Latest / Harder Than Life / 76: Breaking Chains & Building Dreams w/ Erik Allen

Transcript

76: Breaking Chains & Building Dreams w/ Erik Allen · Harder Than Life

• 0:00
  This episode is sponsored by National Technology Management. Visit TrustNTM.com for more information. 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.
• 0:19
  Let's get living. Welcome to the Auditoring Life Podcast. Today, meet Eric Allen, a true overcomer whose journey from a troubled past to a life of faith and fulfillment will inspire you. Despite facing adversity, Eric found hope in surrendering to his faith, building a beautiful family, and thriving in northern Idaho. Through his podcast and community work, he uplifts others, proving that with resilience and belief, anything is possible. Get ready to be inspired by Eric's story of redemption and hope.
• 0:49
  Welcome, my brother. Oh, man, I'm so excited to be here, Kelly. I'm so honored to be on your show, dude. You're an absolute world changer, man. So, so pumped to be back and chatting with you, dude. It has been a long time. I tell you, I'm going to just blindfully tell people, if you don't follow the Eric Allen show, if you don't listen to it, please head over to Spotify, iTunes, wherever you're consuming this podcast, follow the Eric Allen show. Because...
• 1:14
  This guy's had Ed Milet, Sean Whalen, Tim Story, Tony Wiley, Adley, Bedros Coulian, David Meltzer. The list goes on and on. You are a legend. And like I said, like the best kept secret. But I enjoy you immensely. I'm sorry it took so long to get you here. And I'm just excited to have you here.
• 1:35
  Oh, man, I'm so excited to be on your show, dude. Truly, it's been fun to watch your journey of putting this thing together and putting out such amazing content, man. So again, thank you so much for having me on. It's hard to believe. It's only been a little over a year, and it feels like I've been doing this. Podcasting is like dog years. We feel like we're doing it. And that's what we're going to talk a lot about because you are the OG. You took me under your wing at the very beginning and gave me all the advice, and I appreciate it. Yeah.
• 2:02
  I want to start off right with that. What inspired you to delve into the world of podcasting to help entrepreneurs get known and noticed online? You know, for me, it was really, I started podcasting in 2017. It was a, I, my first podcast was a MMA podcast called top rated MMA. I was interviewing MMA fighters, but then I came across Ed Milet on YouTube videos by chance, searching motivational videos in 2018. I was like,
• 2:27
  I want to do what that guy's doing. Like, he's talking about amazing entrepreneurs and world changers and successful-minded people. And I just started, like, sponge-watching everything that he was putting out. Like, even back to the early videos where he was like, I don't even know what this USB thing is. Like, he had no idea what, you know, what he was doing either. And I didn't either. I was in a walk-in closet. I had a 100-foot extension cord that ran around the bed in my bedroom into the closet so that I could have, you know, power on my laptop, you know.
• 2:52
  But really, when I came across Ed, I was like, dude, I want to do that. And so in 2019, I started what is now The Eric Allen Show, and I ran both podcasts from 2019 to 2021. And at the end of 2021, I stopped the top-rated MMA show after 256 episodes, and now just focused on The Eric Allen Show on episode 254 of that show just dropped this morning.
• 3:12
  Two fifty four. Congratulations. Who is the coolest person that you interviewed for the UFC? That is that you would have known that that blew up like it did. I mean, billion dollar business.
• 3:25
  Yeah, it was fun, man. I talked with a lot of up and coming fighters, a lot of amateur fighters. And so some of the interviews I had were real short because these are new guys. They don't know how to interview. They don't know how to talk. So I really wanted to give them a moment to shine. But then I got to talk with guys like Drikus, who is the current champion in UFC. He was on episode...
• 3:45
  200 of my top-ranked inmate show, I had a champions edition. So I just spoke with world champions. I spoke to like six different world champions on one episode and he was one of them. Wasn't even signed to the UFC yet. And now here he is the UFC champion, man. So that was a really cool moment for me. So I have a house in Cape Coral, Florida and Tito Ortiz built or put a restaurant in there. So I get to regularly talk with him and he is, he's deceptively big. Like I'm a big guy.
• 4:12
  And he's bigger than me. And I look at him and I go, Tino, and we got a picture of the two of us. His fist is twice as big as mine. And I got to get to know him. He's kind of a little bit, you got to be a little bit crazy to want to do that. I'm too pretty to get punched in the face. Let's get back to the podcast. Everybody.
• 4:30
  that you talked to. I just had Bradley on my podcast. These are the same things. Man, if you don't have a podcast and you're a business and you're an entrepreneur, you, you have a business you're missing out. So how do you believe podcasting uniquely benefits entrepreneurs in comparisons to other forms of online marketing and branding?
• 4:48
  Well, one, it's cheap. It's free. You can go out and you can tell your story and talk about your product and you never know who's listening, right? So podcasting has so many benefits from relationships to partnerships to collaborations that come out of it. I've gone on trips. I've met amazing people all because of podcasting.
• 5:04
  And that's the fun stuff. But the icing on the top for me is the legacy part of it. Like I wish that I could go back three, four generations deep and hear my great grandfather's story. And I can't do that. But I could do that for my tribe down the other way. They can go, man, my great, great, great grandpa, Eric, was a badass. And I get to hear his story from him directly. And so podcast for me, it's legacy. But man, as an entrepreneur, not only are you building your legacy, but you're allowing yourself to connect with thousands of thousands of people.
• 5:34
  You know, I got interviewed by a podcast out of Tennessee. A radio station heard that interview, asked me to be on their podcast. I jumped on their podcast and their episode with me had 50,000 downloads in a week. So like, you never know who's going to be listening to your show because it's going to spread like wildfire. It's the cheapest way to market your brand. And I love just having this one-on-one conversation with another person and just getting down and dirty with like shared tips and practical life tips, man.
• 5:59
  So you don't have a 15 year old daughter. Now you just scared the crap out of me. I'm thinking in my head, I'm like, uh-oh, legacy. I never even thought of that till you just said it. Now I'm this many years old when I realized that. But every dumb thing that comes out of my mouth, my daughter's gonna be
• 6:13
  i'm sorry honey right now i don't mean you embarrassed so my diverse 14 yeah so i'm in the same boat a lot of people think you know they're not interesting enough what the hell would i say i know i when i first started like i wrote the book heart of life and the uh publisher said hey you got to start a podcast this is this is
• 6:37
  I'm like, what am I going to talk about to this day? If I do a solo episode, I always show them because I think I'm not interesting, which is funny because I could talk with the best of them. But having said that, what advice would you give somebody who is hesitant about starting their own podcast to boost their online presence?
• 6:53
  Man, just start. And I know that's like the typical thing to say, just start. But like, even if you talked about quilting, like if you're passionate about quilting, go talk about quilting. There's going to be somebody that's going to listen to you about quilting. Like if you talk about like collecting Legos, there's going to be people that are going to listen to you because they collect Legos.
• 7:11
  No matter what you think that you're passionate about and your purpose is, talk about that because there's gonna be somebody that's gonna wanna listen to that show and get inspired by you. So even if you do a five minute, 10 minute episode of you just chatting about the newest thing that you just got, there's gonna be somebody on the other end of that episode listening to it and getting impacted by you. And so I know that it's uncomfortable to step into something new. And we have to realize that when we're talking on a podcast, unless you're live streaming, it's just you and a microphone, right?
• 7:40
  Like you said, do solo shows and sometimes they get shelved. And sometimes though, we just have to put them out there and see how it goes. One thing that I always recommend people is when you start with podcasting, never look at the numbers. I didn't look at numbers of downloads for five years because I did it because I was passionate about it. I did it because I love podcasts.
• 7:59
  Too many people get hung up. They think they're going to be the next Joe Rogan and have 100,000 downloads. Like, don't worry about that. Put a podcast out because you love talking about what your purpose is and what you're passionate about. And enough people will listen to it. Even if it's one person, you're impacting somebody's life and putting that out.
• 8:14
  I'm going to be the next Joe Rogan. No, I'm just kidding. I, um, come on. I, I want to, by the way, everybody's hanging there. We're not, Eric's story is bananas. I didn't say, we're going to get deep into why I had Eric on. It's not, we're not going to talk about podcasting all the time. So stay with me here. Whether you like podcasting, you're going to think about someone not start. Stay with Eric's got a frying pan story that we would get into. That is a story of resilience.
• 8:42
  This guy just keeps on ticking. So it's going to get whether you're in a podcast or not, just stay with me because we're getting the good meaty stuff out because there are a lot of pockets. And I'm telling you what he's saying is absolutely right. Since I've been doing this for one year, it's feeding my main company, National Technology Management. And I've been able to meet people like Aaron.
• 9:03
  Eric, like Ed Milet, like John Gordon. So it's limitless of what you can do. Plus, it's just a blast doing this. I was thinking this morning when I was doing show prep yesterday, and I was thinking about this morning, like, man, I want to do more. I could do this every day, all day. It's just so fun. And it's not hard, but it's not easy.
• 9:28
  So, right. Which is a great segue to what we're talking about. What role does, do you think authenticity plays in the success of not just a podcast, but in life, but, and especially for entrepreneurs trying to build a brand, because that's really what we're trying to do. Man, being authentic is, is really, if you want to be successful, it's the only way to be. If you're jumping out and you're trying to be, you know, standing in front of rented cars and houses and all that stupid crap.
• 9:55
  At some point, you're going to get caught up and someone's going to say, well, that was just a run to car, run to car, and everything's going to fall from there. Be authentic about who you are. I've never come out and said, I'm a full-time entrepreneur. Like, that is a goal of mine. Yeah, but I also have a family to protect and provide for. And so I have to go through my own journey. We're all going to go through our own journeys.
• 10:13
  But what I would say is be authentic about your journey, where you're at, whether it's podcasting, a business, writing a book. If you're a speaker and you're just starting out, be real about that because people will cheer you on if you share enough. And yeah, there's going to be naysayers and haters. But here's the thing is when you get the naysayers and the haters, you have to kind of set them to the side and push them to the side. I mean, if we look at back in the Bible, Noah hears from God to build a boat in the middle of the desert.
• 10:42
  People are making fun of him. Dude, why are you wasting resources? Why are you doing that? There's no flood coming. And here's the thing. God said, bring your wife, bring your sons, and bring their wives. He didn't say, bring your neighbor, bring your friends, bring your coworkers, or bring your in-laws. No, he did exactly what God said. And then boom, those people that didn't get on that boat, they're probably trying to talk Noah out of his purpose. And he was being real with them. And so if we can be real, man, that's how we impact lives. Because people relate to realness and authenticness, not the fake stuff.
• 11:11
  Let me ask you a question I don't have on here. So we, you, you just said, don't pay attention to downloads and it's hard not to, because when you're grinding and grinding and grinding, you have to believe in visible results, but it does. I got to tell you, we started ranking in the top 100. We picked up the 38 on this self-improvement is self-improvement and nice and Aperol, the same as personal development.
• 11:37
  Because there's not a personal belt. I think so, too. Yeah. We picked it 38 last week. And then we keep fluttering between 30 and 80. So hopefully with your episode, let's shoot up. But it's cool.
• 11:54
  I was with a previous company and we never ranked because the way that they listed the podcast was weird and we were never on a chart. Now, all of a sudden I've switched over to the radical network and boom, we're immediately top 100. And that's cool. It's that top 1%, top 100, top 1% is there. They, there's, we talked to this between 5 million and 8 million podcasts. So 1% is what? 50,000 to 80,000.
• 12:23
  So being top 100 is a big deal. So I'm patting the Radical Network on their back, and I'm also, we're doing something right. So I just, it's cool, man. It really is. We do this for accolades because we want...
• 12:41
  Not necessarily validation, but we want the riches. We want the rewards. But it's like our old friend Craig Siegel said, marry the process, divorce the outcome. I don't scoreboard watch. They do give me updates. We have actually the most we had yesterday with 3,000 down votes. I was like, whoa.
• 13:02
  So it's blowing up, it's fun, it's a great thing to see. But at the end of the day, if I can help one person every day, I've done my job. And this is a resiliency podcast. We tell funny stories and we bring great people together. So we're gonna switch to as someone who has overcome many personal challenges, how do you integrate resilience and perseverance into your journey and the advice you give to others?
• 13:30
  Man, I think resilience is something that helps you foster and overcome those setbacks and challenges that you're going to encounter. And we have to understand that it's a natural thing for us to encounter setbacks and challenges in life. But how you get past that is all in your mindset and your resilience, right? Are you strong enough mentally to get past the setbacks that are going to come your way?
• 13:53
  And so, I mean, yeah, I mean, I've been through a few things and they're all learning opportunities, right? I mean, when I spoke with Ed, he told me about the acronym CANI, C-A-N-I, constant and never ending improvement. And I look at setbacks and challenges as opportunities for me to learn from. And it took me a long time to learn from them. There was about a 10 year period of my life where I was just lost and just kept hitting, getting hit one after the other, one after the other, one after the other. And then it was this wake up call, but yeah.
• 14:20
  Once I open my eyes to go, man, I've been protected my whole life. I need to step into this and keep going and battle through these setbacks because I know what's better on the other side. My purpose is bigger than me. And my job is to go out there and make an impact and change lives. And, you know, my wife and I, we've been married 19 years this month. We're breaking the chains of divorce, abuse, rejection, and addiction that plagued both of our families. And so, you know, it's time for us to step up and have that resilience that gets us through those setbacks and challenges. Yeah.
• 14:51
  Boom, brother. That's the, and we're going to, we're going to segue to that right now. And I really appreciate you going there. And, you know, 19 years, let me just say on behalf of everybody, that is no small achievement. And I know your background story. We're going to jump right into it right now. It took 15 minutes just to kind of be the educational smart guys. And now we're going to get into the nitty gritty. Tell the fire pan story, bro.
• 15:15
  I mean, I grew up in, and I thought it was a typical household. I went to Sunday school, played Little League, and my dad would take my best friend Dave and I and throw us in dumpsters as kids. And, you know, I did dumpster diving as a kid. And still to this day, I'm like, I always drive my dumpsters going, hey, maybe I should jump in there, right?
• 15:29
  I don't do it anymore, but as a kid, I did that. But my parents got divorced when I was 11 years old, and my mom got together with a guy who was very physically abusive almost immediately. And I never understood why she decided to stay with this guy, but I remember watching through their back bedroom window and he'd be hitting her with a cordless bone, and I'd call the police, he'd try to intercept it, you know, when you could do that with them, right? And the police would show up, my mom would never press charges. It was like this rinse and repeat cycle.
• 15:55
  And then in the middle of my eighth grade year, they got pregnant and decided to move us from the middle, from Kennewick, Washington, out to Stevensville, Montana. It was a population of 1,200 people. And they rented this house. It was on the outskirts of town. Beautiful property, big ponds, five acres. But the problem at it, the house had three bedrooms. It was one for them, one for my little brother who's a few months younger than me, and then one for my sister who's four years younger than me.
• 16:18
  And they said, Eric, you could live in the garage. So I literally had this plastic tarp down the middle of the garage that separated my bed from the truck that I'd pull in. Now, luckily, my half of the garage had a fireplace that would keep me semi-warm in the middle of those negative degree winter nights. But like many nights, once that fire went out, I would wake up in the night and see my breath. It was just so cold out there. But there was a moment when I was about 13, 14 years old that really changed the trajectory of my life at that point. They came home arguing one night. It wasn't anything different than any other night.
• 16:46
  But as I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom, I had this vision or God was speaking to it. Dude, you've got to look around and see what's going on. And so the way the house was set up was down the hall was the kitchen to the pantry to the garage door my bedroom was at. And as I peeked around the corner in the pantry area, this guy's on top of my mom.
• 17:07
  And I had 20 seconds of courage and I walked up behind him and I grabbed a cast iron pan from the cupboard and I swung as hard as I could and I split the back of his head open. And he turned around and he said, what then? As he did that, I swung again and I split his forehead open. And I swung so hard the second time I actually fell over and I remember him standing up over me. He's bleeding down his face and he's yelling. My mom jumps up, lands like six punches in a row like mama bear. There's blood on the wall. I mean, it's a crazy movie scene. Cops show up, take him to jail. My mom doesn't press charges again.
• 17:35
  And I'm thinking I'm the hero in this moment. I'm like, yeah. And it wasn't much longer after that. If we flash forward a little bit with three months left in my freshman year of high school, I got kicked out of that house. And I'd go stay with my buddy Forrest. And he stayed with his dad in this old house. Didn't have carpet. So I had to sleep on hardwood floors. Finished up my freshman year. And then moved back to with my dad for my sophomore through senior year, which is even more crazier stories. But that's the first part of it for sure.
• 18:00
  So I know why I resonate with you because I, the entire time you tell that story, no matter when I hear it,
• 18:07
  I flash back to my childhood and think of the same thing. First of all, I wish I would have been able to hit my stepfather with a frying pan. That's why I'm so big. I think we talked about it when I was on your podcast. Because I worked out because I wanted to protect myself from the savage bees of my stepfather. So I can imagine you... Let's unpack this a little bit more. What feelings did that little boy feel? Was there abandonment? Betrayal? Like it didn't matter?
• 18:34
  For sure. Yeah, there was a rejection for sure, abandonment. There was many times when
• 18:40
  Living in the garage had its perks, and there's a lot of cons to it. I wasn't around the chaos as much, but I still had to be inside, and I had to get a fire going. We had a big fireplace, and if I didn't put the fire or get that going up and roaring, then I was going to yell that and get in trouble. So I spent a lot of time out in my garage, but definitely felt abandonment. Spent a lot of time, solo time out on the property. I mean, there was times where...
• 19:06
  I mean, 13, maybe 14 years old, where they decided to go on a horseback riding trip for a few days into the mountains. We had horses. We had six of them. They took three of them up in the mountains. And I remember I slept inside on the couch and I just had this weird feeling in the middle of the night that someone was looking at me.
• 19:24
  And one, first of all, I don't like horses because they're just big animals to me and I've been bucked off and I don't know how to control them. Right. And so I'm sitting there on the couch and I sit up and I look out the living room window and there's a horse staring at me in the middle of the night. They've gotten out and we live on a highway and I'm like 14 years old. I'm going, crap, how do I get these horses rounded back up and put in the property in the middle of the night without getting eaten by cougars and all that fun stuff, man. Right. That those moments are just being left and abandoned. That was a typical thing for me.
• 19:51
  And, you know, they would always do that. You know, they had my mom's boyfriend had a daughter as well. So, you know, that her daughter, his daughter and then my sister and my little brother, like those were the pride and joy for them. Right. I was definitely the left one out.
• 20:06
  Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I feel that very well. And is that what led you? Because in your bio, you talk about being sober 18 years. Is that what led you down the path of drinking? Because that's what that's the literally the heart of the life journey. That's what made me drink because I I fit in and I found my tribe and with my drinking buddies.
• 20:27
  Yeah, it kind of led into the next step where I moved back to live with my dad for my sophomore and senior year. He rented a house for him and I back in Washington, and he would get me a bus pass so I could get around town and get to school. He put 20 bucks in a cup for my lunch money, filled the freezer with Hunger Man meals and cereal and make sure there was food in there. And then he would go stay with his girlfriend most nights. So I'd see my dad maybe two or three times a month in passing.
• 20:51
  And so this just gave me wide open space to do whatever the heck I wanted. So I got into drugs pretty early on, sophomore through senior. I was basically getting stoned before school, at lunch, after school, taking hash, opium, acid, mushrooms, Robitussin, DM. We were getting it all. We were putting Cheech and Chong to shame.
• 21:10
  And then when I was 18 years old, I was a senior in high school and actually got arrested for having a bong and had to go to jail in Dayton, Washington. And this is an old school jail. So I had black and white chain gang outfit on, bright orange slippers. I was 145 pounds, scared to death, you know, and I had to go to jail one night.
• 21:27
  Didn't scare me enough to stop though, but that I was on probation for a year where I could have gotten tested for weed. I never smoked weed for a year, but that upped my game in the drinking game, right? So I was drinking heavily over that next year. And then two weeks after I graduated high school, I woke up to a post-it note on the bathroom mirror that said, you can't comply with house rules. You have 48 hours to get out.
• 21:46
  And so from there, between the ages of 18 and 21, I moved 21 times, living off of couches here, couch there, couldn't hold a job longer than a few months. I was living off credit cards. One of those moves was to Seattle, Washington with a hundred bucks in my pocket. And by the time I was 21, I was $28,000 in debt and I had to file bankruptcy.
• 22:04
  and still battling those addictions. And I ended up landing a job with Universal Records, which was a dream job of mine. I had to lie to get the job. They said, well, you need to be in college and you can be an intern. So I went and paid $300 for a college receipt that I was in college. I sent that to Universal. I said, look, I'm in college. They said, cool, you're in. I got my foot in the door. I was just the mailroom guy. But the problem was I was able to go to two to three colleges a week with an open tab, which is not good if you're addicted to drugs and alcohol.
• 22:31
  So I was living backstage and rock star lifestyle without being a rock star. And my one year anniversary came around and I got laid off because of a little thing called Napster. And people who downloaded Napster just absolutely killed the music industry. But I was working at Starbucks in Renton, Washington. As a night manager, I'd get off work and go to grocery store, get a six pack of beer, go to Hollywood Video, get a DVD and drink myself to sleep every night.
• 22:54
  And then one night while I was working at Starbucks, a girl walked in and said, hey, we've got a cool college age event now at our church. Would you be interested in going? And I was depressed. I had no friends and she was good looking. Yep, I'll go. And when I go to this event, that's when I realized that God had been protecting my whole life. I'm 44 years old. I've never broken a bone. I've never gotten a stitch. Never had a cavity. Like I've had a gun pointed in my head twice. There's times in my life where I should have died, but God had been protecting me for a bigger purpose than I had seen at that moment.
• 23:20
  And a month later, it was Easter 2004. I don't think it was a coincidence it was Easter, but I woke up feeling like God had told me, man, you're going out, it's going to end your life if you don't start making some changes. And so I quit. Cold turkey, drugs, drinking, cigarettes, everything in that moment. Called that girl and got her voice. Melissa, thanks for inviting me to church. Maybe I'll see you at the store sometime. And 11 months later, we're married. It's a beautiful story. You're beautiful. And the podcast right there. You just took the next question was...
• 23:50
  Can you share a pivotal moment or turning point in your life that led you to make the decision to give your life to Christ in 2004? It was a love story. I sure just Eric, you're, you're remarkable and I'm, I'm proud of you and I'm, I'm happy for you. And you literally said the next one is the next question is really literally what I want to talk about is, is maintaining sobriety for 18 years. What strategies or coping mechanisms have you helped to stay you on this path recovery besides your aforementioned love?
• 24:21
  Yeah, I had to change the environment, right? So like I was hanging around guys that were drinking every night and that's fine, that's them. And I had to call them up and say, dude, I gotta take a break for me mentally. I gotta take a break. And those guys are still my friends today. They understood. I took about six months where I just wasn't hanging out with anybody from that side of things. And what I did was I found guys in the church that had great marriages. They were great dads. They had great walks with Christ. They had great businesses. They were great employees. And this is way pre-podcast days, but I would take them to Starbucks and I would say, yeah, I had to take a break.
• 24:50
  Tell me what you're doing today to live the life that you are because that's what I want. And so I surrounded myself with people that were living the life that I wanted, but also how I want to live my life. There's a big difference, right? If we find there's people out there that are living life that we want, maybe they have the house, the cars, the property, whatever, but they didn't morally get there. And if that's the case, those are not your people, right? They have to align with your values and that's the people that you should be hanging around with.
• 25:13
  I hope people are listening, now we're getting into the nitty gritty. So what he just said was, you can't change your friends, but you can change your friends. And that was a major part of the harder than life journey. I took one year kind of just being alone at home, feeling my feelings and gave everybody a little bit, all my drinking buddies a minute to breathe. And they kept going about their business and I don't judge them, don't care. And I've become friends, back friends with them. And we've just aligned values together.
• 25:42
  I really say boundaries and standards that I'm comfortable with and that they're comfortable with. And life is better. So there was something you said earlier about constant never-ending improvement that Ed Milad said. And it's ironic because...
• 25:57
  We drink because we're in search of happiness or joy or peace, and it makes it worse. But it was ironic that the last podcast this week with Ed Milet was with Matthew Hussein. He talks about being happy enough.
• 26:15
  So it's that fine line of life of pursuing, chasing constant never ending improvement, but also being completely content with where you are. And I find myself battling that every single day. So having said that,
• 26:33
  Since the last time you and I spoke, I have really adopted God and realized that the more I have a conversation and have a relationship with him, life, he's literally conspiring to make me happy and peaceful.
• 26:50
  So how, you got a little bit into it, but I want to deep dive since I can talk about it a lot more. How has faith played a role in your journey of breaking the chains such as divorce, abuse, rejection, and addiction? It's everything. I mean, for me,
• 27:09
  You know, as soon as I open my eyes, I immediately say out loud, thank you, Jesus, for another day to see and hug and hold my family. See, I've created this environment of just gratitude. I mean, the first thing out of my mouth when I open my eyes before I even get out of bed. Right. And so I like to create wins in the morning. So one, it's a win for me to wake up.
• 27:28
  But number two, I jump out of bed and make my bed. So I've got two wins in 15 seconds. I'm already fired up. I'm ready to go, right? And so then I've got the non-negotiable thing that happens seven days a week, 365 days a year is I come upstairs to the office and I turn on some worship music and I just spend time in prayer.
• 27:44
  And sometimes prayer is 15 minutes and sometimes it's 30 minutes. And sometimes the prayer is just me saying, God, why, why, why am I going through this right now? And sometimes it's like, man, God, thank you so much for giving me the life that I live. Thank you for debt free. Thank you for health. Thank you for my wife, my kids, right? It is everything. If I don't have faith, I have nothing in my eyes. I'm,
• 28:06
  I would be dead if I didn't have Jesus in my life right now. And so again, faith is everything for me. It's what has helped my family stick together for 19 years because being married for 19 years, not every year is rainbows and sunshine, right? But when we said, I do, we meant it. And we've had to battle through ups and downs and in-laws and crazy toxic relationships with family members and things like that. And if we just circle back to it, Jesus is the only one that's held it all together, man. And without Jesus, we wouldn't be here.
• 28:35
  So I do something very similar. I specifically speak to God, and I don't ask why. I ask, what are you trying to teach me? And then I shut up. And I just set back. And I have these deep conversations with God. You know, you call it Jesus. Some people call it source. Some people call it energy, higher power, whatever you want to call it. But I will, and then I'll ask very specific things.
• 29:04
  God, this is what I need. And they will answer every single time. It may not be right away, but it answers every single time. So that was a good... And I wake up too doing the same thing. I wake up with gratitude. Three things of gratitude. And I say, thank you, God, for my daughter sleeping in the other room. Thank you, God, for the airplane that got me home safe. Thank you, God, for this warm bet. Simple things of gratitude. And it's just...
• 29:32
  Life is very, very simple. I somehow mixed another podcast question here, and we're talking about God, and I feel like it's a terrible segue, but I want to talk a little bit more about The Eric Allen Show because it is among the top podcasts globally, and it's no small feat. So what do you attribute the success and growth of The Eric Allen Show to? Man, I think the way to be successful in podcasting is just don't quit because everybody else will quit and you'll just move up the ranks.
• 30:00
  But here's the thing is the way to get your brand out there is be a guest on other people's podcasts. So in 2020, I set a goal to be a guest on 25 podcasts or 50, excuse me. And I only did 24. So at the end of the year, I was like, really, that's all you got? So I went into 2021. I said, I'm going to do 100. I'm going to be a guest on 100 podcasts in 2021. And I also had two podcasts at that time. So I was going to release 100 of my own shows and be a guest on 100.
• 30:26
  And I did it at the end of the 2020-21. I did 107 interviews, I believe, on other people's podcasts and then released 100 of my own. But that year is really where I started to see that hockey stick moment. Because I just told myself I was not going to give up. I was not going to quit. And I was going to keep fighting.
• 30:43
  And again, the way that you see growth in podcasting is you want to get on as many shows as you can. You want to connect with as many people as you can. And you want to have awesome guests on your show. And when I say awesome guests, they don't have to be the Ed Milet to the world. They could be somebody that's just has an awesome story. They can give practical tips to listeners. Because if you have folks like David Meltzer on my show.
• 31:04
  He lost $100 million and then came back. Most people can't relate to losing $100 million. But if I have these guests, they come out and talk about the story of where they started, where they grew up, and how they got to where they're at. That's where it connects with people. The one question I ask all my guests, tell me where you grew up and what was childhood like? Because no matter who I'm talking to, we all were kids once. We all made decisions to get to where we're at. Some were bad decisions, some were good decisions, and some were right down the path.
• 31:30
  But either way, we decided to overcome those setbacks and challenges that were coming, man. And so that's why I think the growth of the show has been about getting on as many shows I can, but also connecting with as many people as I can. Well, what you just said works in life. That's what I love about this is podcasting.
• 31:49
  relationships, business, they're all boiled down the same thing. Be consistent. And, and you were talking about David Meltzer. He was on my show. I had him go on his, you could see the beans in his forehead. He was so fired up and his story. It's just like everybody else's. Yeah. He lost a hundred million dollars, but we want to know why he lost a hundred million. Cause this will resonate. He was drinking and doing drugs and partying and I'll be an idiot. We've been there. I've been there. That's why I, I,
• 32:15
  I'm surprised I'm lucky to be alive. And I can tell you, since we just got done talking about God, we're going to talk a little bit more about God. I can tell you all the times that God was telling me, Siegel, you idiot, stop drinking. Stop doing this. I remember walking by mirrors, looking at the mirrors, this blotchy skin and puffy face. And it was almost now I can recognize it was God saying, bro, look at you. You look like a clown.
• 32:44
  So if you're in the thralls, maybe you're just a little bit out of a line with alcohol. And really, all it has to be is that you're getting drunk on a regular basis. I'm not talking every day. I'm not talking every week. If you're drinking to the point to get drunk, it's out of alignment. And you're drinking poison. So why? Ask yourself why. Why do I feel? What did I feel? What am I drowning out? Why?
• 33:13
  So that was my little bit. But the God thing is what I want to talk about. And there's a story in everybody. Everybody's got a great story. Here's a weird story that I didn't know about you, that you are a John Maxwell certified coach. So how do you incorporate leadership principles into your podcasting work and coaching sessions with entrepreneurs? How do you use that?
• 33:34
  Man, that was fun. So in 2021, I said I wanted to be a coach, but I didn't want to just call myself a coach. So I started looking at opportunities out there where I could get certified as a coach. There's Tony Robbins, John Maxwell, and John Gordon, all these guys. And I just aligned with John Maxwell. And so I went all in with him and his beliefs and his books.
• 33:55
  And so I'm able to use his leadership development skills and trainings and all that stuff in the way that I approach guests, in the way that I talk to people when I'm in the workplace, in the way that I talk to people on a regular basis. I look at it where I'm probably a mix of transformational and servant leadership styles.
• 34:12
  where I like to be able to do things that if I'm going to ask someone to do something, I want to go and do it for myself first. But I also want to talk people. I want to speak life into people and say, man, your potential is up here and we're just working here. Let's step into this. Let's grow into that. And so...
• 34:28
  Through John Maxwell's trainings, I'm able to go out and coach people through his, not only his own training, like I'm certified to be able to coach on his own trainings, but then speak life into people based off of those. And the fact that he's a Christian and he has a Bible out and all of this stuff, man, that allows me to be able to incorporate God into my teaching and just be able to encourage and lift people up and have that transformational servant leadership style as I go in.
• 34:56
  John Maxwell is a grand poobah of personal development. Most people don't know that. Like if you, Ed Myler, we think we all paraphrase John Maxwell, literally. He's brilliant. His stories are remarkable. While we're at it, since you're certified in it, what's one of your favorite quotes from him or favorite mantras?
• 35:19
  I think the biggest, one of the favorite books that I have is 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth. And I'm just looking over here at the book, man. And he talks about just having these massive growth opportunities to look at challenges and setbacks as growth opportunities to learn. We go back to Ed Milet's Caney, right? Caney was actually something that Tony Robbins wrote in Awaken the Giant Within back in the early 90s. So we know that Ed took that. But like John Maxwell, right? Like he talks about the growth opportunities.
• 35:49
  One of the things that I'm reading right now is this Maxwell Daily Reader. And it's just a simple, real quick, like one pager every single day to grow and developing the leader within me. But how can I influence other people as well? Read today. Read today. All right, man, here we go. This is March 1st.
• 36:06
  Let me just grab real quick It's actually not that long of a one While you're looking at those two I want to remind everybody That you can go to ericallenmedia.com And work with Eric He's a coach, he's a podcaster Anything that you can hear He's brilliant, there's depth to him ericallenmedia.com And most of the handles are Eric Allen He switches in a couple of Eric G. Allen And it's spelled E-R-I-K People, follow this guy He's brilliant
• 36:36
  At some point, he's going to hit this lick and blow up. I've said that since the day I met you. Somewhere, somehow, God is still teaching you something. And then one day, it's just going to explode because you're extremely talented and you're kind and you're servant.
• 36:54
  I just feel the goodness through this computer right now. And I'm setting you all kinds of love. If there's anything that the seagulls can do for you, the heart of the life, Brad can do for you. Never hesitate to ask. Having said that, read that John Maxwell thing, because I'm sure it's fire. Well, yeah, man. I mean, today's was help people win. And he talks about like helping, helping. I mean, this is, this is what this is so funny because I think the way that this is lined up, God just aligns everything there. But I will read the whole thing, but yeah,
• 37:23
  He starts off, helping another person to win is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I haven't met a person yet who doesn't like to win. And everyone I know who's made the effort to help others has said that it's the most rewarding part of life. And he talks about this guy named Lou Whitaker who took a bunch of people on Mount Everest and sacrificed his climb to get to the top, waited so that his guys could be safe and go back down and get oxygen and things like that. And they asked him, why did you stay? And he said, my job was to put other people on top.
• 37:52
  Right. And so Whitaker understood that when people make the right decisions that help the team to achieve its goal, everybody wins. And John finishes with this. Make it your job to put other people on top today. Man, I like that book. And it's funny. I was reading that book or I'm reading that book right now. But I'm actually doing a live read of that book every single day on my YouTube. I just thought, hey, if I read it, maybe someone else could get inspired.
• 38:15
  So I'm doing a live reading every single morning when I wake up. It's part of my morning routine. It's like a two-minute video, but I just jump on YouTube and go, hey, maybe someone else wants to hear this stuff, and I read it. So, man, it's fun, man. I love it. I just said servant leadership, and boom. This is how God aligns. There are people. That's God. That's alignment. Yeah. It's when you're doing the right thing. So I'm confident that everything is going to work out tremendously for you. But this –
• 38:41
  I just enjoy the heck out of you. And everything you say and do is just helping. And I got to tell you, you know this, but this is for the audience.
• 38:52
  everybody can win. You don't have to lose for me to win. We can both win together. That's why I, in my book, Heart of Life, I give the blueprint of how to start an IT company. I give everything out. I am an open book as you are. So I would never stomp on somebody else to get ahead. I couldn't look myself in the mirror. So I always hate when you look at my social media, people are blowing me up and
• 39:18
  throwing stones at a glass house how can you say that you haven't done the work without saying you haven't done the work knock other people right so uh with your extensive media features and experience and appearances what do you believe sets you apart and resonates what message sets you apart we might have just touched on it uh but what message sets you apart and resonates with audiences worldwide sorry
• 39:44
  I think for me, what sets me apart is just me being real. Like I understand that there's a lot of entrepreneurs out there that make the millions and things like that. And there was a point in my life where I just was so focused on wanting to be a full-time entrepreneur. I went down to an event, an amazing event called Prosperity Camp by Greg Reed, wrote the book Three Fits from Gold. I went to his house. We hung out. I met a guy there named Kelly Cardenas.
• 40:08
  And Kelly, dreadhead guy, amazing man. He said, dude, let's go watch the sunrise tomorrow morning. So I go to Rye. I meet him at the beach in Carlsbad, California. And we go sit down. We're reading our Bibles right there on the beach. And he's like, dude, what's going on? And I was like telling him, man, I just want to be a full-time entrepreneur. And he looked at me and he goes, Eric, there's all these people that are at this event. They're great people. They have great businesses. But how many of them have great marriages? And I just went, ugh.
• 40:35
  I had my priorities wrong in that moment, man. And so I think if I can be real and authentic about where I screw up or where I'm lacking or where I really want to get, that's what connects with people, man. If I could tell people about the true story, about going through abuse and overcoming that, because a lot of people might have gone through that situation or maybe something similar. But if I can help share my story about overcoming that.
• 41:00
  Man, I hope that it impacts at least one person out there that says, man, I got to get away from this toxic relationship, this toxic workplace or toxic family member, right? So I think me being authentic is what really makes me stand out. And then I'm still, you know, every day waking up trying to put a smile on someone's face. It's a goal of mine to put a smile on someone's face, right? So I want to be able to do that every single day. I want to make sure that someone is out there just getting lifted up. And I think if I can do that, if I can be real, that's what connects with me with everyone else, man.
• 41:29
  You're putting a smile on my face today. I was looking forward to this all week when I saw it on the calendar, and it's a long time coming, and you're helping a lot of people. I want to ask you a question I don't have prepared here. I was in an event in L.A., and I met this gentleman, Marcus Collius. Have you met Marcus? Yeah.
• 41:48
  No, I'll make an introduction. You'll like him. He is very deep into spirituality. And he said, Kelly, I want you to do something for me. And I'm going to pay this forward to you. And he said, I want you to ask God for something very specific. And I want you to ask God for something specific
• 42:12
  what we were talking about offline, which was give me specifically what you need for your family, whether it be whatever job you want, whatever money you need, whatever that is. I want you to ask specifically when we get off and then watch it come through. Guys, this stuff works. Marcus Collius asked me to do that. I asked for something very specific and he said, this time, watch, listen and watch it come true. And it did. So,
• 42:40
  I'm going to channel all of my love and all of my power and everything, and I'm going to send it to you. And I know it sounds woo-woo-y and weird, but again, you are extremely talented, extremely kind, family member.
• 42:58
  People say, oh, he deserves it. You have earned it and you deserve it. So have a specific ask of God when you get off and say, God, I need, I say, I asked for a very specific number for NTM so I can keep doing this. Ask for a very specific ask and I'm going to send you all kinds of love. Watch this thing come through. We're going to harness God.
• 43:24
  You say it's Jesus, I say it's God, whatever it is, we're going to harness some energy and fire it into you because you're far too freaking talented to be thinking about insurance, podcast. Your story is phenomenal. So looking ahead, what are your aspirations and goals for the future, both personally and professionally, and how do you plan on continuing to make a positive impact on other people's lives?
• 43:54
  Man, for me, I've done so much speaking behind the microphone that about seven months ago, I decided to step out from behind the mic and start doing some public speaking. But I knew I couldn't just step into it. So I started going to Toastmasters. It's been a game changer for me to go to Toastmasters every week, to learn how to better myself as a speaker, to get that immediate feedback. And here's a cool thing, is God opened a door last year for me to be able to speak at an event out here in Coeur d'Alene. Now, I happened to fall on my anniversary, so I couldn't take it.
• 44:24
  But the person who put on that event called me in October last year and said, Eric, I remember when your anniversary is and I changed the dates for the event so you can come talk this year because your story needs to be heard. And so for me, I have the biggest event coming up for me speaking, 25 minutes on Mindset next weekend, March 8th, 9th, and 10th out here in Coeur d'Alene. I'm super excited, but I get to talk with about 150 people and share my story.
• 44:48
  And so, man, for me, I want to step out. I want to start doing more public speaking opportunities. I want to get into that and up my game as a coach and start helping people outside of the podcasting room, which I have not really done yet before. I've just helped people with podcasting, but I want to help people with the public speaking, the mindset things on that side too. But for me, man, future is doing more public speaking. Wow.
• 45:11
  And then my family and I, you know, we're going to, the goal is to own property, right? So I have a funny thing that when I opened the door of my office, the first thing I see on the wall, there is this picture of this old guy standing next to his dog and they're watching the sunrise, beautiful picture. And underneath it says, if I can't pee off my front porch, my neighbors are too close, right? So for me, I want the 20 plus acres. That's what I'm going for. That's what I want, right? If I can't pee off my front porch, my neighbors are too close. So get into public speaking and getting that property that can pee off my front porch.
• 45:41
  That's the best answer I've ever heard. I want to pee off my front porch. Hey, you're a modest guy. That's what I love about you. I got to tell you, the speaking stuff, it's fun. What is your theme going to be on your speech? Your 25 minutes.
• 46:02
  Yeah, so it's more mindset. So I will be sharing my story, but I'm talking about we all get to choose the life that we want to live, right? So if we are living in a life of victimhood, then we're going to stay in that. But we can choose to walk away from the past. We can choose to step in to create a new path for us.
• 46:18
  And so no matter what struggles come, no matter what challenges or naysayers come, like you get to choose the life that you want. You can stay there and sulk in it or you can step away from it and start making an impact by sharing your story and stepping out on faith and getting out of your comfort zone and start impacting people.
• 46:36
  I use the band Arrested Development. Their first album came out and it's called Three Years, Five Months and Two Days in the Life Up. And that's a strange title for an album. But what that is, it reflects their journey of success. It took them that long to get a record deal. I mean, they didn't quit. They kept going. They kept going.
• 46:55
  And then little did they know, once that album dropped, it would sell millions and millions of copies, right? So for us, we have to kind of step into the faith of going, dude, I don't want to be in this toxic workplace anymore. I can't be in this toxic person's relationship anymore. We have to choose to step out of that and start making an impact with our life. I think what you just said was you got to be harder than life. Harder than life, for sure. Absolutely. Absolutely.
• 47:23
  when they say easy choices, hard life, hard choices, easy life. And once you make a lot of hard choices, they become very easy because it just becomes a habit. And once it forms a habit,
• 47:38
  Katie bar the door and you're going to win. So don't forget to, and I know you know this, but as your friend, I want to remind you, you have a very loyal listening group and audience. Make sure you ask your audience questions
• 47:54
  for what we were talking about, what you're gonna ask God for. I forget to do that. I just started reminding people. I own an IT company. We sell all over the country. We have made cybersecurity simple. We have three options.
• 48:09
  Essentials for cybersecurity, better and best. And I keep forgetting to tell people. And then I also don't tell people, I own a seven-figure company. I've done this. I started it. I was a bum in South Warren. I grew up just off of Ava. And I keep forgetting that, yes, I've come a long way.
• 48:33
  But that's who I was. So ask your loyal audiences before you take any of these opportunities you're working on. Ask people because you are an addition to any team. And customer service success is absolutely gone now. Average is everything. It's the ceiling right now.
• 48:57
  Look at anything. You get bare bones minimum. And it's like, wow, if you do one thing, that's why we're crushing it at National Technology Management. Because service is paramount. We actually did it backwards. We didn't do marketing and then built it. We built it. And now we're doing marketing.
• 49:15
  70% of the people that call in, they get their issues, their IT issues resolved right then and there. Good, cheap and fast. We're all three. No, we were not cheap. So that was just my reminder. Sometimes we're too damn close to the situation. Ask your audience. Anybody looking for this? Anybody know of that? And do a reel on that and I'll share it. Ask us to share it and know,
• 49:42
  Everybody loves you. Don't remember that. There's not a single person that doesn't love them. So having said that, I'm going to put you on the spot. Tell us something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on. Something I believe that almost nobody agrees with me on. Oh, man. That's a tough one. Well, you remember, you have your whole...
• 50:04
  the record background. I forget about all the depth to you. So it could be anything. It could be anything. I mean, I think two things that come to mind. One is the world would be a better place, number one, if we turned off the news.
• 50:19
  And I quit turning off the news. I turned off the news 10 years ago, right? I could care less who's in the White House. I live in my own little Idaho. I don't have to worry about what's going on outside of my house. I can only control what's in my house. And whatever else is happening out there, I could care less, right? It's my job to protect my family. And that's it. I can't worry about what's going on in the White House or all over the U.S. I can control what's in my house. That's it.
• 50:43
  And so if we turn off the news, man, we'd be a lot happier. Number two, if we just stop judging people. One, I don't care if you identify as a toaster, that's on you. Like if you don't hurt yourself or hurt somebody else, identify as whatever you want. But my job is just to love you where you're at. So I'm not going to judge you for being how you want. But if you are hurting yourself or hurting someone else, that's where I have to step in. But go identify as whatever the heck you want.
• 51:07
  But again, you identify as a woman and you jump into my, you know, the girls restroom with my daughter. I'm going to quickly identify as an MMA fighter and beat your butt. Right. But like, well, you have that frying pan still. Right. Still got the fryer pan. Yeah. We'll go. We'll pull that back out of the closet. Right. Tell me about the American flag in your background. For those of you that aren't watching this on YouTube, he's got American flag in his background. This dude is is patriotic as they come. But tell us a little bit about that.
• 51:37
  Yeah, the flag is interesting. So I got one call from a recruiter when I was 18. My dad probably had him call me. I was in a different mindset. I was probably stoned, told the guy off, never got another call. And I kick myself every day for not joining the military. Because these guys are literally, and gals, are putting their lives on the line for me, for my freedom. And so I've always been patriotic.
• 51:59
  And again, I just kicked myself on that. And anytime I see a veteran with a hat on or uniform on or first responders, me and my kids, we immediately go up and say, man, thank you for what you do. We appreciate you. So this flag was actually from a sponsor that I got way back in the early days. They were called Combat Flags. And they sent me this flag. And I just used it as my backdrop. And Combat Flags was an awesome company that they would take...
• 52:25
  flags from the uniforms of soldiers that had passed on. Their family members would send them to come at flags and they would make flags out of their uniforms. And it was just this really cool thing that they did. I don't even know if they're still around, but this flag here just represents the freedom that I get because people are out there fighting for my life every single day. And I just have so much respect and honor for first responders and military and those folks that are out there fighting for my freedom, man.
• 52:53
  Together we rise, united we stand, divided we fall. Let me just make sure I had that right. Did I just hear that that was on a casket of a fallen soldier?
• 53:03
  Maybe. Okay. So the combat flags company that I work with, they would get uniforms from fallen soldiers. The family members would send it to combat flags and combat flags would cut the flag out and cut that uniform into an American flag and send that back to the family. So it was a falter, wow. So very ironic that you were on the podcast today. I just posted this book, House to House. You know, I'm a big reader.
• 53:30
  And this was given to me. So this was a book by David Belavia, who is a soldier. And he talked about our last two questions was the media, the journalists that were traveling with them and how the reporting was far from what was happening when they were in Fallujah going from house to house to house. And how it quickly turned into like a Vietnam where people didn't understand what the war was about.
• 53:58
  And, you know, whether you agreed or disagree, whether it was weapons of mass destruction or not, there were still our boys there putting their lives on the line. We lost, according to him, 98 soldiers in this battle.
• 54:15
  you know, it's, it's freedom. But he said that the way that it was reported back here was horrible. He actually went back after his tour was done as a journalist to try to get more accurate reporting. And it just, for whatever reason, they just couldn't do it. So, um, it was just, this book is a good read, man. I reached out to this guy. I want to try to get him on the podcast. So, uh,
• 54:38
  Military, man, is just to me, it's amazing. Even though I think that going forward, we're looking at cyber warfare more than anything anymore. You want to cripple us, just freaking take down our internet. And I'm like, Lord, what do people do?
• 54:55
  Eric, this has been a blast. What, is there something I haven't asked you today that you feel compelled to share? Man, I think it's just been, it's been such an honor to be on your show, man. And we met through Craig Siegel's group a couple of years ago. And it's been so much fun to watch you grow, to watch your podcast grow, to watch your journey from the sidelines, man. And it's been such an amazing viewpoint from my side. And I just want to say, man, I'm proud of you. You are out there impacting people.
• 55:22
  You're encouraging people and you're making a difference by putting out this podcast and do what you do every single day, man. So I'm proud of you, man. I keep doing your thing. Well, I thank you and I receive that. And little known fact is everything you just said on the show, you said to me a year and a half ago and I implemented it and it worked. So if you don't think that what he said works, I'm living proof of it. And we're just hitting our stride.
• 55:50
  I am aiming for the top spot. So I've let Ed Milet know I'm coming for you, brother. I want to be number one in that personal development space. And I'm going to one of his events here, and I'm going to meet him, and I've become real close to John Gordon. So I'm going to give him some crap that I'm coming for him. But he's paying his dues. Like you said, he didn't know what hash browns or hashtags were.
• 56:16
  Back in the day, he's paid his dues. I got to pay mine and I'm not afraid to, you know, I see this too. This actually was yesterday. This is a new thing. Failure is fun to me because I know I'm learning. I am a sponge and I'm a learn it all. And I know if, and this is the coolest thing and I'll end this with you and I'm sorry to talk too much on my own podcast, but that's fine. I know that it's God realigning me. If I go down a path and I hit a brick wall.
• 56:46
  In my younger days, I would be so stubborn, I would plow through that wall and think that was winning. Now I stop. I say, God, what are you trying to teach me? Not why. What are you trying to teach me? I wait, and inevitably a path opens.
• 57:03
  And that's what keeps happening. My heart of the life app. I would remember last time we spoke, I wanted to go do speaking. I went and did it and it wasn't for me. It's not that I don't like speaking. You put a microphone on my hand and the camera in front of me. I'm in. It's just, if I'm going to travel, I want to travel to my Florida house. And I, I'm 48 now.
• 57:23
  I need to recharge. I did a whole summer traveling all over the place, living out of hotels. That's just not my lifestyle. So I'm going to pick and choose. I'm going to do the ones that I want to do.
• 57:34
  And I'm just going to use the platform of my harder than life app, which is available on Apple, the Apple and Google play. It's all proceeds go to charity and it's, it's a happiness, healthy, fun hangout place for people to do business with no judgments, no censorship. And I'm going to go down that path. We're going to take the podcast to number one. We'll sell some sponsors on there. And, and again, all of this,
• 57:59
  It's for charity. All of it. So follow what Eric says. It works. I like it. I've been really doing it a year. And don't forget to follow Eric Allen on all socials. Check out his podcast, The Eric Allen Show. Please rate it. Please share it. He's got some studs. And he's a 10 times better interviewer than I am. I'd go all over the more. You're awesome.
• 58:25
  Dude, you're awesome, man. I love this conversation. It was so good. Thank you so much for coming on, and I appreciate you. I love you. If there's anything I could do, I am going to introduce you to Marcus Collius. I think you guys, he'd be a great guest for you. Sweet, man. I appreciate him. Have a great day.
• 58:45
  Please rate and share this podcast. I'm active on all social platforms and love to hear from my Segal supporters. 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.