One of my core values is that improving your own mind is one of the best things you can do for the people you love. I have been always believed in lifelong learning - in fact, the concept seems almost odd that it must be specifically called out. It's like saying you believe in lifelong sleeping, or breathing, or eating.
My work is a component of my life, and so I no longer distinguish work and life as two different parts of me to balance. It is one of my driving principles that guides how I live - not just how I work. Some of the guiding principles that drive my life and are anchoring motivators for this podcast series are below.
Guiding Principles
A few of those core principles I have adopted are:
SELF - I believe the best thing you can do to serve the people you love is to improve yourself.
WISDOM - I believe that if knowledge is power, then wisdom is a super power. There is a vast difference between wisdom and knowledge, and the space between them is courage.
HARMONY - I believe in striving for harmony not just balance.
What's In It For Us?
I thought about the three stakeholders of this podcast - the listener, the guest, and the host. I did this exercise for myself to truly examine why I am doing this podcast in the first place. Here - in this diagram below - is the honest set of answers I came up with:
Our brains - our mindsets - are our greatest and most valuable resource. In the world of senior living, healthcare, and any other industry where leaders serve people who serve people, there is a scarcity of learning opportunities that really feel like they matter.
A former direct-report shared with me recently that what stood out to her about my leadership style is how much I focused on self-improvement and that, in turn, became learning opportunities for her. It was a signaled permission of sorts and an endorsement that she should also feel free to lean into her own learning.
So, in that spirit, I want to continue my own journey of self-improvement, and my hope is that this podcast will serve as a library of those lessons while simultaneously being an avenue for others to listen in and level up their own skills and methods of thinking.
I will commit to staying focused on enjoying this process and that if I'm enjoying the learning process it may be valuable to others, too.
Thank you for joining the journey. I hope it is as valuable for you as I'm sure it will be for me.
Well done James Lee. Appreciative of your "lead in" podcast. It's not often we get into the mindset of the people hosting these things. Your commitment certainly helps to strengthen your authenticity and establish credibility. Hopefully, many will take in the initial podcast before listening to other episodes as it clearly will add value to their experience.