Episode Transcript
Welcome back to sort of sophisticated, the podcast where we try to sound smarter than a fifth grader, but I don't think we actually are smarter than fifth graders. I'm Pete, and with me as always is Amanda. Hello? Uh, wait. Let's do that. Let's actually take the. Are you smarter than a fifth grader test? Oh, do you wanna do that? I will absolutely ask you questions. Do you wanna take the what? Whoa. Why can't I ask you questions? No, because you are the one who said that you don't think we actually are. So let's test it. Uh. I'm gonna go out on a lamp. I think I might be smarter than a fifth grader. Um, let's hope so. Okay. Chat. PT that right now. Let's go. I want you to ask me some questions. Okay. Hold on. Okay. We're taking this test, people We're checking this out. Okay. Amanda is loading me up, ready to go. Ready? I'm ready. Okay. Question number one, what is the smallest prime number? Smallest Prime number. Yep. Two. Good job. Yes. I knew that one. One for one. Yeah. Math major. Okay. Question two. Yeah. Okay. This is fun. Which US state is the Grand Canyon located in? Wow, Arizona. Wow, okay. I'm two for two. Yeah. Okay. Question three. Oh, one more and I don't fail. One more. I'm three for five. I guess so, right? Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. Go. How many legs does a spider have? Whoa. a spider has eight legs. Bueno? Yes. Very good. Uh, which of the following is A preposition? A run. Mm-hmm. B under, mm-hmm. C Blue. Mm-hmm. D he all the above. Uh, I will go with B under final answer. Good job. Four for five. I probably would've got that one wrong. Let's go. Alrighty. What question? Five one. Let's go. What document begins with the words we, the people? Well, I mean, I know it's the declaration of with the US Constitution, but I don't know which one. Which one? Oh my God. In order for review, declaration of Independence, the US Constitution. Ah, I'm stupid. Okay, fine. I got an 80% fair. I'm as smart as a fifth grader. Okay. Okay, hold on. Um, what, redo what? Bonus question. Okay. Ready? What gas do plants absorb from the atmosphere during photosynthesis? Let's go with carbon dioxide people. Good job. Good job. Why am I doing more? Uh, because this is fun. Oh my God. Wait, how many more am I gonna do? Which word is an example of a conjunction, conjunction, funk? Uh, and, but wow. Good job. Okay. I'm gonna give you multiple choice on that one too. Okay. Let's go. You got, how many more do you got? Okay. Eh, one more. One more. You're gonna get this one. One more. Which con make a hard one. Is there a hard one? Like look for a hard one. No. Like, so there's two left. So who was the first president of the United States? Washington. Yeah. See that one's easy. Yeah. Okay. Which continent is the Sahara Desert located in? Sahara? Desert is in Afrika. Good job. Yeah. Yes. We're gonna go with You're smarter than a fifth grader. Yeah. I thought I was gonna suck at that, but apparently I don't suck at that. Uh, can we introduce the topic today finally? Absolutely. Now that we know that we're both smarter than fifth graders, okay. Topic today is officially titled from fomo. To fulfillment. Uh, Amanda, do you know what FOMO means? Speaking of, are you smarter than a fifth grader? Fear of missing out. Yes. From FOMO to fulfillment. How volunteering changes you, huh? Right. Okay. And the whole idea is that we're gonna unpack the real reasons why people volunteer and all the benefits that come from doing it. Uh, I got the idea, Amanda. I was inspired because I was invited by a colleague of mine to something called the Points of Light Conference. I can tell by your face you've never heard of this. Nope. No. In New Orleans coming up here in like the first week of June, I guess it's pretty massive. I hadn't heard of it either. It's a national event that has like a bunch of nonprofits, government officials, business leaders, civic leaders from all over the United States, sometimes even like internationally, people, it's like a big deal. I look this up online and the idea is that, let me quote from their website. It's designed to empower social impact professionals. Uh, apparently that's supposed to be me. I'm like a social impact professional. I don't believe that for a second, by providing resources. Inspiration and actionable strategies to enhance volunteering and civic engagement across our communities nationwide. Attendees can expect over 70 workshops, main stage events, and networking opportunities that address current challenges and opportunities in the social sector. Bam. Sounds awesome. So are you actually gonna go? Uh, I can't go. Why? Because I have a graduation party for a dear friend and I cannot miss it. I mean, because I love her. Think you could. I'm just kidding. I could, I'm just kidding. But I mean, not for the points of light conference. Let's be honest, I'm not really a social impact professional fair. You know what I mean? Okay. Um, but I could go maybe in a year or two. 'cause it's coming to Los Angeles. I, yeah, yeah, yeah. So like, it's in, where was that? What did I say? It's in New Orleans this year? Yeah, yeah. In two years. It, well, next year it's in Washington DC and then it's in Long Beach. Downtown. Do you be like, invite to this thing DTLB downtown? Yeah. You need to be invited to this thing. Wait, but you already got invited? I got invited through a friend, like a, like through a community that I went, you know, 'cause I, you know. Great. So you had to just make sure you're invited in two years? Yes, I do. Okay. That is correct. Okay. Anyway, Pinboard. Right. My point of all this is, that got me thinking about volunteering in general. And like we don't do a lot of stuff on this podcast for like volunteering and like philanthropy. We did the one episode on, uh. world Kindness Day. and, Yeah. With like Lady Gaga, like, well, we had some stuff. Oh, okay. Okay. We had some stuff that we were like, okay. We sort of like you promoted. Yeah, we did. We did. So like, I thought it was a good, spotlight episode. Okay. It's one of those, it's one of those standalone episodes. Fair, right? So, then I figured I could like work off of all your years and years and years. Oh dear. Yeah. Of volunteering experience. How we met. Because you've been basically doing it since birth and Yes. That is a fun fact. That is exactly how we met. Yeah. Look at that. All those years ago you were just a baby. I was. And now you have babies. I do. That's crazy. It's crazy. Um, now they're playing soccer and very well full. And you're volunteering full circle. Right? Uh, since you do all the volunteering, I think maybe you should be the one to tell us like. How volunteering makes us cultured and curious, like the whole tagline that we have to go over every week. Do I need to? You do, because I don't know why, so I figured you would just be able to like riff. I mean, I guess we could just say riff it. If I never volunteered, I never would've met you. So there you go. Everyone should volunteer. Oh my God. I think that was the sweetest thing ever. Aw. Answer the question seriously. Okay. Well, I don't You always make the answer Answer the damn question, Amanda, you're so crazy. Um, I don't really know. I mean, I guess I'll tell you from my personal perspective, um, volunteering has kind of always forced me out of my own bubble. So in many ways it's shaped who I am. Um, I've met many different kinds of people and I learned about so many things or causes that I never knew really existed. And I think it really changed my perspective. Oh my God. That is what our whole podcast is about. Being cultured and curious, This learning a new perspective. Why didn't we do, why wasn't this like our second? So we should have done one on self-awareness and then we should have won, done one on volunteering. It's true. Boom. Boom. Because I mean, like being cultured is not just all about learning about French wine or obscure jazz records. I mean, they're all great things, right? Right. But it does also include stuff like this. So I wanna learn about French wine. Have we done French wine? Eric didn't really go over French wine. No, not horribly. Okay, mark that down. French wine. We should probably do the French wine when we go to the French restaurant that he told us we should go to. Let's do that and then we can get some French bread and some french fries and some French wine Fair. Okay. Fair and French dressing. Fair. Fair, fair. Yeah. Okay. Um, but like being cultured is also about having empathy and being excellent to people and sometimes just being the person that shows up all the time. Right. With none of that, with nothing like expecting nothing. So I think that's what brings true sophistication around total mic drop, dude, true sophistication, empathy, and sophistication. People volunteer. Let's go. We gotta do word of the day. We haven't done word of the today. Yep. Are we ready? You got it. You got it. I'm ready. Okay. Okay. Word of the day today is invective. Invective. Invective. Like in, in vector. Like in, so like in vector toward a straight line. Like to go towards some like Right. You're just, you're just, wow. You're going for it. Okay. Um, not even close. No, I tried. In invective is not like it's the adjective of of in vector. Okay. Toward a vector. Okay. Uh, how about harsh abusive or venomous language? Invective. Interesting. It comes from the Latin root 'cause. I know you love this. I do. Re. To carry or convey. So like carrying words to someone or bringing words against someone that are harsh. That are harsh and venomous. And you want to tie that into an episode of volunteering where you're supposed to be selfless and kind. Yes, that's exactly what I wanna do. I wanna make these hard to tie in. Alright. That's what we're gonna do. Okay. Okay. I guess we'll see. Um, So I mean, it's true because you, you've been invective for like all the episodes we've recorded. Does that work? Like all of that? That works and uh, technically does it count? New rule? You have to wait like one minute after we say the word before we use it. Okay, fine. Um. Quick history. Can we do, can I, can I, you know what, wait, not even quick history. Can I Table of content? Si. Yeah. Sometimes we need table contents in our episodes. Like it's important. I mean, realistically we should make 'em chapters we got, but it's fine. We gotta lay some groundwork here. People, okay, so I figure we go through like how it all starts, like why we feel the need that we have to volunteer in the first place. That's a good starting point, right? Okay. There's not like this massive history of volunteering, right? Then maybe we do. How it changes us. That's like the next good part I think. So that's sort of where my brain was going when I was trying to like put this whole episode together. 'cause I'm assuming like volunteering at some point makes us a better person. Okay. I don't know. I don't know that for sure. But I'm assuming you know that from you know, experience. I mean it does change years and years. So here we go. Okay. Then we could do some unexpected benefits, maybe that like, you know, okay. People don't always think about. And then, uh, close it out with some tips. Love it on how we start. Let's do it. Okay. Beautiful. Um, I'll start, I'll then we can just like flip flop sections be or something. I'll be Okay. Uh, I'm ripping the bandaid here. Most people, most people don't just randomly start volunteering, like, because they have some saintly desire to like. Heal the world. Like it doesn't work that way. Then how do most people fall into it, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, accept you because you're awesome and you always want to heal the world. Nah, I don't dunno about that, but, okay. Michael Jackson. So down over there. Wait, I have an idea. What I know. I'm sorry. It's a lot. I, it just happens. It pops into my head. Um. Why don't you share your story on how you got into volunteering and what you volunteered for, so people like have an idea of sort of your whole journey up to now and then maybe randomly I'll do mine and then we'll start this, this episode. Yeah. I thought you were just gonna tell me like why most people don't volunteer on the road. I am. I am. Well, no, no, I'm about to, but then I'm, now I'm thinking like people should sort of know like what you volunteered for and then maybe what I volunteered for, so then it's like, okay, they have some history of who we are. Okay. Well, in all fairness, I probably got into college just because I volunteered so much. Wow. So there's that. Okay. Um, I think a lot of it came from very much encouragement for my mom to go do good in the world. And so in high school I would visit elderly homes and we would bring. Different like trinkets for every season. So like for spring we would like hand wrap, you know, the flower pens and you're one minute into this and you're already out doing me. I love this. Go ahead. No, out doing you. But that's kind of where it all started. And getting to know people and learning their story was fascinating to me. And so that kind of like perpetuated more volunteering and then it flowed into, um, being like a counselor at church, um, for littles like junior high kids. And. It was great. Um, and then in college how we met the biggest one where all of that, like micro volunteering turned into something bigger was, um, when Trent decided to help Drew coach the soccer team. Yes. For the little boys. Um, U nine, right when you eight U nine. Geez. Yeah. Something that, yeah. And, um, we were like, well, how can we help? Do you guys need any more help? And then it was like, Hey, do you wanna be on the board? And you know, my 22-year-old self was like, sure, why not? Thought you were 22 years old and ended up on the board. Um, and that was crazy ride. Yeah, that was, and that's, and that is where you met me. That is where I met you. Yep. So this is really mom. Who started this? Yeah. Yeah. Kind of. Yeah. She said You Are you a tiger mom? Are you making your girl? Will you do the same thing, or no? Not necessarily. No. So they're actually starting last, uh, this past Christmas. Yeah. They made, um, like little snow globes that we dropped off at elderly homes. Oh my God. Um, but the girls actually wanna go and like, visit with them, so we just have to find, I mean, and with COVID and everything, it was hard. Um, so we just have to find places that'll actually let them go and sit with the residents in. Develop a relationship that, that, that is awesome. Yeah. Do you still volunteer? Yeah, I mean, I volunteer at my girl's school for like a full-time position. Wow. I think you also volunteer at some podcast called sort of sophisticated, I mean, uh, but full circle we're doing soccer again, so there's that for volunteering. I help with the Girl Scouts. Wow. The troop, I mean. There's a lot of ways that you can volunteer, right? So it's not just all, you know, structured here is, this is the answer to the question then, like, why people start volunteering in the first place. You just nailed it, uh, because of their kids. Done. That's what it is. That makes sense. So you have a different, that tracks you have a different like journey. Like my journey is, my mom and dad didn't make me volunteer. I mean, I had to volunteer for high school for whatever, 40 hours over four years. Yeah. Wasn't a lot. And they didn't really demand it. Like my parents were like, yeah, just get it done. Uh, so it was, Gabby was pregnant. And, uh, I just remember, I we were thinking of Catholic schools and it started to matter. Oh. And so I was like, oh, I gotta get involved in my church because I don't want to be the guy that can't get my daughter into a Catholic school. Of course, because I'm not involved in church. So it's super selfish, super bullshit. Um, but you did it that all snowballed. Absolutely. Then I started being in charge of more shit at my church. Yeah. Like, uh, I was the altar server coordinator and helped a bunch of the kids like learn how to help with mass. I dunno if you've ever been to Catholic Mass. They have like all these kids that like help do stuff and like prepare the altar. Um, and then got involved in like basically everything in my church for a while. Like I was sort of like, I mean, church is one of those places that you in super. 'cause like we got involved too. Yeah. And then we ended up launching, helping to launch another campus. Yeah. But the problem is that, and you volunteered for everything because when, because you don't know about, you're right, because you're young and you're like, oh yeah, yeah. Oh, I raise my hand, I raise it. And then you realize like every time you raise your hand, you're doing it. Yes. Yes. Yeah. So then I learned that, and then like my kids got it lit on with sports. Yeah. Then it was lacrosse, basketball, soccer, everything. Right. That's when you met me, da, da, da da da. And like I was still doing some church, but most of it was like, all sports related coaching. Yeah. Every one of my children. It was insane. And then ended up at their school taking over the, um. Parent advisory board. Uh, so I was, so the head that we called it the PAB at the time, it's kinda like the PTA. Okay. Right. So you're, I I managed like the school administration and the principal and then parents and I was like the liaison between making sure everything was working and that was a lot and I was losing my mind and, um. Yeah, it was, it was a lot with four kids. And, and then I ran the October Fest at Yeah, I was gonna say, and then Gabby sort of looked at me and said, what the hell are you doing? And I said, at least I'm not getting drunk at a bar somewhere. Right. Like, I mean, I mean, you opened this episode saying that you don't volunteer a lot, but I think we all just heard how much you actually volunteer, which is like another full-time job. Yeah, no, it was, so I had to, uh, I had to rethink some things. Because I got on, I was like on the volunteering train. Yeah. But when you go for like 20 years hard on something, you go hard, like Yeah. It was a lot. I dunno if I would expect anything lost from you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't know if it really matters why you started. I think the most important thing is that you started. Oh my God, you're too kind. You know what? You are. You're the opposite of invective right now. I think you're going, oh, I think you're going overboard To not make me use the word. Okay. No, but I mean it's true though. But secretly, I just was able to use the word because that did work appropriately. It did. It did. Okay, fine. So you win. So you win. Yeah. Um, but I do think like it's important, like even if you're just doing it to put on a college application, you are doing it. And that's half the battle. It totally is. Whatever gets you there, like it just gets you there, man. The point is we usually start by pretending we're doing it for somebody else, but if we stick with it long enough, we start to shift our perspective and realize how meaningful it actually is. And then we really are doing it for somebody else. And then that sort of like weird little selfish part starts to go away a little bit and we start to get on the right track. I mean, it's kind of one of those things in your adult life, right, where it's more about the effort that you put in rather than what the output that you're getting. Like nobody really cares if you're good at it. They just wanna know that you're gonna be there and that you're gonna show up and that they can count on you. Totally 99% of it and like there's no pressure to be great. Um, and it's like that tiny shift that you're talking about from showing up because you feel obligated to showing up because it feels right. Right. And that's kind of like the beginning of something sneaky and real and deeper than, oh my God, you Exactly. That is perfect segue to the next, next thing we gotta talk about. Oh, so here's where we get real. Okay. Because then now we're gonna talk about what changes you, right? Once you volunteer a few times, like you said, something starts to shift and it all starts with your sense of time. Something crazy happens, like you're more aware of being in the moment. Less concerned about finishing like your quote unquote shift. You start noticing people way more, and I think like the biggest one, for me anyway, I started to realize that like, like I was in this main character, Ruth always says main character dad, and you're so main character, right? Like it's all about you. Like that's what I was doing. I was main charactering my volunteering, and that started to go away and I started realizing, holy shit, I actually wanna like hang out and be around these people and help these people, right? Mm-hmm. Totally. I mean, there's like this weird thing that like your ego gets deflated, I feel like. Yes. And like things start to happen. Yes. Sort of quietly. Yes. Your heart changes. It's a whole thing. It's whatever the opposite of an ego boost is, is kind of, I think what happens when you volunteer. I don't even, whatever. I don't know. What is it an ego buster? I dunno. Yes. An ego, we'll call it an ego buster. Thank you very much. But it's not humiliating. It's like liberating, right? It's something that you find pride in and joy and then you start to realize how many people are, are just going about their day carrying their shit and like all of the life's burdens and how it barely takes any effort just to make someone's life a little better. I know. Very simply, yes and weirdly, by making their day better. You start to feel better. Yeah. It's like a, it's like, it's, it's, you know what it is? It's the circle of lies. You're so dumb, but Exactly. There's also empathy. Did you know that people who volunteer on a regular basis have higher levels of empathy and emotional regulation than people who don't? First of all, no. Who's supposed to know that? Why am I supposed to know? I mean, it's a random fun fact that everyone should kind of know. Okay, second, are you telling me if I started volunteering again, maybe I wouldn't be so, uh, invective all the time. It's well played. Boom, boom. That's actually used. I mean, it's like five in a row. You're just showing off now, so, man. I know, I know. Okay. But in order for, to have like actually been effective, you'd have to have volunteered for like 30 years before that started happening. I'm just saying so that now, like again, you are, now you're being invented. This is the easiest, easiest, I'm being effective. This is the easiest word ever. Okay. Um, so another thing I'd say that changes when you volunteer is your quote unquote people like the, like. Your community, the people you surround yourself with, it starts getting a little, well, you've heard that, that phrase of like you to surround yourself with the people. Yes. Who are most like you. Yes. So if you're an asshole, you surround yourself with assholes. Thank you very much my life. But if you're volunteering a lot, right, you start, you know? Yes. Including yourself in the volunteering community, you get outta the small little weird clique of all the like-minded people. You start getting a little bigger and that starts helping you being more tolerant, more accepting, like you said at the beginning, like changes your perspective. It does. It does. It ly does all shit I'm terrible at, but that's the whole point, right? Correct. So I don't wanna put words in your mouth or anything, but I think the point we're trying to make here is that volunteering helps you realize that you matter, right? It's validation without the vanity part. Tm, TMTM what? Tm. That shit right there. What shit right. Triple Vs. Right there. What? Triple V. Volunteer. Volunteering. Equals validation minus vanity. The way your brain works is it's an equation. What do you mean? That's perfect. I love it. Right? I love it. Yeah, it's amazing. I know. Okay. If you really wanna know how my brain works when I said triple vs. I No, no. I don't wanna know. I don't wanna, don't ruin it. Don't ruin it. Don't ruin it. Don't ruin it. Okay. Okay. Alright. We'll just leave it there. Okay, go ahead. So here's where we're gonna do the weird, unexpected benefits of volunteering. Yes. Let that you don't always think about right away. Go, go, go. I'm ready. Whether you know it or not, once you've been volunteering for a little while, you start noticing the perks that no one told you about, and I think they're pretty cool. Uh, lay 'em on me, sister. I mean, there's not like a specific order. Okay. Okay. I don't, so I'm just gonna kind of, I'm not asking for an order. Okay. Right. Like, listen, listen. If we're smarter than fifth graders, we don't need an order. Okay. Let's just go. Okay. Well, I guess one thing would be is that you don't even know it, but you're kind of like accidentally leveling up on your resume. So I signed up to help. Oh my God. You and the, you and the resume. Right. Well, it's always, I mean, you're always worried about the damn resume. You're leveling up the resume. So sometimes you just like, if you're gonna do it, you might as well put it somewhere. Right. Okay. You, you're right. Get a little credit for it. You're right. Right. Gold star. Yeah, I hear you. But anyway, so sometimes when you sign up for something, you'll sign up for like a little thing and then it'll go to a bigger thing. I guess an example you like examples is kind of how I signed up for the whole soccer thing, right? Yes. I just signed up to be a team mom. And then somehow then you start doing a website, and then you start doing, doing all of their graphics. And then you're on the board. Yeah. And then you're running a program. Then you're in charge of all fiscal responsibilities. I know how it works with deal. You find somebody who's embezzling money. I mean, it is Resume builder. I can say. It gets, I found somebody who is, it gets you jobs, people, let's go. You can pay $5 million. Now I can go audit anybody. Here we go. I don't wanna go to jail. Don't be talking about that on this. I mean, you're not embezzling, but you know, if you were, I'd find it. Okay. Um, okay. A second big one I guess would be like leadership. Leadership. So, yes. So when I was at the girls school, I ended up being thrown into the foundation, uh, fundraising chair, and I had to command all of these moms, um, on how we were going to be raising money and telling them what to do. And they each had a job very specific and I had to manage all the timelines we had to put on a gala. Like all of these things you had to do a gala and we had, yeah, and we had to make sure it ran smoothly. I have a question. Yes. Um, is that, 'cause you're just like super type A and all the rest of the moms were type B? Or is that like you probably out aid the rest of the A moms? I mean, I think it's one of those things like once you start volunteering you try to use the gifts that you have. Yeah. And I think people recognize that, where they go, oh shit, that person's actually good at it, let's give it to them. Yeah. And that's kind of where it snowballs. Yeah. So either you take that baton and run with it or you say. Nah. Just kidding. Do you know what I think, I think you would win on Survivor. Have you heard of, you know, survivor? I probably would. Yeah. I mean, funny story what a lot of our friends say that if there was ever like a zombie apocalypse Yeah. They would try to get to our house. Yeah. Because I would make sure we all survived. Yeah, no, I'm, I'm getting that feeling. I'm getting the feeling of, uh, unintended leadership from Amanda Houston. It's true. That sort of like something, you just get thrown into the position, right? Yeah. You rise the occasion into the deep band and you go, yes, you've done that your whole life. I love that. That's a good one, but like sometimes when you go in the deep end, now you're like, I guess number three would be a good one. Be crisis management. Mm-hmm. Right? That's how you live your life. Thank you very much. All the time. Um, and like emotional regulation. Woo. I honestly don't know why businesses don't just throw people into a church pancake breakfast and see who survives so they can vet the people before they hire them, because I think it's like a reasonable test to see if they're normal individuals or, you know, or maybe psychopaths. Yeah. Right. Um, that makes a lot of sense actually, when you think about it like. I think that's probably the only test that I would need to do at, like, I interview people for like two or three hours at a time and I still can't because anybody can uptalk themselves. Right. Exactly. Right. But if you, when you see them working with other people Exactly, yes. Absolutely. At a job that's not like. The best. Right, right. You get a sense of the real character, like, oh my God. So, that happens to me at the October Fest every year, when I'm dealing with new volunteer, like, well, you know, I volunteer there too. Yes. Thank you very much. You did. I did. So what do I do? I have like what we were gang captains, 30 people, 40 people. That, that that's true. I manage. Yeah. Yeah. You're absolutely right. You sort of figure out if they can survive under that pressure and that's who you wanna work with. Yeah. You want the people who, okay, that was kind of a genius or chameleons. That is a genius hack. Like we have to figure out how to bring that into the workplace better and without making it show laughable. Like we don't wanna just be like, because everybody, of course, could put on their resume like, oh, I volunteered for this and this. But really what you wanna see is. How they volunteered. Like you wanna see it in action? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like if we could record people, okay. I think we're onto something. Or you hire them and then you go do a volunteer thing within their 90 day firing window. Right. So this is a requirement, right? Within 90 days we're gonna watch you volunteer. Done and done. Perfect. Tf, we just TM that. Okay. Let's go. Uh, I hope we came in like a journal. What are we moving on? Or you got any, you got any other weird sort of benefits that we don't know about? I mean, the only other benefit that I could probably think of, and it may be the best one, the best benefit you save, the best benefit for last you said no particular order. I mean, I save, I didn't save it for last, but I just, it's one that I think is really important. Okay. How your brain works. Okay. Go. Um, free networking. Free now. Of course, of course. I don't mean handing out your business cards or anything like that. 'cause that's just weird. Yeah. I mean, having real, especially in this day and age where you don't need one, it's true. Just tap. Right. Um, but having real conversations with real people, like volunteering puts you in contact with so many people you would never meet otherwise. All different walks of life. Right. All different, um, social statuses. Yes. Or you have CEOs, you have retirees, you have blue collar, white collar, different industries like. Everybody and anybody can be at this one volunteering place that you're at. And if you let your defenses down, like you don't have to always look polished 'cause you're not at work, you actually will have deeper conversations and hopefully be more authentic with people. And that way they can learn the real you faster. And that is a total networking hack that is the hack of all hacks. I love that one. Well then become friends and then it. Yeah. Develops into how you said now you're with your community of volunteers. Yes. Right. I love, okay. Also I think it fits in here too. Like you said earlier, like you figure out what you're good at, like volunteering, like where you're right. That's a good place to test the waters is like, I suck, I learned, I suck it. Like working with little kids, like I thought I'd be great at it and then I was like, oh my God. Like I don't wanna do this job. Like not good. So I started realizing type a organizer, common cause. And that's how I ended up at the October Fest dealing with more adults and sort of moving things along that way. 'cause my natural gifts started coming out and I was pushing too hard in one direction or another. Yeah. So like volunteering helps you see what you're good at in a less threatening environment. Yep. cause at work you have to pretend you're good at everything volunteering, you don't have to pretend. You try something out, you don't like it again. I mean, I would argue maybe at work, you don't always have to pretend like you're good at everything. Sorry. But I get your point Yes. Of like, you're always trying to look good. There was a facade. Yes. You, you, yeah. You're trying to look good, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a whole beautiful chaos, right? Of volunteering. Oh, it is. In general, it's, it's insane. You try stuff, you fail. Nobody's really keeping score. Unless it's me, then maybe I am. I'm just kidding. You know what, um, shout out to Mark Twain episode, uh, that just dropped. You try stuff, you fail. That was his whole life. Except he was actually trying to do it with money instead of volunteering, right? Yes. Um, he wasn't, his heart wasn't in the right place with that one at all. It's okay. Not at no. Nor was his mustache. Okay. Um, so by now, let's hope we pretty much convince you that volunteering is low key, the best identity crisis fix out there, like we said. Um, but now we gotta talk about how you actually do it, Amanda, like how do we start I know like we told our stories on what we started and how we started, but like give us a place to start for people who feel overwhelmed, just to dip their toe in the water. Like where would we even go? I mean, you do baby steps, duh baby, let's do a biba step. Um, maybe start by picking something you don't hate. And something, something you don't hate. It's that simple. I think so. Okay. You gotta like, the bar's pretty low. Okay. Or even, you've gotta set it low. Right. Example me? Um, I mean, if you don't like animals, don't sign up to go to the Humane Society. Oh my God. Who would wanna pick up poop? I mean, the people who love animals. Wow. Okay. We see. So not you. It's not your thing. Okay, good. Solid. Um, if you don't like picking up trash, don't go do a beach cleanup. How am I supposed to know what I like? I mean, it's pretty easy. We run through the options and if your brain goes, no, no, no. Uh, maybe that's a good place to start. I don't know. But if I've never tried it before, maybe I would like going to the beach and picking up, try here. Okay. Trial and error. But that could take a while. And I guess over the years, I've maybe hacked it a little bit, but I think it's, oh really? You have another hack? Well, I know I would've never expected that. No, I just think if you had to boil down to two questions like you could ask yourself. In order to get moving in the right direction. I want these want, I want the hack. Want a volunteer man give the hack so crazy. I need the hack. You're so crazy. What one would be, mm-hmm. Like what kind of people or causes do you feel naturally drawn to or have the same perspective of? So an example, kind of like. Nature, animals, kids, stuff like that. Church. Okay. Right. Yep. Okay. So then once you kind of figure out your m Okay. Or your thing that you're into. Yep. Uh, then what environments energize you? Do you like busy ones, one-on-one. Busy. Do you like? Yes. You want like, lots of action going on. Yeah, right. You, I'm busy. You don't wanna be the behind the scenes. I'm busy, I'm busy, I'm nature. If You like busy and you like nature. I like busy. Busy and nature. Let's go. What do I do? Trail cleanup. No, you should lead a boy scout troop, but I don't like kids. Well then nevermind. I'm trail cleaning up. I'm going, I'm gonna meet 20 of my friends and I'm gonna try, I don't know if I, I don't wanna clean up trash, but I like nature and I like busy. Okay. Fair. Try it. Does that work? Yeah, that's a start. Can you start by like the off ramp off of like Tuston and Lincoln for me so I can just like, that's funny you said that crap, but so interesting you say that. 'cause a Amanda, a lot of times I think I see those, uh, folks from the penitentiary out there like cleaning up the traps on side freeway. I wouldn't mind volunteering doing that job. I mean, I know they're not volunteering to their job. I understand what they're doing there. I get it. It's um, what do you call it? Indentured service? Forced labor. Yeah. Uh, did I say that out loud? Sorry, America. Okay. But my point being, I would do that. That actually seems interesting to me. That's crazy. I want, I'm sure that there's, there's actually one, I might go do this. There is, um, well, what, it's not really about trash, but what it is in, like San Diego area Yeah. No, it's not San Diego. Maybe Central Coast anyway, somewhere on our coast. Mm-hmm. You go and you actually pick urchins Yeah. Out of the ocean. Yeah. Because they're. Ruining the ecosystem. Okay. Because they're not native. Oh, oh, okay. And you literally, yeah. Picked up. They're feral. We got feral urchins running up and down the coast. This is crazy. And then you can eat them. People look at how sophisticated we are. You learn everything on this podcast. Let's go. I guess the whole point is, is that there's tons of ways to volunteer. There is tons and ways that seem so abstract, like, yeah, go in and take urchins. Right? Come on. I would've never thought of that thought. Yeah. No, not at all. So moral of the story, I guess is that half the battle is getting off your butt and just doing it. Oh, I gotta get off my butt. All right. Were you being effective right there? I was not. You being, no, no, no. Were you called? Were you saying for me or were you saying collectively? General? US in general. Collective we, okay. Got. 'cause a lot of times you're gonna sit there and you're gonna Google and you're gonna like try to figure out what you wanna do and then maybe you'll go down a rabbit hole and then you actually don't ever get God to doing it. Why do I feel like sometimes you do it right into my brain and you know exactly what I'm thinking? I love it. I know. Okay, fine. As we were talking about that, just so there's volunteer positions everywhere that we don't really think of. Yeah. I mean, normal places we think of, right? Schools, PTAs, they're always looking for something to help with. Yeah. Like your church, right? They're always looking for volunteers. Food banks, easy place to start. Food injuries. Yes. Like things that you could just say, hi, I like to do. Whatever it is for this day. Yes. And I'm sure they will plug you in. Um, you can also, I mean, go to like feeding america.org or just googling your city plus a food bank, right? If you wanted to go serve meals, there's just always something. So you just gotta kind of feel what your heart gets excited for. Love it. Habitat for Humanity. Shout out to Jimmy Carter. Yeah, let's go. That was another place that you can volunteer, right? Oh, poor Jimmy Carter. But yes, he basically single handedly hand Ian. Well, I mean, he didn't create it, but, you know. Yeah, it's awesome. But that's the thing of people start something, okay? And it carries on a legacy. Okay, so no idea where to go. No idea what I wanna do. I'm level one, I'm just gonna sit at my computer and Google, what do I Google? Um, well, if you're just generally Googling, gimme five, uh, volunteer match.org. Volunteer match.org? Yes. Okay. idealist.org. Okay. Guess maybe the point of light one that you talked about at the beginning in this episode. Totally. Yes. I didn't even know that shit existed. I don't dunno much about, about, you knows. Yes. They have website that could handle everything. Yes. Uh, catch a fire.org. Catch a fire.org. Yeah. So this one's actually unique. That sounds, that sounds like a like getting like an STD or something. Good. I have to, I have to check catch a fire.org to see if, uh, I'm okay. But it, it uses your professional skills remotely, so it's kind of a cool one. Like it's unique. Oh yeah. So like our podcasting prowess. We could like use and volunteer our time perhaps. Yes. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. Okay. That's kind of a cool one. And then one for you specifically, volunteer.gov. Like for the state national parks I'm in, stuff like that. So you can go do cleanups. Okay. So I am clicking on volunteer.gov after this. You are searching it up and starting. Um, thanks for pulling that all together real quick. That was good because I always get a little overwhelmed, so I wanted listeners to sort of get the vibe of like how easy this is to go do. Yeah. So I mean, if you can't pick what you wanna do, go to website, see what options are there. Just search it up, dude. Yeah. You got anything else or can we do fun facts? Uh, we can always do fun facts, but do you really have fun facts about volunteering? Do I have fun facts? Of course I have fun facts about volunteering, but like, last time wasn't really about fun facts, right? It was just like. Fun things. Okay, I got fun. I got studies. Oh, okay. So actual fun things. I Volunteering studies. Alright, I'm here for it. Let's go. Alright, here we go. Number one. So a scientific studies show that there's something we do called semi altruism. Not just like altruism, altruism, semi altruism. It's just human. We can't help it. We care, but we also want to feel good while we're doing all the caring. You with me? Yes. Yeah. So that mix is unfortunately important because it drives most of our goodness efforts. If we didn't wanna feel good, we wouldn't do it, but keeps our volunteering and philanthropy alive in the first place. So it's sort of like, ugh, it's a necessary evil, otherwise, we would just sit around all day long and do nothing. So even if volunteering isn't a hundred percent selfless. It's good that we do it. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. See, I told you I had scientific sex. I can get on four with that. Right? Okay. Uh, number two, did you know that volunteering increases your brain functionality? I mean, I believe it. Yeah. That's why you're such a genius over there. Oh, maybe I'm so nice. Maybe, maybe this correlation. Here we go. More science. Just kidding. It's scientifically proven by some tests that I made up for this fun fact conducted by people who volunteer regularly show better memory and cognitive function as they age. Some studies even suggest it may lower the risk of dementia. Remember we were saying how we wanted to figure out to Yes. By keeping your brain socially and mentally engaged. I love it. Let's, let's do it. Just, let's just, just do it just in case. Just because of that. Right. Even if there's like an iota. Right. But that's true. Might as well do it. So um, number three. Volunteering will help you sleep better. Yes. Really? Yes. Probably. 'cause you're so exhausted. Yeah. Okay. Listen to this. Volunteers report better sleep quality and feel more refreshed upon waking. Likely because it reduces stress, anxiety, and the existential question of what the hell am I doing with my life when you wake up at three o'clock in the morning staring at the ceiling. So you're saying that it gives you purpose so you can sleep better? It does. Oh, okay. 'cause like, listen, I'll be honest, I've woken up and. Three o'clock in the morning and that's what the hell am I doing in my life? And if there's things that I know that I'm doing that are cool, then that makes all that go away a little bit. Yeah, it does. Okay. You wake up for different things. Okay. I wake up all the time. I'm just thinking about Gabby mostly. Aw, yeah, I know. Okay. Number four, did you know that volunteers are 29% more likely to land a job than their non volunteering friends? Shame on you. Non volunteering friends. Shame on you. According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, did you know that was a thing? Nope, she didn't. Yeah. The CN CS people who volunteer have a better shot at employment, especially those without a college degree or who are reentering the workforce. It shows you're being conscientious and caring. I mean, maybe that you're able to get along with other people, conscientious and caring. Just learn different skills that you don't even know. You're getting conscientious and caring. Okay, uh, that's true too. Number five, it's basically cardio for your heart. Check this one out more studies studies show that regular volunteering has been linked to lower blood pressure and reduced risk of heart disease, especially in adults over 50. Huh? Turns out kindness really is good for your heart. Literally it is. Yeah. Um, I need to do this right now. I need to get that blood pressure over 50, so. Invective we're, I'm notc. That's not being mean or harsh at all. Okay. The way you said it we're just didn't No. Being realist right now. Excuse me. Excuse me. You didn't say, oh yeah. 'cause you're over 50. You didn't say it like that. You were like, 'cause you're over 50 and you like leaned into, I know what you were doing. Wow. Yeah. Are you saying my tone? I'm saying you're, I'm saying you're invective and I went $10 for this episode. Okay. Uh, and finally, number five, did you know there's such a thing as volunteerism? Volunteerism to tour something? Yes. Tour. Yes. You tour your volunteerism. Combine travel with volunteering. Oh. Think like sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica or teaching English in Thailand? It's a real thing and yes, it absolutely boosts your cultural and sort of sophisticated ness going outside of your walls. Yeah, I like it. In fact. If any of you out there are listening and have done this already, DM me, let's talk. 'cause I want to learn how to do more of this and that's all my fun facts today. I can only imagine how many things there are in the world, like outside of just, you know, our little bubble Southern California. Yes. A little BI know that there is to do. Yeah. Oh, I'm very curious. Okay. Well, I officially feel guilty and also inspired. Nice. But before I go and sign up to save a sea turtle or move to Thailand, um, I think we kind of gotta bring it home. So bring it home. We're bringing it back home. Why don't you hit us we'll takeaways so we can feel smarter than a fifth grader when it comes to volunteering. All right, fine. Okay. I'll summarize. Let's go. This week guys, we gotta do real work. This is not for the faint of heart. We're not reading books or watching movies or any bullshit like that. Okay? We're gonna get off our buts. We're do it. We're doing it. Told you we're doing it, told you. Okay. Uh, so your job this week is to pick one thing that you could say yes to anything. It could be super small, help at a local event, sign up for a charity walk, participate in a school fundraiser. I don't give a shit what it is. Bonus points if it makes you a little uncomfortable or sweaty. Okay? Amanda, I would always tell my kids before they like got outta the car in the morning when I was dropping them off at school. Do one thing today that scares you. Huh? That was my like little mantra. Right. Interesting. For them to be like, get outta their box. So that's our, we try something to hard that. Right? Something difficult. That is the goal this week. People, we have to get outside of our box. We're gonna do one thing today in volunteering. That sort of scares us a little bit. So interesting. You tell your children to do something that scares you. I tell my children. Smile at someone. Make someone's day. Look at that. See what I mean? Like. But yours is maybe better. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I wouldn't say that. 'cause Feary stretches you I think a little more. Yeah. Yeah. Than just someone's day. I love, I love that. I love that we just had little things to tell them. Yeah. That's kind of cool. Okay. Uh, and then just remember these few things to not really be sort of sophisticated, but ab about is poor to be like a better human being. I think we can all be better, better human people don't start volunteering because they're saints. They do it more so probably out of boredom, guilt, fomo, like we said, or the therapist said, try giving back. Like totally normal. Don't worry about it. People just start. Two. Volunteering changes you more than you think. Less ego, more empathy. You gain perspective, community, maybe a donut and a surprising glow up in your emotional intelligence, as Amanda was telling us earlier. So sign up. Uh three. You don't need a plan, just a place to show up. Start small, pick your cause that you don't hate. Say yes to one Saturday morning gig and just go from there. And finally, it'll fix your bad mood faster than you think. You'll learn what you're good at when nobody's watching, and you'll be making the world a better place by doing it. No excuses. Get on it. It helps you sleep better. It lowers your heart rate, it gets you jobs. You know what it is? It's the cure for cancer. That's what it is. Alright, then I guess that's it for our episode. As always, if you learn something new, laughed at least once or now, feel vaguely inspired to wear a name tag and stack chairs for a good cause. Then we did our jobs. And if you liked this episode, share it with a friend who's always looking for more purpose, but somehow still binge watching. Six seasons of Below Deck. No judgment. We love growth and reality TV and people we're basically begging you. We're begging you hit the follow button. Leave us a quick review or just scream, sort of sophisticated out your car window the next time you're stuck in traffic. I don't give a shit. We'll take what we can get, let's keep this thing going people. Well, until next time, stay curious, stay kind, and maybe go volunteer for something, or at least pretend you did. We won't tell. Oh my God. I'm telling. No, I'm telling on them. No, you won't. Why are you being so nice? 'cause you won't know. Oh.
