The School of Greatness - 108 The 3 Keys to Designing a Life You Wouldn't Trade for Anything with Jairek Robbins

Episode Date: November 20, 2014

"So many people are so busy being busy that they don't spend time on the foundation of their life." - Jairek Robbins If you enjoyed this interview and want more, check out the show notes at www.lewishowes.com/108.

This is episode number 108 with Jarek Robbins. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. What is up, everyone?

Thank you so much for joining me back on today on the School of Greatness podcast. Very excited about this interview. We've got my man, Jarek Robbins on on and he's got a new book out called Live It. Achieve success by living with purpose. And the foreword is actually by a good friend of mine, Adam Braun. We actually met at the Pencils of Promise annual gala in New York City recently. And for those that don't know, I'm a big supporter of Pencils of Promise and what they do. I'm on their advisory board and I built a number of schools in Guatemala to support their organization. So check out pencilofpromise.org to give them a quick checkout and a shout out

to Adam Braun. If you guys haven't heard that episode yet, make sure to check that out after this one. I'll have that linked up in the show notes. But Jarek Robbins is an awesome individual. I was so glad to connect with him and know that a lot of his life has been about giving. And he understands the principle that the more you give, the more you receive. And the more that comes into your life and into your business. And Jarek is a decorated performance coach and lifestyle entrepreneur. He guides you through his proven step-by-step process for filling the gap between where you are today and where you want to be. So that's what we're going to be talking about today on this episode. A lot of his stories about

his journey, some of the hard work he's been through, his travels, what he learned in third world countries, a lot of interesting things that Jarek talks about we also go into What it was like growing up being the son of Tony Robbins and being in the personal development industry and what he's been doing to Create his own message and deliver his own Content aside from that and it's been really interesting to hear we actually just interviewed Jarek's father, Tony Robbins, recently, and he's going to be the next episode. So we're going to be tying them up back-to-back episodes. It just happened to work out that way

with Tony's new book as well. So I'm excited to put them both together and let you guys have some, you know, I guess it'll be the first father-son back-to-back podcast guests that we've had on here. So it'll be pretty interesting. I'm excited. I hope you guys get a lot of value from Jarek. He's an awesome individual. We had a fun time connecting here in LA and I know you guys are going to dig him. Make sure to check out all of his information. We'll have it linked up with the show notes. Stick around to the very end to get all that information. I know you guys are going to love this. Let's go ahead and dive into this episode with the one and only Jarek Robbins.

Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness podcast. Got a new friend here in LA with me right now. His name is Mr. Jarek Robbins. What's up, brother? What's up, man? We met at Pencil Promise Gala after party and Michael Treanor, a mutual friend, introduced us and you've got a new book out that's forwarded by our buddy Adam Braun. He raised like $2.2 million that night for his charity. It was amazing.

It was unbelievable. 750 people. It was like... To see the growth and hear about it from six people in a side room to the entire dining room laid out, packed. It was amazing. It was nuts, dude. I'm like so impressed with what he's created with his vision. We're having a vision, making it happen, being committed to it like a maniac on a mission.

And, you know, in five years building however many 250 schools or whatever it's been, it's unbelievable, right? So cool. It's someone that I believe really resonates with our message of living it. That he figured out what he loved. He figured out what it was about. It was a huge risk to walk away from what he was doing but he did it anyways not knowing what's going to happen 25 bucks in a bank account and 25 years old 25 years old five years later i mean 250 schools it's amazing yeah he's yeah i couldn't think of anyone better to

kind of lead with our book with just someone who literally lives it like he lives lives the message of follow your dreams, do what you love, find a way to make it work. And if you hustle and you do it with passion and purpose, it'll work. Yeah. Yeah. He's awesome. So, so tell me about this book. I want to dive into this. It's just came out. It's called live it, achieve success by living with purpose. Why did you write this book? Why did you write it now? And what can people expect from this book? So I attempted to write this book probably about 10 years ago. And then I attempted again to write this book probably about five years after that. And it was the right time for it to finally come out. And what had happened in the past is I would get about 98 pages in and then think about what I wanted to write next and realize I haven't lived that.

Like I know it. You want to preach it and talk about it. Exactly. Intellectually, I understand it. I had been trained in the tools and I was able to coach people through it. And I had 250 hours of base training and six years of coaching within a big company. And so I had the experience of knowing that the tool works and it gets results. And I've helped people get results with it, yet it wasn't applicable in my own life to the extent that it's like, I've done this. This is something that works for me too. And it was just a tool I knew about. And so I had to wait for those moments in my life to occur, the challenges, the upsides, the downsides, the near-death stuff, the real raw, gritty life experiences that happen

for me to look back and say, wow, I've really had to use this tool in a moment that it was not working. And it, I mean, life. Not just theorize about it. No. Things were falling apart. And I had to figure out how to get certain in a moment of radical uncertainty. I was told I had five days left how to get certain in a moment of radical uncertainty. I was told I had five days left to live and it's like, well, what do you do then? And it's a moment where it seems like there's no future. How do you build a future in a moment where there is none? You face obstacles where people tell you it's not going to work and that's stupid.

Give that up. Turn around. Do something else. This isn't right. And they try to redirect you with their vision or their plan. You got to figure out how in the world do you stand up against that realistically and make it through. And so all these things happened over the years. And I looked back and I said, what were the most important lessons that made me me? And if it was a book about my life and everything I've done, it'd be boring after probably about a chapter. It's like, oh, good for you.

We all want to write that book, but it's boring. Yeah, yeah. after probably about a chapter. It's like, oh, good for you, kid. We all want to write that book, but it's boring. Yeah, yeah. You know, until I'm president of the world and other things, I don't think people care at this point. And it seems fun to tell the story, but it doesn't. It's like, it's just my story.

Everyone has a story. Yeah. And so I thought back and I said, you know, what are the things that work for me? But more importantly, what are the things that work for a good majority of my clients consistently that not only made a slight difference in their life, but radically transformed their life.

And so I started combing through and looking for these people. And the very first thing that stood out to me was designing a life that you wouldn't trade for anything. Just a simple day-to-day life. And it can be complex for some people, but most people, it's just a simple day-to-day life. And it's like, what would that day be for you? Who would you be? Where would you go? How would you feel? What would be possible?

Who would you be with? What are the emotions you feel? How much energy would you have? The simplistic things. But what would that perfect day be? And I remember I had a client who I'd asked this question to on the very first call we ever talked. And he would refer by another client of mine. And he, at the time, he worked for one of the largest world banks. He was in charge of their entire book of business for oil and gas worldwide. And he was successful. Nine years building up the ladder. He was a managing director, I think it was called. It's one level below managing partner, which is the highest place you can go in the firm. And so multiple six-figure salary, seven-figure bonus check every year, like has the title, has the connections, doing business

globally, running the book of business out of London office. It's amazing. Everyone's dreaming for that position in that field. And I asked him, I said, you know, what would your perfect day be? And I remember him sitting back and saying, you know, if I had the day I wanted, I'd wake up in the countryside. I'd be connected to the planet and to nature. I'd have my family there. I would, you know, have a pet. I would go for a run, maybe on the beach or something and like just feel alive. I would have this day where I'm working on something I'm passionate about and like changing the way things are done in some industry. I would have time for yoga and meditation and connecting with life. And he just describes this beautiful, simple day. Completely different than what he was doing.

Radically different. Because that was the next question. How does that compare to what you do now? And he's like, I live in central London. I'm nowhere close to nature. It's gloomy out all day. Dark all the time. He's like, I have a a fiance but it doesn't feel like it's not what i dream of he's like i don't have a pet like that it's like it doesn't match and it was fascinating because we used pretty much chapters 2 through 12 over the next two and a half years with him to reshape his life into that day and i remember probably about a year maybe year and a half ago him calling and we worked together ever since and I remember him calling one day and being like, remember the first question you asked me? And I'll honestly be like, no, it was two freaking years ago, dude. Like, I have no clue.

He's like, you should take better notes. And I started laughing. And he pulled it up and he goes, you asked me what my perfect day would be. And he said, I just want to let you know, I lived every single thing on that page I wrote down two years ago. I lived it today. I woke up in the Hamptons in my new house I just bought. I went for a run on the beach. With my dog or whatever. Yeah, with my family.

I feel connected. I came home. My wife's there. I think he was just about to have his first baby. He had an office out back. He was walking around on the phone developing a business that literally changed the way the industry he's in is done. He's doing business with like the largest people in his industry who he would have never even thought he could have connections to in the past. And I mean, he's getting ready to raise like 500 million

to a billion dollars of capital for his business. Everyone's on board. It's ridiculous. Wow. And he's like, you know, I just want to say thanks. Because if you didn't ask me that question, I wouldn't be here because I would never have had this vision. Wow. I'd just be grinding away doing what I thought I was supposed to. Wow. That's interesting. That's a powerful question. It's so interesting you say that because a couple episodes ago, episode 103, I talked about the power of

clarity. And I gave people an exercise to write out their perfect day and post a picture of their perfect day on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook. So I have all these people posting their perfect day and they're telling me what's opening up for them and what they really want. And I think it's such a simple way to look at it. Like, what is it you really want? What's your perfect day look like? Obviously, it's going to shift and change from day to day you know because if every day was the same would be boring but in spirit what is your day your perfect day look like and I think that's something you know now that uh you're coming on and sharing that that's like really what should be the foundation is visualizing that it's reinforcing what we just talked about

here on the school greatness so that's cool the reason you start with just a day is because a perfect life is a big chunk. Yeah. Describe the perfect 20 years. Yeah, right? You're like, well, I don't know what to do with that. But if you say, listen, just use a day. And if you can figure out how to turn that day into reality, what it does is create hope.

And it creates a strength in the belief system that says it's possible. And once you get one day, why not two? Why not three? Why not get a variety of 10 different days that you start circulating in? Why not build it out to the perfect month and year and five, 10, 20 year plan, which is the last chapter of the book? Once you've gotten one day, the reality, how do you maximize and quadruple and grow that day out so that you really get to live it in all different ways? Very cool. How long did it take you to write this book?

I'm trying to think. We were living down in Costa Rica. You mean you and your wife now, right? Yep, me and my wife now. We were engaged at the time. We packed up our stuff. We were moving to Florida. We bought a house.

Or we thought we bought a house. The week before we were about to close, the bank told us that the deal didn't come through the way we thought. So, we literally took out a map and a compass and we drew a big circle around Fort Lauderdale Airport because we had all our flights booked out of that airport for the next like six months for business. And we drew a big circle and we started just pricing out all the different cities we could live in, how much it would cost, how much the flights in and out were. And when we hit Costa Rica, there's $120 jet blue flight, direct flight from San Jose, Costa Rica, straight to Fort Lauderdale, 120 bucks, 99 bucks sometimes.

And we were like, done. Let's go live on the beach. And so we just randomly moved to Costa Rica. We got a little house in Langosta right outside of Tamarindo and we lived on the beach for a few months and we rode it while we were there. How was it living in Costa Rica? Amazing. I love, as much as I love living in the US, I love living out of the US in places that are developing and places that aren't quite as fast moving and go, go, go, go, go, more, more, more, bigger, bigger, bigger, better, better, better as the US. Places where people just enjoy life. And they work to live, not live to work.

And when you start shifting that philosophy and you get around people, it just adjusts your personal psychology of life and reminds you about what's most important. And a lot of people forget that. We get so caught up in what I refer to as the minors, all the things that seem like they're so important. If we don't do them right now, we're going to die. Yeah, the small stuff. Yeah, I refer to as the minors, all the things that seem like they're so important. If we don't do them right now, we're going to die. Yeah, the small stuff. Yeah, I've got to answer that email. I've got to post this on Instagram.

I've got to get to this real quick. I've got to get to the meeting. I've got to talk to this person. And you get to a place where things slow down. And you're like, well, talking to the person is important, but everything else can kind of wait until I'm good. I don't need to just email right now. Yeah, and you start to enjoy

the process wow and so we got down there and it was interesting because with that slower pace of life we actually probably doubled our ability to get things done productively because there weren't any distractions there weren't 50 text messages coming in from friends there weren't a bunch you know millions of things pulling our attention in every direction all day long. Events every night or everywhere. No, it was simple, but productive. And so we actually wrote the book while we were there. And it took us about maybe a month and a half. Wow, that's nice. And we also redid an entire online program of 60 modules online,

refilmed them, re-edited everything. So we got a lot done while we were there in a month and a half. And you got to chill on the beach. Yeah. And we were chilling on the beach, going surfing, hanging out, seeing the turtles. It was cool. That's really cool. And then from there, we shopped it around and we had a few different offers and we got one that we loved with a publishing group that we believe in. Someone we think is kind of the future of publishing, at least from the research we did. Sure. We also got more no's than we could have expected and imagined. I think it's part of the business. Yeah, of course.

You go to pitch something, it's like, no, no, no, no, maybe, no, no. And it was fun. And we expected that. We had fun with that. We learned to enjoy the upside just as much as the downside and challenges just as much as opportunity. And it worked out. And it finally came to fruition.

And our main, main goal with this book is to provide a tool for people and it's a workbook. It's not a read it and oh, wow, that was awesome. I'll warn you, it is not like the cutting edge technology of life. You know, if you're someone who's looking for the scientific tools to change everything, like this is not going to give you the newest research on all the most specific things you're looking for. What it will give you is a simple workbook that delivers results. But effective. Yeah. Exactly. Simple way to look at life and see what you really want and how to get it. Yep. And it works for people

who are multi-million dollar bankers to people who are just, you know, single. And I think this one's probably more important or just as important, but it's, you know, stay at home mom who is a freelance writer. Yeah. She used it just as effective, but it's, you know, stay at home mom who is a freelance writer. Yeah. She used it just as effective in her life as, you know, a mid-level manager in a carpet company. And, you know, one of my favorite people, he's a raving, raving fan, but one of my best friends at the same time.

He's a chief master sergeant in the U.S. Navy or U.S. Air Force. And he loves it. Yeah. He, I'm so blessed. He recommends it to everyone for their morning i think it's pos or i forget the terms but sure he like he's recommended all the time like use this for your training use this for your group use this for leadership and it's someone who holds such a high position and manages um he's in charge of all the commentaries uh-huh so it's like

billions of dollars of revenue come through all of his his projects and this is one of his favorite books to recommend to all of his team members to set their vision up and set their life up and have the right tools to build their character and build who they are sure to get the most out of every day yeah there's some really cool exercises in here i definitely recommend checking them out and going through it talk about emotional stacking which is kind of cool these exercises here uh what's your thoughts on hard work and urgency oh i love hard work i didn't always tell me about um i'll give you some background that's really interesting is one of the greatest fears uh my father ever had about me as a kid was not liking the work hard and growing up

in a generation that we you know i, I took offense when he said, you don't know what hard work is. And I'd be like, you know, what do you mean I don't know what hard work is? I work plenty hard. Leave me alone. And I always felt like someone was harping on me and I never understood the concept. And he finally explained it one day where it made sense. And he says, I'm not saying that you don't know how to work hard. You do know how to work extremely hard at the stuff you enjoy doing. He said, stuff you don't enjoy doing, you avoid like the plague. And we have this awesome term, you know, in our generation called outsourcing or I'll get someone else to do it. I'll outsource it.

I'll hire someone for that. I'll give it to someone else. We avoid these things. And what he warned me about, and it's something I read about in the book, is there's going to be a time and place that you're going to have to do that stuff. And if you don't learn how to fall in love with it, you're screwed. And I remember hearing that and thinking about it and being like, really? I don't know. And he said, listen, why don't we give you a lesson in this to really, really, really experience this full out? And I was like, sure, I'm game. What do you got? And he said, why don't you in this to really, really, really experience this full out. And I was like, sure, I'm game. What do you got? And he said, why don't you come up to Canada, stay with my stepfamily. And my step grandpa, he started off as just working on a lumber yard, stacking lumber,

to being a foreman, a manager, a co-owner, an owner, and eventually sold it and owns the land underneath it of a few lumber yards. And he said, why don't you come up here and work? And everyone on that side of the family has always worked at a lumber yard. Some hated it, some loved it, some still do it. So, it's not a big thing up there. It's just everyone does it, part of the family. And so, I came up and at the time, I was almost probably around 20 years old, maybe. And I was a kid from California. I was not a kid who... Beach boy. Yeah. I didn't know how to stack lumber and work hard. And he was right. I avoided hard

work like the plague. I love doing what I love. If I love working out, training my body, I love doing that. I could work that all day long. Doing something I didn't like to do wasn't for me. I had something else I had to get to. You're right. There's always an excuse of why I couldn't do it. He was spot on. And I think this generation of people, us young guys, you know, 40s, 50s even nowadays, you see people who are 47 years old counting on mom and dad to still pay the phone bill.

Of course, yeah. And it's not because they're not capable. They feel entitled or they feel, yeah. Yeah, it's not... They're lazy. They're completely capable of it. Yeah. They've never learned how to do the hard work they don't like.

So how does someone learn how to appreciate and be excited about working hard? Like if they've been one way their whole life, entitled or whatever, given things to or whatever, how does someone shift and say, okay, I want to work really hard now, even at the stuff that I don't love doing? What are some things that people, is it possible that someone could shift to love doing that? 100%. The simplest thing is shifting your mindset first and saying, you know what? I take pride in doing this. Not an external pride of like, I'm going to show the world how great I am. An internal pride. And it's progress. It's saying, listen, I'm going to look at this as

making progress. And every time I can get one step further than I've ever been before, I'm going to be damn proud of myself. And when you can own that within yourself, all of a sudden, all the hustle, all the hard work, all those times and hours and effort you have to put in becomes something you're really excited to do. And it meets your needs. It makes you feel fulfilled. It makes you feel excited. Shifting your mindset. I remember halfway through stacking lumber, I started getting all these thoughts of entitlement. shifting your mindset. I remember halfway through stacking lumber, I started getting all these thoughts of entitlement. And you hear a lot of young people in the workplace say these things

to themselves nowadays, which is, I'm better than this. I should be running this. I should be running this. The people doing this are, I don't know how to say it nicely. Beneath me. Beneath me. They're so slow. I could do this better. The management should really have a meeting with me because I could teach them how to run the whole company better on their third day of work when the company's been up for 52 years. I should be getting paid more than this. I deserve more respect than this. And I heard all these thoughts in my own head while I'm stacking lumber. Wow. And I remember sitting there and thinking and hearing them and being like,

whoa, he was right. I really do have these thoughts. And just being dumped on it, being like, this is not cool. And I remember the next day having a heart-to-heart in the mirror with myself, just staring myself down in the mirror and listening to every single thought of entitlement that crossed my mind and questioning it. Life owes me something? Bull. If I'm alive, if there's a breath in my body that means i owe life everything how do i give more than i've ever received today you know these people owe me respect bull i owe them respect this is their full-time job and they bust their tail every day doing this you know wow i kneel down and just say i'm impressed if you can do that for your family the ones you love partially

because it might be in a circumstance partially partially because you choose to, I'm impressed. And there was a guy who was 90, I forget how old he was, maybe not 90, he was probably 78 years old. They called him Uncle Dubai because he had stacked lumber in Dubai in 110 degree weather. He had stacked lumber in Canada in negative, you know, I forget the Celsius, but, you know, negative degrees. Yeah, freezing. In the snow, in the sun, like everywhere. And he keeps keeps going and i asked him why he did it and he says you know in in the way my culture is the oldest man of the family pays for everything so i do this to cover all my family my grandchildren my children my wife my amazing family it's amazing

and i started to really appreciate and respect the fact that these people worked so freaking hard for something beyond themselves. It was amazing. And so I questioned myself. I said, you know, I should be getting paid more than this. I'm like, no. You know, I had this thing of I was so valuable. And I looked around. I said, what's making me value?

What results are you creating? Yeah. I said, if I want to be valuable, I got to change the thought process. I got to become the most valuable person here by adding more value than any person here. And everything started to rewire. Everything started to shift. And all of a sudden, it became a really exciting experience because now I was determined to add more of me to that world to see what I could create. And living in a culture where everyone wants to be the chief and no one wants to be the Indian,

it's silly to think that the fastest way, and it's backwards because most people don't realize it, the fastest way to become the chief is become the hardest working Indian. Right, yeah. It's like if you're the first person to grab the shovel and start digging the hole, everyone follows. And you didn't realize. You were so busy digging the hole, you didn't realize. Everyone was like, whoa, look at that dude. Like, let me jump in now.

Exactly. Yeah, it's interesting. You know, playing in sports my whole life, you know, I was never like the best player. I started to become one of the best players and became the most valuable players, but I was never the most talented. And I remember it was like, I'm going to, as opposed to thinking that I should be the starter and be the main guy in basketball or football, I was like, I'm going to be the hardest working.

I'm going to show that I add the most value. And it may not be me scoring the most points. It may look a different way. Me scrapping around and me being the biggest hustler, me being the best defender. And when I started to shift to how can I just add the most value to the team on all these different sports I played, that's when I became the most valuable player because I added the most value.

And, um, it's a hard, I was in high school. I was on the offensive line. I don't look like it now. I was a big dude back then. I was five,

nine, 225 pounds going into high school. Wow. That's crazy. And so big. Yeah. I went out for football and they it now. I was a big dude back then. I was 5'9", 225 pounds going into high school. Wow. That's crazy. That's big. Yeah. I went out for football and they're like, I was like, what do you want to play? I was like, I don't know. They're like, you're a lineman. I was like, wow. Okay. Didn't know what that was. But it's that thought process and conversation of saying, you know, how do you realize how valuable you are when you're not the star and you don't need the star. And eventually you don't want the star. And eventually, you don't want to be the star. Like, you don't want to be the spotlight.

But you take so much pride in the value you deliver, you realize that you are a difference maker. You make or break that moment in the game every game. Right. But you got to realize that within yourself. And then you got to take that, you know, out of sports and into life and say, how do you apply that to your day-to-day life? How do you become the person that loves the grind you have every day? And you love it so freaking much that you realize you're a difference maker in the lives of the people you smile at and the lives of the people you work with and the person that you helped grab their groceries for them and all the little tiny things you do consistently.

And the fastest way there is shifting one of two things or both. Perception and procedure. How you view it. The perception you have. I talked about changing my own beliefs in my own head of life owes me something to know. If I have a breath in my body, I owe life everything. And when you start to change those beliefs, the foundational beliefs about what you believe life owes you or you owe life or what you're grateful for, what you're excited about, all those pieces, hard work becomes fun and exciting and becomes growing yourself as a man

or woman, that kind of thing, that foundational belief, the perception shift radically changes everything first. Secondary, procedure. How you physically go about it. You can make anything fun. I learned it. I looked around at a lumber yard stacking wood all day and I was like, okay, this is not fun.

You're sore, you're tired, it hurts. It's hot, it's cold, whatever. And I had family members who took bets physically on how many days they thought I was going to last on the lumber yard. So I remember being pissed off and trying to prove a point in the beginning. So I was fired up

and I was getting up at 4.30 in the morning, lifting weights, running on the treadmill, then eating breakfast. Oh my God, that's nuts. Then going to work all day, then coming home, going straight to the gym, working out again. Oh my God, that's nuts.

And then, I mean, doing three days basically. That's nuts. And my step-grandpa on the third or fourth day is like, hey, pal, I know you're trying to prove a point, but you might want to chill out. You're going to hurt yourself. Yeah. And I was like, I'm fine. So I kept that literally for three months every morning at 4.30 in the morning. That's nuts.

Eventually, my body broke down a little at the end. But I kept it up. And I was proving that point. And procedurally, though, i love to work out so i looked around at the lumberyard i'm like how can i turn this into something that would actually be enjoyable physically because right now it's just painful and annoying because you're moving the same piece of wood to the same spot doing the same thing all freaking day yeah so what'd you do procedure i looked around i'm like okay how can this be a gym i said first off realize you're in british

columbia canada in the summer beautiful it's beautiful i looked up and took a. I'm like, okay, how can this be a gym? I said, first off, realize you're in British Columbia, Canada in the summer. It's beautiful. It's unbelievable, man. I looked up and took a breath. I'm like, wow, look at the view. Yeah. Like I haven't seen the view in a month because I've been staring at wood. But this is amazing.

Yeah. And I was like, second, what if this was a gym? You know, what if every time I squat down to grab that, it's a squat? What if every time I do this, it's a curl? What if every time I do that, you know, it's a press or a fly? And all of a sudden, everything became sculpting my body. And it's something I loved. So, I took something I didn't like, matched it with something I loved, and instantly it became something radically exciting. Wow.

I was like, this is cool. And then, you know, that wasn't it though. Most guys I was working with didn't speak English. So, imagine being by yourself doing this all day for months. The final part was, how could I make this even more stimulating? And I took probably 150 bucks. I had my bank account at the time and I bought every single iBook I could or audio book I could afford. Wasn't that many. And then I put it on autoplay and I listened to all of them constantly, nonstop for three months. So you were learning, you're growing, you're being inspired. Exactly. And all of a sudden it met all my needs. I was learning. I was emotionally stimulated. I was inspired to prove a point. I was physically pushing myself. I was sculpting my body in my own perception.

I was adding value to these people's lives and business. I was coming up with unique ways to give to them. So it was like I'd wrap my lunch and like wrap an extra, you know, veggie burrito or something and bring it and like share it with the guys at lunch and finding a way to give and be of value to the community I was a part of and all of a sudden everything became stimulating and amazing yeah it's like all those little shifts perception procedure mindset stimulation like those little things all of a sudden brought it to life yeah it's interesting i don't know where i heard this maybe like zigzag or something like that but you know what i heard is when you want to achieve something, the fastest way to getting there is

helping others achieve what they want to achieve or something like that. I don't know the exact quote, but it's true. Like the more, if you want to be successful, if you want to like get to your vision, the best way of doing that is supporting others to achieve their vision and adding value to what they're up to in their life. I think it's so important. And, you know, there's a lot of stuff that I didn't like doing, you know, going to class every day sucked, right? You know, in school, especially when I had, you know, I couldn lot of stuff that i didn't like doing you know going to class every day sucked right you know in school it's especially when i had you know i couldn't read and it was like just a challenge um but when i shifted i remember my senior year i went from being very clicky and like the sports only hanging out with athletes to my senior year i was like

a lot of my athlete friends had gone because i was playing on varsity when i was younger so i was like what am i doing like i want to be friends with everyone. I want to be connected to everyone. And I started adding value to all sorts of people in the arts department, in music, and not just sports. And I realized, wow, there's some really amazing people here. And if I add value to them, I can learn from everyone and pick up stuff from everyone. You know, you probably even on a lumber yard, it's like, maybe you didn't think you could have learned anything from anyone, but then you probably learned some of your biggest lessons. Absolutely. I mean, learning the discipline to serve the ones you love. Yeah.

And, you know, not only was there the oldest guy there who was working, but there was also a young guy like in his teens or 20s. I remember he was very young. And I asked, why was he there at Sack and Lumber? He could be doing anything. And he said, no. He said, you know, my dad died and I'm the oldest man of our family. So, therefore, it's my responsibility to show up and take care of the entire family. Wow.

And I remember sitting there and being like, wow, this guy is barely 20 years old. And financially, he's in charge of his brother, his sister, his mom, everybody. And the whole household depends on him. Now, that's a different culture than I was raised in. But the amount of respect I have for that man is off the charts. Because you see someone who's challenged with something that most people will be like, wow, that's tough. And he makes it work. And he just loves the process. And it was something where he worked hard and he didn't

always love working. At the same time, when you talk to him about it, he was so prideful of the fact that he was able to take care of the ones he loved. Yeah. I like that. That's interesting. I like how you have this five regrets of the dying in here. Was that from something that you'd learned or was that something that you discovered through interviewing people or was that, I forget if that was, I've seen that somewhere. I picked that up off an article, but I learned that firsthand. Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, my whole ideal day thing came about because I was living in a village in Uganda. I

was teaching organic farming, having a blast, doing white water rafting down the Nile River. Wow. Just having a ton of fun. And on the night I went river rafting, I'd forgot my bug net. And I got stung in the face by a mosquito that night. You got malaria, right? Yeah, I got it. And it stacked up in my body.

And I grew up in Southern California with a family who's very holistic in healing. And if my mind believes that my body will heal itself, it will. Yes. And so I carried that mantra into a malaria infested village. Oh, man. And the doctor tried to get me to take this medicine. And I looked at him. I'm like, no, my body will heal itself.

I don't take medicine. I'm fine. And so him and I argued for about an hour. I felt bad for the other patients because him and I were arguing over malaria. Like, I don't take medicine. It's bull. I don't believe in it. And he's like, do you use sunscreen?

He's like, it's topical medicine, man. I was like, no, that's false. We just argued. We just argued it out. And his final statement to me was like, okay, I've got to prove this to you somehow. He says, here, let me show you some live blood of your blood.

And he pulled my blood sample and he threw it up on a screen for me. And he says, see this? And he pointed out a bunch of little things. he's like that is a parasite and he's like due to you know our count you have 55 000 parasites per one red blood cell right now wow and he's like every eight to ten hours approximately they're going to hatch when they hatch they explode out of the cell and kill it then they go and feed on water so it's going to instantly dehydrate your entire body then it's going to go lay eggs and all the other cells oh my gosh and it's going to double so it goes 55,000

110 220 and he said at the rate this is doubling and the rate this is going you have about five days wow i remember looking at him and my literal response was five days till what oh my gosh a little slow and he's like five days till your body won't be able to sustain itself. I was like, what does that mean? Again, a little slow. And he looked over. He's like, five days till you die, my friend. Wow. And then he grabbed the medicine and slid it across the table.

He's like, or you have another option. I was like, this guy's a good salesman, first off. Yeah. Death or living. Yeah. And I looked at him and I just remember hearing all of my beliefs of what I was taught and what I grew up around and what I knew to be true in my own life and thinking like, I don't know, I feel like he's wrong. So I looked at him and as stubborn, as ignorant as I am in that moment, I looked at

him. I was like, well, I'll see you on day six, doc. And I grabbed the medicine and walked out of the room. And I remember walking out of that room and just like my hands shaking and being like, oh my goodness. I'm trying to like look strong and act cool right now. But I'm freaking out. I'm on the other side of earth. I was in Uganda at the time. I'm nowhere near my family, nowhere near loved ones,

nowhere near someone that could comfort me or be like, it's going to be cool, man. You'll be fine. None of that. Hardly anyone spoke English. I'm sitting there in a hospital. I have hydration IVs going in my hands to keep me hydrated. And I'm thinking like, what do I do? And I was like, well, call home and see what happens. And I remember I called home and got ahold of dad. He was right before he was about to go on a seminar of like thousands of people. He's like, Hey pal. He's like, I heard you're sick. What's up? And I was like, yeah, this doctor

just told me I have like five days to live. And I was like, what do I do? Do I take the medicine? Do I not? And I remember dad saying, you know, pal, here's what you got to realize. The most powerful force on earth is your mind. What you believe to be true will happen. If you believe your body will heal itself, it will. If you believe that medicine will heal you, it will. Whatever you believe, do it with certainty and do it now. He's like, I love you so much. You're going to be totally fine. I'll see you soon. And I remember hanging up and my first thought was like, that didn't help. No. Can you tell me what to do? Do it and you'll be fine. Don't you soon and i remember hanging up and my first thought was like that didn't help no can you tell me what to do and you'll be fine don't do and you'll be fine i'm like that means nothing yeah yeah i was so frustrated it was funny and so i was like okay

who else can i call like let me call mom uh mom's only got advice in some way so i called mom and mom she started crying first and then her response was you take the darn medicine i didn't raise you for this many you know stinking years for you to die in some god forbid country the other side of the earth and i'm on my way and hung up the phone i was like uh-oh like she's not gonna be happy when she gets here oh my gosh poor mom she's never been out of the country um this was her very first trip out of the country besides like driving to mexico from california sure and so she gets on a plane she gets all her inoculations in one day from a doctor which will make you feel sick anyways oh yeah she gets on a plane she

flies from la to london london to egypt uh she gets felt up by some random guy on the plane in egypt so she's like oh this is horrible she gets off the plane in egypt runs down the stairs her bag flies in front of her and pulls her and trips her and she lands on her hands and knees on the bottom of the stairs in egypt oh everyone behind her cheers thinking she's like kissing the ground because she's so happy they landed she's like people are rude here stands up runs across the airport gets on the plane finally gets to uganda she arrives she gets picked up by the crew that was in the organization i was with and they're like we can't drive it's four hour drive and in the daytime it was with. And they're like, we can't drive. It's a four-hour drive. And in the daytime, it's dangerous. At night, I mean, it's deadly.

You can't do that there. And so they said, we have to stay at a hotel. She walks into the room. There's a gigantic bullfrog in the middle of the shower. Oh, man. That's funny. Mom, you know, the guys with machine guns guarding the gate of the hotel.

She just had an experience where when she finally got to me, I think the kicker was my grandma had convinced her that people in Africa wear bright colors. So she showed up wearing like neon yellow and orange pants. But she wasn't happy to say the least. She was happy I was alive. But at the same time, coming back to that question of those five regrets of the dying, you know, when you're lying there and told you have five days left to live, regardless if it's a scare tactic to take medicine to take medicine or the god honest truth either way first i don't believe anyone has the right to tell anyone that i mean with modern day medicine and miracles that happen you have no clue how long someone has i appreciate the intent i appreciate

the heart and the passion to get me to take the stupid medicine at the same time i don't think anyone has that right and beyond that though when you're lying there and i had to lie there for about 10 days by myself in a hospital with nobody around me, I did get lots of love and texts and calls from family praying for me and stuff. And I certainly felt that. I think that's a big part of helping heal, just knowing people cared that much. But in that moment when you're sitting there for that many days, you start to contemplate life. What's it all about? Why are you here?

What are you trying to get done? What's the point? You know, what are the things you really wish you would have done? And I talk about it where, you know, I had this bucket list and I realized like I had written this awesome list and not a whole lot of it was done. And I was pissed about that. And I was like, I need to write this down. Like someone needs to create some urgency for other people and be like, don't have a bucket list. Like have a live it list. Put some deadlines and times of when you're going to get that stuff done. Otherwise you will hit a day where you're like, Oh shoot. You know, there's a lot on my list and I'm done. And so I started

like putting dates and timelines of all these cool things I wanted to accomplish now. And I said, you know, off of my bucket list, I got to get at least like 10 a year. If I don't get 10 a year, I'm behind. Cause if I went out this year, I need to know that I'm on track at least. I need to know I'm making progress. And so I challenge people, like make a live it list, like start putting deadlines on those bucket lists because you don't know when that day is going to hit. And then the question becomes, if you only had five days to live, 10 days to live, how would you live differently? How would you treat people? How would you treat every minute and every hour of your day? What would you do with every day of your life if that's all you had?

And how would you design a day that's so rich and so fulfilling that if you went with every day of your life if that's all you had and how would you design a day that's so rich and so fulfilling that if you went out that day you'd be damn proud you did it you'd be like you know what i lived today every ounce of who i am is proud of what i was and who i was today the way i treated people the way i treated life the way i treated my time the way i valued my time what i squeezed into today so proud, so passionate, just like this was living. If I died today, got hit by a bus later this afternoon, I'd be damn proud I did it. And how do you design and live life with that kind of intention every day? And if you do, it's amazing. And those five regrets of living, it was mostly men and none of them said,

I wish I would have spent more time in the office. Yeah, worked more. Yeah. That's not what they regret. They regret saying, I wish I would have spent more time in the office. Yeah, work more. Yeah, that's not what they regret. They regret saying, I wish I would have allowed myself to do what I really wanted to do with my life. I wish I would have, you know, I regret not spending more time with the ones I love. I regret losing some friendships that mattered to me.

And you look at these things and think, wow, am I investing the right amount of time in the majors, the most important foundational pieces of my life? And something I always talk about with people, you know, if I came over to your brand new house that you just built and I walked in, what's the first thing I'm gonna compliment you on? Thinking of majors.

Most people look around and they're like, wow, what a view. Wow, incredible art and decorations. Wow, such great architecture. But I've never met anyone that walks in and starts pounding on the floor and they're like, wow, what a foundation you built this on. Man, do you have a flashlight? Can I get underneath here and like, look at the setting? Like this foundation is rock solid. Like you built this house,

such a solid place. You don't hear that because no one even recognizes it. Sure. But it's the true same thing with your life. You know, do you set the right foundational pieces of who you are that it's so strong and so sturdy that no matter what life tosses your way, you're rock solid because you're built on a solid, true foundation. Wow. Or do you get caught up on all the fixtures and decoration and your art and your furniture and how cool it is and the great view, but- Your image. Yeah. One big storm, your house is done because you didn't build it on a solid foundation. So what are those foundational pieces of life? My thought, your health, your emotions, your family,

your relationships, your intimate relationships specifically, your profession, what you do, what you choose to trade the majority of your hours of your day for, your spirituality, if you go that way. And it's thinking about it and saying, if those are some of the foundational pieces, there's more or less for different people, but if those are some of the foundational pieces, how much time, effort, and energy do you spend every day making progress in those areas?

So many people are so busy being busy that they don't take time to focus on the foundation of their life. And that's like building a house with a weak foundation, hoping that when a thunderstorm comes through, it's going to be standing. with a weak foundation hoping that when a thunderstorm comes through, it's going to be standing. And if you build it with a weak foundation, I guarantee you're going to lose your house. And it just happens that the metaphor says the house is your life. And that's a bummer. Yeah. This is great stuff, man. Who are some of the people that inspired you to get into this? Oh, man. There's so many. Obviously, my dad. I mean, my heroes in this industry of personal development, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, my dad. Who else? Carolyn Miss, Alison Armstrong. I've got lists and lists and lists and lists. I've probably read a few hundred books in this arena.

And it all sourced. I mean, I went to my very first personal development seminar in my mom's belly. My godfather is the co-creator of NLP, John Grinder. And mom and dad were both going through his master trainer certification or whatever it was called back in the day. And literally, when I was in her belly, she was teaching people how to break through their fears by breaking bricks with their bare hand. And so I always say through osmosis, I picked something up at that point in my life. But my first firewalk was at John Denver's Ranch in my dad's arms at three months old. First time walking was here in Anaheim, not too far from here. And at five years old for my birthday, dad held my hand. I walked across hot coals for the first time. And so

growing up in that industry literally gave me that foundation where even though if I look at the notebooks of, you know, me at 10 years old at a seminar, it's like, what do you want to be with your life? Pro surfer, pro basketball player, pro football player. Like you go down the list and it's like, yeah, all those are big lofty dreams and exciting. But if you look at consistently, I was constantly being refocused, focused on the majors, focused on the most important in your life, focused on your health, focused on your and at a as a young person i remember there was always times when it'd be like focus on your finances and i'm like i don't have finances doesn't exist in my life right now i don't know what to focus on and it was irritated because it's just like i wasn't

ready to focus on that moment or that piece of my life yet that element and because you're in high school or college and like whatever, you're not making money. Yeah, I mean, obviously. 200 bucks here and there. Yeah, Gary Vaynerchuk was, but he's probably where my money was going at that time, baseball cards or whatever I was up to. That thought process, though, of just it was constantly re-ingrained.

And my hero, the person I look up to the most, not just because he's taller than me or bigger than me, is obviously my dad and him and my grandma. My grandma lives here in LA and she's a hustler in all the right ways, not the old school term. Anyone older listening to this would be like, really? But the new school term where we respect that word and we love it. And she's 76 years old and still cold calls three days a week. She does over a quarter million dollars a year in life insurance annuity sales in her own income. And she's a rock star. She's been on the cover of Newsweek magazine.

She has the key to the city of Los Angeles. She's a businesswoman of the year of LA. She has every plaque and every award from every company she's ever worked with. It's amazing. She's won every incentive trip you could imagine. And she's a rock star. And dad's the same thing. Obviously, he's built his brand and he's certainly grown his global empire of who he is and what he does and making a difference in people's lives. What people don't know about him is he mentions this, but I don't think people really believe

him. People know him for being a motivational speaker and that kind of stuff. People don't realize he has like 22 other companies. It's ridiculous. Like he just picked up a couple of accounting firms last year and like stuff like that. They don't even realize what he's up to and how much he does. And the common thread between both of them and why they both, I consider my heroes, are what drives them. And in my understanding of who they are and what they do, and I don't know everything about their life because I'm not there every moment of their life, but there's a consistent pattern of always working your tail off specifically to be able to support and give to others. And there's something I learned from both of them, which is life supports that which supports

life. And it's the thought process that in what you do, if you find a way to support more life than just yourself, life will send more business, more productivity, more of everything into your life. So that it can boost you because you're causing life to grow and you're causing life to expand because of your hard work. And so life looks around and says, hey, who's giving back to life? Who's supporting life no matter how much you have or don't have. And my grandma had humble beginnings. So did dad. When her and my grandpa first got together here in Los Angeles, they didn't have enough money for an apartment.

So I remember a long time back, she told me, she's like, she was the cleaning lady and he was the maintenance man at a local motel here in LA just to have a place to live. And when the kids were going up, grandpa worked five jobs, morning shift, night shift, afternoon shift, weekend shift, late shift, early shift, just to be able to support the kids. And seeing that kind of effort and energy and hard work put in to support the ones they love, then give back more to the community,

their grandchildren. I remember at one time, I found a packet of receipts in grandma's office and she was paying for her secretary to go to college. I was like, grandma, you know you have grandkids, right? And she was laughing. She's like, you'll be fine. And I was like, why are you doing this? And she says, you know, because I want to support people in doing what they love. And I remember like, you don't have to do this. You give her a job. Like, that's plenty. And she's like, no, I like to. And she's like, it's my thing. I don't tell anyone. I promised her I wouldn't tell you guys. So please don't tell

anyone. But it's something she loves to do. And when I looked at dad, he does the same things. You know, you and I were talking, I think last night, I mentioned at 16, he was living in the back of his car. And he was saving money, well, homeless himself, basically, to feed a family on Thanksgiving. Because his family had been helped out. It made a difference in his life. And I remember him doing a speech many years ago for a really, really, really run down school in Texas for 195 fifth graders. Oh, no, not 100, 95 fifth graders. And at the end of his speech, he looked around and he's like, you know, the greatest dream in this school right now is that these kids grow up and get a job at McDonald's because it has benefits.

He's like, there's got to be a bigger dream than that. He walked out of the room. He shook his head. He got frustrated. He walked back in. He's like, you know what? I'm just going to do it. He said, listen, we're going to create some good citizen rules. You're a good kid. Be average. Community service. Don't go to jail. Don't do drugs. Don't get pregnant until you're old enough to handle it and all that other stuff. And he just good citizen rules. And he says, if you follow these, I'll sign a contract with you. He's like, I know you're in fifth grade, so you're not old enough to sign it, but I'll sign it and you sign it and I'll stick to it. And he said, if you stick to these rules all throughout school, I'll pay for every one of your college educations. 95 of them. Most people try to figure out one,

their own. Second, how do you get my kid through school? When you promise 95 kids you're going to send them through college, you walk out of the room and you get a call from your accountant and lawyer saying, you know how much money you just promised these kids? He said, I don't care. I'll figure it out. And most people see him launch a company and make $400 million in stock in a day. And they're like, wow, look at how big he's going. And they don't realize he just promised 95 kids he's going to pay for their college. What's insane and amazing is 14 of them made it all the way through school.

Four of them got their master's and one got her PhD and he paid for all of it. Oh my gosh. And they don't see that side of what causes all the growth, all the support he gets from life and people and community. He's doing that silently on the side that no one sees. But it's causing life to throw so much more onto his plate so he can keep distributing it in the best way as possible to support as many people as possible and so i looked at that and that became something that i do and and you know in the moments where it's scary i remember being in college and having like 50 bucks left in my bank account and then getting a phone bill for 200 bucks and being like dang like i like, I don't know, that doesn't compute right. You know, no money, big bill. That's food money

for the week. I don't know what I'm going to do. And sitting there and like freaking out and not being able to study and not being able to think straight because I'm like, oh my gosh, I got this bill. I'm like, oh no, no, no, no. Just freaking out emotionally and saying, you know, what's the fastest way out of scarcity? And it's giving back, knowing you're abundant. So I was like, okay, I got to find a way to give back. And I'm like, I can't give all of it. So I'm going to give some of it. So I went online to World Vision at the time. Now I'd probably do Pencils of Promise, but World Vision at the time, I found it was like 35 bucks a year or a month to support this kid in Uganda. And it's like going to give a medical, school, food, shelter. I'm like, done. So I paid it. And I watched my 35 bucks go down

or my 50 bucks go, you know, drop $35. And I was like, wow, it feels really abundant because I can give back. And then I'm like, whoa, I've got even less money now. And then I freaked out again. Right, right. And for about 10 minutes, I freaked out. And then I sat down and thought about it. I was like, you know, how funny is this? I have the abundance in my life to give someone on the other side of earth, shelter, food, medical, you know, all the things he needs to have a good life, at least for the month. And I'm here worried about a bill. What a silly thing to be worried about. You know, I'm so abundant to be able to share such a blessing

with someone else, not even realizing that I have that abundance in my life. And instantly, the stress went away. Instantly, the fear went away. And then I switched around and said, okay, I still got to pay the bill. That's not gone. You know, I can't call the bill company and be like, well, I gave to charity this month. So, can you knock it off? That doesn't work.

So, the second piece became, you know, what value can I add to the community I live in to generate the money I need to pay down the bill? How do I add more value to create more value in my life to be able to handle what I need to the community I live in to generate the money I need to pay down the bill? How do I add more value to create more value in my life to be able to handle what I need to handle? But getting to that place of abundance first through giving switched it. And that inspiration comes from probably the two biggest role models in my life besides my mom is grandma and dad. And that giving piece of they just look for ways to add more value than other people. And in doing so, the abundance always shows up in their life. Financially, emotionally, physically, spiritually, all areas. Right, right. Now, for those who know who we're talking about, your dad is Tony Robbins. I've got a few questions left I want to ask you. What's the biggest fear

you have going into this type of work, knowing that it's very similar to what your dad has been doing for 30 something years. And he's one of the best, if not the best in the world at getting results. And one of the most well-known and, you know, people always say one of the best, I'm the biggest raving fan of him on earth. So he is the best. I mean, it's subjective, but yeah, I mean, I will be extremely biased in that. No, I believe he is too. But I mean, some other people may think that he's not, you know, it's, it's what's effective for people the most. It's true. He's probably the most effective for the most amount of people in this work.

It's true. Now, for some other people, they may not relate to him. And it may be someone else. He's not the GM. I get it. And it may be a different, you know, formula. I will fight for him. Of course.

I believe. I'm right there with you, man. I told you last night, you know, I remember the first time I saw him in person, he walked next to me and I was like, his way of being was so moving and powerful that I was like, that is the type of being that I want to express when I do anything in my life. Not just this young kid, but I was like, that's the type of being I want to be around people. So what's a big fear for you? Or do you have any fears? My fear already happened.

And it was the way i unconsciously went into this industry in the beginning which was just mimicking and copying him meaning i would stand like him and i would talk like him and i'd use the same tonality of my voice like him and like do all this jazz unconsciously because you're around it so much i was around it but it was also in my mind what worked yeah so if you're trying to make something work and you know you're watching everyone else and you're like well this is this is what works. So I'm just going to do what works. And I didn't really have me, my space, who I am in my message. I had his message and I could regurgitate it like a mofo and it worked really well in the beginning. And after a while, I figured out people in audiences

were getting bored. They're like, if I want to see Tony, I'll go see Tony. And there's truth in that. And I looked around, I was like, okay. And I had to dig in and be like, who the heck am I? And my fear was that I would just be a big copy of him out in the world. And that's kind of boring because the world doesn't need anybody else like him. They've got him. They need your gift. Yeah. And I figured out, I said, you know, what sets me apart? What makes me me? And what's interesting is when I just started being myself, I calmed down. And I'm not as over the top, passionate, and crazy as he is. I don't have the same like brah energy. Yeah, yeah.

He is extremely over the top and amazing. He is. It's an experience being with him because that loud, abrupt passionate that he has is everywhere in his life and people are like what's what's like growing up with that i'm like well on the good days it's amazing and when you get in trouble that shit's scary yeah i bet you can hear him yell from like the fucking four miles away that'll get you you know 12, 12 years old. And I realized it's like, I got to allow my calmness and my just centeredness of me to exist. And when I did, it was very fascinating what happened because people would come up in seminars I'd be teaching or events I'd be talking at,

and they'd say, you know, I've just got to tell you something. I mean, no offenses. I've listened to your dad and I don't vibe with his message. I don't vibe with him. I don't vibe with the way he shares it. It's just not me. It's too abrupt. He's attacking me with his energy. And he's like, but the way you say it, it just resonates.

It lands better. I get it. It makes sense. I really like hearing it from you. And it started to click in my head i one time next time next time i started hearing it everywhere as soon as i calmed down and stopped trying to be the animated version of him and i was just myself and i'm a very mellow calm dude which is hilarious because it's pretty much the opposite energy of my dad yeah and you know it's

something i heard he was even talking about it from stage one time and he's like you know I was always pissed because my kid was so freaking damn mellow and he's like I thought something was wrong with him and he's like you know

it was one of God's greatest gifts though because he used to piss me off about my kid so much and he helped you chill out he helped him chill out yeah

and he'd be pissed because I'd be like dad you need to learn how to chill and he's like F you you need to learn how to not be lazy I didn't say F you

I didn't say that but you know it would be that energy of like no you need to learn how to step up and I dad, you need to learn how to chill. And he's like, F you, you need to learn how to not be lazy. I'd say F you, I would say that. But it would be that energy of like, no, you need to learn how to step up. And I'm like, you need to learn how to slow down. And what happened was he finally dawned on me. He said, you know, God's greatest gifts are your kids and the energy they bring into your life because they cause you to realize there's more to life than the only way you know how to do it. And it became a gift to him where he looked around and said, wow, maybe I can chill out just a little. And he slowed down just a little. And we learned to appreciate each other. Where I look at him and I look at areas of my life and I say, you know,

where can I take some of that passion and determination and boldness and creativeness and intensity? Where can I add that into my life? And he's been open enough and connected enough. He's very wise in who he is. And to look at me and say, how can I add some of that calmness to my life? How can I add some of that peace, some of that centeredness? And I remember I just saw a spread

they did in a magazine, Think Fortune magazine about him. And he was meditating on the beach in it. And I'm like, yeah. I was so freaking proud. Big deal. He's built a house and done all this cool shit and changed millions of lives.

But he's meditating. Yes. He's relaxing a little. I'm so proud of him. I was like, yeah, that's him. Like, yeah, he got it. And it seems so stupid and silly. But as a son, you know, to see how hard he works for other people, to have some time where he just re-centers and refuels and rejuices is so meaningful to me.

Yeah. Because it means he's going to last longer. And I love him. He's my hero. So knowing that he's going to be around that much longer because he knows how to refuel himself is a blessing. That's cool. I like it. Two final questions for you.

And I want to make sure everyone goes and gets this book. It's called Live It, Achieve Success by Living with Purpose by Jarek Robbins. And they can go on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and your website. Yeah. It's online everywhere worldwide via Kindle, audiobook. The coolest thing I was showing you is WhisperSync. I like that. That's cool. If you don't know about this and you're listening, you download the Kindle version and then there's an Amazon and a little upgrade for like $1.99 and you click it WhisperSync and what it allows you to do is while you're reading the Kindle, if at any point you get tired reading or you have to go drive or something,

you click the little tiny headphones in the bottom left corner of the app, and it flips it over to the audiobook. It's really cool. And then it starts reading it to you on the exact page you were on. It's really interesting. And when you get done listening, you click it and it flips back to the page it was reading on, so you never lose your place the entire time listening or reading and going back and forth. It's really cool.

I think it's really cool. Yeah, so make sure to pick up a copy and check it out. Again, a lot of good stuff in here. I'm still going through it, but definitely great stuff. It's like a workbook, like you said, simple exercises for you to get extraordinary results. Yeah. We were blessed. We got some really, really, really kind and generous endorsements. They're not on that book physically, but if you go to the website, liveitbook.com, Deepak Chopra endorsed it. We got the endorsement back. I thought it came from my best friend because the heart he put into it, just taking time to read it and share what he thought. Brian Tracy endorsed it. Adam Braun obviously wrote the foreword for us for Pencils of Promise.

Big shout out there. Hopefully, go visit Pencils of Promise and help build schools with us. Stuart Allison, who's a chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, he obviously has a position of leadership there, and he endorsed it as well. And Keith Frazee, just tons of people backed it up. Yeah, he's great. He's a great guy. Very cool. Two final questions.

What are you most grateful for recently? Oh, man. I'm most grateful for my wife. I would not be able to do what I do every day, and I have to say we would not be able to do what I do every day. And I have to say, we would not be able to do what we do every day without her. We just got married about two months ago in Fiji. And it was a true blessing to have our friends and family there to celebrate with us. And who she is, the love, the support, the time, the effort, the listening, the caring, the talking, the moments when she's there for me,

there is no greater experience on earth than finding the right person to share life with. Nothing. Nothing. And I've heard people say that before and I've been like, oh yeah, sounds great, but I want to make my million dollars first and then I'll find out later. And I remember at one point in my life where I had turned my ideal day into reality and I had just got done speaking to a group of professionals in London. I took the train over to Paris. I was sitting under the Eiffel Tower, eating lunch, flipping through my journal, and I found the page where I had dreamed up a day like that. And I was like traveling the world, helping people, giving back, taking the money I earned,

donating it to charity and building schools and doing cool things in the world. I was like so proud of myself. I remember being in that same position 18 months later, same conference I went and talked at, went over to Paris, sitting in a hotel at two in the morning, just frustrated and lonely. And I was like, how am I doing everything I wanted to do with my life and not enjoying it? And I was pissed because I wasn't enjoying it.

And I remember getting so frustrated. It's like you go down a tailspin where you're pissed that you're pissed. I was so frustrated. And I remember thinking like, life is not as rich as it could be without someone to share it with. And I was like, I love traveling, but after you've hit so many cities, a city becomes a city. After you've climbed so many mountains, all it is is a nice view and thin air. And I looked around, I'm like, if I don't find someone to share this with, it's not going to mean much in the long run. And I looked around, I'm like, if I don't find someone to share this with, it's not going to mean much in the long run. And I looked around, I'm like, but that's a scary thing in life because you can't control another person. Like you can control

business, you can control your health, you can control all kinds of stuff. When you get in a deep relationship with someone where you're counting on them and they're counting on you, it's a whole nother ballgame. And that became a five-year study of mine because i did it all wrong you know my version of the perfect person was a lot of what you see in la magazines and sure uh you know that route and i went that route for a while and it just didn't add up and i had to sit down and i did my homework and i spent five years studying the subject figuring out how do you make relationships the most rich, abundant, fulfilling, incredible experience ever. The simplest secret sauce that exists there is you have to go to a relationship

to give, not to get. And you have to be so abundantly full in who you are, which is what Livet's all about. How do you fill up and fuel up? How do you handle you so that you're so overflowing with awesomeness that the only thing you want to do in a relationship with any human being you meet is give to them because you have so much awesomeness built up within you that all you want to do is share it. And you've handled you so well that all you want to do is pay forward what it is you experience every day, not to get people to do you, to get people to do them, but to feel so full and so abundant and so fulfilled and so alive that they get to experience the richness of life. And when you can get to that point yourself, now is the time to find a relationship and say, you know, the greatest gifts I have within me, how do I find someone that when I share them, those are the greatest gifts they've ever wanted to receive. They value the greatest gifts that I think are most important to share and vice versa.

And, you know, what I'm most grateful for is having a blessing after five years of studying and practicing and researching and learning. And it's a lifetime study for me now. Sure, sure. But having the ability to find that woman to share my life with is the biggest blessing ever. That's cool. I met her for a few moments.

She seems like an awesome ball of energy and love. She's a real deal. Yeah, that's really cool. Real deal. It's really cool. I want to ask you a final question before I do. I want to acknowledge you. I want to acknowledge you for being you and for stepping up into your authentic self and letting go of the fear of having to be someone else and being true to who you are because I know that could be extremely challenging. You know, I wanted to mimic my father and my brother and siblings

and I acknowledge you for not taking the easy way out and for doing the work yourself and for being true to yourself because you're giving the greatest gift to the world by being you. So I acknowledge you for that. And I want to ask you the final question. What's your definition of greatness? My definition of greatness is I wrap it up in kind of my philosophy on life. Learn it, live it, give it. Learn what it takes to have the life of your dreams, to be who you

want to be, to do what you want to do. Live it so abundantly and ferociously that your life becomes your message. You don't have to say a thing to anyone around you. They just get who you are and what you're about by how you live. And finally, take all of that experience and all of that growth and insight that you've learned yourself and pay it forward. Find a way to share it with others in a unique way that causes them to find their path and create who they are and elevate and emanate into the world and just be the best version of them. And again, it becomes that ripple effect where they learn, they live, they give. And I think if that ripple happens in the world, I would be damn proud to hopefully be someone who helped start it and kept it going. Jared Robbins, thanks brother for coming on, man. Appreciate you.

Thanks for having me, man. Yeah. And there you have it guys. I hope you enjoyed this heartfelt interview. I had a so much fun connecting with Jerick and I hope to bring him back on here sometime soon because I feel like he's got so much to give. Make sure to go back to the show notes over at lewishouse.com slash 108. We'll have links to Jarek's website, to his book. He's got an incredible TED Talk that he gave.

I'm going to have that embedded on the site as well. So go back to lewishouse.com slash 108. Leave us a comment there. Make sure to share this out with your friends. I'm meeting so many people. I've been traveling lately to New York and to Austin and I'm meeting so many awesome individuals, inspiring entrepreneurs, thought leaders

who come up to me and say, hey, I know you. You're that guy who's got that podcast that I listen to, School of Greatness. It's so much fun and I've just learned about it. And I'm digging into the previous episodes and thank you so much. So it's because of you guys who are sharing it out there and you're getting the word out there and it means so much

to me and I just want to continue to be able to provide value to so many more people so if we can all work together to share this out there with your friends on Facebook on Twitter leave a review over on iTunes. You have no clue the power of reviews on iTunes. It really helps rank the podcast higher in the iTunes ranking system, which allows me to get more people to look at my podcast. So please leave a review, leave a comment, share it. You guys are incredible.

I'm so pumped. And obviously we've got Tony Robbins coming on the next episode, episode 109. So make sure to subscribe right now over at iTunes.com slash School of Greatness. Subscribe to the podcast so you get all the episodes coming out in the future. We're doing two a week. We're going to start doing video podcasts. We're going to be blowing it up here on the School of Greatness, okay? Lots of incredible things coming your way. and you guys know what time it is.

It's time to go out there and do something great. 🎵