🎙️54. The Power of Radical Honesty: Building Trust & Success in Your Entrepreneurial Journey

In this episode of Fearless Thinking, host Michael Devous dives deep into the transformative power of radical honesty in entrepreneurship and life. He shares personal anecdotes of facing adversity and the importance of staying true to oneself, even when it's uncomfortable. Michael emphasizes that authenticity is not a switch to be turned on and off but a way of being and a commitment to vulnerability. He explores how honesty can be a competitive advantage in business, building trust and fostering deeper connections with your audience. Through practical steps like sharing struggles, owning mistakes, and embracing transparency, Michael guides listeners on how to cultivate radical honesty in their personal and professional lives.

Key Highlights:

• The Leveling Lie: Michael discusses the common phrase "let me be honest with you" and how it often signals a lack of authenticity.
• Authenticity as a Way of Being: He emphasizes the importance of showing up as your true self, even when it's uncomfortable, and the courage it takes to live your truth.
• Honesty as a Competitive Advantage: Michael explores how honesty and transparency can differentiate you in the marketplace and build trust with your audience.
• Three Steps to Building Trust Through Honesty:
  1. Share your struggles: Be vulnerable and open about your challenges to build relatability and connection.
  2. Own your mistakes: Acknowledge your errors, learn from them, and show your team how to do the same.
  3. Be transparent: Share both successes and failures to demonstrate authenticity and a commitment to improvement.
• The Ascend Hub: Michael introduces The Ascend Hub as a community that values authenticity and encourages radical honesty, providing a safe space for entrepreneurs to connect and grow.

Impactful Quotes:

• "Authenticity is not a switch that you can simply turn on and off. It is a way of being, a way of living, a commitment to showing up as your true self, even when it's uncomfortable."
• "I'll be damned if I'm going to live a lie. I'll be damned if I'm going to not live my truth."
• "Honesty and transparency can differentiate you in the marketplace and build trust with your audience."
• "Own your mistakes... show your team how to admit a mistake, explaining and role modeling how to share a trip-up... really opens the door for them to share theirs."

Key Takeaways:

• Authenticity is crucial for building trust and strong relationships in business and life.
• Embracing vulnerability and sharing your struggles can make you more relatable and create deeper connections with your audience.
• Owning your mistakes and being transparent about your journey can inspire others and foster a culture of growth.
• The Ascend Hub provides a supportive community where entrepreneurs can practice radical honesty and build authentic connections.

Important Links:

• The Ascend Hub: https://theascendhub.com/
• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Reference to "don't take it personally"): https://a.co/d/18Keski
• The Art of Saying No (Book recommendation): https://a.co/d/5Ih2VC1
• YouTube: https://bit.ly/FearlessThinkingYTChannel
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldevousjr/
• My website: https://michaeldevousjr.com/

Transcript

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Hey there everybody. 

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And welcome to Fearless Thinking, a 

podcast designed to help you navigate

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authentic leadership and the 

entrepreneurial journey. 

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I'm your host, Michael Devous

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And these are my thoughts, lessons and 

insights from my entrepreneurial 

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journey into coaching workshops, 

motivational speaking. 

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And of course, what I picked up from 

interviews with inspiring leaders and 

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entrepreneurs along the way.

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My mission is to help people unlock 

their untapped potential by using fear 

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as a catalyst for powerful change and 

growth,

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so they can step into the greatest 

version of their most authentic selves.

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All right, let's get in to some fearless 

thinking.

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Hey, fearless  thinkers.

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Welcome back to Fearless Thinking 

podcast.

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I'm your host

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Michael Devous, episode 54: The 

Power of Radical Honesty - Building

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Trust & Success In Your 

Entrepreneurial Journey.

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Ok,

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dang,

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we're going to get real. 

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I guess we're going to talk about the 

power of radical honesty in 

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entrepreneurship and in life. 

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I suppose,

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you know the leveling

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lie. 

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How many times have you

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heard someone say, "let me be honest 

with you"?

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It's like a red? 

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It's like a verbal red flag. 

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Isn't it?

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It implies

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everything that they said before that 

statement

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wasn't completely truthful. 

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So here's the thing, authenticity

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is not a switch that you can simply 

turn on and off. 

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It is a way of being, a way of living, 

a commitment, to showing up as your 

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true self, even when it's uncomfortable.

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I mean, that takes some bold action. 

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You've got to really know yourself, and 

you've got to really know who you are 

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to be able to do

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that. 

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Honesty can be a competitive advantage.

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Now,

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I want to say,

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for me,

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brutal honesty and authenticity started 

when I was fourteen.

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Actually probably started earlier than 

that. 

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But I stood in front of a mirror that 

particular day, having been bullied

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for the umpteenth time

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this week, that week, that particular 

week,

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I had a very, very difficult 

challenging, junior high, medical, 

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junior high, a time period with a lot of

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aggressive and

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cruel bullies.

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And

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my brain couldn't grasp

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why they hated me

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i was , 12,11,10,14...

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Whatever.

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Could I have done anything in this 

world at that point to make you hate me 

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honestly? 

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And kids are just cruel they can be. 

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I don't think they really know you well 

enough to know whether or not they hate 

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you it's just something they all get in 

on. 

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Everybody gets their jollies or 

whatever.

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and enjoys beating on and pickin on 

somebody,

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for whatever the reason is. 

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And that's typically, I'm sure, because 

they have their own insecurities. 

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But you know, when you're,

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when you're the one being beaten up, 

you don't see that. 

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You don't know that.

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But I will say that I stood in front of 

that mirror, bruised and bloodied, 

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staring at myself, in front of the 

mirror and saying to myself,

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you know,

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I'll be damned if I'm going, if I'm 

going to live a lie, I'll be damned if

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I'm going to not live my truth. 

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If they're going to hate me for me 

being me, then I won't live my truth. 

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100 per cent, you don't hate me, then 

you're going to hate me for all of who 

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I am. 

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I not hide many of it any more. 

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I'm not pretending to be something for 

you and something for somebody else and 

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something for somebody's. 

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I'm not pretending to do none of that. 

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I'm going to be me 100 per cent of the 

way. 

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And if you hate that person, fine, at 

least I know the truth. 

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At least I know our friendship's real 

or not real, right?

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And

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I just couldn't do it, could not live a 

lie. 

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And I stood there saying to god and 

myself in the universe, that was it

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from here on forward, if you don't like 

me, if you don't like who I am, if you

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don't like what I present, you know 

where you can go,

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you know exactly where you can go. 

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And if you don't know, I'm happy to 

show you the way.

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Like, here's the door, of don't let the 

good door, don't let the door split hit 

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you with a good door. ugh, don't let 

the door hit you or the good lord split

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you. 

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That's what they used to say. 

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And I, you know, just have no

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gahd! No tolerance

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for the b s.

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And I was 14,

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and I carried that with me.

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Now mind, you have adjusted a few of 

those things over the year.

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Excuse me,

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I've adjusted a few of those things 

over the year, and I've gotten a bit 

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more polished,

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you know, with my authenticity. 

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And in a world of polished pitches

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and carefully curated social media 

feeds, authenticity

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is a breath of fresh air. 

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It's hard to see and hard to find,

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probably even harder to communicate 

when you're honest. 

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And you're transparent, and you want to 

build trust with your audience. 

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This is the foundation of any 

successful business and entrepreneurial 

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journey. 

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Right? 

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Building trust through honesty.

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Um, a couple of steps you can do. 

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One, share your struggles. 

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Huh, what I do to what I share. 

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I share other people's struggles that. 

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Come on the show and talk about it. 

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I share my own struggles here. 

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Do not be afraid to talk about the 

challenges that you have faced. 

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Your vulnerability will make you 

relatable and build trust. 

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It is the thing that makes you you. 

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It's a thing that makes you relatable 

to other people. 

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Your journey's valuable and important. 

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And most of us are like, you know, we 

grew up. 

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If you're in my generation, and you 

grew up, you were told to leave, you're 

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at the door.

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You were totally leave your feelings 

and your problems at the door. 

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Well,

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I don't think that that's realistic any 

longer.

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I think that separation of ourselves 

from the work that we were doing, and 

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the companies that we're doing, and the 

brands and the ideas and the identities 

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and the messages, is what broke

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a lot of this country apart, and it's 

why we are so separated this today, 

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because we've stopped for so long being

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honest with ourselves and with other 

people. 

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It's going to take some while to heal 

that rift

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and get us back,

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hopefully together.

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But man, that pendulum's going to swing.

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It's going to be tough

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to own your mistakes.

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You know, we all mess up.

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The key is to own it,

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own it, learn from it and move on. 

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One of these things I heard.

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You can't let go

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of a mistake.

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You can't let go of things in your 

past. 

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If you don't

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own it.

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It's impossible to let go of something 

it. 

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You don't admit you're holding on to

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think about that,

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if you hold on to your past mistakes, 

if you haul on your own to those things 

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in the past,

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you know, and you don't learn to let go 

if you don't admit you own it. 

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It's yours it's not yours to let go. 

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It's not yours to release back into the 

world. 

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It's not yours to own up to and to get 

rid of. 

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Right?

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Be willing to be vulnerable, not only 

sharing your struggles, but share your 

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mistakes with everybody else, so that 

your team can understand that you're 

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relatable, so that they know they can 

come to you when something's not 

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working, or something isn't right, or 

they're struggling, and they need your 

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support. 

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You've asked them to come on board. 

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You've asked them to sacrifice

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their time and their attention and 

their passion and their talents to help 

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you build your dream. 

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You owe them, you owe them the honesty 

and the authenticity to share your 

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care, your struggles and mistakes and 

show them a better way and role model 

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for them.

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Three be transparent.

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You have to shoot, not only to. 

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You, not only have to share your 

struggles and mistakes, but you can 

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share your successes.

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Share those failures and those 

successes together.

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Give that context, give that 

juxtaposition,

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give that journey of the mistake in 

falling down that led to the success

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over here. 

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Transparency just shows that you're a 

human and that you're always striving 

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to improve, which is what you've asked 

of your staff, your employees and your 

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people. 

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You've asked for them to constantly be 

improving and constantly sharing. 

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So you've got to show them the way.

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And one of those things, this is one of 

the things we're going to be doing in 

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the Ascend Hub, you know, as I continue 

to build it out,

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as I continue to create more and more 

offerings and services. 

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The coaching and workshops that we have

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at the Ascend Hub we'll be focused on 

your personal and professional

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development. 

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From start to finish, we will be 

looking at all of the different ways 

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that we can be better aspiring 

entrepreneurs, leaders and mentors for 

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ourselves, our communities and our 

families. 

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And I believe that if you want to be 

yourself,

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no masks required,

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you know, we encourage radical honesty 

because we believe that that's the key 

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to building genuine

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connections, making better decisions 

and achieving lasting success. 

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And those better connections are in the 

community at the Ascend Hub, with

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people who are trying to practice this 

very art of communicating and being 

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authentic with you on your journey

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to making better decisions. 

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Where we will have decision making 

classes and workshops talking about how 

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to communicate, how to have active 

listening, how to practice good 

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leadership skills and achieve lasting 

success. 

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You add all those things up, you put 

them all together, me to the power of 

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we, and you'll

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have success.

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So

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if you want to ditch the b-s and 

embrace the power of truth,

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if you don't want to be that person 

having to stand in a mirror, tears 

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00:09:37,544 --> 00:09:40,747

rolling down in your face, you know if 

that's what you need to get there, if 

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that's what you've got to do to step 

through that door of authenticity. 

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Man, I'm right behind you. 

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DM me, let me know I will be there.

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But

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do it with us at the Ascend Hub.

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Join us over there at the Ascend Hub.

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Go to the fearlessthinking.com, 

you know, on our Facebook or YouTube.

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Ah, look at MichaelDevousJr.com

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Well, you can see how I talk about 

making fear your friend, and doing all

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these different things that help you 

become more authentic and step into the

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greatest version of your most authentic 

self.

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That's the journey we're here to do.

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Bring your gift and your brilliance and 

your light into the world. 

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And we are here to help share that 

journey with you and help you get 

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there. 

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So, yeah,

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authenticity, integrity and the power 

of honesty today, people, this is some powerful

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stuff. 

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So remember, think fearlessly. 

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Do some courageous fearless thinking 

this week,

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and maybe do you some real authentic 

thinking,

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you know, some brutal honesty? 

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Ask yourself, if you're in a place and 

a space, surrounded by people that 

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believe that that's what you should be 

bringing to the table,

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do they appreciate your authenticity

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and your brilliance. 

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And if not,

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come over to the Asecnd Hub.

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We'll love you, will support you, and 

we won't get you there. 

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Ok? 

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You guys have an incredible week, and I 

will talk to you later.

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Bye