#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards
Are you feeling stuck in life, wanting to grow, improve your income, or build a stronger community? Join performance coach Jordan Edwards as he interviews world-class achievers—including the Founder of Reebok and the Co-Founder of Priceline—who share their success stories and actionable strategies. Each episode provides practical tips on how to boost your personal and professional growth, helping you implement changes that can make a real difference in your life.
This podcast is designed for anyone looking to make progress—whether you're aiming to improve your mindset, relationships, health, or income. Jordan distills the wisdom of top performers into easy-to-follow steps you can take immediately. Whether you're stuck in your career or personal life, you’ll find new ways to get unstuck and start moving forward with confidence.
How to get unstuck? It’s a question many face, and in each episode, you’ll hear stories of how successful individuals broke through barriers, found purpose, and created systems to overcome obstacles. From building resilience to developing a success mindset, you'll gain insights into how high achievers continue to evolve and grow.
Looking to improve your income? This podcast also dives into financial strategies, offering advice from entrepreneurs and business leaders who have built wealth, created multiple revenue streams, and mastered the art of financial growth. Learn how to increase your income, find opportunities for advancement, and create value in both your personal and professional life.
Jordan also emphasizes the importance of building community. You'll learn how to expand your network, foster meaningful connections, and create supportive environments that contribute to personal and professional success. From philanthropists to community leaders, guests share their experiences in building impactful, values-driven communities.
At the core of the podcast are the 5 Pillars of Edwards Consulting—Mental Health, Physical Health, Community Service/Philanthropy, Relationships, and Spirituality. Each episode integrates these elements, ensuring a holistic approach to self-improvement. Whether it's enhancing your mental and physical well-being, giving back to your community, or strengthening your relationships, you'll receive actionable advice that’s grounded in real-world success.
This podcast is for everyone—whether you're an entrepreneur, a professional looking to advance, or simply someone seeking personal growth. You’ll gain actionable steps from every conversation, whether it’s about increasing your productivity, improving your health, or finding more purpose in your life.
Jordan’s interviews are designed to be perspective-shifting, giving you the tools and inspiration to transform your life. From overcoming obstacles to building stronger habits, these episodes are packed with practical insights you can use today. Whether you're looking to grow in your career, improve your income, or enhance your personal life, you’ll find value in every conversation.
Join Jordan Edwards and a lineup of incredible guests for thought-provoking conversations that will inspire you to take action, improve your performance, and unlock your full potential. No matter where you are on your journey, this podcast will help you get unstuck, grow, and build a life filled with purpose and success.
#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards
#241 - Authentic Leadership Requires More Than Just Good Work
What separates truly influential leaders from those who merely complete tasks? It all comes down to how they communicate. Laura Camacho, host of "Develop Your Executive Presence" podcast, reveals the critical mistake most leaders make: focusing too heavily on proving themselves rather than adding value to others.
In this thought-provoking conversation, Laura introduces the powerful "flashlight concept" — the idea that in every interaction, we're either shining the light on ourselves or others. When leaders constantly highlight their own achievements and knowledge, they miss countless opportunities to create meaningful connections. Real influence happens when you turn that flashlight toward others, asking follow-up questions and showing genuine interest in their experiences.
The discussion explores practical communication techniques you can implement immediately. Count how many times "I" appears in your important emails. Prepare thoughtful questions before social events. Consider how your energy levels impact your message delivery. These small shifts can dramatically transform your leadership presence.
Laura also shares her personal journey as a self-described "hardcore introvert" who's built a successful career in communication. Growing up in the Deep South with a grandmother who introduced her to different languages at age four, Laura's path has been shaped by powerful influencers who showed her that women could build multi-million dollar companies when that wasn't the norm.
Whether you're leading a team, building relationships, or simply wanting to communicate more effectively, this episode offers actionable insights on creating consistent routines, establishing empowering boundaries, and developing communication habits that reflect your values. Ready to stop proving yourself and start adding real value through your communication? This conversation is your starting point.
To Learn more about Laura Camacho:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauramcamacho
To Reach Jordan:
Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ejFXH1_BjdnxG4J8u93Zw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.edwards.7503
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanfedwards/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/
Hope you find value in this. If so please provide a 5-star and drop a review.
Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-555/intro-call
Hey, what's going on, guys? We've got a special guest here today. We have Laura Camacho. She's the host of Develop your Executive Presence podcast and a seasoned expert in leadership and communication. Laura, we're so excited to have you on the podcast. What are most leaders missing in communication?
Speaker 2:Oh, jordan, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited. I love to talk to performance people because I get inspired by you, know all the discipline and the mindset that you and your guests bring to the table. And what most leaders are missing as far as communication is that they focus, tend to focus, by default, too much on like proving themselves, proving that they're good enough, that they're capable enough, that they're earning the big bucks that they are being paid, and they don't realize they're just. It's not so much that they're flailing or failing, but they're missing the opportunity to add value to the people that they work with and the company or whatever the endeavor is. So I would say that's the big piece is that it's just missed opportunity after missed opportunity. That's what I see.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, and one of the ways I found you can think about this is when you're constantly in conversations. Is what I'm saying adding value?
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, and then it's not just what you say, though, it's how you say it. If you go on too long, people start to zone out, and you have to understand everybody's thinking if their Amazon packages has arrived or not, or they're thinking about lunch. You know, everybody's distracted, and a lot of times we have to share information at work, especially like a business briefing or an update on our progress. It's really not that like exciting, but if you can make it more interesting, you're adding value, and that value that you add to the conversation is always going to reflect back onto you. That's the piece.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I think that comes from the energy levels.
Speaker 2:Yes to the conversation is always going to reflect back onto you.
Speaker 1:That's the piece, absolutely, and I think that comes from the energy levels. Yes, it's hard for me to show up at high energy levels, but sometimes I do like for me I'll do pushups and then I'll do a thing like this. It's just to get me in the zone.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You don't realize that we're all primed like. We're all like. We look at football players and they're like why are they doing that? Like, why are they getting pumped up before the game? Because if they have more adrenaline, if they have more excitement, then they're in a better place, like right now with this podcast.
Speaker 2:I'm actually standing and I can tell and I'm thinking, oh, I should have put my stand standing desk, which is actually a trash can, on top of my desk. But yes, you can tell the difference because of the energy level and you, and then that energy level is what puts you in your A game, you know, versus just checking the boxes.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. And then, laura, you've had a pretty incredible life.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:What's led to a lot of your success travel decisions, because one of the biggest things about this podcast is realizing hey, there's many ways to live life. Yes, and how do we think about these different ways? So what are some of the unique ones for yourself? Like I know you did travel. I know you started the business at a different age in life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so good. Well, I have to credit my mom. She was, I mean, she was an independent thinker and one of the things she did when I was 12 was to remove the television from our home. So, remember, this was before screens and so you know this was before screens and so you know, as a middle schooler, um, that kind of takes away a lot of conversation fodder for you and um, so you, you know, you just, but you learn to talk about other things and I mean that's just one indication and and I grew up in the in the deep south, you know deep Southern roots, not international at all, but they're my grandmother this is like a matriarch plug here but my grandmother gave me a book when I was four years old that had different sayings in different languages.
Speaker 2:Like it would say good morning, buenos dias, bonjour, you know, and literally jordan. That book changed the trajectory of my life because that somehow lit a fire in me. Like that, that is so cool and I, I would, I self-studied, like learning how to count to 10 and japanese and korean and all these things, and then that led these things, and then that led to study abroad, and then that led to living abroad and learning languages and a lot of adventure. So you know, a lot of times we you don't see it. At the time, of course, as a four-year-old I wasn't like, oh, I want to do this. Oh, and one more thing, because, as a woman business owner, I want people to understand that in my upbringing there was none of this. You know, women aren't to be speaking up.
Speaker 2:It was like what have you done today, laura? What are you accomplishing? Grandmother who gave me the book? She was friends with two women who had founded multi-million dollar companies, that she was friends with them since the 1950s, when that wasn't done. One of them was mary k ash, who started mary k cosmetics, and another one had started a home decorating company. So I, for me, like this the sky limit. Like what do you want to do? And I saw this same grandmother flying all over first class and I'm like I want to do that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah. And you start to realize pretty quickly like for me as well, travels been super paramount, and for me it was in the beginning. I was studying abroad in college. I went to college, I studied abroad and then I went to Israel for birthright and I just started to get these different experiences and I realized, like how can I recreate this, how can I do this again? And you start to realize you can get very creative, especially in today's day and age where everyone's remote so I mean not saying everyone a lot of people are in person. But last year we ended up traveling for seven weeks around europe oh cool, so cool yes yes
Speaker 2:but see also also just the travel thing connects to my communication obsession because, like, it's not just the words, that's what when I was in, when I went to spain I was in civil spain as a college student and I walk into this bar which in spain is, you know, a bar is also like a coffee shop and ask for a glass of water, and they didn't understand what I was saying. So humiliating. But it was the frame of, oh, this young american thinks she knows spanish, and you know it was like la, la la, we don't understand what you're saying. I mean.
Speaker 2:So I just it helped me to realize that, uh, that communication is a lot more than just the words yes, yes, absolutely because even if you're in the places, if you you're not speaking with their tonality or that they're just like what are it in other ways to get your meaning across? But we can't just rely only on the words, because, you know, words are super important, of course, but there's also other factors, like the energy and, you know, like being clear on what you want is another helpful thing to know.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, yeah, I mean. For me one of the biggest experiences was realizing that, like you said, when you smile when you're happy and it's high energy. They're like Agua.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and I'm sure I was like coming off the flight and I mean I'm sure I was not giving off the right message. I was like I want my water. No-transcript, you do a good job and you get A's and C and you go to the real world and that works. I mean that's important to do good work, but that is not nearly enough. To be a real leader, to have influence and impact at scale. You have to make your communication work more for you than just the transactional. You know what have you done for me today? Kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because true leadership is when you have people or groups that you're influencing, and you usually have to influence one person, and then that one person has to influence the entire group, and that's not easy to do at all.
Speaker 2:Exactly, it's not. And yeah, and so and it helps. You know I think probably a lot of your listeners or maybe you have done this the sales training where you go into people have to know trust and like you right before they'll buy from you. But that I mean you can be a senior engineer at Google and you're not going to be successful influencing unless people know trust and like you. And then those are the things that I work with in teaching executive presence that it's not just being clear. That's imperative to be clear. But you need to be likable, you need to be trusted and people need to be able to repeat what you've said.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and one of the biggest tips for likability that I found and let me know if you align with this is really being interested in other people yes, jordan people like that is missed so often among people because we're so busy no, but also we're so concerned about being interesting and being respected and being you know.
Speaker 2:Again, it goes to that trying to prove ourselves, whereas and that just I'm just around, but it just makes me think of in any kind of presentation or key message, if you're thinking about, well, I need to make sure they know that I'm so knowledgeable, then you're going to turn them off. They really don't care about whatever your idea is, except how it relates to them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the biggest way I think about this and this has helped me is in a conversation, there's a flashlight, and the flashlight goes from one person to the other person. This is how I think about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm writing this down. That's very cool.
Speaker 1:And in a presentation, if your flashlight is not on the audience, you're in trouble. If the flash is just on you. You're going I'm the best, I'm the this and this is selling anything? Because we move so quickly to focus on ourselves? Yeah, but if we help others, then we can help ourselves.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and it's not necessarily. I mean, there's plenty of egomaniacs and psychopaths out there, but I'm talking about you know. Plenty of egomaniacs and psychopaths out there, but I'm talking about you know, not non-ego that doesn't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's someone who's just trying their best.
Speaker 2:They don't know exactly, exactly because they, they fear. They just fear that they won't be trusted or that they're not good enough in the end of the day. That's the fear yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And then another really interesting one would be like if we were to do an example of a conversation. I'd be like hey, laura, like what's your favorite sports team? This would be an example of me stealing the flashlight. Laura, what's your favorite sports team?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The Clemson.
Speaker 2:Tigers, clemson Tigers.
Speaker 1:Clemson Tigers, Great Mine's Alabama. Like I just stole her light, I didn't dive in and say why do you like the Clemson?
Speaker 2:Tigers Exactly, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1:So that two question, three questions with people. And this is some of the stuff I do with my coaching group, where I sit there and I go guys, you got to focus on the other people a little bit more and dive a level deeper. It's not, hey, nice paintings and it's like dang.
Speaker 2:What you said is so important, Jordan, because there's actual or I should say, and there's research that proves that when you ask follow-up questions, then not only does the person feel more connected to you, they actually like you more, and that's going to help you have influence over them, and so, yeah, like turning the flashlight back on yourself about, well, my team is this and that, then then if you ask me another question, like what's your favorite food, then it starts to feel like an interrogation and I don't feel like can I feel like why is jordan asking me these random questions?
Speaker 1:rather than, oh, this is such a good conversation, right absolutely, and you you'll start to notice this after the podcast where you go around and watch people interact and they go I this, I this, I this, and it's focused on someone else.
Speaker 2:put the light on yes, yes, in fact a tip, a tip for the listeners as far as emails is, when it's a real high stakes email is to count the times the word I appears in that email, and I mean it is inevitable. You have to include it some, but anytime you can flip it around to it's you or even third person, it's better. It's just something our, but our tendency is, of course, well, I need this and I'm doing this and well, nobody cares. That's, that's the big life lesson they don't care.
Speaker 1:Interesting. I never even thought about that, that's. I really liked that a lot because it gets you thinking a little bit differently.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly, and that's the whole thing right, that we both you from the performance point of view and me from executive presence and communication. It really starts with how you see the situation and see yourself in that situation.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. Now, laura, what I've been doing on these podcasts is I've been hopping into a little bit of what I do with the coaching. Okay, so are you open to that?
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm open and totally unprepared, so just lay it on me, that's the best way to do it.
Speaker 1:So there's five pillars of AdWords Consulting. It's mental health, physical health, community service, philanthropy, spirituality and relationships.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:So we're going to go one by one and what I'm going to do is I'm going to ask you what your mental health is on a one to 10. And you can make, and if it's a nine or a 10, then we're going to dive into like how can we learn from this? If it's like, or it's like what's going on with you, is there any way to help, kind of thing. And it gets us a framework so that the audience can better know who you are. But also they might have similar challenges that you're facing. So it's a little bit of all of that. So I appreciate it, laura. What's your mental health on a one to ten? You think?
Speaker 2:Well, jordan, I really think it's at least a nine oh that's awesome, yeah, and I will say, though I mean, that part of that is, having traveled around the sun so many times, you get to um, appreciate the value of mental health. If you'd asked me when I was 25 well, laura, how's your mental health? I would have been that that's such a stupid question.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm not taking antidepressants, so obviously I'm fine, but that's not the whole thing, and then a lot of your pillars, like I'm sure you know, and probably your listeners, that they're interrelated. So why, do I go to an exercise class? That I love, is it? I'm not trying to, you know, have this string bikini body. I'm taking care of my mental health, why?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I, you know, eat salad all the time. Well, it was when I feel better, I have better mental health and I have a big family, I have a lot of friends, I have an active social life and I'm having fun. So I really think that, I mean, that's pretty good for mental health and I have savings. Do you know? That's Jordan. I think a lot of people don't underestimate maybe not your listeners, cause you're you're in the top, talking to the super top performers but I know that when you have savings, you also can have better mental health than not.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely, I mean financial strain or investments, investments but like that. Stress is one of the biggest things. That's people out and it hurts people and you. You did bring up a lot where it's you are working out consistently, you are eating healthier, you are having relationships with family and friends and you start to realize that it's not so much. Hey, today we're working on mental health.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it is Sometimes it could be or sometimes it's hey, I'm just having time for myself Right On my own journey and I'm going through this, so I think that's amazing. And now for your physical health, on a once a time. What do you think you're at and what do you think you're going to do?
Speaker 2:I mean that's such a good, good question. I mean, I'm in good health, have I don't take any medications, my weight is good, but I'm not like this bodybuilder. You would never. If you ever see me running jordan, it's because there's a tiger chasing me. Okay, that's my approach to running. I take walks every day. I go to my little exercise, my bar three class, which I love, two or three times a week. I swim sometimes, um, and eat healthy, but I also like I drink, but only on the weekends. Desserts only on the weekends. So it's a very it's like if, if the definition of physical health is like good, moderate healthiness, I'm 10. But I'm not I don't know bodybuilder, anything close to that.
Speaker 1:My biggest takeaway from what you've said is really setting up a lifestyle that aids to what you're trying to do. And then also, it seems like the really big one for you is the rules. Like you said, drinks only on the weekends, dessert on the weekends. Now, the thing is, most people have no bounds for what rules are or lifestyle, and it causes a lot of like. I don't know if I'm going the right way. I don't know if I'm going the wrong way. I feel like I'm just going.
Speaker 2:And rules can feel oppressive, right, but we don't want that either, but to me I do. You're right, that's a great observation. I have a lot of rules, but there's there rules that I can live with. Like if you told me, laura, you can never eat bread again, I would, I would just jump out the window. My mental health would be gone. If you told me I could never have alcohol, same.
Speaker 1:Well, the other big thing here is that. The other big thing about these rules is these aren't limiting rules, they're empowering rules, saying hey, you have dessert on the weekends, Right. Hey, you're able to do this on the weekends. Yeah, it's not never do this again. Because when a lot of people are going through their fitness journey, they're going I have to work out 100 times a day and I never eat a calorie and it's like it's not that crazy. And also there's been a lot of studies on walking has been a major, major benefit for a lot of people throughout their journey.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you know I mean, and I'm not walking five miles folks, I'm walking like 10 to 15 minutes in the morning and maybe 20 minutes, not even every day, but I'll maybe do an evening walk of 20 minutes. It is not I'm not setting any records, but I am consistent because I it's like um, it's just a baby steps philosophy, like we can. I'm a baby steps person and you know that's that's I. I would rather have um, you know, not maybe ideal health, but good health and I'm happy about.
Speaker 1:I don't feel deprived well, the other thing is that consistency beats talent. Every day when talent is hard, they all say that and what we don't realize is that our physical health, mental all of these things are all about consistency. And how do you set up these easy wins for yourself, like, for for myself, even with the mental health like? One of the things I really enjoy is this podcast. So before, when I was younger, it was hey, you asked too many questions. And now it's a podcast where it's like go ask your questions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you found an outlet yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:And you learn.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's so fun about podcasting is learning.
Speaker 1:So it's this whole idea of how do you create this consistency in your life that allows you to get a winning scenario. And that's not always for everyone Everyone's a little bit different but I think it's important if someone hears something you said, where they sit there and go I don't swim, but maybe I should swim, how to swim, to swim and like it gets them thinking a little bit differently.
Speaker 1:so I think you're doing a fantastic job and I appreciate you sharing all this I'm happy to um, the next pillar, which a lot of people are challenged with or have times in their life where they might be open or not. It's community service and philanthropy. So so it's, where do you think about giving to yourself, like giving more than you currently have? And what I mean by that is like we all we're living in America, we're on a computer, we have more than we need.
Speaker 2:Right right.
Speaker 1:So how do you think about community service and philanthropy if you do at all?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, I do, and I would say that would say that you know I go. That's where I have struggle. I'll say, um, my husband runs a 501c3 of music education, so sometimes I'm feeling like, well, I live with a non-profit, I'm helping them all the time. Um, but I do. Sometimes I feel like, oh, I should be helping more, but on the other hand, I have six grandchildren under the age of three under the age of three.
Speaker 2:So I'm constantly looking for you know. Can I send this daughter in law a meal? Can I help this daughter with getting a pain for their preschool? Because, you know, for families today, especially with the price of housing, because these are all people in their 20s and it's hard right, I think it's harder now to start off and be financially ahead of the game If you've just gotten out of college.
Speaker 1:A thousand percent.
Speaker 2:So my community service right now is is more focused on you know, family. I sing in the choir in my church, you know, is that community service?
Speaker 1:I don't know I would think that could be yeah, so that that's an answer. I will waffle a little bit about no, no but that's where growth happens, laura, like by you sharing that, going like I don't know if I do much, and then you're like, well, I do commit to the church, like I do activities for the church, and then you're like I do have six grandchildren, so I want to be present in their lives and like even last week we were talking like you went to georg see that yes, exactly.
Speaker 1:The whole point is, everyone's got their own version of what a 10 is. And sometimes we have these expectations, just as you teach with communications, where we have community service, philanthropy.
Speaker 2:Expectation is you run a foundation and you're raising money Right and you're on the board of the top, you know, uh, environmental and whatever those boards so the expectation doesn't have to be that, because the truth is, you control your own expectation yes, yes by doing that you're so much more empowered of like hey, I want to be super present in my kid's life cool if that's goal, then that's very different than I have to meet on a weekly board every week.
Speaker 1:Right, right, right you consider these differently and you start to realize what's important to you and what might not be as important. So I really appreciate you sharing these because this is not I know it's a challenging and a different activity for the podcast, but it gets you thinking in the audience thinking like, hey, where do I need to show up better in my life?
Speaker 2:Right, right, and I'm a big, you know, supporter of families. I realize everybody listening may not have a family and you know a nonprofit can provide a community, but you know that's not the only source either. I think one of my daughter's inlaw has a little tea every month for her mom, friends who have toddlers, and that's a form of community service because, you know.
Speaker 1:You're bringing people together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, bringing people together, and you know parents of toddlers any of you. If any of you have toddlers, I am very impressed. I forgot how hard that is and they're insane. So you're, you are doing a good thing by keeping them alive every day. That's a huge community service.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. Then the next one is relationships. So how do you think you're doing on relationships?
Speaker 2:Well, I would say pretty good. I mean, I've had my failures. I'm divorced and remarried, but I've been married for the second time for 15 years and it's good. It's good Friends I have. I'm blessed with this. You know, circle of close friends and this is you know. I know you listen to your may have find it hard to believe, but I am a hardcore introvert Like I would much rather stay at home and read a book than go out any day of the week. But how do you?
Speaker 1:I read that on your website as well the introvert but it seems like you've created a life where you've stepped out of that comfort zone.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1:How do you do that? Cause running a podcast is one thing, being married for that long, maintaining friendships you start looking around. You're like you've traveled a lot, so it's like you haven't even been in the same area for the longest time. How do you think about that?
Speaker 2:Thank you for asking that. I don't think anybody's ever asked me that before. So I'll say that, for those of you introverts, listening, what we like, what helps us is to control, to control the situation, because because what we like to do is prepare. So in a podcast, you know, like I have when I have a guest, I have questions prepared and and I even have notes for you know things I want to talk about. If so, all of those podcast conversations which are fascinating, I kind of know what I'm going to ask, what we're going to talk about, whereas at a, you know, at a big party, where you don't know people, you're starting from scratch, like, oh, it brings you to this event and you know, you know it could be fun. I do Every time I go to a party. I have a good time, but I will always prefer to stay home, but getting out of my comfort zone. I have found that by having a little bit of control and preparing, if you prepare, even for a party, you're going to be better, you have a better experience.
Speaker 1:I was going to say, like that whole instance that you brought up about the party, when you sit there and think about it, if you go with guiding questions of like, yes, it could be, how do you know the host? One question for sure yeah, or the like we were talking about earlier in this call. If you just focus on somebody else, true it's true.
Speaker 2:But I can tell you that the introvert where that's where that's our worst point is like oh my, my gosh, what should I say? I don't even know, I don't even know this person. And so we're just like deer in the headlights, brains completely shut down and we hate like just boring, you know routine, like how's the weather, kind of question.
Speaker 1:You want to get past the. You want to get past the hard questions. That's because, for me, we went to, uh, cancun on vacation oh fine, it was with my family and then, uh, one of my best friends, his family, there's like 11 of us and the problem is that at dinner sometimes everyone has, like what's going on, like random side conversation. Yeah, be inclusive on the conversation. I always go. What are you grateful for? Oh, that's a good one.
Speaker 1:Everyone go like someone will share something and then someone else will share something else and it's like a popcorn yeah, like I send it to you, then you send it to somebody else and it allows everybody to know what everyone else is grateful for. So it allows everybody to know what everyone else is grateful for. So it's a good activity. Yes, it is, and it's funny because a lot of people go that was a super uncomfortable and weird, but I appreciated it and I'm like if I didn't ask that question then we wouldn't have had a conversation at all. Exactly, get it to.
Speaker 2:So jordan, I'm totally stealing that. That is so good, yeah, and I'll give. I'll give a variation for the, for our audience, um, for the even more introverted, so I love jordan's ask. You know, like I asked him what is he grateful for?
Speaker 2:and he asked somebody else yeah but if you, if you really like to plan, you can write down, uh, and on a piece of paper, like, what was your favorite toy when you were 10 years old or what's a movie that impacted you, and you just write down these questions and fold them up and have everybody answer one at the table and that's fun and you find out something about the person that you wouldn't ordinarily know. And yes, it's a little bit weird for most people, but they know at my house, where are the questions. Laura, what are you gonna ask us?
Speaker 1:well, it gets people. It gets people thinking differently than the normal questions.
Speaker 1:That's why those games are super yes, they're fun, yeah pull a card and you're like oh, have, it was like I don't know. There's some different ones where they're like have you ever ever been to a hockey game? And it's like no, and it's a super interesting way of like how do you learn about yourself, how do you learn about the people you're around and how do you grow in those communications? And that's one of the things I like to do, and I think it makes a big difference when you're having conversations.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely it does, and it is a great way. It's just that sometimes we introverts like overthink it because we're very analytical and just miss the whole point. So, yeah, I love your suggestion and your way of thinking about it. I mean, how else can you? I mean doing something together, yes, but you're going to limit yourself if you're only friends with the people that you work with, for example oh, a hundred percent.
Speaker 1:It shows you how do you make new friends and how do you communicate?
Speaker 2:how do you go?
Speaker 1:about that in a different way. So the last pillar is spirituality. How do you think about spirituality? This could be religion, or it doesn't have to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it doesn't have to be, but in my case it is. I I'm a Roman Catholic and I will say over the years it's been closer, less close, closer, less close. But again I see now that helps with your mental health, believing that there's something more to life than just the molecules, like what makes the molecules stick together. And you know, the Judeo-Christian tradition has a lot of mental health built into it, like don't steal, don't be envious, don't commit adultery. I mean, if we all, I mean those are spiritual but they're also super practical, uh, norms for living, and I just think being aware of a higher power takes a lot of pressure off of you yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I mean a lot of people have said just, I think what it is the biggest challenge is if you don't, if you're not part of something and you have to create your own value system yeah. Cool, but you've just got to be knowing that you're creating a value system.
Speaker 2:Yes, if you're part of a religion.
Speaker 1:They kind of have a value base around it, right, and it's like, okay, go to that value base and you can kind of lean into that, lean out of it. It's not a huge deal, right. But you need a value base because if you're not deciding a value base.
Speaker 2:Someone else is deciding a value base for you exactly, and then are you deciding like based on well, how do I feel right now? I mean it is, yeah, but again, it's a lot of cognitive load. You have to decide what's right and what's wrong. I mean a lot of it is people like who don't believe have told me oh, laura, it's all common sense. Well, a lot of it, yes, but then there are things that are that are not common sense.
Speaker 1:I think and then bring up children.
Speaker 2:How do you bring up children? Like how, to me that's such a big responsibility. Like how do you know that whatever the values you decided on are going to work for them?
Speaker 1:and it's not even so much of it's common sense, but it's more of it's always a reminder of that there's another way to live, like yeah like the whole in jewish community. They have um, like the sabbaths, where everyone stays at home. I don't follow it. I think it's very valuable though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly Exactly. But see, that's fair. You're saying that's a good thing, it has a lot of merit. I'm not doing it, but I see it as a good thing. And I might do it at some point, you never know.
Speaker 1:Like. That's the thing with stuff. We're always so. I think the biggest thing you can learn from all of this is like, even through, like through four out of five of these that you spoke on, you said how you're like. At one point I was this at one point I'm higher, right, right, like we're all going through changes constantly, and I think that's so important to realize, because if we don't, then we think my life is permanent and your life is never permanent, it's always it's always changing.
Speaker 2:Yes, if you're having a great day, it's going to change. If you're having a terrible day, it's going to change. So that is part of it, but it's nice to have like some things. That's why I think, um, yeah, when you grow in wisdom, you learn to see that having these routines that you do, whether you're having a good day or a bad day.
Speaker 2:You go for a walk and you eat a salad and you only have a drink on a weekend. I mean those things like get us through, because I mean Jordan, we can all agree that life is just hard, even though we're in the first world and we're all wealthy. But you know, you like, sometimes the grocery store messes up your grocery delivery and that, and then they don't deliver what they, what you ordered, and that was what you're gonna fix for dinner, and that's annoying, you know. Is that a first? Is that like a life or death issue? No, but it's annoying. But there's a lot of things that are much worse that people deal with.
Speaker 1:I'm, you know yeah, you're absolutely right, and it's hard to like, how do you not let these little things bother? But I mean, it's also like mistakes occur. You know what? I mean it's really, I think, the biggest thing you were saying.
Speaker 1:There is like that building of routine that you're actually proud of and then doing the same thing over and over and over again, whatever that may be like this morning. I mean and I started this probably over a year ago where I go to muay thai, it's like a self-defense thing Not really self-defense, it's more of a mixed martial art.
Speaker 2:Okay, but I do self-defense. Sounds cool yeah.
Speaker 1:And I go Tuesday and Thursdays at 6 am, so it helps me get my morning routine in order on those days so that I'm up early, I'm getting after it, I'm doing something different, I'm learning a new skill, and we don't do that enough.
Speaker 2:Right, and you're getting the chemical reaction to your brain, endorphins and a dopamine hit, and so you're feeling better. And then I'm sure there are mornings that you really do not want to go, but if you go anyway, and then you know, jordan, that's that's important, because you building that being proud of yourself I think that's uh, that's overlooked and seeking outside validation, but at the end of the day, you have to be proud of yourself. You know that's really where you want to land, because that's the source of the insecurity when well, I'm really not sure. I'm not sure what my values, I'm not sure if I'm proud of myself. That makes you weak.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, absolutely Absolutely. And I asked I had a it's funny that you bring this up because I had a Thursday call this morning and we talked about what was the top three things that occurred in your life, not in your life, in the quarter, and a lot of things were external validation and I want to realize very quickly that I'm like, hey, like you getting promotion, that's great.
Speaker 1:But like, you got to realize, like you can't like you can mimic that, but you really can't like hitting the article you can mimic that, but you really like some of it. You can't getting recognized or something you can like. It's hard to mimic those things, so it's right values and the basis of like what I actually did that got me there, so that you're not, uh, confined to hey, if I don't get an award now, I'm a loser exactly, and then that's why I need to go jump through this other hoop to get another certificate or another.
Speaker 2:You know something for my wall.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's so true, Absolutely so, Laura. Where can people learn more about you? Where can they learn about your podcast? Where can they learn about what you're doing?
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. Well, I think the one-stop shop would be my website, which is speakupwithlauracom, and there's a link to the podcast there. If you speak up, develop your executive presence, and I'm on LinkedIn, but this website is definitely where you'll find everything. Laura Camacho, executive presence, communication, especially really focused on high performing introverts who want to achieve more.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. And I actually looked at the website and it is fantastic. Like I was wrecking that. I'm like I got to do some of this stuff. I'm going to get your website designer, but thank you so much, it's been awesome.
Speaker 2:Yes, it's been a delight. Thank you so much.
