Welcome to the Adaptive Mindset. I'm Brett Gallant, cybersecurity thought leader and founder of Adaptive Office Solutions. Here, we don't just talk tech, we unlock the strategies, stories, and mindset shifts you need to stay secure, lead boldly, and thrive in a digital world. Let's get started. Welcome back to the Adaptive Mindset. Really pleased to have with me today, David Prosper, a Clarity Architect. And right off the bat, people are probably saying, what's That's a great question. Thank you, Brett, for having me. I would say the Simplified is someone who designs their life on purpose. So they know what they want, they know how to do it, and then they're the designer of their lives. So Yeah, excellent. So how specifically do you help people with designing Yeah, hundred percent. So it's we often live on autopilot. So we we do things because things have always been done a certain way. And especially like being raised in like grade school, we were so conditioned to just go through the motion versus ask questions. So I help people pause. reflect, analyze, and then release the things that they need to release or subtract the things that need to be subtracted to live a life of their values that they've designed and that they embrace versus the values and mindsets and stories that we've just adopted through tradition, through culture, through just everything. So it's just reflecting on why do I do what I do? Where is this coming from? What stories am I telling myself? Is it my stories or stories I've inherited? So it's breaking away from the conditioning I think a lot of people are living that way. and sometimes they're not even aware of it. You have a unique gift and opportunity to help so many people. Looking at a few questions that you shared with me before starting, why do you think so many high achievers are That's a great question. So I would say the biggest thing is one of my favorite books, What Got You Here Won't Get You There. So a lot of high achievers have done things that has led to their success. And in turn, it's we don't like feeling like the newbie sometimes. And so we'll we'll stay in our our our mindset that we know we can do more, but we kind of we stay in that space. So They're stuck oftentimes because there's a stories they tell themselves, and one of the things I learned from my mentor is that there's nothing worse than public success and private failure. So, we appear to be successful on the outside while we're dealing with things that are not going well on the inside so. High achievers usually are performative based versus alignment based. Is this drawing me to do it or am I being pushed because my worth and my identity is surrounded by my performance? So that's why I believe that high performers are typically stuck in that in emotional state, not in the external state of of where they could be and what needs to get dealt with. Yeah, it's so true. I can relate with that because in different points along my own journey, I felt like I was stuck. And I'm sure every single person listening today is probably identifying with that. There's lies that we tell ourselves that are not true and there's perceptions that we have. So how, how, how does a person go You're asking a very bold question and I know if you let's solve the world's problems today or challenges. So the biggest thing is, is the first step. is subtraction. And in my upcoming book in August, I talk about the power of subtraction. One of the things that I learned from my mother that I was annoyed as a kid, may she rest in peace, is she would always clean the house. And it was like she would throw away everything. But through her rearranging and tossing everything that wasn't being used, we could find the things that we needed to use. So oftentimes when we think about clarity, we've been so conditioned to accumulate and consume, but clarity is found when we subtract and we release. So the first step is like, what needs to get out of the house, out of my mind, out of my relationship, so I can have the space to think a little bit more clearly, or I can more importantly, have the capacity So it's what needs to get eliminated first, then the next step is asking That's so true. The questions and clearing the path are so important. One thing I've been following and embracing quite a bit is asking a bigger question. And like, who can I become? And I've been reflecting on that a lot in the last week. And there's a question that what helps me, I guess, by intention, I've been doing some of what you say. I get out, go for a walk, clear the head, get rid of things in my mind that may not be true, beliefs. I'm about to go on on a journey tomorrow where I'm going to be away for three or four days. So there's a good way to clear So- I'll ask the question back. Like, cause I know the question you said was, who do Yeah. Who can I become? Like, yeah. Like who am I meant to be? Like there's, I believe everybody here on this earth has so many gifts and talents. And it's, I like the analogy of the Shrek, like onion, ogres have layers, right? Like onions. And we're just peeling back that version of us, that person that we always were. So who can I become? I'm on this journey to I would even challenge that lovingly as like, who am I becoming? Because it's an ongoing evolution of like, do I arrive or do I continue to Yeah. So, yeah. And that's I guess when you say it that way, David, that's that's that's the way I do look at it. But I just didn't express it and just say, okay, that's the beauty about having these conversations. Like you said, like a new friend, we're just conversing, connecting and collaborating on and then sharpening up Yeah. Well, and you get to do this every day with your clients. So that must bring you tremendous energy. So what led you to starting this part of your life? What was your background and what led you to say, I'm going to embrace doing this Well, first and foremost, as a kid, I was always the individual that everyone would come to when they had either a crisis or a transition, suicidal thoughts. And my mother was a pastor and I was raised a pastor's child. So people would often call me Pastor Prosper. And I was like, What word do you have for us today? And that became like the ripple effect of setting things in motion. And I started to look at things. I was very observant as a kid and even as an adult. And I've been in leadership and in sales and upper management. And one thing that I noticed is that And even in relationships we don't communicate clearly and effectively and that leads to a lot of misunderstandings and just in interpersonal relationships and then from a leadership perspective leaders. Leaders talk about vision, but they don't communicate with clarity of what that vision looks like, sound like, feel like. And what happens, there's this great disconnect. I'm telling you what I want, but I'm not showing and describing and articulating and illustrating what that looks like. So now it becomes this far away thing versus this lifestyle for the people who are in that leadership. And I just became obsessed with it. It was just like, OK, like what what was going on? And I went on this journey on a hike in Colorado Springs and I was asking God and I was like, what's my purpose? Like, what's my thing? And he said very quietly in my and audibly for me, it's clarity. And it reminds me of the verse, my people perish for the lack of vision. And I can we can interchange that people perish for the lack of clarity. It's not the lack of information is not the lack of anymore, but it's a lack of what do I need to do and where do I need to go and how to do that? So that became at an early age and then just seeing how people interact, how I interact on a lot of my relationship failures of what can I have done better? How could I have communicated clearly and express explicitly what I want versus just assume people I feel that so much, even the leader that I was, the leader that I am today, I like to, I guess my own version of that, at least when we're talking tactical for a second, is giving my team a definition of done. Because your team can't read your mind. And then when we look at our relationships and clarity, our people, our loved ones around us can't read our mind. So I love that, just being clear and honest and open. And that just, and that came to you, I think deep down though, that was always with you, but it became more apparent on that walk, when you heard God whisper to you, clarity. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Incredible. How long has it been since you started your business? Now, since you've been on this journey, has it just been something you embraced full tilt or did you have limiting beliefs starting this initially, like overcoming that mindset? I'm No, I appreciate that. And yeah, just like just like any one of us, when we're daring to do something to breaking outside of the mold of conditioning, there's going to be thoughts like I grew up in a very poverty community. I grew up in the projects of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and in that ecosystem, there were a lot of beautiful things that I'm so thankful of, like getting a biblical foundation of God and Jesus. And I carry it to this day. But there was also in that same breath of like a lot of limiting beliefs and like, who are you to do something great? Like we just get by to just get by. So I've been doing it for the last two and a half years and it was a part-time thing. And then I started to lean in a little bit more and start seeing people's lives change from certain things. And when When I was on this journey of like, OK, is this going to be a full time thing for me? I started asking as a result of me leaving interactions with people, how do people feel or what do people say the most when I leave or when I interact with them? And they're just like, oh, I never thought about it that way. Oh, clarity. And I was like, OK, so I'm seeing this common theme happen. And as an entrepreneur last year, I set the goal for I was going to write a book in seven days and before I completed it. And a year, a year ago now, like I and my book is now coming out in August. So it's. Clarity, the biggest misconception is that we have to have it all figured out. And I believe that daunting, overwhelmed thought process makes us not move forward. But I believe clarity is take the next right step. And as we take the next right step, it becomes compound clarity. And then we're in alignment versus I have to have it all figured out I see that so many times and I believe execution is a discipline. And so many times we hold back and waiting for the perfect plan to execute and go after our goals and our dreams. And I heard this story shared with me before. I don't know where it was, but it may have been something I saw on the internet or a thought leader. And there's a story of a man and woman that got married and they want to have children, but they said they're going to wait for the perfect time to have children. And they were clear they wanted children. But they've waited, first they had to go to college, they had to pay off the bills, get a house, pay off the mortgage, pay off the car, then they needed to do something else. And by the time was the perfect time to do it, they were in their 70s. So you can have clarity, And it's really important. And I think that would help people have clarity, but clarity with intention and realistic intention that sometimes you can, you sometimes you can't be entirely clear on it, but you can have the, the core framework of being clear, having clarity for what you want. I think sometimes so many entrepreneurs and leaders hold back from fear and executing waiting for OK, I think I think there might be a misconception No, no, I understand what you meant. I was just putting my own spin on it. I totally agree with with what you're saying, clarity. But it just made me think about so many entrepreneurs that perhaps didn't have clarity, but they waited. Like I can think of somebody in my industry that didn't launch because they didn't have clarity, but they're waiting for the perfect time. And sometimes you So yeah, that's, that's one Yeah. I love, I love, I know I've, people are probably listening and saying, okay, Fred had a meltdown here, but I, I love how you are taking this and helping people. And I, I guess sometimes people are confused on which way to go. How does, how does a person take that and lead with confidence? Where, Yeah, that's, that's a great question. So I would say, The questions that we ask gets us to the destination that we're eventually gonna end up. So it's asking the right questions and the right questions are usually empowering questions versus disempowering questions. So if someone's on a journey and they're trying to discover, for example, their purpose, oftentimes that's a big question. What is my purpose? What is the vision? That's a very daunting question that doesn't yield a lot of answers and just like, well, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. And then we end up doing nothing versus saying, who do I want to serve and how do I want to serve them? And what gifts and talents do I have? If someone's in a, and I talk about it in the upcoming book, The Clarity Cycle, if they're, and I talk about four different cycles, it's the wanderer, the seeker, the architect, and the flow master. So the wanderer is typically in the fog. They're driving, their eyes are squinted, and just like, I don't know where I'm going, but they know that something feels off. And if someone's in that position to say oh you need clarity that would probably that would be callous emotionally callous and not compassionate. I would encourage that individual who doesn't know where to go to be around people who know where they're going and. The best investments are relationships. So we typically are influenced by the people who we're surrounded by. So if people around are confident and clear, we're going to be clear. But if people around us are foolish and dumb, we're going to be foolish and dumb. And then they move to the next step of being a seeker. The seeker is. looking for the answers, they're looking for things that shifts the paradigm, expand the mind and evolves them and grow them. So podcasts like this, books, different seminars, networking events. And then they move into now they have gathered their information. They've surrounded themselves with people who they aspire to be like or aspire to embody some of those characteristics. Then they move into the architect. Now they've taken that information, now they're applying that information, and then they're designing the life that's filled in alignment. And then the last phase of the cycle is the flow master. Now they're just moving with conviction, they're moving in alignment, they're moving in authenticity, and then now they're teaching others to move through that cycle. So it's each one, reach one, each one, teach It's incredible. I've heard Jim Rohn say this, I know I'm not going to get it right, but you're the average of the five people that you're surrounded. So in essence, upgrade or find five or whatever the number is for you, be surrounded, like one pathway is finding a peer group or a mastermind and be, you know, seek, be around people that can lead you and show you another way of possibility. So you get clear. Yeah. Wow. There's, I know right now, There's someone listening to this. You and I have this wonderful conversation. And I think, you know, life's like filled with peaks and valleys. And there's high points and low points and we're put on this earth and that's by design, we're here to have those experiences. But I know someone's feeling lost right now. What's one thing that you can say to that person that's lost, that's seeking a path forward to start today to find clarity? How That's such a powerful question and it's such a real question, right? we can often arrive to a space of the mountaintop and just like, oh, you just have to do this. And that's what a lot of motivational guys do and gals. Like you said, there's the valleys. And first I wanna say to whoever's listening in that valley, I see you. and been where you've been and you're not broken. You're just unclear and it's OK. So first and foremost, I want to validate and say what you're experiencing, what you're feeling is real. Your feelings are real. And I want to encourage this individual to I would encourage us individuals to start surrounding yourself with like, who are people that I wanna listen to? Before we even get into a community, before we even start networking, because sometimes it's just hard to leave your home and to put yourself out there when you don't know how to interact. So I would first say like, who are some people that you wanna listen to? And listen to stuff on social media and YouTube and Facebook. Things that fill up your spirit, like it makes you feel good. Listen to music. So into a good state of mind before anything else. So what we consume, we typically become. So I would change what we consume. Listen to things that are encouraging. Eat good food. Walk. Do the physical things first. And then the next step would be figuring out, OK, now you're in a good state of mind, a good emotional state. It would be the next step was now find those relationships and those people who model those things that make you feel good, alive, renewed, growth, expanded, and start hanging around those individuals and invite them to coffee and get to know their story I love that. And I'm thinking about that. And it's part of this may be sounding overwhelming to some people. And there might be some people that may don't even know where to start. We'll just start with one person. I've seen some people say, oh, I got to get this, do that. But hey, if there's somebody in your community or somebody you know that you want to reach out to, reach out, go for coffee or say, hey, let's have a virtual meeting. We'll have coffee together. I'd love to pick your brain. I admire what you're doing. Reach out to someone on LinkedIn and DM them, say, hey, I love what you're doing. I could learn from you. I'd love to connect. Is it as easy as that? It can be, yeah. It can be. The only caveat to If an individual isn't in the best state of mind, the likelihood of them doing that action and experiencing a form of rejection would be more of a setback than a setup. So I would start in again, like consuming content that it's enriching and then finding people who are in common spaces and places and doing that invitation there. LinkedIn has a LinkedIn has an interesting way of like, are you trying to sell me something? So it's a different type of networking space. So I would find places and It's, I totally understand what you mean. Some people may feel like you're being sold, but sometimes people are just reaching out with intention to be friendly and connect. I, um, I know when you talk about content to consume, everybody, so that's positive. What are some thought leaders that have influenced you, that you find positive that have helped you? Perhaps there may be a few things you could share that would help people that they could adopt some of their own into what I remember growing up, I used to hate this as a kid. My uncles and my mentors would take me home from church and we would listen to Jim Rohn's, Tony Robb, Les Brown. And I hated it because I just wanted to listen to music as a kid. But now the content that has literally transformed my mind and it's still I don't believe I'm a master at anything. I'm a student at it. So I'm constantly learning. Even if I've already learned the concept, I want to master it. So I listen to Tony Robbins still to this day, Jim Rohn, John Axel is one of my favorite. Joe Dispenza. Heberman, Andrew Heberman, and I listen to Simon Sinek. These are the individuals who are thought leaders who are constantly outliers. Not only is it Elon Musk as well, I've read his book and Steve Jobs. So I'm looking at outliers. How do they think How do they see the world? What patterns are they looking for? And how can I duplicate that process? And I think every great student looks for that. And every person who's considered a genius becomes obsessed about the process and the patterns. So if there's someone that we're attracted to and resonate with, figuring out how do they think and how can I think like them so I can do to learn that it's possible, like all of those people you've shared with, or most of them are people I've listened to, there is one name. And another one I want to just tag on to, but there's one that I was listening to his content again, Les Brown. And I know you mentioned him a moment ago, but it's possible. He has this great talk from a few years ago. And every time I hear it, it gives me so much energy. It's possible. That whole talk. And then another one who is an up and coming, but a powerful speaker, Ed Mayette. Have you ever listened to any of his work? Yeah. So there's no shortage of people to find. You can go on Instagram or YouTube and search for any of those and do five to 10 minutes even. I'm going to go to the gym after we finish recording this podcast. And when I'm on the elliptical trainer, I do about 15 minutes of listening to something positive. It's awesome. It just feeds my mind. It feeds my soul. From anywhere from Jim Rohn to Brian Tracy to all those people you mentioned, Tony. So yeah, I remember he was doing incantations and I was doing it once on the treadmill. I actually said it by out loud, I'm a lean, mean fighting machine. So how do people connect and find you, David? What's the best way for people But first of all, let's say it's my website, DavidBprosper.com. And I live on social media, Instagram specifically is DavidBprosper. So you put that on Instagram and you put that with a dot com, you'll find me on the internet and I would love to connect with you. But more importantly, hear your story, because it's not about me. And granted, in this setting, I'm the one that's speaking. But I love being in the setting where I'm the one that's asking questions and Yeah, and that's, you can feel that from you, David, the intention, you can feel it. And I know you genuinely want to help people. Folks, you really should make an effort and connect with David. His content's incredible. He's just a good soul. And one of the things that I really love about starting this podcast is I get to meet people like you. And it's mutual. Yeah. Somebody is going to hear this. We're going to impact people today. Not only have we impacted each other, impacted the people listening and Folks, I've been saying this a lot in every episode now, the best way you could repay, it's not repayment, but if you're a person that wants to help somebody, there's been some words and thoughts here by David today. that perhaps you know one to three people that need to hear this. And what you could do to help those people is share this episode, share what David's saying, and then perhaps you make a difference in somebody's life just by clicking share and sending it to somebody in a DM. That would be really, I know that would give me energy, but I'm sure it would give you energy as well, David. Yeah. So David, it's been such a pleasure to have you here today. And when is your book Okay. I'm looking forward to seeing that. I love what you're sharing. So I don't know if there's no links available on Amazon yet. Is My website, I'm having pre-sale right now. And for your list, something I want to give, use the code PROSPER20 on any of the packages and products, you get 20% off. So for your list, PROSPER20 Thank you, PROSPER20, davidprosper, find him on Instagram. David, thank you so much for being with Thanks for tuning into the Adaptive Mindset. 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