Podcast Summary

Podcast: Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
Episode: How a Panic Attack Revealed the Secret to a Meaningful Life | Robert Glazer | E129
Date: October 14, 2025
Guest: Robert Glazer (Entrepreneur, Bestselling Author, Founder of Acceleration Partners)
Host: Ilana Golan

Overview

In this inspiring episode of Leap Academy, Ilana Golan sits down with Robert Glazer to uncover the pivotal moments and hard-won lessons that shaped his journey from being a self-described underachiever to a best-selling author and successful entrepreneur. The conversation dives deep into the true origins of passion, the crucial role of core values, the ongoing process of personal and professional reinvention, and how a life-changing panic attack forced Robert to re-evaluate everything. Key themes include finding authentic success, overcoming achievement addiction, handling leadership challenges, and using values as a compass for realignment and fulfillment.

Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Years & the Myth of Passion

• School Struggles & Early Labels

  • Robert reflects on his report cards, revealing a consistent narrative: “I was a very creative, ADD, outside-the-box kid. It's just not something our school systems reward.” [03:14]
  • He highlights how labels like ‘underachiever’ misrepresent untapped potential: “I didn't know what that mean because I couldn't get excited about stuff that I was learning. I wasn't interested in it. When it finally clicked... I spent 10, 15 years overachieving and almost killing myself.” [04:15]

• Discovering Interests in College

  • Robert’s real love for learning ignited when he chose his own path: “I realized I had a high acumen for business and marketing, and I kind of fell in love with those things.” [06:31]

• Reframing Passion

  • He challenges the classic ‘follow your passion’ trope: “Passion is a little bit misconstrued… Passion comes from finding things that you're good at and that you like doing and that you're engaged in.” [08:41]

2. Entrepreneurship: The Glamor & The Grind

• The Accidental Agency Founder

  • Robert’s path to building his agency was organic, not intentional: “No kid's dream is to start an agency. I was doing this thing and I left the company and I helped someone with it, and…then I woke up 10 years later and I was running an agency.” [09:52]

• The Hidden Pain of Entrepreneurship

  • He underscores the sacrifices often ignored in highlight reels:
    • “Entrepreneurship is sexy in the rearview mirror…they forget about all the bankruptcies and the stuff that takes down families.” [11:17]
    • Memorable story: A peer celebrated after selling a company, the same place she’d once declared bankruptcy. “From the outside: oh, they’re so lucky. But she was in on that journey and the pain and the roller coasters and the near misses and all that stuff.” [11:47]

3. The Defining Wakeup Call: Panic Attack & Realization

• Panic Attack as a Turning Point
  • “One day my heart was racing… I passed out in my kitchen in front of my son… taken away in an ambulance… I just had a massive panic attack from just too much.” [12:30]
  • This led to a radical life reassessment, prioritizing health above all: “Health and vitality was always a value for me. I think that was the moment when it elevated it… My goal is to be biologically 40 at 50.” [13:24, 14:03]

4. Leading Through Crisis & Transparency in Leadership

• Navigating COVID Crisis
  • Hit with a sudden business downturn, Robert emphasized transparency, inspired by the Stockdale Paradox: “We were super transparent with people. We even said we’re going to have to make decisions. Here’s our decision-making model: company, people, clients, partners.” [14:58]
  • The value of sharing real challenges, not just cheerleading or doom: “If you tell me the ship’s going down, I’m going to jump off… If you tell me just rainbows and unicorns… I’m also going to think you’re full of crap.” [15:32]

5. Growth Requires Letting Go: Leadership Transitions

• Stepping Aside as CEO

  • On outgrowing the CEO role: “Every time your company doubles, you have to reinvent yourself as a leader if you haven't done it before. I didn't want to be the CEO of a $50 million revenue company. I self-identified that it wasn't the kind of work I wanted to do.” [18:25, 20:05]

• Ego vs. Values

  • “I set my ego aside and I said what does the business need and what do I want to do?” [19:43]

6. Core Values as Life’s Compass

• The Power & Origin of Core Values

  • Robert’s framework: actionable core values are non-negotiable principles intrinsic to who you are, rooted in formative childhood events:
    • “99% of values come from formative childhood experiences where people are trying to double down on something important or do the absolute opposite of something painful.” [05:07]
    • “Core values are non-negotiable principles that guide your behavior and decisions… the instruction manual we weren’t given.” [23:37]
    • His own five values: “finding a better way and share it, health and vitality, self-reliance, respectful authenticity, and long-term orientation.” [24:28]

• Misconceptions about Values

  • He challenges generic values like “integrity” and “family,” urging specificity:
    • “Those are not good values in my rubric… I couldn't really explain what was underlying that.” [24:10]
    • Test yourself: “If I think this is a value, can I use it to make a decision? When I imagine the opposite, does it strike a nerve?” [36:18]

• Skillfully Pressure-Testing Your Values

  • Not all core values are aspirational; they should reflect consistent, underlying patterns in all areas of life, and enable real choices. [36:18–39:59]

7. Chasing Achievements: The Achievaholic Trap

• Never-Ending Hustle

  • On the addiction to perpetual achievement: “The minute we are even close to getting to the finish line…the goalpost moves… we're never methodology.” [26:11]

• Three Climb Metaphor

  • “The first climb: you were bullied into it by your community or parents… The second: you pick the climb...you think the summit will make it worth it... Third: the Vista climb—the climb itself is enjoyable…You're not trying to get somewhere; it’s about what you're actually doing.” [26:39 - 28:58]

• Grit vs. Alignment

  • Even on the right path, there are rainy days: “It still rains on the Vista climb… It’s a steep, gradual climb for which the climb itself is enjoyable… not just hoping the summit makes it worth it.” [29:42]

8. Tactical Advice: How to Find Your Core Values & Passion

• The Six Questions

  • Start by answering six deep-dive questions about the best and worst moments in your life and extracting patterns. Robert makes these available at robertglazer.com/6. [30:45]
  • Real alignment can only come from this foundational self-understanding.

• From Pain/Antipathy Comes Clarity

  • Identify what drives you crazy or “violates” you—its opposite often points toward a core value. [34:49, 36:18]

9. Making Hard Decisions: Short-term Pain, Long-term Freedom

• Values-Based Choices Often Hurt Upfront
  • “Core values decisions which are hard decisions, they usually cost you something in the short term… but you get a lot more confidence in doing something that seems a little bit painful today to save a lot more pain in the future.” [41:02]
  • Memorable company story (Basecamp): “They believed so deeply it was divisive…they were willing to lose their business over it… They’re so much better for it in the end.” [41:28]

Notable Quotes

• On discovering passion:
  “Passion comes from finding things that you're good at and that you like doing and that you're engaged in.” — Robert Glazer [08:41]

• On the invisible cost of entrepreneurship:
  “Entrepreneurship is sexy in the rearview mirror…they forget about all the bankruptcies and the stuff that takes down families.” — Robert Glazer [11:17]

• On his panic attack moment:
  “I kind of passed out in my kitchen in front of my son and I just had a massive panic attack from just like just too much… Super wake up call. I have made a lot of changes in my life.” — Robert Glazer [12:30]

• On leadership in crisis:
  “We were super transparent with people…we should share it. Even if it’s scary, I’d rather be in a loop about what's going on than not hearing anything and then being blindsided.” — Robert Glazer [15:32, 16:40]

• On stepping down as CEO:
  “I set my ego aside and I said, what does the business need and what do I want to do objectively… I gave myself the permission to do what I want to do.” — Robert Glazer [19:43]

• On core values:
  “They’re intrinsic, not aspirational. They reflect who you always are… they show up in your leadership whether you realize it or not.” — Robert Glazer [23:37]

• On the “vista climb”:
  “It’s about what you’re actually doing, right? That to me is the ‘values-aligned’ thing... you’re enjoying what you’re actually doing.” — Robert Glazer [28:58]

Key Timestamps

• 00:36 – Passion is misunderstood, origins and nature of passion
• 03:14 – Childhood, creative/ADD tendencies, early school struggles
• 04:15 – Labelled underachiever, discovering core values
• 06:31 – College, discovering love for learning
• 08:41 – What passion really is
• 09:52 – Accidental path into entrepreneurship
• 11:17 – “Entrepreneurship is sexy in the rearview mirror”
• 12:30 – Panic attack, wakeup call, prioritizing health
• 14:58 – Navigating COVID: Leadership, transparency, Stockdale Paradox
• 18:25 – Company growth, stepping aside as CEO
• 23:37 – Core values: origins, importance, role in life and business
• 26:39 – The trap of perpetual achievement ("achievaholic")
• 28:58 – Three types of achievement “climb”; true alignment
• 30:45 – How to start discovering your true values (six questions)
• 34:49 – Use antipathy to clarify core values
• 36:18 – How to pressure-test core values; actionable vs. aspirational values
• 41:02 – The cost and rewards of values-based (hard) decisions
• 41:28–42:58 – Story of Basecamp, standing by values, short-term pain, long-term reward

Final Takeaways

• Self-Knowledge First: Deep clarity on your values, not your skills, is the first step to lasting fulfillment.
• Don’t Wait for a Crisis: You can course-correct before a breakdown or panic attack forces it.
• Values Over Titles: Real satisfaction comes not from chasing positions, but from aligning your actions, work, and relationships to your authentic values.
• Transparency Builds Trust: Especially in turbulent times, share challenges and your thinking with your team.
• Winning the Long Game: Values-based decisions often cost in the short run but reap huge dividends over time.

To start your own journey:

• Answer Robert Glazer’s six core value questions (robertglazer.com/6)
• Consider reading The Compass Within and taking the course for a guided deep dive.

For more:

• Book preorders & course: compass-within.com
• Free Leap Academy training: leapacademy.com/training