In Chapter 6 of 16 in his 2011 Capture Your Flag interview, motivation teacher Jullien Gordon answers "How Have Your Reconciled Your Personal Ambition for That Projected Upon You By Others?" Gordon finds his ambition had to get reconciled with his parents' notions of success and security. By continuing to do great work and share the results with them, he helps them understand his non-traditional career path and, in turn, receives support. Gordon is the founder of the Department of Motivated Vehicles, a personal and professional development company that helps clients identify purpose and map it to successful outcomes. Gordon has written five books and speaks regularly to college students across America. He earned masters degrees in education and business from Stanford University and an undergraduate degree from UCLA.
Transcript:
Erik Michielsen: How have you reconciled your personal ambition for that projected upon you by others?
Jullien Gordon: I’ve taken so much ownership of my personal brand especially with my relationship with my parents because parents are a big influence on what we choose to do in life that – there hasn’t been too much outside influence or projection on what I should do or should be doing.
My mother, she’s still concerned because that’s her motherly energy of you need to have this traditional career because she was a doctor you know what I’m saying? She went to undergrad, then went to medical school, then whatever you do after that but the steps were laid out for basically until you’re after 30 years old for a doctor and that’s what she has known as success or security. But I listen to her but I still do my own thing and the way I actually prove to my parents that I’m gonna be alright is just by continuing to do great work and sharing those results with them.
When they saw me spoke at – speak, when they saw speak at my UCLA graduation and my Stanford graduation they knew that I was gonna be alright, even if I was taking this non-traditional path and so – yeah, like I said going back to my purpose, my influences come from my spiritual source more so than anywhere else and even if you read Success Built to Last by Jerry Porras where he studied 500 of the world’s most successful people; Olympians, Nobel peace prize winners, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, US Presidents, they are more concerned with doing what they love than being loved and that’s a hard distinction for a lot of people to make.
A lot of people move through the world and they try to be loved, right? And in the process of being loved and people pleasing, end up hating themselves but what I found is when you’re doing what you love, the only thing that you can attract back to you is love. I’ve only met amazing people like you, other Capture Your Flag alumni and you’re doing what you love and that’s what’s attracting these Capture Your Flag alumni to you is because you’re doing what you love, people want to be around that kind of energy. So it’s just easier to just do what you love if your ultimate goal is actually to have love in your life.