Blessing Bombers and Getting What You Deserve

What if the thing you've been waiting for is something you're supposed to give?

In this episode, George shares one of the most pivotal moments of his life. A moment in a white tent on an Indian reservation in Montana that completely rewired how he thinks about blessings, deservingness, and what it actually means to live beyond your default.

Where Are My Blessings?

George takes us back about twenty years. He'd gone from what he calls "dirty George" to someone actively trying to change. He was working two jobs. Going to school to become a pastor. Raising three kids with his wife Kelly. Doing everything right.

And he was furious.

He walked into his pastor Dave's office and let it out.

"I've turned my life around. I'm going to school. I'm working two jobs. I'm tired of this. I've changed my life. I'm doing the right thing. Where the frick are my blessings? God should be sending down manna from heaven because dirty George has turned into clean George. Where are my blessings?"

He was investing in something and not seeing the payout. For him.

Looking back, George recognizes the problem. He was measuring everything by what he was getting. Not by what he was giving. He was probably impacting tons of people. His wife. His kids. The youth group he was leading. But he was completely blind to it.

"I was looking for the payout for me."

The White Tent in Montana

Two weeks later, George took the youth group on a mission trip to an Indian reservation in Montana. They were building bathhouses, putting in a playground. Doing what you do on a mission trip.

The pastor there invited them to a Sunday service. Church in the middle of a field. Big white tent. Acoustic worship with just a guitar and tambourine because there was no electricity.

George was still wrestling internally. Still fuming from the conversation two weeks earlier. Still focused on getting what's his.

Then the guest speaker was introduced. A woman named Prophetess Juanita. An African American woman preaching on an Indian reservation in Montana twenty years ago.

George admits his thought in that moment: "God, do you even know what you're doing?"

He was half paying attention. Until the wind started to blow. It hit the top of the tent and made it flutter. Goosebumps. Something shifted. He started actually listening.

After the service, she walked down the aisle. George had his head down, arms on his knees. Ready to get back to work.

He felt someone touch his shoulder. He looked up.

Prophetess Juanita said eight words that changed his life.

"When are you gonna realize you're the blessing?"

Then she walked away.

The Rewiring

From that day forward, everything changed.

"I really embraced this idea of I've been sent here to be a blessing. I'm screwing this up because I'm too focused on what's in it for me instead of what I can do for others."

When they got back to Ohio, Pastor Dave did a sermon called "The Blessing Bomber" based on what happened. George decided that's who he would be. A blessing bomber. Whether through finances, time, or just showing up. His job was to make people better than when he found them.

"I am literally called to be a blessing to those around me. So going from 'where are my blessings?' and two weeks later 'when are you gonna realize you're the blessing?' and then being able to dramatically rewire my brain to how can I help? How can I fix? How can I be a catalyst in this moment?"

Liz asks if he still struggles to see blessings in his life after making that switch.

His answer is honest: "Only when I'm being a butthead."

But typically? No. Because he discovered something counterintuitive.

"I have been more blessed when blessing others than I ever was when I was looking for the blessings."

Zero Expectations

Liz pushes on this. How do you keep it from tipping into people pleasing? Neglecting your own needs? Where's the line?

George compares it to a superhero first learning their powers. At first, you're a hot mess. Laser eyes burning down buildings. Flying and crashing. You might fall into everything Liz just described when you're first figuring out how to use this.

But then you find balance. And one word has helped him more than anything else.

Expectations.

"I fundamentally have zero expectations of any of the people that I'm helping. I'm not helping them because I'm trying to get something out of it. I'm helping them because I'm called to be a blessing. But I know in the back of my head, the universe, God, however you believe, it will return to me in some shape, some form, some fashion."

Zero expectations for others. But strict expectations for himself. Never go back. Never be that guy again. Always put others first. And when he catches himself slipping, he reminds himself and keeps going.

"Don't you realize you're the blessing? You know how many times that hits my brain when I'm being an asshole?"

Making the Waitress Cry

George shares a story about something he loves to do. And admits it might sound strange.

"I love to make waitresses cry."

Here's what he means.

He and Kelly were at Logan's Steakhouse with their daughter Kaylee, celebrating a win. Their waitress was doing a great job. Then she mentioned that on Thursdays she works there because she's a school teacher.

George felt his insides being ripped out. A school teacher working a second job just to make ends meet.

After the meal, he told Kelly to leave a good tip. How much? He didn't care. Just make it good. She's working two jobs. She's a school teacher. She needs to be blessed.

They tried to sneak out after leaving the tip. But the waitress cut them off.

"Uh-uh. You can't. No."

She was starting to cry.

Kelly looked at her and said: "Oh, honey, you deserve it."

That phrase hit George hard.

"The people around us, oh god, the people around us that are put in our path, they deserve it. They deserve it. And when you realize how much you felt that you deserve it. And you just wish that somebody would see that. That you've always wanted a hand up, not a handout. You just wish somebody would see that you're struggling through life and maybe you'd get that moment in time that it would change you."

We're all the same. We all feel that way. We're all looking for that.

"The only difference is you're listening to this and you have the ability to take after the day and just be like, you know what? I need to be a blessing bomber too."

You Reap What You Sow

Liz asks: What's so wrong with getting what you deserve?

George's answer: It comes from the wrong place.

"You will get what you deserve. Karma is a... it's not just a little saying. But the original thing I would say is you reap what you sow. If you sow love, you'll get love. If you sow compassion, you'll get compassion. If you sow blessings, you'll get blessings."

When you figure out how to do all of those things, the life you live changes completely.

"If you want to go past your default, you will be escorted out of your default. I've never really said that before, but that's how I feel. What's happening in my life is I'm being escorted out of something that I'm no longer supposed to be in."

He's being ushered out of "dirty George." Out of "where's my blessings?" Out of "what's in it for me?"

This is why he's created over 2,100 HubSpot tutorials and given them away for free. Why he pays people more than the average. Why he doesn't care about registered sessions at conferences if someone stops him in the hallway.

"You can't get back this moment. Don't you realize you're supposed to be the blessing right here, right now?"

The Hardest Part

Blessing others isn't always about money. It could be a kind word. Time. Five minutes of silence just holding someone's hand.

The hardest part is diagnosing what blessing you're supposed to deliver.

"If it's the wrong gift, then nobody likes the gift. But if you can tune yourself into what do they need in this moment?"

George recommends tuning into what he calls the still small voice. Shut up for a minute. Listen. You'll realize what you're supposed to do. Give a hug. Ask a question. Just be present.

"You gotta get out of your own way. You gotta shut yourself up for a hot minute, and you gotta rewire the brain to be like about them, about them, about them. You gotta know your job. Be a blessing. Be a blessing. Be a blessing."

It's Okay to Bless Yourself

Liz asks for one final takeaway beyond "be the blessing."

George wanted to end the episode with "don't you realize you're the blessing?" But her question opened something else.

The whole conversation had been about blessing others. But there's another piece.

"It's okay to bless yourself. It's okay to love yourself. It's okay to give yourself a mental hug. It's okay to give yourself grace and empathy. It's okay."

He pauses.

"That's what I want to leave everybody with. I feel those words. It's okay."

Quotable Moments

"When are you gonna realize you're the blessing?" — Prophetess Juanita

"I have been more blessed when blessing others than I ever was when I was looking for the blessings."

"I fundamentally have zero expectations of any of the people that I'm helping. I'm not helping them because I'm trying to get something out of it."

"Don't you realize you're the blessing? You know how many times that hits my brain when I'm being an asshole?"

"You can't get back this moment. Don't you realize you're supposed to be the blessing right here, right now?"

"If you want to go past your default, you will be escorted out of your default."

Your One Thing

George's takeaway: Stop measuring your life by what you're getting. Measure yourself by what you're giving. When you shift from "where are my blessings?" to "I am the blessing," everything changes. You reap what you sow. Sow love, compassion, and blessings with zero expectations, and watch what comes back to you.

Liz's takeaway: Instead of focusing on getting what you deserve, look around and ask: Is everyone else getting what they deserve? That shift in perspective changes everything about how you show up in the world.

Reflection Questions

1. Where in your life are you focused on "where are my blessings?" instead of being the blessing?
2. Who has been put in your path recently that might be struggling and just wishing somebody would see them?
3. When was the last time you gave something with zero expectations of return? How did it feel?
4. What would change if you approached every interaction asking: How am I supposed to be a blessing right here, right now?
5. Are you giving yourself the same grace and compassion you'd give others? Why or why not?

Ready to go deeper? Press play above and hear George tell the full story of the white tent in Montana and the eight words that changed his life. This one might rewire how you think about what you deserve and what you're here to give.