Episode Details
Back to Episodes
Are You Living Your Life—or Just Staying Busy? | Ted Kopecko
Description
What if being busy isn’t the same as actually moving your life forward?
In this episode of Thought Atlas, I sit down with Ted Kopecko, author of Finding JOY… Journey of You and a commercial real estate broker with a background in architecture, entrepreneurship, and business.
Ted shares how he built a successful career, eventually sold his architectural practice to a national firm, and moved into commercial real estate so he could have more control over his time. He also reflects on watching his father spend 42 years working for a corporate company before suffering a massive stroke two years into retirement. For Ted, that experience raised an important question: how are we spending the limited time we have?
That question became part of the thinking behind Finding JOY… Journey of You, where JOY stands for “Journey Of You.” Ted describes the book as a framework for helping people find greater purpose, raise the value of their time, create value for others, and pursue greater freedom.
Our conversation explores the difference between a job-led life and what Ted calls a JOY-led life. We talk about how people can become consumed by work, bills, responsibilities, and everyday busyness while losing sight of where their lives are actually heading.
Ted breaks down what he describes as the four pillars of JOY: mindset, identity, time, and direction.
We explore how the beliefs and patterns developed earlier in life can influence the way we approach work and opportunity, and why Ted believes a growth-oriented mindset can change how we respond to setbacks. He uses Elon Musk and SpaceX as an example of viewing failure as something to learn from rather than simply as a setback.
We also discuss identity: how we see ourselves, how we present ourselves to the world, and whether we are intentionally developing the best version of ourselves.
Then comes one of the central ideas of the conversation: time. Ted describes life as having a “time bank,” where every day we withdraw time and spend it. The question isn’t simply whether we are busy—it’s what we are spending that time on.
The conversation also explores the people we surround ourselves with, the influence of our friendships, and Ted’s belief that changing your life can sometimes require changing the circles and influences around you.
Ted challenges listeners to imagine where they want their lives to be 20 years from now and then work backward: What would you do differently today to create that future?
We also discuss his view that busyness and progress are not necessarily the same thing. For someone frustrated with their current path, Ted suggests that the first step toward change doesn’t necessarily require going back to school or completely reinventing yourself. Instead, he recommends reading and consistently learning.
Later, Ted discusses his concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and returns to the distinction between being reactive to life and intentionally directing it.
Ultimately, this conversation is about purpose, mindset, identity, time, direction, work, growth, and the choices we make with the life we have.
Ted leaves us with a simple question:
“Is life leading you? Or are you leading life?”
CONNECT WITH TED KOPECKO
Website: findingjoy.us
Ted also mentions a free workbook available through the website.
Learn more about Thought Atlas
Food for thought from Ted
“Is life leading you? Or are you leading life?”
It’s not easy.
But it’s worth it.