Interview with The Author: The Origins of The Mastery Paradigm™ pt. 1

A behind the scenes interview with Kasey, the author of The Mastery Paradigm™.

Q: I guess to start things off, we could go into the deep questions, but let's just start with the basic stuff. I'm curious about where the journey started for you. Not necessarily with the book, but you had a big career in the past, and you could have made a transition into kind of doing your own thing. Where did it all start for you that you felt like you needed to do something different and help people in a different way than you had been in previous capacities?

A: Yeah. So, where did the journey of The Mastery Paradigm™ all start for me? Right. It didn't have anything to do with a journey. 

Actually, it had to do with a stark realization of mortality at a moment in time. Two things. One is, I was living in Utah and my parents came to visit me, and it had been a while since I've seen them because I've been traveling for work a lot. And I remember when I saw them, I thought, man, time has passed.

And that was alarming, for the first time actually. And interestingly enough, I was just having this conversation with somebody the other day. They said the same thing where they said, I noticed my parents are getting older, and that's scary. 

And so that was like the first domino to fall. I think because that set the mortality, dominoes in in order.

The second domino to fall was another mortality domino. A couple of things happened; my sister in law was battling stage four cancer for a second time and Covid was starting to take off. I was still living in Utah, and I remember sitting on my balcony, I had this beautiful balcony that looked over the mountain range and would often sit out there with a fire and have a coffee, and I remember sitting out there and thinking, you know, I was looking around like I'm the only person here. I don't have my family here. I'm single. I don't have a wife or kids or a girlfriend and all of my family's back home. And one of my family members is going through a really rough time and my parents are getting older, you know what I mean? 

All of those things start to come out eventually.  And enough of them happen where it just starts to become a little overwhelming. And I remember thinking, I'm just wasting time, right? Like, this is fun. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job, I like traveling. It's cool living in a new place, but I'm not doing anything in life that's worthwhile. You know? 

And that was sort of the first realization of, like. This has been fun, but I don't think it's what I'm supposed to do. 

And that was crazy because I was really good at my job, and I found a lot of meaning in it at the time, and it made me very happy until that moment.

And in that moment, it was never the same again. I never looked at my job as something that was fulfilling. It still made me proud. There was still plenty of challenge, right? There was still plenty of road there that I could have traveled. I just knew it wasn't going to get me where I truly wanted to go.

Q: You feel like you were just too perpendicular to your trajectory that you had to, like, switch directions. Like that path wasn't parallel enough to your final destination? 

A: Yes, I feel like that path. If that path had continued, it would not converge with where I ultimately wanted to go.

Not even in a delayed sense, because it was a Wall Street bank that was based on the East Coast or, in Salt Lake. And those were my options for advancement. And if I would have stayed with them, I would have stayed in Salt Lake or ended up probably moving to New York. And those weren't the places that were going to bring me closer to this life that I had started to understand was like the real life, right?

Being able to be back home, to be with my family, to help them through this particular tough time and any future tough times, not just to see my parents once a year or once every two years as travel schedules allow, but to see them more often because time is running out.

And that seems like a very bleak way to look at stuff, but once I started looking through that lens, it was the only lens I could look through.

To step back for a second. I said about the mortality thing. The Covid year of 2020 was really monumental because there were a few things that happened that showed life can end at any moment. It doesn't even matter that you're 37 years old and have 30, 40, 50 years ahead of you. You know, because it could end like that. 

That was the other piece was, we don't know when we're going to go. And so even if the this job or this road converges back at some point in time, am I even going to live to see it? Right? 

And so I didn't want to die wondering what if. That was where The Mastery Paradigm™ started.

Because once I made that decision that old life no longer fit and I needed to find a new life. And that was where something I called the long, dark Tunnel of Transformation. My personal journey really kicked off. 

Q: So you go through this process of leaving one path, and there was this long, dark path which I anticipate we're still always trying to figure out, like, what is it look like, but when you're looking down that path, or maybe at that time when you turned and started down that journey, like, what did the as fuzzy as it may have been, what was the dream that you were maybe looking to pursue, or what was the outcome that maybe you could visualize in your head?

A: Yeah. So what did the road look if that road was no longer it and you don't know what comes next? What is the thing that you at least start to formulate is worth pursuing? Is that?

Q: Yeah.

A: A version of myself that I was proud of that was able to use my unique skill set to improve the lives of my family and my friends and my community. I know that sounds very altruistic, but that really was what I said I need to do now. 

Like I said, I was good at my job. I'm good at a lot of things in that context, but I'm also good at a lot of things that bring value to people's lives in a lot of different ways.

When I was working for the bank, all of that benefit was going to a corporate entity. It wasn't helping my friends or my family or my community. And sure, in ways, you know, my life is improving so I can do other things for them, but I wanted it to be a more direct contribution. I wanted to actually physically change the world around me.

And so I knew that I wanted to do something, number one, that supported me directly. Meaning that I wasn't dependent on an employer or a paycheck because, like so many people, I got the message of you're going to be laid off more than one time.

I was never actually laid off. In fact, somehow I always came out the other side with promotion, which is mind boggling. But I got the message. And if I got the message once I got the message twice, I could certainly get it a third time. 

And this thing that we’re sold as safety. Go get a job and get an employer. Get a 401k. That's not safe at all. All of your eggs are in one basket for the majority of people. Like eventually people make enough money to where they have enough disposable income and they can invest and diversify their income. But most people don't get there right? Most people are living paycheck to paycheck, and if that paycheck leaves, they're done. There's no backup plan. 

So I knew the next chapter had to be where that couldn't happen. It needed to be actually safe. Meaning that I had built my own income stream that I wouldn't say is impervious to going away, but at least it's not at risk of somebody waking up and saying, now you're done today, right?

So that was one, the ability to support myself in a way that also allowed me to use my voice the way that I thought it should be used. When I was working for corporate America, you feel censored a lot. You feel like I can't say these things. 

Oddly enough, not at my job because I was very outspoken in my job. I didn't feel like there were things they didn't want to hear, but I felt like politically or philosophically or religiously, I couldn't say the things that I knew needed to be said. I felt like if I said those, I was putting my job at risk. So that was part of the income stream, having my own income stream.

This is probably one of the few times that I’ll swear on this, but it's the ability to have “fuck you” money. And I don't mean that like how Mark Cuban would call it. I mean, the ability to say what you need to say and fuck everybody else because it needs to be said. And you can do that without fear that you're going to go homeless.

Because I think that's what the world needs. That specifically. The ability to say the tough things without fear of unjust repercussions. 

Sure, you can say whatever you want. Actions have consequences, but I think when the consequences are unfair because somebody doesn't like your opinion and so they're going to exact their will, is bullshit.

So to get back on track. The ability to have my own income stream for multiple reasons, and the ability to directly contribute to improving the life of my friends and family and community. Those and something that allowed me to use my gifts. I've used the word unabashedly, and what I mean is, like, I can wake up every morning and give 100% of myself without fear of being left empty handed on the other side.

Not to say that I'll use that stuff just to get money, but believing in the Law of Compensation of the universe that if you give, you will get equally as opposed to it. Sometimes, if you're with an employer, and especially in recent political climates, you can give a lot and get a little in return.

And that exchange is imbalanced.

Q: If we can like, just go back and touch on two things that you brought up there, like the first one that you brought up is you have this new goal to serve the community in a way that's special to you–you called altruistic. 

I'm curious, at your core, have you always been a naturally altruistic person or did it click on one day, or is it just progressively getting more stronger to pull you in a direction like that need to serve?

Has it been like that your whole life or when did it, like manifest into like enough pull to do something? 

A: Feels weird to talk about this without feeling egoic or, what's the word? 

Q: Arrogant. 

A: Arrogant, that's the right word. But I wouldn't call it altruism. I want people to, I want good things to happen in life.

And maybe it's the most selfish position possible, which is I want to live the best life that I can live. And if I can't do that because others around me put me at risk of, you know, you'd say things like murder or stealing or violence or whatever, right? Then, in order for me to live my best life, I have to try to change their outlook away from negative things and towards better things.

But I genuinely believe, and the more that I go down my religious journey, the more that I think it's undeniably true, that my best life actually comes from enabling people to live their best life. 

It's a little bit of a circle thing, right? It's selfishness, but not selfishness. 

I want to give myself the best chance to live in peace and prosperity, but others might not want that. And so for me to do that, I need to convince them that that's in their best interest also… but also that's the best thing for them, you know what I'm saying? 

Like if you get in this chicken or the egg thing of like, is this a selfish thing or is it the way that you genuinely believe is best for everyone to live?

And that's what I think. Like you'll hear me talk about this a lot, or see this phrase “love from a full cup”, or what I've recently started saying is The Father's love. And by father I mean God, which is that unconditional and Incredibly abundant grace.

We all make mistakes. We all have our flaws, and we can all be tempted by the devil and in a lot of cases, carry out his works. But I genuinely believe, and this is something that I believe my entire life, to go back to the question, that people are inherently good and they want good things and they want a good life.

I even think about this in such dramatic terms that if you think of a terrorist, right? I have these moments at family gatherings a lot where I think about terrorists. That sounds weird, but I'll tell you what I mean. I'll be sitting at a family gathering and I'm watching the children play. And the grandparents and the parents, and everybody's eating food and laughing and having a good time.

And even the most rough and tumble grandpas and males get on the ground and play, and there's something so magical about interacting with children that I think shows the true essence of humanity. 

You can imagine a terrorist with their family at the same time doing the same thing. Do you know what I mean by that?

They are doing the same things that we find so much joy in. 

From there they leave and go do terrible things. And the question is, why? Because. Isn't that the essence of life? Like, isn't that what we're trying to do? Why would you leave that and then go exact terrible things. That's so mind blowing to me.

So back to the altruist or, you know, have you always been this way? I genuinely believe that even them at their core, we want the same things.

Why do we go to different things? I don't know, but I think my entire life, that's how I've always viewed it. We're all good, like inherently good, and we all want the same things. And so that must mean. That there's at least a chance for redemption and for us to find the path.

And that's what I mean by the father's love. The ability to welcome back onto the path and say, the past is the past, and you may have to pay for the choices that you've made, but that won't keep you from pursuing the higher path going forward.

Q: So this new path, like it comes to light and it brings us the question, because I deal with this stuff sometimes is how do you navigate the conversation that goes, have I been on the wrong path and now I found the right one? Or going through those career changes and all this stuff, like how did it how do you, translate that into being either necessary or not feeling like you've wasted 20 to 30 years of your life doing the wrong things?

A: Two possible things here. When you say, and have I been on the wrong path, or am I on the wrong path, do you mean, have you been living wrong? Or do you mean am I maybe in a job that doesn't get me where I want to go? Because those are two different questions that are two different answers, right?

Q: For me personally, it would be, the path of where I'm trying to get to, what I'm trying to accomplish. Obviously, in my history, I like to believe I was a good person. So not am I living wrong, but in my pursuing something meaningful that will get me to that person that I see in my mind. How do you realize that?

A: For me, it was a lot of internal reflection.

First, you know how people always say, draw the Venn diagrams. What are the things that you're good at? What are the things you like doing and what are the things that make money? And then the confluence of those is the thing that you should do right? I kind of agree with that, but I think it starts like first, what do you like to do?

And that's where I spend a lot of time first, you know, what are the things I like to do? And then my mind to very quickly future pieces into things like. Can these things make money? Well, yes. But what are the things that I am good at? 

There's a lot of things I like to do that I'm awful at, and so I should just cross those things off the list or commit to a really long path of working at that incredibly hard until I get good at it.

I spent a lot of time in those three buckets. I wrote down journal things I would list out. This is what I like to do. These are things that I'm good at. How the hell does this all fit together? I never got to answer (laughing). I never got to an answer. 

But, you know, we talked about this, I did find things that didn't work. I found things that didn't feel as intuitive when I really sat down and played them out, because I think it's really easy to think about what you want to do. I think it's really hard to understand what that means in terms of a business, and like you will relate to this a lot.

You might be a great cake baker, but you're a shit business owner, right? 

And that doesn't mean that you're bad at business. It means you're not good at the things that it will require for you to run that business. 

And so I thought about that a lot, that particular thing. What is the thing that I'm good at but that I could also do every day?

One of the things that I love is to cook. I love cooking, and I'm pretty damn good at it. I couldn't do it every day. I couldn't do it as a business. In fact, just this morning I pulled up my cooking YouTube channel and it still gets news. It still gets subscribers.

I've posted ten videos and it's the biggest YouTube channel I've ever built. Why am I not pursuing that path? Because I don't think that I could do it every day. 

And so I spent a lot of time reflecting on all of those different things. I don't know what the answer is yet, but I do know that you have to leave some of it undefined. You're never going to know all the answers. The question is, what do you know that feels right in front of you? 

And I feel like The Mastery Paradigm™ is that thing that I don't have to think too hard about. 

It's a thing that flows naturally that I enjoy talking about, that I find real meaning in, and I'm willing to put in the grind work behind the scenes, checking emails, sending out campaigns, doing all that stuff, adjusting funnels, all the stuff that I don't really want to do. But I will for this, you know what I mean? 

So that’s a really ambiguous answer to the question that you asked. But I don't think it's an easy question to answer because everybody's so different. And I still don't know the path forward. But what I do know is this feels like it gets me closer to the person that I see in my mind.

I do feel like it gets me closer to improving, directly improving people's lives. Those two things feel good enough to follow for now. 

Q: And so, like when you're on this mission to like, serve the community in a certain way, obviously this book has a strong message behind it. Not to get too deep into like the core of everything that is the book, but why?

Why is this thing aligned with that original goal? So, altruistic serve. You want to have this, reciprocating process happening so you can live your best life too. 

How does the book fit into that for you right now? 

A: Meaning why the book feels like it feels that piece of the next chapter worth pursuing? 

Q: Yeah. For you.

A: Because I feel like if I don't. The devil might win.

The world is in a bad place. People are. I'm. Not ideal places.

If you go to the grocery store, I talk about the dead eyes. Just look around at the grocery store. Look at everybody's eyes. Their eyes specifically. Just watch how they carry themselves. The way that they nonchalantly shuffle around, mindlessly going through. They're not happy, you can see it. They're not even there, they're just going through motions. Most of them are irritated right?

That scares the shit out of me.

You can see it when you sit with your family at the dinner table. You can see the thousand yard stares. You can see it when people tune out on their phones, rather than plugging into the life in front of them.

It makes me incredibly sad, but it also makes me incredibly scared.

It makes me sad because these people are good people that want good things, and they're capable of great things. And somehow they've convinced themselves that they're not, or that it's somebody else's fault, and therefore they're this victim that can't do anything. 

But it also scares me because who knows what comes next if that persists.

...Part 2 Coming Soon.