Escaping the Drift with John Gafford
Escaping the Drift - The Weekly Drop: Anchoring in Values Through Life's Turbulence
23 Jan 2025
Strolling through the vibrant Atlanta nightlife, I was once basking in the glow of running the city's hottest nightclub, a realm where every door opened effortlessly. But a high-profile incident shuttered that chapter and with it, my identity seemed to collapse. Join me on a poignant exploration into the shifting sands of identity, as I recount how losing that role forced me to reexamine what truly defines us. My dear friend Steve Sims's courageous battle against cancer further echoes this journey, as he wrestles with the changes chemotherapy has wrought upon his own sense of self. In this week's episode of The Weekly Drop, we unpack how tying ourselves to transient roles or activities can lead to a crisis when those things inevitably change. Through personal stories and shared experiences, we delve into the pivotal role core values play in anchoring our true selves amidst the turbulence of life. Embrace this opportunity to reflect on your own core values and discover how they can serve as a compass to authenticity, guiding you through life's uncertainties with resilience and grace. 💬 Did you enjoy this weekly drop? Tell us all about it in the comment section below! ☑️ If you liked this video, consider subscribing to Escaping The Drift with John Gafford ************* 💯 About John Gafford: After appearing on NBC's "The Apprentice", John relocated to the Las Vegas Valley and founded several successful companies in the real estate space. ➡️ The Gafford Group at Simply Vegas, top 1% of all REALTORS nationwide in terms of production. Simply Vegas, a 500 agent brokerage with billions in annual sales Clear Title, a 7-figure full-service title and escrow company. ➡️ Streamline Home Loans - An independent mortgage bank with more than 100 loan officers. The Simply Group, A national expansion vehicle partnering with large brokers across the country to vertically integrate their real estate brokerages. ************* ✅ Follow John Gafford on social media: Instagram ▶️ / thejohngafford Facebook ▶️ / gafford2 🎧 Stream the new Weekly Drop here: Listen On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7cWN80gtZ4m4wl3DqQoJmK?si=2d60fd72329d44a9 Listen On Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/escaping-the-drift-with-john-gafford/id1582927283 ************* #weeklydrop #johngafford #Atlantanightlife #nightclub #identity #highprofileincident #SteveSims #cancer #chemotherapy #corevalues #authenticity #resilience #grace #transientroles #changes #crisis #uncertainties #personalstories #sharedexperiences #pivotrole #anchor #turbulence
Full Episode
from the podcast that gets you from where you are to where you want to be escaping the drift this is the weekly drop with john gafford no matter what platform you're watching or listening to us on make sure you like subscribe and comment and now the drop welcome back to the program everybody this week on the weekly drop we are talking about core values what they mean why you should have them
So I was just surfing through the old interwebs, as I do sometimes, and I ran across a post by my good friend Steve Sims, who is fighting a battle with cancer right now. He is aggressively fighting it. I like to say that he's winning. It looks like he's winning. But he's kind of in those throws where...
A lot of his identity and what his post about was today was about losing his identity to chemo. And he says, my identity was always kind of wrapped up in riding motorcycles and drinking whiskey and having a goatee. Well, right now, obviously, because I'm in the hospital, I can't ride motorcycles and I can't drink whiskey. And because the chemo, now my goatee is falling out.
So everything that I would have said is my identity is now gone away. And I wanted to kind of take that a little bit further than what Steve said today. And because I tell a story in my book, which is when I talk about being very careful with what you make your identity out to be, and especially what you can't do is make what you do your identity. I tell a story in my book about
That's coming out where I talk about many moons ago, I was running a very hot nightclub in Atlanta. I mean, Esquire magazine had called us the number one nightclub in the United States. It was a very swanky spot. And then because of some random, you know,
Grains of sand coming through the hourglass, the world turning a certain way, the butterfly effect, whatever it was, we had a very high profile crime that happened at the club and it put it out of business. And when the club was going, I remember there was not one door that was shut to me in Atlanta. I could go to any restaurant, any table, any bar, any nightclub, and everything was always comped.
The ropes always opened and whatever I wanted was always provided because I was the guy running the coolest spot in town. And there was a new bar opening up downtown in Midtown in Atlanta. My friend Ray was opening a new place called Lava Lounge. And this is after our club had gone out of business.
And I was kind of a little bit lost with what I was doing, trying to figure out what I was gonna do next. And it had been a minute. And anyway, my friend goes, we should go to the opening of Lava Lounge. I said, okay, yeah, let's go. So much like I had a million times before, I didn't think to call anybody. I just figured I'd walk up and play nice. And there it was.
And I walked up to the front of the line, which was a mile long, wrapped around the planet. And there was a bouncer standing there that I did not know. And I knew most of the door guys around town. I did not know this guy. And as I walked up, Said hey man.
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