Shawn Anderson is a Speaker, Author of 7 Best-Selling Books, Creator of Extra Mile Day (Ep 33)

[0:00] Sean thank you so much for accepting my
[0:03] request for this interview you are a
[0:05] speaker you have multiple books and you
[0:08] started this extra mile day initiative I
[0:13] just signed up yesterday so I'm
[0:16] planning to invest myself into that and
[0:19] then you also run a podcast
[0:22] everything that you do to inspire
[0:24] everyone around you as well as whoever
[0:28] listening to you so thank you so much
[0:30] for doing that and so welcome on this
[0:33] show
[0:34] well it's a privilege to be here and uh
[0:37] you know I always clap loudly for people
[0:40] who take risks and walk their Visions
[0:43] like you're doing with your podcast just
[0:47] just one small clarification I actually
[0:50] don't have my own podcast what you might
[0:53] be referring to is a Blog that I've put
[0:56] out called extra mile Thursday and I've
[0:59] actually written it for
[1:01] 521 Thursdays in a row but I let people
[1:05] like you the real podcast Pros I
[1:07] piggyback on you and jump on your shows
[1:09] that's what I do
[1:11] thank you for that clarification I
[1:13] didn't catch that yesterday
[1:16] I want to request you to share a bit
[1:20] about yourself and what you do and
[1:24] why people want to listen to you
[1:28] well I I'm pretty much a pretty ordinary
[1:30] guy except for one small difference I I
[1:34] chose at a very young age to live an
[1:36] extraordinary life
[1:38] and I realized Young
[1:40] that we all have the power to really
[1:43] create the lives that we want to live
[1:45] that life is Rich with cause and effect
[1:48] and the more of one thing that we throw
[1:51] out the more of another thing that will
[1:54] return to us the more positive energy
[1:56] and positive action that we throw into
[1:57] the universe the more the positive
[2:00] success will come our way I've been an
[2:03] entrepreneur my entire life from my very
[2:06] first business selling worms to
[2:09] fishermen at age 10 all the way through
[2:12] building a
[2:13] business college in Los Angeles
[2:17] and then now writing books and
[2:20] speaking on the subject of motivation
[2:22] success and living the life you love
[2:24] well first business at age 10.
[2:30] yeah I had a love for baseball cards and
[2:35] when you love baseball cards you got to
[2:37] find ways to pay for them right
[2:39] so I would constantly try to figure out
[2:42] ways to make some money so I could walk
[2:44] down to the 7-eleven shop and buy as
[2:47] many packs of those
[2:49] baseball cards as I could
[2:51] so what I would do is I would flood my
[2:54] parents backyard with water so that the
[2:57] giant worms are called night crawlers
[2:59] would rise to the surface and then at
[3:02] night time I would go and grab those
[3:04] dudes off the top of the grass
[3:06] I put them in giant barrels of dirt
[3:09] on the weekends I would have run an ad
[3:12] in the Reno Evening Gazette paper and
[3:14] I'd sit in my front yard in the morning
[3:16] on Saturday and Sunday at 6 A.M and the
[3:19] fishermen
[3:20] who read the ad in the newspaper would
[3:23] come by and they would buy my night
[3:26] crawlers by the Dozen and that was my
[3:29] first entrepreneurial gig
[3:31] well to come up with that idea and
[3:34] actually implementing that kudos to you
[3:37] gratitude
[3:40] so the first question that I asked every
[3:42] guest is when they were 11 then when
[3:44] they were in high school what they
[3:46] wanted to become
[3:49] well you know I was always driven
[3:52] somehow to find the best in me to
[3:56] to do the best I I perhaps when I was
[4:00] younger I learned to achieve because
[4:02] you received accolades from others and
[4:05] accolades from your parents and you
[4:06] receive positive tension but by the time
[4:08] I rolled through high school I started
[4:10] to realize you know I love succeeding
[4:12] not for
[4:14] the praise I get but for how it feels to
[4:17] me
[4:18] and so I was always a topic seeder a
[4:21] topic seller in academics and sports
[4:23] socially
[4:25] because I I wanted to get involved I
[4:28] wanted to grow I wanted to learn I
[4:31] wanted to put myself out there
[4:33] for some reason somehow I never let
[4:38] fear stop me from trying stuff even if I
[4:41] would lose I would still keep trying and
[4:43] I think I think that's a real Secret in
[4:46] life and being able to achieve your
[4:47] dreams is somehow being able to push
[4:50] fear into the back corners of the closet
[4:53] and not let it exist into the the front
[4:55] window of your life I think when we're
[4:58] able to push fear back it helps us move
[5:01] forward and and ever since high school I
[5:04] did that I always knew that I wanted to
[5:07] be an influencer a leader a motivator I
[5:11] was always motivated by the great
[5:12] speeches and by the great books
[5:14] so somehow some way you know I I'm
[5:18] walking that path I'm walking the path
[5:20] of writing the books and giving the
[5:21] speeches that's what I do now and that's
[5:23] how you decided that this is the
[5:25] profession that you will be into
[5:28] well I remember is a very very young boy
[5:30] I was listened to a record back then
[5:32] there was records and this record was of
[5:33] John F Kennedy John F Kennedy was giving
[5:37] a speech
[5:38] and I remember it was a live speech and
[5:41] I could hear the people in the
[5:42] background I could hear the emotion that
[5:44] he was bringing out in them I could hear
[5:46] the passion in his voice I could hear
[5:49] the purpose of his intention and maybe I
[5:52] wasn't capable of articulating and
[5:54] clarifying all that as well as I can now
[5:57] it it somehow sprouted a feeling in me
[6:00] it planted a seed in me that that's what
[6:04] I wanted to do I I wanted to inspire
[6:07] people I wanted to bring out the best in
[6:10] others because that was an exciting
[6:13] existence and and from listening to that
[6:16] record
[6:17] something started growing from the very
[6:20] beginning
[6:20] and after that what a different thing
[6:23] that you have done what what different
[6:25] entrepreneurial things I've done yeah
[6:27] sorry just looking for your journey from
[6:29] the high school you know I've uh I went
[6:32] to I went to the University of
[6:33] California Berkeley and
[6:35] you know experienced one of my first big
[6:37] losses there I had ran for student body
[6:39] president my senior year and and was
[6:42] defeated but yeah it was a victory for
[6:44] me because on the very first day I
[6:46] walked onto that Berkeley campus as a
[6:48] freshman I said to myself as I walked to
[6:50] that campus someday as a fearful
[6:52] freshman I said someday I will run for
[6:55] president at this school and I did and I
[6:58] think that particular lesson of of
[7:00] saying to myself what I'm gonna do and
[7:04] then following through and taking the
[7:05] action has always been something that
[7:07] I've I've been really good at uh at
[7:10] Berkeley I I played division one golf
[7:12] you know I served as a leader in the
[7:15] dorms as a campus leader I probably went
[7:18] to class far less than I should have but
[7:20] I had a lot of fun
[7:22] after that I you know I with with very
[7:25] little money to my name maybe less than
[7:27] four hundred dollars and not a no job
[7:29] lined up I I went to San Diego first
[7:32] week of my life down there just slept on
[7:35] the floor of a friend's house then moved
[7:37] up in life into the van of another guy
[7:39] and had a job working 50 cents more than
[7:42] minimum wage at a 7-Eleven from the
[7:45] graveyard shift till I tried to figure
[7:46] out what I wanted to do received a
[7:49] hundred I'm sorry to inform you letters
[7:51] of jobs I couldn't get and it was right
[7:53] then that I decided you know I'm not
[7:55] going to wait for jobs I'm going to
[7:57] create jobs and from that moment on I
[7:59] became an entrepreneur the rest of my
[8:01] life
[8:01] by the age of 30 I suppose my personal
[8:04] wealth was over a million dollars and uh
[8:07] and it was when I took the initiative of
[8:09] creating rather than waiting that my
[8:12] life really changed uh I've I've had
[8:15] I've had a a multiple business failures
[8:18] I've had a couple of business successes
[8:21] that have set me up pretty well to be
[8:23] able to not worry about money but to
[8:26] just focus on my passion and that's to
[8:29] help Inspire other people to live their
[8:30] dreams and that pretty much takes us to
[8:33] where we are now along the way I've
[8:35] started to do some other cool things
[8:37] that others maybe might not be doing
[8:39] I've walked across I've walked across
[8:42] eight countries since 2014 Coast to
[8:45] Coast or from one side to the other I've
[8:47] peddled a bicycle solo ocean to Ocean
[8:49] across the United States twice I think
[8:52] I'm visited up to 55 countries now as I
[8:54] chase adventure around the world and I
[8:57] just live I I I Look To Live
[9:00] with
[9:02] doing what I want to do with chasing the
[9:04] dream that I think would be cool to
[9:06] Chase and as I look at the last whatever
[9:08] years I'm given I hope that I continue
[9:10] just to follow that path
[9:13] speaking about that book I saw your note
[9:17] that you did 1600 rounds on the ship to
[9:22] finish 100 miles yeah just recently in
[9:26] fact it was I guess maybe a week ago or
[9:28] so I just came back from a cruise across
[9:30] the Pacific to Hawaii and back to San
[9:33] Francisco and I I just I just had this
[9:35] personal goal there were 10 sea days on
[9:37] that ship and I wanted to see if I could
[9:39] walk 100 miles on the ocean and so for
[9:43] 10 days I just broke it down 10 days to
[9:45] walk 100 miles I needed to walk 10 miles
[9:47] a day so literally there's a track on
[9:50] the lap on the ship rather where if you
[9:53] if you walk 16 laps
[9:56] on the ship's track it equals one mile
[9:59] so that meant for 10 days I had to walk
[10:02] 160 laps when you multiply 160 laps by
[10:07] 10 days that was 1600 laps so yeah I
[10:11] just finished walking 100 miles in 10
[10:13] days
[10:14] and and that was just a cool thing that
[10:16] I wanted to see if I could do uh but but
[10:19] certainly some of my walks across some
[10:21] countries have been much much much
[10:22] bigger than that walking across shikoku
[10:25] Japan for example in 48 days I watched
[10:28] 750 miles in walking across Spain in a
[10:32] 550 mile walk I did that in 27 days
[10:36] which was averaging over 20 and a half
[10:38] miles a day so yeah you know I'm a
[10:40] believer that if you if you don't use
[10:41] your body you lose your body and so I
[10:44] pushed myself pretty hard in that way
[10:46] wow
[10:48] I can
[10:51] I can't imagine how you did that 20 mile
[10:53] a day
[10:55] for so many days
[10:58] well you know where there's a will
[10:59] there's a way
[11:00] and sometimes some of the big goals that
[11:02] we have we get overwhelmed by them
[11:04] because yeah when you think about
[11:05] walking 750 miles you go
[11:07] oh my God that's ridiculous that's a
[11:11] crazy distance but you know you don't
[11:12] have to walk 750 miles the first day you
[11:16] don't have to walk 750 miles the first
[11:19] week all you have to do is walk to that
[11:22] town that you have marked on the map so
[11:24] all you got to do today don't even think
[11:26] about what you do tomorrow or next week
[11:28] just do what you got to do today if you
[11:31] keep focusing on what you've got to do
[11:33] today for big goals you keep doing that
[11:35] day after day after day pretty soon
[11:39] the big goal is accomplished
[11:43] so Sean out of so many things that you
[11:46] have done and
[11:48] your business your speaking engagement
[11:51] and then
[11:53] um this walk bark biking
[11:57] how how you decide that for next one
[12:01] month this will be my big goal that I'm
[12:04] going to walks 570 miles
[12:07] or something like that are you taking
[12:09] that as a vacation time out of your
[12:12] business or uh yeah it's what I do I I
[12:15] live
[12:16] I live a life of passion I live a life
[12:19] of purpose when I walk these walks it's
[12:21] basically me
[12:22] sharpening my own acts sharpening my
[12:25] spirit sharpening my mind sharpening my
[12:27] emotions certainly creating stories of
[12:30] which to write about in the blogs I mean
[12:32] if you can't you can't share with people
[12:35] how to overcome their own challenges in
[12:37] life if you personally don't know what
[12:40] it feels like to be in the middle of the
[12:42] challenge you can't tell people what it
[12:44] is to walk across fire if you haven't
[12:47] walked across fire and when you walk 750
[12:51] miles across country I got to tell you
[12:52] you gotta ha you have a lot of bad days
[12:54] in there you have you have blisters you
[12:56] have knee aches and you fall down a lot
[12:57] of times and you can't find food and you
[12:59] can't find a bed and you can't find
[13:01] stuff you get used to learning how to be
[13:03] tough and and if you're not tough you've
[13:06] got no place in this world to show other
[13:08] people how to be tougher so yeah you
[13:11] know these walks across countries it's
[13:14] all just a part of my mission it's a
[13:16] part of my job it's a part of what I do
[13:19] it's part of How I Live
[13:22] okay
[13:24] j o b as in your job yeah
[13:29] so let me ask one last follow-up
[13:31] question on this
[13:34] um
[13:35] walking and biking that's what you have
[13:39] uh chosen there are other hundred
[13:42] activities some people do marathon some
[13:44] people uh do swimming some people hiking
[13:49] and there are other
[13:51] other activities Mount Everest there are
[13:55] so much
[13:56] um so many other things to do how do you
[13:59] decide how do you pick that this is for
[14:01] you and then you stick to it
[14:04] well certainly walking across the
[14:05] country is my big deal although I have
[14:07] biked across the U.S twice I am not a
[14:10] bicyclist in fact the very first time I
[14:12] biked across the country I just I met a
[14:15] challenge of doing it and literally the
[14:17] week before I was to do it I went and
[14:20] bought my bike so you know biking is not
[14:24] something I do I I I didn't set myself
[14:26] up for failure because I knew I had
[14:28] strong legs and a strong heart and I
[14:30] would learn to be good at the bike but
[14:32] this other stuff like walking across the
[14:34] country first off it combines all my
[14:35] passions it combines
[14:38] physical effort and exertion I love
[14:40] exercise I love feeling healthy number
[14:43] one number two I love Adventure when you
[14:46] walk across a country that's what you
[14:48] live every day a country you've never
[14:49] seen people you've never met languages
[14:51] sometimes you do not know
[14:53] number three you know I just I love I
[14:56] love travel I love new I love all of
[15:00] this and so when you're walking across
[15:01] the country there's no better way to
[15:02] experiencing that than the slow pace of
[15:06] Step by Step across the country you see
[15:08] small towns you see you see the people
[15:10] that live in the that live in the small
[15:12] towns you see people in their real
[15:14] existence man that fills me up that
[15:17] makes me richer that makes me feel like
[15:18] I know my world just a little bit better
[15:20] it's far different than if you fly into
[15:23] a big town and you go visit all the
[15:25] touristy stuff of that town you don't
[15:26] really know the town or the country or
[15:28] whatever because you're only seeing
[15:30] you're only seeing what the tourists
[15:33] want you to see what the big but the big
[15:35] with the big Disneylands want you to see
[15:38] but man when you walk across a country
[15:40] and you have to spend this a night in a
[15:43] small town of 250 people that's
[15:45] different that's different living and so
[15:48] I love that it makes me richer because
[15:50] you get to really see people at their
[15:53] core and that's what fires me up and the
[15:55] more that I get fired up the more I'm
[15:57] able to pass that fired up to this other
[15:59] people
[16:00] one of my dream I wouldn't say dream but
[16:03] some one of the fascination that I get
[16:06] sometime is to go to different countries
[16:09] like Europe a small town in in Spain and
[16:13] then live there for two months and work
[16:16] from there if I'm writing or podcasting
[16:19] or my full-time work at Advent Health
[16:21] managing people I just do it from there
[16:25] well absolutely that's the first part of
[16:27] making something happen is dreaming it
[16:29] into existence and if you have that
[16:30] dream I call I call those Whispers by
[16:33] the way you know the whisper the
[16:36] whispers are those those thoughts those
[16:39] feelings those urges that we get that
[16:41] make us go
[16:42] I want to do that that's the whisper
[16:46] that's almost I think the universe
[16:47] speaking to our deepest self our deepest
[16:50] passions it's planting the seeds to how
[16:53] we're meant to live like you're hearing
[16:55] this whisper now go work in another
[16:57] country spend two months working there
[17:00] doing that man that's the whisper those
[17:02] are the things that appeal to your
[17:04] spirit that bring out your best
[17:06] potential that take you to the edge of
[17:07] your comfort zone and I I I encourage
[17:11] people I do what I do to to inspire
[17:13] people to listen to their Whispers
[17:15] because I think that if you hear The
[17:17] Whispers and you don't respond to them
[17:19] if you don't take action on them
[17:20] eventually The Whispers go away and then
[17:23] we find a life of media faculty we find
[17:26] average existence and we end up leaving
[17:29] life with a a thousand regrets of man I
[17:33] wish I would have done that
[17:38] yeah this is powerful yes
[17:41] um so we we will dig deeper into this
[17:43] area
[17:44] um
[17:47] I am and I'm trying and the segment the
[17:51] target audience that I looking I'm
[17:53] looking for is the people who are in
[17:55] nine to five job they have tremendous
[17:58] potential they are doing excellent how
[18:01] can I help them do better in their job
[18:05] there are so much help available for
[18:08] encouraging people to leave their nine
[18:10] to five job and do a side hustle do a do
[18:14] something great so that they can leave
[18:16] their job and do something full time I
[18:20] know that many people are not ready for
[18:22] that but they can do excellent on their
[18:27] full-time job and at some point if they
[18:29] want to they can switch to something
[18:32] else so that's that's kind of the
[18:33] audience that I I Target to and I have
[18:36] lived with them I
[18:39] um and one of the things that I have
[18:41] noticed Sean
[18:43] that
[18:45] there are people in this category I'm
[18:47] not saying everybody there are people in
[18:49] this category who are in autopilot that
[18:53] they
[18:56] they're doing things because that's what
[18:58] they're supposed to they're going office
[19:00] they're buying car they're buying home
[19:02] they're paying uh their loan and their
[19:05] life is going in autopilot they forget
[19:08] their dream they don't even know what
[19:10] they want they don't even know what
[19:11] their dreams are and they don't know how
[19:13] to identify that dream so as we was
[19:17] talking and I as I'm sensing
[19:20] as we are talking and as this is your
[19:24] passion I want to bring the situation
[19:27] bring the scenario to you and I wanted
[19:30] to ask you how you're going to help this
[19:31] type of people can you even help this
[19:33] type of people
[19:36] well first off
[19:37] you know we're all here for how many
[19:40] years 60 70 80. so we're all here so let
[19:45] me just ask you what do you want to do
[19:47] with your life how do you want to live
[19:50] and whether someone's an entrepreneur or
[19:53] whether someone's working a nine to five
[19:55] I gotta ask you are you happy doing what
[19:58] you're doing and first off if you're not
[20:01] happy doing what you're doing you need
[20:03] to start doing something else and and
[20:05] then the next question is well what
[20:07] would you like to do because how can you
[20:10] ever be happy or ever how can you ever
[20:13] find your ultimate potential if you
[20:15] don't know what it looks like up front
[20:17] what is it that makes you happy
[20:20] what is it that well Define you as being
[20:23] successful see you've got to clarify
[20:26] those things for ourselves and when we
[20:28] can answer those questions we give
[20:30] ourselves a chance to live not in a
[20:33] mediocre world but the world that we
[20:35] want to create for ourself life can be
[20:40] created the conversations that we have
[20:43] we can create those the jobs that we
[20:46] want we can create those the
[20:48] performances that we give we can create
[20:51] those we have that power it doesn't
[20:54] matter if you're an entrepreneur or a
[20:56] nine to fiver every day we wake up we
[20:59] have the power to create what we want
[21:02] the power to create the relationships
[21:04] with what we want the power to create
[21:07] the success that we want and when we
[21:09] recognize that we have that power and we
[21:12] take it into the day starting at nine
[21:14] o'clock and we continue to apply it all
[21:16] the way to five o'clock things happen it
[21:19] is impossible possible to not throw
[21:22] positive energy into the universe and
[21:24] that positive energy does not return to
[21:26] you if you go into your nine to five and
[21:28] you are giving it your best good things
[21:31] are going to return to you people are
[21:33] going to notice you you're going to move
[21:35] up you're going to make more money
[21:36] you're going to make an additional sell
[21:39] whatever it is when you bring your best
[21:42] to life life brings its best to you so
[21:46] can I speak to the people working nine
[21:48] to five of course I can because I too
[21:51] live from nine to five and at my nine
[21:54] o'clock I'm bringing my best at my 10
[21:57] o'clock I'm bringing my best at my one
[22:00] o'clock I'm bringing my best at my five
[22:02] o'clock I'm bringing my best keep
[22:05] bringing your best and the best will
[22:07] happen for you keep bringing your best
[22:09] and your best thoughts and your best
[22:11] inspiration and start to strike your
[22:14] mind in your heart you start to think
[22:16] about what you want to do next where you
[22:19] want to bring your next best to
[22:23] we all live nine to five it's just how
[22:26] do you choose to live yours how do I
[22:28] choose to live mine
[22:31] that's an excellent advice you
[22:34] completely separated that uh um
[22:37] the thought of nine to the nine to five
[22:42] job versus an entrepreneur or someone
[22:45] else
[22:46] they all are doing
[22:48] the work and what you're suggesting do
[22:51] your best just like uh somebody I
[22:54] interviewed uh his name is Scott he said
[22:57] planned where you bloom where you plant
[23:00] it until you have the next thing in your
[23:03] mind to do just do your best where you
[23:07] are today amen you know and maybe people
[23:11] you don't need to think about it as your
[23:13] nine to five job but how about your nine
[23:15] to five life because that's what we all
[23:16] have it's our it's our nine to five life
[23:18] you're no different than me you you
[23:20] might have a full-time job outside this
[23:22] podcast my full-time job might be
[23:25] speaking and writing but it's but we
[23:27] both but we both have nine to five in
[23:29] our lives so there's no reason just
[23:32] because someone has a job from nine to
[23:34] five that they can't bring their best or
[23:35] not be unmotivated man if you're going
[23:38] if you're in a job at nine to five and
[23:39] you're unmotivated I'm telling you right
[23:41] now you are in the wrong job you are
[23:44] doing yourself a disservice and you are
[23:46] wasting your life
[23:48] because we don't get too many nine to
[23:51] fives in life you know there's a limited
[23:54] number of them so man why would we waste
[23:58] a nine to five by not trying giving
[24:01] adding our best to the world to the job
[24:04] to the customer to the moment right
[24:09] so true
[24:14] Sean let's keep going
[24:17] we talk about one scenario we're gonna
[24:19] talk about slightly different scenario
[24:21] where a person has an idea of
[24:25] but it's not clear like he wanted to do
[24:29] more he uh or she want to do more and
[24:33] there is a glimpse in mind but it's not
[24:36] clear
[24:38] for the people who have who are in that
[24:42] situation what should they do to get the
[24:45] full clarity of their dream
[24:47] in 2009 there was a lot of things that
[24:49] were going wrong in America I mean it
[24:52] was a real
[24:53] it was a real negative time businesses
[24:55] were closing Banks were even closing
[24:57] homes were at an all-time foreclosure
[25:00] high people started becoming very
[25:03] dispirited about life and their ability
[25:04] to to make things happen
[25:07] that really affected me and I decided to
[25:09] do something about it and I decided to
[25:11] use my small voice and remind people
[25:14] that if you want to create change and if
[25:16] you want to create difference you can't
[25:17] wait for others to do so but you're the
[25:19] one it's the man or the woman in the
[25:21] mirror that creates the change and I
[25:22] wanted to remind people that you can't
[25:24] keep doing the same thing if you want
[25:25] change but you have to go the extra mile
[25:29] you have to add more value you have to
[25:31] add more effort you have to more add
[25:33] more energy so I had this idea
[25:35] I had this idea that I wanted to you
[25:38] know remind people of go the extra mile
[25:39] so I started piecing together a program
[25:42] called the extra mile America Tour I
[25:46] started adding all these parts together
[25:47] and I didn't know what it looked like At
[25:49] first at the beginning but I kept on
[25:50] adding them and the more parts would
[25:52] come so I said okay well in a Forest
[25:54] Gump sort of way to remind people to go
[25:56] the extra mile I'm gonna ride a bike
[25:58] across the country number one
[26:00] okay what else can I do I added the
[26:03] second idea I'm going to create
[26:04] motivational events in 21 cities across
[26:09] the country as I go okay great what else
[26:12] can you do then the next idea comes to
[26:14] me I'm going to interview at these
[26:16] events
[26:17] 200 people total in the 21 cities who
[26:22] have been identified as having gone the
[26:25] extra mile in order to add more value to
[26:28] others or they went the extra mile in
[26:31] creating something brilliant I wanna I
[26:33] wanna interview those people so here I
[26:35] have I have the bike ride across the
[26:37] country I have the the events with 21
[26:40] Mayors in across the country I have the
[26:42] interviews at those events with 200
[26:44] people
[26:45] and then I'm going to give away money
[26:47] I'm going to give away ten thousand
[26:49] dollars of my own money to the stories
[26:51] that most inspired me okay okay okay
[26:53] what else do you want to do and another
[26:56] idea as I'm out doing the tour comes to
[26:58] me let's create extra mile day let's
[27:02] create a day in America where Mayors can
[27:05] look around their City declare extra
[27:08] mile day and clap for and recognize the
[27:12] extra mile volunteers who are
[27:15] volunteering to make a difference in
[27:16] their city so all of this I'm doing in
[27:19] 2009 it all comes together but it comes
[27:22] together piece by piece but I kept
[27:24] taking action
[27:25] extra mile day in the 2009 was on
[27:28] November 1st on November 1st that first
[27:32] year 23 Mayors Across America decided to
[27:37] declare extra mile day and clap and
[27:40] recognize and have events for their
[27:42] volunteers well every year since
[27:45] November 1st
[27:46] 2009 extra mile day has continued
[27:51] last year November 1st
[27:54] 2021
[28:00] 528 cities
[28:02] in Mayors declared extra mile day so the
[28:06] point is and how I answer your question
[28:08] is the total vision might not be clear
[28:11] initially
[28:12] but what needs to be clear is your
[28:15] willingness to take a step on the first
[28:17] idea
[28:19] and every time we take a step in a
[28:21] positive direction we're moving forward
[28:24] and the ideas start to change and the
[28:26] ideas come to us about how to make it
[28:29] better
[28:30] but ideas never grow when they only sit
[28:33] in our head ideas grow when they're
[28:37] attached to our feet and we start moving
[28:39] with them
[28:46] thank you Sean this this is a very good
[28:49] advice very practical advice that people
[28:51] can follow and Implement on their life
[28:56] my last question on this same one more
[28:59] scenario okay
[29:01] foreign
[29:03] people like me
[29:05] who are you mean awesome amazing people
[29:08] like you you mean people who are willing
[29:10] to take risks like you you mean people
[29:12] who have ideas to start podcasts and go
[29:14] through all the Hoops you mean people
[29:16] like you is that what we're talking
[29:18] about thank you for saying that okay
[29:20] awesome good I love people like you
[29:22] let's go on
[29:24] I will share the stats when when
[29:27] somebody started the podcast
[29:29] 94 people drop out before they finish 10
[29:32] episodes
[29:34] and when you finish 21 episode when you
[29:37] publish 21 episode you are the top one
[29:40] percent
[29:42] and I have published 24 episodes
[29:45] all with doing other things so thank you
[29:49] for saying that what you just said means
[29:51] a lot to me
[29:54] so uh people like me
[29:56] um and I will give you a background I've
[29:58] been writing on medium for last three
[30:00] years
[30:01] I started this podcast about six months
[30:03] ago
[30:04] and I'm all in I have a purpose I have
[30:08] uh the method I have knowledge
[30:11] what I don't have is
[30:14] where to take it and I get fear when I
[30:18] try to think bigger bigger as in making
[30:21] this huge where I'm leaving my job I'm
[30:25] doing this full time and uh
[30:31] I don't know what that looked like but I
[30:35] get fear I don't know
[30:37] where to take it take this for people
[30:41] like me
[30:42] what would be your suggestion
[30:46] you just keep bringing your best to it
[30:48] man
[30:48] you keep bringing your best passion
[30:51] you keep you keep you keep improving
[30:53] yourself
[30:54] in your particular case what I would do
[30:57] is I would listen to my own podcasts
[30:59] again and again and again and I would
[31:00] study
[31:01] I would I would study
[31:04] you know the questions I'm asking the
[31:07] passion of which I'm bringing to the
[31:09] show
[31:10] I would I would say well what do I want
[31:13] to plant what seeds are one of my plant
[31:15] to plant in my audience and I'd make
[31:16] sure that I'm having guests that have
[31:19] the ability to plant those seeds if you
[31:22] want your guests to plant technical
[31:23] knowledge make sure they have that if
[31:26] you wanted to plant passion make sure
[31:28] that they're wearing passion whatever
[31:30] that is so I would study I would study
[31:32] every episode that I did it's the same
[31:34] principles that I did as I first became
[31:36] a speaker you know who my first audience
[31:38] was when I we started speaking myself in
[31:42] a mirror watching myself speak watching
[31:45] my hand motion listening to myself on
[31:48] audio listening to my voice Cadence
[31:51] listening to how I bring passion up
[31:54] how I bring passion down
[31:56] listening to all of that because when we
[31:58] when we study we learn when we learn we
[32:03] grow when we grow
[32:06] we go right so you've done 24 and I
[32:10] applaud you for doing 24. that's awesome
[32:12] and amazing and that's 24 more than when
[32:16] you first had the idea but I gotta tell
[32:18] you
[32:20] you've got a hundred more you've got 500
[32:23] more
[32:24] as an example in 2009 I wrote my first
[32:28] blog on extra mile Thursday it's a
[32:31] weekly blog that I put out it was a big
[32:33] deal writing that first blog
[32:36] but I'm still learning
[32:39] and just this Thursday I put out blog
[32:41] number 521
[32:44] . man the success that we want early
[32:47] isn't going to come
[32:49] I remember when I first built my first
[32:51] website and I just thought oh my gosh
[32:52] that people are they're going to come
[32:54] I'm going to be flooded with so much
[32:56] stuff I'm gonna how am I going to handle
[32:59] it all it's not that easy anymore man
[33:01] marketing's required getting the message
[33:04] out there's required contacting people
[33:06] was required so many things are required
[33:09] to get to where we want so I took the
[33:11] dream of trying to change the world out
[33:14] of my head and I started planning the
[33:16] dream just try to change one person man
[33:18] first just try to change yourself and
[33:21] then if you're lucky and you change one
[33:23] person a week with your blog or one
[33:24] person a week with your podcast you did
[33:27] something valuable and so if I were to
[33:29] look at myself and say well I haven't
[33:31] changed the world you're a failure man
[33:34] that's just sabotaging yourself but if I
[33:37] look at it and said this week I changed
[33:39] one person's life because of my blog I'm
[33:42] a success then that changes everything
[33:44] in your head and it keeps you going
[33:47] I think sometimes we yeah it's great to
[33:50] have these big lofty freaking goals but
[33:54] you got to remember it takes a long time
[33:56] for them to happen we don't turn into
[33:57] Oprah overnight Oprah didn't turn into
[34:00] herself overnight it takes a steady
[34:04] progression and again we are not
[34:07] measured as being successful or
[34:09] non-successful whether we have a
[34:11] thousand podcasts or if we've done 24.
[34:15] we're successful because we we are in
[34:18] the middle of doing it I think that's
[34:19] what makes people successful to me if
[34:22] you're in the middle of doing your thing
[34:24] you're successful that's the bottom line
[34:27] if you're writing the book you're
[34:29] successful if you're trying to change
[34:31] jobs and go into a new job you're
[34:34] successful I think we start to limit
[34:36] people when we start to Define them as
[34:38] what the biggest Among Us are are as
[34:41] successful I mean how many presidents of
[34:43] the United States can there be in our
[34:44] lifetime six seven or eight well it
[34:47] doesn't mean you're not successful if
[34:48] you don't become the president it's I
[34:51] think people they they start to make
[34:53] their aspirations so darn big that they
[34:55] they realize I'm never going to get
[34:57] there so they quit and then they start
[34:59] to they start to become unsuccessful
[35:01] because they're not living their
[35:02] potential and I know this was a long a
[35:05] longer answer but it just required it it
[35:08] required it because I I see this so much
[35:10] I saw this in me I see this in me when
[35:13] we think too big and we measure our
[35:15] success about that we're only going to
[35:18] be successful if we become big man we're
[35:20] missing the point we're missing the
[35:23] point
[35:26] another policy would come in what you're
[35:29] saying is Journey is more important than
[35:32] the destination enjoy the journey put
[35:35] effort in the journey
[35:37] not yeah and we've heard that so many
[35:38] times in life and you know that's it
[35:40] becomes such a cliche I mean how many
[35:42] times have you heard it enjoy the
[35:43] journey success is the journey and the
[35:45] reason we've heard it so many damn times
[35:47] is because it's damn true because if we
[35:50] can always measure our value by how much
[35:52] money we have in the bank
[35:54] by how many of this or that we have how
[35:57] many cars we drive how many TVs we have
[35:58] upstairs how many whatever man that's
[36:01] not success at the end of my life it's
[36:04] did I did I go after my dreams man did I
[36:08] take the time to say hi and walk the
[36:10] walk and talk the talk that's success
[36:13] and I think if we do that if we walk if
[36:16] we walk our walk every day as good as we
[36:18] can if we talk our talk every day as
[36:20] good as we can I think in the end we're
[36:22] gonna be we're going to be successful as
[36:24] the world defines us but it doesn't
[36:25] matter to me it doesn't matter it's just
[36:29] I just want to live my life doing my
[36:31] thing the best I can do it that's
[36:33] success
[36:36] absolutely
[36:38] all right so let's keep moving
[36:41] what's your typical day look like Sean
[36:46] well the first thing I do every day is I
[36:49] I don't let the world control me you
[36:51] know I don't I don't let the world start
[36:53] directing my thinking if you want to
[36:55] live like a battery charge of the human
[36:57] Spirit if you want to live with someone
[36:59] who is capable motivated powerful and
[37:02] resourceful you've got to learn to
[37:04] control the computer that sits on your
[37:06] shoulders
[37:07] your brain and the way you do it is the
[37:10] way I do it is the very first meeting I
[37:13] have every day is with myself
[37:15] it's it's asking myself three questions
[37:17] every single day number one
[37:20] what am I excited about doing today
[37:23] come on Sean what are you excited about
[37:25] doing today because if I can plant
[37:27] excitement in my soul from the very
[37:30] beginning
[37:31] I've got a good chance of living an
[37:32] exciting day number two
[37:35] who can I serve today
[37:37] who can I Empower who can I encourage
[37:39] what one person can I really Target
[37:41] today
[37:43] question three
[37:44] what am I grateful for today
[37:48] because it's easy in life to start
[37:49] thinking about all the things we don't
[37:51] have
[37:52] it's harder in life to be grateful for
[37:54] the things we do have
[37:57] that's how I start my day number one
[37:58] what am I excited about doing number two
[38:00] who can I serve number three what am I
[38:03] grateful for so from the very beginning
[38:06] of the day
[38:07] I'm programming the computer that sits
[38:10] on my shoulders I'm programming my brain
[38:12] so that whatever happens in the day I've
[38:14] got a better chance of being of living
[38:17] successful I have a better chance of
[38:19] leaving a living purposeful I have a
[38:22] better chance of living passionately
[38:25] because the thing that we know is that
[38:28] life is tough it punches Us in the gut
[38:30] every day it you know knocks us down and
[38:32] if we're not controlling what we're
[38:34] thinking pretty soon the world starts
[38:36] controlling what we think
[38:38] and and so that's that's that's the
[38:40] number one thing I can share with people
[38:42] is from the very beginning of your day
[38:44] take control of yourself
[38:52] thank you and you you did touch upon
[38:56] your goal setting uh goal setting method
[38:58] but
[39:00] holistically what's your goal setting
[39:02] method and how do you achieve them
[39:07] well when I was first starting a long
[39:09] long long long time ago ago I created an
[39:12] accountability system called soar
[39:14] s-o-a-r
[39:16] and it's really it's it's really a
[39:19] four-step plan that I have in achieving
[39:21] every goal that I go for It's s seeing
[39:24] the dream making sure that my goal is so
[39:25] crystal clear that I can taste it smell
[39:27] that breathe it I know what I want s
[39:30] seeing the dream oh
[39:33] organizing the dream into a step-by-step
[39:36] plan what is step one step two step five
[39:39] step ten that I need to take to make my
[39:43] dream happen s seeing o organizing the a
[39:48] stands for
[39:49] acting taking action on that dream it's
[39:52] it's one thing to have things written
[39:54] down and to have ideas about what I want
[39:55] to do it's a whole nother thing
[39:58] about taking action on them so every day
[40:00] I take action on it I don't go home at
[40:02] the end of the day and sit my butt in
[40:04] front of a TV and buy imaginary vows
[40:06] watching Pat and Banna
[40:08] but I take action on it seeing
[40:11] organizing acting finally are of sore is
[40:15] rejecting rejecting failure rejecting
[40:19] stinking thinking rejecting defeatist
[40:22] attitudes rejecting the people that say
[40:23] you're not going to do it rejecting my
[40:25] own thoughts of saying I can't do it
[40:28] that's what I do that's how I tackle
[40:30] every goal I do is without four stop
[40:32] start that four step plan s see the
[40:36] dream oh organize the dream into a
[40:38] step-by-step plan a take action on that
[40:40] plan every day R reject any failure that
[40:43] I have and keep going and going and
[40:47] going
[40:50] amazing
[40:54] that was so did you did you come up with
[40:56] that
[40:57] yeah I did and I'll tell you the story
[40:59] behind it I it was at that 7-Eleven many
[41:01] many many many many years ago when I was
[41:03] floundering when I was living in the
[41:05] back of a van when I had nowhere to go I
[41:07] had less than 400 to my name and I was
[41:10] stocking coolers from 12 midnight to 8
[41:12] A.M it was a weekend in San Diego and I
[41:15] was out on the beach
[41:17] and all of a sudden as I was out there
[41:19] feeling depressed and stressed about not
[41:21] being able to create any kind of success
[41:24] jobs were rejecting me and I was feeling
[41:26] really bad about myself and I was just
[41:27] out there with the seagulls and I
[41:30] stopped on the beach
[41:31] and I watched one particular seagull he
[41:35] was standing on the edge of the water
[41:37] he was staring straight out into the
[41:40] ocean
[41:41] staring like what what are you looking
[41:42] at dude what's out there he was staring
[41:46] out there and then that seagull turned
[41:48] and he looked at me and he stared like
[41:51] he knew what I was thinking
[41:53] and then he took off and I was watching
[41:56] I was mesmerized by this seagull he took
[41:58] off from the coast and he flew straight
[42:01] out into the ocean and he kept on flying
[42:03] where is he going why is he afraid look
[42:06] how high he is doesn't he know all that
[42:08] water's down there doesn't he know that
[42:10] he could fall and drown where's he going
[42:11] there's no land and right there I
[42:14] decided I want a sore
[42:17] like that seagull
[42:20] I want to live a life that's bold like a
[42:24] soaring seagull I want to live a life
[42:27] that takes risks unafraid of the water
[42:30] below unafraid of the heights above like
[42:33] that seagull
[42:36] so it came to me
[42:38] in that Vision right there to soar
[42:42] see the dream s
[42:44] organize the dream into a step-by-step
[42:47] plan
[42:49] oh
[42:50] take action on that dream a
[42:54] reject failure that comes your way and
[42:57] keep going r s o a r I owe it all to
[43:03] that one moment on a beach when I was
[43:06] absolutely not certain of where I wanted
[43:09] to go and from that one moment in an
[43:11] encounter I learned how to soar in my
[43:14] life
[43:15] wow
[43:21] and you kept that with you you you you
[43:24] remember you kept that
[43:27] with you first for so long and you have
[43:30] achieved so much you have implemented
[43:32] that implemented it in your life
[43:35] for so many things so many Journeys
[43:38] every single goal that I do I still use
[43:40] soar
[43:42] Sean what is it that specifically that
[43:44] you want what is it what is the specific
[43:47] goal because how can we ever go
[43:50] somewhere if we don't know specifically
[43:51] where we want to go so that s becomes so
[43:54] important seeing seeing the dream with
[43:57] my mind's eye seeing it in the back of
[43:59] my head seeing it so much that I breathe
[44:02] it feel it sense it with every fiber of
[44:04] my being I know what I want
[44:08] than taking that dream and say okay
[44:10] great it's you know what you want
[44:14] but what are the steps what are the
[44:15] steps I've got to do to get there what
[44:18] is the step that leads to the next step
[44:19] that leads to the next step what are
[44:21] those
[44:22] and then reminding myself every day
[44:24] looking at that plan and saying man what
[44:26] are you doing today to take action on
[44:27] that plan what are you doing today to
[44:30] take action on that next step and then
[44:32] all of a sudden having those days where
[44:33] you go crap
[44:35] I'm not going anywhere I'm not moving
[44:37] it's not happening rejecting that
[44:39] thinking man going back to the plan am I
[44:42] missing a step am I thinking what do I
[44:44] need to do next
[44:46] I live sore
[44:48] and in living sore
[44:50] I became a millionaire by 30 an
[44:53] entrepreneur my whole life
[44:55] I've written seven books two have hit
[44:57] number one on Amazon and motivation and
[45:00] self-help I've traveled to 50 created
[45:03] adventures in 55 countries I've created
[45:06] a day in America recognized by
[45:09] 528 mayors
[45:11] I've had a speaking tour in the
[45:14] Philippines attended by 20
[45:16] 000 people
[45:18] I have a Blog that's been subscribed to
[45:21] by thousands of people
[45:24] I've walked across eight countries
[45:26] I've rode a bike across the U.S twice
[45:29] and it's all because I know what I want
[45:32] hmm
[45:35] period
[45:39] you definitely do
[45:42] I know have you have to leave by 5 55 so
[45:46] I will
[45:47] move to the last few questions is there
[45:50] any question for me Sean
[45:52] yeah what do you want to do next what's
[45:55] your next
[45:57] I know in my prison that I wanted to
[45:59] take it uh want to invest into this we
[46:02] want to make it big
[46:04] I am seriously considering going to
[46:07] Spain or somewhere in Europe and work
[46:10] from there my wife is on page with me
[46:13] so we might do that this year beyond
[46:17] that I don't know what I want I don't
[46:21] know what I will be doing in next 20
[46:25] years what I've what I know though that
[46:28] either this passion of writing and now
[46:32] video and and helping the people I will
[46:37] take it to something which will become
[46:40] my retirement gig which which Could
[46:42] Happen by end of next year or five year
[46:45] but that's that's where I'm going that I
[46:49] will get into something that I will keep
[46:53] to rest of my life and then
[46:56] um
[46:57] I don't know it
[46:59] kind of the blur vision
[47:02] yeah really quickly because we do have
[47:04] to tighten this up I'll tell you what
[47:05] I'm not a believer in what you want to
[47:07] do 30 years from now because how the
[47:09] heck do you even know I'm not even a
[47:11] believer in what do you want to do five
[47:12] years from now because how did the heck
[47:13] do you even know because people change
[47:16] things change dreams change I am a
[47:18] believer in what do you want to do today
[47:19] I am a believer in what do you want to
[47:22] do this week I am a believer in figuring
[47:24] out what do you want to do this month
[47:25] and I am a believer in what do you want
[47:27] to do in 2022 because when you start
[47:29] with doing those everything else grows
[47:32] and opportunities open so right now you
[47:34] you know you want to do the podcast you
[47:36] know you want to go to Europe and live
[47:38] you know you want to do that man you
[47:40] know what you want to do go do those
[47:42] things so the next question I'd ask is
[47:44] what job do you want to do over there or
[47:46] how do I start looking for a job over
[47:48] there because you already have the plan
[47:51] don't be I don't think you should be
[47:53] trying to measure your Five-Year Plan or
[47:55] your 15 or your 30. I don't believe in
[47:57] that anymore I've been there done that
[47:59] doesn't work
[48:00] actually on the job site my current job
[48:03] will allow me to work remotely so I have
[48:06] job oh my gosh then you've got it thank
[48:08] God I just didn't figure place where to
[48:11] go and what okay the next house or
[48:13] something yeah what country do I what
[48:16] continent do I want to live on you don't
[48:18] know what country do I want to live in
[48:21] from there research what city
[48:27] this is it I'm doing this
[48:30] of course you're doing it it was your
[48:32] whisper dude it was your whisper you got
[48:34] to go be you got to be clear you got to
[48:36] be true to your whisper right
[48:39] you made me believe it yes
[48:43] and you know you can because you started
[48:44] this podcast you know you're you know
[48:46] you can you know you're strong enough in
[48:48] couraging US courageous is enough and
[48:50] brave enough and bold enough you know
[48:52] you can now you just gotta say
[48:55] especially when you got a partner who's
[48:56] willing to walk by you your wife now you
[48:59] just say let's make it happen man let's
[49:01] make it happen this is where we're going
[49:03] and this is what we're gonna do and then
[49:05] you and then don't even say You're Gonna
[49:07] live there for two two years let's just
[49:09] start with six months let's just go to
[49:10] six months man let's not overwhelm
[49:12] ourselves for two years let's just go
[49:14] six months and then after six months we
[49:16] decided we stay right yeah
[49:19] so if you want to get to the big goal we
[49:22] learn to take baby steps better we don't
[49:25] jump off the cliff
[49:27] on day one right
[49:34] anyway I hope
[49:37] that this conversation has been of value
[49:38] to you I hope that
[49:41] this conversation will be a value to a
[49:42] listener and I know that certainly
[49:45] this chance to communicate with you has
[49:47] been of value to me
[49:49] I love every minute of it your message
[49:51] to the audience Sean that's the last
[49:53] question I have
[49:56] foreign
[49:59] remember that fact every single day
[50:01] because when we remember that fact every
[50:03] single day
[50:04] it allows us to give a little bit more
[50:06] push into the world of pushing our best
[50:09] into the world and when we push our best
[50:11] into the world at the end of our life I
[50:13] think we would have found our best
[50:15] potential
[50:18] thank you so much Sean
[50:20] my privilege my pleasure
[50:22] in in being on your show much much
[50:25] gratitude thank you so much for the
[50:27] chance to share a moment in time with
[50:29] you
[50:30] thank you so much for coming we will be
[50:34] connected I will tell you my plans and
[50:37] when I go there I will send you my
[50:38] pictures
[50:39] awesome awesome there you go there's
[50:42] your accountability and I look forward
[50:44] to that man and when you do it I have a
[50:46] chance maybe I'll even write a blog
[50:47] someday about this courageous dude go on
[50:51] a podcast told me what he was gonna do
[50:53] and he ended up doing it be the guy in
[50:56] life that said that says this is what
[50:58] I'm gonna do and do it because all of us
[51:02] get inspiration from that guy
[51:05] thank you
[51:08] create a great day and I look forward to
[51:10] hearing from you again soon especially
[51:11] seeing pictures of you living in some
[51:14] very cool place in some little part of
[51:16] the world far far away from where you
[51:18] are now
[51:20] have a great weekend Sean thank you so
[51:23] much again thank you my friend create a
[51:25] great day bye