Blaze Your Own Trail - The Accidental Juggler & Professional Keynote Speaker with Greg Bennick

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. My name is George Mendoza. I'm your host, and I've got a very special guest today. His name is Greg Benick, and I'm going to have him tell you a little bit about who he is and what he does today. I am very excited to be here. When I say that, I'm very excited to be here. I love the concept of the show, and I'd love to talk about blazing my own trail, of course, and connect with other people about theirs.

Starting point is 00:00:25 I have been a professional speaker and presenter and bring people together. through speaking and entertainment since I was 13 years old. So the trail starts very early on. And it starts with me as a very young person wanting to connect with people, learning how to juggle, entertain, and then started doing professional presentations when I was 13. And ever since then, have been connecting with people and making people laugh and inspiring people along the way.

Starting point is 00:00:52 So this is cool. This is a really exciting opportunity to be able to talk about a trail that started many years ago and is continuing to this day. Love it, love it. Yeah, I'm excited to dive in and get deep context so the audience can get to know you and really see where this was birthed from, you know, prior to age 13. So share with the audience, you know, where were you born and raised? And then, you know, what kind of kid were you? What type of things outside of juggling did you get into and were you into the academic side or did you get involved in sports? Obviously, being able to juggle. That is yet to be athletic. And there's a lot of hand-eye coordination. Not technically a sport, but it could be. But yeah, I'm just curious to get some content. No, I like that.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Context here. For sure. So I grew up in Connecticut. I was born in Philadelphia, but I grew up in Connecticut. And my parents both had advanced degrees. And I think that that was kind of my mission, right? It was to pursue some sort of advanced degree, dive into academics, get smart, read books. And I did those sorts of things.

Starting point is 00:01:55 But very early on realized that I was kind of not to make a pun. out of all this, but blazing my own trail and that I didn't necessarily want to follow that traditional model. I wanted to do something different. So I was really interested in coin collecting as a kid. I was fascinated by coin collecting. And I'll tell you where this all started to come together is as a young kid, as I got into coin collecting, and as I got into middle school, and as I realized that my middle school had after school mini courses on a variety of different subjects. for an hour every Wednesday afternoon, you can take a class in gymnastics or art

Starting point is 00:02:30 or painting or poetry or whatever you wanted. I realized I wanted to forge my own path through that and I wanted there to be a coin collecting mini course. So I went to the school and I said, you know, I was 12. I said I want there to be this coin collecting mini course and they said if you find somebody to teach it, we will add the course to the roster of classes. So I had my parents drive me to a coin shop in the next town over

Starting point is 00:02:53 and I walked in and I was pretty confident And I had a $5 bill with me, and I offered the coin dealer $5 if he came in and he taught my friends and me about coins for six weeks in this mini course. And the guy agreed, the school put the coin collecting class on the roster of classes. And the next week in Home Room, we were to sign up and put our first choice, second choice, and third choice course down. If the first wasn't available, we get signed up for the second and so on. But I put coin collecting.

Starting point is 00:03:21 And if that wasn't available, I put coin collecting. And if that wasn't available, I put coin collecting as choice. three. And the school secretary in getting hundreds of these permission slips from students made a mistake and signed another kid up for coin collecting. And when I opened my permission slip the next week, it said that I had been signed up for juggling. And my life was essentially over. But I went to the juggling class anyway. I thought, you know, why not? Let's just see what happens. And while I was allowed to poke my head into the coin collecting class, when I walked into that juggling class, there was a kid about 10 feet away from me and it was juggling three baseballs. And I looked at him. And in my head, it was like a light went on in a dark room. And I said to myself, that's what I want to do for the rest of my life. And it was immediate,

Starting point is 00:04:01 like at age 12, I just knew that that's what I wanted to do. And I ended up practicing like a wild maniac and did my first professional show just a few months later when I turned 13. So I was in this small town. Yeah, it was cool. I was in this small town. More cows than people, more antique stores than anything else in Connecticut. And I started performing. And it was cool because I was the only game in town doing that. And people started hiring me for all sorts of events. Here I was 13 years old and then 14 and then 15 and I was making a living doing this and

Starting point is 00:04:34 decided to stick with it all these years. But it happened entirely by accident. It was almost like the trail was blazed for me by somebody else, that school secretary who made that mistake so many years ago. Yeah, that's awesome. What a great story. and it's very cool that you're still passionate. It sounds like just as passionate

Starting point is 00:04:52 as when the light bulb went off, which is pretty cool. Yeah, it's cool. And then the other thing is now you're able to leverage it in business and monetize it and bring it with you when you travel the world and when you're speaking and helping people with it as well. It's cool.

Starting point is 00:05:08 And I pursued coins as well. I mean, you know, coins have been a lifelong passion. I sit on the board of two coin organizations and write for five coin publications. I bet most listeners, had no idea. There was even two coin publications on the planet. I thought there'd probably be one at least.

Starting point is 00:05:23 Exactly. There'd be one, right? So, but yeah, you know, I've taken coins, you know, to a good degree as a big part of my life. And then, of course, speaking and presenting for all sorts of audiences. I mean, it's corporate and and association, sure, but it's also schools. I speak about kindness to young people. And I'm trying to start a kindness revolution amongst young people in the United States. I've got a connection for you then, brother, that has a, organization centered around kindness.

Starting point is 00:05:50 Fantastic. If that's something that you're pursuing, then I'm going to connect you to. And yeah, there's probably some awesome partnerships you guys can figure out. I love it. I look forward to that already. That would be fantastic. So, yeah, kindness is really important to me. And I'm speaking to schools and what's fascinating is that schools in speaking to students

Starting point is 00:06:09 have been coming to me now saying, do you do this for faculty? Do you do this for staff? Do you do this for adults? Because everyone needs those reminders, especially in a world that's replete with chaos. So I think that it's important and I'm really excited about it. So yeah, between coins and speaking, it's been an interesting and very unusual life without a doubt. So let's so let's dissect this a little bit. So you figure this out. You start doing it. You start essentially monetizing it as a teenager and you're still monetizing it at a bigger scale

Starting point is 00:06:39 today. The larger organizations, right? So it's kind of like you've been doing, you've been playing. for the last, how many years now? My gosh, it's 40 years now. Yeah, it's been my entire life. 40 years of play. Yeah. And, you know, my next book I'm writing, I just released a second book in July.

Starting point is 00:06:58 I've got another idea for a book. And it's centered around that. It's like, you know, when you have fun, you make way more money. You know, when you're passionate, you have joy. And, you know, it's like you don't ever work, right? Because you're always creating and you're always ideating and you're always playing.

Starting point is 00:07:16 And then you literally are an example of that for 40 years. You're just having fun out there. And what's awesome about it is, you know, you really, yes, you probably have bad days, I'm assuming, but nothing's going to keep you down, right? Because the next day you get to get up and do what you love, you know? Yeah. And also, I think that, you know, the entrepreneurial journey is one of making personal and developing a personal relationship with feeling unsure. So on the days where you're down or you don't get the gig or you don't have a lead or you have a lead that hasn't responded or you're not sure what direction. you're going or you've lost your footing, that's part of it. This is part of the deal. And the more

Starting point is 00:07:51 you can get comfortable with that, the more effective you're going to be in the long run. Because, you know, at age 13, 14, 17, 27, or 33, had I given up on the days that didn't feel quite right, I would have missed out on all the opportunities yet to come. And that's not just to sound, you know, overtly, you know, like optimistic, but it's realistic. I mean, I like to think about it. And I write about it in my book as a sign wave, basically. And there's sometimes where you're riding the crest of that wave, you're on top of the world, everyone's calling you, everyone loves you, and then there's other times where it's like you can't get people to call you back. That's part of the deal.

Starting point is 00:08:23 You've got to stay in the, as you said, game and play, right? You got to keep playing the game and stay in it. But the entrepreneurial journey is one of making a very close relationship with terror and fear and the unknown. I mean, if you can do that, then you're going to survive and you're going to thrive. Yeah, that's it. Yeah. So what's fun about this is, you know, we essentially have a 40-year sandbox to play with

Starting point is 00:08:45 for the rest of our conversation. So here's a fun question that I think the audience will get real value at out of. Let's look at marketing for you and the what you actually did out in the field to get customers back from Fort 17 versus the next, the next decade, say from 18 to 28. Sure. Okay. Because as technology shifted and things changed and cell phones became a, you see what I'm saying? And so I think it would be cool just to see the difference. And what I'm predicting is that the things that worked without the technology are still

Starting point is 00:09:20 a thousand percent affected today, but there's so many people that won't try them. That's going to be my prediction. And on the other end, it was just that the technology created more speed and less friction. But I'll let you tell your side. Well, you got it right. But let's dive in and get granular with it is that the things that work then still work now. Absolutely. What I did very early on was just exist and be and let people know that I existed and that was.

Starting point is 00:09:44 available, that sort of thing. It's pretty interesting, right, that now we rely on, you know, the drip campaign through, you know, a piece of software that reaches out to people to let them know that I exist and that I'm here. Or we have a system of cold calling that lets people know that I exist and that I'm here. Well, back then, it was the same thing. I was letting people know that I exist and that I'm here and then I'm available. I just did that through water mouth. I had business cards made up. I handed out business cards. I sent business cards in the mail. It was direct mail and it was word of mouth and getting your name out there. What I realized was if I just existed, that wasn't enough.

Starting point is 00:10:22 I had to let people know that I was out there and I was available. So sending out those business cards and flyers and things like that was helpful. But then just doing a good job. I mean, right, doing a good job and being easy to work with and being supportive of customers. I think that's really important too. When you're easy to work with, people are going to want to work with you again or spread the word about working with you. If you're just a pain to work with, people are going to say, yeah, we had this guy who's great, but I'd recommend hiring this other guy or this other woman or this other person, this other company, because of that ease that comes along with the entire experience overall. People don't just want the product.

Starting point is 00:10:59 They want the experience of the product. So I think that when I'm the product, they want it to be easy and enjoyable, meaning me, they want me to be easy to work with. So I think that early on when I was doing marketing, it wasn't just handing out the business. cards. It was also then going, doing the gig, being easy to work with, doing a good job, being personal and actually caring about my audience that led to continual client list growth, as it were. Yeah, because that's what if you do it that way, I'm assuming that you got lots of referrals, right? People that said, hey, I want to introduce you to Greg here. If you have an event, make sure you call him because he's going to do a great job. That's right. That's right. That's how it all

Starting point is 00:11:40 happen. And then after, you know, you said 18 to 28 or so, I started doing a lot more mailing. I was mailing things out more. And in a way, I found that to be slightly less effective because, you know, let's say I sent out a mailing of 500 letters or something like that or 500 flyers. I've disassociated myself from the personal connection with the recipient because what I was not doing was personalizing those letters as much as I should have been. So personalization is really important. And that's why, you know, When you're doing, for example, I mentioned them earlier, drip campaigns or some kind of cadences with emailing. It's important to let people know you actually cared about them. I mean, it's like, you know, one of the things that I did before you and I got together was, you know, listen to an episode of your podcast and looked into it a bit and thought, oh, wow, blaze your own trail.

Starting point is 00:12:26 Yeah, I've got this connection to Indiana Jones. That's how I live my life. That's something I could connect with. It wasn't just like digitally record me saying words and take pictures of my face and share them with your listeners. I mean, who cares? There's, you know, a thousand pod, 10 million podcasts out there, but make a personal connection. And all of a sudden it's like, oh, this could be a good conversation. This could be something that I like.

Starting point is 00:12:45 The same is true for business. This is a product that I might like. This is a person I might like. And then when you're easy to work with and easy to connect with, things just flow. And granted, they flow with a bumpy road along the way and the ups and downs of the sine wave. Let's be realistic. But I think that personalizing my outreach was something I did later after that chunk of time you talked about 18 to 28 that became once again effective for sure.

Starting point is 00:13:11 Yeah. Yeah, personalization is huge. Has something when I'm coaching my clients and it doesn't matter what platform you're on. If you're in the DMs on any platform, yeah, make sure you personalize it, make sure there's context, you know, or else you're just a spammer. That's right. That's right. You're out there just doing the spray and pray method and just inundating everyone's inbox and

Starting point is 00:13:32 just hoping that something happens, you know, and that's not, that is not a good strategy at all. That's right. It never works. It just frustrates people. It does. It absolutely does. So let's talk the next decade, right? So we got to 28, let's go 28 to 38 as social media started coming on board. And essentially, folks, I want everyone to just think about what we've just done. We've gone essentially 20 years. And from the beginning, as a teenager, Greg was building his personal brand. That's what we call it today, right? You're building your reputation. And that's something that has stood the test of time so far in this first couple of decades. So let's talk about that next decade and what were some shifts and changes as these new

Starting point is 00:14:15 systems started to come in place, CRM, social media, you know, kind of that decade of technology, like advancing almost overnight into something like even bigger than we could have ever thought. For sure, absolutely. And I'll tell you how early on an adopter I was of these things. When I first got on Facebook, I didn't know what to do for the first couple weeks because I was the only person I knew on Facebook. I just sat there and looked around the platform and there was like games you could play. And it was weird.

Starting point is 00:14:42 I didn't know. I didn't have any friends who were on Facebook. So I realized early on that I needed a social network in order to use the social network. And as people started to join and sign on, I started just, I started posting about things that were meaningful to me. Okay. The operative word there, meaningful to me. I wasn't just posting random words and digital images and what have you. I was posting things that I sincerely.

Starting point is 00:15:05 believed. And what I quickly realized was things that I believed, things that I could support, things that I could back, ideas that mattered to me were things that other people were connecting with. It was the kind of, if you build it, they will come mentality that I wasn't just posting, hey, everybody, a sandwich, but rather saying, you know, hey, here's my perspective on this, or hey, here's a thought about this, or hey, here's something that I feel about this, or, hey, here's something I expected. Stuck in traffic. Yeah, yeah, exactly. You know, but guilty as charged. That would be. Yeah. Right? But here's something that, you know, is meaningful to me that I experienced that I went through and why it matters.

Starting point is 00:15:41 And people were connecting with those things. So that was the lesson of that decade was just if you're going to post, post about something meaningful. I mean, there's just so much empty stuff. I talk about it from the stage and in my book, you know, in the late 1960s in France, there was a group called the Situationist Internationale. They were a group of radicals, essentially. And one of them was a guy named Guy Debord. He wrote a book called Society of the Spectacle. length, he wrote about the spectacle that surrounds us and how it completely overshadows us actually living because we get so absorbed in the spectacle that represents living, we forget to live ourselves, basically. And what was he talking about then? Billboards, magazine ads and movies. What would that guy say about TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and, you know, all the other platforms and whatnot? Not to mention, you know, he would lose his mind. The point is, is that there's so much

Starting point is 00:16:32 spectacle and granted all of this is but and create something valuable amidst that create something not just valuable but personal people crave personal authentic connection we are social creatures we need that connection with one another and when we're interfacing with the world through our social media it's those interpersonal moments that feel like they really matter that are going to draw us in that's good marketing it's also good human beinging if that makes sense I mean, just being a good, you know, being a good person and connecting with other people because you actually care about that connection. That's going to go a long way with your marketing as well.

Starting point is 00:17:12 Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I always tell my clients, hey, you want to add more value than you take. You know, that should be the goal, right? Like, let's add value. I hear that. Let's ask good questions. You know, let's actually reply to people's comments. Because it's just, you know, it's like if you're walking down the street, Greg, and you walk past me and you go,

Starting point is 00:17:32 like this and smile at me and I just keep walking, right? That's what happens. It's like when you don't reply to a comment on social media. True. Absolutely true. And the operative, one of the two words is social. You can't be social by being anti-social. That's right.

Starting point is 00:17:48 That's right. But that's like a just kind of social media one-on-one, one-on-one, but I believe that a lot of people still need that coaching. It's like, hey, listen, reply to people. Like, it's not like, they didn't say like, hey, great, cute picture of your dog just because they want to say it. Like they want you to say something back to them. Yeah,

Starting point is 00:18:05 they want to connect. I think it's a good point about the waving. I agree. That's really true. That's really true. So you leveraged it and your goal was to add value, it sounds like, and your goal was to build community,

Starting point is 00:18:19 which is something that everyone needs. A lot of people don't think they do. And that's what gets them in trouble. And then you end up getting out of it because you found community, which is pretty fun. But so let's talk about that next, that next decade of time. So you've now figured out platforms, growing audiences, you're speaking

Starting point is 00:18:37 on stages and you're bringing the concept of, it sounds like edutainment almost, right? Like you're indicating. That's right. That's right. And then you're educating people as well and building teams at a high level. So talk about the evolution of your offers and in the way that you brought this to the marketplace. I think that would be interesting for people to hear. Yeah. Well, you know, in a sense, that kind of brings us up to today because I'm doing the same things that I started doing then with trying to connect with people via social media and media and sending out information, but doing it in a personal way. I think that's really effective. And then from the stage as well, and let's use the stage as metaphor, even though for me it was

Starting point is 00:19:16 literal. And the reason I say that is all of your listeners are not speakers. They're not on stages. Their stage might be their company. Their stage might be the idea they have. Their stage might be, see what I'm getting at? So for me, though, from the stage, I made sure to connect with audiences and I made sure that the connection was genuine. I mean, even here in my studio, over on the wall, there's a sign that says preparation rehearsal only allows you, only prepares you for the initial moment. It's a reminder as I walk out the door to remember that all the preparation I've done, all the planning, all the strategizing only prepares me for hi. That's it. That's it. then after that, I've got to be connected to the audience. And yes, all the planning is going to come into

Starting point is 00:20:01 play with what I present, how I present, and what I share, but I have to be present and connected in the moment. You cannot plan for that. I can't plan even though I know the name of your podcast, what it's about who you are in your background, for what it's going to feel like when we're talking. And to be in the moment with you is essential to have the communication be solid and be important and meaningful. Same is true from the stage. Again, stage is metaphor. If you, You're starting a business and you're trying to get it off the ground. Connect with the people who are going to be buying what you're selling. If you're starting a nonprofit, connect with the people that you serve and why and let them know why it's meaningful to them.

Starting point is 00:20:40 Don't just like think of the concept, think of the product and then just begin selling. No, it only prepares you as far as that initial moment. And from there, you have to listen to the audience. You have to listen to your audience and make sure you're serving them well. So that's really what the last decade has been. and what the next one will be as well, really listening and really serving, rather than just serving myself with, you know,

Starting point is 00:21:02 just drivel and spectacle. I think it's really important to get people, to invite people into your world so that they feel meaningful. And I think that we can make continual choices to do that in a world which is filled with spectacle and a lot of empty content. Yeah, so awesome, I love that.

Starting point is 00:21:21 And I want you to walk that out for folks that are listening. So like, what does that look like, What does that look like practically? So say, for example, let's put it in the context of speaking. Someone is a onstage speaker. What are some things, some elements that you do to enhance that experience for people that would actually make them go, wow, like this is a value at. And then also a second part to that, what are you doing to collect data?

Starting point is 00:21:45 Do you have a feedback for a survey that people fill out so that you can take that and then leverage it in the next iteration or your next presentation? Okay, so let's take the second part first and then the first part second. The second part first is that I do have a feedback form, but I need to do more of that. That goes into the next decade. And that's a do as I say, not as I do situation for listeners and that we need to be doing, I need to be doing more feedback and getting more feedback. A month out, ask, you know, hey, you saw my keynote a month ago, how have things changed,

Starting point is 00:22:15 you heard me speak, how are things different, how are you feeling, what are you reflecting on, what do you remember? Essential, and I don't do enough of that. and I really need to. So that said, although I have those systems in place, I need to actualize them and use them more. I think that's good advice, everybody, for me too. So hold me accountable, write me in two months and ask me if I'm doing that.

Starting point is 00:22:35 Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it. So, okay, so the first part of that, what does it look like, right, that connection piece? Here's an example. I walked out on stage in Kansas recently, and I had a corporate audience, an audience of bankers, and I had my slide. on stage, Greg Benick, Build a Better Now.

Starting point is 00:22:54 And I'm standing there in my blue blazer and in the photo in a blue button down shirt and a pair of jeans and a pair of dark shoes. And as I walked out on stage and smiled and the audience is applauding because the last thing I heard is please help me welcome Greg Benick. I walk out on stage and I look at that slide that's on their screens that they're looking at. I was wearing the exact same outfit, like literally the exact same outfit. I mean, maybe my socks were different, but I'm not sure. They probably were the same. I have no idea, but I just started laughing. And I just turned to the audience and it wasn't planned.

Starting point is 00:23:26 And I was like, am I wearing the same outfit as in the picture? And everyone was like, yeah, you are. I'm like, that's weird, right? It's weird. Like, which one in me do you look at? And we all laugh together. That laugh set the stage for the entire keynote. That preparation only prepares you as far as that initial moment,

Starting point is 00:23:42 that I could have planned my intro. I'm going to walk out on stage. Good afternoon, everybody. I'm Greg Benick is so happy to see. Who cares? instead, I walked out on stage and in the moment made a connection with them. When you can do that, that's a win. That's why content creators are saying online in the first 15 seconds what they offer,

Starting point is 00:24:03 what they do, what they have to share, because then you're going to watch the rest. Same is true with keynote speakers and speaking. And as you presented or as you suggested, putting this in the context of speakers, I think lots of people, not just professional speakers, have to give presentations, whether you're a lawyer, whether you're in business, present to your team, connect first in the moment. And it could be anything. Like, I mean, can you imagine if you had a presentation to give in Seattle today?

Starting point is 00:24:30 I'm in Seattle, Washington. The Super Bowl was yesterday, just for context for people listening later. If you walked out on stage in Seattle today and all you said was, good afternoon. Go Hawks. Forget it. Standing ovation. Standing ovation. You wouldn't have to say anything else, right?

Starting point is 00:24:44 But it's that connection piece is important. even a year from now, you're in Seattle, you do a presentation, you walk out on stage, you look at the audience, you're like, man, I'm still happy about the Super Bowl. Yeah, people would be excited. Whatever it is, it could be literally anything in the moment that connects you to the audience. The same is true with our marketing and our advertising that in the moment, the first moment of interaction, we have to be offering something that's connective and connected and engaging for people.

Starting point is 00:25:15 That's going to get the next step of the conversation going. So I think that that's a practical thing. And then, you know, another thought is just, you know, if you're using any sort of outreach that involves a drip campaign of any kind, let's make that first moment, that first interaction, be the one that draws somebody in for another conversation, not for them to buy, but to have a deeper relationship. So instead of somebody coming in and they interface with you and they feel as though you want them to buy something, instead, have it be that you want to have a conversation with somebody because maybe they're not the person that's going to buy. but the person that's going to, you know, be in conversation with them a year from now is. So establish solid conversations and step by step, you know, step by step you'll get there. But I think it starts with a very sincere opening moment. That's important.

Starting point is 00:26:02 Yeah. Love it. Love it. Great tips. Awesome. Make sure folks, you rewind that if you want to jot that stuff down, very, very powerful stuff. Great insights. And so let's talk a little bit about the book.

Starting point is 00:26:14 So if you can share the name of the book and then where the audience is. and find it. I know that there are folks out there that are thinking about starting a business. It seems like it would be just a lot of good lessons, a lot of good strategies that could help them along. And I'd love for you just to share a little bit more context about it. And then we're, of course, going to link it in the show notes for everybody to go grab a copy. Great. I appreciate it. So I started to realize, you know, I mentioned earlier that there's, the world is filled with spectacle, meaning there's lots of things that capture our attention and not all of those. them pay us back for the time, the value of the time that we give to them. You know, the images that

Starting point is 00:26:54 we see and the spectacle all around us is so distracting. So I realized that I needed to codify the reminders that I offer to myself about what builds connection, what builds a team, what builds my focus and refines my focus. So the book is called Reclaim the Moment, seven strategies to build a better now. And it's about bringing ourselves back to center when we've been thrown off track by the world. Ultimately, at the end of the day, the ideas in it, like believing in the possibility of kindness to escape the trap of pessimism. It's one of the strategies. You know, it's very easy to get pessimistic about the world and the state of the world. But when we remember that there is potential for kindness in the world, all of a sudden we go,

Starting point is 00:27:35 okay, I can interact with other people and have it be effective and powerful and inspiring. It doesn't have to be negative and conflicting. And all of a sudden, you've got potential for connection. You know, the other strategies are built the same way, you know, leap into the dark. to embrace the possibility of success. We often fear success because we don't know where we will be once we are in a new place, a successful place where the old frustrations that keep us in a sense bound and uplifted are gone. It's very easy to fight against parameters all the time, but what happens when we succeed and those parameters are gone?

Starting point is 00:28:09 What do we have to struggle against? Where are we going to be? So we retreat from the possibility of success, the potential for success. Things like that are throughout the book. And there's stories from my life and things that I've encountered, overcome, or done all throughout the book. And it's fun and it's funny. And there's lessons in juggling in there because I ask people to try something new. And I mean, there's lots of ideas in the book. It's idea driven and experience filled. And of course, it's available, you know, from Amazon Bookshop.

Starting point is 00:28:36 If you're supporting and I hope you are independent booksellers, but Bookshop and Amazon, of course, you know, the huge behemoth that they are. They have every single thing, including my book. But it's a great, it's a great. in my opinion, a great book. And I feel that because it's all reminders to myself, meaning I wrote it to myself as reminders to myself to remember these ideas, like to, you know, ideas around focus and ideas around reverberation and listening to other people. These are all the ideas that carry me through when I feel distracted by the world. So hopefully people will find some value in there. I would love for that to be true.

Starting point is 00:29:10 And, you know, I will say, I'll say this, that if I'm really curious to see, in terms of the feedback we were talking about earlier, if people are, interested in a free chapter of my book, get in touch with me through Gregbenick.com. And in the comments that you send in, let me know that you heard about me here. And I'll send you a free chapter of the book. We'll see how that goes. There we go. Yeah, I love it.

Starting point is 00:29:30 Awesome. Awesome. Well, I know that at least I am looking forward to some tips around how to be a better juggler. I can go like, I can have three oranges and I can kind of get them going, but I don't know if I'm cheating or not. And if does that make sense? I don't know if I'm really doing it. So that's important to me as an athlete.

Starting point is 00:29:49 I want to make sure I'm doing things right so that I can get better and grow in it. So if you could share maybe three tips on becoming a better juggler from day zero, right? So like, you know, anybody out there listening and they're like, Jordan, well, you could do three. Well, I can't even like put one up in the air. So let's start at ground zero. I think that'd be useful for everyone. And then after that, we're going to let everyone know the best way to get in touch with you. And I've got one more thing in closing.

Starting point is 00:30:16 So let's hear three tips to be a better juggler from day zero. Okay, from day zero, one, get excited about the little victories. You throw a bro ball, you catch a ball. Even if that happens one out of ten times, that's a little victory. Stand on it. Stand on the foundation of that victory. And build from there, from the foundation of little victories. I would say refine your focus and be sure that consistency matters most.

Starting point is 00:30:41 I tell my keynote audiences all the time, consistency, consistency, consistency, consistency, consistency. I learned it from juggling. If every throw out of your right hand is the same, and every throw out of your left hand is the same. If there's consistency there, it's going to be easier to catch those throws. So stand on the foundation of little victories and then consistency, right, with your throws. And then also, the third thing would be, buy my book for the instructions that are in there. No, I'm kidding. I would say the third thing is get good instruction, right? Just find a video that you like or instructions, whether it's in my book or anywhere, and then follow along step by step, build methodically, and have patience.

Starting point is 00:31:19 That would be the third things. Have patience because people get instructions or are instructed on juggling. And what they do is they jump to wanting to do three, four, five, seven, eight balls at once without practicing with one first. Build that consistency. Build the foundation on your little victories and also have patience with yourself. And stick with it for a day or a week. and it's going to work for you.

Starting point is 00:31:44 It won't work in the first 15 minutes or the first hour, and you might not feel that it is working, but it is. And I talk about that in my book too. So I think that those three things are really helpful, even if they're not as practical as hold the beanbag in one hand, that stuff you'll figure out. And a good teacher will teach you along the way. But I think building on that foundation and having patience,

Starting point is 00:32:04 those sorts of things are really important. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I talked to my clients a lot about celebrating micro wins. You know, it's important to celebrate it. and give yourself that, you know, a little hit of dopamine because that's going to keep you coming back, which is going to help you be consistent, you know, because if you're not getting wins, I agree. I agree. Consistency is hard when you suck all the time.

Starting point is 00:32:24 Like when you can't celebrate anything, it's so hard to be consistent. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, absolutely. I love the tips. And yeah, make sure you guys try that, practice it. And again, you know, start with one thing. Don't be crazy. Me, I'm like, I always start with like a bunch of stuff.

Starting point is 00:32:40 That's right. it and then work my way backwards, but, but I don't know if that's the right way, but I'm a trailblazer, so I do things a little bit backwards sometimes, you know. Well, the other thing, the other thing is, is that juggling's a metaphor, it's a metaphor for life lessons. So with juggling as a metaphor for life lessons, anything that you want to start, take it step by step. You can dive in, have a failure, and then quit and never go back to it, game over. Or you could go in, take your knocks, right, along the way, you get hit, you fall down, and then if you take it, you fall, and then if you take get step by step like we're offering to do with juggling, you're going to realize that you're

Starting point is 00:33:14 going to achieve more over time than if you quit and stop trying. Yeah, 100% love it. So where can the folks go to find you if you want to share your main website? Feel free to share that, whatever you want to share. Sure, it's Gregbenick.com, g-r-g-b-N-N-I-C-com, Gregbenick.com. And of course, you could find me on the Instagram and LinkedIn as well, at Greg Benick on Instagram, and then LinkedIn, just my name, G-R-E-G, B-E-N-N-I-C-K. I would love to connect the people on LinkedIn and connect through my website as well. And like I said, if you go to my website and hit contact

Starting point is 00:33:49 and then write me in the comments, mention this podcast. I'll send you a free chapter of the book. Love it, love it. And we're going to make sure that all that info, the book, the website, your LinkedIn, all that's in the show notes. So folks, make sure you guys jump over there,

Starting point is 00:34:05 scroll through to those links and get in contact with Ray, whether you're looking for him to come to your organization as a speaker, whether you want to, maybe, I don't know if you do sign copies of the book, a lot of people like that. Maybe that, you know, you could do some outreach there. And then also make sure you send the key, the podcast name in his chat over on the website so you can get a free chapter of the book as well. So, Greg, it's been awesome hanging with you. You've definitely been blazing trails since a teenager, which is awesome. It looks like you're still having just as much fun as it sounded like you were back there.

Starting point is 00:34:38 then, which is great. And I'd love for you just to share any parting words with the audience. You know, maybe someone out there's struggling on the trail. You know, they were high in one moment, but now they're kind of down in the valley and they're trying to climb back up. What type of encouragement can you give them? Yeah, stay in the game, stay in it, and know that you're not alone. If I was perfect, if everything was awesome, all the time, people would worship me. They'd have a special name for me. There'd be a religion based around me. Instead, I'm just a guy, And I'm struggling as well and excited as well and inspired as well and challenged as well. So if you're feeling that, stay in it.

Starting point is 00:35:15 And don't stay in it for the sake of becoming perfect. Stay in it because that's what we're here to do. We're here to work against the challenges and to ride the crest of victory and enjoy the process along the way. So if you're having a hard time, stay in it. Know that you're not alone. And that if you want to reach out any time, I mean, you've taken minutes out of your life to listen to me.

Starting point is 00:35:35 I'd be happy to take minutes out of my life to listen to you. Write me through the Greg Benick website and let's be in touch. And I'm inspired to hear what you've been doing and what you're working on and where you're headed. So stay in the game. That's the key. Absolutely stay in it. Love it.

Starting point is 00:35:49 Great advice, my friend. And folks, the one guarantee I'll give you is when you are blazing trails, you're going to face adversity. That is the only guarantee is that I'll give you. I can't guarantee you're going to get to success, but I will guarantee you're going to face adversity. But if you can overcome those adversities and keep going on the trail, that's where success will be. So thanks so much, Greg, for coming on and sharing your story. I know the audience is going to get a ton of value. Folks, make sure that if you haven't yet to subscribe to the

Starting point is 00:36:21 YouTube channel, make sure you do that. And if you're enjoying the content, make sure you give us a five-star rating on Apple and follow us on Spotify as well. As always, have an amazing day. And Greg, thanks so much for your time. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks, Thanks, everybody.

Blaze Your Own Trail - The Accidental Juggler & Professional Keynote Speaker with Greg Bennick

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