We recently connected with Greg Leatherman and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Greg, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
One of the most influential moments of my high school career was a teacher who taught us all how to take a compliment. He would give us a compliment randomly when we walked into class and if we tried to deflect in anyway, he would send us out of the room to re-enter and get another compliment. He taught me how to accept a compliment by saying thank you without pretending or believeing that it was undeserved. I took that to heart going forward. I understood that how sometimes I see myself isn’t necessarily what others see and that I should honestly take in what others see as a valid view of who I actually am. That let me grow into myself more, be who I am more, because people would respond that that authenticity and compliment that realness that I could exhibit.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I have a day job in which I’m an instructional designer and then I have my hobby career where I’m a game designer and podcaster. I’ve written three books so far that are all role-playing game related. My first game that I published myself is called Glitter Hearts which is a Sailor Moon/Power Rangers style game. Through my actual play podcast, Very Random Encounters, I got the offer to help write a book for Simon and Schuster called The Ultimate Random Encouters Book. Most recently, I was able to kickstart and launch my second TTRPG called The Mystery Business which is a Scooby-doo style role-playing game. I went to college and got my degree in Theater Arts and was somewhat disillusioned by acting as a profession and I didn’t think I would do much with it after graduation and going into the working world. Through podcasting, I was able to rediscover and reapply my acting skills and ability, and from their found joy in becoming a writer. I never thought my life would take this turn in my late 40s, but life can surprise you.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Skill one is openess which can be very hard. As a gay man, it was often very dangerous to be open earlier in my life as the world can be a very unforgiving place. But I knew that I couldn’t find happiness, success, or comfort if I was constantly looking over my shoulder, constantly keeping track of a hidden identity, or trying to constantly hide. It was better to face the challenge head on as it really is, not what my brain was catastrophizing. It takes a lot of trust in others to be open and that means extending trust outside of yourself in most cases. I firmly believe and taught myself to believe that most people want to do good in their lives. Most people don’t want to actively hurt people and those that do are best to be known and avoided early on. The second skill I would say is knowing your self-worth and understanding that there isn’t anyone else like you. No matter what, you have a viewpoint that is uniquely yours but you need to do the work on yourself to find out exactly who you are and what you believe. It takes a lot of self searching to weed out what has been put upon you by society and what you really want and believe. If you do that work, you will come out a more whole person who has something to offer that no one else can offer. But you have to do that work of sitting down and looking at your life and past. And lastly, I think for my design career both instructional and for game design, it was seeking out as many different pieces of media that I could and absorb them to understand what I liked, what resonated, what I could use and what I could throw away. If you don’t actively seek to challenge your assumptions, then you aren’t going to make the best think you can. You need to understand what media does, how it works, how stories and structures work, so that you can find your way of working.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Back when I was in college, I was recommended a book called Taming Your Gremlin, which is a basic introduction on negative self talk and the damage that it can do. I think a lot of people have trouble with negative self talk and that destructive power it can have on your self. I think today, we have a much stronger understanding around mindfulness and negative self talk as a whole, but back then, it was a breath of fresh air. It allowed me to start asking questions to myself around is what my brain saying real or just negative self talk. It helped me see that the stuff I was saying to myself were things I would never say about another person and that I deserve that same kindness that I would give to others. We often say be kind to yourself without any sort of skill development around what that means. That book helped me get started on the journey to helping tap down my negative self talk and move forward with more confidence.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.leatherman.games/
- Instagram: Lysander03
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmleatherman/
- Other: http://vre.show/
