Bernie Borges [00:00:00]:
Hello, my midlife friend. This is Bernie Borges, your host to the Midlife fulfilled podcast. And this is episode 165, a takeaway episode from episode 164, my conversation with Christy Jones. You know the drill. On takeaway episodes, I summarize the key discussion points from the previous episode, and then I hone in on one key takeaway that I wanna emphasize to you. And then I issue you a challenge to consider on this topic. 1st, let me begin by reintroducing you to Christy Jones. Christy is in her fifties, and she’s currently a sales consultant in the b to b technology world.
Bernie Borges [00:00:42]:
Christy’s career began in retail right out of college. After doing a stint with a fortune 5 100 retail company, she joined a regional retailer, and she reached a point by the age of 30 where she was no longer enjoying her work. She just wasn’t fulfilled. So she set out to find a new company to work for. Now, she didn’t know what job she was looking for, but she knew the value of her skills and she knew the vibe, her words, that she was looking for in a company, and she found it. After spending some years at that company, one day she found herself looking for a job again. So she reached out to her network, and one thing led to another, and she started consulting for tech companies, helping them build and train their sales teams. Now she became a sales consultant because all that she had done in her career led her to doing that.
Bernie Borges [00:01:38]:
Now, actually, there’s more to Christy’s story. But before I proceed any further with this takeaway episode, I wanna summarize 3 key discussion points from our conversation on episode 164 that lead me to my takeaway. Point number 1, embracing change. Christie’s transition from the corporate world to a small business was a pivotal decision for her that led to both personal and professional growth, and she embraced the new opportunities that really leverage her skills without regard for a job title. Number 2, networking pays off. Building genuine connections with business owners opened doors for Christy to unexpected opportunities and shaped her fulfilling career path. She shares insights on the power of genuine relationship building with an attitude of doing the right thing, and the right things will happen. And number 3.
Bernie Borges [00:02:38]:
Her superpower of generosity. Christy recognized that her superpower is generosity with her time and her knowledge. In other words, her expertise. She shares how she always has 30 minutes for anyone who wants her health, expecting nothing in return. Her superpower has benefited her in many ways without ever seeking personal gain. And this is where I wanna land for my takeaway episode from my conversation with Christy on her superpower of generosity, which is really what I mean when I said that there’s more to her story. Here’s what I mean. Christy has an attitude of doing the right thing and the right thing will happen.
Bernie Borges [00:03:24]:
Well, part of this mantra includes being available to anyone who needs her help. She says that she has 30 minutes for anyone that needs her health, whether it’s helping review their resume and rewrite it, or review and write a business plan, even reviewing and editing a Career John letter. Christie calls this her superpower. But why? Well, first, I want to address the fact that she calls it her superpower. I mean, this is a high degree of self awareness. For Christy to acknowledge that generosity with her time and talent is her superpower is very, very admirable. It’s admirable because she always does it expecting nothing in return. Now not everyone recognizes their superpower.
Bernie Borges [00:04:16]:
On the surface, it sounds a little cavalier. I have a superpower. If someone heard you say this, they might think that you’re just full of yourself. Actually, I believe strongly that we are well served to know our strengths and weaknesses. Now that’s pretty cliche, isn’t it? Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. But how many people do you know that say, one of my strengths is my superpower? You know, provided that it’s said in humility and, of course, that it’s true, it’s an amazing attribute to have. In Christy’s case, she has a journalism degree, which she uses to help people with important writing projects, like a resume or a business plan. She also has a lot of valuable experience as a tech sales leader.
Bernie Borges [00:05:05]:
So when she’s asked sales advice, she willingly gives it. Now, here’s the thing, she doesn’t expect anything in return. So what happens when you are of service to others expecting nothing in return? I think you know the answer. It comes back to you whether or not you seek it. This is what Christy means when she says that she always did the right thing and the right thing always happens. For example, when she met with a networking colleague who picked her brain about how to build a sales team, which by the way is called free consulting, but look what happened. She was just doing the right thing. And at the end of their lunch discussion, he asked her if she knew someone who could help him implement these plans.
Bernie Borges [00:05:55]:
I wish I was a fly on the wall in that conversation. First of all, the fact that he asked that question makes me wonder if he was leading the witness. I mean, health. You just spent an hour, not 30 minutes, getting a brain dump from a sales expert, and you want her to suggest someone else to help you implement it? Really? Alright. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest that he was hoping that she would volunteer to help him. At this point in the conversation, he had to have been blown away by Christy’s expertise, her superpower. And he was probably wondering, can I even afford Christy? So again, back to this superpower concept. I wanna tell you my superpower.
Bernie Borges [00:06:43]:
1st, I’ll say that what I’m gonna share with you is something that I’ve been doing for about 10 years now. And I’ve been told by many people that I do it well. And after giving it some thought, I realized that I do do it well. In fact, I think it’s my superpower. So I’ll share it with you. But before I tell you, I wonder if you can guess it. Now you may not know me personally. So how could you possibly know my superpower? Well, if you’ve listened to 10, 20, or more episodes on the Midlife Fulfilled podcast, you would know my superpower.
Bernie Borges [00:07:24]:
You see, I’ve been told by many people that I’m an effective podcast interviewer. I’ve been told that I carry a conversation on a podcast episode thoughtfully and with purpose. Now if there’s any truth to this, it might be because I’ve conducted more than 400 interviews across 3 podcast shows during the past 10 years, including a 160 plus on the Midlife Fulfilled podcast. Now in one of my previous podcast shows, I would take notes during the interview while I was recording the podcast. And then at the end of the interview, I would recap the conversation with a key takeaway message from the conversation. None of it was rehearsed. As I mentioned, I took notes during the recording, and then I shared my takeaway at the end along with the summary of the conversation. Now I don’t do that on the Midlife Fulfill podcast, but I’ve had many guests tell me after we stopped recording that the interview that we just concluded was like a therapy session.
Bernie Borges [00:08:33]:
Now look, I am no therapist, but I am an experienced interviewer and I do prepare for each interview. For me, the magic is in the preparation. It’s the preparation that fuels me to conduct an effective interview. So there you have it. That’s my superpower, and I say it with confidence and humility. Just the same as Christy Jones says with confidence and humility that her superpower is generosity with her time and her talent health people any way that she can help them. So my challenge to you is this, and you’ll probably guess what it is. What is your superpower? If you know it, say it to yourself.
Bernie Borges [00:09:20]:
Wear it proudly. Are you using your superpower? Are you fulfilled by using your superpower? And if you don’t know your superpower, why not? Now look. I’m not criticizing you. I’m asking you, why don’t you know your superpower? Have you thought about it? Have you asked others that know you health, what is your superpower? Try this experiment. Offer to tell someone that you know their superpower and ask this person to tell you your superpower. Try this with several people. If you hear the same superpower described of you 3 times, that’s the magic number, my friend. You see, once is interesting.
Bernie Borges [00:10:09]:
Twice is a coincidence, but 3 times, that’s a trend. And in this context, the trend would be your superpower. Once you know your superpower, harness it to help others and to flourish in your own life. Your superpower might help you enjoy fulfillment in 1 or more of the 5 pillars, health, fitness, career, relationships, or legacy. Reflecting back on Christie’s superpower, my impression is that it’s feeding fulfillment in her career, relationships, and legacy pillars. Wow. That’s 3 out of the 5 pillars. Now I would say the same for me.
Bernie Borges [00:10:52]:
My interviewing superpower contributes to fulfillment in the same three pillars. Career, relationships, and legacy. Not bad. Hey. I wanna thank Christy Jones for joining me on episode 164. Her b f to a f story is more than inspiring. Her story set the bar a little higher for me. Now I won’t speak for you because I can’t, but I’m setting the bar higher by holding myself accountable to use my superpower to enjoy fulfillment across the three pillars that I mentioned.
Bernie Borges [00:11:25]:
And I hope that you’ll do the same with your superpower. Hold yourself accountable for using your superpower to make the world a little bit better. Hey. I wanna remind you that you can watch my video recording with Christy Jones on episode 164 on the Midlife Fulfilled YouTube channel. That’s linked up in the show notes page. Hey. My next guest episode features Kimmy Seltzer. Kimmy is a dating coach and a confidence therapist for people over 40.
Bernie Borges [00:11:56]:
Now this is a topic that I have not covered on the Midlife Fulfill podcast before. So I invite you to tune in whether or not you’re in the dating scene. I’m not in the dating scene, and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation, and I know that you will as well. So don’t miss this episode. And, hey, if you’re a new listener, welcome. And I invite you to hit the subscribe button on your podcast player so that you don’t miss this episode as well as future episodes. You know what time it is, my friend. It’s that time when I remind you that if you’re 80% fulfilled, you’re doing great.
Bernie Borges [00:12:31]:
And if you wanna know how I know this, listen to episode 100 where I explain it. I’ll see you on episode 166. I’ll see you then.
