Kind: captions
Language: en
hey everybody welcome to another episode
of Facebook live Q&A I am your host Tom
Bilu and I am here with the one the only
and the amazingly talented Cindy hello
everyone welcome all right do we have a
question that we want to kick it off
with so we have a couple left over from
our um last Q&A nice so the one I'm
going to start with is from sad massud
okay one of the best names that we have
in our community I dig that name what
would we uh what would be hypothetically
your biggest disappointment in life
under impacting is there quantifiable
Target in terms of how big of an impact
you want to have yeah there is I haven't
spent a lot of time like really putting
a number to it partly because it's
become cliche to say that you want to
help a billion people like that's pretty
rad though and if you can do that um I
think that's awesome here's the the
honest truth I will judge our success by
our Revenue profitable Revenue so so I
believe that what we're doing is the
right thing for the world I believe that
if we continue on the path that we're on
that we're going to help a lot of people
the one thing that is the big question
mark is will we be clever enough to
monetize it and so I don't doubt for a
second that will help people I'm wired
for that I think we've built a team
that's literally wired for that like
everybody here really really enjoys that
and I think it resonates a lot and I I
honestly think that we would turn on
each other if we started drifting away
from that I think that would be the
fastest way for us to lose everybody on
the team so like none of that makes me
tense the thing that I think a lot about
though is how do you really monetize
this and and there's such a huge Chasm
between where we are today and beating
Disney at their own game or where we are
today from a company incubation side and
actually having successful exits so
understanding that Crossing that Chasm
isn't going to be about us helping
people because I think that we'll do
that I think the content is real um the
the content resonates with people the
community is growing very rapidly it's
all going to be a question about can we
actually turn it into a business and so
I don't think about it in terms of like
how do you pin down like how many people
you've helped we already like if we make
the mistake of being Intoxicated by the
number of people that write in saying
you've helped I think that we will slow
down so if we focus on making this a
self-sustaining business I think then
that everything else will take care of
itself because we'll have the resources
that we need in order to really help
people for the long term because I don't
think there's a Finish Line I don't
think ever help so many people that you
don't need to help anymore The Human
Condition is such that this is something
that has to be taught to generation
after generation after generation if you
take your eye off the ball for one
second it all falls apart so I want us
to be the Paradigm that shows how a
business can be sustaining and since
we're not looking for an exit I hope
that we can really be a tent pole for
the Evergreen movement so people can see
that you can generate wealth and keep
the company and so that's really how I
think about it I dig it hopefully that
uh helped out for you
sad is it sod or Su sod mad Rhymes so if
we can but oh obviously sad Su whichever
it is tell us cuz we want to say it the
right way but if I could just pressure
you to make sure ftic spelling in the
comments if you will that would be
amazing all right so um this next one
comes from ibraim El galad H uh can you
give more of an explanation about
holding two competing thoughts in your
head at once
and how do you balance it and still
succeed yeah so um I think that I
succeed not in spite of holding to ideas
in my head I think I succeed because of
it so um the concept is that you're
using first of all there are very few
even though I love dealing in absolutes
because there's so much Clarity in it
the reality is life isn't really like
that and if you can in fact those we'll
use those as two competing examples here
are two ideas that I hold in my head the
world is binary and you love something
or you hate it something is right or it
is wrong period simple as now I also
know the truth which is that the world
is one big pot of gray that there are no
absolutes what is it only the Sith deal
in
absolutes huh okay so it's like those I
know both of those are beneficial so I
know sometimes it is absolutely critical
to deal in the absolutes of yes we
should do this no we shouldn't you can't
waffle on about maybe we should maybe we
shouldn't it's like you pick one and you
run with it then on the other hand you
really need to be looking for the Nuance
you need to be looking for like okay how
does the gray area play in when is it
right to um you know push on one versus
the other and I think that the world
really is at all times just a spectrum
of gray and it's very rare that things
truly fall into those camps but the
reason that I emphasize the binary over
the gray is that you need that to make a
decision because I believe that it's
better to run in a th000 mph in the
wrong direction than to stand still
because once you realize you're going in
the wrong direction then you'll adjust
you pivot and you'll start going a th
miles hopefully in the right direction
so it is that balance now the the Nuance
of knowing when to push on one and when
to push on the other is really for me
about understanding what your goal is
and then working backwards so I don't
fall prey to my emotions because my
emotions don't always serve my goals and
that was a huge breaking point for me
now most people what they do is they
have like a a thing in the back of their
mind that's either given to them by
their parents maybe some of its biology
a lot of it is certainly cultural about
the way things should be and so for
instance um if they do something let's
say that you do something
um that your family would be
disappointed in so you choose a path
that you're um that culturally is just
stupid in fact let's that little smile I
know exactly what that was so Cindy was
supposed to be a lawyer I was I was
supposed to be a lawyer a doctor an
engineer a pharmacist Etc and on down
the list yeah but you decided not to yep
now many people would waste a lot of
time feeling guilty about that but Cindy
had a goal she wanted to live a life
that made her feel alive she wanted to
help people she wanted to do something
that was beautiful that made the world a
more beautiful place so rather than live
in the world of shs I should have done
this I should have done that she broke
free of that and really started living a
life because that was her goal right so
her goal was to feel alive to help other
people to bring Beauty to the world all
right so if those are your three goals
does letting my fear of embarrassing my
family of disappointing my family do I
let that dictate my actions is that my
end goal to appease my family no okay
well then I'm going to do things that do
get me towards the goal that I really
have and so that's when I push and pull
so it's like yes there are times where
Cindy needs to be disappointed in
herself and needs to push herself but it
needs to be based on when she is either
moving towards these three things or not
moving towards those three things versus
what maybe other people try to um
dictate for her which is based on what
her parents thought would be a safe life
for her because they love you they want
good things for you like their
intentions are so pure and wonderful at
the time that's what made sense in terms
of the economy and just being you know
first generation a lot of those jobs are
the more stable jobs when you get here
if you're educated so that's kind of the
path that they wanted us to walk because
they know no others you know so so yeah
it's she's able to think her way through
that to to look at that very clearly
because she has another thing that's
dictating when she pushes on do I feel
guilty of about this or do I not which
is goals so to me it's really about
having those clear goals and that'll
determine so for me um you know when do
I punish myself for something so like
the other day uh when Jared and I were
doing after impact I was going down a
train of thought and then I forgot and
so how much do I beat myself up over
that right so and I did beat myself up
over it because I want to make sure that
I practice it so I'm saying like hey I'm
disappointed that you forgot that thing
but if I keep pushing down that and I
were to wake up this morning morning and
be like you idiot you're so dumb like I
can't like that's going to start to
erode my sense of self which does not
move me towards my goal of actually
getting better so I beat myself up just
enough to make sure that I keep
practicing and then I back off and then
I reward myself hey you're the type of
person that practices you're not afraid
to look at your deficiencies so it's the
the subtlety Push Pull of knowing what
your goal is and I'll liken it to
driving right you don't always step on
the gas you don't always step on the
break so you've got to know where you're
trying to get to and drive accordingly
oh it's a really simple metaphor for
that boom I like it there it is all
right so just as a reminder um we're
doing a giveaway for 3month audible gift
card all you have to do is post on um
your Facebook page about impact Theory
um tagging Tom billu and impact Theory
and share the link to your favorite
episode of impact Theory thus far and
then just send us a a screenshot to
connect at impact theory.com and that
will all be um in the comments shortly
nice yeah so our next question comes
really fast Jared how have we been doing
with these giveaways do we suck at them
still or we getting
better
nice all right very cool all right so
being told that we're getting better at
this and this is something and by the
way I I always air our Dirty Laundry um
out here I like to do that because I
want you guys like don't just do what we
say watch what we do right and I
remember the first time Gary vaynerchuk
said that I thought that's so smart
because if you just listen to what he
says you're going to get a lot but if
you watch what he does you'll see the
moves that he's making before he knows
if they work and so you can really be a
part of that process you can see the
experimentation so um I'm trying to make
like every layer of our content usable
so I want you guys to know when we're
struggling at something we'll just talk
about it when we're pivoting or trying
something new we'll talk about it uh
because we want to know what you guys
want to do and I have like this really
um wonderful fantasy that as we grow up
that and there will be there will be
people in the community that really
become a part of what we're doing and
that to me is really exciting so it's
going to be people that invest that
shape this so this is like Jason Silva
all over right we shape the community
then the community shapes us back so I
love that I want that and the only way
for that to happen is if we involve you
guys every step of the way so um yeah
that's what it's about so I'm excited to
hear that we're getting a bigger
response from you guys that's fantastic
and a giveaways and if there's other
things that would be meaningful to you
like don't hesitate to let us know
that's how we turn this into something
that's awesome it's going to be magic
guys word all right so this next
question comes from Joshua Martell our
boy our boy in Florida so 3D pop designs
is that the name of this company I
always feel compelled dude go look at
what this guy's doing he is super super
talented I really did good stuff I think
it's dope um Joshua are you doing
commissions yet does he do commissions
is that like the whole business model
commissions I'd love to know so let us
know Joshua let us I know that he
prepping for a big con coming up in his
area nice where he's going to display a
lot of his art yeah nice so right now
his world is all humid all the time yeah
it's interesting yeah all right all
right so the question is Tom do you see
the um see in the future that you will
make a movie that will combine
everything that you've learned from all
the books and guests you have
encountered that will combine it all
probably not I think that one really
important thing um is that you in any
one story you've got to pick like what
are your main theme or two maybe three
like you really can't go beyond that it
just become a muddled mess um so really
I think stories need to attack one
particular thing um but I think that
ultimately yes the mindset is something
basically every story that impact Theory
will ever get involved in is about going
from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset
like that's it that's the story that
we're going to tell over and over and
over and over but there are a thousand
ways to approach that there's a thousand
nuanced elements a thousand important
little pieces to that that you can
emphasize to make you know a whole
different story so you could have a
Coming of Age story you could have you
know uh Fantastical stories you could
have a a story of you know what it's
like to go through divorce um just
there're an infinite number of ways to
tell that story I think that um Star
Wars tells that story The Matrix tells
that story but Ordinary People tells
that story and so there are you know
just like so many different ways to get
at it and that'll really what I hope
will become our calling card is that if
you go see an impact Theory movie you
read an impact Theory comic book novel
whatever you will be empowered by the
end that you will see a path to a more
beautiful life for yourself or for
others um and that it will just continue
to reinforce this culture it's to me
what I'll call the new hero's journey so
the hero's journey in today's world is
going from believing that you can't do
something to believing that you can do
something and that to me is that's the
juice like that's what it's all about so
maybe back in the day it was like
bravery and you know the reluctant hero
who it's always a reluctant answer to
the call right like that's just a part
of the hero's journey
um and and I think there's really
something different going on today in a
modern world where technology is
advancing so rapidly the middle class is
being eroded we're automating jobs um
we're having to rely on our ability to
adapt way more than we ever had to and
you know when our parents were kids
certainly um you know like I think my
mom's had in her adult life you know I
mean in sort of her pre-marriage days
maybe she had a few other jobs but after
getting married I think she's had two
jobs so it's like but that doesn't
happen anymore like people has had so
many jobs really that's interesting and
maybe that's cuz you're just young
enough um because this started phasing
out a while ago I think my mom and dad
were sort of at the very cusp Baby
Boomers were the the first ones to
really see that like you're probably not
going to work at one place and retire
with a gold watch but for you know for a
couple Generations that was the shtick
so it's a different world now and I
think we need new stories but ironically
my dad has probably had like the same
job really for all of eternity
interesting what does he do uh he was an
OBGYN he's currently
retired really uhuh I think your dad was
like an engineer or something he was a
doctor um interesting yeah so it's like
I've watched C-sections your dad is like
and him deliver
B is that his first name it was Bill
right yeah Mr hustable Cliff hustable
Cliff it's Cliff cliff and claff and I
can't remember now yeah yeah yeah wow I
had no idea yeah all right there we go
so he delivered babies like that's his
thing he delivered babies he did
C-sections all that kind of stuff yeah
you watch the Nick the no so fascinating
uh TV show starring Clive Owen about
turn of the century medicine and the
series opens on them trying to figure
out how to do a C-section and you really
get the sense of like how deadly it was
like 100 years ago that was like no one
thought it was possible cut someone open
and like retrieve a baby and then sew
them back up yes but you're cutting like
major arteries so the time to bleeding
to death is like 30 seconds yeah so oh
my God fascinating yeah and then like
and not to mention like internal
bleeding cuz like I've
also like when my sister was being
delivered that's kind of what happened
to my did your dad deliver you guys is
that just like that's like a weird like
conflict of interest too cuz what you
get too emotional it's just
yeah well it's also like you want to be
there in support of your wife like
instead of like on the other end of it
can I so look maybe I would feel
differently if I had gone through it and
there was just like a thing where they
don't let you do it if it were my wife I
would trust nobody but myself to do it
but it makes you like even more critical
like so we we technically are the worst
patients because like my dad knows you
know and
so it's you know having it's almost like
you have two doctors in there and
they're like actually going to like make
sure everything gets done I don't know
interesting yeah but I think like
technically you're not supposed to but
yeah that's vaguely made my radar yeah
but I want to know would you guys if you
were a trained physician would you guys
want to do it yourself or would you want
somebody else to do it I would do it
myself fory I don't trust anybody else I
would feel like I was shering my
responsibilities I don't think it's
shering your responsibilities it's not
and I bet you're right that they're it's
like a different role that you have to
fulfill if you were to like think of it
in that way where it's like he had to be
dad and not OBGYN yep I still and it's
like and then it's also like judgment
calls for like different things usually
come into play H very interesting but
yeah uh were we answering a question or
like is it the next question we did we
answered it and then something triggered
and I asked about that oh yeah because I
said my mom had multiple jobs and then
my dad has been in the same
same one pretty much for do you know
about heal heal yeah so it's a new app
that lets you basically get house calls
from your doctor and Christopher was
talking about this and he said oh they
wanted to do heel but they had such a
great doctor for his son that they
didn't want to um to switch it up and
then that doctor closed his practice to
become a heel physician I don't know how
that's possible I don't know how that
like that's the Uber of doctors so how
do you make enough money it's going back
to like the early days of like when
doctor come to your house you write it
off no but I'm talking from a Time
perspective so you'd have like somehow
some way he's obviously making more
money or at least enjoying his life more
by being a healed doctor yeah but I was
just thinking how do you like now you're
like driving all over the place can it
really be more efficient to have an app
I don't know so like you might also be
able to take longer calls so part of the
problem with like health care right now
is like doctors see a patient for 30
minutes like your primary physician is
only really supposed to get you in and
out like okay great you're all checked
out but with someone coming to your
house and getting to know you and like
being able to see the environment that
you live in and kind of sus out what's
going on I feel like you're getting a
better experience but if they're seeing
you longer and they have to travel now
you've got the double whammy I don't I
don't understand the
Reven doesn't seem like
I'm sure there's like less overhead like
I feel like I yes like I feel like I
probably want like a doctor who would
come I want it I'm just saying as a
doctor like I'm never doing anything
again like heal doctors all day early
day that's the only way to fly but it's
also I'm sure that it's also like a an
experience thing like how much
experience that you have cuz a lot of
times doctors start at hospitals and
then they move move on to their private
practices but this kind of cuts out the
leap to your private practice where you
can insert that middle man which is the
app and then be able to build your
clientele if anybody out there has some
specific info on heel I'd love to learn
about it drop it in the comments I'll
read it afterwards but that's um I'm
curious curious as how think it's like a
cool like what was it all right sorry
I'm going to get back to it um so this
comes from Dan bro Fitness besides work
and learning what do you love to
do okay you're you're kind of taking
reading my normal go-to answer is
reading I love to read but he said
besides learning um I'm obsessed with my
wife so let's start with that so
anything that is my wife um hanging out
with her just talking my favorite time
in the universe is when my wife and I
have just like alone time we can shut
the world out and it's just the two of
us at a buffet that that is literally my
heaven my wife and I at a buffet where
we can graze and just eat slowly so like
all those needs are taken care of and we
can lock into each other and just chat
about stuff uh that is for is my
favorite I love playing video games
that's fun it does tie in a little bit
to my fetish with learning though and
Improvement because the whole fun of the
game for me is to get better it's like
professional Athletics to me it is
you're competing with people at least
the games that I play You're competing
with people real people around the world
uh in real time with teammates so my
wife myself and my sister we are a fire
team of three uh I love that um and
beyond that that movies oh my God movies
movies movies obsessively watch
movies and I'll I'll bundle that like
really great TV we're living through a
TV Renaissance right now yeah so I'm
about that as well I dig it I don't
actually have a
television like a real television
because you watch on a computer screen I
watch on a computer screen what do you
do if you in your roommates want to
watch something together I don't know we
just open up a lap laptop and you sit
around a laptop I mean just me and my
sister like we're not like how big is
your laptop I mean it's like this what
that's Madness it is it's kind of
Madness but like at the same time on
behalf of the content creators I'm
offended all right be offended but I'm
just saying like we my family has like
always been a little weird like we used
to have like a big screen TV and we
would all sit around it and then we got
laptops and we started to kind of bond
more intimately when we just like sit or
like lay like super close close like
cuddled in like bed together what if
like a third person wants to watch what
third person or it's like you just make
arrangements I guess wow I know what do
you do like on during holidays during
the holidays I'm somewhere with the
television okay so then it's like a
standard setup yeah cuz it's like you
and your sister watching like uh House
of Cards yeah you've got your head on
your sister's shoulder and you're just
in the zone we're just like there or you
just watching by yourself a lot of times
you're watching by yourself I never ever
watch by myself I don't know I I enjoy
it interesting yeah I would have when I
was single I guess it's just
now but I guess interesting yeah anyway
um so this one comes from dilip actually
I would like to backtrack guys and is
this you or is this dilip no this is
this is me this is Cindy all right we're
I would like to officially wish you a
happy birthday from the community thank
you and us of course thank you thank you
very very kind thank you yes um and so
this one comes from
[Laughter]
dilip thank you agent Smith in the
background Che you're right it's like
everyone's hold off in their corners
while we record all right um dilip I'm
sorry to delay on your question how to
stop repeating the same mistake again
and again so how do you do
that all right so what's the mechanism
um I always default to Identity when I
need to do something like that like
because it it sort of lets you off the
hook for a behavior that might seem
indulgent so if I were repeating that
same mistake I'm going to say to myself
look I'm the type of person that doesn't
repeat that mistake so okay I've done it
what can I learn and it's going to force
you into a new routine so because you
know like hey if I'm the type of person
that doesn't repeat a mistake some part
of your brain goes okay what do I really
CU I keep doing this so what do I really
need to do to change this up what do I
need to learn what skill do I need to
get better at how can I practice at that
um that really becomes critical to get
into a loop that allows you to gain a
new skill because you're making that
mistake because you're missing some
skill or key Insight or whatever and so
99 times out of 100 it's a skill so
let's break down what is the skill what
am I lacking how do I get good at that
what are the repetitions that I can put
in what's the practice where I can
really get good at that thing and just
recognize it's just a gap in skill set
and so focus on developing that skill
set and chances are you just rep putting
yourself into that same situation if
it's not a failure of um like people one
mistake that people make is you know say
cheating on their diet they you know set
like I'm not going to do this that or
the other eat this that and then they do
recognizing that if you're in a
situation where it seems like a failure
of character and that's where people get
themselves in trouble it's really not a
failure of character that slipping up on
your diet or whatever does not make you
a bad person and that now you need to
start figuring out okay what are the
things that are going to allow me to
push past that so I'll give you an
example I love love having tempting
Foods in the
house now the reason I love having
tempting Foods in the house is because
then my identity kicks in I'm the type
of person that can sit next to my
favorite foods smelling my Foods being
hungry and still not eating it so I get
so much joy and pleasure out of like
realizing oh my God that's me I've got
like all this discipline I've worked so
hard like I used to be super lazy and to
give in everything and now I don't look
at me oh my God I'm so cool it's all
true and because that actually makes me
feel better about myself than giving in
and eating it that I really enjoy that
but if that isn't you and you know that
foods like that are tempting get them
out of the house like set yourself up
for Success don't have the foods around
only have things in your house that are
beneficial that are going to keep you on
that lifestyle also don't I mean this
just in particular don't think of it as
a diet think of it as a lifestyle change
make sure that you have release valves
so for me when I first got into you know
clean living I had to have a day a week
where I could eat whatever I wanted
right that was the only way for me to
stay sane and so you get into that
Rhythm and then you know you start
discovering other ways to satisfy a
sweet tooth or whatever and there's a
lot better food products on the market
so I mean there's things you can do but
it's just not sitting there beating
yourself up all week because then what
happens you start beating yourself up
over eating it it's a failure of
character and you feel badly about
yourself what's going to cheer you up a
bowl of ice cream so you have it then
you feel worse and you get into this
just [ __ ] cycle so it's about
recognizing like how do I effectively
move towards my goals what is either the
Gap in skill set or what is the piece of
identity or what is just the things to
do like removing food from my thing so
be honest with yourself about where
you're falling down and address that
thing that's great advice yeah and I
mean look next time if you come come on
and ask that question like really really
specifically like here's where I keep
falling down and we can address that
specific thing but at a high level
that's the answer yeah that's that's
definitely a valid point all right so
this next one comes from Denise
saror Tom how do you balance the service
which the philanthropic aspect of
business and the goal for the bottom
line and is the business the key vehicle
you see for positively impacting the
world yeah so I'm not conflicted between
wealth creation and doing good I don't
think they're exclusive I think it is
um is this a good this may be a horrible
analogy but I'm going to use it as just
a gateway to the conversation if I give
you a hammer you can build something or
you can kill someone so it it isn't the
thing itself that becomes the problem it
really is what you do with it so a
business can be predatory and it can try
to trick cajo think of the cigarette
industry okay they just lied they knew
it was a problem they were intentionally
putting things into the cigarette to
make it more addtive addictive and then
they lied about it and they Lobby the
life out of the government and to you
know try to defer laws and things and
push it off as far as they could to keep
extracting value from the consumer okay
that's
Sinister but a business doesn't have to
be like that and I think that enough
people are really waking up and
realizing that they can do beautiful
things they can make a lot of money that
the only thing that's sustainable is
value and let's take it back to
cigarettes once you get somebody
addicted to cigarettes or even like
forget it like how do you get that first
kid Market to a teenager who wants to
Rebel you give them something with which
to Rebel you have delivered value and I
need people to understand that I'm not
saying that it's good I'm just saying it
delivered value to that person drugs
deliver a very potent value and that is
why people go way out of their way to
manipulate brain chemistry also nicotine
works it actually does lower people's
anxiety it actually I hate that this is
true but it actually does make it
through almost certainly through
nutrition partitioning it makes it
easier for people to lose weight and
keep it off like cigarettes delivered a
ton of value now they have a side effect
that side effect is death and so it also
extracted a ton of value from people but
that happened slowly over time if your
first cigarette killed you it would have
been a lot less effective but because it
didn't people need to understand that
that is delivering value so value over
time is sustainable people will pay for
that now imagine that you could create
things that delivered that same kind of
value and this was our edict at Quest
that delivered the same neurochemical
value that junk food delivered but we
made the demand that it could also
deliver metabolic advantages so could
you do both and we thought the answer is
yes it's not going to be easy but it's
going to be possible and so that was
what we bet the farm on that you could
do both at the same time so as people
begin to like the company neurovance
that we're still flirting with and God
bless those guys are being very patient
with me while I really look at the
company to make sure that they're real
um but if neurovance is real what is
it's doing is stimulating the vestibular
nerve which is just a fancy way of
saying that it makes your body think
that it's moving and if they're right
and they're hypothesis is that if you
can convince your body that it's moving
that you can get it to upregulate
metabolism so it will burn fat and it
will help you put on lean muscle mass
because that is the body's natural
response to being highly active and the
example they give is a cheetah right a
cheetah just doesn't get fat like you
can feed it all day and the cheetah's
body is just like this is not an
effective strategy for being really fast
and catching something so let's keep the
fat off let's upregulate our metabolism
let's keep the lean muscle mass like
look at a pit bull right feed it
whatever you want it gets muscular as
hell like that's just what it's
programmed to do so their hypothesis is
the human body has the same thing but
what it does to track whether it needs
to upregulate that or whether because
remember humans are adaptive so we
change better than most animals so we
can change to being sedentary or we can
change to being highly active and if
we're sedentary it's not a problem to
put on fat because you may be about to
hibernate and that's why you're slowing
down because it's getting cold you're
going to hibernate so slow down store
fat don't have to worry about lean
muscle mass do need the adapost tissue
in order to tap into that when you go
into you know the winter months or
whatever so that's why the human can be
on the plains of the Savannah or they
can be you know in the Arctic Circle
because we can change so that's our
whole hypothesis so here you have people
that are making something that could be
very beneficial and they'll make a lot
of money in the process so there there
are these things and I think there are
going to be waves of companies that
recognize that the most potent way in a
highly social highly connected world to
build a lasting business that makes a
lot of money so that you can continue to
invest in R&D and do amazing things for
the world do amazing things for yourself
is to deliver value that sustains over
time so that people are like whoa these
guys are looking out for me right so I
think that's the next wave of companies
I think that's what people should be
doing and I think as consumers that's
those are the companies that we should
be rewarding are people that are making
our lives better so I think that we can
do both that's how I balance them is
just making the demand that our business
by its very nature is what people would
traditionally think is being
philanthropic but we hold ourselves to a
very painful standard which is I'm going
to let the market decide if we're
delivering enough value so I'm not going
to go you know out to the world with my
handout and fund raise by telling people
all the good things that I'm doing I'm
going to say I'm just going to let the
market tell me directly if I'm
delivering enough value they'll continue
to pay for my service my product and if
I'm not delivering enough value we go
out of business or we change I could
keep talking about this forever I will
stop now but that's my Approach all
right I'm very passionate about it lest
you hadn't noticed Ina in case you
didn't see that um so just as a reminder
to everyone we're still running our
giveaway um so it's a three-month
audible subscription if you post on your
Facebook about impact Theory tagging Tom
Bilu and impact the Theory and sharing
with everyone what your favorite episode
of impact theory has been thus far and
send us a screenshot to connect at
impact theory.com can't wait to see what
apps they choose in the comments I know
I'm excited that's always my favorite
part finding out what people resonate
with very cool yeah um so this one comes
from Chris Berry my boy Chris Berry what
is up homie so he says I see a bunch of
info about creating passive income
online lately I see with new technology
and Outsourcing this is a new
possibility what is your take on
creating passive income streams a is it
a legitimate path to wealth or pipe
dreams and snake oil total pipe dreams
and snake oil it is absolutely [ __ ]
so if you want to say that Quest was
passive income because it made me money
while I slept and if that's your
definition of passive income awesome but
I'd like to show you the video Yeah
waking hours yeah let me show you the
video of my wife and I like on Christmas
Eve all alone in a freezing [ __ ]
Warehouse house um grinding it out
making test batches of bars or the time
at you know 2: a.m. on a Friday night um
when the machines broke down and I was
having to figure out how to fix a heat
coupling which I didn't even know what
the hell that was um or the time where U
my wife and I were on our way to a club
and she is like discoed out like she
looked good and we are about to pull out
of the driveway and I get a phone call
that um somebody had been hurt at the
facility and so we had to scrap our
plans and go and make sure they were
okay and um I mean that's if that's
passive income then sure passive income
is possible but you know at the end of
the day you have to deliver value and if
it were that easy to deliver value and
let me tell you all the passive income
stuff is is to teach the next person how
to have passive income and so it's the
people that can essentially trick you
into buying their course on how to get
somebody else to buy their course how to
get somebody else to buy their course
and it really is like a Ponzi scheme and
dude like here's what I really encourage
people to do the most beautiful thing
you will ever do in your life is tap
into something that makes you feel alive
that makes you feel like you're helping
people that not makes you feel like
where you are actually helping people
live a better life and that you've
created something that they needed and
wanted that they're willing to pay for
that they're willing to pay for over
time that your customers are writing to
you saying you've really made their life
better like you're fully engaged and so
rather than think about passive income
think about passionate
income oh nice
that just happened right here oh my
goodness I was like was he was he
holding that up his sleeve this whole
time no that's like we got to switch it
up yeah switch that
narrative I love there it is think about
that passionate income it's a t-shirt
that's what screaming tshir it's a
t-shirt coming soon to the impact Theory
store if you haven't checked it out
already exactly that one shirt that we
got that at we have more stuff we'll
have more stuff not to worry oh we also
have our um official Facebook community
group up for you guys so just type into
the search bar impact Theory league and
join now boom yes okay so we have
another question from Chris Barry but
this time it's for me my man um so he
says that he's noticed between my story
and Jessica oh Matthew's story um that
Nigerian culture is one which they were
raised um to produ were raised to be
empowered motivated High achieving
attitude and strong belief in themselves
so he wants to know what the key
differences I see um between the culture
I was raised in and the culture of other
black women in the US wow so this one is
a very complicated
question and I definitely do not claim
to know the answer to this one but in my
experience I feel part of it is the fact
that for the entirety of my life I very
much knew my history
so like I knew where my parents were
raised like I knew that they came from
somewhere they were working towards
something the reason they came here was
to give me a better life and then also
for my parents like living in the US
their history here started in 1990 so
you know they didn't have you know
Generations from before who' come here
as um captive slaves and so a lot of
that just kind of I feel
like through the civil rights movement
and all the different movements that
have created a better life um my family
definitely benefits from that just
coming interesting you know so it's like
you're starting a little bit at a higher
playing field and then not only that
most immigrants who come to the US are a
little bit more educated because you
know they have come in through like
student visas working visas all that
kind of stuff so you know it wasn't like
we were at a disadvantage in terms of
having some of the access to education
and learning and the thing is learning
is definitely something that's very very
praised and covered in my household and
most of my friends households
so I feel like a lot of that creates
this very complicated mixing of you know
what it means to be black in America
it's a very Like You Know Rich tapestry
from you know immigrants to people who
have been here for generations and their
families still haven't been able to
accumulate wealth just because you know
there are different systems that were
created and put in place to make sure
that they couldn't go to school or they
couldn't do this and so hearing that a
lot of that narrative gets passed down
right and so for me my narrative has
always been like well if I come here and
I work hard like I can do it too um but
it's I feel like it creates a little bit
um of a difficulty if your experience
and the experience of the people before
you they didn't necessarily see that so
they can't necessarily teach you what it
looks like on the other side because my
parents have both seen a lot of wealth
but they've also seen a country that was
war torn um because they both grew up
during the bafan war so they were
migrants well at least my mom's family
moved around a lot before settling um in
their Village and so I feel like you
know it creates a different sense of
self for me um and yeah so I'm sorry
hopefully that was a helpful answer
hella deep but um that's kind of
something yeah like I I wish I had like
more research and things to back it up
um cuz I'm still kind of early in that
learning process um yeah dude thank you
for that that's really fascinating
you've seen 13th right yeah I've seen
13th I was weeping the whole time I got
super emotional at the end yeah it's
yeah cuz again those are a lot of the
systems that like carry over and and
once you enter one of those systems it
makes it really hard for you to get out
for me like watching that really brought
home the power of context like like you
were saying Your family only has history
as of 1990 for me it's like I only start
becoming sort of cognizant of the world
let's say around 121 13 so it's
essentially for me exactly the same I
don't have a sense of all the things
that lead up to when as a kid you really
start to become aware of the world
and Dan Carlin gave me that same sense
like his whole thing with Hardcore
History is giving you the context so
like don't just learn about Luther right
who was the guy behind the Lutheran
religion like put him in context what
was going on at the time why was it a
big deal why was he able to essentially
be a heretic without getting burned at
the stake and he covers that and how
that was the case for him where so many
other people were literally killed um
for beliefs like his uh just really
really fascinating so 13th is a document
ENT essentially about the US prison
system definitely watch it and whoa like
the context of why some of the
legislation gets put in place the way
that it does and it's it's fascinating I
won't turn this into a political thing
but just watch it super powerin watch
also check out the new Jim Crow because
that was kind of one of the foundational
yeah one of the women that or the woman
that wrote that is one of the women that
they interview in the documentary
Michelle Alexander wow it's really cool
crazy all right so this next question
comes from Daniel seer Pico Tom thanks
for doing this live Q&A no problem
pleasure um I started a real estate
agency almost a year ago in Hong Kong
and I have a lot of clients which means
I'm working 24/7 I love what I do but I
find that I'm able to work 24/7 very
intensely with virtually no time off for
about 2 months straight at which point
my energy starts to dwindle and I feel
like I need to take a break but I
struggle with that do you take breaks
from work as um did you take breaks from
work as you were building building Quest
um okay so now let's get into that gray
area so the answer is there were were
probably two years at Quest where it was
maybe three where it was like no I
didn't take time off and I remember
being in London at Christmas time and on
my phone I had an app that let me watch
the production line and I would
literally watch the production line and
I had the ability to speak over a
megaphone to the facility um from my
phone so that I could you know watch and
say hey guys like Lane number four or
whatever is starting to Bunch up you
need to do this and that to fix it um
and so I was super all in but I would do
that for as little period of time as you
can like to me um I I work super hard
and Monday through Friday if I'm awake
I'm working out or working and that's
just the way that it is but like I make
sure that I take downtime on the weekend
I make sure that I take time to
literally just straight cuddle with my
wife and um I think of it as literally
turning off my ambition so there are are
times where I will turn off my ambition
and I will just and I I carve it out
because I get the feeling of being
feeling guilty it's why I can't read
fiction I have tried to read fiction so
many times when I'm not on vacation I
just can't do it because I feel like I
could be learning I could be learning
and there's this voice in my head that's
like you could be moving forward now
because I love reading non-fiction
that's not like a hard thing CU I get
moments of pure joy from Reading
non-fiction so it's not like I'm reading
you know manuals or I'm reading Fiction
it's like I'm either reading fiction or
a non fiction book that I also would
love um but by carving out time and
saying this is my time to just play
which I think is really important for
creativity I think it'll be better at
your job if you carve out time to just
play and have fun um but for me to not
feel guilty it really helped me to say
these are the times that I can play
right so like this morning man you want
to know how much working out I did this
morning Zippo uh it's my birthday my
temptress of a wife was like how about
we just hang out out how about I make
you breakfast and we just chill together
in the morning it's your birthday and I
actually said I don't know that my
identity will let me and then I was like
wait a second birthday right so I was
like nope this is this is how people get
themselves in trouble where you take
what's really a smart strategy of being
like hardcore head down and you take it
into an abusive place and so I was like
yeah it is my birthday it's once a year
I think I'll be all right um and so you
know we chilled and it was such a nice
morning so yeah yeah I think you know
going back to that no one to be binary
and no one to be gray Like This falls
into that gray period of you've got to
carve some time out for yourself and and
really enjoy it I don't think 247 is
sustainable for anybody um but just for
me delineating it is important yeah and
if if it helps you definitely put it
into a calendar or something because
like that definitely helps me sometimes
where it's just like this is like the
hour or two that you're definitely
taking to just be with cind doing
nothing and enjoying yourself so I would
I would also suggest that if you find
that you can't find those like moments
you can find 15 minutes even if it
starts at 15 and like you can up it and
see how it goes and figure out what you
need you might not take a full-blown
vacation but right yeah and then the
other thing and I mean it's it sounds
like you're really self-aware you love
what you do but you know that you'll
start to burn out at some point just
bright lines you know bright
lines work here don't work here smart
all right so this next one comes from
Domingo gono Mattel say what I know say
that name again uh Domingo gono
Matel how do we how do we have this many
people with awesome names like this so
surreal I love it wow and hopefully I'm
saying it right but I mean that's like
you could mispronounce that and it still
be cool so yeah all all right so his
question is is it smart for an artist to
get a business partner so he can focus
on his
art wow so here just my general stance
in that is um you can do so much more as
a part of a team than you can as I just
heard this I wrote this down yesterday
so uh it goes if you want to move fast
move alone if you want to go far be a
part of a group that's the gist right uh
I think that's amazing I think that that
really speaks to the truth of something
now choosing your partner is like
choosing a wife or a husband um you need
to choose very very carefully and
selection is the most important part of
that whole thing if you get a partner
and you end up in a toxic relationship
there's very very little worse um so you
know yeah be a part of a team that's my
end statement but whether it's a
straight partner whether it's an
employee whether it's a minority partner
like those are things that you need to
work out but getting a team around you
is the only way in my opinion and I
either cold or allergies are really
kicking in here so I apologize oh no oh
no all right so this next question comes
from Dale Flink as a new business owner
there are so many groups and pages that
offer a free way to funnel traffic to
your company however I feel they have
good intentions but at the same time 90%
seem like garbage am I wrong wrong for
not marketing and branding my new
business through them I want to do
things I want to do things correctly and
I know advertising and branding is key
it just seems um the market is
oversaturated with funnels and it's
confusing what would you do yeah so
here's the great news I can tell you
exactly what I would do because we are
doing it so I'm all about value ad and
somebody that's sending you traffic
almost certainly the way that they've
been a to agregate most of that traffic
is through Bots but if you find somebody
and their Community is legit it's very
interactive and that's the key part look
how engaged their Community is if you
find somebody that has a really engaged
community that makes a lot of sense like
let's say that did he say what his
business is
um no let's pretend it's real estate for
a second because the previous guy was
talking about real estate so if you find
somebody that has a community built
around real estate they're very engaged
they're offering a lot of thoughtful
commentary that the community is helping
each other and not just the influencer
and that guy is like hey I really like
what you're doing and think that we can
either um do a trade or hey I do offer
companies that I really because we do
like on Instagram we'll do shoutouts
right some of them are free and some of
them are paid and we go to people that
we think have a really um empowering
community that they're putting out great
content that their Community is engaged
and we say feature us right and that's
it it's nice and simple it's going to be
my words it's really me um but the way
that I get on that account is by you
know buying a bundle a certain number of
features and that's been a really really
effective strategy for us but we're very
careful about who we do that with they
have to be real they have to be offering
real value um to their followers and so
I think being wary is very very smart
but I think strategically finding people
that are adding value and um either just
paying for services or creating a
partnership is is a winning strategy so
it's going to come down to your ability
to accurately assess who's real and
who's selling snake oil and there's just
no way around that you have to get good
at that
how did the expression snake oil come
from because people actually sold oil
from snakes saying that like this will
cure everything oh so it's like from the
wild west days basically okay anyway so
um this one comes from Anthony uh foto
what is the most valuable digital
marketing strategy you're currently
employing wow that might actually be a
question for um agent Smith agent Smith
um agent Smith what would you say is our
most effective digital strategy and why
don't you come stand behind me so people
can see you cuz it it ends up beinging
Corner yeah this really long awkward
silence on our end uh and yeah welcome
to the feed digital strategy yeah so if
you just over my shoulder to this mic
they got to hear you all right everyone
um so by the way for those who don't
know Jared is our director of marketing
yes um so our business is a little bit
interesting in that we're not selling a
product right now we are strictly dist
except for that t-shirt
t-shirt uh we are strictly Distributing
content so our goal is to get our
content to as many people as possible
and the most effective channels for that
have been Facebook um Distributing our
clips of our main show impact Theory as
well as clips of Tom talking some of
those have gone viral um getting those
into the hands of Partners uh partner
Pages who want to share that type of
content so it's all about building that
network of distribution and finding
people who have similar audiences and
then giving them valuable content to
share that's what's what's been working
for us um the other thing has been so
we've been doing that and then also
working with other content creators and
influencers on YouTube and doing some of
that and getting some of our content
into they're incorporating it into their
content which is then feeding people
over to um our channels and our Pages
give an example of that yeah so one you
can go to Absolute motivation nov shout
out to nov he's a great guy friend of
the friend of the program here um he
created a motivational video that was
the audio narration was from Tom and um
Tom created that exclusive piece for him
and then he put the visuals to it um it
drove a ton of traffic to his page so it
was great benefit for him but it also
exposed Tom and impact Theory to his
audience so that's been really helpful
um but like I said we are atypical as a
business right now um some other people
I know have been having a lot of success
with Facebook ads um driving people to
their products or their services or
their websites so yeah boom it is
awesome answer yeah the thing to really
think about there is that we're creating
value ad content like we don't we're not
looking for the shortest path or the
easiest path we definitely look for bang
for buck but like my thing is um I will
create an avalanche of content for
people so like last night man you just
got to put in the work last night I had
to I re-recorded the book review by the
way cuz I was not happy the first take
um so you know I did the the first book
review like at 7 at night or something
like that and then I I was just not
happy with it and so I asked my
long-suffering wife if um she would stay
up late with me and redo it again and so
we redid it again and I thought this is
this is why we're going to win because
everyone in this team is willing to go
the extra mile to put in extra effort to
create something that actually is
valuable to people and I could have
gotten away with it I could have
released a book review that I wasn't
happy with and and it probably wouldn't
have had a big impact on the brand but
at the end of the day like I feel an
obligation to really bring value to
people's lives and that whenever
somebody watches something it is because
that has my stamp of approval um so
holding yourself to that standard
putting in the work to really create
something that's value ad that's the key
there's just no two ways about it oh for
sure also that's already available on
the podcast and will be coming out on
YouTube shortly in you want to check out
hit makers hit makers
oh yeah and uh for an Anthony that's
actually going to be a very useful book
in terms of digital marketing correct uh
like is it a little applicable there
there a little bit there a little bit
there are better books for that for sure
and I'll have to think about what those
are that are sort of like right now
really effective maybe we'll we'll
create like a curated list you know we
should do more book list like on
specific top the topics because I feel
like between you me and Jared we might
yeah Marketing in particular you want to
pay more attention probably to podcast
because you really want stuff in the
last 90 days digital markang fast like
high level stuff for books definitely
like terms all that but for up to the
moment definitely a lot of podcast
articles yeah check out Ryan holidays
trust me I'm lying that'll give you a
framework to understand the game of
digital marketing like that was a little
distressing for me when I read that book
but there like a a a positive side to it
as well um but that really gave me a
fundamental understanding of the way the
world works and then beyond that I would
dive into podcasts and stuff Gary ve is
crushing it there's a reason we
partnered with Vayner Talent um I think
those guys are just at the at the
Forefront of their game and then um mad
shout out to our boy Lewis um law of
ambition check out law of ambition um he
does he does work for people so if I'm
guessing if you ping him there that's
probably the best way but like that guy
is super sharp so if you're looking for
somebody um he really understands
Instagram really understands social
content um if you're looking for
somebody to help in that world he's
great got a lot of great advice I'd love
to see him start publishing a blog or
something to really tell people what
he's up to CU every time we sit down
with him I'm like this dude really gets
the game um so yeah law of ambition
check that out awesome all right so our
final question comes from jumaine Sabian
Cabrera oh yeah I know what you mean
when it comes to diet and self-control
what do you do in moments of weakness
and are dying to eat those Peanut M&M's
oh God I love this question so much this
is so self serving um I oh I'm going to
be honest I'm going to keep it real okay
keep it real I don't have moments of
weakness I used to but I don't anymore I
I so love being tempted because I know I
won't give in I've worked so so hard in
my identity over the last 15 years as it
revolves around food um I don't get
tempted I use bright lines so it is very
simple there are a certain number of
calories that I'm going to eat for the
day period that is it if I am starving
to death so be it thems is just the
breaks so yep there are things that I
eat there are things that I don't eat
that is predetermined ahead of time um
today is my birthday I'm going to have
me some pizza what Pizza Guys
Pizza um so but was you know it's
predetermined you make that decision and
then you go in I'm going to love that
pizza I'm I'm going to eat the life out
of that pizza 24 hours in the Grande of
things exact Mundo so and then the rest
of the time it's boom boom boom like I
know what I'm going to do and what I'm
not going to do and and that's it so um
love Temptation know that you're not
going to give in as it's a master class
I'll admit you don't start there you
don't start by having delicious smelling
bread but like now when somebody makes
like a bagel and it's like toasted and
they put like cinnamon and butter on oh
God like I just want to go I did that
around Christmas time and you did
actually hover near like my bagel oh
fors I I love it for two reasons one it
gives me that neurochemical Cascade of
just deliciousness and then the other is
I can be around it and strengthen my
grit my discipline by like how do you
practice that stuff by being around it
and then not eating it like that's how
you do it um there was another day where
we were shooting that day and my wife
thought that I needed my food at 11:00
but I didn't need it till 11: 30 and so
she brought it to me a half an hour
early and I let it just sit next to me
and it smelled so good and I was so
hungry and I let it just sit next to me
and I didn't eat it and I thought this
is how you gets stronger like it seems
stupid but making your food 10 minutes
before you're going to allow yourself to
eat it and then you push it to 15 and
then to 20 and then to 30 and then all
of a sudden it's like yeah I can fight
through the Temptation the bright line
is where the bright line is I don't eat
at 11:27 I eat at 11:30 like that's it
and so people used to think I was crazy
but it's like that's how you get that
discipline bright
lines excellent that's I feel like
that's an excellent way for us to wrap
things up right um just as a reminder
we're still running our giveaway um for
the 3 month subscription to a audible so
all you have to do is share your
favorite impact Theory episode on
Facebook tag Tom Bilu and impact Theory
and send us a screenshot to connect
impact theory.com and as a reminder we
also have our new community group open
now it's called the impact Theory League
boom and we already have something like
260 members something so I'm really
excited about that guys it's it's been
my big initiative and push um and so I'm
just excited that we're in week one and
it's going to grow we're definitely
going to come up with a lot of fun
things for you guys to do nice that's
awesome all right guys thank you so much
for joining us for this episode of
Facebook live Q&A with Cindy and I I
loveing these saying thank you guys so
much for taking the time to submit your
questions the ones that we didn't get to
we will start the next episode with so
feel free to drop some more stuff into
the comments and if you haven't already
my friends be sure to subscribe this is
a weekly show and until next time my
friends be legendary there it is peace
out