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149: Activate Your Inner Beast with Coach Micheal Burt · Harder Than Life

• 0:07
  I'm Kelly Siegel, and this is Harder Than Life, a podcast about self-love, self-awareness, business, and health. We tell outrageous stories and boil everything down to simple, practical advice you can start using today. Let's get living.
• 0:23
  All right, welcome back to the Heart of Life podcast. Today, I got a real good friend and an awesome dude. Coach Michael Burt is the leading authority on activating prey drive. The instinctive ability to pursue goals with intensity and persistence. As the visionary behind The Greatness Factory and a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Coach Burt has spent over two decades empowering top performers to transcend their limitations and achieve extraordinary success.
• 0:52
  Buckle up and enjoy this episode because he's going to bring the energy. Welcome, my friend. Thank you so much, man. Thanks for great to reconnect with you and excited to be with you today. You know, I'm not even going to start with my question. I ask, how do you have so much energy? I literally watch you. You're in a different city every single day and everything I can to just be a father, a business owner and read and get this stuff going. How do you do that?
• 1:19
  You know, I think it's because of kind of the world I came from, which was athletics. And, you know, as a basketball coach, we really didn't recognize time systems like we start at this time and we end at this time. I mean, when I got into the business world, I thought, this is how you go, man. This is how you go. It's like it's like you come in early, you stay late, you stay until you figure out a way to win. And so it kind of became a way of life.
• 1:40
  from 19 to 31. And then when I got in the business world, it's like everybody moves so slow. It's like, you know, it's like we're dealing with turtles here, not cheetahs. And, you know, and then along the way, I got serious about my health. We go to one of the top doctors in the world in Houston, Texas Wellness Center. I've got, you know, supplements and things that keep me healthy and work out and all those type things. So just try to know that energy is a currency.
• 2:04
  And a lot of people pay me for that energy to come in and get their businesses where they need to be. And if I'm not at a very high level, there's no chance in hell that we're going to get their businesses to a high level. You know, that's the way I look at it.
• 2:16
  that was such a good answer because I'm glad you did just say, I love what I do. And the whole can answer, but you, you just gave energy as currency. That's great because you're absolutely right. And on top of that, you just gave about five more things, get your health in order, exercise, take care of yourself. And, and, and that's how I try to do. I'm actually battling a sickness right now. My daughter brought something home. You got little ones you'll see. So I have listened to you. I've read the book. I get to know you.
• 2:45
  What exactly is this prey drive and how can somebody flip the switch to activate it? Well, prey drive is really prevalent in an animal. And that's where I first uncovered the word is at a workshop where a gentleman was breaking down prey drive. And I was fascinated by.
• 3:03
  When you write as many books as I have, you're always looking for a fresh twist on an old way of thinking. And that's called Vujardé, right? I'm looking for a new twist, a new way to say something old. Motivation's been around for years. Inspiration. And when I heard Pray Drive, I'm like, okay, I'm interested.
• 3:23
  Then I looked it up and animals are built in a stall, capture and kill prey. And then I had a big revelation that humans have a prey drive. What is it? Then I began to codify, deconstruct it. I studied the top 20 motivational theories. And then I really came out with my own theory of motivation, which is what you read in Flip the Switch. It's like, that's my theory of motivation, which is related to activation of a deep drive. There are certain things that activate and trigger that drive.
• 3:53
  Another level. You're at a freakish level. Okay. But, but the prey drive has to be activated. And Kelly, the truth is most people live their entire lives and this drive is not activated or it's laden or undeveloped. When you say that when it's activated and you're going, is there any point in, and I didn't read this in the book, but is there any point in that time when that thing's activated, it's truly activated that you're meeting resistance and you got to readjust? Yeah.
• 4:21
  Yeah, I think as you move toward the aiming point, what I would call the B goal, right? You wake up and you're at A and you're trying to get to B. There is going to be all kinds of resistance. It's going to take longer than you thought. It's going to be harder than it was. It's probably going to cost more. There's going to be more sacrifice. The reactivation of the prey drive.
• 4:41
  Right. It's why it's so important that we go to bed tired and we wake up hungry because I got a young lady on my team that's, you know, former military. And, you know, she tells me it's second to second, sometimes minute to minute. You can be up one minute down the next minute. You could be highly activated one minute.
• 4:56
  and be down in the dumps the next minute. So just understanding the psychology of that. And I go through that too. I mean, I am in my 33rd year of coaching people, although now I'm involved in bigger plays, building an $8 million building in downtown Nashville. I've got a private equity firm.
• 5:11
  I'm raising capital, got several different funds where I'm doing bigger deals. But I fight the same thing that the people I coach do, right? There's periods where you're highly rejuvenated. There's periods where you're in mechanical. There's periods when you're in burnout. And so how do you, boom, flip it? It's like, I'm on, I'm ready. Let's do this. And that's really what I became fascinated with when I wrote that book.
• 5:32
  It was so good. It was a page turner. I literally, I laugh when people say that. Oh, you don't understand. My story is different. We're all battling the same things, no matter where you're at. And it's the same thing. I own one of my companies as an IT company. It's like, well, you don't understand. Let me tell you how my business works. We rely on the internet. We rely on the phones. I'm like, you don't say.
• 5:52
  all in this together we're all battling the same things it's how do we and the funniest thing about is we're actually hitting it the answers with the same one so you went into the basketball coach stuff but how did your experience as a championship basketball coach shape your philosophy on motivation and success the pursuit of something for over a decade to accomplish it
• 6:13
  the feeling of being the best at something, you know, and in sports, what I love about sports is at the end of the day, man, there's one champion. It's not 10 champions. It's like you, you, you scratch and claw, you get beat, you learn, you get back up, you fight again, you keep going until one day it's like, you're standing in the middle and you're the best. And there's nobody at that time.
• 6:35
  in that arena, in that place, that is better than you. On any given night at the table, anybody can win and anybody can lose, man. And that shaped me from our understanding, a lot of the language I use. We go to bed tired. We wake up hungry. It all goes to zero at midnight, right? There comes a time when winter asks what you've been doing all spring and summer. Because in sports,
• 6:57
  nobody cared if we won on Tuesday. Like we have to play again on Friday and people on Friday didn't care if we won on Tuesday. And I got into the business world and I would hear things like, well, we have quarterly goals. And, you know, I'm like, forget that, man. We got daily goals and we're trying to hit a number every day. And then if we compound that number every day, then we get our weekly goals. All right. So it's like I brought a level of intensity to the companies I was coaching that were really operating at a low frequency, in my opinion. And
• 7:26
  And that raised the level of performance of everybody. Five minutes in it, I'm already all fired up. And I just love the energy you bring. I'm feeling better already. So I have one for you. Second's the first loser. Yeah.
• 7:38
  Yes, I remember. And I don't know if I'm proud of this, Kelly, but I was telling my wife one day back when in the coach, a lot of people don't know me during that coaching year because it was 20 years ago, but I was so intense. And we finished second in a tournament in Florida. And I was just livid that we went that far from Tennessee to play in Florida. And I had the bus driver while we're driving down the road. I'm like, open the door.
• 8:03
  It's like, what do you mean? He's like, we're driving. I said, I don't care. Open the door. He opens the door. And I threw this second place trophy out. And I just out on the side of the road. And I turned around and looked at my team. And I said, man, we're never going that far again to finish second. And it was like some of it I thought was probably a little extreme. But then I look back and go, that's why we became one of the best teams in the country. You know, it was that extreme about winning and losing.
• 8:29
  Do you know what? Martin Luther King said this to what you don't hate, you will tolerate. Yeah. And if you don't hate losing or you don't hate mediocrity, you probably got a lot of it in your life. Yeah. Where there's no pain, there's no change.
• 8:46
  And that's true of almost anything in life. So I hate that, that as humans, we have to experience that. But it is truly in a business. You don't change until you're sick of tired of getting incremental growth. You don't move with your body. You don't go to the gym until you get sick of seeing yourself underperform. You don't like it's like that's just human nature, man. We start with good intentions. We fail to follow through. We experience guilt, which is why we need coaches.
• 9:15
  That's why we need trainers. That's why we need people holding us accountable. So tell us about the five activators of the prey drive. It's in the, in the book that we got sitting up here. If you guys are watching this on YouTube and seeing his hands, this is beautiful background. I think you're in Nashville right now, right? Yeah. I'm sitting in my office at the greatness factory, man. I can't wait to get down there and check it out of downtown Nashville. It's vibrant. And yeah, the activators of prey drive. It's like what flips the switch. And there's a lot of activators of prey drive, right? Yeah.
• 9:44
  But what I noted in the book were five. One was fear. Fear could be a failure. Fear could be of embarrassment. Fear could be of fear of rejection. But we got to use it. We got, instead of causing it to contract, we got to say fear is our friend. Thank you, Aoya. Thank you, Aoya. I feel a little afraid about this. I'm moving forward. I'm expanding versus contracting, right? Number two was competition. You need a trophy to win, a game to play, something to pursue. You need something to pursue.
• 10:14
  Number three, environment. You need to be in a great environment. It's why I built the Greatness Factory of Nashville. It's 8,000 square foot, three levels. You walk in the front door and it's like, boom, I'm ready to play at a bigger level. Number four, exposure. I see something. I go there in the mind before I go there in the body. I'm around something that expands my thinking. And then five was embarrassment. It's like, man, I'm embarrassed by where I'm at today in comparison to what I'm capable of doing.
• 10:43
  Okay. And that embarrassment is like, I ain't doing that again. Let's go. Let's play as Antia. Let's get better. So these are five, what I would call activators or prey drive that I wrote about in the book, flip the switch. So you said fear is your friend. The faster you figure it out, the better off you'll be. And then one of my favorite ones are the quotes of the book is this winners. Don't wait for inspiration. They initiate action. What was it? Somebody said this to me the other day. And I'm sure that you said this many times. Winners lose more than losers do. When you're a big time person, you know,
• 11:13
  You make up your mind that you don't lose, you just learn.
• 11:17
  And the way you have a quantum leap, which is a significant jump, is you fail your way to it. If you knew how to do it, you would have already done it. So I didn't know how to build an $8 million building until I built it. You know, I didn't know how to write a bestselling book until I wrote it. I didn't know how to win a championship until I won it. But I did have an aiming point and I did go, this is where I'm going. I want to be at a bigger table and I want to invite people to a seat at a bigger table. See, I didn't know how to raise capital until I started raising capital. The prey drive is the instinct to move toward it. It's like, I'm doing it.
• 11:46
  I'm doing it. I'm moving toward it. Okay. And then I'm going to fail my way through it with the help of a lot of people, but we're just going to keep moving, man. We're going to keep the trains moving. Michael, is the, is the, is the prey drive a lot like what keeps us alive? That, that fight or flight is, is that a good example of it, but it's for good. There's a dark side to prey drive. There's a survival, but, but the truth is.
• 12:10
  That's actually what activates it many times. Like when you think you could lose everything, when you got to make it work, when you got to make a payment on the car, when you got a 50 or $60,000 note a month, you're going to do it. It's like, man, you got to figure it out. It's like, man, I got to figure it out Friday here. Okay. So I'm going to get into action. So it prompts you to take an action.
• 12:29
  that you, that naturally you may not feel like doing, right? Like I don't feel like prospecting, but I do feel like having this building and to have this building, I got to do something, okay? So, or I like a nice car. So I do, to have a nice car and I know you're, you like the boat, you know, to have a boat, I got to go out and do something, right? And that's what activates the prey drive, man. And there's a lot of things that activated. Like when you really look at environment, environment,
• 12:54
  It's like what environments activate my prey? I'm most activated when I'm here doing this with these people and I'm playing at a high frequency and I'm pursuing something big and I'm in the gym in the morning and I'm up at this time. And it's like, that's when you know, it's like the perfect scenario for the prey drive to be activated. So you speak in my language, that's why I like you. All those things, I always pay attention to who I'm around, where I'm at, when do I feel good?
• 13:22
  whoever. Anyways, every time I see you and you talk about the greatness factor, you light up. So it's a hub for high achievers, but what makes it so unique? The way the environment is structured makes it unique. It's in dance. It's like very, it has a lot to do with the, the,
• 13:41
  The location, it's in downtown, downtown Nashville. There's always energy and movement. You're two blocks off Broadway where people come to chase a dream. It's like people that are coming here have a desire to do bigger things. So you're around other people. You're not around low frequency.
• 13:59
  I always tell people it's not like startups that are scrappy, but they don't have any money. It's like still that scrappy nature with other people that are actually doing something. They're running successful businesses. They have cash to invest. They're looking for bigger plays. And that's really what makes it different. So it's not co-working. It's more of an activation hub.
• 14:22
  of expansion at the end of the day. You come here and you walk away and go, now that was cool. And I spent a fortune to build this thing out. So it's not like a regular office building, like the glass and the theater and the way it's structured and the way it's like, it's like when you come in, you know, I've had people worth $500 million walk through there and go, now this is interesting. This is cool. Okay. And so I was looking for something that was unique, novel, different, something that would, people would go that I'm activated when I'm there.
• 14:51
  I noticed there's different levels of it. And then you do like, is it a monthly membership and you can get access and then you can rent. Give us the whole rundown because you're so proud of it. And I cannot wait to get there and check it out and do some recordings. So basically you become a member at the greatness factory and there's various membership levels.
• 15:09
  Some of those levels include a private office, wherever you come to town, you have your own private suite. Some of those include, you say, I want to rent the theater. I want to rent your podcast studio. All of that is available for rent just to anybody. But the basic membership models, you know, of being coached by me, start at 500 bucks a month, goes to 1500, goes to 2500. And when you get up in the 2500 range, some of those people have private suites. So it's not ridiculously crazy, but it's a membership where you're coming and you're involved with other people who are combining the real estate
• 15:38
  with the coaching. Okay, so you're coming to the Greatness Factory. If you live in another state, you can get it virtually, but the packages at the higher levels include live events with me. I typically coach two to three days per month live. So like today, people are starting to come in from all over the country because I'm coaching live tomorrow on the psychology of expansion. And then on Thursday, I do package your purpose. And then we got a big event this weekend called the Blue Marlin, which is about raising capital. So there's always something happening
• 16:08
  at the Greatness Factory, and your membership gets you entry, there's three levels I work on with people. Number one, I got to activate you. Flip the switch. Habits of the top 1%. A to B. Language of winning. Then I move to activation of the business. How do I get the lead generation? Follow-up. Conversion. Excess cash. Then I expose you to all these investment opportunities, what I'm calling the third dimension of my coaching, which is you can literally invest with me in my private equity firm,
• 16:35
  We're doing big real estate deals right now. You can invest in data center funds that I have called Blue Marlin Capital, or you can invest in publicly traded companies that I'm associated with or on the board of directors of.
• 16:45
  did you come up with this download i've gotten to know you and it's you're so unassuming that i shouldn't say unassuming that was a terrible word i apologize you're just a manly man you're just a you're one of the guys and all of a sudden you drive flying around on a private jet you build an eight million dollar building and you're going to take it to other places so people want to know someone's listening to the podcast how do i do that how'd you where'd you even come up with the idea
• 17:10
  First step was just being around, starting at 18, literally at 18 years old. I was introduced to Stephen Covey. I studied under Covey from 18 to 25. I was always being coached by somebody, Kelly. Always being in a room. And then I started to...
• 17:26
  skill up enough to be in the room with other great people. Then I figured out ways to kind of map sales skills to, to, to do things with other people. Like right now, I'm doing a coaching program with Price Pritchett. Pritchett wrote a quantum leap strategies, 82 years old. One of the great psychologists of our time, he sold $80 million worth of books. And I went to him and said, I'd love to coach with you. Could we put a program together? And
• 17:53
  He said, yes. So it's like now I'm in a room studying under one of the great psychologists of our time. And every time I do this, I skill up a little bit more and I learn something new. And then I started going, man, I'm interested in this private equity and raising capital and doing deals. And so I started studying that. And then I partner with people who've really done it. And they educate me a lot about this is how we do it at a bigger level. So it's kind of like the culmination of all these things together that activate my prey drive to keep doing bigger things, man.
• 18:24
  What did you want to be when you were a kid? All I ever wanted to be was a coach, to be honest with you. And I became a coach and then became a championship coach. And it's like, all right, what's the next move? And then I figured out around 30 years old, I have all these entrepreneurial skills.
• 18:38
  It's like I really do understand the game of being a businessman and entrepreneurs and monetization and packaging. And that was kind of a latent and undeveloped talent that I really didn't know I had until around 30. And then I started using that skill to start the coaching business. And then it's like, all right, man, how do I get a seat at a bigger table? The sports world.
• 18:59
  And business world, my first job out of college, literally, that was the last question that the owner asked me was, did you play high school and college ball? Because he liked people that understood the competitiveness of what it takes to win. It's the same in business as it is in any kind of sports. Yeah, I mean, it does. I mean, like I thought when I retired from basketball coaching that I was just going to
• 19:26
  I don't know if I thought I would work less, but you don't. I mean, you just replace that passion with another passion.
• 19:33
  And it's like people say, what do you watch sports? Do you, you know, do you miss the game? I'm like, man, I ain't got time to miss the game. Like I'm traveling around the world, coaching people. Like I barely got time to watch a game, you know, let alone miss the game. Cause I just replaced one passion with another passion. And, uh, and that season of my life was over. Like I worked the muscle as hard as I could. I got to the top. I go, thank you. I owe you. It's time for the next, it's time for the next big deal.
• 19:58
  Do you have a schedule that you would hold to when it comes to like, I travel on these days. So your kids know when dad's going to be around and you big top achievers, massive high achievers always have their schedule like locked in is your calendar. You're your King. Yeah. I use a time system like an athlete. I rest, I practice and I perform. Okay. So I have rest periods where I'm off resting, rejuvenating. I have,
• 20:27
  Backstage periods where I'm more involved in strategy, thinking, creation. And then I have performance periods. Now, a lot of my work is based on speaking and I speak around the country. And that is hard to determine, you know, when those are going to be. Some people have conferences on the weekends. So I really kind of look at it week to week, month to month, which days I'm going to be on the road, which days I'm going to be home, all of those things. And then we kind of work backward from that.
• 20:55
  So I'm going to ask you a question for me. I'm having a really tough time resting right now because when you're in our kind of alpha mindset and winning and you see the opportunity to help so many people, even when I think I'm resting, I'm really in the – what was phase two where it's the –
• 21:15
  Yeah, like backstage. Yeah, you create backstage. I feel like if I take time to myself to rest, my mind starts going. Yeah. What would your advice be for someone like me that does it? Mine just doesn't seem to turn off when they're supposed to be, quote unquote, resting. You know, when I was coached by Dan Sullivan through strategic coach, he had these three days, right? We were off completely. We have backstage and we have on stage. And it just drove me crazy because I'm like, there's no way.
• 21:45
  When I'm off. And I would say, well, what if my buddies come over and we're talking business? And he said, well, you're not off. What if you're right? And his point was an artist and an athlete cannot perform at the highest levels without rest.
• 22:00
  Okay, so if you ever look at like artists, a lot of times artists that travel when they're off, man, they goof off, they play basketball, they do nothing all day. They literally just goof off. Then they have to go rehearse. Then they get up there and perform for two hours at a high level and it is exhausting. Right.
• 22:18
  It's like when I speak, it's like a lot of people think, well, you're just giving a talk. It can't be that exhausting. When I get that pace, man, it's, I'm sweating. Like, like when I give a talk, I got to go take a shower. I got to wind down. I got to decompress. I got to. So I treat when you treat yourself more like an athlete.
• 22:33
  Like I need rest. I need rejuvenation. I need to change environments. I need to regroup. Then when you do perform, you're not in that mechanical mode because people can tell when you're burned out and you're exhausted and you're just going through the motions. And I don't think it's fair for the people who fly in from all over the country every month to come see me that may be average. So yeah.
• 22:56
  When I'm mapping my days out, Kelly, it's like, okay, rest day. Typically, Saturdays are rest days for me. I'm off unless I'm speaking, and I'm just rest. I'm just a dad. I play with my kids. We'll go to the park. You know what I'm saying? And then Sunday's a creative day for me.
• 23:11
  I go to church and then I get up and I get creative and I work for two or three hours in creating stuff for the week. Monday, I'm in the office, meet with my team, Tuesday through Thursday or Friday, right? It's like, but I kind of balance that out between I'm working out at this time with my trainer.
• 23:27
  I got this much time off. I really need that cycle. Or you just run me in the ground and it's like, no matter who you are, you just get into this, like, you just get sick of doing it, man. Yeah, I'm tired right now. And I'm sick. 100% my fault. I went 22 hours on Friday and it was just by accident. I was planning, planning, planning.
• 23:48
  And then I left my office to do a, just to just go get a quiet dinner by myself. I ran into some friends and got a cigar and next to, you know, sick. It's like, I knew better. You know, I need sleep. I run at a thousand miles an hour, almost as hard as you do. But not quite. So what's the difference between motivation and activation? Something neither one of us lack, but I want people to understand that motivation and activation. What's the difference?
• 24:17
  Well, the truth is, I could, I believe after coaching for 33 years, I believe I could know my purpose and still not be motivated today to do things I got to do. I think I could, I could, that's why I'm not a fan of just finding your why. I think you could know your why, like this is what I'm supposed to do. But what if I woke up today and don't feel like doing it? What if I don't feel like prospecting today? What if I don't feel like following up? What if I don't feel like doing interviews? Or what if I don't feel like doing whatever? Okay.
• 24:47
  Now I need to activate. Motivation means to move. So if I'm sitting here in the greatness factory, man, I'm feeling blah. I'm not motivated. I could get out and walk around. I could go down here on the street. I could walk across the street. I could go get a coffee. I could have some, right? It's like something I can move and get like rejuvenated. I can listen to something and get motivated. I could watch something to get motivated. Activation is I'm a pro.
• 25:10
  Right. I make millions of dollars to do what I do. OK, I got to get it. I got to be on because when I get to a city and they want me to speak and I'm speaking, it don't matter how I feel that day. I got to go up and do it right, because that's what's predicated on this whole thing. So it's like I've got to learn to initiate and the act of initiating is what does it like starting a car. Right.
• 25:31
  Like the professional football player doesn't feel like getting hit that hard on Sunday. I assure you, they don't feel like practicing that hard all week. They don't feel like going to the trainer and working out that hard, but they know how to activate, which means to initiate. That is really the difference between these two things. Motivate means to move. Initiate means to activate something. Like I'm activating this trial. Let's go. Let's do it. We're moving into battle here. So those are the two things that is a variance in the two words. Have you ever met someone who's not motivated, but activated? I tell you, that's me.
• 26:01
  I challenged myself this year to do 500 workouts. And when I said it, it sounded so easy. And then I did the math and I started doing it. And it's so hard, but I'm just absolutely, I wake up and I'm ready to do it. And I don't, I don't have to motivate. I just am activated. It's ready. I go. It's the first thing I do in the morning. Go get the first one out. I got to work out twice a day for several days.
• 26:31
  So I said 360 workouts. What's another one 40, right? That's what my, I'm not a very smart man. So, so I literally am activated all the time, but motivation. No. Well, I think it just having an awareness of what motivates, what demotivates, what activates, what deactivates, like even top performers can lack motivation. They can, you know, they, they can be activated. It sounds like to me, it's more muscle memory. Yeah.
• 27:00
  to you and like an athlete does certain things and it's just part of what they do it's kind of more of a way of life it's like i shoot 500 shots a day i work out every day i do these things every day then it's become muscle memory it's just what i do okay it's not hard to do it it's just what i do and i think for a lot of people they've never developed those habits
• 27:19
  They've never worked the muscle. They don't know what it's like. We used to have a thing that we sold where people could work with me for a day. And we called it work with a pro. And I think they paid 15,000 bucks and they came and literally worked with me for a day.
• 27:31
  and I just told him up front, I said, look, I'm not here to socialize with you, I'm not going to talk to you all day, I'll have lunch with you, and then I'll meet with you at the end of the day, you can shout on me all day long, you can see everything I do, except when I go to the bathroom, you can do everything, right, and at the end of the day, I would say, what did you learn today, and here's what they'd say, I don't work like you do, I don't have the intensity you do, I don't make the calls you do, I don't,
• 27:55
  I don't have an outbound push like you do. They're like, man, what you really did was re-enthuse my work ethic. Like, I need to work harder to do bigger things. And it's like, it's a way of life to me, though. When I'm in the car, I'm on the phone. When I'm at the office, I'm meeting with people. I'm working deals. I'm doing bigger deals. I'm trying to go to the next place. So to me, that's normal.
• 28:16
  But to a lot of people, it's like, well, let's just sit around and wait on something to happen. That's not normal to me. Yeah, everything with intention. Guys, get the book Flip the Switch because he breaks down how to do these winning habits in sales. He's got a ritual that he does every single day of how he breaks down to get to A to B. I'm not going to...
• 28:36
  go into that because I just, I want to feel his energy and share his, his overall message with you, which is, um, you, you brought up the top performers and you've worked with a lot of them across many industries. What do they all have in common? Most of them have, if you look at the top five habits of the top 1%, they've got remarkable boldness, psychological flexibility to move towards something. They've got some type of intrinsic motivation.
• 29:05
  Versus extrinsic, they've got typically great connection skills. They've got grit and resilience, and they've got ability to lock in and see something through to its conclusion. Now, most of the top performers I coach have a primary skill that is superior to other people in their industry.
• 29:26
  That matter if I'm coaching top real estate, top mortgage, top insurance, there's something about that person that is superior to other people. Could be their connection skills. Could be their remarkable bones. Could be their intrinsic motivation. But there's something about them that truly does separate them from other people. And I call that a primary skill versus a secondary skill. So you help identify that. I do. And then you bring it out and mature it and show how they can. That's brilliant.
• 29:55
  Yeah, and I typically help them package it because most of them that have had a demonstrated capacity
• 30:01
  you know, have a desire ultimately to teach other people, to pour into other people, and they want to use that skill. So it's not uncommon for a person that I coach for me to help them package their purpose, so to speak. They may move into books. They may move into teaching and coaching. They may move into, right, it's just like a natural thing. And I probably have more of an apostolic gift of helping people find those gifts, package those gifts, and then inspire them to actually bring those gifts to the world in a more expansive manner.
• 30:31
  So you guys heard of us. We all have primary skills that we can use. I think John Maxwell calls them God's gifts and what you do with them. And that's what we're talking about here. So if you think you're listening to this and there's nothing special about you, reach out to Coach Burke. Go visit the Greatness Factory. Read this book. And now it's story time, Coach. Share a story of a client who completely transformed their life after activating their parade drive. Gosh. Yeah.
• 30:58
  There's so many. I mean, I don't say that, you know, like arrogantly. I just love it. It's so crazy. This is not just a specific story, but it's a it's not to diminish your impact on people. We had a guy who got into our program for 90 days. Real estate guy, sharp, good looking, young. And he only came to one or two things with me. He really didn't even fulfill his full commitment. He paid. He paid.
• 31:24
  Schedule got busy and he only come to a few things. And so I'm thinking, you know, is the guy satisfied with what he got? Is he, is he this? And this morning after I went to the gym, I got a message from him and it was like just a note or something. And then it's like, man, you changed my whole life, man. Just a few sessions with you basically changed my whole life. And I was like, gosh, man, you just never know what kind of impact you can really have on people.
• 31:54
  through the work where you get paid to work with somebody. And that's life-changing. But it's also just the impact and influence you have of people watching you on social media, people coming to your events, of people seeing you speak, of reading your books or whatever. There's a lot of impact that's hard to measure in people.
• 32:14
  You know, and I think that this morning that guy sending me that message reminding me that sometimes it's just an interaction with the person. I could give examples of big, big time people I've been around. And it's like just being in their presence. I remember when I met Wayne Dyer, I flew to Puerto Rico to meet Wayne Dyer. I'm by myself, you know, just to shake his hand. I bought the expensive ticket to go to the VIP. Just walking in there and shaking his hand. And he was so calm and so, you know, self-actualized and
• 32:43
  I just thought, man, the guy's such a cool guy. And I never really had any interaction with him other than that. Meeting him one time was life-changing for me. So when I met Covey, you know, it was like I met him for 10 minutes. I studied his work for eight years. I met him for 10 minutes. But it's like I remember just like it was yesterday, man. It's like, man, I've known this dude my whole life.
• 33:02
  They just speak something into you. They give off the impression of increase. And I think a lot of people don't understand that just the observation of being in the presence of great people really does rub off on you. And it's like, oh man, I want to do better in my life. You are an incredibly humble human being. That's what I, I just, sorry about all the compliments. I just, I'm taking it all in and I'm enjoying every minute with you. I hope the audience is too. I know it's, you're dropping some bombs. I asked you this when I met you, what's the ring just for the audience? What does it mean?
• 33:32
  OK, so I was a women's basketball coach for 13 years, high school, and this is my favorite team that won a championship. There's 38 and three. So they won 38 games and lost three. Had my favorite player on that team named Amory Lanning. She scored 4000 points. It was just a really special relationship between a coach and a player. I mean, I love that kid so much. I tried to name my first daughter after her.
• 33:56
  My wife was like, we're not naming our kid after one of your players. And I'm like, but you scored 4,000 points. But this was just a special kid, man. It's just a kid that you have such a bond with. And that team, so I was speaking today here at the Greatness Factory. And anytime I speak, I typically wear my ring because it's tied into me knowing how to win. And...
• 34:14
  It's more of a prop. I don't wear it all the time. Like, you know, a lot of times when I'm not speaking or coaching, I take it off. And, you know, people are always afraid I'm going to leave it somewhere. But it means too much to me to lose. Trust me. Does putting that on activate something in you? Yeah. I called Tim Grover once. And he and I are good buddies. And we talk a lot.
• 34:34
  And my first ring, because you got to think this was many years ago, it got damaged from traveling. And I just called him and I said, man, I got the ring guy here. I said, out of all the rings you have, because he's got, I think, 13, six with Jordan, X number with Kobe Bryant, X number with Dwayne Wade. And I said, out of all the rings you got, which is people's favorite? And he said, that's simple. The biggest one.
• 34:54
  and I was sitting there with the ring guy and I said, make the next one even bigger. Right. And he said, this is the biggest one we can get you for your hands coach. And so, you know, when I reordered it, I ordered the biggest one they had because there is something about knowing I know how to win. Anytime you have a bad day, it's like, man, I know how to win. I've won.
• 35:13
  That's what it really reminds you of. You go back to a time and a time and place when you really crushed it and it gives you a little sense of confidence and boldness. Ooh, you went there. So that was my next thing is what the role that confidence plays in success and how someone can manufacture confidence.
• 35:30
  You know, I lost all of my confidence at 25 years old through a really bad breakup. I thought I was going to get married. I didn't get married. I went through depression. It was a really rough season of life for about six months to a year. And something about that period activated me. And I said, I'm going to study confidence. Like something told me to really dig into confidence. And so I wrote a book on it many years ago.
• 35:55
  And it was like confidence is a memory of success. That's like a psychological definition of confidence. It is the memory of success. As I've matured, I'm 48 years old now, as I've coached a lot of successful people, I started saying confidence can be converted to boldness.
• 36:14
  remarkable boldness is really what big time people have. They don't just have confidence. They literally know they can make things happen. They move toward bigger plays. They don't care if they win or lose. It's like, it's like it's a whole nother level of confidence.
• 36:29
  So the way you manufacture confidence is through consistent, ongoing, systematic repetition. You get up, you dress up, you look like somebody, you show up, you know, you do, you work the muscle. And then you become so, you just become confident, you get feedback. And the feedback says you're good at this. And it's like, all right, let's get better. Let's get better. But somewhere along the way, confidence, we can let old confidence turn into new arrogance. Old confidence, like I used to be really good at this. I used to do this. And I haven't even noticed it with me.
• 36:59
  Okay, I always, you know, we probably generated $40 million in coaching over the last X number of years. But I still hit a ceiling and I still hit certain ceilings. Now, it's so easy when you hit those ceilings.
• 37:16
  To go, I've been doing this 33 years. Like, I can't get like, it ain't my problem. It's their problem. And I brought in this new guy to work on my team as the chief revenue officer. And he came from another coaching company of a really skilled person, really skilled speaker. And he would say, coach, you know, I know you're great. I know you've been doing this a long time, but we could get better. Yeah.
• 37:37
  And this and this and this. And at first, your arrogance says, come on, man. Like, I've been doing this. I could do this in my sleep. But the truth is that arrogance becomes a liability to really get to the next level. You actually have to go back to a place of humility and go back to beginner's mind and say, show me how to get better at this. I'm hungry to get better at my talks. I'm hungry to get better at my conversion. I'm hungry to get better. And you've got to check that arrogance.
• 38:08
  Or old confidence can't convert to remarkable boldness, which is really what you want to convert to. But you got to be hungry. You got to be humble. You got to be teachable. You got to go teach me, man. I'm open. Show me how to do it better. Man, oh man, you are just dropping the bombs. I'm in that situation right now. And it's just, I am in the process of.
• 38:30
  backing up and relearning. You know, I own an IT company, we've got this brand launch, we've got a coaching program, we've got a new second book coming, we've got a lot going on. And it used to be just do, do, do, do, do, and that's how my badge of honor. And now I'm just saying, wait a minute, how can I make everybody else better and do things better? So everything you're just saying, I just, I'm in a masterclass, and so is the audience, and we really appreciate it. Because what you're saying isn't just, a lot of the coaches,
• 38:58
  A lot of these big-time guys, they just restate the same thing over and over again. And I'm throwing different questions at you at different things. I expected you to give me canned answers, and you're not. You are the real deal, and I really appreciate it as well as the audience of the Heart of Life podcast. So some people play not to lose. So how do you teach people?
• 39:19
  to stop playing not to lose and start playing to win. Well, I learned this from a guy named, I learned it first as a basketball coach because there were times that I wasn't confident and I went into prevent. I really played not to lose. And that always guaranteed losing, by the way. We'd always find a way to lose. What do they call it? Prevent the win. Yeah. It's like I went into prevent. And then I studied Nathan Zinn Sears' work.
• 39:47
  who is the psychologist that wrote A Confident Mind. He's a psychologist at West Point. So he trains all the cadets. And he talked about the sewer cycle. And the sewer cycle is a mindset that starts with one negative thought.
• 40:04
  Okay, this is going to be hard. We can't do it. What if we don't win? All it's really one negative thought produces a negative subconscious emotion. Fear, worry, doubt, insecurity. That produces a negative physiological effect on the body. It actually tightens the body up. Now I am playing not to lose, which always produces low or negative performance.
• 40:31
  Okay, the way you flip that is you understand the success cycle. And the success cycle starts with a positive thought. This is awesome. I can't believe I get to do this. These people are going to love it. This is awesome. That produces a positive subconscious emotion, excitement.
• 40:48
  enthusiasm, right? You stress, which is good stress. That produces a positive physiological effect on the body. I'm loose, man. I'm loose. I'm playing to win. I'm not playing not to lose. I'm going for it. I'm not worried about this. Okay, that really is how you solve the problem of playing not to lose, is you understand that all starts with one thought that you tell yourself.
• 41:14
  This is hard. I hate this business. I'm burnt out. I'm exhausted. I'm not any good at this. It's like, okay, now we're in the sewers. Now we're in negative town. Okay? And nothing positive. I tell my 12-year-old daughter, nothing positive happens in negative town. Ever.
• 41:31
  Negative town is nothing but negative. There ain't no positive in negative town. So do you know how many adults that I coach go to negative town? People that work on my team. They're around me all the time. Me, me, I can go to negative town. I can, I can, but it's like, hey man, I don't stay there. Even if I stop by for a minute, I'm not staying.
• 41:51
  So I'll tell the audience, they probably heard it a thousand times. What I do is I just name it and I laugh. I go, there you went being that because it happens. It's just going to happen. And you'll think a negative thought and then I name it. I go, oh, there's that negative thought. What part of that was true? And then I just let it go. What do you recommend when inevitably a negative thought comes in? It's like fantasizing and catastrophizing. Mm-hmm.
• 42:16
  If you have the gift of vivid visualization, that means you can see something in the mind's eye very clearly. When it doesn't happen the way you thought it would, then you can go very quickly to negative town. Okay. And so you fantasize and catastrophize. So I had a coach once who said, recognize it.
• 42:33
  Thank the brain is trying to keep you surviving. Karate chop it. So I just literally karate chop it, push it right over there. I go, man, I'm not going there today. Nothing good happens in positive. Nothing positive happens in negative town. I am at my best when I'm in physical creation. When I'm moving from mental creation to physical action, that's when I'm at my best. I remind myself of that. That's called the language of winning.
• 42:57
  It's how I talk to me. You made it sound so much better than I did. I just did the same thing. I love it. This is why you're the best. What's one hard lesson you learned on your journey to become a top coach?
• 43:08
  Who to partner with, who not to partner with. Oh, go do tell. The more you become known in the world, I wrote about this in the book, Person of Interest, the more known you become, the more opportunities you get. And they're going to come out of all kinds of places. You're going to have investment deals and partnerships and people who come to you and tell you they're going to do this for you. And, you know, I had to learn the hard way on that.
• 43:30
  So do we believe the same things philosophically? So to me, I had to get had a few knockdowns there, a few bruises, a few bad decisions. Those bad decisions cost me a lot of money. And but more than that, they cost me a lot of heartache. And I think that was a that was some big things that I've learned along the way. And be very selective about who you partner with.
• 43:52
  Because there's going to be opportunity. Like now I do some venture deals. Like you know where I'm going into a company. I'm helping that company grow. For a percentage of the exit. And that could be millions of dollars. In the exit. And so I'm really looking at that person. Going do they have.
• 44:10
  high integrity? Do they make and keep their commitments? Do they show up over a period of time? And do they have the habits of the top 1% of performers? And, uh, you know, it's so easy to get into these deals, see in the bigger play, but, but then you get into a go, man, it's miserable. 45 minutes into this. That's the best advice yet. Discernment on who to work with. And I, I, you know, I'll give you the Kelly Siegel,
• 44:34
  harder than life mentality, have a meal with them and don't pay attention to this tongue. Watch the tongue on their feet and say, are they in alignment? That's the biggest one. Have a meal. And then if you can do it, and I'm sure that you know, this Michael is get their significant other there and just observe. Yeah.
• 44:56
  And they will tell on themselves because in today's social media world, everybody's winning. If you just look at them up on social media, have you had anybody that you've gotten into business with that have been we don't say names, but I'm getting bombarded with it right now. Yeah. There's, there's people that I've done events with that. There's things that I'm like, you can become famous in today's world with no real hard skills.
• 45:25
  You know, and I think there's a lot of false positive about what how good people really are and what they're really doing and how much money they're really producing. And, you know, I mean, I think I think that's that's the world we live in today. And some people get advice from people that I'm like, I would never take advice from them. Like, I would never pay for that coaching. I would never like that. Like, it's just we don't line up.
• 45:47
  We don't line up. So I think a tendency is that we want to be famous. We want to be known. So we're willing to do things and be around people and be in that network. But then it's like, OK, who's real? Who's fake? Who do I want to be aligned with? Who do I not want to be aligned with? And, you know, and how do you attract a certain type of person to you that's in alignment with you?
• 46:07
  I'm not surprised that you're good buddies with Tim Grover. I read his book, Relentless, a long time ago. You know, when I read your flip the switch, I thought a lot about Relentless. You guys look at the world very similarly, good people. I find myself energetically attracted to guys like you and Tim. Just humble, but have had a track record of winning. And of all the people that's out there, there's probably nobody that checks on me more.
• 46:36
  Nobody that congratulates me more. Nobody that messaged me and said, I'm proud of you for this. And you're making moves more than Tim Grover. So he's just, you know, he's got a hard exterior and he really is that hardcore dude. But he's also got a side to him that really understands relationship building, really how to applaud other people, really how to celebrate success of other people. He probably better than anybody in the game.
• 47:02
  You know, and I appreciate that. And I noticed that. And that makes me want to help him. That makes me want to promote him. That makes me want to, you know, do what I can to help him, man. Do what I can to partner with him. Do what I can to support him. So share what that secret is. I mean, I think with him, it's a genuine. I mean, you got to think. This guy devoted 13 years of his life with Jordan. And that's what I'm talking about right there with. That's uncommon.
• 47:32
  to be right there by somebody's side for 13 years, to do that, to be their confidant, to be their person, to care about them as a person, to watch over them, to care about them, to work them out physically and mentally and emotionally. And, you know, I just think he really understands the concept of advocacy. I also think he really understands what it takes to play at a very high level. There's a lot of sacrifice it takes to play at a very high level. There's a lot of emotionality involved.
• 47:55
  and emotional tax to be great at what you do. And I think he really understands that. So he recognizes it in people.
• 48:02
  You know, he recognizes that killer instinct in people. He's authentic and he cares and it shows. And that's you. You're the most authentic human and you're just approachable and kind and you want to engage with people and just, I really enjoy all interactions. Guys, if you're not following Coach Burt, you know, I laugh. I was thinking about it. I was going to introduce you. You ever watch New Jack City? New Jack City. Yeah, I've seen it. Yep. So CMB, that's your initial CMB. You're the original cash money brother. Yeah.
• 48:31
  I want to be farther from what, from what you are, man. Let's send, we're going to wrap it up here, but what's, um, what do you say to people who feel stuck in life and business? I think a lot of people are stuck because they've give up on their dreams. You know, it's like one of my buddies used to say, they sit and then they settle and then they cement and then they accept it. And I think that's why the prey drive needs to be activated because,
• 49:00
  Over and over and over. It's because we sit in something and we settle in it. We go, let's see it, man. This is as good as it's going to get. And I think it's so easy, man. It's harder and harder to run a business today. It really does seem harder to go out and get somebody to commit to something.
• 49:14
  You know, there's a lot of reasons for that commoditization. There's a lot of things that are happening that's made it harder. And I think, you know, you just it's a lot of people want to give up and just they just get stuck, man. They get so stuck. It's like it's kind of like going back to the gym. So now I've got a new trainer. I've gone to the gym, you know, not like not not at the level you have, but but for a long time. But then one day I'm sitting there going, man, I need to, you know, my cardio is not where it needs to be. I really need somebody who will work me. You know what I mean? And so I hired kind of a boxing guy.
• 49:44
  And the first workout was miserable, man. I mean, it was miserable. It's like, then I was sitting there telling me, gosh, man, it's like, I've let myself settle in this cardio area that cranking that engine back up. You're so far behind getting that engine back going at that level and that pace and that intensity. And it's like, that's what happens to people is they let it go for so long. It seems so big to get it back going. It's like,
• 50:09
  man, forget it. I'm just going to stay where I'm at because it's too much to crank the engine back up. And I think that's what happens to people, man. It's too much to crank the engine up. You got to keep the engine going because if you ever shut it off and leave it off for a long time, it is hard to get it to crank. But...
• 50:24
  But it ain't going to crank up on its own unless you crank it, man. And that's like, all right. So you've got to kind of be willing to do that. I think people think of coaching like that. It's like, well, I'm comfortable. Why do I need a coach? And why do I need to be activated? They could see a thousand testimonials of people going, this dude helped me go from here to here. And I'm activated. I'm going to the Great Inspector once a month. And my business is growing. And a woman I was interviewing today said, insurance company, she said, I could have sold this company.
• 50:50
  Several years ago, no coach, no help. No. But she said, I could have gotten more money than I thought. A couple million dollars. She said, but with you, I'm talking about a 40 million dollar exit. And she said, I would have never known that if I wouldn't have got in your ecosystem. I would have never thought like that. I would have never been thinking. So think about her. She could have got a few million dollars. That's the big difference between getting that in 40 million dollars.
• 51:13
  And so she's like, this reactivated my drive and exposed me to bigger thinking. But a lot of people are like, I'm good. I don't need to do that. And it's like, you're missing out on a big, big play, man. A bigger world. It's really what you're missing out on. You just keep getting better and better. I wrote that down. Sit, settle, cement. You're going to hear a post from me about that. And I'll give you credit. Is content the same as settle in your book? No. I think I can be content and grateful for what I have.
• 51:43
  But I think I can still be complacent in certain areas of my life. So I think of contentment like I'm grateful. I'm contented. I got a good life. I think of complacent as I've allowed myself to get settled. Right. And I am my satisfied needs never motivate only unsatisfied needs. So really, it's like I've allowed myself to if you study complacency, one definition of complacency.
• 52:08
  is a general unawareness that you have satisfied that always becomes dangerous to your future. Meaning I'm going along about my life and I'm comfortable and that comfort actually satisfies. And then at some point in the future, I'm like, gosh, man, I really screwed up here. I could have, right? It's like, it's like I got lazy. I got complacent. Now it's coming back to bite me at some point in the future.
• 52:33
  hinders, endangers your future. That's a good one. Ed Milak calls it blissfully dissatisfied. I just call it happily unsatisfied.
• 52:42
  It's like whatever you got to do to just, just don't settle. Oh, that just, I hear that word and it's like, it makes me cringe. So I were up against it. If someone could take only one thing away from your book, flip the switch, which is right here. What should it be? Nothing happens until that prey drive is activated. Boom. Activation. Yeah.
• 53:04
  What's next for you, sir? Probably raising more capital. I tell people there's three things you can do with me, or there's four things you can do with me. One, I can coach and help you get a seat at the big table through a very specific formula I have.
• 53:17
  activation of you, activation of the business, activation of your wealth. Two, I can strategically partner with you, although I only typically strategically partner with people I've coached and mentored. Number three, you can invest with me. I have several funds right now, one in data centers with very high returns, one in private equity where we go buy businesses or real estate. We're doing a big real estate deal in Chattanooga right now.
• 53:40
  And the last thing you can do with me is use the physical assets that I have created, the greatness factory, my lodge in Tennessee. Like these are things that you can rent and host your own things or partner with me and me speak at your thing. So I always say there's four things you can do with coach Burke. Those are the four right there. Oh, don't forget one more referrals. Cause I made you, I sent you a referral.
• 54:02
  Yeah, yeah. Refer them to me to come to the greatest factory. Absolutely. Guys, this guy has energy and he almost always will say yes. I hate to put him on the spot, but if it's going to give back, he will show up and show out with a...
• 54:18
  box of books and bring his a game every single time so follow coach burt my friend i have your cell phone i will be reaching out we're going to do more things i'm going to get my butt to nashville i can't wait to see this greatness factory this is the first time we really got to
• 54:34
  really share and connect our story is just beginning thank you for coming on the heart and life podcast got it brother god bless you guys later buddy all right bye-bye please rate and share this podcast i'm active on all social platforms and love to hear from my seagull supporters
• 54:49
  Each and every episode is sponsored by my company, National Technology Management, the easiest and best IT company to do business with, delivering peace of mind with technology every day, even simplifying cybersecurity. Visit TrustNTM.com for more info. Until next week, be harder than life.