The Russell Brunson Show - When Your Worst Day Becomes Your Best Day

Episode Date: December 31, 2018

Reflecting back on the darkest day of my life, and how necessary it was for me to become who I am today. On Today's episode Russell talks about his darkest time and how that lead him to all the good things in his life. Here are some of the inspirational things you will here in this episode: Why losing in the state wrestling championship senior year of high school made it possible for Russell to become everything he is today. How he was able to pull himself up and work harder than ever before to try and become the best. And why we should try to look at our hard times as good learning experiences and how they could be just what we need to become everything we want to be. So listen here to find out why not being state champ senior year of high school led Russell to where he is now. Transcript - https://marketingsecrets.com/blog/when-your-worst-day-becomes-your-best-day Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Air Transat presents two friends traveling in Europe for the first time and feeling some pretty big emotions. This coffee is so good. How do they make it so rich and tasty? Those paintings we saw today weren't prints. They were the actual paintings. I have never seen tomatoes like this. How are they so red? With flight deals starting at just $589, it's time for you to see what Europe has to offer. Don't worry, you can handle it. Visit airTransat.com for details. Conditions apply. AirTransat. Travel moves us. Hey everybody, this is Russell Brunson.

I want to welcome you to the Marketing Secrets Podcast. Today, I actually want to share with you a story that happened back when I was wrestling in high school. So, the big question is this. How are entrepreneurs like us, who didn't cheat and take on venture capital, who are spending money from our own pockets, how do we market in a way that lets us get our products and our services and the things that we believe in out to the world and yet still remain profitable?

That is the question and this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Russell Brunson and welcome to Marketing Secrets. Hey everyone. So I am, wrestling season's done with my kids, as you know, and it's fun because I've had a chance to finally get back to work. And you know, I bought three hours a day back in my work and it's been interesting since I've got back to work. I've been missing wrestling like crazy. I'm missing like that extra time with my kids. I had about a whole week where I was just at work, you know, the full day catching up on stuff. It was nice.

And then my kids and one of their close friends started saying, hey, Coach Brunson, hey, Dad, can we start wrestling again? We want to start practicing again. And we kind of talked about it earlier in the season. And I was like, hey, guys, if you really want to get good um i told him it was funny kind of funny i told him this because at first my kids did not like wrestling and i kept telling him i was like as soon as you guys want as soon as you like wrestling i can make you really really good but you have to like it first if you don't like it i'm never gonna be able to make you good at it right because you're gonna fight me you're not gonna enjoy you're gonna have a bad attitude but i think as soon as you like it um i? Cause you're going to fight me. You're not going to enjoy it. You're going to have a bad attitude, but I was like, as soon as you like it, um, I can make you really,

really good. And I've about halfway through the season. Um, I was out, I can't remember. I was on some trip or something where I was gone and, um, Bowen, one of my, one of my twins called me, he's the one that hated wrestling the most. He called me one night and said, dad, guess what? I'm like, what? He's like, I like wrestling now. I'm like, what? I was like, dude, that means we can like, I can help you become a good wrestler now. He's like, I know. And so it's been fun. And so far, anyway, so we started the practices this week with them. We're basically, um, oh, and I put my two boys, I, I, the weightlifting coach that lifts weights with me. I have them lifting weights with him as well after school. So trying to get them some muscle

on their old frames. Um, and then after they get some some lifting then i come and we do a practice for well it's supposed to be an hour but so far they're going like an hour and a half to two hours long but they've been really really fun it's just us three it's bowen and dal my two kids and then tyler who's one of their buddies um and me so that's four and um anyway we did practice yesterday we did practice today it's fun and then um saturday um i'm actually having them all come over and watching rocky part one together because i think that's essential for you to be good at anything. You got to watch Rocky part one, cause then it gets you pumped for training hard and beating the odds and all that fun stuff. So watching Rocky this weekend, I'm so excited. Um, but I'm telling you this because tonight after

practice, um, uh, they were looking over my medals and things like that. And I was telling them about it and I showed them, you know, of all the, of all the awards I got in wrestling, one I'm most proud of was there's this plaque on the wall. It's the second place in the country, all American. And basically when I was in high school, I went to the high school national tournament and I took second place in the country, which is kind of cool. And the way it works is you have to be a state champion to qualify for that tournament and you have to be a senior. So all the senior state champions are able to come to this national tournament and find out who's the best in, you know, the best in the country. And what's interesting though, if you look at each state, right? So like Utah, Idaho,

whatever, each state, they're usually different classes, right? So in Utah, there's 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A. So I was in 5A, which is the toughest division. I was a state champ there. And then there's the other division. So there might be five or six state champs in each weight class in each state. So there's, you know, probably potentially, I don't know, 150 to 200 state champs, um, each weight class in the country every single year. Right. And so from that, you have to be a senior and you have to be a state champ to qualify for this tournament. So, um, and I took second place at it. So I think there were like 68 state champs in my weight class during that tournament. And, um, I ended up beating, you know, there's a two time California state champ and a three time, uh, somewhere else state champ and two timers.

And like, just all these people had to beat to get in the finals and ended up losing the finals and really close match. Um, but, uh, but anyway, so I was like, that's my, my most proud one. And they started looking at my other medals and, uh, they're like, well, uh, it looks like it basically happened, you know, they're like, well, uh, it looks like basically what happened, you know, they're asking questions about the medals. And I showed him, I said, this is my next favorite one. This is my junior year. I won the state tournament. And, uh, and I was a state champ and they're like, Oh, cool. And then I said, but this, check this out. This is the one

that was probably the most important to me. And it was my senior year and it's a third place medal. And I wait, dad, you didn't win state champ. You weren't a state champion senior year. I said, no, I was actually, I was a state champ my junior year. And then my senior year I came in and I was ranked number one. I beat everybody all year round. Um, and then in the state, uh, semifinals, there was this kid who I had, um, I had demolished him early in the year. I think I beat him 10 to one, um, earlier in the year i think i beat him 10 to 1 um earlier in the year um i had him second or third match and we go out there in this match and um i just my head wasn't all in i don't know what happened but i got thrown to my back twice and i wish he had five points to you know take him down to your back you get five points twice so he got 10 points from there and i end

up losing by like two so i caught up you know but i ran out of time at the end and he ended up winning and uh which dropped me down in the consolation brackets. And I came back through and I ended up taking third place in state my senior year. And for me, it was probably the most, the most devastating moment of my entire life prior or since like the worst, like the most pain, the most embarrassment, most humiliation. Um, cause I'd worked so hard for this thing that I was sure I was going to win. Um, and I lost it and against someone I'd beaten before and it didn't seem fair. It didn't seem right.

It didn't seem, you know, all these things. I was just, I was mad at myself. I was mad at just everything. Right. And, um, and I remember it was like the darkest moment of my life. And it's interesting though, because I said, I said i told the kids i said this is the thing i lost that match but because i lost that match i knew that two months later was the national tournament um and because i won state my my junior year i still qualified to go to this to the senior nationals and so i signed up for senior nationals i said i have two months to go there i said based on how i did this weekend i'm not ready i'm i'm

not going to win. I said, my goal is to be an All-American, which means you're in the top eight. I'm like, I want to go. I want to be an All-American. But what was different is because I had lost, I remember in my head thinking, I have to prove to everybody that I'm not just someone who won state and got lucky and then lost it later. I had to prove that I was something special. And so because of that, it put my mind into overdrive where I was like, I have to prove that I'm special. And so because of that, like it put my, my mind into overdrive where I was like, I have to prove, I have to prove that I'm special. I have to prove that I just have to prove it to myself and to everybody. And so because I was like, I'm going to, I'm going to train harder

than anybody else. Um, and so for the next two months, I'm like, I have a two month window. I'm going to go crazy. And so during that two months I lifted every, every single day, um, I would have wrestling practice at my school. Sometimes I'd go in the morning, sometimes I'd go after school. And then after that, I found out who are the other state champions in Utah who are also going to this tournament. And I call up a bunch of them. I found out where they're at and we started driving to each other's high school. So I would drive to Taylorsville high school. I would drive to, um, to Brighton high school. I'd drive these different high schools and I'd go for the two or three or four hours wrestling with these other guys who were also going training for that tournament. And, um, on on average I was averaging about seven hours a day of training between lifting running and wrestling

Every single day for that two-month period time And I had like in my mind I had something to prove to myself I had something to prove to the world But I killed myself every single day for those two months to prepare myself for the tournament Now when I got to the tournament, I saw the brackets. I'm like there there's 68 state champs. Most of them had won two, some of them won three, three times. They'd won the state tournament in their states. And because I hadn't won it my senior year, I was like the lowest seed. Like nobody thought I was going to win. I think I had like of 68 people, I was probably seated, I don't know, 60 or something like that. Like I'd not get a good

seed. Um, no one thought I was going to win. Um, and, and looking back on it, if I had, if I would have won my, my state tournament, my senior year, I probably wouldn't have done very good at this tournament because I wouldn't have trained the way I trained. I wouldn't have had the, the, I wouldn't have had to work as hard as I did had I had won that match. And so because I lost, I put in all this extra effort and time and energy to prove that I was good enough. And I went there and, you know, one of the worst seeds in the tournament. And I ended up beating like the number one seed was a two-time California state champ,

which if you know anything about California, it's one of the toughest states in the country typically. And I beat them and him. I beat a three-time state champ from North Dakota. And then I beat a two-time state champ from the next place, the next place. And I went through this tournament. And it's interesting. I always heard athletes, I've heard people in baseball and stuff say,

when I'm in the zone, someone pitches a ball. Even if it's 105 miles an hour, it still looks like it's coming slow at me. I remember that tournament feeling that way. When I stepped on the mat, I felt like everything was happening in slow motion. My moves were just crisp. Sloppy things I'd done during the high school season. Um, I didn't do anymore because I had trained so hard over that two month period time to not do those things, have my hips in the right position and have, you know, all the things correct. And, um, and, uh,

in the matches, just everything seemed easier. And like these people who, you know, two months earlier would have destroyed me. I was just playing with them. And, and of all the matches, all the terms, everything I've done, that was my turn. That was the best term I've ever wrestled. Went all the way through, pinned my guy in the semifinals, qualified for the nationals or for the finals. And then the finals ended up losing by two points in a controversial match. I still think I won, but that's a story for another day. But I took second place in the nation. I became an All-American.

And because of that, it opened up all these different doors. Because of that, prior to that, I wasn't recruited by any Division I schools. I was recruited by some junior colleges and NAIA schools and D2 and D3 schools. And I was like, I want to go Division I or I don't even want to wrestle. And after I qualified for the finals, all the coaches from all of the colleges were there. So I'm getting calls from basically everyone, like the Boise State coach, the Arizona State coach, Iowa State coach, the BYU coach, like all these different coaches. They all wanted me to come wrestle for them. And I was like, oh, my gosh, this is a huge change from what it was earlier.

In fact, it's kind of funny because my parents wanted me to go to BYU. I always wanted to go to BYU. But prior to me going to this tournament, I had actually applied to go to BYU. And BYU, you had to be really, really smart. And I was not very good in school. And so I got my rejection letter back like, sorry, we looked at your resume, but you are dumb, so you're not allowed into the school, right? They said a little nicer than that, but not much. And so I remember

I was walking to the national finals and I saw the BYU assistant coach and he came over and was like, Hey, I want to introduce myself to you. And he said, we'd love to have you come and wrestle BYU. And I was like, Oh, I'm sorry. I applied. And I got, I got rejected and he kind of started laughing and he was like, don't worry, we'll take care of that. And a week later I got home. There's a new letter that showed up and said, Hey, we reevaluated your applications and congratulations. You've been accepted to BYU, which is so funny. So I ended up going to BYU and I wrestled there. And then I went on a mission for my church for two years. And then I came home and BYU had dropped their program while I was gone. So I transferred to Boise state, Boise state. I met my beautiful wife, Colette.

Here's where I started my business. I found my business partners, my friends. And like everything good in my life happened because I ended up here in Boise, in the spot on earth that I needed to be to find the people that I needed to become who I have become today. And as I was telling the story to the kids tonight, I said, you know what? Had I not lost that match, the match that meant everything to me, the match that I thought for sure I was going to win, that put me in, literally gave me the worst day of my life. Had I not lost that match, I wouldn't have trained the way I had to train for the national tournament.

I wouldn't have been an All-American. I wouldn't have taken second place in the country. I wouldn't have gotten college scholarships. I wouldn't have ended up at Boise State. I wouldn't have met my wife. I wouldn't have had U of S kids. I wouldn't have met my business partners. I wouldn't have been in the situation, the fertile ground I needed to be in to get the ideas, everything I needed to become who I've become today, right? To be able to be

in a spot where all of a sudden marketing became interesting to me so much so that I became obsessed with it. I had to have different friend groups, different people, different experiences. All those things happened because I lost that match. And I remember sitting there after I lost the match and just thinking like, this was the end of my life. Like I'm depressed. I'm miserable. I just want to die.

I want to disappear off the face of the earth. Everything I worked for my entire life just got ripped out of my hands. And, you know, I was mad at myself. I was mad at God. I was mad at everything. And what I didn't realize was, had he have answered my prayers and had I have won that match, everything good in my life would not be here today.

And I started thinking about that. I was like, man, it's always hard in the moment to understand the lesson and the trial that God is giving us, right? But then, you know, fast forward now 20 years, looking back, it becomes so clear. And you're like, oh my gosh. That was like the chain reaction that I needed to get me to be here today.

And looking back now, I'm so, so grateful that I lost that match. So grateful that it forced me to become better. It forced me to do different things and forced me to become who I am today. And so for any of you guys who are listening to this, I want to share this because I remember hearing Tony Robbins say one time, he said, you know, a lot of times when people are passing away and they're on their deathbed and they're being interviewed and, and they're asked about, you know, tough times in their life, most of them reflect back on the hardest moment or the worst time or the worst situation happened in life. And they realize that because of that,

everything great happened. And I'm saying this because some of you guys right now are probably in that moment, right? You're in the darkest hour and you're just like, why am I here? Why am I even doing this? Why was that taken away from me? That doesn't make any sense. Why was that piece? Why was that person? Why was that experience? Why was whatever it is you're going through, why was that taken from me? Right. And it justifiably so like you can be angry, but what you don't understand is what I didn't understand is that that was such a key component, like a key thing. Like had I not shifted, had I not lost that match, had not gone through that dark moment of my life, um, it wouldn't have put me on the path I needed to be on to be where I am today. And so if you do believe in a God and if you do believe in prayers, um, and if you do believe in destiny and you do believe in whatever you want to believe in, understand that like, um,

a lot of times you're going to lose some of these battles. Um, but you're going to win the war as long as you keep moving forward and you keep doing it. And so, um, hoping this helps someone, someone who's going through depression or going through loss or going through something that just doesn't make sense and you're angry and you're upset. From someone now who's able to look backwards in time and see that as a blessing, I just hope that gives you hope

that whatever you're going through now could be a blessing for you as well. And when you're in the middle of it, it's hard to see. Oh, it's so hard to see. I remember I didn't want, I just, I just, oh, and I'm sure there's gonna be more times in my life that happens, right? The times my, like the big time my business crashed went from a hundred employees had like fire 80 people overnight and lost everything. Like had that not have happened, click funnels wouldn't have happened. Right. And in the future,

who knows what happens? Click funnels might crash or something else might happen. And like, who knows like what I'm supposed to learn from that? Where am I supposed to go? Who am I supposed to become? How am I supposed to serve? Like what's the, what's the next thing? We don't know the answers to those things, but we have to have faith that there is a process and a purpose in what we're doing.

Otherwise it can get really dark and scary. But if you realize, man, I don't understand it. I don't, I don't know why, but I trust that there's a purpose. Um, it can give you the hope you need to keep moving on. But the last thing I want to say is just, you know, the, the other moral of the story is like, when I lost, it wasn't like I stopped. It was like, okay, I need to readjust my goals and then double down. Right. I think sometimes we get depressed or dark states and we just kind of walk away. It's like, no, no, no, no.

That's not the, listen to the whole story. The whole story was we lost, went through a phase of depression and then said, this is the new goal. This is how I'm going to redeem myself. Go. And then I went and I ran as fast as I could till my fingers bled, till my feet were sore. Everything I needed to do and gave it a hundred percent because that's what was required for me to become the person I needed to be to win that tournament, right? To, to become an all American. I couldn't have done it two months earlier. I would have

lost, but because I went through that, I was good enough. I became who I needed to be to get that part of the, that piece of the goal, right? To get that next achievement, right? When my old company crashed and everything fell to the wayside, probably my second darkest moment in my life. It was also the necessary things I had to learn, had to go through to be able to come who, to become who I was, to be able to handle the mantle of what ClickFunnels is. Okay. If anyone thinks ClickFunnels is easy to run and to be part of it is not, it is insane amounts of work. And had Russell from 10 years ago, if he would have been handed this mantle, it would have crushed him. Um, but because of these experiences and the, the, all the things that I had to figure out and learn

and, and, and grow through, it's what's given me the ability to, to be able to, to handle this right now, at least as well as I'm doing my best. Some of you guys may think that Russell, you're not doing that given job. I'm doing my best. I can you guys may think, Russell, you're not doing that given job. I'm doing my best I can. So back off. But anyway, so I hope that helps. I hope it helps somebody. I don't know. I just felt inspired tonight to share that. And I hope that helps one of you guys out there in the moment of darkness you may be in. So just keep moving forward. Don't give up. If I could go back 20 years to Russell on that night that I lost and come to that came in, I know right now this sucks and it's painful and you just want to disappear.

And I understand that. But in 20 years from now, you're gonna look back at this moment as the turning point of your life because you lost tonight. Everything good that happens to you will, will happen. And so someday you will be so grateful that this experience happened. And, um, hopefully you guys can remember that. All right. That said, I'm going to go get my kids into bed and appreciate y'all. Thanks for listening. And, uh, we'll talk to you guys all soon. Would you like to see behind the scenes of what we're actually doing each day to grow our company? If so, then go subscribe to our free behind-the-scenes reality TV show at www.funnelhacker.tv