“I sell streamers through Amazon. I use social media. We’re doing a podcast through the internet and Wi-Fi and Zoom. All these things are great, but they’re tools. They’re not the end game. The big tool is your brain, and if you don’t use it, you lose it.”
Train Your Mind: A Scientist’s Case Against Smartphones
Train your mind before your smartphone does. That’s the core argument PhD volcanologist and inventor Dr. Rob Yonover makes in his conversation with Dr. Jim Price on Purpose and Progress Podcast — and he’s not speaking theoretically. Yonover has spent 42 years testing that idea against real stakes.
19 Years of Caregiving Taught Him What Resilience Actually Costs
When his wife was diagnosed with MS while their kids were four and seven, Yonover became her full-time caregiver for 19 years as she progressed from a limp to complete paralysis. He kept raising his children, running his business, and inventing survival gear through all of it. His approach wasn’t willpower — it was structure: break the challenge into a day, an hour, a single next step, and repeat.
The 40-Year Invention That Outlasted Everyone’s Patience
That same discipline built his See Rescue Streamer, a signaling device now used by militaries worldwide. It took over four decades to get institutions to adopt it. Yonover calls himself “the tortoise” — the payoff came from persistence, not a single breakthrough moment.
Why He Still Carries a “Dumb Phone”
Yonover was skeptical of smartphones from the day they launched, and he still uses a basic phone by choice. His concern isn’t nostalgia — it’s that constant convenience, and now AI, are training people to stop thinking for themselves. His fix is simple: turn it off, go outside, and let your own mind do the work.
The Takeaway
Real resilience isn’t a personality trait. It’s a daily practice — the same one Yonover used through caregiving, invention, and everything in between. Train your mind first, and the rest tends to follow.
Hear the full story, including his two-word rule for parenting and caregiving, in this episode: https://tinyurl.com/Progress-and-Purpose-Podcast
Episode Highlights:
01:43 Meet Dr. Rob Yonover: Volcanologist Turned Inventor
05:08 Two Miles Down: Diving to the Titanic Site in Alvin
05:06 Why Education Became His Ultimate Power Tool
07:27 19 Years of Caregiving: When Resilience Was Required
11:35 Playing the Long Game Through Adversity
13:23 Inventing the Sea Rescue Streamer That Saves Lives
16:45 The Dumb Phone Test: Why He Won’t Go Smart
17:50 Outsmarting AI: Training Your Mind Over Your Phone
23:15 Creativity and Connection: The Two Pillars of Life
26:03 Final Wisdom: Ignore, Distract, and Earn It
Resources:
🤿Get Rob’s See Rescue Streamer
📖 The Adventures of Harold from the Hood Book Series:
🚙A Trip to the Park: https://bit.ly/40Lvv6h
🤝🏽Friends Like Different Things: https://bit.ly/4ocAQxq
🍟 Fun Time Lunch Time: https://bit.ly/4odUCJ1
😤 When I Feel So Annoyed: https://bit.ly/4l6WSPt
Meet Dr. Rob:
Dr. Robert N. Yonover received his Ph.D. in Geochemistry/Volcanology from the University of Hawaii with a Research Fellowship at NASA -Johnson Space Center and laboratory work at MIT. He invented the SeeRescue®Streamer survival technology, LIFE/FLOAT™ Rescue Board, Pocket Floatation Device, Pocket DeSalinator, and the Video Search and Rescue (vSAR) technology.
The SeeRescue®Streamer technology is now in use by all branches of the U.S. military, including all U.S. Navy Submarines`and self-deploying Day/Night versions for US Air Force fighter jets. SeeRescue®Streamers are credited with 4 lives saved to date. Dr. Yonover’s new book is entitled “Hardcore Inventing,” and he has appeared on CNN, PBS, and Discovery Channel.
Quotes:
05:59 “Sometimes, people are scared to step out of the box of what they’re comfortable with. And that causes them to miss out on wonderful opportunities.” —Dr. Jim Price
07:12 “Education is the foundation of what you’re going to build on for the rest of your life.” —Dr. Jim Price
11:11 “When you’re in the midst of dealing with adversity, it can be heartbreaking and draining emotionally, physically, and mentally. But understand that in some way, that adversity can help you grow personally, and learn so much more about yourself.” —Dr. Jim Price
14:02 “Sometimes, the people close to you don’t tell you how great something is or give encouragement. You need it from a third party.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
15:32 “There are so few jobs and careers in the world that help people. It’s not just about making money and pushing numbers around. People who give their lives or part of their lives to help others are huge. It’s very gratifying when you make human-to-human connections, and you see your work and that end result.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
18:30 “I sell streamers through Amazon. I use social media. We’re doing a podcast through the internet and Wi-Fi and Zoom. All these things are great, but they’re tools. They’re not the end game. The big tool is your brain, and if you don’t use it, you lose it.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
18:58 “Part of the journey is the struggle. The journey is the lesson.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
22:24 “We’re all creative geniuses. You just have to figure out what you’re good at.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
23:20 “Creativity and human connection: those are the two pillars of life, and how you deal with that or neglect it— that’s on you.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
26:05 “Put your phone down— that’s the best tip of all.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
26:09 “In parenting, caregiving, relationships, I have two words: ignore and distract. You ignore the bad behavior and distract it.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
26:28 “Respect the time you put into something. And even if you don’t succeed, you tried.” —Dr. Rob Yonover
27:56 “Making that first step toward making a reliable plan is the way that you can change things within the dynamics of your life.” —Dr. Jim Price
transcript:
Dr. Rob Yonover: I’ve been an early adopter of being against phones. It was 2007 when the Apple phone came out, and everyone thought it was the greatest thing. I’m like, no, this is horrible. This is going to ruin everything. And they thought I just said that to be an outlier. But it’s true. It was true 20 years ago. It’s more true now. And it’s very scary. I sell streamers through Amazon. I use social media. We’re doing a podcast through the internet, Wi-Fi and Zoom. All these things are great, but they’re tools. They’re not the end game. The big tool is your brain. And if you don’t use it, you lose it. And that’s what we’re seeing. The whole society is losing their minds because the shit does it for them. They don’t do their own thing.
Dr. Jim Price: Hello, I’m Dr. Jim Price, and welcome to The Purpose and Progress Podcast. This is the place where we explore how purpose can guide our actions, and how growth can become a part of our everyday lives. On the show, I talk with amazing guests, from educators and creators to everyday people with extraordinary stories about the challenges they face, the lessons they’ve learned, and how to keep moving forward. My goal is to share conversations that inspire you to live intentionally, embrace growth, and take meaningful steps to your own purpose. Let’s get started.
Hello, welcome everyone. Once again, this is Dr. Price, host of The Purpose And Progress podcast show, where we share inspirational, motivational stories that inspire others, inspire change through all different kinds of industry, leaders and stuff like that. And today is no different. We have a fabulous guest today. He is a scientist, innovator, adventurer, and author whose extraordinary journey combines caregiving, innovation, and resilience. For 19 years, he cared for his wife with MS while raising young children and developing survival gear used by the military, with Ph.D. volcanologist, and fellow of the Explorer Club. He has explored extreme environments, surfed Hawaii’s North Shore for nearly 4 decades, and made deep sea dives aboard the Alvin submersible. He’s also appeared on Shark Tank, and has been featured by CNN, Discovery, PBS, CBS Innovation Nation, and other major media outlets.
Today, we’re happy to have Dr. Rob Yonover. How are you doing today?
Dr. Rob Yonover: Great, thanks. Thanks for the intro. I appreciate that.
Dr. Jim Price: And it’s just such a pleasure and blessing to have you on the show. I know we were talking a little bit like, you’re in Hawaii. And otherwise, we’re dealing with a lot of different things and stuff. But it’s just a pleasure blessing to have you on the show.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Thank you. Me too.
Dr. Jim Price: I wanted to start off with, in terms of your journey, your inspiration and your influence, where did that kind of begin on your journey?
Dr. Rob Yonover: I was a little kid growing up in Miami, and I fell in love with science and the outdoors. My parents wanted to get me away from the other kid members, and they put us on the other side of the house. So because I got up at 5:00 in the morning and just went out in nature, I’m still doing the same thing. And then I went to school, and I learned that if you did well in school, you kept getting rewarded. And my friends were not really upstanding citizens, but it didn’t matter because I got all A’s. And then I got into surfing. And then in college, I took a geology class. And one of my great professors piqued my interest in volcanoes and never looked back. And then I got to Hawaii, and got to work on submarine volcanoes. And then it seems like I’m always on the edge of dying, so I invented some survival gear. That’s quite simple, and it’s just a simple device, but it works really well. And it’s been adopted by militaries all over the world, and it saved lives. And it’s been quite a journey.
Dr. Jim Price: Wow, that’s incredible. I know I’m kind of adventurous myself. I’ve done the thing when you’re on the water ski, I think that’s what you call it, when you’re on the little thing and you’re riding the water.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Oh, jet ski.
Dr. Jim Price: I’m pretty adventurous too. I try to venture out and do the things when I get hands and stuff.
Dr. Rob Yonover: For me, it’s all about self-reliance back in the day. So when I go into nature, I go deep. When I fish, I go on 6, 8 foot seas, 25 miles out. You can’t even see the land anymore. Surfing big like 20 or 30 foot face waves, and you’re just all alone. So you have to rely on yourself, and I think that’s where I got the survival bug, and started using my brain to apply it to try to think of devices that’ll save me potentially. But others also are in that position.
Dr. Jim Price: Yeah. Wow, that’s amazing. I’m sure when you’re doing the deep sea dives, I’m sure you see some absolutely incredible things. A lot of people are not even able to even imagine sometimes something.
Dr. Rob Yonover: It was incredible. Just for reference, a Navy sub goes about a half a mile. That’s the limit. But the deep sea submersible Alvin that found the Titanic goes down two miles. So I went two miles. It took 2 hours to float, sink to the bottom. 4 on the bottom, and 2 to go back up. And just weird creatures down there. I’m not a biologist, but it looked like an eel with a monkey’s skull, and you could see through it. All the innards are all fluorescent, and it looked like it was snowing down there with bioluminescence, fluorescent green. And then we took lava samples with the arms, and then I analyzed them at University of Hawaii, NASA – Johnson and MIT also. So that was part of my PhD work. So it was a crazy, crazy opportunity.
Dr. Jim Price: That is amazing. Sometimes, people are scared to step out of the box of what they’re comfortable with. Sometimes, it causes them to miss out on wonderful opportunities to be able to expand, grow and nurture themselves and stuff like that. Exactly.
Dr. Rob Yonover: That’s why, for me, it was school and getting good grades in school was the opener because that kept opening opportunities. I’m a public school kid. Only did public school my whole life> But every time I’d finish a degree, there were more that offered me. And my master’s and PhD were full scholarships, academic scholarships, and I got to go all over the world with it. I ended up in Hawaii for 42 years and counting, and it’s been incredible. And I think for all the listeners, people think school is not a big deal, but it really is. I enjoyed a lot of it. But parts of it I didn’t enjoy. But there was a means to an end, right? And that was really the end of what you see and what I’ve been able to do in my life, which has been fantastic. I’m really lucky.
Dr. Jim Price: And it’s interesting. I like how you connect it with how important education is.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Absolutely.
Dr. Jim Price: I do the middle school counseling thing, and I’m always saying that education is the foundation of what you’re going to build on for the rest of your life. So you get through high school, whatever. That’s the foundation. That’s the base foundation, and you build on that foundation to grow, nurture and build on that foundation.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Well, I hear a lot of gripes over the years saying, what are you going to do with geology or geochemistry? My PhD. I’m like, it’s a means to an end. It taught me how to think. It taught me how to attack problems. It taught me how to write critically and question things. And I use that every day. I’m not going up on a volcano everyday, but I’m attacking a problem, small or large, everyday. And there’s a famous, not famous, but I used to go to the Bahamas from Miami. We used to go on little surfing missions, and there was a song that said, don’t be no fool. Stay in school, let your mind become a tool. And I was like 20 when I heard that. I’m like, yeah, I want my mind to be the massive, big, powerful, sharp tool that can get me out of trouble, and can get things to happen for me.
Dr. Jim Price: That is the foundation. The college thing, sometimes it gets into a major. And then all of a sudden, you do that. But then you end up doing something else aside from maybe what you originally were planning to do. And you never know what path you’re going to go on, and where life is going to take you in that way.
Dr. Rob Yonover: But you just want to finish and follow through. My whole thing is you could change directions, change majors, but put a feather in your cap. Every time you finish something, complete it, whatever it is. And it could be unrelated. I tell kids all the time, my two favorite classes in high school were photography and typing, and they’re the ones I use the most. And everyone was kidding me in high school. What? Are you going to be a secretary? I’m like, I don’t know, but I can type 90 words a minute now. So anyway, it is strange how these paths lead you to places you don’t know where they’re going to go.
Dr. Jim Price: And in terms of like, we talk about education and stuff. I know sometimes people don’t always see the success, of course, and they don’t always know the story behind it. So on your challenges maybe that you felt like that you kind of stick out to you, challenges that you faced on your journey or obstacles.
Dr. Rob Yonover: I’m a lucky middle class kid. I had everything. Great parents, great school, great colleagues, great teachers. But when my kids were 4 and 7, my wife was training for a marathon, and she started limping. That turned into a limp, a cane, a walker, a wheelchair within a year, and then she was completely paralyzed for 19 years. And that was a massive challenge financially, socially, emotionally, for the family, professionally, and that was where I think all the training I’ve ever done, in terms of resilience, brought us to that stage. She was an overachiever also. We had to dig deep to try to keep doing that for 19 years, and keep the kids going, and keep the business going, and that was really by far a standalone of the biggest child I’ve had. She passed away about 10 years ago. I think about it, and as hard as it was, it’s still gratifying to have seen it through and got through it. It’s a feather in my cap. And the kids got to see that, so they’re better people from living through that, and watching how their parents dealt with that. So adversity sometimes is a positive. You don’t wish it on yourself or anyone else. But when confronted with it, and even in science, like for me, it’s like, okay, here’s the problem. What’s the solution? Hypothesis, test, retest. I did that every day for 19 years because there are problems everywhere on every level when it comes to that.
Dr. Jim Price: Wow. And that is so true. When you’re in the midst of dealing with adversity, it just can be heartbreaking and just really draining emotionally, physically, mentally. And being able to understand in some way that that diversity can actually help you grow personally, and learn so much more about yourself personally, and understand about yourself and about others too when you’re going through things like that.
Dr. Rob Yonover: While you’re in it, no one says, this is really going to be good for you in the future. But you don’t think that way. You’re like, this is horrible. Why is this happening? But you just have to play the long game, which is what I do on every front. Even my invention, I thought of 40 something years ago. I’m still working on it, and it’s 42 years later. I’m like the tortoise and the hare. Because to switch the military’s mindset on what’s accepted signaling technology, float, smoke, flare, C-DI marker, to switch them to thinking of a simple piece of plastic with struts in it, so it’s like a centipede, it won’t twist up, was a big ask. I got lapped by the hair. The race to tortoise, and he kept taking naps. So I’m still going, and in life too. All my friends, my family, people die. You can let it get you down. And it does. It gets me down sometimes, but you got to keep going. I’m not an AA person, but I know a lot of people that are in AA. It’s like, one day at a time, one step at a time. So to break things into little packages and get through this hour, this day, this month, this year, whatever it is, you got to get through it. It’s a tough one, but they’re great life lessons.
Dr. Jim Price: Wow, that’s amazing. You’re definitely very accomplished in so many areas and stuff like that. I admire you in all those areas. And if you were to say in terms of achievements and things that you’ve accomplished, at least if you were to name like one or two, what would you feel are some of the greater accomplishments or things that you feel like achievements and stuff that you really hold on to dearly?
Dr. Rob Yonover: I still think taking care of my wife, surviving that situation, and raising great kids and great humans is right up there with this invention, my Sea Rescue Streamer invention, that not only has enabled me to survive this financially, this crazy road we were on, but it saved lives. I’ve had guys come up to me and thank me for saving their lives. So that was like right in my face. That felt great. And one of my secrets to how I built it, I didn’t have any money, is I worked through the media. So things like Shark Tank, or CNN, or Discovery Channel. So those are fun things to have. It’s good validation. Because sometimes, the people close to you don’t tell you how great something is, or encouragement. You need it from a third party. I just think that I also like to share my ideas and kind of try to inspire people, especially kids when I go out to schools. So I get a real kick out of that when someone comes up to me and says, I had you come to our class when I was a little kid, and I still remember this. I’m like, okay, so I had an impact on something.
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Dr. Jim Price: And that’s always good when the kids remember. Even with my counseling gig, kids will move on. I do middle school, so kids will move on to high school and beyond. You’re somewhere out in the community, and all of a sudden, hey, you remember me? Usually, if they talk to you, that means that you must have had a positive influence. Because if you didn’t, they didn’t want to talk to you.
Dr. Rob Yonover: That’s right. Well, there’s so few jobs and careers in the world that help people. And teaching, counseling, inventing, survival. There’s so few that I really respect people that do something. It’s not just about making money and pushing numbers around, but people that give their lives or part of their lives to help others is huge. And even my late wife, she was a counselor and a social worker, so she was really right there from the beginning. And one of the things that attracts her to me, it’s very gratifying when you make human to human connections and you see your work in that result. And you see kids, you see their eyes light up, that’s what I go for. Because kids and adults, they’re scrolling to death. They see all this media, it’s hard to connect to a human and get them excited about something non-video, not real analog,
Dr. Jim Price: That’s the truth right there. Today, society is just so different. I look at some of the kids today, and at least when I was in middle school, there was no social media, there was no texting and all these smartphones. There wasn’t even Google.
Dr. Rob Yonover: We got lucky. We got lucky, ironically. And that’s why one of the things I do to the kids, I go, okay, I got a PhD. I got 20 patents. I’ve been on Shark Tank, I saved a bunch of lives, and here’s what my phone looks like. I don’t have a smartphone. I have a dumb phone. That’s not a prop. That is my phone. And even now, I got a warehouse where I store some stuff, and they’re switching over the parking lot to you and have to scan it to get a QR code. I’m like, I can’t do that. I’m not buying a smartphone just for that. But I might have to bring my iPad in my car and open up a gate, which is ridiculous. But it’s the world we live in.
Dr. Jim Price: Yeah. Technology has taken over everything. Like my daughter, she’s 15 now, and about to be 16. She was showing me about the BBB chat or whatever that thing is. You know the thing, I guess it tells you stuff. I don’t know.
Dr. Rob Yonover: ChatGPT. You said BBB, I thought it was the Better Business Bureau. ChatGPT or that’s one of them. Or AI. Any AI, Artificial Intelligence, which is making people even dumber. Like the smartphone and social media didn’t make them dumb enough. Now, it’s going to think for us. No way. I’m totally against that too. And I’ve been an early adopter of being against phones. It was 2007 when the Apple phone came out, and everyone thought it was the greatest thing. I’m like, no, this is horrible. This is going to ruin everything. And they thought I just said that to be an outlier. But it’s true. It was true 20 years ago. It’s more true now, and it’s very scary. I sell streamers through Amazon. I use social media. We’re doing a podcast through the internet, Wi-Fi and Zoom. All these things are great, but they’re tools. They’re not the end game. The big tool is your brain. And if you don’t use it, you lose it, and that’s what you’re seeing. The whole society is losing their minds because the shit does it for them. They don’t do their own thing.
Dr. Jim Price: Yeah. They’re not forced to really think too much. Everything’s given.
Dr. Rob Yonover: And that part of the journey is the struggle. The journey is the lesson. And even even my hard journey in caregiving, that’s fine. But just a normal journey of going through dealing with your parents, dealing with school, dealing with a job. I used to root for my kids to have a bad experience, or a bad boss, or a bad teacher because I’m not going to defend you. You go deal with your teacher if you think they’re bad. Do you have a bad boss? Work it out. And this is part of becoming an adult and becoming autonomous. And that’s the problem. If you keep pushing buttons to solve problems, it’s horrible.
Dr. Jim Price: I know you’re also an author. Touch upon the books like yeah, sure, and you know, like well,
Dr. Rob Yonover: That typing class enabled me to type 90 words a minute, making my connection from my brain to my fingers good. I wrote a book on inventing called Hardcore Inventing. I wrote a book on caregiving called Caregiver Survival Guide, which was really unique because most of the New York publishers couldn’t find a picture of a man pushing a woman in a wheelchair, because all those pictures were the other way around, and they ended up just using no picture. And I wrote Hardcore Health, which is the compendium to caregiver survival guide. Meaning, I couldn’t afford to get sick because everything was relying on me. I surf really big waves. I’m always on the edge, so I’m a health freak. I eat, exercise, all that stuff. Everything I do is like an inventor’s mind, science mind. So I analyze it, and break it down to simple terms. And then more in your line, I saw some of your books. I wrote a children’s book called Brainstorm Islands. It’s kind of like Curious George, he’s a surfer with a dog. We get into trouble, and we invent our way out. So that was a lot of fun. I love it. And I have grandchildren now. It’s funny because I’m reading the books that I was reading, Dr. Seuss and Curious George, all the classics, and they still hold up.
Dr. Jim Price: Absolutely. Basically, people don’t always know. That’s so interesting that, not just in the aspect of making books that are helping them, but also involving the children’s aspect too, with the children’s books and stuff like that.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Absolutely. I value that the most. To me, these kids are beautiful, incredible creatures that are really smart, great bodies, and then we just destroy them, becoming an adult and consumed by social media. And it’s okay. That’s the way life is, and it’s fun. I scroll too, but I really enjoy that blank slate of a child’s mind where you can go with them and fire those neurons to get them thinking creatively and just wondering. It’s all really storytelling when it comes down to it. I love a good story, and I love telling a good story.
Dr. Jim Price: Same here. I love that too. It’s just a joy to always be able to use your creative minds and creative juices to kind of come forth with something, and create something.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Exactly. Something out of nothing. And that’s why even as a scientist, it didn’t hold me back. But I always knew that academia wasn’t for me because I couldn’t be creative enough. I want to do inventing. I want to invent something new. And in academia, you’re kind of building on what’s been done, and it was great training. But I just think that we’re all creative geniuses, and you just have to figure out which you’re good at, but don’t rely on it. I tell people, don’t quit your day job. You can write books and be an inventor, and be a musician. Do that on the side. First of all, you won’t lose the passion you have for it because it doesn’t force you to have to make money from it. because you don’t want to lose the passion. And even if it’s just a hobby, more people on their deathbed should say, I wish I could have done that. I wish I could have done that. I wish I could have done anything. I try to do everything, if possible.
Dr. Jim Price: Life is short.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Absolutely.
Dr. Jim Price: Experiences and enjoys the journey as we go through it, and sharing those experiences with others, family, friends, and things of that nature. It all collaborates with that idea of resilience and connection with others.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Definitely. I’m totally down with that, and I think it’s all we have, really. But the creativity and human connection, that’s what you got. Those are the two pillars of life. How you deal with that or neglect it, that’s on you. And they’re pretty simple rules. Being creative is pretty easy. Turn everything off. Go out in nature and think of stuff. Human nature connections. Respect your parents. Respect your kids. Respect other people. Learn from them. Everyone has something they can teach you, and it might be a nonverbal nuance. Just a little thing they do, you might pick up, and it just makes you a better person.
Dr. Jim Price: Absolutely. I’m definitely connected with that message and idea. That purpose of growth, personal growth, and through love, self awareness, learning about self care and a lot of these things, it all kind of entails it in that way. You know what I mean?
Dr. Rob Yonover: You got to respect yourself, and revere yourself, and your body, and your mind and say, look, I’m taking care of this, and I want to use it. Use it as much as I can, and experience as much as I can before it’s over. And every time someone dies, it just reminds me that when you get older like me, you see people dying all the time.It’s like, oh, man. And you look at their lives and say, oh, they missed out. They were talking all the time about doing this, writing a book or spending time with their grandkids, but you have to prioritize. And that’s why I say in your spare time, you can’t get too enamored with stuff that doesn’t pay your bills. Because you got to pay your bills. They never stop. Exactly, that’s for sure.
Dr. Jim Price: So in terms of all your books, how can our audience connect to buy them?
Dr. Rob Yonover: Just go to Amazon and put my last name in, Yonover, and you’ll see them all there. And my invention, Sea Rescue Streamer, has a website, but it’s also sold through Amazon. And social media, I kept it simple. Just Google my name, Rob Yonover, and that’s my name for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, all that. I’m not the greatest. I don’t really spend a lot of time there, but I post a lot of stuff. It’s not as personal as people probably would like, but it’s just professional and creative stuff that I try to do. And podcasts when I have one. So it’s a lot of fun.
Dr. Jim Price: Yeah. And this has just been such an incredible and amazing cover, such a plethora of such a wide array of things and stuff. The audience always likes to have some nuggets of knowledge and stuff like that. Can you share tips?
Dr. Rob Yonover: Okay. First of all, put your phone down. The best tip of all. That’s number one in terms of parenting, or caregiving, or relationships. I have three words, ignore and distract. So you ignore behavior. Bad behavior is distracting. And I’m doing that with my grandkids. That’s another one. I’ve got a million things to do. But the main thing is you got to earn it. And respect your time you put into something. And even if you don’t succeed, you tried, you went for it, you put the time in, and no one gives you anything. Everyone thinks that because I’m kind of very light and fluffy in many regards, and I live in Hawaii, and I’m a surfer, I don’t shave that much, but it’s really easy for me. I outwork everyone, so you don’t see it, and it’s been my whole life. I just like, okay, here’s the challenge. Here’s what it takes to get the challenge completed on an excellent level. I’m putting the hours in. You’ve got to earn it, and people don’t want to earn it. They all want to be given stuff. So earn it. That’ll feel better.
Dr. Jim Price: Such great nuggets of wisdom right there. But it is about persevering through obstacles and challenges, and overcoming. And I think this whole conversation definitely resonated with all those elements to try to help motivate and influence people to want to do better, and want to be better in general and stuff like that. So definitely, it’s been such an honor and pleasure to have you on the show, Dr. Rob.
Dr. Rob Yonover: Thanks, Dr. Price. I appreciate that. It was a blast. Thank you.
Dr. Jim Price: Absolutely. So like I always say when we close out, I always like to say to be motivated, be influenced. Know that personal growth can happen in your life if you take the steps, take those actionable steps to be moved toward that and stuff. Nothing happens if you don’t take action to make a plan toward it. So taking that first step, making that first step toward making a reliable plan is the way that you can change things within the dynamics of your life. And that’s what we try to encourage all our people to do through these interviews. I always say, stay encouraged, stay prayed up, and stay blessed. And once again, this is The Purpose And Progress podcast show. I’m your host, Dr. Jim Price, and we’ll see you next time. Thank you.
Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Purpose in Progress Podcast. I hope today’s conversation gave you insight, inspiration, or a fresh perspective to help you move forward with purpose. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could use a little encouragement. You can also support the podcast through the donation link in the show notes. Every contribution helps us keep sharing stories that uplift and inspire. Remember, your purpose is waiting, and progress never stops. I’ll see you next time.