33

Not a second hand version of someone else.

:: 42:35

I love that and it's highly relevant today because we live in a hyper connected world. It's noisy and for me, I think that I find what was easy to kind of unplug and be with myself and to figure out things. It becomes harder and harder to do right.

:: 42:52

Well, we're coming on to the end of our podcast. So I have a few final rapid fire questions for you that I ask all my guests. So if you're ready.

:: 43:01

Let's do it.

:: 43:02

Number one professionally, what is the most important lesson you've learned over the?

:: 43:07

Years.

:: 43:07

When spotting a battle, you know nothing about, be kind. Always.

:: 43:10

So true, especially in this day of troll wars and stuff on the Internet, I think you're 100% right #2. What is 1 practical tip you would offer listeners keen on applying your insights.

:: 43:23

Learn to slow down and take baths. I take a bath, a sit down bath. Three to four times a week. I call it submerged and immersed because I can submerge myself in water. We're made-up of mostly water. The the Earth is mostly water and I can immerse myself in a book or something that is different from just scrolling on my cell phone.

:: 43:43

So I would say and submerge and immerse yourself in something different.

:: 43:48

Awesome.

:: 43:49

Well, this has been a.

:: 43:51

Fun conversation and insightful conversation, so thank you. If listeners want to learn more about you or find your work, where do they go?

:: 44:00

Absolutely. I'm the easiest person to find. You can find me on social media as well. Baggett, LinkedIn, anywhere you, anywhere you have social media. My website is will baggett.com 2G2 T's. I would love to connect. I'm with you all and I want to thank you Sam for creating a platform.

:: 44:17

Form to for me to share and others to share because I think it's one of the greatest skills and greatest form of selflessness. To be able to listen to people talk and give their stories, for extending the amount of time because so many people will listen to respond and not listen, to listen. And so your ability to to do that, to create a safe space for sharing and connectivity, I think is absolutely masterful.

:: 44:39

And I'm appreciative to have been on your platform.

:: 44:42

Well, I'm grateful for you to join me today on the future radio advisor. Will this has been a lot of fun and I know the audience will get a lot out of it. So thank you.

:: 44:50

Thank you.