Choose Enthusiasm: Ignite Change from Within

Phil Calandra (00:05):

Hello again, friends, thank you for joining us for another edition of Truest Fan Podcast. I’m Phil Calandra. And I’m with the host, co host and founder, Rob Brown. Rob, good to be with you.

Rob Brown (00:18):

Yes, it’s always fun to do these. You never know what kind of trouble we’re gonna get into.

Phil Calandra (00:23):

It’s gonna be fun trouble anyway. So we wanted to talk about something that I think is really important that it really gives you that, you know, wake up in the morning excitement, and that’s one word called enthusiasm. And I know you have some viewpoints on this. How does enthusiasm figure in your day to day Rob?

Rob Brown (00:44):

Well, I know my best days are the days that I go about them being enthusiastic about what it is I have to do or who it is, I’m going to be with. And if I choose to be, I think it is a choice to be enthusiastic, to be upbeat to be excited, my days are better, the work I do with my clients is better the relationships that I have with my family is better. 

But if I choose the opposite, or I maybe don’t make a selection, I just let the day you know, kind of take me in drag me along, then then they aren’t as fun. They are as exciting. And I’m just not as good as I can be for the people that I need to be good for.

Phil Calandra (01:28):

Yeah, well, I look at that and think well, how can I be enthusiastic? And spin that enthusiasm into some positive energy? Right? How do I give back to the people that I work with my clients? My you mentioned, my, your family, my son’s just the people that I see in the elevator, can you generate a ball of positive energy that you can hand off to somebody else. 

And when you’re able to do that, and when you know you’re doing that, then it kind of feeds your own, it fuels your soul as they, as they say, and we’re not talking about, you know, we were talking about the word passion, you hear that a lot. 

You know, you want to be passionate about your work, or the clients that you work with. And I think it goes deeper than that. And you had some thoughts on the word passion, and maybe how it’s beaten down a little bit.

Rob Brown (02:24):

Yeah, because I think sometimes passionate, enthusiastic, enthusiasm get twisted by this idea that we can make this arbitrary decision about what to be passionate about, or what to be enthusiastic about, just like kind of picking up a stone in the on a path that we’re walking now say, I’m going to be really excited about this stone. 

And, you know, why would you do that, you know, you need, I think, to really develop authentic enthusiasm, authentic passion, to really have some experience in that thing that you want to do. You have to really be thinking about all of the experiences that you have, and the things that you enjoy doing and the relationships that you enjoy having an that goes kind of back to choosing to be it, because that’s who you are and who you want to be. 

You want to be more intentional about being a better version of yourself. It’s just not. I’m going to be passionate about this, I made the joke to you earlier. You know, just because you sign up for a 30 day free trial to peloton and get a couple of good rides in. You can’t be passionate about it, you have no real experience with it. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you know, in 29 days, you’ll be sending the bike, you know, back to California or wherever they wherever they come from.

Phil Calandra (03:56):

Yeah, but what you’re saying though, is if somebody had the peloton, and they really got enthusiastic about it, six months, eight months, a year from now you can say you are passionate about your your health and your fitness goals. 

That’s very different than the short. What we’re talking about with enthusiasm and passion. It’s the thing that fuels your soul. It’s the thing you get so damn excited about that. It just it resonates on your face and it. It’s this aura, right. 

That’s what I talk about. It’s this positive energy that people pick up on. And when you find that in your life when you find that in your vocation when you can find that with your relationships and your family, then man it sets things into motion that you probably never thought were possible.

Rob Brown (04:49):

Yeah, that’s absolutely true and not to take the peloton thing too far I have several really good friends and clients who cannot go a day without their peloton, workouts, they just they they are passionate enthusiastic about it because it’s getting them results with both their physical health and some of the

Rob Brown (05:16):

interactive wisdom have some experience of really putting that tool to work. For me most recently, as a as a new grandfather of two grandsons, one of whom is now 18 months old. I think about the enthusiasm that I now have for taking my 18 month old grandson to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, once every week or two. 

And that might sound funny, but there’s nothing more I don’t like getting up for breakfast. And in fact, most days, I don’t even eat breakfast. But when I when my schedule permits, and I could send my daughter a text and say, Hey, I love to take my grandson out for breakfast. It’s, you know, seven o’clock tomorrow morning. I’m just like, This is awesome. I tell my friends about Indigo. How could How could you be enthusiastic about that? 

And you know, doesn’t he? What if he gets upset and yells and screams and cries and doesn’t cooperate? I said, Well, number one, he doesn’t do that, because he’s the best grandson, one of the best grandsons ever. But number two, if you did, that’d be okay. Because it’s, it’s about being with him. 

And understanding that as much as anything else in this world, I don’t want to be the best grandfather that I can be, so that I can play that part that I have, and making him a great young man that grows in and does big things in life. And so so that’s the enthusiasm that can take to getting up and go into Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I did get a little bacon too. So that helps.

Phil Calandra (07:03):

Well, I would go for the country ham on the uncle Herschel’s. But, but no, that’s right. So, so I think what it is for people, you know, you’ve discovered that it’s not some self discovery journey, you just know intuitively, because you and Lori, were great parents to the triplets. 

And now you know, that  your passion, a true passionate enthusiasm is to be a part of these young men’s life and to make sure that they’re the best people that they can be. And it’s understanding that and it’s, it’s unfortunate, but a lot of people don’t know that. 

So if you’re listening to our voices today, and you don’t know what really fuels you what your purpose is, what your enthusiasm is going to be generated by, you need to figure that out. Nobody else can do that for you. 

But once you discover that, then the money, the happiness, the fulfilment, I think all those things begin to come to you. And it happens at varying stages. For some young people, it happens very, at a young age, and some people grow more mature by chronologic, chronological time, they never figure that out. 

And that’s a big part of success is understanding what really fuels you. What is it that you get, you know, we talked about the high five in the mirror in the morning, what really kind of generates you to be the best version of yourself. And you’re covering that?

Rob Brown (08:42):

Yeah, no, those are, those are great points. And then if we kind of relate this back to the whole concept of being a truest fan, you know, there are two of the lessons that really jumped out to me one is the importance of self belief, believing in yourself. 

To be a curious fan, you need to believe in yourself, and to believe in yourself, you need to be enthusiastic about who you are. And that’s the high five in the mirror, doing those simple things that remind you each day each week of what an awesome person you are. And in all of the roles that you have the opportunity to play in your life, whether it’s in your business, or with your grandson. 

And then the second lesson that’s really important, and this is where I think I want to encourage people if you’re looking for that simple idea to take action is smiles and kind words go a long way. So if you’re struggling to be enthusiastic, tell you what, what if you just put you know five pennies in your left pockets and move one penny at a time from your left pocket to your right pocket. 

Every time you take during A daily interaction, whether it’s on a zoom call, walking down the street, talking to somebody at work with you, spending time with your family, you go out of your way to smile, and tell somebody how much you care about them, and that you’re rooting for them and want to be their fan. 

That sounds like a hard thing to do. But do it and I saved with the five pennies, because I I just I think it’s something that you need to if you’re going to implement a routine like that is to make it a habit. So move those pennies from your left pack up to your right pocket every day. If you get good at it, then you can move back the other way. 

And all of a sudden next thing you know, you’ve got this habit of making people smile and you’re passing along kind words and your enthusiasm for yourself and for them builds. It’s a it’s an awesome technique.

Phil Calandra (10:51):

Yeah, you know, when you say that, it reminds me what you always say, as the truest fan and you talk about it in the book, those that are new to the podcast, if you haven’t read the truest fan by Mr. Rob Brown, you need to start there. It’s learning to, to live and love and lead with impact. I think that’s the way you say it or love, live and lead with impact.

But this is where it all starts from this is where that positive energy enthusiasm comes from. And you better believe folks that you’re impacting people every single day, in every single way that you interact. And you know, the penny, you know, the penny in the pocket. That’s a that’s a that’s a great thing. I love that. So, thanks for tuning in. Rob, anything else you want to add for today?

Rob Brown (11:46):

You know, Phil, I just I just want to encourage people to take the time to think about what you can do to be enthusiastic and live out your passions every day. It can just be a small thing. But but take action take that step that’s going to build whether you’re consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist. We can all get better.

Phil Calandra (12:10):

I love it. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, be well