Episode 41- Unlocking Success and Servant Leadership with Brian Covey

Princeton : 0:00

What's going on, everybody, and welcome to the Evolve Mastery podcast. Today we have another special guest, a remarkable individual, brian Covey, who I've gotten a chance to really get to know and watch and observe him just really embody principles of self-mastery and wisdom gained in his life. Today, we're going to be diving into his journey on how he's embodied resilience, success and leadership. Brian went from being a professional soccer player to the EVP of strategy and development at Revolution Mortgage. He's navigated diverse paths, accumulating invaluable lessons along the way. He's also a sought-after speaker, as he empowers organizations to discover their competitive edge and unlock their full potential. So join us as we begin to dive into his insights on leadership, growth and creating a culture of empowerment. Without further ado, let's go ahead and jump into this episode of Evolve Mastery.

Intro: 0:58

To my soul Cause, I know that it's worth it. These affirmations Let me know that I'm already perfect. Are you that one? Say yes, I am Hundred miles up? Say yes, I can. Is it our love? Say yes, I am, yes, I am. Yes, I am 100 miles up. Say yes, I can. Is it our love? Say yes, I am yes, I am, yes, I am. Are you that one? Say yes, I am 100 miles up? Say yes, I can. Is it our love? Say yes, I am. Yes, I am. Yes, I am, it's my life, so I'll tell me.

Princeton : 1:57

I All right, welcome guys to this episode of the Evolve Mastery Podcast and, as I said, I have a very special guest and, like I always say, all of my guests are special guests because they're different people from different walks of life who have experienced their own level of self-mastery that has helped them to transcend some of the challenges and experiences that so many people out there are experiencing. And today I have the privilege of sitting down with Mr Brian Hovey Brothers. So good to have you here today, man.

Brian Covey: 2:21

Man, I'm excited to be with you too. The energy is always great and I was like, okay, we're going to be at a jam and provide some value to people today, and they're at least going to be entertained and they're going to know that we're here to give and to serve 100%.

Princeton : 2:34

Man, Listen, I know you're a busy guy. You're out there moving and shaking and creating. A ask is people see the success right. They see what you've achieved, they see the impact that you have, the reach that you have, the people that you've connected to on your journey, but what they don't see is where it began. And so my question to start off the segment today is where or when was that moment for you where there was just like this light bulb that switched on and you were like this is what I'm going to do with my life and this is the trajectory that I'm going to set my myself on?

Brian Covey: 3:18

Great question. I have a belief and I'll tell you it actually came from my kids going through elementary and I didn't gain it until later in life, but it's one of the keys to success they talk about at their elementary school and it is failure leads to success and I've heard one of my favorite authors, john Maxwell, talks about this, for instance. He talks about they actually go together and so anyone that's successful. They've had as many, if not more, failures in their life, and the one I point back to it's been an anchor and a pillar for me when I was a teenager, going to eighth grade, heavily overweight, eating horribly. And the time I'm playing AAU basketball, I'm traveling, playing on like the Olympic team, I'm having success that people on the outside would be like man Brian, you got it going on, but I'm uncomfortable. I'm having to wear two shirts because I don't feel good about my body and what's happening. I know I'm eating like crap. I go get the final verdict from who happened to be my AAU basketball coach, was also our pediatrician and he tells me not only did my blood work and all the tests come back bad, they were so bad that he's you're going to have diabetes, you're going to have hypertension, you're going to have diabetes, you're going to have hypertension, you're going to have all these things coming up. I remember sitting in that room, for instance, with my mom, and it's one of those moments where it's oh, my goodness, I'm headed down a path of complete destruction, right, and at the time I'm getting into things I shouldn't be getting into, with alcohol and weed and some stuff, and it's like but you still have this life that's working.

Brian Covey: 4:49

I think for a lot of us. I share that story because you can relate, because there's parts of your life that are working. Today there's a whole other part of it that you're disconnected. You know you're not living up to your potential and you know you're not really showing up and going all in your life. That, for me, was the journey that birthed a real addiction, in a good way, to shifting my focus to my fitness and realizing my outward expression of who I am. And all that came from doing hard work and changing my habits and I wrecked our house. Man, I came back. We're eating turkey breast, we're eating chicken breast, we're eating all these healthy foods, and we also changed our family of what was happening, because all of us were eating that way and if you can relate to that, in your house, growing up in the South, we love to eat good food. But I think back now, prince, I didn't realize it at that time but, being the youngest in the family, I had an older brother five years older than my parents.

Brian Covey: 5:33

Imagine being able to influence people in a way that changed their habits for better. So it was literally a seed. I say today that I recognize the power of my influence even in an early age. It doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't matter what your experiences are. You can influence people in a positive way when you become the example.

Brian Covey: 5:48

And so I share that story because I think a lot of people probably can relate in their own life of something not going the way they wanted some type of addiction or overweight, dealing with that. And you have to break through to the other side, and it was for me not easy and I could tell you stories, but I'll just share this one with you. It was early mornings, waking up before school, running two and three miles a day and changing my eating, and then I was able to go on and I was on the national team, got to train with the U S Olympic team. Things were open to me that I would have never had the potential, and so, if you're listening, there's a whole other level for you to unlock If you're willing to do the hard things now in the discipline 100% so good.

Princeton : 6:33

Thank you, bryant. As I'm listening to you, you mentioned the power of the influence that you had, even as a child, like looking back on it, and that's something that resonates deeply with me, because my kids I always say my kids have been my greatest teachers. Next to my own spirit. My kids have been my greatest teachers and they have influenced me to be a better version of myself. They've influenced me to love more deeply. They've influenced me to never stop going after my dream, because I realized that I was teaching them to always be better than me. But what I realized is that in doing that, I raised the bar for myself and my your kids will hold you to that bar. Once you say you're going to do something, they're going to hold you to it, especially when those seeds have been sown, as you said, and you realize that wait a minute, they're getting it now. They're getting it and they are now looking at you because you're the quote unquote oldest and they're like dad, you're not getting it right now, mom, you're not getting it right now, and a lot of parents, they're just going to do as I say, not as I do, and the time for that is over because we have access to so much information Now our kids have access to so much more information than what we had access to, and I think, as parents now I know you're an amazing father as well I think as parents, we really have to now open up and say, okay, what is it that my kids can teach me?

Princeton : 7:50

What are the things that my kids have been saying to me that I haven't been paying attention to? What are my kids mirroring back to me based on how I'm showing up and how can I show up better? And so I think those seeds that you sowed as a child, they continue to impact you, impact your family, but every seed sprouts branches. And so now you've moved into this space as an adult, as a father yourself, as a leader for change, as an impactful servant leader. And how did that come about? How did you make the transition between youthful getting all these opportunities, all of the doors opening up to now moving into the space? Where was the transition professionally for you to now impacting people's lives? Where did that start?

Brian Covey: 8:35

Yeah, I got to give my dad, my coaches, credit because throughout those middle school, high school, college and a little bit of pro ball, there were people in my life that showed me different levels and they committed and they saw the best in me. Look, I tell people this story too. I was not the tallest, I was not the most gifted. I was really that underdog that didn't fit the size and the frame of a typical goalkeeper. It was like 6'3", 6'4", 6'5", not even six feet tall. So imagine all the coaches and all the schools that said, yeah, you just won't be able to make it to that next level, you won't be able to make it. And I share all that because probably a lot of you can relate. You've been told at some point in your life hey, that's just not for you, or maybe you should try this and you settled, or you just you listened to those voices of people Maybe they're your own voices and what I realized is, throughout all that that I was building this confidence muscle of, in a way like my competitive edge is that I love when people tell me I can't do something, like it's just a fire in me, that it's. You don't think I can do that cool, we're gonna go do it. And that's where it spawned for me.

Brian Covey: 9:36

After playing sports, finally retired, came back, always promised my parents I would finish my degree so I'd left early, got drafted to play soccer. When I came back and finished I could not get a job. No one would hire me because all I had was soccer coaching, just doing odds and end jobs. I had no experience relative and I thought I'm going to go into the financial services world, I'm going to be a financial planner, I'm going to work in the bank. Fortunately, after about six months of applying and applying, I went to a career fair. I get hired. I had a great mentor and boss that taught me everything about credit, income, assets. We're doing something super sexy. We're loaning people money, for instance, to buy furniture. You know those commercials that are like payments, no interest, for five years. That was me taking people's credit applications and then hoping we could upsell a credit card, auto loan, debt consolidation loan.

Brian Covey: 10:26

So I tell about that story. I started literally in a strip center helping people finance furniture. You start somewhere, but what was birthed in me as a kid and as a teenager led to after about a decade of producing myself personally producing. I've always had this just drive of building teams and building champions and I shifted into starting to build teams and let me just tell you, I fell on my face. I had people quit my team.

Brian Covey: 10:52

I didn't get offered promotions early on because I wasn't qualified. I thought everything I did to be a top producer man, I'm just going to walk in. It's going to work. I learned a very distinct lesson in those first few years Leadership and the psychology of working and supporting people is vastly different than leading yourself and I didn't have the be the example. Teach others, meet them where they are, empathy. I had no structure, I had no systems, but fortunately again, a mentor popped up after I applied for a promotion and I was turned down. I did not get the offer, but one of the people on the panel if you can imagine walking in Prince you remember the apprentice, the show.

Princeton : 11:33

Yeah.

Brian Covey: 11:33

Yeah, I went into a room like that and I'm getting interviewed and drilled and I'm like dude, I know I'm leaving. There's no way they're hiring me for this. One of the people saw me and goes man, you're like me about 20 years ago. You got a lot of potential but you need somebody to help you. And so I share this, because two things One, I can't tell you how many jobs I've missed out, lost, been told no on more jobs than I've had in my career over 22 years. And then also the power of somebody that's further along than you, and I was one of those guys who was afraid to ask for help, didn't ask for help soon enough. Fortunately, somebody came in and so, if you don't have that person today, you need to find a mentor or coach in your life. I'll just tell you, it accelerated my development.

Brian Covey: 12:16

Through that and all that I'm sharing it because I want you to see into there were years of me hoping I'm going to get promoted, hoping I'm going to get to the next level, and it wasn't until I went back and said, okay, I'm going to get help, I'm going to start to improve myself.

Brian Covey: 12:30

I started reading books. I got addicted to personal development Again addicted to the right things and I started to go down this path where now, 10 years later, I am just a student of the game and continue to evolve every year, and I think that constant evolution is what's been a real drive in my success. But, more importantly, the people that I'm around. I'm able to help them be more successful, because you've heard the law of the lid and I love this one. If you're a six, probably not higher in eights and nines and you probably can't help somebody go from a six to an eight or nine if you haven't been there. So you have to be willing to be the example and put in the work as you go through. But that's where opportunities are created A lot of times right after the failure 100% man.

Princeton : 13:12

So many nuggets in there. Guys, if you're out in podcast land and you're tuning in, I challenge you, go back re Podcastland and you're tuning in? I challenge you, go back, re-listen to everything he just said over and over again, because success leaves clues. Tony Robbins always says this success leaves clues and you hit so many different things in there. But in a nutshell, it's gaining the insight, gaining the wisdom, becoming a student to the process, because you don't know what you don't know until you put yourself into spaces to know it. But you can't just know it, you have to embody it, it has to become you, it has to become a state of being, a state of flow in your life. And so in the beginning we don't know, we're all just figuring it out. I always say we're all unique blueprints and we're creating the vision of our life as we go. But we have to surrender to the process of the growth because we get to. Dave Meltzer always says stop saying I have to do and start saying I get to do, I get to show up in my life, I get to be the better version of myself, I get to learn new things, I get to create new experiences, and I think that's the biggest benefit of getting around the right people and having special people come into your life to challenge the scope of what you know, to expand you beyond that level of knowingness so that you can embody it and level up and continue to evolve so that you can impact your personal life, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, professionally, in the whole grand scheme of what I call the tree of your life. Because I think a lot of the times it's very easy to settle. It's very easy we're actually programmed by the education system to settle with just being told you're good, you're getting good grades, you're good, you're bad, you're not smart, what's beautiful, what's ugly, what's right, what's wrong, not realizing that I get to choose who I am, how I show up, what I create in my life. But it's all about placement, it's all about proximity. I just recently had, you know, so many different guests on the show, but Ken Jocelyn was my most recent guest and he was talking about the power of proximity and how in proximity is the cheat code? Who are you surrounding yourself with? Who are you having conversations with? Who's challenging you?

Princeton : 15:21

To move beyond that, as you said, the six to the seven, eight, nine, 10, I always say you have to be surrounding yourself with people who are five to 10 steps ahead of you not 20, 30, 40, because there's levels to it, and so that's where the growth begins. But then we master the steps and it's all about the small steps. So, as you were navigating through the small steps of your evolution and you started creating levels of success, you started developing into that servant leader, as John Maxwell would put it, because servant leadership is that highest level of leadership. People don't follow you because they have to, because it's a role or position or responsibility. They follow you because they love you and they trust you.

Princeton : 16:04

But, going back to what you said, before we go into that you have to become that version of you that can love and trust yourself first, because you can only take people as far as you've gone. So, as you navigated into that space of really learning to believe and to love yourself enough to take the steps to embody the wisdom, what would you say was one of the greatest insights? And I know that there were many, but if you could think of one off top of your head, what was one great piece of wisdom that you had to embody in order to become the version of you that you are now?

Brian Covey: 16:43

I love that question. I love that you said it is about who you're becoming, because a lot of people want to learn, like the skill, or they want to read the book. And the reality is, when you get so addicted to the fact that you're able to go to the next level and perform at a certain level and I believe God's already uniquely gifted you with experiences and talents and things it's your job to think about this, as you've got a combination and there's three different numbers and in your life you probably have unlocked one, maybe you've unlocked a second one, but I'll tell you, unlocking all of them and figuring out your combination, your code, and for me it was all around who I'm becoming. But doing what you say you're going to do resonates with me, as you said that, because too many people in my life would say one thing, they did another right. They're the ones like man, I want to win, I want to win. And at night or on the weekends they're out at the bar and they're drinking and doing things that just don't align up. Or I want to become a great parent, but they're not making time for their kids' sports and going out and doing the things. And when I started to approach my life as doing what I said I was going to do in all areas. And this isn't a perfection thing, guys, because let me tell you I screwed it up more times than not. But when you're more disciplined and you listen to your standards, that you set over what your feelings will tell you which are a lie most of the time you'll start to show up and you'll do things when you don't feel like it. You don't want to do it. And those were the days I look back and I stacked wins and got things done when I did not feel like it. I did not want to make the calls, I did not want to go out to the event, I did not want to do the workout, whatever it was.

Brian Covey: 18:30

And your point earlier you said a lot of people are complacent. They're in their comfort zone One of my good friends. We talk about the force of average and it is real. If you're around other people that accept average in their life, be prepared for a life that is average. I want to be around people that just come up with crazy ideas. They think this is possible. Why can't we do that? How could we accomplish that? What if that, for me, changed how I looked at things and realized the only way for me to lead people somewhere that they want to go is for me to go there and to become that person, because without that they're going to find somebody to take them to where they want to go. You have to become that leader that can take people from where they are to where they want to go consistently.

Princeton : 19:20

Wow, I love that. I love that, the power of intentionality with integrity. We have to be intentional in the areas that we want to see the results in our lives, because life isn't going to change until you do. The show isn't going to show up until you show up. And a lot of times people are waiting, hoping and wishing on a result or a relationship or whatever it is. But this is where I love to talk about the faith, because I think it takes deeper faith to understand that level of integrity, that level of commitment to the process.

Princeton : 19:55

And I always go back to the passage biblically where it says now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, it's the evidence of things unseen. And so it's like when we talk about faith, I always tell people faith is taught wrong. In most circles People teach faith like hope. I have faith the car is going to come. I have faith. I'm going to meet that person. I have faith I'm going to make the money. I have faith the house is going to be bought. I have faith I'm going to meet that person. I have faith I'm going to make the money. I have faith the house is going to be bought. I have faith. But faith is an action word because if you read it, it says now, faith is the substance of things hoped for. It's the evidence. So, going back to the intentionality and the integrity, I don't say I have faith, I say I am faithing. I am faithing this into action. I am taking daily steps, processing through the vision that I have been given, getting clear on it and making intentional steps, taking intentional action on the things that are going to create the substance and the evidence of what I'm believing for.

Princeton : 20:53

And so many people are missing it. They're sitting back, waiting, not accepting the fact that you have the dominion over your life. It was given to you. God, source, universe, podcast, land, whatever pronoun you use isn't going to come and do for you what you've already been given the power to do. So don't sit back and wait for it.

Princeton : 21:13

And I love that you brought that up, man, I love that you hit on that the power of integrity. Do you have integrity with your own word? If I can't keep the word to myself, then I can't even be upset if somebody else doesn't keep their word to me. I can't be upset when the results don't come as a result of the work that I don't do. I just have to take a high level of accountability, a high level of responsibility and own the reality that I've created. That's powerful, brother. Now, as you're going into this next level, what's next for Brian? You're speaking on stages. I see you showing up so powerfully on social media. You've done a lot, but where you are at this stage, you continue to do the work. As I always say, the work never stops as you find yourself in this phase of the reality that you've created, what's really an area that you've really been focusing a lot on.

Brian Covey: 22:05

We're moving to that. I want to share one of my pastor friends of mine that we trained together and work out shared this around. What we just talked about, Okay, and this stuck with me, is your influence will never grow wider than your character runs deep. Your influence, which everybody wants, influence, impact. They want all these things, but for most people you'll see the ones that they come and they go it's because their character never run deep enough. It never ran deep enough about who they are, who they were called to be, the integrity that they showed up with, and so if you're struggling with that today, I would invite you to consider this. When you work on your character, which is keeping the small promises and the things you said you would do, and doing things in your business and your personal life that align up with an integrity, when your character goes deep, your influence starts to grow out wider, and most of us have it opposite. We want to grow this influence, we're willing to do whatever it takes to get there, but the reality is, when you go deep, that's your character, that's what's there. So I'll tell you I'm always working on that is God, show me where I need to improve. There are gaps in my game. I always say there's gaps in my game. There was as an athlete and there is today. Where can I improve as a husband, a spouse, a leader in my company? Where can I improve in how I'm showing up for people in my life? You ask those questions, especially if you're a believer. God will show you. Then it's up for you to take action. So this stage of my life, let me say I'm fired up. I am very focused on this next season of your point.

Brian Covey: 23:46

22 years. I have gone very deep in the mortgage and real estate space and I was at an event recently with Roy Vaden and AJ Vaden. They run Brand Builders two amazing humans in my life and they're helping me gain clarity about. Okay, Brian, who is it you want to serve? What is it you want to do? Because this stage, we know how to make money, we know how to run a mortgage company, we know what we're doing there, and so this next stage for me is open up of what do I want to do? What does the impact look like? And I'll tell you.

Brian Covey: 24:16

I just had this epiphany recently this year, that I'll share with everyone. I was going really wide in my audience thinking well, I can work with coaches and I can work with financial services people and I can work with. I can work with all these people because, Brian, you have all this experience, and Rory shared something with me that just stuck and I'll share with you guys, cause it'll probably help you in your journey is you're most powerfully positioned to serve who you once were. So, you listening, you're most powerfully positioned to serve the former version of yourself, who you once were. So when I was the overweight kid, I was the former pro athlete I was the one that got fired and let go from my job, Didn't get the promotions, made a move and investment move and it didn't work out. Bought a first time investment property years ago, tried this, tried that All these things you've done in your life. Maybe you have this real success in your life and someone else is going. Man, I'd love to get there. Probably took you 10 years, five years, whatever. You can show that former version of yourself the pathway. So I got really clear on who my audience was in the mortgage space. I'll just share that with you, because that's the world I've known for 20 plus years and those people that are wanting to navigate through that. I've done it. So why not go back? And the thing that's most easy for you to teach other people is what you know best, which is what you've done in successes and failures. So see, it just all comes full circle.

Brian Covey: 25:38

And so we're expanding out our coaching group for mortgage professionals, and then also leadership, because the gap that exists today is not I've identified in the mortgage world specifically, there is a gap between people that want to move out of production at some point, have no idea what it would look like, where do they start? How do they become a leader? And then I realized, oh my goodness, all the times that I failed, I didn't get that promotion. I did have some success through building now our fourth, over a billion dollar in annual mortgage production. Right, we have results. I go wow, I've helped all these people. I was counting the other day double digit, over 10 people I've helped get promoted to new roles, Some of those at other companies.

Brian Covey: 26:16

I go sometimes we just don't tell ourselves the things that we've done. And so I started writing it down and I was like, okay, these are the qualifications, Now how am I going to show up? What are the problems I solve? And I got very clear and so you'll see some of that in my posts and how I show up on social.

Brian Covey: 26:33

But I'm excited about that because now I'm not going wide, I'm going really deep and I'm very focused and I'm excited because that actually feeds the mortgage business. That allows me to coach people that may not work at Revolution Mortgage but they work somewhere else. That's perfect. Now I get to help more people. So I'm excited because the collaboration, what this brings back into my coaching background allows me to not only be EVP doing the strategy and doing all that stuff, but now I get to go back and coach people and help them through their life. And it's more than just mortgages. We're going to talk about their health, we're going to talk about their faith, we're going to talk about their family, their fitness and we're going to make sure that we're really providing elite people back into the community.

Princeton : 27:15

That's how the ripple effect will take off. You can tell when a person has truly found their purpose. And one thing I always say is purpose is rooted in service, Service is rooted in love. And when you find that space, you hit the nail on the head. Your mentors they hit the nail on the head when they said you are most gifted to serve those who are where you once were.

Princeton : 27:37

And that's something I realized early in my journey was with every one thing that I had experienced in my journey, every one thing that I had overcome, there was at least a million people out there struggling with just one of those things that if I just put myself out there and I focused intently, finding a niche that I could use, I always say every gift that we gain is a key into our door, into someone's life that we otherwise wouldn't have met. And so, moving into the mortgage space, like that's a doorway, but behind that doorway are business professionals interested in the industry that you're in, but they're also people. They're people who have had the challenges that you've had, the struggles that you've had, and you're now speaking to a specific group and that's where the fulfillment comes in, because ultimately that's what we're seeking, right. We're seeking that freedom and that fulfillment of purpose. And so I got chills for you, man, and I just want to take a moment to just celebrate that success and finding that in you because you can seek and I'm so excited right now just hearing you and hearing you share that, because I love seeing people set on fire for life because you can so many people like so many people, seek so many things externally, because you can so many people like so many people seek so many things externally. But it's when you tap in that kingdom within, when you seek that and you find that wealth of love, that wealth of service, that wealth of purpose, everything else comes, Everything else. You don't have to worry about the external, because the external is simply lining up with you.

Princeton : 29:03

And, man, I'm excited, I'm really excited to see where this goes for you and I'd love to have you. I know you've seen I'm doing the next level mastery group mentorship program for entrepreneurs. I would love for you to come on and be one of the speakers One Thursday. It's 10 am Mountain Standard Time every Thursday, but I'd love for you to come on. We can talk more about that after the podcast, but the more I hear you, the more I'm like I got to help this guy get into front in front of more people. I know the podcast will do that, but I know that there's people that could use it man.

Brian Covey: 29:34

Yeah, I appreciate you, it is, it's surrounding yourself. Yeah, ken's a great friend of mine, jocelyn Love, has taught me a lot of things and when you're around people like that, they help amplify the things that you're really good at and who you should serve. And I'll share this as your president. If you're fighting who you're trying to serve and different things, or if you're just thinking about the money aspect or all of that, like I've been there. But when you get alignment and you get clarity about who it is you want to serve and why you want to serve and why you want to serve and giving back what you've gone through and I want to help them avoid the pain that I've been through it doesn't mean it's going to be painless, it just means we're going to accelerate that for them and when you find it, you will have an excitement and you'll have this joy. That's dude, that's it.

Brian Covey: 30:16

And when you got it versus I'm trying to force this, I'm trying to force that and look, I've been there. We did a coaching program last year. We opened it up to everybody and I had people coming in like roofers and solar and guy that ran a firearms company and all this stuff and I'm like I don't think that's my people. I love those people, but I got to find who my real calling to serve is and that's where that quote from Rory of when you're most powerfully positioned to serve who you once were. Those people show up because you know them, you were them, yeah.

Princeton : 30:47

Wow, wow, wow, wow. I'm loving this man, but what I love most is the ability. You know when someone has truly embodied the wisdom gain, and they're continuously doing the work, because you can see it even in how they communicate the energy. I always say, words only say so much. It's about the energy behind the words, man.

Princeton : 31:07

And you got a bright soul, brother, you got a bright spirit behind you, and I see so much success expanding out of this, tenfold, a hundredfold, and I just speak the prayer of Jabez over that whole experience. Man, the border's expanded, everything is coming your way, pressed down, shaken together and flowing over. But, man, so now that you're moving into this newness, you found a deeper sense of purpose, a deeper sense of service. You're beginning to impact the people that you truly want to impact. As you look back over the journey that you've taken, if there was one thing that you could go back and tell the former version of you, that would prepare you. Because I know a lot of times people say I wouldn't go back and change a thing and we're not really talking about changing anything. But if there was one piece of advice that you would give to the former version of you, what would that piece of advice be?

Brian Covey: 32:02

Different than people probably expect and I actually learned this later was hire help in areas that are personal in your life to free up time for the things you love, and what I mean by that is you can hire somebody to cut your lawn. You have a pool. You can hire somebody to do that. You can have groceries shipped to your house. Invest in the areas that are time that could possibly be taken away from you growing your business, time with your spouse, time with your kids and I always thought I'm just gonna hire in my business, I'm gonna do more in the business, I'm gonna just. It was always like I'm just gonna do more and do more, and I have decided that I'm going to create the time. This aligns up with the priorities that I've set. But Princeton I would just share that with myself earlier is to be okay with spending money in areas to create time to go do the things that I actually love to do, and I'm just telling you guys like going out and getting your groceries or cutting your lawn and you're doing all these different things that may not work in your budget. Identify things that could save you time and you can buy back your time to go do the things that you actually want to do. For me, that's being with my kids and my spouse more Like I love that, like you can't put a dollar amount on that for me. The second one was I want to make sure I'm working out consistently. And then really the last one you won't want to miss this is I want time in my business, like working in the business, and so if there's areas that I can bring people in, like a housekeeper, I think about that or somebody that can help you prepare meals for the week, or you're ordering a service that helps you eat healthy, like think of the ways you can design your life so that you can go live your life the way you want.

Brian Covey: 33:45

The earlier version of Brian didn't have it figured out.

Brian Covey: 33:47

I was counting penny pension and I was doing this and doing that, and when I started to what's interesting, when I started to invest in those areas create time for the things I wanted to and the people I wanted to be with let me just tell you, like my life opened up, I got to go do the things I wanted to do and I was more productive. So, counterintuitive to everybody that goes here's the budget and you've got to live by this and don't do this. Make your choices, live within your budget, but there's some things you don't need to be doing today and you need to be doing these other things. And I don't miss a week or a day cutting my yard if they're out there and I get time with my kids or I get to go spend time in our business recruiting somebody into our firm, all these things. I think man, the younger version of Brian, would have had a lot more time to spend on some of these areas had I not thought I had to do it all.

Princeton : 34:38

That's so good. Time is your greatest investment because it's your greatest asset. Once it's gone, you never get it back. Your kids are going to be young and you're going to have these experiences one time, those moments of health that you could have been investing in yourself. Once it's gone, you'll never get it back. And if you don't invest in it now, guess what? You're going to pay for it later in one way or another. And it's so important.

Princeton : 35:03

That's a big gold nugget right there, because I think a lot of the times when we talk about investing first, when it comes to time and how we utilize or what we put our energy behind, Tony always says where your focus goes, your energy flows. And a lot of the times when we're investing our time, we're investing in the wrong things. We're investing things that don't bring energy back to our life, that don't give us a positive ROI on our time or the spaces of investment. And this is where I agree. You really have to think about what are the areas of your life that are not the superpower areas. They're not the areas that are going to really move the needle for you to create the experience or the desired result that you want. And then, when you find what those areas are, you either automate them, delegate them or completely release them because it doesn't serve you where you are.

Princeton : 35:52

And a lot of people say I don't have the money. I don't have the money? Sure, you do. You have it. You're just prioritizing it wrong.

Princeton : 35:59

Most people are spending money on wants and not necessity. What do you need? What do you require for your life? What are those things that mean the most to you that you want to experience fully? What have you been given the power to experience in your life, but you've been neglecting it? What have you been given the opportunity in your life to experience, but you've been neglecting it because you've been focusing on things that don't serve you.

Princeton : 36:26

And that was huge for me as well, because I had to really ask the question and I made it. It's a mantra now If it doesn't serve me, it doesn't deserve me. If it's not in the flow, let it go. And now I give my time to the things that serve me. Time to the things that serve me. I only give my time to the things that are in flow for me, that give me a stronger ROI on my time, that add value to my life and to the people that I get to work with and I get to serve, and my children, and that's living. And most people are surviving because they are not intentional with their time.

Princeton : 36:59

And I know some people in podcast land may be saying you just don't understand, I don't have the resources. I lack the resources. As Tony Robbins always says, it's not that you lack resources. What you lack is resourcefulness. And this is where hiring a coach, hiring a professional, someone in the area that you desire to grow whether it's myself or Brian if you decide to grow, find someone who's already done it so they can help you avoid the bumps in the road, help you move past the blind spots, because on every level we have them, the blind spots are stopping you from being resourceful. But, man, thank you so much, Brian. I know we could go on and on.

Brian Covey: 38:01

But definitely, as we look at moving forward, as you look at this next year, moving mind because we'll be married 22 years this year in August and I think about the things that I've been through and this is what they don't teach you early on. I went through marriage counseling and all that early on before we get married, like the pre-counseling, and that person needs to grow with you. You need to love on them, as they are your rock. God created you guys for that and I look at that and go man, I'm grateful for her, because without her, we don't have our three kids. Without the three kids, I don't have that additional sense of purpose and those things that are there. And so that's where I go, because I look throughout my career and a lot of today.

Brian Covey: 38:39

Okay, these are the things that Brian has done, these are the things that I've done. I don't become the man that I am without her, and for any of the men listening out there, I want to make sure you don't miss that, because I think this is in our culture and in our culture today specifically, this is just missed, and so I'd be remiss if I didn't share that, as when you become grateful for people around you and you find all the things that they do for you right and you aren't looking for the things that are wrong and you're promoting them up and you're sharing what you're learning and you're growing. Maybe you're super successful in one area. You don't bring all that back home and teach your kids. Share those wins and those joys and those lessons with your spouse. You're missing out on an opportunity for your family to break through to that next level and we talked about earlier.

Brian Covey: 39:26

My parents helped me get as far as they could help me get and they gave me tons of advantages they never had. Now it's upon me to take our family unit and take us so much further that our three kids go and they blow it out of the water like so much bigger and better than what we could have imagined. So I'm grateful for that man and just the opportunity to show up and live another day because, as we all know, tomorrow is not promised and we hear it. But in our lives I've seen enough happen. This year, two people close to us that I know completely unrelated to men men committed suicide, going through what they're going through. We should never take that for granted. Every day, the relationships and how we show up, we might be the inspiration and the person that moves somebody past whatever they're dealing with to show up and continue. I don't take it for granted one day ever about that and that particular topic.

Princeton : 40:29

I'm going to go back to what you were saying about your wife, but that particular topic, right there is something that speaks deeply to me because I've been there. I was one of those people who I got very used to wearing a mask and most people thought I was so happy. And then, at the age of 23, everybody on the podcast you've already heard the story I put a gun to my head and went to pull the trigger and the gun misfired and I'm still here and it was that pivotal moment in my life. But you really don't know. My family, the people closest to me, did not know the pressure that I was under. They didn't know the thoughts that I was thinking and just how I saw the world and all the pain I was experiencing because I was so good at wearing a mask.

Princeton : 41:08

And so, before I address the aspect with your wife, you may be listening to the podcast right now, guys, and you may be rolling through something, experiencing a moment in your life where you may feel hopeless. Understand, you weren't created to do this thing alone. You may not have a wife that's supporting you, or even family members, but guess what? Talk to someone you were not created to have this human experience alone. Reach out, and you can't say I don't know anybody. Myself, brian, we're having a conversation with you right now. Reach out, you don't have an excuse. This is your wake-up call. This is your excuse, eradicator. If you feel alone and you just need some advice, maybe you need some encouragement or a book to read or information that can help you grow. Whatever it is, we're here to serve. We want to see you move to that next level, and so we create resources or we have access to people or programs that we can share with you, because we've done the work. We've had to grow from these experiences and we've had to navigate our own moments of depression, whether we were in it for a long time or not, because everybody travels different paths. But we've been there. Everyone has been down, everyone has felt hopeless, everyone has felt like they just needed some encouragement and they just needed someone to care. But I want to celebrate you, man, and celebrate your wife for showing up to be that. Help me to be that person.

Princeton : 42:28

And I think you see a lot of successful men and I always say you never see a truly successful man mind, body, soul, spirit a truly successful servant leader, man who doesn't have a strong woman next to him, who isn't supporting him. And I think a lot of the times, women get completely neglected as men are working towards their goals. But in a lot of ways, we wouldn't be able to do what we do without the people closest to us, and for some listening to the podcast right now, it might not be a wife, it might be a mom, it might be a sister, it might be a close friend, it might be an associate at work, somebody that does something for you that you take for granted every single day. But I want you guys in podcast land to really ask yourself if I lost these people. Really take an account, sit back and sit with it. Who are people in your life that add value to your life, even if it's just checking in on you from time to time, when nobody else does Whatever it is, find it and ask yourself how much different would your life be if these people weren't there.

Princeton : 43:27

We all have something to be grateful for, even if it's just for the breath in our bodies, because if that breath was to cease right now, everything else stops. Everything else stops, and so be grateful. You are married to this life, whether you have a spot or not, you are married to this experience. This breath of life is giving to you and supporting you every single day and, as I always say, every day, you're given two C's a chance and a choice. What you do with it in each breath is up to you.

Princeton : 44:03

But, brian, thank you so much, man, thank you for joining me today on this podcast and, as I said, we could talk. I'd love to just stay connected, man, and check in from time to time and just sharpen each other man and keep each other up to date. But I feel like this is a good friendship forming here and there's so much more here and I'm going to have to bring you back on, maybe after a year or so, after we've had some time to grow into some new things. But yeah, man, I'm definitely honored and so grateful to have you today.

Brian Covey: 44:30

Likewise, my friend, I'm glad we connected. We were going to definitely do some big things together. I think God puts people in your life for very specific reasons, and I always say just be open to that, engage in the conversation, and the power of two is a lot more powerful than one. I know that, and so thank you for having me. What you do your work and how you show up, that is one of those. We need more people showing up and actually leading from the front, and so thank you for doing that. It's my pleasure, it's my honor.

Princeton : 44:57

Aside from that man, just the connection I'm grateful for. But for everybody out in podcast land, how could they reach out to you? What's the best way to reach out to you?

Brian Covey: 45:10

Oh, easiest on Instagram, and that is the Brian Coveycom, because somebody took my name and then we all also are revamping the website, so it's just Brian Coveycom. It's going to be. It's live now, but it's getting revamped. I'm so fired up about it. I just saw it this morning. I'm like, oh, it fits where we're going and so hit me up over there. I do respond to my own DMs, so if you hit me up there or if you're over on LinkedIn, I spend time there as well. Drop me a message If this has spoken to you in any way, shape or form, inspired you, challenged you, you got questions. Reach out. That is the way we all move forward together, so I'd be honored 100%.

Princeton : 45:46

Guys. You heard it here. First, reach out to Brian Covey on Instagram, at the Brian Covey, but all the links, nonetheless, will be in the show notes. So go down, check out the show notes and hit them up. Let them know where you impacted. Are you in an area where you really want to grow, you really want to evolve? And this message really connected to you and it resonated.

Princeton : 46:10

I always say pay attention to those voices that speak that really connect to where you are, because it's just their spirit mirroring to your spirit, something that's also a part of you and that's how you know when there's alignment. And so reach out to him, let him know what you thought, and we look forward to serving you more in the future, but until then, thank you, guys, for joining the Evolved Mastery Podcast. Brian. Again thank you for showing up, brother, and I can't wait to connect with you in the future and create more impact in the world. So much love to you, my friend. Likewise, all right guys got so much more on the way. And again, thank you for your love, support. We're about to take it to the next level. It's time for you to go out there, create that life that you were born to manifest, because the power has always been in you, with you and for you. It's just time for you to accept it now. Talk to you guys soon and I'll be catching you on the other side.

Intro: 47:00

I'm all right, and it helps me realize that I'm wealthy, rich in passion, rich in magic. It's my life. So I tell me I'm all right, and it helps me.