What if the thing we thought was selfish was actually essential?
Ryan Campbell is an Australian-born speaker focused on teaching people to prioritize joy! He joined us on the podcast with Grant to chat about his story, why he thinks joy is important for each and every one of us, what led him to speaking, and his journey of building a speaking business here in the US.
Here are the top 3 takeaways from their conversation:
Find your pink Cadillac.
The Pink Cadillac message is key here to Ryan’s story, but the idea is that we all should have something in our lives that can cancel out the bad. We need a hobby or object that helps center us when the world feels crazy. Not sure what your Pink Cadillac is? Well, it should be the thing that makes you smile like a child, even on a hard day.
If you don’t have a “Pink Cadillac,” start exploring things that make you happy and bring you joy until you find the one you can’t live without.
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Winning and losing life happens above your shoulders.
While Ryan is an accomplished pilot, his healing journey has taught him that the key to winning or losing life is through your mindset. Ryan’s no stranger to adversity and hardship. His story is powerful because he knows both the joy and the turmoil on a hero’s journey and from a near-death experience.
He says, “That was a window into the world of mental health and the importance of winning and losing life above your shoulders. And then to be able to pair that with my own experiences of getting back to walking and kind of going through the accident and all of that, realizing that learning to walk was a mental challenge, not a physical challenge. All of that combined made me very passionate about mental health.”
Ryan’s advice? Well, that comes in the form of taking or making time to prioritize your mental health and well-being. We can’t build Rome overnight, and we can’t build Rome if we’re giving from an empty cup! Unplug, relax, recharge, and come back to your life restored to keep moving when the going gets tough.
Play the long game.
Ultimately it comes down to being willing to play the long game. Ryan likes to think of building a speaking career, like taking a product from idea to market. You have to have an idea or message. Then you have to build a prototype. Then you have to let people try it. Get on stage. See what sticks. Develop a few versions. Keep letting people test it out along the way and filter their feedback accordingly.
When you get to a product that people love and that solves a problem and makes a difference, now it’s time to start taking it to the mass market. But that’s the thing, the journey from there isn’t overnight either. It’s finding your early adopters, creating fans, and developing a following people want to be involved in.
Take your time, play the game, and enjoy your success along the way!
Ready to hear more? Check out Episode 460 of The Speaker Lab podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts.
