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EPISODE OVERVIEW

In this episode:

3 Essential Tips for New Law Enforcement Officers

In this episode of the On the Blue Line Podcast, host Wayne Mulder shares crucial advice for new law enforcement officers to succeed in their careers. Drawing from his own experience, Wayne breaks down three key strategies every police officer should follow, including education, work-life balance, and finding the right mentors.

            1.         Education for Career Advancement in Law Enforcement: Wayne discusses the importance of formal education, specialized training, and self-education for police officers looking to advance their careers.

            2.         Creating a Work-Life Balance as a Police Officer: He emphasizes the importance of establishing a strong family plan and setting boundaries between the demanding job of law enforcement and personal life.

            3.         Finding Mentorship in Law Enforcement: Wayne shares the impact of good mentors, both in and outside of the law enforcement profession, and how they help shape successful careers.

If you’re a new officer or looking for ways to advance in law enforcement, this episode offers actionable insights to boost your career and improve your personal life.

ABOUT THE SHOW

 We know first-hand the struggle of trying not to take the job home with us and let it affect our families. We know the toll the law enforcement career can have on marriages and relationships. And we also have been frustrated by the lack of authentic leadership in our agencies. This Law Enforcement Podcast was designed to help you overcome the mental toll of the law enforcement career and the negative effects it can have on your personal life.

Hosted by active-duty law enforcement, we bring you two weekly podcasts. On Thursday, in The Interview Room we sit down with amazing guests who provide actionable advice on leadership, mental health, and relationships from their lived experiences. On Monday, in Morning Roll Call, you and I enjoy a cup of coffee and discuss current events, offer encouragement, and discuss practical steps for achieving the life we were meant to live. If you’re ready to become a better leader and protector on and off the job, then, please, scroll up and click follow to join us on the journey. 

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LINKS:

-       Get the eBook, “How the law enforcement makes you cynical and what you can do about it” by Wayne Mulder.

The On The Blue Line Podcast has a mission of creating a world where law enforcement life expectancies are EQUAL with the general population.

An On The Blue Line Media LLC production.

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TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE. Please note this is a new service we are offering and there will be spelling, grammar and accuracy issues. This transcription is offered as a convenience to our listeners, but at this time it is not guaranteed to be accurate.

00:00:00:04 - 00:00:15:05

Wayne Mulder

Welcome to the On the Blue Line podcast with Wayne Mulder. And I am your host. Yeah, you got this figured out. I am your host, Wayne Mulder. This week, three things that I would do if I was a new law enforcement officer today. The On the Blue Line podcast starts now.

00:00:46:08 - 00:00:51:18

Wayne Mulder

So welcome back. It is Thursday, October 10th if you are watching this.

00:00:51:18 - 00:01:10:28

Wayne Mulder

I of course, had recorded a few days before Thursday, October 10th. And of course, there is another storm bearing down on us here in Florida. But more on that in a moment. If you, enjoying this content, if you want more of the content that is only for subscribers, be sure to check out our Patreon page at the links below.

00:01:11:00 - 00:01:33:14

Wayne Mulder

I try to weekly, put some content in there for, those who subscribe to the channel. So be sure to check that out. And then, be sure to follow us on YouTube and Rumble. Every one of these is done in video. And, actually our podcast from two weeks ago, where I talked about six lies that I was told, when I started on the law enforcement career, it was actually our most watched video to date.

00:01:33:14 - 00:02:00:20

Wayne Mulder

So we actually got quite a bit of, traction on that one on both YouTube and on Rumble. So, I put out a post, this week on X, because it's been a couple of weeks since I've been on social media. And of course, there was no podcast last Thursday, and that was because it's been kind of a crazy three weeks of, roughly two and a half weeks ago, we were scheduled to be on vacation in Key West, which we were, and it was absolutely beautiful.

00:02:00:20 - 00:02:16:14

Wayne Mulder

And we took the, what they call the Key West Express out of Fort Myers, which is essentially a boat that you can take down. And three hours later, you arrive at the docks in Key West. And then we came back the same way. And it was, a few days before we actually came up through the Gulf of Mexico.

00:02:16:14 - 00:02:43:02

Wayne Mulder

So it was absolutely gorgeous. In fact, the, the Gulf of Mexico, the, the straits, the Atlantic Ocean down around Key West, it was like glass. In fact, I put some of these images up here on the screen, and it was just absolutely incredible. Then I come back up to Central Florida just in time for Halloween, did it, and saw that same ocean do such destruction to people's houses.

00:02:43:05 - 00:03:06:06

Wayne Mulder

Really? There is a, major road that goes along the west coast of Florida, US 19. It goes from pretty much way up in the north side, up near Perry, and goes all the way down along the coast. And anyone who was west that coast, whose house was not on stilts, was pretty much destroyed. Yet 3 to 4ft of flood water come into your home, and if you were up on stilts, you still had a lot of destruction to the bottom floor.

00:03:06:06 - 00:03:30:14

Wayne Mulder

So, just absolutely horrible what we saw. And then last week, I had been pre-scheduled before all of this to teach at a local law enforcement academy, a, class two law enforcement officer. So it's kind of like a continuing education class. On the exciting subject of report writing. Oh, I know it was extremely exciting. You missed English grammar rules.

00:03:30:14 - 00:03:46:28

Wayne Mulder

I mean, it's just the font. Yeah. Anyway, but it actually went really well, and I got to work with, a lot of young officers that were actually some that have been officers a long time in there as well, but a lot of young officers. And it was just it was a good time and we were able to try to make it fun and got some positive feedback.

00:03:46:28 - 00:04:12:20

Wayne Mulder

So that was a blast. And then when I'm getting ready to record this, we are now looking at the news articles of, Tropical Smile, Tropical Storm Milton, probably or soon to be Hurricane Milton bearing down on the west coast of Florida, which, is bad. There's just no other way to say it. Whether it affects us directly or those or our neighbors to the south are our neighbors to the north.

00:04:12:22 - 00:04:32:25

Wayne Mulder

It's going to affect somebody adversely if it continues anywhere near the track that it's on. And some of those people who will be affected adversely will be people who are just now recovering from the flooding. One thing to keep in mind is not only did does it destroy everything in the home and but let's say you were up on stilts.

00:04:32:25 - 00:04:50:22

Wayne Mulder

Well, one of the other problems you're going to have is that saltwater got in there. So the counties are not going to. And the electric companies are not going to let you turn on the electric on for obvious safety reasons. Until inspectors come out, you get contractors out there, which of course there everybody needs one. So none are available.

00:04:50:22 - 00:05:14:15

Wayne Mulder

So it could be weeks or months longer that some people, even, even if they have livable space in their home, may be without electricity in one of the hottest, humid, most uncomfortable states I've ever lived in. That part. I miss Indiana. But anyway. So anyway, our thoughts and our prayers go out to all of them and to everyone who's affected.

00:05:14:15 - 00:05:33:06

Wayne Mulder

And honestly, if the storm maintains this track, it's going to affect my schedule again, which will affect this podcast. And on and on. The ripple effect goes. So our thoughts and prayers are with those who, are recovering. There's a lot of good organizations out there on the front lines. And as I said on social media, I believe in our Facebook group, the, the on the Blue Line community.

00:05:33:06 - 00:05:51:00

Wayne Mulder

If you're not in there, be sure to join. But the On the Blue Line Community Facebook group, as I said to them, we will be monitoring this. I'll continue to have conversations with some of the law enforcement officers I personally know who were affected, and if there is anything that we can do as a community and as the on the blue line, we certainly will, and I will certainly pass that on to you.

00:05:51:00 - 00:06:09:10

Wayne Mulder

So I sat down and, like I said, with the popularity of that last episode of Six Lies that I was told when I was coming into law enforcement, I thought, well, maybe we need to follow that up with three things that I would do as a new officer today. The reality is, is there are three things that I actually did.

00:06:09:12 - 00:06:26:12

Wayne Mulder

The second one, maybe not as well as I could have, but there are three things that I did, and it actually worked out pretty well for me. I was very fortunate. Around the five year mark, I was actually promoted to sergeant, and around the ten year mark, I was, promoted to lieutenant. So very, very fortunate in that regard.

00:06:26:12 - 00:06:42:03

Wayne Mulder

Now, you may be listening to this. And the first thought that you have, the first thing that you think is, well, I don't really want to be I don't know, I want to be a supervisor. I don't want to be a sergeant. I want to be a lieutenant. I love being a detective. And I fully understand that, and I that that's great.

00:06:42:05 - 00:06:59:25

Wayne Mulder

These rules, these principles, these ideas are just as applicable to you as they are to somebody who is seeking to move up into some sort of rank. And honestly, depending on where you're at in life and what you have, I probably would have done things a little differently and stayed in city much longer because I just loved it.

00:06:59:28 - 00:07:14:23

Wayne Mulder

If I was younger when I came to this career, if I was in a different position with my goals outside of law enforcement, if so, a lot of ifs there, right? So just because you're like, well, I'd rather be a detective for ten years, 15 years, and then maybe think about being a sergeant towards the end of my career.

00:07:14:23 - 00:07:32:08

Wayne Mulder

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. And that's not the point of any of this. But for somebody who comes in this career and they're wanting to move up, they're wanting to get some form of, supervisory experience early on in their career. Then this is, a few things that actually helped me get there a little bit faster.

00:07:32:10 - 00:07:53:00

Wayne Mulder

So the first thing and, it's funny, I did some research and I even, checked out what our AI overlords said about it when I ran, the ran the question to em, and it came back with the same idea, which was education. Now, I know when you hear education, especially for most cops, there's going to be a little eyeroll.

00:07:53:02 - 00:08:17:19

Wayne Mulder

You're going to be like, really? I hear this over and over again. What are you talking about? Education. You mean I got to go back to college? Do you mean? Well, maybe. Maybe that is what I mean, depending on your situation. But honestly, we have more and more people, especially at the agency that I'm with, that has really focused strongly on the importance of college education, that many of the young officers coming into the career already have their college education.

00:08:17:22 - 00:08:37:11

Wayne Mulder

So that's clearly not what I'm talking about in those situations. So let me break this down. Right. So yes, there is something to getting your college education. It can be a formal education. When I first came into law enforcement, obviously there are more and more agencies, including the one I was with, were starting to to have minimum standards.

00:08:37:11 - 00:09:08:09

Wayne Mulder

As far as the amount of education you had formal education in order to move on to some sort of supervisory position. And I saw the proverbial handwriting on the wall. If you would, and said, well, this is what I need to do, as I've been very open about it. As I've discussed on this podcast numerous times prior to this, I had ran a landscape company, and when I ran my landscape company, I wasn't going to spend the money or the time and the resources to try to go get a college education, because it wasn't necessary for what I was doing.

00:09:08:09 - 00:09:26:15

Wayne Mulder

In fact, if anything, I would have looked towards more like a design certificate, something that would have helped with what I was currently doing at that time. However, in law enforcement, there is a desire to have that four year degree, especially for like the position of sergeant lieutenant. And they would like that master's degree when you get above that.

00:09:26:15 - 00:09:56:14

Wayne Mulder

So one of the things I did is I took advantage, the agency would actually pay for it. So I took advantage of it, and I went to school and I got that degree. But formal education is not the only thing that I'm referring to. There is also, as you all know, advanced specialized trainings. Just this week I was looking at somebody's yearly review, and on their yearly review it stated that they had to take and try to take any classes, any specialized classes in 12 months.

00:09:56:16 - 00:10:12:29

Wayne Mulder

So there's a lot of factors, right? So in no way am I casting judgment. In no way am I being disparaging towards this one person. I don't know their story, their situation specifically. I do have questions, and I will be asking those questions, but I don't specifically know for the purpose of this what their scenario is.

00:10:13:01 - 00:10:33:19

Wayne Mulder

But here's what I can tell you from my story. Right? So when I started, I was very fortunate to be on a squad that prioritize these classes. So it was also time that there were certain things that would benefit them. Right? So speed measurement, of course. Some people, some agency, some states that's already part of the curriculum when you're coming right out of the academy.

00:10:33:19 - 00:11:03:08

Wayne Mulder

But that's not true around here. So I actually went back and got speed measurement under my belt and some of those intro level, intro level law enforcement classes, if you would. But one of the ones that I really, like for, for instance, a breath test operator, I probably wouldn't have gone to that, except at the time I was working the, there were only the machines in certain parts of the county, and where I was working at was right near where one of those machines was.

00:11:03:08 - 00:11:19:08

Wayne Mulder

So my sergeant came to me and said, hey, I would like you to go to this class, get certified. And then that way, when those late, inevitable drunk driving arrest happened in the early morning hours, you'll be nice and close and be able to run over there and help out with the breath test. Breath test? Operation.

00:11:19:10 - 00:11:43:08

Wayne Mulder

So that, for instance, was one thing where, okay, that made sense and the same was true when I would later. So I did, a lot of other classes. In fact, for those first few years, I went to class after class after class to get the basic law enforcement ones done. Then when I went to the kids, but specifically economic crimes, I started getting a lot of financial, based investigation classes.

00:11:43:10 - 00:12:03:18

Wayne Mulder

And I want to say I went to, like, for someone like a one and a half year period and started working on getting certificates in that. And then when I moved into more of a crimes against persons, then I started going to classes for that. The point is, is that by the time I got ready to sit down for my first promotional exam, I had already had, all these.

00:12:03:18 - 00:12:23:26

Wayne Mulder

First of all, I'd maxed out my incentive pay, which is something through the state where you get, a little, stipend, a little bit of extra money for having gotten that education. So that's a plus that will serve you over your career. But then I also had all of these hours that would help me when I sat down to actually go to the for the emotional exam.

00:12:23:26 - 00:12:32:13

Wayne Mulder

So I had the advanced specialized classes as well as by then I had gotten my college degree, and it helped put me in a position that I was ready,

00:12:32:13 - 00:12:54:28

Wayne Mulder

Especially when we're talking about all these, points and so forth. They'll help you when you sit down to take a promotional exam. The other thing is, is by constantly being a student, right. When I say the word education, I'm not talking necessarily formal. I'm not even necessarily talking, these advanced specialized classes, sometimes it's just being a student, right?

00:12:54:28 - 00:13:13:25

Wayne Mulder

Things are always changing. There's always new legislative updates. There's a changing legal landscape. What you can do, what you can't do. So it should be natural to you. And one of the things right out the gate if you're a brand new officer, I was fortunate this week. I actually had one of the fans of this podcast reach Out to me, and we were able to go back and forth a little bit.

00:13:13:28 - 00:13:30:06

Wayne Mulder

And, and again, I've mentioned it to everybody. If you follow this podcast, be sure to follow us on Instagram @OnTheBlueLinePodcast or @OnTheBlueLine1 on Twitter. And if you've got a question, if there's something that I can help you with, be sure to just send me a message.

00:13:30:06 - 00:13:47:09

Wayne Mulder

Or you can always email me at wayne@OnTheBlueLine.com. But this person reached out and they had some specific questions. In fact, some of those questions will be part of a Q&A that I'm going to be doing, next week. But there were they were like, well, when I first come to this career, what are some things I can expect?

00:13:47:09 - 00:14:14:12

Wayne Mulder

Well, when I answer that question, this focusing on your educational journal. So for journey, if you are here, first of all your formal education, then your advanced specialized training. And then thirdly, just being a student, whether it's familiarizing yourself with the law and with things, that are, changing in this ever changing career. And then there's also the side of personal growth and just building resilience.

00:14:14:12 - 00:14:36:05

Wayne Mulder

Right there is, what is that? I believe it's attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, where he said that no man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and he is not the same man. Well, it's talking about the inevitability of change and how things are always changing. But the reality is, is you should never be the same man or woman.

00:14:36:08 - 00:14:54:22

Wayne Mulder

You should always be changing, always developing, ever, always evolving. I think about it all the time. I'm like, you know, well, maybe a year ago I wouldn't have done it this way or I think differently or man, you know, I seem to have changed. And then I stop and I'm like, well, that's a good thing. I shouldn't be the same person that I was even a week ago.

00:14:54:29 - 00:15:15:09

Wayne Mulder

I want to be constantly evolving, constantly striving, constantly getting better. So now we've talked about formal, we've talked about advanced specialized, we've talked about professional development, but then there's also the whole self-education side. Now, part of it may be listening to podcasts like this one. If so, thank you. But there's other podcasts out there. There's other books out there.

00:15:15:09 - 00:15:40:16

Wayne Mulder

I have an audible subscription. I am constantly listening to books. Now, honestly, I don't listen to a lot of law enforcement books, which is kind of this weird thing that has been an underlying since I started this podcast in 2019. Because on one hand, I've started a podcast for law enforcement officers while simultaneously, my focus is more business and business development, personal development.

00:15:40:16 - 00:15:59:00

Wayne Mulder

So I spend a lot more time and energy studying in that space than I do in this space, which is kind of the irony of all of this. But whatever it is for you, maybe it's YouTube videos, maybe it's podcasts, and I'm not talking like dumb cat videos, right? Not that there's anything wrong with dumb cat videos. What I am saying though, is there?

00:15:59:00 - 00:16:20:00

Wayne Mulder

Yeah, the for the first time, the amount of resources that we have at our fingertips, the amount of things that you can do without having to actually pay to go to school is unbelievable. So the only thing holding you up is you. And I know we've all had these persnickety bosses, these, you know, corporals have been here forever.

00:16:20:00 - 00:16:45:11

Wayne Mulder

Sergeants have been here forever. Wow. You don't need to waste your time doing that. We're too busy, blah blah blah. Okay, fine. That that's there has to be some balance. And that balance will come into my next two points. But for point number one, prioritizing self-education can be just a huge boost to not only what you're doing now, but all those things that you say you want to do in the future.

00:16:45:14 - 00:17:08:04

Wayne Mulder

So the second thing is having what I'm calling having a family plan. Now, maybe the first thing you say is why I'm single. Okay, still applicable. I'm still talking the same thing because you still most likely have a family. And if you don't have a family, then you would have a group of friends and those around you who kind of operate as a family unit.

00:17:08:04 - 00:17:30:01

Wayne Mulder

So this really applies to everybody, right? But for me, when I came into law enforcement, I had a family. So having a family plan and being intentional, you know, one of the things that has, again, talking that I kind of love, that business environment, I'm trying to start businesses this this is what I enjoy. And I've had a thought lately that it's very easy.

00:17:30:01 - 00:17:55:05

Wayne Mulder

Right. So when you you have a business, you try to structure a team. You have regular meetings, you have regular updates, you kind of inspect what you expect. You know, all these little slogans and so forth for running a business. And yet we don't take these principles of family meetings and, goals and family mission, and we don't take that seriously, and we don't adopt it to our actual family and friends.

00:17:55:07 - 00:18:10:02

Wayne Mulder

Now, I'm not saying that you come at them and say, well, I'm the boss around here. You got it. Yeah. Really? That you know darn well if you've listened to the show more than. Well, if you listen to over 20 minutes. Welcome. It's the first show you listen to. But if you've listened to previous episodes, you know better than that, right?

00:18:10:05 - 00:18:28:12

Wayne Mulder

And so here's the thing, right? We can take some of these principles and have regular, meetings. Have you had a spouse meeting? Do you and your wife or your husband meet on a regular basis? Do you plan out the year, or do you plan out your vacations and say, okay, here's what we're going to focus on between here and there, and then we're going to do that.

00:18:28:15 - 00:18:47:00

Wayne Mulder

Do you have regular budget meetings, just like you would in a business environment? Are you both on the same page? Do you ever come to each other and say, hey, you know, how, how is it going? What is your feedback? Can you evaluate where I'm at? See, when I say I have a family plan, we first have to set boundaries right boundaries between work and home.

00:18:47:03 - 00:19:13:24

Wayne Mulder

And it is very difficult in this industry sometimes to create those boundaries. I fully, fully understand that. In fact, when things such as these dang tropical storms and hurricanes keep bearing down, it gets even harder because every plan you have goes out the window. But that doesn't mean that we don't try to prioritize it, and it doesn't mean that we don't have clear boundaries when things haven't aren't all going to hack, right?

00:19:13:26 - 00:19:37:22

Wayne Mulder

So what do I mean by that? Well, when you're at home, be at home. Now, sometimes you who you are on call. So you have to plan around that. Right. But then all the more reason for when you're not on call that you put that phone away, you turn those notifications off, you focus on what you're doing at that time and focus on your family and I know I can be the pot calling the kettle black on this.

00:19:37:29 - 00:20:00:02

Wayne Mulder

I definitely struggle with this from time to time, but through the years I've seen how important it is. And so the same thing with no work talk during family time. Now, when you're talking to your family, that's a great rule. When you're talking, you have friends and, people you hang out with over and their fellow cops. You're going to have shop talk.

00:20:00:03 - 00:20:26:08

Wayne Mulder

There's just no way around it. So then it's more about being intentional and trying to limit it, right? Don't let it become a bitch session. Don't let it be a bunch of whining and cynicism. You're going to talk shop. That's just part of it. But control where that goes. But then that's why it's also important to have friends who are from other careers, who do things outside of the law enforcement, the law enforcement career.

00:20:26:11 - 00:20:46:25

Wayne Mulder

The same is true for communication, right? Be willing to communicate openly. And that comes down to the things I was saying in the beginning about being intentional in how we schedule our time creating family traditions. So I've talked about it before. Anyone who's in the law enforcement career can tell you you are probably not going to celebrate holidays on the holidays.

00:20:46:28 - 00:21:10:19

Wayne Mulder

So sit down with your family. Have these conversations. Usually you're bidding six month, at least six months in advance, sometimes a year in advance for your schedule. So I know whether or not I'm working Christmas right now. I know whether or not I'm working Thanksgiving. I know whether or not I'm working Valentine's Day, all the above, so I can sit down and say, all right, well, what what they do, we want to celebrate this on.

00:21:10:19 - 00:21:30:03

Wayne Mulder

Or as you progress in your career, you might be able to get it off. But one of the problems of constantly, moving up if you do get promoted, repeated several times in a row, then while that's happening, you're always back on the bottom of the list anyway. So it's one of those things where you just got to be intentional about it.

00:21:30:05 - 00:21:48:21

Wayne Mulder

Hey, let's celebrate it on this day. And with younger kids, it's even easier because they don't really know which day is December 24th and which days, December 25th and which days? December 31st. None of that really catches them when they're really young, and so you can use that to your advantage. But the same is true as they get older.

00:21:48:23 - 00:22:08:15

Wayne Mulder

In fact, the way we do count on these three days on two days off to three days, anyway, one week you only work Wednesday. Thursday. The next week you work every day. But Wednesday, Thursday. So for me, on Thanksgiving, I would rather that always be my short week. And I work actual Thanksgiving Day so that I can have the three day weekend.

00:22:08:15 - 00:22:26:03

Wayne Mulder

And we celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday. It works for our family. I don't know what will work for you, but these are the conversations and the individual who reached out to me this week. He was like, well, what if we're format? You know what if we're starting a family? All the more reason to have these conversations before you even get married.

00:22:26:05 - 00:22:35:05

Wayne Mulder

You know you're going to be in this career for 20 years, possibly 25, possibly 30 years. Have these conversations early and have them off that way. You're on the same page,

00:22:35:05 - 00:22:47:27

Wayne Mulder

the things that I'm suggesting, are going to help to minimize that stress for your family, because by having that intentionality, having that scheduling, having these pre-planned meetings, it's going to make it so much easier.

00:22:48:04 - 00:23:10:01

Wayne Mulder

So there's many more things I could mention on this, but I'm going to leave the family one right there. I will give you the third one for this week, which is pick good mentors. We've heard the quote, show me your friends today and I'll show you who you will be tomorrow. It's so true. I've also said and have said for years, you are the sum total of the five people that you spend the most time around that that is.

00:23:10:01 - 00:23:40:05

Wayne Mulder

The fact is, the people that you decide to spend your time around are going to influence you. It's going to kind of change how you think, what you do, why you do what you do. When we're talking about the family and stuff, that's why it's so important to have friends who have other families, who have, you know, if if you are trying to start a family and you've come into the law enforcement career, but all your friends are single and partying every night, what do you think that that added stress is going to be on your family, right.

00:23:40:05 - 00:24:06:07

Wayne Mulder

Because you're going to be torn between your friends are calling you every night. Hey, you want to still go hang out here? You want to go do this while you're trying to raise a family, which is your priority? The same is true when it comes to mentorship. Having people. I would have older friends, and I've been very fortunate to have some really good sergeants, some really good lieutenants, some really good people who in my career I could reach out to, I could follow, I could emulate, and I could learn from.

00:24:06:07 - 00:24:35:17

Wayne Mulder

And it helped me at the career level. That same principle is just as important. If you don't work in law enforcement and in your personal life, they have those people around you. Like I said, my goal is to start a business, so I've been trying to surround myself with the people who do what I want to do. The people who are very successful at podcasting, very successful at, coaching, very successful at getting their message out there, at being public speakers at all these things.

00:24:35:17 - 00:24:56:18

Wayne Mulder

Right. Find those people. Make them your your team, the people, your board of directors, your board of influencers. Those are the people who are going to mentor you and help you get to the next level. Have them both in the law enforcement career and have them outside the law enforcement career. So I hope you I hope you enjoyed this.

00:24:56:18 - 00:25:15:24

Wayne Mulder

You know, law enforcement is not like any other career. And so intentionality is the key. But the truth is, is all of the three things I just went over are just as effective for you, no matter what career you work in or where you are in your life. Maybe you're like, well, I'm retired. I you know, I don't I'm not worried about education.

00:25:15:24 - 00:25:39:26

Wayne Mulder

I'm not working. Well, that is the wrong perspective. I don't care if you've been retired for ten years, that we are never, ever at a point that we shouldn't be moving into some sort of self education. We shouldn't be expanding our skill set. Maybe you're at a point in life that it's hobbies that you're growing, right? But it is just as applicable for you as it is the 40 year old family guy who's trying to build a business.

00:25:39:28 - 00:26:04:12

Wayne Mulder

And the same is true with prioritizing family time, having those regular conversations, even if you're both retired and maybe even all the more important. So you don't kind of fall into a siloed relationship at the time that you should be working together the most. The other thing is, and this is a sad truth for those of you just coming into this career, is if you spend the next 30 years being completely away from your family.

00:26:04:15 - 00:26:20:27

Wayne Mulder

And I don't mean physically. I mean mentally, emotionally, like you don't do what I'm suggesting and you decide that for the next 30 years, you're just going to do your thing and then at the end you're going to retire, and then we will work on the relationship. I can guarantee you you will not have a relationship to work on.

00:26:21:00 - 00:26:42:03

Wayne Mulder

I've seen it over and over and over and over again because that intentionality now, while you're going through what you're going through, while you're building your career, while you're building your family, you do that now. You put the work in now. And when we get when you get to retirement, you're going to benefit from it. And the same is true with all three of these points and even on the mentorship.

00:26:42:05 - 00:27:02:08

Wayne Mulder

And maybe if I am talking to somebody older, I know I have, listeners of the show who've been retired for years. Maybe you're the mentor, maybe you're at the point in your career, in your life that it's time for you to be the sage, to come back and to impart that wisdom to the younger generation, to maybe go meet up with them.

00:27:02:08 - 00:27:22:01

Wayne Mulder

And I'm not saying that the FOP and having beers, even though there's nothing wrong with that. But that's not the environment I'm talking about. Let's try the coffee shop. Let let's try, maybe even at the academy or at these other things that you can say, hey, I am here to help you become who you want to be and to do well, not just in this career.

00:27:22:03 - 00:27:50:17

Wayne Mulder

Because here's the thing. You could be the best cop, the cop's cop, the very best cop. That's ever existed. And if you fail at the stuff outside of law enforcement, sadly you've likely failed because you are more than just your career. You are more than just this profession you've been called created for. More than anything that this career could do in the long term.

00:27:50:17 - 00:28:11:19

Wayne Mulder

It's it. It is a calling. It is an amazing calling. Thank God that you're doing it. But these things outside of law enforcement are so, so important. And it can't be understated. So that does it for this week's podcast, I pray that all of you in the path of this tropical storm Milton, soon to become Hurricane Milton, are protected.

00:28:11:21 - 00:28:28:24

Wayne Mulder

And that the devastation and potential, damage that it's going to cause doesn't happen. We can all pray. Maybe this thing just moves down below the straits of Florida and finds it weaves its way between Key West and Cuba and somewhere in that 90 mile stretch, and then just head out to the Atlantic. That's what we can all hope for.

00:28:28:24 - 00:28:42:07

Wayne Mulder

But if not, I pray that you guys are safe and that your homes are protected. I will certainly be back with you soon. I'll see you out there. This, I'll see you next week. You're in the podcast and in the studio. And in the meantime, I'm going to see you on the blue line.