Latest / Harder Than Life / 108: Leadership, Business, & Political Insights w/ Erik Rock

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108: Leadership, Business, & Political Insights w/ Erik Rock · 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
  On today's episode of Heart in a Life podcast, I'm excited to welcome my brother from another mother, Eric Rock. Eric's journey started from literally rock bottom, literally living on a blow-up mattress above his first store. But with grit, vision, and a lot of hustle, he built the largest brick-and-mortar furniture and jewelry consignment stores in the country. Beyond that, he's a savvy real estate investor, a dynamic speaker, and the host of the Man on a Mission podcast.
• 0:51
  Erica's all about unlocking potential, whether it's transforming your mindset, scaling your business, or helping the world's most successful people protecting what matters most. This guy's passion and purpose are undeniable, especially when it comes to protecting innocence and supporting causes that help children, which we all know is important to me. Since two of the three charities we support at Harder Than Life are for children.
• 1:16
  Let's dive in and hear how Eric Rock has turned his life into one of incredible impact and success. Welcome, Eric. What's up, brother? Thank you so much. Happy to be here. Bro, I'm so glad we took the time. I'm going to give you an option on you. I did two show preps. One is...
• 1:36
  People can Google and find out all this. We just talk as brothers. Or I got four really good topics that'll probably light the internet on fire. Okay. Which one do you want to do? The fire? I'll let you pick. But yeah, I'm fired. Let's go with the fire one. Yeah. Let's go with the fire. We're going to start off with our favorite topic, Donald Trump. Okay, let's do it.
• 2:00
  What's your perspective on Donald Trump's impact on business and leadership in America? Well, listen, man, it's funny you ask this. I'm just deep in these conversations yesterday and today, actually, already. But, you know, I'm an entrepreneur by heart. You know, I grew up with nothing and entrepreneurship saved my life. It helped me see the world. I saw how it all clicked. And every level that I rose in business, it taught me a lot. I knew there was rules that were being played.
• 2:25
  at every level. And as I learned to adapt and pivot, I was always sort of around people that were doing way more than me. And I was able to absorb that energy and that osmosis. So I have like a lot of respect for the guys that actually signed the front of paychecks.
• 2:37
  And Donald Trump is a businessman. I remember reading his book, Art of the Deal. There was Art of the Comeback, which is hard to even find anymore. And then Art of the Deal. But I remember reading that as a kid. And so Donald Trump's always been a kind of unique figure in society and even in my heart as a kid. And what was interesting is like before he became president,
• 2:58
  Liberals loved him, Democrats loved him, Republicans loved him. He was a darling of the left. He put money in all their pockets. He's a businessman, he's a billionaire, Manhattan developer in New York with property all over the world. All of a sudden he runs for office, and in Trump fashion, he just speaks how he feels, and it's really just interesting how the whole world turned against him. But what I noticed that just often doesn't get talked about as much is this outsider sort of coming in
• 3:27
  He was so connected, I think, to sort of the heart and message of people like me, where the deep state of these people that are career politicians, they've never, ever hired anyone in their entire lives. Really, right and left, when he came out, both hated him, and that's why I loved him. Instantly, I realized this is the guy I want to ride with because he saw the same things that we all see.
• 3:50
  But instead of being a politician that sort of kept playing the game, he was the one that went in and was able to call it how he saw it. This is a swamp is what he said. And it was. You know, the founding fathers got one thing wrong. They got one thing majorly wrong. It's because they couldn't see airplanes in the future. They didn't understand there was going to be trains. And they didn't understand there was going to be an engine. And there was going to be cars. Who in God's green earth would ever want to be in politics longer than four years, right? Right.
• 4:16
  Because if you lived in San Francisco, you would get a horse and buggy to make a vote in Washington, D.C. This is not a lifetime place to get rich. And so a guy like Trump coming in, like really calling things out, simple, subtle things in the way that he does. I wish he was more articulate, but he's not. It's just not how he is. And so he started rubbing everyone the wrong way. But really the media, you know, that protects all that because they all work together. It's a business. It's a racket.
• 4:39
  Trump just literally screwed up business as usual. And that's exactly, I mean, that's one of the key things that I like about the guy because he runs the country or he's trying to like it's a business and that's how the country should be ran. The country's there to do one thing. It's to protect its citizens. It is not to come in with all these bureaucracies that inflates the prices of everything. A free market is the best kind of market. Capitalism is the only system that's ever worked to give people like LeBron James that can come out of the ghetto and rise to the highest levels of humanity that have,
• 5:09
  ever existed. Historically, you had to be born into wealth with a last name. You had to be gifted that by birthright. America was the one idea where that all changed. And slowly but surely, the forces of nature are trying to destroy freedom because that's how it works. Wherever there's light, there's dark.
• 5:26
  Wherever there's good, there's evil. Wherever there's freedom, there's some outside force trying to destroy it. And I'll be honest, Trump's the one guy right now, the one non-politician that is fighting to keep the idea of America alive. Because as the government gets bigger and bigger, the American people keep getting smaller and smaller, weaker and weaker. And I think I'll end with this one last point.
• 5:45
  on this topic is the one difference in history when you look back, because it does repeat itself, is that American citizens are more armed than any other civilization in the history of the world. And that Second Amendment, there's a reason it was the Second Amendment. The first one was a free speech, which they're going after left and right. This podcast, I guarantee it gets censored. You have to fight through the algorithm to get this message out, because once it hits the airwaves, it's instantly going to be flagged.
• 6:10
  And they may take it down. But number two, out of all the other things they could have protected, what was it? It was the right to bear arms. And what was that for? That wasn't for criminals to protect yourself against criminals. It was to protect yourself from your own government. And that is exactly why that's in place. You've got to fight really hard to keep this alive. And it's a guy like Trump. You know, he might be divine. They try to take him out twice. Two times, they try to shoot him, kill him.
• 6:33
  They went after him for four years. Russia, Russia, Russia. Oh, my God. Collusion. All this bullshit, right? Like, hold on here. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. We got a Manchurian candidate run for office right now. They didn't even get one vote by the American people that's running for office, first and foremost. Not even fucking one. Like, if you can't see through the rackets that are happening and democracy. Oh, my God. Like, the democracy is going to be ruined with Trump. It's like, hold on. Like, everything you say is an absolute lie if you just look at facts.
• 7:02
  Anyway, brother, I got to pull back. No, no, no, no, no. So I had all these normal, like, tell me about your childhood questions. And then I was watching your post yesterday, and I'm like, you know what? I'm going to change this up. We're going to just talk about life as brothers. I love it, man. And you're going to get to see the harder life listeners. Listen, we're not going to just talk politics. And truth be told, Eric, I only pick politics because it's you.
• 7:28
  I have never, ever talked politics on this show. So this is the first time that we may, we may have some censor. Who cares? I don't care. That's free speech. We're going to talk about what we want. This is not an endorsement for Trump or against him or anything. I just wanted to hear what you had to say. And you in the very first answer showed why you're dynamic and why I am. I resonate with you. Thank you. You're very articulate. If you're not following Eric, follow him on Eric rock.
• 7:55
  LOL. It's at Eric Rock, LOL, or it's Eric Rock, or go to his website, Eric Rock. It's A-E-R-I K-R-O-C-K. Thanks, brother. And follow us. We're going to get into some real even...
• 8:11
  juicier issues. I got some retorts to what you just said, but we're going to get some juicy issues, but it's not going to be all politics. We're going to talk about, of course, Puff Daddy. We're going to talk about domestic violence. We're going to talk about alcohol. So, guys, hang with me. We're going to finish up on politics and Trump and really the Constitution, because I'm pro-Constitution. I
• 8:33
  And at no point did our founding fathers expect us to come in and become billionaires and become rich. We're supposed to be public servants serving the people. And that's what we've missed. So what have you listened to Eric Weinstein on modern wisdom on Chris Williamson's podcast? Oh, no.
• 8:54
  Holy cow. He talks deep into that. The deep state isn't going to let Trump win. And he said, I, and he's, he's leaning left. He liked RFK, but he said, I'm not, uh, I don't think this, the deep state's going to let him win because the only time in history that they couldn't control the candidate was 2016. And he's just too loose of a cannon and he works to his own beat. So having said that, I say loose cannon, but I want to say, let's talk. One of the things that you coach about is leadership.
• 9:24
  And I find that your accountability and your alignment is on par. And that's what I want you to point out and critique Trump's leadership versus what we have today.
• 9:39
  Yeah, Trump, again, I'll start with it. His leadership style is that of a CEO, a real boss of a real company. Now, here's the difference between a leader in politics and a leader in the free market that has to run a business that has shareholders and investors to answer to.
• 9:56
  And in real business, as a leader, if you make a decision that's wrong for your business, it'll cost you. And it could send you into bankruptcy. And it could cost every one of your employees. It could literally ruin your life. It could ruin your company. One bad decision. In government, when you make a bad decision, you get promoted. And there's something really bizarre that you had literally...
• 10:18
  The least favorite vice president in the history of the world disappeared for four years. What did she do for four years? All of a sudden, you got a guy that can barely talk that's the actual president of the United States. He's not a real president. There's someone running this country. We all know this. Everyone knows this. It's such a joke. Just open your eyes.
• 10:36
  So what happens to the reality of this guy's Alzheimer's or whatever dementia is happening? You know, it sucks, man. It's not a fun thing to be on stage and not remember shit. You could see him struggling all the time. They had to pump him up full of stuff to be able to sort of like show some life. So what do they do? They take him out.
• 10:54
  and they promote the worst vice president in the history of the world. And now they got to prop her up and make her look. Cause that means it's the only option. What is this? The point here is this, you're that bad and you just got the promotion. You just got the nod without one vote. And you want to talk about democracy. You know, there's so many things, there's so many places I could take this question, but at the end of the day, that is the difference is in, in, in government, you can get rewarded constantly for your bad decisions. Right.
• 11:22
  You look at what they did in Afghanistan. That was one of the worst exits in the history of the world. And it just gets swept on the rug because when you have the media constantly protecting you, they lie for you. They protect you. They're doing the evil bidding of the Democratic Party. And why? And it's because it's all politics. Marxism is an interesting thing because it assaults freedom and it starts working itself into four areas of life. It works itself into media. Yeah.
• 11:46
  It works itself into education, into pop culture, into Hollywood, higher learning. This is where, over the last 50 years, they slowly planted these seeds. There was a great book, great book. I hate to use the word great, but this is a chess match to take down freedom. It's called Rules for Radicals. It was literally written.
• 12:04
  by Saul Linsky. That was Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's hero. That was actually Hillary Clinton's mentor in college where she went to school. This was one of the literally the greatest communists that have ever lived in America, wrote a book called Rules for Radicals. The whole concept is how to take down freedom, how to take down capitalism. And it's a long game.
• 12:24
  It's a five decade process. And what you do is you destroy America from within. You don't fire one bullet. You can destroy it from within and every adversary on the world can play a part in it. And this is where technology's really come into the equation. China is gonna destroy America from within through TikTok. They're gonna destroy an entire generation. They're getting children to hate themselves, to hate their country and hate their parents. And that's why suicide is going through the roof and children, drug overdose through the roof and children, fentanyl pouring into this country on purpose. 22 million people.
• 12:53
  Just let into this country. We don't know who they are. Do you let people into your house with an unlocked door that you don't know who they are around your family you care about? Countries have to operate the same way. The reason they're destroying us from within is because freedom has enemies.
• 13:08
  abroad and in-house, and that's just the way it works. So if people don't wisen up, because indoctrination is such a real thing, this is what's gonna happen. But politics promotes the worst behavior. In business, there's consequences. In a free market, there's consequences. You don't need to mandate things. If it's a bad product, the people won't buy it, right?
• 13:26
  If it's killing people, they won't buy it. What happens in politics is the exact opposite. They mandate things. They create red tape. It's bureaucracy that forces narratives. Green energy. It's a non-winning formula right now because it wasn't developed in the private sector. It was pushed by government. Guess what? It doesn't work because it's not profitable. It doesn't work.
• 13:45
  Only things that happen that are good in society, they happen in the private sector. And as the government gets bigger, they squeeze the life out of the small businessman, which is the lifeblood of the economy. It's the lifeblood of America. It's the lifeblood of freedom. And what happens is you have monopolies.
• 14:01
  like big tech that literally suffocate. But these aren't American companies anymore. These are globalist companies. So their interests are so different. Listen, there's so many more people in China than there's in America. What do you think they're going to be loyal to America? They see where the dollars flow around the world. There's just not a loyalty there from a globalist mindset. But people don't see how all these things work or how they play.
• 14:20
  We are getting crushed and the trajectory of this country is wretched. What you need running this country right now is a businessman that can literally make conservatism cool again because that is the absolute goal. Because what the left did for so many years is they made liberalism cool. And what's happening now is the fruit of that is starting to show its teeth. We are all like the bigot racist, which is such a joke because you know what, brother? Conservatives don't see color. We see merit. We judge by the character. We do not judge by anything else. Someone even asked me, what do I think about transvestite? Well, I'll tell you what.
• 14:50
  If that transvestite can make me money, if they're the best at what they do, if they don't try to push weird nonsense that shows their value based on who they sleep with or their sexual orientation or like all the things that they deem to be value, like pride. What is pride week? You ever been to San Francisco during pride week? Everyone's got their cocks hanging out in their little underwear. That's pride. Who you sleep with is how you value you as a man or a woman?
• 15:16
  Insanity. And they push this stuff on children. And it's like, hold on, wait a minute. No, no, no, I could love a gay guy just as much as a straight guy if he's valuable, if he brings value to the market. But that's how we decide what is something that has value or not. Not who you sleep with in the bedroom. And that is where this has gotten so twisted.
• 15:35
  That's sort of you value your, your identity based on who you sleep with, not on what you bring to the world. It's all about merit. And that's how conservatives think. We don't seem black and white. We see as who gives, who takes, who steals and, and who generates, who's good, who's bad. Like we just look for the winners and the losers. It's really that simple. I'd say I picked the topic that you love. I, you know, this is why I adore you. Just the guy's got to follow him on social media. He's,
• 16:05
  Very articulate. I'm going to start it right now. Eric, Eric rock for president, 20, 28. Let's do it. Um, I have two short political, two short political, smaller questions, but I want to point something else out. And this is, we're talking our opinions right now, but I'm going to tell you something. That's not an opinion. It's absolute fact. And you can Google this and you can go to Google who arguably does work, work, um,
• 16:34
  does kind of filter what uh what what people hear google how many freaking people are registered voters 161 million says it right out there how many people voted in the in the uh 2020 presidential election it says two-thirds that's 106 then you go back and look how many votes did biden get 81 million and add them to how many votes that trump got 75 million you come up with 156 doesn't add up where did the extra 50 million votes come from you got to let me rip on this
• 17:04
  No, no, no, no. I'm just pointing that out. We're going to get into some other stuff. I have two quick questions. It's what would you do if you were president? Number one, what was the first thing you do? And then number two is honest to God, if you'd been shot at twice, would you continue running? No.
• 17:19
  Man, that's scary. You know, his family. You know, I said this the day before he got shot, attempted second suicide. The second day after. And then literally two days before the first one, two days before, two days before the first one. I remember saying like clear as day, they're going to take out Trump. Two days later, a bullet missed his brain by a millimeter. Act of God. Second time, literally a day before on social media, on social media. Yeah.
• 17:49
  I called it again. And the point is, is, and the way I caused like, can you Matt, this is how it came out. Can you imagine after being shot at being that close to death every day, he's in front of thousands of people, all these rallies, he travels the world. What a workhorse. He works harder than anyone. Guy's just a monster. And I've been around the family. I know the family. I know the internal workings of that Trump family, the dynamic of who they really are. And they are about as solid as they come. I swear on God on my life. I caught how I see it. I don't care. I don't care. I want to know who wins, who loses, who can be
• 18:17
  Good for me, who could be good for my family, who could be good for our community, who's not good for them. Who's good for the little guy that's poor, like me? Who's good for that kid? Trust me, liberalism makes you a victim. It holds you down. It suffocates the life out of you. What it does, it makes you dependent on a drip system that slowly kills you. I want to know that I'm not a victim.
• 18:40
  Anyway, I jumped out of this. I remember saying, what would you do if you're a president? First thing. Well, number one, COVID did one thing that was really interesting in an election year when China was on their knees because Trump was the first president going all the way back to the days of Jimmy Carter, where they started talking about the trade imbalance with China. Every president's kicked this can down the road and said they were going to do something never did.
• 19:02
  Because they were so afraid if they went after it, it would screw up the American economy. Because why? All this plastic sort of obsession that became very apparent in the 1960s, when America became dependent on plastic products instead of wooden steel, China became sort of the slave labor place of the world where cheap products could be made. And we became dependent on it. And slowly manufacturing disappeared out of America and went to a place like China. I'll circulate to my answer right here.
• 19:29
  Decade after decade, it got worse and worse. In China, what it did is it literally had a grip on us. Trump comes into office. First thing he does, he goes after the one place, which many economists were so worried that it would cripple the economy, but it did the exact opposite. He called it right. He put a tariff in place that was so profound. What it did is it repatriated countless billions.
• 19:50
  Billions of American dollars got repatriated tax-free into America, first of all. It's the first thing you did. No one even talks about this shit. It was so genius. And then what happened is American manufacturing came back in a record number. And that was the best economy that had ever lived in the history of the world during those Trump years. China was on their knees. People don't remember.
• 20:09
  Late 2019, China was in the worst position they've ever been. American independence was happening at a rapid pace, and in fact, they achieved it. Energy independence the first time ever in American history. We literally were not dependent on anyone. And guess what? Four years of no war. Had that ever happened since I've been alive? Nope. Nope. Hasn't.
• 20:28
  Do the math how simple this shit is when a real leader that runs a real business starts running the country. And here's what happened in an election year. It was February, late February of 2020. In an election year, Trump is crushing. The economy is kicking. And they went after him for four years, having him in court for four years.
• 20:47
  And then magically there's a little Wuhan bug that drops out of China. Oh, go figure. Isn't that interesting? The timing of a little bug that just pops out. They're killing everyone. So what does the news do? Oh my God, it's killing people. One, two, three, four, five. You see every day, 10 million, 20 million, 30 million people are dying.
• 21:03
  You know, that's a nightmare for a president. What is this? No one even knows what the fuck it is. Everyone's scared. But you saw how delicate the supply chain was, how dependent we are on the supply chain. Very quickly, there's no toilet paper. It's freaking out everywhere. But what you saw was death happening at record numbers. Now, I have a friend that runs a big insurance company, owns it.
• 21:22
  It was interesting, like the aftermath, just a little foreshadowing here. The death numbers really didn't change ever. So imagine right now if they had a death number ticker on every news network, Fox News, death, CNN, death, saying, hey, fentanyl, fentanyl, fentanyl, fentanyl, fentanyl, heart disease, heart disease, heart disease, stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, cancer, cancer, cancer. But they don't do that. They only did it because there was a political incentive by the people that wanted to take Trump out. And that's exactly what they did. What was the first thing they talked about during that 2020 COVID crisis?
• 21:51
  election mail-in ballots became the and i dude i called it literally in march they're going to steal this election and here's exactly what happened this is how precious this stuff is and how it's so manipulate people talk about this it's crazy to me mail-in ballots became the biggest fraud
• 22:09
  Male ballot harvesting. And here's the truth. I live in Idaho for 10 years. I've not lived in Nevada for over a decade. That 2020 election year, my parents of all people, they just moved to Idaho, made this their new primary. Eric Rock in Jeanette Rock, my wife.
• 22:25
  We got Nevada ballots sent to my parents' Idaho address. How is that possible? I haven't been enrolled to vote or registered to vote in Nevada for 10 years. I voted in all these Idaho elections. I voted up here. So what happened is that's called ballot harvesting. They take these old voter logs. They re-register people. They try to figure out where does Eric live likely. And they didn't get my address right. They got my dad's newest address. If you really start psychologically trying to connect the dots, what you realize is the massive amount of fraud that was happening in real time.
• 22:55
  Here's what I did because I'm a good guy. Me and my dad were pissed. We didn't understand how this could happen. We really thought about it, too. It's crazy that this could happen. How do they know where you live? And we threw them away. I didn't vote. I could have put Trump, sent them in, mailed them in, didn't vote. But I made it a point to check after the election. I'm just curious. Trump, you know, we don't know if Trump's going to win or lose in all these key states for like three weeks. Arizona, where Carrie Lake crushed ass. One of the best Arizona candidates ever. All of a sudden, loses after three weeks of...
• 23:22
  Well, there's more to count. They keep coming in, you guys. Well, you haven't counted all the votes yet. Like, okay, you have all this technology and like this bullshit. So here's what happened. I called the state of Nevada. Now, in Nevada, you can't tell who you voted for. But if there was a vote cast in your name and you were registered to vote, you can see if you voted. Lo and behold, brother, Eric Rock and Jeanette Rock, we both had a vote cast in our name in the state of Nevada. Right there is blatant fraud. Now, here's my first thing. Well, what do I do with that? Where do I go with this? Okay.
• 23:50
  There's an 800 number where no one answers. And I was just livid. I'm emailing. I just want, I'm such a guy about justice and what's right or wrong, that I literally would have moved heaven and earth to try to figure out how to make someone held accountable for this. But you know what? No one gives a shit. The media does not care. And if you talk about election fraud, guess what? You become an enemy of the state. Every news network on earth, including Fox, had to back off of that subject. They could not talk about it. And the more Trump talked about it, the worse it got for him.
• 24:20
  And this is what's problem with the Americas. We are not in control. The illusion of it, it's not even the government. There's a deep, dark force behind everything. And the media is really a catalyst for it all.
• 24:30
  Well, you definitely just got this fricking show banned, but it's all good. We're still top 10. We're good to go. So I want to reiterate what he just said. That ticker of deaths, if you go back and you Google the deaths in the total deaths in 2020 and 2021 and then go the year before, we did not increase. That's what he said. Total deaths.
• 24:54
  So they're classified a lot of deaths as COVID, which could have been just the flu. It could have been any. So the moral story is you can go back. That is well documented. You go to the US.com and see that. For your audience, it's here. Yes, they got to know my uncle runs a private physician on hospital.
• 25:12
  You know, they just sold it for nine figures. Okay. So he's been in this industry for 30 years during COVID, even a private physician owned hospital, they were incentivized to call anything they could COVID. They would get actually $30,000 per COVID patient from the government. This was an incentivized program. And what you saw happening was someone would come in in a car accident and they would call it COVID because there was so much money that could be had by hospitals and it was
• 25:37
  I mean, it's just pure manipulation. And I know that from an inside source. He's the CEO of a hospital for 20 years. He's my family. He tells me how it works. The incentive was insane, even for private physician-owned hospitals, which are historically conservative. They were so blatant in their approach to sort of make it worse than it was because there was a political incentive. It's pure incentive. It's evil as it was. But you realize how powerful China is now. I think you've got to understand where this all started.
• 26:04
  China was screwed because of Trump, which is our biggest adversary. And guess what? Now they're right back in the swing of things, aren't they?
• 26:14
  I promise we're going to switch gears, but I just want to, what's, what do you think is more, but just, this is one sentence answer, more important elections or term limits, verified elections that we knew a hundred percent or term limits are the kind of one in the same. You know what? Elections is the only thing that makes democracy democracy. It's the key. It's the lynchpin to everything. You know, you just got to fight the term limit problem and be, but it's gotta be elections. Yeah.
• 26:39
  That's why I wanted to do this today because we have to talk about this stuff. Yeah, we do. So one other thing that you may not even know because it just got swept under the rug is between the two assassination attempts, Trump's plane had to make an emergency landing. I didn't know that. He had an issue on the plane. That's next. Maybe it'll be poisoning. So just wait. This ain't over yet. So we're going to switch gears.
• 27:02
  Totally. And this one is going to be a big transition. And this is when I knew I loved you. When that first puff daddy video came out of him in the, in the hotel with the altercation with Cassie, you put this scathing message out with the video and I, and it was a condemning domestic violence. And I believe that's because of, I'm the same way because of our upbringing.
• 27:32
  and we had to fight scratch claw to get to what we had. And then we respect our women and we love our women. So I want to talk to you about how should we address the issue of domestic violence in America?
• 27:52
  Listen, there's nothing worse on planet Earth, first and foremost, than hurting a female or a child. Like it literally is like, you know, there's cardinal sins for sure. Right. But this one in my mind, if any, if you're a real man, you want to talk about what toxic masculinity actually looks like. What it actually is, is we defend women and children with our lives. We do not hurt them.
• 28:17
  And there's a huge difference. There's such a fine line between being like even a strict dad. I'm trying to think of all the narratives that could come around that subject matter. Being a strict dad that's harsh. My dad was tough as hell on me. Look how I ended up. The point of this whole concept is when it comes to innocence, when it comes to women, the protection of those two assets should be priority number one on this planet. And there are certain things that you can't come back from. If you beat a woman up and you're a grown man,
• 28:48
  You might as well killed her in my mind. Even that you could do it at your worst, you can't come back from that in my mind. You hurt a child, you can't come back from that. You rape a child, that is like, you can't come back from it. There's certain things you can't come back from. That is something you cannot come back from.
• 29:08
  I agree totally. We're going to deep dive in a little deeper. And first of all, thank you for being extremely vulnerable and honest. And that's what I love about you. You're fearless, bro. I'm proud of you that you're willing to talk about this. You're right. We'll probably get freaking...
• 29:26
  sanctioned censored but i you know if one person hears this and it helps them let's do it so it ain't gonna be the last time you the two of you and i are gonna be freaking joining forces screaming for uh equality and and and just america man we're pro america i could tell you that over and over and over again so
• 29:45
  I can't wait to see you out in LA. I know you're in Idaho, but I want to, I want to see you out soon and we'll, we'll do some stuff. Let's talk specifically about these high profile arrests like puff daddies. How does it affect the perception of success and accountability in the public? I'll tell you what, man, like,
• 30:03
  we glorify Hollywood. We've been bred in this society to glorify these people like they're heroes. And in fact, for millions of children, they are. They represent sort of like the catalyst, the best stuff of what this country could produce.
• 30:19
  But when you get down to the core and the character of 90% of these people, that they're garbage humans that don't have much talent. Just because you can say three sentences in a song, you think that's talent? You think that's a gift? You think that that's what makes you should be a hero? But we glorify these people like they're so good. Like, oh my God, Drake. He says the same freaking words. We've all heard the music. I listen to it. I tap into the algorithm constantly with the popular music. I can hate on it.
• 30:48
  Good for you, make all the money. That's exactly what this country's all about. Like go after your dreams, like blow up. Where there's demand,
• 30:57
  The supply that sort of follows it is where the money's made in life, right? We get that. I'm all on board with that. But when you really think about the character of these people and the industry that they're in, this is a dark industry, number one. And I would argue that most celebrities are actually slaves to some of the greatest perversion that's ever been sort of used as a weapon against anybody, against people. And they use it against these poor actors.
• 31:19
  in Hollywood and these singers and all these people in this industry, they flex on it. There's a dark powerful force that sort of like slowly over time manipulates these people and really gets you to a point when you have to sell your soul to the devil. That's a tricky industry to be in because oftentimes to get paid means you gotta do the evil bidding of the people that is your slave master. That's how Hollywood works. Anybody that has any kind of insight to that world knows. It's a slippery slope. It is dangerous.
• 31:46
  And there's a lot of evil in there. You know, when you have more money than God and everyone in the world treats you like God, pretty soon the right people in your head, they start making you think you are God. And then all of a sudden you think you're God. And the God complex is such an odd thing because it really changes sort of like the lines in the sand that most people think can't be crossed. Like it'll take probably a good person that's a kid that had a dream.
• 32:11
  And all of a sudden they have more money than Mariah Carey. You know, there's just obscene money here, but it's the God part around it. They start doing things that are just unimaginable because they think they can get away with it. And in fact, it's almost like the taboo, the more taboo, the more they get off on it. Because they've had everything that they're just thrown at them. They don't have to work for anything more. That's what fame does at that level, right?
• 32:33
  So when I look at what a hero looks like, what we should value in society, like what would my narrative be towards like how we view value in America? Number one, like the celebrities that do have all this influence, all these eyeballs, you know, you really look at what character looks like. I'll go to the athlete side of it. Tom Brady is a prime example. Whether you like him or hate him in football, the true nature and the true character of that man is about as solid as it gets.
• 32:56
  a lot of mutual friends, constant validation that supports that point that this is just a good guy. He may not have been perfect in his marriage. You know, he's literally one of the sexiest guys on the planet. Any woman on earth will tell you that. He has everything. But to maintain that type of composure and that type of spirit and sort of character through all that kind of fame...
• 33:14
  I imagine that's how it would be for you or someone that's just wanted to stay core to sort of a foundation that's so real and honest. You know who the real heroes are? These are the firefighters that run towards a fire when there's a fire. Police officers. You know, I was just talking about this the other day. When bullets start flying, we all run this way, right? Who are the guys that run that way?
• 33:35
  No one ever puts themselves in the shoes of a police officer. You know how scary it is to be at a job? Now, when I was a kid, I'm on the board of Make-A-Wish Foundation. That whole thing started with a police officer. It was a little boy that had terminal cancer that wanted to be a cop. And that's where Make-A-Wish started. That used to be an American dream. I want to be a police officer. I want to be a cop.
• 33:55
  That dream was under assault. And it's like, oh, racism. You know me white guys that are crackheads get in police shootings every day around America, but there's no political gain to it. So this divide and sort of conquer method is destroyed where real value exists. It's in the police officers. What about the guys that keep the roads clean, that pave them?
• 34:11
  What about the people that clean up after you? The janitors that keep this world clean? Like all these positions that are thankless jobs. These are the heroes of America. These are the people we should promote and put on a pedestal. These are the people keep the world going around. This is the real town. This is the real blood, sweat, and tears. These are the people that we should be talking about. The people that work in the sewer. Right?
• 34:29
  When something breaks, who are the people that fix it so that you can live in your comfort, so that you can have your opinion? Who are the people that protect freedom? No one talks about cops, by the way. I just got to get there. They go into homes every day. Imagine this. You got your family, right? You love your family. You have to leave the house every single day. You are going to see the worst prophecies that have ever existed in the world, like the most heinous things you have to see on a regular basis. Do you know how that could desensitize your soul? I talked to a cop that goes into a house.
• 34:57
  where there's a dead woman, she overdosed on fentanyl. True story. There's a baby in the house running around with diapers that hadn't been changed in three days. That baby's malnourished, it hasn't eaten, hasn't drinking, mommy's dead on the ground, and a baby's in diapers that has been pooped in 30 times. My point is, is that poor cop that had to see that has to take that internal heart, like the heat of that feeling of that child, that smell, just the smell of that house, that poor baby,
• 35:25
  and he has to go home every night. We never put ourselves in the shoes of the people that do the dirty work, ever. But we're so quick to call him a racist when there's some guy that's got tweaky eyes and he won't roll down his window in his car and it's a little nerve wracking. Shit, I don't want to get into this situation. Here we go, here we go. All of a sudden something happens, boom. And that guy's life is over because a guy like Obama, the President of the United States, the guy that should be uniting the country, comes out and says, I could have been Trayvon Martin.
• 35:52
  Right or wrong, it does not matter. The divide and conquer method has been around since the beginning of time. This is how powerful nations win. They get people to hate each other. But if you can't put yourself in the shoes of the people that you claim you hate and try to do their job for one day, then you're not a real human. You have no depth. You have no character. You have no conviction in your soul.
• 36:18
  I don't even know if that answers. First of all, no, I did. First of all, I'll tell you that you're the sexiest man alive, not Tom Brady. But I also believe that teachers and police officers should be the highest paid people on the planet. I, you know, I'm not saying that everybody just gets raises. They have to meet it. But I didn't even, I intentionally didn't even touch that Tyree kill situation. Cause that's, I don't know what the heck.
• 36:41
  That was, and it's frustrating as all heck. I would never speak to anybody the way that they were speaking to each other. I don't want to go down that path.
• 36:50
  We're going to give one more deep question, then we're going to have some fun and just talk about you. Again, people, this is a highly successful gentleman who doesn't have anything to gain here. You heard he is on the board of Make-A-Wish Foundation. That was one of my other questions. You could Google him. You can follow him. His stories on his Instagram are phenomenal. He's going to tell you what he thinks, how he feels. And then if he's wrong, he'll admit it, which is...
• 37:16
  What we need in this country, united, we stand divided. We fall. Thank you. Together. We rise. That's all. I'm, that's what my whole goal of us ranting today is. Yeah. It's just to create awareness that realize that, that, that not everyone's here. My workout partner in the morning.
• 37:32
  is far left-leaning and I'm far right-leaning. And we get along and we talk politics. We love each other. He's a good man. And everything's fine. I just want to talk about the 50 million votes. That's all I was trying to bring up. That just appeared out of nowhere. Apparently, you and your wife were two of them.
• 37:51
  That's right. That's all. I just want to be able to look at our elections and know that they are legitimate. Having said that, you are the host of the Man on a Mission podcast, which I had the joy of being on. We deep dive about alcohol and working out and mindset. So if you want to hear all the normal harder than life stuff, go listen to the Man on a Mission podcast with me and follow Eric Rock. But we're going to end the
• 38:19
  serious, serious part of talking about alcohol. And then I got some fun questions. So guys hang in there. Listen to us. It's just two deep friends talking shop, trying to create awareness. Now don't take anything too serious, except we need this country to be united. We're not here to hate each other. No matter what I can lock arms with any race. I,
• 38:40
  Any sexual preference could care less. The common goal should be the betterment of your soul, your spirit, what the value you bring to the world. Like this is what I look for in a person. Like your ability to sort of be valuable as a person instead of what happens is the victim mentality. It just corrupts. Absolutely. And it is so toxic. Yeah.
• 39:02
  And it actually is filled with so many lies. And that is the hard part to sort of articulate around because you instantly get labeled something. And I'm always this. If I'm wrong, I love being wrong. It's where I learn the most. But at the end of the day, like if you can't debate it, then don't talk because so many people have opinions and they can't back it up with any kind of conversation that makes sense. You see Charlie Kirk all the time. He goes to campuses all across America. Here's the indoctrinated generation that I'm talking about that is destroyed. He brings up a point and nobody can ever debate.
• 39:30
  ever articulate with any kind of facts. They just know the kind of the headline talking point. You're a racist. What does that mean? That is, you know, it's so played out now because it used to be such a disarming thing that it would like scare you. It would shut you down into submission. At the end of the day, like I could care less if I'd be called that anymore because that's what used to scare people. And that's what why so many people are scared silent. They're so afraid that they're going to be called that disarming word or homophobic or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 39:57
  No, no, no, no. Are you valuable or not? Do you give or do you take? Do you win or do you lose? Are you a king? Are you a fucking victim? Like what kind of mentality do you have? Like are you a fighter? Do you inspire the world? Do you give back? No, most of these people, all they do is take. They have no facts. They can't articulate any point. Debate is dead and that's on purpose because when you debate someone with substance, your only resort is to call them names. Anyway. Hmm.
• 40:23
  Remember what we're really talking about here, the underlying part, the underlying disease is greed. And ultimately, through the history of the world, greed has never won. And it always pushed too far. And that's what we're talking a little bit about politics, which is one side is going to push too far and ultimately is going to burst it. You talk about Puff Daddy's issues. He got a little too greedy. Honestly, if we just...
• 40:50
  pull back, got too greedy thinking the God complex. And so just, why do you think that is, if you had to say fundamentally, why, why is this happening? It's such an alarming rate. What is the one thing that, Ooh, that's a good question. I would tell you,
• 41:05
  You touched on it, in my opinion. It's emotional intelligence and the fact that we can't have dialogue. And we're not learning at a young age to have said dialogue. And we're passing on. The reason why I'm here, the reason why Heart of Life is here is because I learned how to be an alcoholic and a party animal for my parents. So we're passing on generational...
• 41:27
  Curse. Crutches and stupidity that we've got to, we've got to stop. And, and with me, it stopped right here. And my daughter's not going to have it. So we've got to teach emotional intelligence and get back to what is important in this world. And it's our word and our values and our morals and our integrity. And you said it love.
• 41:48
  It's all about love, not greed, not fear. And all we're selling on is fear, greed, and divisiveness. We've got to come back to what family values used to be. I sit down every day and have dinner with my daughter. I have breakfast with my daughter. Sit down, have dinner. It's not heard of anymore. Everybody always DoorDash, and they eat on the go, and everybody's in front of a device.
• 42:13
  it's we're headed down a slippery slope and if we don't stop it, it's going to get worse, but ultimately it always corrects itself. And hopefully it doesn't correct itself with what you're seeing. I think maybe you even posted about, you know, a revolution or a civil war, or I don't think it's going to come to that. I think there'll be a modern day one where people refuse to pay taxes and refuse to go to work. And it just hurts everybody. Yeah. So yeah,
• 42:40
  Let's talk about alcohol for a minute, because I know that we talked a lot about it, and it's very important to you and how you went in your life. And how do you view the role of alcohol in business culture? And talk about your personal decisions that you've made regarding personal and professional decisions you've made regarding alcohol. Yeah, thanks, Kelly. Good topic, man. I think this is one thing that someone could do right now today.
• 43:05
  like kind of make the decision that I'm going to encourage them to make, which may sound crazy because I'm such an extreme person when it comes to like winning. Right.
• 43:13
  And I connect a lot of unique dots now. I'm almost 41 years old. I wish I would have had this mentality as a 25-year-old. I could have saved myself a lot of pain, 20-year-old, even better, actually 17-year-old. I almost killed myself. I was literally, many times I probably should have died. And it would have been a sad way to go, right? Just never got anywhere near my greatest potential. Just so sad. Some of the situations I was in as a kid as a drug addict.
• 43:38
  You know, as a baseball player, I had big dreams as a kid. That was going to be my ticket out. I had so many things I wanted to do with my life. I was so ambitious and I had a lot of fire in me as a child, you know, and I love my dad. He's just, you know, he's just, he's, he's one of my best friends today. But, you know, as a child, like, is this because I've never met my biology father. He took that role when I was seven or eight. And, you know, I didn't have the same love, honestly, that him and my brother did, my stepbrother. I could see their bond. And so that created this fire in me.
• 44:05
  And it just, you know, a lot of things weren't fair as a kid. That was his real son. He was a year older than me. Rem just always got it better. It was my honest opinion. And I had all these chips on my shoulder and that turned into a fuel to win. The only thing I think that was organic to me that was really valuable is that fuel to win was sort of birthed. I put a lot of meaning and reason behind why I did things. That was fueled into sports. That was going to be how I got dad to love me. What if I'm an amazing athlete? Maybe dad will love me, right? Right.
• 44:30
  It was a powerful connection and powerful emotion to put to a simple action and all the discipline that comes with being sort of good at anything. And that's what I was riding with. When a lot of people around you weren't sort of – the kids weren't riding with those powerful emotions. I would even do it mowing the lawn. Like I would associate hard work with love.
• 44:46
  And I would take, you know, half hour, you know, amount of time to mow the lawn that it should have taken. I would do it for four hours, mowing it three different times, trying to get the diamond patterns, perfect, hoping dad will see it and love me. But the point is, is I've had that fuel that sort of, I took into sports. And when I, when I had two career ending, I,
• 45:04
  Baseball injuries back to back years that destroyed my dream in the late 1990s. This is when Oxycontin was being pumped into society. That was the real thing that ruined my life. They put me on that drug and I was secretly addicted. No one in my family knew I went right into college right out of high school and my identity was gone. My purpose was gone.
• 45:24
  Everything I was disappeared. I remember looking in the mirror and not being able to recognize my soul. And that addiction sort of coming out of the bowels of it, you know, as I started to win. I'm just skipping a lot of steps here. But I got out of it, faced 25 to life in prison on huge, huge trafficking charges. I was buying kilos of cocaine from...
• 45:41
  from the Hell's Angels. I got busted by the DEA. I ended up working with the DEA for several years. I got a suspended sentence of 25 to life. So this is my life. This is what it amounted to. I was such a good kid too, and it was drugs that ruined it. But when I started coming to, I was good enough and emotionally intelligent enough and strong enough as I progressed where I could drink alcohol. I mean, you know, I got out of the bad situation, got into entrepreneurship, and for years, you know, I was still disciplined to go to the gym every day, but like I would drink at every event. Right.
• 46:10
  There's lots of events, the more successful you get, charity this, charity that, charity that, and I'd find that every time I drank, like I just never felt that good. I was just socially aware, but I was strict everywhere else, but this was the one area that I allowed myself to just be free at. It's not like I was an alcoholic, I never even really liked it, but I would find myself is the crutch that, oh, I'm in front of people, I'm nervous, let me drink. I'm in front of people, I'm nervous, let me drink. And it was always kind of that break the ice thing.
• 46:36
  My first partner that really changed my life in this area that ever come in, I never been around anyone ever that didn't drink. Business people didn't matter. All successful people from my perspective, like drank at dinners or business meetings or whatever. And I met nearly the person that became one of my greatest mentors, you know, billionaire, incredible human into the world. And he never drank a sip of alcohol in his life. And there was something really interesting that happened. I went to one lunch meeting.
• 47:03
  And it was a round table at his hotel in front of all these incredibly powerful people. There was like a federal judge at the table. And then there's just me. I'm just there for the ride at that point. So it was really early on in our relationship. But I was the first guy to order. And I said, I'll do a crown and coke. You know, it's like three o'clock, right?
• 47:21
  And every single person around that entire table ordered either water or like an iced tea. Someone ordered a Diet Coke. And I'm the one asshole that ordered a drink. And I never felt so small before. I mean, you know, I was pretty insecure even then. I'm much different now than I was then. But...
• 47:37
  I remember grabbing that waiter and this was, this is all it took for me. It was one, this was my moment, right? Where I can now speak to this in a unique way. And I told that waiter, I was like, Hey, cancel the drink. I'll just do a, um, and here's the, I'll just do an iced tea. This is where the iced tea for me came in.
• 47:54
  And I literally, since that day, I've been drinking iced teas ever since. But there was a one story before that that was just, this was so perfect timing. Sometimes when the right person asked the right question at the right time, your life can change. That felt like someone asked me the right question at the right time. But about three weeks before that, I was at a Lincoln Day dinner charity event where we were like the title sponsor.
• 48:15
  They kept bringing me drinks that entire night. We had all our family there. We had senators sitting at our table. And they probably brought me like nine or ten different Crown and Cokes that night. And the lady just kept bringing them. I wasn't even ordering them. When I left, I didn't feel drunk at all. I mean, I could handle alcohol better than anybody. I just was so gut stricken to it. I don't know. But I remember getting into my car in the valet. Mr. Rock, here's your car. They had it waiting up front, ready to go. I'm getting in the... Driving off. I get about literally...
• 48:43
  a minute down the road and I got my brother who flew into town and his wife in my car. My wife sitting next to me. No, my, my brother's next to me. The girls are in the back cop lights me up and here I'm successful guy, right? You know, pillar of my town that I'm living, pull over to the side of the road. Cop comes up to me. And again, after everything I've been through, Oh man. And he looks in the car and he goes, Whoa, I can just smell alcohol reeking out of this car. And I did not feel drunk at all. And I looked at my brother and I said, man, how much did you drink tonight? And,
• 49:11
  And the cop kind of smiled at me and goes, get out of the car. And here I am, I'm 30, I don't know how old I was. It's been four or five years since I've drank in, but 30, I don't know, 36 years old.
• 49:23
  high to my power, high to my career, successful as I've been, side of the road now, and they're doing the breathalyzer. No, not yet, no breathalyzer. They're doing this test with me. And I'm just holding my breath, focusing as hard as I can. I'm on one leg doing the damn thing, and there's all these cops pulling in now, and there's cars just passing by. I'm just like, what? How did I get here? Not again. Please don't. Like, oh, my God, I can't have this. And it really shook me in this moment. And somehow, by the grace of God,
• 49:50
  I literally passed the test and I, you know, I drink in like 10, I'm not lying, but I just didn't feel drunk at all. But I knew how much I drank. I'm just being honest. And that lady's, there was a lady next to me with, it was holding a flashhead to me and she handed me an idea. And I'll never remember. She kind of smirked at me. She goes, thanks, Mr. Rock.
• 50:08
  Have a good night. And it was just the most eerie feeling. And when I left that night, it really shook me. And fast forward three weeks, I'm at this table and that's what happened. So whatever your story is gonna be where you allow yourself to quit, mine was a billionaire that sort of at the right time, the right place, the right area of time did it. I have not had to drink since then. And what's happened since is I have gained countless hours back in the morning the next day of events.
• 50:33
  And what I've actually realized is I have more power than I've ever felt. When I go to events now, I've really become firm in who I am in my skin. I used to get embarrassed if I didn't drink. Even my dad, no one liked it at first. Like, what's the matter with you? You're not drinking? You know, it's like you make everyone else feel bad because you don't. And what I realized is everyone else slowly gets hammered and you're the one guy that's not. I'm the first to leave. I go home. I feel good. Like...
• 50:55
  I get to sleep every night when countless nights I would have been drinking. And that's the whole point is like my ability to sort of grip life and see the full fruit of what life can be is at max capacity right now. Alcohol leaving my life has brought so much wealth, so much better people. It carried me literally right into personal development. It just brought me things that I don't know if would have ever been there.
• 51:18
  And now, like at the end of the day, when I count the hours back where I wake up just teeming with life, I don't have to stress to go to the sauna to try to sweat out last night's decisions. I did that for years thinking that I'm a good guy, like I'm a rock solid human. That was my story to alcohol. Now I tell that and what I found, and I'm sorry for the long story, but this is really cool to hear. Nine out of 10 people that I mentor, they come into my world, anyone near me, employees, I mentor all kinds of people from all walks of life.
• 51:48
  They can't be around me longer than a couple months. And I don't care how bad they drink. They start like adopting through osmosis, my self-belief, and they stop drinking. Almost every person I've ever mentored does not drink. And it's crazy. I don't push it on them. I just tell my story and I keep my standard high. And they don't drink around me. And I think they leave and they realize the magic is not in the event where you would have drank. It's when you drive home from it. You know how many lives you're saving just with that core concept?
• 52:17
  And like, it's so true. You get into bed, you're, you're, you're rubbing your little puppy. Like you're sober. It's a fucking gift. And I hope that the world's inspired by that story. If it's even possible.
• 52:29
  Well, we've touched on everything. So the one thing I want to remind everyone, or point out was the one time Eric Rock was a follower was when he learned to not drink. That was impressive, brother. I mean, you go down your own path all the time and you don't care. You're unapologetic. And I'm proud of you for that. But the one time you did it was learning the right way. And that was God kept showing you, hey, hey, dummy. And that was what that smirk was from that police officer. So I'm glad you ended up there. The weirdest thing about that is,
• 52:58
  As I got, I've gotten to know you and I know you pretty well now. And we exchanged texts and I know that there's still little demons in there and it would be nice to, to, Oh my God, if I'd have a drink, but it's like, you can battle through that. Not even battle through it. You're able to process through it a lot faster, sober than you ever could drinking. And when we're, we're quote unquote nervous and trying to fit in at these events, it's, that's not what you're supposed to do, man. You're supposed to be E-Rod. I'm supposed to be Kelly Siegel.
• 53:27
  not freaking watered down version of ourselves. So I want to, you know, relationships get saved, husbands and wives. You always see the drunk argument. I see it now when I'm in places like,
• 53:40
  It's so much better when you're, when you're sober, not even a few drinks. Like if you're going to do one or two, you might as well do not. Right. That's kind of, what's the point? What are you doing? What are you trying to do? But it's the little snippy things that guys do that it's just those little things that it always happens from alcohol. And that completely erased from my, from my life. I completely. Yeah.
• 54:00
  I laugh about that because when I'm out and about and I watch a fight happen, I'm like, that would not happen if you're sober. And you can't tell them that because they're drunk. They're just talking over each other. It's hilarious. I want to spend a minute because I love the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And the whole entire heart of their life,
• 54:17
  brand is for charity two of them are the children's foundation variety and face addiction now are our big charities that we donate to but you're i forgot you had part of the make a wish foundation so how has that changed your perfect per
• 54:32
  perspective in life. Yeah. Kids are, you know, I love that you use the word perspective because it's the only word I would have said in connection with these really powerful emotions that you get attached to when you become part of anything. And I'm part of a lot of different things. It's just, there's just one of many, but that was the real one that, that I decided to sort of like sink my teeth into. Um,
• 54:52
  Um, and it was the original story of the little kid that had terminal cancer that really just like put tears instantly to my face. When you, if you go watch or hear the actual story, like in all its detail, it is so profound. And, you know, so many people are trying to solve the problem. Like at the end of the day, just that little wish for that kid, you know, like they, they can go after that one wish that they have. It was just such a beautiful thing, but perspective is the key word. I'm glad you said it.
• 55:17
  Every time you're in a bad mood or it's the day's not going your way or like, you know, in business, there's a problem every day. There's always a fire to put out. It allows me to sort of stoically connect to gratefulness in a powerful way, a way that really allows me to change the energy in any situation room. And I can do it on a dime because I've seen so many children that are just little warriors and they just keep fighting and they have things that they're going through that most people could never even imagine.
• 55:46
  Most people have no idea what it's like to be the parent of someone that lost a baby. You know, it's like you, there's so many different directions I could go with this. It's the parent's side of it, watching their child. That might even be worse. The tragedy of watching your child that you can't help is heartbreaking.
• 56:02
  And so for me, if I feel pressure, it always feels like a pressure in my throat. It feels like a blood pressure heartbeat right here. Anytime I can almost feel anxiety coming over me. And listen, everyone has their shit. When I get overwhelmed, there's a problem and I start seeing red. I feel it. What I've learned to do, this is so powerful, you guys, listen to this.
• 56:19
  I've learned to feel that feeling before I do any action, before any words come out. I feel it before I react to it. And it allows me to sort of have a system that I tap into. And what I do is I take one crazy deep breath. And as I take that deep breath, I sort of gamify this moment because it's now a system that I rely on to pull all the negative shit away. And it allows me to play with the pieces that are the powerful chess pieces that…
• 56:45
  on the table that matter most. And when you start bringing death into the equation, I'm a huge fan of Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus. I love the philosophy, memento more. Death is really sort of the catalyst for it all, but it's even more than that. It's the pain of innocence being tortured.
• 57:01
  It's the struggle of the human experience at the worst levels that allowed me to completely transform this situation into something that I can manage and control. And when I move forward then, after adopting the ability to sort of recalibrate, get my frequency back up, it changes my vibrancy, that core sort of system in my life. I don't care how bad it is. I can find gold in anything that happens to me. And what happens is everything becomes a gift.
• 57:28
  even this hell that whatever the situation is that I felt two minutes ago, it becomes a gift. And what I found throughout my life when I've been at the most, if I really connect the dots looking backwards, the most powerful connections I've ever made in life always came out of the bowels of a big problem. And it's always because I was able to turn that problem or that stress into this silver lining, this golden nugget that nobody else could see.
• 57:51
  But somehow it was in the way that I responded and the way I handled it that allowed me to sort of turn sort of a one star into a five star. No matter what business problem it was, who's mad at me, what da da da da da da da, where it causes that anxiety. There's so many things. I bet my jewelry store got robbed. I'll never forget that emotion. All the stuff that happened.
• 58:08
  And what you realize you're doing when you sort of perspective and gamify your own shit that happens to you, you really start realizing that you're always in control. You are a master of your destiny because you have the power of decision. You have the power of choice. You have the power of response. Right.
• 58:24
  It is one of the greatest alignments that I could gift someone for when something goes wrong in their life that really has no consequence in the end of the day. And it always brings back to these types of topics. It's always children. It's always innocence. It's always death itself. It's thinking about all the most profound sort of moments in my life that have impacted me the greatest. And all of them come from powerful loss.
• 58:48
  powerful tragedy that extends far beyond anything in business, anything in life. I mean, it comes right down to it. One of my dearest friends lost her baby. Like I could feel that pain of that loss in this. It just nearly killed her. Like just so easy. Like, well, this is not a big problem anymore. Like I got this. So just remember that. If you could do this in your life, systematize anything like this in you, you will be such a powerful person and you will become a leader. That's what leaders do. Yeah.
• 59:15
  They always shift perspective into any situation when they need it most. I call that the sacred pause, the time between your activated time, the response, the sacred pause. That's good. You can have that one. The only thing bigger than your beauty and your brains is your heart. You're a good guy.
• 59:37
  I enjoy every part of you. Thanks, brother. Love you. A couple of quick questions. We'll get out of here. We're going to lighten it up real light now. So if you could have dinner with one political figure, past or present, who would it be? Ronald Reagan. Oh, yeah. He'd be good. I didn't even think of that one. I was trying to think. Greatest communicator of our time.
• 59:58
  I'm big on the communication right now. And it's God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. Use it that way. What is the thing? They said, listen, 70% more than you talk. Powerful brother. What, what's the funniest or weirdest thing that you've ever sold at one of your consignment stores? My God, we've had some of the craziest things they've sold. Let me think, what would it, what would be the craziest thing?
• 1:00:26
  Man, if it's ever been made, I feel like we've sold it. Crazy. Did they get anything? Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. I mean, I remember, and so I'm remembering so many crazy things we've had. I've had elephant tusks that, you know, come from like the 17th century that have had carvings that are incredibly valuable, but it's hard to sell here in America, hard to deal in that kind of stuff. I mean, that's.
• 1:00:46
  It's kind of sad, but there's a lot of provenance and history that comes with some of these pieces. I mean, it's hard to go to one particular thing that would be like jarring. But just know this, that like we come across some of the rarest stuff you've ever seen. We've, you know, we've really...
• 1:01:01
  master what our business really did is we mastered being able to get into some of the most influential people in the world's homes, some of those beautiful homes on the planet. And oftentimes when you get that type of clientele, when you worked your retail model into those type of people's homes, you get really unique opportunities to sell very expensive, rare things that are one-on-ones, unique stuff. They trust you with that. They're kind of like giving you an opportunity to sort of do something that could go to like a higher level auction,
• 1:01:26
  But oftentimes, like we can sort of reserve a price, put it in a store, give it sort of like the value it deserves, let the public see it. Oftentimes, like just in your local community, it's a it's a gift. But the pieces that we've seen that are that are just incredible. Oftentimes, it's art like you'll just see art that you can't see anywhere else, like one on one art that just will blow your mind. And a lot of stuff is insanely rare. This is all original stuff. But yeah.
• 1:01:49
  I don't know. I'll have to think, chew on that to try to find something that would shock this audience. But there's nothing that comes. I'm thinking a lot of this stuff would probably piss people off. I've had elephants that come in, elephant heads that are just monsters. Not even joking you. There's a lot of... The business we're in, people throughout history, they collect things. Things happen whether you like it or not. And they try to pass that down the road. And they use companies like us to be able to do that. So you kind of see it all. Yeah.
• 1:02:15
  And, you know, a lot of times it's not that pretty to see, actually. An elephant's a prime example of that. The depth of your... I can't ask you quick questions. The depth you go to. I'll try this one. Be quick.
• 1:02:31
  All right. No, no, no, no. This is, yeah, this one's easy. Do you have any guilty pleasures like a TV show or a snack that people wouldn't expect? Oh, man. A guilty. Okay. So gummy bears. I love gummy bears. If I was on death row, I would need gummy bears. Yeah. Like that's give me a dessert. I'll take gummy bears.
• 1:02:52
  So mine are Jolly Ranchers. It's too hard. I got to chew on something. All right. Last question. If you could trade lives with anyone for a day, who would it be and why? For one day. Mm-hmm. Interesting question. If I could trade lives with any person for one day, what would it be? Oh, what a weird question to ask. One day. I get to know you. We were so heavy.
• 1:03:21
  one day if i could trade with one day is the person have to be alive because my instinct i don't want to go to someone from the past i'd want to go back to the history for sure so if you give me that allowance in this question i definitely i'm going to go to a bygone era now it becomes this because i love history what era would i want to go back to um
• 1:03:43
  He just reminds you when you said you were going to give it easiest. Oh, my God. Like, man, I'm thinking about like some of the greatest events that have happened in world history. The caveman days, you know, the Renaissance. I want to go to the Last Supper now that you're talking about it. Let's go to the Last Supper. Yeah. You know, like, man, that's a one that Jesus for a day. I might, you know, I'll pick Jesus.
• 1:04:06
  That's a good one. So is there anything that I haven't asked you that you feel compelled to share? I think we pretty much will hit everything. But is there anything else? Bro, you don't want to open a can of worms with me. There's not a topic in the world that I don't have a heartfelt response to that has matter in the world. If it matters and if it's good or bad and there's consequence to the good or the bad.
• 1:04:27
  I put, let me just say this and I'll end with this. I put so much heart and meaning behind everything. I love to think, how does this work? When I'm in a plane flying over a city, when I'm in a jet, like everything I do, it's like somebody built all that. Like people are so talented, like behind every single thing you see, I'm flying into Dubai. You're looking at one of the most incredible things that have been curated over two decades. That's all. And you're thinking to yourself,
• 1:04:55
  God, I'm playing small. And it is so inspiring to me to think about sort of the human experience of what people have created. Then you go back to like works of art through history, like the Great Pyramids, or you think about some like the wonders of the world. And you're like, how did mankind do that before? Like the modern engine. It's just so cool to be curious about life and how things get done. And so many people, young people today, like they're all they do.
• 1:05:18
  is they hold up these devices and they just get sucked in because someone else is controlling them. And I'm like, no, no, no. Go out and control your destiny. Go learn, go be curious. When I was a kid, I think this is where this comes from. Anything that had any kind of complication to it, I would break it apart because I was always curious to how it worked. That's just the kind of child that I was. Everyone thought I was going to be an engineer. So far from all that, obviously. But I was really good at math as a child. I've never, ever not got an A in a math
• 1:05:47
  And I did all the hard classes, but matches came easy to me. And I think it's because like my curiosity for how this creates, this creates this. There's always like a visceral reaction to any action itself. And I love sort of that. And I apply that to everything in life. That means like liberal or Democrat, even politics, like I'm not really here to,
• 1:06:05
  except to find the truth of what works best for the most amount of people. Like my mind is so driven to consider like how that works. That's why I think about the founding fathers. Like out of everything I could have done coming out of tyranny, coming out of sort of a monarchy, British rule, what kind of world would they want? They gave it to the people. That was such a divine sort of document, but yeah,
• 1:06:23
  You got to trace the dots in your mind. If you don't like this system, well, what's a better one? You think socialism is better? Well, okay, well, then tell me how, why? Tell me, elaborate, because I've done it myself and the math doesn't add up. Actually, there's really no perfect system, except this one is as good as it's ever been. And if there's a better one, I'm all ears. I've tried to think about it, but most people don't think deeply about anything these days. And again, it comes down to this one thing, bro. Being an old soul in the world is one of the greatest assets a human could be. Be an old soul.
• 1:06:53
  Like our grandparents, that generation, that is some of the greatest gifts in the world that they left us. And they're dying at a rapid pace. And they're not being picked up. Those lessons are not being picked up by the great-grandchildren, the grandchildren. If they could start understanding the merit and the value and the types of sort of lessons of our grandfather's eras.
• 1:07:13
  in grandmother's era, you would be so dangerous in society today because I think this stuff is so timeless and it's what inadvertently will let people skyrocket in the future is that if you can hang on to old school principles and for women out there, you want to know what sexy actually looks like women, be an old soul, be an old soul. That is valuable to high value men. You sell your soul to the devil. You just cheapen your product.
• 1:07:39
  You know, they say that there's like a quote that I'm on this sort of topic right now. It says too much circulation makes the price go down. And I love rare people. Be a rare person. That's it.
• 1:07:55
  Brother, if I could trade lives with anyone for a day, I think it would be you because you are harder than life. I love you very, very much. Thanks for playing, brother. I love you too, man. This is fun, bro. One of my favorite podcasts by far ever done because no one ever allows me to be like that. You set me up good, bro. Thank you.
• 1:08:18
  Please rate and share this podcast. I'm active on all social platforms and love to hear from my Seagull 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.