EP. 80 When it comes to my day-to-day and my mindset, I don’t think about the past and the future. I focus on the situation at hand.

This episode’s guest is the incredible Steven Kuhn — a speaker, author, and consultant who empowers people to improve their life through the principles of honesty, integrity and transparency. He’s a man that can turn failing businesses into success and whose clients include rockstars, sports personalities, and celebrities.

Steven is a big man who makes an even bigger impact everywhere he goes — and I can’t wait for you to meet him in this show.

But life wasn’t always this good. As a kid, he struggled with self-loathing and self-hatred, then after serving on the front line in Iraq, he came away with severe PTSD and suicidal thoughts.

But against the odds, Steven figured out how to use these rock bottom experiences to turn his life into a conduit for joy and love. This powerful mindset has empowered Steven to turn vulnerability into a strength, pain into perspective, and hurt into love.

Steven shows the power of true self-expression and what’s possible when you push back society’s expectations of what masculine strength should look like.

This episode left me pumped and I just know it will do the same for you too. Check it out 🙂

And in this episode, he walks you through the mindsets, decisions, and beliefs that empower you to live an extraordinary life — no matter how low your personal rock bottom.

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Focus doesn’t mean blindly staring at one spot. Focus means I’m aware of all opportunities that present themselves in that situation.

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Steven doesn’t hold back in this episode. Instead, he shares some powerful stories that will move you deeply and inspire a fresh perspective on life.

Tune in now to hear:

• How Steven ended up with a shotgun in his mouth — aged 14
• Why a 7ft wall became a catalyst for insatiable self-belief
• How a piece of candy became a metaphor for finding love in dark moments
• The story of the mysterious cop who reminded Steven of his purpose
• What happened when Steven was told he would almost certainly die
• Why vulnerability can make you more attractive
• How PTSD helped Steven unlock his superpower

And so much more.

Steven is a rockstar. He’s an inspiration who woke up something in me during this episode. It’s rare to hear someone speak with such raw authenticity and vulnerability. Steven does, and that’s just one of the reasons why you’ll find this conversation so moving.

So come check it out right now.

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The people around me are more important than anything because when it comes down to it, when everything is gone, all we will have left is human connection.

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Time Stamped Show Notes

[4:50] I wanted to kick off with a question that I’ve been drawn to. Steven is a pretty happy guy, stress isn’t his MO, he chooses joy, and I feel that when I’m around him. In my experience, the happiest people have endured the most pain and I was curious if Steven has always been happy, if there were points along his journey that showed him the importance of happiness, or did he come from a lot of pain and then decided no more? He says he came from a lot of pain. The number one thing on his mind growing up was suicide; he says it was a bit of an epidemic and he was surrounded by it as friends and best friends were taking their lives. He endured, says it made him stronger and he went on to enlist in the military. Steven says he knew early on that the military would be his chance to get out of that self-loathing, self-hating mindset. However, It didn’t stop there; there was a path he had to take to get to happiness and it’s still something he actively chooses each day.

[13:04] Steven was in Desert Storm and faced the hard reality that he would not be coming home; that allowed him to focus solely on the mission, he was on the front lines and had to be 100% focused. That same focus is so hard to achieve today, I ask him how he leverages that experience to create focus today? He says, as much as possible when it comes to his day to day, he doesn’t think about the past or the future. He keeps his focus on the situation at hand, if there is one, and that only. He says focus doesn’t mean he’s blindly staring at one spot, it means that he’s aware of all opportunities that present themselves in that situation. Many set a goal and will have tunnel vision towards that goal, when Steven has a vision towards a goal he looks left and right. He says without that pivotal view he’s going to miss the luck, opportunities, connections and whatever else may arise.

[22:34] Steven believes in the life enterprise concept, that we’re all CEOs of our own life enterprise and, just like any CEO of a business enterprise, we’re responsible and we answer to our stakeholders. The stakeholders in our lives are our family, friends, colleagues, clients, neighbors, etc. We owe it to them to elevate them and to make it a point to leave them in a better space than they were before we showed up. That’s his principle. He invests in relational capital with the people around him every single day.

[36:41] I talk to Steven about how, early on, when I was making changes in my life I immersed myself with positive, powerful messages from people like Tony Robbins and Gary Vaynerchuk. There’s so much free content available that can help us shift the narrative of our minds and create a rich mindset. Steven says that a poor and scarcity mindset creates suffering.

[50:04] Steven stays grounded with his spirituality and is very conscious of being grounded. Being grounded for him means knowing who he is, where he is, why he is and being honest with himself about everything he’s doing. Meditation also plays a key role – he says that he has to meditate, learn and write every day.

Steven Kuhn