The Purpose Mastermind: Helping Leaders Get Unstuck and Live with Meaning in Work, Marriage, and Parenting

Mark Delaney
  • 5.0 (52)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Biweekly

The Purpose Mastermind is a podcast for leaders who want clarity, direction, and real impact...not just at work, but at home. Too many people succeed professionally while feeling disconnected personally. This podcast helps you close that gap. Each episode will challenge you to stop living problem-focused and start living purpose-focused. You’ll learn how to:  Get unstuck and gain clarity about your life direction  Discover your purpose and actually live it out daily  Strengthen your marriage and show up better for your spouse  Lead your kids with intention, not just react to life  Bring alignment between your work life and your home life  Because leadership isn’t just about what you accomplish. It’s about who you become—and how you love the people closest to you. 👉 Ready to take the next step? Join a free Purpose Challenge by joining our community.  https://www.skool.com/purpose-mastermind/about

  1. 1d ago

    E303: The Reese’s Cup Life (Why We Need Each Other)

    What if we were never meant to do life on our own? In this episode of The Purpose Mastermind, Mark sits down with his friend Vic Manda for a conversation they didn't plan to have. What starts as a discussion about our need for connection turns into what Mark calls “The Reese’s Cup Life”—the idea that, like chocolate and peanut butter, something powerful happens when we stop living independently and allow our lives to collide with the lives of other people. Mark and Vic talk about why we've become so disconnected, why opening our hearts to people can feel risky, and why some of the greatest opportunities for purpose are found in ordinary interactions with the people right in front of us. They share stories about strangers becoming friends, lessons from men in prison, giving away a disc on a disc golf course, raising kids, loving our neighbors, and learning to risk being known. Maybe a fruitful life isn't built by protecting everything we have. Maybe it's built by planting it. Our time. Our gifts. Our attention. Our love. Our lives. As Mark says in the conversation, “What can happen between people is a thousand times better than what can happen with me alone.” Join the Purpose Mastermind Community Want to get clearer about your purpose and connect with people who are doing the same? Join our free Purpose Mastermind community, where you can participate in Part 1 of the Purpose Mastermind through Monday-night conversations designed to help you clarify your purpose and begin living it out boldly. It's free, it's built around real conversations, and you don't have to figure out your purpose alone. Join the community: https://www.skool.com/purpose-mastermind/about Your life has a purpose. You can know that purpose, and you can be set free from what's holding you back from living it out boldly. Support the show

  2. Oct 26

    E302: How Do I Know What God Wants Me to Do?

    What if you make the wrong decision? What if you choose the wrong career, marry the wrong person, move to the wrong city—or somehow miss what God wanted you to do with your life? Those questions can create enormous pressure. In this episode, Mark and Adena sit down with Joey and Brie for an unplanned, honest conversation about purpose, God's will, fear, surrender, and the pressure to figure out the “one thing” we're supposed to do with our lives. Brie shares how the fear of making the wrong choice has affected her own decisions. Joey talks about reaching a breaking point and finally opening up about what he was carrying. Together, the four wrestle with some big questions: Does God have one specific plan we're supposed to discover? Can our desire to find God's will actually leave us paralyzed? What if living on purpose is less about figuring out the perfect path and more about showing up every day ready to love and serve the people around us? This isn't a conversation about having God completely figured out. It's about surrendering the need to have everything figured out—and learning to live boldly with the life we've been given. Maybe God's will isn't nearly as complicated as we've made it. Support the show

  3. Oct 19

    E301: Why Do I Feel Like I'm Falling? | A Real Conversation

    What do you do when you're doing a lot of the "right" things—but life still feels empty? Max and I hadn't talked in about 10 years. The last time I knew him well, he was a teenager umpiring baseball games for me. Since then, he's played college basketball, earned his degree, built a career in sales, lived in several cities, lost 50 pounds, worked on his health, prayed, meditated—and tried to build a good life. Recently, Max reached out to me and said, "I see what you're doing. I think what you do is relevant for my life right now. Can we connect?" So he came to my home office. We barely said hello before I asked him something unusual: "Would you be willing to record this conversation?" Something told me that whatever Max was wrestling with was probably something thousands of other people were wrestling with too. I was right. Max described his life this way: "It just feels like I'm falling through the sky, trying to grab anything I can." That statement took us into a raw conversation about purpose, relationships, external validation, guilt, disappointment, faith, control, surrender, and the hunger we have for a meaningful life. We talk about: • Why our hearts can be hungry even when the rest of our life looks fine • What our emotions may actually be trying to tell us • Why needing affirmation from other people isn't necessarily weakness • The difference between needing people to fill our bucket and expecting them to fix the holes in it • Why some seasons that feel like failure may actually be a "switchback" on the mountain • What surrender really means when life feels out of control • Why you may not be falling or failing—you may simply be figuring out what comes next At one point, I told Max something I think a lot of people need to hear: There's nothing wrong with you. You're trying to find your place in this world. You're trying to find your people. You're trying to understand what you really want from life. And that's hard. This isn't an interview with someone who has life figured out. It's a real conversation with a 29-year-old man who is trying to figure it out. Maybe that's exactly why it's worth listening to. If you would like to get clarity on your purpose join our free community. On Monday nights we offer free conversations on Zoom to help clarify your purpose. www.purposemastermind.com Support the show

  4. Oct 12

    E300: When Leaders Succeed Publicly but Fail Privately

    What happens when your public life looks successful, but your private life is falling apart? For episode 300, Adena and I have a very honest conversation about leadership, family, guilt, failure, and the things we try to hide. Our conversation begins with a powerful letter written by a wife to her husband—a longtime leader and pastor. Her message forces us to wrestle with a difficult question: What happens when the person people see publicly doesn't match what the people closest to us experience privately? The temptation is to cover up the parts of our lives we don't know how to fix. But hiding them doesn't make them disappear. In this episode, we talk about why leaders can succeed publicly while struggling privately, the damage that unacknowledged pain can carry into the next generation, and why guilt may not be telling us what to hide—but what needs to be uncovered. Your life doesn't have to be perfect. But freedom requires honesty. If you would like to get clarity on your purpose join our free community. On Monday nights we offer free conversations on Zoom to help clarify your purpose. www.purposemastermind.com Support the show

  5. Oct 5

    E299: Legacy Isn't What You Leave FOR People—It's What You Leave IN Them | Mike Young

    In this episode of The Purpose Mastermind Podcast, Mark Delaney sits down with Mike Young, author of The Farmer's Code, for a conversation about purpose, family, faith, parenting, leadership, and what it really means to build a legacy. Mike grew up in a multigenerational family rooted in agriculture and working together. His original idea for The Farmer's Code was to honor his grandmother as she approached 99 years old. But while writing, Mike discovered something much bigger: legacy isn't primarily about money, property, businesses, or what we leave for the next generation. It's about what we leave in them. Mark and Mike talk about what that looks like in real life—including raising children, building a strong marriage, passing down faith, allowing your children to fail, and eventually learning to release control as they become adults. Mike shares a powerful picture of this transition: eventually your adult children will "fire you" as their parent—and hopefully hire you back as a coach or consultant. You'll also hear about: Why legacy is something you're creating right now, not something you think about at the end of life.The difference between passing down possessions and passing down love.Why children need to see their parents fail, apologize, and ask for forgiveness.How to create family values through what you model, not simply what you say.Why Mike told his children to "own the day and smile."The importance of letting adult children make their own decisions.How faith, leadership, and purpose intersect.Why Mike believes some of his most fulfilling work now comes from investing in other men.This conversation asks a question worth considering: When your life is over, what will remain in the people who knew you? Want clarity on your purpose? If you would like to get clarity on your purpose join our free community. On Monday nights we offer free conversations on Zoom to help clarify your purpose. Purpose Mastermind Community Curious about the health of your marriage? Take our Marriage Assessment:Take the Marriage Assessment Help us bring purpose and hope to more people If you'd like to support the work of The Purpose Mastermind Association: Support the Mission Support the show

  6. Sep 28

    E298: What If You Feel Unqualified for Your Purpose? | Tim Washer

    What if the thing you're called to do is also the thing you feel completely unqualified to do? Tim Washer has built an extraordinary career in comedy—studying improv under Amy Poehler, writing for Saturday Night Live, and appearing in comedy sketches with David Letterman and Conan O'Brien. But behind the laughter is a much deeper story about purpose. In this episode of the Purpose Mastermind Podcast, Tim shares the moment he realized comedy wasn't simply something he was good at—it was a gift he had an obligation to use. Mark and Tim talk openly about calling, fear, divorce, shame, vulnerability, community, faith, and what happens when life doesn't unfold the way you expected. In this conversation: Tim shares how he discovered his calling through three simple questions.Why feeling unqualified doesn't necessarily mean you're on the wrong path.What Tim learned from working in comedy at the highest levels.How divorce and disappointment challenged his faith.Why vulnerability is essential for meaningful relationships.How community helps us move beyond shame.What improv can teach us about faith, surrender, and supporting others.Why our gifts aren't simply for us—they're meant to serve other people.Tim's story is a reminder that purpose doesn't require having everything figured out. Sometimes it simply requires taking the next step of obedience—even when you don't feel ready. Connect with Tim Washer YouTube: Tim Washer Instagram: @TimWasher Want greater clarity about your purpose? If you would like to get clarity on your purpose join our free community. On Monday nights we offer free conversations on Zoom to help clarify your purpose. www.purposemastermind.com Want to strengthen your marriage? Take our free Marriage Assessment: https://app.assessmentgenerator.com/assessment/17360 Help us bring purpose and hope to more people. If you'd like to support the work of the Purpose Mastermind, you can donate here: https://markdelaney.com/donate/ Support the show

  7. Sep 21

    E297: A Life Not Worth Living: From Reckless Adventure to Purpose | Thomas Perkins

    What happens when you accomplish extraordinary things—but still don't feel like you're enough? Thomas Perkins joined the U.S. Navy at 17 and went on to become a Navy Master Diver, serve in combat in Iraq, earn a Bronze Star for Valor, and set a record with an atmospheric dive to 2,000 feet. After the Navy, his adventures continued through business, flying airplanes, sailing, construction, renewable energy, and more. From the outside, his life looked fearless. But underneath the achievement was a man still searching for something he couldn't quite name. In this episode of the Purpose Mastermind Podcast, Mark talks with Thomas about the journey from chasing achievement and adrenaline to discovering inner peace, purpose, and the freedom of realizing, "I'm okay." Their conversation explores: How achievement can become an endless measuring stick.What happens when you stop living with something to prove.Why problems can become opportunities instead of roadblocks.How fatherhood changed Thomas's understanding of the value of his own life.Why maintaining relationships with adult children requires letting them be individuals.How preparation and repetition helped Thomas descend 2,000 feet beneath the ocean.Why adventure can come from purpose rather than recklessness.How to stop fearing your problems and start using them to build a meaningful life.Thomas also shares the story behind his book, A Life Not Worth Living: What Combat, Courage, and Fatherhood Taught Me About Finding Inner Peace. You don't have to become a Navy Master Diver or dive 2,000 feet beneath the ocean to live courageously. Sometimes courage begins when you stop measuring yourself, recognize the value of your life, and start pursuing the life that's already in your heart. Here is a link to his book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX2ZWRW9?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback Want clarity on your purpose? If you would like to get clarity on your purpose, join our free community. On Monday nights we offer free conversations on Zoom to help clarify your purpose. www.purposemastermind.com Curious about the health of your marriage? Take our free Marriage Assessment: https://app.assessmentgenerator.com/assessment/17360 Help us bring purpose and hope to more people. If you'd like to support the work of The Purpose Mastermind Association, you can donate here: https://markdelaney.com/donate/ Support the show

  8. Sep 14

    E296: Why Friendship Is More Essential Than We Think | With Alex Alexander

    Have you ever felt like everyone around you is busy... yet somehow we're more disconnected than ever? In this episode of the Purpose Mastermind Podcast, Mark sits down with friendship expert and author Alex Alexander to explore why meaningful relationships aren't just a nice addition to life—they're essential to living well. Together they discuss why so many adults feel isolated, the hidden cost of trying to do life alone, and practical ways to build deeper friendships without waiting for the "perfect" relationship to come along. In this episode you'll discover: Why loneliness isn't the only problem—disconnection is.How one meaningful friendship can change the direction of your life.Why every close friend was once just a stranger.How to build friendships as an adult without feeling awkward.The surprising freedom that comes from saying "yes" to people.Why purpose and friendship are deeply connected.If you've ever wondered why life feels heavier than it should—or if you've longed for deeper relationships—this conversation will encourage you to take one small step toward connection today. Connect with Alex Alexander 📖 Are We Friends Yet?  https://alexalexander.com/are-we-friends-yet/ 🎙️ Friendship IRL Podcast https://alexalexander.com/friendship-irl-podcast-home/ If you would like to get clarity on your purpose, join our free community. On Monday nights we offer free conversations on Zoom to help clarify your purpose. www.purposemastermind.com Curious about the health of your marriage? Take our free Marriage Assessment: https://app.assessmentgenerator.com/assessment/17360 If you'd like to help us continue creating conversations that bring purpose, hope, and restoration to people around the world, you can support our mission here: https://markdelaney.com/donate/ Support the show

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About

The Purpose Mastermind is a podcast for leaders who want clarity, direction, and real impact...not just at work, but at home. Too many people succeed professionally while feeling disconnected personally. This podcast helps you close that gap. Each episode will challenge you to stop living problem-focused and start living purpose-focused. You’ll learn how to:  Get unstuck and gain clarity about your life direction  Discover your purpose and actually live it out daily  Strengthen your marriage and show up better for your spouse  Lead your kids with intention, not just react to life  Bring alignment between your work life and your home life  Because leadership isn’t just about what you accomplish. It’s about who you become—and how you love the people closest to you. 👉 Ready to take the next step? Join a free Purpose Challenge by joining our community.  https://www.skool.com/purpose-mastermind/about

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