The Inner Wealth Podcast

Ep208. Don’t Work to Survive — Get Paid to Be Who You Are.

• Mike Kitko

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In this episode, Mike brings the to a live speaking engagement with 8th–12th grade students at a youth retreat. With raw honesty and inspiration, he walks them through the Japanese concept of Ikigai — helping them understand how to create a life and business around what they love, what they’re good at, what the world needs, and what they can get paid for. It’s not about chasing money — it’s about aligning your life and career, and becoming the miracle you were born to be.

Key Takeaways

  1. You Were Born With Purpose
    Your life is a miracle — one in 400 trillion. You’re not an accident, and your gifts are your path.
  2. Ikigai: The Path to Fulfillment
    The four keys to building a meaningful life: what you’re good at, what you love, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.
  3. Stop Living Just to Avoid Death
    Most people spend their lives just trying not to die — but very few actually live.
  4. Money Flows From Problem to Solution
    You don’t need a job — you need to solve a problem the world is willing to pay for.
  5. You Are the Chooser of Your Life
    Take guidance, receive mentorship — but never give your power away. Your life is your own.


Notable Quotes

  • “You are a walking, talking, breathing miracle… kind of act like it.”
  • “Money is awesome fuel but a horrible destination.”
  • “Most people are trying not to die. Very few live.”
  • “Your belief system is your cap. What you believe is possible becomes your reality.”
  • “I used to feel like I was a burden. Now I feel like I’m a blessing.”


Call to Action

If you’re done playing small…
 If you’re ready to stop surviving and start fully living…
 If you’re tired of being what the world told you to be and you’re ready to become who you truly are...

Join us inside Inner Wealth Global. Come to the next Choose Your Destiny Live Intensive.

Go to https://www.innerwealthglobal.com and step into the miracle you were created to be.


Music Credit: "What's Left of Me" by Wes Hoffman & Friends


My Social Media:
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mike_kitko
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mikekitko
Subscribe to my YouTube: / @mikekitko

Mike Kitko is an executive self-mastery coach, speaker and author. He found external success through powerful titles, incomes, and material possessions. He ultimately fell into depression, toxic abuse of alcohol, and the near collapse of his family before he began a journey of internal happiness and success.


Speaker 1:

Hey, today I got a little bit of a special treat. I've published speaking engagements before, a couple of speaking engagements really early on in the building of this podcast, but I haven't done so in a long time and I wanna share this one today. I thought it was really cool. I got invited to go and speak to about a room full of 54 age students and they were there at a retreat a camp, I guess, you could say and they were going to. It was a career and success path. So right after, you know, right after my keynote which was very right at the beginning they were going to go, start building business plans and start to talk about building a business and entrepreneurship, and I thought that was really cool. I got to go out and to engage them at the beginning of this retreat, of their camp, so that I could get them focused, get them thinking differently, get them to see the world through the lens of really building a life and a career that's authentic to yourself, and I got to light their souls on fire. They're between 8th and 12th grade, so they were all there. They were all there voluntarily.

Speaker 1:

This wasn't a forced, a forced thing and the room the cool parts the room was really engaged. There were a lot of questions. These kids were were really interested. There was a couple, there were a couple of kids that try to like, show off and you know and, and at one point the room started really like the kids try to take over the room and Sergeant Kitko had to come back out and Sergeant Kitko had to get them back into lockstep and why they're there and and to focus and to take this seriously.

Speaker 1:

But and hopefully you get entertained by that part there's a couple of downsides. One is the presentation. I was doing this from a. I had a slide deck up there and in some points I talk about something on the slide where I don't necessarily, you know, talk about it for the sake of an audio podcast and the microphone that the kids. We didn't have a microphone for the kids to use when they were asking questions and I didn't do a great job of repeating back.

Speaker 1:

But anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Anyway, I think there's a lot of value, I think there's a lot of good stuff and I think you'll enjoy it. I hope these kids see it differently, see life differently and hope they build a life that's so authentic that they never a business that's so authentic that they never have to escape their business for life or life for business, and I reiterated that multiple times throughout the audio or the podcast or the speaking engagement. But anyway, enjoy. I hope this made the world a better place. Do you ever wake up feeling like there's something missing in your life? Do you ever feel the need to escape your business? Are you running your life or is your life running you? I'm Mike Kitko and I'll help you design and create a life so authentic and aligned with who you really are. You'll get excited, just to wake up. I'll help you create real wealth, success and freedom from the inside out. Welcome to the Inner Wealth Podcast, where we learn and choose to live inspired each and every day.

Speaker 2:

To live inspired each and every day, we asked an amazing guest speaker, mike Kitko, to come get us started and motivated and on our way. And so Mike Kitko is the founder of Inner Wealth Global. And so, mike, you must see Bye.

Speaker 1:

Thanks, kelly. Hey guys, how many of you have hobbies? Yeah, that guy does, he didn't even know the question. How many of you guys? Go ahead, raise your hand if you have a hobby. Shout out some of your hobbies. Hobbies Movies, sleeping, what else? Any basketball, any like electronic games? Right, video games, how about sports, volleyball, any art Like music, painting, awesome. So I want to ask you a question If you could make a lot of money doing something that felt like a hobby, how cool, would that be Amazing, would that be like a life that you would get excited to wake up to every single day, that you just got to go and do this thing that felt like a hobby and still make money and to buy nice things and to really be able to experience life.

Speaker 1:

Right, guys, when I was you're between 8th and 12th grades, right? Nobody told me what I'm getting ready to tell you and what I'm getting ready to share with you. Nobody ever shared this with me. Here's what I was taught is that tell you and what I'm getting ready to share with you? Nobody ever shared this with me. Here's what I was taught is that work needs to be hard. I was taught that you needed to struggle, and there was a lot of sacrifice involved in work and that if there wasn't stress, you weren't working hard enough. And if there wasn't, if you weren't like really stretching yourself, then you really weren't working that. And if you weren't really stretching yourself, then you really weren't working. That's kind of what I was taught, and my father was a steel worker and he was a 40-year retired steel worker and he'd say every day you got to go someplace you don't want to go and you got to do stuff that you don't want to do because you got to take care of your family and take care of your bills. That's what I learned growing up, and the thing that I'm getting ready to share with you today is the exact opposite of that, Because I learned the hard way how to fail so that you can finally get back into alignment with yourself and your natural talents, your natural gifts, and maybe start.

Speaker 1:

I'm a business owner. I'm an entrepreneur. This is my wife, angie, by the way. We rebuilt our life and I'm going to share a story. We rebuilt a life where that was a business trip. We were in Turks and Caicos and we were on a sunset cruise and that was a business trip and that was part of our business. We actually did business in Turks and Caicos because we love to travel. So we built a business where we get to go and travel these beautiful places and do all this cool stuff, and it runs through the business, and our business is part of our life and our life is part of our business, and we never stop living and start doing business. And we never stop doing business and we start living. They're integrated. Does this make sense? Yeah, we're going to. We're going to get into all of this, all right, but but that's that's what I'm here for.

Speaker 1:

Today is to help you understand that you don't have to do things that don't light you up and excite you to make a lot of money. There's a lot of money in the world to be made and sometimes and I'm not just saying you're going to go you know everybody's going to be a basketball star and everybody's going to be, you know, an artist, but you can do something that you enjoy and make money. All right, does it look like I enjoy what I do? Does this look like I enjoy and I get excited for this? This is my favorite thing to do in the world and I get paid to do this. How cool is that?

Speaker 1:

You know what one of my favorite things to do is Talk. I love to talk. Talking is my hobby and I get paid to talk. All right, now, I'm a Marine vet. If you guys have any questions like, raise your hand and what's up, bud, you're the jokester. You're going to be the first to go. By the way, I'm a Marine vet. I was in the United States Marine Corps between 1992 and 1997. And that's when I really started becoming a leader and that's where I kind of cut my leadership. What you got bud.

Speaker 2:

What's that?

Speaker 1:

Well it's. I believe it's the best branch of the military. The army is separate. Yeah, absolutely so. There's. There are people who are Marines and there's everybody else who doesn't know if they can become a Marine. Right, it's a big deal. I know I can become a Marine because I did it. Not everybody has that luxury. So, marine vet 1992, 1997.

Speaker 1:

And when I got out, I went to get a job. That's what you do, you just go and get a job. And I didn't care what I was going to do, I just wanted to make some money, right, anybody just you know, anybody have a job here, just to make money. If money wasn't an issue, would you do that job? Well, I did, right, money was an issue. So I went and did stuff that I didn't want to do and I worked for people I didn't want to work for and I just, you know, every day I'd wake up and it's like man, I was full of dread and I, I just hated what you know, like I can't you ever go to the grocery store. I go to the grocery store and I walk through the, I work through, walk through the cash register and I say, how are you doing today, ma'am? How are you doing today, sir, veteran, an hour because, like, their life can start when they get off work, right Like that. That's what I'm talking about. I I personally I never want like another hour to go by until I can enjoy my life. I want to enjoy every breath. All right Now.

Speaker 1:

I went to work just to make money and I'm not a technical savvy guy, but I was an electronics technician and I went to work every day not knowing what I was doing, not enjoying my job. And guess what? When I was a good team player and a good teammate and I had this leadership stuff going on in the background that I enjoyed in the Marine Corps, guess what? I got promoted. I wasn't the best at my job, but I was the best interpersonal person on the team. I was the person who person on the team. I was the person who could motivate the team. I was the person that could inspire other people on the team to achieve a higher level. And then, when I excelled in that role and I started to work with teams in that level and then in that role, guess what happened? Again, I got promoted, not because I'm good at my job, but because I'm good with people, because I can inspire people. I can motivate people. Anybody here feel a little more energy now than they did a little bit ago. That's because I bring the heat. I've always, I've always been able to energize people. I've always been able to inspire people and that's why my team succeeded and my team succeeded.

Speaker 1:

Now you advance 15, 15 years from there and I'm managing a $350 million business. I had hundreds of employees work for me. I was making crazy money. I would get bonuses that equal what most people made in a year. But I hated my job and I hated going where I was, where I didn't want to go, and we had two little girls and I got to like 12, 14 hours a day. I was away from my girls and I just wanted to be home with my girls and my family. But you know, you go to work to make money, right, that's just what you do.

Speaker 1:

Well, that thinking took me in a very, very painful direction, because when I was successful in that role, another job came after me to recruit me. They dangled even more money and I was not a good fit for that job. I was not a good fit and I didn't care. All I knew was they were offering a lot of money. And I said yes because I was after the money, not the career fulfillment, not doing something that I enjoyed. Does this make sense? Right? And guess what?

Speaker 1:

A couple of years later, I got fired. I got fired because I hated my job, and every step up the ladder there was more money, but for me there was less enjoyment. And for me there was less enjoyment. And for me there was less fulfillment. There was less motivation to succeed and achieve, because I really didn't care what I was doing. It was just after the money, it was just a money play, and I learned that money is awesome. I love money, I love money and money loves me, but it's not the reason. Money is a horrible destination, but it's great energy along the way, but money is not the destination. Enjoying life is the destination. Does that make sense? And if we're not enjoying life, the money really doesn't matter. Right? Money is a horrible destination. Don't do anything just specifically for money, but find something that lights you up from the inside out and we can go monetize that. You can make a lot of money doing what you love.

Speaker 1:

There was a guy back in, you know. There was a time where there was no such thing as the internet. You guys ever know that when I was a kid, there was no internet. There was no internet. There was no connect. There was no computers. There was no internet. There was no connect, there was no computers. Holy crap, I didn't have a computer for a long time, that's right. And he would take his cell phone and he would.

Speaker 1:

When he was traveling, like walking through the streets of New York, he would video. He would video all the buildings. And then he'd go to London and he'd video where he was going. And he had YouTube channel. He started building a YouTube channel and then a company came to him and said hey, will you wear my shirt, will you wear my company shirt when you're traveling? I'll give you 20 bucks. Guy's like, yeah, of course. So he put this company's shirt on and he's videoing. And every once in a while he'd say and, by the way, this video is brought to you by you know whatever XYZ company. And within a year he was a millionaire. He had a million dollar business because companies he was doing what he loved and companies saw that passion. Companies saw the joy that he had. He was starting to build a following because he loved what he was doing. And then people started paying him to go and promote them. Now his travel was not only free, he was getting paid to do what he loved. Those stories are everywhere in the world, but I wasn't taught that that was possible when I was a kid, and that's why I'm so glad and so happy that you guys are here and I get to share this with you.

Speaker 1:

All right, I want to share a concept with you, and it's a Japanese word. See that word in the middle. You see that that word is ikigai. Say it with me. Ikigai, let's try it again. One, two, three, ikigai. That word ikigai means a reason to be in Japanese, a reason to be, a reason to exist, a reason to wake up, a reason to be joyful in life, a reason to be Now. The concept of Ikigai takes four separate areas and puts them together in a way that's meaningful, that'll help you.

Speaker 1:

When you wake up in the morning, you're excited to get out of bed, to go and do what you want, what you're going to do, so that you can serve people in the way that you want to serve people, so that you can make money in the way that delights you, instead of as full of self-sacrifice and struggle. All right, we're going to walk through each of these. The first part of Ikigai is what are you really really good at? Not, not. What do you do? Okay, not, eh, I'm okay at that. Eh, I'll do it. It's what are you really really good at? Guess what I'm really really good at it? It's what are you really really good at? Guess what I'm really really good at? Talking.

Speaker 1:

And when I was in my corporate career, the only thing I ever enjoyed about my career, the only thing, was having one of my employees in my office and I was coaching them and I was developing them and I was trying to unlock what is that dream? That's in your heart, what's in there? What is your dream? What do you want to do? What lights you? That's in your heart, what's in there? What is your dream? What do you want to do? What lights you up? What inspires you? What excites you? That's what excited me as a plant manager, as an executive level leader in corporate America. It wasn't about being on the shop floor and seeing products being built. I worked for Stanley Black Decker and we would make tools. I didn't care about seeing tools being made tools. I didn't care about seeing tools being made. I didn't care about tools, but I cared a lot about the people making the tools. I love them tremendously and I loved when they were in my office and I got to hey, why do you come? Why do you do this If you don't love it?

Speaker 1:

Now I was a little bit of a hypocrite because I was doing what I didn't love, right, but I was trying to help them not repeat the mistakes that I was making, right? What are you good at? There was a time in my life that I didn't feel that I was worthy or deserving or talented or like I mattered. Like my life made a difference. Can you, can you guys, see where I was? I was kind of empty. I didn't. I didn't have any self-worth and self-esteem. I didn't believe in myself. It was all about the money. It's because I was trying to. I was trying to become somebody through the money, all right, but but when, when I started the process of trying to figure out, after I got fired, and I started the process of trying to figure out, like, what I was going to do with the next phase of my life, my career was going to be, when I saw that, when I, when I introduced to Ike a guy, and what are you good at? I said I'm not good at anything. That's, that's what I thought.

Speaker 1:

But if you ask people, if you ask mentors, if you ask people that are in your life, that love you, that believe in you, that see good in you, and you ask them hey, what am I really good at? They'll tell you and then we can believe them. But have you guys ever gotten a compliment and just ignored it? Somebody says, hey, your hair looks nice today and oh no, it doesn't. Or hey, you're really good at that thing. Oh, I'm not that good. There's, there's, there's people that are better. Anybody ever had that experience? Somebody compliments you and you just don't take it, you don't receive it.

Speaker 1:

Listen, I know you guys. I know you guys are having some fun and I want you to have some fun, but I also want you to pay attention because this will change your life. All attention, because this will change your life. All right, this will change your life and I'm not worried about how happy you are right now. I'm worried about how successful you are and how joyful and how fulfilled you are in 20 years, all right. So, listen, pay attention.

Speaker 1:

Don't do what most eighth to 12th graders do is dismiss the person that's speaking from wisdom and experience and pain and struggle and suffering, and they're trying to help you avoid that stuff, but we're laughing at them instead of listening to them. Don't be those people. I was that person and that's why I failed. Because I was that person who thought the person who was pouring into me that they were just wasting my time. That's why I failed. Don't be that person. Pay attention.

Speaker 1:

When I fell flat on my face and I was no longer making any income and I was no longer successful and I was no longer a big plant manager and no one would hire me because I was a failure, the first step was trying to figure out what I was good at, and people that loved me, that appreciated me, people that had my best interest in mind, they said Mike, you're a good speaker, you motivate people, you inspire people, you energize people, you influence people. You always make people better when they leave you. They're better than when you found them every time. But I didn't see that in me, but it was there all the time. It's just I refused to look at it.

Speaker 1:

Does this make sense? You're probably not like me, but there's something that you're really really good at and it might be so easy for you. You don't even know that you're good at it, because it doesn't have to be hard to be valuable. This isn't hard for me. This is a pleasure, this is the joy. This isn't hard. I don't prepare for this. I'll put a couple of slides together, but I don't prepare for this. I just get to jump up here, and this isn't I get to, not, I have to. We drove from St Louis today for this, just to be here with you guys. This isn't I get to, not, I have to. Does that make sense?

Speaker 1:

The first step is figuring out what you're really really good at, and the second step is what do you love to do? What do you love to do? Not? What are you okay, not what? I'll do it if I have to. Not, I have to, it's I get to. What do you love to do? What do you get excited? What do you get excited to do? What are you so fulfilled by that? You don't even have to get paid to do it. But if they paid you, that's pretty cool, right, but if they didn't pay you, you still want to do it.

Speaker 1:

This is why I said what would it be like to feel like something was a hobby and it was making you a lot of money. That's what I meant. It's finding that thing. You're really paying attention. I see you. You're paying attention. You're locked in. You're going to succeed. I'm talking to the lady behind you. Good, good, good try, though, when I was talking to her, because she's locked in and I see you. I see you. I see that you're paying attention. I see that it's making a difference. I see that you're absorbing it. I see the wheels turning. Am I right? That's why she's going to succeed, and it's your choice whether you succeed or not, not just whether you're listening here, but whether you're taking guidance from people that have already walked the path that you want to walk.

Speaker 1:

All right, what do you love to do? I love to write, I love to talk, I love to coach, I love to inspire. I love to always leave people better than I found them. I walk through the grocery store and when I see somebody hey, how's your day? Just okay, why, why? Hey, how's your day? Oh, just okay, why, why is it just an okay day? What happened today? That was awesome. And when they like walk and this is just somebody I don't know, and when they walk away from you they're going to run through a wall. Because it just lit them up in a good way, man. Because it lit them up, because if somebody saw them, somebody cared about them, somebody took some time and poured into them a little bit. That's what I love to do. So if you take what you're good at and what you love, then when you wake up you're going to be excited to do that thing right Now.

Speaker 1:

The next one is find out what the world needs, our work in the world, even though it might not feel like work. There's 8.22 billion people in the world. And guess what? Every single person on the planet has a problem. They're dealing with some kind of a problem. You don't have to raise your hands, but recognize the problem that you're dealing with in your life. And you are right. Every single person in this room is dealing with a problem. Nobody's got it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out Just because I'm up here. I don't have it figured out. Nobody does. If somebody tells you they've got all of life figured out, they're lying to you. Nobody's got it all figured out. And look, the people with some experience can tell you that If they tell you, if they show you that they got it all figured out and they got it all, they look perfect and they act perfect, they're dealing with something that you don't know about because nobody's got it all figured out. So they're dealing with something that you don't know about because nobody's got it all figured out. So figure out what the world needs. There's 8.22 billion people in the world and everybody needs something. Everybody has a problem. Everyone will pay somebody to help solve that problem, and it could be.

Speaker 1:

I don't like mowing my grass and I'm looking for somebody to mow my grass so we could start a landscaping company mowing my grass, and I'm looking for somebody to mow my grass so we could start a landscaping company. If you enjoy landscaping or you're good at it and you love it and somebody needs their grass mowed, we can start a freaking landscaping company. Now you're doing what you love and somebody's like thank you for doing my lawn. Here's money, and money flows in one direction in this world. Anybody know what direction it flows in business. What's that? Never forget this. Okay, you promise that you're never going to forget this. Money flows from problem to solution. Money flows from problem to solution.

Speaker 1:

I work with people and I coach people. They're running multi-million dollar businesses and nobody in their company knows I exist. But I'm on the phone with them solving problems using my executive level experience. And nobody in their business knows that I'm their coach, but I'm in their ear and I'm helping them solve problems because they'll pay to have somebody help solve problems. So I found what the world needs. People need mentorship, people need support, people need encouragement, people need love, people need to be accepted. People need that and they will pay for that. Okay, does this make sense? Anybody ever had a mentor? Yeah, I'm a mentor, I get mentored and I'm a mentor. I have problems that I want people's help to solve in my life and I get paid to help people solve problems in their lives. Mentorship, all right. Does that make sense? Find out what the world needs. There's problems everywhere. The entrepreneurs are the best at going out and finding how the problem that they're good at and solving that they love solving, and what the world needs Okay, a problem in the world that somebody has that they'll pay to have corrected, fixed.

Speaker 1:

It's not just a job, you're just solving problems. I don't think of it as a job. I think of it as a problem solver. I'm a problem solver in the world. Make sense.

Speaker 1:

And the last, but this is where people usually start. How many people just took a job for money? Everybody who has a job, raise your hand. If you just took it for money, yeah, be honest, I've done it before too. This is usually where people start what kind of job you want, I just want to make money. I don't care what kind of job. And then you're that person that says, yeah, I'll be a lot better in an hour when I'm off work, because you started at the end. You started at the end.

Speaker 1:

This, this right here, is the result of doing those three what you're good at, what you love and what the world needs. This is a result. It's not the starting point. Money is awesome fuel, but a horrible destination. If it's the reason, then it's just going to be a matter of time before you're unfulfilled and you're going someplace that you don't want to go to do something you don't want to do.

Speaker 1:

Work with people you don't want to work for all, for money that you can have in a way that lights you up, and it could be an awesome result. Make sense, guys, cool. Is this cool stuff? Is this a different way of looking at business, different way of looking at making money. Do you feel that you can have joy and happiness and money in your life if you did this? You don't think so. Maybe I'm an example. I'm an example. I'm an example.

Speaker 1:

If there's one person in the world that's living it, that means it's available to everyone. And there's some people that won't listen and they'll go looking for this today and they could have had it all, but they choose to believe that it wasn't available to them. Make sense Whatever we believe becomes true for us. If we believe we can, we can. If we believe we can't, we can't. If we believe it's available, it is. If we believe it's not available, it's not. Your beliefs. Create your outcomes. All right, your belief system. What you believe is possible, is your upper limit. That's your cap. Make sense, cool. Any questions about this? So far, awesome. I wasn't trying to scare you off, guys. I was trying to get your attention so that I could dig into your soul and really start to like move the needle with you. What's your name? Ashley? Great name, ashlyn. Thank you.

Speaker 2:

You find a passion. We think you're really going to go for it. The day you end up changing Like. You know how people change their majors at college. What happens with people? Do you have to start all over or do you just re-adjust?

Speaker 1:

Ashlyn, if you choose it and then you switch and you become less passionate about it, then you probably weren't passionate about it to begin with. There was probably a reason you were choosing it and it wasn't based on passion, because passion doesn't fade. Does that make sense? So sometimes we we trick ourselves into thinking we're passionate about something and then a week later you're you're passionate about something else, because you never really were passionate. Maybe it was a short-term excitement to it, but it wasn't like, wasn't a purpose, it wasn't a mission, right? And that's why sometimes we had two daughters in college and one daughter went strictly for cheerleading. She she's. She was a six-year-old cheerleader and then she became a college cheerleader and I got to see her compete at Disney world right At the at the ESPN zone, compete at Disney World right At the ESPN zone, and I got to see my college cheerleader daughter on the mat at championships and they came in second in the country.

Speaker 1:

She's passionate about cheerleading. She went to school just because she had to cheerlead. But I've got another daughter, we've got another daughter that she is an academic and she loves the body and she loves training and she loves athletics and she loves trying to figure out how to make that sore, that pain, go away. So she's going for physical therapy and she's going to be coming here in a couple of years for grad school. She's lit up by that. My other daughter just went to school just because she had to, for cheerleading. So she'll probably go, like work at Starbucks or something, I don't know. Nah, I don't know, that's what we're, that's what we're hoping, but she's got to make that decision Right. But the point is is there's a passion inside of you that when you fan it, it'll grow, it will. It'll never fade. All, yeah, man, what's your name? Uh, macaulay, what is it? Macaulay, macaulay, yeah awesome.

Speaker 2:

so, um, for this, it's like really about like your problems with like occupations, right, but what if you're dealing with like more like on, like the like personal problems of like you know, like how you, how others perceive you, and like that like sitting in so like your person, like into your business?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so I'm going to use. Did you guys hear me get stern a little bit ago? I don't care how you perceive me. I your your thoughts about me. They have no impact on me. You're going to go live your life, Macaulay, right, and I'm going to go home and set my head on my pillow with my beautiful bride and I'm going to live my life and you're not going to be in my head at all. Zero, Like this is.

Speaker 1:

Living an awesome life is really about having the courage to be this light and to be okay. It's not I know what's in here that I want to experience in the world and no one else gets a vote in that. No mom, no dad, no brothers, sisters, wife, daughters. I know what's in here and she loves it when she sees me do what I'm passionate about, Like she's pretty proud of me right now, in this moment. True, when I started my business, I said and this is a true story she wanted me to go get a job again and I said hey, I'm going to start a business, I'm not going to get a job. She said the hell you are. So I fought for divorce. True story, True story. Then she went okay, I'm in, let's go Me and you, Me and you versus the problem and we'll solve it, Because I wasn't going to give up my dream for anybody.

Speaker 1:

Does that make sense? One of the problems that we have in the world with this is we care about what other people think about us, so we never live a life true to ourselves. We never live a life true to ourselves, right? We never live a life true to ourselves and our talents and our intuition and our instincts and our belief in ourself, from our truth, from what's in this heart, not from what people tell us about which we should do and what's right. Does that make sense? Now, I'm not telling you to go home to your mom and dad and just go tell them to never give you any guidance again. What I'm saying is seek guidance, seek wisdom, but you are the decision maker. You are the decision maker. I have a lot of people in my life that I take guidance from, but they don't get a vote. They're just providing guidance and wisdom and ultimately, I get to make a decision based on all of that input.

Speaker 1:

Make sense? Yeah, Okay, I own my life. Nobody else owns my life. Cool, Great question, though I like your name too. Any other questions. Was it you again, Macaulay?

Speaker 2:

Oh Do you ever get too old to read things.

Speaker 1:

I don't believe so. And why would you ever say it's too late? I know what you're saying, though I get it.

Speaker 2:

People do think, because they're sort of eight.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

They can't read back their life and really go with their passion. They have to sane job.

Speaker 1:

I got a guy in one of our coaching groups. He's like 66, and he's just starting over. He's trying to figure out what he wants to be for the rest of his life. You know it's never too late. Can I say something real quick before you got a next question?

Speaker 1:

Most people spend their lives trying not to die. Very few live. Okay, most people are trying. They make decision after decision and they choose things to help them stay safe and comfortable and they never really live. They're just trying not to die. Very few live. We're living. Turks and Caicos, sunset Cruise, right, doing business. We're living. Very few live.

Speaker 1:

Most people are trying not to die, including some of the people that love you. They're going to tell you you shouldn't just because they're afraid that they're going to lose you, right, and and try. They're trying to protect you, to keep you safe, because they wouldn't be okay without you. It has nothing. It's not for your benefit and your best interest. But you can take wisdom, you can pay counsel, you can pay guidance, but ultimately you are the chooser of your life, just like how many? How many of you have guidance counselors at school? Can they choose for you, or are they just your guidance counselor? They're not your chooser right. They're your guidance counselor. Treat everyone like that. Okay, now you do have parents. You are living under their house, so don't go just tell them no right away, but listen and then ultimately have a conversation about what's best for you. You are living under their house, so don't go just tell them no right away, but listen and then ultimately have a conversation about what's best for you and what's in your best interest, from a passion standpoint.

Speaker 1:

My man, what's up? What's your name? Caleb, caleb, awesome, thanks, caleb. What's your question? What inspires you? Who? What is this? Can you? What's that? Yeah, nobody ever told me about this. Caleb, like I want to scream this to the world. Kelly came to one of my workshops one time and we'll talk about my workshops here in a little bit. But Kelly came to one of my workshops and then she called me and said hey, mike, will you come in and speak to my students? I was like, yes, let's go, let's go, let's do it. Like, just give me the invite, I'll jump up on any stage and light souls on fire. All right, it's just I get excited about this man. This isn't something again, this isn't something I have to do. It's something I get to do. Right, those are the best things to do in life, something that gets you fired up. Yes, what's your name?

Speaker 2:

My name is. Manati Beautiful name Thank you.

Speaker 1:

I would add come a year, it would take you to life.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 1:

This so 2016,. I was fired and we haven't talked about it yet. I started my business in 2017 and in 2018, I exceeded any income that I ever had in corporate America my first full year in business. I made more money in 2018 than I had ever made in any full year in corporate America, america, because I do believe that people buy, that. People buy passion. They want to work with me because I'm passionate and they want to share that energy. Does that make sense? So I've been at this since 2017. 2017, I did I don't know $36,000 in business, but after that we started exceeding our corporate income. But I've been doing this and we'll talk a little bit more about really the other stuff that I do, but yeah 2017 is when I started.

Speaker 1:

What's your name? I?

Speaker 2:

am what.

Speaker 1:

No, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

All right, me All right. Yeah, my name is Isaiah.

Speaker 1:

Hosea, isaiah, isaiah, great to meet you, isaiah.

Speaker 2:

You have a degree in business or anything like that. I do.

Speaker 1:

I do. I have a management degree and I have an MBA. Okay, neither of them. My experience eat the fruits, spit out the seeds. Neither of them are why I'm here. It's more about the leadership in the Marine Corps are why I'm here. It's more about the leadership in the Marine Corps than why I'm here, than than the business stuff. So that leadership spark that I got from being a Marine, it really lit the fuse and I I went and got a management degree and a business degree so that I can make more money, but ultimately I believe I'm here because of the Marine Corps. Um, yeah, you were.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so you talk a lot about like your, like the success in your story, but what are? Some times you've had hardship, I know you've had.

Speaker 1:

Almost killed myself. How about that? I stuck a gun in my mouth After I got fired. I stuck a gun in my mouth, Almost killed myself because I, because I felt that was a failure. I got fired and I felt I was worthless and valueless to my family and my money and my success was my entire identity. I almost killed myself.

Speaker 2:

How do you think those hardships made your business different than other businesses that might have failed?

Speaker 1:

on freaking bonus time. I'm on bonus time. I don't hold back. I tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear, and I don't care about their feelings. I'm on bonus time. Does that make sense? I almost killed myself. I shouldn't even be here. I'm in the bonus. Like, why would I hold back? Anything? Like let's go. That's why we travel so much. Over the last couple of years we've traveled 15, 20 times a year. We travel everywhere we can. Our business funds our travel and we just travel. Right, we'll be in Cabo, cabo San Lucas this time next week. It's like let's go. Let's live Like I'm tired of trying not to die, live Like I'm tired of tired of trying not to die.

Speaker 1:

But I've got a lot of people, um, that I work with directly, that they want my intensity and they want my directness and they want me to tell them the truth that nobody else will. Does that make sense? Okay, okay. And again, I feel like I'm, I'm in the bonus and I've like I've, I've done a lot of internal work and I feel like I'm a blessing in this world. Now I'm not a. I'm not. I'm going to get emotional. Guys, I do cry. I used to feel like I was a burden. Now I feel like I'm a blessing. This world is better because I live, because I'm here, because of the work I do. All right, does that make sense? That's what separates me from other people.

Speaker 1:

I know we got a new client one time and he came over and we were going to have a full day, intensive, a full day session with me, him and me, just us. He couldn't take a whole day of it, but anyway, we're driving to lunch and I started to hear now he, the guy, paid me. Okay, and I started to hear like him start to put himself as the alpha in our relationship. Make sense, like he paid me. So he was going to start pushing me around and I said Ryan Ryan was his name. I said Ryan, who's the prize in this relationship? And he said me, I'm a client. I said no, there's only one, mike Kitko. There's clients everywhere. There's only one, mike Kitko. I'm the prize. I'm the prize.

Speaker 1:

Money flows from problem to solution. Who had the problem? He had the problem. Who had the solution? Money flows from problem to solution. I'm the prize. Who had the solution? Money flows from problem to solution. I'm the prize. I got the solution. You got a problem. I don't have a problem. You got a problem. Give me your money and I'll help you solve the problem, and if you think you're the prize, I'll give you your money back. Get out of my car. Plenty of clients in the world. There's only one, mike Kitko. Okay, nobody's built like me. Nobody's built like me.

Speaker 1:

I got one more thing to say before I take another question. Okay, think about this. There's an estimate.

Speaker 1:

Some smart scientist, some mathematician said that there was a 1 in 400 trillion trillion, with a T, 1 in 400 trillion chance that you would be born. 1 in 400 trillion chance. You are a walking, talking, breathing miracle. Do you know what had to happen in 16 billion years of this universe? What had to happen for you to be here, for your mom to meet your dad and, at that perfect time, with all those sperm flying, for the strongest sperm to turn into you? One in 400 trillion chance, and that's probably even low. You are, you're the, you're the product of the strongest sperm. Yeah, absolutely so. But check this out. You are on a big rock that's turning a thousand miles an hour. That's hurling 66,000 miles an hour through the universe around this big ball of gas. That's 20 million degrees of core temperature and yet all the air that you need is all around you and food grows out of the ground and water falls from the sky. You're a walking, talking, breathing, miracle kind of act, like it all right makes sense. 10 minutes, I got 10 minutes, guys.

Speaker 2:

Go ahead.

Speaker 1:

I'm getting ready to show you. I got 10 minutes. Thank you for the question. I got 10 minutes left. I'm going to show you, not everything, but I'll talk through everything, all right. So we'll get to that now and then I'll open it back up for questions.

Speaker 1:

I'm a speaker. I get paid to speak. Okay, I get Angie and I fly when we get a speaking engagement. Sometimes we've flown to Dallas, we've flown places. You know, people pay us to come somewhere else. They put us up in accommodations and they pay us and it's all. So I get up here and leave the room better than I found it. You guys think I left the room better than I found it? Are you guys seeing life a little differently than you did when you walk in? Okay, that's, that's why they pay me, so that everyone leaves better.

Speaker 1:

Unless you're not listening, then you didn't want it. You didn't want to improve. You wanted things to improve for you, but you didn't want to improve. Okay, I run workshops. Kelly came. Kelly came to one of my workshops before Um. It's a small group, like 30 to 40 people, and for two days I just pour into them and I just crack them open and help them see things differently. All right. A lot of energy in that, a lot of a lot of results. People improve, people see the world differently and and I get paid to run workshops.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I have a podcast. My business is Interwealth Global. My podcast is the Interwealth Podcast. I'm not very creative with that name, all right, but I've got 207 episodes. My podcast has been listened to on six continents, 88 countries, 1500 cities around the world. That my voice has been heard. I've got a little. I've had a little bit of an impact in this world, all right, and that wasn't because it wasn't because I have 207 episodes that the impact happened. It's because that I chose to start impacting the world instead of trying to just take from the world.

Speaker 1:

Make sense Okay, find what you love or find what you're good at. Find what you love what people need and what they'll pay you for, and you'll never, ever have to work again. And I'm a published author. So I've got a new book coming out and I'll. I've got a new book coming out August 19th. It's called Inner World, outer World, and it's really about helping you understand how, like to go inside and understand what's happening in here, because most people everyone's scared. Not everybody admits they're scared, especially you knucklehead, bonehead men, guys. They, like most men, won't, won't, won't share that. They're scared, but everybody's scared in some way, shape or form. But it's go in there, go inside and understand what's happening in your body so that you can understand how to how to more impactfully change the world. All right, and and like rearrange your circumstances from a powerful internal position instead of like insecurity and trying to prove something to somebody Makes sense.

Speaker 1:

So I also have a mastermind, and a mastermind is a group of people that they pay us to be part of our group, and I don't have a picture of it here, but we've done. We've got a retreat coming up in Park City, utah, in September. We've taken our group and they pay us to do this. They pay us to travel and to host these retreats. We've been to Colorado, we've been to Gatlinburg, tennessee, we've been to the Outer Banks, we've been to Sedona, arizona. We've been all over the place with our mastermind. They pay us to be part of our group so that I can teach them.

Speaker 1:

And then, last one, I have private clients. So I work one-on-one with people and they pay me. We jump on a phone every week and they pay me so I could help guide and just help them level up in their life. Does it make sense? Sound pretty cool? It's not perfect for all you guys. It's perfect for me. I'm not. I'm not encouraging you to be that. I'm encouraging you to find what's in here that you want to express in the world and to be that. Decide who to be and go be it.

Speaker 1:

I've built a life. We've built a life that's perfect for us. We love to travel and when we travel, I'm writing. And when we travel, we record podcasts. And when we travel, we're on our mastermind calls and when we travel, I'm on one-on-one calls.

Speaker 1:

We don't stop life to do business and we don't stop business to do life. They're merged and we've built our business around our lifestyle and not our lifestyle around our business. Most people, they had their business and their money and then they fill in the cracks with life. We deal with the opposite. We live life and we do business from our life. Make sense Cool stuff, guys. That barcode.

Speaker 1:

This new book Inner World Outer World comes out August 19th. It just happens to be my birthday, so you've got a couple more shopping days before my birthday, all right, but if you want to give me a present, go grab a copy of my book. On August 19th It'll be available on Amazon, all right, but that barcode is going to take you to our. It's going to give you access to our book launch party that we're going to have in St Louis. Our website, the podcast and, just you know, all our social media feeds. Go connect with us, go connect with me. These are mostly my links, but jump on my Facebook page, my Instagram, and we share some stuff there and you'll see a little bit. Stay connected, you'll see a little bit more about our life. You'll see. Well, next week we'll go to Cabo, we'll record a podcast episode, we'll tell you kind of what's going on in our life in Cabo and we just we share our life and business together. All right, what?

Speaker 2:

other questions. You have guys, yeah, but Caleb, I remembered. No, somehow does every kid tired of having your flights and business.

Speaker 1:

No, no. So what people? Yet you guys ever heard of a life coach? You ever heard of a life coach? You ever heard of a life coach? Well, that's what people call me. It doesn't feel really right for me, but, caleb, I naturally do this all the time. That would be stopping. This would be like giving up a part of myself. Okay, does that make sense? I don't start doing this. I wake up doing this and my she can she can attest to it. I don't. I don't turn on this mic and turn off another mic. There's only one mic. You get what you get.

Speaker 2:

You don't throw a fit do y'all ever know people who are retired and then, but they don't actually stop doing something to go do something else that they love. So what is retirement really mean?

Speaker 1:

to understand what you really want to do and who you want to be. You can build a life around your authenticity, so you never have to turn yourself for any part of you on or off. All right, not not many. Not many are willing or courageous enough to try that.

Speaker 2:

You travel a lot Sometimes.

Speaker 1:

I know you both, I get tired, I get tired of traveling, but then we just, you know, we just don't travel for a little bit and then we go travel when we're ready. We went, we took our girls, our daughters our older daughter just graduated college and we took our thank you. I got five minutes, guys, that's what that means. It doesn't mean she's going to hit me. She will. We took our girls to Cancun as a graduation present and when we got home it was pretty exhausting and as soon as we got home my wife booked another trip. So the night that we got home because we love to travel that much and there's times we get tired, we just stop, but we don't stop all the business activity, just rearrange things a little bit.

Speaker 1:

Any other questions? Guys? Listen, connect with me, stay connected, like share our stuff. Go listen to some podcast episodes. There's some some. Really, she and I have four podcast episodes where where it's just she and I talking and talking about our, the collapse of our marriage and the rebuild of our marriage and rebuild of our, our life and all of it. All right, any anything else what's your favorite color?

Speaker 2:

black, black.

Speaker 1:

Everything's black, everything's black. I only have black shirts, so, and I've got my favorite shirt. That's a pullover. I got four of them, same color, same style. I don't like, yeah, but why make that decision every day? Why make that decision every day? Why make that decision every day? If there's a certain shirt that I feel really, really good in and I love the style, why vary from it? All right, all right, guys, thank you for listening and I hope your lives are better because of this. If not, if not, it's because you weren't listening. Weren't listening. If you enjoyed what you heard and you want to learn more, go to wwwinnerwealthglobalcom for more tools and resources.