Meet Patrick Mcdonough

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Patrick Mcdonough. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Patrick below.

Hi Patrick, so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?

I believe the conditions were the love and acceptance from parents throughout my entire life, the environment they chose to raise my siblings and I in, and not ever really feeling like I belong in *most* places or groups. In other words, always feeling like an outsider. I say that from a place of perpetual interest and fascination with understanding how other people and things work, as opposed from a place of victimhood and hopelessness.

I’m not sure if the last condition is or is not neurological-based, but, I vehemently believe that my ADHD brain is incapable of anything other than having empathy for others.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m an author that currently has short fiction published in various anthologies as well as my editorial debut that came out last year, HOT IRON AND COLD BLOOD: AN ANTHOLOGY OF THE WEIRD WEST, for those that are curious in getting to know my work, I would start with Hot Iron. The other thing I’m here to talk about is my podcast, Dead Headspace–an audio and video show that focuses on conversations with writers. The show is currently on hiatus until some time next year.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Based on my experience as a public figure, those three qualities are:

1) Perseverance: No matter how talented you may be, you’ll run into problems, doubt, and lulls. Those that holster perseverance grant themselves a better chance at achieving what they want, over those that quit and complain every chance they can.

2) Humility: I have interviewed hundreds of writers/creators and noticed a common denominator amongst those that have /leave the biggest impact on their chosen industry(s) – humility. They take their work serious, and not themselves. It is not a coincidence that those same people are also very kind, wish to help others, and create incredible stories.

I’ve also observed the opposite to be true in the writing world. Those that get a small taste of success and have an overblown/fragile ego have this leeching effect where their lack of modesty create disingenuous and hollow writing.

To have humility serves you and everyone else.

3) Self-awareness: When you truly know yourself, there’s no room to allow others to tell you what you aren’t.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

In my adult life, my wife, Tara-Jean, has been the most helpful in helping me overcome challenges. She’s the hardest working person I know, and the greatest mother and wife I could ever hope for. She’s the person I go to for behind-the-scene issues with my podcast and writing career, she’s the one who helps me deal with filtering out and focusing in on what actually matters.

It was my wife that got me back into reading and writing when we first started dating back in 2013. It was my wife that sacrificed time after time to take care of our two beautiful sons while I recorded and later edited episodes.

It was also my wife that helped keep me grounded and focused on what actual matters: our family, happiness with writing and talking to others on my show, and turning my childhood dream of writing and entertaining people into a reality.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Highlighter Series
Is the public version of you the real you?

We all think we’re being real—whether in public or in private—but the deeper challenge is

Highlighter Series
Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?

We asked some of the most interesting entrepreneurs and creatives to open up about recent

Highlighter Series
What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?

Coffee? Workouts? Hitting the snooze button 14 times? Everyone has their morning ritual and we