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Welcome to Transacting Value, where we talk about practical applications for personal values when dealing with each other and even within ourselves.

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Where we foster a podcast listening experience that lets you hear the power of a value system for managing burnout, establishing boundaries and finding belonging.

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My name is Josh Porthouse, I'm your host and we are your people.

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This is why values still hold value.

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This is Transacting Value.

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I always look at any circumstance or any situation as that character is being tested, to see what I'm going to do.

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Am I going to move forward or am I going to cower?

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Am I going to face my fears or am I going to cower?

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And that's number one for me is resilience.

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Today on Transacting Value, we're talking about how to instigate self-worth, how to educate, how to empower, how to encourage everybody to be able to look inward and validate themselves, because, all things considered, digitization, social media today and what everybody else is saying about us behind our backs hasn't really changed anything.

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The fact is, as individuals in any particular sphere of influence and any capability around the world, we've got to be able to stand on our own and know what we bring to the table.

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So, saying that, while we're talking about this month's core values of quitting, recovery and burnout, we happen to track down a little bit of time in the schedule of the CEO and founder of the Adversity Academy, and he's talking all about leadership and how to better identify what you bring to the table.

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And where does it come from?

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Oh, I don't know.

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Maybe his purple heart, maybe his military service, maybe mental health imbalances, maybe life stresses and challenges, just like the rest of us.

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So stay tuned, because stressors and challenges, just like the rest of us.

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So stay tuned, because that's exactly what we're going to dive into with Michael Allison here in just a couple minutes, and until then, this is Transacting Value, Michael.

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What's up man?

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How you doing, what's going on, Josh.

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It's a pleasure to be here, brother.

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Thanks, dude, I really appreciate the opportunity.

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You're taking some time out of your schedule because I can only assume, based on all the responsibilities that you've got and all the certificates I see on the wall behind you, you're a busy man.

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So thanks for your time.

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Yeah, man, I stay pretty busy man.

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You know we have quite a few different programs and services that we offer.

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Author speech.

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I have two speeches coming up here this month.

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Stay busy, man, but I love the opportunity to get to share my experience, my knowledge, and hopefully I'm always about inspiring people, empowering people to just make an impact.

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So knowledge and hopefully I'm always about inspiring people, empowering people to just make an impact, so hopefully my story, what we do and all those things is beneficial to your audience, man.

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So thank you for having me, bro.

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Yeah, definitely.

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Now, what we're trying to accomplish here on Transacting Value is really twofold right, and it's if you take into account all of your military experience call it frontline community servant leadership experience right.

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EMTs or firefighters, cops, teachers, civil servants, any and all the above we all have this similar type of perspective on the world and I think some of that comes with duty and sacrifice and stress, but some of that also comes from exposure to just broadening perspectives and worldview.

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And so here on the show, I think that's important to convey from both angles.

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All right, now it's loaded.

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You've got a pretty storied career and in-depth history, I think, where we're going to cover a couple of these cool topics.

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But this is what matters in the beginning, I think, of any good relationship who are you, where are you from, dude?

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What kinds of things have shaped your perspective?

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Let's just start there.

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Take a couple minutes.

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Let's hear what you got.

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Yeah, man, it's interesting what has shaped my perspective on life and where I'm at now today, and a lot of people ask me because of how I speak and how I was treated.

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People ask me am I American?

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And I was not born in America.

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I eventually became an American citizen, so I was born in Jamaica and the background, being from Jamaica, is my grandfather's from Cuba and my other grandfather's from London.

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So I grew up with a very diverse family dynamic and when it comes to some of the things that impacted me as a kid, I always talk about adversity, which is why we call our Adversity Academy and I look adversity more so of like.

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It's kind of like your gift and what is your makeup of you and things like that.

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And I say that at a very young age.

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We had a flood.

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Flood took everything that mom and dad gained.

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I found us sitting on top of a roof of our house as a young child, homeless, and seeing my mom and dad trying to figure that out.

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Two years later we hit by Hurricane Gilbert, category 5.

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Hurricane took everything again and our house is not like it is in America, but our roof is made of zinc, so the zincs get blown off from a Category 5 hurricane.

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Mom and dad says, all right, this is enough, we need to get out of here and figure some things out for our kids.

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Mom and dad leaves us with grandparents and they go to New York City and I'm there with my grandparents.

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Eventually we get to move to Miami, Florida.

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Now I'm from Jamaica and Jamaica is like country-ish.

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You know all that stuff.

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Kids can run around, do whatever they want and all those things.

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I'm catching school buses at like five, six years old, all those different types of things, so learning a lot of things on my own as a kid.

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And I come to Miami and if you can think of Miami, it's drugs, crack, prostitutes, ghetto and all those things.

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And that's what I landed up inside of Overtown Florida and now I'm living with my aunt, my uncles and grandma from my grandfather, previous marriages and things like that.

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At a very young age I'm being exposed to these types of things and now we're sleeping on the floor with other family members inside of a room, you know.

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So that transition was a quick whirlwind for me.

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I experienced some other things that I'm pretty sure we'll get to here, but when it comes to perspective, I was a kid that spoke Patois, so I spoke Jamaican, which was not the American dialect.

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So I had to deal with the challenges of understanding how to speak American and gain that dialect to kind of like fit in and wanted to be a part of what's going on in America.

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Eventually my mom and dad did come to Miami, did get us and all those different things.

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I joined the Boy Scouts, had one of the worst experiences that a kid could ever experience on a trip to Washington DC where we was molested and we was beat up and all those different types of things that could impact the kid.

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Fast forward, I played high school football for ACL, MCL back to back, had an opportunity to go to University of Wisconsin.

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I lost that scholarship but growing up in the family that I grew up in, we've always pushed like education, education, get a job, get a job, those types of things.

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So when it came to some of the other things with education, my family was not that versed.

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When it comes to like your grants, your scholarships, all the different things they aid you to go to college.

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So that's when I looked at that.

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They could only pay for one of us to go to college.

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So my sister went to college.

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I've always had an affinity for the Marine Corps, those types of things.

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I had a recruiter named Francisco Noda.

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Me and him became really cool at our school and eventually I joined the Marine Corps at 17 years old and going to the Marine Corps really like gave me a good perspective on life because I didn't have any family members or anything like that could tell me anything about the service.

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So it was whatever recruiter told me, whatever I saw in the video, whatever commercial I seen on TV, is what I knew and I joined and I was in for a rude awakening when I joined boot camp and obviously through everything else that I experienced.

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Man, when you talk about like perspective in life, man, I went to boot camp.

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We served in Parris Island.

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I camped Lejeune.

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I went to Okinawa, Japan, I was on the 31st MEU.

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I went to California.

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I was at Camp Penn.

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Then I was a part of Third Tracks.

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We went to Iraq in 2004 when Fallujah kicked off, had the opportunity to actually go through war, experience war and all the things that came with that Came back, man, I was really distraught.

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I got blown up by a car bomb and at the same time, I had to put my best friend in a body bag.

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When I came back, I went to Quantico, became an instructor there at TBS and I got out of the service after that and I really bottled in a whole bunch of things which is why the concept I always talk about with breaking the bottle and I got out and I never like dealt with anything when it comes to, like, mental health or any of those types of things.

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And I just worked on a railroad, did my thing, and while I was in a railroad, I experienced two suicides, man.

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And after experiencing two suicides that really like put me in a tailspin, man, of like all the things that I could never handle or never could have dealt with, as I just wanted to get through life and not think about my experiences in 2004.

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From there, man, I went to go get some mental health, but it was not the type of help that I needed, especially when someone that's like 20 years old trying to tell me things about life that we do not relate or correlate anything in regards to like my life or things that I've been through.

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So I stopped working for like two years, man, I just went to like work on myself when it comes to like mental health and those types of things and connecting with veterans at the veterans community here down here in Miami, Florida.

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And just to fast forward a little bit, man, so I could finish up my story.

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It's that I took a job in Washington DC.

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I was going through a marriage, I was going through a custody battle, I got a DUI somewhere in between there.

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Then I was going through another divorce and fast forward, man.

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I was at the brink of like the worst, worst aspects of my life, man, and I found myself in Tampa Florida.

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I tried to commit suicide there in Tampa Florida, man, when I was at rock, rock, rock bottom.

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Obviously, I'm here to tell my story and talk about it, but that was a pivotal moment for me to change my life, and for the past 10, 15 years, man, my life has been on a different trajectory.

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For me to be here and talk to you, man, and share some of those interesting perspective on everything that has occurred in my life, man, well, thank you and congratulations.

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Everything that.

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I've that has occurred in my life man.

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Well, thank you and congratulations first of all, but how do you deal with the dismissal?

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Like you mentioned, there was this 20 year old, and obviously there's been other people in your life, let's just say up to this point throughout your life to say, oh, Michael, you'll be fine, quit complaining, you'll be all right.

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Right, go back to school, go back to work, put your boots on, keep doing it again, type responses.

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And I don't want to trivialize mental health, but I really don't want to keep it on a pedestal either, because it is pretty common.

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It's just now.

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It has labels and 20 years ago the problem sets haven't changed, the labels just were different, in my opinion, and so you know, you got into the Marine Corps, I'm assuming, in the late nineties.

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Then, right, if you were in Fallujah 99.

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Oh, perfect, yeah, okay, 99.

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So I got in 10 years after you and I'm very I was in the infantry and for the majority of my career, but I'm assuming the equipment that I started with was probably yours.

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Aside from that, aside from that, the uh, the way of doing things probably hadn't changed much either, how people got addressed and I don't mean the customs and courtesies, I mean, like the mental resilience to deal with whatever stressors were there.

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You shave your head, you stand on footprints and you move when you're told and that's all that really matters.

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If you've got questions, ask them in your barracks at night, don't ask me Go.

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Thank your recruiter.

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This is a phenomenal opportunity.

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Now, having all of those things, it's easy to get dismissed, but then, in your case, it turned into an actually huge, life-altering series of circumstances.

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How did you deal with the dismissal in hindsight at the time?

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Since then, what worked?

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It was a struggle, man, because when you come up under the day and age of you shut up, you figure it the hell out as a man.

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On top of that is like you don't talk about emotions or feelings and things like that you develop some form of thick skin.

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You really like bottle and suppress a whole bunch of things.

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Form of thick skin you really like bottle and suppress a whole bunch of things.

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And when someone was trying to speak to me especially when they have not walked in my shoe or have any remnants or closeness to my experience it was very difficult to even be open and transparent and vulnerable and share some of those things and it didn't last.

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So I went through the gauntlet of different counselors for a period of I want to say it's about seven to nine years.

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I went through various counselors in regards to starting stopping, starting stopping moving and all those different things were tied into that.

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And it was a struggle.

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And it was not until I decided that I was ready to get past some of those things, because I harbored a lot of pain, I harbored a lot of regret, I harbored a lot of emotional things that I was dealing with and suppressing from some of the things that affected me as a childhood, from me being alive instead of somebody else being alive, where I was just speaking to somebody seven seconds ago and now they're no longer here.

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You know, those were things that was really really like festering inside of me, and it was not until I found the right counselor, the right people that surround me and really just focusing on the personal development aspects of things, the professional counseling that I was receiving and just having more so now of the growth mindset and just being able to just be vulnerable, transparent with things.

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Because what I found is that I was really really hurting myself and hurting like everyone around me.

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So the impact of that is I had a young son, right.

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I had a stepson, I had a wife and mom and dad all of these different people were walking around on eggshells around me because of how I was acting, how I was behaving and things like that.

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But it was not until I did some of those things and started working on myself, right.

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So some of that's tied into going to Rush University and working on the neurolinguistic, the programming, the PTSD, the traumatic brain injuries, some of the things that the replaying or visualizing of what was actually taking place inside of my head Because just to share here with your audience, like from that blast, I had a hole in my brain that was messing with some things that was going on inside of my head.

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I was still holding on to the things from a childhood that I could never even talk about or even share with anybody, so it was just a lot of things going on that I had to really really unpack and learn how to reprogram, rewire some things that started changing how I focus and my intention and things that's attached to that.

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All right, folks sit tight, We'll be right back on Transacting Value.

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This message is from the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

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The US-Vietnam War Commemoration honors the service, valor and sacrifice of those who served during the Vietnam War.

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It also thanks the 7 million living Vietnam veterans and the families of all 10 Million who served from 1955 to 1975.

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More than 3 million of the 7 million veterans have been thanked by friends and neighbors in thousands of ceremonies, but more must be recognized.

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Help reach Vietnam veterans in your families and neighborhoods, especially those living alone or in care facilities.

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They deserve to know that they've earned the nation's deepest gratitude and humble thanks.

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Visit VietnamWar50th.

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com for more information.

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So it was just a lot of things going on that I had to really, really unpack and learn how to reprogram, rewire some things that started changing how I focus and my intention and things that's attached to that.

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So how to view those experiences?

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Is that what you mean?

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How to unpack them or, I guess, how to view them and communicate them?

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Exactly exactly.

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Because eventually at some point in life you know, when you develop that resilient identity and mindset, you know you got to get out of that blame game, you got to get out of that mindset of or victim or if you want to play that type of game or any of those types of things.

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And I was not one for that, so I was one where I just didn't talk about it.

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Well, you're not the only one that's.

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That's a safe bet.

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As a matter of fact, I did the same thing and it ended essentially in a divorce and in a long distance relationship from my son for the majority of his life.

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I mean to the point now where he'll be 10 soon, at the time of this recording anyways, and the me that I am today is not the me that he remembers.

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That's tough, because I've grown over the last decade, but the only person I really need to convince I've come to understand is me, not him.

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He's not at fault for that.

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He's not going to know right.

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He'll learn from at present and I think, being able, like in your case, to stand and say at some point I'm okay, I can accept what's happened.

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I can take all of my emotional baggage, put it in a carry on bag and then go, fly to wherever my destination is.

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I don't need to bring all of my emotional baggage, put it in a carry-on bag and then go, fly to wherever my destination is.

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I don't need to bring all of it with me.

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You know what I mean.

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It's not the beverly hillbillies, and I think, well, they didn't have a lot either.

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That's probably a poor example, but the point's still the same.

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It gives everybody enough room to breathe and process at a pace that, individually, we can handle.

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In your case, what was the catalyst where you realized, oh man, there is a problem.

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I do need to figure out a way to redo this Like what was your wake up call was your wake-up call.

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The wake-up call was 10 years ago, where you're at man in St Pete.

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It was rough man.

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At that particular moment in my life, I was dealing with all the things that occurred to me from the service and I'm saying that as in someone that's avoiding any type of treatment and then, once I decided to go get treatment, I found myself being on 13 different medications.

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13 different medications turned me into when I say this, I seriously mean this.

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I felt like I think I'm a pretty smart individual and I felt like I was the stupidest person in the world, like you can't.

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I felt like I couldn't.

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I couldn't focus, I couldn't function and there was just always like these weird things that was going on inside of my head being on 13 different medications.

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I bet it's like watching a slideshow inside your own head of you being you while you're being you, but you're not there being you.

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Exactly, man, and while I was in that particular space, I was trying to function at a job and I couldn't function.

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So I was working and I found myself literally just working like two, three hours out of the day.

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I'm not making meetings, I'm not taking the job even serious or anything like that, and I'm either sleeping, I'm drinking medications and all the different types of things and, oh yeah, I'm on my second divorce, I'm going through this custody battle with my first wife and now I'm trying to deal with all the things that I've been suppressing.

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Man, I felt like I was the worst person in the world and didn't have any point or any reason to be here anymore.

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So on that particular day, I got my pistol.

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I was already drunk and inside of my garage I have some weights 45 pounds, 50 pounds and all those different types of things Went to that bridge there in Tampa.

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Man tied the weight to my leg and I was going to take my life.

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Man, and as soon as I was in that moment going through that, I was just recently talking to somebody about it yesterday, man, but I think in that moment was the awakening moment to answer your question, where, for me, I'm deeply, I'm connected with my faith and I think that's where God was telling me, like this is not how you're supposed to go and you need to change your life and turn that around.

00:19:23.329 --> 00:19:51.326
In regards to having a purpose, because during that moment, as much as I was going through a lot of things mentally, emotionally and physically and those types of things I've always promised my son that I was always going to be in his life, and when I say that, from the day me and his mom divorced, I've always made it a point to see him, whether I had to fly, drive, tax, support, court lawyers, any of those things for his entire life.

00:19:51.326 --> 00:20:02.155
And if I was to do that and make that selfish move entire life, and if I was to do that and make that selfish move, then I was going to leave my son out here and not be able to be a dad and protect him and take care of him.

00:20:02.155 --> 00:20:11.825
And on top of that, I thought about being a father and what it was like for me growing up with my dad and I wanted to make sure that I was a dad for him.

00:20:11.825 --> 00:20:19.566
And in that moment, man, obviously I did not go through it that I was a dad for him and in that moment, man, obviously I did not go through it and now my son is living with me.

00:20:19.566 --> 00:20:21.048
Now I'm able to take care of my family.

00:20:21.250 --> 00:20:29.580
Now I the same woman that I divorced we remarried and got back together and we eventually fixed our family, man, and did a whole.

00:20:29.580 --> 00:20:48.028
So I had to go go in man and do a whole bunch of work Um, now I'm not on any medications or anything, man and went back to school, got my master's degree, got a couple of IT certifications, got my project management certification a whole different types of things like that Started a franchise, ran my own business and different things and just changed my life.

00:20:48.028 --> 00:21:00.127
Man, just changed perspective and just looking at me being someone of value and my worth and all of those things that's tied to that, and not get out of here in this world and go out that way.

00:21:00.127 --> 00:21:04.123
Man, I always think about this whenever I'm asked that too.

00:21:04.123 --> 00:21:06.508
Salto, which is the person that I'm talking about.

00:21:06.508 --> 00:21:11.023
He died, he got blown up and he's not here, no more.

00:21:11.044 --> 00:21:15.464
You need to carry on some of these people's stories and share what these people are like.

00:21:15.464 --> 00:21:23.503
You need to share what experiences that you've been through, because there's somebody on the other side that's listening to this conversation that we're having, that's probably having a bad day.

00:21:23.503 --> 00:21:25.453
There's somebody that's having a worse day.

00:21:25.453 --> 00:21:33.548
There's somebody else that's going through some tougher things than you probably were and don't go out here in this world and waste it and that's ultimately what it is.

00:21:33.548 --> 00:21:40.195
For me, man is like definitely sharing these stories and just making sure that I'm living purposely man every single day.

00:21:40.195 --> 00:21:40.476
Man.

00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:44.189
All righty folks, sit tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value.

00:21:44.189 --> 00:21:56.150
All righty folks, if you're looking for more perspective and more podcast, you can check out Transacting Value on Wreaths Across America Radio, listen in on iHeartRadio Odyssey and TuneIn.

00:21:58.500 --> 00:21:59.904
And that's ultimately what it is.

00:21:59.904 --> 00:22:06.530
For me, man is like, definitely sharing these stories and just making sure that I'm living purposely man every single day.

00:22:06.530 --> 00:22:06.811
Man.

00:22:08.020 --> 00:22:12.429
Yeah, you, I think, got lucky among a bunch of things.

00:22:12.429 --> 00:22:18.619
Frankly, you had your son as an anchor point to ground you around.

00:22:18.619 --> 00:22:21.786
Yes, and not everybody does.

00:22:21.786 --> 00:22:27.942
In fact, not everybody realizes that they have something and, for that matter, not everybody has a something.

00:22:27.942 --> 00:22:34.185
But in those opportunities when we're presented, I think there's always a moment.

00:22:34.185 --> 00:22:45.948
It may be very, very fast, but there's always a moment when you second guess, when you hesitate and I'm if there's alcohol involved and obviously at this point we're talking about suicide.

00:22:45.948 --> 00:23:04.602
But if there's alcohol involved, if there's drugs involved or some sort of impairment, that moment may be very fleeting and unrecognizable, but it's there, right, and in that moment, anybody else in their sphere we never know what it is that we said or what it is that we did that might pull them back.

00:23:05.203 --> 00:23:12.727
And so I think when we're talking about resiliency, it's easy to say it's the you know, armchair, quarterback, king of the castle type responses.

00:23:12.727 --> 00:23:17.761
You need to be tough, you need to be resilient, you need to focus on all the things we love.

00:23:17.761 --> 00:23:20.810
You blah, blah, blah, yeah, but I don't recognize any of those things.

00:23:20.810 --> 00:23:33.269
I get it, it just looks for it, and I'm not in a place where I see the value in that it's got to be something that I see about me, that I bring, and it's a tough place to be in because you can't teach it.

00:23:33.269 --> 00:23:35.873
You just got to stoke it and hope.

00:23:35.873 --> 00:23:36.994
Eventually it catches.

00:23:43.619 --> 00:23:55.282
And the point that you brought up increased distance mentally, increased distance from you or between you and your family, you sounded like, at least when you just explained it, you initially were blaming yourself and then somehow you weren't, you started to accept it and somehow you weren't you started to accept it.

00:23:55.282 --> 00:24:06.738
And so I'm curious, because my personal belief is that has something to do with a value system, something that inherently you were brought up on or something that inherently you remembered or actually thought about.

00:24:06.738 --> 00:24:12.471
And it may not have only been Salto, it may have been aspects about the relationship you had with him as a friend or whatever.

00:24:12.471 --> 00:24:23.165
But just because, let's say, service members, just because somebody else in the military dies, I don't think that's also always a catalyst for us turning our lives around.

00:24:23.165 --> 00:24:27.741
So, whatever that thing was, that's where I want to take this real quick.

00:24:27.741 --> 00:24:31.690
This is a segment of the show called Developing .

00:24:32.151 --> 00:24:37.801
wo questions, Michael, and whichever extent and depth you want to answer, this is totally up to you.

00:24:37.801 --> 00:24:51.092
But for anybody new to the show, this is about the value systems that Michael's adopted or been brought up around and has since built off of to get to where he's at now, and then we'll use that as a springboard for the rest of this conversation.

00:24:51.092 --> 00:24:52.397
So, Michael, real quick.

00:24:52.397 --> 00:24:58.887
My first question, for the sake of clarity here what were some of the values that you were brought up on, that you were raised around?

00:24:58.887 --> 00:25:01.001
It sort of got you started in life.

00:25:01.782 --> 00:25:18.826
Yeah, and the number one value for me was my faith and, as you was mentioning leading into this question, my mom always is calling for me, praying for me, sending me text messages, even if I'm not doing the same thing back in return, but it's always doing those things.

00:25:18.826 --> 00:25:30.601
And you know, when I think about Iraq and my tank pulled off, I just get shrapnel above the eyes and injured shoulders and backs and stuff like that.

00:25:30.601 --> 00:25:38.604
I think of the prayers of my grandparents, I think of the prayers of my mom, I think of the prayers of my grandparents, I think of the prayers of my mom.

00:25:38.604 --> 00:25:39.045
I think of those.

00:25:39.045 --> 00:25:42.271
People are like my angels, that are always like, hovering around me and protecting me and keeping me.

00:25:42.271 --> 00:26:03.546
So, to answer your question, man, my faith was one of the biggest values for me in regards to being grounded and being anchored in any circumstance or any situation that I'm faced in, and when that was the case, that's when I started taking accountability and responsibility for any of my actions or anything that I had control over.

00:26:03.546 --> 00:26:06.413
So that was number one for me, man.

00:26:06.795 --> 00:26:10.202
The next thing for me is I'm always a person of high integrity.

00:26:10.202 --> 00:26:12.847
When I say that, I'm speaking towards my character.

00:26:12.847 --> 00:26:17.375
I always value someone that's upfront, someone that's forward.

00:26:17.375 --> 00:26:18.905
That's kind of the same way I am, too.

00:26:18.905 --> 00:26:23.050
I'm not a sugarcoater or a BSer or anything like that.

00:26:23.050 --> 00:26:29.413
So I think being someone of high-valued character is very important to me, and that's who I am.

00:26:29.413 --> 00:26:46.441
So whenever you're going to deal with me, you're going to get someone that's going to be honest with you, someone that's going to be upfront with you, someone that's going to be loyal to you, somebody that's going to take care of you, someone that's going to make sure I got your back, and that's always been a part of me, and I found that it worked really, really well when I was in the military, too.

00:26:47.021 --> 00:26:57.353
I think once people understood the type of person that I am, they gravitated towards me and was able for me to lead them as a leader, because they know that I had their best interests at heart every single time.

00:26:57.353 --> 00:26:58.654
That's how I am with clients.

00:26:58.654 --> 00:27:02.369
You know that I'm not in this for, like my own personal gain.

00:27:02.369 --> 00:27:03.896
I want to really really see you do well.

00:27:03.896 --> 00:27:05.321
I want to really see you get better.

00:27:05.321 --> 00:27:08.300
I really want to see transformation in your life and those types of things.

00:27:08.300 --> 00:27:17.786
So those are probably some of the foundation of what helped things for me, catapult me and develop me into the leader and the person that I am now today, man.

00:27:18.528 --> 00:27:18.890
Okay.

00:27:18.890 --> 00:27:36.160
So then, as far as today's concerned I'm purely assuming, but I feel confident here over the last I'm guessing 30 to 40 years of your life, some of that has been refined and chiseled and honed, and you may even have found a few new things, because people change and grow.

00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:39.646
So my second question what are some of your values now?

00:27:40.228 --> 00:27:40.809
My values.

00:27:40.809 --> 00:27:43.961
Now it's interesting you should say that.

00:27:43.961 --> 00:27:48.992
But the number one thing for me is I beat on the drum of resilience man.

00:27:48.992 --> 00:27:59.279
I think in this day and life I look at all the things that I've been through is now more so a gift, and it's what makes me and shapes me Right.

00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:10.751
So I always look at any circumstance or any situation as that character is being tested and really God is challenging me or whatever come at me to see what I'm going to do.

00:28:10.751 --> 00:28:13.548
Am I going to move forward or am I going to cower?

00:28:13.548 --> 00:28:15.119
Am I going to face my fears or am I going to cower?

00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:16.108
Am I going to face my fears or am I going to cower?

00:28:16.108 --> 00:28:18.392
And that's number one for me is resilience.

00:28:19.093 --> 00:28:31.844
Number two is it really comes down to excellence, and when I say excellence, it's living through whatever is my God-given purpose and do it excellent, do it the best at it.

00:28:31.844 --> 00:28:35.932
Right, I'm not in the world of comparison to anybody else.

00:28:35.932 --> 00:28:42.201
I'm running my own race and I'm going to do it at excellence in regards to how I'm going to do that and commit to that.

00:28:42.201 --> 00:28:47.382
So if I'm on this podcast, you're going to get the best version of me on this podcast talking to you.

00:28:47.382 --> 00:28:53.614
If I'm running my company, whoever my employees, my staff, the customers that work, you're going to get the best version of me.

00:28:53.614 --> 00:28:57.736
So you're not going to get me showing up late, you're not going to get me showing up half-assed.

00:28:57.736 --> 00:29:00.438
You're not going to get me quitting on you, any of those types of things.

00:29:00.438 --> 00:29:02.461
You're going to get the best version of Michael Allison.

00:29:03.904 --> 00:29:06.451
All right, folks, sit tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value.

00:29:08.099 --> 00:29:11.003
This message is from the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

00:29:11.003 --> 00:29:22.539
VA Disability Compensation is a monthly tax-free payment to veterans who got sick or injured in the military and to veterans whose service worsened an existing condition.

00:29:22.539 --> 00:29:31.535
You may qualify for VA Disability Compensation for physical and mental health conditions that developed or worsened due to service.

00:29:31.535 --> 00:29:33.684
Learn more at va.

00:29:33.684 --> 00:29:35.910
gov/ disability.

00:29:38.256 --> 00:29:39.861
You're not going to get me showing up late.

00:29:39.861 --> 00:29:44.565
You're not going to get me showing up half-assed, you're not going to get me quitting on you, any of those types of things.

00:29:44.565 --> 00:29:46.522
You're going to get the best version of Michael Allison.

00:29:48.215 --> 00:29:48.436
All right.

00:29:48.436 --> 00:29:57.666
Well, so, as you're building on those things this you comparing yourself to you I think that's probably the main thing that worked for me.

00:29:57.666 --> 00:30:13.268
Once I started to realize that I'm able to make progress based on my own benchmarks, from where I've come and from whatever extents I started, it all became this challenge in this journey.

00:30:13.268 --> 00:30:18.372
That was something I could continually walk through and ramp up and improve upon.

00:30:18.372 --> 00:30:19.596
Don't get me wrong.

00:30:19.596 --> 00:30:36.467
Not every day I'm not perfect, but on the days where I felt like it, I could at least chase something and for me, that gave me a feeling of value and merit because I could see what I was setting for myself and that I was accomplishing something and moving forward.

00:30:36.467 --> 00:30:41.195
It wasn't based on anybody else, cause I'm telling you, man, you said you were in tanks in Fallujah.

00:30:41.917 --> 00:31:02.239
I spent three and a half years with First Tanks in Southern California as a tow gunner and working flank and rear security, and a lot of those opportunities involved some long, wet, dirty days with a lot of long, wet, dirty dudes, and it just turned into long, wet months, you know, and it just turned into long, wet months.

00:31:02.239 --> 00:31:22.661
You know some of the best memories I think I have very, very easily coalesce and compliment some of the worst ones that I don't care to relive, but trying to stand on some of those experiences and figure out what was it for me, what is it for somebody else, the people that don't necessarily have that same impact anymore with other people.

00:31:22.661 --> 00:31:29.590
I think you said it perfectly You've always got you to fall back on somebody else, the people that don't necessarily have that same impact anymore with other people.

00:31:29.590 --> 00:31:36.001
I think you said it perfectly You've always got you to fall back on and I can't remember I'm sorry, whoever listens to this, I can't remember who it was that came on the show.

00:31:36.001 --> 00:32:03.434
I'm totally blanking, but we had this conversation last year, maybe two years ago now and the topic was what you're able to do and whatever you're able to bring to the table, you being your own benchmark, you being your own bar for achievement, and I think the point that you brought up where, even at your lowest point, you're not necessarily at the bottom of your threshold your perspective shifted and you were able to build back up from it.

00:32:03.454 --> 00:32:18.217
So I'm going to challenge you with this, real quick and for anybody listening who might be in a similar boat down the road or know somebody who is now, instead of thinking about that point that you're at your lowest, think about it like you're at your highest and you had just mastered everything else.

00:32:18.217 --> 00:32:21.707
And now the newest challenge is okay, but you haven't accepted you yet.

00:32:21.707 --> 00:32:28.459
So here's the next hurdle, and I'm going to front load all the stress and challenge you've had to this point, because you can handle it.

00:32:28.459 --> 00:32:31.855
You weren't strong enough before, so you didn't have to deal with this before.

00:32:31.855 --> 00:32:42.242
But at this particular moment, with that dumbbell, with that bridge, with that pistol, with that whatever, now you're strong enough and you're ready to face you full frontal.

00:32:42.242 --> 00:32:43.084
Here's a mirror.

00:32:43.744 --> 00:32:51.505
And so you've actually reached the top end of your threshold and it's your opportunity to level up, and I don't think a lot of people get that opportunity in life.

00:32:51.505 --> 00:32:58.835
I don't want to glorify it either, but I don't think a lot of people get that opportunity to take that moment and reach out with that perspective.

00:32:58.835 --> 00:33:04.865
And in your case, dude, you turned it into a career that you're passionate about, with clientele and a sustaining business.

00:33:04.865 --> 00:33:15.941
You've rekindled your family, you've rebuilt your social circle, rebuilt your entire worldview and perspective on life, and I can't say enough how difficult that must have been.

00:33:15.941 --> 00:33:39.079
And from my perspective, hearing it, I'm only assuming, but everything you've been able to accomplish as a result changing your perspective and learning how to add value and you mentioned building trust and rapport when you were talking about honesty and integrity and excellence and your purpose and all these other things when you're building trust and when you're building confidence in other people has that degree of vulnerability helped you?

00:33:39.961 --> 00:33:40.442
It has.

00:33:40.442 --> 00:33:49.280
I think one of the biggest things that I've learned over the past couple of years is sharing your story.

00:33:49.280 --> 00:34:03.143
Now, which is tied to what I was saying earlier, is creating that level of vulnerability and transparency has opened up so many doors for me, and I used to think that was a weakness, and now it's more so a strength.

00:34:03.143 --> 00:34:12.097
And when I say that my approach to everyone is we're on the same playing field, so I don't talk above anybody, below anybody or anything like that.

00:34:12.097 --> 00:34:13.240
I treat you fair and square.

00:34:13.240 --> 00:34:31.440
And then me being able to have that level of transparency, create that connection, to know that we're human so I'm not this super person that has, like some X-Man strength or something like that or whatever but my experiences has helped people, you know.

00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:39.431
So I think that's the beauty of life, that's the beauty of us being human beings in regards to being able to share our stories and connect with people.

00:34:39.914 --> 00:34:45.951
When I wrote my book, the amount of people that came up to me and was like man, I'm so proud of you.

00:34:45.951 --> 00:34:48.617
You've been through this blah, blah, blah and all these different things.

00:34:48.617 --> 00:34:55.777
When I'm on stage and I'm sharing my story of all of the things that I've bottled in and I was able to shatter some of these things.

00:34:55.777 --> 00:35:05.271
A guy came up to me one time and said man, you're on like version 2.0 or version 25.0 of your life or something like that, because of all of the things that you've been through.

00:35:05.271 --> 00:35:13.275
And not too many people get to live and tell some of those stories that you've been through and being able to do that I find that's the blessing.

00:35:13.275 --> 00:35:21.780
So that's why I said like I think your adversity is your gift, because 10 years ago you would not hear me tell this story if I went through with everything Right.

00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:27.125
But now I'm able to do what you just mentioned start my own company, help people, change people's lives.

00:35:27.125 --> 00:35:28.965
Got my wife back in my life.

00:35:28.965 --> 00:35:32.327
Got my son my son is living with me 95% of the time.

00:35:32.327 --> 00:35:36.451
95% of the time I was spending nights in hotels.

00:35:36.451 --> 00:35:45.585
I was spending X amount of money on rent-a-cars, paid over $30,000 for a lawyer just to like go through custody battles and things like that.

00:35:45.585 --> 00:35:53.157
If any guy that's listening on this thing, like you, know what it is to pay for child support for a kid all these years and things like that, which I have no issues doing, and stuff like that.

00:35:53.157 --> 00:36:11.326
But you know there's a whole bunch of things, but that comes with a level of maturity, that comes with a level of grace, that comes with a level of really truly like stepping up to the plate and just really being an adult being a professional, being a parent, being a dad, being a man If you're a woman, being a woman, all those different types of things, whenever you're faced with some of these challenges.

00:36:11.855 --> 00:36:23.708
Yeah, and I think that's the biggest point, probably tying a lot of this stuff together to being able to have that degree of maturity only comes with being able to face and, more importantly, having to face all of those other things.

00:36:23.708 --> 00:36:25.782
I don't think you can have one without the other.

00:36:25.782 --> 00:36:31.878
And you know what, Michael, I gotta say, man, first of all, I appreciate you not charging me for this lesson.

00:36:31.878 --> 00:36:41.438
I can only assume here that what you talk about at the Adversity Academy has a lot to do with what you've been talking about here, and I feel like I just got a free masterclass.

00:36:41.438 --> 00:36:45.063
So thanks, are you welcome, man?

00:36:45.063 --> 00:37:01.108
But for anybody that wants to get in touch with you, work with you, become a client, follow along with your books, speaking engagements, any events in the future, anything and everything, where do people go Like having heard all of these things?

00:37:01.108 --> 00:37:02.297
So what?

00:37:02.297 --> 00:37:04.103
How do we capitalize on you?

00:37:04.103 --> 00:37:05.318
Where do we find all this stuff?

00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:10.166
Most definitely, man, Josh, anybody that want to connect with me, first and foremost, directly.

00:37:10.166 --> 00:37:10.954
You just send me an email.

00:37:10.954 --> 00:37:14.635
It's mallison, spelled out my last name at theadversityacademy.

00:37:14.635 --> 00:37:19.985
com and all of those emails come directly to my inbox.

00:37:19.985 --> 00:37:33.184
On social media platforms it's I am Michael W Allison, on all social media platforms and definitely if you want to check out more things about the book or the website, our programs and our services, it's at the adversityacademy.

00:37:33.184 --> 00:37:36.943
com or you can just go directly to my personal website, michaelwallison.

00:37:36.943 --> 00:37:42.047
com, and then from there you get to check out all the things that we have to offer.

00:37:42.088 --> 00:37:43.976
We have quite a few different programs.

00:37:43.976 --> 00:37:50.721
So we have quite a few leadership programs for CEOs, mid-level managers, women, youth men, executives.

00:37:50.721 --> 00:37:54.536
We do some assessments, we do personal development, business development.

00:37:54.536 --> 00:37:57.605
Right now we're working on a program for veterans.

00:37:57.605 --> 00:38:03.606
That's near and dear to my heart, but I do find that quite a few of my veteran friends just like myself.

00:38:03.606 --> 00:38:23.873
We all thought that we could just go straight into working for somebody, but there's tons of opportunities out here for our veterans where they actually get into entrepreneurships, get into government contracting and things like that and truly make a difference in other aspects and taking all of those knowledge and skills that we've developed and actually put it for some greater good out here and stuff like that.

00:38:23.873 --> 00:38:28.364
So that's a program that we're working on right now, which I'm really proud of, to see what that's going to be when we finish with it.

00:38:29.034 --> 00:38:30.000
Yeah, congratulations.

00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:31.266
And sometimes I agree with you.

00:38:31.266 --> 00:38:36.623
If you can't find your place in society because you don't recognize it, you don't know how to communicate with it.

00:38:36.623 --> 00:38:45.016
Through it, into it, create it.

00:38:45.016 --> 00:38:45.860
It's 2024.

00:38:45.860 --> 00:38:46.483
You can be anything you want.

00:38:46.483 --> 00:38:47.085
Reality says that's okay.

00:38:47.085 --> 00:38:49.215
You just got to find ways to be effective in communicating whatever that is, and then problem solved.

00:38:49.215 --> 00:38:57.800
Dude, I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you, to hear your story, to increase some exposure for everything we were able to talk about.

00:38:57.800 --> 00:39:01.737
It was such a powerful conversation and a pretty sweet opportunity for me.

00:39:01.737 --> 00:39:05.967
So, in addition to everything you brought up, again, thanks for your time.

00:39:06.675 --> 00:39:08.322
Josh, thank you so much for having me here, man.

00:39:08.322 --> 00:39:10.179
It's a pleasure to share my story with your audience, man.

00:39:10.179 --> 00:39:10.661
Thank you, brother.

00:39:10.961 --> 00:39:13.619
Yeah, yeah, definitely We'll stay in touch and to everybody listening.

00:39:14.123 --> 00:39:20.724
Thank you for tuning in and listening to our conversation, where we talk through our April core values of quitting, recovery and burnout.

00:39:21.043 --> 00:39:24.561
I hope you guys got as much out of this conversation as I did, Michael.

00:39:24.561 --> 00:39:30.565
This was such an awesome opportunity, man, what a great conversation and perspective to be able to share, because we're not alone.

00:39:30.565 --> 00:39:34.197
There are plenty of people who say that.

00:39:34.197 --> 00:39:59.074
There are also plenty of people who live that and don't say it, so I just want to make sure everybody understands the stories that we're sharing, the stories that we're instigating, are only meant to trigger conversation and so, if it happens to bring up anything else in your perspective, in your life, among the people that you know, please call, ask for help SAMHSA.

00:39:59.074 --> 00:40:05.909
gov, call National Crisis Line and you'll be able to get more information.

00:40:05.909 --> 00:40:09.199
Thank you to our show partners and folks.

00:40:09.199 --> 00:40:13.958
Thank you for tuning in and appreciating our value as we all grow through life together.

00:40:13.958 --> 00:40:24.487
To check out our other conversations, merchandise or even to contribute through feedback, follows, time, money or talent and let us know what you think of the show, please reach out on our website, TransactingValuePodcast.

00:40:24.487 --> 00:40:25.753
com.