The School of Greatness - How To ATTRACT Your Dreams With Your Mindset & Live Your Full Potential

Episode Date: November 29, 2024

Today I have a powerful masterclass on personal transformation, success, and creative entrepreneurship! We dive deep with mindset expert Rob Dial, legendary DJ/producer Steve Aoki, and comedian Bert Kreischer, exploring everything from overcoming self-doubt to building global success through authentic collaboration. Rob shares his journey of turning personal struggles into strength through The Mindset Mentor podcast. Steve reveals how he's built an empire by elevating others and maintaining peak health despite a grueling tour schedule. The episode wraps up with an incredible segment featuring Bert, who breaks down the art of creative promotion and authentic fan engagement. This conversation is packed with actionable wisdom for anyone looking to transform their life or build something meaningful in the world.In this episode you will learn:How to transform your life by understanding and reprogramming your patterns and identityWhy chasing passion before money leads to greater long-term success and fulfillmentThe power of silence and space in discovering your true path and purposeHow to maintain health and relationships while pursuing ambitious goalsThe art of authentic collaboration and lifting others up for mutual successFor more information go to https://www.lewishowes.com/1700For more Greatness text PODCAST to [phone]More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Rob Dial – greatness.lnk.to/1597SCSteve Aoki  – greatness.lnk.to/1523SCBert Kreisher – greatness.lnk.to/1453SC

Welcome to this special masterclass. We've brought some of the top experts in the world to help you unlock the power of your life through this specific theme today. It's going to be powerful, so let's go ahead and dive in. A lot of people feel stuck with their life and they don't think they have the ability to change. And if you were to give someone a roadmap, what would you do to transform someone's life in six months so they feel like they actually are seeing change?

Yeah, I mean, I think that first off, that's like probably the best question because that's the majority of the Mindset Mentor is like steps of all of this, just different podcasts. Where I'm like, okay, when I wrote the book that I just got out last year, I was like, what do I do? Like, if I look at 1,400 episodes of the Minds and Mentor podcast, like, what is it that I do?

And it's more than anything else, it's how to understand yourself so you can take action. Like, the original title of the book was The Psychology of Taking Action, because I find that so many people have trouble with it. And I had a lot of trouble with it. And so, like, it's interesting's interesting, we can look and say, oh yeah, we both have successful podcasts.

It must be so nice to have a successful podcast. But it's like, there's a lot of fears that come up in doing this. I'm like, we have to put ourselves out there. That's a lot of judgment that can come from it, right? I think the first thing that's probably the most important is what feels right. I don't know about you,

but I didn't start a podcast for money. And when you started a podcast, there wasn't any money. When I started podcast, there was no money for the first five, six years. There was no money. There was no, I didn't even know there was a way to monetize it, right? So there was like, it wasn't a money thing.

There was a part of me that was like, what feels like the thing that I wanna do? And for me, like I actually felt obligated to start the mindset mentor. Cause I was, the exact moment that it happened, I can tell you exactly what happened. I was in Jason's deli with my girlfriend at the time, now wife, and I was sitting there and it was like, it was like a movie where it was like a fever pitch, where it was like, I started getting really stressed out, really anxious. I was looking around me and there was all these people that were like yelling at their kids and they were, you know, just seemed like they were,

I don't know if it was reality or if it was just in my head. And it was like, everyone looked like they were miserable around me and I was like feeling all of it. And this is like the beginning of 2015, so nine years ago, right? And I look at Lauren and I go, I think I'm gonna start a podcast.

And she's like, what is a podcast? Right, like she didn't really know what it was back then. I was like, I had this microphone, this exact one that we're using, a Shure SM7B, because I'm a musician, so I had the setup. And I was like, I have things, I have traumas that I've overcome in my life that self-development helped me with.

And I feel obligated to teach that to people. And it just felt right, which is the most important thing. And so I think the first step is don't ever chase money. I heard a quote, I think it was from Oprah, where she said, follow your passion, money comes second. Money always comes second. And so I think a lot of people always go money first. How can I make money right now?

And I think the thing about it is if someone follows passion, the money might not be there right away. But I think that if you fast forward five or six years, you go, oh my God, I didn't expect it to be this good. Right? Like when you, you might have some patience though. That's the problem is most people want it right now. They want it now.

They're real bad with delayed gratification. And so I think the first thing is the feeling. Like what feels like the thing that you want to do? And I think a lot of people don't give themselves enough space and silence to be able to think. Like a lot of times we're keeping so busy, we're always on Instagram. Like I recently deleted Instagram completely from my phone.

Everything I run through my team just because I want more silence in my life. Because I personally believe just from, you know, I'm not religious in any sort of way, but I believe that God the universe, life speaks in silence. So the more silence I can have, the more clear I can be on what I'm supposed to do.

And so whenever I've been in silence and I get a feeling, I trust that feeling like really deeply. And I'm okay going into whatever darkness might be in front of me and not knowing the path. So I think the feeling's the first thing. Interesting. The second thing- You need space and time to be able to feel

a lot of space and time. Analyze and assess your thoughts first thing. Interesting. The second thing. You need space and time to be able to feel a lot of space and time. And analyze and assess your thoughts and feelings. It's kind of like you felt called to do something, and it was kind of either nagging you, calling you, pulling you to do this, because you kept listening to the voice inside of you that said, do this thing, do this thing. You didn't know why, but you felt excited about it,

nervous about it, but also like this is something you're supposed to do. And maybe you fail, but it's something you're supposed to do. Yeah. And the thing about it that I think is important people to understand is your passion doesn't always have to be your paycheck. I think a lot of people get that misunderstood. Like I think you and I are probably two of the luckiest people out here. We get paid for doing something that we're so passionate about. Like it is what we love to do. And for some people it's not always that way. And so if someone's looking, there's two different paths, someone's looking to make money, well what's something that you could do

that could make you money that you could at least enjoy? If someone's looking for passion, it could be something completely different. You know, like I always tell a story, I had a lady who was in one of my coaching programs one time and she was like real depressed and I was like, what do you love? Like what's a moment in your life

where you felt like so much energy? And she's like real depressed and I was like, what do you love? Like what's a moment in your life where you felt like so much energy? And she's like, I have horses and we had special needs children come over to my farm and got to like do therapy with the horses. That's one of the most alive I've ever felt. And I was like, but she goes, and then she goes, but I can't make any money doing that. And I said, what if you just had a job that you enjoy,

you spend time that it pays your bills, but it gives you more free time to be able to help these children. And she's like, that feels good. And I was like, there might be something down the road where you might figure in three or four years that it'll make you money. But really what it is is like,

how can I enjoy my life more? And so for the first thing, I think is the feeling. The second thing for people is you have to understand you literally have to become a different person. And that's what's scary for people is that I have to be different. If I go back to Louis 12 years ago, you're not the same Louis as you were

because you had to become and mold yourself into a different person. I feel like I'm a different person as well. I don't think my podcast could be where it is now because I wasn't good enough to be here. But years and years and years and years and years of work, 1400 podcast episodes allowed me to get to the point where I can speak in a way that I guess is better

than the way that I used to, or more concisely, more value, but it doesn't just come like that. I think that's part of the thing is that you'll see incremental changes, and I truly believe the longer the time goes on, the more I believe in like the Chinese bamboo story, which is you plant the seed, you water it, first year nothing, second year nothing, third year nothing, fourth year nothing, fifth year nothing, sixth year, it grows 80 feet in about six months.

They say sometimes you can literally watch it grow. Wow. I feel like it's the exact same way for success where it's like you have to find the path that you're okay with going down, that you feel good about, that you are passionate about. And I feel like eventually the universe kind of comes to your side and conspires with you if it's like, hey, this is the thing that gives you energy. I think that's the other way that God speaks is like through energy. Like if I get energy, I'll 100% have more energy after this podcast than before because

I love doing this stuff. Like this is what lights me up. And I think that's how, when you look at the entire universe, it's all energy. I think that's us being like, okay, if I'm silent, I can hear the messages, and I can start feeling the energy of what gives me energy. And I think that's the stuff that we're supposed to be doing

with our lives. How do we know when something is fueling us and giving us more energy? I mean, I think it's usually quite apparent, right? So there's some people you get around and you're like, there's some people you can think about getting around and you're like, oh, man. You're like drained. You already feel your energy's usually quite apparent, right? So there's some people you get around and you're like, there's some people you can think about getting around and you're like, oh man. You're like drained.

You already feel your energy getting drained for, right? So it's like, I've always heard like people are like, through their batteries or their vacuums, they either suck energy from you or they give you energy. I think there's also, you know, things that we do that are batteries and vacuums. You know, I think people underestimate how much energy it takes to go to a job that you hate

Like to drive to drive to think about how much you hate this thing, right? You got to wake up in the morning and I did this for years, right? I did this for years I had to wake up in the morning. I had to get myself ready and the whole time I was like I don't want to go to this job like my I remember just one of my bosses just hating this guy Right and he was just so rude to every one of the sales reps, all of us. And I had to get myself ready. I had to get in the car.

I had to drive there. I had to walk in. I had to put on a face like I wanted to be there for nine, 10 hours a day, every single day. It takes more energy to go to a job that you hate than to build something that you actually love. And I think that's what a lot of people need to actually start to understand. And Alex Ramosi put up a post a little while ago,

and it was like, most people say they want more free time to build their business, but they have a full-time job. And he said, if you look at it, you have 104 days a year. If you have 52 weeks times two, you have weekends, you have 104 days a year to build the thing that you're actually passionate about. 104 days.

Yeah, and it might take- That's a lot of days. That's a lot of days. It's a lot of days. That's almost a third of the year. You can get a lot done. You can get a lot done in 104 days. So it's like sometimes you do have to go out of balance to go back in balance. If you look at the beginning stage of growing your podcast, there was a lot of hours, I'm

sure. There's probably a lot less hours now where you went way far this way and now you're way far this way if you want to be that way and you can go back and forth between it But I think that people just need to be aware of like all right being in this around this person Do I get more energy do I do I feel like they're sucking energy for me doing this task? Do I get energy from it? Do I feel like it's sucking energy from me? Like one of the things I had a podcast episode come out the other day about how ADHD is a superpower. And this is one thing I think, I hate some of the words that are used.

It's a deficit is what is... Something is wrong with me if I have it. Attention deficit disorder, right? Right, attention deficit disorder. There's something wrong with my brain. When in reality, if you look at somebody who has ADHD, when they find something that they're passionate about, they have what's called hyperfocus. Like they can zone out the entire world. And obsess. And so what really ADHD is, is a low meter. Like I can't do this BS. Like I'm not going

to do this anymore. Or I'm just not excited or interested in it. Right. And so it's putting that energy towards what you are excited about. Right. And most people are like, well, I'm just distracted. I'm like, actually, you just don't like what you're doing. And you have a brain that just can click it off and be like, this is not what I'm doing. If you can find something that you become hyper-focused at and you can zone out the world, go for that thing. That's the thing that gives you energy.

I think my entire childhood of school was ADHD because I just could not focus or pay attention the whole time. Yeah, it's interesting because I grew up very dyslexic also. I used to feel like it was, you know, the greatest, I don't know, deficit for me. I used to feel very insecure because I could not read and comprehend what I was reading. And in eighth grade, I had a second grade reading level

when they tested me, and it was just always terrifying to read aloud in class because I would skip words and I couldn't understand it. But I think that deficit or inefficiency in me with that allowed me to focus on other areas of my life where I became very, you know, proficient in. So it allowed me to find something else and become a master in other ways. But it was a struggle for 18 years, man.

Yeah, I mean, I'll be honest with you too. Like, there's many times in school when I felt like I was stupid. I remember I switched, we lived in a bad part of town when I was younger, and then we moved from second grade into a better part of town, a little bit better, wasn't great, but it was still a little bit better

part of town. And we had these, it was a small school, we had split classes, which means that second graders and third graders were together. I was in third grade, and I remember sitting in the room trying to figure out how to read, like I wasn't taught to me, and I was in third grade. I couldn't figure it out, and all the second graders

were reading out loud, and I was like, these kids that are younger than me can read, and I can't read, I must be stupid. And so I think that, you know, my sister homeschools her children and she's never forced reading on them because she, and she's taught me a lot through this, she's never forced reading on them

and she's like, when they're ready to read, they'll read. And one of her kids didn't start reading until he was like 10, 11 years old and wasn't into it. Now he reads more than all the other kids, but it was never forced on him. And so I think it's super important for anyone who has children out there to realize sometimes it just takes time for your children to catch up

and your brain to change. But I don't believe in using the word deficit because then we automatically think there's something wrong with me. And if there's something wrong with me, I have that identity and that identity can go with me the rest of my life. So I heard you say we should start with, you know, silence and our awareness first, right?

Should we be thinking about, is that a mindset thing? Or should we be thinking about habits, vision, goals? Like if we're really trying to transform in the next three, six, 12 months, what are the next steps then around that? Do we have to change all of our habits and be extreme? Do we need to change our vision or get clear on something? Yeah.

You know, what is the steps we need to do after that? Yeah, I mean, first off, you kind of figure out what it is. Or at least feels right. And then there's a... Energetically. Right. And there's a really great book that's now a children's movie that they came out. It's called the, if I remember the order, it's The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, The Horse.

There's a part of it where the little boy is in the forest and he's like, I can't see my way out of the forest. And the horse is like, can you see the next step? And he said, yes. He said, just take that. And it's like, I think that people who overthink, what happens is, and I tend to do this and my wife is a really big planner, so I've seen it in her, is we decide we want to do something. And then we think about everything that has to be done to get there.

I used to sit down with people and be like, let's make your 10-year goal. And for some people that make something exciting, for someone that's a planner, they see all 3,650 days today, and they all have to be done. And so they actually become demotivated by a 10-year goal. And so I think it's important, and I actually put this in my book, is I think we've been taught goals incorrectly. I think it's good to have a goal. Like this year I want to be here at the end of the year, but that's a results-based goal, which is from today I want to be here. That's a result. From there, I think what we

need to do is then forget about the results-based goal after we create action-based goals, which is what are the actions that I need to take every day incrementally to get me there? And if we just take the right actions, then eventually we're going to get there. And so like, for instance, we've talked a lot about podcasts today, right? So it's like, I want to have a podcast doing a million downloads a year in a year. Okay, cool. You can look at that and be like, I'm at zero right now. Oh my God, that's a lot. Well, what do I need to do in order to get there?

And you break it down incrementally and just take your action-based goals and as long as you get those done every day, a checklist of two or three things, okay, I recorded a podcast today. For me, it was like, okay, most people put out one podcast a week, I'm gonna put out three,

because then I will get three times better within a year. That's just the way I thought about it. I'll just be three times further in a year. And so I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna say, okay, I need to get three episodes done this week. I need to plan three episodes, I need to record three episodes, I need to get those done. Don't worry about the results

because eventually the results are gonna come. And so it's like, what's important is, are you headed in the right direction for the goal that you wanna actually hit? Are you taking the right action? And then the thing that you just have to let go of, which is hard for most people, is the time. Time's going to work itself out. And so goals are super simple. There's the direction, there's the action, and then you

just let go of time and eventually get there. Sometimes you get there sooner. A lot of times you get there later on down the road. But as long as you're heading the right direction, you will eventually get to the destination that you're shooting for. Why do people obsess so much about having results sooner than they, I guess, should have them? I mean, I think everybody... I get... I do this in my own business, right? Like, I'll sit down with my VP of operations, and I'll be like, okay, here's the thing that we need to do.

And then I get stressed that it's not already done yet. Like, immediately, I'm like, why did I not know this thing was already here? Like, I want it to be done. It's like, it's gonna take three months. I've got to be patient with this thing. Like, nobody expects to go into the gym for the first time in a long time, wake up the next morning, and is gonna take three months. I've gotta be patient with this thing. Like, nobody expects to go into the gym for the first time in a long time, wake up the next morning and have a six pack.

Like, we know that things take time, but I think that we have been, we have kind of, not intentionally, but we've been kind of brainwashed to want instant gratification. Like, you got that smoothie delivered, right? You didn't have to leave your house and some guy came to your house

and brought you a smoothie, right? And if I want, we had breakfast delivered to us this morning, we ordered it last night and immediately got to our place here. And then, so we're used to it where it's like, I don't even have to pick up my phone, I could just say, hey Siri, what is this thing? And she can give me information immediately.

So we're so used to getting instant gratification, it's kind of been trained in us in 2024, but nothing that is amazing happens fast. If you're, say your wife gets pregnant, right? How ridiculous would it be if you went up to her and you're like, hey, listen, I know it's supposed to take nine months, but I wanna go on vacation by the end of the year.

Could you get that done in like four or five? She'd smack you if you did that, right? Because things take time. The universe or God builds a baby in nine months. And so it's like, I can make this decision of I'm gonna do this thing, I'm gonna take the right action, but the universe or God decides how long this thing's gonna take it to actually get there.

It doesn't matter how long it takes, what matters is today, am I taking the right action to get me there? One of my first mentors used to say something to me that I say to myself all the time, which is, is what I'm doing right now getting me closer to or further from my goals? If I ask myself that 20 times a day, it just helps me redirect in the moment

to get back on path. And it's super simple. Is what you're doing right now gets you closer to or further from your goals? And I think if you think that on that every single day and every single moment, is this thought helping me get closer to or further from your goals I think if you think that on that every single day and every single moment Is this thought helping me get closer to my goal for sure is this action is the food? I'm eating help me get closer to my goals is this conversation help me get closer is me scrolling on social media

Help me right closer whatever that is like moment by moment You can be thinking and asking yourself is this part of a process that's helping me get closer to transforming my life and having the goals that I want faster? But most people are on such autopilot that they're not willing to, I guess, brainwash their minds in a positive way to constantly get back on track.

Why do you think it's so hard to stay focused on our dreams and goals today more than ever? Well, because it's not who you are. It's not who you've ever been. It's outside of your comfort zone. Like, when I see a human, I always, I love people. Like, I love sitting with somebody and thinking to myself as I'm speaking to them,

I wonder what their childhood was like. I wonder what their relationship with their parents are like. I wonder what their relationship with their wife is like. Because all we are as adults are, we're just a set of patterns that we learned from childhood. And so like, if you meet somebody, one of the things that I think is important is if you meet somebody and you're like,

I don't agree with them, there's a pretty good chance that if you had the exact same life that they did, you would be exactly the same that they are. Which means I can change myself at any moment just by changing my patterns and my thoughts. One of the hardest things that I think people really need to dive into is what is the identity that they have of themselves? Who do they think they are?

And so, going back to what we were talking about, there was definitely times in my childhood, and I don't know if you said it you said it before, where like, we thought we were dumb. And that thought alone, especially from a child, eight, nine, 10 years old, is like, I am dumb. I am, like, I'm a stupid kid and I don't understand it. So then I would sit there in class and the teacher would teach something and I'm like, yeah, this isn't going through, like this isn't, and it must not be going through because I'm dumb.

And so I'm actually reinforcing that at every single moment. When does that pattern break? For a lot of people never does. Like if someone's listening, the good thing is if someone's listening to this podcast, there's been a moment in their life where they've gone, yeah, I don't like this anymore. Like there must be something else. Because for the, for most people, they're still in the patterns that you meet.

And that's, that's one thing that's really important. Like I was, I was driving yesterday and you yesterday and I was driving past a lot of homeless people and I was like, man, that's so sad because I just wonder what happened in their childhood. I'm never judging anybody. My dad was kind of homeless for a little while and in and out of jail. And so I never look at somebody and judge them, but I look at them and I'm like, I wonder what patterns and things happen to them to get them to where they are. And I think everyone just needs to become aware of the patterns that they have.

So you say autopilot. There's a study that Harvard did that found about 48% of what we do is autopilot. Like, we didn't even think about it. 48%. 48%. So half of what we do in the day is just very, I'm just going through the actions. And so, you know, like I love, we've talked about it before, Dr. Joe Dispenza, where he talks about this as well, where it's like, you could take yesterday and place it on tomorrow

and it will be exactly the same unless you change. Same conversations, same thoughts, same actions. It's like 90% of your thoughts are the same as they were yesterday. And so I think the first thing that's important for people is the awareness. Like it's simple. There's two, there's really three steps. The first thing is the awareness. Like who am I? What are the thoughts going through my head? What do I like about myself? What do I want to change about myself? You develop that awareness. The

second thing that you should do is when you find the things that you want to change and you become aware of them, is you got to have some sort of practice, right? And the practice you decide now, not in the moment. And then you've got to have a lot of repetition around it to start to change. So like for me, one of the things I realized then you've got to have a lot of repetition around it to start to change. So like for me, one of the things I realized in myself that came from my childhood is I was, I noticed about six, seven years ago, I was very judgmental in people.

I didn't like it. Like I don't, I'm like, I love people. Like, why do I immediately see somebody and in my head talk trash about them? Like why, it just popped up and it wasn't, it was a, and I always say, you can't change your- It was a pattern. It was a pattern, right? You can't always change your first thought, say you can't change your first. It was a pattern. It was a pattern, right?

Yeah. You can't always change your first thought, but you can always change your second thought. And so I remember there was one time I was in a grocery store and this guy had that, you know, this huge Bluetooth speaker at a grocery store ordering, you know, meat, in the meat section. He had the big one they came across in his mouth

and immediately I judged the guy. And I forced myself to sit there. That was the awareness I noticed. I noticed that was the awareness. I noticed I'm being judgmental. I'm aware that I don't want to be this way. My practice is I will then take three things that I like about the person,

I'll say it in my head, stop what I'm doing, and I will say it. So I sat there, I hope I didn't look like a creep, but he didn't know I was there doing it. And I'm looking at the guy, I'm like, he looks like he's really nice. I really like what he's wearing. And at the same time, he's got a really good physique.

He looks like he works on himself. And I was like, that was a practice. And then I was like, okay, cool. Now I can go about my day. So I stopped it in the moment because that was a pattern that I wanna stop and I want to change within myself. In the practices, I was gonna do the three things

that I like about him, I said it. And then the last part is the repetition. So every time I did it, I noticed myself start to do this. I taught this to somebody who was in one of my groups and she was like, oh my god I'm so judgmental as well. So when I notice myself judging somebody, I'm immediately going to say, and I love them. And that's how I'm gonna end it. Wow. So then she like six months later she comes in and she's like, I was at a coffee shop the other day and I love them. And that's how I'm going to end it. Wow. And so then she, like six months later, she comes in and she's like, I was at a coffee shop the other day and I noticed this woman, she was like,

you know, she was taller than all the guys. She was just a big boned woman. She was like six foot two. And my Mia thought was, holy crap, that's a big woman. And she said, without even thinking, I immediately went and I love her. And she was like, and I noticed myself go from judgemental to the love side of it.

So she could notice six months in the transition of herself. She does that for another six months. She's just gonna be able to look at people and be like, I love this person, I love this person. And that's what we're trying to do is identify the patterns we wanna change and then have a practice that we decide of what we're going to do when that awareness pops up.

What happens when we achieve something when we feel like we're not enough? I mean, it's usually not that great. Like, I don't know about you, like, What happens when we achieve something when we feel like we're not enough? I mean, it's usually not that great. I don't know about you. I had this moment two weeks ago, I think it was, with my VP of operations. And she was like, give her a sit back and think about what you've done. And I'm like, you're already laughing because you're like, yeah, I don't even do this enough

either, right? And she's like, you ever think about, we were talking about coming out here to LA and how I'm on your podcast and all these amazing podcasts, things that I've wanted to do for years are all coming. She's like, you wrote a book last year, very few people write books. And she's like, have you celebrated any of that? And I was like, no. And she's like, why? And I was like, I mean, all of my friends have podcasts,

all of them have books. So it just seemed like, which is kind of a good thing, because it's like the five people that you spend the most time with, like I'm spending time with you, you've written three books. And I can be like, oh my God, I'm not good enough, because I have written three.

Right, but it's like, even with all of the achievement and success, there's like like as soon as you get there There's the next thing Before my book even came out and it was like about to launch. I already had the idea for the next one I was like, this is so stupid. Right, right. Like why don't you just sit there first? I'm be like, yeah, you wrote a book This is amazing. You never thought you would write a book. It was never a goal of yours You know and you and then and so that's why I started kind of like tearing up this morning as I was driving and listening to Lewis Cobaldi and whatever his play is, I don't even know what it is.

But I was sitting there, I was driving and I was like, man, there was a time when you were sitting in your friend's house that you were renting a room from him and you were like, I'm going to start this podcast thing. And first it was me and my friend together and then he ended up before he launched and he's like, yeah, I don't want to be a part of it. I was like, okay, I guess I'll do this alone. But they were terrible and they were horrible. And I would never, I can look back at that and be like, man, you've come so far.

You've done so much. But a lot of times we're like looking out of the front windshield saying what's next, what's next, what's next, what's next. Versus like take a moment every single day to look in the rear view mirror and go, you know what? I've done a lot and I'm proud of myself for what I've done. Did you always think that collaboration was going to be a big part of your success

and learning how to build great art with other people and lifting others up as well? Did you feel like that would always support you in this career, in this endeavor? Yeah, I think when I think collaboration, I think of your contribution. And so this brings me back to day one for me. So when I got, when I found music as like, okay, this is going to be my life, my lifestyle, my culture, everything. When I was like 15 years old, that's when I understood this term collaboration,

but more this idea of like, how much can I contribute to something I love, to this community? And then it's a collaboration because you have to come to the table with something, right? So if you're going to collaborate, if we're going to collaborate, it's not like, oh, yeah, I'm just going to be just chilling and you're going to do all the work. And it's a collaboration. Like the best collaboration is is is like the like premium contributions from everyone in that group. And then you get a one plus one equals 100. Right.

But if everyone's too passive, then you're going to get a one plus one equals two. So it's like, luckily I learned this idea of contribution and how important that is to my community when I was so young. Because in the punk hardcore scene, which is what the music genre I got involved in, it was so small that everyone had an impact and we felt the impact. How did everyone have an impact? Because you all had to bring two friends and you had to create the experience and the whole thing, right?

So you think about it like this, the way religion works, the way sports work, whatever communities are that have strong sense of, oh, I want to be part of it. This kind of feeling of bonding. It's all based on like, how do you spread the message? How do you get people to understand what you believe in is so strong? Like, I believe in it so strongly, I'm going to knock on every door and tell everyone about the word of Jesus Christ or whatever it might be. So very similar to that with this scene. Our scene's so small, there's only like a few kids, I remember there's like five kids in my high school

that listen to this music and no one gets it because it's screaming music and scratching guitars. You can't hear the words. But once you feel it, you're like, oh, this is changing my life. I just want to figure out how do you get the message out? You have to write a zine. You have to interview bands. You have to put on shows in abandoned warehouses. You have to

start a band because you can because there's no one else doing it. You have to learn music. It's all these things. You're no longer a passive participant. And this is like the main differential, I think, is when I listened to music before then, I was a passive participant, like listening, oh, this is cool. I'm like, I love these lyrics. I'm going to sing the songs. You know, I like this band or this group to like being a creator in the space because you now have an impact. Like when I make a zine at Kinko's and I'm like putting my stuff together and my poetry and putting this in and I give it to someone,

it actually, people are gonna care about it because there's not many people doing it. So it was like at that point, I was lucky to have this kind of onboarding into contributing and then that essentially that's collaboration so like the more you contribute that's actually a quality service or quality thing that's like actually impacting your liberal culture you once you feel it resonates with you then you want to do it again in

a different means you know like I first started doing Zena then I see a band I'm like I could do that too. I want to like pick up guitar and, and with my friends that don't know how to play, we're going to, we're going to thrash around. And all of a sudden, like we get good by the, by the nature of just doing it, you know, and then that same philosophy has transcended in every single industry and every single evolution of my identity. Wow.

Like everywhere, it doesn't matter what it is. It's like I have this ability to just, as long as I have this passion to contribute whatever I know, like my toolbox, I'm bringing to the table. And then also when you go into a collaboration, when you contribute, you can't be running the show and trying to be the big man. But it seems like a lot of people just want it to be easy. They want someone to collaborate with them and them to do all the work, the other person

as opposed to also contributing. Have you always had that mindset of, I want to add maximum value to this collaboration or partnership or Where did that come about? Whenever you add the maximum value your output is going to be greater than what you think So that's like it's just this is the kind of thing you learn early on so once you put in all the time then You know at least for yourself. You know there's obviously like records that I've spent like a lot of time way more time than records that just like naturally flowed in it was a very quick process and they blew up and

They then these ones don't happen, you know, you spent more time on stuff. Yeah, doesn't blow up. Yeah Yeah, exactly things. It's like one day and it's like the biggest thing ever. Yeah. So what like to manage that? Okay, this is like I'm So what like to manage that, okay, this is like, I'm gonna digress, but to manage that, I, I once I started seeing that and it like kind of hurts your ego a bit, right? You're like, I spent so much time on this and it just didn't pop off or make the impact you expect it to make. You just have to, you have to like level the whole field of your expectations of I mean, back then it wasn't streams, but you know. Downloading streams or whatever.

Whatever it might be, how you indicate a success of a song. I have to, I just like, at this point, I don't even think about, I mean, we have this managerial conversations, which like, that's what the managers do, is like, how do you make this record get more visibility, or you know or listenership? But for me, it's like, I just need to know in my heart, genuinely, I'm happy with it

whether it gets like, whatever. A billion streams or a hundred streams. Exactly. Yeah. You got to love it. Yeah. That's the core of it for sure. And then I look retrospectively, okay, then I could

be strategic. But like in the moment, it, I don't want to affect my creative process. Yes. But retrospectively, I'm like, okay, these, this didn't work. And now I have to learn to pivot. And I have to learn to try things. and that's the nature of being a I guess an entrepreneur in many ways or an innovator is that you need to learn how to pivot and and with culture being so unforgiving and so fast-paced you know constantly changing yeah and how fast how fast the attention spans are going and and how you know you have to be ahead you have to be ahead, you have to constantly reinvent yourself and pivot fast. It's why it's a very tiring,

it can be very tiring as a creator because you can't just like rest on your laurels or you can't do the same wheel that you've already created. You have to, I mean, you have like this general wheel of how you do things, but you have to I mean you have like this general like general wheel of how you do things but you have to constantly like change change the parts this is fascinating stuff man I want to continue on this conversation about collaboration because I feel like there's a lot of people and I grew up in the sports world

playing sports and it was a lot about competition it was like you need to win yeah in order to succeed yeah there's a winner and there's a loser. Sure you need to collaborate with your teammates, but you're always trying to beat someone. And I took that into my kind of entrepreneurial journey after sports in my mid to late 20s, where I was very competitive, win, lose. And I realized that that got me success,

but it left me feeling very unfulfilled. And about 10 years ago, I realized that's not how I want to be anymore. So everything became about collaboration. Became about how can I interview someone else and make it about them, not make it about me? How can I elevate other people and collaborate? But it seems to be like a lot of people in business,

in music, in the arts, there's still a competitive mindset in the world for a lot of people, not everyone. Yeah. Why do you think so many people are still in a competitive mindset in different industries as opposed to in this collaborative mindset like you've been? So before we get to that, I do like this thing

you're saying like how you would like to elevate who you're interviewing. It's like this collaboration is more about elevating someone else. So that really is the magical sauce in the studio. So when I'm in the studio with an artist that comes, you know, now they end up coming to my house or because my studio is in my house. And I have a studio here in LA. Actually, I did some legendary sessions here in LA. And it's still here. So I have a studio here and I have a studio in Vegas. But in any case, I think the magical dust in this whole thing is like to elevate them. You know, it's not about me. Like they're already coming to me. That's already enough. They already know that

like, that they're like, I want wanna work with that Steve Aoki power production, whatever it is that they come for. So I don't need to flex or do anything. I'm gonna do it anyways. Right, you're gonna have your moment. I'm gonna do it. I don't need to show it. It's about empowering them And giving them center stage

and giving them this feeling of what you're talking about. This is about you. Letting them shine. Yeah, I wanna let you shine. And then we can decide how we wanna take it. What direction, what emotion, what like, you know, are we gonna go more in your lane? Are we gonna go more in my lane?

Are we gonna take a whole new different lane? You know, and that's And that you find out later on once the creative process is going. Oh, actually, we're going to go more this direction because that flow is more reminiscent of this and now we want it to resonate with people here. So I think that's the power of collaboration to get the best output for what you're doing is really, it's really about giving more and also learning and be becoming more of a student and listening. So, yeah, I mean, it is a power of contribution of what you're contributing, but when you've already kind of made it, you don't need to show that because

you're going to contribute anyways. Yes. contributing, but when you've already kind of made it, you don't need to show that, because you're going to contribute anyways. Yes. So by the track record, you'll like, this particular person, you could tell, they contributed plenty. You know that their pattern is to contribute at the maximum level, right?

You want to work with those people. Yes. Because you've already seen the track record. Yeah. So like, I want to work with them. And then when you're in the studio, then the human to human connection starts. And if you're like overpowering, you're going to take away their creative space. Like I'm here to like let you shine. And the more

and more they feel that, and the more environment I give them to be in that zone, it's them. Then the magic will happen. But it takes time to get there sometimes. Sometimes it takes a whole two sections. Sometimes it's immediate. You just don't know, because everyone's different. Different process for everyone. Do you feel like if you had more of a competitive mindset

for the last, since you started in this industry, if you had more of a competitive mindset for the last, since you started in this industry, if you were more like, I'm gonna hoard my secrets and my talents and my skills, and I'm gonna make it all about me, and I'm gonna try to build this thing about me and only me, and kind of work with some people here and there, but really working with people to build my platform more

as opposed to shared collaboration. Do you feel like you'd be more successful financially or have more of an audience if you made it more about you this whole time? I don't think so. Really? Yeah. I think if you hoard too much, I mean, the world loves like this transparency, you know?

And like now the way the world is, they want to see all of it. So if you're hoarding and you're like, there's no real secrets though. Of course, yeah, yeah, it's a secret sauce to a pizza and the sauce is in the secret. Yeah, of course it tastes a little different, but like the ingredients are all the same. Yeah. You know, music's music. It can be made differently, you know, so at the end of the day, it's, you know, it's like, I don't care to hide any of that because it's, there's nothing to really hide. There's no like secret in the cakes. You is a six-page cake writer that goes, it's sent to promoters so they have to follow

because I need that cake to explode all over someone's face. Sure, sure. There's no secrets in my production. And honestly, my music, I want it to evolve and change. So the secret or whatever, the ingredients of my production is always going gonna innovate and change anyways and the more people I work with it's gonna change even faster and and pick up ideas you'll learn something yeah right and I want and I

bring in not just like singers to the studio or other producers I bring in instrument like instrumentalists like musicians I'm like I want to hear a sax player this time I want to hear someone else I play guitar riff I'm like, I wanna hear a sax player this time. I wanna hear someone else. I play guitar riff. I'm like, I need to get that played better and different. But here's the base of what I want. And I'll bring in a guitarist that's gonna like, take that to the next level.

Cause at the end of the day, I have to remember, I'm the producer. So as a producer, you're listening for what is the best of all the takes. And so the best of all takes, you can't be selfish and be like, they're all my cakes. No. You know, it's going to be a better singer. I've seen, I sing a line. I'm like, I need someone else to sing it better.

You know, or I have like a bunch of different people come into my house. We do writing camps and take different rooms and and we build like the kind of like the mood board of what we're going for over the day. But with freedom to kind of expand and then, you know, just allow everyone to be free. And then as the producer and the A&R, the ear, which I trust that that I kind of pick my favorite parts and then go, we're gonna Frankenstein or compenstein all these together.

Compenstein's cool. And comp these ideas into one thing, and then I go, oh, this fits these five different artists I'd like to hit up, and know? And then I do some outreach. Right. And then, you know, it's like, most of the time, it's like, you can't, if you hit up like, hey manager, can you hit up their manager?

And like, yeah, they can, but like that usually falls on deaf ears. Like you gotta- Reach out direct. Seriously artist to artist. That starts the conversation because they have to really want it too. And then they'll go, all right team, you guys do the work that...

We started this, yeah, moving forward. It's like with me and podcasting, it's probably 95% of the bookings are through me having a relationship, sending someone a message, a DM, commenting on it, saying hey, I'd love to have you on, and then figuring out the timing with our teams of when this is gonna Happen, you know most of the time that's that's the way it goes down So what I'm hearing you say is that if you were more in a competitive mindset

This whole time and hoarding your talents and information you wouldn't be as successful as if you were been collaborating this entire time So I'm absolutely competitive Right absolutely competitive. Right. Absolutely competitive. Everything is a competition. Not necessarily with other people, though. Right. OK, so that's like, I think that's a major difference.

Interesting. And I compete with myself with everything. And this is not just like for music. This is like my health. I know. Biomarkers. Sleep stores, everything. Everything, yeah.

Like I got all kinds of data. Data is everything, right? So I love data in this regard because that's how you truly can better yourself, compete with your previous self. And I do my blood draws and just check all my levels and go, OK, I need a little bit more here, a little bit less of this. How do I tool this?

That's a fun game to gamify. How you compete with yourself is actually fun and it engages you more. And I'm a big I'm really big into gamifying. I like gamifying everything I do because it makes it more interesting. And then of course, you know, you do something consistently over time,

it's no longer a chore, right? So I already know, understand that you do that for- It's your lifestyle. Yeah, in the beginning, like you don't gamify it, it makes it more difficult. Whether it's like stop eating certain carbs to working out a certain amount of time to doing something that you need to do consistently that takes

a lot of time or doesn't like meditation, whatever it might be or reading a book or something like that, where you can easily disregard it and carry on through your life and feel satisfied, but you could always be more enriched. Right. So I gamify competition with myself on all levels. But you collaborate with others. Yes. I mean, collaboration is part of this competition.

Tell me more about that. Yeah, so like to be more, like at the end of the day, I think one of my goals is just, one of my consistent goals, I don't say it out loud, it's like unconscious. I care deeply about being a global artist because I love touring the world. I love playing in front of fans from all different like aspects and parts of the world, right?

So I love that. I love that I've been consistently touring and playing in front of, you know, playing all over the place for, you know, for 15 plus years. I want to continue doing it. So with that intention, the collaborative process is a huge part of that. You know, if I like go to Australia, I'm like booking myself in a studio, you know, whether it's not, you know, I remember I did that, I worked with Trippie Redd there, but I didn't,

you know, I didn't work with Australian artists, but like my intention is to work with artists in of that region to like to learn to collaborate, to try to, you know, build bridges and make new kinds of music and new kinds of art. What I'm curious about is health and relationships with you because I remember years ago watching the documentary you had talking about this new obsession of health. I think it was like five years ago or something. And you've really dialed in the data, the measuring and tracking things with your health over the last, I guess, five years. You're deep in nutrition, sleep, sauna, ice baths, all these different things, you've set up your life to really optimize health. But with 250 plus tours a year,

how do you maintain that with all the travel? For me, when I was traveling, Mike, man, it's like, heart on the body, I'm a big guy. Even if you've got a private jet, it's still like, oh man, just being up in the air and feeling bloated or whatever it is. How do you stay healthy is the first part and then I want to talk about how do you keep healthy relationships in life while you're always on the go yeah

so the health part I think it's about eliminating certain things so when as an artist you're pampered you're a spoiled little brat. So you get whatever you want, really. I mean, it's like, you can just get whatever. So like, you could become a gluttonous human and just be like, just feed me everything I want, you know, like you can get to this point. So it's about not, you know, having discipline.

Discipline is a really important key aspect of survival, one, and figuring out what is healthy for you long term, the long game. Because we all want to have that dopamine rush. We all want to have that luxury of not being comfortable, whatever it is, because we have the means and we have the finances and we have the access to be comfortable. Right, and there's alcohol and desserts and food and you're throwing cakes at people

and you have every type of sugary, alcohol, gluttonous thing you could have at your fingertips every day. Yeah, it's just easy to have it all. But it's a discipline game. So it's about what's more important to you. So I think that question, you need to answer that question

and have a firm understanding of your answer early on and be very clear. I think a lot of these self-affirmations and things like that are really important for any artist to be like, what is it that you really want? Do you just wanna live live fast die young, that kind of style and just like be gluttonous

and just go through life and then, but you will be hurting later on, I promise you that. Or you're gonna just be burnt out and not wanna do this. Because you kinda had that lifestyle early on, right? Where it was like, I'm just gonna go hard and I'll just run it to the end and burn the camera on both ends. Wasn't that kinda like early on?

That was early on, yeah. And then what was the switch for you to be like, actually, I want to live a long, healthy life and not die young. I think it was after my father passed away in 2008. A lot of these questions about life and death and, you know, dealing with tragedy in a way where like death is as real as it gets. And then seeing, you know, friends of mine pass way where like death is as real as it gets and then seeing you know friends of mine pass away other DJs pass away artists pass away it's like you could

you could have it all and just die you know and then like that's it life's over you know or your career is gone you know like and you like, how do these careers just disappear? It might be their own court as well, too. You know, it could be for any reason. But I love what I do, and I don't want to see that end, and I also don't want to die. And I also want to make sure people around me have that same kind of knowledge base

that I'm learning on how to play the long game. You know, how do you play the long game? Because you love what you do, for one. I love my life, I love the fact that I can do what I love to do. And so then it becomes an easier answer for me once I start putting those questions in front of me. And then because of where I am, I was lucky to get

the access to find out not just what everyone already has the access to because the internet is open, it's free to learn so much about health. I mean, a lot of what I learned about health is just by going on like Huberman Labs podcast or Joe Rogan or whatever these different avenues are, they're free. And there's different people interviewing these experts, giving tips on like, oh, this could help. Okay, let me try that if it's in my means.

I was sitting with Brian Johnson, it was really studying his body on a daily, weekly, monthly basis on what works, what doesn't work, and it's interesting because he's like in his own space, like always. I'm not, I'm moving. So we had a really interesting conversation of, you know, what are the applications I could take from what you're doing that, that like, that, that for, for someone that's moving as much as possible right? He's in the same environment every day

You're in a different environment every day So he's gonna always have perfect air temperature perfect water perfect food all these different things like yeah So his his like his biological age might be 20 or 21 or something mine's 33 Which is pretty good being 45, you know, and I want to reduce that further by tooling and tooling and tooling and then keeping check up on my metrics, on my analytics, on my blood, on my whole levels and everything. So that's where I really spend and I gamify it and I have fun with it. And I spend a lot of time on getting the diagnostic checks. I always tell my mom that she's 80 now.

You have to have a really true sense of your diagnostics because that's the only way you know what was working, what isn't working, how to stop yourself. Now with AI, you can have these predictive models so that you don't get stop yourself, you know, now with AI you can have these predictive models to so that you don't get the cancer, you don't get certain things that you know, will debilitate your energy levels or debilitate you and kill you. That's fascinating man, I love this. And I'm curious about relationships. Again, health is challenging enough being in one environment, but you've gamified it and you do the tracking and the

measurements and then diagnostics, which is powerful, which helps you stay aware of where your health is at. What about relationships? How do you keep friendships, business partnerships going, intimate relationships going? How do you manage and navigate that when you're always on the go? Yeah, friendships is tough as far as like, you know, these long-term friendships like, you know, and luckily I have a few that always keep tabs on me, which like encourage myself to make sure that I am consistently building, you know, those long-term relationships and keeping finding time for them. That's difficult. That's like a very small piece of the pie chart as far as my time and then the majority of my my Friendships are people I work with I think this like generally just how you're around them all the time

Yeah, I'm around them. So the people I work with I have to make sure that they're great people, but you like them Yeah, they're not just like great for what they do But they have to be great people because like that energy is gonna sink into just me Whether it's my business or whatnot. It doesn't matter just about me, you know, at the end of the day, we have to always work with people. They're just healthy for you. Um, and then intimate relationships. I'm, I'm single, which is probably the, the, the big deficit as far as my relationships go. I,

I've like somehow held on to some long-term relationships through my really intense schedule. But as you get older, kind of what you're looking for becomes a little bit smaller. And there's a certain, the window is small, so more and more selective. Yeah, exactly.

So it's like, they have to fit in your world as much as you fit in their world Which makes it even tighter for someone like me, but I don't mind being single right now I'm not like lonely and desperate to find someone. I'm very Fulfilled in all these other categories that I think I'll let time eventually just let it ride itself to the right person. Unfold it, yeah. Because you mentioned the amount of love that you feel doing a massive show is overwhelming,

emotionally overwhelming. You feel it in your body, you're emoting and expressing yourself in beautiful ways. And you mentioned the only other thing that you get that from is love. Yeah. Potentially, right? Yeah.

It's like the only way I could feel that more on a consistent basis would be love or in a relationship. Yeah. That loving feeling. Yeah. Do you feel like you're missing out if you're not having that love also with one person to celebrate all these things with?

It's true. It's true. Like I do think about that, but I'm not rushing it. Yeah. You know, I think when I was, if I was younger, when I was younger, if when I was younger, first year, I was like, I really need this, have this person. But then that becomes more of this codependent thing that, that I've learned to, to, you know,

I understand what the codependency looks like, feels like in is. It's not healthy. Yeah. And like in, in a lot of our relationships, they were codependent. Yeah. And it felt so good. But I didn't understand what codependency meant until my last relationship where we got to go to couples counseling and really understand what makes our relationship healthy, how do we sustain through that, you know?

And what codependency feels like because I always ended up becoming that way. you know, and what codependency feels like, because I always ended up becoming that way. So, and once I realized that, then you just, you have more self love, and you just, you don't need to fall or rush for something that might be unhealthy for you. And luckily I have an immense love and relationship with my mom and my sister

and my brothers and all my siblings. We have a great loving bonding relationship that I get fueled from that and I see them consistently. Knowing that my mom is around the corner for me and for my house. I see her, we have lunch together, dinner. We hug, we talk and we just, and we feel the embrace. Like that's already, I'm so lucky to have that.

That's like a really big part of, like really big core of my love bank. So I'm so fortunate to have that consistently. That's beautiful, man. That's really beautiful. One of the things that inspires me about you, many things, but one of them is how you promote yourself. I wish I could learn this art,

because the stuff with The Rock and Wahlberg and all these people, you're making interesting content while promoting something that people still talk about. That is almost a skill in itself, as opposed to just watch my movie or come to my tour. You're actually doing an interesting piece of content that is funny you know people talk about it that's how i don't know how you do that because i wish i could figure that out so so uh 2000 probably seven years ago i got an offer to do the urban improv for

a new year's eve and they they urban improv said can you shoot something on instagram to promote it and i sat in my man cave, like going, what the? Like, what am I gonna do? And I put a camera up in my corner and I didn't understand, I didn't know what to do. And then right after that, I started following guys like Casey Neistat and this guy, Mr. Ben Brown and this guy, Fun For Louie and all these guys

on YouTube that were like starting to blow up. I started learning about shooting and editing and I started getting very turned on by the concept of making your own stuff and being controlled by your own media. And so I started editing a vlog. And in doing that, I learned a bunch of tricks and those tricks kind of dictated to me how to promote.

Really? And so I went from that Christmas, that New Year's Eve, to then by the time next year, around October, around November, December, Tom Zegura and I were in a fat shaming contest. I was posting very heavily to Instagram. I was promoting shows on Instagram. I'd taken control of my career.

I'd started making posters, like right towards November, I started making posters to promote shows and... Designing everything. Designing and taking control of everything. Take, like, take control of everything. And I say it to my team right now, I have a team of 13, but I say it to them, I used to do all of this. I loved when I did all of it.

I loved it. There was nothing better than to shoot a promo and then get in your man cave and then edit it and then add cool music and then post it and then have like Rogan call out and go, dude, how did you do that? And you're like, you like it? And he's like, dude, what song is that? I'm like, Creed of Scare War Midnight Special. And he's like, I got to listen more CCR. And then doing a promo, I did a promo with Tom and I did a weight loss challenge. I did a promo, I disguise a vlog, a short minute vlog of what I was doing or taunting Tom into a promo at the end. Tom, I'm working out, we're doing two a days, two a days for you that didn't play footballs how we used to get, whatever it was.

And then the rock retweets it. And I'm like crazy. It was so authentically me that, and it was my favorite time of making promos. It was my favorite, like I'm, and I was so in the pocket at that time. And mind you, I wasn't even selling like legit tickets like I am now.

I was selling like 1200 tickets a weekend. And my favorite one I ever did, they called up and they're like, yo, we added shows, I forget where, we added shows, late show, Friday, late show, Saturday. And it was like Wednesday. And I was like, whoa, I either go in and do radio where I can shoot a promo. And I said, girls, I need everyone outside.

Leanne's like, girl, we're doing homework. The girls were maybe like 10 and eight. And I go, can you just give me, it'll take literally five minutes, babe. I gave Leanne a leaf blower. I gave Isla a hose. I gave Georgia the drone, Georgia's tent. I got an American flag and a Speedo.

And I just had Georgia back the drone up with Isla misting me and Leanne leaf blowing me. And then it went from like this picture of me to see my family doing it. And, and I played a rambling grandma man by, by Bob Seeger. I went in, I edited it. I posted it next morning. Both shows are sold out and I was like, wow, bro. And then, I mean, then, and then we can talk about the progression of

promos because it's such an interesting, it's such an interesting thing. My buddy is a marketing professor. He's worked at Oregon, University of Oregon, Penn State, USF, UCA. He's worked all over the country. And he was at the premiere of my movie. And then I said, dude, I would love to like audit a marketing class. And he goes, and he said, we're not, we'll be teaching what you're doing in a couple years.

Wow, so far behind what you're doing. It's just, we're at the forefront of it. I mean, you know, obviously the calling out for The Rock and Mark Wahlberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger, there was, it was, I mean, I was like, it's fun, it's fun, and it gets you excited when they repost and then Mark did his own video calling me out.

And then in a great way, it's like, now Mark's promoting F45. Let me tell you something, I have a burning sensation to get into an F45. I wanna go too. I wanna go to an F45. It's like the way he said, let me get you an F45. And he's good at the, you gotta remember,

these are the best actors in the world. When he starts doing this, let me tell you something, I know you're getting in shape for a movie because you got the fat belly, you're drinking beers, I get it. Now we got to get you some Fletch Azul, get you an F45. I'm so big, Tony, like he's the best. But yeah, the whole promo thing, and then I got out over my skis where I started doing so well in promos that my team started going, well, put them in the biggest venues we can get them in, cause he'll sell the tickets. So, because I'm like,

Oh, I did. Cause you were selling out these smaller arenas into a bigger arena. So I went clubs and then I did my theater tour. Uh huh. Which clubs are what, like 300, 200? 300 a night, 250 a night. And then theaters are what?

Theaters are 1200. Your first run of theaters is like, 1200 is the biggest you're gonna do. And you're selling these out. And so you're going from what you do on a weekend to in one night. And then hopefully if you're doing it right, you're doing two shows a night,

because I feel you really make the money. Wow. You don't make money on one shows in theaters, you gotta sell two shows. So we go to the theater tour and I decide to do a hip hop dance video. And I'm very, a little bit of a penny pincher. And so, well especially then, not as much now,

but especially then. And so I was like, all right, so there's this girl, D-Glazer, I liked her, my daughters and I would share her dance videos. So I DM'd her, I was like, hey, can you teach me a hip hop dance? Actually I wanted to prove to Rogan and Tom and Ari that I could dance.

I don't know, it's just stupid, stupid just boy stuff. And so I learned this hip-hop dance, we shoot it, it's really good. And in doing it, we shoot it, it's good. Just shooting it's funny, we're all laughing. So then I go, do this one thing and just give me space on the left

so I can run tour dates. And so we do the dance video. You know when a video is good when you post it and you start getting texts from other comics. I posted it, we were looking at a house up just south of the Boulevard. I posted it and I got a text from like a really big comic. He's like, dude, dance video, amazing.

And then you're like, okay. And then I posted those tour dates for that tour and I sold the whole tour out immediately. Holy cow. That's pre-sale. I sold it all out in pre-sale. So they add second shows to all of them. General on sale shows on Friday.

I sell it out Friday. I sell it all out. And I'm like, yo. And then I watch, and then I watch my friends copy what I did. And tries to what, do a dance video? Tom Segura dropped 45 grand on a dance video and posted his videos and his did better than mine.

Really? And he sold his whole Australian tour out. Come on. And then you watch fans go and what's next? Fluffy's calling. He's like, dude, how do I get in on these? Like, like Joe Coy, like we're all at all comics. We're like, yo man, can I, can you come at me like that?

Like let's, cause Tom and I are very organic. We're best friends. We taunt each other. We try to one up each other. Right. And so then, and then the next tour comes and they're like, yo, what do you got? We're gonna go bigger theaters.

Let's go 3,500 seats. And so you're like, okay. So I'm like, I'm just like, and they're very organic thoughts. Like, yo, can I get a marching band? How like that? And they're like, what are you gonna do with a marching band? I go, I don't know, figure it out.

Let them show up in my house, I'm sure we'll figure something out. They show up and I was like, what song do you guys know? Then no one knows each other, so they're like, I can play Rubber Band Man. I was like, yeah, I can play that. So then they sit around my pool, I stand them around my pool,

and I go back to like a standard promo for me was like lifting weights, going, what's up everybody? He said, boy, you broke Christ on the machine. I dropped the weights. I have a whistle around my neck. I go, I got a big announcement. And then the drummer comes out behind me. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

And then the marching band's out. Put it on sale, sell out immediately. Add a second show, sell it out immediately. Then they're like, all right, let's see how big we can go. Let's do Red Rocks, 10,000 seats. And I'm like, I'm like, mother. And when was this? How many years ago? This is after, when the, when the, it's after pandemic, it's not after pandemic, but it's post pandemic when things are starting to open up. 2021. 2021 probably. Yeah. Yeah. And the 2021 or something like that.

And the 2021. October 2021. Not too long ago. No, no, no, no, no, no. I wasn't, by the way, the biggest I'd ever done was 3,500. The biggest I'd ever sold. Before 2020. But I was selling two shows.

Yeah. I was selling two shows most of the time in these markets. Red Rocks is 10,000 and I'm struggling. I'm struggling. I'm like posting every day. It's not selling out yet. I'm watching it grow by like, every day it's like 150 seats, 150 seats, 150,

I'm doing the math, I'm like, okay. I'm like two months out I think. I'm thinking about two months out, I'm like. And you got 7,000 more tickets to sell or something like that. Yeah. No, probably like 5, you got 7,000 more tickets to sell or something like that. Yeah. No, probably like 5,000, 5,000 in general. Still half. Yeah.

Yeah. And then I go to shoot the movie. I rupture... I shoot the movie at 3,500 seats. I rupture the tendons of my thing, lose my tricep. They have to pull it. They have to go into surgery, pull it down. And I go, f*** it. I talk to the anesthesiologist the night before. I go, he goes, so what song do you want to listen to? And I go, I talked to the anesthesiologist the night before. I go,

he goes, so what song do you want to listen to? And I go CCR. And he goes, I go, I can listen to a song going in. He goes, dude, it's surgery. We do this to crack heads. It should be fun. Lighten up. Right. I'll give you a pill. You'll calm down. I'll have you count back from zero. And I go, hold on. Instead of counting back from zero, can I have my phone with me and do a promo read? Oh my gosh. that's amazing. And he's like, yeah, I go cool. So we roll in, I start with my left arm, right? And I don't really, they put a nerve paralyzer in it. My left arm collapses, I grab the phone with my right arm and he's walking me in and I go, I mean, you can find this.

You can find all of these online, but I'm like, hey, I'm, as I lay here on this steel bed about to go into surgery thinking, what is I worried about my life? I have one thought that I want to share with the world. I'll be at Red Rocks. And I go, and I'm like, oh, shoot. I'm like, Jimmy Buffet's in there the night before. I'm there the night, he'll be there the night after. Then I see, it's like, Jimmy Buffet? I was like, yeah Buffet's in there the night before, I'm there the night, he'll be there the night after.

Then in a seat, I was like, Jimmy Buffet? I was like, yeah, you wanna come? He's like, yeah, good night, and he hits me, and I was like, I'll see you over there. Drop the phone, wake up at a surgery, I look at Leanna and I go, did we get it? She goes, we got it. You sold out?

Sold out, sold out Red Rocks, sold out Red Rocks. Oh my God. Tune in again in October, we're almost sold out. Holy cow. Do it for a cruise, we're almost sold out. Holy cow. Do it for a cruise. And so like, it became a little bit of like, and I say this, I say this obviously aware of what it sounds like,

but the joke within the comics was like, promo king. You do great promos. And you know, I have a festival now that I'm marketing entirely on my own. I have a cruise that I do entirely on my own. We've had a bunch of people come to my company, Birdie Board Productions, and ask us to market things for them and join up. I mean, we've had a lot of, you know, but, uh, but I, the truth is I enjoy a good

promo, like if I can get some that's creative, funny, light, and then tries to sell some tornadoes. Is there any promo you've made that didn't hit? That I thought would hit? Yeah. Yeah, there's a couple. Really? Yeah. I have one that I was for the movie that was so good. It just didn't take off.

Was it the message or the hook was off? I had to listen. Was it the timing when you posted it? Or what are the factors to having a great promo? Well, a little bit of nudity sells. When you go shirtless. Well, shirtless, shirtless, and people go, and my ass will sell.

I had one really good one where I go, guys, I know the algorithm, my ass sells, and I've got an ass that I need you to hear. And so we pull out the reveal, and we had Photoshopped my ass on my front, and it was totally naked, and it was, I mean, we lost it laughing when we saw it. And it just, really like 500,000.

It didn't do it as well? Didn't do it. And then some have done, some have done really well that you didn't expect. Like some just, you don't know why they're going to do well. And then all of a sudden they just take off. Like I did this one, I used to have a joke, just a silly joke to myself about being on a treadmill

and being like, I was doing it to my, sometimes I'll work out and then my whole team will show up in the gym and we'll start my business day while I'm working out, the wrong questions by me and everything. So I was on the treadmill and I said, I was like, what's that? And I went, oh, I accidentally hit it on Mozi.

And I started Moziing and they started laughing. And then someone, I think hit it on mozie. And I started moseying and they started laughing. And then someone, I think it might've been Victoria, was like, hey, you've taken a cell in Dallas. Can you do that in cowboy boots with a lasso? And so, and we're like, oh yeah, so we do it. And then immediately that goes viral. And you're like, not viral, but like,

couple million views and you're like, what? Wow, that's crazy. It was just a stupid. But yeah, the key is you gotta turn the camera on. That's the big key. Just turn the camera on and start. Just once you turn the camera on and start, it starts. And then you'll get something.

But for people, I mean, people watching or listening, maybe in business, thinking, well, that's easy for you because you have all this self-confidence, you don't doubt yourself, you can make a fool of yourself and put it out there, because that's what what you do and you're comfortable in that. How can normal people become better marketers with promoting products, business, service, events without being one of the top comedians in the world? Very easily. Become a fan first. think of yourself as a consumer always.

I mean, this is looking, I don't know anything. I'm just telling you how I operate. I love going to concerts. Now, one of my business is live shows, but I love going to a concert. I love going to a concert and getting there early and taking my time with it. I love going to their merch booth and seeing what they got for merch,

seeing what's selling at merch. Ask them what's selling at merch. Why is it, why do you think that's selling? I love sitting before a show and thinking, what could this band have done differently to, like the number one thing is like, people sometimes like, especially for Red Rocks, I posted a lot about it that first time

because I wanted to sell it out. Like people were like enough with the post. And I was like, then you're not a fan. Then if you're saying that, then you're not a fan. Because as a fan, if Wilco's coming to the Greek, they can post four times a day, and I would never get bothered. I could go, thanks for the reminder.

I don't want to forget about those tickets that I have. Thank you. Post more. Hey, can I give you my personal phone number? That's what a fan would say. So what you're getting is you're getting advice from a hater, someone who doesn't like himself and doesn't like themselves, and maybe they're jealous,

maybe they're, who knows why they do it, but they're not going to the show. So ignore that person right away. Ignore them entirely for the rest of your life, because that's not who's on your team. Who's on your team are the people that are showing up. The people that are showing up, they. And the people that are showing up, they want to be there.

And they want to be reminded. Do you know how many people buy tickets and forget that they have tickets? I've done it. I've done it a lot. Right. But look at yourself as like a fan. And look at like, what do I like?

What do I enjoy? Like I went to go see Steely Dan at the Hollywood Bowl. And I thought, I thought, I was like, I want to wear a sweatshirt. But I don't want to wear a sweatshirt. I want to buy a sweatshirt. I want to carry out a sweatshirt. I go, I hope they sell sweatshirts. And then I went, ooh, I want to wear sweatshirt because I'm gonna wear a sweatshirt I want to buy a sweatshirt. I want to carry out a sweatshirt I go I hope they sell sweatshirts and then I went. Oh, I hope they sell sweatshirts

We're doing fully loaded this summer. We should have sweatshirts and Leanne goes it's summer but I go it always gets cold And no one wants to bring a sweatshirt, but you're gonna want a sweatshirt. So let's have sweatshirts. Um But I look at it like a fan first and I go What what would activate me? What would get me to buy a ticket? A very simple thing that I noticed was like, when Instagram started doing the swipe up, it was a swipe up before it was a tap.

I remember sitting with three of the biggest comics in the world and they were making fun of me for using Instagram stories. Like, you're a grown man. What are you doing? You're like a little girl doing these stories. And I said, let me show you something. And I said, look, see this post right here? I go, this is promoting a show.

And they're like, yeah, what is it? With a swipe up. And I go, watch this. I swiped up and I showed them. How many people clicked? And I go, 2,500 people clicked on that link. Those are tickets sold. Wow.

And then all of a sudden. They're swiping. These three cynics are on their phone the next day. Hey I got a show. I got a show. You're gonna take your finger and then go like this. But you're like yo, activate. To be above your fans is the...

I've had... I've seen guys do it. They don't like their fans. They're above them. They think they're better than them. Dude, I'm my fan. This is going to sound the dumbest thing in the world you've ever heard any professional comedian say.

I'm jealous of them that they get something they get excited to do. How fun is going to your favorite show? Like, if you're a fan of mine and you're going to your show and you like me, that's a fun thing to do. I love going to a show. I love having something to look forward to. I love to look at it at a month and go, Ooh, Goose is coming to Red Rocks this night.

Let's all go to Red Rocks. Oh, I love, I love more than anything. Uh, I'm trying to think of exactly who we're going to see. Wilco, Wilco Goose, Widespread Panic. Widespread Panic is on tour. I love getting into my phone, I love buying the tickets. I love buying the tickets. I'm in a place where I can buy all the tickets

or get them comped. I love getting my tickets, get like a box. Get six, I did it for Steely Dan, I got six tickets. I get the whole box, six tickets. And then I said, this is my night. Who do I want to invite? So I asked Leanne, she goes, oh, you gotta invite, you should invite your trainer,

cause you guys listen to Steely Dan when you work out. I go, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we're gonna listen to her all week. Ooh, her roommate is one of the biggest chefs in LA, Antonio La Fossa. I go, it's the bull. We can cater it ourselves. I'm gonna have Antonio have her restaurant

carried to us. Wow. I go, ooh, I love that energy. I love it. Now, there are comics that don't go see live shows. There are bands that don't go see live shows. It's befuddling to me. Because I'm like, that's the business we're in. Why wouldn't you love,

it's like being an athlete who doesn't watch sports or being a guy who makes film who doesn't watch movies or like I love it and so I Think the number one thing is think of yourself if you're selling cars and you don't like cars you might be in the wrong business But if you're selling cars, you like cars think about what what turns you on? Yeah, like what gets you to go like, oh They got a new Porsche. It's entirely electric. Oh, I'm gonna go check it out Well, how do I how would how can I do that with my brand? Sure. It's a I'm look I'm a very I'm a very like Like head against the wall kind of like meathead like I'm not the smartest guy in the room

By just try to operate and like a very I'm not the smartest guy in the room, but I just try to operate in like a very simple arithmetic way of how are we gonna get from A to B. Sure. My final question is what's your definition of greatness? Greatness is a silent trait. Ironic coming from me, it isn't one you have to tell people it's something they just witnessed.

They smell and they know. You know when you see it. You know when you see it. It's effortless, it's pure joy, and it it's inspiring and I think it's something we should all Aspire to find our thing that makes us great. You don't need to be a comedian You don't need to be a movie star. You don't need to be a rock star to acquire greatness I grew up with a guy named Brad rocky one of the best pitchers I've ever seen in my entire life went on to play in the pros. He had greatness

You don't need to be that you can just be great at being a dad. You can be great at being a PE coach. You can be great at being a baseball coach. You can be great at being a cop. You can be great at being a fireman. And you don't have to brag to anyone. It just shows up and people can sense it and they can see it and they can smell it.

And then it inspires other people. It's like the purest form of beauty. And it's so soft and it sneaks up on you and then when you're next to it you're just like God you just want to stare at greatness. I've been lucky, I've been very lucky to see greatness hit all over the spectrum. I've seen the greatest comic work, I've seen the greatest dad in the world, the greatest mom, I got the greatest wife in the world. I surround myself by greatness.

I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe

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