Full Transcript for Creativity Protects You: Nick Nanton

00:03:40.969 me that people who work with me have learned that like, it's, 72 00:03:41.210 --> 00:03:43.229 I'm friendly about it. I'm not mean to be rude 73 00:03:43.250 --> 00:03:44.689 and I'm not trying to cut you off or hurt you. 74 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:46.810 I'm just like, can I make it? 75 00:03:46.900 --> 00:03:47.159 You know? 76 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:50.439 And so, so when I, like, I can only hyper 77 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.500 focus on things and I can only do it for 78 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:55.340 so long. And so, you know, like when I get 79 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:58.620 a math test in any schooling or some tests like that, 80 00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:01.659 I would go to it and like, I would finish 81 00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:05.210 my test in like 11 minutes or whatever. And we 82 00:04:05.229 --> 00:04:06.889 might have an hour and a half or I finished 83 00:04:06.930 --> 00:04:09.789 my first law school exam, uh, I think in 29 84 00:04:09.789 --> 00:04:11.770 minutes and we had three and a half hours. And 85 00:04:11.830 --> 00:04:14.590 so like, I would get sent back to my desk, 86 00:04:14.610 --> 00:04:16.470 you know, I'm at your school, middle school, high school, like, Hey, 87 00:04:16.889 --> 00:04:19.129 you can't be done with this test yet. Like you 88 00:04:19.149 --> 00:04:20.709 got it. You need to check your answers. And part 89 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:22.149 of what they were saying is like, part of them 90 00:04:22.189 --> 00:04:23.670 was trying to help me. Like, there's no way you 91 00:04:23.689 --> 00:04:25.579 could do this as fast when no one else is 92 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:28.839 this fast. And number two, um, I can't have you 93 00:04:28.860 --> 00:04:30.860 done with this yet because I don't have anything for 94 00:04:30.899 --> 00:04:32.259 you to do. And you got to be quiet and 95 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:34.180 all the things that ADHD people don't like to, you 96 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:36.680 got to be quiet, sit still, like whatever. And so 97 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:39.500 I would go, when I did it, I would go 98 00:04:39.540 --> 00:04:41.579 back and I would redo it. And I changed my answer. 99 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:43.839 I get most of them wrong because my brain was 100 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:46.040 done with that. Now I didn't always get them a 101 00:04:46.180 --> 00:04:48.420 hundred percent correct, but like I got A's in school 102 00:04:48.459 --> 00:04:50.439 and I did well in school. It's funny. I tell 103 00:04:50.459 --> 00:04:52.540 that story in my new book, that law school exam 104 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.879 was my first law school exam. My friend was like, dude, 105 00:04:56.199 --> 00:04:57.939 are you quitting? Like, he's like, I'm like, no, no, 106 00:04:57.959 --> 00:04:59.579 I just finished. Like, how'd you, he's like on page 107 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:02.379 one or whatever. I'm like, I just, it's all, it's 108 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:04.800 what I did. So the professor, I

got a D 109 00:05:04.839 --> 00:05:08.290 plus in that class. And I know it is because 110 00:05:08.649 --> 00:05:11.639 the professor was not happy that I finished that quickly, 111 00:05:11.699 --> 00:05:14.800 but it's just my hyper focus. But so I took 112 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:16.300 him again because I wasn't going to let him beat me. 113 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:19.990 And I took on the exam. I got to the 114 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:21.750 open book. A lot of law schools open book. I 115 00:05:21.829 --> 00:05:23.430 opened the book. And I'm like, I don't know what 116 00:05:23.470 --> 00:05:25.569 this question is. So I'm like, it sort of sounds 117 00:05:25.610 --> 00:05:27.470 like this. I go to the back. I find a case. 118 00:05:27.870 --> 00:05:30.000 I read the case. I read his question. I read 119 00:05:30.009 --> 00:05:32.180 the case. I read his case. I'm like, oh, he 120 00:05:32.220 --> 00:05:35.180 put the same exact case on there with different names. 121 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:37.439 So I took the rest of the time and I 122 00:05:37.540 --> 00:05:40.360 copied the entire judge's opinion and just changed the names 123 00:05:40.379 --> 00:05:42.139 and I got an A. And so I ended up 124 00:05:42.230 --> 00:05:45.449 winning with that professor. But my whole point being, like 125 00:05:45.569 --> 00:05:47.889 I was made to feel guilty about the fact that 126 00:05:48.230 --> 00:05:50.750 that was something, it was just the way my brain worked. 127 00:05:51.069 --> 00:05:53.829 And again, I didn't, it wasn't perfect. Sometimes I'd finish 128 00:05:53.870 --> 00:05:55.769 in 12 minutes and I didn't know anything and whatever. 129 00:05:56.110 --> 00:05:59.050 But my point being, I really never realized I felt 130 00:05:59.170 --> 00:06:02.100 guilty about it in a way until like maybe a 131 00:06:02.149 --> 00:06:04.360 year ago when I was like, man, that was weird. 132 00:06:04.379 --> 00:06:06.540 You know, it was just sort of a, you know, 133 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:08.060 that was a weird time, but it was, you know, 134 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:10.579 we have these gifts we've been given and because of 135 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:13.879 the way the system is set up, we often can't 136 00:06:13.990 --> 00:06:17.689 exercise those or, and we're often not encouraged in them. Now, 137 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:20.209 Like everybody else, I had a few people on the way, 138 00:06:20.230 --> 00:06:23.310 a few teachers in an enrichment class here or an 139 00:06:23.829 --> 00:06:26.529 acting class or whatever who were like, keep going, Nick. Yeah, 140 00:06:26.670 --> 00:06:30.089 that's really cool. Be you. But that was few and 141 00:06:30.110 --> 00:06:36.800 far between compared to the other feedback I would get. Wow. 142 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:41.920 I love your energy so much because same. ADHD, yes. Also, 143 00:06:42.300 --> 00:06:44.860 just all of the things. Yes, I wrote down so 144 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:49.569 many notes because–

you have spent your life learning from 145 00:06:49.709 --> 00:06:52.689 other people, but it sounds like this book has taken 146 00:06:52.750 --> 00:06:55.310 you inside you. Like it sounds like you have had 147 00:06:55.329 --> 00:06:58.589 a chance to kind of learn about you. So given, 148 00:06:58.730 --> 00:07:01.350 given that and like out of respect for that, because 149 00:07:01.370 --> 00:07:05.290 that's important and you know, you're getting to the heart 150 00:07:05.350 --> 00:07:08.009 and soul of everything that you've done with your life, 151 00:07:08.069 --> 00:07:12.079 which is super impressive, amazing, like check, check, checks all 152 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:15.829 the boxes kind of life. And yeah, you're like learning 153 00:07:16.149 --> 00:07:18.610 about your own story through this book process, which is 154 00:07:18.769 --> 00:07:22.189 so stinking cool to me. So like you, knowing that 155 00:07:22.209 --> 00:07:24.670 you've spent your life learning and growing from all these 156 00:07:24.810 --> 00:07:29.500 other people's stories, what have these stories taught you about 157 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:29.920 your own? 158 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:33.420 Yeah. So first of all, I thought I hated learning. 159 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:35.920 I really did. Cause I, cause it meant that to me, 160 00:07:35.980 --> 00:07:37.439 it meant sitting at a desk for eight hours a 161 00:07:37.459 --> 00:07:39.000 day and shut up, you know? And that's like what 162 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:42.699 most learning is, but I realized like I'm addicted to learning, but, 163 00:07:42.980 --> 00:07:45.410 but now I get to learn on a weekly basis, 164 00:07:45.490 --> 00:07:47.850 at least like from the best in the world. And 165 00:07:47.889 --> 00:07:51.029 I'm like super curious about that stuff. And so, first 166 00:07:51.069 --> 00:07:55.310 of all, I was able to reframe, you know, a 167 00:07:55.350 --> 00:07:58.189 paradigm for myself. And I think it's important that all 168 00:07:58.209 --> 00:08:00.509 of us, like, again, it doesn't just, I mean, it 169 00:08:00.709 --> 00:08:03.230 hit me like a brick probably 40 years later than 170 00:08:03.250 --> 00:08:05.560 I wish it had, because I'm not very smart, but 171 00:08:05.569 --> 00:08:07.829 it's like, you know, I think it's really important that 172 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:10.870 people sort of like start questioning, like, Why do I 173 00:08:10.990 --> 00:08:13.529 feel that way about something? Because we have, I will 174 00:08:13.550 --> 00:08:16.550 say this, we are all today, right now, you sitting there, 175 00:08:16.589 --> 00:08:19.009 everyone listening, and this may be the most important thing 176 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:21.959 I say, you are the sum of the stories you 177 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.660 believe about your past, your present, and your future. So 178 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:26.420 that's who you are right now. The person you show 179 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:29.040 up as today is the sum of the stories you 180 00:08:29.060 --> 00:08:31.519 believe about your past, your present, and your future. And 181 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:33.620 a big problem with this is that most of us, 182 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:36.490 because we've all failed, that's part of life. And part 183 00:08:36.509 --> 00:08:38.429 of it is because we're not good at it. Part 184 00:08:38.450 --> 00:08:40.830 of it is we should never have tried to do it, maybe. 185 00:08:40.850 --> 00:08:42.149 I mean, not that you shouldn't try things, but part 186 00:08:42.169 --> 00:08:43.750 of it is like, oh, I know I'd be bad 187 00:08:43.769 --> 00:08:45.309 at that. Why did I do that? Or why did 188 00:08:45.330 --> 00:08:47.220 I put myself in that situation to promise this to 189 00:08:47.250 --> 00:08:50.259 somebody when I can't do that? Or whatever, right? Or 190 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:52.480 why didn't I seek out a partner to help me 191 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:54.019 with that? I mean, all the things I think we're 192 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:56.159 supposed to learn in life, and thankfully, most of them 193 00:08:56.200 --> 00:08:59.250 are not catastrophic. Right. But so I think it's really 194 00:08:59.269 --> 00:09:01.590 important that we go back and it's not that we, 195 00:09:01.830 --> 00:09:03.929 I don't want you to rewrite your past because to me, 196 00:09:03.980 --> 00:09:07.860 that's like, um, that's a whole other level of like oppression. Right. 197 00:09:08.139 --> 00:09:10.840 But like, I want you to reprocess your past because clearly, um, 198 00:09:12.220 --> 00:09:14.919 when you make a big mistake, most of us learn 199 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.159 from it. And so the question is like, are you 200 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:19.519 feeling guilty about it? Or are you giving yourself grace 201 00:09:19.539 --> 00:09:22.740 to like, man, I made that decision. Wasn't the best decision, 202 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:24.600 but I'm never going to do it again. And here's 203 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:26.649 what I learned from it. Like, what a way to 204 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:29.580 stop feeling, because if we don't process that stuff, and 205 00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:32.220 I know my brother's a psychiatrist, he could tell you 206 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:33.720 way more about this, but I do understand the fact 207 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:36.809 that if we don't process these things and we just constantly, 208 00:09:36.929 --> 00:09:40.690 when we just leave a negative feeling in our minds 209 00:09:40.750 --> 00:09:43.509 about it, it really sort of does, it's sort of 210 00:09:43.529 --> 00:09:45.860 like if you're born with this really bright light, and 211 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.700 think of like every negative experience you don't reprocess sounds 212 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:51.110 like another screen that's put in front of it. And 213 00:09:51.139 --> 00:09:52.710 sometimes by the time we get to our 30s or 214 00:09:52.950 --> 00:09:56.129 40s

or 50s, our lights really dim because we haven't 215 00:09:56.190 --> 00:09:58.970 taken the opportunity to reprocess these and go, oh, I 216 00:09:58.990 --> 00:10:00.659 learned from that I can remove that screen now. I 217 00:10:00.669 --> 00:10:03.360 don't have to protect myself from that anymore because I 218 00:10:03.409 --> 00:10:06.100 now I got the lesson I was supposed to get. Now, also, 219 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:07.820 every time I do a podcast, they decide to do 220 00:10:07.860 --> 00:10:10.899 my lawn. So you may hear a lawn blower outside. 221 00:10:11.220 --> 00:10:13.139 But anyway, if you do, that's that's why I can't 222 00:10:13.179 --> 00:10:14.139 control it. So that's that. 223 00:10:14.649 --> 00:10:18.909 Adding to the ambiance of the show is the lawnmower. 224 00:10:18.950 --> 00:10:19.549 We're here for it. 225 00:10:19.590 --> 00:10:20.090 It was funny. 226 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:22.220 I actually wondered if it was a guitar for a second, 227 00:10:22.250 --> 00:10:24.909 because guys, if you're not watching, you got to go 228 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:27.720 to YouTube and watch this video because first of all, 229 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:30.940 Nick's energy is flying off the screen, but also the 230 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:33.639 background and the setup with the guitars is kind of everything. 231 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:37.440 So you said this cool thing about reprocessing the past, 232 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:40.389 and it made me get curious because You talked about 233 00:10:40.429 --> 00:10:43.149 how the past, present, and future are the sum and 234 00:10:43.269 --> 00:10:45.669 add up to who you are right now. So we 235 00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:49.320 can reframe and work through together the past and a 236 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:51.000 little bit of the present. But how do you do 237 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:53.559 that with something that you can't see in the future? 238 00:10:54.059 --> 00:10:58.299 Yes. So one of the things that I never name drop, 239 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:00.850 but I always give credit where credit is due. So 240 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:03.250 one of my great mentors for years and years is 241 00:11:03.330 --> 00:11:06.110 Dan Sullivan, the founder of Strategic Coach. And Dan Sullivan 242 00:11:06.129 --> 00:11:08.299 talks about The fact that, well, a couple of things 243 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:10.240 I think are really important is like as an entrepreneur, 244 00:11:10.259 --> 00:11:11.879 which most of the people I work with are entrepreneurs, 245 00:11:11.899 --> 00:11:14.960 but people who work in a corporate environment can take 246 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:17.000 the same thing. When he says, when you run out 247 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:18.700 of purpose before you run out of money, you have 248 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.399 a real problem. And so we see that a lot 249 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:24.740 with younger stars and people who, you know, who finally 250 00:11:24.779 --> 00:11:26.740 break through and make a lot of money and they 251 00:11:26.779 --> 00:11:29.730 can find themselves in a world of trouble because if 252 00:11:29.779 --> 00:11:31.570 money is not your biggest problem, the other ones are 253 00:11:31.649 --> 00:11:33.990 usually way worse, right? So there's that. And then he 254 00:11:34.029 --> 00:11:36.919 also says, if you aren't in a place where you 255 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:40.039 feel like your future is brighter than your past, it 256 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:42.470 can cause depression and all sorts of other things. Again, 257 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:44.769 not a psychiatrist, but I could understand that like for, 258 00:11:44.789 --> 00:11:46.850 I do a lot of work in post-traumatic stress with 259 00:11:46.889 --> 00:11:49.129 veterans and my documentary and stuff like that. I could 260 00:11:49.149 --> 00:11:51.970 understand that if a veteran, because a lot of times 261 00:11:52.009 --> 00:11:55.950 the military unceremoniously decides that you're done. Like you don't 262 00:11:55.970 --> 00:11:57.870 get to decide. They're just like, oh, we're done with you. 263 00:11:58.230 --> 00:12:00.429 We've used you as the tool we want and you're done. 264 00:12:00.450 --> 00:12:02.330 And all of a sudden you're like, well, I've wanted 265 00:12:02.370 --> 00:12:04.450 to spend my life serving and now you're not letting me. 266 00:12:04.950 --> 00:12:07.750 And I really enjoyed the time in the foxholes or 267 00:12:07.769 --> 00:12:09.769 whatever they call them these days with my brothers and arms. 268 00:12:09.830 --> 00:12:11.629 And we went through these things together and they're my people. 269 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:13.929 And now I can't see it. Like, so what am 270 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:15.250 I going to do the rest of my life? There's 271 00:12:15.320 --> 00:12:17.509 no way it can be as good and as fulfilling 272 00:12:17.549 --> 00:12:20.620 as that was. I could understand how that would lead 273 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:23.799 to like uncertainty, some level of depression, some other things. 274 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:26.720 So one of the things that we, I think we 275 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:29.159 need to do with our future is we need to, 276 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:33.809 we You need to have big enough dreams that we're 277 00:12:33.830 --> 00:12:36.830 excited about tomorrow. You know, like me, I'm a really 278 00:12:36.889 --> 00:12:40.409 simple person. So still today, my favorite subjects are basically 279 00:12:40.450 --> 00:12:43.970 PE and lunch. Right. Like that's now it's dinner, too, 280 00:12:44.009 --> 00:12:46.009 with drinks and stuff. Right. But it's like I go 281 00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:49.120 through I enjoy every day. But like I like schedule 282 00:12:49.129 --> 00:12:51.360 my day around like my five mile run in the morning. 283 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:52.799 Like I'm going to listen to some audio books or 284 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:54.600 hang out with my friends who runs with

me. I'm 285 00:12:54.620 --> 00:12:55.879 going to go through, I'm going to do the work 286 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.379 I got to do. And I'm, you know, and, and even, 287 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:00.080 you know, I'm gonna do the interviews. I'm a, but 288 00:13:00.100 --> 00:13:01.440 I can't wait to get to lunch. Cause then I 289 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:04.539 get to like the relaxed social time that I can 290 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:06.700 have with my friends or my crew or my family, whatever. 291 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.100 I'm gonna do what I got to do in the afternoon. 292 00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:09.990 And I'm going to, you know, and so it's just like, 293 00:13:10.850 --> 00:13:12.230 I got to find a way, like, what am I 294 00:13:12.269 --> 00:13:15.350 excited about next? And like, that's like how my lizard 295 00:13:15.389 --> 00:13:17.789 brain works. So like, you know, I'm going through this 296 00:13:17.870 --> 00:13:20.210 week and like one of my rules is one adventure 297 00:13:20.230 --> 00:13:23.360 a week. I need one adventure a week to be happy. 298 00:13:23.750 --> 00:13:25.629 And so what is my adventure this week? Well, it 299 00:13:25.649 --> 00:13:28.909 turns out like this week I'm speaking at, I went 300 00:13:28.929 --> 00:13:31.190 to University of Florida and I'm speaking at the homecoming 301 00:13:31.230 --> 00:13:35.710 banquet tomorrow night for leadership organization with some politicians. I'm 302 00:13:35.730 --> 00:13:38.000 not a politician, but it should be interesting. And it's 303 00:13:38.019 --> 00:13:39.240 a big deal. So I'm going to go there and 304 00:13:39.259 --> 00:13:41.879 back tomorrow. Next week, my adventure is my bourbon company, 305 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:43.639 the Chris Voss, we're hosting a big event for our 306 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:46.960 members in Austin. So like I do, I only travel 307 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:48.720 seven nights a month because that's a rule my wife 308 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:50.669 and I made over a decade ago to keep our 309 00:13:50.690 --> 00:13:53.120 relationship with her and my kids healthy. It makes me 310 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:55.899 make better decisions. But like I, so I've got, I've 311 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:58.220 got some guardrails. You can't win a game that you 312 00:13:58.240 --> 00:13:59.899 don't know the rules to, right? And most of us 313 00:13:59.950 --> 00:14:02.029 are playing a game that we're uncertain how you win. 314 00:14:02.350 --> 00:14:03.970 So sometimes you have to set the rules, even though 315 00:14:03.990 --> 00:14:05.789 they sound funny and no one else gets them. So 316 00:14:05.809 --> 00:14:07.789 seven nights a month and I need one adventure a week. 317 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:09.029 So what do I got to do to get one 318 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:11.330 adventure a week? So I always have something to look 319 00:14:11.350 --> 00:14:13.590 forward to. And that's just how I operate to make 320 00:14:13.610 --> 00:14:15.570 sure my future is brighter than my past. If I 321 00:14:15.590 --> 00:14:17.649 looked at it from a macro level in the last 322 00:14:17.690 --> 00:14:20.080 two years, you mentioned some names, but they're, they're fun. 323 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:23.169 And like, Dolly Parton, Kris Jenner, Post Malone, Mariah Carey, 324 00:14:23.710 --> 00:14:27.529 Jon Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Keith Richards. Like, 325 00:14:27.870 --> 00:14:29.450 I don't know that I can ever beat that. Like, 326 00:14:29.490 --> 00:14:31.850 I really don't. Like, I mean, like, number one, I 327 00:14:31.889 --> 00:14:34.309 will never beat a Dolly Parton interview. Like, as a songwriter, 328 00:14:34.690 --> 00:14:36.669 number one of all time, she wrote Jolene and I 329 00:14:36.690 --> 00:14:38.970 Will Always Love You by herself on the same day. Like, 330 00:14:39.250 --> 00:14:42.389 I cannot beat this. However, like, there are other things 331 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:43.909 I can look forward to. There are other things that 332 00:14:43.929 --> 00:14:47.100 are exciting. And, okay, maybe I'm never going to have 333 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:50.340 one more documentary that has that many musicians and songwriters 334 00:14:50.379 --> 00:14:52.779 in it. But I'm now working on a documentary on 335 00:14:53.700 --> 00:14:56.740 veterans of post-traumatic stress, troubled youth, and foster kids, and 336 00:14:56.860 --> 00:14:59.960 equine therapy. Like, what could I learn about horses? I 337 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:02.480 don't know a lot about horses, but they're fascinating animals. Like, oh, 338 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:03.679 we're going to go to film at a ranch, or 339 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:05.840 we're going to do some horseback riding. That sounds fun. 340 00:15:06.299 --> 00:15:09.320 So it's just like, what can you find to be 341 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:14.100 excited about? And if it's nothing, again, I do not understand. 342 00:15:14.139 --> 00:15:16.830 I'm just saying this honestly. I don't understand clinical depression, 343 00:15:16.870 --> 00:15:20.210 clinical anxiety. It's not I don't, I'm not a doctor. 344 00:15:20.230 --> 00:15:21.830 I don't know what I'm doing. So, but I would 345 00:15:21.850 --> 00:15:27.850 think just with general feelings of, you know, of non-clinical 346 00:15:28.230 --> 00:15:31.460 sadness or whatever, like I would imagine you could probably 347 00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:34.179 find a way to find something to be excited about. 348 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.679 And if you can't, by the way, find an organization 349 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.759 and go serve someone. It will change your brain chemistry overnight. 350 00:15:40.779 --> 00:15:44.179 When you start showing up and serving, opportunity will abound. 351 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:45.799 If you do not know what to do next in 352 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.669 your life, in your business, find somewhere and go serve 353 00:15:48.750 --> 00:15:51.850 and your brain will

fix it. And eventually, if you 354 00:15:51.870 --> 00:15:54.750 keep showing up and serving, someone will be like, man, like, 355 00:15:54.929 --> 00:15:57.179 how can I help you? And the opportunity that will 356 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.629 come from that and the joy you will get from it, 357 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:02.259 because I believe we were created to serve other people. 358 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:04.860 So that's one way if you can't figure out what 359 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:06.960 to be excited about. And by the way, you may 360 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:09.519 be in a job, you may be in a relationship 361 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:13.460 or something that's not healthy, that's not serving you. I don't, 362 00:16:13.779 --> 00:16:17.350 you know, I personally don't believe in, you know, cutting 363 00:16:17.370 --> 00:16:19.350 the cord on a marriage because, you know, just because 364 00:16:19.370 --> 00:16:21.110 you're not happy. I think there's a lot of things 365 00:16:21.129 --> 00:16:24.450 you got to go through first. Again, abusive relationships, different story. 366 00:16:24.710 --> 00:16:27.629 But like, first of all, in any of these situations, 367 00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:29.549 what could I be doing better and different? I think 368 00:16:29.590 --> 00:16:31.789 is the most important question we got to ask and 369 00:16:31.850 --> 00:16:34.379 maybe get some other people's feedback, including the person who, 370 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:38.259 you know, who is maybe unhappy with you. But from there, like, okay, great. 371 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:40.639 So let me get an honest assessment. Let me assess 372 00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:43.340 it myself and see if I completely agree or disagree. 373 00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:45.700 If you're completely wrong, your life will continue to go 374 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:48.460 wrong over and over again because you don't have any self-awareness. 375 00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:51.419 Great skill. We all need it, but you'll hopefully eventually learn. 376 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:55.299 But like, yeah, what do we need to do to 377 00:16:55.379 --> 00:16:58.440 figure out like, okay, if I'm in a job that 378 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:00.379 is just not serving me and my family right now, 379 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:02.240 I'm not telling you to go quit it right now 380 00:17:02.299 --> 00:17:04.380 because you probably need income and some other things. But like, 381 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:06.759 what could I do on a daily basis to start 382 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:11.160 moving towards the thing that I really am called to do? And, 383 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:13.789 you know, I speak at a lot of universities and 384 00:17:13.809 --> 00:17:15.589 stuff over the years and people are like, what's your 385 00:17:15.609 --> 00:17:17.839 best piece of advice? I'm like, Well, most of the time, 386 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:20.339 it's like whatever you want to do the rest of 387 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:23.319 your life, if

you haven't already started, you're behind everyone 388 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:27.259 else who's, I think in education is massively important, but 389 00:17:27.319 --> 00:17:29.359 there's a lot of other people who just skipped that 390 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:31.660 and went to the thing. And if you just sat 391 00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:34.059 here and waited for this education to be over, and 392 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:35.579 then you're going to start the thing, you're going to 393 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:37.180 be way behind and you're probably not going to know 394 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:39.779 what to do. So while you have the most unrealistic, 395 00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:43.220 most of us have the most unrealistic income expectations of 396 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:45.569 our life when we're in like college or whatever. And 397 00:17:45.589 --> 00:17:47.329 there's student loans available. I'm not saying to overuse them, 398 00:17:47.670 --> 00:17:49.990 but like that's available. It's like, you're probably going to 399 00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:51.589 have to make the least amount of money that you're 400 00:17:51.650 --> 00:17:53.230 ever going to have to make in your life. Like 401 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:57.240 you should be experimenting. You should be volunteering. You should 402 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:00.940 be interning. Like, yeah, there's never a time in your 403 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:03.220 life you're not going to feel busy. So, but just 404 00:18:03.420 --> 00:18:06.660 do it because every day you wait, you're behind. And 405 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:08.460 so that's one of the ways that if you feel 406 00:18:08.500 --> 00:18:12.130 trapped right now, like start taking, you cannot convince me 407 00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:14.710 you don't have 20 minutes here, 10 minutes there. to 408 00:18:14.750 --> 00:18:17.269 start exploring what your future might be like if you 409 00:18:17.289 --> 00:18:18.380 were to start making a change. 410 00:18:19.619 --> 00:18:23.559 Well, I hear curiosity and courage there. Both of those 411 00:18:23.619 --> 00:18:26.720 play a huge role in building yourself a bigger life. 412 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:29.000 Curiosity and courage, both of those. 413 00:18:29.099 --> 00:18:31.880 And courage, by the way, never feels fun. Again, Dan 414 00:18:31.900 --> 00:18:34.019 Sullivan said, courage is when you pee your pants and 415 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:37.920 you do it anyway. So it's not fun. Courage is 416 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:41.289 never fun. Courage is like... should I do this? And 417 00:18:41.309 --> 00:18:43.089 your body will often tell you, like, you know, when 418 00:18:43.109 --> 00:18:45.769 you sign your first mortgage, when you buy a car, 419 00:18:45.829 --> 00:18:47.450 like a lot, there's a lot of other things, but 420 00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:50.109 like financial and like your body will tell you like, oh, 421 00:18:50.150 --> 00:18:52.779 this is a big deal. Like you should listen to it. 422 00:18:52.910 --> 00:18:56.650 And it, it, you know, I find myself again, not 423 00:18:56.690 --> 00:18:58.589 clinical anxiety, but we all get anxious about things. 424 00:18:58.650 --> 00:18:58.829 Right. 425 00:18:58.910 --> 00:19:01.230 And we do. And sometimes I'll like, I'll be like, 426 00:19:01.250 --> 00:19:05.710 I am, I'm, I am a emotional neophyte still. Like 427 00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:06.859 I'm learning my emotions. 428 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:07.079 Right. 429 00:19:07.339 --> 00:19:08.680 I think we all are in a lot of ways, 430 00:19:08.980 --> 00:19:11.789 but I've learned now, like if I'm like, sometimes we're like, man, 431 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:13.789 why do I feel this way? Like I feel all 432 00:19:13.829 --> 00:19:17.069 of a sudden I feel anxious or off or not 433 00:19:17.170 --> 00:19:20.240 happy or like what? And I'll, cause I have ADHD. 434 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:22.980 Like I could have read an email or a text 435 00:19:23.019 --> 00:19:26.259 or something 30 seconds ago and just completely forgotten about it. 436 00:19:26.619 --> 00:19:29.750 But I still feel the feeling cause my body remembers it. 437 00:19:29.819 --> 00:19:31.839 My mind remembers like, but I, but it's not in 438 00:19:31.859 --> 00:19:34.119 my consciousness. So like I go back and like most 439 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.430 of the time I'm like, I don't remember what it was, 440 00:19:36.490 --> 00:19:39.009 but let me retrace my steps. Let me go re-scroll 441 00:19:39.029 --> 00:19:41.079 that page. And I'm like, Oh, I'll see an ad 442 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:43.259 that has nothing to do like, oh, that, okay. Oh, 443 00:19:43.549 --> 00:19:45.269 this person sent me a text that was a little 444 00:19:45.289 --> 00:19:47.369 bit like, I don't know what to do with it. Okay. 445 00:19:47.390 --> 00:19:49.730 So what do I need to do now to process this? 446 00:19:50.140 --> 00:19:53.140 deal with this, and realize, like, did I do something wrong? Oh, 447 00:19:53.180 --> 00:19:55.019 is it not me? It's just them? Okay, now I 448 00:19:55.059 --> 00:19:57.509 can move on. But I've started to realize, like, if 449 00:19:57.700 --> 00:20:00.450 I feel off, let me stop and figure out, like, 450 00:20:00.549 --> 00:20:03.410 what is causing this? Oh, did I make a bad decision? 451 00:20:03.750 --> 00:20:06.029 Did I not give someone the time of day that 452 00:20:06.269 --> 00:20:09.349 they deserve? Did I, you know, did I, interrupt someone 453 00:20:09.369 --> 00:20:10.529 too quick. Did I get off the phone with my 454 00:20:10.569 --> 00:20:12.470 wife too fast? Like, what did I do? Let me go, 455 00:20:12.569 --> 00:20:14.390 let me go re-deal with that real quick and come back. 456 00:20:14.750 --> 00:20:16.420 And it allows me to be a lot more productive 457 00:20:16.460 --> 00:20:18.779 than just, again, stacking these things on top of each 458 00:20:18.799 --> 00:20:21.680 other and not realizing, like, if I keep operating like 459 00:20:21.700

--> 00:20:23.779 that the rest of the day, my emails might be 460 00:20:23.859 --> 00:20:25.859 short or my, you know, or I might not make 461 00:20:25.880 --> 00:20:28.730 a call about something I've been dreaming about because I 462 00:20:28.789 --> 00:20:30.730 feel in a state of scarcity. I don't feel in 463 00:20:30.769 --> 00:20:33.410 a state of abundance and creativity. So I'm never going 464 00:20:33.430 --> 00:20:36.529 to call someone, cold call someone or cold email someone 465 00:20:36.549 --> 00:20:38.720 like about, This thing I've been thinking about that could 466 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:41.160 be really cool. So I don't know. Those are just 467 00:20:41.180 --> 00:20:42.240 a few things I think about. 468 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:46.109 Just a few things that are super in line and 469 00:20:46.190 --> 00:20:48.369 everything I practice here on the show. One of the 470 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:50.829 things I talk about a lot, Nick, is how our 471 00:20:50.890 --> 00:20:53.930 body keeps the score, right? Like Bessel van der Kolk 472 00:20:53.950 --> 00:20:56.579 wrote that amazing book. And it's so true. Your body 473 00:20:56.619 --> 00:20:59.319 was remembering that your tech, that text message came in 474 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:01.220 and you needed to do something with it. You needed 475 00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:03.849 to process it to move on with your day. Just 476 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:07.460 like I believe that chemically, that feeling that we have, 477 00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:11.640 that nervousness, that anxiety, that butterfly feeling. I have it 478 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:14.400 right now, by the way, talking to you because I'm 479 00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:18.029 so energized and I'm so nervous is the wrong word, 480 00:21:18.049 --> 00:21:20.549 but I'm doing it anyway. And I'm excited to be 481 00:21:20.589 --> 00:21:23.009 doing it and grateful to be doing it and feeling 482 00:21:23.049 --> 00:21:25.769 the feeling that I practice on roller coasters. I don't 483 00:21:25.789 --> 00:21:27.849 know if you follow or know anything about my roller 484 00:21:27.869 --> 00:21:32.220 coaster videos, but I've been posting roller coaster videos, synced 485 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:36.029 fairly well. Taylor Swift bridges for the last few months. 486 00:21:36.630 --> 00:21:40.470 And we're talking about 10 million views over the course 487 00:21:40.509 --> 00:21:43.470 of the last 90 days. And I've embodied this emo 488 00:21:43.569 --> 00:21:47.829 rollercoaster gal persona, because I believe that the world could 489 00:21:47.869 --> 00:21:50.609 be better off. We could all do better because I 490 00:21:50.650 --> 00:21:52.710 believe in the healing power of music, first of all, 491 00:21:52.779 --> 00:21:56.859 but also understanding and leaning in to what you're saying 492 00:21:57.339 --> 00:22:01.119 about feeling the fear and recognizing that your body is 493 00:22:01.220 --> 00:22:04.000 trying to protect you from something, right? Like my body's saying, 494 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:06.640 do not go on that roller coaster. You are about 495 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:09.500 to die dead, right? And then my mind goes, nope, 496 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.769 but I can be excited about it. I can enjoy it. 497 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:14.289 I can heal from things that I don't talk about 498 00:22:14.450 --> 00:22:16.509 on this dang roller coaster. So I'm going to do 499 00:22:16.589 --> 00:22:18.230 it and I'm going to inspire other people to do 500 00:22:18.269 --> 00:22:22.349 the same. So by showing up and by choosing to be, 501 00:22:22.450 --> 00:22:25.750 to feel those feelings, you are choosing that icky courage 502 00:22:26.130 --> 00:22:29.130 that we talked about, which is just really cool. And 503 00:22:29.150 --> 00:22:32.500 something I want to lean into further because curiosity and 504 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:37.259 courage we talk about, but also creativity is a huge 505 00:22:37.319 --> 00:22:41.380 part of how you've built your life. And it's the 506 00:22:41.420 --> 00:22:44.680 book that you're working on. And it's so fundamental to 507 00:22:45.220 --> 00:22:49.839 seeing obstacles as opportunities. So I'm guessing there's a lot 508 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:52.640 and I'm sure that it's fairly fresh probably because you're 509 00:22:52.660 --> 00:22:54.819 working on this book, but can you talk us through 510 00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:59.220 an example of a time that's maybe relatable or could 511 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:02.569 help other people of a time that you actively chose 512 00:23:03.049 --> 00:23:07.170 to have something be an opportunity that felt in the 513 00:23:07.250 --> 00:23:08.390 moment like an obstacle? 514 00:23:08.410 --> 00:23:12.210 Yeah, I can absolutely go through one. I'd also say 515 00:23:12.230 --> 00:23:14.009 one of the things I'm trying to do with this 516 00:23:14.250 --> 00:23:18.799 book is to slightly change the conversation on creativity because 517 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:22.019 I think so many people just, creativity think, so the 518 00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:23.819 amount of times I've heard people who hear what I 519 00:23:23.859 --> 00:23:27.369 do and say, oh, I'm not creative like you. I'm like, well, 520 00:23:27.380 --> 00:23:28.710 you might not be like me, but that doesn't mean 521 00:23:28.730 --> 00:23:31.890 you're not creative. Like creativity isn't just painting or drawing 522 00:23:31.950 --> 00:23:34.809 or making movies or writing music or like, to me, 523 00:23:34.829 --> 00:23:38.910 I think creativity is finding options where everyone else finds obstacles. 524 00:23:38.970 --> 00:23:42.400 So there's creativity in math in the right way. There's 525 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:45.619 creativity in science. I mean, people who make breakthroughs and 526 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:48.329 win the Nobel Prize, that's, it's create, it's creative. And 527 00:23:48.349 --> 00:23:51.529 it could have just been doing the next

thing that 528 00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:54.029 hasn't been done before, has been done before, but it's like, well, 529 00:23:54.069 --> 00:23:56.589 that's an option. Okay. Well, that's an option. Well, that's 530 00:23:56.609 --> 00:23:58.150 an option. And so whenever you hit a dead end, 531 00:23:58.450 --> 00:24:01.210 the question is like, okay, what are my options? And 532 00:24:01.269 --> 00:24:04.869 so I think due to all the deficiencies that I have, 533 00:24:05.069 --> 00:24:07.630 it happened a lot for me in life. So now 534 00:24:08.190 --> 00:24:10.529 I don't really, there's very few things I see as 535 00:24:10.589 --> 00:24:13.289 a true dead end or a no to me. No 536 00:24:13.349 --> 00:24:16.150 means not now. In most of the cases, like So, okay, 537 00:24:16.170 --> 00:24:18.529 so like, what are my other options? Because part of 538 00:24:18.569 --> 00:24:21.369 it is like, I'm so driven and determined and I 539 00:24:21.529 --> 00:24:23.619 so much wanted to succeed in life and prove to 540 00:24:23.630 --> 00:24:26.099 the world I could be somebody and all the things 541 00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:28.519 that we all struggle with in our own, whatever your 542 00:24:28.539 --> 00:24:31.359 struggles are with yourself, the one universal struggle we all 543 00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:33.339 have is with ourselves, right? So what are we trying 544 00:24:33.380 --> 00:24:35.759 to prove to ourselves? And so, you know, some of 545 00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:38.599 that was mine. And so, you know, for instance, I 546 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:42.299 was working with a very famous person and they told me, 547 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:44.490 I said, well, what do you wanna do next? And 548 00:24:44.529 --> 00:24:46.549 they made a joke because they were not the youngest 549 00:24:46.970 --> 00:24:49.170 spring chicken. And other than wanting to wake up the 550 00:24:49.230 --> 00:24:51.970 next day, they said, they said, well, I want to, 551 00:24:52.509 --> 00:24:54.319 I really would love to do a one, one man 552 00:24:54.339 --> 00:24:56.220 show on Broadway. So I was like, okay, just check. 553 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:57.200 Let me put that in the back of my mind. 554 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:00.059 And so I knew some people who had done some 555 00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:02.119 Broadway things. And so I sort of explored and I 556 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:04.279 figured out a way that I could put this person 557 00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:07.380 on Broadway one night only. I had some friends willing 558 00:25:07.400 --> 00:25:09.150 to support it. We could pull it off. And I 559 00:25:09.230 --> 00:25:11.829 went to the person. I said, okay, awesome. Speak with 560 00:25:11.849 --> 00:25:14.720 my family member who's done Broadway before and And just, 561 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:17.779 you know, sort of like he was having his family 562 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:20.099 member like vet it for him. And I'm like, well, 563 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:21.200 I don't know

if this is going to go well 564 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:23.660 because like, I'm sure. And this person happened to work 565 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:25.500 on Broadway and like a very big show. And like, 566 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:29.160 I'm like a bootstrap strap scrappy dude trying to make 567 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:32.119 your family member's dream come true. Who's famous. And you're 568 00:25:32.180 --> 00:25:36.940 this like story Broadway producer with unlimited funds and you 569 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:38.700 don't know me from Adam. So your only job really 570 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:40.500 in this conversation is to make sure you don't screw 571 00:25:40.539 --> 00:25:42.869 your family member. And you don't know me from Adam. 572 00:25:42.890 --> 00:25:45.130 And so basically I told him, here's how I raise 573 00:25:45.150 --> 00:25:47.029 the money, here's how I do it. And I don't 574 00:25:47.049 --> 00:25:49.150 remember exactly what this person said, but this is what 575 00:25:49.170 --> 00:25:51.650 I heard and I know it's very close. It basically said, 576 00:25:51.670 --> 00:25:54.890 you know, Nick, you're either one of the smartest people 577 00:25:54.950 --> 00:25:57.500 I've ever met or one of the biggest hucksters I've 578 00:25:57.559 --> 00:26:00.299 ever heard. And I've met an awful lot of smart people. 579 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:02.460 I mean, it's something very, very close to that. So like, 580 00:26:02.700 --> 00:26:04.359 first of all, I'm like, well, this person is not 581 00:26:04.380 --> 00:26:06.339 a nice person. There are many other ways one might 582 00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:12.190 have phrased this. However, let me No, he did not. Yeah, right. 583 00:26:12.450 --> 00:26:14.779 I could not help but feel like a loser in 584 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:17.319 the moment, right? Like, oh my God, am I a 585 00:26:17.339 --> 00:26:19.900 terrible human being? Just because first thing you should do 586 00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:22.559 is ask. And then over the course of a little 587 00:26:22.579 --> 00:26:24.440 while after we hung up, I'm like, well, okay, it's 588 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:26.839 not me. I'm not here to rip anybody off. I've 589 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:29.789 done this way of funding and financing and had lots 590 00:26:29.829 --> 00:26:31.990 of success with it. This guy's probably just trying to 591 00:26:32.009 --> 00:26:35.529 protect his family members. So now what? Now that I've 592 00:26:35.589 --> 00:26:37.890 figured this out, I want to try it. So I 593 00:26:37.930 --> 00:26:40.150 called this person back and said, hey, look, um, it 594 00:26:40.170 --> 00:26:41.410 was going to be, uh, I was going to put 595 00:26:41.450 --> 00:26:43.549 it on, raise the money, do it and, and, and 596 00:26:43.589 --> 00:26:46.009 split profits. If there were any with this person said, 597 00:26:46.049 --> 00:26:48.769 but number one is making your dream come true. You 598 00:26:48.809 --> 00:26:50.250 told me that's what

you wanted to do left in 599 00:26:50.289 --> 00:26:53.759 your life and you've done everything. And, um, if we 600 00:26:53.779 --> 00:26:55.960 make money, we'll just split it. And so I just 601 00:26:55.980 --> 00:26:58.789 called him and said, Hey, look, um, I am friends 602 00:26:58.809 --> 00:27:01.470 with Rudy Ruediger of the movie Rudy. I did his documentary. 603 00:27:01.809 --> 00:27:03.349 And I think Rudy would be great at this too. 604 00:27:03.390 --> 00:27:05.650 So how about I put Rudy on Broadway and then 605 00:27:05.670 --> 00:27:08.509 I'll just show you. I said, I think your family 606 00:27:08.549 --> 00:27:10.730 was trying to protect you. I respect that. How about 607 00:27:10.750 --> 00:27:12.190 I just do it and just show you the numbers 608 00:27:12.269 --> 00:27:13.349 and you can decide if you want to do it 609 00:27:13.369 --> 00:27:14.930 or not. I can show you the output, the product. 610 00:27:14.950 --> 00:27:17.880 You can come to the show, whatever. And so we 611 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:22.220 did with Rudy. We sold it out. We got nominated 612 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:23.920 for an Emmy because we filmed it. We had a 613 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:26.900 great time. A lot of my clients became Broadway producers 614 00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:29.079 because they wanted to support it. And we sold out 615 00:27:29.099 --> 00:27:30.579 in that night, like 13 minutes or something like that. 616 00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:33.549 And we had a blast. Unfortunately, the other person ended 617 00:27:33.569 --> 00:27:36.029 up passing away not too long after that. But I 618 00:27:36.089 --> 00:27:38.329 was able to say, OK, let me find an option. 619 00:27:38.690 --> 00:27:41.289 Then since then, I put Rudy on Broadway. I put 620 00:27:41.569 --> 00:27:44.289 Lisa Nichols on Broadway. I put Chris Voss on Broadway. 621 00:27:44.309 --> 00:27:45.710 I don't know that I'm going to do it again. 622 00:27:45.730 --> 00:27:47.529 It will almost take your life from you. But I 623 00:27:48.410 --> 00:27:51.789 was able to process that and go, OK, this is 624 00:27:51.849 --> 00:27:53.990 a dead end. Like at least for this is definitely 625 00:27:54.049 --> 00:27:57.609 a not now. Like for sure not now. So what 626 00:27:58.089 --> 00:28:00.109 are my options? They go, you know what? I bet 627 00:28:00.150 --> 00:28:02.079 you Rudy would love to do this. Let's go to Rudy. 628 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:03.710 Let's talk about doing that. And we did it. We 629 00:28:03.730 --> 00:28:05.319 had a blast and you can watch it on Amazon 630 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:08.880 Prime today. And so, you know, that's one instance where 631 00:28:09.259 --> 00:28:12.059 not only was it a no from the family member, 632 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:15.319 it was like a rude no. It was like a 633 00:28:15.779 --> 00:28:18.420 jerk no, like an a-hole no, you know? And it 634 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.700 was like, oh, that doesn't feel good. But so what 635 00:28:22.740 -->

00:28:25.509 are my options? Like, And one of the questions is, 636 00:28:26.529 --> 00:28:29.130 should I be doing this at all? Should I be 637 00:28:29.170 --> 00:28:32.619 doing this right now? Is this feedback that this is 638 00:28:32.650 --> 00:28:36.119 a terrible idea or that I am doing something wrong 639 00:28:36.140 --> 00:28:39.319 I didn't realize? And the answer was no. I was 640 00:28:39.380 --> 00:28:42.160 doing things differently. He didn't know me, to be fair. 641 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:45.940 And you have to remember, too, in a place like Broadway, 642 00:28:45.960 --> 00:28:49.180 like a storied institution like They don't really, the people 643 00:28:49.220 --> 00:28:52.819 who are established don't really love new people coming in 644 00:28:52.859 --> 00:28:54.839 and doing things in a different way that could disrupt 645 00:28:54.900 --> 00:28:58.940 what they're doing. But I had to try to non-emotionally, 646 00:28:58.960 --> 00:29:02.799 I did not emotionally try to process that. Of course, 647 00:29:02.839 --> 00:29:04.920 it was emotional at first. I mean, I remember where 648 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:06.839 I was, what I was working on, when I got 649 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:09.180 the call. I mean, I remember it. And clearly, I 650 00:29:09.180 --> 00:29:11.140 remember basically what the guy said to me. And so 651 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:13.769 in any event, that's one example of that for you. 652 00:29:15.309 --> 00:29:19.119 You have worked with and interviewed some incredible humans, and 653 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:22.359 I'm unwell with the not now thing because I've done 654 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:27.099 some hard work on my own being more self-aware with 655 00:29:27.460 --> 00:29:30.000 the no not being a no, like being a not 656 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.660 now or not yet. Particularly, I feel like God's responding, right? 657 00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:36.230 Like God is saying not yet, and you need to like, 658 00:29:36.390 --> 00:29:37.660 listen to that response. 659 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:40.359 And I need you. And sometimes you have to become 660 00:29:40.380 --> 00:29:43.680 a bigger, better version of yourself to be prepared to 661 00:29:43.740 --> 00:29:46.339 do that. And so thankfully, those are the times when 662 00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:48.410 we didn't make the mistake. that we have to go 663 00:29:48.430 --> 00:29:51.390 back and reprocess that God's protecting us from ourselves. Right. 664 00:29:51.769 --> 00:29:55.789 God's protection, redirection. There's a quote about that too, but 665 00:29:56.910 --> 00:30:01.160 based on all these people, these humans, these, these interesting 666 00:30:01.240 --> 00:30:04.240 humans that you've spent time with, I'm curious because a 667 00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:06.940 lot of them are successful at such a level. Like 668 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:09.380 this guy wanted to do Broadway, but like, that was it. Like, 669 00:30:09.420 --> 00:30:11.880 where else can you go

from there? You're already up here. 670 00:30:11.980 --> 00:30:12.609 Right. Yeah. 671 00:30:13.140 --> 00:30:17.450 What are people getting wrong about success? looking and talking 672 00:30:17.490 --> 00:30:19.630 with all these other people, like what are people not 673 00:30:19.710 --> 00:30:22.579 understanding right now about what it takes to be at, 674 00:30:22.779 --> 00:30:24.079 to operate and be successful? 675 00:30:25.019 --> 00:30:27.279 So I'll give it to you in, in the weirdest 676 00:30:27.380 --> 00:30:29.460 way possible, but I don't think, I don't think I 677 00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:32.400 can beat it. Um, I, uh, I wrote a song 678 00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:35.420 with a friend of mine who is Grammy nominated. Uh, he, 679 00:30:35.500 --> 00:30:38.059 he wrote the song girl going nowhere for Ashley McBride, 680 00:30:38.099 --> 00:30:40.180 which if you, if you have not listened to that, 681 00:30:40.259 --> 00:30:44.000 stop everything after you finish this podcast and go to 682 00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:47.799 YouTube and watch Ashley McBride, singing Girl Goin' Nowhere on 683 00:30:47.819 --> 00:30:50.460 the Opry stage for the first time. And so it's 684 00:30:50.519 --> 00:30:52.539 one of the most incredible songs ever written. He also 685 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:54.920 just had his first number one with Scotty McCurry called 686 00:30:54.940 --> 00:30:57.490 Bottle Rockets and Hootie and the Bullfish and my friend 687 00:30:57.529 --> 00:31:00.390 Jeremy Bussey. And I write with him a lot. He's incredible. 688 00:31:00.829 --> 00:31:02.349 And so I had this idea for the song called 689 00:31:02.430 --> 00:31:05.009 Beautiful Hell because to me, that's what life is. Life 690 00:31:05.069 --> 00:31:08.019 is like this beautiful, like there's this torturous moments of 691 00:31:08.059 --> 00:31:10.880 like heartbreak and like, but it's beautiful, right? And in 692 00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:14.259 the end, ideally the journey is beautiful. And so the... 693 00:31:14.930 --> 00:31:17.009 One of the lines in that song, I think will 694 00:31:17.049 --> 00:31:25.400 represent this the best. Basically, it's talking to your younger self, right? 695 00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:27.539 It's sort of how the song is framed. And the 696 00:31:27.559 --> 00:31:31.720 line is, I tell him when he makes it, he'll 697 00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:34.380 still wonder if he will. And that hole inside him 698 00:31:34.420 --> 00:31:38.220 never will get filled. And so to me, that is 699 00:31:38.289 --> 00:31:42.210 the biggest thing about success. Because you never make it. 700 00:31:42.250 --> 00:31:45.019 There is no number. There's no number in your bank account. 701 00:31:45.220 --> 00:31:47.829 There's no number of awards. Like if you're keeping track 702 00:31:48.309 --> 00:31:51.309 by numbers, there is no number. There is no day 703 00:31:51.329 --> 00:31:53.609 where you wake up. There's days you can wake up proud. 704 00:31:53.650 --> 00:31:55.509 There's moments you can wake up proud. But most of us, 705 00:31:55.529 --> 00:31:58.089 when I interviewed Tony Robbins, I asked him for like, 706 00:31:58.410 --> 00:32:00.019 I asked him a question and he said something profound. 707 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:02.759 He goes, you know, Nick, the thing human beings desire, 708 00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:05.380 one of the things they desire the most is progress. 709 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:08.240 Like we all, no matter until the day you die, 710 00:32:08.259 --> 00:32:12.529 you will be ideally desiring progress. That's what gives you hope. 711 00:32:12.829 --> 00:32:15.509 We get frustrated when we can't progress into something, right? 712 00:32:15.529 --> 00:32:18.049 Like we can't make that breakthrough. We can't learn that 713 00:32:18.130 --> 00:32:20.210 extra chord on the guitar. We can't sing that note 714 00:32:20.250 --> 00:32:22.589 we want to sing, or we can't write that paragraph 715 00:32:22.630 --> 00:32:24.210 the way we want to write it, whatever it is, right? 716 00:32:24.589 --> 00:32:27.480 And so the whole idea that we will ever make 717 00:32:27.539 --> 00:32:31.220 it is silly. And so part of the deal is like, yes, ideally, 718 00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:33.900 like I eat better dinners than I used to, but 719 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:36.940 there's other better dinners out there. I travel better than 720 00:32:36.980 --> 00:32:40.529 I used to, but There's private jets still. And then 721 00:32:40.549 --> 00:32:42.069 when you have a private jet, like, oh, that guy 722 00:32:42.089 --> 00:32:43.690 has a bigger one. I would love to take more 723 00:32:43.750 --> 00:32:45.529 friends on my private jet. I wish I had that one, right? 724 00:32:45.910 --> 00:32:48.730 And so that hole inside you never does get filled. 725 00:32:48.809 --> 00:32:51.960 So to think that success is that is the most 726 00:32:52.859 --> 00:32:57.200 hollowing thing possible. That's why people are genuinely unhappy when 727 00:32:57.220 --> 00:33:00.259 they spend all their time, they spend and waste all 728 00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:03.269 their relationships, and they get to where they thought was 729 00:33:03.289 --> 00:33:06.569 going to fulfill them. And they realize that they ruined 730 00:33:06.650 --> 00:33:09.819 everything That would have made this fun. Right. And so 731 00:33:10.200 --> 00:33:12.119 the idea that we're ever going to make it is 732 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:14.759 not going to happen there. Like you can be successful, 733 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:17.920 which is great. And I think you should you should 734 00:33:17.980 --> 00:33:21.980 celebrate your success regularly. That's the secret. It's like so look, 735 00:33:22.009 --> 00:33:23.690 we've all gotten the point where like, oh, if I 736 00:33:23.710 --> 00:33:26.789 could just make. six figures whatever it is if i 737 00:33:26.829 --> 00:33:30.009 could just sing that way if i and basically it 738 00:33:30.069 --> 00:33:33.130 never

happens overnight like a lottery it never happens you 739 00:33:33.150 --> 00:33:35.170 basically do all this work and by the time you 740 00:33:35.230 --> 00:33:37.390 get to that goal you're like oh yeah anybody could 741 00:33:37.430 --> 00:33:38.670 do that you just got to do this this and 742 00:33:38.690 --> 00:33:40.670 this and so right before we get to that goal 743 00:33:40.690 --> 00:33:43.210 when we see it's about to happen it's inevitable you 744 00:33:43.250 --> 00:33:45.730 move the goal post so we continually move the goal 745 00:33:45.769 --> 00:33:48.950 post on ourselves to where we never make it to 746 00:33:48.970 --> 00:33:51.769 the because we keep moving the finish line right and 747 00:33:51.809 --> 00:33:53.890 so what i tell people at our bourbon events and 748 00:33:53.910 --> 00:33:56.819 my film is like hey look I love the fact 749 00:33:56.859 --> 00:33:58.240 that me and you are both out there in the 750 00:33:58.259 --> 00:34:01.799 world chasing excellence. We're out there chasing greatness. We're out 751 00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:03.819 there trying to live an amazing life. We're out there 752 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:06.710 trying to serve people. And let's just call it what 753 00:34:06.750 --> 00:34:09.690 it is. We keep moving the goalposts on ourselves because 754 00:34:09.730 --> 00:34:11.929 we know we've got more in ourselves. Like, I love that. 755 00:34:12.269 --> 00:34:13.969 And I want you to do that again when you 756 00:34:14.030 --> 00:34:16.670 leave here. But for right now, you got in this room, 757 00:34:16.969 --> 00:34:19.969 you flew to this event because you're successful enough to 758 00:34:20.030 --> 00:34:22.980 do it. And so while you're with me, forget about 759 00:34:23.019 --> 00:34:25.559 that goalpost and just enjoy the fact that like, just 760 00:34:25.579 --> 00:34:27.559 take a deep breath and go, man, I made it here. 761 00:34:27.860 --> 00:34:29.239 And I'm with some really great people and I'm going 762 00:34:29.260 --> 00:34:31.980 to enjoy what's in front of me right now. That's 763 00:34:32.019 --> 00:34:33.679 what we need to do to feel successful. And we 764 00:34:33.699 --> 00:34:35.780 need to do it at home with our families. We 765 00:34:35.800 --> 00:34:38.809 need to do it on vacation, even though sometimes we're stressed, 766 00:34:38.849 --> 00:34:40.610 like where's this money going to come from? Cause I'm 767 00:34:40.630 --> 00:34:43.090 not making any money. I'm just spending it, whatever. Right. 768 00:34:43.389 --> 00:34:48.489 And then also professionally, like we, we, we often don't 769 00:34:48.550 --> 00:34:51.179 take time to stop and enjoy the wins. And I 770 00:34:51.219 --> 00:34:53.820 believe I'm not great at, I'm not perfect at it either. 771 00:34:53.860 --> 00:34:55.510 I'm getting better, but like, if we could do that 772 00:34:55.550 --> 00:34:57.570 every day and just celebrate what the win is for today, 773 00:34:57.610 --> 00:34:59.739 like you

will reprogram your brain and be a much 774 00:34:59.780 --> 00:35:02.440 happier person. I mean, that's, that's scientifically proven. I don't 775 00:35:02.460 --> 00:35:04.000 know where the science is, but I've heard it from 776 00:35:04.019 --> 00:35:06.420 a bunch of people I believe. Um, so I think 777 00:35:06.460 --> 00:35:11.289 that the biggest, um, the biggest misnomer, the biggest fallacy 778 00:35:11.329 --> 00:35:13.690 about success is that you reach it at some point. 779 00:35:16.230 --> 00:35:21.820 You have an energy that feels very familiar to me, Nick. 780 00:35:22.900 --> 00:35:25.949 I am that person who is like, you need to 781 00:35:26.010 --> 00:35:28.489 hear this song. Like you need to stop what you're 782 00:35:28.530 --> 00:35:31.329 doing and you need to go to YouTube. Like literally 783 00:35:31.369 --> 00:35:33.190 that is me. And so I'm going to do it 784 00:35:33.329 --> 00:35:36.929 back to you because understanding what you just said, I 785 00:35:37.230 --> 00:35:42.159 had literal full body chills the entire time you were 786 00:35:42.199 --> 00:35:44.480 just speaking this. And this is why, and you will 787 00:35:44.519 --> 00:35:47.079 feel it too when you listen to this song, Nick 788 00:35:47.579 --> 00:35:51.239 and friends. Okay. So I am a huge, I'm a 789 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:56.019 huge Swiftie. Andrew McMahon released a new song today called 790 00:35:56.679 --> 00:35:59.429 She Paints Me Blue Strings Attached, which is a remix 791 00:35:59.590 --> 00:36:02.050 of a song from 20 years ago that adds violin. 792 00:36:02.170 --> 00:36:04.909 And I felt it with my body. And I know 793 00:36:04.969 --> 00:36:08.510 that not everybody feels music that way, but Nick and 794 00:36:08.739 --> 00:36:13.559 I do. And there's this song that embodies everything you 795 00:36:13.579 --> 00:36:16.690 just said. in different words from a different musician named 796 00:36:16.750 --> 00:36:19.329 Max McNown, who is this newer up and coming. 797 00:36:19.449 --> 00:36:21.230 Yeah. My friend plays guitar for Max. Yeah. Yeah. 798 00:36:21.309 --> 00:36:23.929 Oh goodness gracious. Well then of course, then you know, 799 00:36:24.210 --> 00:36:26.219 maybe you know the song, but the song is called 800 00:36:26.260 --> 00:36:29.619 the room and it ends. You need to listen. You 801 00:36:29.659 --> 00:36:32.099 need to listen because it's, it's everything you just said. 802 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:33.789 I'll take another. I won't do it. 803 00:36:34.019 --> 00:36:35.380 Okay. Yes. Write it down. 804 00:36:35.860 --> 00:36:36.000 Yeah. 805 00:36:36.340 --> 00:36:39.019 The room by Max McNown. It's an on his new album, 806 00:36:39.059 --> 00:36:43.090 leave on a light. And it's, it's a body tingle 807 00:36:43.260 --> 00:36:44.139 brain tingle song. 808 00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:45.300 All right. I'll check it out. Thank you. 809 00:36:45.489 --> 00:36:48.349 Um, because it ends with the line, sorry to spoiler alert, 810 00:36:48.650 --> 00:36:50.949 but it ends with the line or will I have 811 00:36:50.989 --> 00:36:54.650 built a life worth dying for? And when you said 812 00:36:54.730 --> 00:36:58.389 what you said, I was transported to that song. And 813 00:36:58.510 --> 00:37:03.590 isn't that cool? Like music is so cool and collective 814 00:37:03.929 --> 00:37:08.010 and emotional. And like, I, I, you're talking my language 815 00:37:09.070 --> 00:37:11.900 and it's like your roots and, Like we talked about 816 00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:13.960 a lot of the stuff that we've done since, but 817 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:16.980 you've done music this whole time. Like you've been in 818 00:37:17.360 --> 00:37:21.059 music and working in music and songwriting for a long time. 819 00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:23.179 Yeah, I started playing guitar at six, started writing at 820 00:37:23.179 --> 00:37:26.099 15 or 16 and still do it, thankfully. Yeah, I 821 00:37:26.119 --> 00:37:26.409 love it. 822 00:37:26.679 --> 00:37:29.800 We love the music around here. So what has that, 823 00:37:30.260 --> 00:37:35.199 you know, that space of creativity done for your development 824 00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:38.679 as a human? And like, how do you translate all 825 00:37:38.699 --> 00:37:40.949 of these feelings and stuff into your songwriting? 826 00:37:42.199 --> 00:37:46.079 Oh man, hard to answer because I've just, you know, 827 00:37:46.179 --> 00:37:48.480 in a lot of ways, I just kept taking, just 828 00:37:48.579 --> 00:37:51.079 kept walking through the next door that got an open 829 00:37:51.099 --> 00:37:53.199 door that I beat down and God allowed me to open. 830 00:37:53.900 --> 00:37:55.659 And so I've just been able to progress in it 831 00:37:55.699 --> 00:37:58.320 now for, I mean, been playing guitar now for 40 832 00:37:58.320 --> 00:38:02.349 years and been writing for 25, almost 30, whatever. Yeah, 833 00:38:02.349 --> 00:38:06.329 30 plus. So number one, I think it's the thing 834 00:38:06.530 --> 00:38:09.889 I love the most about songwriting is that you're trying 835 00:38:09.909 --> 00:38:13.179 to make someone feel at least what I do with 836 00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:15.340 my writers, like no matter whose point of view you're 837 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:17.179 writing from, trying to make someone feel the things the 838 00:38:17.199 --> 00:38:19.909 way we feel them, right? And so in order to 839 00:38:19.969 --> 00:38:22.789 do that, you usually, that's right, I write a lot 840 00:38:22.809 --> 00:38:25.530 of country, you usually have to put someone in a 841 00:38:25.570 --> 00:38:28.269 scenario that they've either been in or they've been in 842 00:38:28.309 --> 00:38:33.130 a similar scenario and they understand it. So like, how 843 00:38:33.210 --> 00:38:39.159 would that feel? Like again, that same song, the first, 844 00:38:39.909 --> 00:38:41.480 a couple of lines, if I could tune this old 845 00:38:41.500 --> 00:38:44.739 guitar back to 17 to a dreamer on

my mama's drive, 846 00:38:44.780 --> 00:38:47.809 about to turn that key, you know, it's like, oh, I, like, I, 847 00:38:48.539 --> 00:38:51.320 I remember being 17 in my parents' driveway and trying 848 00:38:51.340 --> 00:38:53.440 to figure out what to do next. Or should I 849 00:38:53.480 --> 00:38:56.199 call the girl? Should I go break up with her? 850 00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:58.280 Should I make up with her? Should I, you know, what, 851 00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:00.460 should I go to this thing? I don't want to 852 00:39:00.500 --> 00:39:02.320 go to, should I, you know, like whatever, right? We, 853 00:39:02.360 --> 00:39:05.119 we like, it's visceral. We, we all feel that. And 854 00:39:05.159 --> 00:39:09.409 so I love that. I also like, again, I, the guy, 855 00:39:10.250 --> 00:39:13.550 The guys and gals that I write with are all 856 00:39:14.949 --> 00:39:16.800 some of the most talented people I have ever met 857 00:39:16.880 --> 00:39:19.960 in my life. They are world class. I only get 858 00:39:20.039 --> 00:39:24.519 those rights because I would I guess because of what 859 00:39:24.550 --> 00:39:27.650 I because I enrich their lives in some way, because 860 00:39:27.710 --> 00:39:29.570 I'm not good enough to write with these people as 861 00:39:29.650 --> 00:39:32.280 a writer. like they write every day twice a day 862 00:39:32.360 --> 00:39:34.539 for 30 years and like they can run I mean 863 00:39:34.559 --> 00:39:36.980 they can run rings around me like I'll often be 864 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:38.539 like man I got this idea like we often write 865 00:39:38.579 --> 00:39:41.010 my ideas because one of the things that I bring 866 00:39:41.030 --> 00:39:43.750 to the table is they write every day I'm I 867 00:39:43.769 --> 00:39:46.150 write once or twice a month so like I'm I'm 868 00:39:46.170 --> 00:39:48.190 bringing in fresh ideas all the time because I've got 869 00:39:48.269 --> 00:39:50.650 another 28 days to come up with them where they've just, 870 00:39:50.730 --> 00:39:52.429 they got to write two today, two tomorrow, two the 871 00:39:52.469 --> 00:39:54.829 next day, two the next day. And that's, so sometimes 872 00:39:54.869 --> 00:39:57.110 they're like, sometimes the beauty is like, they got to 873 00:39:57.150 --> 00:39:59.230 get down to a micro to figure something new to 874 00:39:59.269 --> 00:40:01.570 write about. But I'm like going through, like we just, 875 00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:03.880 just wrote a song. I think it's going to come 876 00:40:03.920 --> 00:40:05.800 out with an artist. We'll see. But the title has 877 00:40:05.820 --> 00:40:08.199 better off broken. And this whole idea was like, you know, 878 00:40:08.460 --> 00:40:11.000 I had this sort of relationship when I say whatever, like, 879 00:40:11.019 --> 00:40:13.699 and I realized like, I realized that the only person 880 00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:15.699 who can fix me is myself. So I was better 881 00:40:15.739 --> 00:40:17.650 off broken than

trying to have this person fix me. 882 00:40:17.690 --> 00:40:19.599 It's like the kinds of right. And like the writers are, 883 00:40:19.610 --> 00:40:22.869 they're like, Yeah, let's do that. So, but like, I'll 884 00:40:22.889 --> 00:40:24.590 be like, how about this? And they're like, oh, do 885 00:40:24.610 --> 00:40:26.750 you mean like this? And they'll spit it out in 886 00:40:26.789 --> 00:40:29.789 a way that's like, yes, I wish I could have 887 00:40:29.809 --> 00:40:31.789 said it that way. But, you know, and I'll get 888 00:40:31.909 --> 00:40:35.480 lines in the song. But I realize, and it's okay 889 00:40:35.519 --> 00:40:38.099 to me, that like they do it way more than 890 00:40:38.139 --> 00:40:40.440 I do. They're way more proficient than I am. But 891 00:40:40.480 --> 00:40:42.940 I still have value in the room. I could, you know, 892 00:40:43.039 --> 00:40:44.400 my friend Jeremy, who I write with a lot, like 893 00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:47.579 Jeremy writes hits at his kitchen table by himself. He 894 00:40:47.619 --> 00:40:50.769 needs nobody at any time to help him. And he's like, man, 895 00:40:50.809 --> 00:40:53.610 you know, and I feel like sometimes I don't get, 896 00:40:54.780 --> 00:40:58.119 I get like the least amount of lines that I 897 00:40:58.159 --> 00:41:01.199 would write without him rewriting them better of like anyone else. 898 00:41:01.239 --> 00:41:03.400 And it's intimidating. We've been writing almost 10 years now. 899 00:41:03.739 --> 00:41:06.239 And he's like, dude, so I'm always like sometimes feeling 900 00:41:06.260 --> 00:41:10.239 a little bit self-conscious about it, right? Like, man, why 901 00:41:10.300 --> 00:41:12.619 is this dude still writing this? And he's like, dude, 902 00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:14.219 you know how many people I write with? And then 903 00:41:14.420 --> 00:41:16.409 by the second or third write. They know we're going 904 00:41:16.429 --> 00:41:18.409 to write a good song, but they stop even trying 905 00:41:18.469 --> 00:41:20.590 to write lines. He goes, I don't ever write those 906 00:41:20.610 --> 00:41:22.010 people again because I'm not here to write a song 907 00:41:22.070 --> 00:41:23.699 for you. I'm going to write a song with you. 908 00:41:23.710 --> 00:41:25.530 He goes, and by the way, everything that comes out 909 00:41:25.550 --> 00:41:27.690 of your mouth spins around in my brain somehow to 910 00:41:27.750 --> 00:41:29.750 help me write that next line. But you got to 911 00:41:29.789 --> 00:41:32.869 be willing to like, and he writes a lot in 912 00:41:32.929 --> 00:41:35.110 his brain. And then I'm like, what is he thinking? 913 00:41:35.250 --> 00:41:37.550 Am I interrupting him? Like, but you know, but so 914 00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:39.820 I've learned we were great friends and we write a lot, 915 00:41:40.179 --> 00:41:44.360 but I have learned, I've learned a lot about collaboration 916 00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:46.659 in songwriting and I've learned a lot about when I 917 00:41:46.699 --> 00:41:49.639 first started writing, when I first got invited to Nashville 918 00:41:49.659 --> 00:41:51.699 to write, and it was when I was like 20, 919 00:41:51.699 --> 00:41:54.780 this legendary songwriter named Charlie Craig, who is getting on 920 00:41:54.820 --> 00:41:57.150 in years, really great human, became a mentor to me. 921 00:41:57.429 --> 00:41:59.329 He had over 300 album cuts had written for Dolly 922 00:41:59.349 --> 00:42:01.670 Parton and Randy Travis. And he wrote Just Between You 923 00:42:01.690 --> 00:42:03.489 and All Memory and Me, that Keith Whitley and Travis 924 00:42:03.510 --> 00:42:06.889 Tritt sang, like a really nice man. And he said, hey, Nick, 925 00:42:07.030 --> 00:42:08.699 I could tell you got talent. You've been writing these 926 00:42:08.739 --> 00:42:11.300 songs in your bedroom that are, they're decent. They're not 927 00:42:11.340 --> 00:42:12.800 great songs, hate to break it to you, but you 928 00:42:12.840 --> 00:42:14.590 got talent, you got ambition. why don't you come ride 929 00:42:14.610 --> 00:42:16.769 with me and some of my friends? I'd love to. 930 00:42:17.050 --> 00:42:18.849 He goes, but what I'm going to tell you is 931 00:42:18.889 --> 00:42:20.929 that I want you to come with ideas because nobody 932 00:42:20.969 --> 00:42:23.070 wants a wet noodle coming in the room, basically. Come 933 00:42:23.090 --> 00:42:24.630 with ideas. But what I don't want you to do 934 00:42:24.989 --> 00:42:26.869 is I don't want you to fight for your idea. 935 00:42:27.190 --> 00:42:28.710 I want you to fight for the best song in 936 00:42:28.730 --> 00:42:30.769 the room that day because that song could only be 937 00:42:30.829 --> 00:42:33.599 brought together by the thought processes, the energy, and the 938 00:42:33.619 --> 00:42:35.360 people who are in the room that day. So fight 939 00:42:35.380 --> 00:42:37.460 for the best song. Don't fight for your song. And 940 00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:39.119 so I now have learned to do that in business 941 00:42:39.159 --> 00:42:41.840 and interviews too. It's like, don't, I just need to 942 00:42:41.880 --> 00:42:44.280 be prepared for the best conversation in the room that day. 943 00:42:44.800 --> 00:42:47.460 If I came to this interview knowing here's what I, 944 00:42:47.510 --> 00:42:49.789 here's my agenda. Here's what I got to get across 945 00:42:49.829 --> 00:42:52.849 with Tyler. Like there's a totally different conversation. Like, Hey, 946 00:42:52.889 --> 00:42:54.670 let me show up prepared by the way. Let me 947 00:42:54.690 --> 00:42:56.750 be prepared to talk about whatever I need to talk about, 948 00:42:57.090 --> 00:43:00.420 but let me be prepared to speak on the topics 949 00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:02.820 that are interesting to her. And when I, so when 950 00:43:02.860 --> 00:43:05.980 I first started interviewing famous people, first of all, I 951 00:43:06.019 --> 00:43:07.800 used to like, I'm pretty

good at winging things I've 952 00:43:07.820 --> 00:43:09.159 done in my whole life. Like I just used to 953 00:43:09.179 --> 00:43:11.460 show up and wing it. And like, And it would 954 00:43:11.480 --> 00:43:13.920 work out, but I'm like, you know, there'd be, sometimes 955 00:43:13.940 --> 00:43:15.440 there'd be things I didn't even know they were working 956 00:43:15.599 --> 00:43:17.400 on or it was like, and I felt like I 957 00:43:17.440 --> 00:43:20.090 wasn't as prepared as I should be. And then I'm like, 958 00:43:20.409 --> 00:43:22.510 but I don't like to prepare. But then I realized, oh, 959 00:43:22.530 --> 00:43:25.429 wait a minute, I can outsource preparation. So I started 960 00:43:25.469 --> 00:43:27.550 getting one of my producers to make, I was like, 961 00:43:27.570 --> 00:43:29.289 the way I want to be prepared is write me 962 00:43:29.309 --> 00:43:31.090 an article as if this person were on the cover 963 00:43:31.110 --> 00:43:34.030 of People Magazine this week, no more than 1500 words. 964 00:43:34.349 --> 00:43:36.329 Let me know what I need to know about their past, present, future, 965 00:43:36.349 --> 00:43:38.349 what they're excited about and give it to me on paper. 966 00:43:38.710 --> 00:43:41.460 And so 10 minutes before the interview, read it, make 967 00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:43.940 notes on it, and I'm ready to have the interview. Now, 968 00:43:44.019 --> 00:43:45.840 the first mistake I made then was I tried to 969 00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:48.070 make them say everything that was on the paper because 970 00:43:48.110 --> 00:43:49.739 this in my brain was like, oh, this is what 971 00:43:49.780 --> 00:43:52.690 we need to talk about. Once I realized, oh, I 972 00:43:52.730 --> 00:43:55.130 don't need to do that. That's just me preparing. That's 973 00:43:55.170 --> 00:43:57.690 me always having something to go back to as a foundation. 974 00:43:58.010 --> 00:43:59.829 But my real job here is to see when they 975 00:43:59.869 --> 00:44:02.429 light up in their eyes and follow the trail unless 976 00:44:02.469 --> 00:44:04.130 it gets lost and I can point it back to this. 977 00:44:04.510 --> 00:44:07.269 But then, so the amount of times now, because I've 978 00:44:07.289 --> 00:44:09.050 been prepared to have the best conversation in the room 979 00:44:09.070 --> 00:44:11.340 that day, the conversation they want to have The amount 980 00:44:11.360 --> 00:44:13.420 of times people have said, Larry King said to me, 981 00:44:13.420 --> 00:44:15.480 he said, Nick, I never talked about this on camera before. 982 00:44:15.559 --> 00:44:17.460 And I'm like, sort of like, why are you telling me? 983 00:44:17.480 --> 00:44:19.679 You know, like, you know, are we going to get arrested? No, 984 00:44:19.719 --> 00:44:22.409 but like it's, but when you prepare for the best 985 00:44:22.449 --> 00:44:24.730 conversation in the room that day, which I learned from songwriting, 986 00:44:25.150 --> 00:44:27.989 it allows you

to have a much richer dialogue and 987 00:44:28.010 --> 00:44:31.329 a much richer experience because you're not trying to maneuver or, 988 00:44:31.510 --> 00:44:35.570 or commandeer something in a way that's not natural. Thank you. Yeah, 989 00:44:35.610 --> 00:44:35.869 of course. 990 00:44:36.230 --> 00:44:40.579 Thank you. I am blown away. I was, I am, 991 00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:46.420 I was prepared. I am prepared. And I am absolutely hoodwinked, 992 00:44:46.480 --> 00:44:50.860 blown away by the, the messages that I needed to hear. And, 993 00:44:51.099 --> 00:44:53.050 you know, I say, I talk about this a lot 994 00:44:53.489 --> 00:44:56.789 with my solo episodes, but God is good. Like I, 995 00:44:56.969 --> 00:44:59.489 I believe in, in timing and I believe in things 996 00:44:59.530 --> 00:45:02.889 happening for a reason when they happen and you and 997 00:45:02.989 --> 00:45:07.010 your energy and your messages are spot on for what 998 00:45:07.110 --> 00:45:11.590 my bandaged soul needed. Right now today in this mo 999 00:45:11.670 --> 00:45:15.050 in this moment in time, like not just past, present, future, 1000 00:45:15.070 --> 00:45:18.329 but right now. So thank you. Not just for, because 1001 00:45:18.389 --> 00:45:20.849 here's the thing that I know and thank you, but like, 1002 00:45:21.010 --> 00:45:23.800 I know that I'm not alone, right? Like I know 1003 00:45:24.139 --> 00:45:26.420 that the messages and the things that you're sharing with 1004 00:45:26.559 --> 00:45:30.139 me are things that my people, my friends, my family, 1005 00:45:30.179 --> 00:45:32.760 the people that watch and listen, they need this too, 1006 00:45:32.880 --> 00:45:35.440 because we're all in this together. Like the way I 1007 00:45:35.500 --> 00:45:38.659 see it, I am a conduit of information. And I 1008 00:45:38.739 --> 00:45:41.840 am so grateful for the opportunity to get to hear 1009 00:45:42.260 --> 00:45:47.090 and feel and experience this conversation because it's very, very 1010 00:45:47.150 --> 00:45:50.110 personal for me in ways that probably don't even really 1011 00:45:50.150 --> 00:45:52.889 make sense that we can, we can talk about it 1012 00:45:52.929 --> 00:45:56.550 later because one thing I will share is I have 1013 00:45:56.590 --> 00:45:59.789 gotten that too from the people that I've talked with. 1014 00:45:59.869 --> 00:46:02.639 And I'm so grateful because, you know, we talk about 1015 00:46:02.659 --> 00:46:04.719 maybe it not being a superpower, it's a skillset. 1016 00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:05.480 Sure. Okay. 1017 00:46:05.519 --> 00:46:07.590 Yes. I kind of, I err on the side of 1018 00:46:07.670 --> 00:46:10.889 glitter and sparkle. So I like the superpower mindset, right? 1019 00:46:10.929 --> 00:46:14.409 But the superpower idea that you, I can sit down 1020 00:46:14.449 --> 00:46:18.719 with a human who I, in theory, don't even, there's really, 1021 00:46:19.019 --> 00:46:23.000 how does Ty know Nick? Like, how did that happen? 1022 00:46:23.340 --> 00:46:25.599 And that's curious. That might be curious for some people, 1023 00:46:25.900 --> 00:46:28.039 but I can sit down with a person and we 1024 00:46:28.079 --> 00:46:30.679 can have a conversation like this that has impact and 1025 00:46:30.719 --> 00:46:35.679 has heart and soul and feelings and helps people. at 1026 00:46:35.719 --> 00:46:39.340 a level that is just really, really stinking cool. And 1027 00:46:39.800 --> 00:46:41.889 it's happened to me before where I too have had 1028 00:46:41.909 --> 00:46:44.190 the people say, I don't know why I'm telling you this. 1029 00:46:44.309 --> 00:46:47.530 Like it happens with, with celebrities like you, Nick, but 1030 00:46:47.570 --> 00:46:49.789 it also happens with the lady at the Dollar Tree 1031 00:46:50.070 --> 00:46:52.550 who randomly had, I randomly had a conversation with her 1032 00:46:52.590 --> 00:46:55.570 about self-love the other day. You know, like it's, it's, 1033 00:46:55.730 --> 00:46:58.510 it happens everywhere. And I'm very grateful for this gift 1034 00:46:58.530 --> 00:47:02.119 of superpower that I have. And thank you for sharing 1035 00:47:02.159 --> 00:47:03.980 it and kind of like reflecting it back at me 1036 00:47:04.039 --> 00:47:06.679 in a way that's just honestly visceral. And I'm feeling 1037 00:47:06.719 --> 00:47:09.409 with all of, all of my heart. So I am 1038 00:47:09.630 --> 00:47:11.289 glad to hear that. So grateful. 1039 00:47:11.710 --> 00:47:14.610 It's interesting because, you know, when I first started working 1040 00:47:14.670 --> 00:47:16.949 on this book, like, first of all, I was trying 1041 00:47:16.969 --> 00:47:19.760 to figure out like, basically whenever I direct a film 1042 00:47:19.820 --> 00:47:23.199 for somebody, I will often get like, especially if it's 1043 00:47:23.219 --> 00:47:26.199 a company, someone who owns a company or whatever, like they, 1044 00:47:26.599 --> 00:47:30.900 they will somehow or the other say, Like, oh my gosh, 1045 00:47:30.920 --> 00:47:32.900 I got a lot more than I bargained for. I 1046 00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:35.789 just thought you were just a film director. Like, sometimes 1047 00:47:35.809 --> 00:47:38.349 they'll call their whole marketing team. Like, Nick just gave 1048 00:47:38.369 --> 00:47:40.570 me these hundred ideas. And part of it is because 1049 00:47:40.650 --> 00:47:42.869 my brain works that way. But I've seen from the 1050 00:47:42.969 --> 00:47:47.210 inside of a thousand different organizations and ways people operate 1051 00:47:47.230 --> 00:47:49.530 and stuff. And so what I really want to do 1052 00:47:49.550 --> 00:47:51.539 with the book is just, like, share the things I 1053 00:47:51.579 --> 00:47:54.760 had learned. But also, from a selfish point of view, 1054 00:47:54.860 --> 00:47:58.369 I wanted people to understand that. basically who I am, 1055 00:47:58.429 --> 00:48:00.630 like what makes me who I am. But then you, 1056

00:48:00.809 --> 00:48:04.190 I get the, you know, the, the imposter syndrome of like, well, 1057 00:48:04.210 --> 00:48:06.639 why would anyone care what Nick has to say? Cause 1058 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:09.380 that is a natural response. And then I, but I 1059 00:48:09.460 --> 00:48:11.159 had to take my own advice that I give other people. 1060 00:48:11.500 --> 00:48:13.260 When your message is more important than your ego, your 1061 00:48:13.300 --> 00:48:14.360 ego gets out of the way and you just start 1062 00:48:14.380 --> 00:48:16.460 sharing it and it will reach the people it's supposed 1063 00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:19.039 to reach. I think the big difference is if you're 1064 00:48:19.059 --> 00:48:22.210 sharing the message for your ego, it's not the right message. 1065 00:48:22.469 --> 00:48:24.349 If you're sharing the message to help and serve other people, 1066 00:48:25.030 --> 00:48:27.309 doors will open because it's obvious. We talked about serving. 1067 00:48:28.139 --> 00:48:31.019 You're doing this podcast to serve an audience. It's not 1068 00:48:31.039 --> 00:48:34.679 going to hurt you, but it's not intended to be self-serving. 1069 00:48:35.480 --> 00:48:37.099 And when you see things, I see people all the 1070 00:48:37.139 --> 00:48:39.929 time who post things online over and over and over 1071 00:48:39.969 --> 00:48:41.789 and over again, which is how you feed the algorithm. 1072 00:48:42.210 --> 00:48:44.489 And they get two likes here, three likes there. And 1073 00:48:44.530 --> 00:48:48.050 it's because they are not serving themselves or they're not 1074 00:48:48.070 --> 00:48:50.769 serving others. They're doing it for their ego. And once 1075 00:48:50.809 --> 00:48:52.760 people start to realize that, so it's been an interesting 1076 00:48:52.820 --> 00:48:56.409 process And I'm really glad to hear that it resonates 1077 00:48:56.449 --> 00:48:59.949 with you because it's newer material for me. But I 1078 00:48:59.989 --> 00:49:02.789 have noticed every time I'll mention it off the cuff 1079 00:49:02.829 --> 00:49:04.849 or from a keynote, like these are the things that 1080 00:49:04.889 --> 00:49:07.530 people come up to me and like want to revisit. 1081 00:49:07.550 --> 00:49:09.349 Like tell me again about– honestly, the question I get 1082 00:49:09.389 --> 00:49:10.849 asked the most is like tell me about the seven 1083 00:49:10.869 --> 00:49:12.969 nights a month again. Like how does that work? And 1084 00:49:13.010 --> 00:49:15.349 it's like because it's just like real and it's practical. 1085 00:49:15.670 --> 00:49:17.329 It doesn't have to be seven nights for anybody else. 1086 00:49:17.369 --> 00:49:19.320 But like this is a way I put guardrails in 1087 00:49:19.340 --> 00:49:22.079 my life. so that I know my children, they like me. 1088 00:49:22.099 --> 00:49:24.000 I've been married almost 25 years. My wife still likes me, 1089 00:49:24.039 --> 00:49:26.110 I think. And so, you know, but, but if I, 1090

00:49:26.440 --> 00:49:30.420 but if I let success run from me and run 1091 00:49:30.579 --> 00:49:32.880 and run, which I was, once we, I started having success, 1092 00:49:33.260 --> 00:49:35.280 you know, my wife sat me down, Christina, and she's like, look, 1093 00:49:36.159 --> 00:49:37.940 I'm really glad like we can eat now. I'm really 1094 00:49:37.960 --> 00:49:39.380 glad that we can afford a house. Like I'm like, 1095 00:49:39.849 --> 00:49:42.449 But I didn't sign up to do this life without you. 1096 00:49:42.530 --> 00:49:44.599 I need your help. And the kids need you. So like, 1097 00:49:44.960 --> 00:49:47.079 what are we going to do? And so I was like, 1098 00:49:47.239 --> 00:49:48.820 I don't know. Let's talk about it. And so we 1099 00:49:48.860 --> 00:49:52.719 just had a healthy conversation. She understood that I couldn't 1100 00:49:52.780 --> 00:49:55.280 do what I was doing without some level of travel. 1101 00:49:56.280 --> 00:49:59.010 But I understood that she couldn't do it. I couldn't 1102 00:49:59.050 --> 00:50:03.349 be a helpful, healthy husband, father if I wasn't ever there. 1103 00:50:03.630 --> 00:50:06.389 So like, what are we going to do? My travel 1104 00:50:06.449 --> 00:50:09.150 is still disruptive. Don't get me wrong. I'm gone like 1105 00:50:09.190 --> 00:50:13.559 a night and a half a week. But we've learned 1106 00:50:13.579 --> 00:50:15.940 to live with it. It works for us. I get 1107 00:50:15.980 --> 00:50:18.019 my adventures. I think I come back more prepared to 1108 00:50:18.039 --> 00:50:19.380 be a better dad because I've gotten it out of 1109 00:50:19.420 --> 00:50:23.380 my system. People always ask, how do you do those things? 1110 00:50:23.400 --> 00:50:26.829 How do you take those risks? Number one, my family 1111 00:50:26.849 --> 00:50:30.369 is my baseline. They're my floor. Because I poured into them, 1112 00:50:30.429 --> 00:50:34.710 they're there for me. As long as I don't dishonor them, 1113 00:50:35.230 --> 00:50:38.469 or embarrass them by making a really bad public decision 1114 00:50:38.530 --> 00:50:42.150 or cheat somebody or whatever. Like they don't, they don't 1115 00:50:42.210 --> 00:50:43.389 care when I get home, they're just going to make 1116 00:50:43.449 --> 00:50:45.550 fun of me. They don't care who I've interviewed. And like, 1117 00:50:45.909 --> 00:50:48.449 I say, if your children aren't respectfully making fun of you, 1118 00:50:48.469 --> 00:50:50.250 I'm not sure you did it right. Cause like, it 1119 00:50:50.289 --> 00:50:53.489 shouldn't be that serious respectfully, but like, you know, and 1120 00:50:53.550 --> 00:50:56.150 so we have a real relationship. So I can't wait 1121 00:50:56.489 --> 00:50:59.050 to get home. No matter what I just experienced success 1122 00:50:59.090 --> 00:51:00.690 or failure, I just got, I just want to go 1123 00:51:00.730 --> 00:51:02.730 home and see my family and hang out. And so 1124 00:51:03.190 --> 00:51:04.469 it makes

for a rich life. It's a lot of fun. 1125 00:51:05.059 --> 00:51:08.599 Oh my gosh. To that end, you, you spend your 1126 00:51:08.639 --> 00:51:12.860 career making other people feel seen. What makes you feel seen? 1127 00:51:12.880 --> 00:51:17.519 Uh, man, uh, spending time with people, you know, just 1128 00:51:17.599 --> 00:51:21.690 getting like, I don't, I don't want any shallow relationships 1129 00:51:21.750 --> 00:51:23.510 in my life. I don't, I don't, I don't need them. 1130 00:51:23.530 --> 00:51:25.849 I don't desire them. Um, not that I don't sit 1131 00:51:25.889 --> 00:51:27.869 next to probably some really great people on airplanes, but 1132 00:51:27.889 --> 00:51:29.989 I basically just go to sleep because I'm not, I don't, 1133 00:51:30.309 --> 00:51:32.530 I don't care what the weather is. I'm like, what? 1134 00:51:32.829 --> 00:51:35.670 Like small talk, hate it. Like I want, you know, 1135 00:51:35.750 --> 00:51:37.989 I want to spend time with people who are, you know, 1136 00:51:38.130 --> 00:51:40.889 trying to serve others, trying to, trying to make whatever 1137 00:51:41.010 --> 00:51:43.329 world or part of the world that they are in 1138 00:51:43.349 --> 00:51:45.570 a better place, whether that's number one, by the way, 1139 00:51:45.590 --> 00:51:48.360 I think from like, if you are a parent, I 1140 00:51:48.400 --> 00:51:50.659 think if you fail at that job, like you, you 1141 00:51:50.679 --> 00:51:52.619 failed the world, like, you know, I don't mean to 1142 00:51:52.639 --> 00:51:54.400 be harsh about it, but like, so to me, that's, 1143 00:51:54.519 --> 00:51:57.000 that's how seriously I take it. I can't control my 1144 00:51:57.079 --> 00:52:00.239 kids' decisions. You know, they're going to make mistakes because 1145 00:52:00.280 --> 00:52:02.099 I still make mistakes. So I tell them that I'm like, Hey, 1146 00:52:02.530 --> 00:52:04.150 You're going to make mistakes because I still do. But 1147 00:52:04.190 --> 00:52:06.610 when you do, me and your mom can probably help 1148 00:52:06.650 --> 00:52:08.449 you more than your friend who doesn't know what they're doing. 1149 00:52:08.469 --> 00:52:10.869 So if you make mistakes, probably call me. Anyway, but 1150 00:52:10.909 --> 00:52:15.050 so I want, I desire deep relationships and that makes 1151 00:52:15.090 --> 00:52:17.690 me feel seen because I can actually have a real 1152 00:52:17.750 --> 00:52:20.650 conversation with someone that means something because to me, you know, 1153 00:52:21.449 --> 00:52:23.889 I find the meaning of life through community and community 1154 00:52:23.929 --> 00:52:27.909 to me is people you have relationships with and I 1155 00:52:27.949 --> 00:52:30.469 have been given the gift of, because I care about people, 1156 00:52:30.590 --> 00:52:34.090 I can usually develop pretty deep relationships pretty quickly. And 1157 00:52:34.170 --> 00:52:37.320 so if I interview, not with every celebrity, you may 1158 00:52:37.340 --> 00:52:39.199 never get a call back, but if I interview someone 1159 00:52:39.239 --> 00:52:40.900 and they like it and they seem like I can, 1160 00:52:40.920 --> 00:52:44.719 I mean, I just got invited. This is cool. Just 1161 00:52:44.760 --> 00:52:47.480 because my first big concert I went to was the 1162 00:52:47.619 --> 00:52:51.110 Eagles' Hell Freezes Over. Well, through filming the Blind Boys 1163 00:52:51.130 --> 00:52:53.710 of Alabama documentary that I just did, I interviewed Timothy B. 1164 00:52:53.730 --> 00:52:56.460 Schmidt from the Eagles. And Timothy B. Schmidt invited me 1165 00:52:56.719 --> 00:52:59.420 to the sphere as his guest to the Eagles show. Like, 1166 00:53:00.440 --> 00:53:02.780 but like, you know, like, and he doesn't know me well, 1167 00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:05.099 but I tried to develop a relationship, try to serve 1168 00:53:05.139 --> 00:53:07.550 him well. He saw how well I served his friends, 1169 00:53:07.610 --> 00:53:09.630 the blind boys. I'm not his friend, the blind boys 1170 00:53:09.670 --> 00:53:11.510 are his friends, but he saw how I served them. 1171 00:53:11.550 --> 00:53:13.849 He's like, he obviously thinks I'm a good enough dude 1172 00:53:14.110 --> 00:53:16.010 and I'm an Eagles fan. And he's like, oh, cool. 1173 00:53:16.070 --> 00:53:17.929 And so I told him, I said, my uncle took me, 1174 00:53:18.170 --> 00:53:20.650 I had to babysit my cousin in exchange for the ticket. 1175 00:53:20.969 --> 00:53:22.289 And so he's like, well, bring your uncle with you. 1176 00:53:22.349 --> 00:53:24.019 So me and my uncle, who took me to see 1177 00:53:24.039 --> 00:53:25.800 the Eagles are going to see the Eagles again. It 1178 00:53:25.820 --> 00:53:26.300 should be pretty cool. 1179 00:53:26.699 --> 00:53:30.530 Oh my gosh. That's amazing. That story is so good. 1180 00:53:30.610 --> 00:53:34.230 That's so good. Um, I have like 75 more questions, 1181 00:53:34.710 --> 00:53:37.789 but it's fine. I want to ask one quick before 1182 00:53:37.809 --> 00:53:40.809 you forget question. Cause I, I'm normally, I have like 1183 00:53:40.829 --> 00:53:43.230 a whole list of questions that I ask everybody and 1184 00:53:43.250 --> 00:53:45.210 I didn't get to any of them, but this one 1185 00:53:45.269 --> 00:53:47.949 is important to me. If you have, like if I 1186 00:53:47.989 --> 00:53:50.610 handed you a megaphone right now and the world was 1187 00:53:50.710 --> 00:53:54.559 strongly encouraged to please, please tune in and listen to 1188 00:53:54.599 --> 00:53:58.199 Nick Nanton for the next 30 to 60 seconds. What 1189 00:53:58.239 --> 00:53:58.739 would you say? 1190 00:54:00.599 --> 00:54:08.949 Well, that's a big question. I would say find a 1191 00:54:09.769 --> 00:54:12.309 way to serve others well slash add value to others' 1192 00:54:12.369 --> 00:54:15.730 lives slash just show up for others and you will 1193 00:54:15.809 --> 00:54:20.099 achieve everything you desired in life and more that

you're 1194 00:54:20.139 --> 00:54:22.059 supposed to. It doesn't mean you're supposed to be rich. 1195 00:54:22.079 --> 00:54:24.369 It doesn't mean And the other part of that is like, 1196 00:54:24.949 --> 00:54:28.269 I believe faith is so important because everything is bigger 1197 00:54:28.309 --> 00:54:31.989 than you. And so, and when you realize like even the, 1198 00:54:32.880 --> 00:54:34.989 you will enjoy your life much more, not always in 1199 00:54:35.010 --> 00:54:37.260 the moment, but if you realize, you know, it's a bit, 1200 00:54:38.019 --> 00:54:39.440 it's a bit trite to say this has been said 1201 00:54:39.460 --> 00:54:41.300 so many times, but that life happens for you, not 1202 00:54:41.320 --> 00:54:44.179 to you. If you can believe that and own that 1203 00:54:44.340 --> 00:54:47.139 and you can say, okay, yeah, how can I show 1204 00:54:47.199 --> 00:54:50.519 up today and just take what comes and process it 1205 00:54:50.920 --> 00:54:56.530 in a way that that is positive and say, what 1206 00:54:56.570 --> 00:54:59.190 am I supposed to take from this? Jack Canfield, act 1207 00:54:59.289 --> 00:55:01.329 as if you are responsible for everything in your life, 1208 00:55:01.369 --> 00:55:04.179 whether you are or not. You can't be responsible for everything, 1209 00:55:04.199 --> 00:55:06.099 but if you learn to act as if you're responsible, 1210 00:55:06.480 --> 00:55:08.840 you can find joy a lot more in situations that 1211 00:55:08.860 --> 00:55:12.099 sort of suck. And I think that those are, it 1212 00:55:12.440 --> 00:55:14.139 depends how long they gave me the megaphone for. As 1213 00:55:14.159 --> 00:55:16.519 you can see, I have many messages, but I would 1214 00:55:17.199 --> 00:55:18.099 start with something like that. 1215 00:55:18.469 --> 00:55:20.510 I feel like you should have the megaphone all the time. 1216 00:55:20.670 --> 00:55:23.559 Like you should just walk around with a megaphone because I, 1217 00:55:23.610 --> 00:55:26.210 you have filled my soul with so much good things 1218 00:55:27.030 --> 00:55:30.380 and we have barely scratched the surface. So my question 1219 00:55:30.659 --> 00:55:33.659 is like, what, what have you not mentioned or not 1220 00:55:33.719 --> 00:55:36.360 shared that you're working on or you're excited about that 1221 00:55:36.400 --> 00:55:38.739 you want to, to, to shine some light on today? 1222 00:55:38.760 --> 00:55:41.820 Uh, there's a bunch I'm working on. I really can't 1223 00:55:41.860 --> 00:55:44.920 talk about what's fun, but I would say the thing 1224 00:55:44.940 --> 00:55:46.570 that'd be the most, like I am working on the book. I'm, 1225 00:55:47.159 --> 00:55:50.500 If people are interested, if they want to go to nicknanton.com 1226 00:55:50.539 --> 00:55:52.550 and just sort of sign up to keep up with 1227 00:55:52.590 --> 00:55:54.489 me or if they want to go follow me on Instagram, 1228 00:55:54.510 --> 00:55:55.969 as long as you spell my name correctly, you'll find 1229 00:55:55.989 --> 00:55:58.010 me pretty much anywhere. I have a nephew with the 1230 00:55:58.050 --> 00:56:00.269 same name and I told his dad, as long as 1231 00:56:00.289 --> 00:56:03.610 you're willing for him to be buried on Google, that's fine. No, 1232 00:56:03.889 --> 00:56:06.239 but it would be the most helpful thing to me 1233 00:56:06.300 --> 00:56:08.739 is if people are interested that they find a way 1234 00:56:08.760 --> 00:56:11.400 to keep up because not that I just want you 1235 00:56:11.440 --> 00:56:13.300 to buy my new book when it comes out, but 1236 00:56:13.780 --> 00:56:16.070 we can hopefully develop a relationship of some sort If 1237 00:56:16.119 --> 00:56:18.750 I serve you well, I'd love to know you and 1238 00:56:18.949 --> 00:56:19.530 hear from you as well. 1239 00:56:20.230 --> 00:56:22.050 I would love to have you back to talk more 1240 00:56:22.090 --> 00:56:24.070 about your book. Would you be willing? 1241 00:56:24.289 --> 00:56:25.250 Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, for sure. 1242 00:56:25.409 --> 00:56:26.849 Beautiful. When is it coming out? 1243 00:56:27.550 --> 00:56:30.360 I don't know yet, so I'll let you know. Okay. 1244 00:56:30.400 --> 00:56:31.280 We'll be in touch. 1245 00:56:31.659 --> 00:56:35.099 First or second quarter of next year, ideally. 1246 00:56:35.260 --> 00:56:37.920 Because you and I on an airplane would not be 1247 00:56:37.960 --> 00:56:40.550 a superficial conversation. We would get off the airplane and 1248 00:56:40.570 --> 00:56:43.820 then we'd have to go get mocktails or something after. Um, 1249 00:56:43.929 --> 00:56:46.420 so I am so grateful for you, sir. Thank you. 1250 00:56:46.460 --> 00:56:49.000 Thank you for your time, your energy, all of the things. 1251 00:56:49.519 --> 00:56:51.519 And we will see you next time on quick before 1252 00:56:51.539 --> 00:56:56.449 you forget. That was so much fun. Thank you for 1253 00:56:56.489 --> 00:57:00.829 investing your time, energy, and thought into spending some time 1254 00:57:00.849 --> 00:57:03.889 with me today. I really appreciate you. And I really 1255 00:57:03.909 --> 00:57:07.480 appreciate when you talk back. So please, if you're here still, 1256 00:57:07.559 --> 00:57:10.829 thank you so much. Please tell me what you thought. 1257 00:57:11.309 --> 00:57:14.190 Tell me what other questions you have. Tell me how 1258 00:57:14.489 --> 00:57:17.449 this episode affected you and how it resonated with you 1259 00:57:17.510 --> 00:57:19.489 and all of the things. Tell me all the things 1260 00:57:20.070 --> 00:57:22.829 in the comments. And please know that I'm reading every 1261 00:57:22.869 --> 00:57:27.699 single comment, responding to every single comment. And I appreciate you. 1262 00:57:28.099 --> 00:57:31.719 Thank you for being here with me today. Please also like, share, 1263 00:57:31.760 --> 00:57:34.340 subscribe if this if this episode was fun for you. 1264 00:57:34.829 --> 00:57:36.699 It'll be fun for a friend, so send it to 1265 00:57:36.739 --> 00:57:39.800 a friend that might enjoy a little laughter, a little joy, 1266 00:57:39.820 --> 00:57:45.639 and a little more time investing in themselves. And today, 1267 00:57:45.659 --> 00:57:50.710 I am proudly sponsored, not sponsored, by Zeke's Village Market 1268 00:57:50.829 --> 00:57:56.530 in Door County, Wisconsin, which provided this fantastic shirt, which 1269 00:57:56.730 --> 00:57:58.750 Ephraim is a really cute town in Door County. If 1270 00:57:58.789 --> 00:58:02.719 you haven't been there, it's beautiful. It's very much Cape 1271 00:58:02.760 --> 00:58:05.960 Cod town. It's the Cape Cod of the Midwest. So 1272 00:58:06.039 --> 00:58:08.030 I just have to show you the design because the 1273 00:58:08.070 --> 00:58:12.010 design is what makes it a souvenir with soul. So 1274 00:58:12.030 --> 00:58:24.579 we're going to stand up. Every single design from Zeke's 1275 00:58:25.059 --> 00:58:28.280 has heart and soul put into it. And it's designed 1276 00:58:28.440 --> 00:58:33.159 and they partner with Guilty Apparel. And the two together 1277 00:58:33.360 --> 00:58:37.150 are a dynamic duo of awesomeness. So I am so 1278 00:58:37.190 --> 00:58:41.590 grateful for their belief in me and their beautiful designs 1279 00:58:41.750 --> 00:58:44.289 and their souvenirs with soul. And I will see you 1280 00:58:44.329 --> 00:58:46.409 next time on Quick Before You Forget.