Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Have an Unstoppable Mindset with Sean Michael Crane

Episode Date: March 7, 2023

Welcome back to The Radcast with Ryan Alford and get ready to transform your life with one helluva guest - the badass storyteller and peak performance coach and all-around inspirational figure Sean Michael Crane!Hear how you can transform your mental game into something that propels you forward instead of holding you back, so at the end of it all there’s only gratitude left in its wake. Plus, find out why creating systems not just for business but also for your life routine is an essential way to maximize performance fulfillment while producing lasting results and learn what systems are most effective when it comes to investing in yourself. This has some serious tips for breaking free from your past constraints so that you have no regrets at the end of your journey and live an unstoppable life! Get ready now because this show will become electrifying!Key notes from the episode:The importance of being with like minded people (01:32)Sean’s journey in his early life (03:11)How a one-night party changed Sean’s life forever (06:10)Sean started to accept his past, forgive his parents, change for the better, and leave his old character and be his authentic self (16:58)Find purpose and depth within yourself through self-reflection and meditation (21:30)Sean took his college program while he was in prison and found his purpose (24:12)Sean learns how to unlock people’s potential through performance coaching (34:35)This episode is packed with energy, wisdom, and passion and we know you will get a ton of value from this.To keep up with Sean Michael Crane, follow him on Instagram @seanmcrane and his website https://seanmichaelcrane.com/Learn more by visiting our website at www.theradcast.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/RadicalHomeofTheRadcastIf you enjoyed this episode of The Radcast, Like, Share, and leave us a review! If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. 

Cause now we're gonna do what you need now You're listening to The Radcast, a top 25 worldwide business podcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of The Radcast. I'm Ryan Alford, your host.

And like we say, we keep it radical around here. If it's radical, we cover it. And I don't know if we can get more radical than this story, my friends. Sean Michael Crane, author, badass storyteller, peak performance coach, and one hell of a guy. I can already tell. I can't wait to talk to Sean Michael. What's up, brother? What's up, Ryan? Thank you for having me here, man. And I love it, right? We're going to get radical and share some things that, you know, open some eyes, man. I love it. I know.

I'm pumped. You know, the coaching aspect, the motivational aspect of your story really resonates with me. You know, being, you know, similar age or somewhere in the ballpark. I don't know. Sometimes I look younger or older. I might be older than you, but it resonates a lot with me, the motivational and positivity aspects, so much negative stuff out there and really, really admire your energy and, you know, kind of getting to know you digitally, so to speak, and just excited for our audience to hear your story

and, you know, and get in, drop some knowledge, man. It's all about insight, learning from others and growing together. So just pumped about it, man. Absolutely, man. And real quick, before we get into it, it's like, it's so crazy because most of the world, like they want to see negative stuff or they like talk down on people who are motivated, who are positive, right? So we get around like-minded people. We get to have these conversations. It's so rejuvenating and like enlightening. And I just want to be around people like yourself and other guys who are striving to be examples for their families, to show people what's possible and to live out that, that way, you know, as a leader,

because you get one chance to do this. And that's my whole premise is like, most people don't really think they're going to die, but you're going to die. And what are you going to think about in those months or maybe years as your body's decaying, as your mind's withering? Like, are you going to look back and just have nothing but gratitude and joy for the way you live? Or are you going to look back wishing you had a second chance and a do over? That's like my whole story, man. And that's my mission is to inspire people to live differently now so that they get to the end of their life and they have that gratitude and they love the way they live, not wishing they could go back and do it again. Yep. And it's so true,

man. I think, you know, I think even people that are aware of it that live that way, you can only be so aware just of how like fragile life and how like fast it moves and that you don't get things back. You know, like even when you know it, like you and I seem to, you were like-minded. I think we both know it, but it's still, it's so fleeting, you know? And so we've got to take advantage of every moment and you don't want to have that regret. But Shawn, Michael, let's let's set the table, man. Let's let's talk this fascinating story. I can't wait for everybody to hear it. Yeah, well, I mean, I feel like I've lived two different lives, like the life when I was, you know, really ignorant and just like naive. And then the life where I came to realize what

this journey is all about and what's at stake. You know, as a kid, we were just talking. I grew up in Santa Barbara, California, which is pristine. It's beautiful. There's so much opportunity here, so much money. So, you know, it's just 70 degrees year round, sunshine, palm trees, and the ocean and beautiful people. And like you can bump into movie stars and Prince Harry walking down State Street, right? They just moved into an estate here. But I grew up in the suburbs just north in an area called Goleta. And we just surfed. We played sports in the street. I wanted to be a professional athlete growing up. So every day after school, I'd go out and play football on the street or go play

basketball or go play baseball. Whatever season it was, we were playing sports. And that was my world. And I felt fully capable to carry out that vision. Like as a kid, we were playing sports. And that was my world. And I felt fully capable to carry out that vision. Like as a kid, I just felt capable. I felt like I could do whatever I wanted. But then as I was getting older, I started realizing my parents were battling with drug and alcohol addiction. And there was a lot of chaos at home. There was fights. The cops would be there. I saw my mother overdose three different times before the age of 12, like dead on the floor in front of me, man. And those things traumatized me as a kid. And I was the oldest of three siblings. So I had to always hold it together for my

younger brother and sister. And I really felt like I was a parent to my parents as well. You know, I felt like I was the most responsible one in the house. And that was scary, but it kind of shaped my personality as well at a young age. And then, you know, around the age of 14, everything just fell apart. My dad got arrested and ended up going to state prison. And my mom, who was heavily addicted to drugs and alcohol, she really just became unraveled at that time and stopped caring. She stopped trying and literally abandoned us. Like she left us. So my uncle Mike started raising, well, he had been with us, but he then took, took over. And man, I didn't know how to deal with the emotional impact of losing both my parents.

I was 14 going into freshman year in high school, trying to form my identity as a young man and figure out who I am, you know, all the social pressure, the insecurities we have. And I just broke, you know, I broke and I really became a different person overnight. I stopped going to school. I stopped hanging out with my old friends because I was so ashamed. And I started smoking weed and drinking because I felt that was all I could do to numb out the pain temporarily. And so that's what I did from 14 all the way through high school. I never played sports, Ryan. Like I was a good athlete, man. You know, I had potential and I never went to one tryout,

never stepped foot on one field, one basketball court, nothing, man. And it's something I still regret to this day and we'll kind of get into that. But I was just going down a really dark path in life, man. And I had no dream. Well, you didn't have any, it's not like you had any positive influences, right? I mean, I had a couple of family members who would try to talk to me, but they were removed. They lived in different towns. You know, they weren't with me every day.

And, you know, growing up, our parents are kind of like our world. That's the people we look to. Even though they weren't doing the right things, it was comforting having them around. Like you still had hope as a kid that maybe dad will get sober. Maybe mom and dad will do better later on. Maybe life can get better. And I never really understood how precarious it was until I lost them both. You know, I didn't realize what they were going through on a personal level.

Like they had demons. They had stuff from their past they hadn't resolved. So, you know, I never had the influences growing up that I really probably needed to thrive. But I did develop a lot of resiliency at that time, man. And for some reason, I never fully let myself go. Like, I got as far to being just like done and as close to just being too far gone to come back, you know, as I could without letting myself go. There was something subconsciously that I was holding on to. And I can see that in retrospect, you know, I remember like being at the beach with my friends, just getting wasted partying and sudden side of me was like, I don't always want to be like this. Like, this isn't me, you know? So fast forward through high school and then into,

you know, my early adult years, I was just working a nine to five job. I hated, I was still partying, still doing the same stuff with my old friends or my, you know, my friends at that time. And then one night changed my life forever, man. At this point, I was miserable from the outside looking in, I looked healthy. I looked somewhat happy, but internally I was just broken and I hated life and I had no ambition or hope for the future. I was just going through the motions. And one night I went to this party here in Santa Barbara, California, right on the cliffs, right there on the Mesa. You know where that is. It's beautiful, right? And it was this college party. And I was like, cool, man, I'm going to go talk to some

girls, drink, have a good night. And I didn't know anyone at this party. And so I'm just trying to make, you know, small talk with anyone I could. I'd gone there with one person. So I knew one person. And then a group of these guys show up at the party who I knew through mutual acquaintances. Like I knew of them. They knew of me. We never hung out before, but now I had five, six people I was talking to. So I wasn't isolated like a loner at this party. And they started getting into an argument with some random people man and so we all go outside because they're gonna all fight it's gonna be like this group fight when you're 21 22 23 that happens all the time you go to parties and someone ends up fighting we watch it and then everyone leaves you know so i didn't think anything of it

when these guys start fighting and i'm right there, like too close in proximity to them. And I get tackled and drawn into the fight. And I thought that I was getting jumped. I thought that the guys were just going to jump me because I was too close. So I'm holding onto this guy wrestling around. No one starts kicking me. No one's punching me. And I'm just holding onto this one person trying to get up. And I'm thinking, this guy's trying to just beat me up, dude. Like I got to get up and defend myself. I'm just thinking, punch this guy and get out of here, like back away. And so as I stand up, I threw two punches at him and he just stayed face down in the ground as I stood up. And for a split second, I was like, what's going on here? I didn't even hit him

really. Like the punches glazed off the side of his head and they grazed off the side of his head. And so he stays face down in the grass, like not even moving. And the one person I went to the party with my childhood friend named Eddie is yelling at me, Sean, come over here, get out of here. Let's go. Come on. And he's in the street. And I started walking towards him and I get under the street lamp and I'm just covered in blood, man, from head to toe, like my face, my whole shirt. I had a button up shirt. It was covered in blood and his eyes lit up. He looked at me. He's like, what, what the hell, man, you're covered in blood. What are you guys doing? What happened? And I didn't know what happened. It happened. This was all taking place

within 10, 15 seconds. And he just bolts up the street. He's like, let's go. We got to get out of here. And I didn't know what to do. So I just started running. I chased after him and we hear sirens and cops are racing down the street and we're fleeing the scene. And it's just something out of a movie, man. Like these events are transpiring moment to moment and it's crazy. Right. And we had called the cab about a half an hour earlier because we were going to head home. So the cab was waiting up the street. You know, we jumped in the car and leave. And I got back to his place and I remember just passing out. You know, I was so intoxicated off all. And I got back to his place. And I remember just passing out.

You know, I was so intoxicated off all the drugs, all the alcohol I put in my body that night. And I didn't really try to make sense of what happened. I knew something bad had happened, though. And the next morning, right away, I woke up with that feeling that you have when you experience a nightmare. You know, when you wake up and you're like, thank God that wasn't real. Like, okay, I'm okay. Well, I woke up with that feeling. But I knew it wasn't a dream that I was worried about, you know? And I Googled fight on the Mesa and it said two men had been stabbed and one was in critical

condition. He was in a coma. And I was like, oh my gosh, man, you know, this is horrible. And I knew the cops were to come looking for me. I thought they were going to question me and try to get me to tell them who did it. Like that was my thinking. I'm like, okay, they're going to come get me. They're going to try to get me to press it, give them information. And that's what I was prepared for. And later that day, they came to the residence I was staying at and they had the SWAT team, the forensic unit, like 15 cop cars, they had AR-15s and they came and got me down on my knees and handcuffed me. And then they took me in the car and they said, Hey man, do you know what this is about? I said, yeah, you know, I do. I'm like, well, we're charging you with attempted murder

for that, you know, that stabbing that took place last night. And they took me to the county jail and I, I couldn't believe it, man. I was in complete, complete shock. What goes to your mind in that moment? Like shock, awe, like, especially if you, like you said, like you knew you'd been involved, it was a bad place, wrong place, wrong time, but not, I don't know. I don't even know how you process something like that when you hear it. I mean, here's the thing. I knew I shouldn't have been that close watching the fight. I shouldn't have been right there, but I didn't stab anyone. I wasn't guilty of that crime. I wasn't guilty of anything really. Like I defended myself and I was there like a drunk idiot. All the, all the, did you even have a knife? No, no weapon, nothing. Here's the thing.

All the people at the party came out when they heard the fight, they didn't see the initial attack. All they saw was me on top of this guy wrestling with him, then throwing those punches. So when the cops came, they're like, Hey, what did you see? People identified me. They said, we saw Sean wrestling with the guy. He, he ran, he took off LA. They started painting this picture of me as the assailant and the cops wrote it up in a way that made me look very guilty. You know, and then I had this shirt that had his blood on it and we fled the scene. So from a standpoint of law enforcement, I looked guilty. I never blamed them or got mad.

I was just in shock and disbelief. But I remember, man, they threw me in this little cell and I was there for 24 hours a day with nothing, you know, and at first I was still coming off of so much drugs and alcohol and the shock and awe of this experience. I couldn't really feel anything. I was really numb and I was in shock. And I'll never forget the first day in court, just walking in kind of like a deer in headlights, you know, people are taking my picture.

They're putting my picture on the front page of the news press. When I walked in shackled up like this at my wrist and ankles and my lawyer starts walking towards me and I was hopeful. I was like, okay, wrists and ankles. And my lawyer starts walking towards me. And I was hopeful. I was like, okay, somebody here is going to defend me. Someone believes me. And she was just right to the point, man. She goes, look, the judge and the DA want to amend your charges of the homicide.

The victim's in a coma. They don't think he's going to make it. So that's what they're talking about today. That's why we're here. And that was the first thing she told me, you know. And they didn't amend my charges. I mean, miraculously, the guy survived. They did the defibrillators on him in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. He was in a coma for two weeks and he survived and he's healthy and he's okay now. But, you know, that was just the beginning of me, like this life changing experience I was about to go through.

Man, did, uh, I got like, it's part like amazement and then part like uh I don't know like crime scene investigation I'm like going okay like is there a knife like they try said to you like all these things kind of flip through your mind like in that moment of going defending for your life so to speak and at the same time worried, cause I mean, you're a good person. Like you may have made a lot of bad decisions, but clearly not a bad guy. And you're thinking about this guy in a coma, you're thinking about your own guilt. I mean, how, uh, where did it go? Like, did you just immediately, I mean, what was the case process and all that stuff like?

Yeah. So, I mean, it was insane, man, looking back on it and reflecting on it. I was in such shock, you know, and I was very naive and in disbelief. I thought that the truth would come out. You know, at first I had like a private detective who worked for my lawyer come and talk to me and get my story. And he was all hopeful. He's like, oh, you couldn't have committed a crime. The way they described it happening, the way the blood was on you, the way he was stabbed, like the forensic proved you couldn't have done it. There was no weapon. Like you're going to be okay. You know, that was the first conversation. And then after a little while, no new information

was coming out. The DA, the cops weren't budging. My lawyer and their private detective started losing hope or faith that things could get better for me. And it was like your worst nightmare coming true before your eyes. You know, I remember one day I called my lawyer to see what was going on. If they had talked to the DA or new information was coming out and my lawyer said, Hey, you know, you're going to be going to prison. That's just the way it's looking at this point. There's nothing we can do about that now. It's just a matter of how long you're going to spend in prison. That's the only question. And I remember that day, man, I was so defeated. Like up until that point, I still thought somehow, some way I was going to

get out. And I went really deep within, man, and like into this really profound, you know, experience where I was coming to terms with my past, my parents, my childhood, my wasted potential, all those years I didn't play sports. And I started thinking about all the things I didn't do. And what if this is my life from here going forward? What if I spend the rest of my life in prison? What if I'm incarcerated for 30 years? Like I didn't live the life that I wanted. And that's what started to stand out to me the most, you know, is that regret of what I didn't do, who I could have been. I made excuses. I held back and now it was too late.

And that pain, man, it pierced me to the depths of my soul and it changed me because I realized in that moment what was at stake. And I felt like I really died. You know, I felt like my life was over. And that's what changed me because going forward from that moment, you know, I understood that this journey is temporary and when we don't take action or we don't do what we want to do, like we don't always get a second chance. So in that cell, man, I started going through, you know, this internal transformation. I started coming to terms with my past. I started accepting it, forgiving my parents, letting go of all the pain. It just like was melting away for me, man. Cause I realized like, if I'm going to have a shot to get out of the

cell and actually get out and live again, I can't hold on to the past. I can't continue to be this person that I was behaving as. It was a character I'd made up to defend or protect myself. And so in that moment, I just had this epiphany. I'm like, you know what? I don't care how long I spend in this jail cell. I don't care if they let me out tomorrow, next year, or in 20 years, I'm going to be my true self, like my authentic self and give my all to anything I'm doing for the rest of my life. Like I had to do this Ryan for me because I was so ashamed of the person that I'd shown the world. That wasn't me. You know, and the second promise I made to myself was that I was going to stay sober for the rest of my life. Not one drop of alcohol, not one hit of weed, not one pill, nothing.

Because drugs and alcohol had ruined my family's life and it had led me to that jail cell. That was over 10 years ago. I've been sober ever since. And that commitment on the deepest level was the beginning of me taking back control of my life. So after that, you know, I ended up getting offered a plea deal eight months later for assault with a deadly weapon. You know, my lawyer's telling me, Hey man, you got to take

this. Like you'll do six years. You're a young man. You'll get out when you're 30, you'll still have life to live. But if you don't take this plea deal and you go to trial, we're probably going to lose and you're going to end up doing multiple decades in prison, if not more. And because of the changes I was making in that eight months, starting with that commitment to self, I felt that I could go to prison and leverage that experience to help me

and serve me for the rest of my life. And the reason I share that is because, you know, in my cell, I started taking action every day. You know, the next day after I made that promise, I remember getting up and just standing on that cold cement floor and asking myself, what can I even do to better myself in here? Like, what can I do right now today, just to inch forward one little step, you know? And so that led me to working out, reading, writing. Those are the three things I can do every day, cleaning my cell like it was a palace, just taking pride in Those are the three things I can do every day. Cleaning my cell

like it was a palace, just taking pride in what I was doing. I was really shaping my mindset and perspective, you know, every day through those actions. And in a very short period of time, I was getting stronger. I was getting good condition and cardio. I was seeing my writing improve. I was reading all these books. Any books they'd give me, I'd read them. And I even had a little pocket dictionary and I was looking up words, man, and writing them down like I was reading all these books. Any books they'd give me, I'd read them. And I even had a little pocket dictionary. And I was looking up words, man, and writing them down like I was a kid in seventh grade. And I was taking pride in what I was doing. I was actually trying to be a good person for the first time in my life, or not even a good person, but just a better person. And that massively shifted my perspective and mindset going forward in life. And it was those

small habits I developed every day that gave me momentum and gave me the faith and belief that I could continue doing that in prison and come home a better version of myself and live a good life. Hey guys, Ryan Offord here, host of the Radcast. We appreciate all our loyal listeners. And just want to remind everyone, we are a digital agency. Radical. Radical.com is our website. We help clients B2B and B2C drive outcomes, sales, and make the cash register ring with their social media, microsites, and funnels. Ultimately, social media only matters if it's driving sales, revenue, and or specific outcomes, and we build unique funnels, leveraging the content with a microsite experience and a true funnel that drives sales to your bottom line. We'd love to help you. Radical.company,

to learn more, put in a form. We'll get back to you right away. Schedule a call, see how we can help you. You know where to find us, radical.company. We'll see you soon. You know what's interesting, Shawn and Michael? I'm going to go back in your story because it resonated with me. You knew it was inside of you. You said this early on in your story. You know, you were at parties doing stuff, and you had it in the back of your head. You were like, this is temporary.

Like, you're partying. You weren't doing what you're supposed to. And I've had similar experiences when I was in college and stuff. I'd be doing things. I was like, I'm just made for better than this. Like, like be doing things. And I didn't have your type of experience, not even close to it. But like, there's definitely those moments.

But I think it was in those moments when you, you didn't know what that tingle was, but you knew it was that potential was inside of you. And you were going to unlock it one day. And it took one of the most tragic events that could happen, uh, for it to happen, but it made, you know what it, you turned a negative into the greatest positive ever because you unlock something in yourself that it may not have ever unlocked without that experience. Yeah, man, it never, I don't think it ever would have, you know, I think I would be dead or living a really miserable life right now if I didn't go through that experience because gosh, I was so wounded and broken inside. And like, I never gave

up faith or hope. There was just a little bit inside of me that things could get better. And I clung on to that through those dark years, you know? And I think we all have that side of us that like our highest self, our best self, it's that voice in our mind, that conscience, right? That feeling inside of us that's telling us do this, do that. But we condition ourselves to do the opposite. Listen to fear, procrastinate, worry about what other people think. What if I'm not good enough? And over time, people condition that part of themselves and that manifests in their results. Like you see people's lives and man, 99% of people are seeing out here right now are capable of more. They know they are, but they're holding back,

you know, and that was me. And I started seeing this all in that cell because when you block out the noise, there's no phones, no kids, no job. And you're just there in that cell, you find a depth within yourself that is truly remarkable. And it's almost indescribable, man, you know, people that reflect often, you know, people that meditate often, like, they start to find that depth within themselves. And it changed my whole life, you know? And man, I just started taking action that my heart was calling me to take and I never looked back.

And I had to have faith that somehow, some way, it would improve my life. And I had the courage to be consistent every day and to take those actions because it's not easy. You know, I was almost forced to making changes because in my eyes, it was either life or death. Most people don't get to that extreme. So, like, we're not forced to take massive action.

And when I did, I found a strength, a resolve, an ability within myself that was just buried so below the surface. I had to just, like, reach in and just tap into that, man. And, you know, incremental growth is so crucial for anyone to understand. Like if you want to achieve something great in life, you have this vision of who you want to be. It takes years and years and years of doing the right thing and stacking those wins upon themselves, you know, and like in my cell, I had nothing. So I just did a bunch of pushups, a bunch of burpees.

I wrote a bunch of letters. I read a bunch of books. And that was my foundation. a bunch of pushups, a bunch of burpees. I wrote a bunch of letters. I read a bunch of books. And that was my foundation. It was working my mind, working my body, and then finding a spiritual center to me and depth within me that I didn't know I had before. But then when I got to prison, I found out that they had a college correspondence program. And I was like, wow, I can take college courses in prison. Had I not picked up that little pocket dictionary and not read all those books, not written all those letters in those eight months, I wouldn't have even believed that I could take college courses.

Like, who am I? I'm this kid that didn't even try in school. I lack intelligence. I'm street smart. I'm athletic, but I'm not book smart. You know, that was my limiting belief. But that time in the county jail gave me the confidence to do so. And I ended up getting four college degrees in my time in prison, associate's degrees.

I fell in love with psychology, you know, social and behavioral sciences. I studied, you know, basic business courses. I took everything, every single course. And, man, like it totally changed my perspective of myself and what I could do in life. And not only that, they gave me time off my sentence. So I got six months off my sentence. But the other guys started noticing me in prison because I was working out every day.

I had college courses I was taking. I was up early. I had a routine. I was disciplined. And they're like, Sean, like, why are you doing all this? Do you think that's going to help you? Like, why are you so disciplined? You have five years to go, right?

Or, hey, how are you so positive and motivated, man? Like, aren't you sad to be in here? You know, and in that time, I started working with some of these guys. I started exercising with them. I started having conversations with them. I got some of them to take college courses. And in the midst of seeing these guys start to change or just believe in a future that was brighter than that dark place we were stuck in, I realized, man, I love working

with people. I want to help people. And I found that purpose to serve and be a leader through that experience. So that wouldn't have been possible had I not dedicated my life to being my best self and taking those actions and just believe that these actions somehow, some way are going to lead to a better life. Like I had no idea, but I just had to find out. And my whole world started transforming before my eyes, man. And you know, when I got out of prison five and a half years after I was sentenced, I knew exactly who I was

and what I wanted to do in this world. It's fascinating. It's a lot to unpack. And I do want to like, there's a few things in there that I think are really important. There's a lot of things important. Number one, we talk about all these outside things, and no one had more excuses than you. Like, parent situation, home, life, wrong place, wrong time, bad influence, drugs, alcohol, those things. You had every reason to not become what you are. But you know what? No matter what the outside is, it always starts with you, the person. Like no one else is going to save you.

You have to make up your mind that you want to do it, right? And you have to pull on that intestinal fortitude. But that, but there's something that, and I talk about this in marketing and other things, the incremental things called, and in finance, it's compounding interest, right? It's like compounding the wins over time. Like you stack the wins, you stack the positives, you stack these things, and the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

When you start stacking the wins and stacking these things incrementally, it adds up to more than what they actually were because it builds on top of one another in a way that you can't just do individually. And I think there's a lot to learn from that in a lot of areas. But the biggest thing in today's world, we get, you know, conditioned that, you know, things happen to us, you know, it's always happening to me instead of happening for me or a layer further, which is I'm taking control and making it happen, you know, which is what, I mean, you personify. You're so right, man. I mean, there's a, there was a massive perspective shift that took place for me.

You know, before I made those commitments to myself, I was really going through it because I had all this stuff in my past that I was feeling ashamed of that I didn't do. And I was starting to battle depression because of that. You know, and now I'm looking at life in prison. No one believes me. I'm stuck in this cell. I'm hungry. I'm alone. And so I had all these emotions. It was depression, anxiety, fear, stress. And I remember I was just going crazy, man. And I realized like, I got to figure out a way to get control of my mental wellbeing. Like I got to figure out a way to, to block out these thoughts and get control of the way I'm thinking. And it was that perspective

shift. I remember one day I just thought, man, what if this experience is exactly what I needed to change my life? What if this experience is going to save my life? And this is a blessing in disguise that God, the universe, whatever you believe in had in store for me that I can't even understand right now, but it's a part of the process. It's a part of my story. It's a part of my journey. And I just, I chose to believe that versus the alternative because to believe in the alternative was really to give up and to be miserable. And I didn't want to do that to myself anymore. So I chose to believe that somehow, some way this was going to serve me in my life. And because of that, I started identifying all these little things that added up to that outcome.

Things like looking up words in a dictionary, things like trying to do a thousand pushups in an hour, things like cleaning my cell like it was a palace. I just started changing my whole demeanor and approach to life based on that perspective shift. And that's what led to those incremental wins. I wasn't sitting there saying, I'm going to do these pushups today. And you know, in 10 years, I'll be able to run a marathon and do a Ironman. Like I just was doing what was in front of me to be in the moment because being in the moment and doing those things to the best of my ability was how I blocked out the future and the past. And that's something that prison really taught me is how to train your mind to live in the present moment. And you're doing things that are setting you up for an advantage in the future, but you're not too far ahead of yourself.

And you're definitely not looking backwards. We learn from the past so that we can implement in the present and set ourselves up for success in the future. And I learned all these things almost just by chance, man. Like I stumbled upon all these things by necessity. And I started just accumulating this knowledge in this way of living that has now continued to serve me since coming home, you know, 10, 20, 30 fold, 100 fold. Like the things I learned in prison are invaluable. It was the greatest education of my life. The I mean, that's, and that's what the book's about, right? I mean, well, prison of your prison of your own. So let's see, I have a prison of your own.

I see it behind. I got to send you a copy of your own. So this was your whole story. It wasn't it? Yeah. I mean it behind you. Yeah, I got to send you a copy. Prisoner of your own. So this was your whole story, wasn't it? Yeah. I mean, it's just, it sounds, you know, sometimes I talk to friends and people like yourself, you know, like-minded people when we have conversations and I'm like, some of this sounds cliche or like a t-shirt or something, but you know what? It's so true. Like the prison of your own mind and like, you know, prison of your own making, like we kind of, we were so self-limiting. Number one, you talked a lot about that as, as creatures were very self-limiting. Uh, we, we really have no idea what we're fucking capable of. And like when we really get our mind behind it and there's no living breathing proof of

that more than you. And it's just crazy how we kind of create these walls. And I think, I think it's just that human nature of like giving ourselves excuses or giving ourselves reasons that we fail. But it's when you can unlock that though, it's just incredible power. Yeah, absolutely. And like the thing that continues to help me grow personally and professionally, it's just always surrounding myself with people who think big, you know, because we have a tendency as humans to find comfort zones.

Even if you're, you know, you've reached a certain level, we find a comfort zone there. We kind of can get stagnant, you know. And so like staying inspired and staying driven and staying motivated, staying open-minded, like it's really important to be around people who think big and are doing big, creative, you know, inspiring things. Cause it's, it's always about, you know, showing us that next level. And when we see it, we believe it for me, I had to believe it long before I could see it. Um, and that's something that still like drives me to this day is just seeing what I'm capable of. I love that. I love that aspect of the journey. But for a lot of people, I think when they're just stuck in their certain environment and they're not reading new books,

they're not listening to new podcasts, they're not observing successful people consistently. They don't really believe in anything beyond where they're at and they stay stuck because of that. Yeah, a hundred percent. And it's like, again, back to those cliches. Well, you are the five people you surround yourself. Well, you fucking are. You really, really are. You are. And here's the thing. All the cliche, all the cliche statements are true. If you believe they are, if you don't believe they're true, then you won't believe them.

But here's the thing, man. I came to realize all of those things one by one, like't believe them. But here's the thing, man. I came to realize all of those things one by one, like through life experience. And I remember before prison, people would talk about self-love and I used to just ridicule them. I thought it was the dumbest thing. I'd be like, self-love, what are you talking about? Well, I couldn't even identify with that because I didn't love myself. I was so broken. I was doing things that just were sabotaging my life. So why would I ever be able to relate to that? But man, I'll tell you this, when I was in that cell and I started taking action every day that made me feel proud of who I was, I remember going to sleep at night

in a jail cell, facing life in prison before I was sentenced, feeling the most inner peace and self-love I had ever experienced in my life. And I was like, what is going on here? I should not be feeling this good under these circumstances. And it was because I was finally just doing things every day that made me proud of who I was. And I wasn't holding back. I wasn't making excuses. And I didn't have to go out and achieve these big, massive accomplishments overnight. It was just the act and willingness of like following that path, not the other one. And man, the inner peace I experienced, I really felt like I could have died then. And I figured out the secret of life. And that's something that's helped me ever since raising children, starting a business,

pursuing success, hitting these next levels is like never losing sight of that feeling. And really, I feel like that's the highest form of success. Well, after is inner peace and fulfillment just knowing like I'm enough I'm giving my all I'm doing everything I could every day to be the best version of me and that feeling's priceless man so Sean like trans I mean moving a little bit away so I know you coach people now and how have you learned both in your time, your time in prison, but I'm sure now, how have you learned to unlock that in others? Because it's one thing and it's hard as hell as you've proven to do it for yourself, but how have you learned

what's been some of your keys? I know you do performance coaching, but how do you unlock that in other people? Yeah. You know, I mean, the question that always alluded me is how can I help other people to feel the way I feel and make the changes I've made internally, right? Like it alluded me. I couldn't always, there's no answer. There's no like perfect answer. But what I found coming home is a lot of men have that feeling in their heart. Like I made for more, I want more, but they have bad habits, they lack discipline, and they self-sabotage. So one of the things I see to have a massive impact on people and the way they perceive themselves

and how they carry themselves is forming that discipline through difficult tasks every day that test them. Because when you have a test every day that you meet and overcome, what happens is you feel good about that, right? So consciously, that's a win. So if you stack those up over time, your identity starts to shift, your belief in self elevates, and you start to see the world differently. You carry yourself differently,

your body language, your tonality, your energy, like energetically, like you shift, you change, you elevate. So, you know, early wake up times, workouts, discipline with nutrition, identifying what vices are sabotaging your potential and who you want to be and start to cut those out. Like those things are, you know, directly correlated to the person they want to become. And so a lot of times people make it more complicated than it needs to be. You know, when I first started coaching, I'd like have guys write out a lot of stuff and I'm, I'm big on visualization and I have them do that. And I set them up with a morning routine and structure, but it's very simple. Like most men just lack discipline. So you want to make more

money. You want to be a better husband. You want to be more present with your family, whatever it is. It comes down to being able to discipline yourself to do it in that moment. Not talk about it later, not say I'm going to do this, but in the moment, can you actually do it? Are you on your phone? Are you hitting the snooze button? Are you saying I'll work out tomorrow? Are you choosing the donuts over the egg whites? Like it's just all these decisions. And so the main factor I've seen help people make a shift is establishing discipline through these non-negotiable actions every day. Because when you have non-negotiables, they actually become habits. People make new year's resolutions, but they don't stick to them. So they never become habits. So they actually form a habit of not doing the stuff. So we have to identify what are the

non-negotiables I have to stick to every day that are going to lead to the life I want. Then over time, they become habits. Those habits start to shape your lifestyle and what you're doing, right? The decisions you make. Oh, I'm not going out on Friday night. I get up early. I'm going to sleep, right? Oh, I'm not going to go to that party and eat the cake. Like, that's not what I do. I'm not going to drink, whatever it is, start shaping other decisions. And that becomes a lifestyle over time. And what I've seen is that lifestyle ultimately results in a shift in your identity. And when that identity shift takes place, that's when you start to see the results that are lifelong. Like you see the permanent shift

in someone's identity and the results follow. And so it's like that path that I guide guys through. And there's a lot of little details involved, but it's really comes down to the discipline that it really does. Yeah, I think that's another one of those words, but it's a powerful one. It's just discipline. But it's again, it's just back to stacking and stacking the wins and seeing what happened. Like, well, you could also, we hate discipline until we see what great cup, what good comes out of it.

Right. You know, when you get arms like yours, you know, you see, you'll keep pumping the iron. Right. Yeah. And I mean, it comes down to this man, everyone's different. So people hear the word discipline, they automatically like think of David Goggins, right? Here's the thing. Do you have the results in all aspects of life that you want? Like your marriage, your relationship with your children, your finances, your health? If not, why? Either you don't want it bad enough or you lack the ability to do these things consistently and produce the results. I know you want it. I know deep down inside you want the best life ever.

We all do. But most people just lack the consistency to produce those results. So it does come down to execution. It really does. For me, man, I died and got a second chance at life. So everything I do every day, like I'm pouring my heart and soul into it. what's at stake and they're okay with missing a morning at the gym or they're okay with, you know, one day that goes by where they're not attentive to their kids and they chalk it up to, oh, today was a long day. Like we have habitual excuses we make that prevent us from really living at that next level. So a lot of it too, is accountability and honesty. Like if we're honest with ourselves, we have someone, a coach, a mentor, that's going to be brutally honest with us too. A lot of guys like competitive guys like you and I, cause we played sports. If someone's calling you out, what are you going to do? You're going to rise to the occasion. We need that. We need someone that's going to always remind us, Hey, you said you want to be up here. You're settling for up here. And that that's really helpful. A lot of guys need that. Yeah. I love it. So I mean,

need that yeah i love it so i mean now what's a you when you get will you unlock these things in yourself i think people like me and i think people listening um go well what's now sean michaels unlock these things in himself he's figured it But like, what's a bad day for you now? I mean, because you have the system, you clearly have the discipline. Where do your struggles come in then? You know, like what are your normal struggles now that have to be way different than they were 10 years ago? Yeah. I mean, I love that question. You know, there's no bad days. There's wins and there's learning lessons. I had to train my mind to think that way in prison because otherwise every day is a loss and then you want to commit suicide. Like everything is positive, everything, right? Like no matter what it is, I've trained my

mind to find the positive in it, the silver lining or the positive potential. Even if something detrimental happens right now, and I can identify that in 10 years, maybe somehow, some way that's going to help me in life when that set of circumstances comes again, like that's all I think about. I'm aware of the bad. I'm aware of the negative, but I don't dwell on it. I put all my energy into what I need to do to resolve it or how that can help me somehow, some way in the future. But I mean, man, I still have challenges all the time.

Like whether it's stuff with family, family members who are struggling, you know, I lost my dad two years ago. My cousin died right after that. Like things happen, you know, raising three children and being the best husband for my wife. I'm not always perfect. There's days where maybe I responded to a question or in a conversation with my wife, the way that I know I could have done better. And I just, I acknowledge it. I'm like, you know what? I can be better than that. I want to be better than that. And it's just this constant process of refining myself, you know, but I have my daily routines that I adhere to no matter what, like wake up, work out my nutrition that allows me to really stay very consistent in elevating

myself long-term, you know? So man, I'm not adverse to hardships and challenges. I just know when we're showing up every day with that mindset and we develop that resiliency, they don't stop us or slow us down as much as other people. Yeah, man, I love it. So much more that we can unpack. We'll have to do a part two. But let's give everybody, if they want to learn more about your book, I'm sure, you know, where they can find that, where they can keep up with you. They are interested more about your coaching, your speaking. How can everyone keep up with Shawn Michael Crane? Yes, you can visit ShawnMichaelCrane.com.

It shows a little more about me and ways to connect with me. I'm Shawn M. Crane, I think, now on Instagram. My team changed my handle. So you can reach out to me there on Instagram and with me. I'm Sean M. Crane, I think now on Instagram, my team changed my handle. So you can reach out to me there on Instagram and follow me. And if you're somebody that, you know, wants to focus on developing more discipline in your mindset, you want to establish habits that, you know, are better, more positive for you, workouts, nutrition, stuff like that. Go to my website. If you click on the, there's a little button there. I give away a free workout nutrition program, a free unstoppable mindset blueprint. These are simple things that you can execute

day-to-day or implement. I should say that'll help you to be more productive, more focused and to treat your own life. Like you do your business. Like a lot of people have systems in their business. They're organized, but they don't have that for their own life. And what I've found is if you do, if you treat your routines and your self-care, like, like you do your business and you have systems and non-negotiables, you become better. You get more fulfillment. You get better results. And you show up just happier in life. I've just found that to be true. So reach out to me if you have any questions about the book, my story, or the coaching. I'd be happy to talk with you. I love it, brother. I love the energy,

Happy to talk with you. I love it, brother. I love the energy, inspiration, motivation, perspiration. All the Asians. There we go. I love it, man. Look forward to getting to know each other more as we move along. I know we can collaborate on some things and really appreciate you coming on the show.

Absolutely, man. I appreciate it. Maybe next time I'll come and visit you in person like we talked about. Yes. Right. Hey, you know, if we're going to get you on the wall here, you know, you got to come in the studio. I know.

I got to get down there, brother. I appreciate you having me on. I know. Yeah, my pleasure. And look forward to keeping up with you. And hey, guys, go give him a follow

over on Instagram, Sean M. Crane. Go to his website, seanmichaelcrane.com. You know where we're at, theradcast.com. Search for all of today's content. You'll find the highlight clips.

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