Latest / The James Granstrom Podcast - Super Soul Model series / Confessions of a CEO: Burnout, Power, and the Reinvention of Leadership with Tom Gegax

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Confessions of a CEO: Burnout, Power, and the Reinvention of Leadership with Tom Gegax · The James Granstrom Podcast - Super Soul Model series

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Today I am joined by Tom Gigax, the subject of the new documentary Confessions of a CEO.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: His voice may take a few moments to settle into, but trust me, his story is truly inspiring.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: And if you reflect on that 20 years from now, will you be proud of?
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the James Grantstrom Podcast Super Soul Model Series.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Today's guest is a dear friend of mine, Tom Gigax.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Tom is the chairman of the Grammarcy Fund, a socially responsible venture capitalist fund investing in over 100 companies doing good things in the world.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Tom is the co-writer, director, and the subject of the new documentary Confessions of a CEO: My Life in and Out of Balance World.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: This film is a crackling critique on the corporate America told through the true story and the eyes of Tom, a once profit over people, hard-driving, philandering CEO who transformed into an unorthodox leader, populist messenger, and mentor to some of America's most influential voices.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Featuring notable figures like Deepak Chopra, Robert F.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Kennedy, and Blue Zone's founder Don Butner, this documentary reveals the profound story of growth, redemption, and the power of self-awareness and leadership skills.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Tom has mentored former Vice President Al Gore on whether he should pursue a rematch with George W.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Bush and has guided Deepak Chopra on stabilizing and expanding his fledgling organization, which is now worldwide.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: He is also the best-selling author of the big book of small business and remains committed to inspiring positive change in corporate America.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've had the pleasure of playing a few rounds of tennis with Tom, and we actually met at a wedding back in 2011 of Martin and Sarah, and we ended up playing a lot of tennis and enjoyed each other's company a lot.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And here we are, years later, sitting down, talking about Tom's new documentary and his life story.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Tom, where did it all begin?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: This new documentary that you brought out has been a great success on Amazon and a few other places where it is, and it's uh it's really making people think differently.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let's begin at the heart of it.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: What motivated you to actually create and make this documentary?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, first I want to thank you, Jane, for having me on and reconnecting with me after all these years.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: You also had a strong impact on my life.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: So for us to come back again 20 years later is really good.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: I would like to start out by explaining my voice um to your audience.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thirty-five years ago, I had cancer and had radiation in the neck and mouth area.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: In the last ten years, the effects of the radiation has affected my my voice.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: I applaud you for having someone with a voice melody on your show.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Tom, it's not so much the words, it's the energy that you're bringing, and whether somebody is listening or watching this episode, they're gonna see the impact that you bring and have brought to the world for several years and what you're still doing now, even if you have a voice disability.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: I want to I wanted to have this conversation with you because I know what an impact, a positive impact you've had, not only on corporate America, but just on being a role model in the world.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I love your story because it is a true turnaround, it is a true comeback story.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's what makes us all so human.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I love on this episode, this podcast, the Super Soul Model series.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's just revealing our humanity and our spirit.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: We can turn things around, even if we haven't done things the way we thought they should have been, but we turn them around, and and I think that that makes it relatable.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so your story, Tom, and your new documentary, Confessions of a CEO, is so interesting.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: How what made you want to actually tell this story?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Two main reasons.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: One, as you alluded to, so many of us are struggling either personally or professionally, and as I did in major ways.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: And in my story of going from a uh really mad guy who had cancer, got cancer, divorced financial traumas.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: I learned how to turn it around and become a different person.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I felt like I needed to share all the bad things that I did and who I loved so that it would give others permission to say, hey, because so often people are shot in G L T and that actually teaches them.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: And my hope was it would say, hey, man, if he can do that and overcome that, I can as well.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it's providing hope in a way for the second reason is to shine a light on bank business.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Corporate America, we call it in the US.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh now I can't speak to what that's like in Spain or England, but large corporations are gradually taking over everything.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: They're consolidating and they're engaging mostly in bad behavior.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: The average the average CEO income.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Fifty years ago was twenty times the average worker.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that's fine.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Today it's three hundred times.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: So fifty years ago it was twenty times, and today it's three hundred times.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: And and how does that why do you need to be three hundred times your Amazon?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: No, when you were when you were first starting out in business, you started climbing the oil company.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: You were uh ascending the ranks in a big oil company in the States.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if you haven't had the chance, watch this documentary on Amazon.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's absolutely phenomenal to watch Tom's journey.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: When you mention that, I'm gonna share if they can't get Amazon where they are.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh FLTV, QB, T U B I, Room of Play.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so those are a few others.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll have all the links where you can, wherever you are in the world listening to this, there'll be some we'll have the links in this episode that you can check this out to see Tom's rise.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, Tom's first journey is one of he's not very proud of, and I think that makes it very human.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: But then to get to a point as he to to to be have some self-reflection, and and I think that's what I love about Tom's story because it is really one of introspection.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, and it's not easy to to to be human sometimes when we are just caught up in so much drama, and particularly in your case, as you were rising through the ranks of working in the oil company, only to discover you're thinking, I'm starting to behave like the people I'm surrounded by.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that is a wonderful lesson there, that you become who you are surrounded by, whether you like it or not.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: And where you put your mind and where your attention is where you're gonna go.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the first part of your journey really, when I was watching the documentary, Tom, I really thought that you were just doing what you thought was the right thing, even though it wasn't the right thing.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: In your mind, it's still the right thing, right?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: I really find it I've I've studied the mind all my life, and I've been meditating for over two decades every day, and I've just understood that the mind thinks it's right, and then when and and then you start behaving accordingly, yeah, but your story makes a turn.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So tell us what happened when you were in this period of your life, which is what I call the contrast.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, uh in one second.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing big corporations are new.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's going down to point eight percent, less than one percent today.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: So green, green, green, and their employee satisfaction rates are down, their customer satisfaction is down.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that is a summary of what I'm wanted to highlight and talk to people about how to deal with that, either within a big company or without.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, anyway, that uh that but I think that's a really important point.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if customer satisfaction has gone down, the profits of giving back has gone down, what's that saying about us as human beings?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Are we not caring for one another?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and you know, life can be challenging enough if you if you're lonely and you're by yourself.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we can't do this human journey by ourselves.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: We need others.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that if you ever explore the concept of abundance, the concept of wealth, the concept of of happiness, it's all about inclusivity of other people.
• 12:23
  unknown: Right.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that your journey of highlighting that, I think, is really amplified and made clear in this documentary, Tom.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: And giving people, giving back to the people, giving back comes from a position of I have, I'm taking care of my fellow man.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: This actually creates satisfaction.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: This creates the fulfillment that you were seeing was lacking, right?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: In these big corporations.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So what happened?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: So when you say what happened, what happened in what context?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you noticed the problem, and then Tom wanted to create or ex le or at least become a solution.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, great thing.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'd love to say that one day uh that enlightenment hit me on how I needed to trade.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: But it wasn't that I needed to be taken to the mess with cancer, liver, and my business having huge financial problems.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I was on my knees and I went to a therapist.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: I went to paraphrase like he pot and began eating differently.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: So I began a whole different way of living.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Meditating.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I I began living in a very different way.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: But therapy was you.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a male first child, CEO.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you're pretty controlling.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you're the first child, you're the male, you made CEO, and you're thinking, hang on, I'm in control, I'm the boss.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but I I I like your story because it it is one of humility.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: You've been humbled by that entire experience with the business failing, getting cancer, getting a divorce.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's gonna draw you to your knees, and that's why you went and reached out to people.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you talked about you reaching out to therapists and you you reached out to Deepak Chopra for you, uh in fact, you went to one of his uh seminars, is that correct?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that but he wasn't very popular back then.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I got to meet with him.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: There weren't that many people there, but I had heard about him.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: What year what year was this?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Was this in the nineties or was this in the eighteenth?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no, no, this was uh yeah, this is about 1990.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: About 1990.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: So uh, and then that began a relationship with me, and he mentored me.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Then eight or ten years later, I moved in and I helped him with his company.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: You helped him with his business, which is based in La Jolla, California.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right, yep.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: So you I love the way that one becomes coached, and then one can also coach, even if it's in a different environment.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And in your case, you you learn teach him the business skills, and in your case, you learn the transcendental skills.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Very well said.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: We all have our own yes to share, yes, and we need to learn.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: My I guess in summary, my goal day to day is to learn and teach.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: Learn and teach.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: There are too many people that think, oh well, I I know a lot.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I love to learn every day.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm learning from you today.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I love to teach.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: But we need to recognize that we need more.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: I I actually think that some of the best teachers are the ones that are learning about their whatever they're teaching about.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: So the more the so so in my case, what I find really funny, Tom, and I and I really love to study amazing people, and you're one of them.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: I you know, I I watched your documentary, I was so inspired, and I was watching and I and I was thinking and watching and observing, and and I was thinking, he's teaching what he needs to learn the most.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so, and so in in my case, I thought, well, that's exactly like me.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm teaching what I feel like I need to learn about.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I want to really understand how life works.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: I really want to win the game of life in my life, right?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that everybody listening and watching is feeling the same.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: I want to learn how to win the game of my at least put one step in front of the other every day and at least make it a positive step in the right direction.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so going back to very well.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a phrase when you teach, you learn.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: So let's say forward, forward.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I don't want to think that you're teaching and you you know it all, because that's not actually true.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: You're teaching and learning on the job.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: I had I had a friend who was an amazing builder, you know, a master builder, like built built the most beautiful properties.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, How did you know what to do?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: And he goes, Well, I was learning on the job.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Okay.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: He was on it.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: He was on it, yeah.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: And but you know, I what I wanted to compliment you on, Tom, is your candidacy, like how candid you were on the documentary, and how open you were and and and truthful you were about telling your story, even when it's hard to maybe share the shadow or the contrast of life.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's really hard to have to dig up, you know, the old skeletons and say, hey, I wasn't the greatest person, hey, I didn't behave wisely.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: And there was one part in that documentary where you said, you know, I've got a lot of karma to pay.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think to anybody listening, I think that Tom is a wonderful example of somebody who can get it wrong.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, we all get it wrong.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've got a history of things we all do.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yet turn it around in such a graceful way where you're making an impact on many people's lives in a positive way.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: We can't undo the things that we're not happy or proud of, but we can turn things around to try and make other people's lives better off because of what we've learned through the challenge.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you've done that really beautifully, Tom, and gracefully.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was my hope.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: That that sharing would inspire and educate on ways to navigate their lives challenging.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: If we go back a little bit to corporate America and Tom's understanding of what you've done with Tires Plus, you turned a company such as Tires Plus into a fantastic organization that has trailblazed other companies and even the Marines, I was understanding, about how to structure success, structure wellness in an environment.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us a little bit about that.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um as I learned what I learned on becoming a healthier, more whole human being, I felt the need to share that with all of my teammates at Chatter Club, not to force them to eat differently or go to therapy or whatever, but I brought in people like Deep Pope Children or John Robin, who wrote Diet for a New America.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: My my therapist and uh our teammates.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Now, a third of them said, I don't want any part of it.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Not everybody's gonna take on your strategies of health, your meditation room.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, no one's gonna take that on board.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a third of them rejected it, a third of them or a few of them maybe, and a third of them went wild and really incorporated these things in their lives.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that was okay.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: It would have been totally wrong if I had forced anything on them.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: It was just a buffet, take what you want.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: I like that, I like that.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: So a corporate culture such as Tires Plus, that was a very small organization that became a very large organization, was founded on some principles, Tom, that you created as a result of your healing journey.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I I'm fascinated by that, and I absolutely know the audience would love to know a little bit about that.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, we became a a third of a billion dollar company and 2,000 employees, teammates, we found them.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: But um what would you like to know about that other than what I just shared?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, what I really liked was what was this the spark of inspiration to create a buffet of healing and fun things that the employees, also known as the teammates, could have in their organization.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: What what what was the spark that said that's what I'm gonna do?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: The spark was as I got better and better, I felt I always feel like anything I learned, I want to share with the rest of my team.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Even before I I mean if I learn a new management uh technique, yeah uh anything I learned, I've always learned to share with them.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: So it just hit me that hey, I'm gonna share this with them too.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: So as I got better, I go, wow.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_01: I know some of our teammates have their own challenges.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna share this with them.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: It was that simple.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know there's a really interesting thing in the documentary?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: There was a gentleman or teammate that was working in Tires Plus who was very overweight and left the company when he hung up his boots, significantly healthier, happier, look good on the documentary.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in awe of just the idea that we can have such an impact when we take care of ourselves and even in a corporate environment.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: I forget the gentleman's name, but I was like, bless this guy.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: That is absolutely beautiful to hear that.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: 280 to 190.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what that is in kilograms for people in Europe, but yeah, it's quite it's quite a drop, I'm gonna tell you.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's quite a significant drop.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: And if you actually look at this gentleman now, even on the documentary, you're thinking, my golly, was that even the same guy?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, look how healthier he's become.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that can be because of someone shifting, such as yourself, Tom, shifting the way that we do things in the corporate environment.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: And your your spark of idea has helped other businesses think, hey, I'm gonna do the same as they did at Tires Plus.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let me share that.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um I wrote my book, the uh my second book, reading the game of life in my first book, then the big book of small business I wrote to be able to get other leaders of large corporations to change the way they led their company.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I went around speaking to the largest company in America, and then my voice began to become slower.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: I had to stop so now fifteen years later I said, you know what?
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna do another stab at the affecting Home America and do this documentary.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's really a docudrama.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's a docudrama, right?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: Documentary are often very vanilla.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Ours is not.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: The documentaries can be vanilla, but Tom's is actually the real deal.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's juicy.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's juicy.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want if you want to learn something, you're gonna learn something.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if you want something honest and real, that's definitely gonna be picked up and received when you watch confessions of a CEO.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um Tom, I like the way that regardless of health conditions and the voice, that you are still sharing your message.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I have a feeling that you are continuously gonna share your message, whatever life throws at you.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, it's interesting that you could be sharing such a message and making such an impact.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And even though the the throat might not be as what it was, the in the help of AI had really made an impact in the the confessions of the CEO.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: They actually managed to use AI with your original voice to tell your real story.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's fascinating.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't it?
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: How how did that come about?
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, as we were doing it, we were gonna get a narrator.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: We said, no, it needs to be you.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_01: And somebody said, there's a company called Eleven Labs that are taking you re you give them takes of your previous life, yeah, and our producer, editor, uh editor actually would read what we decided their near narration was to be.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: He read it into this and it spit out my book.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: How amazing is that.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean by the way, we disclosed that in the uh You did that in the beginning.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, in in the beginning.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: But the exciting thing that that now my voice doctor a month ago told me that within three or four months they'll have that in my own voice.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, with facial recognition and putting a microphone in one of my teeth.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, interesting, and uh having tapes of my previous mind all through other facial intelligence that when I speak, yeah, my other mind is gonna happen.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I told him, I said, I'll believe it when I see it.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: He said, Absolutely, yeah, we're the medical community is working with Lucas films, the Star Wars, yeah.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: And all of the AI and uh uh Neurolink.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: Neuralink, yeah.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: The using the brain, yeah.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Fascinating.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: So when we play so when we play tennis next, I'm gonna hear the call whether it was in or out a little bit more clearly, right?
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just talk a little bit about how you you stay fit and healthy these days, Tom, because you have managed to with that spark of uh from humble from the time of challenge, the when you were humbled, you started to change the direction of your health, you started to eat really well, you started to meditate, you took on therapy, you took on deep shopra, and you you surrounded yourself by really good people so you could learn health.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: Tell us what you're doing these days, some years later, to keep yourself in great condition, because you are in great condition, Tom, and you always have a spark of vitality.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much, Jane.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, I continue doing the things that I learned.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: Too often, James, people go through trauma and they make changes and they come out better, and they go, Oh, I don't need to do that anymore.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: I felt differently.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Hey, I want to keep feeling good, so I'm gonna keep doing what I learned.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_01: And that is every morning I sweat for 45 minutes, meditate for half an hour, every other day I played tennis for an hour and a half.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Good tennis player, Tom is by the way, just to put that in there.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: So Tom's pretty handy.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I eat very healthy.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a vegetarian.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: I eat fish, but not meat or poultry or uh pork, uh no uh processed food, uh fruit, vegetables, grains.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you've been doing that for a long time now, is that right, Tom?
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and over the year for 35 years I've been eating that way.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I mean, I've been a vegan, a raw fooder, uh married, but I landed on uh a passion.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Somewhere in the middle.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I think that your life strikes me um as though it has found significant balance for for quite some time, Tom.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that's a wonderful thing to share with the audience because if I may, if I may say you're gonna be 80 next year, which is amazing, but you do not look 80 and you do not like move like that either, which is fascinating.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can tell by the faculties of people where they they don't have that that energy, that spirit that perhaps they would, but you have taken care of yourself for such a long time that you might game.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: It I subscribe to uh pay me now or pay me later.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: So if you don't take care of yourself early on and pay the price, the time and effort and sacrifice of not eating sugar and steak and all that uh you either do that, or if you eat poorly and don't exercise, you pay the price later.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: You pay for it later.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you know, that is in congruency with my message as well, which is do everything you can now because if you invest in your health, invest in good vitality and taking care of yourself and stretching and meditating and doing things you love, you're gonna reap those rewards in 10 years.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: I always say that whatever I'm doing now, I'm gonna feel it in 10 years.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the things that I've been doing now, I've been doing now for nearly 23 years, non-stop.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the vitality I have, I was just running up a mountain yesterday, you know.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, this is normal for me, this is normal for me.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then I play, I remember like going to the gym, playing paddle, and then going for a walk afterwards and thinking this is normal for me.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: Have you noticed other people, your age, the average person, how do you see their mentality?
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, do you know it's quite interesting because the people I tend to play racket sports with are 15 years younger than me.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: Me too.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I I'm and I'm 50 now, and you know, I I've I I and when I sort of do like hiking or or running up a mountain, to me that is just normal.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's like, you know, we went with a group of people on Sunday a couple of days ago, and some of them are finding it really difficult.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, I just turn up in a pair of beach shorts and and a hoodie and good together, right?
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: So you you know, like I don't take it for granted, Tom.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't take anything for granted.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: I am so thankful for you know this body, this vehicle that I've been gifted.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the only thing I can take care of, you know, it's a responsibility.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so when people say, you know, your body is your temple, I mean it really is.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's also my playground.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I really need to take care of that playground and make sure it's well oiled, looked after, relaxed, you know, all of the things.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: So well said.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you have it in Spain.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so proud of you and the message that you're getting out there.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because many people look at quantity of life.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: I look at quantity of and quality of my life.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if we get up there and are really challenged physically, that takes some joy out of living.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't mean you can't overcome it.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: But what you're what you're talking about is quality of life and doing today what will give you that quality of life over your remaining year.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you, Tom.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Tom.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate that.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's lovely to fight find like-minded people such as your wonderful self.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, even though we've played tennis and sat down and had some great conversations in the past, when I came across your documentary, I thought, wow, that's a role model.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if anyone can see someone uh such as yourself trying to squeeze the joy and vitality out of life that you do and have impacted the people that you do and continue to do so.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: My last question really is for you, Tom is what do you hope that confessions of a CEO will do for people that watch it?
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm hoping that it will inspire and educate them on ways to overcome the challenges they have in their life.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_01: And if they're working for a large company and feel that they are not respected uh and cared for as human beings, uh telling that way to challenge their leaders in a very non-threatening way.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh asking them questions.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: Hey uh Mr.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: Jones, you feel that is healthy from the employee of our company?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: I love what you're doing here.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm wondering how you feel if that acid is actually healthy.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a very non threatening you know, you can't get a room with telling, hey, you need to do this.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: Appreciative inquiry.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciative inquiry.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciative inquiry.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think you know the quality of our questions determines a lot of our wellness and vitality and well-being.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got to learn to become great communicators.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I like that.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciative inquiry.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's good.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: I like that, Tom.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for sharing that.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Tom, is there anything else you'd like to say, just you know, to the audience, people listening in, about what you've learned on your journey so far?
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_01: I was saying that think about what you're doing today.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_01: And if you reflect on that 20 years from now, would you be proud?
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: Will you be happy with what you're doing?
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: I was doing things that gave me immediate pleasure today, but had no wisdom in mind and looking back on it that I would not be proud of it.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: Whether that is with your past or with your kids or with your fellow employees or fellow entrepreneurs.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever in your face.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: Think about what you're doing and how reflecting on that in the future will be.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: I like that, Tom.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really introspective way about how we can think.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is this action will I be proud of this action?
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: Is this a healthy action?
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because if it is, then don't do it, you know, and yeah, we might do it, but don't worry, you will have karma from that.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right, exactly.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that doesn't mean that oh God gets you, it just means that hey, yeah, it just has a way of universally coming back on it.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I and I think that's really true.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think that you see more red lights if you make poor choices.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: But if you if you start to make good choices, life becomes a little bit more easy, a bit more fluid, a lot more fulfilling.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: But only we can tell through the quality of our journey whether that choice was a good choice or not.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like learning your own your own way, walking your own path.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that reminds me um when I learned from you in the red light, green light.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I thought that was a phenomenal uh way of looking at things.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_01: And can be adapted.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: The whole idea is it can be adapted, right?
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about here.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I sometimes think that even before I prepare, you know, for an interview or I prepare for anything, I just want to give myself space and time.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I went, it's so funny, like even before I went and sat on the grass, you know, I live near a golf course, but I just went and sat on the grass for like 10 minutes because I know that choice just puts me in a really relaxed mood, which means that I'm receptive to you and receptive to a guest, or receptive to a great idea.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that that is just a little thing that I would never used to do.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: But I do it these days, right?
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's so small, or you're just going for a walk by the sea, five, ten minutes.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's something because you know, these little choices that we make produce what you said quality, not quantity.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to look back and go, Oh, I had a good moment in that day.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: I I took that walk, I was so worth it, you know.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you never guess what?
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: I picked up a phone call and it was a really nice conversation.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so it's these these choices that we all have.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: And um, Tom just wanted to say thank you so much for joining us today and and sharing your wisdom and your vitality and your energy and your story.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I really just wanted to say to everybody listening and watching, really check out Confessions of the CEO.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have all the links in there.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you're gonna learn a lot from the drama documentary.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what Tom said.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_00: There we go, from the docudrama.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, there it is.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: And um I'd just like to just reiterate, you know, Tom has helped some really notable, notable people in his career, such as Al Gore, D-Pak Chopra, uh Robert F.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: Kennedy.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, people look up to Tom because he's one of the wise men's.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, what's so lovely about Tom is he's so humble about it until he gets on the tennis court.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: So when you see him on the tennis court, he's gonna behave a little bit differently.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're going out.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_00: We've got a rematch coming up soon.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_01: Hey Jane, I'm gonna thank you for a wonderful interview.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: You are an excellent interviewer.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really proud of you.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna share much love and many blessings to you and your audience.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: Tom Gaygax is this week's super soul model.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_00: Bless you, Tom.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've enjoyed this episode, remember to subscribe and share and join our community.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: Until the next episode, wishing you a wonderful week ahead and green lights all the way.