178: Turning Your Adversity Into Your Advantage With Dom Brightmon

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Dominique Brightmon is Dr. Brad Miller’s guest on Episode 178 of “The Beyond Adversity Podcast.”

Dominique “Dom” Brightmon, DTM, is a John Maxwell Team certified self-leadership expert from Baltimore, MD, who motivates and equips others to share their story.

In this episode, Dom shares his struggles, how he overcame them, and the necessary tools and skills one must develop to rise above the adversities of life. It talks about how these minor detours are like ingredients to spice up your journey towards your goals.

The year 2012 was the year when everyone believed the world would end. Dom felt as if he was going through a snowball effect: first, his father went on a trip and got lost; they were unable to reach him for a day; then, they could locate him; and subsequently, they discovered his father had Alzheimer’s disease.

Dom made a mistake that could have cost his life. While he was smashing his automobile while celebrating his 21st birthday because he didn’t realize his brakes weren’t working. Dom had also worked as a part-time employee at a library, called out frequently for miscommunication with customers.

Dom discovered the pearls of wisdom hidden among the bookshelves while working part-time at the library. He was able to read and absorb the materials offered in the library while he was there, and it gave him the boost he needed. He was able to read all of John Maxwell’s leadership books and the Bible from beginning to end, and he developed into a voracious reader.

Episode 178 of The Beyond Adversity Podcast is a must-listen for anyone experiencing setbacks and a slight detour in life. Things might not fall in as planned initially, but you have to understand that these minor hiccups make the trip even more appealing than the reward that comes after.

“The Beyond Adversity Podcast with Dr. Brad Miller is published weekly with the mission of helping people “Grow Through What They Go Through” as they navigate adversity and discover their promised life of peace, prosperity, and purpose.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/dombrightmon 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dombrightmon/?hl=en 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dombrightmon/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DomBrightmon 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dominique-B.-Brightmon/e/B07B7F37N5/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 

Transcript
Dr. Brad Miller:

We got a great guest with us today.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Dom Brightmon is a self leadership expert.

Dr. Brad Miller:

He has been certified with the John Maxwell team.

Dr. Brad Miller:

He is also involved with Toastmasters International,

Dr. Brad Miller:

and has the D T M certification through that organization.

Dr. Brad Miller:

He is an author of going north tips

Dr. Brad Miller:

and techniques to advance yourself.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Go and another book,

Dr. Brad Miller:

the best selling book crappy

Dr. Brad Miller:

to happy sacred stories of transformational joy.

Dr. Brad Miller:

He has a heart to help people

Dr. Brad Miller:

to unlock their inner values through reading.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And through other forms of self development.

Dr. Brad Miller:

We welcome to Beyond adversity DOM Brightman.

Dom Brightmon:

Oh, my man,

Dom Brightmon:

the one and only Dr. Brad Miller,

Dom Brightmon:

how you feeling?

Dr. Brad Miller:

I'm awesome, my man.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And it is a joy to have you with us here today.

Dr. Brad Miller:

I'm feeling great.

Dr. Brad Miller:

You look like you're fired up ready to go.

Dr. Brad Miller:

You're ready to go my man? Oh,

Dom Brightmon:

yeah, let's go north.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Okay, go north. ]

Dr. Brad Miller:

Well, let's go north.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Because some people have been going south.

Dr. Brad Miller:

What I mean by that is,

Dr. Brad Miller:

we've gone through a year or

Dr. Brad Miller:

two or three of some really difficult times in our world.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And individuals have had their difficult times

Dr. Brad Miller:

to deal with it as well.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And some people have got stuck in the muck of adversity.

Dr. Brad Miller:

But your person is going to help us

Dr. Brad Miller:

to navigate through some some things.

Dr. Brad Miller:

But first of all,

Dr. Brad Miller:

I know that you have some motivations in your life

Dr. Brad Miller:

to going north,

Dr. Brad Miller:

because you've had some of your challenges as well.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And if you will, Don

Dr. Brad Miller:

Would you just have pack for us a little bit

Dr. Brad Miller:

of some of the challenges or adversities

Dr. Brad Miller:

that you've had to face in your life

Dr. Brad Miller:

to kind of give us a foundational story that we can go to we work from,

Dom Brightmon:

Ah, sure thing.

Dom Brightmon:

Well, for those who were old

Dom Brightmon:

and young enough to remember

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the wonderful year of 2012,

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especially in the US of A

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where they thought that the world is gonna end.

Dom Brightmon:

And all that really happened is that

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when the US baby last took his four month,

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that was one heck of a year,

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because that was a year

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where it felt like a snowball effect happened

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had a wonderful three pronged attack. J

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uly 30, my father went out for a drive

Dom Brightmon:

and then July 31, he had to put out a Silver Alert for him

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because he got lost.

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It comes to find out what am that morning after

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getting on my knees in prayer,

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asking for God to help us find my dad

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after he got lost for 24 plus hours,

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we were able to find him.

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And he discovered he had Alzheimer's.

Dom Brightmon:

Fast forward about a good month

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and a half or so later turned 21.

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And well the day was 21st birthday

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making a left turn on the depth street

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not to know where the break jammed in my car crashed my car.

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And I was still alive.

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Thank God, she could tell.

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And to make even matters worse,

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I had a part time job at the local library

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at the time where I worked at.

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And I was called in at the office for my boss

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because there's some moments

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where I thought the person wasn't showing up

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in the professional life

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and comes to find out it was

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because there was some miscommunication

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there as with some colleagues,

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and some all these other lists of

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stuff that I was messing up and

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jacking up and I'm like, wow.

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So that whole snowball effect

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led me to realize, Wow,

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I need to have a desire for change,

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something needs to change here.

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And I actually had my own acres of diamonds

Dom Brightmon:

in that same library where I found

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some leadership books by John Maxwell

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changed my life forever.

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Because not only reading some of his grade books,

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I'm going to turn around also reread the Bible

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from cover to cover as well.

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And read just became voracious reader.

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And every year since then,

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one of my forms of self development

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is trying to at least read at least 50 Plus books

Dom Brightmon:

a year and I was undefeated

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with that streak it till 2020

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When my content intakes which more

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to the audio visual aspect of YouTube

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and podcasts as opposed to reading books

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I'll read 39 last year 11 shot the 50.

Dom Brightmon:

But I was still able to really expand business

Dom Brightmon:

in a way because the thing about setbacks,

Dom Brightmon:

they could set you up for a story

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for to help others to realize that

Dom Brightmon:

hey, you can go beyond adversity

Dom Brightmon:

and create your own success story.

Dr. Brad Miller:

What incredible stories you have

Dr. Brad Miller:

to tell there about overcoming things on your own,

Dr. Brad Miller:

let alone you know the situation

Dr. Brad Miller:

with your with your father

Dr. Brad Miller:

and your own accident

Dr. Brad Miller:

and some challenges in your workplace.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And here you are,

Dr. Brad Miller:

because you took some action.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And you mentioned a couple of them. And really interested now Dom in unpacking a little bit about what I think it's just pivotal that people who get unstuck and that's taking action. You mentioned reading, what are some of the other things that you that you either glean from your reading or other things you did to break out of your patterns. What are some of the actions that you took that led you to success?

Dom Brightmon:

Oh, yes,

Dom Brightmon:

another one of those things

Dom Brightmon:

was joining Toastmasters International

04:51

because one of the major skills

Dom Brightmon:

that everyone should be able

Dom Brightmon:

to have under their belt is public speaking

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because that will give you

Dom Brightmon:

an edge because a lot of folks

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I'm pretty sure you've heard

Dom Brightmon:

yourself to the classic joke

Dom Brightmon:

where the guy giving the

Dom Brightmon:

eulogy sometimes rather

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be the guy in the casket.

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Because people don't like

Dom Brightmon:

to speak in public. And I

Dom Brightmon:

give to what this voice for

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years since I was a teenager

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and was doing a lot of stuff in church,

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and Toastmasters was a great

Dom Brightmon:

place to join us not only sharpen

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and hone my skills, but also network.

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And the main reason I joined

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is because one of the books

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that I listened to, I believe

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was brought by Brian Tracy,

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where he mentioned Toastmasters.

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And I joined the organization

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originally to actually network

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with other people and find a

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speaker for a public speaking

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seminar at my church. And lo

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and behold, even though I was

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able to build relationships

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with people, I ended up

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getting a buddy of mine

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who also had communication

Dom Brightmon:

experience, the event was successful.

Dom Brightmon:

And I stayed with the organization

Dom Brightmon:

for years and still am a part of

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the organization. My goodness,

Dom Brightmon:

it's almost eight years later now,

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because the thing was, the

Dom Brightmon:

original goal was for one thing,

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but sometimes as you're going

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in this journey of life,

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and you have some setbacks,

Dom Brightmon:

you realize, oh, this little detour

Dom Brightmon:

here might actually take me

Dom Brightmon:

to where I need to go and

Dom Brightmon:

being okay, with something

Dom Brightmon:

that may seem like a shortcut,

Dom Brightmon:

but it's actually something

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taking you further and closer to your goals.

Dom Brightmon:

Because one of the questions

Dom Brightmon:

we can always ask ourselves

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daily is how can I make sure I

Dom Brightmon:

don't leave any blessings on the table.

Dom Brightmon:

And that's by having a desire

Dom Brightmon:

for change, a desire for

Dom Brightmon:

helping others and desire

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for bettering yourself.

Dom Brightmon:

And Toastmasters is one of the

Dom Brightmon:

ways to do that. Because I joined the organization

Dom Brightmon:

gave dozens and dozens of talks

Dom Brightmon:

and getting better as a result.

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And even taking advantage of

Dom Brightmon:

the sandbox experience of leading

Dom Brightmon:

a group of volunteers in a volunteer

Dom Brightmon:

organization because

Dom Brightmon:

with a regular paid job, yeah, you can,

Dom Brightmon:

people will follow you by default to

Dom Brightmon:

to a fault because if they don't

Dom Brightmon:

insubordination, they're Bunnelby

Dom Brightmon:

out the door, volunteerism,

Dom Brightmon:

there's no characteristic, there's no pay,

Dom Brightmon:

they're there because they have

Dom Brightmon:

their own reasons in their own goals.

Dom Brightmon:

So not only just reading, but

Dom Brightmon:

putting some my own reading, i

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t's a practice and joining T

Dom Brightmon:

oastmasters and giving talks based

Dom Brightmon:

off the stuff that I actually

Dom Brightmon:

read and apply to my own life.

Dom Brightmon:

And then eventually

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repurposing that concept

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into books, and then

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eventually take the networking

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skills to even start a podcast

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on my own interviewing

Dom Brightmon:

authors all over the globe.

Dom Brightmon:

So those are just a few of the things I've done.

Dr. Brad Miller:

So several

Dr. Brad Miller:

things here, let's unpack a little bit.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Well, first of all, you read you

Dr. Brad Miller:

fed your mind. Yep. And you

Dr. Brad Miller:

know, when you feed your

Dr. Brad Miller:

mind, you also enhance

Dr. Brad Miller:

your soul, I believe and

Dr. Brad Miller:

things of that nature.

Dr. Brad Miller:

You also then applied, you were

Dr. Brad Miller:

intentional about applying

Dr. Brad Miller:

what you read, and you consumed

Dr. Brad Miller:

through Toastmasters and through

Dr. Brad Miller:

public speaking and through

Dr. Brad Miller:

networking, and through that process,

Dr. Brad Miller:

and it would you didn't just stay,

Dr. Brad Miller:

you know, kind of an ivory tower to

Dr. Brad Miller:

kind of use an academic idiom,

Dr. Brad Miller:

you didn't say, just reading your

Dr. Brad Miller:

books, you went out there,

Dr. Brad Miller:

and you applied it. And then also,

Dr. Brad Miller:

I think, very, very important,

Dr. Brad Miller:

what you shared here is we got involved

Dr. Brad Miller:

with some volunteer activities,

Dr. Brad Miller:

which meant that you're starting

Dr. Brad Miller:

to connect with something beyond

Dr. Brad Miller:

the bottom line or beyond the

Dr. Brad Miller:

motivation of a business purpose.

Dr. Brad Miller:

But for something greater than

Dr. Brad Miller:

greater than yourself and others

Dr. Brad Miller:

you got and exhibited some

Dr. Brad Miller:

leadership skills there. So those are

Dr. Brad Miller:

all powerful ways that you took

Dr. Brad Miller:

action in order to move through

Dr. Brad Miller:

wherever you were at to a better place.

Dr. Brad Miller:

But let's unpack a little further Dom,

Dr. Brad Miller:

what you said there about

Dr. Brad Miller:

the motivation of something

Dr. Brad Miller:

bigger than yourself. I just a big

Dr. Brad Miller:

believer in this myself, I come

Dr. Brad Miller:

from a faith based background.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And I've seen the people who've

Dr. Brad Miller:

done really great great things

Dr. Brad Miller:

have not only done it for themselves,

Dr. Brad Miller:

but they've done it for they've

Dr. Brad Miller:

had taken some leap of faith

Dr. Brad Miller:

somewhere along the line. And tell me

Dr. Brad Miller:

about any, any basis of your transformation

Dr. Brad Miller:

and what you teach others as based and

Dr. Brad Miller:

Oh, anything of a spiritual nature are

Dr. Brad Miller:

faith based or something greater

Dr. Brad Miller:

than yourself or meditation,

Dr. Brad Miller:

anything like that, tell us about

Dr. Brad Miller:

any faith element involved

Dr. Brad Miller:

with your transformation process.

Dom Brightmon:

Oh, my pleasure, indeed.

Dom Brightmon:

And one of the things I like to

Dom Brightmon:

do daily is to use my snooze

Dom Brightmon:

button as a sensation, a

Dom Brightmon:

moment of silence button,

Dom Brightmon:

because as soon as the alarm

Dom Brightmon:

goes off, usually get out of bed, and then

Dom Brightmon:

give myself some time to be

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within myself my own thoughts,

Dom Brightmon:

and also to pray as well and give

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thanks for another day of being

Dom Brightmon:

alive because someone else didn't

Dom Brightmon:

have that opportunity. And that

Dom Brightmon:

really helped me to deepen the

Dom Brightmon:

transformation process. And one

Dom Brightmon:

thing that notice that all elite

Dom Brightmon:

performers have is that they

Dom Brightmon:

give themselves the gift of solitude.

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So they can masterfully serve the multitude.

Dom Brightmon:

And that's just really one of the

Dom Brightmon:

major things like we're gonna

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have to truly give ourselves silence

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and be within ourselves. And it's

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probably one of the hardest things to do, especially

Dom Brightmon:

as we age in this world

Dom Brightmon:

because we accumulate so many things

Dom Brightmon:

and Time moves so much faster,

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especially after we hit our early 20s.

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And things just keep coming

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at you fast and you wake up one

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day as I go I'm 30 years old.

Dom Brightmon:

Now some people, they wake up

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the next day, it's like, oh, dollar 50.

Dom Brightmon:

So really just giving yourself

Dom Brightmon:

that wonderful gift of solitude

Dom Brightmon:

so that we can best serve

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the multitude because

Dom Brightmon:

spiritual awareness is one

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of the keys to really being an elite per

Dom Brightmon:

former and a lot of elite performers.

Dom Brightmon:

Especially, like, Heck, even a lot

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of books in the Christian faith.

Dom Brightmon:

They are examples of high

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performers like love them

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or hate them, Joel Olsteen,

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he may give you the sugar

Dom Brightmon:

gospel, metaphorically speaking,

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because he's so easy to take in.

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But he's created a massive

Dom Brightmon:

success for himself. He's

Dom Brightmon:

accumulated a lot in his life

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is great a lot in his life, Steven Furtick, l

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ike all these other great

Dom Brightmon:

Christian preachers in heck,

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even some folks that you

Dom Brightmon:

may not know, some may even

Dom Brightmon:

keep a humble presence about him.

Dom Brightmon:

But you may talk to someone else.

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He's like, Hey, I met that guy over there.

Dom Brightmon:

Because one guy in particular,

Dom Brightmon:

he was an older guy, he was

Dom Brightmon:

about I believe, 69. And he actually

Dom Brightmon:

was a black belt,

Dom Brightmon:

World Martial Artist,

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when his early 20s. And he actually

Dom Brightmon:

owned probably a good 10%,

Dom Brightmon:

if not close to 30% of the

Dom Brightmon:

construction in Baltimore.

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And he was just the guy that

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had the humble brains about him.

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But he still had that spiritual awareness.

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So if whoever's listening I know

Dom Brightmon:

you have a faith based artist,

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I'm a Christian myself, which I

Dom Brightmon:

appreciate and just a have a

Dom Brightmon:

faith aspect to your life, give yourself

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some silence, give yourself some time

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to be not only with yourself, but also

Dom Brightmon:

spend some time with the master

Dom Brightmon:

if that is your chosen, have to walk?

Dr. Brad Miller:

Yes. Well, some awesome insights there,

Dr. Brad Miller:

Dom about the about taking that quiet time.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Some people, you know, have

Dr. Brad Miller:

a faith based aspect. Some

Dr. Brad Miller:

people you know, use meditation,

Dr. Brad Miller:

or deep breathing or yoga,

Dr. Brad Miller:

any number of other things.

Dr. Brad Miller:

But it is so important to get centered

Dr. Brad Miller:

in your inner life in order to have

Dr. Brad Miller:

some sort of expression in your

Dr. Brad Miller:

outer life. And that makes a difference

Dr. Brad Miller:

and helps us to be I love what you said

Dr. Brad Miller:

about using your snooze button

Dr. Brad Miller:

as a silent reminder to be

Dr. Brad Miller:

silent or whatever you said there.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Because that's it goes to things

Dr. Brad Miller:

like habits or disciplines or

Dr. Brad Miller:

practices that we could have

Dr. Brad Miller:

which he could implement

Dr. Brad Miller:

the things we've been talking

Dr. Brad Miller:

about here, diamond. So let's

Dr. Brad Miller:

go there, I consider this kind

Dr. Brad Miller:

of the part the, the cognitive

Dr. Brad Miller:

part of the process that I teach,

Dr. Brad Miller:

is what do we think? How do we

Dr. Brad Miller:

how do we change our thinking?

Dr. Brad Miller:

How do we change your mindset?

Dr. Brad Miller:

What are some of the what are some

Dr. Brad Miller:

of the disciplines that you do or

Dr. Brad Miller:

that you teach, that are transformative

Dr. Brad Miller:

about the transformation of the mind?

Dr. Brad Miller:

In order to have you know,

Dr. Brad Miller:

you have success in life?

Dom Brightmon:

Sure thing, one of the strongest weapons

Dom Brightmon:

that anyone has in their arsenal

Dom Brightmon:

to really change their mindset for

Dom Brightmon:

the better. And heck even put

Dom Brightmon:

yourself in a servant leader mind

Dom Brightmon:

mindset is to really ask yourself

Dom Brightmon:

two questions, especially a question

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about preparation of question

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about reflection. And I borrowed

Dom Brightmon:

this from John Maxwell's books

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Thinking for a Change where he asks

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himself these two questions every day one,

Dom Brightmon:

what good will I do today?

Dom Brightmon:

And it's actually better, in my opinion,

Dom Brightmon:

from personal experience to ask

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yourself that question right

Dom Brightmon:

before you go to bed.

Dom Brightmon:

Because if you ask yourself that

Dom Brightmon:

question before you go to bed,

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your brain is cooking while

Dom Brightmon:

you're sleeping as it's recovering

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and restoring itself for full right

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performance state. And there may be

Dom Brightmon:

an opportunity that pops

Dom Brightmon:

up in the middle of the day

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that you weren't consciously

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thinking about, but subconsciously,

Dom Brightmon:

because you asked yourself

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that question the night before,

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an opportunity shows itself on

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that following day. Another

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question for preparation is

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what can I share? Can it be a smile,

Dom Brightmon:

like icon word with somebody

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calling someone I haven't

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talked to in a while encouraging

Dom Brightmon:

a friend supporting your

Dom Brightmon:

friends business, if it's something

Dom Brightmon:

that aligns with my life, recommend

Dom Brightmon:

referring business to somebody else,

Dom Brightmon:

because a lot of folks are taking

Dom Brightmon:

the entrepreneurial route nowadays,

Dom Brightmon:

thanks to some interesting times

Dom Brightmon:

that we're in where folks who've

Dom Brightmon:

lost their jobs and a referral will

Dom Brightmon:

help you a lot. So focusing on what

Dom Brightmon:

you can share with other people

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and at the end of the day, is

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asking yourself what good I do today.

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So if you did something great with

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question number one, you're able to

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refer some something to somebody

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else or share some thing with

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somebody else you got somebody

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learned something new to occurs

Dom Brightmon:

them and you caught up with an

Dom Brightmon:

old friend and they really needed

Dom Brightmon:

that laugh or that that sounding

Dom Brightmon:

board, then you can write down

Dom Brightmon:

that question and as you really

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continue throughout your days and

Dom Brightmon:

document those things, you'll

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definitely create a journal of

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proof and really being more

Dom Brightmon:

ntentional with your life because

Dom Brightmon:

one of the one of my favorite

Dom Brightmon:

quotes that my mentor shared

Dom Brightmon:

with me is that you need to live

Dom Brightmon:

your life your life by design and not by default.

Dr. Brad Miller:

I love what you're saying

Dr. Brad Miller:

there about how you begin the

Dr. Brad Miller:

day with an affirmation, you end

Dr. Brad Miller:

the day with all this called a

Dr. Brad Miller:

confirmation or a re formation

Dr. Brad Miller:

of what you are to have done a

Dr. Brad Miller:

while you are to do and I love

Dr. Brad Miller:

your your phraseology about

Dr. Brad Miller:

about what good can I do? One

Dr. Brad Miller:

of the ones I use is to do all the

Dr. Brad Miller:

good that you can I say to myself,

Dr. Brad Miller:

do all the good that I can. And I try

Dr. Brad Miller:

to say to others, I have some

Dr. Brad Miller:

connection with or influence on

Dr. Brad Miller:

do all the good that that you can.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And I love what you're saying there.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And then you also mentioned

Dr. Brad Miller:

about a phrase that I'm not familiar

Dr. Brad Miller:

with. I'm familiar with journaling,

Dr. Brad Miller:

if adequate. My my journal is right

Dr. Brad Miller:

next to my desk here. But you say

Dr. Brad Miller:

Journal of proof, and I love what

Dr. Brad Miller:

you said, I'm not sure if that's

Dr. Brad Miller:

original to you, or maybe you got

Dr. Brad Miller:

off to someplace else. But I love

Dr. Brad Miller:

that kind of a a celebration or

Dr. Brad Miller:

affirmation of what's gone on in

Dr. Brad Miller:

your life. And so what if you know

Dr. Brad Miller:

without revealing anything more

Dr. Brad Miller:

that you want to what kind of

Dr. Brad Miller:

thing kind of things we're gonna

Dr. Brad Miller:

find your journal a proof.

Dom Brightmon:

Ah, one of the things you're

Dom Brightmon:

gonna find is also List of

Dom Brightmon:

victories because some,

Dom Brightmon:

like there's the classic practice

Dom Brightmon:

that's really popular gratitude

Dom Brightmon:

journal. But if you want to flip

Dom Brightmon:

that and even make it even

Dom Brightmon:

more powerful for yourself, a

Dom Brightmon:

buddy of mine. Got it. That's got a

Dom Brightmon:

bet. Oh, here we go. Sam leave

Dom Brightmon:

what's that's his name. So in today's

Dom Brightmon:

pop to my assembly, which he

Dom Brightmon:

was on a podcast last year. And

Dom Brightmon:

he mentioned creating a victory

Dom Brightmon:

log where you write down

Dom Brightmon:

all your victories for the day.

Dom Brightmon:

So you woke up today, that's

Dom Brightmon:

a victory you were able to share

Dom Brightmon:

God word or furrow with somebody,

Dom Brightmon:

that's a victory. If somebody

Dom Brightmon:

shared referral to you and

Dom Brightmon:

you're in business, that's a victory,

Dom Brightmon:

you're able to get to work on time.

Dom Brightmon:

And you usually are the lay person,

Dom Brightmon:

if you still have a commute, that's

Dom Brightmon:

another victory. And then tracking

Dom Brightmon:

all of those wonderful victories, like

Dom Brightmon:

heck, even me being on this podcast.

Dom Brightmon:

That's a victory today being on

Dom Brightmon:

podcasts in the past, being able to

Dom Brightmon:

reach out to certain people, were

Dom Brightmon:

all my dream guest lists and having

Dom Brightmon:

them really accept the invitation to

Dom Brightmon:

be on my podcast a heck even if

Dom Brightmon:

it's a day where I'm still blessed

Dom Brightmon:

that my elderly mother who's still

Dom Brightmon:

alive, she has a day where she

Dom Brightmon:

isn't feeling too bad. And that's

Dom Brightmon:

a victory for me too, because

Dom Brightmon:

she's at the point now where

Dom Brightmon:

she should enjoy her days left on

Dom Brightmon:

earth because no one knows the

Dom Brightmon:

day or the hour when we may

Dom Brightmon:

have to say goodbye to this

Dom Brightmon:

world and move on to the next one.

Dom Brightmon:

So just counting those victories,

Dom Brightmon:

just stuff like those, it doesn't

Dom Brightmon:

matter how big or small like if

Dom Brightmon:

you have heard the gratitude

Dom Brightmon:

journal and does it resonate with

Dom Brightmon:

you try calling it a victory log and

Dom Brightmon:

writing down those things

Dom Brightmon:

that have happened to you

Dom Brightmon:

constantly 24/7 and see

Dom Brightmon:

what lines up and then you can go

Dom Brightmon:

back and reflect on it. Another

Dom Brightmon:

reason why I called a journal a

Dom Brightmon:

proof because you get to look back

Dom Brightmon:

and see wow, I've actually done

Dom Brightmon:

some things with my life. It may

Dom Brightmon:

have moved fast, but I've

Dom Brightmon:

actually documented a few things.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Now that's awesome. Well, let's

Dr. Brad Miller:

start to shift now DOM towards

Dr. Brad Miller:

all this stuff. You've learned all the

Dr. Brad Miller:

experiences you had with your with

Dr. Brad Miller:

your father and Alzheimer's, your car

Dr. Brad Miller:

crash all the various things you

Dr. Brad Miller:

talk about reading and speaking

Dr. Brad Miller:

and leadership, and your own

Dr. Brad Miller:

processes for self reflection,

Dr. Brad Miller:

spiritual life. That's all well and good.

Dr. Brad Miller:

That is so awesome, man. But you

Dr. Brad Miller:

have gone beyond that. And you

Dr. Brad Miller:

have been shared them. You've

Dr. Brad Miller:

have books, you have training, you

Dr. Brad Miller:

have services that you offer. And

Dr. Brad Miller:

I believe that we truly transform

Dr. Brad Miller:

when we serve others with love.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And with what we've got, you know,

Dr. Brad Miller:

we we consume, and we have

Dr. Brad Miller:

transformed ourselves. But it's you know,

Dr. Brad Miller:

it's not to be a selfish thing.

Dr. Brad Miller:

It's to be shared with others. So

Dr. Brad Miller:

would you share with our beyond

Dr. Brad Miller:

adversity audience some of the things

Dr. Brad Miller:

that you then teach and lead and

Dr. Brad Miller:

advocate, I know you have this,

Dr. Brad Miller:

you really emphasize going north,

Dr. Brad Miller:

your TrueNorth tell us what it what

Dr. Brad Miller:

you're about, what does it mean

Dr. Brad Miller:

for you about going north?

Dom Brightmon:

Sure thing. So going north is

Dom Brightmon:

really about advancing others

Dom Brightmon:

to advance yourself in the process

Dom Brightmon:

and bracing your dreams or

Dom Brightmon:

helping others to embrace

Dom Brightmon:

their as well as getting closer to

Dom Brightmon:

embracing theirs. Because we

Dom Brightmon:

all have things that we want to

Dom Brightmon:

do in life, whether a promotion

Dom Brightmon:

to the next level was something that you

Dom Brightmon:

want to do it that was your dream at

Dom Brightmon:

one point and helping someone get

Dom Brightmon:

there. One of the best things

Dom Brightmon:

you can do in this lifetime is to

Dom Brightmon:

help someone else, especially

Dom Brightmon:

someone else reach their next

Dom Brightmon:

level. And they get to thank

Dom Brightmon:

you for it. And it doesn't even have

Dom Brightmon:

to come with a bunch of

Dom Brightmon:

accolades. And sometimes it doesn't

Dom Brightmon:

always come with a nice shiny

Dom Brightmon:

check with extra zeros on in the beginning.

Dom Brightmon:

And just really just helping folks realize

Dom Brightmon:

that a success is tangible and helping

Dom Brightmon:

folks unleash and unlock their value

Dom Brightmon:

because that's the thing I'm sure that

Dom Brightmon:

we both believe in is the fact that

Dom Brightmon:

everyone has value already.

Dom Brightmon:

Everyone has value because of someone's

Dom Brightmon:

living and breathing. They have

Dom Brightmon:

value and everyone has a certain gift

Dom Brightmon:

that they've been blessed with.

Dom Brightmon:

And they can bless others with like me with my voice.

Dom Brightmon:

That's a gift I've been given.

Dom Brightmon:

And lately these past few years, I've

Dom Brightmon:

been honing my skill of comedy and it's

Dom Brightmon:

kind of evolved into me being

Dom Brightmon:

metaphorical colonel in the corny

Dom Brightmon:

joke kingdom, because the corncob

Dom Brightmon:

a day keeps some groaning all day.

Dom Brightmon:

Say enough corny jokes. It keeps going,

Dom Brightmon:

folks just gonna keep loving you for it.

Dr. Brad Miller:

But you got the corny jokes in my family.

Dr. Brad Miller:

I'm considered the I guess the

Dr. Brad Miller:

dean of dead jokes. Yeah. I send my

Dr. Brad Miller:

I have three adult children and I

Dr. Brad Miller:

on a pretty regular basis in them.

Dr. Brad Miller:

I call it my dad's daily joke, Dad's

Dr. Brad Miller:

daily joke. They, they really, they

Dr. Brad Miller:

really hate it sometimes. And sometimes

Dr. Brad Miller:

they like it. But But yeah, but hey,

Dr. Brad Miller:

you've got to have fun, right? You

Dr. Brad Miller:

know, we've got to have some joy

Dr. Brad Miller:

and celebration in life. Otherwise,

Dr. Brad Miller:

what's it all about? Man? You know, what's

Dr. Brad Miller:

it all about if we don't have a joy and

Dr. Brad Miller:

fulfillment, because so many of us

Dr. Brad Miller:

have a sense of desperation,

Dr. Brad Miller:

or you know, the adversity,

Dr. Brad Miller:

whatever we face. It, we all have

Dr. Brad Miller:

our things, you know, I've had my

Dr. Brad Miller:

health challenges in my life. And

Dr. Brad Miller:

I've had various things to deal

Dr. Brad Miller:

with in my life in terms of relationships

Dr. Brad Miller:

with through divorce many years ago.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And, you know, we all got stuff to deal with.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And especially in the last year or

Dr. Brad Miller:

two with the COVID, and political

Dr. Brad Miller:

stuff, and racial stuff, and violence

Dr. Brad Miller:

and international things going on.

Dr. Brad Miller:

It's just a tough, tough world that we

Dr. Brad Miller:

live in, and you submit to about how

Dr. Brad Miller:

things can be distracting and things

Dr. Brad Miller:

like that. And, but you got to do

Dr. Brad Miller:

something about it. And you're offering us

Dr. Brad Miller:

some some insight here. Tell us about

Dr. Brad Miller:

some of what you've taught here.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Whether it's having a good laugh, or

Dr. Brad Miller:

whether it's something inside of your book,

Dr. Brad Miller:

I'd like for you to share about

Dr. Brad Miller:

maybe a person or persons maybe

Dr. Brad Miller:

an organization that you've worked with Dom where

Dr. Brad Miller:

you have seen some of the you've

Dr. Brad Miller:

had some part to play in some

Dr. Brad Miller:

transformation, that they've had some

Dr. Brad Miller:

way that they've been able to navigate

Dr. Brad Miller:

adversity, come on to a better place.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Tell us a good news story.

Dom Brightmon:

Sure thing. So a buddy of mine,

Dom Brightmon:

he was actually, he actually

Dom Brightmon:

joined the John Maxwell team last

Dom Brightmon:

year, too, after helping him out with

Dom Brightmon:

some suggestions of giving him

Dom Brightmon:

some templates of some brochures

Dom Brightmon:

that some folks may use.

Dom Brightmon:

And actually, one of the things he

Dom Brightmon:

wanted to do, because a lot of folks

Dom Brightmon:

are doing it nowadays is starting a

Dom Brightmon:

podcast of his own. And he actually

Dom Brightmon:

had ideas like that. That's probably one of

Dom Brightmon:

the drawbacks of being a creative

Dom Brightmon:

person, a person with a bright hidden

Dom Brightmon:

shoulders if they have a lot of ideas,

Dom Brightmon:

and it can get them down on paper.

Dom Brightmon:

But the drawback is it's the action

Dom Brightmon:

and the implementation piece.

Dom Brightmon:

And sometimes you just have to

Dom Brightmon:

sit down and really get quiet

Dom Brightmon:

and do at least one thing and do

Dom Brightmon:

one thing. And he was having some trouble with self

Dom Brightmon:

doubt, heck, even I had trouble

Dom Brightmon:

with self doubt, too. And he had a theme

Dom Brightmon:

for his show originally called summer

Dom Brightmon:

show summer soldiers where it was

Dom Brightmon:

supposed to be men giving young

Dom Brightmon:

men advice of tools, especially young

Dom Brightmon:

black men, since is a black man himself

Dom Brightmon:

and the whole George Floyd situation,

Dom Brightmon:

it was huge all over the globe.

Dom Brightmon:

And he wanted to at least contribute

Dom Brightmon:

to helping heal that situation. And it evolved

Dom Brightmon:

into just him bringing on other wonderful

Dom Brightmon:

people, especially those who are in youth

Dom Brightmon:

leadership role of helping out the youth

Dom Brightmon:

into a podcast called gift and the gift

Dom Brightmon:

podcast because I hooked him up with at

Dom Brightmon:

least five good people that ended up

Dom Brightmon:

being on his show to give them that starting

Dom Brightmon:

boost. Because sometimes if you tell

Dom Brightmon:

enough people about your goals, a

Dom Brightmon:

nd you can talk to the right people

Dom Brightmon:

who will actually be the wind underneath

Dom Brightmon:

your wings, then you'll be in a better

Dom Brightmon:

place as opposed to those who may

Dom Brightmon:

be dream killers. And they just want

Dom Brightmon:

to take the air for Monday, and then

Dom Brightmon:

chop off the wings of the airplane.

Dr. Brad Miller:

In that cool when you see that

Dr. Brad Miller:

transformation take place

Dr. Brad Miller:

and in your friend, your colleague here.

Dr. Brad Miller:

And you know that if it goes well if

Dr. Brad Miller:

it goes away, and I believe it's a

Dr. Brad Miller:

it's a God thing when these type

Dr. Brad Miller:

of things happen, that if that

Dr. Brad Miller:

transformation happens with

Dr. Brad Miller:

that person, and maybe he has

Dr. Brad Miller:

some influences so that people

Dr. Brad Miller:

listen to his podcast or some of

Dr. Brad Miller:

the people that he has some

Dr. Brad Miller:

connection with, and it goes on and

Dr. Brad Miller:

expands and he gets better and

Dr. Brad Miller:

gets better I'd say ever evolving

Dr. Brad Miller:

thing and I believe that's how

Dr. Brad Miller:

transportation takes place in groups

Dr. Brad Miller:

and in larger organizations is by

Dr. Brad Miller:

individuals being transformed

Dr. Brad Miller:

and they share that with others.

Dr. Brad Miller:

So you got some good

Dr. Brad Miller:

stuff here my friend, and I think you

Dr. Brad Miller:

got a lot more to share and you've

Dr. Brad Miller:

got several books and you've got

Dr. Brad Miller:

several things on your website

Dr. Brad Miller:

DOM Brightman calm. If people w

Dr. Brad Miller:

ant to learn more about you and

Dr. Brad Miller:

how you could speak into their life.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Give him a smile, give him

Dr. Brad Miller:

some energy, you've got infectious energy.

Dr. Brad Miller:

You got it. You got it just a way about you, you got that. That deep, resonant voice, you got that radio voice. And

Dr. Brad Miller:

people tell me I have that sometimes

Dr. Brad Miller:

and I cut, I kind of jokingly call it the voice of God.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Hey, yo, you've got that going on

Dr. Brad Miller:

area kid bears, you know, some

Dr. Brad Miller:

credibility with it. But if you're

Dr. Brad Miller:

going to speak into somebody's life,

Dr. Brad Miller:

that next person, how can they get

Dr. Brad Miller:

connected to you and what you're all about?

Dom Brightmon:

Sure thing, and thanks again for

Dom Brightmon:

having me on your podcast. Dr.

Dom Brightmon:

Brad, I appreciate you for the invite.

Dom Brightmon:

This is amazing to do an amazing

Dom Brightmon:

work is so for those who want to

Dom Brightmon:

keep in contact with yours truly, Dom bryman.com

Dom Brightmon:

is the best place to go. If you want to

Dom Brightmon:

shoot me an email, shoot me an

Dom Brightmon:

email and Dom and Dom brightman.com

Dom Brightmon:

as well. And I usually check all my

Dom Brightmon:

emails, even the spam ones that e

Dom Brightmon:

nd up in the trash folder. So hey,

Dom Brightmon:

feel free to reach out to me.

Dr. Brad Miller:

Awesome. And we'll put connections

Dr. Brad Miller:

to your website, Dom brightman.com

Dr. Brad Miller:

at our website, which is Dr. Brad miller.com.

Dr. Brad Miller:

What a pleasure. He is the author

Dr. Brad Miller:

of several books, including going north

Dr. Brad Miller:

tips and techniques to advance yourself.

Dr. Brad Miller:

He has various leadership training o

Dr. Brad Miller:

ther opportunities for coaching that can

Dr. Brad Miller:

enhance your life and help you to

Dr. Brad Miller:

unlock your inner values. His name is

Dr. Brad Miller:

Dom bride been we thank you

Dr. Brad Miller:

for being our guest today on the

Dr. Brad Miller:

beyond adversity podcast with Dr. Brad Miller.

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