—Systemic change begins with personal change—

182: Dov Baron, part 3: What is your car worth?

2019-05-20

When last we heard from Dov, about a year ago, he had limited driving his James Bond Jaguar, enjoyed the experience beyond expectation, and said he was considering getting rid of it. For a year I've wondered what came of his commitment. Many people "forget" or give up on commitments to bring mugs with them to cafés. What could I expect from a guy who aspired since childhood for a specific car to show the world he arrived from the ghetto to success? For people who insist remembering to bring a bag to a grocery store is impossibly difficult, surely anything about a car is too much. But Dov isn't anybody. A wrinkle? Tomorrow my book Initiative launches. Launching a book takes incredible time and attention. Letting yourself get distracted is a disaster because you may not catch up in time. My mind is saying, "Stay focused, Josh. Post about the book and nothing else. Dov's episode can wait." My heart says, "Dov's story may be the most remarkable and meaningful of your podcast. Don't wait." My heart won. Actually, they both won because this podcast is the direct result of my taking initiative in my life, creating the results the book is about and Dov's results outperform my expectations. This episode shows me what can result from leading people to share their environmental results and act on them. Dov's experience shows what happens when you take initiative. You discover your values. Only acting on your values reveals them to where you can reach your potential. My experience creating this podcast created the same result in me: unearthing latent passions, acting on them, attaining results I never would have expected. If a man gets more value from getting rid of a car than keeping it, what are the rest of us capable of getting rid of and thereby improving our lives? This episode is about initiative, action, and passion.

023: Dov Baron, Conversation 2: Freedom and the Jaguar

2018-02-14

Who doesn't have a dream car? If you can afford it, especially if you've aspired to it your whole life, isn't owning and driving your dream car one of the great joys and well-earned accomplishments in life? What if you found something better? What if what you liked better was not having the car? Does the idea of getting rid of one of your highest value sound crazy? That's the value of knowing your values. You learn what's better for you. Dov loves his Jaguar. He worked his whole life to get it. His personal challenge led him to consider that letting go of it could improve his life more than keeping it? Sound crazy? Listen to this episode to learn how his greater experience led him to see greater values than his car---in freedom, consciousness, responsibility, and things many people with authority talk about but few live. Speaking of values, freedom, responsibility, and so on, I've read a lot of leadership books. They all talk about values and so on, abstractly. In this episode Dov talks about them in his life---genuinely, authentically, connecting to his life and choices that affect him and people he cares about. I put what Dov shares against the content of any leadership book and suggest that Dov shares more. Talking about values and such in the abstract doesn't translate to action and how you live your life. Now that I've met many leadership teachers, authors, and coaches, I've seen some not live the values the profess. I'm glad this podcast is giving people the chance to examine their values, face internal conflict between their values, their actions, comfort, and convenience, and discover the value in persevering through the struggle to live by what they care about. Highlights We start with plants, gardening, and cooking. While I enjoy hearing a world class speaker talking about digging in dirt (as Gandhi did), the deep, surprising stuff comes about halfway through and keeps building We talk about awareness versus willful ignorance, distraction from what matters, how to get back to what matters, how freedom can be a prison, reflection, meditation, and learning about oneself---not lecturing but in connection to daily life. He also talked about his challenge, what he loves, and living by his values, overcoming internal conflict. It's not what you lose, but what you replace it with and what you learn about yourself. Dov's results Dov's results speak for themselves. He felt great. He savored. He said he was more than glad he did it. Considering getting rid of his car improved his life by including considering others in his actions. He increased his freedom. However much getting rid of something he could afford sounds like a loss or restriction, listen to Dov to learn how it increased his freedom. If you think you know better, consider that he experienced more as a result of his challenge. What I learned Dov's considering getting rid of a car took podcast to new level and increased my expectation that starting with as little as a set of one-on-one podcast conversation can lead to global change. I'm releasing it before other conversations I recorded after. Mugs instead of cups won't change the world. I wondered if podcast could make a meaningful difference. I hope you consider what your Jaguar is and what your delicious is so that you can act on it. Dov's odometer Read the full transcript.

015: Dov Baron, Conversation 1: Consciousness and freedom

2018-01-17

You will not forget this conversation. Dov brings his full self intellectually and emotionally, especially starting 20 minutes in from the start. I guarantee you will hear a person speaking a way you want to---unfiltered yet thoughtful, enthusiastic yet measured. Dov shares details of his life, authentically and raw, even when it hurts. He shares how he developed his authenticity, radically so because he wasn't always. He shares examples and stories most of us wish we could emulate in our lives. I don't know about you, but hearing someone living it leads me to raise my standards for myself. In regular life I talk a lot but Dov left me speechless several times, full of thought. He also thought of his personal environmental challenge before we spoke. Not all guests do, but doing so suggests the underlying values, enthusiasm, or both mean more to the guest. I'd say both with Dov. You'll enjoy hearing his challenge and look forward to his results in his second conversation.

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