Cleared Hot - Powered By BRCC - Full Auto Friday - Round 61

Episode Date: July 9, 2021

Traditionally Friday episodes are dedicated to listener-submitted Q and A, but not today. What began as an interaction in the comments section of Youtube morphed into an email exchange, and the perfect opportunity to discuss a few of the topics that surfaced. Today's episode is completely dedicated to that exchange in the hopes of shedding some light on what the podcast is, what it will never be, who I am, who I will never be, negative social media comments, and hopefully a critical look in the mirror.

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and learn all about the firearm that it matches you with by going to Christensenarms.com slash Find My Firearm or Christensenarms.com and just clicking on the Find My Firearm tool. And that's all. Let's get into this. It's going to be a little bit of a unique episode of Full Auto Friday. Number 61. Here we go. I'm looking at danger close now. What's up, everybody?

We find ourselves here again on Friday, which normally these episodes are dedicated towards Q&A. Every once in a while, something will happen. Not a catastrophic event by any stretch of the imagination, but something will happen that'll catch my attention. And I will try to dedicate a Friday episode to that. of the Friday episodes, I dedicated the beginning to reading and responding to some of the reviews of the podcast. And today, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to dedicate this episode to an

interaction that I have with somebody that began on YouTube and then finished or continued via email. Now, I do not spend a lot of time reading the comments on YouTube or the reviews on iTunes. Actually, I guess it could be reviewed other places. I'm just not aware of where to find them. Having said that, I do see comments from time to time. I will engage from time to time, but it's more a matter of timing. I checked up on the release days like tomorrow. I'm recording this on Thursday.

Tomorrow or today when you're listening to this, the episode will release. I have it set for 5 a.m. Mountain daylight time, which is often Mountain Standard time, when daylight savings is not in effect. And I will check in the morning when I wake up. I'm sorry I don't wake up at 4.30, like other people, people because I enjoy sleep very much so. And I'll make sure I'll go to the audio only portion and then I'll go to YouTube to check to make sure that they actually post properly because I have

in the past either incorrectly put in the time and date or not even clicked on the correct box and they haven't posted. So I try to make sure that the consistency of release occurs. In doing so, occasionally I'll screw all through the comments. Sometimes one will catch my eye and sometimes I will respond to it. If I'm being honest, I generally will respond to the negative comments more than the positive ones. And that is an issue that I need to work on because I give the advice to people of, you know what, give the negative comments the same amount of emphasis that you would the positive.

Don't know what to tell you. I'm a work in progress for sure. And sometimes it will just catch my eye. This episode is going to be dedicated to an exchange that was similar to what I just described. And I'm actually glad because I went back to find the original comments so I could continue and tie it into the email. And I wasn't able to, but there's some great negative comments on that particular episode. I think it was the one with Nelson, so last weekend, last week. You know, there's a guy telling me that, you know, cringy Andy Stumpf, he says he's an idiot too much.

And he kind of goes on and other people were interacting with him. And the reality is this, please think of me however you want to. And what I will say to the individual who said that and his issue, or gripe seem to be that I will refer to myself often, in his opinion, far too much as being an idiot. I don't know what to say about that necessarily. I am constantly trying to keep myself grounded. I'm constantly trying to keep myself in check. And I'm constantly trying to remember and remind myself of where I'm an expert and where I am not.

And perhaps I could find better terminology to do that. But for me in the moment, because it's not necessarily pre-planned, that's the terminology that comes out. So what I'll say to anybody who has something negative to say about the show, please by all means do so. But I'm going to follow that up with. Listening is completely optional. If I personally am doing something that you find to be irritating on the podcast, the best advice that I can give you is stop giving me your time. I follow Rob Bailey on Instagram. He's been on the podcast.

And actually tomorrow I'm supposed to sit down with him, Matt Vincent. and his wife, Rob's wife, Dana Lynn Bailey. Should be an awesome episode. They're all fantastic in their own stretch and their own regards, but it has nothing to do with what I'm talking about right now. Rob's a great social media follow. He and his stories specifically. He answers questions directly,

and he has a lot of commentary that I enjoy. And he made a story post the other day, so I don't know how people could necessarily find it, but it was about negative commentary on the Internet. And it really got me thinking. I'm wildly paraphrasing for Rob here, so don't quote me. But essentially it was, let's think about the individuals who take their time and energy to post negative commentary on the internet. Why do they do that?

And what does it say about them? And Rob went on to continue and say, you know, it's not a sign of success or happiness or fulfillment in oneself that drives an individual to do that. And that really got me thinking. You know, negative comments, please, like I said at the beginning, send as many as you want to. It got me more thinking about the type of person that takes the time to do so. And there's criticism and then there's negativity. Those two can often be combined, but they also can live very separately. There's ways you can provide criticism and not be negative in any way, shape, or form.

And then there's just purely comments that are, you know, trolling. And then there's just people who seem to be negative. They have a criticism, but they keep willingly coming back with the only desire to try to tear somebody else down. So who does that? Who comments negatively on the internet? And I started thinking about it. And I thought about the happiest, most successful, most fulfilled people that I know. Do any of them take the time ever to tear others down in person or specifically, since we're talking about internet commentary on the internet?

And the reality is they don't. I can't think of a single example of somebody that I look at who is successful, fulfilled, and happy that takes the time to do that. And it really makes me wonder what the action of doing that, of the tearing down of another individual. What does that say about the person taking the time to make those comments? Now, I don't have an answer to that, but I suspect that if I know people who are happy and fulfilled and successful and that they are not. doing those things, perhaps it is an indication along those three tranches and maybe many more in the other direction for those that feel that they need to tear other people down. I don't know, but I suspect that may be the case. So food for thought when it comes to that. Now let's dive into

the interaction. I went back to find the interaction and unfortunately this individual has removed it. And it was a comment and the comment essentially was, why do people ask Andy any of these questions? This is becoming Dr. Schill. And I actually had to look up what it means to be a shill. And it basically means you're a fraud or a hawker or somebody who is publicizes or praises something for the reasons of self-interest, personal profit, or loyalty. As you can tell, I'm reading that definition here. And since I can't read the initial interaction, that's really all that stuck out to me. This is becoming the Dr. Schill show.

And for my opinion, at least, I don't actually know either. why people ask for my opinion on subjects. And the individual is like, you know, I don't know why people ask any questions beyond, it was like, BJJ, which don't ask me questions about BJJ.

I can give you broad ideas through my own three-year journey through this, but I'm still extremely new. And I'm actually not a great person for that. And I think it was the military or base jumping, skydiving, basically things that I have been public about what it is that I do. And I,

to the person making that comment, I don't know why people want to ask me questions about things about their life, about leadership, about their headspace, about struggles that they're experiencing. But they do. And I'll be the first to admit, yeah, I have some experience in Brazilian jiu jitsu, very little. I have some experience in skydiving and base jumping and military operations and speaking to organizations when it comes to leadership. But I'm not an expert at any of those things. But those are experiences in my life. and they have formed the way that I view the world.

And I take the lessons learned through success and failure. And all of those things that you listed out. And I try to gain positivity from them, from the perspective of moving my life in the direction that I wanted to be. People have reached out to me since I started the podcast with questions. And all I can do is take those experiences and the knowledge that I have gained, the way, the optic, the lens that I view the world, and try to answer those questions accordingly. It's not trying to sell a product because we'll get into this with your emails when it talks to sponsorships and all that stuff.

I'm not trying to sell anything. So I'm not really trying to shill for anything. I'm trying to give people my honest opinion on questions that they may have. And before I go any farther, what I'll say is this. If you think I'm shilling for anything, if you don't like the Friday episode, If you don't like the questions that are being asked, don't listen. I am not aware of having a gun to anybody's head when it comes to the podcast, forcing them to listen. And let me be very clear about what the podcast actually is to me. For me, as the person who creates this podcast, the podcast is a journey and an exploration of myself and my beliefs.

I'm fascinated by other people and their experiences and how they view the world in comparison to how I view the world through different lenses and different optics. The podcast is incredibly cathartic for me. I love making it because I learn things about myself. When people ask me questions, it forces me to gauge the depth of my belief. And then also ask myself the question, why do I believe that? What is it that actually causes that depth of belief? And so I try to do both of those things. I gauge the depth of my belief and answer that question why, and then I try to give my answer.

So how that is portrayed as me selling something, I'm not sure. I'll address advertising here in a minute. But let's dive into the email that you said, that you sent me. And what I'll start with is this. Thank you for the interaction on YouTube. And thank you for sending the email. neither of which you had to do specifically the email which is quite long and which is why i think it'll take up the entire time for the episode but you took time energy and effort and you directed it

towards me uh the initial comment you were making on youtube i i would say it was more of a very negative maybe a half-hearted joking comment you might have made whatever i don't take it personally uh the email i think uh is coming from a place of actual legitimate feedback. So I appreciate that. Do I agree with everything that you said in the email? Absolutely not.

But I absolutely appreciate that it took the time to send it. So let's get into this. I'm just going to take it kind of bullet line by bullet line because it's the only way I'm going to be able to keep my head traveling down the path

that we're on for today. Hey, Andy. Again, apologies for coming off negative and mean spirit in the comments. I've been a listener slash of you of your show for about two years now and I jotted down a few suggestions, trigger warning, in parentheses,

in no particular order. respect you and a fan of most of your content. Okay, number one, passion. You seem flat lately and more of a fence sitter. It wouldn't hurt you, it wouldn't hurt to see you get fired up about some topics and show some emotion slash passion. Whether it's about the critical race theory being pushed into schools or trans girls in sports or Coke versus Pepsi, something that will get you fired up. I think it would be better than coming off as politically correct suburban dad who doesn't want to say the wrong thing. You can act like a man in parentheses slap Don Corleone.

I don't, I think that's a movie reference. I'm not really sure about that. But let's dive into this. You know, I'm actually not a fence sitter on most things. And I'm also not somebody who gets very fired up. It takes a lot to push me to a place to get fired up. But in my experience, in the activities that you listed in your YouTube comment, getting fired up has only negative consequences.

I'm a very rational thinker. I try to be very rational, logical and objective. thinker. Passion and emotion, they don't help in that way at all. And as a person, what I would say is that I, it's not that I am flat, but I would say I probably have shallower wave heights and valleys than most when it comes to emotional responses. Or I don't want to say I love or hate any less or any deeper than anybody else, but I feel not necessarily flatline. I feel shallower in my peaks in valleys. And I can navigate my life better, more critically, more objectively, more objectively by doing so. And what I'm not going to do is try to portray myself

as something that I am not. I'm not going to artificially pick a topic to get fired up about, just so I can show passion that in that instance would absolutely be fake. I'm not a fence sitter. What I will say often is what I know, and I will stop right there and talk about this is the limit of which I can actually speak about this from an educated perspective. I am more uneducated on most topics than I am educated. So it's not a matter of sitting on the fence. It's a matter and a desire for me to gather more information so I can have a more informed opinion. Politically correct? If you think I'm politically correct, you probably haven't listened to many of the podcast episodes because I absolutely use language at the very least that would not be considered politically correct.

And this is where I will say for people who listen to the podcast. There's a difference between listening to the podcast and hearing what I have to say. And I'm going to bring this up again later on in your email because you can listen to every word that I say, but you may not hear what it is that I'm saying. you, I'm going to guess, potentially, or I'm going to make the assumption that you, and this is based off of a point that I'll bring up later on, you may try to live your life in a manner that is anything other than politically correct. And you want to take a stand on issues that are of the utmost importance to you. And that's great for you.

What I'd say is don't try to align your values onto me. That's one thing I don't try to do to other people. I respect people's ability to disagree and hold a different opinion. Does that mean that I agree with them? absolutely not. But there's a difference between giving somebody that space and that grace and trying everything you do to be politically correct. I give my honest opinions on how I feel whether it's in a conversation or if I'm presented with a question that somebody asks. Again, if my responses don't rise to the level of passionate emotion that you're looking for,

perhaps there's a content creator outside of myself that you could go find that in. continuing on under the bullet point of passion. Perhaps re-examine your libertarian objective observer approach. It's a touch out of date, in my opinion. If I just, in parentheses, if I just do my own thing while everyone else is forming groups and gaining power and influence and slowly eroding my rights and filling my children's mind through targeted propaganda and social pressure, how does this play out? End quote. This isn't the 90s, times have changed. I feel recent times have highlighted the need to take a stance on societal issues important to you, your family and community's future.

A lot of people will support you, others will hate you. Either way, your channel will grow and you'll exhibit more passion naturally. If your goal is not to make waves, you'll drown. My goal isn't to make waves, it's to be honest about who I am and what the podcast is for me, that exploration. I know how to swim, so I'm not necessarily worried about drowning. And right up front, if people choose not to listen to my podcast because of that or download it, that's on them. Because guess what? If that's what it is that they're looking for, the passion, and I don't have to. have it and they don't like the fact that I would say, again, I hate describing any political beliefs, but I would say I probably align with a libertarian mindset more than the traditional or modern day left or right side of the aisle. If that doesn't float their boat, then they can move on to a different vessel. When I hear people say things like I feel recent times have highlighted the need to take a stance on societal issues, important to you, your family and community's future. What I hear most often from people who say that is, what I want you to do is voice what I believe. What I really want you to do is be more vocal about the things that I find

to be passion or important to me about my family and my community. Because when you start talking about or talking through issues and you take a position on the other side, they no longer say that. They don't longer say, hey, it's important and it's important to take a stance on societal issues. start doing is they start putting negative comments on the internet because they have no room for anybody else's belief or belief system in between their own ears. So I more often than not hear people saying things like this only when it aligns with their beliefs. Everyone else is forming groups and gaining power and influence and slowly eroding my rights and filling my children's minds through targeted propaganda and social pressure. First off, never at any one time

have I ever agreed with anybody doing any of those things. Objective observer, that's actually not what I am. Let's go back into one of the career fields that you mentioned, my time in the military. Pretty fucking sure I'm not an objective observer, that I won't sit on the fence, that when pushed towards my own beliefs, I am willing to take actions and risk that most people are not comfortable with, nor do they have the ability to actually tow the line when it comes down to what is actually necessary to fight for those beliefs. And that's okay, because I don't want everybody to have the experiences that I have. But I'm pretty sure they're the opposite of an objective observer. Now, when I talk about my beliefs, am I saying because I don't want to impose my

value on somebody else that I'm okay with them, you know, gaining power and trying to influence my kids? Absolutely not. That's what you're, that's what when you listen to the podcast, that's what you are, I'm going to say, bringing to the table on your own. Because if you are hearing what I am saying, and what you are hearing in the conversations that I am having, at least the message I feel like I'm putting out, it's the exact opposite of that. Having more guests outside the Miller-E-O space who are semi-controversial or have passionate stances could be an easy way of bringing into these topics more seamlessly. Sure.

I don't think I have, well, you know what, I probably have a 60 to 70 percent mill or LEO guess. But guess what? That's the background that I come from, obviously not LEO, but I interface in the valley where I live with a lot of law enforcement officers. I've had Jiu-Jitsu podcasts. I've had authors come on. I just sat down and recorded a podcast earlier before this

with somebody who works for a human trafficking organization. I grab people or I reach out to people who interest me. It's not really about what job they hold. It's about their beliefs or what it is that they're doing or what it is that they're trying to accomplish. So, yeah, I am who I am. My background is what it is. the people that I know because of the time that I spent in that background, they probably come from that.

So again, perhaps skip those episodes. I don't know what else to tell you. Bullet point number two, new content. Do reaction videos. Show clips and comment. Navy SEAL reacts to. Insert movies, CCTV footage, cop footage, terrorist mishaps, etc. And you gave me two examples of two websites that do that.

Here's what I'm going to tell you. If I ever start doing that, that is an indication. to everybody who either listens to or watches the podcast that I am in dire straits. Because that is the exact opposite, the antithesis of who I am and what it is that I want to do. If people are searching for that stuff, go search for that stuff. You're just not going to see me doing it. I think I've done one Navy SEAL reaction. It was for Black Rifle, and it was a total spoof.

And that's why we did it. But there is no chance that I will ever go down this path. and I don't care what could come from it. I don't care if I could get 5 million subscribers to the podcast on YouTube or the podcast channel. I'm not going down this path. That's not who I want to be. And I'm almost 10 years away from my time in service.

In 23, I've been out of the military for 10 years. I do not want to be in another 10 years the Navy SEAL reacts to you. I'm very proud of my service. I'm glad that I had those experiences, but I do not want to be tied in any. way, shape, or form to what you have described. I would actually pay somebody money to not do that job. That's how much it is grading to me as a person. Continue on. Take more risk with your content. You're funny and smart guy who sometimes seems like he still needs to break out of his shell. If you're not getting any pushback from your sponsors, then maybe you're not taking enough

risks with your content. Now, I said I was going to talk about sponsorships here before, and maybe this is a good chance to explain to people the mechanics of how my particular podcast works. Podcast advertisers make the podcast possible for me. I'm not a rich person by any stretch of the imagination, and I use the money that I make for the podcast to improve the podcast, whether that be flying somebody out, the cost associated with travel. I recently upgraded the cameras that I use for the podcast. It allows me to buy a laptop, so when I have my video editor,

we're not both sharing a computer back and forth. The sponsorship dollars have absolutely nothing to do with the content in and of itself. I have to say specific things when it comes to the advertisement reads and largely those, it's avoid this terminology, avoid these words, be very clear.

And when it comes to the offers, I have to read them verbatim, which is exactly what I would expect if I was paying somebody to advertise. They have nothing to do with the content. So the advertisers, they rotate through, and they don't get to pick and choose

what episode that they're going to be a part of. So they're interested in viewership, and downloads. I guess I am too from the perspective of it's my metric that I can tell, you know, maybe this topic is more interesting, or I can just kind of gauge the success or lack of success of the podcast. But that's it. They don't have anything to say about what it is that I talk about. So there's not going to be any pushback from the sponsors because the two are very separate from me. I'm not actually shilling for anybody. I'm very upfront with the ad reads. I try to keep them 90 seconds are less per ad read that I do per episode.

And for clarity, when people think about advertising when it comes to the podcast, in all of the opportunities that I get, when it comes to sponsorship, I turn down nine out of ten. I'm very clear with things that I have direct experience with, and I'm very clear with things that I don't have direct experience with. I try to, my litmus test is to whether or not it's something that I agree with. I have nothing against online gambling as an example. I don't think I'll ever do an advertisement read for it. I'll never do an advertisement read for cigarettes or vaping,

even though people who are of age have every right to make those decisions. Those are things that I think about when it comes to the advertisers and which ones that I will work for. Or I should say work with because I do their ad read and then I do the podcast. If one is successful, that's amazing. If the other, if the podcast and the sponsors are successful, that's great. But at the end of the day, I see them as a mechanism to continue to grow the podcast, using the money smartly to build and hopefully refine a better product for the listeners or watchers. But the pushback, I don't know what it would be. Rename your channel to your name or Navy Seal Andy Stump.

I know it's a bit cheesy, but you're in the business of clickbait, so play to win. I'm actually not in the business of clickbait. I'm in the business of exploring who I am and what I believe. And maybe that's a bad business model, but I am never, ever changing my name to what you recommended. I'm a fan of J.A.E. And I know you've sort of styled your podcast after Joe's, but he has a different pipeline of fans tuning into his show,

Fear Factor, Stand Up, UFC, etc. So it helps to get yourself more exposure through new types of content that may feel cringy at times. I do conversations with individuals, and then on Fridays I answer Q&A, or I have episodes like I'm doing today. Anybody who has a conversation with somebody else in a long-form format, to some degree, has styled their podcast after Joe's. So I guess you're kind of right there because we both do conversations with individuals, but I don't take what Joe does, how Joe does it, the direction that he takes his beliefs. I will take best practices, and I actually did reach out to Jamie when it came to things like technology and hosting the podcast, stuff like that for sure. But I don't know how to, you know, it's a long form conversation.

I guess anybody who has that has styled it to some degree after Joe. But guess what? Joe wasn't the first person to do it either, so that has to continue upstream for him as well. I'm not going to do cringy content at all. Will I sit down and have conversations with people that I disagree with, that I hope. hold complete opposite beliefs of. Yes, I absolutely will, but cringy, not going to happen. Number three, revenue sources. Push your Patreon account more as you build your audience and as you become potentially more controversial, more loyal, committed fan base. I'm not trying to become

controversial. I am not a provocateur. I am not a controversial individual. I don't seek controversy. And I would rather have less viewership and downloads for people who come for the quality of the content, not the fucking clickbait. That is not the business that I will ever be in. When it comes to the Patreon account, I don't talk about it that much because I don't like the idea of selling things. And for people who don't even know what I'm talking about, on Mondays, well, the call Mondays is associated with Patreon. Yes, I have a very small Patreon account. And on Mondays, we do a video call from 5 to 6 p.m. Mountain time. And it's a relatively small group. And I love it because I'm actually getting to know the people in the group.

And it's more about the group themselves than it actually is about me. And I said that to them not long ago. People will ask questions in the Patreon group. It's hosted on Zoom, but I, fuck. I'm going to say the words Zoom and Patreon. They're synonymous at this point. So we'll have these Zoom meetings and people will ask a question. And I'll kick it right back to the other people who were on the call because the collective knowledge greatly exceeds my own personal knowledge.

So if I look at myself, if I'm interested in somebody and what it is that they're doing, I don't need them to sell me on that. My own curiosity will lead me there and guess what that means? I have to put in the sweat equity and the time to figure out if they have something like this. And if they do, and I'm actually that interested in it, I'll find it and I'll take care of it on my own. Those are the people that I want involved on those Monday calls. And that's why I don't talk about it too much. your main revenue source should evolve towards direct to consumer sales of IP

clothes hats holsters survival shit falling from the sky shit supplements and whatever else selling your own products that you're passionate about comes off as more authentic than hawking someone else's stuff start selling white label products with your brand directly to your audience my first question to you would be sir what experience do you actually have doing this have you ever actually tried to do this yourself to create a product and sell it to a audience of unknown size, scope, and scale. An unknown breakdown of male and female. If you have, then we can have a very different conversation. I'm never going to sell survival shit. You know why? Because I know people who are so much better at it than me. I'm going to point people towards Mike Glover and fieldcraft

survival because they're the fucking expert. I am not going to ever try to take anything away from him. The amount of respect that I have for him in his technical capacity and knowledge, there's no amount of money that you could offer me that would force me to do anything other than direct attention towards Mike. So I don't care how much I could make on a cleared hot or Andy Stump survival fill in the blank. Nope. Go to the experts because that's what they are. Exactly that. I'm not an expert in falling from the sky shit. I'm not going to get into the parachute in skydiving or the container helmet, you know, a jumpsuit world. Absolutely not. That's an absolute headache to try to even get into that. Supplements? Why would I try to start selling supplements

and putting my name on something? Because I don't have the time, A, to develop it, the product itself, B, the true understanding of what it can, you know, what it could actually do or not do, the pros and cons associated with that. I don't have the time for that. I don't want to do that. Holsters, no, I'm not a gun guy. Do I know my way around a gun? Yes, I do. But guess what? Here's an example of where you need to go for holsters. 406 holsters. Full disclosure, this is my cousin. He has no idea that I was going to say this because he has no idea. I don't even know if he listens to the podcast, actually. It's like a side job for him. They're created, 406 is the only area code in Montana for phones. Down in Missoula, he makes awesome holsters. I point all of my friends towards

his holsters. Why do I do that? Because he's really fucking good at it. And I'm not. I'm not going to go down that route. Direct to consumer sales. I'll tell you what I will do. I'll do t-shirts and I and I'll do hats. And so your next line here. Consider rebranding. Cleared hot merchandise comes off as a little tacta-dushy, kind of afflictione.

The trend is gray man now anyways, walking around the stamp on your chest that says cleared hot means active shooter to 90 plus percent of people. No, it doesn't actually. Most people actually would probably say if you buy the t-shirt that says cleared hot, what most people think is like, oh, damn, you're trying to tell me that you're hot. That's kind of a maybe a little do-sheet to use a word that you did. But guess what? Purchasing a T-shirt is completely optional.

Also, it's probably been a while since you see the T-shirt offerings that I sent or that I put up for sale because right now I actually haven't had a new cleared hot shirt with that on the chest in probably coming up on a year because I've been focusing more on a very toned-down lifestyle image. So I actually took your advice or advice along those lines because, one, I didn't want it to be a billboard. I understand that there's an opportunity for it to be misunderstood. But you know what? There's also an opportunity for individuals to come up to somebody wearing that shirt and say, hey, what the fuck does that mean? Are you trying to tell me that you're, you know, that you're too hot? And you know what that does?

That sparks a conversation. And maybe that leads to somebody who finds the podcast because of that. But instead, I had my really good friend, John Delby, help me create an image that doesn't say cleared hot. It actually looks like an arrowhead or a mountain. And it's combined of things that mean a lot to me. But it still says cleared hot. the sleeve. Tactic douchy. I don't I don't think you understand what tactical is if you think a

t-shirt that says cleared hot across the front is tactical douchey. But whatever, you know, I agree with the underlying, what I think is the underlying sentiment of your email. And like I said, appreciate the feedback. Lastly, I get that I I, I get that I'm not saying anything ground biking here, but I know you have a lot to offer and I want to see you win. So get a B-12 shot in the arm, drink a few nitros, put the battery on your back and let's go. And I'll leave the name out of it. Again, thanks for taking the time to give me your feedback. And hopefully you take the time to listen so I can give you some feedback on the suggestions that you had.

I think, though, at the end of the day, you might have a level of misunderstanding of who I am based off of the feedback. If people think that I am somebody who is chasing dollar signs, you don't know me at all. I've gone through that phase of my life. I at the very least know what I don't want to be, who I don't want to be as a person. And you actually laid out in this email quite a few things that I don't ever want to be. And I don't fucking care how big the check or following or subscribership could potentially be because I wouldn't be able to sleep with myself at the end of the night. and I like to sleep more than Jocko.

So thank you for the feedback. Perhaps email me again if you like and we can continue to go back and forth. And for those of you out there, let's close with this. For those of you out there who feel that you have to make negative commentary on the internet, that you have to go on to people's posts of any kind and try to tear them down, the next time you feel like doing that, instead of doing that, take one minute. 60 seconds, 12 slow breaths, and think about what it is that is actually driving that desire to do so. I think you might have an improvement in your life, if instead of smashing away with your fingers or your thumbs on your phone,

take a look in the mirror, be critical of yourself before being critical of somebody else. And that's all I have for this week. See you guys. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Thanks for taking the time to tune in, whether you're listening on an audio-only platform or you're watching on YouTube. I appreciate that you take the time every week to tune in. People ask me a lot, what can they do to help me spread the word? And the answer is actually embedded in the question.

The biggest thing you guys can do to help me if you enjoy the podcast and you think it would be helpful to others is subscribe and share it with other people. And if you have the time, go on to Apple Podcasts and leave me a rating and a review. If you think the podcast sucks, tell me it sucks and leave a zero star review or the lowest stars possible. If you have a question, comment or suggestion, you can go to clearedhotpodcast.com. And there is a contact me button right there, which will land in my inbox. And the last thing, if people are interested in helping out, what you can do is fly the old flag. And by that, I don't mean an actual flag because I don't have any of those. I'm talking about T-shirts or sweatshirts or hats, whatever it may be.

Again, clear-thoddhotpodcast.com, click on the shop tab. And hopefully something in there looks like it would be an item you would like to wear around town. And then you can tell people what it is when they ask you. But that is it. The biggest thing I can say is thank you. I truly appreciate it. Until next time. See you.