7 Steps To Achieve Your Wildest Dreams (No Matter How Stuck You Feel)

25:42Yeah. If you said to me, um, Mark Pentecost, the teacher coach when I left teaching, you know, I was now looking at that guy at 10 ,000 a month. If you said, you know, Mark, someday you're going to have a big branch and you're going to have a private island. I would have laughed at you. I couldn't skip the steps. You couldn't see that far ahead. No, exactly. So you needed to go from 500 to then a thousand to 10 ,000 and see like, oh, how do I just get to that level before I go to having a ranch and an island and a golf course in a billion dollar business. I hit the 10 ,000 a month. And I told a friend that I get to that, I'm going to get out of teaching, do this full time.

26:23And I remember I hit it and hit it a couple months. And the guy said, Hey, I thought you said, and I said, well, you know, I went to college for this and I have insurance. And well, finally I said, I got to do it. If I don't, you know, I'm putting handcuffs on me. So I stepped away from teaching middle of the year. I had a team that year. I was 18 and two. I had every kid back. I mean, it's a team you dream for. Basketball team. Basketball. So I'm 18 and two varsity basketball coach of this, this small town. And, and I said, man, I got a chance in life here. I got to go for it. So I, I resigned coaching.

27:01I resigned teaching the next month. My money went down. Scary. You're thinking to yourself, I should have kept it. Why did that go back? All the things we think in life. I'm thinking people are going to laugh at me. I left the college education to go out and, you know, are my family going to be destitute? And then about two months later, it took a big jump, a big jump, and it just never stopped. And so I think that happens in life. You know, we're worried. Well, people, they don't pay your bills. Who cares what they say? And yet we think that way. Yeah. And so for me, I don't think you can say it enough.

27:36I think that saying is what gives you the power. That's beautiful. What's the third step then? Third is living on the offense. Go from a defensive mindset, understanding no matter what you do, you're going to take risk. I call it the resiliency quotient. Every how many times you get knocked down, you got to get back up. So I was a math teacher. So you get knocked down three times, you got to get up three times. If you divide how many times you get knocked down by how many times you get up, as long as it's greater than one, you're good. Yes. If it's zero, you're out of the game. So for me, it's there's good risk and bad risk calculated.

28:17But I told you a few months ago, you know, the worst risk in the world is taking no risk at all. 100%. Wow. What was the biggest risk that you took that you feel was actually you knew it was the wrong action to take, but you said, well, I'm just winning anyways. I'm going to do it. It's going to work out. But you're like, ah, I didn't trust my gut or I didn't trust my team or I tried to go against what I knew I should have done. Was there a risk that was too big that you were like, ah, my ego got in the way? Yeah. I don't know. There's a lot of things I would, I call it turn the dials. You know, I turn the dials to get the business going more.

28:55So there's things I would go back and wish I did. Maybe hire a person sooner. or maybe, you know, we talk about one of them are the people you surround yourself with. You know, I realize now I do a quadrant and I have the two parts is encouraging, not encouraging, has done it before, not done it. And so now when we hired, I do this for the people you put around yourself. But if you're, if you got a business, I do this in the business. So, you know, the A-plus person you want is someone that's done it and is encouraging. You know, I call them, you know, dream clingers. You want to cling to them because they know.

29:39You know, you could have some that's done it before, but they're not really encouraging. You can have a few of them around because they have experience, but you can't have too much negativity around you. No, you can't. The third one was someone that's very encouraging but never done it. Now, you could take some of them with you on the ride and coach them up and they'll learn skills. But the dream killers are the one that I realized I kept some of them around me too long and I hired some at the office. Those are people that are discouraging and they haven't done it. Yeah. And so and I find you almost got to give people permission.

30:14You know, we started being really successful. Some people would say, oh, you're outgrowing some friends. And no, you weren't outgrowing friends. There was just, you had new interest and new excitement and you needed a different skill set around you. New people around you. Yeah. And so, you know, for me, I always relate to coaching. The right starting five has got to be in the game. And you might like someone in that starting five that's not performing and they're not being encouraging and they've got a negative attitude and they're going to have to sit on the bench. Yeah, exactly. And it's painful.

30:43But that's, it's your life. Coach it to win. That's true. You know, I look back and I think how many people are afraid to let someone go. Like, it's amazing how, because we like people and you're like, I can't let them go. Yeah, and you've been in a relationship with people. But you let them go and two weeks later you're like, ooh, best thing I've ever done. Why did I wait so long? I know that feeling. Too many lessons I've had that I still need to learn that lesson. But that's interesting. Okay, so living on the offense, playing to win, not playing on defense all the time. And maybe there are seasons where you need to play defense, but you've got to get back to playing on offense.

31:20What would be number four then? Four was get back up your resilience. Get back up. Yep. If you get knocked down, you know, I call it my Rocky, you know, Rocky story there. I've spent some time with Slide. I love him telling his story. And you're going to get knocked down. Just know it. You're going to hit potholes. Everything's not going to be. And when you do, you just know, okay, I'm built for this. I'm getting back up. And we were knocked down. You know, there was, I got caught in a lawsuit one time. I had never had a big business, so I hadn't been in lawsuits. And that, there's no fun in lawsuits.

31:55That is not fun. Unfortunately, in life now, today, it happens. But at the time, I remember going, oh, Lord, please get me out of this. I, you know, only people winning are the lawyers. And how do I, but it's, if you're coached through it, you know, okay, look, throw myself with good people, let them handle this. the best for me was not trying to do everything, realizing what am I good at, hire others that do what I'm not good at. I could have done the books. I could have done accounting. I was a math teacher, but that would kill me. I want to be thinking marketing ideas. I want to be leading from the front, charging the hill.

32:32And so it was surrounding me with people that could give me a good foundation and take care of those things. Wow. When did you feel the most stress in your life? um there was a few times was it the lawyer time was it pre business was it during the business it was you know there definitely were times it was a different stress there were times when you know my wife cindy when we got married she said i really would like to be at home when the kids are at that early age and raise them and i'm like hey honey i want to support you in that i mean it's awesome you know you don't want other people raising your kids and And yet when I looked at our bills into the month, I'm like, this isn't easy.

33:12And we both were committed to it. And she was doing some daycare so she could earn money at the same time. I was doing extra jobs. And so that was hard. But, you know, there was no quit. You're just trying to survive. Later, there were things that would happen. You know, the lawsuit was not a fun one. And when I first moved us to Florida, 25 families. So they're finding doctors, churches, schools. And I'm like, what did I do? All these people are counting on me. But that's a different. And looking back, it was almost fun. We all did things together. You know, we were buying boats to go fishing.

33:53We were buying quads to be at the ranch. We were the golf course. We would work hard. If we were doing great, we'd close the company down like at noon and play golf. Go play nine holes. Yeah, that's cool. That's amazing. What were you thinking about when you were experiencing extreme levels of stress, whether it be family, personal stress, or business stress? How did you learn to mentally or emotionally navigate stress so that you weren't playing on defense, but you could still stay in a leadership, visionary mind and play on offense? Because a lot of people, when they feel stressed, they feel stuck.

34:29They contract. They freeze. and you're unable to be like this joyful energy that's like creative and thinking. So how did you get to that mindset during times of stress? That's such a good question. I think one is realizing you're not in it alone. Again, if you build the right team around you, you know, I look at it as planting seeds. You know, you plant your seeds in the right ground, fertile, good ground, it's going to grow. You plant those same seeds in some barren ground over here, they're going to die. So I learned I had to have the right teams around so I didn't feel I was alone. So when that stress hit, I had people to say, hey, I got this covered.

35:15I got this covered. Go do what you do well so that we can grow this together. Yes. That's when I became the best. When stress was so heavy, Cindy and I walked. You know, we definitely in our faith know that no matter what, he's got it anyway. But me being able to trust, I think giving people hope. I've, you know, when you say about the dreams, I know going through the cancer thing, all of a sudden you realize life does end. We think it goes forever, but it doesn't. It does end at some point. And I'll never forget, I had this girl, her name was Crystal, single mom, three kids. And she had joined at works.

35:54And, you know, we talk about how to be debt free. We talk about dreaming. And she had earned, it was a gathering at my house. She had earned to come over. And afterwards, Crystal had come up. She'd come up to me, and she had, like, tears coming down. And she gave me a hug. And she said, Mark, I want to tell you, you know, I'm a single mom, three kids. She goes, I'm working two or three jobs. I'm just trying to make end meet. I joined your company. And she goes, for one, you give us hope. You show us how to make extra money and how to be debt-free and be smart. But she said, what I've really learned, you challenged me to dream.

36:34You challenged me to write my dreams down. And she goes, what I didn't realize, I quit dreaming. My life was so tough, I don't have time to dream. But because of that, my kids weren't dreaming. And she said, I want you to know today, my kids are dreaming because I'm dreaming. That's what motivated me to want to do a book. That's what motivated me to go, what's life about? It's not you getting all the toys yourself. How many you can take with you and show them. And that dreaming is something we're all supposed to do. Yeah. Gosh, that's so beautiful. It reminds me of the story of the starfish. Have you heard of the story?

37:12Oh, I have. That's a great one. It's a beautiful story about just making a difference on one person, you know, the best way you can. You may not be able to impact everyone, but hopefully you made a difference to that one. That's right. That's a great, that's Crystal. I love that one. It mattered to her. Yeah. It mattered to that person. Yeah. That's beautiful. And you mentioned cancer, uh, cause you were diagnosed originally with cancer around 2015, 2016, or around that time. What was that process like getting that information? How did life shift when that information came to you? That's a hard one.

37:45Um, I, I like energy. I like, I'm active. Uh, I had just played in a, in a fundraiser and uh actually tim tebow was a quarterback of a seven on seven fundraiser we were doing and i was just going to coach you know because most of them are all young guys but people started getting hurt so coach had to put you in here yeah and uh i scored a couple touchdowns and i was on my social team about hey did you get that you get that the monday after that And I got the call from Doc. I said, hey, we got an issue. And it was just a routine physical. And I'm like, I didn't even understand he was trying to tell me something.

38:26I thought there was, you know, I was pretty close to my doc. I thought something was wrong with him. And all of a sudden, I'm like, wait a minute. You're telling me I got the C word? And it's scary. I actually was traveling to Dallas to speak at a convention. And I was meeting some people, some kids, some pediatric cancer. We were supporting our book. Any profit, any money from that is going to pediatric cancer. We work with the V Foundation and Dick Vitale's amazing person. That guy's 85, I think, now and has beat cancer four times. And he's still out there doing games and giving it for the kids.

39:03And I was like, it was an out-of-body experience and went through the journey. I had to do stem cell replacement. And you lose all your hair. you lose your muscle and it's, you know, looking out, you're the same person. But when you look in the mirror, you don't know who that person is. And, um, it was a dark time, but we got our numbers down. We went into remission and, uh, you know, the last six years have been amazing. And then literally the week before Christmas this year, the doc says, we got to chat. Your numbers are back up. So really, so timely, I'm excited. Wow. So, I mean, what a journey.

39:44That's been like a 10 year journey of probably a lot of sadness originally, and then hope and inspiration. I'm going to beat this thing. I'm going to be on the offense. I'm not going to just sit back and wait. Got to live your words, man. Living your, your, your words of living on offense. And number four step, get back up. Yeah. Cause life knocked you down hard. Yeah. Cause you were winning in life, you had money and tons of success and all the dreams and family's happy. And then boom, big health scare, big wake up call. And probably at that point, most people stop dreaming. Most people stop and they have all the right to feel sad and depressed and angry and resentful, all these different questioning, doubting, lack of faith, all these things.

40:30You went back into having faith. You went back into, it sounds like seeing it and saying it what you wanted. Yeah. Like, I'm going to beat this thing. I'm going to, I'm going to start living back on offense and I'm going to get back up and you, and you beat it. But then just a couple months ago, you got the news that it's back. Yeah. You know, I hadn't thought of it like you just said it. That was well said. Also surround yourself with the right people. I got a great, you know, my wife, some friends, some friends stepped up so big. We, you know, I wasn't expecting, no one in my family had had, um, my dad's 90.

41:07Um, my grandparents all lived to their mid nineties. So I'm thinking that's, that's what I'm on. I'll get serious about life when I'm 85 or something, you know? And how old were you then when the, when you got the diagnosis originally? Um, it's just turning 60. Uh-huh. Yeah. But you were like, oh, I got 30 years to... I just played with Tim Tebow. I'm still a guy. Hey, I got it. But, um, Um, so yeah, all those things he said, but you know, I had some people step up, friends, um, even some friends that we were, we were friends, but weren't brothers. And, you know, they took me around to some, we went to Boston, we went to New York, we went to Houston to find the treatments and what to do.

41:48And I know we'll find it's a journey. And I think back there, I don't like going where it was dark because it was, there was some nights that are, there's some food that I smelled when I was, that I, if I smell it today, it's like, makes me sick. And it was, it's not the food, but it was the season and the memory and that. So we'll, we'll do it again, but it was timely because with the book coming out, I want my grandkids someday to go, oh, Papa was a stud. Look what he went from teaching, coaching to changing the world. That's what we all want to do. And so that's kind of a legacy thing, but it's also, I think, going to really push people.

42:27People that are stuck and you're not happy. We did a Western movie at my ranch last year. And the whole story is, if you're not stuck, get up and do something about it. Move. We moved to Florida. People used to go West on a wagon train, you know. They risked their lives to go on a wagon, on a horse for months, to go a couple of states, you know, with no roads, no nothing for a better life. In my mind, that would have been me. Yeah. I mean, this is a very raw season of life for you because this just happened, this kind of information. So I'm sorry you're going through this, Mark. And I know it's probably weighing on you emotionally.

43:04And I'm so glad that you have this book coming out at this moment in your life. and there's no accidents that life of your dreams is coming out in a season of your life where you probably need to re-dream and see how to go through the process again. And even though you've already been through it all and you're like, man, that was a hard time. You probably don't want to go through all that again. How is your mindset now on knowing you got to take practical steps and you got to probably do some types of treatments and all these different things and yeah, but also emotionally and mentally, where's your mindset at now this season?

43:40You know, I think in coaching, sometimes, um, hard part of coaching is when you have to do what you coach and what you say. Cause I think of a saying, I'll say there's no such thing as hard work, only work that's worth it. And when I look back, when I was going through it the first time, there was a couple of times I went, I'm done, you know, no hair, no muscle and I'm done. And but then I look coming out of that, the last seven years have been really good years. Really? Two new grandkids. Wow. I got a grandson, 19, 116. We have such great conversations and I wouldn't trade any of that. So when I think of that, even though I know it's going to get dark and scary, I know, OK, it's not hard work.

44:26It's work that's worth it. And so, you know, it just got a battle. And then it's in his hands what's happened. But I want to leave a legacy that I told my grandkids the other day. I said, you know, someone really close to me said, Mark, when's enough, enough? You know, you've got this huge ranch. You've got a private island. You know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, I started thinking about that. Like, I never thought of that. And then I got to thinking, I got a chapter called The Secret Sauce because I think we don't do all this just to have more stuff. We do it to affect people's lives.

45:00And I look at, you know, fighting cancer right now. I mean, I never thought that I would be having labs named after us or labs that were finding breakthroughs or people send me a note saying, hey, you funded a new clinical that I'm in. It's changing my life. Wow. So that stuff, if I would have kept teaching and coaching, it would have been a good life. And we would have every year I still talk to a lot of the kids I coached and you would have changed lives. But when you go after your God given gifts and you go for the then the ripple in that pond is huge. And I don't know, you know, we had a millionaires club at it works.

45:46How many people had made a million in commissions and a lot of people in that we had. You know, you think of churches and schools and the cancer that we've helped fund and people that are getting education or people are just so much that we've been able to do. So I think the most selfish person is the one who doesn't do anything. You know, I could have, I'd probably be retired and I run into people now, Lewis, and they'll say, all right, what's your dream? I know you're up to something. You can't sit without doing something. They're asking that to you. Yes, they're saying that to me. and I'll be like, that is kind of true.

46:22And, you know, my grandkids, I said to them, your goal is not, you know, say, oh, look what old Papa did. Your goal is to get on my shoulders and take it to the next level. Wow. And I truly believe that. Yeah. And I think they will. You know, I didn't have a choice of education. I didn't have a choice. We didn't have, you know, really it was limited a little bit of what I went by my own mind. Today, I believe there's nothing our family can't do. If they dream it, they say it. They say it out loud. They can do it. They can do it. Wow. Yeah. What's your biggest fear then at this season of life? I don't have, I don't have any, it's been a, it's been a great life.

46:59And if God said, then, then I've really enjoyed it. I just don't want to leave anything. When I was coaching, I'd say, guys, when you come off that court, I want you exhausted. You know, I want you that you put it all out there. And, and so it's not a fear. I just want to make sure I use all my talents and I want to inspire as many people as I can. I'm hoping people read this and go, you're right. I was stuck. I wasn't dreaming. Or you're right. I was afraid. I'm not afraid no more. Or, hey, I wasn't dreaming. My kids aren't dreaming, but now they're dreaming. I want to lay it all out there and be bold.

47:38Do you feel like you're leaving everything on the court for yourself right now? Mm-hmm. You do? I do. I, this is, would I rather be at my ranch riding a horse right now, or I'm building my own little golf course and I set it up so that my bad shots are good shots on my course. Don't tell all my friends I said that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the holes are designed for you. That's right. All your slices are perfect for your course. My slice happens to be a dog leg right there. And, and so, yeah, I'd rather, but I'm also really fulfilled when you're helping others and when people say thanks. Thanks for that.

48:13Yeah. I mean, it's so cool because I heard you, one of your speeches that you're one of your, it works conferences and you were talking about if you want more, if you want to be more, you've got to give more to live more. Yeah. And it's, it's great to have fun and do all these fun activities for yourself. And it's also great to use some of your time, your talent, your treasure to make an impact on other people's lives. And as unfortunate as it sounds like it is, or it has been at different times for you. It sounds like your greatest, your darkest moments and the scariest moments and you overcoming them and giving, and it's almost like your cancer diagnosis and the challenge of that, you've had to go all in on finding like how to recover and how to overcome it, that you've invested in different therapies that other people, you're saving people's literal lives because of some of the biggest challenges that you've been through.

49:11So not only are you able to impact people's life financially with freedom, with the ability to dream more, to get out of debt and all the things you do through your business and give people healthy products to improve their life, all that stuff. But also as sucky as it sounds and as horrible as it is, you going through this situation is also making an impact on people's lives based on how you respond to it. And so, again, I'm really sad you're going through this, and it's extremely unfortunate, but I'm also glad to know your mindset is, I'm going to overcome this, I'm going to find solutions, and I'm going to help other people that are going through something like this.

49:50I think that's the only mindset we can have. I agree. You know, I'm a little more private. Great friend of mine, I think the world of him is Dick Vitale. Dick's 85 and just did the Duke game on ESPN. He just beat four cancers. He's crazy. Yeah. And Dick puts it all on his social. I mean, he's showing at the doctor he's hooked up and I'm like, you know, that's, that's not me. I can't do that. But I realized my calling then is to help find, you know, cures for it and help support him with the pediatric. And so I think we all have our own, you know, I really don't say much about it or say it. And I'm just going to live hard and play hard and have fun and do it until I can't.

50:33But that is, and we all face that. I mean, there's no one listening to us right now that, you know, again, play on the offense. I can sit home and say, yeah, I got it. It's bad. I can't help it. Or go, no, we're going to, you know, we're going to have a cure. We're going to get past this. If we do, great. Then I'm living high on the mountain. Exactly. If I don't, I want out being positive and helping people go live bigger in life. 100%. Sam, we're talking about life of your dreams, your book. Again, it's really powerful lessons and steps that we're talking about here. And really, there's seven kind of key steps to achieving your dreams.

51:11What would you say we talked about get back up, which is number four? What would be number five on this process? I think we talked about it, but find your people. Oh, yeah, your team. That was fine. Find your people. Yep. And really making sure you're finding people, the ultimate level of finding someone is someone who's encouraging, who's also done something before that you need that support with. Yeah. At least find someone encouraging who hasn't done it. Yeah. But if they've done it and they're encouraging, you want them on your team. Well, and this is a key part for your own life, but also if you run a business, because what will kill your dreams fastest is what I call the dream killers.

51:45That's someone that's not encouraging and never done it. Yes. Think about that, Louis. How many people are all excited about something today? They go home and tell their favorite uncle who's never done something like this in his life and they go, oh, that won't work. And the person goes, oh, okay. And quits. That's a dream killer. Dream killer. So make sure you're not listening to the dream killers and make sure you're not hiring them in your business because they will kill your business, kill your dreams. Okay. Number six, what would be that? You know, this one I put in because I had to learn it, celebrate your wins.

52:20Oh man. Yeah. This is huge. Because so important. Yeah. What I found I was doing is I was so focused on the finish line. I'm sprinting hard, get to the finish line, say, yeah, I did it. And then immediately go to something else. And I realized, and I had a good friend with that. Like Mark, listen up a little, you know, celebrate the milestones, not just, you know, trying to get to the finish line. And there's a balance. I think everything in life's a balance. And for me, it was like, okay, we just, we threw a party at my ranch and we'll get ready to do another one. But we were celebrating 20 years of It Works.

52:58You know, I had a little big town came down and sang. We had fireworks. We had the greatest night. And I thought, why do I wait 20 years to do that? You know, let's show our family, our people around us. And, you know, early on, it could be a date night. Hey, honey, I'm going to really be working this month. There won't be many free. But at the end, we're taking a weekend and we're going to do a lock-in at some favorite place of yours or hey it's movie night um we still with our kids we'd pull the kids in and said hey dad might miss a few games you know there used to be coach teach I'm at everything but now I'm like hey I gotta work gotta work might have to travel might have to do some stuff but we wrote we called it a dream board we started you know what would you like if if we have a great and you know one of my kids was like I want a hot tub all right let's put the hot tub on the list You know, we'll put it on the deck.

53:50And one was like, hey, I want to go on a safari. I mean, we wrote these things down. So we had everybody, even though I was the one out there doing it, we were all invested in it. And so celebrate your wins, I think, is a big one. That's huge. I can relate to that a lot because playing sports, every time I would win a game, it'd be on to the next. It was never like, not even a moment. Maybe in the locker room, we're like, okay, good game. Like, let's get ready for the next one. Or you're thinking. You're thinking it, right? And the same thing in business. I translated it to business as like, just wanted to create more.

54:21Okay. Now we're on the momentum. Let's just keep going. But it was never like, you know, it's a Friday night, man, we had a great week. Let's look, let's go to dinner. Let's go watch a game. Let's go bowling. Let's do something. It doesn't have to be like, it's so extravagant. It can be free, but also just celebrating the moment and really acknowledging and reflecting, man, what was that? Like, again, I just got married last weekend and all week we have been celebrating and like reliving it. Yeah. I've really tried to soak it in and be like asking people, what was your favorite moment? And just looking at videos and as opposed to, okay, onto the next thing, you know, it's like, let's enjoy this celebration.

54:58I'm great big because congratulations. It's so exciting. But I remember when we first started the business, we have three kids and, uh, we had, you know, taking vacation. So we're like, all right, no vacation. We're going to do this vacation. And then Cindy and I had the big dream was we had never been to Hawaii. We decided we want to go to Hawaii without the kids. Oh, wow. So our big dream, our big focus was if I could accomplish this. We're going to Hawaii. We're going to Hawaii with no kids. And that was our big dream. Okay, vacation and then vacation without the kids. So you're down the road with that one.

55:33But someday you'll be thinking of it. One day you'll be like, yeah, that's amazing. Okay, so celebrate your wins. I think a lot of people, again, when you don't have, when you can't even have the ability to dream, you're living in survival or stuck mode. You're probably not celebrating survival mode, right? You're probably not celebrating. I'm stressed out at work. I've got no money to pay my bills. There's nothing to celebrate in life. If someone's watching or listening right now that feels stuck in debt, they're not getting the momentum. They're not feeling like they're alive. how can they celebrate their life when they're in that state of being?

56:13Well, that's because we call it the dream cycle. So you got to have the dream. And then we got our plan. And then I actually, I do this and it works. When someone first started selling product for me, they're part of our, our field team. You know, I'd have them do a dream board. What I found was people's, it's like sticking your toe in the water to see if it's cold. You know, they just, so they do a dream board, but it would be not really putting themselves out there. What I found was after they went through the cycle a couple of times, all of a sudden they'd say, hey, I want to do over on that dream board.

56:51So we called it the re-dream. So in this, we actually call it the re-dream where, you know, you've done a dream, you've taken it through the cycle. well, now you want to re-dream and go bigger, go bigger, go bigger. And so we literally called it a dream board, then the re-dream, just because people wanted to do over to go. And I think you'll always be in that cycle, you know, like myself. You know, it was to buy a house in Florida. Then it was to be on the water. And then the island thing was crazy. You know, someone brought me that. And I kind of laughed at it in front of Cindy because I thought for sure she'd say no.

57:29And she's like, we ought to look at it. And I'm like, oh, really? By an island? You know, I couldn't dream like that in the beginning. But you get that dream muscle going, it starts to be anything's possible. That's cool. And so really, I'd say to the person, we got to get started. We got to get you in the cycle. Who are you surrounded with? You know, how are you giving yourself permission? And so the re-dream's a biggie. So is the dream cycle part of the seven steps or is that something separate? No, the dream cycle is just you've gone through it. You've dreamed. You've accomplished. Now, you celebrate.

58:01So dream, celebrate, re-dream. Do it again. And it's the seven pillars that steps there that get you there. Okay. And then I add at the very end the secret sauce because I think the secret sauce, this is the extra. Okay. Did we miss step seven? Did I miss it? No, seven was dare to re-dream. Dare to re-dream. Gotcha. Okay. Yep. You've done it once. You now, and again, my favorite saying is this one now, the dream you're most proud. is a dream you're afraid to say out loud. Now, in the beginning, you don't trust me yet. So you're doing the dream cycle, but now you've done it. Now I'm saying to you, come on, tell me the real dream.

58:41What do you really want? What's your soul? Yeah. Interesting. Okay. So you said there's an extra step, an extra credit step. What's the secret sauce? The secret sauce is, you know, when I first, we all want freedom and abundance. And Cindy and I, you know, we believed we'd be blessed if we gave. So, you know, we grew up that you make so much money and you give back, you get back. And we were always taught when you give, your hands are out like this, and now God can bless you back. And I do believe that. But I think it's bigger than that. I think just like dreaming, your dreams get bigger. When you're giving, it fills something in you.

59:24If you're helping with a cancer cycle, if you're helping with organizations that are really changing the world, you want to give more. So now I say we give so that we can give more and we give more. And that person that said to me, when's enough enough? I realized it's never enough because the more we do, the more we can give. So the secret sauce is start giving. Yes. Because it'll fill you up. And the more lives you can change, the more you're excited to go after your own dreams and be bold because you get to give more. This is interesting. I ask a lot of billionaires and people who have exited, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars of companies and things like that.

1:00:05I ask a lot of wealthy people, uh, this question and I'm curious your response. I think I know the answer based on how you're already speaking about it, but how impactful is the growth of your business year after year based on how much you give to either charities, churches, people, causes? Do you see a direct impact on how much you give or the energy in which you give and the growth of your business? I think there's a direct correlation because the person that doesn't give is trying to hold tight to stuff. And if you're holding tight like this, this is mine. I'm not giving it up. It's mine. You're not in a mindset of abundance to give more.

1:00:47So when my hands are like this, because I'm giving to you, I'm out here to go, let's go. We'll build this bigger. We'll give more. We'll do more. And I look at Cindy and I, if you would have said, I'm not going to tell you because the crowns are going to come in heaven, not here. But if I think of what we've given, you know, here to give$100 when I was teaching was a lot. was tight. You know, today when it's millions and millions and you're like, how did that happen? It's because the more you gave, the more blessings in your business exploded. So I think it's a direct correlation myself. How does someone get into that giving or generosity mindset when they have no money, when they're struggling, they're living paycheck to paycheck, they're in student loans, they're working two to three jobs, their kids are, you know, constantly crying and they can't seem to get people to like relax and they got no time for themselves.

1:01:40How do they give in that state? That's such, you worded that very well. I think it's the same way as we're talking about if you're stuck in life and you're saying, how can I dream when I can't pay my bills and the boss is terrible and he tell me what to do and I come home and the baby, I think it's the same thing. It's a discipline. And if you'll start in the little things, as it gets bigger, you lose what that amount is. You know, if you said, I'm going to give millions and millions of your laugh and go, I can't even pay my phone bill, you know, what do you mean? And yet I think it's a discipline and the more you do it, it works.

1:02:17Wow. And that's how it grows. It works. It works. It works. Literally. It's a plug in. What is the, you know, you are a coach for many years to students, but also to athletes. You're still a coach. You still coach basketball, I think, today. Is that right? Yeah. And you coach your, you know, your executive team, your sales team, like you coach the people in your business. You've always been a coach, essentially. You coach your kids, all this stuff. Yeah. Who was the greatest coach you had? And what was the biggest lesson they taught you growing up? You know, good question. I think in each season I've had different coaches.

1:02:49I think in high school there were two coaches that were amazing. Both, you know, I played tennis and basketball and I coached math. They were both math teachers. One was my tennis coach. One was my best. Huge influence. Very competitive. I, you know, were taking charges on a half court concrete thing there. And I thought that was normal. I think no wonder I'm so crazy competitive. And then I remember going to college and talking to a lot of people there. And I realized a big mentor I didn't realize was my dad. You know, my dad went from farm in Tennessee to work in the factory in Michigan. And, you know, you'll pick up a lot when you listen to this.

1:03:33I probably speak the worst English in the world. My parents were from Tennessee. I was raised in the north. Recently, someone said, Mark, do you realize closimity isn't a word? And I was like, what? And, you know, and Worcester doesn't have an R in it. I didn't. So, you know, we laugh about that. But my dad came up at 18, got a job in a factory, was going to night school. He would come home. I have one brother. And he'd say, all right, let's compare report cards. And so I got to college and realized my dad was a big mentor. I didn't even realize the example he set. You know, back then at GM, you work seven days a week.

1:04:12We'd see dad on weekends, and he'd be working nights or afternoons, and you wouldn't see him. So, you know, dad was. And then I started teaching and coaching. The football coach there gave me the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And it talked about the difference of an employee or owning the business. And it opened. So I think at each level, there was a coach that opened my mind to something that made me go, wow, I want that. Wow. So different seasons of life, different mentors, the right teachers. You know, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. Right? That's what I was saying. Yes. Who's your greatest teacher today?

1:04:55Oh, I think, you know, I have a couple, I would say later in life, it's harder to get new friends because you kind of, you know, now you have quite a bit and people may want something or, you know, I don't mean that bad, but that happens. But I'd say I've got two right now. One's helping in business. I had never, our family had business. And a great guy lives in Jersey. And he kind of took me under his wing and said, let me help you. And his name's Keith. And he just did a great job of kind of protecting me too, but making sure we were making good decisions. Right. And then there's a pastor out there.

1:05:36I'd say Jensen that just, you know, just has really made sure that we could balance. Who's the pastor? Jensen. Jensen? Yeah. What's the biggest lesson he's been teaching you? You know, Jensen has a way, tremendous preacher, but he speaks so softly that when he talks, you have to lean in and lean in. And he's the same way offstage as he is when he's on. And I, you know, I really like how he's same thing. He wants to make sure someday God says, well done. And, and so I'm like, yeah, that's what I want. So, yeah, that's beautiful. We're talking about the life of your dreams, your book. I want everyone to get this book, but there's, there's something I'm learning in the last few years and I'm going to get, I'm already getting kind of emotional just thinking about it that I feel like you've experienced.

1:06:31And I'm just assuming here, because this is the first time we're meeting and I don't know your full life story, but I'm assuming the person you chose to be your life partner, your wife has been a massive impact in your life and has supported you in pursuing your dreams. And it's the number one person you need on your team is your spouse. That could be your dream supporter or your biggest cheerleader or your dream killer. A lot of people have dream killers of their spouse, but they still love fully and they've got to overcome that. What is the thing about your wife that you love the most and the greatest lesson she's given you?

1:07:07You know, she's just been all in supporting. It's funny. I shouldn't answer to this while I get in trouble, but I will. You won't show this part, right? No. You know, I would say sometimes we were younger. We were high school sweethearts. Wow. We've been married 47 years. 47 years. Yeah. She's prayed for her. She needs it. She's been with me that long. But, you know, I would say sometimes, you know, the devil has a way of getting in your head. Like you're thinking one way, like I'm like, she's holding me back. Where later I realized, no. She's protecting you. She protect me and kept me from imploding.

1:07:43Wow. Wow. And what we came, you know, her strength was scheduling behind the scenes, really keeping a good foundation so that I could come out here. And, you know, we first started the business and we started making money. I would go every night of the week and we made a deal. You know, all right, Sundays, we're not going to work. Family, here's what we're going to do. You can never turn it off as an entrepreneur, really. You've got to, like, learn to turn it off. Yeah, put that phone over there. But that might be the call I need. And so I realize now, and I'll tell people just because, you know, there's a lot of, for Cindy, it was my foundation, realizing we're a team, realizing when I felt like maybe it wasn't support, it was really great support because she was keeping me from.

1:08:28But I would tell people that feel like they don't have a supportive spouse, find out their love language. because I, you know, when I used to go out working at night and she'd be like, are you going again? If she gave me a lead and I made a sale that night, send her flowers. Because then she's going to say, go out every night. Then she started giving you a list. Go every night, you know, or. And keep doing that. Yeah. Like keep doing the love language. Don't do it a few times and say, oh, now I'm good. Right. And maybe I said flowers. Maybe it's a night out, dinner. or maybe it's leave my phone at the house tonight.

1:09:05Whatever that lovely, or maybe she goes out, you know, or it's the bubbly bath and you're with the kids. So to me, it's being intentional. You gotta, you gotta, us guys can be a little dense sometime. Like, really? I miss that? And so, yeah. So what's the secret after 47 years of marriage and going from a high school teacher and a coach to building a billion dollar empire, having healthy kids that still wanna be around you? As adults, what's the three keys to having a healthy marriage for 47 plus years? I think communication. Never take yourself too serious. I tell people all the time, don't use the word I.

1:09:46If you say I, you're in trouble. It's we. We're going to do this. It's what we are doing. And I think really trying to think about what does that other person need right now? You know, what's something that fills them up? And I still get it wrong. We were talking the other day how I was talking to a friend and he goes, my wife's like, why can't you help with the laundry? And I was, I was, I was shooting the socks into the clothes basket thinking I was Larry Bird. And, and, uh, you know, I think it's both realizing he's always going to act like he's 12 years old and she's going to need me to help and support.

1:10:22So I think it's just finding that common support for each other and what time out you need in life. That's beautiful. I love that. You've got so much wisdom. I don't know about that. You've got so much wisdom, so much life experience, and you share so much of it in your book, Life of Your Dreams, How to Take Your Family, Fun, and Financial Freedom to a whole nother level by Mark Pentecost. I want everyone to get this right now because, again, I'm always a fan of the reason I love doing this show, The School of Greatest, and interviewing people like yourself is that I can always learn from someone on how to model something that I want.

1:10:58you know, and this for me is like, I get free mentorship, you know, it's like I get to mentorship, but then I get to give that to the world where most people don't have access to you. There's not many interviews of you online, right? This is a book that has, you know, all your life's knowledge in one place that people can have access to. And people don't understand how powerful that is to have the wisdom, the knowledge, the lessons of someone who has gone through extreme adversity, someone who's built incredible life, massive business, and someone who lived like most of the country, you know, as a teacher and a coach making 40 grand a year and was able to get out of that and create a whole nother life for themselves.

1:11:42So I want people to get this book. I want people to share this book with a friend. If you know someone in your life that could resonate with this message, send them this link and say, Hey, what was the biggest takeaway you got from what Mark was sharing here? And have a conversation and dialogue about your own dream and say, what is a dream that has been lost for you? What is the dream that you're afraid to talk about? What is the saying again, the dream the most proud is the one you're afraid to say out loud. I would love for you to text that message to one friend right now in your life that you know, maybe they've just been struggling or they got a good life, but it's not an extraordinary one.

1:12:22They're not leaving it all on the field right now. They're not taking those moves that are a little scary. And you can be that accountability partner for your friend, your family member, someone on your team and text them this quote right now. What's the dream you're most proud that you're afraid to say out loud? Literally just text them that with a link to this episode and say, I want you to listen or watch this and tell me what that dream is afterwards. I think it's a great conversation starter with the people in your life. Yeah. And also follow up by getting a copy of this book, Life of Your Dreams, so that you can go through these seven steps in detail because you have exercises and lessons and stories in the book where people can follow the steps and start going through their own dream cycle.

1:13:12And I think that's the key. Step one is just allowing yourself to dream and then re-dream. Not with the real dream. Not like, but what's the thing that, ooh, that feels different when I say it. And I think this would be an amazing exercise for everyone watching or listening to text one friend and leave a comment below on YouTube here if you're watching on the video as well on what your biggest takeaway is from this episode. What resonated the most? What stood out the most? Leave a comment, your biggest takeaway with Mark here. I've got a couple of final questions for you before we wrap up, Mark.

1:13:48This has been powerful. And I've got tons of other questions here that I'm unable to get to. But I think this has been a beautiful place to talk about right now. You have a virtual summit coming up where you're going to be inspiring people to reawaken their dreams even more. Can you share more a little about this summit? And also, you do a lot of charity and giving back. Can you share a little bit about that as well? Yeah. You know, I'm really excited about it. First time I've ever done it. We have a mutual friend, Rory. Yeah, Rory Baden. He's like, hey, this is what we're going to do. And I'm really excited.

1:14:23You know, we did a Western movie at the ranch last year. I've got, we really were blessed. A lot of the actors and actresses were on the upswing and they're really hitting some big things. They're going to be there with us. Nice. Some of the people have been very impactful. When I said Jensen the other day, he's going to be with us. I believe yourself is going to pop in. I'll be there too. Good. I love it. I'm doing it. Yeah. And you know, when I first heard we're going to write a book on dreaming, I was thinking sometimes people will say, oh, you're just a dreamer. And I was like, wait a minute.

1:14:52I'm not sure I like that as a superpower. And then I got to realizing there's two types of dreamers. There's a dreamer of the night. They dream. Then they wake up and go on about their same life. Or dreamer of the day I call gets up and takes action. So we're talking about your dreams. We're talking about going to take action. Dreamers of the day. And I've decided I want to be a professional dreamer. I'm so excited about it. So when we do this, it's April 3rd, and we bring in mind thinkers like yourself that does dream big. I mean, in a short period, I can tell. I'm excited to learn more of what you've done yourself, especially what sport you play.

1:15:31You could have played for me. You got some good sides. Yeah, I was a basketball player. Yeah, yeah. I love it. But, you know, to me, we're going to inspire people dreaming that day. And if they're stuck, we're going to get them unstuck that day. And I don't know how someone's going to sit still. I think it's online. You'll be able to see it. And people that are watching it, be ready because you won't be able to sit and watch this. You're going to be pacing and walking and your mind's going to be being blown. So I'm really excited about that. That's exciting. We'll have, if you're watching this, we'll have the link up on the screen and we'll put it in the description below where you guys can go watch this.

1:16:04I believe it's a free summit. Isn't that right? It's free. So you can click, you can sign up. It'll be in the description, in the audio or the video, wherever you're listening to this. And what about the charity work that you're a part of right now? I know you give back a lot to research, to things like that for cancer. How can people learn more about that as well? You know, there's quite a bit we're doing right now. But with the book, I really want to focus on just what really gets my heart is pediatric cancer. And it's one thing my age to go through cancer. There's my way to say, well, I know sometime it ends, Louis, but I'm ready.

1:16:37If it ends, I'm ready. But when I watch these young kids, it breaks your heart. And we really focus with pediatric cancer, work with the V Foundation, work with Moffitt. And we're just going to make it, we're going to find cures for cancer. And like you said a little while ago, if there's just one or two or three, I think there's going to be thousands and thousands that we're able to help through their cancer journey. live longer. And that's our goal. We're going to give quite a bit to it. I think I heard that all the proceeds from the book sales are going towards cancer research. So again, guys, if you buy a book right now, just knowing that your impact of buying a book to support your life and dreaming bigger, or if you buy a book for yourself and a friend, the proceeds are going to go towards cancer research, which is extremely powerful.

1:17:27So it's a big, big thing that you're doing. So again, get a copy of Life, Your Dreams, How to Take Your family fund and financial freedom to a whole nother level. You're going to be inspiring your life and the people in your life. You're going to be a model for someone in your life as well about how to live your dreams bigger. And you're going to be helping kids who are struggling with cancer with the proceeds from this book. So go get it right now on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or wherever you get your books. I want to acknowledge you, Mark, for an incredible journey that you've live, but one that you're going to continue to be living for a long time and acknowledge you for having so much joy in your life and giving back as much as you do.

1:18:08Because a lot of people who could be a millionaire, a billionaire could just make it about them. They could just buy all the fun toys and the gadgets and have more and more and more and have more status and not be as generous as you are. So I want to acknowledge you for your generosity and your playful childlike heart. Because I really think people lose the ability to dream as adults and they forget how to be like childlike energy when they are adults. And I acknowledge you for that. And I think that's one of the reasons why you are so successful externally is because internally you have childlike spirit and energy.

1:18:46And it's a beautiful thing to witness. And I acknowledge you for the consistency of showing up for you, your family, your friends, and your community your entire life. It's a beautiful thing to watch. And hopefully I'll get to come down to the ranch or the island or the moon, whatever you buy next, whatever your dream is to buy next, and come down and ride some horses or do some fun stuff with you sometime. This is a question I ask everyone at the end. It's called the three truths. So imagine a hypothetical scenario. You get to live as long as you want to live on this earth. many years in the future, but it's the last day for you.

1:19:26And you get to accomplish all of your wildest dreams. They all come true. Anything you dream and then re-dream and re-dream, it all comes true. But for whatever reason on this hypothetical scenario, on your last day, you have to take all of your message, your content, this book, this interview, it all has to go somewhere else. So no one, when you leave this earth, no one has access to your content. Ooh. So just hypothetically, let's just imagine they don't have this book. They don't have any video online of you. You know, we just don't have your content. But on the final day, you get to leave a message to the world that we do get to keep.

1:20:01And it's the three lessons that you have. And this is all we would get to keep from you. What would be those three truths for you? I'd say, um, Hey, there really is a heaven. So have faith because, uh, I think some people think they don't have to worry about that. I would say have faith. God's real. Make sure that you have a belief there. Two is laugh more. The world was serious enough. Let's laugh. And you were born to dream. So dream, baby dream. You know, to me, that's, I want to, I want to scare myself on some of the dreams. If it's to get cancer free for all pediatric kids, let's do it. Let's find the cures, whatever it is.

1:20:51So I would say just dream big. That's big. That's beautiful. And Mark, final question for you. What's your definition of greatness? I think greatness is when you, whatever your talent is, you've gotten the most out of it you can get. I think greatness comes in all shapes and forms. And your greatness is probably different than my greatness. But I think greatness is whatever skills, whatever you were made for, you've gotten the most. I think that you go, I watch, you know, what games do I enjoy watching when, man, those guys are exhausted at the end and they're high-fiving when team won, but they're exhausted because they left it all out there.

1:21:29I think greatness is someone's on the court and has laid it all out there and they got nothing left because they put it all out there. That's greatness. There you go. Mark, appreciate you being here, man. Thank you. Powerful. I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy. and if you're looking to create more financial freedom in your life, you want abundance in your life and you want to stop making money hard in your life, but you wanna make it easier, you wanna make it flow, you wanna feel abundant, then make sure to go to makemoneyeasybook.com right now and get yourself a copy. I really think this is gonna help you transform your relationship with money this moment moving forward.

1:22:11We have some big guests and content coming up. Make sure you're following and stay tuned to the next episode on the School of Greatness. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well.

1:22:51Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you if no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.