Tuesday - March 19th, 2024
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Terry McMullen Podcast Host

I spent much of my career trying to consult companies on how to better achieve their goals. I was a Finance major, a Harvard Business School graduate, and a business strategist. I've always been curious and I've always loved trying to solve problems. It was a really good fit for a while, but then life happened.

Within the span of a couple of years I had a son, my sister tragically passed away, and my wife became severely ill with Multiple Sclerosis. All of a sudden everything I thought I knew about life didn't seem to make sense anymore. I needed to raise my son and teach him how to be a good person but I realized I didn't even know what it meant to be a good person, let alone know how to teach him to be one. I also realized that I wasn't capable of being the person my wife needed me to be to help care for her. Simply put, I wasn't good enough.

For a long time that left me angry at life. I didn't want to face the reality that I needed to be better. But fortunately, I still had that curiosity. I knew I didn't have the wisdom needed yet, but I decided to go on a journey to try to find it. It started with me studying cognitive psychology, sociology, and philosophy. I was trying to better understand human nature and why we do the things we do. I thought if I could study enough I could figure out where the flaws were in my mind and fix them.

Eventually I realized it wasn't that easy. If I was going to get better I needed to work at it every day. I needed to constantly be reflecting and learning about myself. I needed to swim in my insecurities and ego issues to gain clarity on who I really was. And maybe most importantly I needed to seek the wisdom of others, so that I could gain better perspective.

So I did what everyone does in 2022-- I started a podcast. I set out on a mission, but not a mission to make money or gain followers (although hey--those things might be nice). Instead the mission was to talk to as many people as I could and better understand their approach to life. I wanted to learn about who they were, how they think, and what matters most to them.

I call the show "What's the value?" because I start every episode with the same question-- what's the value that is most important to you and guides your life? Then we have a raw, authentic conversation about it. We question, we probe, and we explore-- all in the hopes of learning something new.

To this point I've done over 130 episodes with all sorts of different people; business leaders, religious figures, politicians, youth activists, police officers, martial artists, psychologists, Youtube influencers, and even my own friends and family. Through all of this learning, from my personal life, professional career, and the podcast, I decided it might be a good idea to start sharing it. Not because I think I have all the answers but because I think I've been curious about life in a way that might be useful for you.

I really hope you find it useful and I am always open to any thoughts or feedback you can share. We are in this journey together.

Recent Content

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&Quot;Family&Quot; - Tony Losacco &Raquo; 14083248 1698424060933 Ce64839C2E496 Scaled
"Family" – Tony Losacco

These conversations are hard. I've listened back to this one a number of times and the only thing I can keep thinking is "nuance." These discussions are nuanced, these topics are nuanced, life is nua…

These conversations …

These conversations are hard. I've listened back to this one a number of times and the only thing I can keep thinking is "nuance." These discussions are nuanced, these topics are nuanced, life is nuanced. On the one hand I feel like this is all we can do, have an open conversation with someone, hear their thoughts, ask questions, and try to understand different perspectives better. On the other hand I feel like I should have pushed back much harder. Some of the words used weren't OK and I should have addressed that more, not to be combative but to try to get to a better place. You guys wi…

Listen · 1:04:26
&Quot;The Power Of Philosophy To Heal Society&Quot; - Nikos Patedakis &Raquo; 14083248 1698777024983 94C8F519Cb2Aa Scaled
"The power of philosophy to heal society" – Nikos Patedakis

"Philosophy is actually the end of abstractions." Wow, what a statement to think about. How different our approach to life might become if we embrace that thought. How much more reflective and humbl…

"Philosophy is actua…

"Philosophy is actually the end of abstractions." Wow, what a statement to think about. How different our approach to life might become if we embrace that thought. How much more reflective and humble we might become. This conversation with Nikos was full of interesting and insightful thoughts. We talked philosophy, biology, evolution, psychology, and spirituality-- all with the same goal of trying to better understand what the hell we are doing here. Not because it is interesting to think about, but because it is the realest, most practical question we can ask. A more complete bio for N…

Listen · 55:00
&Quot;Everything Is Always My Fault&Quot; - Chad Wittfeldt &Raquo; 14083248 1697836509284 A85Ef507C8Ff3 Scaled
"Everything is always my fault" – Chad Wittfeldt

Chad is a successful business person who now works to help coach others on how to be successful. What's super interesting about Chad is that: 1. He has some spiritual and religious values that underp…

Chad is a successful…

Chad is a successful business person who now works to help coach others on how to be successful. What's super interesting about Chad is that: 1. He has some spiritual and religious values that underpin a lot of his thinking and his goals in life. 2. On the surface, he can seem like a bit of a "finance bro" who overemphasizes his masculinity and his drive to win at life. As we do on this show, we spent the discussion trying to reconcile that, understand who Chad really is, and why he approaches life the way he does. We didn't shy away from the controversial areas or the potential contradic…

Listen · 42:27
&Quot;There Is More To Life Than We Realize&Quot; - Cory Rosenke &Raquo; 14083248 1697511263744 8F1C4Ace9Ad89 Scaled
"There is more to life than we realize" – Cory Rosenke

Cory is an author and a pastor, who has a deep faith in God. He believes that it is only through God that we can fulfill our inherent cravings and live a happy, peaceful, meaningful life. He has writt…

Cory is an author an…

Cory is an author and a pastor, who has a deep faith in God. He believes that it is only through God that we can fulfill our inherent cravings and live a happy, peaceful, meaningful life. He has written a book, The Magnetic Heart of God - Understanding the Five Cravings of Your Soul. We spent this conversation exploring Cory's understanding of those 5 cravings, why he is confident they are spiritual and non-biological, and what it actually means to embrace God to fulfill them. I always love the chance to talk to someone with deep spiritual beliefs, especially someone as open as Cory to exam…

Listen · 46:55
&Quot;Understanding That Your Reason Is Everything&Quot; - Kamal X &Raquo; 14083248 1696907682525 7Dfb8E7442Ee3 Scaled
"Understanding that your reason is everything" – Kamal X

Kamal is a photographer who wanted to capture the essence of what really was happening in America in 2020. He wanted to use photography to let all of the division, hate, fear, anger, sorrow, love, com…

Kamal is a photograp…

Kamal is a photographer who wanted to capture the essence of what really was happening in America in 2020. He wanted to use photography to let all of the division, hate, fear, anger, sorrow, love, compassion, and humanity show its true self--the true story of what was underneath it all. As you'll hear, he is also just a really authentic, thoughtful, self-aware person. It was fascinating to hear his stories, how he became so passionate about photography, and what he learned about humanity as he created his book, Black Astronaut. I love talking to photographers because most of them are natur…

Listen · 53:52