Cracking the Hidden Code to Visualize Your Dreams into Reality | Ed Mylett

23:51You'd find a way to get that door knocked down, wouldn't you? There's no door closed. It didn't start. There's a setback. My car. No, wouldn't matter. When you got there, they said, hey, we need this information. We need to hear the right words from you. You wouldn't wait around and go, well, let me sit in the parking lot and prepare for another three weeks before I get started. So the timing's better. And I know everything I need to know when I get in that hospital. No, you know enough. And you'd get going. What you would say is, I'll figure it out when I get in there. Isn't it trivial and isn't it silly when you put it in that context?

24:23What we let stop us and why we lay down after a while? Ed, how do I get back up in my life? I'm telling you how. You get back up by getting a new vision, by repeatedly selling yourself this dream, and by attaching your love like that precious child or loved one who was in an accident, that type of urgency, that type of love, that type of obsession towards chasing it. and now you're up. And when those obstacles do come, they may rattle you, they may stagger you, but they won't stop you. You're unstoppable. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. Don't forget to follow the show on Apple and Spotify.

25:02Links are in the show notes. You'll never miss an episode that way. Welcome back to the show, everybody. So today I've got a really difficult question for you. Is your will to win for sale? You know, I really believe that of all the things that comes down to in life about winning and making our lives the masterpiece that we want them to be, I really believe will has a lot to do with it. And the people that I've been around in my life, they have strong faith, obviously, but there's a part of them that has this will to win, this will to want to be somebody that's extraordinary. And for most people in life, I think when they take enough failure, enough setbacks, they will sell their will to win.

25:42And, you know, it's an interesting thing in life about winning. I just want to discuss this with you today. You know, you have to really decide right now and early on in the journey that you can't be bought. You can't be bought with enough success and you can't be bought with enough failure. Most people at the end of the day quit on their dreams, usually because there's just so much rejection and so much failure and so much letdown. You know, I would love to tell you that winning is pretty and that making your dreams come true for your family is beautiful. But man, I got to tell you, on the journey for me, there was so many setbacks.

26:20So many times I thought I had it going and then I didn't. I thought we were going to make it and then maybe we weren't. So many people that I thought would be there at the end that weren't. There were people like you probably have had in your life that you really, really trusted that then let you down and hurt you. dark nights, sleepless nights, some really difficult mornings with a lot of anxiety and trepidation. You know, if you're going to win, you're going to carry the emotional burden of your business, of your family. And sometimes that burden emotionally just over time is so difficult to carry that most people will surrender their will.

26:56You know, I really believe that winning has a lot to do with your will to win. It's not always just, you know, having the right strategy or the right people in place, although you can't win without them. But at some point, it comes down to grit and desire and toughness and resiliency and relentlessness. And I call all of those things will. But for most people with enough of it, enough setbacks, enough things, they'll just sell their family's dreams up the river. They'll call it something else, don't they? Well, I didn't get along with somebody or there was this setback or the economy changed or this person screwed me over or whatever the story is that we come up with, all which could be valid.

27:33But at some point, basically what you're saying is all of that was too much. And so I've sold my family's dreams up the river. And I say it to you that harshly because I want when it comes for you, for you to avoid it that strongly. That I won't let you create a word game that makes you feel like it's okay to take an out, you know, take the door in the back there and get out of here and quit on your dream. That's not what you were born to do. That's not what it was designed for. part of the game of this winning thing part of the game of changing your family forever part of the game of changing how you feel about yourself is really difficult and it's going to come with all of those things i described and more and shocking setbacks every couple two or three years gonna be a day where you go my gosh right like that's going to happen and for most people at one point they just go that's enough that's enough and that's why so few people win because theirs is for sale.

28:24See, what I would recommend you do is negotiate the price tag in advance. See, I believe the price you will pay to make your dream come true, your vision for your life come true, is infinitely less than the price you will pay if you don't. The price you pay if you don't make your dream happen, your vision for your life, is you live with that forever. And that price, I would never be willing to pay. I'll pay any other price as long as it's legal, ethical, and moral because the price you will pay to make that dream come true is so worth it. And it is so much less than the price of living with losing forever with the life you don't deserve, with the people that you don't want around you, with all of your music still in you.

29:09So many people pass away with all their best music in them still because of the setbacks or the criticisms or the the things that just didn't go their way or their fears holding them back. You know, price tags of life are interesting. See, successful people negotiate worth whether something is worth it, not what the price is or the expense is. If you're focused on the expense, you're always in a really difficult place. I'll give you an example. This is a metaphor, but it makes sense. When I had no money, right, which was most of my life, when I would walk into a store, I wouldn't get what I wanted in the store.

29:48I would get what I thought I could afford. And so what did I do? I flipped the price tags over. I didn't always just get what I wanted. I would, what's the cost? What's the cost? What's the cost? What's the cost? I'm sure you've done that as well. It's just really one of the real things in life. What's it cost? I wouldn't get the jacket in there I wanted based on what it cost. So that's a scarcity mindset, right? And so instead, when I became a wealthy person, I'm able to walk in that store and get the one that's worth it? What's the one worth it? And in our lives, when we're operating from a weak position, we're operating from a poverty mindset, we're constantly negotiating the price tag of like, what's it gonna cost me?

30:25What's it gonna cost me? What's it gonna cost me? And we focus so much on what it's costing us, the pain we're going through, the price we're paying. We're constantly focused on the price we're paying that eventually we just go, I can't do it. The cost is too great. If you're focused on the cost, you'll eventually lose because the cost is so extraordinary. But if you switch that subtly and say, is it worth the price? Is it worth it? You focus more off the cost and onto its worth, then you got it. And so let me ask you, what's your family worth? What are your dreams worth? What's the pride of living the life that you've dreamed of worth to you?

31:03And once you focus on the worth, you'll probably pay any price. You'll go through any cost. but you have to negotiate in my opinion that price in advance. I think if you wait till you're in the middle of it you're in big trouble and so I would challenge you today to negotiate the price you're willing to pay in advance whatever it is and then the negotiation is over. So decide now what price you're willing to pay or not pay for your family and just be honest about it. There's a certain place where I'm going to sell my family's dreams up the river. You know what I'm just going to give up. And that's what most people do in life.

31:39Like I said, they call it something else. They frame it differently. They create a story that makes them feel okay about it. By the way, the only reason I know this is I've done it myself on several different things. This guy screwed me over here. That one let me down. Ah, you know, timing wasn't right. Right? Whatever. The bottom line is, is that the price became too great for me. Had I negotiated that price in advance, maybe that would have never happened. So if you focus on what it's costing you all the time, which is what you're doing and you know it's costing me this time it's costing me this money it's costing me this experience it's costing me this it's costing me that you're probably going to lose but if you start to focus on is it worth it is the price i'm paying worth it then you got it why does that also matter negotiating the price as you're going through the battle in life takes all your energy and your focus it isn't it constantly a drain on you is it worth it is it worth it you're asking yourself this all the time how do i know it's what most people do that are trying to do something great.

32:34Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Right? What's it costing me? What's it costing me? You're constantly negotiating. It takes all your energy. It takes all your focus. And so the bottom line is it's better to just to decide today. And I would just ask you, what's your family worth? What are your dreams worth? What's your life worth? What price are you not willing to pay? Hopefully you don't want to do something illegal or unethical or immoral to do it. But beyond that, what's the price you're willing to pay and get clear on it then just stop negotiating it. Stop doing that thing back and forth, those mental gymnastics that you know exactly what I'm talking about and just decide I'm going to win.

33:09I'm going to pursue this. Whatever comes my way, I've already negotiated in advance. So although it might be shocking or really painful, I already negotiated that price. I already negotiated it. One of the cool things for me, like in my faith is I know the price has already been negotiated for me, right? Like it's already been negotiated. I didn't have to do it. Remember this change only happens when love is greater than your fear. When love is greater than your price you're paying. What I believe you have to do is you have to start to attach yourself to the love you have for other people. That love, because you're such a good person, is so much greater than the adversity that will come your way.

33:45But what happens when adversity comes, we detach from our love for our family, for ourselves, from the people that we want to help. And the love part gets diminished and the fear and pain part gets increased. See, you show me anybody with a big old dream with enough reasons to win and I will show you somebody who's going to win. I believe more than anything in life, having big, giant, compelling reasons why you want to win. The why is so much greater than the how or the what. The why is. And relentlessly focusing on that. When the why is big enough, you'll go through the how and you'll figure out the what.

34:23right? But in most cases in life, we don't attach those two things. People say to me all the time, I'm not even sure what will motivate me. I can tell you. Do you want to know the two things that will motivate you in your life? I'm going to give them to you right now. You always go, I lack motivation. I lack inspiration. I can tell you what they are. They're your dreams or other people. Those are the two great motivators in life. Usually most good people won't do very much stuff for themselves. They just won't. They're too giving. They want to change other people's lives. They love other people.

34:52They put other people first. Those are the people that ultimately win long term. So the two things that will motivate you are your dreams, what your vision is for your life, and other people. Those of you that have children, are you really willing to quit on them? Are you? If you have parents that you love, are you really willing to quit on them? Or do you love them more than any adversity that will come your way? Could you negotiate the price in advance and say, listen, it's worth it because my mom is worth it. It's worth it because my children are worth it. It's worth it because my God is worth it.

35:21it's worth it because I'm worth it. It's worth it because my dream is worth it. It's worth it because if I make this happen, I can change all these other people's lives and those lives are worth the price I'm paying. Once you have the thing and the reason, the love for what you want, now you've got the negotiation handled because that is greater than the price. But when this isn't focused on, when the price is greater than the love, when it's greater than the dream. It's difficult. So one of the examples of that that I've talked about before is Bella's wedding day. Number one key from Bella's wedding day story from many years ago, 20 years ago.

35:59Why matters most. You show me somebody with a big enough why, a big enough reason, I will show you somebody who will solve for how to do it, for what to do. I will promise you that. Why is the most important thing. You give a father a story like not being there and the picture, the mental picture in my mind of some strange man that I've never met before having that first dance and walking Bella down the aisle on her wedding day, I'll do anything to make sure that doesn't happen. I'll do anything to be there. And I can tell you, I've done just about anything. In fact, my doctors that I'm with right now, part of that journey of staying healthy, where I found both of them, Gabrielle and Amy is because I want to be there on that day and beyond One of the reasons i'm willing to take this sort of downshift to some extent is Yes, i'd love to help more people and yes, i'm going to contribute and yes We've got one of the number one podcast in the world and i'm one of the top speakers and my businesses are growing And all that matters and I want to help all kinds.

36:56I want to continue to help millions of people that i've been blessed to help But not more than I want to be there for bella's wedding day You know one of the things that frustrates me bank fees and banking fees as the son of a guy who worked in to bank for a long time. That stuff frustrates me. And that's why I love Chime. Chime is changing the way people bank. They offer the most rewarding fee-free banking. This is fee-free banking built for you. They're not like traditional old banks that charge you overdraft and monthly fees. They have thousands of free ATMs. Why would you pay to get your own money?

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37:56Banking services for MyPay and Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners. Optional products and services may have fees or charges. So guys, the last eight weeks or so, I have not been feeling on my game. And I'm like, what the heck changed? What is it? And then I remembered. We switched from one of the places we live to another, and I stopped taking IM8. I'll never do that again. IM8 is unbelievable. IM8 is the way to simplify your supplement routine once and for all. It's got 16 supplements it replaces with 90 ingredients across nine major organ systems in one drink. And that's why when you're on it, you feel great.

38:30and if you stop, you feel the difference. IM8's Daily Ultimate Essentials has 16 supplements and one drink for$2.61 a day. So go to im8health.com slash ed right now or click the link in the description here and use code ed for a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets, plus 10 % off your order. That's code ed at im8health.com slash ed. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. of this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. And so number one key is why matters most. And if you say, I don't know what my why is, I can tell you.

39:07Let me give you a hack to find your why. Your why will always be your dreams, whatever your dreams are, or other people. Whys can be distilled down always into dreams or other people. Doing something for other people that you love or proving people wrong. And what I will tell you under the why is that love is the biggest force in the world. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. Don't forget to follow the show on Apple and Spotify. We have all the links in our show notes. You'll never miss an episode that way. Now on with the show. My will to win is not for sale.

39:42So that's why I get up and I work out. That's why I try to do the nutritional program. That's why I'm taking this break from social media and reducing my travel schedule because my dream is to be at Bella's Wedding Day. And my will to win is not for sale on that. I've got to be there. There's no negotiation for me. It's get up and work out. It's make sure you take the right nutritional supplements. It's the doctors say, slow down, Ed, and take a break for a while. I do it. There's no negotiation because I belong in that dream. I belong there with Bella on her wedding day. And I like to get to the heart of it, guys.

40:12Like, I think the more we water down the reason, the easier it is to have the price take us out. Listen, as I've been doing this video or audio with you, thousands of people quit on their dreams. Thousands of people quit on their vision. Every single day, thousands and thousands of people quit on something. And the reason they quit is the price got too great. And by the way, that's okay as long as you've already done the negotiation. But I have a feeling that if I asked you again really closely, how much, if your parents are still here, do you want to make them proud of you or take care of them?

40:46How about your children or your spouse? These people that you love the most. Maybe it's none of them. Maybe you have a grandparent who that when you were a little boy or a little girl really believed in you, really saw greatness in you. And you want to honor them and make them proud of you as they've gone to heaven and they're looking down on you. And you want to make sure that you really prove them right. I won't let you not focus on that today. Because if I can get you focused on these people you love or these great visions for your life, I think that that is greater than the price you'll pay.

41:22And so I want to ask you that today one more time. Are you willing to quit on them? Are you willing to give in? Really, the only way you can lose in this life is to quit. Only way you can lose is to quit. Now, that doesn't mean you shouldn't pivot, innovate, course correct. That's not quitting. That's the pursuit of something and saying, listen, what I'm doing isn't working. The definition of insanity is do the same thing over and over again. Expect a different result. I've got to innovate. I've got to pivot. I've got to get a different strategy. Clearly, I think you should be doing that. That's what my show is all about, is about strategy and innovation.

41:52and progress. But the truth of the matter is most people aren't totally committed to their dreams. They're not. They're going to stick their toe in it. I'll stick my toe in it as long as it's not too painful, doesn't get too difficult, too uncomfortable, take too much from me, be too inconvenient, then I'll pursue it. But if it gets too inconvenient, too difficult, too uncomfortable, eh, I'll give in. Let me give you a secret. People ask me all the time about the people that have been on my show that are some of the greatest achievers in life. What do they have in common. And I'm going to be candid with you.

42:23Here's what they have in common. They don't have it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out. Most everybody, frankly, is pretty screwed up to some extent or another. And we're all just trying to get through this life and figure it out. What they also have in common is they didn't quit on their dreams. And the reason they didn't quit on their dreams is their love of their dream. Their love of other people was greater than their fears for their inadequacies. But I can tell you that we all feel inadequate. We all don't feel prepared. We're all sort of faking it to some extent, aren't we, in our lives?

42:55And I know that shocks most people, but I think it should give you hope. They don't have it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out. But what I have figured out is that I'm willing to go into situations I'm ill-prepared for because I want to win for the people I love so much. I want to win for me. I want to win for God. I want to do something great with my life. And so although I don't have it figured out completely. I don't have all the answers and neither does anybody that's been on my show. Anybody you've seen on this show as my guest, most of them don't have the vast majority of it figured out, but they're better at pretending they do.

43:26And to the extent that they are good at stepping into spaces they aren't prepared for, but that they can kind of pretend they're prepared for. They've got this belief in themselves that if I can get in the room, I will figure it out from there. You know, if you had to know everything required to win in life, the truth of the matter is you probably would never get started. If Henry Ford started Ford Motor Company and said, I have to know everything for the next hundred years for this company, he would have never got started. I mean, who's supposed to repair these cars? There's nowhere to repair them because there's no dealerships yet.

43:57There's no mechanics. What about all the stuff for the tires? How are we going to fix these things? Where are they all going to get fuel from? What are we going to do when there's emission standards? These things didn't even exist then. He couldn't think through every logical problem. He had to just get started. If Steve Jobs and Wozniak, when they started Apple, which was basically a board company, would have thought about, well, what do the internet comes? What about this iPhone phone software? What about the Mac? What about, well, they could never think about all of those things. Things evolve.

44:24You just get into the next room and you evolve, right? You get into the next space and you evolve. So you don't have to know everything. By the way, no one you see that's successful knows everything, but they do have this ability that when they get in the room. They're not negotiating the price anymore. They're negotiating their way into the next room. They're negotiating their way to the next level. They're willing to take the heat and the adversity. And then the other thing is this, you got to resell yourself regularly on the dream. You know, once you have a dream and you know what I'm talking about, some of you are years into years, right?

44:55Maybe you just got to resell yourself on the dream. What it's going to mean when you get there, what it's going to look like, how amazing it's going to be project into the future. Listen, an idle mind really, really is in pain. It's in jeopardy. But a mind who's saying I'm fully focused in the present, but man, the future looks so bright. The future is amazing. It's going to be incredible when we get there. Everything's going to be different. We're going to have great change. Our family's never going to be the same. We're going to get to go to this vacation and see this thing and help that many people and feel that emotion and have that memory.

45:25The truth of the matter is that your dreams in your life are not a hallucination. I believe they're a gift from God that is a glimpse into what's possible. It's like a possibility projection for your life is when you look into the future. Dreaming is free, yet most people don't take advantage of it or they did it once, but they haven't resold themselves the dream again. Maybe you need to go touch your dream. Take a weekend somewhere where you get clear on this is where we'd love to live or this is what we'd love to drive or this is how I'd love to serve in our church and just take a Wednesday and serve one day in your church and resell yourself.

45:58You know, most of life, the truth is, is really selling yourself on things. You're selling yourself something right now. You're selling yourself your worries and your fears, and you're selling yourself the story of how big a trouble you could be in if this doesn't work out. It's a sales pitch you're doing on yourself, aren't you? It's a story you're telling yourself. There's a narrative that you're starting to speak to yourself. So is the other one. It's reselling yourself on the dream, on the story, on the narrative of where you're going and what it's going to look like. I just feel like in life, a better life is to sell yourself on the future.

46:34Sell yourself on how great it's going to be when you get there. Learning to live fully present in the moment. Let me say something. When you're negotiating the price, you're not present. You've projected into the future more pain, more difficulty. You're not in the present. So if you've negotiated it already and you block that off in your mind, you go, I've already decided I'll pay that price. I've already negotiated that. That's already happened for me. Then and only then can you sell yourself on where you're going and what it's going to like look like when you get there. And when I say resell yourself, I'm a big believer that you need to touch your dreams.

47:08And so I said this a minute ago, but I want you to understand it. You got to sell yourself on stuff. So like, for example, like where I ended up living in my life, I would take a little vacation there on a weekend for like one night. I'll never forget this. I wanted to live in Dana Point, Laguna Beach, California, that area. And so when I would have a win in my business, I would go to one night at the Ritz-Carlton and Dana Point, Laguna Beach. Just one night there. And I never had been anywhere like that in my entire life. And I had the feeling of driving up to the valet in my not so great car at the time.

47:40But I remember just the feeling. It may sound hokey, but given the valet, my keys and Mr. Mylett, are you staying here? Yes, your name, My Let. Great. You write My Let. I'll never forget the first time the guy wrote My Let on the valet tag. And he gave it back to me. I saw my name, Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel, or Laguna Beach. And then it said My Let. And I remember putting that in my pocket. And I remember walking into the lobby and like the marble floor. I was like, oh my gosh, this is incredible. And I'd watch how other people walked and talked that belonged there because I didn't feel like I belonged there.

48:15and then I checked into the hotel and I remember back in those days I would go play golf just to be around successful people and you know my wife would go get a massage and lay out at the pool and then we'd have a nice dinner and I would just touch that dream just for one night maybe every eight weeks just one night but what started to happen is I started after time over time going I belong here I belong here I became comfortable in that dream and our mind moves towards what it's most familiar with. And then I remember the first speech I gave being super uncomfortable, but I remember the more I did it, the more I felt like I belong here.

48:50I'm comfortable here. I moved towards what I was familiar with. And it's interesting. The other place that I would go take my mini vacations was to the desert, to the Palm Springs La Quinta area of California. And I would go out to this one resort called the La Quinta Resort. And I couldn't afford to be there for more than one night, but I'd get a deal on the room, you know, and I would just touch that dream for a night. I remember going, wow, these desert nights are so amazing. And then we'd go out there maybe like three months later, but I would touch that dream three or four times a year. And I would touch the other one.

49:17Do you know that later in life for many, many years, those are the two places that I lived. I lived in the, I lived in that area and I lived in the other one. And I really believe it's because I had touched that dream over and over again. Maybe your dream isn't anything like that. Maybe it's to be, you know, full-time in the charity or full-time in your church, go take a day off and serve and just feel like it. Maybe do that every three or four months if you can and touch the dream because we move towards what we're most familiar with and we get in life what we believe we deserve and where we believe we belong.

49:48And so long term, if you're doing this negotiation thing, you just don't believe you belong there. And at some point, there's going to be enough pain that's going to prove you right. You're going to go, I knew I didn't belong here. I knew this wasn't for me. I knew this was for other people. I knew I'm an imposter. I knew I was faking it. What am I crazy? And I have to tell you, I have this happen all the time. Like I have something I'm doing right now in my life. It's a very major project. It's a property that I'm developing. And there's a lot of difficulty with it. And every time that difficulty comes up, I go, what am I doing?

50:20Am I crazy? That's not for me. That's for someone way wealthier, way more successful than me. And I have this thing where I want to surrender. I'm negotiating it. So I'm not perfect at this stuff. And so a lot of times when adversity strikes, it's like proving you right. The price is too great. The price is too great. I'm literally going through this right now with something. And I have to remind myself, I'm reselling myself on the future. I'm actually today, tomorrow, I go visit that place just to resell myself on the dream of being there, just to resell myself on the vision. Because it's so easy when you have a vision and a dream, right and you have it so you establish a plan and a goal and then you start going through the stuff and you feel like further and further away from the vision and the dream and why you did it in the first place and the inspiration behind it and you're more and more focused on the price so today's podcast I literally designed for me right it's the price I'm like gosh it's taking a toll on me physically it's taking a toll on me emotionally right financially yet it's my dream It's my dream.

51:25And so I've got to come back and go, I love this dream. I love the experiences I'll have with my friends and family more than the price right now. Stop negotiating the price, Ed. You already negotiated this price. Your love for these people in this place and the memories that'll happen there are greater than your fears and your worries. And then I'm reselling myself by going back because our mind moves towards what we're most familiar with. So if we're most familiar with our fears and our worries and our concerns, we're going to move towards it. It's like a magnet. Thoughts are magnets. They pull us towards what we're focused on.

51:56So it's very dangerous to focus on all the pain, all the price, all the cost all the time because you're going to move towards more of it. But if you focus on how worth it is, remember this cost versus worth, right? Then you can say my will to win is not for sale. I can't be bought. You can't be bought with enough success and it can't be bought with enough failure. You know, many people are bought with success. They have a dream. They get a little bit of it and then they're bought. Their will's gone. They don't want to work like they used to work because they've got a little taste of success. They got a little taste of progress.

52:27Those people end up paying a greater price later when it goes backwards and they have to start all over again. So don't let success take your will to win and don't let failure take your will to win. I think basically today my message to you was you got to decide right now what you're willing to pay for a price and not. And once you've decided it, don't revisit it. Don't revisit it. Just make the decision that you're going to will this to happen. Get some prayer about it. Get some clarity about it. Feel like you've got a conviction over it. Get your mind empty. Meditate a little bit. Get clear.

52:58And then ask yourself, is this really my dream? And if it is, start reselling yourself all the time on that dream, that it's worth it, that you belong there. I'm going to say something to you that I want you to never forget. You belong in your dreams. Your big, bold, God-sized dreams, those aren't hallucinations. Those are visions of what's possible in your life. And I want to tell you, I believe you belong in those dreams. You do not belong in your fears. You do not belong in the negotiation. You do not belong in your worries. You belong in your dreams, the big ones and the small ones. But I think especially the big God-sized dreams.

53:32And most of those dreams are how you want to feel about yourself. The emotions you want to experience, the memories you want to have, I believe are the things that most matter to us. It's not the thing or the house or the this. It's how we want to feel. And I believe you deserve to feel that way about you and never give in to a price that tells you you're not willing to do it or worthy of having it in your life. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. If you want to hear the full interview, be sure to follow The Ed Milet Show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes.

54:06You'll never miss an episode that way. Now on with the show. Welcome back to the show, everybody. It's so great that we're going to spend some time together today. and as I do on every solo episode, I try to make it something that can really improve or change your life. And I've been getting a lot of questions. Team's been telling me about habits and do I have any unique daily habits that I wanted to share with you? And so I'm going to do that today. Today, I'm going to give you 20 very unique habits that I do on a daily basis. And some of them I just really started doing that have kind of moved the needle or made a difference in my life.

54:38Some of them are very simple and some of them are changes from other things I've taught before. You know, as you learn new information, you change hopefully in life. One of the things I admire about great leaders is when they say, well, I've got more information or new information, I've changed my mind. And so there's a couple of things today I'm going to share with you that I've never really shared before that are a little bit different as well. And some of them are pretty basic things. But the reason I think habits matter so much is that our brain is trying to all the time create habits so that it can conserve energy.

55:06It doesn't want to spend energy. So it's always building habits and habits matter because if we can conserve energy or put ourselves into a routine, rather, we end up having more predictable behavior, more predictable results. And habits are something that when we're under pressure, we respond with habits reflexively. So the better your habits, the better your routines, typically the better your life. And so I'm going to take you through some very basic things I do that you would think don't make a difference, but they do because they save me time about thinking and I can take my focus and generate it to the things that matter.

55:42I don't want to deplete my energy or my focus to having to make decisions about stuff that I could have just predetermined with a habit or a routine. And so these are some very simple things. Some of them aren't so simple that I do on a daily basis. Maybe at 20 of them. Okay. Some of them you probably already do. And some of them you probably definitely don't do. Do you need to do all of them? No, but I'm sharing with you what I do that works for me. Okay. So here we go. 20 habits that I can prove or change your life. Number one, I make a to-do list the night before for the next day and no more than six things on it.

56:14I'm a big to-do list person. So in the evening, before I go to bed, when I'm winding down, I make, I look at my day that's coming up the next day and I make a to-do list. I love checking things off lists. I love being focused. I love not having to think. I don't want to forget things. And so the night before I make a to-do list for the following day. I put no more than six things on it. Now, by the way, most of my days, I get a whole lot more than six things done, but these are six non-negotiable things. Sometimes it's three, sometimes it's five, sometimes it's two. If I'm in a busy day, maybe it's one, but no more than six things because there's just too many things and you can create overwhelm.

56:51So the night before I write down the six things I'm going to get done the next day. Why do I do that? Well, I wake up with a plan. I wake up with autopilot. Also, I believe that when you write these things down the night before, your subconscious mind, your unconscious mind even, can go to work on the strategy, on putting it together, on the things, the thoughts, the places, etc. that you may need to make those things a reality the next day. And it just creates structure. If you want to know what the people that I coach have in common or successful people that I have on the show or that are friends of mine, they have created structures around themselves that allow failure to have a very difficult time creeping in.

57:31And so the people that have a lot of money, they can create a lot of those structures with teams and staffs and employees and people around them and handlers and those kinds of things. But for most people, they don't have the money to do it. And so they've got to create that within themselves. And so number one habit for me, not in any order, by the way, not in priority, just 20 of them. Number one, make a to-do list the night before with the things you're going to get done the next day. Number two habit I've established over the last few years, it's really made a difference for me, is I make a video every morning to three friends.

58:01And I call it the let me tell you about you video. It takes me just a few minutes long. And I just make a quick selfie video to three friends every day. And it could just be, hey, Joe, I love you, brother. Just want to let you know I was thinking about you this morning. And these are the things I think about you. These are the things I'm focused on. This is what I'm praying for you. Just want you to know you're on my mind. And then usually tell them two or three things I love about them or that I'm focused on or remind them of a previous conversation. Make three of those every single day. Just I put that out into the world.

58:29I start my day with contribution. I start my day with love. I start my day with gratitude for these people, thanking them for being in my life. Some of them are very good friends that I've known a long time. Sometimes it's someone I met the previous day, but I had a very powerful meeting with. Hey, I just want to tell you how much I enjoyed our meeting yesterday. I'm looking forward to building our friendship or building our business relationship. What I loved about our conversation was this. What I loved about you was X, Y, or Z. sometimes it's my best friends and I'll say just a reminder let me tell you about you you're the kindest most brilliant most generous most funny most beautiful most whatever blah blah blah blah and I make three of those every day it usually takes me 10 minutes to make three one or two minute long videos for my friends it's something that I do daily to put out into the world I know my friends look forward to it starts my day with a gift with contribution with the highest frequency with love and so I do that every day I recommend you do some version of this every day.

59:22Just take you a minute. It'll change people's lives. And what you put out into the world comes back to you, right? You can't give to somebody that which you're not experiencing yourself and you can't receive it. So when you put love and gratitude out and just touch people's lives, the likelihood of that coming back to you, the law of reciprocity in your day is much higher and it just puts you in the right state. Number three thing I do randomly every day. I take a daily walk. I believe walking is one of the greatest things you can do for yourself. There There was a social media clip cut out of a podcast I did that people were saying that I said walking is an exercise.

59:56And that's not what we were talking about. We were talking about walking. We were talking about muscle building exercises. And obviously walking doesn't build a lot of muscle. But daily walks have changed my life. It's a gift for me. I take a daily walk. It gets my body moving. It gets my thoughts happening. It gets me outside, which I'm going to talk about next. I find it some of my best connections to God and other people are when I take a walk. And one of the great gifts you could give yourself is to take a daily walk. If for the rest of your life you took a daily walk every day of your life, you'd be a richer, happier, more fulfilled, more grateful, whole, peaceful person.

1:00:33And by the way, you'll generate a bunch of great business and life ideas on those walks as well. What a great daily habit. So, so far, to do this the night before, send a message to three friends. I do it on video. Take a daily walk. Number four, sky before screen. I learned this from Dr. Amy Shaw on my show. But what I mean by that is right when I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I try to get done very quickly is I try to get outside. And by the way, I live in cold weather places like Maine. So I know what it's like to be cold outside. I also live in Florida. I know what it's like to have a beautiful morning as well.

1:01:11But I try to get outside. I want to see the sky before I see a screen. And there's something to be said for just getting outside, breathing in the air. Even if you live in a city, hearing the hustle and bustle of other people that are moving around, that's effective. Looking at the sky and seeing the sun if you can, even if it's a foggy, cloudy day. Just letting those rays hit you. And just getting outdoors, connecting with God really quick. Sometimes it's 30 seconds. Usually it's no more than 5 or 10 minutes. but if it's really cold and it's in Maine and it's snowing, I may go outside for 30 seconds, but just to feel nature, to feel the breeze, to feel the cold, to feel the hot, to feel the humidity, to feel, just to feel before I start having a screen hit my face.

1:01:53And I also try in my morning routine to delay drinking any caffeine or coffee. I learned this from her as well. Adenosine in your brain is something that kind of makes you feel foggy and it's something that you have when you're sleeping at night. Adenosine is a neuromodulator in the brain that helps regulate sleep, arousal, and other brain functions. It's a byproduct of cellular metabolism that builds up during the day. And then in nighttime, it's recycled during your sleep. And so it helps you. It helps with arousal. It promotes sleep and it suppresses arousal. And so when you're awake, adenosine levels increase each hour.

1:02:30It helps with neurotransmission as well. but it's an inhibitory neurotransmitter so what happens is when you wake up your brain's still flooded with all this stuff that's where you have brain fog and when you consume caffeine early what caffeine does particularly coffee is it blocks these receptors which means it doesn't leave your brain and so that's why a lot of people like man i need a second cup of coffee i need a third cup of coffee i need a fourth cup of coffee because the fog is still there because you've been drinking coffee and caffeine you have not allowed the adenosine to leave your brain which typically takes 20 to 40 minutes after you wake so if you can do something for the first 20 to 40 minutes let that adenosine clear your brain have the coffee that you want but for me it was sky before screen and then not trying to consume caffeine at least the first 30 minutes of my day you'll feel like your brain fog will change at least it has for me your clarity of focus improves and then you can certainly have that morning cup of coffee if that's something that you partake in.

1:03:28Okay. That's fourth habit for me. Sky before screen and no caffeine the first 30 to 45 minutes. And no, I did not know that was going to rhyme when I first wrote it down to tell you. Number five, I've just become a habit of taking in daily protein and doing resistance training. I think there's one thing to walk and to do cardio, but so many people have been on my show and all the data that I've learned is that, you know, there is a major reason in the world to build lean body mass, muscle mass. And the way that you do that is protein and resistance training. And so if you don't have a high enough protein intake in your life, you're probably not going to build enough muscle in your life and that's going to hurt you.

1:04:08It's going to help you. You're going to, if you build more muscle mass on your body, you're not going to gain as much fat. You're going to be stronger. You're going to build some more skeletal muscle. Your bone density improves, all kinds of things improve. And the other way that you get that is resistance training is lifting stuff. And so no matter what that looks like, if you use body weight resistance or kettle bells, or like I do free weights in the gym, I've been very limited the last year because of a back issue of lifting almost any weights, but I've been using body weight resistance. I've been doing pushups, which is still resistance training.

1:04:39And so anything you can do to have protein and resistance in your life is going to be a really big deal and you need to do it. And so if you don't have that daily habit, add that to your daily habit. Six, major hydration early in the day. So one thing I've changed that just works for me, I'm just sharing with you what works for me, is I hydrate a great deal today. I drink a gallon of water every day, but I try to get a liter done before I even leave the bedroom. Okay. And so hydration, hydration has been great for me because it's given me more energy. It also makes you feel more full and you're likely not to eat as much, But most people are dramatically dehydrated because of the caffeine that they take in, the medication they take, the supplements they take, and they do not drink enough water.

1:05:25And by the way, alkalized water or hydrogenated water is something I've really done a lot of as well. So I hydrate like crazy throughout the day. I have found a direct connection between my energy, my clarity of thought, my process, everything. And by the way, my lack of wanting to eat as much as well when I'm hydrating and I think most people are under hydrated. If you do drink a lot of water then you got to be checking on your electrolytes and things like that. Here's another thing I changed. Maybe this is because I'm a middle-aged guy. I stopped drinking water by 7 p.m. so that I am not up multiple times during the evening having to use the restroom and breaking my sleep because I truly believe over the next five years the frontier of anti-aging the frontier of wellness of health of cognition of brain function of strength of energy is more and more going to be focused on sleep and able be able to get into the right brainwave states when we sleep to be able to get our HRV in an optimal state to be in a parasympathetic state etc etc etc and if you're getting up three, four times a night because you're so hydrated, you're not getting deep sleep.

1:06:36I got to be honest with you. A lot of my friends that hydrate like crazy don't sleep well. And the reason they don't sleep well is they have to keep getting up to empty their bladder. I know this may sound very, you know, I don't know, not podcasty, but that's been my new process. So I get all my hydration done by 7 p.m. at night. Number seven, go alkaline. I use a PMF mat that I lay on that helps my body get in an alkaline state. I try to eat more alkalizing foods, beans, berries, leafy greens, dark chocolate. And because I do eat so much protein, I eat a lot of protein. I do eat red meat. In my case, I do eat chicken.

1:07:14By the way, I respect you if you don't do that. That's okay. But in my case, I do. So it's even more important that I'm working on alkalizing myself. And so PEMF beds help me with that. Eating a lot of greens and berries, as I said, have made a huge difference for me. These are just daily habits that have worked for me that I have found that make a big impact for me. Number eight, totally random. Touch your dreams more. So many of you, I know these are uncorrelated habits. So many of you have dreams in your life and you don't go touch them. You've got to begin to touch your dreams. So the more your brain becomes familiar with something, the more it's going to move towards what you want because it becomes familiar.

1:07:52It moves towards it. If you don't spend any time in your dreams, like let's say you have a dream home you want or a dream car or a dream job or a dream body or a dream relationship or dream whatever, if you spend no time in it and don't touch it, the likelihood of you ever moving there in your life is very small. So I've said this many, many times. I'm constantly on my app looking at houses and places I might want to live someday and touching my dream by seeing it, sharing it with friends of mine who share it with them. And I've got buddies of mine that share with me like the car they want or the jet they want, my faith-based friends.

1:08:24Hey, this is the mission we're going to served this summer. Isn't this be incredible? We could go, but you're touching your dreams. It's taking a, you know, I wanted to live in a particular neighborhood. I couldn't afford it. I I'd work six, seven, eight weeks really hard. And if I hit my goals and my numbers, I'd go spend one night. I've said this many times, but I always wanted to live in Laguna beach, California, Dana point area. And there's a Ritz Carlton there. And when I was a very young man, I didn't have a lot of money. Right. But I wanted to know what it was like to be there. I didn't live there.

1:08:51I lived in the inland empire. If you don't know what that means, I live not there, right far away. I could drive there. I could see it, but I didn't live there. And so once I started in business, I would work really hard. And if I hit my goals, I'd set up a contest with myself. Hey, if I hit this many sales or I make this much money and at that Ritz Carlton, I'd go there for one night, go there on a Saturday night. And we'd check into the hotel. And I remember the first time I walked in a valet, I'd never had a valet take my keys. And I remember thinking, man, I probably should have vacuumed the car out.

1:09:19You know, that's, and I gave the valet my keys and we walked in like, wow, marble floors, look at this. And I was blown away by this place. And then you checked in Mr. Mylett. No one called me Mr. Mylett. You know, checked in, I got my room, we got to the room and I'm like, Hey, I'm going to go play golf. You go to the spa just for the day we would touch. We would live for one day the way we wanted to live the rest of our lives. Right. And we, and then we'd have a great bottle of wine and have dinner and I'd sit there dinner, babe, we're going to make this happen someday. Make this dream. Cause we would dream.

1:09:51And then I've, And then at six weeks, eight weeks later, we would do it again. If I hit my car, if I didn't hit my numbers, we wouldn't go. And we, and we would work hard to get a deal on the room and you know, whatever we could do. But the point is two, three, four times a year, I touched my dream. And the more I did that, the fifth time I walked in, I'm like, Hey, it's Ed Milet. How are you? Great to be back, Mr. My, it started to become familiar. And the more I started to do those things, the more it's like, I belong here because you believe you belong in your dreams. When you touch them, not enough of you are touching your dream.

1:10:21By the way, your dream may have nothing to do with material things. Your dream may be, I want to serve in this particular charity full-time. If I had all the money or if I had time, I'd serve this mission in my church, whatever it might be. So once every three or four months, take a day and serve that mission. Take a day in that church. Take a day at that nonprofit and touch your dream. And the more you touch it, the more it becomes familiar, the more your mind goes to work on getting you there someday. But if you never touch your dream, you don't know. So touch your dreams, set up a schedule.

1:10:54These are habits. Let's review where we are so far, everybody. Let's start from the very beginning again because I'm giving you 20 of them. So here we go, okay? I wanna make sure that these are uncorrelated things you can do to change your life. Number one, make your to-do list the night before. So if your mind goes to work on it, you wake up with a plan. You have to think about it, autopilot. Two, message three friends every morning. You have to do all these things, as I said. Do some of them. Take a walk every day. Give yourself the gift of some time alone or time with your significant other.

1:11:24Sky before screen and try to eliminate that caffeine early in the morning when you can. Number five, make sure you're getting enough protein and do resistance training. Six, major hydration. Try to stop in the evening. Number seven, go alkaline. And number eight, touch your dreams. These are all uncorrelated habits and thoughts that can improve your life. I exist here weekly so that you can make your dreams come true, become the man or woman you're capable of, and then pay it forward. So these are things I've done in my life or I'm currently doing that have really moved the needle because the difference between winning and losing is so small.

1:12:05It's almost too scary to talk about, but I'm talking about it. These are the needle moving things. These are the things myself and others that I coach that I know do very well habitually that seem to not be a big deal. But when you stack them all up, they're a huge deal. Think about this. What if every single day you really truly had the night before had written out your to-do list and just, you know, got your day ready for the next day and woke up with a plan. And you ended up really making sure that you've taken some darn time to do some hydration. and you got outside early today and you limited your caffeine and you became someone who took a walk on a regular basis.

1:12:42Just think about how much better your life would be and how much more structured it is. And you're eating enough protein and doing some resistance. You get it, right? Number nine, huge habit. Always be reading. I am constantly reading. I have averaged reading probably 50 books a year for 30 years. For longer than that. For 35 years, I've read at least 50 books a year. And right now I can tell you I read a couple hundred books a year because of the show. I'm always prepping for podcasts. And so now I've learned to read quickly. I've learned to skim through a chapter, skim through it if it's not productive.

1:13:20But leaders are readers. How much reading are you doing? Well, Ed, I don't like to read. Well, then like it. And if you really can't get good at it, then you need to be listening to my podcast and you need to listen to books on Audible or some sort of audio book. You got to be growing and you know how powerful it is to be reading books. Someone that is very successful in a particular topic has taken their life and put it into a book and you can read it in a week. What they've learned in their life. And the more you pour that into yourself, the more you grow and change you, the more you're the internal you grows and changes.

1:13:52The external results change. Always be reading. Do you know how many of my mega successful friends don't read a lot? I would have to spend a really long time to find one. I'm sure there's one But I could tell you almost all of my friends are just what you're reading right now. What are you reading? What did you just read? Let me tell you. I just saw this book. They're sending me books. I'm sending them books Leaders are readers and by the way my worst subject in school was comprehension. I couldn't remember things. I didn't read quickly You know reading was a real struggle for me. It no longer is because I do it a lot All right number 10 make your bed Make your bed make your bed every day and it's correlated to number 11 and then i'll talk about both make sure you have a clean bedroom and a clean office why does that matter ed because clutter creates confusion and clean creates clarity when your space is made i'm on the college football hall of fame the national football foundation board and bill mcraven is on that board and he has a very famous talk that just basically says, make your bed.

1:15:00You should go take a listen to it. And he's talking to, you know, one of the foundations of life is successful people make their bed. It's amazing to me how many people live a messy life. Their closet's messy. Their car's messy. Their bedroom is messy. Their office is messy. Their life's going to be messy. I can tell you that there's a direct connection. I really believe this between people that have a clean closet, a clean car, a clean bedroom, a clean office, that live more productive, efficient, peaceful, giving, dreamlike lives. People that live in mess usually create messes. They just do.

1:15:43And you say, well, I have a mess and I'm winning. You'd win more if it were clean and organized and tidy. It's a reflection of who you are. Your external environment is a reflection of what's really going on internally. And so when I meet someone, I get in their car and it's a mess, I know this person probably has a mess in their life of some type or they're about to create one because we move what we're familiar. We move towards what we're familiar with. Did you hear that earlier with touch your dreams? If you're familiar with messes around you, you'll move towards them eventually. I don't believe that's a metaphor.

1:16:17I believe that that's true. 12th habit. Isn't this good? Have deadlines in your life. Start to set deadlines for when things are going to happen. If you don't put a deadline on it and a timeframe on it, it's not going to happen or it'll eventually happen, but it should have happened sooner. So you'd be onto the next thing. Great leaders, great people, hyperproductive, happy people have deadlines. I mean, even as simple as if you're dating somebody, you know, there should be a deadline of, Hey, when you're committed or when you're going to get married or when it's going to be exclusive in business.

1:16:50When's the goal? When's the number going to hit? When's the account going to come in? Savings, your physical changes. When are you going to hit that body fat percentage? Like deadlines. The more you have deadlines, you're moving towards something. You have something to look forward to. You have an accountability, right? I have so many friends in my life that don't have deadlines. Think about this. I have friends that don't have deadlines. They don't have clean bedrooms. that don't make their bed, that aren't reading, that don't touch their dreams, that don't hydrate, that don't take a daily walk, that don't have a to-do list every day.

1:17:19Compared to someone who does, who's going to win? Think about this person I'm describing. And by the way, all of this is easy. None of it's connected, but it's all connected. Number 13, say thank you more. I added this about a year ago. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Write more thank you notes to people. You know, I gave a speech this last weekend and the dentist office that I go to, many of the people that are there went to that speech. And then I went back to the dentist. And so many of these ladies that work there wrote me personal thank you notes. And I cherish those notes.

1:18:00Anyway, makes me, I know what I did made an impact on them. and as much as what I did had an impact on them, their note of thanking me had an even bigger impact on me. Say thank you more. More often you say thank you. Like when you wake up, thank you God for another day. Someone made you breakfast, thank you for breakfast. Someone got you breakfast. Someone brought you your coffee at Starbucks, whatever it is, thank you, thank you, thank you. Write more thank you notes. Say thank you more often. Thank God more often. Thank people more often. When someone comes in your office and you have a great meeting, say thank you.

1:18:36Thank you. That was a great meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The more you begin to thank people, the more you're in a state of gratitude, the more you're looking for things to be thankful for and just happy people say thank you. Good people, people with manners, kind people, giving people say thank you. I actually can't stand it when I go to dinner with friends and they don't thank the server when they bring them their food. They don't thank the server after they order the food. I'm always cautious of that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can I get a glass of water? Thank you. It's such a sign of a good person, a solid person.

1:19:10And these things shouldn't have to be said yet in a world today where manners and decorum and gratitude and grace and patience and kindness is out the window. People who say thank you stand out. And even if you didn't stand out, it's good for you to say thank you. All the great things in your life come from saying thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. You will find more things to be thankful for by simply saying it all the time. I'll bet that one of the top 10 things I say is thank you. And writing thank you notes to people has a deep impact on their lives. Trust me, I get them on a daily basis from people around the world and I read them and it fills my soul with desire to continue to go on.

1:19:55And it overrides the negatives in life. Number 14, ironically say no more you got to learn to say no more you don't want to go somewhere say no you don't want to do a meeting say no you don't want to do something say no you got to learn to say no more i'm speaking to me probably more than anybody i'm a people pleaser i have a hard time saying no and me not saying i have how many of you have things going on in your life right now that are in your calendar that as they get closer you're like gosh i hope it cancels man why'd i say yes to that. I can't, I don't know if you're like me. I do it all the time.

1:20:29I should have just said, no, there's a polite way to say no. You know, there's a well-mannered way to say no, but I, in my life would have been a much happier man in the last 53 years that I learned in a polite, kind, firm way to say no. If people are asking you to do things you don't want to do or shouldn't do, say no. If you don't want to go somewhere or do something, say no. If you're in a conversation that doesn't serve you or someone's gossiping, say no. I don't want to talk about this. Okay. That type of conversation doesn't serve you. Say no. Okay. Number 15, totally unrelated, but totally related.

1:21:04Plan your sleep, rest more, structure your sleep, learn about sleep. I can promise you this. The people who can get to sleep and sleep deeply. I do everything from stimulating the vagus nerve to go to sleep every single night with a little device that I use to keeping the room cold, to everything structured in my room, to keeping it very dark in the room. I've learned all of the codes for me to help me get deep sleep and rest. You will live longer. You will wake up more cognitively strong, physically strong, higher energy. Everything in your life will benefit from getting deeper sleep, getting your HRV at an optimum level, your heart rate lower, all of these different things, not drinking caffeine, all the things you can do.

1:21:47You need a plan for your sleep. Ask yourself this. Do you have a plan for your workout? You probably do. Do you have a plan for work and the things you got to get done every day? You probably do. Do you have a plan for your sleep? Probably not. Yet you will spend one third of your life doing that one thing. You will spend more of your life sleeping than any other activity of your life long-term and there's no plan for it. And in culture and society today, 99.9 % of people don't. They go, well, I got to sleep. Yeah, but are you getting deep sleep? Do you even know? Do you have anything you're doing to monitor your sleep?

1:22:24Do you have an aura ring or something like that? That's something that's telling you how good your sleep is. You have a 30-year life that you have no plan for. And by the way, it's the one-third of your life that impacts the other two-thirds all the time. And so I finally, if you follow my social media, even though I haven't posted in a long time, my sort of obsession was with my sleep. And so I've got a plan for sleep now. Do you have a plan for yours? One third of your life impacts the other two thirds. Do you have a plan for it? Number 16, set your alarm 15 minutes early. This is something I just done in 2025.

1:22:58So far, I wake up 15 minutes earlier. I feel like I've stolen the day. 15 minutes so because i plan my sleep i go into bed 15 minutes earlier but i get up 15 minutes earlier and i feel like oh my gosh i'm ahead of the whole world when i get up if you start getting up 15 minutes earlier you will feel like you're stealing the day like you the early bird gets the worm like you're just i just i just created some more time in my life i just created a scenario where i'm doing more i'm doing something i didn't used to do 15 minutes earlier when you get up set your alarm 15 minutes earlier, it's just the best feeling in the world.

1:23:31And I don't think you'll miss those 15 minutes if you get deep sleep. And if you go to bed 15 minutes earlier, number 17, totally unrelated. Stop trying to multitask. There's no such thing. We've had enough studies on the brain to know you can not multitask. You can't do two things at once. You shouldn't text and drive. That's dangerous. And you shouldn't be on the phone and doing emails. And you shouldn't be trying to make a phone call and write your speech or write your book one thing at a time. instead of multitasking, learn to task switch, which is to do one task fully present, switch from it and do another.

1:24:04And by the way, many things are really good if you'll get away from them for a while. So like when I write a book or a speech or plan a podcast, usually what I'll do is I'll start planning a podcast like today for a little while, and then I will task switch and go do one of my other business activities or workout and then come back to the podcast for a while. Task switch. Getting away from a task gives you a refreshing look at it, different set of eyes when you come back to it, more energy, more clarity, a different perspective. So stop trying to multitask all the time. You're incredibly unproductive when you multitask.

1:24:37Totally unproductive. Don't do it. Task switch and get away from things. Number 18, take the stairs. I've learned in my life that more I can take the stairs and not the escalator or the elevator, it's good for your body, it's good for your mind, no one else is willing to do it. and you start building this thing where I do things other people are willing to do, these things seem so trivial and small. Take the stairs more. And I guarantee you, when you start doing that, you're like, yep, I'm special. I'm different. I do stuff other people aren't willing to do. And it's just little hacks. Man, my heart rate went up a little bit.

1:25:09This is good for my legs. Hey, and guess what? No one else does this stuff. And you start taking the stairs of life. You start changing who you are. When you start behaving in a way that most people don't, When everyone's going one direction and you go the other, there just becomes a part of you that knows you're going in the right direction. Take the stairs. Number 19, practice mental rehearsal. Start visualizing more often. If you're not any good at it, start just trying to picture your future. Mental rehearsal over and over again of the talk you're going to give, the meeting you're going to go into, the goal, the dream you have.

1:25:42Start the habit of learning to be a person who does mental rehearsal. So before this podcast, I mentally rehearsed doing it. I just saw myself doing it. Before I give a speech, I see myself doing it. I mentally rehearse my goals. I mentally rehearse the victory. I mentally rehearse all of it. I'm a mental rehearsal addict almost where I'm constantly prepping my mental rehearsal. And the more someone does that, the more they become familiar with something, the more their mind moves towards it. Number 20 of my totally disconnected habits that aren't connected but are, plan a non-negotiable vacation every year.

1:26:16It's changed my life. I did not do it for years. every year have a vacay you're going to take. If you can't afford it to go very far, make it a staycation and stay in your house. But plan your vacation. Why does that matter? It's a dream. It's something to look forward to. It's something you get excited about. If every year you just did something where you gave yourself the gift of a vacation somewhere, whether that's two days, a week, whatever it might be, every year of your life, you should be taking a vacation. And I know you go, well, that's just not in the cards for everybody. Believe me, I know I've had three jobs at one time.

1:26:51But I'm telling you, even if it's a weekend, every year you should have a vacation so that when you look back on your life, you've taken a bunch of them. You've gone somewhere, seen something new, or maybe just that new place is actually your place that you never spend any time in because you work all the time. But every year, plan a non-negotiable vacation. I promise you, you'll thank me for it. Yeah, plan a break. it's important that you give yourself that gift because you're going to work so hard. And here's lastly, I'll give you a bonus habit. Pray. Pray more. Spend more time in prayer. More time in contemplation of where you come from and where you're going.

1:27:33Find your own answers to that stuff. Pray more. Your life will be better. I can promise you that. Pray more. All right, everybody. That was 20. totally disconnected, completely connected though in life habits that I think can serve you and a bonus one, which is prayer. Whatever that means for you, spend some time with God. Your life will be better every single time you do it. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. Don't forget to follow the show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. Now onto our next guest. All right. Welcome back to the show, everybody so get ready today is going to be one of those episodes that you never forget I think for the rest of your life you're gonna hear one of the most remarkable stories you have ever heard and it's one of these that you're going to be sharing this is a story about overcoming adversity about one of the most incredible entrepreneurial journeys you have ever heard in your life from one of the most incredible and remarkable young people in the world today this young man right here has founded a company called crippling hot sauce what makes it unique is I want you to picture this he's a 16 year old young man and he's given a project that he's got a pitch a business he's got to create a business he's 16 years old and so like most kids he waits around to do it he finally puts together the project and comes in and pitches this business that he's created in his mind as a project in high school for a crippling hot sauce what you don't know about him is that he has been diagnosed early in his life with cerebral palsy he's in a wheelchair and so he thought it was a catchy name to create a hot sauce company called Crippling Hot Sauce because he's in a wheelchair and he has cerebral palsy.

1:29:15He gives the presentation. Teacher says, ah, not very realistic. This thing's not going to work. You're crazy. And by the way, that actually really happened. It's not like some cute part of the story. He says, oh yeah, I'll show you. And at 17 years old, starts the company Crippling Hot Sauce. Are you ready for this? He's now 19 years old, two years later. You ready? Here we go. 250 ,000 bottles of crippling hot sauce has been sold. 250 ,000 bottles, and he's donated tons of money to cerebral palsy research. He's 19. He started this business in his garage at 17 from a project at 16 in high school.

1:29:55You will have never heard anything like this in your life. The wisdom that's going to flow from this young man, the story, the lessons you're going to learn. And by the way, we're going tactics today as well from one of the most incredible stories. By the way, he was nominated to the show by one of the fans of the show. And I found him and said, I got to have this guy to the thousands of submissions. He's in the seat today. And we're so grateful that he's here. Drew Davis of Crippling Hot Sauce, 19 years old. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Ed. You use terms like customer acquisition cost.

1:30:27And you said, you know, gross margin and net margin. And, you know, for a lot of people listening to this, I think just becoming an entrepreneur or the next level of entrepreneurship, it's just intimidating. They got doubts and fears. Two things. My assumption is those weren't terms you were familiar with at 16, 17 when you wrote the paper and started the business. And B, what would your advice be to somebody right now? They're listening. They're like, I want to write a book. I want to start to learn to speak on stage. I want to start learning to speak Spanish or this hobby and starting a business.

1:31:01And the reason I'm not doing it is I just don't know enough and I'm afraid. What would you say to them? The great thing about being in this time and age is you've got millions of people that come together and have a collaborative effort and they're experts. And it's all in this thing called the Internet. and get search search it up watch videos there's plenty of people that have done this before that you can learn from and i always say learn from people don't steal from them so maybe you take you know inspiration from you know ed or or me or somebody else but you put your own twist on it it never works out well if you just copy somebody word for word because that's not authentically you so learn from the internet tweak it to make it yourself and it's like you never even learned from the internet because you you you learn the basics but then you tweaked it and learned from what you did wrong and so on and so forth do you think i'm asking a hard question i got two questions left by the way and everybody stick around because they're both they're doozies probably this is the most intense one i've asked you and it's personal and i just like you're just such an honest open book.

1:32:17I believe somebody without a dream in their life or something they're trying to pursue can often be a person who's feels alone and sad. I also have have to believe though, Drew, somebody who's had a difficulty in their life. I mean, let's just be honest. I mean, you've said it several times yourself, but you know, this diagnosis isn't easy, right? There's things that come with it that are difficult for you. Do you think your life, your mindset, your emotions, your mental state would be different without crippling hot sauce, meaning something to pursue and dream about in your life, a future to look forwards towards, as opposed to just focusing on your day-to-day difficulties?

1:33:03Now, I imagine that before this, as a young man, you weren't every day focusing on the difficulties. But I also have to imagine, And to some extent, I think a dream in life is like almost a great distraction from current circumstance. I've said that in my own life in different circumstances. Where do you think you would be without this? And do you think there's some validity to what I'm saying? I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am in terms of personal and professional growth without crippling. And the reason why is Rippling Hot Sauce was the first time that I had a dream that wasn't influenced or associated with something my parents have taught me.

1:33:50So it's like you get taught, you know, go to college, get that good degree, get that good job. But like this was something that was completely my own doing, my own mindset. It was formed by my own beliefs. And I think that's important as, you know, what I'm going to do if I ever have kids is guide them, but not force them. Like, allow them to have their own beliefs, whether that be business-related or anything else. Because the most growth comes when you form your own ideas and practice your own ways. and it's you take inspiration from your parents, but I think too many people rely on exactly what their parents tell them to do.

1:34:47And 99 % of the time, the truth is, if you don't do it exactly, they're still going to love you. Like, you're their kid. So it's like you're not breaking anybody's heart, but it might make your life miserable. And the thing I always tell people, like, whether you're at a low time in life or even if you have something to do, if you don't have a goal, if you don't have a goal, goals are stepping stones. Don't shoot for the stars right away, but start from step one. Do a small goal. Get bigger and bigger and bigger. If you are huge and worth$500 million and you're like, man, I completed all my goals, you're not dreaming big enough.

1:35:34There should always be something you're going towards, whether that's owning your favorite NFL team, NHL team, basketball team, something. There's no reason in this world of 2 billion people that there shouldn't be a dream out there that has already been achieved or hasn't been achieved by you. The world is your own destiny. And at the end of the day, if you fail, it's okay. But if you don't, you're a legend. And let me tell you, even if you fail 30 times, that one time you succeed, everybody's going to forget the 30 other times you failed. So it doesn't really matter. What in the world is happening today on this show, brother?

1:36:16This is great. I don't know, man. I told everybody in the beginning they're going to remember this show. We're like, you're going to remember this show. 16 years old, gives a presentation. 17 starts a company. Cerebral palsy. Teacher tells him it's a dumb idea. Sells a few to his family. Goes to a farmer's market. Sells a few more. Quarter million bottles sold. Tons of money to cerebral palsy research. and now he's got all this wisdom that's insane about how to scale a business and life. He's 19. What the heck is happening here? I don't know, man. Like, you need some investors, brother. Let me know.

1:36:55Really, let me know.