Kind: captions
Language: en
straight album all right hey everybody
welcome to another episode of Facebook
live Q&A as Cindy is over there
discussing somewhat with herself about
her musical habits uh but we appreciate
being invited into that conversation and
to Cindy's Aunt we are making a promise
that we are going to get a theme song
recorded for Cindy and hopefully sung
Live While purched on your chair uh so
big UPS to your aunt if you can make it
happen all right hey everybody so we're
super excited to have you guys here
today yesterday was an amazing day for
everybody here at impact Theory
unfortunately we can't give very many
details uh but just know that it was a
red letter day I was certainly in an
amazing mood it was incredible uh you're
never going to hear me say the words put
things out into the universe but I will
say tell things to people because you
will be shocked what you can make happen
when you start telling people what
you're trying to accomplish uh and then
as long long as you're willing to back
it up with a massive massive crushing
bias towards action uh you'll be
surprised what you can pull off so
yesterday we moved the ball forward that
is uh very very exciting and hopefully
it will come to fruition one day you
never know lines in the water as Michael
Strahan says but yesterday we um we we
put some serious lines in the water uh
with some pretty exciting bait so we'll
see what comes with it but yeah red
letter day super exciting stuff yes all
right so hopefully we've got some
questions to kick us off let's get deep
let's go fast so we have a few left over
from last session um this one's from IG
from risk happppy what's the most
generous thing someone has ever done for
you my mom and my dad raised me and I
think anybody uh that had a reasonable
upbringing if that isn't your answer
then you're probably just not thinking
through the problem uh and that's funny
because I've actually never thought
through that before I've never had
somebody ask me that question but that
is the immediate answer um the fact that
they give so much of themselves to
ensure uh that you make it into
adulthood and honestly I am not sure how
children survive uh childhood I think
that kids take an absurd amount of risks
and do just really really dumb stuff
routinely they don't have a prefrontal
cortex fully developed uh so the fact
that parents have to constantly chase
you watch you feed you clothe you buy
things for you make sure you get
educated uh point you in the right
direction all that good stuff um
incredibly incredibly generous I don't
think anything even comes close to that
I don't think so either like it's crazy
yep um and then this one comes from
shanz also from Instagram on an episode
of IQ Tony um you and Tony were able to
discuss the benefits of aligning your
happiness to consistent measurable
progress so in short happiness equals
progress H have you been able to find a
lot of success with that in your life
yeah that that was a a real breakthrough
for me um coming from Tony robbins's
notion that one of the most fundamental
building blocks of human happiness is
progress and that's when I really began
to think about Mastery and gaining
Mastery and and how um the pursuit of
Mastery really is so fundamental to
human happiness and and I think it was
Ed DC who we had on inside Quest who
talked a lot about um how humans are an
active species and that became something
that I thought a lot about and and when
people really put their finger on
something that is fundamental and really
foundational to The Human Experience and
that's what I'm really responding to in
the power of myth I'm rereading it now M
um you know something like 17 or 18
years after I read it uh for the first
time and it it really is looking at it
through the framework of finding those
fundamental foundational things and that
really was Joseph Campbell's life work
is what are the elemental is what he
calls it what are the elemental beliefs
that we have that really span cultures
that just seem truly fundamental to The
Human Experience in way that we're wired
and um being an active species going in
assessing area and then trying to gain
Mastery or hold dominion over it I think
is something really fundamental and will
help people really understand something
about themselves about why we have drive
uh in general like why we want to go in
and get good why we want to master
things and that uh because it's so
fundamental when you tap into that
acknowledge that and act in accordance
with it I think you really can find
lasting fulfillment it isn't momentary
happiness because a lot of times gaining
Mastery is very painful it's it's grit
right it's um holding interest in
something over the long period of time
pushing through when gets boring um and
and you know having enough interest in
that that you just keep going keep going
um but that that framework happiness of
becoming something I think is the only
thing that really is lasting and equals
fulfillment makes sense yeah all right
so let's kick it off with our first
giveaway so be sure to share this um
Facebook live and you'll be entered to
win a copy of grit nice and yeah we were
just mentioning that so and Angela
Duckworth is somebody we have to get on
the show if I could Channel my inner
whitef Angela I know you're watching
this uh if you could I love when he does
that know uh Angela if you could just
hit us up we're trying to schedule that
bad boy it would be amazing to have you
on the show um just utterly utterly
astonished by your book and your
research and and think it's amazing and
would love for you to share that with
our audience um I think it's incredibly
powerful and she has such a great story
too which I really love um are you
referencing her dad in
that so what do you mean cuz when I
think about her story I think about her
dad which is pretty interesting that's
how she opens the book I mean like I do
remember that part from the the book but
I also just like resonated with the idea
of like kind of quitting this like super
high-powered like prestigious job to
like go do something that like you truly
love and in that she like had the
fortitude to just like keep going and
then like she dove into like her
research and just like really answer
during that calling so like that kind of
like resonated a lot with me um and yeah
I feel like such a space I like don't
remember the part no no you're all over
it and I think that well the dad thing
maybe was minor but for some reason
really resonated with me and and she
said growing up that her dad used to say
to her all the time you're no
genius and I don't think he really
understood like what kind of impact that
would have on her which obviously was
pretty profoundly negative and she had
to claw her way out of that and then
ultimately wins the MacArthur genius
Grant and so becomes incredibly ironic
that this this thing that really stuck
with her from her childhood was how
often her father used to tell her that
she wasn't a genius that she would
actually go on to be acknowledged uh
pretty profoundly as a genius uh is is
funny U but what you're talking about is
also amazing and you know she had a
high-powered career at McKenzie for
those that haven't followed her story um
high-powered uh consultant at Mackenzie
which is like something that if you're
going to be in the Consulting game like
that's what you aspire to like if you
can get to Mackenzie it's a jumping off
point for the rest of your career and
she left that to be a middle school
teacher in the uh New York City public
school system which dear Lord I can only
imagine and she realized that that was
way harder than what she'd been doing at
Mackenzie and that you know basically
gained this profound respect for
teachers and how much effort they really
have to put into things um which is you
know going back to people who' have been
incredibly generous my teachers you know
that's another really big one that just
it's an inhuman amount of work yeah
that's so true and they don't get
thanked off enough cuz I think about
like some of the teachers that I should
probably reach out to and thank for like
putting me on like different pads and
stuff and like just know I love you guys
yeah no that's awesome but yeah okay so
this next one comes from Sarah o and she
says one of the biggest things that I'm
really loving about impact theory is
seeing you Tom be more authentically you
your personality shines through and I
love it I find myself always hesitating
to be vulnerable like that even though
though I really really want to be can
you comment on this yeah definitely so
um
vulnerability is is that leap of faith
that you take right and so for me being
vulnerable came from the belief that
over a long enough time period I can do
anything I set my mind to and once I
really believed that I didn't need
validation externally and once you no
longer crave that validation from other
people then you just start being
yourself because you're not looking for
other people to reflect back your sense
of selfworth because have it internally
and for me that was just recognizing a
truth about human nature which is
understanding myelination understanding
how the brain acquires skills
understanding neuroplasticity
understanding that that is The Human
Condition is is growth adaptation change
um but it comes from the result of
massive effort and once I understood
that the gap between me and people that
I admired or that had really
accomplished a lot wasn't some innate
gift it was a willingness to work it was
a willingness to apply yourself to
something and you know in in a lot of
cases it was a willingness to tap into
their pain and if you look at somebody
like Elon Musk he was running away from
something in the beginning I literally
fled his family life and it's not
something he talks a lot about and so I
certainly do not pretend to be an expert
but when I look at um some of the things
that have shown up in biographies on him
and and he's talked at least a little
bit about himself is it seems like he
had a pretty difficult uh childhood his
mom has vouched for the fact that he was
bullied by other kids and that he had a
very difficult relationship with his
father and I think things like that give
people something to prove and I was just
writing something in fact for you uh
today about that one of the Instagram or
Facebook posts that we were working on
um you know I talk about being uh
motivated by Beauty and rage and equal
measure and and what that means and it
means things like that that that seeing
that all these internal things that you
have can actually be really powerful and
the truth is that I have anger about
things and I have frustrations and
they're actually an amazing source of
energy and as long as you don't become a
servant to them as long as you're in
control and and understand that it's a
source of energy and that you can
leverage that energy to ride a wave
towards your goals um that it can be
very very powerful and so just all of
that coalescing around this notion that
at the end of the day what is separating
me uh from where I want to get is a
level of energy and just persistence
over time um I didn't need to please
anybody else I just got that about
myself and and knew that I was willing
to put in the work to get there and so
that allows me to just be crazy
vulnerable because I'm not looking for
anything valid so like what would be the
first step in cultivating something like
that it so for me it was learning about
the brain and and and I really want that
to be one of the things that impact
Theory offers the world is just an
understanding of there are just basic
things at work here there's nothing
special and um something I really want
to start reinforcing is what magic is
like magic as in I'm going to go see um
you know a magician perform on stage
Chris Angel being My Magician of choice
oh what's up Chris um what people don't
recognize is he's the result of such an
absurd amount of effort time energy that
you're more willing to believe that he
defies the laws of physics than you are
to believe that he works as hard as he
actually does and that's what I love
about being a human is once you
understand that that's the only game
that you're up against that the greatest
mathematicians of all time are the ones
that spent the most time thinking about
it you know when I think about um my boy
over in the UK Who's name for what
reason I'm blanking on right now um
Stephen Hawking wow that he credits many
of the breakthroughs that he's had to
being robbed of his physical body and in
being robbed of that all he had left was
time to think and um because of that
there were no other distractions there
was know going out to the pub and
getting pissed as the Brits say you know
there was there was just work there was
just thinking and so he's he's gone so
deep and and while clearly he's a
prodigious um Talent from an
intelligence perspective that isn't why
he's been successful and and that's what
I really want people to understand that
may be why he's in the field of physics
uh but it isn't why he was successful
and why he's successful is because he's
done the Deep work of really
contemplating thinking about this stuff
and going inside his own mental
laboratory and thinking his way through
these problems and um one thing that's
sort of become fascinating to me about
the photos that you choose and for those
of you who don't know Cindy essentially
chooses all the photography that we use
um so all the images that you see on
Facebook Instagram she's picked that
stuff and so I've begun to really ask
what why are you picking some of the
photos you're picking because from a
vanity perspective I think they're
atrocious and I'm like oh god um but you
often pick ones where I'm in deep work
and I find that really interesting so
there's clearly something that you
respond to and seeing me in like lost in
what I'm thinking about which is
probably why I'm so horrified by how
they look because I have no sense of
what my face looks like I'm just in that
moment um and doing that deep work to me
that that's the game yeah which is kind
of the hard part about expressing like
the physicality of like the mental
transformation is that like often when
people are like thinking or like Lost in
Space they're doing a lot in the
background but it kind of looks like
you're zoning out but it's kind of
trying to like capture those moments and
making sure that like people really see
what's kind of behind the eyes right I
dig it yeah IG question IG question a
question from IG exercise for bringing
more gratitude into my life so the
question is is there an 8020 exercise
for bringing more gratitude into your
life so I'm not sure I fully understand
the question so let's break it down so
the 8020 rule assuming that's what this
is referencing is that 80% of your
results come from 20% of your efforts um
same is true if you have a client-based
business 80% of your Revenue typically
comes from 20% of your clients 80% of
your asset comes from 20% of your
clients I mean that that's the 8020 rule
um in a nutshell so is there an 8020
rule for
gratitude um I would just be making it
up those two things are not an any way
shape or form associated in my mind uh
but gratitude itself as a an act is
incredibly important because you get
what you focus on right so if you're
focusing on gratitude then you're going
to feel more that wonderful feeling of
having something wonderful in your life
and if you focus on the negativity then
you're going to have that will be the
stew that you sit in all the time and
and they're both true right there are
negative things in your life there are
positive things in your life but you're
going to feel from a chemical standpoint
you're going to wire in your brain um
for the one that you spend the most time
focusing on so if I had to like twist it
into an 8020 thing I would say you
definitely want to spend at least 80% of
your time focusing on things that make
you feel good so like um the the rage
and Beauty thing um I try to spend the
vast majority of my time contemplating
and obsessing in over the beautiful
things in my life I don't obsess over
the negative things but when the
negative energy arises I ride that wave
um so but I do say an equal measure so
it' be a bit of a cheat to to force it
into the 8020 but in truth from a what I
obsess over standpoint what I try to
myelinate uh I try to myelinate the
positivity for sure cool all right
hopefully that helped answer your
question um this next one is from
Facebook from John Smith so listening to
Simon and some of our other guests
they've um believe that service is very
important what other services um do you
take part in besides making the
show meaning like giving back kind of
thing yeah like acts of service I guess
so well one I I really hope that inside
Quest wow I really hope that what we're
doing not only at inside Quest but what
we're doing here now at impact theory is
is totally about empowering other people
and helping other people and you know
that's obviously a big reason why we
don't charge for anything that we're
doing um but right now honestly the the
vast majority of my focus is this and
the X prise and at The X prize um it
it's really about funding the things
that are going to be the game-changing
future endeavors and and they span so
many things it's hard to put in a
nutshell but Safe Drinking Water um
they're working on an Avatar EX prise
right now which would allow people to
essentially be a doctor in a remote
Village you know somewhere in Africa or
what but actually have like a doctor
here in the US do that they're working
on the tri quarter X prise which would
allow somebody with a mobile phone to
diagnose an illness better than a group
of board certified doctors uh the
education ex prise which would
essentially allow you to hand an iPad to
somebody and they would be able to self-
te them um s reading so through that
there's a lot of stuff but um I'm
thinking and engaging at the higher
level of being on the board of the
exerprise so those are those are the two
really big things um but for me like my
whole life is about that like everything
that we're doing right now um is is
geared towards helping people with no
ask in return true and so this next one
comes from Dean on Facebook um do you
use the carrot or stick um method to
hold yourself accountable or do you have
a personal account accountability
partner well my wife is my personal
accountability partner there's no
question about that and you know that
woman is um just unbeliev able in her
ability to keep me focused and uh keep
me pushing towards the things that we're
trying to accomplish and we talk a lot
about that stuff um so yeah that that's
uh from an accountability person
standpoint but then I also just obsess
over my goals I know what they are I go
over them as a part of my morning
routine I go over my execution plan as a
part of my morning routine so every day
I'm really really focusing on exactly
what I'm trying to accomplish at like a
really high level a long-term level um
you know I'm thinking 10 20 years out
about what we're trying to accomplish I
have goals that I think will take us 50
years to accomplish um but it all comes
down to the Tactical today like all you
have right the present is the only thing
that exists the moment right now uh
there is no real future it's just a a
series of Nows so if you're not boiling
everything down to the highly tactical
what am I going to do today uh you're
you're always going to it's just going
to drift off into the future and it goes
back to that book that I read called
Einstein's dreams where there's two
types of people if you live forever type
one never does anything so there's
always time to do it tomorrow and type
two does everything right now because
they know that there's actually time to
do everything that they've always wanted
to do um and I fall into that camp so
it's about that daily action action
action action I question all right it's
from King jce 247 he wants to know he's
first of all he's um stumbled across
Insight Quest and impact Theory and has
been locked into our weekly episodes but
he really wants to know what are the
tips on using all this knowledge rather
than just consuming
it you want to Reas the question so so
everybody here so um King King jce King
Jace wants to know awesome Name by the
way he wants to know um what what is
what are the best tips for using all of
the knowledge that are from the episodes
so I impact Theory no just not consuming
but actually implementing each and every
nugget yeah so that's really going to
come down to what your goals are so
every everything everything everything
in your life has to work backwards from
the goal so that's why it's really hard
we're actually working on some new
content and I'd love leave in the
comments what you guys think about this
um we're working on a new show called
startup Theory where we're actually
going to walk through the highly
tactical um things you need to do to
start a business and the thing that's
difficult for me um is that if I don't
know what your business is the only
thing I can do is give you really high
level advice okay here are the things
that apply to everything but that's
really um a very small percentage of the
ultimate thing
excuse me that are going to apply to
everything so it really comes down to
what is your business that will
determine the the highly tactical stuff
so without knowing your goals it becomes
very difficult to tell you precisely
what to do but here are some things that
are completely Universal if you are not
researching the brain right now today
you are holding yourself back if you are
not learning to control your emotions
you are holding yourself back if you're
not learning to be um
influential with other human beings
you're holding yourself back so the
Tactical of that and and people often
ask me like what am I trying to be the
best in the world at and I usually say I
want to influence people but the truth
is what I want to do is I want to be the
best in the world at understanding um
and and really controlling the human
mind so and I mean that inwardly right
pointed inside myself and so to me that
is the most profoundly Universal thing
you could ever do is is self-development
and getting more powerful now how do we
Define power power to me is the ability
to close your eyes and envision a World
open your eyes and execute against that
to actually bring that world into being
so those are the things that I think
that people should be doing um you
should be reading every day um you
should be acting on the things that you
read so um for instance I read a book
called The Power of myth uh the first
time I read it again was I said earlier
I think I said 16 or 17 years but it
must have been less than that cuz I read
it um after my wife and I were together
so we've been together 16 years so it's
somewhere around the 15 year mark
something like that um that I read that
book yeah so Jesus nobody cares it was
roughly that
so weird get tripped up in that might
someone might cuz like everybody latches
on to different details yeah and the
thing I'm always worried about is
someone's going to be like hey you once
said it was 17 years and then later I
say it's
15 so it's in that ballpark a very long
time ago uh and you know that book
really changed my life and and from that
moment I have been trying to act upon it
so the first thing that I did from
reading the power of myth was I
ritualistically scarred myself from my
wedding I've talked about that and I'm
sure I'll talk about that more that was
very important to me and has had a
lasting impact on my relationship with
my wife uh because it reminded me that
I'm a different person the day before I
got married and the day after uh
literally I'm a different person and so
that is important and then the other
thing is impact theory is me finally
making good on all the lessons that I
learned because that book showed me that
there are just these Universal myths
that speak to who people are internally
so when I began to really formulate what
the I don't think a lot about Legacy but
what this the living Legacy
I want to be of my actions like what
Grand thing I'm trying to do to change
the world for the better um is to end
mental generational poverty right so I
need a better word for that cuz people
think I'm talking about money and I'm
very much not but there's a a Poverty of
mindset of people who believe that
they're limited that they can't do all
the things that they want to do that
they don't have a perspective that is
encouraging that pushes them forward
that talks about the ability to change
the brain change your skill set develop
yourself grow and be capable of
executing against that um so because
that's what I want to accomplish um or
sorry because that's what I learned from
the book The Power of myth that
mythology is one of the most potent
tools that as a as a you know a species
that we have um and we're not tapping
into it anymore and so I see that
largely as my calling is to show people
how to use the everpresent stories
around us that we tell ourselves that
other people tell us that are caught up
in popular culture that drive so much of
the um marketing dollars that drive the
things that we spend money on in fact in
2016 the fastest growing company in
America was a company called Loot Crate
and what they do is um they celebrate
geek and comic culture and so they sell
all these things whether it's t-shirts
uh whether it's figurines or whatever um
that are from mythology and whether
that's mythology is comic books TV shows
movies but it's all mythology it's all
these elements of Mythology
and I want to show people how to use
that to really really powerful effect in
their lives so um yeah that's that's
coming back to you've got to be
executing against the things that you
learn and so when you really step back
and look at my life my life really is me
doing all the things that I tell other
people to do like I'm I am I read in a
book something that so profoundly
impacted me that I knew I had to act
against it at all times like meaning uh
execute against it um at all times and
and so literally so many of the steps
that I'm taking um whether it be as a
personal development thing or or even
the trajectory of this company has to do
with enacting the things that I read so
um always be reading always be executing
like those are the things you should be
doing on a daily
basis two building blocks all right so
this one comes from Brian Kim on
Facebook what's your advice on
communicating with your business partner
everything's good just um yeah
everything's good just that we often
have different different opinions on
product line what can I do to be more
vocal about my opinions without
disrespecting my partner's ideas Yeah
man so this is like Partnerships and
business are like marriages and so one
thing people really really really have
to understand is There's No One path to
heaven so there are I'm sure a lot of
different things that would work to move
you guys forward and you have to get
really good at removing your ego from it
being your idea that gets selected and
you want to be focused on understanding
what your goal is right so having very
clear goals is like my Mantra like
you've got to know what you're trying to
accomplish and then work your way
backwards from that and being able to
identify which of your guys' ideas is
more likely to push you towards that and
then there's the yin and yang of being
in a relationship of understanding that
sometimes they have to win sometimes you
have to win um just to if nothing else
to try your idea and see if it works and
a lot of times it's hard to tell which
idea is going to move you forward um and
you guys probably need to just come up
with some sort of stated thing that you
talk about that's that Balancing Act and
even if it's as simple as win and doubt
and you really aren't sure which is
going to move you towards your goals um
that you go back and forth last time we
went with your idea this time we're
going to go with my idea um but really
making sure that you guys have those
conversations and that you come up with
Rules of Engagement and actually
defining your Rules of Engagement
stating them writing them down is super
super helpful um and writing down your
value system because your value system
is maybe the ultimate fil
um and at Quest the first thing you
would see when you walked in were the 25
bullet points of the quest belief system
so doing things like that so that people
can really internalize like what that
system is so that you know um you know
what idea to go with when those are all
really really critical but like in a
relationship communicate baby you got to
communicate got to Define terms got to
Define Rules of Engagement that's smart
that makes a lot of sense so this one
comes from Chris on Facebook have you um
continued to practice mental jiu-jitsu
if so could you teach us or put into a
video sometime some of the specific
moves that you use
so um most of the mental Jiu-Jitsu that
I play is on myself um it's for instance
if something really upsets you learning
how to ride that wave without becoming a
servant to it um is is really important
understanding how to master your
emotions is super critical um and yeah I
would be very happy to break that stuff
down and um put it into maybe a more
consumable more sharable
form I question from shanzi 319 what is
your micro Behavior routine to break out
of fear or a hesitation pattern um
example Mel's 5c rule for jumping
getting a jump start on your day or
having gym clothes staring at you in the
morning so Mel's 5-second rule may be
just far far superior for a beginner um
than anything that I do so in in doing
what we're doing now at impact Theory
and doing the show I'm realizing that
man I wish I had encountered some of
these people so much earlier in my
journey because I could have learned
things a lot more easily than I did um
the one that just makes me want to bite
my own eyes out is Carol dck when we
finally had her on the show um I I was
just I mean stoked because it exists and
it's out in the world and her book is so
amazing but God if I had read that book
back when I was like 21 I could have
saved myself I I would be so much
farther ahead now I just can't begin to
tell you how much farther ahead I would
be in my life I can't focus on that
because um but just super super powerful
the same with grit uh if that had come
along a lot earlier and maybe Mel's
thing would have helped me a lot cuz
there was a time um before Lisa and I
got married but we were living in London
and I just really really struggled to
get out of bed and um yeah it was a
super weird time in my life and I wasn't
um I just just and the weird thing is I
it would be untrue to say I wasn't
motivated like I was motivated but I
didn't yeah there's just something that
like keeps you there yeah I wasn't able
to throw myself out of bed so maybe
maybe Mel's 54321 would have really
helped me um what I have done and my
strategy um has always been identity
identity identity identity who do you
want to be and how would that idealized
version of yourself act and then act in
accordance with that so you can tell
yourself the story that you are that
person and that's so intoxicating to me
to say like I am the person that does
this like every time we get onto this
topic I see the Michael Jordan Flu Game
and I see myself as I'm I'm [ __ ]
Michael Jordan with the flu and I will
play through it and I will put on an
amazing performance and because I so
aspire to that when I get sick I show up
because I want to tell myself that story
so if when I got sick I like was like
guys like stay home don't come like I'm
not doing anything like I can't I would
look at that with shame right so and
that's another reason like impact theory
is all about we're ultimately going to
be creating not only creating modern
mythology that I think is going to be
really empowering for people but
creating artifacts that you can have
that you can surround yourself with that
reinforce that identity in you um
because when I see that it reminds me of
who I'm trying to become yeah that's
super awesome that's my strategy yeah
Jordan flu is like super legit so legit
all right so this one comes from Jay on
Facebook hey Tom so I'm currently in a
job that's convenient for my family
lifestyle which I respect and I enjoy
this week my boss has dropped a
bombshell and I have a meeting in a few
hours where our conversation is going to
be about my future as the com at the
company um since it's going to Res
restructure I'm not ready to leave the
Matrix just yet I need to keep this job
to pay the bills while I work out what
I'm going to do next and I still feel
like I have something to offer the
company what can I do now all right man
this is amazing I love this question all
right so here is the reality
so if you really want to stay there then
you've got to make them believe that
that is the best thing for them and
you've got to lay out exactly the value
that you're going to be bringing to the
company and why that company is going to
do better be more with you than it will
be without you and here's the really
[ __ ] hard news if you fail to do that
that's on you not
them we all letting that sink in okay
everything's your fault so if you
haven't made them a believer in your
performance up till now that's on you
which is awesome because it means that
you're in control and if you can't
convince them in the room fantastic
that's on you that's amazing you're
still in control and because you're in
control if you feel that you are lacking
skills skills of persuasion skills of
performance whatever it is you can now
go develop those now I'm a huge believer
in change and I think no matter what
happens if they fire you if it's
horrible if it's heartbreaking that you
can leverage that to go kick ass and
make no mistake the reason that that
will feel so shitty is that you've got
to be pushed man you've got to be fired
out of a cannon to go do something but
you've got to leverage that you've got
to leverage their lack of belief in you
or your lack of performance if you
really look at yourself and say I didn't
perform the way that I should have you
need to leverage that to have the energy
to get your ass the [ __ ] out of the
Matrix to realize it is all about skill
acquisition plain and simple that you
can acquire any skill that you want and
it's about grit and determination over a
long period of time and you need to set
your sights on something and say I am
going to take care of my family I am
going to find a way to pay this mortgage
I am not going to miss a beat I am not
going to let my emotions slow me down
and that has been something that's
worked for me because of what my
identity demands of myself like I don't
miss a [ __ ] beat when something bad
happens like I don't have time for that
[ __ ] and you guys have been there enough
when some serious [ __ ] is shaking down
you've seen how I [ __ ] deal with that
and let me tell you man my eyes are
forward I am only thinking about what's
to come I am only thinking about what I
have to to do I am only thinking about
who I am and who I'm trying to become
and that is [ __ ] it I do not waste a
second of my time pissing and moaning
about what went wrong I don't beat
myself up over not having performed I am
only focused on moving forward that is
it and you can't let negativity into
your like sense of self you cannot do
that [ __ ] and that's something I need
people to understand when I say that I'm
motivated by rage and Beauty I'm not
saying rage towards myself I'm not
saying I'm beating myself up I do not
let anything [ __ ] with my sense of self
or my confidence so somebody could kick
me in the teeth tell me I'm a total
[ __ ] [ __ ] that I have
underperformed I'm just a bad person I'm
shitty whatever dude I'm coming hard
like I'm moving forward I believe in
myself I know that I can do like and it
focus on execution that's it I'm just
focused on execution so if today does
not go the way that you think you wanted
to you immediately have to say this is
awesome how is this the best thing
that's ever happened to me ah because
now it's going to force me out of the
Matrix fantastic I needed to get out for
a long time I am now out it's all about
execution I'm going to learn about
interviewing right cuz you're going to
have to crush it to get your next job
I'm going to research like what's a
killer resume like what do I have to do
to go in and just blow people away and
you'll get so good at that so fast
because you have that terrifying Spectre
of I'm not going to let my family down
and that's what I'm talking about the
negativity like let that [ __ ] fuel you
to go out and do something amazing
you've got to you've got to let that
[ __ ] energy and that fear become
something
usable absolutely I could keep going for
like 30 minutes on that
[ __ ] yes Jared my man aent Smith [ __ ]
pulling us out of the Matrix so because
we know that audiences turn over rapidly
what's up everybody Welcome to our
Facebook live and our Instagram live uh
we are answering your questions we want
to know what you guys want to know we're
going to answer them um we were just was
[ __ ] in a Zone on that one uh because
we had a um an impac vist yeah yeah
right impac I hate the word like fan
that's nasty so we we had an impactist
who's going through something hard right
now they may be um losing their job
today and we're reminding them that you
control your own life you control your
own destiny uh nobody else so if you get
fired you got to own it um and then you
got to be focused on execution getting
better figuring out what you need to do
next everything working backwards from
your goals all right next weekly and we
have a weekly show thank you A Smith
this is a weekly show so be sure to
subscribe yeah absolutely all
right Tom how do you manage your time
schedule with work Show Business family
yep so Tom how do you manage your
schedule so here's what I want everybody
to um I want you to obsessively repeat
this to yourself I am drowning in time I
am grounding in time so if you feel like
you don't have a lot of time it is
because you are mismanaging your time
you are in control of your time so what
I do um first of all I go to bed at 9:00
p.m. like that [ __ ] is a religion so
that I'm not wasting time because I find
at the end of your day no matter when
your day ends at the end of your day you
are least productive I promise you it is
the way fatigue works and if you're not
tired then you shouldn't be going to bed
so you go to bed because you're tired
and as you fatigue you're getting less
and less effective at doing what you do
I have a rule Monday through Friday I
[ __ ] work if I'm awake I'm either
working out or working period so from
the moment I get out of bed I head
straight to the gym we all know my
morning routine I won't beat it to death
here I do my morning routine which I
consider work because it's all about
optimizing my performance for the day uh
I go through my list of the most
important things to do I move them all
forward um I make sure that the team is
is going that we're doing all the things
that we need to do pushing the business
forward figuring out what are our
objectives all that stuff push push push
and then on the weekends um I make sure
that I take down time to recharge that I
take time to spend with my wife to
reconnect um and yeah and then beyond
that I probably work roughly eight hours
a day on the weekends which for me is
like super [ __ ] light um and I make
sure that I do um things that are fun as
[ __ ] so but then I also try to find
things that I can learn like um I can't
remember if I actually wrote the article
what I've learned about business by
playing firstperson Shooters I've shot
thought about it some of the about it I
feel like I have but uh I'm not entirely
sure no I haven't Jared is is assuring
me no he's been telling me about this
article for a long time and it's still
not here um but so I really enjoy video
games but I make the demand that I
leverage that to also learn something so
um one I play video games with my wife
and my sister which is amazing so it's
family quality time and then on top of
that whenever ever I'm doing anything
I'm always trying to extract some
knowledge about human behavior as to why
do I like playing this so I've learned a
lot about gamification by playing video
games um I use it to practice practicing
so hey I suck at sniper rifles let's say
so how do I get good at that it may seem
silly but it's funny how that stuff ends
up applying to other things so I'm
trying to optimize everything that I do
I have to walk the dogs for instance um
so while I walk the dogs I read and I've
learned to take audio notes so that
while I'm walking them my body may be
physically doing something but my mind
is so most of the books that that you
see me do the reviews not only did I
read the book while walking the dogs I
probably wrote the vast majority of the
book review while walking the dogs so
it's what I call transitional moments
you need to be optimizing your
transitional moments if you're not
taking Uber man when I take an Uber it's
a mobile office so yesterday I had um a
dinner meeting and on the way to the
dinner meeting I'm working so it's you
know Finding ways to ring all that all
those little moments out of your life
and here's the thing you got to love
what you're doing on some level if you
hate your job then think about leveling
up right so at least find something
within it skill acquisition um learning
to have greater influence facing your
fears like find some way to connect with
something that really excites you and
then you have pull through right you
can't always just be going away from
something there has to be something
pulling you through like most people I
think spend their lives just moving away
from being broke and failing their
family right and that for sure that's
there and that that's super powerful but
at the same time what's pulling you like
what's that thing that's really exciting
that you can get amped up about and
looking into gamification and
understanding that stuff and what does
leveling up look like in real life um
those are all things like and when I
find employees that are like that that
[ __ ] is so cool to be around because
they're intrinsically motivated and I
love that and that's why the people that
moved um with us from Quest over to
impact Theory it was all people that
were self-motivated all people that had
that intrinsic drive so man when you're
around people like that it's just
[ __ ] dope because they're they're not
only moving away from hey I don't want
to fail my family or embarrass myself in
front of my parents or my loved ones or
fail my kids or whatever but there's
something that they're excited about
that pulls them through so find that
absolutely and so this next question
comes from Anna on Facebook so she's an
actress and she also owns a theater
company um so she's an entrepreneur and
I often find it hard to apply the hints
that you give um with our guests and
stuff for through arts and acting so how
the Art Market works and the consumers
um art or education sorry it's like
scrolling
through well can I already call [ __ ]
yeah so it's like how does she apply it
in the Art Space yeah so um keep in mind
that essentially half of impact theory
is Art right we're playing in the game
of Mythology we're playing the game of
um fundamental sort of human drivers
which really is what art Taps into and
here's what people have to understand
about art there's two types of art type
one is masturbation type two is making
love and in masturbation you don't have
to think about anybody else you do
whatever the hell you want but I promise
you it's an audience of one so when you
get into making love the difference is
you're thinking about the other person
and in the game of art whether it's
theater whether it's TV whether it's
film making you've got to be thinking
about creating an experience for your
audience and you've got to be thinking
about what do I need to do change learn
about my theater about the business of
running the theater about the business
of dealing with actors and directors and
prop Masters and getting the best out of
them in order to achieve the result that
I want which presumably is to get large
audiences to come and be touched and
moved and changed hopefully in some way
by your artistic expression but when
it's it's making love like you have to
be thinking about the audience you have
to think about what is exciting for them
what moves them so it is a business and
to me any business is making love and
you cannot afford masturbation and any
of that you cannot afford to just be
thinking about what you find interesting
you've got to be thinking about them so
I think everything that I say applies to
that and the the irony for me is I know
other people look at us and say you guys
are incubating companies and content
like they couldn't be more different
they are exactly the same they are
exactly the same and that's why I have
just as much success getting business
people excited about what we're doing as
I have content creators getting excited
about what we're doing and while I can't
tell you exactly who we've been meeting
with I will tell you this it is one of
the largest content creation um Studios
on the [ __ ] planet and we're talking
to them about how we might be able to
help them and and explaining to them our
whole take on mythology and all of that
which has gotten them very excited about
what um some possibilities are and
whether I'm in that meeting or I'm in a
meeting with the medical device company
that we're working with it it's all the
same it's about understanding the
audience and getting them to take action
and be changed by what you do so there
there are definitely differences of the
nitty-gritty execution of a medical
device company has different concerns
than um a theater but at the end of the
day you're dealing with people and your
customers are people and understanding
those people what drives them what
motivates them um that's what getting
Business Heavy is maybe the only only
thing that sort of outside that realm is
finance um because there are just
realities to be faced of understanding
cash flow and understanding a p&l and
all that stuff for sure for sure and it
is a bit of a different world um but
even that is the same it's just yeah
100% cash flow is cash flow no matter
whether you're manufacturing or you're a
studio or a theater um so yeah find ways
congrats to Mike Gordon he won a book
off of Tom's reading
list get to go on and choose nice nice
nice M Gord congratulations man may it
change your life the way that it changed
me and may you take as much action as I
force myself to take sweet all right so
this next one is from John um so Tom are
there certain things that you do before
bed to get yourself um to make sure that
you have a good night's sleep no nope
that's
easy I close my eyes I'm so tired by the
end of the day like it's like if you're
running a race if in the last half mile
you have energy to spare you just
haven't worked hard enough MH that thems
is the truth um so I guess that's a
little bit of a lie the one thing I do I
stop drinking um any liquid about um
what is it about 4 hours before I go to
bed yeah about four hours before I go to
bed cuz otherwise I wake up in the
middle of the night to pee and I can't
fall back asleep because my mind starts
racing got it but that's it that's so
interesting Water Management huh yeah um
so next questions next questions so Tom
can you talk a little bit more about the
dark side from the Tim Grover
interview yeah oh and this one comes
from David what's up David so uh I love
Tim like have you guys read Relentless
like that book is like do you guys
remember the the ice bath challenge the
ALS um that's that's his book like it is
a slap in the face it is he reaches
through the pages grabs you by the
throat and says you're not working hard
enough simple as you want to know why
you're not great because you don't work
hard enough period you don't want it
badly enough um and hey fine so be it I
don't I don't even think Tim cares like
whether you want it or not like but the
people that he's seen that accomplish
the Michael Jordans the Kobe Bryants the
Dwayne Wades like the people that he's
worked with that are going to be
remembered that are going to be hall of
fame or already are are Hall of Fame
players like those guys they just want
it more than you and they work way more
than you they work way more than the
other Uber Elite athletes in their field
they just work and work Kobe Bryant used
to work like s hours before practice
began think about that for a second
before practice began he was working 7
hours that's crazy so and and I say
crazy as in that's crazy inspiring to me
like that is
amazing but and I love that don't you
guys love that like don't you want that
to be true don't you want the only thing
standing between you and Kobe Bryant is
that he works harder than you because
it's the one thing that you can control
right I can't control my height my
height is what my height is although you
have to know something about me in my
head right now I'm saying I could figure
it out if I really wanted to right but
that I think that's what how you have to
think yeah I choose not to put the eort