Vision Wins!

Woodrow Crowell here. When you train one pastor in Ecuador, some donor friends are standing by to train a second pastor. Call 833-443-5467 or go online at trainapaster.com.

Every gift counts and now every gift is doubled. trainapaster.com. Share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Over the years we've been at the Truth Network and on Truth Talk, Dave Jones, not the famous pirate, but the famous hockey player, the guy who's played pro hockey, who's had his nose broken, who's been on the ice, been in the grind, he's seen the puck, he's done the face-offs, and he has helped thousands of people, businesses, pastors, leaders, even, don't tell anybody we said this, Steve Noble, develop and really crystallize their vision. Now the subtitle, Dave, I really like, Seven Strategies for Mental Toughness in Life and Sports.

Vision wins. That's the big title. First of all, congratulations on this book, man. Thanks, man.

Appreciate it. It's something I've been wanting to do for the last probably four or five years and John Gordon has been a big influence of mine over the years and I happened to chaperone him several years ago through FCA hockey and was able to just ask him how he writes his books. I love John, I love his philosophy in life, I love his books, I'm not familiar with them, but Training Camp is a big book that he wrote, and Energy Bus, and so I'm just really influenced by him and how he's able to tell his story.

And so I'm just so thankful for him and I was able to kind of pick his brain on how to write a book and it took me about five years to figure it out but I ended up figuring out the format and everything and it's a book that I'm super proud of. Okay, so I'm inviting you to beat us up, to give us a big body check, okay, like we're on the hockey ice, and I want you to tell us the problem, like the glaring lack of vision problem. Now this is going to end with some really good news because at some point in this segment or the next, you're going to give us some practical takeaways on how our pastors, how our leaders, how moms and dads can have a winning vision, per the name of your book, Vision Wins. So we're going to get there, but talk about what pain, maybe in your own life, led you to say, man, we've got to address this vision issue. Why is it so important?

Why are you going there? So there was a gallop poll several years that came out that said that 68% of the US economy is disengaged. So one in three people don't like what they're doing. And the model that we have is this idea that we go to school, we get good grades, we get a job, we learn a skill, we get paid from that skill. And when you get paid for a skill, there's really no fulfillment in that. Whereas in God's model, what I believe is that you were put here for a purpose. You were put on the planet to glorify Him with your talents and your abilities.

And how do you glorify the Lord? What is it that you're excited about every day, that you're passionate about going after? So vision is a short, portable, easy to understand, memorable, inspiring statement that is your North Star. It's something that you aspire to do or become. And so when you have vision and you have this inspiration, you have this purpose and value in your life, then you can conquer great things.

You just have that internal motivator to get up every day. So it's really kind of where you're going. I mean, we complicate vision. I'll just tell you the truth. In my life, time and time again, and even when we first connected, when I'm hearing things like, you really need a vision statement, it literally kind of offset me. Like, I want to procrastinate meeting with you anymore. Because all of a sudden I'm like, oh no, I don't understand that. I'm going to get picked apart. But simplify it for us. What is vision?

I spend a lot more time on the basketball court than I did in the classroom. I'm not the brightest knife in the drawer. But for anyone listening, what is a good vision? And the Bible does say without vision, the people perish where there's no vision.

And so it's important. And also the reference I like to use Habakkuk 2-2 where Habakkuk goes up on the watchtower and he's frustrated with God and God replies with write the vision on a tablet, make it plain so that a runner running by can see it and carry it with him. So in our time today, you think about like a billboard. You're driving down the road and you see a billboard and it says McDonald's next exit.

That's something that's easy, that's portable, it's simple. It's 7-11 words, no conjunctions. McDonald's next exit. When you get a billboard that has more than seven words and conjunctions, you get lost. Yeah, you can't even read it.

What are they communicating? There's like 20 different things spitting out at you. So I don't want to make this a political conversation, but everybody's kind of familiar with politics. So let's talk about what inspires a nation, perhaps a world. If we go back to Obama, remember his vision? Change yes we can. Very simple. Now the how, I'll get you a little technical geek out on here in just a little bit, but the vision is actually a different part of the brain.

It's the Olympic side of the brain where emotion is at. So when you talk about change yes we can, it's something that's emotional. The how-tos of what Obama was exactly what he was going to do, he really didn't know.

But change yes we can. If we fast forward to Donald Trump, make America great again. That was something aspirational.

They even made a MAGA, they even made a little acronym off of that short portable, easy to understand, memorable statement. So it's something that you aspire to do, right? And Trump had an idea of what he wanted to do just like Obama, but the idea is that it's not a political statement again, it's a matter of what is this statement that you can gravitate to and have your North Star.

One of the best ones I've ever worked with was Joe Schmidt. He sold his company for some money and said, okay, what am I going to do next in my life? And he decided to go into modern slavery, the anti-modern day slavery.

And so the vision we came up with was to end slavery. Just that simple? That simple. And how inspirational is that?

Who doesn't want to end slavery? Very basic. It's very simple. But it can also be hollow when you think about that motivational speaker that gives a great slogan about, you know, get rich quick. And you got a thousand people that sign up and give them their $500 and the guy ends up being a charlatan. So the how-to, the vision sounds good, the how-to could be crummy. It may not ever end a slavery.

You know, you want it to actually, you want to be implemented. And I know in Joe's case, he's done a lot to actually carry that out. A lot of Christians say my vision is to be, you know, I want to be a vibrant witness for Christ. But maybe like if you follow him around the vision, where the shoe leather hits the pavement, maybe it didn't happen that way. Or churches say we want to love and build our community, but if you go there, it's just like this holy huddle and they're never getting outside the walls.

Right. So the application then it's got to be rigorous, it's got to be detailed and you got to follow through. So yeah, another example is, man, Lord, I just want to be a doctor. Lord, why am I not a doctor? And you say, well, have you gone to school?

No, I haven't gone to school yet, but my Lord can do all things through crisis. So it takes, you say getting up and it takes getting, putting the rubber to the road there. Yeah, there's got to be some detail. So the vision is where it starts. Now vision wins.

So you go these seven strategies for mental toughness in life and sports. This is your book. I'm holding it. Yeah. A beautiful signed copy with a note to stew. It's kind of cool right here.

Dated and everything. I'm with Dave Jones, the author of this book. This is a, you're going to be so encouraged. And I pray that you'll share this as to we're gonna make this a podcast with all your friends.

Just about the importance of vision. Dave, you've helped a lot of people. You've helped a lot of folks that are in bad shape, like maybe struggling, maybe dealing with bankruptcy, dealing with, you know, loss of job, loss of marriage, you know, this and that.

Church is dying and you've helped them really, you've come alongside and been a Barnabas, but have been a Paul in a lot of these guys' lives. What, what's the key there? Like what, where do you start? Like with someone, they come in, like, I want to, I need a vision. It's a great question and it really starts with awareness. And just to simplify, am I aware that I really am just going through the motions, right? Am I aware that I may lack some inspiration? If you can get to the point where like I'm aware that what I'm doing right now isn't working, that's the first step. And once you're aware to it, then you can have empathy towards it, right? And so when you have empathy towards something, you can give it some credibility and you can slow down and start to think about, all right, yeah, this isn't working, man.

What, what is it that I need in my life? And so, you know, we have visions where we're, you know, we're driving down the, driving down the road and we go, you know what, I'm going to go do this. Oh, I got to go paint the house. Oh, I forgot about this. I got to have this idea. An idea is different than a vision statement. And that's where when you have this short, portable, easy to understand, memorable, inspiring statement, it's seven to 11 words, no conjunction. Then you really put, you know, this, this idea, this is what I want to become.

This is my North star. Then it's something that will stick with you. And that's so short. So it's portable. Okay. Short portable folks write this down. Now this is key.

Your vision statement should be short, portable, easy to understand, easy to understand seven to 11 words, no conjunction, no conjunctions and, and, and, and health and wellness. So we're going to talk about blind spots when we come back. Okay.

Because this is a big thing. And I, I love the pothole spotters in my life. I don't like them at the moment they're exposing and they're doing something sharpening iron there, but I love those faithful wounds of a friend from Proverbs 27. Wound us a little bit when we come back and then give us some good practical guides to having a Godly vision statement that's going to make a difference in our world. Okay. I want to talk about that when we come back with Dave Jones's book, Vision Winds. I'm on location in Cary, North Carolina, Apex, Cary, you know, right kind of in the middle, I guess.

Right. We're in this area, beautiful day on the patio of Panera Bread. You may hear some coffee cups clinking and you may hear some, some seventies music.

And, but you are going to hear Dave and Stu when we come back right here on Truth Talk. What is your vision? Even greater question. What's God's vision for you? What is he calling you to?

God has put a unique DNA in every human being. And I really, and he gets a lot of flack for it, but I really like some of the places that Rick Warren went in his book, The Purpose Driven Life. Even though people criticize and all that, but just fundamentally, he helped people think about what am I, what on earth am I here for?

And what is God's design for my life? And I have a friend that you all get to sit on the front row and listen to right now. And he talked to you, Dave Jones, what a treat to talk to this guy, pro hockey player. He's a dad. He's a coach.

I don't know many things you aren't. You're working on your doctorate degree. You've got a lot of degrees, but you wrote this book, Vision Winds. And we're talking about the book and we're talking about blind spots, how to identify them and what people say about you behind your back that may or may not be true.

But how can you leverage that to a good crystal vision? How can you have a vision statement? Dave, I want you to, before we go there, tell everyone real quick, you've written this book almost in a real readable parable style. I really kind of like your format. Tell everyone a little bit about the book Vision Winds in general. Now don't give away the punchline, but talk about kind of how you're approaching the seven strategies for mental toughness in life and sports. So I wanted to write a book, not that there's anything wrong with John Maxwell and his seven steps to highly effective leadership, you know, and that was kind of like step one, step two.

I wanted to write a book that was more along the lines of a fable, like a story. And so Kelly and Elliott, they grew up in Dinah, Minnesota. Dinah, Minnesota is the mecca of hockey. They grew up pond hockey rivals. So Kelly grows up on Minnehaha Boulevard and Elliott grows up on Brookview.

And in between is a pond, right? And the pond freezes over and so they're pond hockey rivals and they become high school sweethearts. And Elliott, Kelly goes on to win four state championships.

Elliott wins two and gets drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes. I'm glad you brought it back to Carolina. You had to get it back to God's country.

In fact, they won that World Cup a few years ago. And you saw the Truth Truck parked outside. It was parked outside because it broke down. We were at the Promise Keepers. We were like on the front row right outside the Coliseum at the Promise Keepers the night before. Game seven of the World Cup was the next night and we had two flat tires.

We couldn't find a big enough truck to haul that thing. So we sat there and we got exposure to 100,000 people, including you. Because you're one of the 20 people that call us at H2.

What's your ugly truck doing? You're the guy that taught me how to market, man. I'm trying to implement the M is Good. And that's your company M is Good.

So you started that company. I want to get into that a little bit in a second. But going back, so this couple they meet and he's playing for the Carolina Hurricanes.

He's drafted, but he's not playing. I don't want to give too much away, but basically tragedy happens and it challenges his vision of him playing professional hockey. Which is a challenge that we all have. We talked about pitfalls, land mines, things that are happening.

And blind spots. In a blind spot in our world right now is identity and performance. So how do we see ourselves as based upon our bank account, how many houses we have, how well our business is doing. And in the sport world, hockey, it's how much time on ice I have.

Basketball is probably how many free throws or how many points I have. It's all an identity of who we are based upon our performance. And think about how social media drives that with likes and shares and like I post something and how many people even care all of a sudden.

And then my daughter and I were talking about how a lot of young ladies and young men will post things. They have body image identity stuff going on. And it's a real challenge. It's a real issue.

It is a very big issue in our world today. And so the truth is that that identity of who you are is a lie. It's a lie.

That's the truth. Whereas your identity in Christ is who you are. God loves you regardless of what you do. So we equate what we do with who we are, which is a lie. So what you do is not who you are. One author said sometimes we become human doings instead of human beings. And so we mask with just activity.

We mask with our bank accounts. A lot of times the biggest talker in the room is the one with the poor self image. So it's like just thinking back in terms of who am I in Christ? And that's what Ellie and Kelly have to deal with in this book is who am I in Christ?

Which is a big shift in the performance world. So you're taking us through their story just like you would help disciple another Christian to get them to what God says about them, their identity in Christ and what God's vision and what their vision statement should be. And the book is Vision Wins.

The author is Dave Jones. Seven strategies for mental toughness in life and sports. And of course, he's going to tie it to hockey because he's a hockey guy. And of course, he's going to start in the hockey epicenter of the world, Minnesota.

And then, of course, he's going to bring it down to North Carolina. And so I really like that. And I want everyone to get this book and it'll be a great read. But then they meet J.J. and you've kind of been like a J.J. in a lot of people's lives.

Yeah. So that's that's the secret of the book. I'm just going to reveal that I am J.J. Oh, gosh.

We weren't supposed to show that. But we won't get into the detail. We'll let people discover the cool narrative in there about that and how that. But really, that's something that I want you to really hone in on because God's called you into the space of whether it's pastors, whether it's business leaders, whether it's wild and crazy talk show hosts, you know, like Steve Noble. And I'm not talking names here, but, you know, you know, you have been a real catalyst.

Gosh. Tell us about this phone way back. How did God call you? First of all, how did you get saved? And then how did you end up in this coaching space that's really blown up?

So I I play pro hockey in Europe. I came home and I started working, selling TV advertisements with Fox TV. And I was in my cubicle one day.

This is back in June of 2000. So I stopped my pro hockey career in 1998. So I had a couple of years off there, just kind of thumbing through some things. But I was really just sitting my cubicle and I said, Lord, what do you have for my life?

Because this ain't it. And I just immediately he gave me marketing ministries. And I said, OK, that's a dumb name. Marketing and Ministries, two very common names.

Right. And so I didn't know what I was doing. I hired a lawyer. The lawyer basically found out that the name was available, marketing ministries.

I said, OK. So I registered the name. Now, I've since since 2009, I've rebranded the companies.

Now I am as good. But the same philosophy, the same vertical is helping men and women of God across the world with their vision, mission, core values. I have a team that does a lot of Web site development, a lot of messaging, email.

Today, we manage a lot of Facebook ads and Google ads management. And so. So, yeah. So it was just really listening to the Holy Spirit of what's next in my life. I mean, people say, well, what's next? What how did you figure out? I don't know. I just, you know, you just got to figure it out. Right.

It's OK to switch your intuition or the spirits telling you just go do it. Did you grow up in a Christian home, like with a faith background? I did not. Wow. I did not. So who introduced you to Christ?

My brother went to Moody Bible, Chicago. Yeah. And I won the state championship in Pennsylvania and went out and had a couple of drinks with my buddies. And because we won the championship and the next day I was hungover. My brother happened to be home on on break and said, Dave, do you want to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

And I said, anything with this man. And so I received Jesus then at 16 years old. That is something, man. That is what a deal.

What an interesting contrast. The guy just dropped that verse in my heart just now. Ephesians 5, 18.

Be not drunk with wine. Be filled with the spirit. And you went from that being controlled by something else, maybe something foreign and really your own heart. We're all sinners.

Like we're all our testimonies are all different, but we're all raised from death to life. And so you went from that to being controlled by and occupied by becoming the body, became the temple, the Holy Spirit. So your life changed, totally changed. Unreal.

Yeah. And I chase I chase performance and identity for the next five years or so. And then I just realized how miserable I was.

I didn't like myself. Practical steps to developing a godly vision and then implementing that. Not just not just talk.

Talk is cheap. Faith about works is dead when we come back with Dave Jones. What is your vision? What is your identity? You've just heard Dave Jones share a little bit about his and how God called him to help other people find their vision for Christ. What's the most satisfying thing you do at your coaching marketplace ministries ministry? M is good. You're consulting five Fortune 500 companies.

You're consulting small 100 member congregation pastors. What's the most satisfying thing you do? I think providing clarity on where we're going. You know, I kind of I use this analogy before, you know, like when you know, when you ever bungee jumped, you know, you jump off and you know, you're going down, but there's that spring that pulls you back up. And you really don't know if you're going up or down. You're kind of like grabbing your limbo. Yeah, your limbo. Like it's just a lot of stress, doubt, anxiety, fear. And what the heck is next for me?

And I don't know. And so I think the most gratifying thing is just providing direction. You know, when you get that North Star, that vision, you know, you have a little bit direction. And then you shore it up with missional statements and then a brand promise.

And then you put a curriculum behind it. And now and now you can move somewhere. Right. Like you can create something. You know, you can have value in what God's called you to do.

That's that's the biggest thing that I get excited about. And you're tethering all that to finding your identity in Jesus, which is really a big deal. It's a switch because we find our identity in performance.

Yeah. And what people say about us. And we run it. We bump into someone, another dude in a tie. We say, what do you do?

Yeah, what do you do? And then all of a sudden what he says next. I have I'm now passing an internal indictment on his whole life as opposed to who he really is. See, the truth of it, Stu, is you are a father. You're a grandfather now. Right. You're a business owner. Right. So when somebody says, what do you do? They're really saying, how do you make money? Which is not what you do.

Right. There's more to you than just making money. So it's a little bit of a common phrase that we use. They just kind of open the conversation.

But it's really not what we do. And so through this, maybe you're you're dealing with a secular client who don't even know about God, but you're using biblical principles in your kingdom minded way. And you have probably had opportunities to point people to Jesus through through all kinds of things. Fellowship of Christian Athletes and through your consulting and through the hockey and the camps and the clinics you've done and all that stuff. Yeah.

And I wouldn't be remiss if I didn't bring this up. Rick Randazzo at FC Hockey is very inspirational in this book in terms of leading with vision. Him and his wife, Shannon, are just amazing men and women of God that have gone out when all things shed don't go.

They went anyway and they're leading other men and women of God to Christ. He's the founder of FCA Hockey, right? Yes. OK. And we are at Panera in beautiful Cary, North Carolina, where it's sunny, but there's also maybe a little bit of noise. And there's a U2 song that just came up.

I think they're still trying to find what they're looking for somewhere there. But Rick, the founder of FCA Hockey, I'm with Dave Jones. I'm Stu Everson. Thank you all for being here, talking about vision, clarity, talking about seeing your blind spots. What's God's plan for your life?

Just a fundamental question that's so profound and so deep. Dave has really hit a home run with this book, Vision Wins, seven strategies for mental toughness in life and sports. He's put it in the form of a fable or a story about Elliot and Kelly and their journey to find their identity and then to find God's vision for their life. This is what Rick, the founder of FCA Hockey, who you just gave a shout out to, said about your book. He said, Dave really inspired me with this book.

I love the story of Kelly and Elliot, their faith walk and how vision can win when you apply it to your life. A must read for coaches, athletes and all believers. So what do you say it out there to all the coaches, athletes and believers about why they need to get a copy of Vision Wins and why they need to dial into this idea of having a true, clear vision or vision statement for your life? I think no matter where you're at and what your SES is, your social economic status is, you can always point to, am I making an impact through the lens of what God has called me to do? That's a question.

No matter how many cars, how many houses you have, how many commas you have in your bank, it really doesn't matter. We feel fulfilled through what God has called us to do. And as a practical step, I would say that there's probably one word that it boils down to that you want to go do, that you aspire to become. So we talked about Joe earlier in Freedom United is to end slavery.

So he has one word with slavery. What do I want to do with it? I want to end it. That's aspirational.

It's very simple. But you went through a lot of whiteboarding and a lot of conversations. You did this with our team.

It was very healthy. It was very painful because we had to ask questions like, well, what are we doing wrong? You even surveyed a bunch of our listeners to Truth Talk and the Truth Network and Christian Radio and said, hey, what do you like?

What don't you like? You came back with some great feedback. You really need to do this more. We need to make sure you're communicating this truth, this and that. And so I'm holding a brochure that's a thing. I'm giving this to you. I've never given this to you.

That is what we came up with thanks to your time with our team. A very simple vision statement to experience truth. Truth Network, Truth Talk. We want everyone listening, everyone in the world to experience truth. And the truth is, Stu, that the Bible is truth. Yeah, God's word. Jesus said, you shall know the truth. The truth shall set you free. John 832, which is our theme verse of our whole company. So you helped us get that clarity. So that's a thank you to you.

I may have to get you to autograph that or something like that. But Dave Jones, but you wrote this book Vision Wins. Give us some practical advice to people listening. I want everyone, put your thousand dollar an hour consulting hat on, Dave.

And let's bless everyone out there listening. Give them some takeaway steps that they can take away to improve their vision statement. To really get that identity in check and to get clarity. They're on that bungee.

They're hanging there in midair. Not sure what to do. And then God sends Dave Jones into their life through Truth Talk. Yeah, so the seven strategies, I'll tell you what they are right now and then I'm going to simplify very quickly. But the seven strategy is, step one, what's my purpose? What am I calling you to do?

You have to understand that you're here to glorify the Lord. Number two, what's my vision? Number three, the strategy. How am I going to execute the vision through the strategy? Then how do I communicate it?

What's the brand around it? Am I praying about steps one through five? And then step seven, take action.

A lot of times we take action before we work on the purpose and the vision and the strategy. So to simplify it, we talked about this earlier. One, just be aware. Like, it's one thing to say, you know, everything's fine. But then it's another thing to say, you know what, everything's not fine. You know, the charismatic movement says, you know, like, if you're not doing good all the time, there's something wrong with you.

That's right. The whole prosperity gospel. If you're not flooding, if money's not pouring out your pores, then you got something. Or if you're sick, you're in sin or something like that. But there's a deeper issue though, right? There's a deeper issue.

And what I've found is that that's just not real, the charismatic movement. We all have peaks and valleys. So mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, we are sometimes on a peak and sometimes we're in a valley. Life isn't awesome all the time.

There are peaks and valleys. And so, you know, having that awareness, right, is a step one. Say, you know what, some things need to change. What is it that I need to change? Well, if you're going to change, don't take incremental steps. Just look at it and say, you know what, I need to change for God's glory. I love this vision worksheet you have in the back of the book.

Just another tool you're offering people. The vision statement checklist, how to keep it portable, inspiring, keep it simple, actionable, very good stuff. Questions you can answer. But I think bottom line is, Dave Jones, we all got to look in the mirror.

And we got to say, okay, what's the state of the estate right now? And where am I? Where is God calling me to?

And then we don't have to do this alone. I mean, there's a thing called the body of Christ. And what would you challenge everyone out there about getting a coach, getting a disciple? I mean, we don't use that word enough, but that's what Jesus said. Go make disciples. Yes. Who's discipling you?

Who are you discipling? Speak to that real quick. We were built to be in community. You know, one of the things that the world has told us is go isolate, right? Be by yourself.

Six feet, three feet, whatever it is, you know, that from a biblical standpoint, from my perspective, is a lie. We were built to be in community. We were built to fellowship with other people. This COVID thing has really messed that up because people aren't getting together. And there's some people that are like, there's elderly people that are like, you know, I'd rather die of COVID than not hug my grandkids or not at least see them. They're like, give me all the COVID you want.

But I want to see them and love them. And people are literally dying of loneliness right now. It's sad.

Isn't that crazy? Your final challenge to everyone out there listening, just in terms of people may not even know the Lord. They may not have gotten to that ground level of who is God? What's His will?

Like you did as a championship hockey player, hung over and your brothers hitting you with the King James Bible and leading you to Christ. What would you say to people out there right now, just at the very basis as we get out of here, what would you say? There's something in your spirit that says there's more. And the answer isn't another car.

The answer isn't a bigger boat. The answer isn't another house. There's something in your spirit. And that spirit is just hearing my voice today is that fulfillment of a higher purpose. So whether you believe in God or not, there's something inside of you.

It doesn't change the word of God is true. Just original believe in it. Right.

It's still there. And so that whatever is in your belly right now telling you I need to do something. Don't mask it with, you know, your status, your job, your title. Right.

It's just not going to give you fulfillment. So trust your unction. I love it. I love what Jesus said in John 10. He said, I'm the door. He said, I'm the Good Shepherd. And he said these words.

We quote them all the time. But he said, The thief comes to steal, to kill and destroy. The actual if you look at the Satan's logo, it's arrows in every direction. Everything.

Yeah. And now as soon as you something good happens in the Lord, he's right there to steal that away. He's right there to try to pick the seeds out and to pluck that fruit and to destroy you and remind you of your past and all that. And Jesus said on the on the on the second part of that verse in John 10, 10, he said, But I have come that you might have life and might have it more. So meet Dave Jones at our website. I'm going to put it on Instagram as well and on Twitter.

And the book is Vision Wins Seven Strategies for Mental Toughness in Life and Sports. I want to make sure we're following each other on all those places, too. And because, you know, you've got a lot more followers and likes than I do, but it doesn't change your identity because we are who we are in Christ.

Right. I am who he says I am. I like that song. Dave Jones is the author of a great book. It's an easy read. You'll love it. It'll challenge you on your vision and make sure you share this podcast with someone today. We make this a podcast so you can hear the whole interview if you just caught the tail end. And I'm going to do a little bonus material with Dave that you'll want to hear, too, that will really bless you, too, on identity. God bless you. TruthTalk.com is our website. Follow us on all the social media channels and share the truth, the good news of Jesus, and that he can give you a new identity. Share that with someone before your head hits the pillow tonight. What an awesome visit with Dave Jones in his new book, Vision Wins.

Everyone get that book, read that book. Dave agreed to hang out for just a couple more minutes so I could put him in the hot seat and ask him one of my favorite questions that I've asked all kinds of people. And Dave, the hot seat question is, who is Dave Jones? So Dave Jones unifies excellence in the marketplace. So Dave gravitates towards messes. Things that are messy and things that aren't organized.

And that frustrates Dave. You like it right, don't you? You like dealing with ADHD people like me.

You're like, Stu, what is going on? I'm attracted to it. That's so cool. But that's a giftedness that people, so let me ask you about that. I want to come back to your identity.

I want to come back to like, I want you to put the bow on that package. Before I do that, I want to just, I seem to because I'm into a lot of things and I'm, you look up multitask in the dictionary. And there's a picture of me on two cell phones standing on my head. And I'm not as bad as I used to be. Okay. I'm not even on my meds right now.

Can you believe that? And how, you know, but you're thinking you're, I know what's going on in your mind, but so many folks doing so many things. And it's like, we're going to get to the finish line. And even as believers, we're going to be like, okay, so what did I do? What, you know, like, like, and I'm not trying to meet anyone up and I'm not trying to shame people.

But I just, this has been me for so much of my life and the God's given me, thanks to friends like you that were willing to, you know, knock me in the head and say, stew, shut up, listen, slow down. Laser focus. Where are you going? What are you doing?

What's your main, what's your one? You know, like the power of one written by one of the Steve Jobs top, you know, executives is a huge bestselling book. I mean, but it's not even a Christian book, but it's very Christian. Right. Yeah. You know what, you know, what did Paul say? This one thing I do right. Forgetting was behind Philippians 3 15 and pressing forward toward the mark.

So he was laser focused, you know, that I may know him, you know, those five powerful words in Philippians 3 10. So the question is, how do you get people who are all out there kind of like I have been and maybe will be tomorrow to get to stay focused, to get, you know, to get back on track. In a world of ADHD, in a world of Ritalin, in a world of, of, of social media, in a world of invasive, you know, the social experiment, all that movie.

They need that movie about how the algorithms and all these social media data points. As soon as you say, I'm not looking at my phone anymore, it pops up. There's a birthday and it's late at night and I'm supposed to be doing my prayers. And I'm like, I didn't wish that guy.

Happy birthday today. And it pops up in my deal. You know, they like their enemy.

They're on it. How do you get clarity in a world of chaos? Yeah.

So I've had a lot of counseling classes. Right. And the really it's leading someone like yourself down a road of questions so that you come to the conclusion yourself. Good. Right. So it doesn't help to say, Hey, this is what you need to do. We all, we're all filled with advice.

Right. And so it's really just leading people down that path of what are we doing? Does this make sense? Where are we going? How are we going to make an impact here? Is it measurable?

Do we want to make it measurable? You know, and so just. And so you come to the conclusion yourself. Interesting. Why are you doing that? Why are you spending the majority of your time with the same person and you keep getting sucked into the same situation and you're farther back than you were before?

And it's toxic. Yeah. So, hey, Stu, we had this conversation last week.

How did it change this week? Did it? Wow. You said we're going to do this. You're hanging out over here. You're doing this with this people. You drank this.

You did. You know what I mean? Like it's like, so, OK, how are we moving the ball based on what you said last week? And then enough of those conversations, if you stick with it, it becomes focused.

I like that. But you've got to stick with it. You've got to care about people in your book. Vision wins Dave Jones. It's not you saying, OK, here's Dave Jones vision for your life.

Here's Dave Jones plan for your life. You're trying to help point them to Christ who created them and created their plan. But to get to get a clear vision through questions, through some tough conversations, through a whole beautifully articulated story of a couple to get to that point. Right where they're where they're focused and they know why they're on the planet. They know what they're supposed to do in that clarity. Won't that just positively infiltrate the whole life?

It should show some really good seeds of, OK, what am I doing? Does this make sense? Why am I doing it? Right.

Am I doing it to spend time with myself or to mask something that I'm doing? Kelly and Elliott masked their identity through your sport. Yeah, that's right. It can easily happen.

And we all have fallen in the trap of sport or corporate jobs. Yeah. When you're on the ice, everyone's screaming, yelling. You just you just you just did it. You just had a shoot off.

You won the game. They're carrying you out. You're hoisting that big trophy. But then it's you know, then a year later, you know, you're in a hospital bed and your career is over. And there's not all those screaming fans, which is why a lot of these former pro athletes are hitting dope and they're hitting. They're just trying to find they're trying to get back to where they were.

And so that's why we've got to be grounded in Christ and in the gospel. I know you like basketball. There's a pretty frightening statistic out there that says 65 to 75 percent of all NBA players go bankrupt within three to five years of leaving the NBA. Come on.

And why is that? Because they bought all these toys. And now that they're done getting the having the income of the NBA, they have to feed the toys and they can't feed them anymore. They've overextended themselves. And this is what happens.

We all overextend ourselves. And they're not surrounded by by by Christ identity people. They're surrounded by performance identity people. They're lackeys.

And as soon as you lose the money, they're gone. Just like a prodigal son. He had a big when he had all the money from his dad and all the going on the party. They were there. Then next thing you know, he finds himself looking over with his arm around a pig and the pigs.

It's which is unheard of for especially the Jewish culture. That is so good. So get this book Vision Wins. This has been fun hanging out. We're here.

We need that more. We're in Cary, North Carolina. It's beautiful. This place is good.

You know, the Truth Network has a bunch of stations here. And you are also heard on all these awesome stations across the country. I appreciate that. It's always always awesome.

It's a blessing. And it's a but it's a work in progress. Like so my challenge to you is keep challenging me.

I love it. And but isn't it true that like we always need to even you're clarifying your vision. Yeah.

Like when I get your emails like, man, this guy's doing this now. Like you're always like it's we're not you're not at the point we arrive is what I'm trying to say. Right. Like there's hope. I mean, don't people don't need to feel like they're they got it all together all the time. Right. Absolutely.

We don't know. You know, there's a saying that get your ducks in a row. You ever seen ducks in a row?

That's a good way to close a show out. That's really good. That is really good. Wow.

Maybe at the Peabody, you know, where they march in. That's right. They got them.

But you never see ducks in a row. Wow. That's really good. It's like herding cats.

We want we want to go on that analogy. God bless you, Dave Jones. Get the book Vision Wins.

Give me your website, your best website for folks that are still on this podcast listening. You may have to book it on Amazon, but it's M is good dot com. It's there as well.

You get a signed autograph copy. M is good dot com. And the M stands for M stands for whatever you want it to be. Ministry money. Yeah. Your original ministry name was Ministry Marketing Ministries.

Marketing Ministries. Yeah. Which was kind of I really like that, too. But yeah, I like how you focus and simplified it. And you live here in Raleigh.

You got two kids, two kids, 16 and a 14 year old, been married for 21 years. Awesome. God bless you, man. This is the Truth Network.