Ed Kressy, Finding Your Purpose in Service to Others – InnovaBuzz 355
Ed Kressy – Author, Speaker, and Entrepreneur
In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Ed Kressy, who says he’s almost certainly the only person ever to have been arrested by the FBI, then turned his life around to receive a community service award from the FBI director!
As a person addicted to methamphetamine for 11 years, Ed threw away a career with Genentech, later named Fortune magazine’s “Best Company in America to Work For”. He threw away his home, life savings, relationships, his beloved dog, and much more. He spent months in jail, nights in homeless shelters, years in destitution, and drug-induced psychosis. Yet through being of service to others, he rebuilt his life and inspires others to do the same.
As a socially conscious entrepreneur, he’s worked with clients including Cisco, Google, LinkedIn, and Slack. He has delivered a guest lecture for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He volunteers inside maximum-security prisons and jails, coaching entrepreneurism and employment.
In our discussion, Ed talked to me about:
- Finding new meaning in your work and your life through second chances
- Confronting your fears and getting out of your comfort zone
- Finding your purpose in service to others
George Bryant in episode 226 and episode 300 introduced us to Ed.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Listen to the Podcast
The struggles we face are what give us our wings and strength that will carry us to the heights of happiness, fulfillment, and a life of service to others. @EdKressy on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To TweetShow Notes from this episode with Ed Kressy, Author, Speaker, and Entrepreneur
Key points and takeaways from this episode include:
- No material thing can ever substitute the emptiness from the lack of pursuing what your true passion in life is.
- We can overcome even the most desperate challenges of life and be of service to society.
- Examining our past, being self-aware, and staying focused on the things that are happening around us gives us the ability to look at opportunities.
- Defy Ventures is a nonprofit organisation that delivers entrepreneur and employment training to persons who are or were incarcerated.
- We can all do something that would be of service to others.
- When your mind is clouded by resentment, you fail to see the good in others and things around you.
- “The cave you most fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” – Joseph Campbell
- Fear points us in the direction we need to go.
- It is the struggle to get out of the cocoon that gives the butterfly its wings and strength to fly. The struggles we face are what give us our metaphorical wings and strength that will carry us to the heights of happiness, fulfillment, and a life of service to others.
- The goal of ending addiction is not to end addiction. It is just one necessary step. Our goal has to be to live a meaningful life.
- Find your purpose and follow your purpose.
- The only thing that can shake your fear is your belief in a higher purpose.
- The only thing we know about the future is that our time on this earth will end. Think about what you wish to look back upon when that time comes and what is going to suit you best on the next stage of the journey. When you start with that absolute truth of knowing that our time upon this earth will end, you can then work backward to today, and ask yourself – how do I want to live my life today?
- Reading stories of people overcoming their own obstacles can sometimes take us out of ourselves and give us ideas for how to make changes in our lives.
- We have to make changes. If we keep doing the same things, we keep getting the same old thing.
- The human mind is designed to keep us comfortable and safe but not to make us happy.
- Comfort does not equal happiness. As human beings, we are programmed to remain in our comfort zones because that is what keeps us alive, but that state of comfort is not in any way equal to a state of happiness.
- Going beyond our comfort zone necessitates the courage that necessitates the belief in one’s self.
- “Courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.” – Nelson Mandela
- Look for humanity and people no matter what labels are applied to them or what uniforms they wear.
- The hardest thing about writing a book is loving the book.
- It is worth believing in yourself. It is worth pursuing your dreams. The sacrifices that you make, the fear you overcome, the mountains you have to climb, and that tiny glimmering star in the dark night, that is your dream, is worth reaching for and struggling for.
To Be a Leader
Find your version of a spiritual path. Find something to pursue and face your fears. It will be a challenge, but as Joseph Campbell said, “The cave you most fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
Reach Out
You can reach out and thank Ed through his website.
Suggested Guest
Ed suggested we have a conversation with Keynote speaker and Microsoft Surface specialist Shelley Winner. So Shelly, keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz podcast, courtesy of Ed Kressy.
Links
Book
Recovery and transformation are possible, even from the most hopeless-seeming circumstances. With every purchase of Ed’s book, a copy will be donated to an incarcerated person who is engaged in transformational work.
Cool Things About Ed
- He’s won several speaking contests in Toastmasters.
- He twice appeared on the storytelling stage of The Moth.
- He’s a self-defense instructor.