Season 3 of the Cultivation Podcast, Tom has a conversation with Jordan Loftis, the best-selling author, public speaker, Bible teacher, entrepreneur, and podcaster.
3 Must-Hear Takeaways from this episode
When we become the author of our own story, we have the power to change their world.
Put in the reps so that when an opportunity comes up, you are as sharp as possible to take advantage of it.
Do not be controlled by the opinions of other people because then you’re having your life written for you.
Show Notes:
An entrepreneur who helps authors and leaders tell their stories, a health coach with his wife, and runs a nonprofit that reads the Bible to people, Jordan Loftis’ life revolves around helping people have a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
Tom: Last season I talked about how our stories matter. Listening about the business you’re running, you invest in other peoples’ stories. What is the significance of that and why is that so important to you personally?
Jordan: Stories are so important because they represent our lives. Every story is significant, they change the world. I think when we become the author of our own story, we have the power to change their world. All the things you had to go through, that was fertilizer for your success. You have to catch the vision that you’re on a swing but you’re still on your way up.
Tom: When did you learn you had a calling for writing and when did you pursue that?
Jordan: Before I ever had imagined myself as a writer, I just loved stories. That’s a human thing. Then I learned I could create my own stories and there was a lot of joy there. If you’ve ever spent time writing about your life at all, it’s a profound experience because you see yourself from this distance.
In 10th grade, I had to write a story about a Roman God and I went full on nerd. I had to read it in front of the class and they started clapping. Then the teacher starts quizzing me and accuses me of plagiarism. Then I knew I had written such a good story, I was a good writer because my teacher thought it couldn’t have been written by me.
Tom: How do you take that spark and turn it into a business?
Jordan: Number one thing is putting in the reps. It is being as sharp an axe as you can be. Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness. When an opportunity comes up, you want to be as sharp as possible to take advantage of it.
Tom: How do you cultivate that grit when you’re not attracting attention?
Jordan: Because I love it. I could be a billionaire and I would still tell stories. Finding the grit to do that is about what return you’re looking for. The return I was looking for was internal, living in alignment with what I believe my calling was. It wasn’t about my job, it was about my calling.
Tom: We’ve talked about this in the past, but I’m passionate that our greatest teacher is our failures. How have your failures made you better?
Jordan: You’re so right. It’s our best teacher when we look at it the right way. There’s no good story without conflict and our greatest conflict is our failure. A lot of time, we like the art but we don’t like the spreadsheet. You’ve got to understand the business to make a go of something that is sustainable.
My biggest failure was I had this business with some friends and while we were chasing the bright shiny, we weren’t paying attention to our job that made the money. Our major client dried up and we lost 80% of revenue overnight. A company bought our business and I ended up getting hired at a basic, entry level job and made 50% of what I needed. So you talk about grit, I had to get up at 5 a.m. to work on my side hustle to make a living.
Tom: Going through those failures, wanting to quit and having all those insecurities, what are some roadblocks you can highlight for our audience to watch out for?
Jordan: Do not be controlled by the opinions of other people. If you do that, you’re having your life written for you. You are forfeiting the life you could construct and create to live on your terms. We tell ourselves these stories in our heads, we assume we know what other people are thinking, and sometimes we live in a little box of imaginary opinions that never existed. So, we keep ourselves so sad and unhappy with something that may not even be real. No. 2: Look at your tendency as a person: Do you tend to be reckless or reluctant? If you’re reckless, pump the breaks and think on it for 24 hours. If you’re reluctant, get into action by just starting.
Favorite book: