Episode 332: Gaining Momentum in Your Life with Clint Hoopes

Episode Summary

In this episode, our conversation revolves around Clint’s principles and guidance on becoming better leaders for our teams and inspiring members of our household. We also talk about how to upgrade our identity, create a clear vision, and be “where our feet are” in our personal and professional lives.

Steve Shallenberger: Welcome to all of our Becoming Your Best podcast listeners wherever you may be in the world today. This is your host, Steve Shallenberger. And we have a special guest with us today is the proud father of six children, host of the highly rated Unrivaled Man podcast, and a leading coach on a quest to help men who want to upgrade their identity and become better husbands, fathers, and business owners, business people, and professionals through his Unrivaled Momentum program. So welcome, Clint Hoopes.

Clint Hoopes: Oh, Steve, thank you so much. I’m so excited to be here.

Steve Shallenberger: By the way, I love this background. We’re going to get into it. Clint and I were talking about this subject before we got going. And I asked him a question about how can the ladies that are listening in today take advantage of this discussion? And can it be helpful for them? Do you want to respond to that, Clint? And then I’d like to tell our listening audience more about you.

Clint Hoopes: Yeah, that would be great. So, what we’re going to talk about is definitely pertinent to women. And there are several reasons why, but the main reasons are this: True principles are true. No matter if you’re a man or woman, the principles are true that we’re going to talk about today. And the other thing I’ll tell you is that many of the women in my life are so much more in tune with the way that they feel, and the ability they have to be able to really see others, connect with others. And I find that one of the reasons I work with men primarily is to be able to help them do even better at those things and connecting with people, and so many women do that naturally. And I believe that with so many women that are married or with their significant other, they have an opportunity to hear some of the things we’re going to talk about today, and I think maybe even be able to get something for themselves as well as for someone else in their life.

Steve Shallenberger: Well, thank you. And let me tell you just a little bit more about Clint. Over the years, he has led hundreds of employees and leaders fill in many leadership roles from executive director to CEO, while balancing his growing family. And he’s received national accolades for his performance and has led companies and coach leaders in multiple industries from healthcare, construction to technology. He’s been having a lot of fun out there, right?

Clint Hoopes: We have, indeed. It’s been a lot of fun. 

Steve Shallenberger: Well, to get us going, Clint, tell us about your background, including any turning points in your life that have had a significant impact on you and even what you’re doing today.

Clint Hoopes: Like you mentioned, I have led hundreds of employees over the years, and it’s been a wonderful thing. And during that time, as many of your listeners are leaders and have their own companies or leading teams – so often, when you’re leaving, things can get overwhelming in life. We don’t often like to use the word “overwhelming” but in the end, life just can be heavy hard. And the higher it seems you get as a leader, up the structure, whatever you want to say; the more you’re responsible for, the more lonely it feels. People often say, “It’s lonely as a leader that way.” And that can happen. And you know what happened to me early in my career is I began having these leadership roles that were taking more and more of my time. And I began to get to the point where I wasn’t improving as a leader in so many ways that I needed to as I began to have more and more people that were reporting to me, and more and more responsibility. And what happened to me as I grew my family as well, I had more responsibility there, and it seemed like I wasn’t going to be able to balance it all. And I remember there was a time when we had one of our first few children. I was leading a company of over 100 people at the time in healthcare, a 24-hour-a-day nursing facility is where I was. And there were a lot of different things that were pulling for my attention. And we were also at the same time at the hospital. And not for work, I was there with my wife. And it was a wonderful occasion, we were actually there, we were having a baby. And I can vividly remember this day. You talk about “turning point in your life,” this was one of those experiences that changed me. I remember my wife was sitting in the hospital bed holding our little baby. And I remember I was standing by the window of the hospital, and I was looking out the window and I was watching the cars pass by. And I wish right now that I could say that I was sitting there thinking about how wonderful it was that we had this new little baby that’s been born just a few hours before. But what I was really thinking about was all of the things that I didn’t do at work. 

Clint Hoopes: I had decisions that need to be made that I didn’t make. I had some people decisions. I had the wrong people on my leadership team, and I knew it. And I didn’t make some of the moves or set some of the expectations clearly like I should have. And it landed me in this situation on this day that should have been amazing. And instead, it was debilitating for me. My wife, she called me over and just basically said, “Look, I know where your head’s at; you’re still at work right now.” And I said, “Yeah, but it’s okay. I’m here. I’m good. I’ll forget about it. It’ll be there when we get back in a few days. It’ll be okay.” And she said, as lovingly as she could, “Go and take care of it right now. Go and make those decisions on those things you know you’re supposed to do. Go do it right now, and then come back to me as soon as you can.” And I’m like, “No, I’m not leaving. I’m not gonna be that dad that leaves from the hospital and isn’t there. I want to make sure–” She said, “Well, you’re not here right now anyway.” She’s like, “So go take care of it and come back so you can be present with us.” And that was like a kick in the teeth, as a father, as a husband, and honestly, as a business leader. It let me know that we were having all kinds of success at work, but it was coming at the expense of my mind and my ability to be present with my family. 

Clint Hoopes: So, this was one of those wake up calls in my life. So, I left, I went back to work, I pulled a few of my key people together. We pulled the trigger on a handful of decisions that were crippling our company and myself at the time. We did it, we made decisions, we moved forward. And just in a few small ways, began to get my life back. And it was that experience that really triggered much of the success that I had in later years. So, it was that experience that really is why I’m doing what I am today; I want to help fathers, either who are already there where I was or before they get there preferably, so that they can get past this and be that husband and father and business leader they want to be.

Steve Shallenberger: That’s a good background. And I’m sure most people that have been at work or business that have a family or relationship, whatever it might be, have struggled with the very same issues; balancing these things; trying to figure out how to do what matters most. So, I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts about next steps and how you help people. And I love the fact that the principles are the same for whoever and that we’re inviting all of our listeners to listen in and say, “Okay, what’s an idea I can pick up today in this podcast that’s helpful?” So, your podcast is Unrivaled Man, so what does that mean? Give us the background of your podcast and what’s the purpose of it?

Clint Hoopes: “Unrivaled Man” literally means to be an unrivaled man or unrivaled person. And unrivaled, at its core, means no competition, no one can compare – no comparison, no competition. In life, I remember in my career, I had times where I would compare myself, either to other leaders or other people in ways that weren’t healthy. And sometimes even find myself trying to be a little too much like them, try to do things the way they do instead of doing it the way that was right for me. So, that’s really what unrivaled means is, not that you are the best in the world at every possible thing, it means you are the best for you, for your people, and for your family. And that’s something that we all can use, man or woman.

Steve Shallenberger: So, that’s really what you talk about is how can you be your best? 

Clint Hoopes: Exactly.

Steve Shallenberger: That’s awesome. So, you talk about identity, and you’ve already discussed that – so, upgrading your identity. Some people may want to say, “Wow! Hold it. I’m not sure I want to upgrade my identity.” So, let’s talk about that. How do you upgrade an identity? What does that mean? And how do you do it? Whether it’s a husband, father, business leader; how do you do that? And what does that mean?

Clint Hoopes: So, really, what it means is, and really what I think of, honestly, when I think about it, I think about a principle from your book. You talk about leading with vision in one of your books. And for me, it’s a very similar principle, in that you must determine what you actually want. Now, if we’re talking about business, then, of course, we’re going to get clear on the metrics for business; what do we really want it to be? Same thing in our own lives. So, what do we want our identity to be? What do we want to be? Who do we want to be? And are we living up to that potential? So, determine who you want to be, and then take the steps to become that person. 

Steve Shallenberger: So, what’s the best way to do that from your experience, Clint?

Clint Hoopes: So, going back to your “leading with vision.” Often, when we think “leading with vision,” we’re thinking about leading other people. And what I think about in terms of identity is leading yourself first. So, that’s really the ultimate thing is, are we willing to come up with a vision for what we want for our future and take the steps to get there? So, the first thing that I like to do is I have something I call DCA. It’s called the Unrivaled Momentum Process. And really all of this is very simple. And I think the best things usually are simple. In that, you first must have a Desire to improve yourself; desire to do something; desire to connect with people in different way. And then you need to have Clarity – that’s the C part – you’ve got to have clarity on what that actually means. And then at the end is Action; after that, you need to act and actually do something different. So, it’s not complicated. You have a desire to change, get clarity on what that even means, and then do something different. So, that’s really how people can get to the point where they can become that person. So, for me, what I describe as “be upgrading your identity until you get to that person you want to be,” that’s where the unrivaled momentum actually comes in. It’s a point where you feel like there is momentum and flow in your own life. Now that’s gonna be different for every person. And the reason I call it Unrivaled Momentum is because it can’t be compared with other people; there’s no competition against others what that means. But for you, it’s what does momentum look like for you? And how do you get clarity on those things, and then begin to act and do that? 

Clint Hoopes: When I think about flow and I think about momentum, I love to snow ski and I love to mountain bike – so those are two places for me. The rest of you may have something else that you do, that where you get into flow. For me on snow skis, for instance, I’m coming down the mountain. And if you’ve never been on snow skis, I can tell you, it’s an amazing feeling. You come down and you’re just cutting back and forth, back and forth, flowing over the top of the snow. You go through trees and you almost effortlessly begin to dodge the trees left and right. And it’s just a wonderful feeling. You almost accelerate and get momentum. I’ve heard runners that feel the same way; they get the “runner’s high,” and they just start going to where they feel like their body’s almost pushing them. And that’s the place where we want to be in life, is to that momentum and flow. And so that’s where some of these things you can do to get to that point.

Steve Shallenberger: I love it. So yeah, first have a clear vision, your own identity of what you want to be. And that comes from having a desire, I love it. And then some clarity, and then take action, which then creates the momentum and you get into a flow.

Clint Hoopes: Exactly. I have a model – basically, it’s a circle, it’s simple. There’s basically that desire, clarity, and action, and it goes around in a circle if you can picture that. And the more times you go around the circle, the better clarity you can get and the more momentum you can get. So, if you’re trying to get clear on who you are, the more times you have a desire to upgrade yourself. It’s not a one-time upgrade. I mean, think about your phone, for goodness sakes, or your computer; they’re sending out upgrades all the time, little updates to help improve and tweak. And once they make a change, it helps you see something else is possible, and then it changes again and gets better and better. And we’re the same way. So, the more times we go around that little circle, the faster we will go and the more momentum we can get. And it begins to change us in a way that’s very personal to us.

Steve Shallenberger: Well, thank you. And you mentioned, when you were in the hospital, and having your baby there, your wife’s there, baby is there, and the discussion of being present came up. Your wife is so intuitive, and can kind of sense that. So, do you have some tips for our listeners on how to be present at home or in your personal life, and also professionally? How can you do that to maximize your performance productivity and the outcomes that you have? What have you found works?

Clint Hoopes: Let me share an example from a number of years ago. It’s funny how cell phones have come to be. I mean, we went from hardly anybody had a cell phone to everyone have cell phones in really a relatively short amount of time. I’m always trying to teach my kids how to work with phones and distractions that we have in the world. And really, in the end, I’m learning it myself, because this world is a distracted world, and I think we’re all very aware of that, all too aware of that. So, one of the things you constantly hear is people saying, “Take control of that.” And I think that’s great advice. Most of us have heard that advice before, but very few of us will actually do it. Becoming the upgrade itself that we want requires that we actually do some of these very important things that we already know. So, really, when you talk about distraction and you talk about being able to be present where we’re at; the only reason we’re not present is because our mind is on something else that is outstanding that we should have already done. So, for me, very often, it’s because I wasn’t clear enough in some part of the business. So, if we’re going to a business perspective, very often, the reason I find I’m distracted is when I didn’t set clear enough expectations with my employees. So, I’m holding on to a piece of their responsibility. I’m often worried about what they’re doing instead of having that clear expectation. 

Clint Hoopes: So, the one advice I would say is on one-on-one meetings with your key employees. Often I will have leaders that I coach that they will say, “Oh yeah, I’m doing one-on-one meetings, but we don’t get that much done in those. Not effective.” And in my mind, I’m thinking, “If they’re not effective, you’re doing something wrong.” Because that’s one of the most incredible opportunities to get complete clarity with your people. It’s a wonderful opportunity. So, when you set the clear expectations there, then at that point, they can run with things that doesn’t have to sit on your mind. The same thing goes at home: spending specific one-on-one time with your family. So, I try to do the same thing with my wife. For the women out there, if you have a husband or significant other, same thing. If you spend a few minutes, I made a goal a number of years ago to spend five minutes when I got home from work with my wife. That was something that was so simple, but I tell the kids, I say hi to when I came to the door, I’d say, “Five minutes with your mother. That’s what we’re going to do.” And we would sit down, and the kids knew to stay away, and we would spend five minutes together. And it changed our world by having that chance to connect once again, get clear on our lives, and have that one-on-one. And then same with the kid. I have six children, and so it gets a little busy, but I make sure we dedicate specific time to each of them so that we can connect. So, it allows me to be present with them in a very specific way. And it doesn’t mean I have to spend hours and hours doing that, sometimes very small amounts of present time will make all the difference. 

Steve Shallenberger: Those are good tips, which allows you if you’re spending some one-on-one time, it has a big impact. But you have to be present when you’re doing that.

Clint Hoopes: Yep, very much so yeah. What is the saying? I can’t remember who said it, but they basically said, “Be where your feet are.” I think there’s a book about that.

Steve Shallenberger: Scott O’Neill.

Clint Hoopes: There you go. Thank you. I couldn’t remember. I love when you’ve got a great title of your book because it explains everything and just the title: Be Where Your Feet Are. And I love that, I think that’s a very true thing.

Steve Shallenberger: Now, how about strategies to deal with feeling overwhelmed with all the things hitting you? What are your thoughts on that? Some ways to work through that and then get up, break through the clouds so you feel like you’re unrivaled, you’re hitting your stride at your best self?

Clint Hoopes: The best way that I have found– And it is different for everyone, what connects them, but I am a firm believer that– And once again, these are not brand new principles, brand new things. But I’m telling you, moving your body is one of the things that I find is one of the most important things. Now, whether that’s exercise or whether that’s just going for a walk, I find that I do my best thinking when I’m moving. 

Steve Shallenberger: Now, hold on here a second. I thought exercising and walking were similar. Can we count walking?

Clint Hoopes: Oh, yes, you can. That’s a really good point. Now, I appreciate you bringing that up, actually. Because sometimes we don’t give ourselves credit for what we’re really doing. And I really appreciate you bringing that up. Because sometimes in our life, we think, “Oh, exercise means going into the gym. Exercise means running, and true running.” Exercise means all of those things but you are very right. Just moving our body is the difference. So, I love it. 

Steve Shallenberger: I didn’t mean to distract you. Good job.

Clint Hoopes: I think you’re right, though. So, I mentioned earlier, I love to mountain bike. And so, for me, something I find, for me, that helps me just really disconnect from the other parts of my life is I have to be moving. And there is something about moving that helps me think. You’ll find for me, I will ride my mountain bike to the top of a hill, I will get off the bike, and I will just sit there anywhere from five minutes to 20 minutes, how much time I have. And I’ll sit there, and I’ll just think. And I find that after I’ve exerted myself in that way or even just moved, my mind starts to clear, and the next step, the step that’s holding me back becomes clearer. Because overwhelm is all about seeing everything you need to do all at once. And since you can’t do it all at once, instead we just sit there and we feel the overwhelm. So, I find it helps me cut through the clouds and helps me go. So, whatever you do, stop and think and move your body.

Steve Shallenberger: I love it. That’s great advice: Get out there and do something else, something different. So, I think that’s fabulous. Edison, who invented the working, practical light bulb. They were really overwhelmed that everybody is working for a solution. I think the most they could get their lights to go where like 80 hours or something – just not practical. So, they took a fishing vacation in Montana. So, he’s out there fishing, taking a break, and he sees this little element they use for the fishing line. And all of a sudden it hit him, “Whoa! I think we could use this for the light bulb.” They went back, tried it, and they got 900 hours from using this material in the elements. So, what you’re saying is fabulous. I love it. So, yeah, get out there, freshen in your mind up, exercise, do whatever it takes, and trust the process.

Clint Hoopes: I think, in the world, we often hear phrases like, “Just push through it.” Or we hear about grit and some of those things. And I love those terms, I think they portray something very important, something that we need to have to get through hard times. What I would say is don’t discount those, but also don’t discount the value of stopping for a minute and making sure– Maybe we’re trying to push a wall over, and pushing and pushing isn’t doing anything. But when we stop for a moment, we look behind us, and there’s the bulldozer, we can knock it over in a moment. And in life, I think that happens to us. We get so focused because we feel like hard work has to be hard all the time, and I don’t believe that’s true.

Steve Shallenberger: I’m so glad you added that, Clint, that’s a really good addition. That’s one of the great forces of what contributes to success and pushing through failure so you can experience the triumph, ultimately. So, I’m so glad you mentioned that. Well, here we are at the end of our podcast today. And before we end our podcast, I wonder if you could share with our listeners any final tips that you think really helps them in this area – being unrivaled in their lives?

Clint Hoopes: Thank you. We mentioned earlier, we talked about desire, clarity, and action. And so, really, in the end, what you need to do is either have the desire or at least have a desire to desire these things. So, what I would ask you to do today is to listen to your gut, listen to your intuition, whatever it is that you call it, but that gut feeling you have; you, during this show today, I imagine, have already had something pop in your head, some part of your life, something that you want to change or improve. Anybody that’s listening to this podcast, they are someone who is a high achiever, someone who wants to be better. So, I imagine you’re already applying this to yourself. So, what my tip is for today is to listen to it and execute on that one thing. Don’t try to do it all right now. Focus on the one thing and never forget to have hope. So often we get down on ourselves as people who want to achieve great things and be high achievers. And I just ask that as you go through this, don’t forget to have hope all the way through the process and know that it’s possible.

Steve Shallenberger: Great message, Clint. Thank you. Well, it’s been Clint Hoopes today. And Clint, how can they find out about what you’re doing? 

Clint Hoopes: The best place to find me is on UnrivaledMan.com or you can search for me on the Unrivaled Man podcast, both of those. You can find me and feel free to connect with me. I love hearing from people and I sure appreciate you having me on the show here, Steve. This is a wonderful podcast I love listening to and it’s an amazing thing.

Steve Shallenberger: Well, thank you for a great part today and that your parting message, loved your parting message of not giving up and having hope and moving forward. So, it’s been great having you with us today and we wish you the best as you continue to touch people around the world.

Clint Hoopes: Thank you so much.

Steve Shallenberger: And to all of our listeners, we’re so grateful for you. Thank you for tuning in, participating, and making a difference every single day. That’s what makes it so special to be able to have this podcast and to work together. So, we definitely take our energy from you as well. So, we wish you the best and all that you’re doing, today and always. Signing off, this is Steve Shallenberger, your host.