Nick (00:00): What's your calling? This isn't always the easiest question to answer. Is there anything out there that's pulling you in a direction to make a shift in your life? Well, today that is exactly what we're talking to Miinkay you about Miinkay is a life and career coach, helping others figure out what their true calling in life is being. Miinkay, is also the host of the What's Your Calling Podcast. And just recently Meditate with Miinkay podcast. In this episode, we dive into how Miinkay was able to find her calling and how she's able to help others find theirs. With this episode, we actually did something pretty cool. Miinkay runs through a short coaching session with me to figure out the next steps I need to take to fulfill my calling. It's given me a lot to think about. And I think that that short little session would be really interesting for you to listen in on and see where you might be able to benefit from hiring a coach, like Miinkay, to help you find your calling. Before we get into the interview. I just want to remind you to subscribe to the podcast. Go do that right now. So you don't miss any of the future interviews that I have on the podcast. I have a lot of amazing guests coming on the show in the future, and you're not going to want to miss any of them. Now that you've taken care of that let's get into this interview with Miinkay Yu.

Nick (01:09): This is the Nine-Five Podcast, and I'm your host Nick Nalbach. Where we get into the minds of entrepreneurs and people just like you, so you can start, build and grow your own online business.

Nick (01:26): Okay. Welcome to the Nine-Five Podcast. On today's episode, we are going to be talking about coaching. And with that I have brought on today's guest, Miinkay Yu. So Miinkay, welcome to the Nine-Five Podcast.

Miinkay (01:39): Thanks for having me, Nick. It's great to be here.

Nick (01:41): So you kind of started getting into online business, not that long ago, if I'm not mistaken, correct?

Miinkay (01:47): That's correct. Um, pretty much this year, I've been a coach for about two or three years now, but I only started really building my business online this year because of COVID, actually.

Nick (01:59): So you kind of took, you had to take what you had and adapt like everyone else during this time. I didn't, I didn't realize it was, that was what made that transition.

Miinkay (02:08): Yeah, I think I had always known that I would bring more of my business online, but since I do multiple things in my career, I kind of had pushed building my coaching business off to the wayside, but it's the only side of my business. That's all virtual. So when COVID happened, I was like, okay, well I guess I'm going to work on my coaching business now. And then that's what prompted me to do all this stuff online and, and set my foot in, you know, everything that I do now.

Nick (02:33): Why don't you talk about that a little bit? Let the listeners know who you are and what it is you do in the online space.

Miinkay (02:40): Yeah. So my name is Miinkay Yu. I'm a career coach and I mainly help people transition from a career they don't like into finding what's meaningful to them. And finding what their purpose is. I started a podcast this year called What's Your Calling to help people find their calling and their purpose. And I'm just starting to build online courses to expand my reach. Before I went online, I was just coaching one-on-one, but I always knew I wanted to teach. I've always been an educator in some ways. So, and seeing the patterns in my clients, you know, I can start to see, Oh, there are things that I can create that apply to everybody that are concepts that I think I'm constantly teaching my clients. And so if I can create a course or if I can create a podcast and have a place where I'm just putting all that information for people to get, then those, you know, are, people can learn from that and start off in a good place and then reach out for coaching in the future or, you know, try to learn more later on. So really it was so a lot of me figuring out how I wanted to be of service to the world and to put my name and my work out there so that I could help more people.

Nick (03:52): I think something that you said there really kind of stuck with me, you kind of realize this need, you started seeing some common trends with the coaching clients that you had, and you've kind of turned that you brought a solution to the table. I think that's perfect. That fits directly with this audience on the Nine-Five Podcast and the listeners here because as entrepreneurs, that's what we are, we're problem solvers, and we need to be searching for that problem before we even have a business. So I think that's awesome. You, you noticed you recognized that and then you brought the solution to the table. I think that is awesome.

Miinkay (04:24): Thanks.

Nick (04:24): Now, one thing that I like to do with all of the guests here on the podcast is I like to bring them on and ask them what their superpower is and by super power. I mean, what does that one thing that you are just a rockstar at, or maybe somebody comes here specifically for you, obviously coaching is one of those things, but aside from coaching in general, what do you think your superpower would be?

Miinkay (04:46): Yeah, I am a really good listener and I realize, I say this sometimes that I'm a professional listener because it's really, you know, a majority of my job is to listen to what's going on in people's lives to hear them, to make them feel heard and to let them know that it's okay to be where they are, you know, aside from advice or guidance or anything else that I do, you know, 50% to 80% of it is just listening to people so that they can get off their chest. What is going on with them. They can also learn a lot just by speaking things out loud. You know, sometimes I have sessions where people get so much out of it, but really all I did was listen for most of that session. And it's yeah, I would say if anything in the world, people would come to me naturally for is just to listen.

Miinkay (05:40): Even before, as a coach, people would just naturally gravitate towards me and talk to me for no good reason or, and talking about anything. And, you know, sometimes that was fun for me. Cause then I could hear what people say and hear the stories and, you know, meet people off the street or in the airport while I was traveling and just, you know, make a connection. So that's just always been a natural gift of mine. And since I've gained more training and learn more about the art of listening, I've, it's turned really into a superpower.

Nick (06:08): Awesome. That's a great superpower to have, especially, I mean, you just talked about that example, not too long ago, you were listening to what was going on around you and you realized that there was a problem that needed solving. You may not have been thinking, Oh, I'm listening to this, I'm listening for this problem. But you were actively listening to find that there was a problem that you needed to meet. I think that's an excellent, super power for anybody to have.

Miinkay (06:31): Thanks. That was super insightful.

Nick (06:34): Now I'm curious. What got you started on coaching? You said you were doing coaching a little bit before you got into online business and taking your coaching career online. Was coaching something that you always wanted to do or always knew that you were going to do or what kind of pushed you in that direction?

Miinkay (06:50): Um, I never, I never knew I would be a coach. If you had told me when I was a kid, I would be a coach. Yeah. I would've been like, uh, I don't like sports. I don't know why I would be a coach. You know, so I mean, my journey really started when I changed my careers. I was, I used to be, uh, an IT consultant and I had traveled around the country doing that and eventually landed in LA and worked for some, some of the hospitals out here doing back, back end work for basically Obamacare, helping hospitals get up to code with all the it specs that they needed to have. And I never really enjoyed that kind of work. I mean, I was good at it, which is why I kept doing it. I just kept moving up and get getting promoted and moving into cool things.

Miinkay (07:40): But it was just so frustrating because I knew the things I was doing were cool and a lot of people wanted to do those things, but I didn't want to do them. And so I had this really hard time in my life where I was figuring out, you know, what, what should I do with my life? Why, why am I here? What went wrong to where I have this great job, but I don't want to do it. And that sent me on a path of, you know, trying to figure out my calling, figuring out the purpose, because it really just felt like my soul was kind of weathering a way in this job and that I needed to do something that really made me happy and light me up. And just something that I looked forward to every day, you know, I wanted to be able to wake up and say, I want to, I want to work today.

Miinkay (08:24): You know, I had never said that before in my life. And so that set me on the path of trying to figure that out. And I eventually got to this place where I found bodywork, which is the other side of my work. I do massage and energy work and help people heal their bodies. And while I was making that, it was kind of like a 180 transition, right. From consultants to massage therapist. And I had been telling my friends about it posting in my blog. I have personal blog and my friends were wow, how did well, how do you, how did you do that? What got you onto this path? You know? And then how can I do that? Oh, I realized when I was telling people about my transition, so many other people wanted to know how I did it because they wanted that for themselves. They wanted to figure out, is there something better? Is there something I can enjoy? What is out there? That's more for me than what I have now and that's me on the path of, okay, how do I help these people? Because I know how terrible it was for me to be in a place I didn't enjoy and how amazing it is to wake up now every day and to think, Oh, what am I get to do today? Right. But

Nick (09:33): That is really cool. Yeah.

Miinkay (09:36): You know, I, and it was hard for me at first. Cause I didn't have the training to know how to help people. I could listen to them, like I said at that. So this was like a natural thing I did, but I didn't know how to guide them and help them with their path. So I got some coaching training. I listened to, um, this coach over the radio, he has a radio show where he coaches people for free. And he said, one day, Oh, I have this coaching program. If you're interested in it, you should apply. And see if you'll get in. And I was like, that's what I should do. That's what I should do to, to get my skills better, to be able to help people figure out what their passions are. And so that's what I did. And that's how I became a coach. I had no idea that I would ever become a coach. It's just kind of happened.

Nick (10:22): That is actually a really cool story. I love that. Just something that ties into your podcast, which I want to talk about in a minute, but you just kind of fell into your calling. I absolutely love that. Was there, was there a specific turning point where you said you just, you got to a point where you knew this isn't what you wanted to do. Was there something that happened that, like you said, okay, this is enough. I need to make a change. Or was it just kind of a gradual build on like years of going through the same thing?

Miinkay (10:50): Uh, it was a little bit of both. I had spent a long time trying to figure out what else there was and what else I could do apply to grad schools applied to medical school, apply to masters in health. I tried to become a yoga teacher at one point, you know, just kind of exploring all my options and figuring out and trying them out like, Oh, is this for me? Is this for me. Volunteering a lot. And every one of those, I hit a dead end until one day I kind of, you know, resigned myself to, okay, I'm going to just do this job. And I did that job and I was doing that. And then it took about three years before I hit another, I had another epiphany. That was nobody in my life is going to make me happy except me. And it really was this like, I, my whole life I had, my, my perception was okay if I make other people happy, then that will make me happy.

Miinkay (11:43): If I serve other people, then I will be happy if I try to do things for my friends, my family that will make them happy. Then that will make me happy. And then I realized years and years of doing that, that it wasn't true because I was doing that and I was still unhappy. And so it was both, it was me trying to find happiness in my career and failing. And then also me trying to find happiness and other parts of my life and failing that. So it wasn't really, until I failed finding happiness in my relationships that I realized that I needed to make a bigger change than what I was already doing and had been doing. And that's what prompted me to quit my job and just dive head first into trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.

Nick (12:26): That okay, quitting your job and diving right into it. What was that like? Did you already have something set up in place? Like, were you already starting to do the coaching or did you just, you said I'm done quit. We're starting something new.

Miinkay (12:39): I said, I'm done and I quit. And that was the scariest thing I've ever done in my entire life. Cause I had nothing lined up. I had zero, zero plan, zero idea of what I was going to do. I just knew that if I was spending eight hours a day doing something I didn't enjoy, then it wasn't going to get me anywhere because I already been doing that for eight years. And so if I wanted to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, then I could use those eight hours a day to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. And maybe I'm not getting paid to do that, but it's going to be better than dragging myself out of bed and going to work for eight hours and then trying to figure out my life coming after I get home. Right? Because if you're doing something you don't enjoy for eight hours a day, you're so drained by the end of the day that you don't want to do anything. And that was why I was getting stuck is I just didn't have energy at the end of the day to try to figure out what I wanted to do. And so I just needed, I knew I needed to get rid of the thing that was draining me.

Nick (13:34): That's interesting how you went about it. Cause I I'm trying to get away from my nine to five job as well, but I'm doing it just a little bit differently. I didn't, I guess I was more uncomfortable just taking that leap that you took so kudos to you and I commend you for that because that, that takes some great courage. And I mean, you had to know there was something within you to be able to pull this off or at least have hoped that there was something in you that you could pull this off. Me personally, I'm still working my nine to five right now, while I'm trying to build up the Nine-Five brand. And like you said, it is exhausting. Like you get done with your nine to five. And really my work days are not just eight hours are typically like 10 to 12 hour days.

Nick (14:18): And then coming back and trying to put more hours into building this brand. And it, it is an exhausting deal, but it's a little bit of a different situation that you were put in in that I'm still like, I guess I'm fighting through that exhaustion to try to get what I want. You were kind of between a rock and a hard place. It was like, I have to make this happen or, or what? That's a, that's a big risk and a big gamble on yourself. But I love that, that you had that confidence to just say, you know what, we're going to go for it. I think I was just

Miinkay (14:52): Fed up. I was just fed up with my life and being unhappy. And I, and also, you know, a lot of other things lined up to where I could, I felt like I could get rid of my job. You know, I had been saving up money and I have had had plenty of money saved and invested and the market did well. So, you know, I was able to confidently say, okay, like just sell off some investments as I needed. I had been paying, you know, like some bills and I finally got rid of, and you know, was totally out of debt. And my older brother actually got a job. So he and I had been, um, just, you know, helping out my parents. So when he got his job, he was like, okay, I'll do that for us now. And that's kind of what gave me the financial freedom to say, okay, I can quit my job.

Miinkay (15:43): And you know, so some things lined up for me. It was still a scary as hell because I didn't know anything about healthcare insurance and how it would pay for that. And I didn't know anything about, you know, being an entrepreneur. I didn't even know I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I didn't know what the hell I was going to do. I just knew that this was the right move. And I spent at least six months terrified. It wasn't the easiest thing at all. It was, it was a really hard time in my life because emotionally I was so unstable because I had put so much value in having a stable job. That being unstable was really, really, really unsettling and giving me tons of anxiety and fear and stress. And I really had to take six months to calm myself down and tell myself it's going to be okay. You're going to figure it out and it's going to be okay. And that in itself was a journey of, you know, mental fortitude and resilience, you know, teaching myself that I can do this. A slew of entrepreneurs would say, you know, this is my life is always unstable, but you know, when you're going from a nine to five into entrepreneurship, you have to learn how to become and be happy and comfortable with the instability of it.

Nick (17:02): That's exactly where I was going to go with that. The, the instability and the lack of knowing, I think holds a lot of people back from even getting started at all. But like you said, yeah, as an entrepreneur, you have to basically get comfortable with being uncomfortable. That's I brought it up several times on this podcast before, without putting yourself in an uncomfortable position and situation, you're going to basically remain where you're at. And like you, you had gotten to that point where you're, you're stuck, you are probably comfortable with where you were at in terms of like, I know what to expect day to day, but it just, there was something missing there. And it took you stepping outside of your comfort zone and saying, okay, you know what enough is enough? And by you doing that, you opened up so many doors of possibility and basically turned that feeling of uncomfortableness. If that's a word, a feeling of being uncomfortable into the brand and business that you have now. So I think that is just awesome.

Miinkay (18:02): Thank you. Thank you so much. So

Nick (18:04): I guess talk a little bit about your, your actual coaching business. Do you, like, what kind of people come to you for coaching needs? Is it strictly business or is it life, professionalism? Like what would someone come to you for?

Miinkay (18:18): Yeah. I focus on helping people in their careers, helping them create a career that they love or move into work that they enjoy. Most people come to me are stuck for one reason or another. Maybe they have been trying to become an entrepreneur and they're stuck in their work. And haven't been able to figure out what it is that's going to make them more money or someone has switched careers. And they S they're kind of aimlessly searching. Like I was, and don't know how to focus their search or don't know how to find what it is. That's going to be meaningful to them. Um, and then some people just come to me as a sounding board, but I get a lot of people who have a lot of ideas and have a lot of ambition and they need help organizing their thoughts and what they want to do with their lives so that they can really focus on what it is.

Miinkay (19:09): What's the best thing, because I am really a third party spectator, you know, I'm here to see what's going on in your life. Give you honest, true feedback of, Hey, it sounds like this is what you want to do, but you have reservation on this, or it sounds like, Hey, you really enjoy this part of your work. That's not making you money, but this is the thing you're talking about. That lights you up the most, you know, can we explore that? And just giving people perspective on their life that they maybe didn't see before because of, you know, expectations they have on themselves or goals that they have for themselves or beliefs that they're holding onto that are holding them back. You know, I'm the person that is here to say, Hey, you know, why do you think that what is going on in your life that you're holding yourself to this and to give them new concepts, new ideas, new boundaries, new permissions, so that they can move beyond those obstacles of feeling stuck into a better path. Yeah.

Nick (20:15): I really liked that because a lot of times it's hard to kind of have that lens and look back at yourself with that same, I guess, mentality that you would be looking at it from, or a third party, and even going to family members and friends. I feel like you don't get that. I mean, they all want the best for you, so they definitely don't want to make you feel bad. And by telling you, okay, yeah, this is what you should do. It might not feel good to hear that from a family member. So I feel like a lot of times when you reach out to family members and friends for advice, they try to pump you up a little bit and not, I guess, really dig deep into the root cause. I, I think, I think about it from like a perspective of asking for feedback on something. Like if I got this business idea and I go to my friends and say, Hey, check this out. What do you think? They're all going to be like, Oh yeah, it looks great. Sounds awesome. Go do it. And then you can talk to someone else that you don't know and be like, Hey, what do you think about this? And like, well that sucks?

Nick (21:09): So I think, I think it's really cool. Like you are that third party that can look at it with an unbiased opinion and look, and kind of give that feedback that they actually need.

Miinkay (21:21): Yeah. I mean, my interest is for you to be your best version of yourself. And I know that to do that, you need someone to tell you something that something's not good. You need someone to honestly tell you that you need to work on something or that something is not the way you think it is because that's the only way that people grow. You know?

Nick (21:41): I'm curious with the clients that you've brought in, have you noticed some common limiting beliefs that your clients have had? Has it been like a common denominator with a lot of the clients?

Miinkay (21:53): Imposter syndrome, always imposter syndrome in various different ways of who am I to do this? Who am I to be this person? Um, a lot of, I can't for one reason or another. And I always challenged that, you know, there's hardly ever a really hard stopping point where someone really can't do something. There's always a loophole. There's always some wiggle room. There's always a way out of that. Can't because a "can't" always come from limiting beliefs, imposter syndrome, thinking that someone else is better than them. Why should I do that? Or thinking that, you know, nobody listened to my Instagram live. I'm not good enough. And having those thoughts is so common and so human, you know, and really I'm here to tell people also, realistically, if someone doesn't watch your Instagram live, that doesn't mean anything about how valuable you are. Right. You know, if, if someone doesn't buy your course, that doesn't mean anything about how valuable your courses. Maybe it just hasn't been conveyed how valuable your courses. There is a gap somewhere. So starting to change people's perspectives in that way and helping them move out of those limiting beliefs is, is a lot of what I do. Actually. I don't typically give people advice for things. I don't typically tell people, Oh, you should go do this. You know, I'm not about that kind of work. The work is usually where, why are you stuck? What beliefs do you have that are getting you stuck? And how can we address them?

Nick (23:25): I love that. Yeah. And imposter syndrome. I mean, I don't know about you, but I, I faced that myself and I actually have to reign myself in from time to time. Cause I'll get in that mindset like, well, why would anybody listen to me? Like this podcast was a big thing. When I started it, I was like, well, why would anybody listen to my podcast? Why would anybody go to my blog and read? Why would anyone care when I post a video? And I mean, it's, it's part of, part of, it's like, you know what, who cares? I'm just going to put it out because this is what I want to do. And then I think another part of it is, you know, there's people out there that you can help with your content. And yeah, I think you put it really well when you said maybe it's just the messaging behind it.

Nick (24:03): Maybe there's just a gap where if you change, how you're positioning your video or your offering or something like that, that's, what's going to track it, attract attention. And we had a podcast episode back. Shoot I can't remember what episode number now? I think it was back in episode 14 where we talked about that, the mindset and positioning, and we like to downplay ourselves a lot and kind of not give ourselves enough credit. When in reality we might have something that's great for the world. It's just a matter of how we, I guess, portray that and how we give it out to the world is what needs some slight adjusting. I think that's, I think that's a great,

Miinkay (24:39): Yeah, everybody has value. Everybody has some kind of value to give to the world. It's the translation of that value that doesn't always come out pristine or well, or needs tune up. You know, I I'm in this, um, podcasting Facebook group and this woman put out this post that said, Oh, I've been podcasting for a while, but I've been, haven't been getting any listens and it's been really downtrodden. And like, she was really in this negative place. And I said, Hey, you know, send me your podcast. I'll listen to it. And I'll give you some honest feedback about what's going on because she sounded like she was about to quit. So I was like, okay, let me listen to her. And I listened to one of her 30 minute episodes and she had so much good content in there, but it was not organized. It was just all over the place.

Miinkay (25:26): You could tell she wanted to help people, but she was going on some tangents and then coming back. And so I told her, honestly, you know, this and this and this and this, these, all these things separately are great content, but they all deserve our own podcast episode, but you're trying to fit them all into 30 minutes. Right. So, you know, can you break it up? Can you reorganize your thoughts so that they flow a little better? You know, I was honest about, okay, when you talked about this, I understood this, but then you went onto this tangent and I got lost. And I didn't understand why you were saying that. And so that just like pure, honest feedback, she was, she was so grateful for that. And she said, you know, I kind of had been feeling that way and now, you know, you confirmed it. So that just makes me want to go back and organize things better so that I can make this better. And I said, yeah, that's exactly what you should do. You should not stop at all. Do not stop, you know, just get better at what you're doing.

Nick (26:24): It's all about minor tweaks and adjustments, I think about even like launching a product, you, you come out with this product and it might not, it's not going to be perfect. So same thing with a podcast, you come out with a podcast. It's not going to be perfect. You have to not be afraid to ask the questions, which I know can be, it can be tough to put yourself into that vulnerable state and say, okay, give it to straight. Like, what is wrong with this thing? I mean, it doesn't feel good to have anybody tell you that something's wrong with what you're creating, especially when you're putting a lot of time and effort into it. But I mean, it it's just like what we talked about before putting yourself in that uncomfortable position to get better, put yourself out there and ask questions, look for someone like [inaudible] or someone that you don't really know and say, Hey, I really would appreciate your honest feedback on what I have here. Could you help me out? Tell me what's wrong with it. I think that's the key right there is figuring out what's wrong and what someone might pick apart. Not so much like, Oh, is my podcast good for my product? Good. Is what is wrong with it? How can I get better with this? Or how can I make this podcast?

Miinkay (27:21): Yeah. And I think people who are giving feedback don't want to make you feel bad. Sometimes they might accidentally because they don't have the right words or have the best diplomacy about what they want to say to you. But honestly, people who are giving you feedback just want to help you too. Like it's coming from a good place. And so when you can put that aside and know that, okay, this emotion of me not being good enough is just going to be fleeting. And then I want to get over it and move on to getting better. You know, my life will be better. Yeah. Right? Yeah.

Nick (27:55): Ray Blakeney, actually, I think he was the one that brought it up on a previous episode, as well said, you don't, you don't fail until you quit. So just because something might not be quite right or someone might not like a certain aspect of what you got out there, you haven't lost yet. You can still make changes, make some tweaks, make it better, fix whatever this person is saying. They don't really like, you haven't failed because someone doesn't like what you have, you just, now you have an opportunity to actually turn that into something even greater. So I think, yeah, I love this conversation, this, okay. I want to transition here a little bit and do something a little bit different. So I'd like to run through kind of like a coaching scenario where I'm going to be your client and you are going to coach me. I think this'll be a fun little exercise. And it also give the listeners a little bit of an idea of how you go about coaching and kind of walked through this whole process of coaching a client. I think, I think this might be a little fun. Okay. How do we start this? [inaudible] I need your help.

Miinkay (28:57): Okay. So I want you to first, you know, drop, drop anything that's in your brain out, take a deep breath in and exhale and just allow yourself to be here. Now, you know, this session is for you. Don't worry about anything else that's going on. I know you're interviewing me, but for the next, you know, 15 minutes, this is about you. And so I'm going to ask you some questions to help clarify what's going on and help you get to a resolution. Okay? Okay. So tell me where you are in your nine to five and what your goal is, what you want for your future.

Nick (29:33): So right now I've worked myself up. I work in the construction field in project management. I worked, I started working as a controls analyst and I've worked my way up to project coordinator and right there on like the project manager, project coordinator kind of caught in between there. And I've been doing this for about four, a co going on almost five years now, but it's, it's something that for me, I kind of feel like it's a stepping stone. Like, I don't think this is something that I want to dedicate the rest of my life to. So where I want to go, I eventually want to build something of my own that I can focus on full-time and put my full attention.

Miinkay (30:14): Okay, awesome. And where are you in that process of reaching that goal?

Nick (30:18): To this point? I haven't started monetizing. I've just basically been putting content out, trying to build an audience. And the monetization is obviously a big part of getting to that financial freedom side. So that's kind of where I'm working up towards now, now that I've established my brand somewhat, I'm going to be looking within the next year to start actually monetizing and starting to bring in additional revenue from my side business as it is right now.

Miinkay (30:45): Yeah. Do you have milestones that you want to reach before you quit your job? Do you, have you thought about having a timeline for quitting your job?

Nick (30:54): I've thought briefly about a timeline. I've more thought about monetary goals in order to feel comfortable with quitting my job and actually my wife, she started her own online business and she, she has since monetize that. So with her doing that, it kind of allows me to readjust my way of thinking in where I actually, I probably should sit down and readjust those goals a little bit because I don't really need to be quite as far ahead as I once thought I did, but I have thought about it from like a monetary side. Like I do want to be able to replace the income that I make from a nine to five with my nine five brand.

Miinkay (31:36): Yeah. Do you wanna, you want to replace it like a hundred percent or do you want to say the at, you know, 50 to 60% of it, is there a threshold that you're reaching for before you can quit?

Nick (31:48): Originally? It was a hundred percent now. I'm think I'm leaning more towards 50 to 75%. I would feel comfortable.

Miinkay (31:56): Okay. That's good. Are you happy with that

Nick (31:59): With 50 to 75%? Or

Miinkay (32:03): Are you happy with that being, I guess a better question would be, would it, uh, overall like would leaving your job soupy, like the sooner the better? Is that kind of an overall idea that you have?

Nick (32:15): Yeah, I mean, realistically, yes. There's, there's a certain level of fulfillment that I get from working on my own business than working a nine to five. I don't know. It's something that just kind of rubs me the wrong way, working for someone else rather than I can spend a whole day getting stuff done for the nine five brand that pays me no money at all. And I feel way more accomplished at the end of the day than if I were to just grind hard at my nine to five.

Miinkay (32:43): Totally. Okay. So I think I've got a good picture of you've been in this job for about five years. Your, you started nine to five this year.

Nick (32:51): No, I actually nine five as a whole. I started about two years ago,

Miinkay (32:57): Two years ago. Okay, great. You're on the cusp of monetizing it, you know, you have this goal of where you want to be in terms of how much money you make monthly before you leave your job. Where do you feel stuck?

Nick (33:09): I guess for me, I've been stuck kind of like what we talked about earlier in the episode, talking about having the bravery to quit. Yeah. I mean, having the bravery to quit is a part of it, but then there's also kind of like what we had talked about, where you get to the end of the day and you just feel exhausted. You feel like, okay, I'm done, I'm ready to tune out for the day. But at the same time, I know that if I want to get this done, I have to put the hours in. So part of me keeps tossing around this idea, like, okay, well, what if I just straight up quit? And I had the time and the hours to dedicate fully to this. I've made progress with where I'm at, but what kind of pro what kind of real progress could I make if I was dedicating my time to this a hundred percent.

Nick (33:51): Yeah. So now I'm stuck between, okay. Do I take that leap? Quit my nine to five, where it is stable and put myself in that uncomfortable position more to slowly build on the side. What would happen if you quit this week? Right now? Probably nothing. Nothing like nothing, nothing tragic, nothing tragic would happen. I'd spend majority of my time working on this. Like I'd want to, but I think right now my wife and I, and that's another aspect of it too. I have a family now to also consider. So if I do give up that nine to five job now, it's not just me that I'm having to worry about supporting and she's got her own business and it's not that she can't take care of herself, but I almost feel, I don't know. You know, I almost feel bad about not being able to provide or contribute.

Miinkay (34:36): What would your wife say about you quitting

Nick (34:38): This week? Honestly, she probably love it.

Miinkay (34:43): Okay. That's good. See, so you, you have this obligation that you've put on yourself, but she doesn't feel that same obligation from you, right? She probably thinks, Oh, it's nice that you have that income coming in. It's a little more stable, but like you said, I would love it. She would love it. If you were doing something you wanted to do every day, she would be happy for you. Right. You know, financially would you guys be okay?

Nick (35:08): Yeah. I, I think right now, for sure we would, I think like we've, we've done a good job of saving up to this point. So I think that alone we'd be set for a decent amount of time. And then she's obviously bringing in an income from her business. I don't know if it is it's continuing to grow. So it'll probably get to that point where it is completely. Self-sustaining where it stands right now. I feel like we would eventually we'd have to bring in something else until hers gets to that point.

Miinkay (35:38): Okay. This is good. So, you know, what I'm hearing is the reality is that you are closer to quitting than you planned before, right? Like if you quit this week, you would be okay without that 50% of your, your job income, right? Yeah. So why are you holding onto your job?

Nick (35:57): I think the level of being comfortable, not wanting to take that route.

Miinkay (36:04): Yeah. It is a risk, you know, cause you don't know when your one 95 freedom is going to make money. You don't know when your wife's business is going to make more money. You know, you don't know if something down the line is going to throw you a wrench in your system and you need to pick up a job again, you know? So those are possibilities, but everybody likes to have, you know, a contingency for those things is helps people feel better about clean. So would you have continued to see like, is there, could you go back to your job after you quit

Nick (36:36): Is a very good possibility. I don't know that for certain, but it is definitely an option I think.

Miinkay (36:42): Okay, cool. So you could be making money again, if you really needed more money. Um, okay. Are there ways for you to downsize so that you'll need less money if that ever was a necessity?

Nick (36:53): Yeah. I mean, I, I could, I could think of some things we'd be able to live without.

Miinkay (37:01): Yeah. Okay. So that's, you know, there's a wiggle room there. So it sounds like even if things come into your space that are going to throw you for a loop and you need to change, you have options to change and either spend less money or make more money, you know? So, you know right now, how do you feel about quitting your job? Right.

Nick (37:22): I actually feel a lot better about it and there's, it's still, it's still a scary thing, but like breaking it down that way, it doesn't seem like it's as intimidating. Like, like you said, there are options.

Miinkay (37:34): Yeah. There are. And I think just taking time to think things through this way is always helpful. You know, if you come up with an idea of, Oh, where am I going to get healthcare? You know, don't let it linger in the space and not get answered. Right. You know, answer that question. Okay. Where am I going to get healthcare? What options do I have? What state do I live in? How do they do healthcare? You know, every everywhere is different, but once you get a handle on how it works and you figure out, okay, well, if I leave my job, it'll cost me 250 bucks a month for healthcare, you know, can I afford that? Is that going to be okay? Then you can start to make plans and choices of, okay, well, if I want to leave my job sooner, what does that look like? Do I need to say like, do I want to have more saved up? You know? So at this point, you're you feel like you're better about leaving your job. Do you want to change your plan about when you want to leave your job? Like you said, okay. It's going to be at when my entrepreneur, when my business makes 50% of my job's income, but can it be sooner? I, I do

Nick (38:36): Think it would be soon. I do think it could be sooner. I might be able to pull it off sooner thinking about it like that. I don't know if I'd be fully dedicated to say quit the job this week, but I, I do feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of like,

Miinkay (38:50): Yeah, good. And I can tell totally when you talk about, Oh, I want to spend all day on my business, you get excited, but then talking about your job, you're kind of like, all right, this is the thing I have to do, right? No, it's obvious to me that you should quit. And I think the sooner you can do it the better. So I'm going to challenge you to create a timeline that's as soon as comfortably possible, you know, not just, Oh, I have a kind of goal in my head of, I want to reach this goal, you know, can it be, instead, as soon as comfortably possible, you know, how much monetization do I need to have? Does it need to be and get really specific? Does it need to be 500 a month? Does it need to be a thousand a month? Like get really specific on what those numbers are so that you have that more, that better goal in mind. And then from there, you know, work backwards, like how do I get to $500 a month? How do I get to a thousand, whatever that number is for you to comfortably quit your job and then hit that button, quit your job, you know? Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome.

Nick (39:56): Um, I'll, I'll throw a wrap to this coaching session, but I thought that was, that was awesome. Yeah. You really got me thinking,

Miinkay (40:09): I mean,

Nick (40:09): That's what it's supposed to do. I think everyone listening to, hopefully I know it was kind of more specific to the situation I'm in, but I have to imagine those other people listening that might be in a very similar situation. Yeah.

Miinkay (40:22): Yeah. You know what obstacles are in your head? You know, that's really, the question is what obstacles are in your head and what are your real obstacles, right?

Nick (40:30): Yeah. What up? Yeah. I like that. What obstacles are we making up for ourselves or putting in our way that really are in our head as you bring it up, it makes sense. Is this something that you kind of block out? Yeah.

Miinkay (40:43): You have this expectation of yourself and you, you kind of say, Oh, I have responsibility to this. I have responsibility to my wife, but you know, then I always like to ask people, well, what does your wife think? What does your husband think? What is actually true about the situation? So for people listening out there, you know, what is actually true about your situation? You know, do you have to help hold onto that? Or are you making yourself hold on to it? I love it. Writing that down here. Yeah. So after a recession, I like to ask my clients, you know, what, what are you going to take away from this session?

Nick (41:20): Just to answer that question, I really need to come up with a realistic timeline. I need to, I guess I kind of have a better idea of what is possible or would I be comfortable with leaving now? I have to, I guess really put some down to that to make, basically make a plan for it right now. It's just an idea. If I can get the specifics behind it, I can start putting together that plan and then start acting on that plan and have that clear.

Miinkay (41:45): Yeah. Awesome. Yeah.

Nick (41:48): We were really thinking, so now I'm going to have to go back and start actually doing this.

Miinkay (41:51): Yeah. Awesome. And then, you know, run it by your wife because like you said, she's a big part of the equation. So if this is something you guys can do together and feel comfortable with together, then that'll be even more powerful. Yeah.

Nick (42:03): It was a great man. Kay. For everybody listening, if you have any kind of doubt or questions about where you should go next, I definitely get in touch with MenCare As you just saw, by example that, I mean, you, you really do a good job of really breaking it down and getting inside the root cause of the fear and the discomfort, I think. Yeah. I think he did it.

Miinkay (42:30): Thank you. Yeah. I'm glad I could help you. And I'm excited to see what your timeline is and where you can go and how soon you can leave your job. Yeah,

Nick (42:39): Absolutely. I will definitely follow up with you if everyone listening men, K, we actually met in the smart, passive income pro community and we actually got grouped into a podcasting mastermind. So we get to come on every couple of weeks and talk about podcasting and how to grow our podcasts. If, if anyone's interested in kind of that community based setting, I would definitely go check. I don't know if it's, is it open enrollment or do you, is it like every so often it opens up?

Miinkay (43:10): Um, I'm not sure, actually. I think people have been joining since it opened. So I think I'm sure you can still die, but then yeah, you do have to fill out a form, check that out. Yep. Highly recommend it. I've met so many great people like Nick on the sh on that site and I'm still meeting people and making connections and everybody is so kind and super willing to help and share and be a part of whatever your journey is because, you know, we understand from each other, like we're all in same place trying to make it in the world, trying to put our information out there, trying to help other people. And we're all trying to get better at it. And it's, it's just a really good place to grow because people like, you know, Nick and all the other SPI pro members are honest. They want to give you constructive feedback. They want to help you. They, and they want to see you get better. So in a way it's like having many coaches everywhere. Yeah.

Nick (44:06): It's been fun. I can't believe the number of people that I've been able to build relationships with that are all on the, like you said, a similar path, like we're all kind of in this together. So it was really

Miinkay (44:16): Cool. Yeah. I love it. Okay.

Nick (44:19): Now, before we wrap up, what do you think would be some things people could start doing right now to kind of have a mindset shift so that they can be more comfortable and successful, whether that's business or life, are there any exercises or anything people could start doing right now?

Miinkay (44:35): Yeah. I think one thing is sitting down and reflecting, you know, reflect on your year, reflect on what's happened in areas of your life. If it's your career that you want to change, reflect on what's happened this year, how you felt about everything, why things happened and ask yourself those questions of why did this happen? How was I a part of it? And what do I want to change? You know? And then also ask yourself, how do I want to feel, how do I want to feel in the future? How do I want to feel in my job? How do I want to feel in this relationship? Because I think too often we set these goals that we think are right. But then we get to that goal and we're like, Oh no, it's not as good as I thought it was going to be.

Miinkay (45:18): Or it's not what I thought I wanted because we're chasing some shiny object, but really we should be chasing feeling. We should be chasing joy. We should be chasing happiness. We should be chasing fulfillment. We shouldn't be chasing, you know, meaning and heart things that make us feel good because that's what we want when we get to that goal of, okay, well, I set myself a goal of I'm going to make six figures next year. But when, what I actually want is being in that goal and feeling good, making that goal. But that's not always true. If I make that goal, I'm not going to necessarily feel good. So instead, can you get to the root of it? Can you instead just go straight for the prize of, I want to feel happy. I want to feel like I accomplished something. I want to feel like I've done something for the world. Those are the things you should be thinking about when you're trying to set yourself up for, you know, whatever is you want to do.

Nick (46:14): And I mean, K you also something I think kind of goes hand in hand with this is meditation. It goes along with that self-reflection and that is something that currently you're doing on the what's your calling podcast. I know we had talked to, you might be transitioning that a little bit, but as of right now, you still have meditation as a part of that podcast, correct?

Miinkay (46:35): Yeah, I do. I, through meditation, I've been able to shift so much in my life because it helps me slow down. It helps me reflect, it helps me to not be in my head and thinking all the time, because it's what I'm thinking that I'm giving myself those negative thoughts, imposter syndrome, thoughts. So meditation has really been important for me and I, that's why I teach it on my podcast because I want people to get a little bit of that. And to know that it's important, um, for 2021, I'm going to be taking that into its own podcast. So I'm going to create it's, uh, I have a separate podcast coming out called meditate with Minky, and that'll be a place for just meditation's positivity, how to change your mindset, how to become, how to have better mindset and better, more positivity in your life.

Miinkay (47:25): Cause that's also something that I've been wanting to put out in the world. Um, when I quit my career, I realized how negative I was and how much of a detriment it was for me in creating my path. And so turning that around was an integral part of me building my business and becoming as successful as I am now. So, um, I wanted to create content for that too. So I have my Western calling podcasts. I'll have a meditate with me. Kay. Those are great tools that I love and teach and want the world to get to know and to know that, you know, it's, it doesn't have to be a hard thing. It can be an easy thing and anyone can do it, literally anyone

Nick (48:08): And I will be putting in the show notes to this episode, the links to your podcast. And I guess by the time this airs, if that, if meditation with mincaye is live by the time this one goes, this episode goes live. I'll also have links to that podcast as well, I guess. Do you want to, before we wrap up, do you just want to talk a little bit about the what's your calling podcast? Like what, I know you cover a little bit of coaching in there, but what else, I guess just give us a little rundown of what the what's your calling podcasts is about.

Miinkay (48:41): Yeah. What's your calling is about giving people, tools, ideas, concepts, inspiration for finding the career that's right for you. Your calling is something that lights you up that makes you happy and it can also be something that makes you money. It can also be something that supports your life and I want to teach people about it's possible and I want to teach people how to find it. So in that podcast, I interview people who have found their calling or who teach about that as well, so that I can get different perspectives on that. I talk a lot about intuition and following your inner guidance, because I think that's really key to figuring out what your calling is. And then I teach about that. So there are episodes where it's just me teaching about intuition. Um, it's just me teaching about how to handle failure. It's just me teaching about how to set healthy goals. So things that I learned along the way to becoming an entrepreneur and to building my business that have helped me, that I know are concepts and ideas that will help other people create whatever they want to create in the world. Yeah.

Nick (49:43): And I've listened to a couple of your episodes so far, I've been really lacking in consuming podcasts lately, but yours is one that's at the top of my list. I have a couple queued up, ready to go. Let me just get to listening to them. But I would definitely recommend anybody listening, go check out the what's your calling podcast. You heard Miinkay on this podcast. You're very well-spoken and you break it down really easily. So I would definitely recommend anybody go check out that podcast. Finally. Where do you want people to go to find you online? Uh, social media links, the podcast. Where, where do you want people to go to get in touch with you? Whether that's for coaching or they just want to reach out, maybe they are looking for advice or have questions for you. Yeah, I'm

Miinkay (50:28): On Instagram. If you want to follow me on Instagram @coachmiinkay, my website is what's your calling dot U S so there you can, um, join my email list to get newsletters. You can find more information about the podcast. E my email is coach@miinkayyu.com. So you can email me directly there. If you have any questions, comments, you need some help or, you know, you just want to get connected.

Nick (50:54): Perfect. And like I mentioned earlier, all the links to get in touch with Miinkay will be in the show notes for this podcast episode. So make sure you head over to the show notes right after this recording and go check that out. Well, Miinkay, I want to thank you for coming on the show. This was, I know for me, it was in a very insightful episode and I'm sure the listeners on the other end are going to feel the same way. So I just want to thank you for coming on.

Miinkay (51:20): Yeah. Thank you for having me. It was fun. I'm glad to be here and, you know, hopefully help people with whatever they're going through. I just want to spread the knowledge and let people know that, you know, there are obstacles in your way, but you don't have to let them stop you from anything.

Nick (51:36): Absolutely. I love it. Perfect way to end this episode. All right. Thank you, Miinkay. Thanks, Nick. Okay. That was the interview with Miinkay. I think this interview was such a powerful one in one that I would really like you to reflect on a bit. What is your calling? Do you know, have you figured it out yet? Are you taking the steps to fulfill this internal desire and need to be the best version of yourself? If you haven't figured this out? That's okay. But I would definitely recommend getting in contact with Miinkay and let her help you through this process. As I mentioned in the interview, we are a part of a mastermind in the SPI community, and I've had the pleasure of working together with Miinkay, and several other amazing people as we try to grow our podcasts and Miinkay always has incredible value to bring to the group.

Nick (52:18): So if you want to get in touch with Miinkay, you can find her on Instagram or her email coach@miinkayyu.com. You can find her social media links, links to her podcast and her email in the show notes. For this episode, the show notes can be found ninefivepodcast.com/episdoe28. And if you're new to the podcast, just remember the show notes link is all spelled out. That's N I N E F I V E podcast.com forward slash episode 2 8. And that's the number 2 and the number 8. After listening to this episode, I want you to take some time to reflect and think about this question. What is your calling? If you feel like sharing your thoughts and go to the show notes of this episode and comment at the bottom of the page and let us know what your calling is, that's it for me today. Thank you for sticking around until the end. And then we'll catch you guys in next week's episode.