How to Develop the Courage and Tenacity Needed to Pursue Your Dreams

Episode Summary: In this episode of the L3 Leadership Podcast, Doug gets candid in this personal lesson about the power of courage and tenacity, and how these two essential elements can help you manifest your dreams. 

About Doug Smith: Doug Smith is the Director of Development at Light of Life Rescue Mission and Founder and CEO of L3 Leadership. He is the author of his eBook, “Making the Most of Mentoring”, a step-by-step guide to help you build and cultivate relationships with mentors. He blogs at dougsmithlive.com, he is the host of the L3 Leadership podcast, and he is a sought-after public speaker. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Laura, who currently works as an Account Executive at Ivalua. Together, they love family, personal growth, travel, working out, and serving others.

3 Key Takeaways:
1. He talks about the wisdom of Zig Ziglar and John Maxwell, acknowledging that it's alright to start out bad, and that small beginnings should never be despised.
2. Doug shares his story and how he maneuvered through the hurdles that came our way.
3.  We also explore the power of decision-making, and the critical role it plays in dream realization

Quotes From the Episode:
“Do it afraid.”
“Growth=Happiness”
“You’re most equipped to reach the person you used to be.”

Resources Mentioned:
Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud

Connect with Doug:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

Transcript

Doug Smith: 0:07

Hey, leader, and welcome to another episode of the L3 Leadership Podcast, where we are obsessed with helping you grow to your maximum potential and to maximize the impact of your leadership. My name is Doug Smith and I am your host, and today's episode is brought to you by my friends at Beratung Advisors. We also recorded this episode live from the new reiturn. com studio. If you're new to the podcast, welcome. I'm so glad that you're here and I hope that you enjoy our content and become a subscriber. Know that you can also watch all of our episodes over on our YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed there as well. And, as always, if you've been listening to the podcast for a while and it's made an impact on your life, it would mean the world to me if you would leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or whatever app you listen to a podcast through. That really does help us to grow our audience and reach more leaders, so thank you in advance for that. Well, leader, in today's episode you'll hear a personal lesson that I recorded called how to Develop the Courage and Tenacity you Need to Pursue the Dreams in your Heart, and I recorded this lesson in response to having a ton of people come up to me over the years and just saying Doug, I really want to start a company or a ministry or a nonprofit, or I want to write a book, I want to start a podcast, and then years go by and they never actually pursue the dreams that they had in their heart. And so my hope today is that through this lesson, you'll be encouraged to pursue the dreams in your heart and you'll at least be equipped to develop the tenacity you need to not give up on your dream, and so I really hope that this will add value to you. But before we dive into that, just a few announcements.

Doug Smith: 1:26

This episode of the L3 Leadership Podcast is sponsored by Beratung Advisors. The financial advisors at Beratung Advisors help educate and empower clients to make informed financial decisions. You can find out how Beratung Advisors can help you develop a customized financial plan for your financial future by visiting their website at beratungadv isors. com. That's B-E-R-A-T-U-N-G-Advisorscom. Securities and Investment Products and Services offered through LPL Financial member FINRA and SIPC. Beratung Advisors, lpl Financial and L3 Leadership are separate entities.

Doug Smith: 1:59

I also want to thank a they're a jeweler owned by my friend and mentor, John Henne, and my wife Laura and I got our engagement and wedding rings through Henne Jewelers and had an incredible experience. And not only do they have great jewelry, but they also invest in people. In fact, for every couple that comes in engaged, they give them a book to help them prepare for marriage, and we just love that. So if you're in need of a good jeweler, check out Hennejewelers. com. And I also want to thank our new sponsor, reiturn. com.

Doug Smith: 2:23

And leader, let me just ask you this have you ever had an interest in investing in real estate? Well, now, for as little as $500, you can become a commercial real estate investor. Just visit reiturn. com to learn more. That's R-E-I-T-U-R-N. com. Investing involves risk. Please consult the return offering circular if you're interested in investing.

Doug Smith: 2:43

And with all that being said, let's dive right in. Here's my lesson on how to develop the courage and tenacity you need to pursue the dreams in your heart. Hey, leader, today I'd like to talk to you on the subject how to develop the courage and tenacity needed to pursue the dreams in your heart. And the reason I'm doing this lesson is for years now, I've had people come up to me and say I love that you do this podcast, I love that you started L3 and now I love that you wrote a book, and I wish I could do something like that. I've always wanted to start a podcast, I've always wanted to start a ministry, I've always wanted to start my own business. And I hear them say it over and over again I've always, I've always, I've always, and I've heard some of those people say that for years and they have nothing to show for it, and I know that's discouraging and frustrating for them, and I get frustrated too. It's like, hey, come on, let's go. And so what I want to do in today's lesson is simply encourage you and hopefully equip you to one develop the courage necessary to actually launch and follow the dreams in your heart, but also to develop the tenacity that you're going to need to actually follow your dream through until it becomes whatever God wants it to become. And so I hope this lesson will be helpful for you, and I just want to start by just saying I hope you realize that this is the one and only life that you get. You know I share this quote often on the podcast, but it impacts me every time I say it or hear it.

Doug Smith: 3:55

May West said this. She said you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough If you do it right. Once is enough. And here's what I know life is way too short for you not to dream big and go for it. Life is way too short for you not to pursue the dreams that God has put in your heart. You're only here for a few years. We only get a few breaths, so let's make the most of it. So how do we do that?

Doug Smith: 4:16

Let's dive in Number one. How do you develop the courage and tenacity needed to pursue your dream? Number one when God puts something on your heart, do it. Or, in the words of Nike, just do it Right. And so I believe that God has a purpose and a plan for your life. I believe he has dreams that help put in your heart, but that's going to require a relationship with him. You're going to need to spend time with him, and so you know I say this all the time, but I truly do believe that you could live a thousand lives living out your own plans that you have for your life, and it would never compare to the one life and the one adventure that God has for you, and that's why it's so important to seek him.

Doug Smith: 4:53

Following God and following his plan for your life is the most exciting life adventure you could ever possibly live, and so you have to have a relationship with him, which is that look like number one. You need to spend time with him in prayer. You need to spend time with him in worship and in the word. You need to be led by the spirit. I really encourage you to journal go to church. But as you grow in your relationship with God, he'll start to reveal to you one gift, giftings and talents that are in you that you never knew were there. That's one thing I love about God. There's so much in you that God wants to draw out, and that can only be drawn out as you walk with him. And as those giftings and talents start to come out, all of a sudden you start to develop dreams in your heart, and I believe a lot of times those dreams are God given, and so when God starts to give you a dream, I want to encourage you do it right.

Doug Smith: 5:40

The ultimate what the dream may look like in the end 50 years from now. Yeah, it's not going to look like that in the beginning, but the important part is, if you feel like God has prompted you and put a dream in your heart to actually start taking steps for that. Well, how do you do that? Number two you need to look for opportunities and be willing to do it afraid. You need to be willing to look for opportunities and be willing to do it afraid. So, again, if you feel like God has started, you know, put something on your heart to do. Look for opportunities.

Doug Smith: 6:09

A few examples I'll use in my life for me, starting the podcast, right when I was young, I always, when I was 18 years old and first started listening to John Maxwell's content I had a dream that one day I wanted to be like John, I wanted to be an author, I wanted to be a leadership speaker. I didn't know what that would look like, though, but that was the dream that I had in my heart. And so, all of a sudden, my youth pastor, who is my mentor, larry Bettencourt. He would start bringing in business leaders to speak to us when we were interning at his church, and he would say hey, if you heard John speak today and you really connected with John, you should ask him, ask John to coffee and ask him to mentor you, and he would do that every month. And so, as an intern, as an 18 year old kid, I started asking these leaders out on a monthly basis and I would ask them to mentor me. I would come prepared with questions and it was amazing, I was getting mentored by masters on a monthly basis.

Doug Smith: 7:00

Well, after about 10 years of doing that, I realized that all of my peers started coming to me and saying wow, doug, I can't believe you could spend time with all these awesome leaders I wish I could to which I would always respond Well, have you ever asked? And 99% of the time they had never asked. They never took advantage of potential opportunities. But I saw that as an opportunity and I thought Hmm, what if I actually started recording my conversations with leaders and started putting that on a podcast, so that not only will my conversations benefit me, but they'll benefit anyone who would listen to it? It was an opportunity. I didn't know that it would lead to the podcast being what it is today or all these other opportunities and doors that it's opened up. I just saw an opportunity that was in line with the dream that God put in my heart and I just said I'm going to do this and let me encourage you.

Doug Smith: 7:42

In the beginning it wasn't very good, like I bought a 50, laura actually bought me a $50 recorder on Amazon and I literally I didn't know who I would interview. The first person I asked was my father-in-law. He said yes, and we sat down on a couch. I put the recorder in the middle of the table and just started recording my conversation with him. Like it was as easy as that, but it was an opportunity that I saw and I had to take action.

Doug Smith: 8:05

Again, the steps that you're required to actually start making steps towards your dream are seemingly small in the beginning, but they're not small in the large scheme of things. Take those small steps, look for opportunities and be willing to do it afraid. You know, it's a courage for me to put the podcast out there. Well, what if nobody listens? What if people think I'm dumb? What if people think it's stupid that I have a leadership podcast? I'm only you know however old I was when I started maybe 25. No one. I have no credibility. But I just said, hey, I feel like this is something I'm supposed to do in my heart. I'm going to do it, afraid, and I put it out there.

Doug Smith: 8:38

The same thing happened with starting L3 leadership. I felt, you know, after a few years I was doing the podcast and I started getting around this organization of Pittsburgh called the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation and they have this whole vision. Then I don't have time to tell the story from a man named Reed Carpenter, and the vision is to make Pittsburgh as famous for God as it was for steel, or in today's world you could say the Steelers. But it was to make Pittsburgh famous for God. And I felt drawn to that vision. So did Lara, and so I spent an hour and a half on the phone with the leader of that movement. His name is Reed Carpenter. I'm going to be having him on the podcast shortly. I'm really excited for you to hear that.

Doug Smith: 9:17

But I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Reed and I said, reed, I essentially want to do for my generation what you did for your generation by building leaders. What do I need to do? And he said, doug, just simply start gathering leaders and see what the Holy Spirit does. It was as simple as that Just gather leaders and see what the Holy Spirit does. And I was scared. I was like, okay, I feel like I'm supposed to do this. I feel like I'm supposed to start gathering leaders, but I'm scared. Or, if nobody shows up, et cetera. Well, lara, thank God I have an awesome wife.

Doug Smith: 9:46

Lara actually created a Facebook event and said it was called Learning to Lead. At the time she said Learning to Lead Vision Night. Doug is launching this organization. Come join us on Mount Washington for a night of vision and prayer. And I was scared to death and I was sweating the whole time, even going to this meeting, I didn't want to go. I didn't. Anyway, I get there and I think we had 15 people come out, total, and I cast vision and I basically just said hey, all I know is I'm supposed to start gathering and connecting and developing leaders and if we do that on a consistent basis, I believe we can help change Pittsburgh and ultimately, I think we can help change the world.

Doug Smith: 10:20

And again, that was just one opportunity that I had to take a step in the right direction toward pursuing the dreams of my heart. Literally did I know that that would turn into all the things that I'll talk about in a bit and all that L3 leadership is today. But here's what I want you to know If you don't start today, you'll never get started. And so look for opportunities to take steps and do it afraid and here's what I also want you to know it doesn't have to be your full time job. You don't have to leave everything to start that Now. There may be cases where you do, but for me, I'm still doing L3 leadership part time on the side and, as of this season in my life, I don't feel released to do that full time. It's something I've always done on the side, but again, I've been doing it since 2012. So for almost 11 years, I've been pursuing one of the dreams in my heart through a side gig or a side hustle. So again, I just encourage you it doesn't have to be full time. Be willing to start.

Doug Smith: 11:12

And let me just also say this timing matters, but it also doesn't. Timing matters, but it also doesn't. Now I shared it. If you listened to the last episode of the podcast, I shared that when I wrote my book, timing mattered and it actually took me 20 years, and I think there was, I think it was important that it took me 20 years to write my first book. But in a lot of cases, I would tell you, when it comes to pursuing your dream, timing doesn't matter nearly as much as you think it does. What do I mean by that. Well, I've talked to so many people who said, well, one day I'm going to do this, one day I'm going to start a podcast, one day I'm going to start a company One day. One day. One day, and all of a sudden, 10 to 20 years are gone and they've done nothing to pursue the dreams in their heart. Timing matters, yes, but more often than not, I found that God just wants you to act on the small steps, the small opportunities that he places right in front of you, and that's what he'll use to start doing great things and through your life. So look for opportunities and be willing to do it afraid.

Doug Smith: 12:06

The third thing I would tell you to develop courage is don't despise small beginnings. Don't despise small beginnings. Zig Ziglar said this great quote. He said you don't have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great. And something that encouraged me very, very greatly was I remember John Maxwell just talking about his leadership journey and he said let me encourage you. He said in the beginning you won't be very good. In fact, you'll be terrible, and you'll want to say to people listen, I know I'm bad, but I'm not that bad. But he said, if you do things right in life and you take the steps you're supposed to take and you don't despise small beginnings, in the end you're not as good as people think, and somewhere in between those two is where you should live, is what he said, and so I just want to encourage you. In the beginning you won't be very good, but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that the work begins, that you actually start it. So whatever it takes for you to start it, just start it.

Doug Smith: 12:56

Again, we had 15 people on top of Mount Washington. That's what we started with, and L3 has done amazing things since then. But if I would have just spied small beginnings and thrown the talent say it was only 15 people, I don't know if this will ever catch on so many things wouldn't have taken place. And one more thing that may encourage you in this I remember you know I had a lot of fears when I we. The one of the first things we did, I should say, with L3 is we started doing live events and we had a live leadership breakfast every month, and I remember I was scared to death.

Doug Smith: 13:24

I was meeting with my friend, paul, and I said I was talking to him about the dream of L3 and I said, well, what if I have these events and nobody shows up? What if nobody cares? What if it doesn't make a difference? And he just said something so simple to me, it was so helpful. He said, doug, some will, some won't, so what? Some will, some won't, so what? And he said, hey, some people will come and it'll be great. Some people won't come, that's okay. So what? Just do what you're supposed to do. So I don't know if that encouraged you.

Doug Smith: 13:53

It was that quote from my friend Paul that actually was a catalyst for me, just saying All right, I'm all in, let's go. I'm going to summarize the day of small beginnings. Also, I would tell you, when you begin number four, always try to get better, always try to get better. I say this all the time, but growth equals happiness. If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, in any area of your life, commit to growth in that area. If you, if you show me a growing person, I'll show you a happy person. If you show me a happy marriage, I'll show you a growing marriage. If you show me a happy organization, I'll show you a growing organization. Growth equals happiness. And so just always try to get better.

Doug Smith: 14:30

And one thing I love about the podcast when you start. You know I've been doing the podcast now for 12 years and some of my favorite compliments from people on the podcast are hey, I loved when I started listening to your, your podcast. I was in the 300 episodes, but I went back and I listened to the first 50 episodes and to see how far you've come as far as quality of audio, how I was as an interview or how I've grown they just say it blows me away and it's inspiring. And for me to know that all the growth that I put in day in and day out, day in and day out, trying to get better with a podcast, trying to get better with live events, trying to get better at speaking All that hard work pays off. So when you start something, just focus on getting better every day, get better every day, and so that's my advice to you when it comes to developing the courage to pursue the dreams in your heart.

Doug Smith: 15:19

You also will need to develop tenacity to not give up on the dreams in your heart, and so here's a few thoughts on that that have been helpful for me over the years, and I hope you'll find value in them too. Number number one is you have to find value in your obedience, not in your numbers. Find your value in your obedience, not in your numbers. And if this hits home with you, I did an entire podcast episode not too long ago on how you should measure success in your life and I really want to encourage you to go back and listen to that, because there's a lot of hard work that needs done in this area if you're going to develop the tenacity to continue. But don't find your. Find your value and obedience, not numbers. What do I mean by that? Well, all you should find value in is am I obeying what I believe God put in my heart or am I pursuing the dreams in my heart? Don't worry about everything else and don't worry about what it looks like. You know when I started the podcast, do you know? It took me four years before I had 1000 downloads within a one month period, four years where I had barely any traction at all. And now we're reaching thousands and thousands and thousands of leaders every month, which is amazing. But had I given up and found my value in only having a few hundred downloads a month, I would have thrown in the towel and never seen the growth that has taken place since that time.

Doug Smith: 16:30

There's a video I watch all the time. I really encourage you all put it in the show notes as well. It's a video by Gary Vanier truck and it's called one is greater than zero and the whole premise of the video is basically hey, one view, one download, one person showing up to event is better than zero. And so many times we get so focused on the numbers, but do you realize that he all? He said it in the video. He said if you create a YouTube video or a podcast and it only has 89 lessons, it may be only 89 lessons, 89 lessons but all it takes is one person and it has to be the right person. But one person to listen to that and it could change everything for you. He specifically uses an example of hey, it could be an editor or a director at CNN and all of a sudden they give you a break because they were so impacted by that.

Doug Smith: 17:14

So I would tell you that you never know who you're reaching. If you're reaching one person, do you know how significant that is? If you're reaching 50 people a month, do you know how significant it is that you're having an impact in someone's life and potentially changing their life forever. That's absolutely huge. And you never do know. You never know who's listening, you never know who's attending, you never know who is going to be a part of your organization you never know. So stop worrying about all the numbers you know.

Doug Smith: 17:41

I remember at live events I used to sit there in the front row and if it wasn't a well attended event I would literally like I wouldn't even be able to look up a lot of times and I would write down in my journal and bold pen and I just write my value is not in how many people were at this event. My value is not in how many people were at this event and I've gotten much better at this over the years, but for years I found way too much value and downloads, how many people were coming, etc. And you have to get over that. Find your value and just in the fact that you're doing what God told you to do and you're following the dreams in your heart. See, your only job is to obey God's job, is to do with it what he wants to do with it.

Doug Smith: 18:20

And let me just say this that pressure to find your value in the numbers doesn't go away once your numbers are good. Do you know that? I love what TD Jake said? He said success doesn't feel like success. And here's what I can tell you. You may think that, oh, once I get to 10,000 downloads a month, then all, then, all of a sudden, feel like I'm worth it and it's a worthy pursuit and it's great. But you won't. You won't. I'm telling you. I've been there like you'll want more. You'll say, well, I'm reaching 10s of thousands, I wish I could reach hundreds of thousands. Or I'm reaching hundreds of thousands, I wish I could reach millions. It's never going to be enough. All you have to find your value in is in the fact of are you pursuing the dreams that God put in your heart? That's it.

Doug Smith: 19:02

Number two keep the vision in front of you. Keep the vision in front of you. You have no idea what the impact of your obedience could be. And again, when I started out three I just think about keeping the vision in front of me the lives changed. The thing that's kept me going for so long is now that I've been at this for a few years. I actually have stories of lives that have been changed. And when I started out. Three. That was the whole vision. We just wanted to simply connect, grow and develop leaders and help transform their lives in order to make the world a better place, and so that was the vision initially, and now you know, eight years later, I can just list off a few things that have happened. We've seen countless lives changed. We've seen marriages saved as a result of L3 leadership. We've seen babies get adopted because of L3 leadership. We've seen people come to know Christ through L3 leadership. We've seen people recommit their lives to Christ through L3 leadership. I've met leaders that I never dreamed possible that I'd spend time with. We're influencing thousands of leaders each month on the podcast and through other means. We have a one day leadership conference that we're having again in February, on February 29th 2024. Would love to see you there. Hor Shultz, the founder of the Ritz Carlton, is going to be our keynote speaker, and this is so funny. You just never know the impact that you're going to have.

Doug Smith: 20:19

Like, I had an opportunity to reconnect with John Maxwell I guess it was about a year ago now and we were talking. He said, doug, I've listened to your podcast. And I said what? And he's like yeah, I've listened to. I forget. He said 15 to 20 episodes and I almost fall on the floor. I'm like you got to be kidding me. You got to be kidding me, but like that, that happened because I was willing to obey God and follow part of the dream that he put in my heart.

Doug Smith: 20:42

I didn't know that all of these things were happening, and so when there's times that I am tempted to give up and quit, I keep that in front of me because that's the vision. Hey, we've changed lives before we can continue to change lives in the future. Who knows? There may be more people that get married as a result of L3 leadership or adopt babies or come to Christ. Keep the vision in front of you. The vision for L3 has always been about people in transforming leaders' lives. So keep the vision in front of you. And lastly, don't quit unless you know you're supposed to. Don't quit unless you know you're supposed to.

Doug Smith: 21:16

And I've probably seriously wanted to quit L3 leadership and throw in the towel at least five to 10 times over the course of the last eight years, and can I tell you that almost every time it was because L3 wasn't where I wanted it to be or where I thought it should be Again going back to finding my value in the wrong places of what we should just be reaching this much or we should be bringing in this much revenue, and I've really had to learn to just measure again value and M? O being obedience. And one thing that's really helped me as a principal that Dan Sullivan came up with called the gap in the game and he said all too often we tend to look at what we haven't done. We look at, we measure our progress and our success based on our goals and aspirations. So everything we want to do with L3 leadership, he said, anytime you measure against your aspirations, you're gonna be disappointed because you're never gonna feel like you're getting there making enough progress. The only way, he said, we should ever measure progress is if we is looking backward and measuring the progress that we've already made toward the goal. And when I do that, I always have a piece in my heart and I'm always overwhelmed by how far we've come and how much progress that we've actually made in L3 leadership. And again I go back to some of those things that I listed that have happened as a result of chasing the vision of L3 leadership. I just go back to some of those stories and just say, well, I can't believe that happened. I can't believe that happened and it enables me to keep going. So learn how to measure that successfully. And again, on the not quitting side, you never know when something's gonna take off.

Doug Smith: 22:46

I was interviewing Scott Harrison on the podcast, the founder of Charity Water, I don't know, it was probably a hundred episodes ago and he shared something with me about Amazon. He said do you know that, amazon, if you look at their stock value over time, that 93% of their value has come in the last seven to 10 years and so basically, you can't see this. But if you were to look on a thing, it looks like a hockey stick. So for 30 years their value was here and then all of a sudden it's shot up and 93% of the value that they're worth today happened in the last 10 years. And the reality is, when you're pursuing the dreams that God put in your heart, you have no idea God could do something tomorrow and all of a sudden it changes everything for you and your business looks completely different and you start seeing all the results, all because you didn't give up.

Doug Smith: 23:32

Your job is just to be faithful, trust God with the results. And again, yes, always get better, always do your best. But, again, trust God and just be faithful with what he's put in his hand and let him delightfully surprise you with what he can do in one day, with what you're putting your hand to. And then, lastly, remember who you're doing it for. Again, I shared this in the last episode, but I believe we're most equipped to reach the person you used to be. We're most equipped to reach the person we used to be. And whenever I'm just tempted to quit, I just think about who are the people I'm trying to reach and who are the people that I hope that if they get a hold of this content, like me, they can transform their lives and never be the same. I just keep that in front of me.

Doug Smith: 24:15

And then, lastly, when do you quit? Cause I do believe there's times for necessary endings, and if you've never read the book Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud, I really encourage you to. That'll give you a ton of insight onto when necessary endings are necessary. But I would just say this the best advice I've ever received when it comes to endings is if you're following God, when you know, go, and until you know, stay. I'll say that again, cause it's so good. When you know, go, and until you know, stay. And a lot of times there may be seasons where we feel like we're supposed to give up or throw in the towel or resign, et cetera. But until you know in your heart like this is definitely time, stay. And when you know in your heart it's definitely time to go, that's when you should have a necessary ending and actually throw in the towel. But in light of the lesson that I'm sharing today, I would just say there's not gonna be a lot of times where God's gonna ask you to throw in the towel. Yes, there'll be some over time, but more often than not he's gonna encourage you to keep persevering, keep going and to not quit, regardless of what obstacles come your way. And so there's my lesson.

Doug Smith: 25:25

So, as we close, I just have a few questions for you. Number one do you have a dream in your heart that you've been wanting to pursue but have lacked the courage to start? If that's you, I just want to encourage you start. What are you waiting for? Start tomorrow. If you want to start a podcast, message me, I'll help you start a podcast. If you want to start an organization, like, what are you waiting for? Just start.

Doug Smith: 25:47

Number two do you have a dream that you've know you've wanted to throw the towel in because you haven't seen the progress you want yet? Is that you Are you measuring success incorrectly? Maybe you need to go back and listen to that podcast I did on how to measure success, and maybe you just need to keep going and just say, hey, no matter what, and thus God tells me to throw in the towel. I'm not throwing in the towel and I'm just going to trust him and be faithful with what he put in my hand to do. Keep going, leader.

Doug Smith: 26:13

Here's what I know about your dream. Your dream the world is desperate for you to pursue the dreams in your heart. The world will be a better place because you pursue the dreams in your heart and so Quit waiting. Start pursuing those dreams and start making the world a better place today by going after them and never, never, never quit. Hey, I hope this episode encouraged you. I can't wait to hear all of the dreams that you start pursuing as a result, and I will talk to you next episode.

Doug Smith: 26:39

Well, leader, thank you so much for listening to my lesson. I hope that you enjoyed it and that it added value to your life. You can find ways to connect with me and links to everything that I discussed in the lesson in the show notes at l3leadershiporg. And as always, leader, I want to challenge you that if you want to 10X your growth in this next year, then you need to either launch or join an L3 leadership mastermind group. Mastermind groups are simply groups of 6 to 12 leaders that meet together for at least one year in order to help each other grow, hold each other accountable and to do life together. For me personally, mastermind groups have been the greatest source of growth in my life over the last 8 years. So if you're interested in learning more about launching or joining a group, go to L3leadershiporg or email me at DougSmith at l3leadershiporg.

Doug Smith: 27:22

And, as always, leader, I like to end every episode with quote, and I'll quote Craig Groschell today. I thought this was fitting for today's lesson. He said the decisions you make today will determine the stories you tell tomorrow, and I hope that through this lesson, that you'll have the courage to launch your dreams and that you'll have some beautiful stories to tell in the years to come as a result of you having the courage to go after your dream and the tenacity to not give up on it. All of you who are a leader know that my wife Lauren, I love you. We believe in you and I say it every episode. But don't quit, keep leading. The world desperately needs your leadership. We'll talk to you next episode.