Welcome And Ground Rules

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Hello and welcome to Healthy Mind, Healthy Life. I am Archita sitting in for Avik today, and this is the show where we have honest conversations about what it actually takes to live well, lead well, and stay human while doing both. My guest today is Patrick O'Donnell, founder of Ignite 5, where he helps purpose-driven leaders scale their business and thrive in life through performance and growth systems. Now powered by AI. Over 25 years, he has helped organizations achieve more than 300% growth. And his performance frameworks have reduced client biological age by an average of seven and a half years. We are going to talk about something most leaders quietly ache for. Not just success, but a whole life that works. So, Patrick, welcome to the show. And it's such an honor to host you today.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Such a pleasure to be here, Archita. Thank you so much for having me because I love the purpose of what you guys are doing. It is so, like you're right, it is healthy mind, healthy life. How do you live better and thrive in both business and life? So thank you for what you're doing as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Thank you for being here. And I think this conversation goes so well with the theme of our show, Healthy Mind, Healthy Life, just like you said. And you are one of the reasons, you know, this we are, you know, this is actually happening. That people are actually uh being able to balance between their work and their life. So thank you so much for the work that you're doing. And I'm really excited to go to the root of it. But before we start, there's a gentle disclaimer to our listeners. Um, some statements reflect personal belief and experiences and are presented as individual views, not medical advice. So listeners should consult qualified professionals for medical conditions. And now that we have it out of the way, without wasting any further time, let's dive into the conversation.

A Year Of Travel Perspective

SPEAKER_01 2:10

And Patrick, um Yeah. So before we get into the system and the frameworks, I want to start somewhere personal. Uh so you spent a year traveling in the world with your wife and two sons. So what did that year quite teach you about yourself that running a business never could?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

It the amount of time, not just the family time together, but the things that we were able to do and experience because of it brought a whole new side to it. Because for a quick background, where this came from, my wife and I actually met in college, but on a study abroad. So our whole early relationship was built on like adventure travel. Well, when we had kids, that shut down. But we always had this dream like, how are we gonna take a year to travel the world with our boys, live in New Zealand for three months, you know, these things we wanted to do? But then, well, things happened, life happened, the 2008 real estate crash happened, like I'm in that business and take a step back and like, oh my goodness, what are we gonna do to support the family? But I think you can talk about like where we're gonna lead. Some of the systems started there because you take a step back and you see what the top performers in the world are doing it. How are they taking care of their minds? How are they taking care of their bodies? And how does that help their life? And so to answer your question, you know, our boys were getting close to middle school, it was like, hey, if we're ever gonna do this, we're gonna have to do it now. And so we rented our house in Atlanta, we made everything happen, we put them in homeschool for a year. And then you talk about the experiences of things that we got to do together and not the amount, just the amount of time that was there together. Still running my business, you know, after going out on adventures during the day, but the things that our boys learned, you can't learn in a classroom. It was seeing poverty like they hadn't seen before. I mean, one of the first times my bo my oldest son said to me, he's like, Dad, this makes me makes you so appreciative for what you have. And so it's like the experience of that, and then it led to in the future, and I don't want to you know get too long on this, but when he he led to, you know, then having the opportunity to do fundraisers and things to support people, supporting people in those countries that we visited. So just lifelong learning that kicked off at such a young age for them. It was it was exceptional.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

That truly sounds amazing, um, Patrick. And I I believe this is just so important, especially for young children, you know, to be able to actually see what's happening in the world instead of always just reading in the textbooks. Because I think practical knowledge is just so important. And I'm glad that your sons got to have that. And honestly, this one whole year of adventure, it sounds amazing, much like a detox. But uh I can only imagine how um freeing that must have felt like to actually live after so long, after working so hard for so long. So that sounds amazing. And I think this this was a great place to begin this conversation, which also brings me to another point.

The Grind Culture Myth

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Um so Patrick, there's this deeply rooted belief in business culture uh that to scale, you have to sacrifice you know, your sleep, your health, your relationships, your peace. And um, the people who push back against that often get labeled as not hungry enough. So, from where you sit after 25 years in this work, what's the biggest misconception, high achievers, Gary, about the relationship between success and their own well-being?

SPEAKER_00 5:48

I think you just said it so brilliantly that so many people think, oh, I've got to grind, I've got to work so hard, burn the candle at both ends. Like, but that to me can actually be counterproductive and you can do more in less time. And when people hear about like uh to relate to that story of coming back from our trip around the world, you get that time to decompress and think about, okay, what do I want to do next? And it was really all about how do I make an impact? We've had this opportunity, but it's like now I want to impact others and really help them scale and grow, not just professionally, but also personally. And so the most amazing fit I could have ever found was coming to work for a private real estate firm based in Florida. And so we had the opportunity where I came on board, my role was like chief experience officer, is what it was called, where it's essentially what we're doing is putting in what I call the performance and execution systems. So while I was there in the five years, the firm grew from 37 million per year in revenue to over 400 million in revenue, which is amazing. That's scaling. You want to be able to have that kind of growth. Well, not everybody wants to have that kind of growth. That might be too big for some. But still, my point being, it's based on the concept of living fully, not just for the leaders, but every team member. Like, how can they live fully in all aspects of life? And it comes back to the idea of the eight F's of life where you start up at the top with faith and then it goes around to family, friends, finances, fitness, fulfillment, freedom, and fun. And so when you and your team members at an organization are living fully in all aspects of life, they're going to perform better. They're going to be more present at their work, they're going to have better lives all around. And that's really what it's about. It's almost like a mission where it's not just working so hard just to make money, but while you are scaling, doing it for what purpose? To make sure that you are truly having this impact with those around you at home, at work, and literally around the world.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

I think that makes so much sense now because I have always felt that, you know, um a well-res-rested body and mind can work so much better compared to a mind and body that's under a lot of stress. And what you just shared, I think that is the prime example of it. And that is such an important reframe, Prague Patrick, because you know, if if we keep treating health and um uh presence as something that we'll get back to after the success, we end up building something we don't have the life left to enjoy because then we are always after one thing after the next, and we don't have time for ourselves, which is you know the most important part. So that that brings me to something. Yeah, that brings me to something that I've been sitting with for a long time now. So

High Functioning Burnout Patterns

SPEAKER_01 8:47

um, Patrick, you have shared some incredible stories already with us, you know, the executive mapping in his car to survive the day. Um, the financially successful leader who quietly checked himself into AA because there was no purpose underneath the achievement. So these aren't outliers, are they? You know, um they so what are the deeper patterns underneath this kind of high functioning struggle that most people never name out loud?

SPEAKER_00 9:18

What a great question. I think when you look at it, because where I've progressed, I mentioned that opportunity with the firm. They are still my primary client, but I am working on my own now. And most of the time it is with either C-level executives or CEOs of organizations. And when they come to us, it it's for a different reason. Like, do they want to scale their business or is it from the other side of it, from the performance perspective, do they realize they are not the person that they need to be? Maybe they've been ultra successful in business, but they're realizing that they're just not there for their family or they're not in the shape that they want to be. And then they realize as you get older, like, this isn't gonna work. I've got to get in shape if I want to live longer and live better. And so when people come to us, I mean, you just mentioned some of those classic stories, but I think the biggest thing, and really what relates to you and your listeners about the healthy mind is the importance to de stress. And so we are very big about wearing uh wearables. And so looking at the metrics when you sleep, like what is your HRV or your heart rate variability, your resting heart rate? Like, is it going down as it should be kind of that hammock pattern and coming back up, your resting heart rate overnight? And so when we talk to these CEOs, they're such high drivers that oftentimes they say, oh no, I don't have any stress. I'm good, I can handle it. Well, then when we actually we use pretty high-tech cutting-edge longevity assessments in our programs, and so we'll look at that and be like, yeah, well, that's not what the data is showing. Look, your cortisol level is too high, this ratio is out of whack, your testosterone is too low. I mean, all kinds of things that could be going on, pointing to there's too much stress in their life. And so, what is the thing you need to do? Well, it's de-stress. There's the de-stress through simple morning routines, which I actually started on that year around the world, happy to revisit some of that. Uh, but I've been doing that eight years straight now, made a dramatic impact to my life and now training others on it. But then also the pre-sleep routine, because when you calm your mind before bed, you're thinking about the positive things and you go to bed in that relaxed state, it's remarkable. You just, these are the things that CEOs don't typically talk about, but when they make those changes, the transformations are phenomenal, like what you just mentioned in in those couple of cases there, where literally, I mean, the one you referred to where uh now a dear friend, but he's like, he came to us first because out of shape, overweight, didn't like a lot of the things going on in his life, but he truly became like a new person, um, fired up, ready to go, no longer had to go out to take naps in his car. Like he had the energy, he had the vitality, had the fulfillment. He landed a dream job, he went on a dream trip, he brought his family back to church. I mean, so many things that just um you can transform your life when you do the little simple habits to be able to make that happen.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Thank you so much for you know bringing that up, Patrick, because I think what you just shared, the little the little things that matter. I think those are the things that get ignored the most on our day-to-day basis by people. And you're absolutely right. Most of the time, especially high achievers, are like nothing's wrong. I'm fine, my body is fine. But then, you know, when they actually get tested, uh, that the results say something entirely else. So, yeah, I think it's really important to, you know, take care of your body as well. And what you just shared, that that lands because it's you know, it's not always about doing less. Sometimes it's about doing the right things for the right reasons uh in a body and a life uh that can actually sustain it. So now let's yeah, now let's bring this into real life.

Identify Then Implement On Wednesday

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Uh let's let's say someone listening right now is running a success successful company or climbing fast in their career, they're hitting their numbers, but they're tired in a way sleep doesn't fix. So they love their family but feel like a stranger at home. They want change but don't know where to start without the whole thing collapsing. So, what does scaling a business while thriving in life actually look like for that person on a regular Wednesday?

SPEAKER_00 13:31

What a great question. So I would think if anybody is listening in in that boat, we always go back to, well, I mean, we talk about the name of our company, Ignite Five, the number five. There are five steps there. What is the first step? Identify. You have to identify what is going on, meaning identify the root cause of issues. Because quite a lot of times people are going to just say, oh, here, here's my goal. This is where I want to get in the future. But it's like, well, where are you right now? What is the data showing? And then what is the root cause of that data? And I mean, nothing at all against traditional doctors. There's a need for traditional medicine. But what we really like to do is look at both in the business and in the personal life, what is the root cause of that issue? Is there in a business, let's look at it, is there too much going on? Like, is there too much coming back on the founder? Are you spending too many hours in the day? Are your sales not growing? Are your ads not working? Is your content not being produced? Is your outbound not working? I mean, all those kind of things you go through a diagnostic to be able to figure out, well, what is the root cause of that? And then you saw that same thing on the personal side. You see, as like, okay, don't have my energy. Well, why? Is that because one of my hormone levels are down? Am I eating the wrong foods? Am I not sleeping well? Or maybe I'm sleeping enough but not getting a deep enough sleep. That's why we're the wearables to figure out what's going on. So that's why I say you go deep into this identify phase that most people skip. And then once you do identify it, you've got that root cause. Well, then you can go to step two, and that's implement, where you implement a personalized, customized protocol for yourself andor your business to be able to say exactly what you need. Because this gets into, again, anything, exercise routine, supplementation, even nutrition. There's so many things that are good for some people, but not good for others. Like we always say that every body is different, meaning each individual body is different. And so you have to look at what you need based on, like that's where we'll look very deep at first the DNA results to see what your DNA say that you might be at risk for. And then where that leads, look at the epigenetic results, which basically means how your lifestyle factors are presenting that those potential DNA risk. So if there is something out of whack, well, that's when you do something about it, you have a personalized protocol and you go forward with it. That's the implementation. So rather than going through all five five phases, those are the first two. So that uh that helps answer your question.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

It does, it does. And honestly, that sounds so amazing. It sounds like a customized plan for every individual. And I think that that's really effective because, like you just said, not everything can work out for everyone, but you're actually trying to figure out what can work, which I I think is really rare nowadays. So um that's that's such a grounded place to start, honestly. Because we so often think that transformation has to look dramatic when in reality it it begins with one honest decision in the middle of an ordinary day. And yeah, I think what you just said, it it describes this situation exactly. And that brings me to your approach. So, uh Patrick, you have built a system that's scaled a firm from 37 million to 400 million, and the same system has reduced clients' biological age and rebuilt entire lives, and some of that you've already explained with us. But and

AI Data Accountability And 20 Mile March

SPEAKER_01 17:01

now AI is accelerating every part of it. So, for a listener who wants to start applying this uh thinking to their own business and well-being, what's a practical or reflective approach you'd guide them toward this week?

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Again, another great question. And you're right, I did kind of start explaining that approach. And so when I do talk about the five steps, you got the first two, identify and implement, then it goes to three, four, and five, which is ignite. Basically, you put the systems in place with accountability to make sure you get lasting results, then you integrate that with the all aspects of life, like I talked about before. So you're living fully in all eight F's, and then you go forward to make the impact. That's what we're called to do. That's the legacy. And so you ask about our system and the framework and how it all works. And so, yeah, this was something that we we have been doing for years. It kind of combined the Fit Life protocol with the elite execution system. We've put it all together into these five phases. And if somebody listening wanted to do this on their own, like yes, I was talking about with CEOs and that kind of thing, we do work one-on-one with them, but have certainly created programs and processes that individuals can go through on their own. But I would say when you mentioned the thing about AI and just how much it has helped, I mean, phenomenal things that people can do on their own. And like a case recently where uh a woman client had been diagnosed with the condition, and her doctors, again, nothing against traditional medicine, but saying that she'll just have to be on high doses of medication for the rest of her life. And well, you you look at it with the functional side of test that we do, and you get all that data. And then with the help of AI to be able to sort through the data and figure it out, it said, no, exactly. Here's what the issue is. Well, just go get this test, and then there can be this natural supplement to be able to help it out. So when you combine the power of first going inside, like I mentioned, that identify is so important. But then when you do those tests, you figure out what's going on. If you want to work with a program like ours, yes, that's great. But otherwise, then do it on your own. And you can do the upload, use AI to do it. I would uh give this caveat, you know, as far as you might want to not upload personal data, take your name off of it, just include the most important parts. But the idea is when you get to do that and you see what you need to do, and then you can put that plan in place. And I mentioned to you the third phase of it is ignite. That is how you ignite results. That is the most important. Having that accountability is so important. So if you can get that out of AI, okay, have an accountability coach there. Otherwise, work with a workout partner, an accountability partner, someone to be able to do it. I think that is probably the most important thing in all of our programs and working with our executives, is they know every two weeks they are making their two commitments and then they are coming back in the next two weeks to be able to report on those. So, you know, if you're familiar with the setup, it comes from the four disciplines of execution where you talk about you have your lead measures, which are basically the activities you take, which lead to the lag measures, which are your results. And if you're doing the lead measures, then you're going to get the results. So to wrap up here, I think what you had said before is something along the lines of the little habits that you do every day. And that's what I go back to so often. It's one of the things we call our secret weapon because it is, it is basically the 20-mile march that comes from one of the books by Jim Collins. And it's a story about the two teams that were racing to the South Pole, where one team marched 20 miles day after day, regardless of the prevailing conditions around them. Where the other group, they'd go 60 miles on the good days and then stay on their tents on the bad days, meaning they were impacted by the outside effects. And so the moral of the story, what happened, those that marched 20 miles day after day, they got to the South Pole first, they got back home safely, everyone was fine. Unfortunately, the team that reacted based on the situations around them, they did not all make it back safely. They were much later than the other team and they ran into storms. So that's what we say. So those little habits completed day after day, year after year, that's when you're going to have the dramatic results.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Absolutely, Patrick. You couldn't have put it in a better way. And I I honestly love how AI fit into this system in a way that actually frees people instead of becoming yet another thing demanding their attention. And I appreciate how you frame that uh because the goal isn't to add more to people's states, it's to give them their lives back faster than they thought possible. And that's exactly what you're doing. I honestly loved how you explained everything in such great detail because that makes all of us understand how it actually works from the inside. So thank you for giving all of us uh that perspective today, Patrick. And I think this conversation uh meant a lot to a lot of listeners out there. So

Free Diagnostic And Closing Question

SPEAKER_01 22:06

um thank you for this meaningful conversation, Patrick. And I know people listening are going to want to learn more about Ignite Five and how to work with you. So, where is the best place for them to find you and explore the system?

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Absolutely happy to share. And yes, again, thank you to you, Archita. This was fabulous. I loved your questions and the conversation. And certainly, if anyone would like, we've actually set this up. So there is a free way to get started on our website at ignite5.com, and that is the number five, not spelled out. So just the ignite5thenumber.com. And then they can go there and there's actually a free diagnostic. And uh when when they go there, you click on the free diagnostic, it looks at the performance and growth. Like how are things in your life? I talked about how important the identify was. That is what's going to allow people to go in and actually identify what's going on. It's kind of cool. It actually gives you your growth score and then the area that you need to improve the most and will let you go ahead and get started from there. So that's a great way to get started. Or people, you know, if they want, they can certainly reach out to me personally. I'm on LinkedIn. That's probably the best network for me. I'm at Patrick O'Donnell. You might need to put in Ignite 5 or Pontavader Beach, Florida, to be able to find me. But um, but yeah, happy to happy to connect and help in any way.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

Thank you so much, Patrick. And we will link all of that in the show notes today for anyone ready to take that first step so they can reach out to you whenever they want to. And to our listeners, uh, if something in this episode reached the part of you that's been pretending you're fine, I would gently invite you to do one thing today. Not a strategy, not a plan, just one honest moment with yourself where you ask the question most high achievers avoid. Is the life I'm building actually the one I want to be living? Because success without a life to show for it isn't success. It's a survival in nicer clothing. Thank you for being here on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life. Take care of your mind, take care of your life. They were always meant to grow together.