How the 1% Protect Their Wealth During Economic Shifts | Eric Thomas (Archived Episode)

Greatness isn’t reserved for the lucky or privileged few. Success and wealth isn’t a right that anyone has been denied by bad luck of the draw either. Possibility is within your control when you learn to use the pain and live the life you’ve been given better than anyone else and you learn to see opportunities. But you have to execute to make sh*t happen! Eric Thomas has been motivating people for years and is bringing his energy and passion to Impact Theory to share the keys to success. Eric, also known as the hip-hop preacher, is a speaker, an entrepreneur, educator, and author. He’s taken the hard path in life, not by choice, and learned how to achieve greatness by relentlessly executing. You can achieve greatness but you have to take action and be accountable to yourself first and foremost. Think about what it is that you want to be best at and give that your total focus. Tom often says, ‘action cures all’ and Eric is living proof that action is a must once and once you release all of your excuses, you can become unstoppable. “If there’s another mountain to climb, climb it!” -Eric Thomas Check Out Eric’s latest book, You Owe You, Ignite Your Power, Your Purpose, and Your Why: https://www.amazon.com/You-Owe-Ignite-Power-Purpose/dp/0593234987 [Original air date: 9-1-22] SHOW NOTES: 0:00 | Introduction to Eric Thomas 0:16 | This One Thing Achieves Greatness 4:24 | Cultivate a Winning Mindset 11:15 | The Real Power of Belief 21:11 | Break Up With Your Excuses 27:51 | You’re The Only One In Your Way 35:47 | Hold Yourself More Accountable 41:40 | Focus on Winning Life’s Challenge 51:00 | Become Unstoppable CHECK OUT OUR SPONSORS Range Rover: Explore the Range Rover Sport at https://landroverUSA.com https://landroverusa.com/ Rosetta Stone: Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com https://www.rosettastone.com/ Betterhelp:This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/impacttheory and get 10% off your first month. ButcherBox:New users that sign up for ButcherBox will receive 2lbs of 100% grass fed ground beef in every box free for the lifetime of their subscription + $20 off your first box when you use code IMPACT at https://butcherbox.com/impact Netsuite:Spend less time looking backwards, and more time on what's next. Download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at https://NetSuite.com/theory https://netsuite.com/theory Goldback: Goldbacks are currency for now, and for the future, get yours at https://impacttheory.co/GoldbackITNov Miro: Bring your teams to Miro’s revolutionary Innovation Workspace and be faster from idea to outcome at https://miro.com https://miro.com/. Legal Zoom: Launch, run, and protect your business at https://www.legalzoom.com/ – use promo code 'IMPACT' for 10% off! Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/impact Follow Eric Thomas: Website: https://etinspires.com/home YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/etthehiphoppreacher Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/etthehiphoppreacher Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/etthehiphoppreacher/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ericthomasbtc What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here: If you want my help... STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER https://tombilyeu.com/zero-to-founder?utm_campaign=Podcast%20Offer&utm_source=podca[%E2%80%A6]d%20end%20of%20show&utm_content=podcast%20ad%20end%20of%20show SCALING a business: see if you qualify here. https://tombilyeu.com/call Get my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here. https://tombilyeu.com/ If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast,Tom Bilyeu’s Mindset Playbook https://open.spotify.com/show/47VE90Cittmo6TGGFqg2xf —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Join me live on myTwitch stream https://impacttheory.co/4fitmnJ. I'm live daily from 6:30 to 8:30 am PT athttps://cms.megaphone.fm/organizations/0482bfe8-8502-11ed-af5d-3bdc320068d7/podcasts/0a41f61a-9ddf-11ed-9eb7-dbb3a40775f5/episodes/8ac68366-8a85-11ef-bb65-abca3ffdcf54/www.twitch.tv/tombilyeuwww.twitch.tv/tombilyeu https://impacttheory.co/4fitmnJ LISTEN TO IMPACT THEORY AD FREE + BONUS EPISODES on APPLE PODCASTS:apple.co/impacttheory http://apple.co/impacttheory FOLLOW TOM: Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/ Tik Tok:https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=en Twitter:https://twitter.com/tombilyeu YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices https://megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Tom Bilyeu?

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• 0:45Tom Bilyeu?

  Their dashboard tracks what comes next based on what your business actually needs. So EIN number, registered agent, licenses and permits, bookkeeping, business banking. I tell every founder the same thing. Just make it official. Click the link in the show notes to check out Taylor Brands and get started on your business today. This is a paid advertisement. Eric Thomas, over the next 60 minutes, you and I are going to give people the keys to success. You ready?

• 1:12Speaker 01

  Let's go.

• 1:13Tom Bilyeu?

  Awesome. All right, guys, you're going to want to stick around to the end where I'm going to give you what I think is the most powerful Eric Thomas quote, and you are not going to want to miss it. All right, Eric, what is one thing that highly successful people do every day that helps them achieve greatness?

• 1:29Speaker 01

  Execute. Execute on the things that they say they wanted to get done. Not what you want me to get done, my mother wants me to get done, my coach wants me to... But the things that I really feel like if I do these things, I'm going to be successful. Execute on the things that you said you were going to execute on.

• 1:50Tom Bilyeu?

  So then, why don't most people ever find success? Like, if it really is... And I know what's hiding in the word execute, but most people do not. And I always tell people, only execution matters.

• 2:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's it.

• 2:00Tom Bilyeu?

  But how do people get good at that?

• 2:03Speaker 01

  So the first thing you gotta do is you gotta get out of your feelings. Like, for me... These are great people who could blow up, like who could be successful, whatever they touch. But something happened that day. You know, you woke up, got into it with your spouse or your kids call or something that was going on or you were sick. Like there are a group of people that feel like it's okay not to execute because I'm not feeling okay. Because today is not a good day, because all the stars didn't line up. And at the end of the day, none of that matters. Like to have a good day is great. But just because you have a good day, you still gotta execute. And so I think for most people, they go wrong because they think it's a feeling when execution is a fact.

• 2:45Tom Bilyeu?

  One of my favorite quotes from you is about that, that feelings basically aren't facts. And facts are the things that are gonna help you process through your feelings. That's a paraphrase, but it's pretty close.

• 2:55Speaker 01

  It's right there.

• 2:56Tom Bilyeu?

  And I got that actually from the book U O U, which is absolutely phenomenal.

• 3:01Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 3:01Tom Bilyeu?

  And what I love about it is this idea of you need to take responsibility for you. That there are gonna be difficult times in your life. There are gonna be times where you have every reason to make an excuse.

• 3:15Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 3:16Tom Bilyeu?

  But that won't serve you. And I'm always telling people, the most insidious thing about excuses is that they're valid. Like, most people have a real reason to say like, hey, this didn't happen for me, whatever. In fact, tell us about Inky, which was, it's a really powerful story I've heard you tell before.

• 3:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, so you know, first of all, for me, the whole Inky, you know, I don't wanna call it a disability. I don't want Inky to call me, you know what I'm saying? But for one, not to have the use of their arm.

• 3:47Tom Bilyeu?

  Training every day for the NFL, going hard. I think he was trying to get out of some pretty dire circumstances.

• 3:52Speaker 01

  Absolutely. Multiple cousins living with them. They're shifting out the bed, right? So one person sleeping in bed one day, another person sleeping in bed. And for Inky to lose everything, but say to his self, like, yo, this doesn't matter. What matters is the success that I want, what I promised my grandmother, what I promised my mother, what I promised my wife, what I promised myself. And so Inky's thing was, yo, despite this happening, I owe it to myself to still be the person that I dreamed of being. And this setback will only be a setup for a comeback.

• 4:30Tom Bilyeu?

  How do people cultivate that? Because, so, I know your story. My story certainly is nowhere near as difficult as where you started. But even for me, there were times where it just felt like, oh my God, like this is so hard. There's so much to overcome. The emotions kick in. You, and I know firsthand that you can mistake your feeling for, I'm just recognizing an objective fact. Right? So, Inky, training all this time to get into the NFL is really excelling. Ends up like severing an artery or something crazy in his arm because he hit somebody so hard. Ends up losing use of his arm. At that point, he has to pivot. Like, there is no more NFL.

• 5:15Tom Bilyeu?

  That's completely off the table. And so, to say that it would be justified to say that, well, I had a shot. It was my body to get out. God, whatever way that you're gonna frame it, does not see fit for that to happen. How do you help people in that state cultivate a different mindset? Is it by just pointing out it's more effective? Is it something else?

• 5:41Speaker 01

  No, it's, you're already in pain. Get a reward for it. Like, you're already in pain. So, at the end of the day, you, everything is already messed up. So, why would you go through all that pain and not get something for it? Like, it doesn't make sense. Like, it doesn't make sense to put all those hours in. Okay, yeah, it was football. But it doesn't make sense to put all those hours in and not transfer those hours to something else. It doesn't make sense not to recycle the pain and get wealth? Or a successful life? A successful spouse? Like, whatever, have kids, whatever it is. And so, for me, just going through my go-through, I was like, E, it can't end here. Like, bro, it can't end here. I've worked too hard. I've, I've, I've, I've done, I've read the books. I've gone to the conferences. I went to the classes.

• 6:27Speaker 01

  I, I, I got the degrees. Like, it can't end with just life is gonna deal me this hand. You know, and so, I truly feel, and I don't wanna promote gambling, you know, but I gambled, you know, as a, as a young adult to make money. And I, and I watched guys who had a royal flush lose because of the giddy and the excitement. I'm like, oh, he, he got something. You know what I'm saying? Okay, take what I have and leave. But I also watched people who had nothing in their hand. With that poker face, actually act as if they had a royal flush and win. And so I I learned early, like yo, it doesn't matter if you grow up rich. You still gotta play your hand. It's not like life says, alright, you rich. So you're not gonna have any, your parents will never get cancer.

• 7:13Speaker 01

  You know, nobody in your family ever had multiple sclerosis. Like you'll never get COVID. You're rich. It doesn't work like that. Like you still have to do life regardless of how you come into life. And I think some people feel, well, if you come into life and everything is great, then that's the way you live life. But no, it doesn't matter. If you come in great, if you come in poorly, it does not matter. You have to do life. And if you're smart, you do life on your terms and you don't let life make you do it on its terms.

• 7:42Tom Bilyeu?

  So you were homeless at sixteen?

• 7:45Speaker 01

  Sixteen. Let's say, let's, let's, you read the book. So honestly, thirteen.

• 7:48Tom Bilyeu?

  Okay, that's when you first started running away.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  At thirteen. At sixteen, I kind of felt like I did this a couple of times.

• 7:55Tom Bilyeu?

  I got this.

• 7:55Speaker 01

  I got this. I can't, I can't handle this, you know, so I, I jumped out.

• 7:59Tom Bilyeu?

  This is in Detroit though. I want people to know. This is in Detroit. It's not exactly warm in the winter in Detroit.

• 8:03Speaker 01

  Not at all.

• 8:04Tom Bilyeu?

  So start leaving at thirteen, make it pretty much permanent at sixteen. You've got a lot of reasons to say, you know, hand, I've, I've been dealt a bad hand. It's gonna be difficult to play. What was the moment where you switched around and decided, you know what, no, this, I'm not gonna tap out. I'm not gonna let this be my future?

• 8:24Speaker 01

  So church, uh, and not necessarily church, because I didn't grow up going to church. So it wasn't like the building, ah, it's magical. But the pastor there was a military man. I think he was an army man. You know, so he had love, but it was tough love, right? And I'll never forget, he pulled me to the side and he gave me something that I had never had before. And that was purpose. He gave me a sense of purpose and he said to me, "You are a phenomenal speaker." You gotta imagine, I'm like sixteen, almost seventeen, high school dropout, coming to church smelling, you know what I'm saying, like, I, I think it's so funny, like, when people are like, "Your story." I think that's funny, like, "Man, you have a phenomenal story." I'm like, "I wish this was a story." Like, this is my life.

• 9:07Speaker 01

  So I'm literally coming to church when I come, haven't brushed my teeth, I haven't taken a shower, I, I smell based on whatever was the last time I had an opportunity to take a shower. You know, I'm, I'm in a strained relationship with my mom, I'm on the verge of getting kicked out of school, I have no bank account, no credit cards, and this guy looks at me and says, "You're gonna be a phenomenal speaker." Like, you just, you got that Gina Sequa, you have something about, and I'm thinking, "What?" First of all, nobody's ever said anything like that to me before, and nobody's definitely said it in this state that I'm in. And so for me, I'm, I'm pulling for strings for something in life, and this guy's like, "Yo, you got it, and not only do you have it, I believe in you so much,

• 9:51Speaker 01

  that I'm gonna use my name at my alma mater to get you in school." If you could just get a high school diploma or a GED, we're gonna get you. And so, i- i- I don't know if it was him, I don't know if it was the words, but this sense of purpose and this identity, like, "Yo, I, you're right." I can't, I, I've never seen speaking the way he saw it before. I got in trouble clowning in class, telling jokes, but now he's saying that what I do with Martin Luther King, with Malcolm X, with Garvey, what these people do, you can, you have the ability to do it, and at that point, I was no longer, I wasn't homeless, and I don't think I've ever said this before, but I, I was, I was homeless, but I wasn't discouraged at that point anymore, like, it was the craziest thing.

• 10:35Speaker 01

  I was literally homeless practicing sermons, I was literally homeless, prac- visualizing being in college, you know, at that time, A Different World, uh, was on a spinoff, you know, from The Cosby Show, and like, you could actually, I was like watching A Different World and seeing myself in the cafeteria, seeing myself in the dorm room. So this was the first time in my life that I had this sense of life, this sense of purpose that, "Yo, I am not worthless, despite the fact that what I considered my parents..."

• 11:08Speaker 01

  They weren't married. They weren't in a long relationship. Like, I saw myself as an accident. Like, these are two kids. You know what I'm saying? Uh, I don't know if it was in love, in lust. I don't know what it was, but I... There wasn't a nursery. There wasn't a book with names. You know, there wasn't a baby shower. You know, I looked at myself like I'm an accident. And this is the first person who spoke to me and said, "Really, you're not an accident." "You, you, you, you really were designed to be here, and you have a phenomenal gift that's gonna change the world." And it was at that point, I'm in an abandoned building, seeing myself speak. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm in abandoned buildings, you know, seeing crowds. I'm in an abandoned building, seeing myself travel.

• 11:50Speaker 01

  And it was, it was at that point, I believe, that this Eric Thomas, not this version, I was definitely the Eric Thomas 1.0, but it was at that point that I began to see myself in the way I'd never seen myself before.

• 12:04Tom Bilyeu?

  All right, I want to put a few ideas together that is really incredible. So it's all about execution. We know that's where we started. Meaning and purpose. So you talked about finally having purpose to do this, and then somebody believing in you.

• 12:18Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 12:20Tom Bilyeu?

  I have the chills. Do you... So I know you do a lot of work with at-risk youth. You go into the prison system. Is part of why you do that helping people find purpose and having that spark of belief that somebody else believes in them?

• 12:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, but a part of that is feeling this, I owe Pastor, and I owe all the people that sort of helped me to get from where I was to where I am now. And I owe them that tough love, you know? And I owe it to them to believe in themselves and to see that, like, I owe it to myself to recreate that moment between me and him with as many people as I can, as often as I can. Because he said to me, "Listen to me, there's absolutely nothing you can do for me but pay it forward." And at that time, I don't know. I don't know what "pay it forward" was. I didn't see the movie at the time. You know, but afterwards, I began to understand what he meant.

• 13:14Speaker 01

  And so I'd literally wake up every day believing that I owe the people who didn't owe me anything Now, again, I don't know this to be a fact, but I do believe that there are people who believe that I have value because of where I am. You're talking about people who, at my lowest point, that believed in me in the way somebody today would believe in me based on what I do when I hadn't done anything. And so, I'm like, wow, that's rare. People don't necessarily do that. And I just felt I'm obligated to do that to as many people as I possibly can. And that's what I wake up, like, I wake up every day with this, alright, I'm gonna win a Nobel Prize. And it's not about the Nobel Prize, it's not about Norway.

• 13:56Speaker 01

  It is about if LeBron and Michael Jordan are playing for the finals and Gretzky is playing for the Stanley Cup and somebody else is playing for the pennant, like, my pennant is the Nobel Prize because you don't get that without helping millions of people get from one place in their lives, you know, to another.

• 14:18Tom Bilyeu?

  You need a goal. You need something to aim at. I love that. I love how often you talk about winning a Nobel Peace Prize. I think that's really cool. So, going back to the, going into the at-risk areas and helping people. So, I've worked in the inner cities a lot. And one thing, for sure.

• 14:35Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 14:36Tom Bilyeu?

  Some of it on purpose, some of it accidental, if I'm quite honest. But it put me in contact with the, coming face to face with your zip code is the number one predictor of your future success. And so, I was like, why is that true? And so, I'm there, I, so, my whole thing is, it doesn't matter who you are today. It only matters who you want to become and the price you're willing to pay to get there, right? So, that's, I just believe that to the core of my being. And so, my wife and I are building our last company, Quest. We're in the inner cities because that's where you manufacture. And so, I was like, is this really true or is this rhetoric? That it doesn't matter who you are today? And we're like, it's real. So, if that's true, then I should be willing to employ people that have a criminal record. And so, I'm like, cool, put the word out that, you know, regardless of felony convictions,

• 15:20Tom Bilyeu?

  we'll consider you for employment. And so, we had just a ton of people line up around the block just to be interviewed. It was crazy. And so, we end up with these incredible people, some of them really intelligent, smarter than I am, and they're going nowhere. I'm just like, what is going on? And in your book, you talk about that. Poverty isn't just about money. You may have even said it isn't about money, but it's about mindset. It's how you think. And before we started rolling, you said to really help somebody, you'd have to like go back to kindergarten and start planning the right ideas in their mind. That idea of it's a set of ideas. Now, the earlier that you can get them to people, for sure, the better. But that it's a set of ideas that end up holding people back.

• 16:05Tom Bilyeu?

  I want to talk about this idea of getting people to believe in themselves. The fact that somebody could look at you, and one thing that I find interesting, and I don't know what you think about this. I imagine that meeting you at 16, you'd see that glimmer of like, whoa, this person can be something. But at the same time, there's probably a little bit of like, let me like blow on this ember and just see what happens. Even if I don't know that it's going to turn into a raging inferno, I want to give them a little bit of oxygen.

• 16:31Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 16:32Tom Bilyeu?

  What is that? When you try to give somebody oxygen, what do you say to them? Is it just, you can do it? Or?

• 16:38Speaker 01

  No, you know, I think for me, and as a speaker, I try to start with like, where are you? So if you're in poverty, it's like, okay, I gotta show you wealth. Like in your own world, I've got to show you that this ideology that you're holding on to is probably not yours. You know, I tell people all the time, when I grew up, you know, it was no college. Why didn't I want to go to college? I was in Detroit. In Detroit, you could make $25 an hour working for Ford. GM or Chrysler. So, so when you were a kid growing up in Detroit, like the goal, the apex is,

• 17:15Speaker 01

  I got a job at Ford Motor Company. I made, I've got salary, I've got insurance, I've got health benefits, 401k. Like I've got a career. And so for you, you grew up in Detroit, you see Ford, the bigger buildings are GM, you see Chrysler, Iacocca, like you see him on magazines and books and he's, he's on the New York Times Best Sellers list. And it's like, whoa, GM Chrysler. And so what I do is I, I figure out where you are and I dare you to come out of where you are. To if nobody ever influenced you, where would you want to be? Like, what do you want? What do you want to do? Not what they want you to do. If you could dream. If, if, like, what would your best life look like for you?

• 17:58Speaker 01

  If you didn't have to impress your mom or your dad? If you didn't have to go to college because your parents went to college? Like, what would you really do? And then if they can tell me, which most people can. Some people are so dark that they don't even know what light would look like. But more, more often than not, a kid would tell me NBA. I said, no, I don't, this, be, okay, the NBA is over. Where you live? Where do you live? What do you, are you married? Do you have children? What do you, and if I can figure out where you want to go? At that point, then, I can snatch your current reality and help you to build a new reality to help you to get where you go. Now, I tell this to people all the time. I just wanted a career.

• 18:41Speaker 01

  I never, I never even heard the word billionaire before. I never heard anybody say the word. I never, I was never, I didn't even know what that meant. And one day, I was in the room with Dan Gilbert and Warren Buffett.

• 18:52Tom Bilyeu?

  Damn.

• 18:54Speaker 01

  And I was like, whoa. God, why am I here? Like, I'm not a billionaire. Like, I'm not, like, what would I be in this, like, what did they call me for? Why, why did they invite me into this room? And I started doing my homework. Who else is in the, went back. I thought I was, um, you know, a detective. And I'm trying to figure out, okay, who else is in the room? Why are they in the room? What's their network? And then one day, it hit me. You're in the room because you're going to be this one day. So, everything you heard, you didn't hear it just to hear it, just to be in a room. Like, you heard it because you can do real estate. Like, venture capital, you can do that. These are all humans in this room.

• 19:35Speaker 01

  So, for me, I was taken into a reality that I didn't know exists. And Jamal says it best. Your level of exposure often determines your level of success. So, I was exposed to billionaires. So, what I try to get kids to do is say, look, I want to expose you. You could go to LA, but I want LA. You put the, you could put the, the things on and go to LA. You can, you can go on the computer. You can read a book. Like, you can get to Sunset without ever going. And then, once you get to Sunset here and get to Sunset here, you can get to Sunset here. So, for me, it's, I gotta get in here and I gotta get in here. And if you let me into these two spaces, I can get you wherever you're trying to get to.

• 20:16Tom Bilyeu?

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• 20:59Tom Bilyeu?

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• 21:44Tom Bilyeu?

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• 22:28Tom Bilyeu?

  So I was always freaked out that you've got people in Compton that live. Twenty minutes from Beverly Hills?

• 22:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:36Tom Bilyeu?

  And they've never gone.

• 22:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:38Tom Bilyeu?

  And so, back at Quest, I used to, high performers, I would take them to dinner in Beverly Hills, and then I would drive them around Bel Air. Now, at the time, I'm not making a lot of money either. But I was like, yo, you've got to dream. To your point about getting in somebody's head, getting them to believe, like, you have to imagine it. And I was like, you, A, I need you to know that this kind of stuff exists. I need you to know that, like, a waiter will seat you and be kind to you, and like, try to take great care of you, and that there are fancy, beautiful places that you can go, that are free. There are malls that are just nice, that you can walk around and see and enjoy. And that, to get them to expand their, you know, sense of the world.

• 23:18Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 23:19Tom Bilyeu?

  And that so few people do it. So, one thing, watching your talks, that I love, man, and like, I think is what makes you so effective, to your point about getting in their heart, is you take people's excuses away from them, and get them to really start recognizing that they owe themselves something.

• 23:41Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 23:41Tom Bilyeu?

  That, man, owe yourself something, that really hits me. Like, that is a really cool idea. But you, you take their excuses, and you get them to start dreaming about what they want. One thing I wanted to ask you, there was a talk, and you may do this all the time, but I saw it in one talk, and I was like, damn, like, that's really out of fashion right now. But, to me, I was like, standing up, and I wanted to clap. You were like, I want everybody in this room, you live in the US, and I want you to say with me, USA. And you like, got the crowd, like, chanting, USA. Why do you get people to do that?

• 24:12Speaker 01

  Because, people have to understand, and this was, um, Utah, you know, this was a group of guys, twenty-five to forty years old. And it was like, guys, you gotta understand. The opportunities that you have. You know, I've been to third world countries. Where it does not matter how early you wake up. It does not matter how long you stay up. It doesn't matter what your skill sets are. It doesn't matter. You don't have opportunity. You have people all over the world who are dying to get here. Literally dying to get here. You have an opportunity of a lifetime. And where much is given, much is required. So if you have an opportunity to be wealthy, to build phenomenal relationships,

• 24:56Speaker 01

  to start a business, like you can just, you you got LLC, nonprofit, you know what I'm saying? S corp, like you got opportunities. You got banks that you can get loans from. Uh, you can go online and sell stuff from online. Like you don't even have to have a store anymore. You a storefront, like you can literally become rich from your watch. So it's like, yo, instead of you looking at everything that's not, look at what is. So absolutely, there's some stuff to complain about. One thousand percent. There's a whole bunch of stuff I can complain about. So a lot of stuff that I can be angry about, but. Man, my grandmother died at ninety three. And a month later, my other grandmother died at ninety. I didn't realize how quick life was. I'm like, yo, my grandmother was ninety three. I spent fifty one years with both of them. They're gone. It's over.

• 25:40Speaker 01

  I will never be able to talk to my grandmother again. And I'm next. So because life is short, I don't have time to focus on what's not. I've got to focus on what is, then get up and go get it. And and and for me, it's like, guys, some of you in this room have opportunities that I don't have. Some of you in this room have connections or network I don't have. And and I'm killing the game and you're not. So I need you to, I I need you to understand where you are. Uh, America's not perfect. I don't know if there's a place on planet earth that is. So we're not looking for perfect, but we are looking for opportunity. And we have it. So it's like, yo, say it because I need you to understand what you have.

• 26:25Speaker 01

  And then I need you to appreciate what you have. And then I need you to go after everything that's got your name on it with no excuses because some man, when I pulled up and I saw, you know, the skyline, I was like, yo, do you know there were people four hundred years ago, three hundred years ago? Who were in the process of building this and it was a vision? And they never got to experience it? Like yo, you know, you know, do you know what type of mindset you have to have to build something that you know that you're not gonna get to enjoy, but yet you put energy into it? Because you're thinking about the next generation? You've got this vision that's gonna outlast you? Like, that's, that's, that's rare. And so now, it's been built. Go fly first class. It's been built. Go live on, the people ask me, why do you live on the east coast?

• 27:10Speaker 01

  And then you live on the west coast? Cause it's two coasts. That's why. And if I can get a house in the gold coast, I'm going there. So it's like, yo, we have opportunity. Whatever you do, don't waste it. Don't cry about it. Get up and go make it happen.

• 27:24Tom Bilyeu?

  The get up and go make it happen, this is where you really shift into another gear. I heard an interview that you were doing, you and your business partner, and your business partner was telling a story about when he was 21 years old and you told him he needed to give up sex.

• 27:37Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 27:37Tom Bilyeu?

  And I was like, damn! Say what? And I just thought, okay, Eric isn't fucking around. This really is about execution. Why did you ask him to give up sex? And why on God's green earth, as a single man at 21, did he agree?

• 27:53Speaker 01

  That part I can't, that part I don't know, but I greatly, trust me. I saw at that time, that it was a distraction for him. That as much potential as he had, and I knew in his eyes, when he said, I'm going to make you a household name. Like, he was adamant about, yo, I can't believe you just gave that guru story, and we can't book you for a free gig at a school. He was like, CJ was like, yo, I just can't believe this. So his thing was, you don't have a problem. It's the fact that you don't have celebrity. People don't know you. So we gotta, we gotta do the brand. And so I'm listening to a kid, who's like, yo, we gotta go make it happen. But then I'm looking at a kid who's spending hours.

• 28:38Speaker 01

  In relationships, I'm looking at a kid who, you know, is coming to work, but after work, some of the energy is going to, I'm like, bro, you're gonna have to get that up because that is a distraction of where we're going. And not only is it a distraction of where we're going, if we get to where I believe you can take us, you go, you can turn back on sex as much, like, you're gonna be alright. But it is a distraction, it is allowing you not to be as disciplined as you possibly can be, and we have an opportunity of a lifetime, the two of us. Like, we can really create something together. And so if you can lock in, if you can give me 120% for the next few years, CJ, I believe, and we're here.

• 29:20Speaker 01

  Like, we did it. But it was a distraction, it was constantly on his mind when he wasn't actually engaged in it. And I was just like, bro, it's taken up way too much real estate for us to be able to go where we're trying to go. I need you to get focused, I need you to get locked in.

• 29:40Tom Bilyeu?

  Yeah, that story really hit me because I was-

• 29:43Speaker 01

  The fact that he did it really hit me.

• 29:44Tom Bilyeu?

  Well, yeah, that he did it, that certainly is a testament to his faith in you, but it also, I think, is a testament to it works. And getting focused and really deciding, what is it that I'm trying to be great at? And put in the hours and the energy to get great at that thing? There's two stories that I want to bring together here. You're either gonna think I'm crazy, or we're gonna help people really understand what it takes to be successful. So I'm not religious, but I respond-

• 30:11Speaker 01

  Neither am I.

• 30:12Tom Bilyeu?

  Interesting that you say that, because you, as a true preacher, formerly at a church, now I think you refer to it as a ministry.

• 30:20Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 30:21Tom Bilyeu?

  So you approach religion in a way that I think really resonates, in terms of religion has survived for thousands of years for a reason, right? And my hypothesis is that the reason is that it gives us something that's very effective.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 30:37Tom Bilyeu?

  And that you have a God-shaped hole in your heart that you're gonna fill with something. You could fill it with God, you could fill it with a marriage, you could fill it with a business, whatever. Many people fill it with things that are not very useful.

• 30:50Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 30:51Tom Bilyeu?

  But the stories that I want to bring together are, so you tell your partner that he needs to give up on sex, and when he was explaining why he listened to you, he told another story. And the story that he tells, I'm just remembering it. The story that he told was, uh, there was, you guys were on the streets of Harlem and this really big guy was like, he said he was like 6'5", 280 pounds or something. And he was like barreling down the street and he's on the phone yelling at this guy, telling him that he's gonna kill him and all this stuff. And he jumps back up onto the stoop to not be in the way of this freight train coming down the street. And he said, "You wouldn't move." And he's trying to get your attention. You're just standing in the guy's path. And the guy gets up to you, you grab him by the wrist. He looks at you like he's gonna punch a hole in your head.

• 31:35Tom Bilyeu?

  And you tell him to get off the cellphone. You take him by both wrists and you start praying. And by the end of it, the guy gets down on his knees with you and is sobbing and crying. And I was like, "Damn, okay." Now, the reason that I got it immediately when he was telling that story is one of your quotes, which is "The only thing standing in your way is you."

• 31:56Speaker 01

  That's it.

• 31:57Tom Bilyeu?

  And once you understand that this is a game, that you're playing here, and you're playing here, and that you have to, and for people that are just listening, I'm pointing at my head and my heart, that once you take control of what you're trying to achieve, you're thinking execution mode, you've got meaning and purpose. Now that transitions us to the heart. And we're thinking about, "Okay, how do I get my emotions in check? And then how do I proceed towards something that means something to me?" That, that is, to me, somebody who really understands what the path to success is, that you have to get yourself under control. One, I really wanna understand, what, what is it that you picked up on in that guy?

• 32:41Tom Bilyeu?

  Like, what did you see that made you go, "There's a, a thing here that, that we could have a breakthrough or whatever"? Like, that's...

• 32:49Speaker 01

  You know, in life, man, some things... Some things you, you know, mathematically you can explain is like, it's succinct, right? It's linear. But other things is like frequency, like vibe. And so as he was walking toward me, I felt me, I felt that darkness, that dark place that I was once in, I felt that, you know, but I felt, okay, like he's on the phone saying he's gonna do whatever, but he's still on the phone. Like you, you, like, if it was that deep, you just hang up the phone, and you just go do whatever you say, you still talking about it. And you're still talking about it because whoever you're having this conversation with, some kind of way you still care enough. So I could hear this battle that he was personally going through.

• 33:31Speaker 01

  And when I saw him, like, yo, ET, sixteen year old, twelve, thirteen year old ET, uh, sixteen year old out of control ET. And I, I saw the ra, the rage and the anger and the darkness, and I was like, yo, E, you gotta take a chance. Why? Cause somebody took a chance on you. Like, I wasn't, Tom, I wasn't the dude that was sitting with a poster saying, "Help me, I'm, I'm messed up." I was messed up. And somebody saw me and went, "Yo, we gotta salvage this kid." Like, some kind of way this, this passed, I don't know if it's everybody, maybe he did it with everybody, I don't know. He made me feel like it was just me. And now when I look at my life, I'm like, wow, he really did, he really did save thousands and thousands of people's lives. I, I could have easily been in prison or dead.

• 34:14Speaker 01

  This guy, by rescuing me, you know how many people I've inspired? I don't know how many people I've inspired, but it's gotta, looking at the videos and algorithm, it's gotta be a couple hundred, you know what I'm saying? So. Couple hundred thousand, maybe some millions? So, so I'm looking at this guy like, yo, E, you got a chance to do the exact same thing. So being selfish, it might have been more of me just like, yo, E, here go a big one, baby. Like this, this the finals, like this the Super Bowl, like, go for it, you know? And his response, I'm nervous, I'm scared, just like, you know, they don't know I'm nervous and I'm scared, but I'm too scared not to try. Like, I'm too scared not to take the risk. I'm, I'm all in now.

• 34:56Speaker 01

  I've been watching him, paying attention, listening, so boom, I go in, and his response, falling on his knees and crying, was like, ooh, okay, maybe I am. This story could have been real different. This is like, this can go good or bad, there's no middle ground. And so for me, it's, I saw Eric, a young, hurt Eric Thomas, and was like, E, here's your chance to do for this guy, you know, what somebody did for you.

• 35:19Tom Bilyeu?

  Do you remember what the, what did you say to him that, that gave him the breakthrough?

• 35:23Speaker 01

  I don't remember. The only thing I do know is the hug, you know, is, is the, the command of, "Bro, you gotta get control of yourself." Like, you walking up and down the street, like, you just out of control. Like, what are you doing? You screaming, hollering, cussing? This is a church. I didn't even grow up in church, but like, bro, you gotta have respect. There's kids out here like, "Come on, bro." Like, not, you, you're, like, I'm not hurt that you're fussing and cussing at the church. I'm hurting for, you out of control. Like, your emotions got the better of you. And, "Bro, you need to, you need to get a grip." And so, whatever we said other than, "I don't know, hug, get control," and then before I know it, you know, he's bawling, and I'm like, "Yo, this thing works."

• 36:03Speaker 01

  And this is before the hip-hop preacher, just ET at that time. This is no videos. You know, we hadn't really blown up at that time, but for me, I thought it was great because it was like, "Yo, pastor said, and yo, it's working. And it's working on real people with real problems." This isn't, this isn't, you know, the studio ET. Like, this isn't, uh-huh, you know, the ET that's, you know, putting powder on it. You know, like, yo, we out in the streets. Like, anything could have happened in New York. This is New York. This is Harlem. It could have went a total different way. So, I even felt a sense of, like, yo, I, I can. Like, I can do this. People do respond,

• 36:45Speaker 01

  and I had to speak that night, and I spoke with more energy probably than I spoke in a long time because it was like, "Yo, if it don't work in here, it's okay." Because out there, it works out there. And, and again, I felt good about myself. I, I think people get confused sometimes. When we do what we do, a part of it is for us and our life and our vitality and our belief and confidence in ourselves. Sound like Lisa now, our confidence in ourselves.

• 37:12Tom Bilyeu?

  I love it, man. See, to me, that's the whole idea of you owe it to you.

• 37:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:16Tom Bilyeu?

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• 37:59Tom Bilyeu?

  My link gets you an exclusive 30 days free instead of the usual 14-day trial. There's no credit card payment needed. Just head to pipedrive.com/impact to get started. Again, that's pipedrive.com/impact and you can be up and running in minutes. It's kind of a hard message. It's tough love, it's direct, it's... And I think that's a big part, that's certainly a big part of what I think people respond to in me, is that I'm not letting myself off the hook and therefore I'm not letting anybody else off the hook. That there are opportunities, you either capitalize on them or you don't. All of us are going to get kicked in the face at some point or another. And it's really about how you respond to it. And so by...

• 38:44Tom Bilyeu?

  It's interesting because I actually didn't know, because the time that you told that story, they didn't ask what you said to them, so I had no idea. But I'm not at all surprised that the punchline was like, you're out of control. Get it under control, which, one, having somebody hold you accountable. It's really interesting, in fact, man, I really want to know your thoughts on this. So they've looked at what, why is it that kids that grow up with a single mom do worse than kids that grow up in a two-parent household? And look, I'm sure it would be equally bad if you only grew up with a father. There's just a lot less statistics on that. So when looking at it, it's, and this is a... My wife and I don't have kids, but this is 1,000% us. You've got the mom who's like...

• 39:26Tom Bilyeu?

  Totally empathetic. They want you to go to bed because they know it's better for you, but oh, like they don't want to upset you and so you end up going to bed late. The dad's like, no, no, no, you're going to bed and if I have to drag you by the ankle, if I said it's nine o'clock, it's nine o'clock and that's that. And when you don't have somebody that holds you accountable, there's, there's a sense of like, I'm not seen, I'm not checked, like somebody doesn't, I don't know if it's that they don't love me because you know your mom loves you, but like you, you want somebody to check you.

• 39:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, you know, I tell people it's crazy, my biological father wasn't in my life and me and my mom struggled because I knew my mom didn't want me to go after him because of what it meant in her life. Whatever the pain, the, whatever it was. And so I kind of never shared that, I miss, I want to know who my dad is. I want to, you know, it's crazy. It's like, I was an adult and I still, I wanted my daddy, you know? I, I, I wanted to know who my father was and I don't mean, I knew who he was by name, but like, yo, who are you? How am I like you? You know what I'm saying? What were your goals and aspirations? What were your struggles? What were your challenges? And so I feel that, like you said, with mom, you know that love is there. You know moms will die for you. She'll do anything for you.

• 40:41Speaker 01

  But with dad, it is that, dad, what am I capable of? I remember my daughter, she loves her mom. They have the best relationship, but she would get dressed and walk right past her mom and be like, dad, what do you think? You know? And I'm like, wow, this is crazy. My son would play football and you could see he, you know, picked up a fumble and he, I'm like, run! But he's like, hey, did you see me with the, I'm like, yeah, we could talk about it afterwards. And so I, I, I, I think there is an affirmation in fathers along with that correction. But you said something earlier that I thought was important. You know what bothers me is individuals' ability to check and hold people accountable. Like, I'm like, yo, it's crazy. If you weren't wired to check people

• 41:24Speaker 01

  or when somebody can't, you know, like didn't meet your expectations, I would be like, yo, don't hold yourself accountable. But like, I literally, I literally look at humans when somebody don't pay them back on time, or somebody picks them up later, somebody doesn't keep their promise, like you feel this, why didn't you? How dare you? And I'm like, well, how do you pass you in the mirror? Like yo, I'm not mad that you held him accountable, but how can you hold another human that responsible, but you don't hold yourself responsible? Like, how is that possible? Like, somebody uh uh doesn't do what you think they should do, and you go off, but then you give you a pass. Like, you don't go off on you. I'm like, yo, if you go off on my man, that's cool. But when are you gonna go in the mirror and check yourself? Like, why you giving yourself a pass?

• 42:09Speaker 01

  Why you giving yourself a out? That same energy you have to let others know about themselves, you cuss my man out. You, I mean, he, he, he didn't, uh, whatever it was he was supposed to do, he didn't do, he almost ran into your car. Like, you cuss my man out, like, you went off. But then you didn't finish school, or you didn't write the book, or you didn't do the album, or, or you didn't go back to school, or you told yourself you was gonna lose weight, and you just let, you just let yourself off the hook. Like, ah, well, you didn't do it, poor you. I'm saying, no, do me a favor. With that same energy you use to hold somebody else accountable, hold yourself accountable, because here's the deal. You hold me accountable and I change, how do you benefit from that? Like, how do you benefit from getting on me and making me make adjustments and corrections?

• 42:54Speaker 01

  You don't benefit from that. You don't get the money that I make when my business blows up, or when I get my degree. I, and I've seen people get on me. Eric, you need to finish school. I'm like, bet. But you got some stuff that you need to overcome. I li- I literally listened to you. You got on me and you checked me about not finishing what I start. Okay, well, I finished what I started. But you still haven't checked you about some of the character defects you have. So that's why I get a little

• 43:21Speaker 01

  taken back, because I'm saying, use that same energy you use on others. I'm not saying don't hold people accountable, but I'm saying use that same energy on yourself. And you'd be shocked how much further you'd be in life if you just punished yourself, if you put you on punishment.

• 43:37Tom Bilyeu?

  That's what I like about you, man.

• 43:39Speaker 01

  Put you on punishment.

• 43:40Tom Bilyeu?

  Put you on punishment? Uh, what I like about you is that the very reason that you want them to hold themselves accountable is because they would be shocked at how much better off their life would be. That to me is like the interesting part. So we're living through a weird moment right now where there's this idea in race car driving where they say, don't look at the wall because you're gonna go where you look. And so even though the wall is the thing that you're worried about, because you don't want to crash into it. If you look at it, that's actually what you're gonna hit. Now, if you pay attention to the turn and to the other cars, then you've got a shot. And I always thought that was really interesting when you apply that to yourself. If you're looking for all the things that are wrong, you're going to find them and there will be a litany of them.

• 44:22Tom Bilyeu?

  If you're looking for excuses, you're going to find them and they're gonna be valid and you're gonna have every reason to give up. And you talk about the darkness a lot. Dude, that's really important for people to understand. You can think your way into any state. You can think your way into negativity and you will find it everywhere. You can think your way into positivity. And despite the fact that there are a thousand things stacked against you, you'll see the path forward and it will make your life better. Like, that's the thing that I'm really fiendish about. And so I want to ask you, like, given the, the way that, um, right now, people, especially in the US, are looking at the way things are working against them, what do you say to somebody like that? Because it's not like there aren't things to complain about.

• 45:05Tom Bilyeu?

  But how do you get them to refocus that energy on the things that they can control?

• 45:11Speaker 01

  Man, I say, I say, this world is fascinated with sports. So we are consumed with hours upon hours of just watching sports. So I say, hey, guys, if you're gonna be watching all this sports, like, use the sports world in your world because you're spending all this time watching it. What kid? And I, I don't even know if I wanted to go, you know, and play in the majors, but I remember being with my boys on the block and it was just a couple of us. And I would dream that I was on the plate, two outs. Two strikes, three balls, bases loaded, we down by three and I'm on the plate.

• 45:52Speaker 01

  We all, you on the free throw line, your team's down by one, you get to shoot two free throws and zero. Time on the clock, game seven of the NBA final, like we all dream of that. But then when we get in real life, we wanna be punks. We get in real life, we soft. It's like, yo, let the gas go up. I'm gonna make more money. Let the inflation go up. Game seven. Like this is game seven in life. Let's go. If it was easy, everybody would do it. I don't even want it to be easy. Everybody would get a PhD if it was easy to get a PhD. Then it wouldn't be valuable if you could just open up the door. So I tell people, like, look at the tragedies and say, yo, you thought well enough for me to come at me?

• 46:36Speaker 01

  Batman, you trained in the dark. They ain't say I was born in the dark. This is what I do. Cut all the lights off if you want to. You're not gonna stop me because you got all the lights. Like, this is where I thrive. And I'm saying if you're a real human. Because we are a little different than some of the other things that were created. We have a will, there's some things that we have. I'm like, activate it. Instead of crying and quitting and giving up again. We're going to go through pain. All of us won't get a reward from it. I got a reward for mine. Like, I have worked so hard. When I die. I will physically be dead, but you'll still be knowing about Eric Thomas. The videos will still be out, the books will be out, whatever businesses we set up, kids will still be going to college.

• 47:20Speaker 01

  They'll be going to the Super Bowl every year through my foundation. They'll be taking a trip to Dubai. I, you know, I tell people all the time, they're like, what motivates you now? Cause you have what you want. What motivate? I said, I did it, but can I duplicate myself? Can I scale this reality? You know what I'm saying? Can I scale positivity? Can I scale getting through pain? Can I scale taking a bad hand and turn that joke into a royal flush? Can I, can I scale that? So for me, it's not, this is happening, this is happening, this is happening. I look at it, game seven, this is going, this where, this where the Michael Jordans are made. This, this, this is where the Magic Johnsons, the Larry Byrds, like, this is where the real ballers, this is where the real ballers come out. Okay, you won game one.

• 48:04Speaker 01

  Okay, you won game two. Okay, we won two, then you were up three, one, three, two, and we came back and beat you. Like, we don't go, we're down two. We go, this is what I signed up for. This is what all the weights were for. This is the eating right. This is the getting up early, going, this is the trainers. Like, this is why I went to this school. This is why I got this coach. Like, this, I long for this and I live for this. And some people, I don't know, are you not cut out for it? I don't know. But for me, when I see trials and tribulations, I go, it's showtime with the real Eric Thomas. With a game seven Eric Thomas, please stand up. Activate Grand Slam. Grand Slam activated in shape of ET. And bam, boom, it's out of here.

• 48:48Speaker 01

  So I just look at it as, hey, if you want to complain, go for it. I will rise to the level of the challenge.

• 48:54Tom Bilyeu?

  Dude, I love that so much. It, it is the only path forward. Like, everything that I've seen about life tells me there just isn't another option. Again, the excuses are valid. You can take them, but your life is going to be worse. What do you teach your kids about racism? Because I've heard you say racism's real. It exists, but...

• 49:13Speaker 01

  Yeah. I say to my kids, for every challenge that exists, prepare yourself for it. Don't go into, don't go into it unprepared. The man or woman who's unprepared for a challenge will probably not come out of it the way he or she wants to come out of it. You have a better chance. I'm not telling you that. Stuff can't happen to you, but you have a better chance if you are prepared for it. Um, which is why I went and got a PhD. Why? Because I felt like talent wise, you are prepared to be one of the greatest speakers in this generation. But language wise, you are not prepared to be one of the greatest speakers. Diversity wise, you are not prepared. You grew up in Detroit,

• 49:57Speaker 01

  which is probably the most segregated city in the United States of America. You're not prepared to be diverse because you've not been in an environment that was diverse. You need to go to Michigan State. You need to prepare yourself for where you want to be. So for my children, you will run into some of the greatest humans in life. Prepare yourself to get the most out of that relationship. I was just with somebody recently. It was like, yo, I love you more in person than I did on the videos. That's not by accident. Like, that's by, I walk in the room, your personality, I'm gonna be my authentic self, I'm going to, bet, got it. I'm not walking in the room like, uh, uh, Lisa, hello, I'm just sitting there timid and whatever. No, I'm like, yo, this is what presented itself in the room, you a hugger, I'm a hugger, let's go.

• 50:42Speaker 01

  And so to my children, yo, prepare for everything. It doesn't mean that you're gonna win because you're prepared, but you have a better chance of winning if you are prepared. So, they got mad at me. I sent them to, when they were younger, they might have gone to a 50/50 school in terms of diversity. When they got older, they've been, they were the minority. Why are we in a high school, we're minority? Because you're going to Michigan State. So, we're not gonna prepare you when you get there, we're gonna prepare you now. So, now they're like, okay dad, when they travel the world, oh, we are prepared. Why? Because we went to school with, we have friends that are, our teachers were.

• 51:21Speaker 01

  This was the environment. So, I say racism, economic struggles, marriage, parenting, prepare yourself in advance for these situations so that when they come, you have a better chance of controlling those situations and not letting those situations control you.

• 51:39Tom Bilyeu?

  One thing that you said in a video, and I was like, this just cannot be said enough, is you were saying like, imagine somebody, I don't remember the amount of time that you gave, but like 50 years ago, they don't have the internet.

• 51:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:50Tom Bilyeu?

  Or 300 years ago, when we're embroiled in the just absolute travesty of slavery.

• 51:57Tom Bilyeu?

  Like that's like a whole thing that now you could take right now a course from Stanford University on your phone for free. You can take MIT courses on your phone for free. And so to not prepare yourself by taking advantage of those things, like at some point, it's you owe yourself to get in that, to learn that stuff, to prepare yourself, push your education. That to me is like, that's so powerful, encouraging people to invest in turning their potential into skill set.

• 52:27Speaker 01

  Absolutely. You get one life, you know, it's funny, somebody would say, well, how do you prepare yourself for? Well, when I was younger, I thought I had to address every human that said something to me. Now, depending on that person's intelligence, depending on that person's ideology, I don't have to entertain, I don't have to entertain you. I'm not, I'm not forced because you made a statement. I'm not forced to respond. I tell my son all the time, brother, somebody, if you're on the road and there's road rage, drive home. You don't have to get into it with that person because they almost hit their car. Cause here's the deal, son, that person may have nothing to live for, no one to live for. You do, come home. Come home and you can talk to me about that. I can't believe

• 53:09Speaker 01

  he hit the back, he almost hit the back of the car. He swerved over into the, I don't know, maybe somebody in this family died. Maybe he just lost his job. Maybe his mom just passed and like he not in his right mind. But whatever you do, don't engage in a person who's not in their right mind, if you're in your right mind. There's nothing that good that's gonna come out of it. You've been in your right mind, they're not in their right mind, and you're sitting there having a discussion with them. You having a discussion is not about to put them in their right mind. Like you're not about to change. So do me a favor, come home. And we can laugh about it at Thanksgiving. You remember the time the person almost hit you up? So, so becoming educated and prepared also lets me know who

• 53:51Speaker 01

  I should be having conversations with, who I shouldn't have, when I should, because there's a time and season for everything, when I shouldn't. So it's like, yo, son, sweetheart, my daughter, prepare yourself. I don't, I'm not saying you have to get a master's, a PhD. I'm not saying that. But I am saying you know the world you live in, you know what the issues are. Prepare yourself accordingly.

• 54:12Tom Bilyeu?

  Kobe Bryant has one of my favorite quotes of all time. Not as good as the quote, though, that I'm going to give you at the end of this from Eric Thomas to make sure you guys stay here till the end. But he says booze don't block dunks. And to me, what I take away from that is that you can get so good at something because the talent scouts who know basketball better than anybody else in the world were given budgets to go around the entire globe to find the most talented athletes on planet earth, pay them millions of dollars, and their only job was to stop Kobe Bryant from scoring points. And he still, despite that, scored 81 points in a single game.

• 54:51Tom Bilyeu?

  So literally, people, the most talented athletes on planet earth paid millions of dollars to stop you from doing something and they still can't do it. Because you can get better than they are.

• 55:00Speaker 01

  That's good.

• 55:01Tom Bilyeu?

  And that's my thing is, look, there, there are, no matter what, even if it isn't racism, there are going to be a thousand things in business. Let me tell you, people trying to stop you every single day. And so your job, you owe it to yourself, just to stay with your book, which I love. You owe it to yourself to get so good that people can't stop you. And

• 55:21Speaker 01

  I love it.

• 55:22Tom Bilyeu?

  Because any human being can do that, like, that's the shit.

• 55:25Speaker 01

  I love it. That's the answer. That's it right there. That's the answer. Another thing I love that Kobe said, I thought he was a jerk. Kobe said, why would I pass the ball to you when you haven't even trained properly? I just always wonder, like, why is my man hogging the ball? He's like, yo, why would I have confidence in somebody who's getting to the gym late? Who's leaving early? We losing, doesn't seem to care that we losing. Why would I give the ball to you? And I'm like, yo, genius, you're not even executing it your own personal responsibility. My whole career is contingent upon what you do and what you don't do. Yeah, I'm taking this. And I, and it shift my thought process because I'm like, here I am.

• 56:08Speaker 01

  Judging from the outside, why aren't you being a better teammate? But the real question is, why aren't you being a better teammate? By seeing my energy and matching my energy? Cause we on the same team with the same goals, so. Yeah, but I absolutely love. We have the ability to, no matter what our circumstances are, get better. The iPhone is getting better, why aren't we? Samsung is getting better, whatever it is. Technology, everybody sees the benefit of not staying where they were five, six years ago. If they want to be progressive and survive. So as a human, why wouldn't I every day try to be the best version of me? Or at least every year, say, alright, yeah, well, you don't know me.

• 56:51Speaker 01

  If you knew me in 2002, you don't know Eric Thomas. That was the 5.0 version. This is the 14, this is the ET 14. You don't know who I am. And I, I just, I would just say to people. Yes, it takes a lot of work to become a new model. But it also takes a lot of work to suck, to be average. It takes a lot of work to do that as well. And the rewards for being average don't match the reward. Yep, I have to work hard. But to have even this opportunity? You know, there's something that I, I read in the scriptures that said, find a man who's diligent, who executes, and he shall stand before kings and queens and not mean men.

• 57:34Speaker 01

  So when I get the opportunity to come into an environment like this? I, I see it as E. If, if you with number one, you close to number one if you're not number one. Because you are attracting high level. So when I used to have to do Wright State, nothing wrong with Wright State. Uh, Buoy, nothing wrong with that. But when I started doing Alabama, when I started speaking at Auburn? When I started speaking at the elite programs? It was like, so, so when I, when I work hard? And I come into a place like this, I don't go, I want necessarily. But I go, wow, this is what's capable for humans that operate at a high level. We sat down and you were like, E, I'm trying to take the podcast. I'm like, what? You the best?

• 58:18Speaker 01

  You considered one of the best podcasts out and you trying to get better? I'm like, y'all, I can't wait till this interview is over. I gotta let everybody in our sphere know. Hey, y'all, we playing with the podcast. Like, I know we not necessarily, like, we just sitting around chatting around. But no, no, no, no. 2023, we owe it to the people who follow us to not stay where we are, but to take it to that next level. So for me, being in a room with somebody who's executing and operating at a high level, it just get me juiced up. It's letting me know that I would much rather work hard and experience this and hang out with and get to know somebody like you than I would be average

• 59:00Speaker 01

  and just get the stuff that, I don't know who is deciding what I get. I don't know, but those people who live like that and they have to decide what the government gives. Like, I don't want to live like that. I don't want you to tell me how much I'm going to get or how much money I can make or when I can take vacation or when I can. Man, I'd much rather put in the work and live this experience.

• 59:24Tom Bilyeu?

  Dude, that's so well said. There, I heard, oh, God, I forget who it was. I was watching, I think it was a reacts video. And they were talking about people getting the checks from the government over, you know, the course of COVID and respect. Like, you needed it for sure, for sure.

• 59:39Speaker 01

  You pay your taxes, you're.

• 59:40Tom Bilyeu?

  Yeah, yeah. They were talking about people, though, that were acting like they pulled a fast one on the government. And he was like, basically saying exactly what you just said. Like, yo, you're standing in line for a handout. And me, I'm over here, I didn't get a check, but like, I control my destiny. I control where I go. And going back to Kobe, like, when I see somebody playing at that level, I'm just like, oh, man. He's got natural gifts, right? Height, speed, agility, all of that stuff. And for anybody tempted to make that excuse for somebody like Kobe, let me say, he won an Academy Award.

• 1:00:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:16Tom Bilyeu?

  He won an Academy Award, ET. So he plays basketball at the highest level and tells you, this is about outworking everybody else. This is about getting so good that they can't stop you. That no matter how much people hate you, no matter how much they boo for you, you can be so good that they can't stop you. And the man won an Academy Award. I was like, this is insane. You want to talk about something that inspires me? There are two people that were celebrities that passed away that I can't let go of it for some reason. I never met either of them. Brandon Lee's, uh, sorry, Bruce Lee's son Brandon Lee. When he died, I don't know, it messed me up. It was just too weird. And then when Kobe died, I was like, never met him ever.

• 1:00:57Tom Bilyeu?

  But I'm still messed up about it. I don't like living in a world that where he's not in it. Because when, when he was in basketball and I was super inspired by his attitude, but I'm not a sports fan in any big way. So he was on my radar just because his work ethic is so insane. But when he got out and won an Academy Award, I'm like, because entertainment, that's my business. So I'm like, I want to compete against him. I want to go against the best of the best. And honestly, not because I think I'm as good as him, but because I want to be that good. I want that, you know, when you, you look at the rabbit that the dogs chase and dog racing. Like I want that person that's outpacing me, that's just killing me with how good they are. Like I'm so inspired by that.

• 1:01:39Tom Bilyeu?

  And that's what like, when I was watching your talks, not only do I get inspired, but when I think about what you're, the way that you engage the audience and I'm like, he's trying to break them out of excuses, trying to get them to dreams, trying to get them to visualize. And I'm like, wow, that's so powerful because it will change their life.

• 1:01:59Speaker 01

  Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. You know, and when you talked about Kobe, what I thought about was, it doesn't have to be a hundred years. But look at what he did in such a short period of time.

• 1:02:13Tom Bilyeu?

  It's crazy.

• 1:02:14Speaker 01

  So it's almost like, guys, we, not only do we not have an excuse, youth, if you make it to a hundred, you lose two things. Perhaps your independence and definitely your youth. Right? So people who are a hundred, they might still be alive, but they may not have all of their independence. You might not be to get in the car and just take off whenever you want to take off. Like there might be some other things that mentally are your health that's not a hundred percent. And your youth is definitely gone. And I look at Kobe and was like, yo, not, you didn't necessarily live to be a hundred, but the time you had on earth, you put in work. And then you went and dominated one area. And then you start coming over and saying, now I'm coming into some other areas that are not my areas per se, but I'm gonna bring my greatness over here and I'm gonna kill it.

• 1:02:58Speaker 01

  And that's all I'm saying to people. Greatness is in you. Activate it. But what you're activating is the norm. This isn't right, that isn't right. Somebody said to me, you know how much the gas is? And I said, I'm gonna be honest with you. I didn't. I never went, I've never gone to the pump as ET. You know, as ET, this version of ET. I've never gone to the pump and looked at how much it costs. And I've never not filled up the gas tank as this version of ET. Now, maybe when I was younger, in my twenties, still making crazy decisions and not as mature as I am now. Maybe I was like, give me ten on five. You know, but, but, but at this version, I'm just like, it doesn't matter how much it is. I'm, I'm gonna fill it up.

• 1:03:43Speaker 01

  It doesn't, it doesn't matter how much the Emirates First Class costs to go to Dubai. It doesn't matter. I don't wanna sit in a row with three people, cuz I don't want a stranger in my conversation with my wife. Like, I just wanted to be me and my, so I'm gonna pay wherever they want me to pay. So it's just the two of us in this capsule. And we could bring that joke down. And for the fourteen hours, me and you could get it in without my man in the middle saying, oh, what part of San Diego do you live in? I'm like, I wasn't even talking to you. Like, how are you in my conversation? So I will pay for whatever to get off the plane and be ready to speak. Like, as soon as the camera, like, when I land, they got the cameras on me. So I wanna sit in the seat where I can be comfortable and I can get off ET where I don't need

• 1:04:25Speaker 01

  two or three hours of preparation, because I took a shower on my way there. You know what I'm saying? They gave me thirty minutes for the shower and I took it, like, give it to me an hour before we land. I, I want the best foods. Like, I will, I will do whatever it takes to, to have that reality. Then to be the average dude that everybody's telling me what to do. You can't go see your daughter, get her award, cuz you need to be at work. Nobody, I'm an academic advisor. Students don't even come to get academic counsel at nine fifteen AM. They're not even up. But because you control me, you could tell me, no, I can't go see my child. And I'm, no, I'll do whatever it takes to be there for my baby girl. I'll be there to, to watch my son play football.

• 1:05:08Speaker 01

  Or to watch my son walk across Michigan State's, uh, uh, the Brad. I, I wanna see it. I don't want a boss to tell me you gotta take time off to go watch him march. When my daughter got her master's degree, everybody was like, you stood the whole time, you never sat down. Because she graduated with her four-year degree during COVID. And she didn't get to march. So now I'm like, girl, you, you, girl, you did it. You went and did two more years just to get that. Like, they were about to mess up our record of me walking across the bread, my son walking across. We could say my daughter graduated, but we couldn't say she marched across. She marched and I'm gonna stand here the whole time and watch her and look into her face and I hear anything that the speakers are saying or miss all the other kids that are coming.

• 1:05:53Speaker 01

  Because I want my baby girl to know, if you can't count on nothing else, you can count on your daddy being present. I'm not the greatest father. I probably won't win father of the year. I probably won't get that. I'm a little too aggressive for that. You feel me? But you will never be able to say your daddy wasn't present. And it doesn't matter how or why you get up at three o'clock. Why don't you? Why don't you get up when you need to get up to do what you need to do? So you telling me I live in the country that if I get up at three o'clock in the morning, I would be rewarded for it? That I can control my own life if I get up at three o'clock in the morning? I can take a nap? Whenever I need to take a nap, I'll stay up as long as it takes to be there for my wife. When she was diagnosed with MS, I'll go to every doctor's appointment with you.

• 1:06:35Speaker 01

  I will, we'll go out to eat afterwards. We'll do ice cream. We'll make these hospital visits a, a date. This will be a date day. I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Get up early, get a PhD, write a book, put a bunch of free videos up online. Learn a second language. I'll do whatever it takes to keep this freedom. I'll do whatever it takes.

• 1:06:54Tom Bilyeu?

  Damn. Alright, I'm about to give you guys my favorite ET quote of all time, but first, where can people follow you?

• 1:07:02Speaker 01

  ETinspires.com.

• 1:07:03Tom Bilyeu?

  There it is.

• 1:07:04Speaker 01

  All, everything ET, yeah.

• 1:07:06Tom Bilyeu?

  Alright, boys and girls, definitely follow him. And this quote, I think, sums up everything that we've been talking about today. And certainly should tell you why you should be following him. And the quote is, if there's another mountain to climb, climb it. That hit me like a lightning bolt. I hope it hits you guys. Speaking of things that will hit you if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe. And until next time, my friends, be legendary. Take care. Peace. Let's talk about a pattern that is guaranteed to be killing your progress. You know what you need to do. You need consistent nutrition. We all do. You need vitamins, probiotics, greens. We all know that we should be doing more of it. When your morning gets chaotic, you skip it. When you travel, you skip it. When your routine breaks, everything tends

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