THE ED MYLETT SHOW - Learn the One Filter That Exposes a Fake Friend Instantly

Episode Date: August 29, 2026

Every person in your life is telling you the truth about themselves right now, just not with their mouth. That is the filter I open this weekend mashup with, and it is why I brought together some of ...the sharpest minds I know on reading people, building real confidence and telling the difference between someone who loves you and someone who is just good at saying it. Dr. Marisa Franco is breaking down the actual research on why some friendships take root and others fade. Brendon Burchard and I get into the two small promises I started keeping to myself and how the habit of keeping tiny commitments directly relates to whether you can trust a person or not. Then you hear the raw truth from a man who finished Navy SEAL training, Army Ranger School and Air Force tech school in one lifetime, David Goggins, describing the 19 hours that broke him down and rebuilt him at the same time. What he says about the people from his old life who still want to pull him back will stick with you. Here's what you'll walk away with: Filter test: the exact shift in how you watch people that tells you instantly who is real. Friendship science: why the group you show up to again and again matters more than how the first meeting felt. Confidence rebuild: the two tiny promises that pulled me out of my lowest point. The cookie jar: how to reach for proof of your own toughness when your body wants to quit. The lens flip: one question that will change how every person in your life experiences you. I have spent the past few years listening less and watching more, and every relationship in my life is better for it. Watch the people around you this week instead of just listening to them, and you will already understand more about your life than you did yesterday.   👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈 → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ← INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK LINKEDIN X WEBSITE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:04 This is the Edmiler Show. Hey everyone, welcome to my weekend special. I hope you enjoy the show. Be sure to follow the Ed Milet Show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. You'll never miss an episode that way. Now on with the show. Welcome back to the show, everybody.
Starting point is 00:00:21 I love our solo episodes because I have a chance every week to answer some of the questions you submit and hopefully help you on the show by creating content that solves those problems or gives you inspiration or maybe it's tactics and strategies that can improve or change your life. And so if you do have a question you want to answer on the show, Go to my Instagram at Ed Milet, E-D-M-Y-L-E-E-T-T-T. Make sure you're following me, and you can direct message a question, and maybe it'll end up on the show.
Starting point is 00:00:43 This week's topic is really about reading people, creating a little bit more happiness and bliss and productivity in your life by dealing better with human beings, whether that be in a relationship or in your business life. And so I'm going to give you some advice you probably never heard before. But what I want you to do is I want you to begin to turn the volume down on the people in your life. Actually, what I want you do is I want you to turn the sound off altogether. almost like watching people in your life like they're a silent movie. I just watched a movie recently, and if you don't like violent stuff, don't watch this, but it's called Sisu. And in this movie, it's basically an actor that you watch through the entire movie, the lead character of the movie, doesn't speak. He never enunciates a word in the entire movie, yet it's gripping and compelling because you actually learn to love this person and understand them by watching actually how they behave and what they do, as opposed to what they do.
Starting point is 00:01:35 they say. So you spend a couple hours watching this man go through terrible circumstances after a war, but you end up rooting for him and loving him and understanding him very deeply and he never speaks a word. See, in our lives right now, people really can manipulate you with language. And words are used to really manipulate and trick. They're almost a mask. And we begin to believe what people say. And this can be very serious. I've had some situations in close relationships recently in my life where somebody was telling me something over and over and over again. But all of the evidence to my eye said something else was going on, but they were so persuasive with their words that I took my eye off what I was actually seeing them do. And so especially in personal relationships, so often what people will tell us,
Starting point is 00:02:22 we want to believe and we want to buy into, and it's a diversion from actually what they do. You would learn a lot about the people in your life, especially the people very close to you. if you turned the sound off and just watch them. I know this sounds sort of harsh, but I really don't listen to what people say to me very much anymore in my life. I watch what they do. What they do speak so loudly,
Starting point is 00:02:44 I can't hear a word they're saying. Yet most people live differently. They respond to the words and the things. I'm so excited. There's someone in business. I'm so motivated. I'm so excited. Great.
Starting point is 00:02:55 Prove it. And when I watch them, they don't act that way. Or I love you so much. I'll do anything for you, but they don't even clean up their dishes. They don't even get home on time, whatever it might be in your relationship or in your business life. And so if you begin to watch, remember those old silent movies, the old black and white movies? They do entire movies with no sound because it's so interesting to watch a human being.
Starting point is 00:03:18 Words are misleading. And so many of you in your life right now, you're in a relationship with somebody who's saying all the right things, and you may even believe them right now. And the truth is they don't behave in a way that's reflective of those words. And it won't be until years and years and years of that behavior catching up with them that you finally realize it. But what if you just started to listen a little less and watch a little more? Some of those behaviors can be really detrimental and harmful too. And if you're not watching and you're always listening, you can become very, very confused. The other thing is in business.
Starting point is 00:03:50 People will say the right thing all the time. But you've got to watch them. What do they do? How do they show up? How do they work? How dedicated are they? We've become a world really misled by language. And it can be really painful, can it?
Starting point is 00:04:05 When someone's words eventually you realize never match their actions. Or in business, it can be catastrophic to make mistakes and watch people say all the right things. But their conduct is not congruent with their words. The other thing is in life is that I think the people that you want to be around the most actually do act the way that they speak. Those are the people that you can get closest to. Those are the people that you can trust. Too many of us rely on the spoken word and not enough on what we're seeing right in front of us. And it's not until many years or long after you go.
Starting point is 00:04:35 It was right there. The writing was on the wall. I saw it. Why didn't I act on it? Because you were listening too much. And so the best advice I can give you to live a happier or more blissful life. And it's a sad thing to say. What the truth is is watch how they behave, even as a parent with our children.
Starting point is 00:04:52 It's not what they say. It's what they do. In every area of life, what someone does should be speaking. the loudest, but it doesn't. And then even on your own life, what if you begin to really take a look at your own actions, what you actually really do every day? If you really love somebody, do you act like you love them? Do you treat them like you? See, love is a verb, not a noun. It's a verb. You have to act in certain way and behave in a certain way. And if you're not doing that to somebody, you're not loving them like you should. You say, I'm dedicated.
Starting point is 00:05:28 but you're not there very often, right? Or as a parent, I'll do anything for my children. You say all these things we're supposed to say, but do you? You'll do anything? Really, do you? In business, man, all the right things. I'm motivated. I'm pumped up.
Starting point is 00:05:42 I'm learning. I'm growing. Prove it. Do it. And so in our lives, eventually, by the way, eventually everybody is revealed by their deeds. Everybody is revealed by what they do, not what they say. And you'd be a lot happy if you did it.
Starting point is 00:05:56 The other side of that, too, it's something that I really worry about is social media where we're watching people say all the right things. See, the one thing on social media, especially this time of years, everyone's out having a great time, everybody's partying, everybody's celebrating, right? And a lot of times you're sitting there with your own problems, your own life right in front of you, what you've got to deal with, the actual things, actually things you've got to do. And you're watching people show you all this very orchestrated, very curated content. And it seems like, doesn't it seem like in life? Everybody's at a party. Everybody's on a yacht. Everybody's in Greece.
Starting point is 00:06:30 Everybody's laughing. Everybody's got great friends. Everybody's enjoying their life. Everybody's got plenty of money to spend. And then you're sitting there dealing with a problem, a frustration, an issue. You're dealing with the things you do. And it's one of the real detriments of social media. I want you to remember this.
Starting point is 00:06:49 None of that's real. I'm with those people a lot of times when they're posting it. And they're in an argument with their stuff. spouse before they take the beautiful picture. They're struggling to pay the bill at the bar that they're celebrating and, you know, toasting to. And so it's not real. In life, it's never as good as it seems. And the truth is, it's never as bad as it seems in our lives. But it's very easy to get very jaded and frustrated and down over watching the words of people on social media or even the videos they post in little snippets of their lives.
Starting point is 00:07:25 And it makes us think our own lives aren't all that rewarding. I want you to remember something that I've really found out as I've gotten older. Everybody's screwed up. Everybody's got problems. Everybody's struggling. Just some people are better at masking it. Some people are better at covering it up. The truth is, is like, once you know that, and by the way, I'll let you in on the
Starting point is 00:07:43 inside, I have some of the most successful people in the world on my show. I coach some of them. I coached. I've been blessed to coach some of the time. athletes in the world, some of the top business people, CEOs, entertainers, politicians, even myself. I have a laundry list of problems all the time. I'm struggling most of the time.
Starting point is 00:08:06 And I'm probably guilty of it as well, posting highlight reels of my day in my life when the truth of the matter is, I'm screwed up. I'm just trying to figure things out as well. I think one of the reasons my show works is I'm vulnerable and authentic about that, that I'm working through many of these things. Success leaves clues. I'm 52 years old. I've got a lot of solutions because you know why I've had a lot of problems.
Starting point is 00:08:28 I have a lot of answers because I've had lots of questions in my life. And so don't let other people fool you into you believing their life is perfect because you're watching them. If you begin to watch people with the sound off, with the social media off, you'd understand we're all human beings. We're all trying to get through this life and grow and improve and be happier and create memories and make difference. We all are. We're just at different stages or different versions of it. Sometimes people are further down the road of solving those problems, maybe like myself, but by no means did I not go down that road. By no means, there's still not issues and problems and quite frankly, tragedies often in life that happen from time to time. But we'd all be better suited if we were
Starting point is 00:09:13 aware that that's the case. We'd all be better suited in our relationships and in our business lives if we did the silent movie. Turn the sound down, turn the volume all the way down. How are you really treating me? How do you really behave? How loving are you really? How dedicated are you really? How committed are you really in our relationship?
Starting point is 00:09:38 It work. How motivated and hardworking are you really? How much do you really care? And we only know that by watching, we've become a world conditioned to listen. to listen, to listen. We've become a world condition to look at social media and really believe that's real life. That's not real.
Starting point is 00:09:59 And in your real life, neither are the words people speak. I'm not saying that people don't have beautiful words and mean them. What I'm saying is we're fooled by them often. We're deceived by them often. We're manipulated by them often. And maybe we are because we want to believe it. Maybe we are because we would just like to believe that that's the case. And you know what's really cool?
Starting point is 00:10:21 The great people in your life, the loving people in your life, when you turn the sound down on their life, they're even better. In fact, most of the great, loving, and amazing people in your life don't spend a lot of time with their words trying to convince you. They just quietly go about their lives showing you. In your business life, it's not the person who stands up and speaks all the time. It's the person who draws very little attention in themselves and just serves and makes the difference. think about that if you have a great mom like I do. When's the last time your mom bragged about the things she did for you? My mom has never once said,
Starting point is 00:10:57 Do you know how many meals I cooked for you? Do you how many times I wiped your nose or your butt or took care of you when you were sick? Do you know how many times I picked you up from school when I was sick and didn't want to? How many times I held you when you were crying or I drove you home from a sporting event after you struck out three times?
Starting point is 00:11:15 How many times I've stayed up, nights waiting for you to come home when you're in high school to make sure you were safe. How much praying I've done for you and loving I do? How many minutes a day, even now that you're in your 50s, I think about you and worry about you? Our moms never point those things out to us. They just quietly do them. And probably neither to you. With the people you really love in your life, you don't need to point it out.
Starting point is 00:11:40 You don't need to say it. Because love is a verb. Work is a verb. service is a verb contribution is a verb and so start to turn the sound down man your life will get better it's maybe the number one key
Starting point is 00:11:55 I could give you to be able to make better decisions to assess people to judge properly to navigate your life to decide whether to stay in a relationship or a business whether to hire somebody or not is to watch them with the sound off and then lastly
Starting point is 00:12:12 watch yourself with the sound off when you turn all the noise down on you, what are you doing every single day? See, when you drown out all the noise, all the social media, all the distraction, our life comes down to a handful of moments every day of the decisions and choices we make. And when we make the right decisions
Starting point is 00:12:32 and take the right actions, the words will come, the accolades will come, the rewards will come, and eventually everybody's revealed. If you're a person of faith at some point in your life, when you get to heaven, you ain't going to talk your way in there, right? You know, you're not going to talk your way in there. It's the life you lived. It's who you accepted and believed in when you were
Starting point is 00:12:55 here. That's what's going to count. It's not the words. Words go away real quickly. Actions live on forever. Actions are like seeds that you're planting that reap a harvest. Actions vibrate at certain frequencies and attract certain things in our life. Words don't vibrate at very high frequency. It's a very low frequency behavior. Actions and intentions vibrate at the highest possible frequency, and they eventually draw into our lives basically a harvest of which we've planted with our actions. And so I just want to encourage you to do that. The people that I've admired the most in my life, and I'm a speaker, by the way,
Starting point is 00:13:31 so I do a lot of words, and I host a lot of podcasts, and I do a lot of interviews, and I coach a lot of people. But in my life, the people that I've listened to the closely speak very quietly. speak very little. They're the ones that I lean in when they speak. Because they don't have a lot of time to speak, because they're doing so much action-taking,
Starting point is 00:13:52 so many deeds of service and love and hard work and contribution, that the few times they do speak, you really want to hear from them. You all know this. You have that person in your life that when they speak, everybody listens because you respect them so highly.
Starting point is 00:14:05 And the reason you respect them so highly is not the previous words they've spoken. It's the previous actions they've taken. and the actions they've taken consistently in their life over and over and over again that reveal who they really are. Because long term in our lives, you show me your schedule, you show me your actions, you show me the behaviors of your life, and I will eventually show you your life. You show me your words, and I have no idea what your life's going to look like.
Starting point is 00:14:33 So take it from a guy who's lived a little longer than many of you. As I've gotten older and older, I listen a lot less, and I watch. lot more. I listen a lot less to myself and I observe and watch myself a lot more. And I certainly don't pay attention to what I see on social media because I know better. I know we're all a little bit messed up and trying to get through this life. And by the way, when I say we're all a little bit messed up, I actually believe we're made perfect in God's image, but that we were put here to grow and expand and that we're given these challenges and these problems in our life as ways in which to reveal solutions as ways that our faith and our lives is revealed.
Starting point is 00:15:15 In my own life, I have to tell you, I've reached the conclusion many different times that I'm not capable on my own and that I look higher. I look to Jesus in my life, in your life, whatever God is for you, but I look there for my comfort, for my answers, for my solutions because I'm not always capable. I'm not always worthy. I'm not always ready to meet the moment. but he always is in my life and it's not because of the words that he spoke it's because of the deeds that he did because of the way that he lived his life that I follow him and because of the way he lived
Starting point is 00:15:56 his life those words have depth and meaning to me because they're congruent with the actions that he took I hope this helped you today I know it's brief what's really really important And I guarantee you there will be a moment in the next few days where my words will be a healthy reminder to you in some situation. This will not take long to make an impact on your life. It will not take long. It may not even take that many hours before a situation is going to come up and you're going to go. I remember what he said. I'm going to watch this with the sound off here.
Starting point is 00:16:26 I'm going to begin to watch it like a silent movie. Watch this person like a silent movie. Because once they behave in the way that is congruent, then their words really have impact and meaning. It's like a validation on their behavior. year. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. Don't forget to follow the show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. Now on to our next game. Listen, I've been taken IM8 for a while, like a couple years. Feel great. Then we moved and I stopped taking it for a little bit. Huge mistake. I can almost feel it immediately. My energy dropped. My focus was gone. It reminded me
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Starting point is 00:18:49 All right, welcome back to the show, everybody. Today is all about friends. We're going to talk about how to be a better friend, why friendships matter so deeply. And I have to tell you, this woman's work is so fascinating to me because it's a little bit of a contrarian viewpoint, Yet when you hear the things she talks about, I think they're going to resonate with you right away that they're true. And any of you that want to be a better friend, want more friends, want deeper friendships, just better relationships in general.
Starting point is 00:19:17 I have the woman here that's going to help you with it. My guest today is Dr. Marissa Franco. She is currently a New York Times bestselling author of the new book called Platonic, How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make and Keep Friends. She's also got a PhD in counseling psychology. She's been an expert on, you know, different programs, including Good Morning America. And now on the Ed Milet Show. So Dr. Franco, great to have you here.
Starting point is 00:19:40 Welcome. Thank you so much for having me. Happy to be here. Well, you should be. You just became a New York Times bestselling author. Yes. The rest of your life when you walk in a room, it's no longer Dr. Marissa Franco. It's New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Marissa Franco.
Starting point is 00:19:56 Someone listening to this. I go, you know, I've had good friendships in my life. But like Ed said earlier, my best girlfriend just got, she got married a couple years ago. And she's just spending more time. She's had, you know, some of this is just natural things. She's had children now. Maybe I haven't. And so she's got more time there.
Starting point is 00:20:13 And I'm finding myself, you know, on a Friday night wanting to go enjoy the company of other people. But I'm struggling to find those people. What would you say to somebody who's listening? This goes, I'd like to cultivate and find some more friendships. I know it's a broad question, but I'm sure in your case because you're the best in the world list, you probably have a couple suggestions. Thank you, Ed. I do. I do. The first is to join a community that's repeated over time. So don't go to that networking event. Go to that professional development group, right? Go to the book club, go to the hiking group, go to the running group, go to the improv club.
Starting point is 00:20:48 Because when you see people repeatedly, you capitalize on something called the mere exposure effect. Our unconscious tendency to like people when they are simply familiar to us. You know, these researchers planted women into a psychology lecture and they found that at the end of the semester students in the lecture reported liking the woman who showed up to the most classes 20% more than the one who didn't show up to any even though they didn't remember any of these women right and so when you join something repeated that's something to keep in mind first of all your first meeting it's probably going to be awkward it's uncomfortable near exposure effect has not set in that's that's not a sign that you you shouldn't be engaging anymore, commit for two to three months once you find a club that you
Starting point is 00:21:31 like before giving up on forming connections there. That's a great flipping suggestion. It's also people that probably have a shared or common interest with you, right? Exactly. Have a prob of proclivity to think about you. What about that? So I want to go somewhere kind of difficult. Do you think it's more difficult to build friendships with people who you just disagree with on certain things?
Starting point is 00:21:55 I'm not talking about values. I think you have to have shared values, right? But I'm a liberal. You're a conservative, right? Whatever. My viewpoint on religion. I'm a Christian, you're an agnostic or atheist or Jew. See, to me, my dad was my best friend.
Starting point is 00:22:14 And he passed away a little while ago. And we had share values, shared, obviously, shared experience. But we disagreed on these things. and it made it such a rich friendship. In other words, it wasn't an echo chamber for me, like most of my other friends. We mainly hang around people who go, you're right, you're right, yeah. And we sort of, I want a few of my friends. I think it's one of the richest things in life.
Starting point is 00:22:40 Yet I think culturally right now, are you red or blue, right? Are you? And I think even the friendships we have aren't as rich as they could be. It's not the full mosaic of life. I want that person who challenges my thinking. That's just me personally, right? Don't you feel like you ought to have at least a couple friends in there where you're like, I love you, you crazy MF, you're out of your mind on Trump.
Starting point is 00:23:02 You're out of your mind on Biden. Like, whatever it is, wherever you stand. And I really think this is a difficult place to go in friendships. But everybody evaluating this, does everyone just agree with you? Wouldn't it be cool to have someone, you love them? They're not bad because they disagree with you. They just have a different perspective, but you share a value system. What do you think about that?
Starting point is 00:23:21 I think it really depends on the person. You know, I can just share an experience that I had, for example, that I talk about in the book that me and one of my friends were both black, white, biracial, and I grew up in New York. So I had never experienced racism before, at least not blatantly. He grew up in Germany. So he had, right? We got into our positions as professors. We both started to experience pretty blatant racism. And I, it really affected me.
Starting point is 00:23:51 It really, really impacted me. I was not used to this. I did not have any resilience to it. It affected him a lot less. And so he was sort of able to stay in his position and get to the top position. He's now a tenured professor there, right? Because that was something he could live in that difference. He could live in that, in those feelings of disconnection with people based on race, right?
Starting point is 00:24:12 But I couldn't. And that's because we have different histories and different capacities. And so, Ed, when you say it's really rich, for me, right? Your experience is great and your capacity is great. And I totally think we need people that are working across these differences and bridging these divides. But for other people, their experience when they talk to someone who has different values in them, their body reacts very differently. Right? They have very different reactions. And there's this book called What Happened to You that talks about the ability to regulate as a privilege. It's a sign that you've
Starting point is 00:24:43 had healthy relationships in the past rather than, you know, really traumatic relationships or you've have the opportunity to really work through that trauma. And if these people that are constantly getting triggered by people's differences of opinions, I think if we encourage them to stay in those relationships, what we might find is they're going to form really gross relationships where they don't actually feel close to people. So I think it really depends on people's capacity and you discerning for yourself, like, is this a positive experience for me? Is this enriching experience for me?
Starting point is 00:25:09 Or is it just too much for me right now in this moment? And I'm going to make a decision that kind of reflects where my own capacity is at. Yeah, where we agree is on the values part. So that's why I phrased the question out of the way I did. That's why I asked it because I don't think you should, I don't think anybody should, I don't think there's probably any point in your life where surrounding yourself with people who have different value systems than you. But for me, for somebody who sees God differently than me, right, but believes in God,
Starting point is 00:25:35 to me that's not a difference of value system. That's a difference of opinion. And I think my life is enriched by, I don't think it doesn't do with my conditioning necessarily that I've had negative and positive relationships in my life. I'm not suggesting that people should have people in their lives that don't share their values. In fact, I think life's too short to have people around you who don't share your values. But I do want to have people around me that stretch me, that caused me to think, that caused me to grow, that caused me to change my perspective on those things. And the funny thing about that relationship that I had with my dad is post his passing, I'm starting to agree with him more on things.
Starting point is 00:26:11 And so his lack of proximity to me has caused me to really reflect. And sometimes that's healthy too. That when you do have somebody in your life and maybe there's been a lack of proximity, our appreciation and affection for them can grow in their absence. And if you have somebody in your life that you loved that you were very close to, and you miss them, maybe today's show is a catalyst to get you to reach out to them and say, I miss you. I love you.
Starting point is 00:26:37 Can we get together again? How are you? I think you'd be shocked at how great they'd feel to you. to hear from you. And I only can tell you this because everybody listening, I wish I could do that with my dad. I wish I could call him and go, give me that crazy stuff you told me about taxes again. Give me that stuff again. I would love to hear that from my dad again. And I don't have the opportunity to. And so for those of you that are listening that have had some precious human being in your life, it's maybe just become a little bit more distant from you. Use today's show as a real catalyst,
Starting point is 00:27:04 an excuse if you need it, to reach out to themselves. I just listen to the show on friends. and it made me think of you and reach out to them again. I hope that be a beautiful experience for all of you. What is one thing, Dr. Franco, I could do or anybody could do to be a better friend? That's a pretty broad question, but what is something I could do that makes me a better friend? Here is my tip. Assume people like you. According to the research, when people are told to make this assumption, it makes them friendlier, warmer, more open.
Starting point is 00:27:38 and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we fear that others will reject us, we get closed up, we get withdrawn, we are engaged in our egocentric bias more, which is our tendency to think a lot more about how people impact us than how we impact them, right? And it's very hard to be a good friend
Starting point is 00:27:56 when we constantly think people are rejecting us because we get into this self-protection mode that is antithetical to pro-relationship mode. If I'm in self-protection mode, I'm not initiating, I'm not vulnerable, I'm not expressing affection towards you. If I am in pro-relationship mode, I am vulnerable. I'm expressing affection.
Starting point is 00:28:15 I am initiating with you. But in order to be in this pro-relationship mode, we need to feel safe enough, right? And part of the ways in which we feel safe so we can facilitate all these positive behaviors that nurture friendship is we assume that people like us and receive us positively because then I'll reach out. Then I'll express that affection. Then I'll express that generosity towards you. Man, this is interesting.
Starting point is 00:28:37 You're making me think a lot, about a lot of things. And that's why I do the show. I want people to be thinking. I want them to be challenged. I want them to learn things and have insights and take tools away that they can use. One of the things I'm grateful for today is so many tools you've shared already. But it makes me think about different aspects of my life and in people's lives. So how do you, I don't know if you've ever been asked this before.
Starting point is 00:28:59 And I've never asked anybody this before. How do you nuance this need, desire for these relationships? relationships with self-reliance and that nuance between giving my power to other people in terms of my own happiness. In other words, do I not have to find ways to be happy within myself? You made a great point of assume people like me. What about assume I like me? I love me.
Starting point is 00:29:31 And how important is that to not predicate my self-worth on the affection of any? other person, even though I understand the value of having these friendships, I imagine that's a really interesting space to navigate, right? We want these friendships because they enrich our lives and they cause us to be happier and live longer. Yet at the same time, am I not a more valuable friend if I love myself in the absence of that? I think you know what I'm asking you. I do, Ed, and I think it's hard to separate these two things, right? Because the people that love themselves have been loved by other people and have internalized that so it's become part of themselves. There's a theory on self-esteem called the sociometric theory of self-esteem, which is
Starting point is 00:30:14 that our self-esteem is a gauge for how other people feel about us, that we've internalized, even more so than it's a sense of I feel positively about me. And so there is this sort of bidirectional relationship. I assume people like me. I like me. I continue to assume people like me. The problem that I think you're getting at, Ed, I wanted to address with research on something called self-verification theory. And that's this theory that finds that we look for people that confirm our sense of ourselves. So people with low self-esteem prefer to interact with people that see them negatively than someone that sees them positively, not because they don't want love, not because they don't want regard, but because when someone sees them positively, they don't believe it.
Starting point is 00:30:56 They think it's manipulation because it doesn't match their felt sense of themselves. With the person that sees them negatively, they could actually receive that. It makes them feel like the reality is coherent, right? This person that loves them, they're triggering this identity crisis. You've received me so positively. I don't see myself in that. It's like imposter syndrome that comes up all of this baggage, right? And so that is the issue, I think, even though other people loving us is how we come to love ourselves.
Starting point is 00:31:22 If we don't love ourselves and people love us, sometimes we just won't even notice. man that's good you got me on that I'm really thinking about that one that's a that's a really unique space to navigate I asked some friends preparing an interview today I said how do you think you get more friends and in the personal development space the business space I'm going to tell you what the answer is and I don't agree with it especially after reading some of your work you're making me think but the answer is bring them value bring them value law of reciprocity hey I can do this for you you, you know, if I do this for you, you'll like me and then we'll become friends. And I feel like
Starting point is 00:32:03 that's totally different than being authentic and vulnerable, which is what you recommend in the book. Yeah. I feel like the deeper friendships that I have in my life weren't predicated on my bringing value necessarily other than my love, other than my belief. My value, you know, I want everyone to hear this and I want you to answer because you're a lot better than me, especially when you become a New York Times bestselling author now like you are. Right? Or you have a couple bucks or you're a person of influence or you're well known or you're just one of the more successful people in your church or your community. I think people start thinking they have to do things to become your friend. And in my friendships, I don't I don't try to earn friends that way and nor do I want them to try to earn that with me.
Starting point is 00:32:49 My value is I love you. My value to you is I believe in you. My value to you is that hopefully I'm enjoyable company. Maybe I'm a good person you can bounce thoughts off of or advice or things like that, but it's not predicated. And I think this is a false belief most people carry with them right now. Predicate on what I can do for you. What could I do for you? People ask me, Ed, how can I become friends with you?
Starting point is 00:33:11 And I think they think, well, I could do this for you. I watched a video on this on an influencer on social media today. The guy said, don't ask me what you can do for me. Just do something for me. And then you got a chance to be my friend. That's not a friendship. That's bartering, right? That's bartering to some extent. So how does that work? I mean, I'm doing something because I love you and I believe you. To me, that's more valuable than I can connect you with someone or I know so and so. But don't you think some people feel that way? Like, I've got to offer you something so you're my friend. That's kind of a, I don't know, a goofy, dangerous space maybe to get friends that way. you know, I think it can work, but it's not authentic. Yes.
Starting point is 00:33:53 And whatever we do that's inauthentic burns us out, right? In authenticity depletes our energy, like depletes our mental health, right? So it's not really sustainable. But what I suggest, Ed, and I think what I talk about in the book is that when we're secure with ourselves, when we feel most safe, we are naturally loving. Like it comes out naturally. Like we want to give to people. we want to be generous towards people.
Starting point is 00:34:18 And so part of that unlocking authenticity, to me I define authenticity as who you are when you feel safe, who you are when you're not hijacked by defense mechanisms. Then if you're able to get in touch with that, you're naturally going to display all of these behaviors that create connection. Is that what you mean by offering generosity in the book, that part of it? Is that the definition of that to some extent? Which part of it of the definition? Well, the part of what I'm offering you is my natural.
Starting point is 00:34:45 love. It's not offering generosity. I mean like, here's money or here's my relationship or here's the keys to my Ferrari or whatever it might be, right? Yeah, because I think sometimes that can be misconstrued with people where they think, yeah, I've got to offer somebody something in life. And the other thing, too, is relationships have dynamics. So if a relationship has started predicated among me doing things for you, that dynamic now exists until I stop doing things for you. And when I stop doing things for you, how authentic to use your words is the relationship. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. Don't forget to follow the show on Apple and Spotify.
Starting point is 00:35:21 Links are in the show notes. You'll never miss an episode that way. Listen, I've been taking IM8 for a while, like a couple years. Feel great. Then we moved, and I stopped taking it for a little bit. Huge mistake. I could almost feel it immediately. My energy dropped.
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Starting point is 00:37:16 and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash ed. All right, welcome back to the show, everybody. So you all wait for this once a month. I get to spend my podcast with my great friend and your mentor, Brendan Bruchard.
Starting point is 00:37:34 He's back on the show today, guys. We have an unbelievable podcast ready for you. Brendan is the top guy in the world. world that mentors all the other influencers in personal development and business, entrepreneurship, motivation, inspiration. He's the guy that mentors the mentors. He just is. And he's one of my dearest and best friends. I wish you could be privy to the conversations we had just before we came online here today because there's some of the most enriching ones in my life. He just feeds my soul and my spirit and my mind. And that's going to happen on today's show. So Brennan Bouchard,
Starting point is 00:38:05 welcome back, brother. Thanks, brother. This is such an honor to be with you. And every time we do this, I get fired up. So let's hit it. What is something that you could do today right now? Keeping these promises you make yourself to build the bridge. I really believe those you that whatever your faith is, but the Bible talks about the body being our temple. But whatever you believe about your faith, just want to say one thing to you. I think more change starts with your body and your physicality than you might realize. And I don't care if you're ripped and fit right now or maybe you put a couple pounds on.
Starting point is 00:38:36 Here's what I mean by that. Fitness, nutrition, hydration. Let's take those three things. things, those are areas where you can keep promises to yourself. And so that's why I started with this fast thing that I broke. Now I'm going to get back on it again. And by the way, it's okay if you fall down. You've got to get back up, acknowledge the mistake.
Starting point is 00:38:53 I could have made a bunch of excuses to you about why. And I worked out too hard yesterday. So I was starving. And my body was craving protein. I ate a banana to get any protein, right? So there's no excuses. But see, the time that you get up in the morning, the amount of working out you do, if you go in and do the reps or the time on the treadmill that you say you're
Starting point is 00:39:11 to do you are starting to stack keeping the promises you make to yourself if you're going to drink a gallon of water every day and you drink it You're so some of you are familiar with my work at brenda's work you go I already know that already are you doing it What's another promise you could keep to yourself? So for me it's it's exactly that I start to build this machine called me By keeping the physical promises I make to myself one because it changes your physiology But two it is an area you are in control of you can't control much money you're gonna make this month or how many clients you're going to to get or what third party outside of you people are going to do. So start with promises that are inside that you can keep. Okay.
Starting point is 00:39:49 The second area where I begin to keep promises to myself is in my faith walk, in my internal life. So, for example, I pray in the morning. You'd be surprised that there's a power to the prayer, but there's a power to doing the prayer because I said I was going to do it. There's a power to getting on my knees every night and praying. There's a power to when I walk out, I'm blessed. I live on the ocean, but when I was in my apartment, I had a little water fountain that cost me 50 bucks at a swap meet.
Starting point is 00:40:17 I like to meditate around water moving. When I would do that, there was a power to emptying my mind in meditating or there's a power to be connecting with God and prayer. But the other power is, I said I was going to do it and I did it. Let me tell you what that does. It tells you you're in charge. You're in control. You have some domain and influence over your life.
Starting point is 00:40:39 Now, all of my faith, but no God's in charge. You know what I mean when I say that. Don't get it twisted. There's a ying and a yang, the parable is sore in the Bible. You've got to plant seeds. He provides the harvest. Yes, the world will take some with the rain and the wind and the birds and all that. But you have to plant seeds in your life.
Starting point is 00:40:55 And when you begin planting these seeds of the promises you keep to yourself, the harvest is more self-confidence. The harvest is a performance edge that other people don't get. Oh, she's got some swagger about her right now. She's got a different look in her eye. That eye of the tiger, that she's got a little smirk. Like she almost knows something I don't know. You ever meet those people? They seem to know something I don't know.
Starting point is 00:41:17 You know what they know? They can trust them and you don't. And when they know they can trust them, they have a different energy about them. And by the way, you can't transfer to somebody that which you're not experiencing yourself. Why does that matter? If you don't trust you and believe in you, nobody else is going to. Nobody else is going to because you can't give them that trust and belief in you that you don't possess. Too many people, Brendan, are waiting around for someone else to validate them.
Starting point is 00:41:48 Go, hey, you have my permission to succeed now. You matter. Well, so-and-so doesn't believe in me. Is it that they don't believe in you or is that you don't believe in yourself to the extent yet? Because you're not keeping these promises if we're being honest as friends. And because you don't have that, you're not transferring that belief to them where they can give it back to you. Does that make sense? That's so good. Yeah, when your spirit is really alive in you because you're doing prayer,
Starting point is 00:42:20 you're having that moment of faith. And when that's there, you do have a different level of confidence in life. You really do because you can trust yourself and you can trust something beyond yourself. Now you got the double-edged sword, right? Trust in self, I was congruent. trust in faith, something bigger has got me. Now you have a two-sided trust. You're stronger, and people feel that from you. They're like, oh, he seems solid. He seems solid.
Starting point is 00:42:48 And what I want people to have is that solidity in their weak, where there's a strength, there's a centeredness, there's a groundedness. Because performance edge, we always think it's like super high. But it's not about this hype. It's more about being grounded, being strong. And I also want to share, for those who maybe you're listening to podcast, I'd love for you to go to YouTube and watch the RIF Ed just did,
Starting point is 00:43:14 because I'm going to give you one more tip on this performance edge, getting it back. People who are able to maintain their drive over a period of time. They do what Ed just did. It's called leadership communication. They speak like leaders. They step in and embody a role. model mindset. They were like, oh, I'm aware people have influence. I'm aware that I have the ability to influence energy. So Ed just took the whole thing and ramped it up. Well, guess what? The rest of
Starting point is 00:43:48 the day, because he had leadership communication coming out of his mouth, he'll literally be more expressive, more driven, more focused. And I tell people all this time, I'm like, hey, you know why you lost the drive? You're too quiet. You lost the drive to your two questions. Our expression, our voice gives us superpower. We're human beings with human stories. When we actually start sharing and when we understand we can impact people. Because who's the most driven people you ever met? They're always leaders. They love the role of being a leader. They love the role of having purposeful influence with other people. And when you lead, you maintain it. a different kind of edge because you don't play the victim card.
Starting point is 00:44:39 Yeah. You lead. You have a different kind of edge because you have responsibility that you took upon. You're carrying the mantle that you chose to carry. You're carrying the torch that matters to you. And you realize that you can help other people. You can serve other people. You can enlist other people.
Starting point is 00:44:56 Enroll other people. Build other people. And as soon as there's other people in this mix now, as you lead them as self-expression comes back into your life, like genuine self-expression for a cause, for a mission. I know when someone's lost their edge, they're less evangelical for whatever their cause is. I know evangelism means something specific,
Starting point is 00:45:22 maybe in the Christian faith, but I'm using it as a sort of a non-denominational, if you will. It's like when you aren't passionately sharing your cause, your mission, your dream. Like business owners all the time. I can tell when they lost their edge. They'll sit there at lunch the whole time. Yeah, I kind of do this.
Starting point is 00:45:40 And they're trying to be cool now. They're trying to be like they're trying to be the cool person. They're trying to be the subtle person. And it's like, no, no, no. You lose the edge of your business if you don't talk about it. If you don't hype it. If you aren't hyping your business, promoting your business, talking about it with fire, no wonder you lost the fire.
Starting point is 00:46:01 You got to be a fire breathing dragon once and a while about something important in your life. If you want to be someone who has that drive and maintains it, expression is power. And if you don't express, then what happens is, guess what? You tone down. As you tone down, as you placate, as you go silent, your soul goes, I wasn't born to be a silent soul. You were given voice. You were given expression. and expression gives you the drive back.
Starting point is 00:46:32 Just like you saw, if those who will watch it, Ed Liff, I mean, he almost jumped right out of that chair. And when he lifts himself up like that, I guarantee the rest of his day is more driven. It's why I tell people, if you read the Bible, read it out loud in the morning. If you have a favorite verse or you have a favorite poem or you have a favorite quote from a book,
Starting point is 00:46:51 verbalize, express stronger, express more powerful. That's why when you see a great speaker come off stage, They're like glowing. I mean, they're like, they're driven. Yeah, you're right. By the way, everybody, he's so right about this. There's this, they're cousins, this idea of selling yourself to dream. Can I just give you all to add to what Brennan was saying?
Starting point is 00:47:13 Like, this is going to be very simply put, but I say this to you if like, if you and I were riding in the car together right now, you listening to this or watching this on YouTube, can I just say this to you? This is going to sound basic, but no one said this to you in a long time and I believe this to be true. you know you get your edge back you got to want it listen to me really close the people that win they want it more they want it more they're hungrier they're starving to make it done and to brenden's point the longer you do something you get a little bit fed you maybe you're not
Starting point is 00:47:45 literally starving when you started your business you were literally starving and that gave you an edge and the more you get well fed and you got a steak once in a while and a nice bottle of line. It's just as like this slow asphyxiation to where you just don't want it like you once did. So if you want to get your edge back, you got to sell yourself the dream. You're going to start keeping these dadgum promises and you got to want it again. This next year, I promise you, it's going to come down to who wants it the most. And that may sound like rah-rah to you. And it is not. I'm just telling you. Hungry people, man. And you could be, like I said earlier, maybe you're an entrepreneur listening to this. Maybe you're stay-at-home mom. Maybe you're retired. Maybe you're 15.
Starting point is 00:48:29 Maybe you're a teacher. Listen to me. How bad do you want it? And you've got to get clear on what it is you want to want it bad enough. And this thing I said earlier about your body, don't discount this. Listen, you make a statement when you walk in a room if you are physically fit that says this person should be listened to. This person is disciplined. And when you walk in a room and you're not, not that also makes a statement. Now let me be very clear. Listen to me as a friend. You don't have to be muscular or fit or jacked.
Starting point is 00:49:02 Okay, none of that. I think it wouldn't hurt if you were, but it doesn't matter. Here's what does matter. The people see you're changing. So if you are out of shape right now and over the next 90 days, you're just a little bit more fit. You've got a little more coloring in your skin. You're a little bit more energized.
Starting point is 00:49:20 If people see you changing, making progress, That's infectious. That's magnetic. It doesn't need to be the final product of you look like a fitness model on a cover. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is you make a statement with your body. Wow, his body, since I've known Brendan, he's working. He's lifting more weights. He's more fit. Right before we went on, we were talking about back exercises he does for his lower back because my lower back's bothering me. Progress is magnetic. And so actually, the fact that you're not in great shape right now could work to your advantage because every time somebody sees you, you these next 12 months. Like, what are you doing? That's incredible. Look at the change you're making. And when you change your body and improve your body, it sends a statement to you that you can change anything.
Starting point is 00:50:05 That was a great conversation. And if you want to hear the full interview, be sure to follow the Ed Milet show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. Here's an excerpt I did with our next guest. All right, welcome back to the show, everybody. So, as you know, every single month, we get to spend time with the great Brendan Bruchard.
Starting point is 00:50:22 And today is that day of the month for all of you. And it's one of the most downloaded episodes we do all year are the monthly episodes with this man. And this week, I'm so excited. By the way, he is the founder of the greatest personal development app of all time called Growth Day. If you go to growthday.com forward slash ed, you can get all the information you need to change your life right there and do it affordably. And today you get to spend some time with both of us for free, which is awesome. And so today we're going to talk about, by the way, welcome to the show, first of all, my brother. It's great to have you back as you spend time with us here every month.
Starting point is 00:50:55 I'm more and more grateful every time we do it. It's an honor. And man, this time a year to be together, it's so inspiring. It fires me up. So thank you. You hit the word I was going to cover, which is momentum. I think there's two types of people listening today. There's people that are really struggling with their self-confidence.
Starting point is 00:51:11 They're in a static position, meaning they have consistently broken the promises they make to themselves, as you've described. Self-confidence at its root, we've talked about this before, is really just a habit of keeping the promises. that you make to yourself. And when you continually make the promises and keep the promises that you make with yourself, you end up building self-integrity. You begin to trust yourself. Self-confidence is self-trust. And so you build this reputation with yourself where when I say I'm going to do something, I do it. And so that's what self-confidence is. So there's that group that's just they're really struggling with it. And I'm going to give you some hacks in a second that I've been doing. And then there's the other group. It's like, no, I'm a relatively self-confident person, but I want to take it exponentially
Starting point is 00:51:50 higher. In your case, those you that are in this case where you think you're relatively self-confident, you've got to take some big ambitious goals and you do need to be accountable to someone you admire and respect because you're about to go into the unknown. You're about to try to take your body fat from I'm in pretty good shape to you're going to 12% shredded. You need to be accounting to somebody who you admire, right? Or your net worth's going to go up. So accountability is correlated to confidence in the sense once you've got going outside accountability. What I've done in my life, brother, is if self-confidence really is the process of keeping promises you make to yourself, step one is you have to generate momentum, which is the word that Brendan just used. You have to
Starting point is 00:52:36 generate. You've got to change the vibrational frequency. You've got to generate a little bit of momentum. And so believe it or not, it's keeping small promises that matter initially. So I'm going to give you all an example for my own life. I'm not going to get into what the health issues I've had this year, but a lot of you know what they are. They've been significant and they've been both, you know, heart related and also back related. We'll just call those two of the five different things I've dealt with. And it has impacted my ability to train, to lift, to work out. And from someone who's lifted a lot of weights, I'm in a very physical guy, to be reduced for a while to not being able to do that, harmed myself confidence. So it became this spiral for me.
Starting point is 00:53:16 Not only am I not doing what I'm used to doing, but now I don't look like I used to look and I don't feel like I used to feel. And so the confidence, the lack of confidence and self-worth stuff starts going the other direction. And so when I restarted my journey to fitness again, let me tell you what the two big commitments I made every single day were initially that I had to keep. Everybody can think, this is crazy, right? Mr. Max out and these are your two things? Yeah, these are the two things because I could keep them. and I could keep myself accountable for them, and it generated mini momentum. I set up two things I knew I would and could do.
Starting point is 00:53:54 You're like, that seems artificial. It wasn't. It gave me momentum. So here's what the two of them are. Okay. And I've been doing it now for a while. And now it's grown into much more than that. The two things that I started out of the year with is I am going to drink a half a liter
Starting point is 00:54:08 of water before I get up out of my bed. It sits right next to my bed. It's in the bottle right next to me. I drink it. I have not had my feet hit the ground. I've kept the first promise to myself. You're going to think I'm crazy, everyone. Here's step two.
Starting point is 00:54:24 I have to walk into the bathroom and weigh myself. And I get on the scale. I weigh myself and my scale has body fat and bone density and all this other stuff. And I take my calibrations and I take them. I have now been awake for approximately a minute and a half. And I have kept two promises I've made to myself. And they're fitness related. And now I've got a little bit of juice and a little bit of metal.
Starting point is 00:54:47 Then it added the third day because of the way I'm not able to move right now. I'm like, what I'm going to do the third day? I said, I'm going to add step three. I'm doing a plank for a minute because it's flat back, doesn't hurt my back. I get right on the floor after away myself and I do it. Now I've kept three promises. Now here we are many weeks later. I am now actively back doing things in the gym, testing my body, what I can and can't do.
Starting point is 00:55:11 And the biggest thing that changes, I'm starting to feel kind of sex. and jacked again. So guess what? Now my nutrition's changing. I don't want to eat bad. I've got my protein drinking, my greens and my water and my blah, blah, blah, and my alkaline and stuff. And all of a sudden, I remember this guy. I remember this guy. This dude's discipline. This dude's a badass. This dude's strong. This dude keeps promises he makes to himself. And I'm going to tell you everybody something. I'll turn it back over to Brendan. That silliness of a guy who's lifted weights for 35 years. And by the way, I was probably one of the most fit people in the world at 30, 40, and 50 years old to go all the way back to drink your water, weigh yourself and do a plank, right? I went all the way back to that.
Starting point is 00:55:53 It's affected every area. My speaking on stage has been better. My podcasts have been better. My self-confidence is better. My energy level is better. And now it's like I remember this frequency. And so this stuff can transform everything. Now I'm saying it on the podcast.
Starting point is 00:56:10 Why? I'm going to be accountable outside of me now to all of you that you can kind of go on this journey with me this year as you kind of watch show by show, me kind of transform back into the person that I was before and I think a healthier, fitter version. Are there limitations? My back, my heart? Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't become the best version with what I've got right now. So I'm shifting now from internal accountability to external accountability. So that's, I believe, part of the way. part of the process. And for you, Brendan, what's it look like for you? Like, you're worth millions of millions of dollars. You have the best growth app in the world. You're one of the highest paid speakers in the world. You're the influencer to all the influencers. You got a world-class marriage. Like, are you still fighting for millimeters on your own confidence? And do you struggle with it like if you're trying something new or launching a new this or that? Yeah, man. I'm from Montana, as you know. I'm a really simple guy. and I think you just gave people a huge unlock and I'll all describe it in a different way.
Starting point is 00:57:19 But I think you need two things, basic things for some confidence, like two basic things. You need a plan. And that's what you had. You have a plan. I'm going to get that water. I'm going to get that weight. I'm going to get that plank. Okay.
Starting point is 00:57:34 I got a plan. And then you need honesty. because confidence is built on not just what you do. Do I follow through on my plan? Like that's the stuff of integrity for following through on a plan, the stuff of self-discipline that gives me confidence. But the guts to have honesty about it. To be honest, I said I'm going to do it.
Starting point is 00:58:00 I'm going to follow through on that promise, as you said. And I just know I'm always going to feel more confident if I'm honest. with who is showing up each day, and I want it to be my best. And I know I'm going to be more confident if I have some kind of a plan that I can follow, that I can do. The less structure that I have,
Starting point is 00:58:21 the more it's easy for myself doubt to come in. Sometimes a lot of people to get more confidence and momentum, they really just need that plan. And it can be so simple, which is why I love your example. Like, just getting momentum. I'll also say that you shared something that's really important about the concept,
Starting point is 00:58:38 of power in life. Power, in terms of like the second law, power means mass times velocity. Velocity is the key.
Starting point is 00:58:54 Like getting those quick winds in the morning, quick velocity of momentum is so important. So many people wait until it's two, three, four, five in the afternoon to do anything. And I always teach our ultra group and our ultra members, I teach them this concept called done by one.
Starting point is 00:59:13 By 1 p.m. in the afternoon, so by 1 p.m. your local time, we have done the major most important priorities of the day, right? Whatever, if your job is to deliver a presentation, to create something new, to shoot your video, to have that sales meeting, to whatever the most important activities of the day are that are controllable by you, Do them by 1 p.m. Just get them out of the way in the morning. That morning momentum will give you uncommon energy and confidence for the rest of the day.
Starting point is 00:59:48 For a lot of people, myself included, confidence is a feeling throughout the day. And if I can get that velocity in the morning of decision making, of follow through, of discipline, but most importantly, doing the things that matter most by one, done by one. Very good. If I'm done by one, it doesn't mean I don't work. the rest of the afternoon following up on stuff, doing things, taking those meetings, those calls, doing the DMs. I still got to do dumb paperwork and stuff, just like everybody else. But the major needle-moving activities of my day are done by one. And so I feel great heading in the afternoon
Starting point is 01:00:26 because I go through on the most important priorities. A lot of confidence is internally saying, can I do the things that matter most in life? Can I do the things that matter most in life? Can I do the things that matter most in life. A lot of people never done that, but as you've coached with people, you realize, well, if they'll do what really matters, they get confidence. I know people were very busy, but they do dumb stuff and they never find confidence because they've never honestly, I know this might sound too productivity, Brendan here, but if you never got good at prioritization, you'll never feel full confidence. You know, you're right.
Starting point is 01:01:08 Most people don't do needle moving things because they're afraid of them. And I really believe early in the day you should do feared things first, not just first things first, because those are the things that probably move the needle. It's the call you don't want to make. It's the meeting you don't want to take. It's a thing you don't want to do. Before we start the interview with my next guest, just want to remind you all that you can subscribe to the show on YouTube or follow the show on Apple or Spotify. We have all the links in our show notes. you'll never miss an episode that way.
Starting point is 01:01:37 Now on with the show. Listen, I've been taking IM8 for a while, like a couple years. Feel great. Then we moved, and I stopped taking it for a little bit. Huge mistake. I can almost feel it immediately. My energy dropped. My focus was gone.
Starting point is 01:01:50 It reminded me just how much it had been helping me keep my stuff together. IM8 is the way to simplify your supplement routine once and for all. 16 supplements replaced 90 ingredients across nine major organ systems in one drink. IM8's daily ultimate essential says 16 supplements all in that drink for $2.61 a day. I use this and you should too. Go to IM8Health.com slash ed right now or click the link in the show description and use code ed for a free welcome kit.
Starting point is 01:02:20 Five free travel sachets plus 10% off your order. That's code ed at IM8health.com slash ed. Code ed at IM8health.com slash ed. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. August is the perfect time to hit reset before the autumn rush begins, and honestly, I can't think of a better place to start than my closet. And I'm getting compliments. You guys listen to the show.
Starting point is 01:02:47 You're like, hey, where'd you get the shirt, Milette? Looks good on you. I got it at Quince. Their clothes are made with premium materials, built to last, and designed to become the ones you reach for every day. Quince specializes in everyday staples that work harder, like their ultra-soft organic cotton teas, which I'm wearing right now. premium Mongolian cashmere sweaters. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands, which is why I go there. No markups, no middlemen, right to the dealer. And it's not just the clothing. Quince has my go-to for everything from hotel quality betting, bath essentials, premium
Starting point is 01:03:19 cookware, travel must-haves. So upgrade your every day, download the Quince app for exclusive offers or go to quince.com slash ed. Get free shipping on your order in 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash ed. So in life, just remember this. You're not going to get your goals most of the time. You're going to get your standards. Long-term, we always get our standards. So what's your standard? The principle of the book's really simple. If you lack self-confidence, we've already covered this. Here's why. You have a terrible reputation with yourself. You have a reputation of yourself that you don't keep the promises you make. So if you want to become baseline functioning,
Starting point is 01:04:00 great. Keep the promises you make to yourself. You have a reputation of yourself. You have a reputation of yourself. You have a reputation of to become superhuman though, that's not the standard. The standard is, I do what I say I'm going to do and I do one more. That's a different standard. I'm going to make 10 contacts today for deals. No, I do that and one more. I'm going to do 10 reps on the bench. Nope, I do that and one more. I'm going to tell my daughter I love her today. Nope, I'm going to do that plus one more. You start stacking up the one mores of your life. Not only mathematically are you better, experience are you better, but you shift your matrix, you shift your identity into believing you deserve to get stuff you didn't get before or that other people get because you're doing stuff other people aren't willing to do.
Starting point is 01:04:39 So yeah, I kind of want to jump in on this because I, big believer in kind of what you're talking about here because this is something for me over the last year or two, I've had a lot of changes where, I mean, if I could go talk to myself a year ago, I don't think I could ever believe that my current reality is my reality. And so by doing that, I've sort of unlocked, like, what I know I can be, you know? For me, now, setting monetary goals or financial goals or real estate goals aren't really that crazy because I've done way more than I ever thought I could in the last year. So I see a lot of people struggling with this.
Starting point is 01:05:16 You know, a lot of my friends that are kind of still working their nine to five jobs. And for me, it's so obvious of, like, how they can achieve financial freedom. It's so obvious how they could become a millionaire if they wanted to do that. if that's their goal. It's so obvious how they could quit their nine to five by starting a business, but they can't see that. So when we talk about kind of this version of us that we have a bad reputation with ourselves, it kind of sounds like when you're saying one more, should we really be kind
Starting point is 01:05:43 of setting like small goals for ourselves in pitting those and incrementally getting there versus kind of just pie in the sky? Yes, you're brilliant. Yep, I talk about it in the book and the power of one more. Here's the thing. I'm 51 years old. I've been blessed and I'm worth a pretty good chunk of change. I still set my clothes out the night before for the next day.
Starting point is 01:06:03 Why do I do something like that? I could have someone do it for me. I also have the time in the morning because it's a commitment I can keep. It seems super small. I make my bed every day. I get up at the time of day I say I'm going to get up. I drink a gallon of water a day. I'm holding it right here in my hand.
Starting point is 01:06:18 Why? I can control how much water I put down my pie hole, right? I can't control whether you say yes to my deal. I can't control interest rates. I can't control the market. So I want to control the things that I can and I start with very small manageable things, like when I'm going to train, like when I'm going to work out, like how many contacts I'm going to make, like how many friends I'm going to reach out to in a given day.
Starting point is 01:06:36 People say, that's BS. Really? Well, I'm where I am and you're where you are and I want you where I am. And I'm telling you exactly how I did it. I'm one of the very, if I can just say, I'm one of the very rare people in entrepreneurship in real estate or personal development who's actually done it. none of my stuff's theory i don't make money selling you on how to do things i think might work i've made my money doing these things and so i know that that's what works what do you work on with the top athletes or entertainers ed or politicians when you work with them they're self-confidence
Starting point is 01:07:08 their habits i have a whole chapter on how to actually build a habit how do you do that these are the things i work on with the top people there are the things i worked on when i was the child of an alcoholic boy who had to go to school every day and figure out how not to run out of school it's the same single things every single day. It's the small things. Once you build this reputation with yourself at the small things, you can then point your mind like a weapon at the big things and actually have belief you can do them because you have this reputation and pattern with yourself of doing the little things. Your mind, by the way, cannot distinguish between the big ones and the little ones. It doesn't. It doesn't know the difference. Only you know the difference. And so if you've got this
Starting point is 01:07:49 pattern, it's a weapon when you pointed at the big ones. So would you say it's almost about setting small commitments versus setting goals, or do you think they kind of go hand in hand? I write the goal chapter and the standards chapter together. Here's what has to happen. Your goals have to be in alignment with your standards. And so, for example, it's not really a goal of mine to set out my clothes every day. It's a standard. It's not a goal of mine to work out every single day. It's a standard. It's become who I am. Okay. And that's different. A goal is something that's external to me. And I want you to have goals. I have a whole chapter on how to set up goals correctly. But the truth is you're going to get the standard. The standard is, you know what? I train
Starting point is 01:08:31 every day. The standard is I drink a gallon of water. The standard is I live by a certain set of principles and values. Those are my standards. You're always going to get those long term. Always, always, always. And let me say one thing to you. My dad's decision to get sober. This is not in the book, but I just want to give it to you guys on your show because I've never, I've said this only one other time. I want everyone to hear me. They go, yeah, that's great for A-Rod or that's great for Michael Chandler. That's great for David and Rob. But like, look, man, I got a job.
Starting point is 01:08:59 I'm trying to do my first deal. And I don't have any confidence. I'm not even sure I know completely what I'm doing. Right. So this doesn't apply to me. Actually, it does. Let me tell you guys something. The things you're most embarrassed by, most ashamed of, that you think are the most insignificant
Starting point is 01:09:14 things about you are actually the reason you're going to change the world or change your world. My dad's decision to get sober changed our entire family tree forever. I have a chapter called One More Try. My dad tried to get sober about a hundred times. He gave it one more try. And then when he got sober, I said, Dad, you're going to stay sober the rest of your life? He goes, I don't know.
Starting point is 01:09:34 But I know I'm going to stay sober for one more day. And when I thought about quitting many times and went, you know what, I'm just not going to quit for one more day. Stay with me on this. Two weeks ago, I wake up crying, which is not a manly thing to admit on the Bigger Pockets podcast, right? And I woke up my wife, 315. I said, babe, wake up. She says, what is wrong? I said, honey, someone helped my dad.
Starting point is 01:09:58 She said, what? I said, I never thought about it. Someone helped my dad get sober. She went, oh, my God. And I said, isn't that amazing? This person doesn't even know it, but they changed the world. I reached millions of people. In my dad's darkest moment in some coffee shop or place somewhere, they helped my father in the worst moment of his life.
Starting point is 01:10:17 And I said, babe, here's the guy. here's the nuts part of it. You know what qualified them to help him? They were all screwed up. They were a drug addict and an alcoholic. The things they were most ashamed of, most embarrassed by, the worst moments of their life were the very things that qualified that human being
Starting point is 01:10:33 to help my father as a human being in the darkest moments of his life. And it made me so emotional. There's someone running around this world if they're still alive that has changed my great, great grandkids' lives and millions of people I reach every week because they were a drug addict or an alcoholic.
Starting point is 01:10:47 and they were all screwed up. And so this very thing that you think disqualifies you, you, your experience, your little whatever that you're embarrassed by is the very thing that qualifies you to do something great with your life. Oh, that's, that's a, I mean, it's amazing thought. And it sort of also ties to not every reward we get in life is going to be financial. That's just another thing to think about. So that person that helped your father, odds are they didn't receive a whole bunch of money
Starting point is 01:11:15 from that, but who knows what rewards they have coming in. the next life and how impactful that was in other people's life. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. Don't forget to follow the show on Apple and Spotify. We have all the links in our show notes. You'll never miss an episode that way. Now on with the show.
Starting point is 01:11:33 Hey, it's Ed Milet, and I wanted to take the time today to talk about one of the invisible traits that I see all super achievers have. And so let me first start by saying, I'm a big believer in planning and strategy. I think somebody with a great plan has a better chance of winning and somebody who doesn't have a game plan or a focus and who hasn't begin with the end in mind, you know, from think and grow rich. I believe in all of that. Having said that, one of the invisible things that I see with the top athletes I coach, entertainers, hopefully
Starting point is 01:12:01 myself, business people for sure is this. They have the ability to take immediate, massive action. And the people that I see that are behind them hesitate. They flinch. They think they need to plan a little bit more, strategize a little bit more. They procrastinate. They get around to doing something. One of the muscles I built, anybody on my team will tell you, is I'm like, let's just do it now. Let's do it right now. There's a power to now. And I think a lot of people don't understand the vibrational frequency of now. Oftentimes, a really great plan that's delayed in its execution, that vibrates at a lower frequency than someone says, let's do it right now, let's attack it right now. Let's get after it right now. So I want you to write this down this morning.
Starting point is 01:12:44 power of now, the power of taking immediate, massive action. Oftentimes, timing matters in business, rhythm matters in business. It's not always the perfect plan. It's when. And almost always, now is better than later. And it's a sign. It's a trait that I see in mega achievers. For example, if there's a phone call that you need to make, make it now. If there's a contact that needs to be done, make it now. If there's an email that needs to be written, do it now. Don't delay. Don't wait. there's a moment of inspiration that happens to when an idea affects you and hits you to take action on it immediately. You ever have maybe a thought of a speech or a text you want to write or a business concept or a way you'd phrase something differently or just an overall thing you should be doing hits you in a moment? And then you go, you know what I'm going to do?
Starting point is 01:13:33 I'm going to write this down. And you write it down, the idea, exactly as you felt it. And then you revisit it, you know, three days later or two days later or six hours later. doesn't it vibrate at a lower frequency? Isn't it less impactful even to you when you read it as opposed to when you had it in the moment? There's something about the moment that vibrates at a high frequency that is more powerful than later. And oftentimes we wait and delay and write it down and it loses its power. There was a power in the moment.
Starting point is 01:14:04 Remember when I met Wayne Dyer? He told me, Ed, do you ever wake up at 2, 3 o'clock in the morning with a powerful idea? Just something that hits you, like an inspiration. And, you know, we've all had that happen. And I said, I do. And he goes, what do you normally do? I said, well, usually I go, I'm going to try to remember and I'm going back to sleep. He goes, don't do that.
Starting point is 01:14:22 That's the divine awakening you. Write it down. Take action on it. I go, two, three o'clock in the morning. He goes, yes, I keep a notepad next to my bed. And I write these ideas down immediately. And if I can take action on him, I'll do it at two, three o'clock in the morning. If it's call so-and-so, text so-and-so, write this and he goes, I'll get up and do it.
Starting point is 01:14:38 If it's a chapter in my book, I will get up and write the chapter because there's a power and a vibrational frequency in the moment. That's not just true with content or writing or creating. I've found it's true with almost everything in life. One of my superpowers, I can candidly tell you, is my ability to take immediate massive action when an idea hits me. I don't wait for the perfect moment. Usually the perfect moment is now.
Starting point is 01:15:05 The right time to tell somebody that you love, that you love them when you feel it, is right now, is right now. The right time to make that contact, right now. The right time to fix that issue with your friend that you're going through right now where it just doesn't feel right, or there's some strife? Right now. The challenge with your spouse, walk in. Can we fix this right now, please? Now, I know there are some things that are better in life sitting for a while and diminishing, even if it's like a disagreement. But those things are more rare than they are common. The vast majority of things are better when we take immediate, massive action. So I want to challenge you today, that call you need to make, make it now.
Starting point is 01:15:42 That email you need to send, send it now. That chapter you need to write, that copy, that funnel, do it now. You can always adjust and course correct it later and improve upon it. But if you can get it done now, you can come back later when you were going to do it and tweak it a little bit with some perspective. But there's nothing like the moment. There's nothing like calling the shot in the moment. And I have to tell you something, this is a common trait. Why?
Starting point is 01:16:09 Because these people have more confidence. The reason you're delaying, writing that email, doing the chapter, making the contact, fixing the problem, sending out the blog post, is you're afraid. And you think if you wait longer, you'll be less afraid. If you get a little bit more preparation, you'll be more ready. The truth is, that's almost never the case. There are some situations where that's true. But by and large, most of the time, people will tell me, hey, you know, so-and-so call with this. I go, get them on the phone right now.
Starting point is 01:16:36 Right? Get them on the phone right now. Let's do it right now. Just right now, this, what I'm doing, I needed to make some content for the week. My team's like, are you available at 1230? But when I go, hey, I'm available right now. And it was my team who said we got to wait a half hour. But I'm like, let's go.
Starting point is 01:16:50 Let's go. Let's go. I love knocking things off the list because that creates momentum. Why? I have confidence. And the more you do this, ironically, you will develop confidence in yourself to be able to attack things in the moment, to, sometimes I say annihilate the problem, fix something in the moment. What you think is you need more information.
Starting point is 01:17:11 Successful people are good planners, but let me tell you what they have. They have a lower threshold of what they think to know or how prepared they think they need to be in order to take action. and people that don't win quite at a high level, as high as they could, have a higher threshold requirement in their mind, and it's a fallacy of how much preparation and what they need. Now, by the way, you all watch my podcast. I'm a freak about preparation for my podcast. I prepare and I prepare and I prepare. Having said that, at some point, I got to shoot the podcast.
Starting point is 01:17:46 At some point, I'll give you an example. I was booking guests yesterday. I'm like, you know what I should do? I should contact Dion Sanders and see if he wants to be on the show. You know what I should probably do? I should probably reach out to Roger Goodell from the NFL and see if he wants to be on the show. And then I went, well, what's going to be different tomorrow or in three hours? How about I just do it right now?
Starting point is 01:18:05 And so I did. And not only did I do it in that moment, but now once that's gone, I can do more things in this moment that I was going to be waiting around to do the other thing. Does that make sense? So this is an efficiency. This is a rhythm. What I've found is almost more than anything, there's a rhythm to success. There's a rhythm.
Starting point is 01:18:25 And when someone gets in that mode of, they've got momentum, they got their mojo going, you've all had it. There's a rhythm and a cadence that gets them going. And if you wait and delay on things, it's impossible to get into that rhythm. But now, now, now, now, all of a sudden, you're in that rhythm of success where you're in flow because you're constantly moving. It's almost like a river that should constantly be flowing and running instead of stagnant water. Stagnant water starts to get murky. It starts to smell. It can actually form fungus and mold. And a lot of people's lives in some strange way are kind of like still water. It's not healthy, gathers all this stuff. But a stream that's running all the time is beautiful.
Starting point is 01:19:12 and that stream just by its pure force of running all the time in the now, creates beautiful things around it and actually opens up the flow of other things in their life because it's constantly flowing in the now. There's a power to now. There's a power to this moment that once it's gone, is gone forever. So what I'm saying to you today is take advantage of the present moment, not just being focused in the present, but acting in the present. It's one thing to be, I'm present with you.
Starting point is 01:19:44 It's another thing to take an action in the moment. The most powerful time to do almost anything in your life right now. So I want to challenge you to do that today. It's a huge success principle of mega achievers and, quite frankly, happy people as well. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. Don't forget to follow the show on Apple and Spotify. We have all the links in our show notes.
Starting point is 01:20:08 You'll never miss an episode that way. Now on with the show. Welcome back to the show, everybody. So the topic of today's podcast, we're going to call Flip the Lens. And I've been waiting a while to put this on the podcast because I've been writing about it. It'll be in my next book. But now I feel like I'm able to articulate the concept. And so I wanted to put it out to all of you in an effort to maybe help you with your personal and your business relationships.
Starting point is 01:20:31 I think it's sort of, at least for me, it's been groundbreaking understanding and work. And so first let me tell you how I stumbled upon this level of understanding and this work, the concept. First, I think it'll make sense for you. and then we'll break it out and sort of extrapolate it into our personal business relationship. So maybe about a year ago, I was at my mom's house. I was visiting. And just for a quick second, I was going to make an Instagram post. So I went to take a selfie picture and I held the camera out.
Starting point is 01:20:58 And I went to take the picture, except when I held it up, I don't know if you had this happened. The lens was the other lens. The lens had flipped. And the picture wasn't facing me. It was my mom. And I caught this glimpse just of my mom in the other end. of my phone, just for a second. I was expecting to see me, but I didn't. I saw her. And I saw my mom.
Starting point is 01:21:19 And it just struck me looking at my mom through this lens when I was expecting to see it through the lens that would see me. I just had this flash of seeing my mom differently. And ironically, seeing my mom see me, if that makes sense, because she was watching me take this picture. And it flipped the lens. It switched the lens. It switched the lens. lens for me instantly to where, let me explain, I saw my mom seeing me, not me seeing my mom. And in a minute, I was just flooded with all these thoughts. What does my mom see of me? Now, obviously, I'm her only son. She loves me. I'm not referring to those kind of things. What's the lens through which my mom has experienced me? And I thought, obviously, she sees me at
Starting point is 01:22:09 holidays or whatever, you know, and we talk on the phone. But her lens of life looking at me, and it dawned on me. In life, we see every relationship we're in through our lens, through how we see them and how we see them seeing us. I don't want to get too deep here, but that's completely different than seeing them as they see us. And I thought, what's my mom's experience with her only son? Does she get the time with them that she wants? Is the depth of our conversations to the extent that she would like them to be. Am I in a hurry too often when I see her? Do I take it for granted too often? And then that day, as I was driving away, I started to picture all the relationships in my life that meant something to me through their lens of looking at me.
Starting point is 01:22:55 The last time my daughter saw me walk in a room, the last hundred times. How did I respond? What did she see? What was my mood? What were our interactions? What were the topics? How much was laughter, how much was intense, how much was just looking at our phones. And I started to see my daughter and the lens through which she sees me, her conversations, her experiences, does she see me stressed, worried, does she worry about me? What are her thoughts about me? Am I too brief? Do I stay on the phone too long? Am I helping her? Do I listen to her like I need to? And it flashed to several of my friends. And in a lot of those friendships, I thought, well, they're just in maintenance mode. I see them and when I see them, I see how much I love them and believe in them and think they're
Starting point is 01:23:35 awesome and funny. But when they look through their lens at me, do they see a man who loves them, who believes in them, who thinks they're funny, who listens deeply, who cares about them deeply? Do they see that through their lens? It's a trip. When you begin to see other people in your life and just you consciously, when you're with them, or you think about them, switch that lens around and look through their eyes at you. You'll learn a lot real quick. it's actually very humbling and it's interesting that you could go your entire life if you didn't hear this or think about it only seeing life through the lens of your own eyes outward and never flipping it to their eyes outward and i just thought about so many different relationships in my life so many
Starting point is 01:24:21 of them that i think are going very well or i'm going to get around to it or i feel a sense of emotion with this person or depth of friendship and then i flashed to one buddy of mine and like, wow, the last three times he's replied to me, he called me. I replied with a text. He hasn't even seen me in many months. And when he does see me, what did he see in those conversations? What did he hear about? What did he feel? What did he experience? And as I've said many times, you're always making people feel something. So you should be intentional about what it is they're feeling, but they're also seeing and hearing things all the time as well. It's a very interesting way that we go through this life, almost in this projection, almost in this dimension that we
Starting point is 01:25:03 live inside ourselves and we see everything from our perspective. But we almost never stop and see it from theirs. And this isn't the old adage of put yourself in their shoes. I'm saying put yourself in their lens. What do they see, feel, hear, and experience from you. It'll shock you how much you overestimate some relationships, the depth of them, and the extent to which they feel the things you assume they feel from you or about you. And then I switched it from that to my business relationships, some of the people I'm in business with that I have in maintenance mode. You know exactly what I mean. But the last 20 times my assistant saw me walk into the office. What did she see? Did I stop and talk? What was her lens? Did I ask about her children? Was there a
Starting point is 01:25:53 depth of exchange there. Was I in a hurry? Did she see me stressed? Did she see me worried? Was I caring and kind? Or was I rude and flippant or short? And then I thought, now take that last one and the one before that and the one before that. And what about the last 30? What's the lens that she sees me through? People that I'm in negotiations with now, I stop and think. What's their lens? What are they seeing? What are they feeling? What are they experiencing before this conversation and after? And it's absolutely changed the way that I interact with people. It's made me connect more deeply. It's made me care more deeply. It's made me more conscious and intentional about my interactions with people. And frankly, in many senses, somewhat ashamed of how maintenance mode so many relationships have
Starting point is 01:26:43 been in, how passive I've been, the lack of depth, the surface level conversations, how I'm brief with certain people, how certain people have seen me in stress the last four times they've seen me. And it changes you deeply. It certainly has changed the way that I look at my relationship with my mom, probably most. You know, I'm her son, so she loves me, but, you know, do we have conversations as friends? Do I know her as an individual outside the family, or so I just know her as mom? How would, I caught my mom.
Starting point is 01:27:18 saying to me the last three or four times we talked, thank you for calling me. And I thought, my mom shouldn't have to thank me for calling her. I didn't feel right about that. And so this lens thing is fascinating. That was a great conversation. Be sure to follow the Ed Milet show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. You'll never miss an episode that way. Welcome back to Max Out, everybody. I got him right there. That's Goggins, everyone. Number one requested guest. don't know this for my show the last two years is you really yeah yeah really honored honored and i got tell you the best by far off-camera conversation i have ever had is what we've been having i think you would agree it's been good for you too it's been good it's been good for both of us it's been real good
Starting point is 01:28:03 and uh hopefully that'll transition over to to the show itself but this this is a gentleman who completed navy seal training army ranger training air force tag p training i believe he's the only person in history to do that sir this is a guy did three hell weeks 60 plus ultramarathons and I'll run with broken bones for 30 miles to get into one of the mega ultra marathons. And a lot of people call him the toughest man alive. But I'm excited because I get to call him my friend now. I've enjoyed this conversation so much. And I think you guys are going to join the on-camera one.
Starting point is 01:28:32 So this is Goggins, everybody. I appreciate you having me, man. Thank you. Thank you. So this whole thing that you did, you get out, where I can't cover the whole military, I think, because I want them to read the book, right? But then you're like, hey, you really never done any of this before. But this is sort of the formula of what we're talking about.
Starting point is 01:28:49 Then the military thing ends. And then you're like, yeah, I'm going to go like run. I'm going to do the Badwater 135. My cardio was 20 minutes every Sunday on the elliptical trainer. Okay. That's it. Is it? So I'm looking at all these different races.
Starting point is 01:29:03 And one comes up, number one, the hardest race in the world, Badwater, 135. 135-mile race through Death Valley. I'm like, that sounds fucking nuts. But I didn't, but it didn't describe. It was like a couple day race. I'm thinking, okay, that has to be like a fucking seven-day race. Because I don't know people run like that. So I end up calling Chris Costman up.
Starting point is 01:29:29 Chris Costman is the race director of Badwater. And he lives out here in California. He's like, hey, man. I'm like, hey, Chris, I call him up in the first conversation. I actually have all the emails in my book for me, him going back. He's a fucking stickler, man. I'll tell you that. So I call him up and say, hey, man, I'm going to do this race.
Starting point is 01:29:45 He's like, have you run a hundred miles before? I'm like, no. He goes, well, to get my race, you have to do 100 mile race. And you got to do 100 miles and 24 hours or less. There was only two more races I could do before the deadline dropped. And so I'm like, he goes, you live in San Diego, right? I'm like, yeah, this was Wednesday. I call him up on a Wednesday morning.
Starting point is 01:30:07 He goes, well, there's a race on Saturday. And it's called a San Diego one day at hospitality point in San Diego, where you run around a one mile track for 24 hours, and so many miles you can get. So I'm like, fuck it, man. This guy's kind of calling me out. I'm going to get this shit done. I'm a seal.
Starting point is 01:30:27 I'm a badass. Been through Ranger School and shit. I got this. Hardest thing I did my entire life, dude, was this one race. So I go. Harder than getting through. Hell yeah. Wow.
Starting point is 01:30:40 I was not prepared at all. So I go. I sign up for the race. show up. I'm this big bodybuilder looking guy. Shirt off, black hat on, you know, and I'm, I set out. So every mile, I'm going to see this blue lawn chair, I had rich crackers and mildplex. That was my fucking nutrition, man. No water, no, just my mouth.
Starting point is 01:31:03 No water. No. Chris crackers and myelplex, dude. Come on. I fucking, you know, I never drink water on runs and shit. I fucking didn't know about all this shit. So I go out there and I'm running. I get through 50 miles.
Starting point is 01:31:14 I'm going to cut to the chase because I detail. it really well the book. I get going. I sit down at mile 70. And buddy, I hadn't sat down yet. I sit down and everything falls the fuck apart. Literally, man, I'm like peeing blood down my leg.
Starting point is 01:31:34 I have some crap coming out of me. And I got 30 fucking miles to go. And I'm in the worst shape in my entire life. And so I won't get too deep into it, man. but I end up going back through my cookie jar. And I talk about, you know, my cookie jar is basically something I invented about, we forget how badass we are when we're suffering.
Starting point is 01:31:56 Because our mind just stays right there and suffering. The cookie jar is a reminder. You know how your mom used to have the cookie jar. You don't know what kind of cookie you're going to get. But it may be oatmeal raisin, maybe chocolate chip meat, because, you know, she's dumps them in that motherfucker. He's grabbed one and go. So my cookie jars, the things I've accomplished,
Starting point is 01:32:14 failed at, didn't feel. all that just just kept on grinding through so I take this one second I calm down so I realized okay man I gotta be able to just stand up first come all dizzy and light-headed and I go through this process and I said I might quit but not yet I go this is the worst shape of my life so I said I might quit because when you're not going to quit something you got 30 miles to go your mind spazin like I'm fucked up like I like 30 miles a long way to go just fresh I've already gone 70 I'm a worse state my life I'm like Okay, so I'm giving my mind some space.
Starting point is 01:32:47 Because if you don't give it space, it's just going to freak out. So I'm saying, you know what, I'm going to quit, but let me just sit here for a second and drink some water. Now I'm drinking water. I have my crew going over to get some fucking, you know, nutrition, some food for me. I'm getting better. So now I stand up. Like, wow, I'm able to stand up now because I wasn't able to. I was all lightheaded.
Starting point is 01:33:08 Now I'm going on on this track, and I get to mile 81, and I wasn't going to make the time. I was moving slow. Behind time. Way behind. Okay. And this is the craziest thing in the world. And I fucking shit you not. I'm in the worst shape in my entire life ever.
Starting point is 01:33:25 I've never even been close to this. Again, never. My 81, I'm not going to make the time as slow as I was moving. And when your body and mind connect. And I think this is the only time I've ever done this. Okay. you become a cyborg. I end up running 20 miles at about a 10-15 mile
Starting point is 01:33:52 and get done with that race. I did 101 miles and 19 hours and 6 minutes. And to this day, and I don't detail it well with you, but in the book I do, I learned more from that 19 hours and 6 minutes than I did in all. three hell weeks. Ranger School.
Starting point is 01:34:13 And this is months. Ranger School was 60-something days. Hell Week and all the buds is six months. I was in Buds for like 18 months. You know, I went through Delta Force Selection twice, you know, pull-up records. I learned more in that one race that I wasn't prepared for, that 19 hours brought me from utter misery, happiness, failure, success, depression. I went through every fucking emotion
Starting point is 01:34:41 in the world of 19 hours And you should hear how the race ended Then I really took a shit on myself Like I got in that blue chair when the race ended And I literally It just was over I was in the worst shape of my life I got in the tub
Starting point is 01:34:57 And they put the shower Or she put the shower on me The shower has hit me as I'm laying in the tub in the fetal position And what came out of me It looked like dirt As I'm peeing It's not even blood
Starting point is 01:35:08 This is this dark brown dirt. And I'm sitting there and she calls my mom. And my mom has a doctor friend over her house. And this guy's one of the best doctors in the country. And he's like, you need to give him to the doctor now. So what I'm about to tell you is going to fuck you up. So I'm sitting there and I think I'm going to die. And worse saved my life.
Starting point is 01:35:35 And I'm in this tub and I'm Jack Cameron. and I had this hot water hitting me and I'm literally in the worst pain my shins, my feet, I'm broken. And I'm just sitting, I'm cramping up and she said, we have to get to the doctor. You know, your mom's worried, I'm worried about, like, we've never seen this for my life.
Starting point is 01:35:55 And I go, I'm not going anywhere. I want to sit here and enjoy this pain. And, and, and, and I, and I, I know the listeners hearing this are going to say, man, you're a fucking nut. No, I'm not. What I got a chance to experience in that 19 hours and six minutes of my life was something I didn't want any painkillers. This was proof positive.
Starting point is 01:36:27 What I was feeling is what I just did. I did something without training, without coaching, without cheering staff, without any knowledge I took a raw human being with no training whatsoever put him out in a condition and just through this alone
Starting point is 01:36:48 got through it and I sat there and I was like this is it was the best feeling I've ever had and will ever have in my entire I was in the worst pain in my life and it was the best feeling
Starting point is 01:37:05 I ever had in my life not because the pain I was in by the pain was confirmation of my God, did I just do that? And I had completed hell weeks. But that right there was like, don't take this from me. And it was confirmation proof positive
Starting point is 01:37:26 that this young kid that came from shit, that wasn't shit, that lied and cheated for, I was now the truth. God. I was now the truth. I was a Navy SEAL. I went through Army Ranger School as Honor Man. I went
Starting point is 01:37:46 through all this shit. I was truth. I became truth. There was no more lie. And what's funny about all that is the people in my life who were in my life when I was bad and I call it bad one bad.
Starting point is 01:38:03 I had a fucked up way to go, man. They want to, they're still out there and it was the fuck I'm saying, I ain't going to drop names on them. They want to take me back there. They're mad that I'm here. Yes. They want to still make me out to be what I was.
Starting point is 01:38:20 They don't like the fact that they're still where the fuck they're at. That's right. They hate that. So on this journey in life, there's a lot of people who are fucked up right now. On the journey, there's always to be that motherfucker in the sewer you came from that's grabbing that your fucking ankle
Starting point is 01:38:36 as you're leaving that sewer. I just want to drag you right to fuck back down because you figured it out. They're not willing to figure it out. It's not much to figure out. The only thing to figure out is this. And everybody has a different equation. My equation is different than yours. My equation was very different than most peoples.
Starting point is 01:38:58 And it's not about being sadistic. It was just about that that right there was kind of like the moment of my life. where I realized, I don't like to say that I've arrived because you never want to have that I've arrived mentality because you stop. But that was the moment that I realized that I was.

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