Blaze Your Own Trail - Embracing Failure: The Stepping Stone to Success with Terry Fossum

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello everyone and welcome to the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. My name is Jordan Mendoza. I'm your host and I am super excited to share the story of an incredible guest today. His name is Terry Fossum and I'm going to give him a second to tell you a little bit more about who he is and what he does today. Well, who I am is just somebody who works really hard and actually cares about people. Some of the things I've done, though, is one is a survival reality show. number one bestselling book on Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, USA Today, listed as a bestseller as well. A lot of different things, done different adventures around the globe.

Starting point is 00:00:39 And I guess when my TED Talk came out, I reached number two in the world, which was kind of fun also. So do some writing, do some coaching, a lot of speaking, and try to help people in any way I can. Awesome. Appreciate you sharing that and given that initial context. And my favorite part of the show, Terry, is really taking a. rewind and getting context into your journey. And so in order to do that, what we're going to do is really jump into the formative years. So we're going to talk, you know, elementary middle to high school years, you know, where were you born and raised? You know, what kind of kid were you,

Starting point is 00:01:11 would you get into and really give us some of that timeline? Now, wait a minute, you didn't warn me and I've got to tell those stories. Come on now. Now, where I was raised, I was raised in a city called McAllen, Texas. And you've heard of it on the news. All the listeners have heard of McAllen, Texas on the news. That's the place where the border crossings are happening. The cartels are coming across, kidnapping people, lots of gangs and drugs. Don't get me wrong, I really do love my hometown. I really do. It could just be a little rough growing up there sometimes. In fact, I was on the wrong end of an assault rifle in junior high, in my own back alley. In high school, my father, My dad was killed.

Starting point is 00:01:52 Before he died, one of the neighbors came up to him and said, I just want to make sure you understand something. Those three boys of yours, your three sons, not a single one of them will ever grow up to be anything. So, you know, people read all these accolades about me, the accomplishments, the things I've done, seeing me on TV or movies or whatever. I don't even know who that person is. You know, I know the person that grew up in the poor city in the U.S., surrounded by gangs and drugs, who's never grew up to be anything. that was my start. So a whole lot different than where I'm at now.

Starting point is 00:02:23 Yeah, 100%. And there's, I mean, there's a ton to unpack there, right? Obviously, you know, I'm so sorry to hear about, you know, losing your father, especially to a young age that had to have been tough in itself. And then, you know, being in an environment where, you know, every day, you know, you don't know if you're going to see the next just because of all the level of activity there. So what were some things that, you know, help you get through? those times because it couldn't have been easy.

Starting point is 00:02:52 I'm sure there was, you know, very, very hard moments. Was there anyone close in the family, other figures, parents, relatives that kind of were mentors of you or kind of help you deal with those difficult situations? Yeah, yeah, a whole bunch, a whole bunch. First of all, my parents were amazing people. My dad grew up a poor sharecropper in South Dakota. And he married my mom and got a job that brought him down to South Dakota. Texas where I was born. I'm the only Texas born Fossom, the rest of them from South Dakota.

Starting point is 00:03:23 So my parents were truly amazing people, hardworking people that taught us never to limit ourselves. We have a faith in God. And again, I respect anybody's belief, but I got the microphone, so I'll tell mine, I've got a faith in God. And I've got to get a lot of credit to Boy Scouts. We all got in scouting. And so for people that changed our life, you know, our scoutmaster and the other volunteers and professionals made a huge impact on us. We all three became Eagle Scouts and Scout Masters. So yeah, there's a lot of people as always. There's a lot of people in all of our lives that try to tear us down as well. Yeah, you can't focus on those. You can't listen to those, no matter how much you do. You got to listen to the other people that are going to build you up.

Starting point is 00:04:08 Yeah, 100%. So important to have those people in our corner and people that feed positive things into us. You know, my mom, she was the same way. She always told me I could do every, anything that I wanted to and for some reason I always believed her, you know, and I still believe her, even though she, you know, she passed away 12 years ago, but I'm still believe her. You know, I still have that confidence that I can do it, right? And she inspired me through her being disabled and she was born with one lung in the 50s and figured out how to defy the odds and wasn't supposed to have kids, wasn't supposed to live past 18, and she had five boys and lived to be 54 years old. And so she showed me how to blaze a trail. And she instilled confidence in us

Starting point is 00:04:51 and showed us love and showed us kindness and had a great sense of humor and did not use her circumstances as a crutch. And so just like you, Terry, having amazing parents that believed in you and that showed you good values. I mean, that definitely sounds like it paved the way, especially becoming an Eagle Scout. I didn't. I think the close. thing to Boy Scouts that I did was through church. It was called Royal Rangers, and it was, you know, a assemblies of God. Yeah, you know, kind of Boy Scouts, but it wouldn't really for me. I'm not really the major kind of outdoorsy guy and you don't want me tying a knot for anything. But we all have our strengths, you know, and I'm very self-aware that that wasn't mine.

Starting point is 00:05:37 So talk a little bit about after high school. Did you get a chance to get into a different environment by going the collegiate route or did you start work? And I'd love just for you to share a little bit of that part of your journey. Yeah, absolutely. So I did go to college. I got my degree in mechanical engineering, which I've never used a day in my life because I put in when I, I was in something called the Corps of Cadets, a Texas A&M University. So it's basically ROTC on steroids. You live at 24-7 while going to a civilian university and getting, in my case, an ME degree. agree. So I put in, I decided to join the Air Force as an officer. They offered me a commission. And I put in for, you get three choices. My first choice was an engineering job in Texas.

Starting point is 00:06:26 My second choice was an engineering job in Texas. And my third choice was, you guessed it, engineering job in Texas. So the United States Air Force, of course, you know, listening to my opinion, sent me to a completely non-engineering job in somewhere called Spokane, Washington. which I learned was Spokane, Washington, sent me up here. But again, with my own belief system, God is so much smarter than me. That's why he's got the job. I didn't really like engineering. It probably would have sucked at it.

Starting point is 00:06:55 And I got in a brand new career field in the entire Air Force, one of the first people spearheading this brand new career field. It was amazing and came up to Spokane, Washington, and we were talking, this is, I think the Northwest is just an amazing part of the world. I got up here, got into the mountains, got into the community immediately. I'm home. So that's what happened with all that. What I loved about the core, I'll say this, is it taught me there are three answers.

Starting point is 00:07:22 You're taught as a freshman. Yes, sir, no, sir, and no excuse, sir. And I think a lot of people could really learn a lot from that. Don't BS. Don't make excuses. Don't blame it on something else, somebody else, or some other circumstance. Take ownership, learn from it, and move on. Love it.

Starting point is 00:07:41 Love those tips and love kind of that mantra to live by. So first off, thanks for your service. And how long did you stay in service? Yeah, so I stayed in about six, seven years. And it was really kind of funny. You talk about blazing your own trail, which is what this podcast is all about. So I'm blazing a brand new career field in the entire Air Force. And the fun part about that, and I went through my training.

Starting point is 00:08:07 They put us through schooling. And again, we're the first people ever to have that schooling. I get to Fairchild Air Force Base as something called an adjutant, which nobody knew what that meant, for the 325th bombardment squadron, a nuclear B-52 squadron during the Cold War. Each one of our B-52 bombers fully loaded is approximately the six most powerful nation on the face of the earth, and we had several of them. And I come in, bright, bushy-tail, second lieutenant, and they don't know what to do with me. So they asked me what my job was.

Starting point is 00:08:36 I'm like, oh, I get to tell you what my job is. here's what it is. Now, I was a non-aviator. So they went now, but this is an aviation squadron. Are you supposed to have a flight gear, flight suit and all that? Yes, I am. Well, I mean, a form-fitted helmet and everything else? Yes, I am. So you're going to be going up and flying a lot. Yes, I am. Blaze your own trail, man. In fact, I'll tell a very quick story from that that is good for your listeners. Okay. So I'm in something called Battlestaff. Now, again, This is Cold War. This is nuclear war stuff. Battlestaff is where all the brass from the base is doing a war exercise or the real thing.

Starting point is 00:09:19 It's like seen in the movies, big table, classified boards. I had a position on Battlestaff. And I'm sitting there one day as a young officer. And the colonel is a brand spanking new colonel of the base. He was my boss, actually. He was third in command on the base. And he comes in and you've got all these old war dogs around this table. These are people who've been there.

Starting point is 00:09:41 They have done it. And this bright and shiny colonel comes in. And I'm just waiting to see what he does. He rings the bell. There's a bell, which is supposed to tell you, everybody's shut up and listen. And he goes right away. Okay. Let me tell you how I run my battle staff.

Starting point is 00:09:58 And he starts laying down the groundwork. And all these old war dogs are all of a sudden going, oh, okay. When in command, take command. Okay, you're blazing your own trail. blaze your own trail. Take ownership of it. Whatever the circumstance is, listen to other people. Always be smart enough to listen to other people, but get out there and take command, man. Take charge and do it. Love it. Great advice as well. Yeah, you have to take charge and people follow confident people. And if you don't believe in you, it's very hard to get others to believe in you. So you have to start out with that confidence and be willing to deal with the consequences, right?

Starting point is 00:10:37 The consequence could be you do a great job and the consonants could be you fall on your face. Either way, you learn something. So after the military, yeah, 100%. So let's talk a little bit about after the military. You said six to seven years, you know, serving the country, you're getting to ride around in planes when you weren't a pilot, but you just said yes to everything. which is another important lesson is sometimes, you know, saying yes can lead to some extraordinary things that you never thought were possible. So what did you end up doing next?

Starting point is 00:11:15 What was the goal? Did you have, you know, a dream job? Did you say, hey, I don't know what I want to do next? I'd love to just hear that part of the story. Well, the reason I resigned my commission, I mean, the career was going amazing, absolutely amazing. They were offering me as a young captain, any career field I wanted in the Air Force, any job up to a lieutenant-cernel level as a junior captain. It's unheard of. But again, I work hard.

Starting point is 00:11:40 Another lesson with this, work hard. Cruise would land at two in the morning. I'm still in the office working. Okay, work hard. So I did that. But I started a little business on the side. In fact, a little direct sales business, network marketing. And of course, everybody, oh my God, pyramid scheme and scam and all that stuff. Some of them are, a lot of mar, huge chunk of mark. Some of them aren't. and if you do it in an ethical manner, you don't have to be that guy. And I did mine in an ethical manner where I'm not lying to people. I'm telling me, here's what's going on. It's really hard work.

Starting point is 00:12:12 That being said, I sucked. I was terrible. I was horrible at it. I'm a mechanical engineer, nuclear warfare officer. We are not known for sales skills or for personalities for that matter. So, yeah, I failed and try it again. And I failed and I tried to fail. Finally, after failing for years and years and years,

Starting point is 00:12:32 I hit one of the lowest points of my life, or I gave up. I couldn't fail anymore. And I walked into the bathroom and I looked myself in the mirror. So I guess he's right. The guy's right. You're never going to grow up to be anything. And was at that point that something shifted inside me. I said, no, no.

Starting point is 00:12:54 I refused to let for the sake of the memory of my dad, if nothing else. I refuse to let that son of a gun be right. It ain't going to happen. and Jordan, that was a pivotal moment in my entire life because I learned through necessity the missing link in goal setting that all this personal development I've done, all this learning about goal setting and positive mental attitude and all that, I learned why 92% of the people who set a goal fail because what we're being taught about is wrong or not enough.

Starting point is 00:13:27 And when I came at it from that different standpoint of having something to go away from, not just something toward the carrot, that positive visualization. I never believed would happen to a guy like me. You know my background. But now I had something to stick to go away from. That propelled me out of that comfort zone that I kept sticking into, kicked me in the butt, which we all need. And that changed everything for me. From that moment forward, everything changed. And that's what turned into the Oxcar technique, the subject of that number one bestselling book. So that's what turned into the box. So that's what. was a pivotal moment.

Starting point is 00:14:03 That's awesome. Yeah, it's always great to have moments like that and then have that essentially create the momentum for what's to come next. And I definitely want to talk about what came next. You mentioned that was a pivotal moment. So what did that pivotal moment bring to you from an insight perspective? I know that there was, it seems like a complete mindset shift where you said, you mean, you were basically saying you're throwing in the towel and then you went from throwing in the towel to saying, no, not today. This is not happening anymore. I'm not going to be that person. So what was this shift or what did this shift create? Yeah, it created more than I could ever dream of, quite frankly. Part of it was understanding what was going on that, you know,

Starting point is 00:14:52 all this bit about, and some of the things I learned were amazing, you know, because I learned all the stuff about goal setting. We've all heard about the Harvard goal setting study. They had all these different facts have come out of. It's been in best-selling books. It's been on the stage, everything else. You know, 100% of the people that wrote down their goals achieved them and all this. I found out, Jordan, it's fake. It didn't happen. Somebody made it up. Harvard's confirmed. That study never happened. But people say it and it sounds good and they make money just like positive visualization is critical. But we've got all this law of attraction. Just dream about it. and the universe will go to work to make it happen for you. No, no, no, it won't. That makes you feel good.

Starting point is 00:15:34 It sells a lot of books, but feel good is your comfort zone. And that's where people and dreams go to die is your comfort zone. So when I had this other thing pushing me that they don't want to talk about these days. You can't think about the negative. Yes, you can. You can use that power to inspire you to kick you in the butt if you do it right. And it was only later on after I started becoming suddenly, I'm building my business. Things are going amazing more so than I could imagine. Now I got rooms full of people want to learn from me, from me.

Starting point is 00:16:05 And you know me, okay? I'm not trying to be anything. I'm not. I'm not that cool. But they were learning from me. And we applied it to marriages, because I'd had a failed marriage. I don't want to do that again.

Starting point is 00:16:16 I don't recommend it. We started applying this to marriages. I started getting emails from people, you just saved my marriage. We applied it to weight loss. I've helped people overcome addictions with the thing. And then I found out trying to prove myself wrong before I came out with this book, I wanted to prove I'm wrong before I put this in print,

Starting point is 00:16:32 because that's real scientific study, is trying to prove yourself wrong. I came across something called prospect theory while I'm researching. And the more I read, Jordan, I'm like, wait, I'm right here at my computer. I'm reading this stuff. And my mouth is dropping because I'm going, oh my gosh, this is saying what I'm saying. It can't, this won the Nobel Prize. I can't be on this. I went up upstairs and told my wife, I think I'm on to something huge.

Starting point is 00:16:59 I found somebody. I put on my social media. I need to talk somebody that understands prospect theory because this is above my head. I got the guy who did his PhD dissertation on prospect theory. I gave him all my notes, everything. And he came back and said, you're dead on. Oh, my God. Thus, the Oxcar technique blueprint for success, number one best selling book on New York or on Wall Street Journal. And a lot of people help from it. So it's crazy. Our lowest, our lowest, moments can turn into our best moments if you keep going, if you learn from them and just keep trudging forward no matter what. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:17:37 Yeah. And that's the important thing because we're, I think the one guarantee for everyone that listens to this episode is you are going to face adversity. That's a guarantee I can make you. You're going to face it early and often. And the important thing is, you know, what do you take away from it? How can you leverage that to either shift your mindset or do something a little differently the next time so that you don't have that same mistake or failure? I love what you said there and kind of how the book is helping people do that.

Starting point is 00:18:11 So what would be your top three tips for somebody? Someone's going to listen to this and they're going to say, man, what a fascinating story and journey from the bottom essentially to lots of danger and lots of adversity and lots of pain. to really thriving in different roles, you know, becoming top in your role in sales and then creating, becoming an author, right? It's a, it is the complete trailblazing story. So what would three tips from you be? And these could be things in the book that maybe people can find as well. But what would you say to help people that are, they're stuck? They, they have written all the goals and none of these goals are really panning out, you know, they are one of the statistics from the study, right, where it didn't actually come true for them.

Starting point is 00:19:01 So what would you say to that person? Yeah, and you're right. This stuff is in the book, but it's so critical. Number one, embrace failure. Don't just accept it. Embrace it. Love it. Every single successful person on the face of the earth has failed, failed, failed, failed,

Starting point is 00:19:22 failed, failed. So if you're not failing, dude, you're screwing up. All right. You're not going anywhere. So now, if you are failing, I want you to go, yes, I'm on the right track. I'm going towards success because I'm failing because failure is the road to success. It absolutely is. It's not a stumbling block. It is a stepping stone. Embrace failure. Learn to love it. Outwork anybody. Outwork anybody. Yeah, I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. That's all right. You know, I don't, you know, there's a lot of people, a lot of better personality, a lot of better looking, everything else. Nobody will outwork me. Be that person.

Starting point is 00:20:00 Be that person when the air crews landed two in the morning, you're still working, you know? And people will respect that. And do the Oxcar technique. And I know that sounds self-promoting, but it's not. I'm still out here pushing this out because I know there are people like me who are like I was crying. They're trying and they're trying and they're trying and they're just not getting where they want to go or not going there fast enough. And they're praying and they're wondering, why not? Why not me?

Starting point is 00:20:31 Maybe I can't do it. Maybe I'm not good enough. I know they're out there and I want to reach out to those people because I found the thing that's helped me in a whole lot of other people and can help them also. So learn all you can about it. Jump on my website. I get the book. I've got coaching. Whatever.

Starting point is 00:20:48 There's free stuff out there. Get the free stuff. I don't care. But do it. It helps. Love it. Love it. Appreciate you, Sharon.

Starting point is 00:20:57 And so I wanted to dive back into your time in the military. And can you talk a little bit about, because I know everyone has a different experience when it comes to basic training. But can you talk a little bit about your experience when it comes to basic training? Looks like it was still recording. So for everybody that's watching, unless they edit this out, please stand by. We're currently experiencing technical difficulties. I think Jordan will be tuning back in really quickly here. And by the way, this is just one of those things, right? If this hadn't been edited out, these kind of things happen in life. You got to just

Starting point is 00:21:35 go with them. You can't panic. You can't freak out. Just to understand this is the kind of thing that happens. So that's what we want to keep going forward with. Okay, something happened. Don't focus on the problem. Focus on the solution. Anybody can focus on the problem and tell you all about it, and especially you. Focus on the solution. What's the solution right now? Okay, that's what I did. We're going to wait for Jordan to tune back in. And in case they don't edit this, if this is live, we're just going to keep on moving forward with that. And maybe we can learn from that as well. And the other thing, I'll go ahead and tell you while we're waiting for Jordan to tune back in, if he does, I've got a full screen full of stuff here, is a lot of times we go forward and we don't go

Starting point is 00:22:23 forward because we replay those messages in our head. We replay those conversations, those bad conversations. We replay the bad things that have happened in our lives. We all do that. I do that. Don't do that. I've got to stop myself many, many times and say, wait a minute, stop that. You're not changing that conversation. How are you moving forward? What's the solution to it? And some of it you just have to put in the past, including the people. And they may be the people who are the closest in the world to you. And you've got to let them go. We're waiting to see if Jordan tunes back in. I'll tell you a quick story. You know, again, I do a lot of stuff in the outdoors and in scouts. And we're taught about what to do with a grounding swimmer. If you have

Starting point is 00:23:08 somebody that's swimming, you're going to go out there and you're going to pull them in and save them and we'll all be merry and bright, right? Yay! Not the way it works. Usually when you go out there to try to save them, what happens is that you, they struggle. You go to try to help them and they're struggling, they're struggling, and they start pulling you down. So what do you do? First, you try to talk to them. Arms length, right? Because they're going to be pulling you down. Talk to look, you've got to stop. Calm down. I can help you. You've got to calm down. You got to trust me. You got to let me do this. See if you can calm them down.

Starting point is 00:23:37 Now, sometimes that doesn't work. So what do you have to do at that point? Next, bop them. Bob them in the face. Maybe you're going to knock them out and you can haul them in then, or at least you're going to get their attention. But you've got to do that. because they're going to drown. They don't want to pull you with them. If that doesn't work, all you can do is leave them be. They're going to drown. You can't drown with them.

Starting point is 00:24:01 Look, there's some people in your life that's going to be the same thing. It's going to be the same way. We want to help people. We love people. We care about people. You can't save the world. You can only save those who want to be saved. And if they're going to pull you down, you can't drown with them.

Starting point is 00:24:16 So maybe you've got to let them go. And I see the Jordan's tuning back in with us right now. I don't have his visual up yet. I can just see his name is on here. So we're going to wait just a second and see if he comes in. And if not, we've got more stories for you, things that I hope will help you out. So, yeah, I think we were basically at a point where I was having to, you know, share some tips and some resources. And then I was going to basically bring it back to the Air Force.

Starting point is 00:24:43 And so what I wanted to ask about the Air Force was what was your basic training experience like? I know everybody has a different story that I've talked to that's been in the military. So I'd love to just figure out what that story is for you. So my basic training story, I mentioned I was in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University. And because that is so hard, when we get to basic training, we call it summer camp, man. We call it summer camp. We have a great time because in the Corps of Cadets, you spend your entire freshman year basically going through basic training and doing a lot. lot more working out and getting screamed out and everything than you ever will at boot camp.

Starting point is 00:25:25 And then your sophomore year, you're the person doling it out. You are the drill instructor for your entire sophomore year. So for me, it was fun. I mean, now, was it hard and all that? Sure, but comparatively speaking, it was fun. So what lesson do we get out of that? Do the hard stuff. Do the hard stuff. Go through the challenges. Go through the things that are tough. because everybody says, what will make you stronger? Yeah, it does. It does. So then when you get to the even harder things, the other challenges in the future, okay, you know what? I can do this because I've already been through X. I've already been through this. So take the hard challenges. Don't shy away from a man, dive into them, blaze your own trail. Blazing your own trail, I'm sure you've talked about

Starting point is 00:26:12 on this podcast before is hard. It's not the easy way. The easy way leads to where everybody else ends up. where you want to be. Do the hard stuff. Blase your own trail. Love it. Love it. Love of the advice as well, you know, because I'm a big believer as well. Adversity gives us strength. And another thing that it does is it enables us to see through a lens that we didn't see through before. So we're actually looking through the lens with fresh perspective, with new eyes, you know, with a new visual of how we can get through it. And so it's very important, like you said, Terry, that we take and extract those lessons and then apply them on the road forward, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:55 because you can't blaze a trail without adversity. You can't blaze a trail without things catching on fire or not going the right way. And like I said earlier in the show, that is the one thing I can guarantee every listener is you are going to face adversity. Okay? And so once you kind of understand that and you have that baseline that, hey, this is going to happen. Now let me see. How can I leverage this as something that happened for me and not to me? How can I switch my mindset and switch my perspective for this to be a positive

Starting point is 00:27:30 thing? Nicely said. And I said during our break, while I kept talking, focus on the solution, not the problem. Anybody can focus on the problem. And many times when people are doing that, I say, okay, get the problem. What's the solution? If there was a way, what would it be? And then they come up with answers usually. Exactly. Love it. Love it. So I'd love for you to just share a couple of resources for our listeners that could have a positive impact in their world.

Starting point is 00:27:58 Okay, these resources could be an article. It could be another book outside of your bestselling book. It could be a quote, a podcast episode that you've heard. So I'd love for you just to share that so they can kind of get in the side of your mind and some of the things that maybe have helped you. the way. Yeah, absolutely. For one thing, listen to my TED Talk. You just Google Terry Fossum, TEDx, and it'll come up. And also, I think Ted is a fantastic resource. You can go in there and put in, you know, here's the subject I'm looking for and hear what real people are doing about that.

Starting point is 00:28:36 So I think, I think the TED Talks are a fantastic resource. And indeed, fill your mind full of good stuff. Do not, you've heard this a million times. hope you have. Do not watch the flipping news. And for those that say, well, I need to know what's going on. No, you don't. If there's a war going on, and there is, unless you're going to go pick up a rifle and go fight in that war, you do not need to know the latest of what's happening. You don't need to know the latest in the political dramas going on unless you're going to go out there and do something about it. All of that stuff tears you down and takes your focus from the things you can focus on, from the things you can change that will make a difference in your life, the lives of the people you love and the people you touch. So the biggest thing, and who do I hear this from

Starting point is 00:29:23 Warren Buffett was reason. And of course, he's inarguably the best investor in existence. And he said, his big thing was focus. Figure out what you want to do, what you want to change on, and learn from others who are doing that. Find those resources, whether it's YouTube, whether it's other books, speeches, whatever it might be. But watch your source, because there's a lot of, of garbage out there as well, that they're spinning with pseudoscience, stories that sound like they're true and everything else. You can waste a lot of time. You can waste a lot of money, a lot of garbage out there. Look for real science. Look for real people who are really succeeding doing it. Learn from them and apply it yourself with your own common sense. And with what makes

Starting point is 00:30:09 sense to you, with what goes with who you are as a person. Because at the end of the day, that's the most important thing of everything. How you are as a person, not how successful you are, not how famous you are. Who are you as a person? Stick to those values. That's the most important of all. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, our character is definitely important.

Starting point is 00:30:30 And that's the thing that, you know, we want to and should want to be remembered by. You know, if you're creating legacy, if you're trying to build something that's bigger than yourself, you know, for me as a father of five and one on the way in August, they're about to have six. you know, to have our fourth boy and two girls, you know, for me, everything that I'm doing now is not about me. It's about them. It's about what future can I create for them. What can I show them about trailblazing? You know, how can I be a positive impact and role model and show them that,

Starting point is 00:31:04 hey, you know what? It doesn't matter what you're dealing with. You can get out on the other side of it. You know, you just got to be willing to deal with it, confront it, and, you know, get past it and see it, like you said earlier, Terry, what can I extract from this? And how can I learn and move forward? So I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule.

Starting point is 00:31:24 You could have been anywhere else on the Planetary, and you decided to come on the Blazor Own Trail podcast. So I appreciate your insights. It was so incredible hearing about your journey and your story. And you're definitely a Trailblazer, my friend, and I wish you all the best success. I want you just to share, now that we're in closing here, you know, where is the one place you want the audience to

Starting point is 00:31:45 go to get more info about Terry. Yeah, you bet, Terryl Fossom.com. I'm not very imaginative. I don't have a cool name or anything like that for my website, but Terry, T-E-R-R-R-Y, L and Fossum, just like Possum with an F. You know, I was kidded in grade school. Yeah, go check there.

Starting point is 00:32:03 You can check all sorts of great information. Get on my email list for motivation. Follow me on social media. And I try to put out some good stuff to help people there as well. And feel free to reach out to me personally as well. And I'm always looking to do speaking gigs as well. So if you've got an organization that you're part of that's looking for what I hope is a pretty good speaker, reach out to me. I can help you out there as well.

Starting point is 00:32:27 Awesome. And we're going to make sure we get all the info and ways to reach out to Terry, put down in the show notes. Terry, thanks so much again for being an amazing guest today and coming on the Blaze Your Own Chalk podcast. Thanks again so much for how you're inspiring people to get out of their comfort zone and go live an amazing. life. You got this. Jordan, I appreciate everything you're doing. Everybody, get out there and go get them.

Blaze Your Own Trail - Embracing Failure: The Stepping Stone to Success with Terry Fossum

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