Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - Driven By Purpose with Craig Siegel

Episode Date: January 2, 2023

Craig Siegel is a value - based and high energy Global Keynote Speaker and rising thought leader, as featured in Entrepreneur and endorsed by some of the world's most well known celebrities, entertainers, athletes, and entrepreneurs, such as Rob Dyrdek, Ed Mylett, Bethany Hamilton, Suzanne Somers, Alicia Silverstone, Eric Thomas, Brooke Burke, Darryl Strawberry, NFL Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins and Edgerrin James. When the pandemic happened, Craig felt spiritually guided and left his lucrative and comfortable job on Wall Street and went all in with his passion and purpose to help people upgrade their mindset and fulfill their potential. Craig’s unique combination of energy, motivation, inspiration, charisma and business success has led to the meteoric rise of Cultivate Lasting Symphony (CLS), a contagious, never before seen explosion that has impacted millions of lives worldwide. Removing limiting beliefs is the key to success in all areas of life. Most people feel unworthy, Craig helps people release the negative beliefs they have cultivated over time and implement positive and constructive thoughts, which then create powerful and positive beliefs which change your behaviors and ultimately, create brand new results in your relationships, business, and all facets of life. He illustrates the power of the second thought. Key Highlights: Having a maniacal drive and how it serves us Craig's PR Journey in the Chicago Marathon Giving a shit about people Why having a community matters Having people going to bat for you when it matters From Wall Street to Personal Development CLS Experience Podcast- 3 million downloads and growing Connect with Craig Siegel: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigsiegel_cls/?hl=en Website: https://www.cultivatelastingsymphony.com/ The CLS Experience: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cls-experience-with-craig-siegel/id1533716044 Connect with Shawn French: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshawnfrench/?hl=en Website: https://theshawnfrench.com/   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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It is what it is. It's a part of the growing process, especially in the beginning. When you want to build a community, which a lot of people miss, I'm not sure why. But when you're building a personal brand or you're doing something special, you've got to have that loyal foundation of people that will go to bat for you. And the way to earn that, the key where there is earned, is to give more than you receive. What is up everybody back with another episode of the Determined Society podcast. I have with me today, someone who I hold dear to my heart.

A great friend started off as a mentor. I was attracted to his energy and his ability just to be raw unapologetically himself. And I reached out to him one day on Instagram and we've been family ever since. And we've already done an episode. But this gentleman right here is the master at reinvention in pushing his mental, his mental capacity to the next level consistently. He seeks self-development. He gives a shit about people.

And we're back here doing a sequel because, you know what? The world needs it. And you know what? I needed it because our relationship, our friendship, has gotten so much stronger since our last recording. So without further ado, Craig, motherfucking Siegel. What's up, buddy? Talk about the epic, most unbelievable intro of all time.

I'm bar not. Thank you for that, brother. I receive all of it, and I concur with every single word, most probably family and friendship. And it's a good time to run it back. I'm here for it. Let's rock. Dude, you have done so many amazing things since we've last spoken, you know, in public or on a live or in a podcast.

I'm truly just, I'm continually inspired by how you push yourself to a point where you, you understand there's no destination in life, right? And you have to keep going. So tell the audience a little bit that may not be too familiar with you what you've been up to lately. Yeah. So long story short, I pivoted from after a 13 year Wall Street career being super burnt out and unfulfilled in the beginning of the pandemic to finally identifying my purpose and also my passion, which is personal development and reinvention to help people. And so I launched my CLS brand and make a long story short. It exploded.

No more Wall Street for me. me, this is it for me in some capacity for the rest of my life, we're just getting warmed up, all the lanes, the podcast, the coaching, the consulting, the community, all that stuff. And it just continues to get even bigger. And I continue to become more authentic and more aligned each and every single day. And straight up, I'm just available for all of it. And I think that's the key is to become available and then allow the universe to open a big doors for you. You know, for those that are you listening, I joined.

Craig's membership when there was 120 strong in there. Less than a year later, we're over, he is over 400 people. And dude, that is a tremendous amount of growth. I mean, we're also talking about guys, a gentleman that has a podcast, the CLS experience, that has gotten over what, three million downloads. Are you approaching three million downloads now? That's correct. It's unbelievable, dude.

Unbelievable. I truly believe that you're having this type of growth and experience because you've mastered the heart. Tell me more. You care about people, dude. You care about people. I think it's very apparent. There's a lot of people that I've dealt with in this business. Let's get down to it really quickly because I've dealt with a lot of people since I've got into this online coaching business. People want to talk about what they can do for you. People want to promise you shit. People want to promise that they'll never leave you. I've had one person stick with me throughout this whole thing, and that's been you. And to my knowledge, I don't pay you every month, you know, other than membership. It's truly about relationship. And I think that's what's different about you. In fact, I know.

And that's why you have such a crazy amount of people in your community that love you and trust you. Yeah, thank you, buddy. I appreciate you saying that. That really means a lot to me. And you know what? If you asked my fiance, she'd say it's almost counterfeit. productive at certain moments because I really do give a shit sometimes to a fault. I genuinely want to see everybody win and I generally want to see the best in people. And the truth that matter is

is based upon my experience. Some people don't have the highest of integrity, but I'm not going to give up on mankind or humanity. Look, I wasn't always the best version of myself. I reinvented myself And I just want to see everybody win. But people always ask me, like, how did you accelerate your growth in a relatively such a short time like you did? And the answer to me is obvious is because I really do give a shit. And just to give you an example, like when I first started CELUS in the very beginning of the pandemic, before I even had an offer available, I would literally stay up to 2 in the

morning every single day, responding to every single person that was generous of to to comment on a post or message me, hey, I love what you're doing. I literally get back to all them until eventually I literally couldn't. But that was always important to me is to form that personal human connection. For anybody listening right now, I think that makes all the difference, straight up. You know, I concur with that. And ladies and gentlemen, I can really attest to the fact that, you know, he does take time to go through his messages because that's how we met. I sent him a message. I wasn't even sure if you would even get it. In fact, most of the people in this industry that I've become very, very close with have been off of a DM, right?

That we've built a relationship. You know, and I too, to your point, go through my, it's a non-negotiable for me to click on the request box every single day. I want to know who's contacting me because if I don't do that, then I'm not saying true to what matters most. And that's people and their growth. You know, I don't ignore people. And that's something that you have done so well, man. And of course now, you know, things have grown to a point where like, dude, you know, you got to, you're not able to respond to everything. Yeah.

And there's a lot of times I sit there and it gets overwhelming for me. Now to this point, it's just like, man, you know, you find yourself on your phone a lot to your point late at night. It is what it is. You know, it's a part of the growing process, especially in the beginning. When you want to build a community, which a lot of people miss, I'm not sure why. but when you're building a personal brand or you're doing something special, you got to have that loyal foundation of people that will go to bat for you. And the way to earn that, the key where there is earn,

is to give more than you receive in the beginning, and then it pays back dividends. And that's a really tangible valuable lesson for anybody listening. Really, in anything, doesn't you have to be a personal brand. If you want to have success, go the extra mile more than just on random occasions, and it always comes back for you. No, absolutely. I feel like having something like that for people to go to on a consistent basis

where someone is constantly over delivering is huge because there are individuals out there a lot like us that really want to grow their personal brand or do something bigger and different in life, right? But they're stuck because a lot of times people look at something so big. They look in the future five to 10 years. And then they get so caught up on the how instead of the action, right? And it's always nice to have someone like yourself to help massive amounts of people, right, in an intimate setting where people can feel comfortable in speaking up and talking in your on your platform.

And man, you know, I learned a lot about myself, you know, being in your membership program and, you know, meeting everybody within your community. It's been, it's been very eye-opening for me. Thank you, brother. And also I want to acknowledge you, like, thank you for being so present, right, for buying and for being available. And that's kudos to you because you're not only there to consume. You're there to support people. And I think that's why you've really thrived there and why you continue to thrive.

Yeah, my only, my biggest regret is being so busy on Wednesdays that I've only been able to catch one call in the last two months, right? But, you know, here on out, I think, what I'm going to do is I'm going to block off my schedule. I'm saying it. So hold me accountable. Right. Wednesday, Wednesdays at noon is a is a is a commitment. It's a non-negotiable to be on your call. You know, and quite honestly, man, I told me to it. Call me out on it. You know, here's a thing, man. Like, I remember the last call I was on. It was when we evacuated for the hurricane. Yeah. And I sat there and I was in my head, you know, it was literally the day the hurricane was hitting at home. And for those of you that are listening. I live in Fort Myers, Florida. Hurricane Ian was disgusting.

And I remember sitting there, I'm like, dude, my energy's super low here. Where can I go? And as soon as I asked myself that question, it was like, okay, what day is it? It's Wednesday. I'm going to my boy. And at that point, dude, it wasn't about the community. It was about looking at you. You know, you've, you've, you've truly been one of those people that I can look at and listen to and be like, all right, this is good.

If this guy believes in me, then I know I can accomplish some things. And yeah, man, that's like, that's part of our bromance that so many people get disgusted by. I don't see. One of my favorite things going right now is our bromance. It's so much fun. And look, the truth of the matter is I can't form this type of intimate relationship with everybody in the community because, like, you attested there's millions of listeners and people. You had a special. And I'm just so proud of you, brother.

And I'm so excited to see where you go here. No, I appreciate it, man. you know, I'm always open for feedback from you. You know that. And we have a good brotherhood, you know. And, you know, I want to acknowledge something really quickly, though. You've been, you've been expanding your capacity lately. You know, you've, you've been into running.

You went from being able to not running a mile to running multiple marathons. But you did something so recently, right, with the Boston Marathon that challenged you. But more than that, you had to put yourself into position to where you had to look for other people to coach you. So why don't you tell the listeners about that? Yeah, I got to correct you. It was the Chicago Marathon. What I say? Boston. I don't know. I'm, you know, me. Yeah. It's a marathon. Marathon's going to be death to me. I'm telling you, brother. So look, I ran five marathons before last Sunday. Now I'm at six with really just grit and heart. I loved running. I came across it a few years back when I was in a little bit of a dark place.

And it was like my sanctuary. I was just so fascinated, right? That it's not you really versus anyone else. It's you versus the voice in your head. It's you and God versus the pavement, so to speak. And I just fell in love with it. And I started to do really well. All things considered, I ran a 339 marathon in New York last year.

Rush out of surgery. It did it to my foot. But it occurred to me that if I wanted to get a little weird with these things and increase significantly from there, what got me there isn't what's going to get me. me even higher, right? So I started training with my future brother-in-law, Alessi's brother, who's a runner, and he runs with Olympians in Central Park on Sundays. These guys are like gazelles. It's hilarious. They're so graceful. It looks like that I'm breaking a sweat on a mile 20. And that's a little bit of imposter syndrome. Like, I'm going to show up. You know, I'm a little bit

shorter in stock. It'll look like Iran. I don't trust like one. I'm not to be able to keep up with these cats. And then I checked that voice in the head. Right. I said, I'm not available for these cats to leave. And even if they do, I'm going to level up trying to catch them and I'm going to learn some things. And so I started training with them and these cats couldn't lose me. I would stay with them two laps around Central Park, which is about 13 miles with the hills. And I form some great friendships. These cats are awesome.

Different frequency, obviously, but I love them. And I just started to really level up and get better and understand the strategies, nutrition, when to take it during the marathon. There's different types of workouts. Who knew? Instead of just going up or run, there's speed work, there's tempo runs. And I just got much more educated. I had more ammunition to go to war with if you speak.

And then we PR two days ago in Chicago. Although I know I could have done a bit better, I still ran a 331, which is my best time yet. So what's the lesson in all this, right? And I imagine you asked me for this, is if you want to accelerate your growth in any facet of life. Surround yourself with people that are not necessarily better,

but a little bit further ahead than you. So you can find out what they're doing right. And that'll propel you higher. And that's what I did in a paned out for sure. You know, I'm glad you mentioned that because one of the things that you went really public with when you started working out with these gazelle is like, hey,

I'm putting myself in this uncomfortable position. You know, I don't know if I belong here. And you're sitting there as a, coach and as a strategist helping people get out of their own way and filter through that imposter syndrome. But you are not, you know, you aren't exempt from those feelings yourself. So it was really nice to see you getting out there and doing it and showing us that you're willing to be vulnerable yourself. I appreciate you saying that. That's what it's all about. I want to be

able to relate. And to your credit, to your point, you mentioned earlier in the space, like there's a lot the thought leaders out there. It's a bit congested, right? So you really want to align yourself with people that are in the damn arena, right? The gladys are actually getting your hands dirty, so to speak. And so I'm a human being, right? I had that moment of can I keep up with these cats? These cats are Olympians. But then I checked it and I went with them anyway. And I'm glad that resonated with you. And I'm really glad that it resonated with the audience because it's so important to take uncomfortable action in life because on the other side, you're not. And I'm other side of that based upon my life experience is where all the major growth happens.

Absolutely. You know, it's, we're talking about this marathon and you mentioned you PR'd. And, you know, a lot of times, you know, our PRs or our big wins in life don't happen as we plan them, right? Or as we expect them to. It goes how God has planned it or has God or the universe has expected it to happen. And you went through a lot of adversity during the Chicago Marathon. Did I get it right this time?

I sure did. The Chicago Marathon, right? And halfway through, what happened? Talk to us about that. Yeah, so I got there a little bit earlier than usual to the corrals where like all the gladiators line up. I had an audacious goal. And I didn't tell anybody about this because it only came to me a couple of days before. I realized I was feeling good.

I was feeling healthy. let's take a real shot at this thing. And so with a marathon, there's pacer's. And what that means is for the audience that might not be familiar is, it's almost like a professional. They run with these big signs that have a finished time in mind. And they're very consistent. Like if they say they're running a 315 marathon,

they're running 315 or a little bit quicker. And you can find that group and try to maintain and keep up with them the whole time. And so I found these 315 cats, meet friends with them. They were awesome. First 15 miles cruising, right? Light work. This is fun. Was even breaking too much of a sweat because a 315 marathon finish time equates to a 726 pace. And I'd even won fast that in training. Everything was going great until it wasn't just like life. There we go. As Mike Tyson says, everybody's got a plan to get punched in the mouth.

And so for 15 miles, I was on fire and then bang, I started getting really nauseous. the nausea. I couldn't shake it. I felt like I had to throw up every hundred feet. And for those of you guys that know me, I could take physical pain quite well. But there's something about being nauseous, lightheaded, almost like vertigo, like you feel like you'd throw up. It just wrecks me. And I had to deal with that for the final 10 miles. It was challenging to say the least.

And those final 10 miles were definitely the toughest 10 miles in my running career. They're honestly tougher than the previous five marathons combined. But you know what? During adversity like that, unpredictable obstacles, you find out a lot about yourself, right? And if you could push through what seems like absolute hell, like it'll never end and you can get through the other side, you become more battle tested. And it gives you more confidence to deal with life no matter what curveballs authority you. So make a long story short, we still PR did at 331 because I had started so well that even though the last 10 miles weren't in capacity. parable to the first 15.

I still had my best time ever. And it's funny because I kind of wanted to be done with these things and move on to the next adventure. But as divine intervention will have, it was just enough to say, wow, that was a nice PR, but also enough to say, what could you really do if you didn't have to deal with that obstacles? So let me publicly say for the first time, I'll be back. Yeah.

I mean, listen, you know, the marathons aren't done with you, bro. Correct. It's not that you're not done with the marathons. marathons have it they're not done with you and i and i and i and i and i and i and i and i love that because exactly you know it's crazy because we're sitting here talking about how bad you felt like the last what nine 10 miles whatever it was and how just how bad it was going at that point and you were still able to pull through and run it in a record time so i really want the audience to be very clear on this because they're going through a struggle right now just as you are

just as I am, we all go through struggles in our daily life, whether it's in our business, our relationships, or fitness, our mental health, whatever it is. But at the end of it, if we just keep going and producing the action over and over and over again, we might, we might just could end up pulling off the best performance of our life. Yeah, so true. But it's so beautifully articulated. You know, when you have a really purposeful goal in mind, whether it be to finish a marathon or to achieve business success or find the right spouse or whatever the case may be right for me personally

and i imagine this relatable for you um the end result is until right and for those of you that are listening right now you're like what does he mean by that until it's done right and that means nothing's going to get in the way until that goal is achieved and maybe it'll be the death of us right but that maniacal drive. If it's important to you, you're going to get it done. And we understand that obstacles, challenge, diversity are a part of life. I also understand. And boy, was I reminded 48 hours ago, that sometimes it comes when you're least expecting it, or like you guys are with a hurricane. It is what it is. Like, we're not victims. It's a part of the process sometimes. And you've got to push through that. And that's a metaphor for anybody in any life

situation. And if you are gritty enough and you're inspired enough to withstand the short-term pressure and obstacles and challenges and pain, you'll prevail. And you'll probably learn a lot about yourself in the process. And I think that's absolutely priceless. I absolutely love it, man. I'm on board with it 100% and you are accurate. Another thing, too, is, you know, there's no destination. like that's the thing that I've been learning like when I struggle when I set let's say I set a fitness goal like I remember when I did 75 hard for the very first time there was a destination it was day 75 but like what after that right like that's the thing it's you know it's almost like the until until it's done we are never done growing so there's always going to be a different checkpoint a different finish line and I think what individuals like you and I and I and so many people that were connected with with that maniacal drive as you you say is we have to be able to be okay with that and people around us don't necessarily have to understand us and I think where I've struggled in the past is trying to get people to understand like why I'm the way I am now I just don't give a shit right because I am not going to stop and

until I am the man that God intended me to be and if it keeps me up at night it keeps me up at night it is what it is hell yeah and the stuff that keeps us up at night is this stuff of why we're here, right? That's something really inspires and touches our heart. So hell yeah. And the whole like monical drive thing until some people listening to this might be like, that sounds unhealthy. I understand that you feel that way. And I'm not going to convince you otherwise. This is just how we're built for better or for worse. I personally think it's for better because it keeps us so driven and so growth oriented. I mean, think about this perspective, right? I'm disappointed with a 331 marathon

right but if a year ago if you said Craig how would you like to run a 331 marathon I'd be like sign me up that'd be great but I've grown so much my paradigms what my capacity is what I believe to be possible for myself and so forth that the goalposts keep moving back

right and so we've never arrived it's like you said it's not the destination it's we become on the journey and if you have that type of frequency and that type of attitude what could you not accomplish? You know what I'm saying? So I think this is good for us.

Absolutely. And at times it can be a little bit of one of those strains mentally, right? Because, you know, just as to your point, like if I just told it a year ago that I could run a 331, sign me up. But like you said, you grow so much. So then it's you're disappointed when it happens, right? It's almost like, I don't want for me, when I achieve things, if you would have said a year ago, that I would be in a relatively decent podcast studio with a microphone and a sign. I would have been like, cool, man.

But now that I'm here, I'm like, eh, the goalpost moved. It moved. And that's okay. The finish line's going to move. If it doesn't move for you, then your dreams aren't big enough. Yeah. That's a great point, bro. And an awesome point, right?

And a lot of people won't understand, even some of the ones closest to us, right? Even my fiance, my writer die, Alessia, she's like, I'm so proud of you. Like, how are you dejected? I'm like, if you know, you know. Like I had a goal and I came up short. And I want to be respectful because I know 331 in the grand scheme of things is a very good time. I just know I could do better, right? And so I'm very competitive.

And I think a lot of the greats are, like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady and so forth. So it is what it is. But we're very growth oriented. addicted to growing. I just didn't know that just now at the second. I never even said that I'm addicted to growing right. Like you said like your podcast studio was great a year ago, but now you're thinking even more professional, more polished. And I imagine once you get to that, you're going to be looking at how could you even improve it from there, right? And then people are probably listening to this. And like, well, how does someone like you ever become satisfied? I don't really want to be.

Yeah. My last season is blissfully dissatisfied, I think Uncle Ed says, right? Like you're present, you're grateful, you appreciate everything. But you're always striving to improve a little bit more to put yourself a little bit further. I think that's what life is all about is to continuously grow. You know, it's funny you say that because, you know, like Uncle Ed says blissfully dissatisfied. And Ben Newman says never be seduced by success. Love that.

You know, it's all these great. minds and thought leaders saying the same thing but in their own way. And it's like, you know, until you're sitting there in our own brain, you will not understand what we're talking about or what we're going through. I'm very grateful for what I've accomplished in my life. I just know that I'm not freaking done. And, you know, your beautiful fiance and my beautiful wife, they could probably have a podcast about us, bro. Like, how do you manage this guy? Like, seriously, how do you deal with Sean? How do you deal with Craig? Because they're so maniacal. But it's like, you know, I also want to teach my children that literally, whatever they want, within reason,

they can go get it. You know, no, I can't go, you know, be in the NBA right now, right? You know, I'm not saying that, but literally if I have a vision and I work, you know, intently enough, I'm going to achieve it. You know, so it's, uh, just got really deep, really quick, which I knew it would with you, which is, in my opinion, the most significant conversations. Think about this for the audience. Thank you. If you have a kid, or if you're a leader in any capacity and you're inspiring someone to be more than they are right now, but you're not, that makes you a fraud, right? So if you're going to tell somebody to pursue the truth and to become the best version of themselves and that they can do anything,

they're going to look at you first and say, well, are you? Are you chasing? Are you, your dreams? Are you being only being able to be? Are you putting yourself out there? And if you're not, you're going to lose credibility with them. Right? So if you have a goal or a mission or a vision,

you kind of chase that stuff. Like your life depends upon it. And not for nothing, but the world needs your gifts. Everybody has gifts, despite what you guys might think, even if you haven't identified them yet. You absolutely 100%. It's not just like an option. It's your job to fulfill your assignment. And if you're going to tell other people to do so,

you better be doing it first. Let's talk about the assignment. Holy shit. I, you know, I hear about, you know, purpose, like the assignment. I love that. It's like the moment I understood my assignment in life, I couldn't turn it off. I've told this to you before. I was driving down my car on interstate I-75. And it was almost like my brain exploded everywhere. You know, it's like, oh my God, from that moment, from that moment on, I've been obsessed with building this to a point where sometimes my wife's like, can we talk about something else? And I'm like, yeah, you're right. But I'm so, you know, I'm just so intent on what I want to create. And it is hard to shut it off at times.

But to your point, you know, if you're out there telling people to do something and you're not out there doing it yourself, then you are a fraud. And there's a lot of people out there that are just like that. You know, and I'm just grateful to be connected with you because I know you're not. And you probably saw me. I was taking a second to write something down as you were speaking because I was adding a chapter to my book called My Assignment. Because this conversation is so awesome right now and it just stimulated that idea. I think that it's important for everybody that's hearing this right now to really pay attention. We all have an assignment.

We're all here for a reason. It's not to just come, work, pay some bills, and leave. We're here to make some sort of impact or contribution, right? And I understand not everybody's in personal development, but we are here to some capacity to serve, to give back, and to make a difference. And it's very important that if you don't know what that is yet, find the tools necessary to identify what that is and fulfill that and leave your legacy. You know, that's a great point, man.

And it's funny because I truly, believe that people do know what that is. You know, I turned it off for so many years. I remember having conversations way back in 2006 with a good friend of mine who passed away. Is she's like, what do you want to do with your life? I'm like, I'm going to be the next Tony Robbins. And she's like, okay. I'm like, oh, you don't believe me.

She goes, no, no, no, no, I believe in you. You don't believe in you. She's can do whatever the hell you want to do. And I'm like, yeah, no one's going to want to listen to what I have to say. I'm a mess right now. I mean, dude, in my 20s and early 30s, oh, man, what a wreck, right? Holy shit. It was like a train wreck that you just couldn't stop but looking at.

It's like, there's Sean French again fucking up. And it's like, but that whole time I knew what my purpose was and I turned the volume down and the frequency down so far so that I could be right that I wasn't worthy and that my dad knew right about me. And guess what? He was wrong. so here we are. Right?

And people know, again, my tangent, y'all that are listening is, is simply this. I'm going to challenge you right now on minute 29 of this podcast. You know exactly what your assignment is, but you're too damn scared to move on it. Oprah said this and it really stuck with me. Something will whisper to you at some point in your life, a calling. It will not shout at you. Hey, Shawnee, this is what you have. to do it's going to whisper and it's on us to be available and pay attention to that voice so that like

you said to your credit we can raise the volume of it and for me i had that whisper in the beginning of pandemic cLS was born so for anyone listening don't expect it to just be written on some sign you'll feel it you'll hear it and then you have to be available to take it and run with it yeah it's it's that intuition. That's, that's what God placed on you. What's the universe is placing on you. Whatever you believe in the higher power, that is that, that is that implant. Like, that is, okay, here you go. I'm going to drop it on you. What are you going to do with it? A lot of it, a lot of times it's like the most deafening silence ever. And, you know, I'm looking back at the pandemic. That's when I started. You know, you and I are on similar paths. I mean, you have, you know, grotesquely

out, you know, just grown to a point where like, it's incredible what you've accomplished in two and a half years, three years. You know, I mean, it's, it's inspiring. You know, but yeah, it's funny that, you know, you and I, you know, you live in New York. I live in Florida. I don't know each other at the point, but we're on the same journey. And then at the right time, the universe says, okay, you guys have to meet. And I'll always remember when I first came across to you, it was alive or something.

I don't know. I don't know what you were doing. what's that? I'm just excited to hear what you're about to say. Dude, it's so funny. I'm like, who in the hell is this guy? So, like, you know, I think it was, it might have been because I was following David Meltzer. And it might have been the paradigm, you know, the paradigm shift or, you know, something like that.

And you're like, just on this live and you were just being so unapologetically you. And you're like, Jakey Bakie in the house. I'm like, who the hell is this guy? Who the fuck is Jakey bakey? I'm like, this guy. is just being himself. He doesn't really give a shit. And, you know, that's what really, you know,

attracted me into your, into your orbit. I was like, dude, I like this guy. So, you know. I want to piggyback off that. I never really told the story. My first date with my now fiance, Alessia was on Valentine's Day for a cup of coffee, 2021.

And I remember saying to her in that conversation at the diner, I just want to be completely transparent with you. She's like, okay. I'm like, I'm definitely 100% bar none, the strangest cat you're ever going to meet. I just want to put my parts on the table. And she's like, all right, I'm pretty strange too. I'm like, okay. I'm glad we got that out of the way.

Yeah, we'll see, right? And now, like, today is an inside joke. She's like, you're so weird. I'm like, don't say I didn't warn you. Date number one. I told you what was on. But I am strange. I am real raw and authentic.

I used to not be this way. And as it turns out, as I really gave myself permission to just be me for the world to see, take it or leave it. And if someone doesn't want it, that's okay. Insecurity is gone. As it turns out, like you, the attraction was really at all-time highs. So I appreciate that, acknowledge your brother. And I think for the audience listening today, you should always be your real, raw, authentic self. And even if it doesn't digest with certain people, good.

Let that act as an authentic filter, right? And the right people will gravitate to the highest and most real version of you. It's so funny you mentioned that. Real quick, I want to address that. Then I want to rewind and talk about your beautiful fiancé is, you know, I think you're starting to see that from me. You know, you've mentioned something to me on Instagram. I'm like, I'm digging this vibe. I'm like, this is it, man.

this is it. I mean, you know, I had to work myself up for it, but, you know, I'm not going to worry about what people are going to think or who I'm going to, you know, I guess repel. We're going to use that as an authentic filter. And that's a great way to shift that perspective. So thank you. But, but no, so Alessia, yes, dude, she's, she's plenty weird. She's plenty weird.

And it's amazing. She, dude, that woman, crap. me up, dude. Like, I, I, I, I, sometimes I got a full disclosure, I got to be honest, sometimes when I come across your guys's stories together, like, if there was a way for you to know how many times I rewound and watch that over and over again, because there's a high, it's just, like, I need the laugh, you know, sometimes like, dude, like, there's one. I think it was, I don't know, I think it was tiger snooze.

I watched that story like 15 times. I love to put her on blast. Look, life can be very serious. There's a lot of serious you going on, but we got to make it fun, right? Like, if we're making a lot of people, we're not having fun, what's the point of that? If we're making a big impact, we're not having fun, that seems a little upside as well. So having fun has become a giant priority for me. So I'm glad that you're entertained and having a good time watching some of the content I I think that's what it's all about. Nah, man, I love all your content, man.

I love your speaking engagement content because, you know, every time I hear you, I see, I also see myself. Right? Because the, the, the, the, how honest you are when you're on that stage, you're not rehearsed. You're not like, dude, you, you, you have a concept. You know what you're going to talk about. And you let the universe handle the. rest. And I think that's, I know that's what makes you so impactful when you speak. Thank you, buddy. I appreciate that. And also, like, it's good to have a plan and an outline,

but meet the audience where they are, right? That's a really good tip for anyone listening. So it's true. It's not scripted. I want to find out what people need at that time and deliver that. So I received that. Thank you for that acknowledgement. Absolutely. That's that emotional intelligence kicking in, buddy. You know, like, hey, you look at the crowd. You see where they're at. Meet them where they're at, right? Here you are. This is where I'm going to be.

We all have an outline, right? We all have something that when we go, like I have a call tonight at 8.30 p.m. with a fitness company. I have my outline. But I know it may not be exactly word for word about that. And that's okay. Because I don't think you can say the wrong thing to the right person. That's a good point.

You know? So, um, you, keep talking about your fiance, you are newly engaged. I am. And there's a different Craig Siegel creeping around New York City and on the interwebs. Man, you have shown that you also love your fiance as much as you love our bromance. And I'm actually kind of jealous. That's awesome.

It's a fun time. Look, you know, relationships take work, make no mistake about it. I'd be ignorant. If I didn't acknowledge that we are in the honeymoon phase, it's still relatively new. We're newly engaged. I know that at some point there'll be some differences and stuff like that. But I love it with all my heart. She means everything and vice versa.

And I think the key there is, and I'm no relationship expert, but to find someone that really supports you and respects you. I think respect is a little bit overlooked when it comes to important traits of a relationship. You don't have to agree with your spouse or their vision or certain things, but you have to respect. you have to respect it. And if you lose that, because I've been in those types of relationships too, I think the foundation is a really uphill battle from there. You know, it's interesting because I knew that it's exactly where you were going with it,

was the respect factor, the support and respect, because you have both with Alessia. And my wife and I, we have the same as well. There are seasons, though, within a relationship that you forget that R word. Sure. Right. And it's like it's these conversations. right here that we all have to remember to go back to may not agree with that your spouse or

your fiance but you darn sure better respect where they're coming from because it's their feelings and is their outlook right so if you demand respect you got to be able to give it so um well said man well said you you you know you you know it's funny like the last not funny but the last I think few months in your life, you've had so many things go on, right? You talked about you're writing a book. And by the way, I cannot wait to get that book in my hands. I want the opportunity to buy the first copy straight up. And I better get a signature and a love note inside of it.

But, you know, you've got, you have that going on. You're speaking platform is growing tremendously. You, the marathons, the engagement, but you've also dealt with a life, like a very life-threatening event quite recently walking down the street in New York City. Insane. Yeah. And for the audience, listening, it would be very straightforward. I got hit by a car in New York City, hit and run.

Car smacked right into me. It was speeding. Took off to two red lights gone. And it was a crazy situation because physically, I was relatively unscathed. other than a little bit banged up, divine intervention. You know, I'm not stupid. But emotionally, I was taking it back for a little bit. I finally got some closure on it with the NYPD and so forth.

And I'm moving on. I know what happened for me. It's a part of the story now and lessons to give. But it's a war zone out here. And that was definitely a crazy situation. And look, I'm not one of those cats that was like taking life for granted. So it's not like that gave me a new lease on life. But what it did do is it really elevated my ability to be mindful, be present in every single situation, this interview, or my next podcast if this, or a coachical, whatever the case it might be.

Just be so present and mindful in every situation. That's one of the big lessons I took out of that. But also, you mentioned all the things that I'm doing, right? Like the speaking engagement is the book, the relationship, engage, marathons. I guess it looks hectic, right? To the outside world looking in. But to me, I've never been more alive. And I love having all this stuff going on.

It just keeps me so excited and interested and just grateful for all the opportunities. And I think that's how life should be lived. It is not to get to the end line in perfect tip top condition, right? Get there, like warn the hell out, beat up because you lived. You made up second count. And I know this because for a while I was going through the motions. I was in the Matrix a few years back. It's much better to live purposely, intently, and with a lot of exciting stuff going on.

Trust me. Yeah, I don't, to me, like, I don't think it looks chaotic or crazy or whatever adjective you used. To me, what it looks like is you're living. Yeah. You know, I think we could do all the things. There's too many limitations. Society places too many limitations on the members of that society.

meaning it's either or, well, why can it be and? Like I don't know, I don't understand. Like everybody, you know, you can do all the things. You just have to manage your time effectively. You know, and I think that's what I'm seeing with you is the ability not only to just collapse time, but also to manage it, you know, to where it works for you instead of against you. And look, I'm still work in progress, right?

Sure. But it's something I've really worked on, especially when you're juggling so many big developments, right? Like running a marathon is not like going for a jog. Getting engaged, a whole eventful surprises, signing a book deal, the podcast, interviews, client calls, membership, it's a lot. And I haven't mastered it per se, but I'm much better than I used to be. And that comes to the experience and understanding what works and what does it. I feel that the more and more I get to know you, I feel that there's a bigger, empath side of you than there was before.

Maybe it's because I'm getting to know you better. But I just feel like as time goes on and you evolve, like there's just you become more empathetic. For sure. I'm really empathetic. And again, we started the conversation over how much I care. Sometimes maybe to a fault. But I think I'd rather have this problem and be a little bit too empathetic.

But yeah, I know everybody's going through something, despite what you see on the exterior, everybody is going through some sort of internal battle that you may not be familiar with because maybe they don't showcase it. And I want to be empathetic for that, for sure, because we're all going through myself included. I mean, I went through it.

You know, I race to get a workout in. In between my last call and you, I felt like I was battling something. And I'm like, I have to be ready for my boy. So I'm going to go, I'm going to go lift. I'm going to be myself up. right I'm going to sweat and I'm going to grow in this hour and a half because I really don't want to go but I want to be ready and you know again you know you look around at the gym there's people battling demons that you don't see on a day to day basis it's an amazing thing you know I don't know it's just something to think about for people that are listening like everybody's going through something nobody is you know exempt going through some trials and tribulations. How you deal with it, though, I think is the most important thing.

Oh, yeah. And I know firsthand from last Sunday with the marathon. So I think empathy is a really good trait to possess. And if you're not super empathetic, something to work on for sure. Absolutely, man. Well, I want to land the plank because I know you've got big things to do the rest of the day. And so do I. And I've really just valued this 45 minutes with you once again, being able to record the sequel of our podcast.

episode and you know how can my audience though how can they best support you moving forward come say what up come say hello on instagram facebook tictock now twitter uh go to the website cultivate last symphony dot com if you want to work with us in a consultant capacity and membership listen to the podcast anywhere you listen to a podcast to cLS experience uh you could join the texting community just text the number nine 17634 3796 uh just come say hello I'm definitely not shy. I encourage you not to be either. And just kind of catch the vibe and see if it's for you.

It's a movement. It's a culture. We're reinventing and we're having a lot of fun doing so. So just stop by. Absolutely think you should. Again, coming from somebody who's a member in this community, I definitely recommend that. The text chain that he sends out daily is off the hook. All these things are going to be put into the show notes, guys.

You'll know exactly how to find my boy Craig and participate in life with him. But more importantly, man, how can I best support you? Let's just continue to build the friendship. First of all, you're doing it right now. Having me on, if we could extend the reach at all and inspire some listeners today, job well done. But ultimately, I really value you as a human being. And what excites me most about you is we get a little bit closer every single day.

And I just have a lot of fun doing life with you. So let's just continue to do that. Absolutely. You got that for me, buddy. No doubt. Well, listen, guys, thank you so much for listening today. If you got something out of today, something Craig said that just kind of triggered a thought or motivated you to do something different and do something bigger in your life, please share the episode.

Tag us on social media. We will definitely share it back to our socials. If you're not already following the show and all the platforms, please subscribe, leave a review, and I want to hear from you in a comment. Reach out to me on social. I want to hear what you think. So guys, until next time, I love you and be safe.