This is Undaunted Life, a man's podcast. I'm your host, Kyle Thompson. Let's get into it. David Sterry, welcome to the show. How's it feel to be on that side of the camera for once? What's going on? >> Dude, it feels fantastic. Come on now. Now, I have had people on here before for Dominion interviews and they all they freeze up. They just clam up. They're like, I I don't really know what to do with my hands, but you have a quiet confidence. I think I appreciate that. Well, I mean, for work I'm on Zoom every single day. So, this is my office. >> Well, let's get there. Let's uh start with the normal stuff. Age, location, and what do you do for work? >> Yep, so age 26 years old. Um location, I'm right in central PA, Amish country. And um I'm a financial planner. >> Okay, very good. Yeah, I spent some time in Amish country. Uh not on the Pennsylvania side. This would have been on the Ohio side. And I got to drive a buggy, right? And so, I was literally on there and the guy goes, "You want to drive for a little bit?" I thought he meant a few hundred yards. They just got through telling me about how often uh they get smoked by cars when they're on the highway. So, I'm like, all right, probably not the best person. I drove us the rest of the way to the restaurant. >> And I'm like, "I had it on cruise control." >> Bro, and he let me he let me have the hat on and the whole the whole nine yards, you know, I had the mustache going, which you know, I guess is uh is not really part of the rules, but let's let's go ahead and hear. What is your favorite thing that Amish people make for food? Cuz as I've grew to find out, they crush it at about a billion different things. >> Yeah, so I've only been in PA 2 years. So, not I'm not authentic Pennsylvania. But, what I will say, the pies are unreal. Unbelievable. >> I have I can confirm this. I had a banana cream pie. I also had a donut that was roughly the size of my mug. Roughly the size of my head here. So, uh Amish donuts are pretty good. >> goods, dude, it's it's dangerous. It is dangerous. >> Yeah, they they crush it out there. Well, awesome. I'm glad to have you on cuz we want to hear about your Dominion experience cuz you are currently a member of team seven. So, you haven't quite wrapped up your your team seven, but we we're going to be following on into Watchmen after this. But just generically, how did you originally find Undaunted Life? How did you find the show? How did you find us? >> Yeah, so I think a little like not similar to everyone else on the team. I'm new to finding Undaunted Life. I think I found your podcast I don't know. It was your greatest quote of all time. >> Um the men's conference at Church of 11:22. [laughter] The men's ministry's two streams of lotion. >> All right. So, wait wait. For anyone that doesn't know what you're talking about. All right. So, here I am. I'm at the men's conference for Church of 11:22 at the end of last year. This would have been October. And I'm on I first of all, I'm sick. I have like food poisoning or something. I had done a morning session and now we're doing like the hey smart guy panel. And so it's like me uh Brian Loritts, John Tyson, Joby, and I'm like I'm clearly the dumbest person up here. And so I'm not trying to say anything smart. I'm trying not to poop myself on stage next to all these people. My only saving grace is I was wearing all black. So, if it happened, I would have just needed everybody next to me to just pretend like this was part of the show or something like that. And what I said was and this is you know the the big quote that's on Instagram and the quote I get asked about all the time is most of the time men's ministries use iron sharpening iron. Like that's the the language they use to describe what's happening at their men's ministry. But I'm like when you walk in the room, it's not like iron hitting iron. It's like two streams of lotion just slapping across each other. And I'll tell you, even with all the brainpower in that room and on that stage, the only quote anyone can remember is me talking about two streams of lotion. So, there you go Joby Martin with all your fancy degrees and your your Bible knowledge and all that. Just come up with the quote that gets everyone to laugh and that's what they'll remember, obviously. >> Yeah, so hearing that, great quote. Um it was like a moment finally someone said the quiet thing out loud. And like finally someone said it. And I was like, okay, I got to listen to more of this guy. Um, I've always been like if you're going to say something, like you better follow up with it and make sure everything like you're all about that, what you said. Um, and so just digging deeper, it was gosh, dude, I it was one of those moments like watching the way you talk about what a godly man is, I realized how much I was missing out on. And and I what I say is like I was sleepwalking through 26 years of my life. Like just had no clue what it What does it mean like to be a godly a godly man? What's it mean like to be a godly husband? And it just completely restructured those definitions in my head. And so when I saw the Dominion like apply, I was like, I'm not going to say no to that. Which Who knows what's going to happen? And then here we are. >> Well, so that's so interesting, David, that you bring that up because you know, there are guys that have watched me for a long time, right? They've they've heard me for hundreds and hundreds of episodes. We started the podcast in 2017. We're coming up on 10 years. And they're still just stuck, right? So I've said the thing, right? You know, a lot of people worried about how to say things, and I'm just like, well, just say the thing, right? Just say boldly, say it with your chest, and as long as it's undergirded by truth, you should be okay. But then I extend Dominion out to these guys. I explain what it is. I explain that it's high commitment. And these guys that are just stuck, right? Oh, I'm just I'm stuck. I don't know what to do. And I I can't get into high gear with my wife, with my kids, with my faith, with my body. And then they just go on lamenting. They don't apply. They don't they don't try to really fix it. They just they they love to have the excuse of, oh, you know, I'm still working on it, even though they clearly aren't. So I guess what was the difference for you? Cuz it wasn't like I was peppering you for years with these ideas of, you know, pushing back darkness and forging spiritual, mental, physical resilience. It was a pretty quick. It was like October we did, you know, the men's conference. You started listening to the show, we talk about dominion applications being open in November, and then here we are in December, you're on an interview with me trying to evaluate if this is the right fit for you. So, I guess take me through that process of whenever you felt like, "Yeah, not only do I want to know more, but once you heard about what it was, where you're like, absolutely, I'm in." >> Yeah, so I mean, something you just said right there, a lot of men are like stuck. And what I've seen is typically men are not stuck in every area of their life. Like, they might be stuck in their spiritual journey, but they're hitting PRs in the gym. Or they're just doing all the other like manly things. And it made me kind of like take an audit on my life and be like, "Oh, I'm I'm prioritizing putting financial and just time priorities on all these other areas of my life that are quite literally killing me. Like, they're not getting me any close to my heavenly Father." So, when you sent me that invitation, um and we hopped on in that interview, I it was the easiest yes of all time of like, "I need this. Like, this is I need this." >> [laughter] >> Well, so even take me through that because, you know, we'll have guys they're interested enough to do an application. Because if you're not going to do the application, you don't need to apply. Like, I mean, one you would never be a fit for this if the application's too much for you. But then they do the application, and then they kind of hem and haw about even signing up for an interview spot because, you know, we we need a pound of flesh, we need to know that you're invested in what what you're trying to do, not just interested. But you I remember your call, I remember your interview. You said yes on the call, you're ready to go. Like, you're like, "Send me the invoice, let's go. I'm ready to run for the next 6 months to set me up for something after that. And it can't be just that, you know, you make flippant decisions and that you don't care that much. I think it's because you care so much, you just knew that it was the right opportunity for you at the right time. >> Yeah, I'd say definitely there's that piece. Um I think an another thing is I'm drawn to people that have a why. Like they have a reason why they do everything. Um and and you dude, you just you've got that. Like everyone who watches Undaunted Life has to see, okay, Kyle that guy's on mission. That guy knows what his calling is and he's going to do the thing. And so just it's different when you're you're on the show. And then once I actually started talking with you in the interview, it was just obvious like, okay, this guy's everything that he he claims to be. He's living it out every Doesn't mean it's perfect, but living it out every single day. And um it yeah, it's just I was drawn to that. It's easy to commit to someone that's all in. >> Well, and you know that's it's interesting you bring that up because like I don't really have that A lot of guys talk about imposter syndrome. I don't have a whole lot of that because I'm not scared of being found out because for me it's like it was pounded into my head as a kid, you got to be honest. If you're going to be a man of your word. If you're going to say it's going to be done by this date, make sure it's done to the best of your ability and get it done early. And so I just don't understand these guys that talk about spiritual, mental, physical resilience or however they word it and then they don't actually do the thing. They're not reading the Bible, they're not praying over their kids, they're not working out hard, they might not be working out at all. They're not challenging themselves mentally, they're not And I guess the thing is is I'm like, I lift by myself in my garage. I prepare for the podcast by myself in my studio and in my office. Like no one's here keeping tabs on me. I like Forging Table Guys aren't checking in on me to see if I'm doing my work. My wife's not having to be like, well, have you have you done any work today to make sure you're loving me as Christ loved the church?" It's just like It's pretty binary to me. You're either going to do it or you're not. And I feel like a lot of you guys, when we did our meet up, cuz during the Dominion program, we get all the teams together here, uh typically here in Oklahoma, and it's just like if I was a fake, right? If this whole program >> to jump in on that real quick. >> Oh my gosh. And this whole program would be a farce, David. So, I just talk a little bit more uh about about the meet up and really just in general some of the value you've gotten from the program so far. >> Yeah, I would say the meet up was like what absolutely confirmed once Dominion is over, like it's the 6-month journey is over, like I need more. Um because it's not only getting to spend time with you doing jiu-jitsu, um just hanging out together. We got to step into your community, um and just seeing the community that you've built in Edmond Oklahoma I came back home and it was just so convicted, like I need to build that. Like I need not only a foxhole, but I mean, dude, we had dinner at at uh your buddy's shop, and how many people were there from your from your church and from surrounding churches? >> 40 or so, maybe. >> It was just like and the only connection was, "Hey, these are believing men." They also love you, but they're they're believers. So, >> [clears throat] >> yeah, it was just I'm just drawn to like you're doing the thing. Not just on a show, in your community. How do I build that? Like I need to learn more. I want to make that happen in Central Pennsylvania. >> Well, and the cool thing about bringing guys here, and this this kind of started by accident, but you know, if if someone's coming in for a program that you're leading, you're kind of the center of attention the entire time. So, in my head, I'm like, I need to get the attention off of me as much as possible. So, could I have taught Jiu-Jitsu? Sure, but I hadn't Russ Sweatman, who was my first Jiu-Jitsu coach and the guy who started my Sunday night fight club group, I had him teach. You know, we didn't have lunch at my house, we had lunch at the church. I introduced y'all to one of our pastors, you got to meet my wife. That night, we weren't hanging out at my house, at my shop, we were hanging out at my buddy Adam's, right? And yeah, you're right, there were a bunch of guys, some guys I went to college with, some guys I go to church with, some guys, you know, I do Jiu-Jitsu with. But we were just we're all into this whole like godly masculine community thing and I just kept trying to show deference to people in my life that were important. When we went and did, you know, some shooting stuff at at Range 66, it was like, well, I didn't teach the class, I didn't show anything. It's like, let's have other people kind of be the center of attention, center of the show and that's what I try to tell guys is you don't have to be everything to everybody. You don't have to be the center of attention, you don't have to be the expert at all things, but if you have a legitimate foxhole, there's going to be guys that know a lot about business, guys that know a lot about money, guys that know a lot about fitness, guys that know a lot about loving their wife or loving their kids if they're even if their kids are terrible sometimes. You're going to have guys that know a lot about the Bible, guys that know a lot about theology. It's almost impossible for you to check all those boxes, man. And so, that's what I'm just trying to model for guys and so, accidentally it just ended up kind of working out when we do these meetups, but even just in general with your team seven guys cuz everyone that joins the program is put into a team that's part of kind of the larger group and then, you know, you you move on to the alumni group Watchman afterwards. What's it been like being a member of team seven? >> Yeah, being a member of team seven is just been awesome. I mean, I'm on I'm definitely on the the younger side of my team. But just having those mentor relationships with people that are older than me, I personally I struggle I struggle respecting people. I do. Just like if if you haven't done the thing or you haven't proven anything, like why should I listen to you? It's it's usually my motto, but having those older individuals on my team that I've just been able to to ask questions to and just bounce ideas off of. Every Friday we do a Bible study in the like it worst timing middle of the work day, but it makes me prioritize, hey, I'm going to dig in the word with with my team. So, >> Well, if if don't lose your spot, I think it's important that y'all did that because I try to not baby sit you guys too much. Okay, you got to do this. It's got to be once a week and it's got you got to do this material and you got to ba ba ba. I leave it open. I'm like, hey, as a team if y'all decide to do something extra outside of our normal calls and and group meetups and things like that, go for it. And your team is one of those teams that's like, yeah, let's do this and let's let's make it happen. So, you've been meeting every week for, you know, going on 6 months, but go ahead. >> You told me not to lose my spot. Totally lost my spot. >> Ah, I got it. I do that. I'm sorry. >> No, it's my fault. But yeah, the team's awesome. I mean, I love it. It's That's my spot. There's this aspect of I don't want to let the guys down that are in the fight with me. And so whether it is prayer requests or showing up to Bible study prepared every single week, it's I am not going to let the guy to my right and my left down. It's everyone has committed to this process. We're going to jump in and we're going to we're going to do this thing. >> Well, that's the phalanx, right? That's what I talk about all the time. It's like, your shield is in your left arm and you are covering the guy to your right. Your spear is in your right arm, so you're you know, you're uncovered. So, the guy to your right's covering you. And those old generals back in the Greek city state days found out pretty quick, we can't just put you in line with a bunch of strangers cuz if you become a coward and run, the phalanx shatters. So, we're going to put our brother on our left and our dad on our right and then our uncle's going to be on his right and it's like, the odds of you tucking tail and running when you're protecting your brother, you know, the it goes down quite a bit. But also you mentioned the the the age range of all the different age cohorts we've done. This is the widest age range we've ever had. Guys from their 20s all the way up to their 60s. And so Dodge, I want you to talk about that a little bit more because you're in this season of life and then you have guys that were in your season of life 30 years ago. It's like you have maybe even longer ago. And so they can kind of identify some of the pitfalls you're going to have as a guy who's young in his career, working in a business where it's all about more. Grow that book of business, baby. Grow that book of business. Get those residuals. Like meet new people. What is it? 10-3-1. Meet 10 new people to set three meetings to get one person to be a client. And like if you need 50 new clients this year, that's 500 people that you have to tell them you do for a living. So it's a lot of pressure. So just talk about just the advantage of having those guys that are a little bit farther along than you are at this stage of life. >> Dude, it's been like so valuable having that. And and just not only having that, but it's it's godly wisdom you're getting from them. It's not just like that business mentor. It is way more important than a business mentor. Um it's helped me slow down. I am a go go go kind of if caffeine was illegal for some people, it'd probably be illegal for me, but we drink it anyway and we love it. Um They just they've come alongside me and almost like pumped the brakes a little bit. Let's let's pray about this. Let's dig in the word. It's been like so important for my life. Yeah. >> Well, I think it's been it's been so good having you be a part of this program. You're one of those lean forward guys. While you're here in Edmond, you asked me about 15 times if you could help and I was like, "Go away. Get out of here, clown." Like this is I'm serving you for once. All right. So like let's let's get out of here. And so but you know, you could just tell that you were one of the guys that's going to you're going to do Watchman, right? So Watchman is one of the optional things once you've gone through the program, it's almost like that was preparation to do the job, right? It's almost like a, you know, a SEAL going through Buds, you know, their 2-year workup. Now they're a SEAL, but they're the worst SEAL, right? You know, on the planet. And so now they actually have to do the job. They have to work up. They have to deploy. They have to, you know, really actually do the thing. That's what Watchman is. That's where I have a lot of involvement with what we're doing. And as Watchman grows, we're going to be doing Watchman specific stuff all over the country. And so just talk to me a little bit about after your program ends in June, you know, jumping on doing some some individual coaching with me, but also being a part of that Watchman group. >> Yeah, so I guess I I Yeah, being the lean-forward guy, I always look for what's next, what's the next step. And just it was more so one of those things I don't want this to be the end. Like I want to stay in this community that you've built. I want to keep learning from you. And then also all the other guys that have been through this process that I haven't met yet. Like I want to continue to learn from those people. I know like my I'm 26 years old. I've got a lot to learn. I don't have to make the mistakes if I've heard it from people that are older than me. So I just want to just be a sponge just in the community the resources that you have that you've gotten us connected with already. Like I I just I want a part of that. >> Awesome, man. Well, hey, I appreciate all your your feedback on all these things. But last question, this is probably the most important one because you'll have guys that listen to this. They're going to listen to some of the other guys get their feedback and some of the gals, some of the wives of Dominion guys. And maybe they heard and they're like, "Ah, I don't know." But for whatever reason they're on the fence. Either they've gone through the interview process and they're on the fence about joining or they're on the fence about even doing the application. What is your message? What would you say to someone that is currently on the fence? >> I'd say two things. First off, like what what's the worst that could happen? Like you you draw closer to God. Like that's a pretty good worst-case scenario. Um and then the second thing I'd say is I believe there's a war going on for our hearts. Um, and it's a real war. I want to learn from a warrior. I want to learn from someone who goes in the fight and does it every single day. And I want to fight alongside of people that are like-minded. And Dominion has provided that that for me. >> Awesome, man. Well, hey, I appreciate all your feedback on all this. Again, guys undaunted.life/dominion. Undaunted.life/dominion. That's where you can put in your application. David, thanks again for coming on. >> Thank you.