Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bruce Languren. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bruce, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Starting a business as most business owners will tell you its not much of a challenge, mechanically speaking but the it is self decrementing. Let me explain.

in 2020 in the mist of the pandemic to look to begin a business was not really at the forefront of the already challenged middle-class. What I was looking for was not only ways of generating income but also being able to use my platform and business as a service to make a positive impact in the world.

I started to look into the ways in which I can begin one and also flourish in it. I read articles, watched videos, and gathered as much insight from people I knew in the coaching business to support me in my journey. After about 10 months of looking into it I realized that the mechanisms of starting any business was not that difficult. Really it’s very simple. But the circumstances and perspectives that I had made up in my mind were far more pain inflicting.

I would think about all the money I would lose. All the shame that I would go through if I didn’t succeed. What would my family say? My friends? Random people, in the perfect storm of now everyone having an opinion, what would all the yelp reviews say about me for not being prepared enough. Good enough, Relevant enough.

After about a year and well into 2021, I realized that the ‘risks’ that I was about to go into was mainly a risk because of all the self negative talk that I had placed upon myself. I noticed that my surroundings was really with people that really weren’t interested as much as I thought they were. Not that the people that I knew didn’t care but it was that the people have their own lives and own things to take care of so really I was going to be a small experience in their vast existence that really was not much of a risk.

Given the pandemic and the amount of now home based jobs, taking a monetary risk was not much of a risk. I could easily make ends-meat with some home based job. So really the risk that I was most worried about was just all the boogie men I created in my mind. I decided to focus on what I wanted to create and more importantly the person I needed to be in order to have those things happen. I turned risk into motivation to really get me moving. I took the mentality of not waiting for perfect moments but rather taking every moment as a perfect opportunity to make some amazing happen.

What came of it was the beginning of Gathering Fires. A company dedicated to open awareness in peoples lives on the things, habits, beliefs, and tendencies that run their lives which have caused them to stay stagnant and ultimately not live the life they once dreamed about. One filed with love, compassion, excitement, and adventure. Putting into Patrice my methods got me to be aware of my own limiting beliefs that it got me to now works with some great people and get them started on the path to having the lifestyle they want to have and being the kind of person that can sustain it and pass it on to their children.

Bruce, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

What I focus on is a few things.

1. The beliefs that run your life
2. The habits that you have created to survive your life
3. What are your tendencies biologically that you need to be aware of so that you can manage them and balance yourself out to then have the lifestyle you want to have.

I have gathered certifications in: NLP, Transformational leadership, and Unani Biotypes

NLP has provided the scientific methods that allow people to understand their own thoughts and language in how they interact with the world. Transformational leadership has enabled me to support people in going into uncomfortable areas of their lives and confront them to build the strength to stand in challenging times and prosper. Unani BioTypes has enabled me to see the core of people and have compassion so that my message lands with them and also allows me to explain why it is that they are how they are. That as much as their personality is what is showcased their biology tells a much deeper story and one that may not have been shared because of fear.

That is one of the major distinctions that few other people and coaches have. As a matter of fact I was coached and certified by the only and foremost expert in this technology. Reading peoples personality and temperament through the body.

What that creates is an opening to understand the self in a much simpler manner whilst creating compassion themselves and others. The question of “why am I like this?” is something that my clients and I discover together.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

2018 I was at the end of my ropes with the job I had at the time. I was working as a tech support agent and I was at the top of the payroll for that position with little to know vision of where I was going to take it next regarding that company or my career. I began to not pay attention to my responsibilities and essentially doing the bare minimum given my responsibilities and duties. At the end of 2018 two days before my birthday I get a call into HR essentially telling me I have been let go. Needless to say it was with good reason. I was not performing well and lost any motivation to continue on. Really I was there cause it paid the bills and it gave me good hours.

I then realized because I had been let go, it did not come with a good severance pay so I had no monetary backing to support me if I wanted to take a breather. Since then I lost all motivation to try and look for any work and despite having a family to provide for I wasn’t moved to do much. I then did a few things to provide ends meat. But nothing really to set myself to bring in the income I needed to create.

Forward about 6 months in to 2019 and whilst wallowing in what I later found to be a depressed state. I went out for some drinks to a bar with some friends and decided to drive home. Not in all my senses I ended up crashing into a sedan with a family in it. Luckily there was no one injured and no deaths. Once the police came to make a report, noticed I was not sober I went through the test and confirmed my intoxication which landed me in the county jail. Now, I am unemployed person with a DUI.

One of the lowest moments of my life. As a man, not being able to provide for my family and in the middle of all that then doing something stupid like getting arrested and hurting people. Needless to say I was not feeling motivated or inspired to do much rather than maybe just try and see how I could exploit government funding or support to get me out of this pickle.

Around the last quarter of 2019, I decided to take matters into my own hands and the decision to get out of this funk and hole I dug my self into was in my sight to accomplish. I remembered reading somewhere “The magic I am looking for, is in the work I am avoiding”. I realized that it was not about the things I knew or the people that could support me but really it was becoming the kind of person that would be able to manage and power through this sort of challenges. I went out and began to look for work. In December of 2019 I finally landed a job that would be benefiting me in a positive way. I was ready to take on any challenges that came my way.

Then… after working in this new company for about 3 months. Covid hits. Now I just started to stabilize and while this Covid thing is unfolding in the company I am working with one of the main jobs gets vacated and I am then forced to take it on. And while that happened I then, as a perfect storm would hit, need to generate and create an online version and methods to carry on the company to keep it afloat.

All to say that in those 2 years there was a lot of challenges. Many of which would have made any man or person just throw in the towel and say. I am just going to look for the easiest pathway to get myself on my feet. What grew from that was a persistence and tenacity that I have never experienced before. During that time I was able to fall back on my training and studies of transformation, psychology, mentoring I have received and apply it in such a way that it allowed me to; Deal with a loss of work for a year, while dealing being arrested and come out of a DUI, a pandemic that stopped and ended many companies, and managed to keep a small company afloat. I learned how to master and manage myself in such a way that I can get myself to create the environment where I could flourish.

Since then I have been able to establish my coaching and consulting business and provide insight and power in my journey to my new success. Both in my business and in my personal life.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson that I got to unlearn was “I need to know everything about X before moving forward”. For most analytical person that is a common issue when looking to progress in anything they want to do, and I was no exception.

Before starting my business I studied relentlessly about what kind of business to get and what to establish before starting it and what are some of the pitfalls and success that one would experience while going through the process. What it ended up creating was mainly analyzes paralyzes. I was not starting anything. Now. that is not to say not to prepare and look into things. What I am getting it at is when someone has the tendency of being a perfectionist and not looking to make any mistakes to make the journey as smooth as possible it is mainly making it difficult to get anything started and there is no room to just experience the process and learn along the way.

What I got to understand is that sometimes jumping into the deep and and splashing around is the only way to get out of this island of mediocrity. The pain and issues that I was going through were not going to go away and made any easier with just acquiring knowledge. But rather it would inform me and cushion some of the hardships that I would experience anyway once I began the journey.

The moment I recognized that it was fear that was keeping me stagnant I was able to address it and put having to know and have things be perfect aside. Which also provided me the opportunity to make this thick skin and allow myself to take the blows that life has to offer, and see them as opportunities to grow and become stronger rather than to be avoidant of them to simple stay comfortable. Since then I have not looked back and taking risks and recreating and redesigning myself has been a constant practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.gatheringfires.com
• Instagram: @gatheringfires
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gatheringfires
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gatheringfires
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/gatheringfires

Image Credits
Bang Nou