#528 Why chasing purpose is overrated, and what to focus on instead, with Rob Wentz.

Have you ever felt stuck, disconnected from your purpose, or unsure how to turn your personal struggles into something meaningful?

In this inspiring episode, leadership communication coach Rob Wentz shares how a life-changing dream and a deep commitment to self-integrity reshaped his life - and how you can use the same principles to unlock your own breakthrough. If you're navigating a midlife shift, battling self-doubt, or searching for renewed clarity, this conversation is packed with grounded wisdom and transformative insight.

• Discover the profound impact of shifting your focus from self to service, and how it can reduce anxiety and unlock clarity.
• Learn the one question that reveals your childhood essence, and how it can reconnect you to your true calling today.
• Understand why embracing your strengths, not your weaknesses, is the key to growth, fulfillment, and real impact.

Tune in now to uncover how your past holds the clues to your most purposeful future and how to start living from that truth today.

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KEY POINTS AND TIMESTAMPS:

02:37 - Rob's Life-Changing Grandmother Dream

07:47 - Shifting Focus from Self to Service

13:02 - Receiving Feedback and Recognizing Personal Strengths

19:40 - The Childhood Aspiration Question and Discovering Purpose

26:01 - Practical Steps to Reconnect with Childhood Passions

29:52 - Personal Contact and Website Information

30:16 - Personal Development Meaning

32:51 - Advice to Younger Self

34:20 - Closing Wisdom and Parting Thoughts

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MEMORABLE QUOTE:

"Choose your friends wisely and find a mentor. Be very selective about who you let into your life."

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VALUABLE RESOURCES:

Rob's website: https://www.leadimpacttransform.com/

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To explore coaching with Agi: https://personaldevelopmentmasterypodcast.com/mentor

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🎙️ Want to be a guest?

Message Agi on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/member/personaldevelopmentmastery

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Personal development interviews exploring key principles of personal development, self improvement, self mastery, personal growth, self-discipline, and personal improvement — all supporting a life of purpose and fulfilment.

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Transcript

Agi Keramidas: 0:00

Why chasing purpose is overrated and what to focus on instead. Welcome to personal development mastery, the podcast that helps intelligent, busy professionals develop self mastery and gain clarity so you can thrive in a fulfilling, purposeful life. Join us every Monday for an insightful conversation with a guest, and it's Thursday for a shorter episode where I reflect and share with you. I'm your host, agiramidas, and this is episode 528 if you are looking to reclaim your sense of purpose and lead with integrity. This conversation explores how shifting your focus from self to service can create real transformation by listening today, you will also going to learn the one question that reveals your childhood essence and how it can reconnect you to your true calling. Today, if you are feeling stuck, unfulfilled or questioning your next step in life, then this episode is for you before we dive in. If you resonate with the topics on the podcast and find yourself in a transition, I offer one to one mentoring and coaching. It's a space to gain clarity, reconnect with what truly matters and move forward with purpose. If you are curious about what that could look like for you, just reach out using the link in the show notes. Now let's get started. Today. My guest is Rob Wentz. Rob, you are a leadership communication coach, speaker and the host of the UNK movement podcast, you have transformed your own story of addiction and self sabotage into a powerful message of integrity driven leadership and intentional change. You are passionate about helping entrepreneurs and professionals turn their personal struggles into breakthroughs by mastering communication and reclaiming their self worth. Rob, it's a real pleasure to have you on the show today and a full circle moment after being guest on your show a few months ago. Well, yes,

Rob Wentz: 2:37

yeah, thank you. Thank you for having me here. Agi, it's really cool to be here and talking to you and connecting with you. And I love when, when things come full circle. So thank you for having me on

Agi Keramidas: 2:47

Indeed, I would like to start there are some things. The first thing I wanted to so we can get a little bit of idea of your background. You've mentioned a dream that changed your life. So can you tell us about it and how it's influenced your path?

Rob Wentz: 3:10

Oh, yeah, sure. So, yeah, a few years ago, I think it was like in November of 2021 I had this dream. My grandma had passed away a few years before, probably a decade before that, I've been in this dream. I'm in the car with my grandmother, and she's driving the car, which she usually didn't drive, so that was odd. And she's holding my hand in the dream, except I had a little kid's hand. I was like, a little like, like, four year old kid, and while she's driving, she leans over and hugs me, and I start screaming, Graham, you know, pay attention to the road. You're going to wreck the car. What are you doing? Like, what's going on here? And I, whenever I said that, she said, Don't worry about where we're going. Just love me, right? Don't worry about where you're going. Just love people, and I was, that was the dream that was it that just ended right there. I woke up there was so, so profound. I was just like, bawling my eyes out when I woke up. It was such a strange situation, because I literally woke up out of a dead sleep, just like crying. I couldn't, like, catch my breath. And I don't know, I've never I maybe have cried like that two or three times in my life. It was like this uncontrollable, like, weeping. And so I wrote it down, just took some notes on it and, like, just journaled it so I had it to remember, and so I can process it. And clearly, I'm a Christian, right? So I believe that what God said about people, that we're supposed to love God, and we're supposed to love people, and that's like our goal on earth here, and that's how that's how we're going to grow, that's how we're going to succeed. That's how we're going to get to. Where we're supposed to go, is to stay connected to God, and stay connected to this understanding of loving people. And so for me, if I'm. I tell you, man, I think about the dream every day, because every day I struggle with this of like, not worrying about me. So like in the dream, she said, Don't worry about where you're going. I'm always worried about where I'm going, right and not and so changing that from taking the word worry out, but have a vision for where I'm going. When you have a vision for where you're going, you're not worried about it. But when you don't have a vision and you're wondering aimlessly, hoping something's going to work out, then you worry. And just love people, right? So it's like, just, just focus on, like, really helping people. And it's funny, right before this, I was reading, I have a book back here, the 177 mental toughness secrets of the world class. Great book by Steve Seybold. I was just reading it like 20 minutes ago, and in there, one of the secrets is to when we're doing things in life, doing them from a stress free place, so a place of joy and excitement, not from a place of fear and worry, because those are two ways to get where we're going. If you're getting to where you're going by being afraid and worrying, man, everything's a struggle. But if you're getting to where you're going through confidence and through this vision, then things are going to be so much easier. And when people come into your life, you see them as it's an opportunity to help other people. How can I shift my focus from what am I going to gain from this to how can I help somebody else get better? And if you truly believe in what you're doing me as a business coach, you know it can be intimidating to walk into a business and tell them that I know how to help them, because if I'm focused on me and I'm worrying about me, it's like, oh, they might not believe me. Do I even believe myself? Am I even qualified to do this? You know, all of the imposter syndrome stuff that comes up, but if I come in knowing I'm trained to do this, I love doing this. I love helping people. I know I can make a difference. I've made a difference before. Now I'm focused on, how can I help them, and so I don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm focused on them and how I can help them get better. And so that dream, especially when I talk about it, which thank you for bringing it up, it's helpful, because it helps me to remember, Oh, that's right, that's what I'm supposed to be focused on. I'm supposed to be focused on my vision and helping people. And if I can do that, things are going to get better, not get worse. I'm going to be excited, not worried, in general. And that goes into personal and professional every part of life. But yeah, that dream had a really, and this is what I love about that man. It's always the simple things. It was such a simple dream. I mean, it was like, It's barely even a dream, it was like five seconds, but it had this, like, extremely profound impact on me.

Agi Keramidas: 7:47

Many times rob the profound insights are caused by simple things and not the you know, the ground. Sometimes they do, but many times they don't. Thank you for sharing that. And you know, when you were saying about loving people the way you were describing it, there was the word service that came to my mind, and I liked very much how you were talking about shifting the focus from you to the other person. You actually reminded me, because it is very similar in public speaking, which I know you also do, it helps to take the focus away from you. If you are nervous about speaking, take away the focus from your performance, because I think that's where we are afraid that we some our performance will not be whatever. Take the focus away from it and put it on how can I best serve these people that I'm going to speak with? So thank you for the reminders, I suppose. The next question I would have to follow up with this is, how can one go into that more without having to see a dream, an insightful dream with their grandmother that changed that, yeah,

Rob Wentz: 9:12

I tell you, man, it's even, even with the dream, it's so it's hard for me to do what I found through this journey, especially after having that dream. And I knew this before the dream, but after the dream, especially, I found I'm very self centred, like I very much think about myself all the time. And trying not to do that as much is hard, because I have to constantly re re i to reshift my focus, to focus outwardly, not inwardly, on what am I feeling? You know, my worried, nervous and and focusing on other people, making sure that that's where my my attention is. It's difficult. I I struggle with it every day. It's like I have to continually remind myself not to focus on me and how I'm feeling, because our feelings are very fickle, and so for anybody else, right, it's, it's just a daily practice of that. It's a. Daily practice of when I go into this podcast, right? I can't see myself. This is one of the problems with screens now too, with with with streaming and stuff, you can always see yourself. I don't want to see me, because I'll stare at me the whole time. I'll stare at my picture the whole time, and I like, it's like, I'm talking to myself. And that's weird. That's just really weird. I don't think we're designed to do that. And so it's kind of like that. It's like, okay, just ignoring me. And because something that I think everybody goes through, I mean, something that I go through all the time, is, Do I look okay? Did I say that right? Why did they make that face? Was that face? Did that face mean something that I'm not doing something correctly? Did I just say that word wrong? You know, do I have a booger in my nose? Why is my nose itchy? You know, it's just like, a million things of like, oh, it's exhausting. And so if I set my intention of like, listen, Rob, it's not about you, it's about helping that person. And it's a, it's a daily habit. It could be a going into a coaching session with somebody. It's a habit of, it's not about me. It doesn't matter if they disagree with me. It doesn't matter if, whatever it doesn't I'm there to help them. And setting that intention of like, I'm here to help that person is just, I mean, that's super simple, too, and it's easier said than done sometimes, but having that be a constant reminder of, like, I need to, how can I help this person? What is it that I'm doing that'd be beneficial for them? And blocking out or just surrendering over all those things that I worry about when it comes to to me, because it's not helpful. And for somebody like myself, if people are more geared to be self centred, maybe a little bit neurotic, it's understanding that's not healthy, understanding that's not the correct way to think because it doesn't benefit you, and understanding that it's the outward mindset that is going to help you. It's going to help you, number one, be more focused, be more clear, but it's also going to help you get ahead in whatever you're doing and build better relationships. Because we should have a an intention of being of service, like you said, being of service, and having this mindset of, okay, I'm here to help other people. It's not this. We're stuck in a culture of self help, right? We got I got to help myself. I need to get better. And what I've found is the more I'm of service to people, I get better. Instead of sitting in my room by myself, if I was going to be just going to self help all the time, I'd be getting massages and going to the spa. And you know, who's doing all these things for me and not doing things for others, and not saying you shouldn't do things for yourself. That's that's good to do, but when that's your sole focus, you can really get wrapped up in just you, and that can be very unhealthy.

Agi Keramidas: 13:02

Thank you. That's a very good point, and also a reminder, since you started and evolved shifting your focus away from you to how can you help or serve the other person? Have you heard some kind of feedback or comment from those people that you want to serve, that you know? Do they sense that in a way? Do they get some kind of I hope you are trying you understand what I'm trying to ask.

Rob Wentz: 13:41

Yeah, I think throughout the years, one of the reasons that I was led to coaching was I always got compliments of, you're a really good listener, you're a really good communicator, and I wasn't even well I did. I spent 20 years in radio broadcasting, right? So most of my life was in broadcasting, so I was not a good communicator. Growing up as a kid, I was very shy, introverted. You might call me weird, and I didn't know how to be myself, and so unknowingly, I got into radio broadcasting to learn how to be myself, to learn how to talk and to be more extroverted, because I think I was more I was way more extroverted than I let on. I just didn't have the confidence to be putting myself out there into the world. And so over the years, I think I just got better and better at it. And so I would get these compliments. And so often, I'm sure you know this too, so often people will, if you listen to people, they will tell you about the they will tell you things about yourself that you don't see because we have blinders on to a lot of the things that go on in our own life. And so if you listen to people, you'll be like, Oh, okay. This person says that I'm a good listener. This person says I'm a good communicator. This person says that I'm, you know, very comfortable to. Be around. But then at the same time, I'd hear, I feel like you don't believe in yourself that much you you know you don't see yourself how others see you. Because I would get these compliments of, like, Wow, you're so good at this, good at this. And I'd be like, That's not me. And I wouldn't receive it. So then starting to receive it, I was like, Okay, so these are the things that I'm good at. People think I'm good at these things, so I need to embrace them and trust somebody. When you trust that person, you know their intentions are good, then believe what they say. And so over the years, those would be the kind of compliments that I would get. And so as I was kind of going through a wilderness phase of my life, I was trying to figure out what to do with my life. And those compliments would come up when I was kind of just praying about it and meditating about it. I was journaling, like, what am I supposed to be doing with my life? And those things would come up. And then I had a good friend who I'd had on the podcast who had been a coach, and she said, Hey, if you ever want to be a coach, I think you'd be really good. I'd love to train you. And I called her up one day and said, Let's do that. Let's let's do that training. So just picking up on those signs throughout the years, and so I still hear those today, right? And I think those skills are getting better and better. And one of the things that I've had to remember, and I think it's helpful for all of us to remember, is to focus on your strengths and work on your strengths. Don't focus on your weaknesses, but it's so much easier to focus on your weaknesses, right? Because we think, Oh no, I'm not good at numbers. Right? For me, it's like numbers are just it's not my thing. So I've spent so much time, like beating myself up about not being good at, say, math and being like, I got to get better at that. Instead of looking at, wow, I'm a good communicator, wow. I'm a great listener. I'm good at doing this broadcasting. I should just double down and focus on that. Put your focus on what you're really good at, and that's going to get better and better and better and better, instead of a little incremental growths on the things that you're not that good at. If you put your focus on things you're good at, they will expand and everything else will rise because you're focusing on your strengths which, which seems counterintuitive, but that's actually the way that it is. So I think I've gone way off course on the question that you asked. But the answer is, yeah, I would get those. I would I still hear those things. But I encourage people to look back at what people have told you about yourself that is good and choose to receive those things. Because so often what we do is we reject those things and we're like, oh, that's what they think. If they, if they really knew me, they wouldn't think that. You know, that's that's what we do a lot. So don't do that. Believe it and put it, put on it into practice. I'm going to believe it and tell yourself, I received that compliment. I received that because if they said it, it's true. And that's been extremely helpful.

Agi Keramidas: 17:59

That's great. And you know from the things that you said, that will pick one thing, and with that we will switch gears. And you said at some point the question what to do with my life, and I think there are many people, especially in midlife, that do have a desire, shall we say, of doing something else than because there is not, you know, fulfilment, or whatever else it may be. So when you were saying about that, the question of trying to find what to do with my life. I can't stop I think someone listening to this conversation that the word purpose comes to my mind, and even though you know it can be on the context, depending it can be a very powerful word, especially for some people, they think it is something like the flaming Bush appearing in front of you, or something like that, whereas many times it's much, much, much simpler than that. But anyway, I don't want to complicate the question too much. The question is, for someone who does feel lost or disconnected from this purpose, internally or fulfilment, if you want. I was reading that you have a simple question that you ask your clients that helps them uncover that. So I would like to hear what that is and why it works. Sure

Rob Wentz: 19:40

I love this question. I ask it to everybody because it's like the most fun question. So I'll ask it to you, Agi, I'm curious what your answer is. What did you want to be? What did you want to do when you were 10 years old? And it can be like, it can be anywhere from eight to 12 years old, really. But is there something in particular that you wanted to do at that point in time with your life? I.

Agi Keramidas: 20:01

Uh, regardless of the the age, if I don't stick with a eight to 12 and go further down in my, you know, teenage year, like I was 15, for example. Yeah, acting was much more something that I felt drawing into.

Rob Wentz: 20:17

What was it about acting? Why? Why did you want to do that

Agi Keramidas: 20:23

playing a role, I suppose. And that is an answer that at that time, it didn't come, but it has come since then, I reflecting on it, I suppose, also being visible, and, you know, expressing yourself, things like that, which at some point I discovered that by doing the podcast, to a large extent, I'm sure I'm not on a on a stage, on a theatre stage, but I am on a stage, speaking and perform, performing in in a way. Yeah. So yeah for the question,

Rob Wentz: 21:01

sure, sure. Yeah. The point of the question is, you know, we don't always end up being the thing we wanted to be when we were a kid, but there's, there's an essence of what we wanted to do that speaks to what we're doing now, which, like you just said, acting into the podcast, also playing a role, wanting to be somebody. And I think as far as actors, too, it's like number one, of course, there's like, the adulation of, like, I'm an actor, but there's also you're making a difference, like, you're playing a role that's going to make a difference in somebody's life. Whenever they watch you, right? You're going to leave an impact on somebody. And you get to, especially when we're a kid, we want to be somebody of at least I did be somebody of notoriety. So we could go into that for a while and figure that out, right? But the whole point is, there's something to like, 10 years old. And around that age you can go into like, you know, 1415, years old, you were young enough that you just liked something, and you didn't need a reason to like it. You didn't need anybody to tell anybody to tell you to like it. It was like, I just love this thing, but you were you were old enough to just like it, but you were young enough that the world hadn't beaten it out of you yet. The world hadn't convinced you otherwise and influenced you, right? So it's just naturally you just like that thing. So if you look at that thing as a good example, I had a woman one time that I was talking to. She when she was 10, she wanted to be a palaeontologist. So she wanted to dig up dinosaur bones and discover them, right? And so we were talking about that. And so she had become a, some sort of holistic nutritionist, coach, something along those lines. And I was like, so what was it about being a palaeontologist that you loved? She said, Well, it was like, it was like a mystery, like I was uncovering these mysteries, and I was like, revealing these secrets, and I was digging through all of this history, this dirt. Like the dirt was history to find, to unearth these hidden things. And so it was like, Well, that's what you're doing now. For people like you're digging through their history to bring up something that they need to help them move forward right, and to understand the path we can understand the future better when we understand the past. And I just that's one of my favourite examples, because it literally was like digging up a mystery and solving something that was lost and so many times. So for her, that's what she did as a job. That's what she did. That was her career, not a palaeontologist, but helping people figure out their nutrition, figuring out their life, and helping them move forward by unearthing the past. And so I just, I love that question, because, number one. It's fun to think about, if you like, if you give it more time, I'm sure more would come up. But if you go back, it's kind of fun just to think about when you were that age. Because I remember when I was that age, I wanted to be a professional wrestler and I wanted to be a radio DJ, right? There were two things I wanted to be the most, and the professional professional professional wrestler didn't play out, but there was elements of that that I loved, entertaining being physical, like being physical, but also still playing. So I love play. And then also the radio DJ part, like you were saying, like playing a role, being somebody, and I didn't know how to be myself. So like radio is like a way to turn up myself, and like I get to be, I get to be who I am. I'm allowed to be who I am on the radio, because I have permission. And that really helped me to understand why I was in radio for so long, and the things that it helped me with. And so I just, that's the question I love asking, because it is always fun. It's always interesting. There's always laughter that comes with it. Sometimes there's sadness that comes along with it, but there's always a story, and there's always things. Almost every time I talk about that with somebody, and we spend time digging into it, they'll have an aha moment of like, oh yeah. Like, I'm doing this job right now. But I'm leaving out these elements that I love. And so with you, right? With anybody say a podcast, right? Because so many people want to do a podcast or have one because it's it's meeting a need that they're not getting met throughout their job, whatever that might be, and podcasting is a great way to do that. But for many people, there's like, small little tweaks you can make, things you can add in to what you're doing now that will make you feel more satisfied and fulfilled. And it could be just a hobby, or it could be an actual part of your job that you include. And so that's how that question, when somebody asked me that question. I was, I just, I loved it. I was like, that's such a good question. It was so much fun to talk about. I started asking other people, and they get, always, I always get great responses. People get lit up by it. They're like, Oh, yeah, here's what I wanted to do. And you get to talk about, you know, just that part of their life. And it's just, it's a fun question all around. And you can learn a lot,

Agi Keramidas: 26:02

apart from the fun, which is definitely fun. Someone listening now and saying, okay, Rob, I get it. I remember when I was 10 years old, I wanted to be x, but right now, my career is wide. It is completely different. What can I do with that, apart from, you know, having fun and remembering what I liked as a kid, what can I do practically as a step to perhaps move towards that direction of reconnecting

Rob Wentz: 26:35

where you hire you, or You hire me as a coach? That's it

Agi Keramidas: 26:41

is, indeed, if

Rob Wentz: 26:45

you know, just as a as a beginning stage, you know, it's okay. So I loved doing the thing, whatever it was, what was it like somebody, you know, singer is a common one. I wanted to be a famous singer. Well, then are you singing now? Go sing like you don't have to do it professionally. If you're in a church, be a part of the worship team. If you're if you love karaoke, go out and do karaoke if you if you love, I mean, whatever. I mean, there's so many opportunities, in the shower, whatever, in your car, whatever, do more of the thing that you love to do, just you're allowed to do it. And I think it goes back to that past a certain age where you feel like you're not allowed to do the thing that you love because you had to become a grown up. And I really admire people who never embraced that, who like just kept doing the thing they love to do just because they love to do it. They didn't listen to anybody else. I kind of did that in a way, but still kind of didn't. So I really there's so much value there in just sticking to your guns. I love doing the thing, so if you've lost whatever, maybe you can incorporate it into your job. Maybe you can't, but either way, you've got to do more of the thing. It'll just bring you more joy. And that's what you need,

Agi Keramidas: 28:07

absolutely, absolutely, and it is, I will add to that and close off, but that it also is a step that leads to a path that may is maybe completely unclear, or at the moment, yeah,

Rob Wentz: 28:25

yeah, that's a great point. It's you might uncover something that you didn't even expect something, and most of the time, something miraculous will happen from doing that thing.

Agi Keramidas: 28:36

I like the word miraculous. I remember, for me it was the word was enthusiasm. But both words have the element, you know, of spiritual or of God, element on it. So it is definitely a sign, shall we say, or a verification or a validation, perhaps that there's more for you towards that direction follow that. That's why you feel so good, or enthusiastic, or whatever is 100%

Rob Wentz: 29:13

and honestly, you know how I know is when we talk about it, like, literally, as we're talking about it, I get like goosebumps. I get kind of like chills, yeah, so that's how I know is like, right when you're on the right track, you get, you can feel like, oh, man, there's magic there. You can feel the magic. And that's something you have to pay attention to. If you feel the magic in something, pay attention to that. What is it about that thing? Go towards it.

Agi Keramidas: 29:38

Brilliant. Rob, before we start wrapping up this fascinating conversation, where would you like to direct our audience? The mastery seekers to go and learn more about you, sure

Rob Wentz: 29:53

you can go to lead, impact, transform.com. That's my website. My company is lit coaching, the L, I T is lead in. Impact Transform. So lead, impact transform.com you can find out everything about me. You can book a complimentary discovery, call with me and connect with me there. Or if you want to find me on social media, just search Rob Z Wentz on any platform you can find me.

Agi Keramidas: 30:17

That's great. And Rob, I have also two final quick questions. And the first one is, what does personal development mean to you?

Rob Wentz: 30:30

It's basically just what we should always be doing. I don't know. Like growing there's nothing else to do in life. I don't know. There's just nothing. You should always be developing. We should always be if you're not improving, you're getting worse. And there's no middle ground. There's no grey area. It might seem like there is, like I can just coast there's no coasting. You're either getting you're either deteriorating, or you're growing. And I think you know, as we get older, it is they. The common thought is, well, I'm getting closer to dying. Like my body's not as like I'm 40 I just turned 42 I have a lot, a lot more aches and pains than I used to have, right? Things aren't as easy physically as they used to be, but I'm mentally way sharper than I used to be. And so I just think, like personal development is, like number one, exercising in a way that is it feels good, because the way I used to exercise, I can't do anymore because it hurts now, when I exercise those ways, like I used to just lift a lot of weights, and it was now when I do that, I do lighter weights, I do more reps, like kind of like hit interval training workouts. So that's like developing, like understanding yourself and learning yourself so you can be better and and then doing more of what you love to do, and being curious, maybe that's when, that's where I'm getting to Here Be personal development is getting curious and following that curiosity.

Agi Keramidas: 32:10

And they say now that you said that, that the better you understand a topic, the simplest you can explain it. And now you just, in the last few words, you just explained it very

Rob Wentz: 32:24

I could have cut a lot of talking. There was an old saying in radio. There's an old, old saying in radio that if you don't know what to say, just keep talking and you'll figure out what to say. So that's what I just did.

Agi Keramidas: 32:37

That's great to remember as a quote there Rob and a hypothetical quick question, if you could go back in time and meet your 18 year old self, what's one piece of advice you would give?

Rob Wentz: 32:51

Pick the right friends, be very selective on who you're friends with. When I was 18, I was at the beginning of my drug addiction phase of my life, and I literally, I can recall one day driving my car and saying, I just need more friends. I don't care who they are. I just need to have more friends that because I had, like, a couple friends from high school. But I like, I like, needed to have more friends for whatever reason. So I just anybody who wanted to be my I didn't have good my self esteem was low. So anybody who wanted to be my friend, I became friends with, and so I became friends with the wrong people, people who they weren't bad people. They were just lost like me. And that led me down a really tough road for a long time. So I learned a lot of lessons from it. I wouldn't change anything, but at the same time, if I could go back, choose your friends wisely and find a mentor. Understand what mentors are, find a mentor and be very selective on who you're friends with.

Agi Keramidas: 33:47

That's great. Rob. I want to thank you very much for this insightful conversation. I really enjoyed it, and I believe there were some very useful and practical elements that came through for the listener of this conversation, I want to wish you all the very best with your career and your life and your mission, and I will leave it to you with your Any parting wisdom for us well.

Rob Wentz: 34:20

Thank you, Agi, same to you, man, glad we met, glad we got to do the podcast swap. Really appreciate what you do. Great questions, by the way. And what I want to leave people with, what gives you energy and what drains your energy? So look at the things in your life that when you do them, you're drained and you're you're just like, I need to take a nap and look at the things you do in your life, like where you could do them all day long and not get tired. And how can you do more of the energy giving things and do less of the draining things? How could you spend time with the people that make you feel really good and less time with the people who make you feel bad and focus on that? Rob

Agi Keramidas: 35:04

Thank you for listening to this conversation with Rob Vance. I hope it has given you a fresh perspective on how to reconnect with your strengths, align with your purpose, and lead a life of meaningful impact. If this conversation inspired or helped you, if it gave you something meaningful, consider supporting the show. Just visit personal development mastery podcast.com/support or tap the link in the episode description as a thank you, I will send you a small gift and mention you in a future episode. Thank you for being part of this journey until next time. Stand Out. Don't fit in.