In this lesson's episode, explore how professional identity can be rebuilt when a career path is suddenly taken away.

Discover how adversity can reveal purpose through service.

Understand why listening more than speaking creates meaningful impact and uncover how aligning work with passion and values leads to long-term fulfillment.

So the last thing I actually really wanted to get your feedback and your perspective on is reinventing professional identity.

Because people struggle with this at all stages in their career.

You were forced to do it, but a lot of people aren't forced to do it, but they're just hating their life.

And they don't know where to go. They hate the job that they're in. You literally had to because you were never allowed to go into the military ever again. And you created the life of speaking, motivational speaker. Now you sort of spread the message. You help people sort of upskill themselves, understand how to deal with adversity, all these different leadership topics that are great. But obviously, that's not what you thought you were going to be doing when you were young. So you come out of the, you know, you come out of the hospital. How do you, how do you find out where you want to spend your time? How do you reinvent this professional identity that was taken away from you? So I follow my passion. That's, for me, what's my passion?

So six months after I was injured, I was going through the motions, appointments every day, you know, doctors, therapy, all that stuff.

One of the nurses asked me, hey, will you go in and talk to this patient that six months ago was injured and is now in a horrible place?

Will you go in and talk to him? And I said, no. She said, why not? I said, because I'm 20 years old. What am I going to offer to him? And she said, just go in and talk to him how things have gotten better for you. I was like, no freaking way. And she kept insisting, insisting, insisting.

And finally I was like, okay, fine, I'll do it, right?

Now hindsight, looking back at it, that was the universe telling me, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. So I finally, I'm like, fine, I'll do it. Just to get her off my back. That was really the only reason I decided to do it. I opened the door to this hospital room. It's completely dark in this guy's room. And I'm like, it gives me that pit in my stomach. Oh, shit, he's not in a good place.

And I was like, I can't leave. I'm, I opened the door. He knows I'm standing there. What would that

look like if I just walked out? So I walked up to his bed. I introduced myself and it was in that moment, man,

that my definition of a conversation was redefined. I asked him about four or five questions,

right? Sort of the general stuff. Where you from? How old are you what unit were you in what happened to you um

what do you like to do stuff like that you know surface stuff and also the dude took it from there and just

started talking then 45 minutes later i was like hey man all right cool it was good talking to you

hey i'm gonna come back tomorrow.

Are you okay with that?

He's like, yeah, man, I'd love that. And I started the walk out of his room, but before I could exit the room, I noticed something. Remember, when I told you, when I walked in the room, it was completely dark. As I was starting to exit the room, he turned the light on. And then, when I looked back into the room,

he actually was out of his bed opening the curtain.

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