As you probably notice, this month, we're bringing you our Life of Purpose series and revisiting

some of our most transformative episodes. Tune in to explore expert insights and practical

strategies on help, performance, and community well-being, all aimed at helping you achieve

personal and professional fulfillment. If you sign up for the newsletter, you'll not only get

recaps of the key ideas in each interview, but at the end of the series, you'll receive our free Life of Purpose ebook.

What you have to do is go to UnmistakableCreative.com slash LifePurpose. Again, that's

unmistakablecreative.com slash life purpose.

I'm Sreeny Rao, and this is the Unmistakable Creative Podcast, where you get a window into the stories and insights of the most innovative and creative minds who started movements, built thriving businesses, written bestselling books, and created insanely interesting art.

For more, check out our 500 episode archive at UnmistakableCreative.com.

Come all, welcome back to The Unmistakable Creative. Thanks for taking the time to join us. Thanks so much. We have a bit of a history on this podcast. I think you were the one of the first, you might have been the first of the second podcast I ever did, actually, years ago. I think that is the case with many people. Ryan Holliday said the same thing to me recently when we did his interview for Stillness is the Key. I always really appreciate it

when somebody has done so many interesting things that we have a reason to bring them back

multiple times. And you are, I think, in rare company in terms of being a handful of guests who

have fit that criteria. And you've spoken at our events before. Your books have had a profound impact on me and I think many people. And so it's always a joy to have you back. So before we get into everything that you're up to, I want to start with a question that I don't think I've ever asked you before. And that is, what is one of the most important things that you

learn from your mother growing up that have influenced and shaped who you've become and what you've done with your life? My mother, that's a great question. She once told me you're a strong son of a strong mother to be strong. That's a pretty profound statement. Yeah. You think about it. And I watched her be strong. I watched her go through shit and be strong. So, yeah, that definitely affected me.

How?

How did it shape and influence your behavior throughout your about it. And I watched her be strong. I watched her go through shit and be strong. So, yeah,

that definitely affected me. How? How did it shape and influence your behavior throughout your life and the choices that you've made? Look, it's not like I sat around thinking about it. It's not like when I say, it's like now looking back and anecdotally trying to find something, right? So it's not like I went to, I was going to something and then the heavens opened up and I have my mom's voice say, my mom's alive, thankfully.

It's more as just, I've always had this inner strength in me that I've always felt like no matter what I will get, I will figure a way out of it. I'll get better through it. And for all I know, this may have been precipitated by that. Yeah. That inner strength, that sort of view on the world that no matter what is going on, that it'll get better that you'll go through it.

What if we didn't have somebody like your mom who gave us that message? Can we develop it? Can we build it in ourselves? Oh, yeah, totally, totally. Look, by the way, when you asked me that question, like, you asked me to think in the spot and come up with something, right? So it doesn't mean that was the answer, is what I remember.

I'm a big believer in, look, we create ourselves. No matter what we've been through, it's actually who we choose to be because of it or through it. Sometimes despite it, sometimes because of it, sometimes after it, sometimes before it. We choose who we're going to be because of what we go through. Like I love actionadventure movies, especially like the ones that are fun,

like, say, Indiana Jones.

You look at him and it's always,

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