PODCAST: Nine Ideas for Law Enforcement that will Improve their Personal Life | The Interview Room 053
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The On The Blue Line Podcast and Community has the mission of Empowering Cops in their personal lives and educating the public on the realities of law enforcement. This law enforcement podcast is focused on providing concepts, ideas, and actionable steps that can make a difference in your life. The morning roll call is a weekly monologue show with Wayne Mulder. The Interview Room podcast is an interview style format hosted by Wayne Mulder.
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In this episode,
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
In this first of a two-part end-of-year special, we look back at some of the first OTBL podcasts that were released for The Interview Room. At the end of each episode, I ask the guest for a piece of advice that will make a difference in our personal lives. This show is a compilation of nine of these answers from The Interview Room.
These podcasts released in 2019 and 2020, so even if you have heard them before, there is good information here that is worth a second listen. If this is your first-time hearing these, links are below to the show notes pages to find the complete episode. All episodes are also available on most podcast streaming services.
1. TIR 1, Released 05/17/2019. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2019/05/17/podcast-an-inside-perspective-the-interview-room-001
2. TIR 2, Released 05/30/2019. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2019/05/30/podcast-extra-duty-done-right-the-interview-room-002
3. TIR 4, Released 10/10/2019. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2019/10/10/podcast-a-patrol-sergeants-perspective-the-interview-room-004
4. TIR 5, Released 10/17/2019. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2019/10/17/podcast-creating-better-leaders-the-interview-room-005
5. TIR 12, Released 04/09/2020. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2020/04/09/podcast-transform-your-health-fitness-and-nutrition-with-dr-paul-henning-the-interview-room-episode-012
6. TIR 13, Released 04/16/2020. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2020/04/16/podcast-take-control-of-your-mental-health-with-dan-jarvis-the-interview-room-episode-013
7. TIR 15, Released 05/28/2020. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2020/05/28/podcast-be-an-authentic-human-with-john-krotec-the-interview-room-episode-015
8. TIR 16, Released 06/11/2020. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2020/06/11/podcast-surfing-waves-and-enjoying-life-with-rob-sanderson-the-interview-room-episode-016
9. TIR 17, Released 08/06/2020. https://www.ontheblueline.com/podcast-show-notes/2020/08/06/podcast-self-team-and-mission-a-lesson-in-leadership-with-chief-chuck-the-interview-room-episode-017
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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.
00:00:14:14 - 00:00:35:21
Wayne Mulder
It sounds like a Hallmark movie in here. Welcome, my friend. Welcome to the On the Blue Line podcast. That was a very interesting intro music I picked for this one. But welcome. I am the host Wayne Mulder, and I am so happy to be back with you again this week. This is a law enforcement podcast where we discuss topics that will empower you on and off the job.
00:00:36:05 - 00:01:00:02
Wayne Mulder
Maybe you're tired, frustrated, feeling overworked, struggling to find balance with your work and home demands, or simply you need some encouragement. Well, then I'm telling you, you have come to the right place and I'm so happy that you're joining us this week. Something different. And I'll tell you all about it here in just one moment. If this is your first time finding us, let me just quickly tell you, we have two weekly podcast.
00:01:00:09 - 00:01:20:02
Wayne Mulder
This one is the interview room. And here this is an interview show where I sit down with different guests, comes out on Thursdays. Typically, again, today's going to be a little bit different format because of the holidays. But typically I sit down with guests from all different walks of life and we just get good information from them that's going to benefit you and your personal or your professional life.
00:01:20:03 - 00:01:47:15
Wayne Mulder
And the other podcast is called Morning Roll Call Releases every Monday and zero 500. And it's a weekly monologue show where you and I just sit down, discuss news, recent events, law enforcement trends and a variety of other topics. That gives you something to consider as you begin your week. Both shows are released on most podcast platforms as well as in video on YouTube and Rumble and the easy way to find everything is to just simply go to OnTheBlueLine.com.
00:01:48:15 - 00:02:07:22
Wayne Mulder
So four days until Christmas if you're watching this on the day or or listening to this on the day that it released so welcome I hope you are all ready. I know my family and I are getting ready. And of course, if you work in law enforcement, as you know, with these schedules, sometimes you're on on the holidays, sometimes you're off.
00:02:08:01 - 00:02:28:12
Wayne Mulder
I'm fortunate to be off on the actual holiday, but Christmas Eve, I will be working and I know many who will be working on Christmas Day as well. So make sure whatever day it is that you are celebrating the holiday, that you take some time for friends and family and for those things that are very important in each and every one of our lives.
00:02:29:11 - 00:02:52:06
Wayne Mulder
So I want to do something different for this week and next week because of the holidays. So there's this question that I have asked at the end of the interview room for pretty much since I began the show. It has evolved a little bit, which we'll get to. But it is what is that one thing that law enforcement officers can do that's going to make a difference in their personal lives?
00:02:52:17 - 00:03:11:08
Wayne Mulder
Well, that question has evolved, and so has the interview room. So what I did is I wanted to create a compilation. So this is going to be a little bit shorter, should be around the 30 minute mark, But I just take a few of the different episodes and we're going to walk through the answers that different guests have given to that question.
00:03:11:16 - 00:03:31:03
Wayne Mulder
So some of them are a couple of minutes in length, like 1 to 2 minutes, and then others are closer to 5 minutes in length. So not very long, but you're going to get a lot of really good information out of it. So one of the things that really stood out to me is when you go back and look at some of this early video, you will see how far we have come.
00:03:31:12 - 00:03:54:18
Wayne Mulder
Sometimes when you're doing these kind of things, such as podcasting or starting creative venture or something like this, their times and days where you feel like things are just drudging along, like you're not really getting anywhere. And to go back and look at some of this early video was eye opening, we'll just say, and definitely a testament to how far we've come, and that is only due to you.
00:03:54:18 - 00:04:14:06
Wayne Mulder
So thank you so much for all of you who listen, if you're watching on YouTube or Rumble, sorry, but some of these we actually didn't start recording video and releasing it. We'd always kind of recorded video because I like that face to face interaction with the guest. I think that's important. I think the interviews sound better that way.
00:04:14:18 - 00:04:42:11
Wayne Mulder
So even early on with I think one exception, they all were recorded with video so that we could see each other and we could communicate normally. And I just think you get a much better conversation that way. So, however, the video wasn't actually released as part of the episode till we got to around episode 20 or so. So all of the ones that are part of this montage are not originally released in video.
00:04:42:11 - 00:05:04:02
Wayne Mulder
So that means you get special access to these. But then also some of them don't have any video at all because of how they were recorded. So those you're just going to have a placard. So because of doing it that way, they're not in sequential order because I wanted to bounce back and forth between some with video and some without to make it a little bit more interesting.
00:05:04:09 - 00:05:20:23
Wayne Mulder
So our friends who are watching on YouTube and Rumble, the clips, like I'd said, are about 2 to 5 minutes each. But if you haven't heard these shows, you're definitely going to find something great from their answers. And I hope maybe you'll go back and listen to the whole episode later. If it's something that interest you and if you have heard them before.
00:05:21:06 - 00:05:33:15
Wayne Mulder
These have it's been about three years since most of these have released. So this may be a good time to go back and check it out. So without taking in more time, let's get to today's format.
00:05:37:06 - 00:06:01:21
Wayne Mulder
Our first guest was literally our first guest, the very first person that I interviewed for the on the Blue Line. And I'm proud to say that it was my brother Jonathan, and he works in corrections in another state. And it was great to have the opportunity to sit down. In fact, you'll hear reference to it. We had actually been talking at that point about maybe doing a weekly podcast together.
00:06:02:06 - 00:06:25:19
Wayne Mulder
Anyone who has done this kind of thing realizes really quick that the scheduling is by by far the hardest part. If you are solely if it's just going to be a sole monologue show, the only person schedule that really matters is yours. The minute you start talking interviews, the minute you start talking a dedicated co-host. Any of that scheduling can become a nightmare.
00:06:26:02 - 00:06:48:20
Wayne Mulder
But nonetheless, the interview room went forward. And so we're going back here to the interview room one, and it was released on May 17, 2019, and it was called An Inside Perspective. And the question I asked on that very first episode, like I said, it evolved was what does being a law enforcement officer mean to you personally? And I think you're going to enjoy his answer.
00:06:49:04 - 00:07:02:02
Wayne Mulder
And then we discussed what becomes kind of a theme throughout this podcast journey. What does being a law enforcement officer mean to you personally?
00:07:02:13 - 00:07:26:15
Johnathan Mulder
It means a lot. I mean, to be in law enforcement means the world to me. You you have a lot of days that it can be challenging, it can be heartbreaking. You get to a scene and whether it be in a jail cell setting or out on the streets and to deal with the day to day operations that we have to deal with, it can be very rough.
00:07:27:00 - 00:07:48:07
Johnathan Mulder
But when you help save one life or you help one person, it can mean the world to you. And it it it's that refreshing to happen when someone walks up to you and buys you and they don't have to. But as a kind of said, the heart, they just let's throw that back out there. We're not even say something by you, buy you something.
00:07:48:10 - 00:08:15:07
Johnathan Mulder
Some people have. They've walked up and done it. But even when they just walk up and say thank you, I mean, let's be honest, we deal with some of the roughest situations and those moments when you have somebody just say thank you. It redefines it and it means the world to me to be able to help somebody and to care for them and to do what I can in society.
00:08:15:07 - 00:08:20:00
Johnathan Mulder
It just it's an awesome feeling. And to just get a little thank you means the world.
00:08:20:20 - 00:08:40:14
Wayne Mulder
That's great. Yeah. And I you know, I'm going to go ahead and answer that question. Also here being our first for our first podcast because it's a question that we'll ask different guests and so forth going forward. But you're right on, and I would probably pick a similar answer. You know, for me, it comes down to that whole people don't care how much, you know, until they know how much you care.
00:08:41:06 - 00:08:52:13
Wayne Mulder
And that's so true. And no matter what your role is in law enforcement, whether you're the frontline officer, you're frontline supervisor or you're up at the admin level, people don't care how much.
00:08:52:13 - 00:08:53:03
Johnathan Mulder
You know.
00:08:53:03 - 00:09:16:15
Wayne Mulder
About the job or how you're doing things about this vast knowledge of law and order. You know, we talk about the training, education, experience as being the groundwork of what, you know, and none of that really matters if you can't learn to care about other people and if you can't learn to convey that empathy for others, be it the people we deal with on the street.
00:09:17:04 - 00:09:26:00
Wayne Mulder
Granted, I'm not talking about every bad guy. And, you know, we'll get more on that in future episodes. But, you know, whether you're talking to the person on the street or dealing with fellow officers.
00:09:26:00 - 00:09:26:09
Johnathan Mulder
Or dealing.
00:09:26:09 - 00:09:28:04
Wayne Mulder
With admin or dealing with anyone in.
00:09:28:04 - 00:09:28:19
Johnathan Mulder
Between.
00:09:29:08 - 00:09:30:17
Wayne Mulder
The question is, is.
00:09:30:17 - 00:09:31:12
Johnathan Mulder
Do they know.
00:09:31:12 - 00:10:01:04
Wayne Mulder
How much you care? That's what being a law enforcement officer is all about. It's like you said, it's the going after the one. It's about caring for others because ultimately all law enforcement, we're in the people business. Like it or not, no matter what reason you came here for, we are in the people business now. In episode two, this is the interview Room two released on May 30th of 2019.
00:10:01:14 - 00:10:33:22
Wayne Mulder
The second guest was Rich Milliman, and in this one we talked an awful lot about the extra duty programs and the pitfalls that law enforcement officers can often face. I think you're going to enjoy what he has to say, and it is definitely something that resonated with me then, and I'm sure it will with you now. Let me ask you, in your experience and based on your background, what do you think is one of the most important things officers can do to help themselves in their personal lives?
00:10:35:15 - 00:10:56:22
Rich Miliman
Well, in and I think my answer is going to be broader than just for officers themselves, but it's the same type of advice I've given to my kids. Look, life is kind of a series of decisions where you're weighing the short term against the long term. That's kind of a summary of life, in my opinion, right? So I wake up tomorrow morning, I should really do a four mile run.
00:10:57:05 - 00:11:11:18
Rich Miliman
It's training. I'm sorry I had too much to eat the night before. I really don't feel like it. I am now in a short term versus long term decision and a short term, the optimal thing is to lie in bed for another hour and a half, and then in the long term, the optimal decision is to get out there and do the right line.
00:11:12:07 - 00:11:35:17
Rich Miliman
And it's the same. The same is true. And again, my answer is geared in the extra duty world and I'll go back to the beginning of our conversation is working. That next is a short term versus long term decision, right? In the short term, I'm going to get another four or $500 for working it. But in the long term, I just spent less time resting or less time with my wife or less time with children or whatever.
00:11:35:17 - 00:11:58:04
Rich Miliman
Right. So and this while I'm giving the example of in the world of extra duty, it's true in life in general, everything is short term versus long term. So just think about that as you make decisions. Am I doing am I making too many short term focused decisions in which case we're going to end up five years from now being overweight and, you know, all sorts of problems that most of us have?
00:11:58:12 - 00:12:16:02
Rich Miliman
Or are you making too many long term decisions and you're not enjoying life at all? You're you know, you're you're delaying the benefits of life in a sense. So as as a law as a law enforcement officer, when there are all these opportunities to work, things like city overtime and active duty and so on, it's a short term versus long term.
00:12:16:02 - 00:12:22:09
Rich Miliman
And I always consider that.
00:12:22:09 - 00:12:48:22
Wayne Mulder
So I'm skipping one of the episodes. It was the interview Room three and I'm not going to get into the why here. But next Monday at Roll Call, we're going to talk all about that episode. So be sure to tune in to check that out. But the fourth episode of the Interview Room was released in October 10th of 2019, and the fourth guest on the show was Sergeant Keith McCarthy.
00:12:48:22 - 00:13:16:16
Wayne Mulder
He the name of that episode is called A Patrol Sergeant's Perspective. And I asked the question a little bit differently. I said, if you were giving advice to your younger self, you know, you're going back day one and here you are now a sergeant and you show up working for you and you come to the job, What would be the things that you would tell that person?
00:13:16:16 - 00:13:33:20
Wayne Mulder
I love it. Well, let me ask you just a couple of last questions here, Keith. If you being a sergeant now had the opportunity to go back and you're now young Keith McCarthy, and you show up to work for Sergeant Keith McCarthy now and it's day one right off day one, you're now assigned to you. If that even makes any sense.
00:13:33:20 - 00:13:34:17
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
It does. I'm right.
00:13:34:17 - 00:13:36:04
Wayne Mulder
But what would you tell the younger you?
00:13:36:10 - 00:13:59:08
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
I don't think that I would tell myself anything law enforcement wise. I think I would tell myself who be more of a communicator with people I work with. So what people don't know about me most likely is I am very introverted. I am 100% happy with spending 99% of the time alone by myself. That's why I ride motorcycles.
00:13:59:08 - 00:14:16:19
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
That's why I do a lot of the things that I do because I'm very content being with just Keith. And that has been another reason why I like this agency, and that's why I like patrol. It's why I like property crimes. Everything that I've done in my career and the thing that I dislike the most was training people.
00:14:17:06 - 00:14:37:15
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
It's because I had to be in a car with somebody for 12 hours a day in patrol. It's a solo unit, a one man car, and see it as a property crimes detective. It's usually one man work as opposed to major crimes, but it is a unit and in my personal life I do things by myself all the time.
00:14:37:17 - 00:15:00:07
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
So I think that if I could go back and give myself advice, coming into this career would be to network it, get to know people, talk to people, let people in, because people tell me I'm not such a bad guy, but know I don't. I'm shy, so I don't like to. I'm shy and I am very selective in the people that I become friends with.
00:15:00:07 - 00:15:07:12
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
So I think I would I would try to get myself to do a little bit more socializing for good.
00:15:07:22 - 00:15:15:03
Wayne Mulder
Too. That same thing. Is there anything you think that agencies can do to better help law enforcement officers coming into this career?
00:15:15:03 - 00:15:54:00
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
Or I will say just this along the same lines, it the socialization and as a kid growing up, like I was telling you, being kind of enamored with the cop culture, when you watch a lot of these cop movies from seventies, eighties, nineties, even today like NYPD, you get I came into this profession expecting that there was going to be a culture of cops hanging out together all the time, you know, living in little communities together and families growing up and doing things and actually it's nothing like that at all, at least here.
00:15:55:03 - 00:16:19:13
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
So I think that if I was to have some kind of influence on what the sheriff's office does, I would try to encourage the sheriff or the colonel or anybody else is in charge of making those decisions, of doing something that creates more of a family atmosphere throughout the agency. I know we do things and it doesn't seem like they take off very well.
00:16:19:13 - 00:16:43:01
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
You know, we had the little things that the pilot or the bank would every year. And I think that they should encourage some kind of communal growth within the agency, maybe on a small level, platoon level, district level, something like that. I would encourage if I was if I was the sheriff, I would encourage everybody below me to take your area and try to do something that brings you guys together.
00:16:43:14 - 00:17:01:23
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
Because I think that when somebody has a relationship with somebody, they work much better with somebody. That's why I want you to come to this side of the county more. You know, if you could transfer over here because I work well with you, I think that you and I have got a good relationship that's not taken away from the guys that I work with now as sergeant, but I don't have the same relationship with them that I do with you.
00:17:02:06 - 00:17:11:00
Sergeant Keith McCarthy
I think that is good. If you've got a relationship with the guy that you're working next to, you're going to be productive. You're going to be happier and happy people are more productive people. Oh.
00:17:11:12 - 00:17:49:14
Wayne Mulder
I couldn't agree with you more. And I think that's exactly, you know, the kind of bottom line on what I'm even trying to do here. Communication and relationships, you know, that's something we come back to over and over and over again. And yet sometimes I question if we really understand how important that these are in our lives. This whole idea of relationship, community communication, that really has been the bedrock of why I started on the Blue Line and some of the initiatives that we're doing now and that start in 2023.
00:17:49:14 - 00:18:21:12
Wayne Mulder
We're not going to get into that today. But there are some initiatives that I'm working on that I think are really going to hopefully get us to the next level when we talk about things like community communication and just how important those are. The next guest of the interview Room five was Otis McGregor, and the name of that episode was Creating Better Leaders, and it released on October 17th of 2019.
00:18:21:12 - 00:18:35:06
Wayne Mulder
Let me ask you, what is one thing that for law enforcement officers, first responders, military, what's the one thing that you think they should really consider when it comes to life outside of the job, that life away from work like we were just talking about?
00:18:35:06 - 00:19:01:08
Otis McGregor
You know, I think it's it's finding what you enjoy. You know, there's a lot of talk in the in the early early years career development about finding your passion and and you know and if you if you work in your passion you never work a day in your life and all these sort of things. Well that's that's all rainbows and unicorns, right?
00:19:01:17 - 00:19:12:02
Otis McGregor
We don't always get to do what our passion is and get paid for it. So what I tell people do is you have to be conscious of what you're.
00:19:12:02 - 00:19:12:21
Wayne Mulder
Doing and have that.
00:19:13:04 - 00:19:35:19
Otis McGregor
Understanding and acceptance of where you're at and what you're doing. Accept that as it is and learn to deal with it or change it. And if it doesn't fill your cup up, then find other things to do. Whether it's volunteering as a youth sports coach or doing something that your church or or or your.
00:19:35:19 - 00:19:37:06
Otis McGregor
Podcast or.
00:19:37:06 - 00:19:58:22
Otis McGregor
Whatever that is, that fills the cup the rest of the way because, you know, some of us get good looking and we find something that that fills the cup up and you get paid for some of us, the cup only gets filled up about half way when I'm getting paid. I want to fill it up the rest of the way.
00:19:58:22 - 00:20:02:12
Otis McGregor
You know, I mentioned to you earlier about volunteering to help.
00:20:02:12 - 00:20:03:00
Otis McGregor
Vets in.
00:20:03:00 - 00:20:14:22
Otis McGregor
Transition and in coaching vets. You know, I'm giving back to that community and I know that helps fill my cup up the rest of the work. And I really every every call I've got with one of those.
00:20:14:22 - 00:20:15:12
Otis McGregor
Guys or.
00:20:15:12 - 00:20:25:02
Otis McGregor
Gals and helping them find that next adventure, Post-military is the man. I'm I'm just.
00:20:25:13 - 00:20:26:02
Otis McGregor
I get.
00:20:26:02 - 00:20:36:02
Otis McGregor
Fulfilled hearing them discover that path and and be able to walk down that path and succeed. And so yeah.
00:20:36:15 - 00:20:37:19
Otis McGregor
That's what I that's what.
00:20:37:19 - 00:20:41:03
Otis McGregor
I would tell people to do is yeah I mean.
00:20:41:03 - 00:20:42:02
Otis McGregor
Yeah if, if.
00:20:42:02 - 00:20:46:15
Otis McGregor
You're comfortable at the end of the day and you're getting paid for that, great then you're probably.
00:20:46:15 - 00:20:49:04
Otis McGregor
Giving back in some form or fashion.
00:20:49:23 - 00:21:10:17
Otis McGregor
You're not just raking in the money off the stock market, but if it's not, then figure out some way to fill it up through giving. Because the more you give, the more you get back. There's a lot to be said for that.
00:21:10:17 - 00:21:33:09
Wayne Mulder
Isn't that true? Don't we need to find something that we enjoy doing? I love how you said, though it's also important to understand, though, that we don't always get our so-called passion project right. It isn't necessarily go get your passion, but find something you enjoy and then do it. A lot of this episode with Otis really talked about leadership as well.
00:21:33:09 - 00:21:51:17
Wayne Mulder
So if you haven't heard that whole episode, I encourage you to kind of go back and listen to it. The next one, we're going to jump ahead to episode 12. Like I said, there was a lot of these here. There's a handful before, so ten that didn't even have any video whatsoever. So I'm only showing placards if you're watching this on video for those.
00:21:51:17 - 00:22:14:10
Wayne Mulder
So I want to jump ahead to episode 12 and then next week we're going to do the same thing again. And I will get some of those middle ones that we missed in this week's. So this one released on April nine, 2020. And I had Dr. Paul Henning on the show and he discussed transforming your health, fitness and nutrition.
00:22:14:17 - 00:22:51:11
Wayne Mulder
And then actually approximately a year, I think after I had him on the show, I ended up actually hiring him as a coach. And it was a fabulous experience and really made a difference. It was really great life changing moment for me, so I definitely enjoyed it. Let's go ahead and hear what Dr. hitting has to say. Do you have one summary or one takeaway, one thing that law enforcement officers can do to make a difference in their personal life?
00:22:51:11 - 00:23:19:05
Dr. Paul Henning
Yeah, because there's a loaded question. I would say self-care, self-care in a nutshell. And that and I say that with the kind of let me preface this. I don't mean like be selfish self-care, but I mean, you know, when you take care of yourself, whether that be like we talked about mental side here we talked about physical side here on this show self-care.
00:23:19:05 - 00:23:38:15
Dr. Paul Henning
You're taking care of your mindset, your your physical well-being, your fitness levels. I think that's going to reflect and it's going to help you take care of the ones you love, too. Like we all a lot of us have families out there who don't need them. So I know for myself, I mean, if I take care of myself, I'm just I show up better for my family.
00:23:38:18 - 00:23:56:18
Dr. Paul Henning
I do. I show up better, I show up. I was a better person. And I think it's just like I said, I'm not trying to be selfish when I say self-care, but that would be my one thing. I would say my final message.
00:23:56:18 - 00:24:23:09
Wayne Mulder
Isn't that true as well? Self-care. It's something that comes up over and over again and it is so important and yet so often we don't do it. So the next guest that I want to introduce you to, it was from episode 13. This one came out on April 16th of 2020, and we had the guest, Dan Jarvis, with 22 zero join us and the work that he's doing is just phenomenal.
00:24:23:09 - 00:24:47:09
Wayne Mulder
But that's a different conversation for a different day. But in the episode that he joined us, it was called Take Control of Your Mental Health. And in this clip, we talk a little bit about the importance of wanting help and getting help with post-traumatic stress. And I went ahead and included that in here, partially because when I finally get to the question, his answer is extremely short, but it is extremely powerful.
00:24:47:11 - 00:24:56:22
Wayne Mulder
So I think you're going to love what Dan has to say.
00:24:56:22 - 00:25:13:15
Dan Jarvis
Well, the decision is ultimately yours to make whether you want to go through it or not. And that's been a pretty big pill for me to swallow because I know I can help some people, but they just won't be there. Don't believe it. The thing is, is if you believe in it or not, it's not really relevant. If you go through the process, the brain does it automatically.
00:25:14:03 - 00:25:32:18
Dan Jarvis
So if you're that skeptical, just try it out. If they come through the nonprofit 20 to 0, you know, we don't charge any money and we can we can do it as we're doing this right here. I come through like a zoom or a Skype call providing somebody is not actively suicidal. We wouldn't we would it would have to be with somebody, right?
00:25:32:23 - 00:25:56:06
Dan Jarvis
Absolutely. But but yeah, it's just a matter of actually doing the process. And that's why we do harp. We do our own podcast called the PTSD Free Podcast, and that's to tell the stories of people who have gone through it. Matter of fact, we just released our last one was a police officer. That's up in Virginia and she's from the UK and she went through the RTM and great podcast.
00:25:56:06 - 00:26:11:13
Dan Jarvis
So the story is that that's where the power comes from and that's what typically the reason we do the podcast. Somebody will say, Hey, can you help my husband or help my wife? And then the first question I ask, Do they want help? And that's the big thing is a lot of us think we're good, we're fine until we're not.
00:26:12:02 - 00:26:28:16
Dan Jarvis
So we'll let them hey, have them listen to the podcast, and they may listen to two or three and then get up enough courage to say, okay, you know, sign me up what I do, and then we connect them with somebody. That's it. That's all there is to it. That's awesome. And then we try to get them to do a podcast with it.
00:26:28:16 - 00:26:40:12
Wayne Mulder
Yeah, and that's and I'm going to link all that up in the show notes so people can look those up. In fact, that was going to be one of my next question is, is there a success story that stands out to you more than in the other ones? Is there that one that it's like, this is.
00:26:41:11 - 00:27:07:21
Dan Jarvis
The song that's there's I would say three or four that we've done that are pretty compelling. The one with the police officer is is really good because, you know, she she speaks the language and you know, it was great. The one with we have the the doctor of the industrial organizational psychologist, the Air Force, that hers was very powerful, too, because she breaks down even better a lot of the science of what they're doing.
00:27:09:04 - 00:27:21:07
Dan Jarvis
And then I've had one one gentleman that we got treated, we actually got trained. It's called You're Worth It. That's a good podcast. I'm sure you got about five or six of them that are really solid. So.
00:27:22:00 - 00:27:39:20
Wayne Mulder
Well, and I will encourage any of my listeners that are listening this and they're a little bit skeptical or a little bit unsure. Like you said, the best way to do it. Let's listen to these success stories. And then if you're struggling or if you're in a place where nothing else is working, what harm is there in reaching into this and.
00:27:39:20 - 00:27:40:06
Dan Jarvis
Seeing.
00:27:40:18 - 00:27:49:01
Wayne Mulder
If it works for you? And obviously, the science that I'm going to put on the website is there, and if it works, why not? Why not at least try.
00:27:49:14 - 00:28:11:04
Dan Jarvis
One of the cool things? I'll leave you with this. And this is a part of the people that they really don't quite understand. You can do the protocol on somebody without them even telling saying a single word. I like just just by what I think about the event. And once you see them have their reaction and then you can run the protocol, don't you have to tell me what happened?
00:28:11:15 - 00:28:11:23
Dan Jarvis
Wow.
00:28:12:09 - 00:28:25:12
Wayne Mulder
That's awesome. Let me in. Just as a matter of a closing question, I ask everybody, what is the one take away the one thing that law enforcement officers can do that's going to make a difference in their personal lives.
00:28:25:12 - 00:28:36:20
Dan Jarvis
Take control of your mental health. Don't just dismiss it.
00:28:36:20 - 00:29:06:06
Wayne Mulder
So on May eight, 2020 Episode 15 of the Interview Room, I sat down with John Krotec, and the name of this episode was Being Authentic Human, and I thought that was a powerful name, right? So I think you're going to love what John has to say here. What is the one take away the one thing that law enforcement officers or it can be people in general that law enforcement officers can do that's going to make a difference in their personal lives.
00:29:07:17 - 00:29:36:08
John Krotec
You know, just keep the brotherhood and the sisterhood strong. You know, if you're out there and I have a lot of appreciation for law enforcement, a lot of my buddies are the sheriff of our county is a good friend and just keep incommunicado, you know, talk to each other. You know, the one take away is, you know, whatever you're going through as a law enforcement officer or a sheriff's deputy, your buddies and your buddy are going through the same thing and you got to talk about it.
00:29:36:08 - 00:30:00:07
John Krotec
You know, y'all are doing a great job and you have a tough job to do. You know, you're servants of the public and people look up to you and set the example every time you put your uniform on. I know it's hot because some of those uniforms are dark, but you're doing you're doing the communities work. You know, you're helping our community stay safe and, you know, set the example and you can't do it all the time.
00:30:00:07 - 00:30:29:04
John Krotec
It's sometimes easier said than done. You know, sometimes things are going to piss you off in certain situations for good. You know, get under your skin, especially when you're doing it day in, day out. But just remember, your job is so valuable to the United States of America, to your neighborhoods, to your community. I can't say enough about law enforcement and don't let you know some of the rhetoric that we hear sometimes get that get you down because more people feel like I do than not.
00:30:29:13 - 00:30:46:10
John Krotec
And we need you. We take care of yourself. We need you out there on the front lines and we just we need you around. So things are bugging you. Talk to your talk to you. The people you work with.
00:30:46:10 - 00:31:07:17
Wayne Mulder
So doesn't that sound familiar? It's kind of like we have a little repetition going on here with relationship communication. You know, that's the thing that I find so ironic about this question and why I ask it over and over again. So often the answers are similar. In fact, you really could distill it down to about five common ideas that are said over and over again.
00:31:07:21 - 00:31:39:15
Wayne Mulder
And I remember when I was a kid, I was always told repetition is the key to learning. So maybe there's something there that we should be picking up on. Next came episode 16. This came out in June 11th of 2020 and I sat down with Rob Sanderson. He was starting Swell, which was surf waves and Joy Life and I love the mission and still do of what they're doing for law enforcement and getting them out there on those waves as a way to kind of help with decompression and just like the name implies, enjoying life.
00:31:39:15 - 00:32:03:22
Wayne Mulder
So I really love what he has to say. So let's listen to this clip from Rob. And what is the one take away the one thing that law enforcement officers can do that's going to make a difference in their personal lives, kind of that one thing that and it can be different than maybe what we've talked about, but just boiling it down the heart of the matter.
00:32:03:22 - 00:32:04:17
Wayne Mulder
What's that one thing?
00:32:05:12 - 00:32:31:12
Rob Sanderson
You know, I think as police officers, what we are are men and women of service. And I think if you can find a meaningful way to live your life towards in service of somebody other than yourself, regardless of what's going on at work or in your personal life, if you can be that conduit of hope or service for another human that's going to carry you through.
00:32:31:19 - 00:32:39:00
Rob Sanderson
And as a service man or woman, that's really what we strive to do. And I think it will keep your candle lit for a long time.
00:32:39:16 - 00:33:13:01
Wayne Mulder
I love that. Rob That's so very true. And as we've said time and time again, it's really about others to be in service to someone other than yourself. You know, we could almost stop this entire episode right there. We could just stop it with that one point, right? Be in service to someone other than yourself. But we've got one more that I want to go over this week, and that is from episode 17 of the interview room.
00:33:13:10 - 00:33:44:13
Wayne Mulder
Came out in August 6th of 2020, and it was Chief Chuck. He joined us for an episode called Self Team and Mission, and it was a lesson in leadership. I think you're going to really enjoy what he has to say. And we're actually going to end this week with these words from Chief Chuck. What is the one takeaway, the one thing that law enforcement officers or anybody for that matter, at law enforcement officers can do, they'll make a difference in their personal lives.
00:33:44:13 - 00:33:46:18
Wayne Mulder
What's that one thing? If you were to boil all this down.
00:33:48:05 - 00:34:09:20
Chief Chuck
I think if you can boil all that down, is I think the best way to put it is to put it simple. And, you know, I'll go back to the old days of good cartoons. Literally understand that you do have that little angel in that little devil sitting on your shoulder is called you. It's called your integrity. It's called your character.
00:34:10:10 - 00:34:32:18
Chief Chuck
You know, character is who you are. You know, integrity is is what you do when you don't think people are watching you, You know, Your Honor and encapsulates encapsulates all of that. So the one thing that you can do personal wise is, you know, be true to yourself. I mean, honestly be true to yourself. And you need to take time every day.
00:34:34:03 - 00:35:00:23
Chief Chuck
Secretary Gertz, James Gertz is the undersecretary for acquisition for the Department of the Navy. Great leader, great person. He I've listened to one of his talks, and I have a sticky on my computer monitor, and I have it on my mirror in the bathroom. Secretary Gates told us three things every day. And this this is perfect for law enforcement, especially first responders, military program managers, anybody with a stress job.
00:35:02:17 - 00:35:39:21
Chief Chuck
One So two, team three, mission. Those are the priorities that you have to take care of every day. And here's why. It sounds selfish and it absolutely is. You have to take care of yourself first. Okay. You look in the morning, meditate a little bit. It sounds Zen, hippie crap, but, you know, just that moment of having that coffee on the deck on the front porch, wherever that's meditation, man, get your head, get your head, get in your space, You know, work out, stay healthy, you know, take care, take care of yourself, because then you'll be able to take care of your team.
00:35:40:00 - 00:36:15:22
Chief Chuck
This goes out in concentric circles. You'll be able to take care of your team and your team and your family. The team is your workmates. It's your you know, your shift at work. If you're a law enforcement officer, it's whoever you're with every day to get something accomplished, which is three. The mission. The mission is a big overall thing of where we're going and how we're going to get there and what we want to accomplish, whether it's a healthy, happy family, whether it's, hey, we're all going to go out on the blue line today and we're all going to come home at the end of our shift and we're going to go see our friend.
00:36:16:03 - 00:36:34:22
Chief Chuck
We're going to go on deployment in the Navy. We're all going come home successful. We're going to make that deal the day everybody's going to do their part and we're going to be successful, that takes care of itself. If you work backwards, take care of the team. The team will take care of the mission. You can't take care of the team if you haven't taken care of yourself.
00:36:35:04 - 00:36:44:18
Chief Chuck
So self , Team, Mission. That's the best I got.
00:36:44:18 - 00:37:03:10
Wayne Mulder
I think this entire episode could be summarized in the words that Chief Chuck reminded us, right? Take care of yourself. We're going back to what Dr. Paul Henning said. Self care. What does that look like for you? What are the things that you need to be doing? Is that health? Is it fitness? What are the things that you need to do?
00:37:03:10 - 00:37:27:11
Wayne Mulder
Meditation? What do you need to do to take care of yourself Next, Take care of your team. Who's your team? Is it Your family should be part of it. Your spouse, your kids? Who is your team that you're around? Your brothers and sisters in blue? Your squadmates those you're out on the road with right now? Who who are those people in your life and then fulfill your mission?
00:37:27:18 - 00:37:44:11
Wayne Mulder
What's your mission? Where are we going? How are we going to get there? How are we going to accomplish it? That actually is going to have a lot to do with what we talk over the next couple of weeks as we begin a new year and we reflect on 2022 and we start looking forward to 2023, I'm going to leave it there for today.
00:37:44:17 - 00:38:07:11
Wayne Mulder
These three principles should help each and every one of us as we try to prioritize what is most important in our lives. I hope you enjoyed this podcast. We're going to do something similar again for the last week of the We're the last interview room of the year, which comes out next week. Links to each of these shows that we heard portions of are down in the show notes below.
00:38:07:17 - 00:38:22:03
Wayne Mulder
So if there's any of these episodes you want to go back and listen to, again, just a reminder, they're not on video, but any of them you want to go back and listen to on any podcast streaming service, they will be there for you. And I think you're going to enjoy a lot of the nuggets and so forth.
00:38:22:03 - 00:38:48:00
Wayne Mulder
If you hadn't listened to them previously, if you haven't seen this week's Christmas themed Morning Roll Call, I encourage you to go back and watch it. It was a lot of fun recording it and I tried to bring home a point that even in darkness we can choose to be a light. So if you haven't listened to that, I encourage you to Merry Christmas, to you and to your family, from all of us on the blue line.
00:38:48:00 - 00:39:19:08
Wayne Mulder
Thank you for coming back week after week and listening. Don't forget that I'm going to see you next Monday and Morning Call next Thursday in the interview room. But in the meantime, I'll see you on the blue line.