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Coming up, I'll tell you why America isn't working.
How we got here and what we can do about it.
And then the greatest threat to your ability,
my ability to make a living, you won't believe it.
All right, let's dive right in.
Why America isn't working?
Now, I'm gonna talk about the work part.
Some of you thought, oh, Coleman's gone all political.
He's all in now.
No, I'm gonna talk about why America isn't working.
Why Americans aren't working?
Why do we have a massive gap in the amount of jobs
that are open versus the amount of people who can work
and who are willing to work.
Seven million able bodied men are sitting at home.
Mentally, emotionally sucking their thumb.
We'll get into that in a future part of this series.
But today, we start with one of the reasons why America
isn't working.
America isn't working because America is stressed out.
This is stressed out at work.
The stress is causing an explosion of anxiety
and then downstream of anxiety is depression.
Per the US Census Bureau in a recent household pulse survey
in 2023, 32% of adults reported having symptoms
of anxiety or depression.
That number is up 11% from the same survey in 2019.
50% of those adults that are currently reporting
anxiety are in Gen Z, workers 18 to 24.
Now let's just talk about stress.
Stress is a bodily response that is queued by the brain
and then administered through our nervous system
and it's triggered by an event or a situation,
an event, a negative interaction with a boss,
a co-worker, a customer, a situation
where I feel like I am in an environment at work
where I can't make it better.
I am just trying to make it through the day.
So anxiety is worried or dread that develops
when that kind of stress is happening too much.
Hello, five days a week,
four weeks out of the month, 12 months out of the year,
you kidding me?
Of course we're more anxious than we've ever been before
because our work environments are unhealthy
and causing so much stress.
The anxiety, by the way, causes defensiveness in us,
a lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating,
accidents, mistakes, if you will,
reduce productivity and relational conflict
in which pauses for a second?
Does that sound like your work environment?
Does it sound like something you're dealing with
on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis?
You bet it does.
So that kind of anxiety loop that's happening
in the workplace, guess what we're doing?
We're dragging it home with us
and it's affecting every other area of our lives
and then the scary part.
When anxiety is not dealt with,
when anxiety is not addressed,
it then becomes a super highway towards depression.
Depression is simply hopelessness.
We give up on the idea of a better future,
a better tomorrow,
a better next week, a better next month,
a better next year, a better life.
So one of the reasons why America isn't working
the way we view work, the way we do work,
the way we are led is broken.
That's how we got here.
You wanna know why?
We have so many people that just opted out
of a traditional work environment.
I'm gonna give you a few reasons.
First, it starts with bad leadership.
Unhealthy, bad, toxic, you pick the adjective
when you are in a environment
where the leader allows toxicity, gossip,
favoritism, nepotism, you pick it.
Bad leadership means a bad environment
and that will stress anybody out.
Why?
I'm gonna tie these all to stress.
When I've got a bad leader,
I feel like I am limited in my response to it
after all they are my leader.
How much can I do?
You don't think that'll cause stress?
Oh man, like that's stressful.
My leader is playing favorites.
My leader is allowing unethical behavior.
My leader is abusive.
My leader is unresponsive.
Folks, I can just keep rolling.
And I'll need to.
You're filling in your own blank.
Bad leadership is a cause of massive stress
in the workplace.
Let's talk about the pandemic.
The pandemic came in.
It was a massive disruption
and I would suggest to you as a massive reset.
Why?
It changed our values and it changed our work preferences.
Let me explain.
When we were sent home and we were told
you got to work from home because you may die
or you may get really, really sick and we saw,
I mean, folks, you would turn into cable news.
You saw it.
I saw it.
You remember it.
They had a death ticker.
Now, I'm not going to get into your views on vaxes
and masks and everything else,
but I'm going to tell you something
for a short period of time for some of us,
for a long period of time for others.
We were confronted with death
and severe medical consequences.
What does that do?
It makes you start thinking about your life, folks.
So it began to change our values.
We began to think long-term
like we all should on a daily basis.
What's my contribution?
What do I want life to look like for me?
That's what the pandemic did.
And then the pandemic changed our preferences for work.
Turns out millions and millions of people said,
I like working at all in my shorts and flip flops
or my sweatpants.
That's autonomy.
Humans crave freedom.
Tell you what else is his cause.
So by the way, all of that together,
when all of that change,
we started stressing out about the life we live now
versus the life we want to live.
Now, let's go to another one.
Social media has created the comparison culture.
We were already creatures of comparison,
which is unhealthy,
but now you throw in social media
and we're always looking at the Joneses.
Forget keeping up with them.
We can't even keep up with them.
We're too busy looking at what they're doing.
That creates stress.
It focused the limelight,
if you will, a giant spotlight on the gap
from where we are to where we want to be.
Comparison culture creates a lot of stress
and then fear mongering from the media and marketing.
The media needs to freak you out
to get you to pay attention
and marketing needs to scare you to purchase.
That has done more for stress than anything else
in our world.
We're stressed out all the time
because our amygdala, our lizard brain,
the fight or flight is always being activated
by the media and by marketing.
When you aren't watching the media,
guess what happens?
You go to commercial break and they tell you,
do you have dry mouth, stomach pain, everything?
I mean, there's no break.
And then coddling.
American parents over generations
have become more and more concerned
about how our kids feel
than how our kids act.
So what must change?
What must change?
If America isn't working,
how do we make America work?
Good news, folks.
Ken Coleman is on the wall.
You want me on the wall.
You need me on the wall and I'll tell you next.
So go on.
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Welcome back to the Ken Coleman show.
America isn't working.
I'm not talking about the construct of our constitution.
I'm not talking about our political system,
although I got thoughts.
But I'm going to keep it in this lane
of the backbone of our great nation
is its economy built on capitalism.
How some of you out there don't like capitalism
because you've been watching too many YouTube videos
and on some other channel.
You've been watching TikToks
because there are parts of socialism
that are very attractive.
Oh my gosh, it sounds good.
Oh, it sounds great.
Until you realize that it is the appetizer to communism.
Not my opinion.
Look it up.
Go find you somebody that lives in Venezuela,
someone that lives in Cuba and talk to him about it.
I'm not joking here.
I'm not being glib.
I'm not being sarcastic.
That's not the point I'm making today.
However, a little bit of context helps.
America isn't working.
We have a massive gap right now
in our working system, meaning more jobs available
than people who are willing to work.
Notice I said willing, not able.
We got plenty of people that are able,
they don't want to work.
And so in this new series, why America isn't working,
I am going to unpack several causes
that collectively have created a system
that is flawed, a system that could cave in
under its own weight.
This is no joke.
This is not a civics lesson.
This is a relevant discussion right here, right now.
So why is America not working?
America's not working in one capacity
because we are more anxious, anxiety ridden than ever.
Now I covered that in the last segment.
Why it's not working?
Let's talk about what can we do about it?
It's not enough to just point out the problem.
Let's talk about a solution.
What must change to make America work?
Again, first, the way we see work.
The way we see work, do you see work
as a utilitarian function?
Or do you see work as a unique contribution?
If you see work as a utilitarian function,
this is what you think about work.
Ah, it's gotta go in on Monday.
Gotta make it the hump day.
Oh, made it through hump day.
Oh, Friday, happy hour is almost here.
How can I drown my sorrows,
play to my heart's content on the weekend
just to overcome the pain of misery
and average Monday through Friday?
Sound familiar to you?
Just gotta work.
Gotta work, gotta try and retire at 55.
What I gotta do?
Gotta retire at 55, so I don't have to ever work again.
Sound familiar?
If that's you, you see work as a utilitarian function.
In other words, I work just to be able
to live.
Now that's the predominant world view of work.
I gotta work, Coleman.
I gotta pay the bills, man.
Gotta have vacation.
Gotta get that 401k filled up.
How sad is that?
Really?
Really?
That's the only way you see work.
How about looking at work as a unique contribution
that only you can make to your world?
Now, let's make that a little less intimidating.
What if we've viewed work as a way for you
to make a unique contribution in your zip code
putting good results into the world
and also having a good environment to do it in
and also making a good living.
Now, what if we started looking at work that way?
What if we looked at work as an opportunity
to make our mark live to work?
Now, that freaks out a lot of you folks right now.
You're already good.
I'm not gonna be a workaholic.
I'm tired of working for the man.
I'm gonna be a quite quitter.
Stop.
Listen to what I'm saying.
If I replace the phrase of the word rather,
live to work and I said live to contribute.
I dare say some of you would go, I like that.
I wanna live in such a way that in my time on this earth,
I contribute something positive.
Now, that is gonna get you a lot of unity in this world.
No matter your race, your creed, your politics,
your religion, everybody can get behind that statement.
I want to live in such a way that I make a unique contribution
that is positive and I can look and say,
I made a difference.
I made my mark.
So we gotta start looking at work
as a way to make a unique contribution.
Secondly, we gotta think about how we work.
We just talked about the why we work,
the how we work.
I would suggest to you that if you have a very clear grasp
of why you work, the how you work will be about excellence
and pride, excellence in that I'm going to give my best.
I'm not gonna say things like I just wanna work,
do enough to keep my job and fly the flag of quiet quitting.
Can I tell you what I think quiet quitting actually is?
Here's a new phrase for you, instead of quiet quitting,
we should call it apathetic average.
Hey, I'm about apathetic average
because if you're a quiet quitter by definition,
you are apathetic towards excellence in your work
and pride because of your work.
And by definition, you are all about average.
I just wanna keep my paycheck.
If I get promoted, that's fine.
Quiet quitting, it's apathetic average.
And it's time we started calling it that.
If we begin to see work as that unique contribution
in the why, then the how should I be?
I'm going to be excellent.
And excellent is what is the measurement.
Not the amount of time, not the title,
but the result.
And excellent work, you ought to be proud of.
That's good pride.
I'm proud because of the effort and the results.
Next, we have to start addressing where we work.
You need to work in a place,
you should be able to work in a place
that shares your values and values you.
A place that shares your values and values you.
Now, let's like it caught up here in this values discussion
and think it's about politics.
That should not be involved.
Where are the CEO and the board members
and the leadership of your company decides to vote
and donate to really shouldn't be an issue.
But if I'm in a place that shares my values,
in other words, the product or the service
that the company that I work for that they produce
their service, their product, I have shared values.
And they treat me with dignity.
They care about me.
We need to be working in a place that shares our values
and values us.
And then when we work, some of you don't want to work
in an office.
I say more power to you, but you're going to have
to build a life that allows you to do that.
I want to work at home.
I want to be a digital nomad, fan-freaking-tastic.
I'm all for it.
But you're going to have to build to that life.
What do you have to do so that you can do what you want to do
wherever you want to do it?
You can't demand that.
You must build that.
And I'm afraid we've got a generation
that is demanding remote work because of what
remote allows autonomy and flexibility.
I love it.
I'm all for autonomy and flexibility.
But I've got to build that life,
so build a life that you don't have to escape from.
How about that?
That's not on your boss, that's not on the company
or before that's on you.
Let's go do it.
I'll help you.
So what's the answer to all of those things?
It's about leadership.
We're going to have to start developing
and promoting leaders who get this.
That means you leaders who aren't doing this,
aren't creating this kind of environment
where people go, I want to show up to work.
I'm proud of the work that I get to do.
I'm proud to be a part of this mission
that is so much bigger than me.
That's on leaders.
And leaders have failed us.
It's time for leaders to service.
If you're enjoying the show, I need your help.
Would you help me spread this common sense?
Would you help me spread?
Some fact-based optimism so people
begin to see their life at work is not this drudgery.
But they see it as artistry.
How about that?
That's not kumbaya.
I mean, I'm the facts, folks.
Common sense, man of the people.
Help me spread the word about the show.
You can do that on YouTube by liking the video,
commenting and subscribing and sharing.
Those are the things that all help the algorithms
that they perform.
I don't understand it, that's how it goes.
And if you listen to us on your favorite podcast app,
would you give us a follow?
Would you like and share?
Give us a four-star review.
Five-star.
I said that the last time.
I don't know why I keep demoting to four-star,
but maybe it's because I'm such a humble guy.
I don't know.
Let's go to Jessica now in Boise, Idaho
for coaching session.
Jessica, you're on the Ken Coleman show.
Hey, Ken, thank you so much for taking my call.
Good to talk to you.
Good to talk to you, Jessica.
What's up?
So I have a decision I have to make by the end of this week,
and I was really hoping to get some of your wisdom and input.
All right.
I don't know how much wisdom I got,
but I got a lot of input.
You know what I'm saying?
Well, anything I could get, I would appreciate it.
All right, hit me.
So in January of 2022, beginning of last year,
I started on a new career journey at a Christian
financial investment firm.
It was this next big step.
I really felt like God was leading me there.
I was so excited and it just came with so much peace.
And then five months later,
I was blindsided completely by a layoff
due to the volatility of the market.
And I just, I sunk really low.
And it hit me really, really hard.
Sure.
So they took me a while to kind of get back up again
and searched for myself out there again.
And in October of last year,
I landed a job at a dental insurance company
just to, you know, move on, just to survive that we've done.
And that's where I'm currently at.
A couple of weeks ago, this financial investment firm
reached out to me and they walked me back.
They offered the same position, more pay.
And I have to let them know by the end of the week.
I was again blindsided, you know, by,
but this time with the offer again from them.
So I am, I'm pretty torn.
I've just really been searching my heart.
What are you torn about?
What are you torn about?
Do I stay in the safe, secure position that I'm at?
Or do I risk it again and take that leap of faith
and go back?
What makes the current position safe and secure in your mind?
Well, after having been laid off,
I think I never thought I would experience.
I'm going back to a company that has directly affected,
you know, by the stock market
and everything going on in the economy.
I don't know if I want to go back to that.
I understand.
I understand that, but that you didn't answer my question.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What makes you feel safe and secure
about the current company,
not the past company that laid you off?
That is obviously they mismanaged
or maybe it was just a function of the cycle.
I'll get into that in a second.
I'm asking you, the current job,
which is boring and sucking the soul out of you.
Can I say that?
Am I wrong?
I mean, I've hit a plateau, you know?
I so I'm wondering.
What makes you believe,
what makes you believe that your current job
is more safe and more secure?
I guess you could say that the product that it offers,
you know, dental insurance is something that will
essentially always be around.
Yeah.
I just, here's what I'm doing.
I was hoping to get an answer like that,
but that's your opinion.
I don't think you have any more safety and security
at the insurance company
than you do at this other company.
And I know that that seems nonsensical,
but any company can go through layouts.
It's my point.
Right, right.
And so if I come up above the fray
and we, because if you average it all out,
I just, I think there's more to this.
So when they came back to you,
did you ask them questions or did they explain
what happened before that created the conditions
by which they laid you off and others?
Was it just you or there's other people?
There was a group of us and apparently
I'm the only one that's asking back.
Oh, that's a great sign.
That's a great sign.
They value you.
But do you have an understanding or did they explain it?
As to, okay, what what happened?
What led to the layoff?
They just, they financially were not prepared at all.
The total dip in the market and they're not,
they were going in the red and they just, you know,
had to do what they had to do.
But did they learn, did they learn from it?
Yes.
Yeah.
Do you have evidence that they learn from it?
Well, I'm not sure.
I mean, I'm buying off of their word.
They're very transparent.
Good.
So they gave you a, they gave you a,
hey, we learned our lesson and now we're prepared
for something like this in the future.
And I mean, have you expressed, guys,
I want to come back to work for you,
but I'm scared.
Have you said that?
Oh, yeah.
Well, they said, they said that is totally understandable.
You know, they totally understand not wanting to take the risk,
but they, you know, they were essentially just really
pleased for me and they really,
yes, but did they, I get that.
But did they, because here's what we got to do.
We have to acknowledge that it's normal and it's okay
for you to be calling me right now with two emotions,
fear and excitement.
Is that fair?
Yes.
Okay.
But you're letting your fear drown out the excitement
and that is going to continue to be the case
until we get to the point where we go,
our excitement is far greater than our fear.
So what must be true for excitement to be greater than fear?
The feeling of risk and you getting more knowledge
and then when you get the knowledge,
does the knowledge square up with you?
In other words, do you believe it?
Correct?
Right.
So have they given you enough knowledge?
In other words, evidence that they are insured
against this kind of thing happening again.
When you told them, I want to come back when I'm scared.
And they said, I know, I know, I know,
but then they did, they explained to you where you go,
I'm confident that they get it.
They've got it figured out.
You know, just, it was all based on their word at night.
I feel like every answer is a question with answer.
I don't, wait a second.
I'm interrupting and I'm sorry,
but what did they give you details with their word
or they just went, hey, we got you.
I promise, did they explain?
Hey, here's what we've got in place now.
I mean, did they answer any of those questions
that you still have?
They talked about it, yeah, they talked about
the savings accounts specifically.
They really, they really watched their numbers.
All right, so how do you feel?
How do you feel when they, when you asked them
those questions or they gave you that explanation?
I mean, I, of course, I appreciate that they were,
they're honest being sharing that.
It's just, you know, I'm trying to get over the,
the hurt.
I didn't ask you that, I didn't ask you that.
I didn't ask you that.
How did you feel when they gave you an explanation?
Did you feel like, I mean, still a little hesitant
that I just, I, I absolutely believe them 100%.
Okay, so if you believed and you felt good
about their explanation, meaning it made sense to you.
That's what I'm driving at.
Yes.
The fear will dissipate, but the fear will only dissipate
when you have the answers that you need
and then you begin to focus on the answer you went
on that phone call, that made sense to me.
They got a savings account.
They're not gonna let this happen.
There's some trip hours.
Do you understand what I'm driving at?
You're focused on the wrong thing right now.
You're focused on your fear.
Yeah.
What you should be focusing on is the facts.
Let me explain it this way.
Are you a mom biting chance you got kids?
I am not.
All right.
Do you remember being a kid?
I do.
All right, give me an example of a time in your childhood
when your mom and dad were teaching you something
to do, whether it be ride a bike swim.
Those would be examples, but you tell me, take me back.
You remember a time when your mom or dad taught you something
and you were afraid to do it, but they were assuring.
And at some point you went from fear to believing
mom and dad and you did it and you learned it.
Can you take me to something?
Sure, I can see myself trying to ride my bike.
Boom.
Yeah.
Boom.
Boom.
That's where we're at.
Do you believe that if they hire you back,
that they're gonna lay you off again
for the same circumstance?
If you do, don't go back.
But if you believe them, that they've learned
and they take and teach you how to ride a bike,
jump on the bike.
Thanks for listening to The Ken Colman Show.
For more, you can find the show on demand
wherever you listen to podcasts
and watch the show on YouTube.
You can also find Ken across all social media
by following at Ken Colman.