what’s up everybody welcome to another
YouTube hangout I’m excited to be here
with a new friend his name is Tom bill
you you may have seen a top 10 that we
did on him not too long ago this guy
built a billion-dollar business called
quest nutrition if you haven’t seen that
before I highly recommend checking out
their cookies and cream energy bar or
protein bar I love that one and more
recently he stepped away from that to
create content to help entrepreneurs
he’s got an awesome YouTube channel just
off his name Tom bill you will we’ll put
it up in the description you guys can
check it out Tom welcome aboard man
thank you for having me dude I’m very
happy to be here so I’m curious about
the journey you know for me personally
as well because I love mashing together
content from different entrepreneurs and
and I think we’re both aligned and we’re
trying to help entrepreneurs change the
planet and I think I first stumbled
across your interviews when you had the
other channel and you were doing English
with other people and then maybe about a
year ago or so I could have the timing
off but you started sharing more of your
own stuff your own thoughts your own
comments and I’m just curious like where
do you want it where do you want to take
this like what’s the big vision for this
next stage in your career you build this
business you sold it
now you’re all in on helping
entrepreneurs what’s the next thing for
you like where do you want to take this
so I’m trying to build a studio so our
goal is to build a studio that rivals
Disney so the reason that we want to do
that and the reason that is so tied to
entrepreneurs for me is that I believe
the thing that stops people from really
achieving something great in their life
has very little to do with anything
other than mindset so it doesn’t matter
if you grew up wealthy doesn’t matter if
you grew up or what matters is if you
grew up with a mindset that sets you up
for growth which ultimately is the thing
that leads to success and I’ve worked in
the inner cities a lot in my career and
you come across these just really
amazing people that you know have a
chance to go and do something incredible
but because their mindset doesn’t allow
them to see themselves like that they
have a fixed mindset they don’t believe
that they can acquire new skills they
don’t think that they can do something
without funding so it’s like this world
where the very way that they frame
life is so limiting that they don’t go
on to do something because of that so to
me the way that people really assimilate
a new belief system is through media and
I’m talking traditional narrative
content so whether that’s a book a TV
show a movie a video game whatever like
those narratives going back to Joseph
Campbell and the power of myth and the
hero’s journey and all that and just
that humans are meaning making machines
that convey that meaning through story
so that’s why we’re there but you know
it’s a really cool time right now where
you can do content like this which is
really explanatory and marry that to
narrative and really show people how to
extract the meaning I love that I love
the idea of having a studio that rivals
Disney what is the content you’re gonna
make is it gonna be entrepreneurial all
those are gonna be movies like what
we’re what tell me more with the studio
I’m excited yeah so if you think of
Disney as having done something back in
the 1930s by the way that’s never been
replicated which is they every piece of
content that Disney makes feeds into the
brand ethos so if I say to you I’m gonna
go see a Warner Brothers movie or a Sony
movie or a Paramount movie you don’t
know anything about it but if I say I’m
gonna go see a Disney movie I don’t have
to say anything else and you already
know something about it and having the
discipline to tell one kind of story
that speaks exactly to your worldview
then gives the brand the credibility and
the mind share quite frankly to launch a
film or a TV show or whatever just on
the back of the brand so that’s what we
want to do also and so if you think of
Disney is the most magical place on
earth we want to be the most empowering
place on earth so we want to give people
the belief system the mindset to go on
and do whatever they want whether that
start a company and be you know the best
parents ever to be entrepreneurially
minded not everybody is gonna want to
start their own company but this stuff
to me applies no matter what it is
you’re trying to do if you want to be
great there are just certain principles
that apply and I think that we can bake
that into every story that we tell and
give it to people in an emotional way
that they can really resonate with and
take on board I love it you know I think
I think you are what you consistently do
and I think people get a high off of
going to one event or one seminar
reading one book and then they put that
book down and they come back from the
seminar and then it’s gone in the back
to their old life and it yes it’s a
decision to make a change but also the
positive and consistent reinforcement
whether it’s watching videos reading the
book and I mean it’s something that I
try to do on my channel too with daily
content and your your are you at the
alia your almost daily you have like how
often you pumpkin up videos yeah I think
we’re we put out content five or six
days a week we’re about to double the
amount of content that we’re putting out
we’ve started a new channel now that’s
all media focused so if you go to my
youtube channel for slash Tom bill you
you’re gonna get it’s all mindset all
the time I may occasionally reference
something that has to do with the studio
but it’s all hardcore mindset if you go
to forward slash impact Theory Studios
we just launched it you’re gonna get
stuff that is entirely like mindset in
movies so the the movies is a stand-in
for you know could be a comic book it
could be a TV show but it’s media
properties that really have those
nuggets of wisdom buried within them and
so the matrix to me is is the perfect
example of this so we’re gonna be doing
a lot of content that’s around things
like that so between those two entities
the pure mindset play and then the media
infused mindset stuff will definitely be
seven days a week I love it I love it
guys we got Tom you you on if you have
questions leave it in the live chat and
we’ll get to them there’s really a whole
bunch coming in first up Lily is asking
question for Tom what’s your view on
taking 100% responsibility for your life
yeah I’m a psychopath for this and this
is really the thing that has become most
controversial and it’s one of those I’m
actually a little surprised this is
controversial yeah but here’s the story
that I tell so my wife is British let’s
say that she was at home in London
sleeping in the bedroom that she grew up
in her mom is there the doors are locked
the alarm is on she is safe and sound
and right at that moment a meteorite
come screaming through the atmosphere
crashes into her bedroom and kills her
fault is that now if you don’t know me
and you’re not trying to guess at what I
think the answer is most people are
gonna say it’s dumb luck it’s nobody’s
fault divine providence force majeure
like whatever you want to think of it as
it just is what it is now that’s not how
I view the world I believe that that’s
entirely my fault now the reason I think
that is I know right now there’s an
organization that track what are called
near-earth objects they are trying to
find some way to knock things off course
if they’re on a collision course with
earth so whether that ends up being a
laser or a planted nuclear explosion
like whatever it is they’re actually
trying to do this now I know that they
exist I’ve never called them to give
them encouraging words I’ve never sent
them an email with ideas I’ve never sent
a dime of my money now I think that’s a
wise choice because I think the
likelihood of my wife being killed by a
meteorite is vanishingly slim but if it
ends up happening I’m not gonna fool
myself and say there was nothing I could
have done now the reason that I think
that is not I’m not saying it’s my fault
so I can feel bad it’s not about guilt
or shame I don’t think people should
waste time with guilt and shame I’m just
saying it to remind myself that I’m in
control now I love that example because
it’s so extreme and so many people are
gonna say I’m like that’s crazy what’s
this guy doing but my responsibility for
my life all the way out to a meteor
right you can imagine how I feel about
anything in your day-to-day life
business whatever you’ve got it on it
because it keeps you in a position of
power you have to understand the
fundamental truth of this life you can
always make a different decision which
will lead to a different outcome that’s
interesting I mean I agree with you a
hundred percent ownership extreme
ownership super important mortal I
wonder if they’re trying to get people
to agree with you or change their
mindset and they have years of
conditioning around you know all the
opposite beliefs there’s gonna be a good
chunk of people who’ll say Tom that’s
crazy
yep that’s that’s too extreme like you
know your wife getting hit by meteor is
not your fault and then I wonder I
wonder like do they hear the message
because I know you’re going to extreme
to cause the controversy on purpose and
like that’s the craziest thing that we
can maybe come up with
but I wonder I wonder how do we get
people like for those people who would
just automatically will disregard the
message how can we bring those people
along is I mean on as part of your
mission now is to Empire empower
millions and billions of people what do
you think about the people who may think
that’s too extreme and then they
discount the entire thing I the honest
answer to that is you don’t attack it
you can’t go on a full frontal assault
with that I’m not trying to convince
people I’m not an apostle I’m a
filtering mechanism so I tell people
those stories to find who gets it who
resonates with that awesome I’m not
gonna spend my time trying to convince
now the studio on the other hand the the
only way that I know truthfully to get
people to assimilate disruptive
information something that forces them
to radically overhaul their worldview a
is for most people it’s a generational
question so you make some progress with
the parent the parent teaches their kid
a different lesson their kid then gets
their own not only a better starting
point but then assimilates more
information teaches their kid better and
so this goes on and on and on and has a
tremendous knock-on effect and I don’t
think anybody argues that culture
changes over time so the question is can
we steer the direction that it goes so
the only way for the person who rejects
this the only way to get them to really
internalize that is to tell a story
about somebody that they care about that
they have an emotional connection to and
that person in the story has to learn
the truth of that lesson and they have
to see that by learning it they’re able
to make their life better
so the I’ll give a quick example from
the matrix it’s just a story I get that
I don’t actually think we’re living in
the matrix I just think it’s a perfect
metaphor for limiting beliefs and the
way that when if you I mean it’s it was
a Henry Ford like if you whether you
think you can or you can’t you’re right
like that that is the truth of the human
condition if you don’t think you can
you’re never gonna take the first step
to gain the skills to actually be able
to do it so in the movie the matrix he
does the jump right and everybody’s like
oh my gosh is he gonna make it and
they’re like nobody makes it the first
time and of course he tries to do this
impossible jump and he falls because he
doesn’t believe that he can do it and
then later in the movie gets to the
point where he just does
sides he’s going to believe that it can
happen and then once he decides to
believe that it can happen he can do it
now that’s the movie version the
real-life version is you walk into any
situation you don’t need to believe that
you’re capable so for instance with
quest I didn’t have to believe I was
capable of being a protein bar
manufacturer I patently wasn’t but what
I had to believe was that I could learn
it and because I did I dude I believed
that to the core of my being but I could
figure it out and so I didn’t hesitate I
took every step I just kept saying yes
did we buy the equipment yes we do
even though that was terrifying even
though that was an all-in moment it you
just keep doing these all in moments
believing about yourself having chosen
to believe that I can figure it out
now once people adopt that mentality
then they’ll understand why I say figure
out how to stop a meteor right from
crashing into Earth so I’m not gonna
like that’s so empowering to me and they
hear a crazy story because they think oh
my god I would feel so bad like I can’t
take on the ownership of all those
things because it would crush my
self-esteem but my self-esteem is built
around being a learner it’s not built
around being smart or knowing something
right now like to be fully candid I’m
not that impressed with Who I am today
but I’m really excited by who I could
become and I’m very proud of my
willingness to take the steps when it
matches my goal I love it I love belief
you know it’s on for the back of nice
and it’s it’s my one word yeah it’s just
it’s really interesting this is struggle
that I face too you know I want
entrepreneurs to believe in themselves I
want them to do the big thing I want
them even just to take like the next
tiny step to get that thing out of their
head and put it into action you know my
approach has been more just by
consistently repeating the message I’m
gonna I’m gonna hand hold you across the
street as opposed to going to the
extreme of saying like you need to
believe that you can build the
billion-dollar company where a lot of
people will say well that’s impossible
like let’s start by believing you can do
you know you get your first client and
buy like consistent exposure to a
positive message which I think comes out
in Disney too right like it’s always
is always a lesson is always a moral to
the story you’re always learning
something that’s kind of family friendly
and I think a lot of your stuff comes
out the positive vibes like just hanging
around you by watching your snaps or by
watching your videos can help boost
somebody’s confidence and so I’m just
I’m just playing with that ideas you
talk about like that extreme example I
think that works for some and I think
what out the other stuff you’re doing
really helps just build up the daily
pattern as well yeah look some of this I
think is you’re the average of the five
people you spend the most time with not
go spend time with one person right so
there are people that are gonna respond
to my way of thinking there’s people
that are gonna respond to the way that
you think and a myriad of other people
and what’s cool about the social age is
you’re so consistent in your content
like I really feel like I know who you
are and I feel like if I met you and we
just hung out and had dinner that I’d be
like yeah you’re exactly the dude that I
see on camera right so the the truth of
what I’ve had to do to my mentality to
stop being lazy to stop being afraid to
stop being paralyzed by anxiety like a
lot of what I’ve done is force myself so
far in the other direction and it has
been so incredibly empowering right so
that’s my experience so I don’t have
like anything else out of my mouth just
wouldn’t be true to what I did so I
think it’s it is incredibly awesome that
people take a different paths that
you’re so like emotionally prepared to
walk people you know from here to here
to here and like that and that doesn’t
excite me like the thought of
hand-holding people and really like
doing baby steps and stuff in fact one
of the things that I burn into my
nervous system is I don’t do baby steps
I’m I want to think like I’ll back into
the incremental things that I need to do
but from day one like when we launched
impact Theory from day one this was
meant to be a studio bigger than Disney
now for most people that’s just like
it’s so big like why start with that
right just start with get the first
comic book out or sell the first
screenplay and those are steps those are
things that we have to do but for me I
need the excitement of the grand vision
I love it I
guys keep the questions coming next up
we have Kevin question for Tom how do
you inspire others to want to change ie
or follow you to change yes interesting
I don’t so I am a filtering mechanism I
am I put myself out I’m aggressively
myself this is the way that I think and
then there there are some people that
love it and there are some people that
hate it and the great news about social
is most people for the most but this has
really been my experience and I didn’t
expect it to be but for the most part
people that don’t resonate they don’t
waste time trying to heckle me or tell
me that I’m stupid they just move on and
they go find somebody that sees the
world the way that they do and then the
people that resonate they stick around
and they help each other out which is
the thing that I love so that the
community becomes people that have self
selected to be a part of this community
so like I I’m big on energy I’m big on
enthusiasm I’m a very excitable guy some
people like that’s so fatiguing to them
to even watch me that they’re not gonna
stick around other people are like holy
hell like this guy makes me want to jump
out of bed and so it becomes like a
really neat community so to put a fine
point on it I I’m not thinking oh I want
to go out and inspire people to want
something that’s still one part run like
if you don’t want it I’m probably not
your guy because I’m gonna seem crazy
yeah and I think it’s not just what you
say it’s the actions it’s a consistency
it’s what you do by hanging around like
if this person wants to go and change
somebody’s life it doesn’t just mean one
conversation that person’s life this
change by them hanging around you
they’re gonna get better they’re gonna
grow they’ll see your positivity and
anything that it bleeds in I think
walking in any room feeling like this
room is better because I’m here like my
city is better because I’m here and that
I’m a radiative force for good for
wherever I am I think it’s really
important so I think what you know
people may be turned off by your message
the first time but they may hear it
again and then let me hear it again and
they see another interview or another
video or another snap and then it’s like
huh I’m like Tom you know he kind of
bugged me at first but it’s it’s kind of
secret it wasn’t for me right like I
love your stuff all
the way through but like for people who
may not like you at the start by by
consistently hearing you and like you
say one thing that happens to hit them
is like ah like I wrote that guy off but
that really stuck with me let me give
him a second chance and because you
created so much consistent content right
it doesn’t have to only happen in one
moment where you’re trying to inspire
people it’s there on their journey and
if you’re consistently exposing them to
ideas and energy it can help make the
impact that you’re looking for it no
question
Monica’s writing in hey guys Tom what’s
your opinion on positive thinking versus
being realistic yeah I I am a huge
believer in positive thinking and the
reason is that I don’t believe we’re
very good at being objective so yours
whatever five times more likely to
believe negative feedback than you are
to believe positive feedback like when I
heard that’s that I was like okay well I
really cannot trust what my mind
obsessively thinks about because it is
not necessarily the most advantageous
thing to think about and also using
again the matrix as a metaphor like
think about this for a second your brain
is encased in total darkness
it never encounters light at least not
if all goes well
never encounters light hearing sense of
touch all of it is it gets turned into
electrochemical impulses that your brain
then interprets and creates this
construct that you see around you it is
your brains best guess at what is there
but it isn’t objectively real like for
instance there’s a blind spot and each
of your eyes about the size of a dime
and we don’t experience it that’s where
the optic nerve actually connects to the
eyeball and the brain just fills in like
that this is what I think is there and
it creates this seamless experience but
while your brain has the best of
intentions it is lying to you and so
once I realize my brain is making half
of this stuff up so now if that’s true
I’m gonna choose what to believe so I’m
gonna use positive thinking I’m gonna
believe positive things I’m gonna
believe in my potential I’m not gonna
focus on limitations are they there sure
but like it doesn’t do me any good to
focus on that so what am i my mantras is
you could do anything you set your mind
to without limitation that’s a lie
but it’s an empowering lie and we do and
believe that which moves us towards our
goals so
like I get it saying that I don’t have
limitations is total BS but it’s
effective at getting me to take action
to believe that I can learn and that has
served me just incredibly well so for
somebody who’s facing those blocks
because I mean we both have them in our
audiences I think as most people who
want to crush the limiting beliefs is
the answer then just consume content on
a regular basis that makes you feel
inspired and alive like what you’re
doing with the studio and your channel
like what advice you have for somebody
who is battling their limiting beliefs
and they haven’t consistently been able
to break through them yes oh there’s
only one thing you have to internalize
and you don’t even need to believe it
about yourself just believe it about the
species so humans are the ultimate
adaptation machine that is what allowed
us to become the apex predator so if you
look at our when I decoded the human
genome they thought we’re gonna figure
everything out now and they realize we
only have 20,000 genes like how’s that
possible there are certain types of
onions that have 40,000 so like are we
really to believe that an onion is more
complicated than the human like it just
didn’t make sense
and then what they’ve been discarding
for years is quote unquote junk DNA they
realize is really epigenetic signaling
so based on your environment based on
the stressors that you put yourself
under the human animal will adapt
tremendously and I’m talking
physiologically as well as mentally and
emotionally so there was a woman that
swam the Bering Strait which is if I’m
not mistaken the bit that is between
Russia and Alaska so this is like the
coldest water you can imagine she swam
in just a wetsuit and for a year she
exposed herself to the cold which
allowed her body to adapt so that she
could actually survive the kind of cold
that would normally send people into
hypothermia and then they would just die
so I’m is absolutely incredible the
lengths to which we will go
physiologically to change we have the
same level of adaptive ability mentally
think about getting good at dancing
think about getting good at writing
getting good at anything right we can
just get good at marketing like any
skill that you apply yourself to with
enough discipline time energy you’re
going to be able to get great at that
thing and so now if you just believe
that that is the thing that makes the
human species great then the only thing
you need to do beyond that it is not
watch content and I’m saying that as a
content creator the only thing you need
to do is act because it’s an engagement
it’s through the actions it’s through
trying something that you’re going to
learn so rapidly that it’ll be
ridiculous so once you can embrace that
okay I’m gonna try something it might
not work and it might not be an utter
failure it may just be like a little
clunky
you’re gonna refine you’re gonna get
better if it’s a catastrophic failure
it’s still gonna teach you something if
you can keep your mind in a positive
place where you can say not like I’m an
idiot for letting this fail but rather
go okay I’m a learning machine what am I
going to learn from this if people can
keep their mindset they’re in a
solution-oriented place they’ll learn
and on a long enough timeline they’re
gonna get great and so that that’s like
the next part of the question like how
do you keep that mindset consistent
because they’re watching this like man
Tom he’s dropping some knowledge this is
crazy you know and they’re off and
they’re gonna act like today I’m gonna
act and then they wake up tomorrow and
they’re not gonna act anymore or the
next week or their friend tells them
that’s a stupid idea and so they shut
down how do you get that consistency so
that like it’s it’s important you’re
going to suck in the beginning
eventually keep out you’ll be great it’s
the story of every successful person
ever but the discipline to create the
consistency they get people get their
mind blown in an interview or seminar
and and this isn’t something just we
deal with like Tony Robbins people go to
a Tony Robbins event and their minds
blown and some people fall off the wagon
the next day or the next week of the
next month I don’t know that we have the
perfect answer but I appreciate the
dialogue I’m trying to figure out I love
the message I feel that like people
watching they feel that then how do I
make that a daily thing so that I keep
that mindset fresh if it’s not watching
content then like what’s the solution
until it becomes so ingrained that I
don’t need anything else
so there’s really two parts of this part
one is you’ve got to construct your
identity to drive the behaviors that you
want now building a new identity is
actually ridiculously simple it’s not
easy because it’s going to require that
you really be consistent but there are
traps if you will that you can put
yourself into that are gonna force you
to be congruent with that so I use a
very simple technique to change my
identity where I go I’m the type of
person that so I’m the type of person
that is
always in shape okay well if I’m the
type of person that’s always in shape I
better get my ass to the gym every day
and then it’s I’m the type of person
that goes to the gym every day and I
tell anyone who will listen like I’m
doing right now on the show and I tell
my community all the time like I use you
guys as leverage to better my behavior
because I just tell you who I am what
I’m doing what at that moment like
what’s a priority what’s important and
then it’s like super embarrassing
because I if I’m not being congruent
with that I feel like an asshole so I’ll
tell even before social media existed I
would literally at a dinner party be
like hey I remember this when I was I’d
done it twice when I was really scrawny
and was trying to put on muscle and it
was when I was really heavy and trying
to lose fat and I would just tell people
like I’m gonna get Hugh Jackman’s
physique and people were looking at me
like Yeah right and then for years I
just went to the gym every day worked
out worked out worked out kept telling
people what I was trying to do to my
physique and then over time you actually
improve your physique now this was back
in x-men 1 before he looked like a total
fucking beast like he does now but that
that was really transformative because I
was telling myself I’m the type of
person that’s always in shape I’m the
type of person that goes to the gym
every day and I was telling everyone
else
so that’s identity now identity drives
behavior so really wanting to be that
was super critical the second thing is
you have to have a future and you talked
about Tony Robbins Tony Robbins has this
idea of a compelling future this is so
important and this one Evan people miss
all the time you’ve got to have
something that you’re striving to become
to do to accomplish that you’re actually
excited about no one has to tell you to
be excited about it you’re just amped up
and by the way where people really get
themselves in trouble here’s I think
oftentimes the thing that most excites
them they judge themselves for so let’s
take video games it’s just an easy
example let’s say what you really like
to do with your time is play video games
and on a Saturday morning you spring out
of bed and you play all night and you’re
up till like 4:00 in the morning on a
Saturday and you know then Sunday your
sleeping schedules mess up and Monday
you’re still in like a fog because you
loved it so much don’t judge yourself
for that say okay this is the thing that
I love now now the question becomes that
thing is giving
enough enthusiasm to pull you through
hard times so how do you put that at the
center of your life how do you make that
something that you can monetize and make
it self-sustaining I’m not saying that’s
easy but there are two ways one direct
go play video games win contest get so
good that you outperform other people
and you can make the living as a
professional video game player okay it’s
super direct then there’s universe of
game designer writer coder producer
accountant for a game studio at least
then you’re around that world all the
time the imagery the iconography all the
things you’re surrounded by are
something that give you energy and so
that’s people really just have to look
at does this thing that I’m doing give
me more energy than it takes if you have
that you have identity and you’re
excited about what you’re doing
the excitement is gonna pull you through
the hard times where your identity is
making demands of you to do something
that is very difficult like me I hate
the gym I hate it but I’m excited by two
things one I legitimately want to live
forever that’s not gonna be easy and
then too
I want to look good naked so let’s just
be real about that so those those things
are exciting so even though the gym
takes energy away from me like mentally
who I’m trying to become and the
excitement around that pull me through
so do you think people have poor habits
in that they’re not reminding themselves
daily that I am becoming this person or
not challenging you know by putting out
in the public on social to their friends
like I’m gonna get ripped like you
Jackman like the dealy habit of doing
that or do you think that they just
don’t have a goal that they care enough
about to actually make change or both
well well both yeah and now you’re
getting into the advanced class stuff so
this is where people have to learn how
god you’re always gonna have a seizure
over this one so this is true so I’m
gonna say it people have to know when to
love themselves and when to punish
themselves that’s just true and if you
say I’m the type of person that goes to
the gym every day and then you don’t go
to the gym like you can’t not punish
yourself emotionally for that so now
what happens is people think I’m saying
to get into a self-abuse cycle where now
you’re declining your performance
because you have self-loathing that’s
not
what I’m saying so I believe that beauty
and rage need to exist within you
I believe they exist in a eighty percent
of your time you should be thinking
beautiful things gratitude what you’re
doing well like the vast vast vast
majority of your time should be focused
on all the things you’re doing right
even when it’s hard to find the things
that you feel like you’re doing right
find them and focus on those spend
eighty percent eighty percent of your
time there so that you’re uplifted by
your internal dialogue but twenty
percent of the time when you didn’t go
to the gym and you said you were going
to first of all you’re always watching
yourself so when you don’t show up maybe
the rest of the world doesn’t know you
just lost credibility with yourself
which is incredibly dangerous so people
don’t understand how to leverage reward
and Punishment in their own lives and
then yes they have terrible habits and I
am literally I’m like a loose collection
of habits that’s it a by nature dude I
have zero entrepreneurial instincts zero
I’m super lazy I there was a period in
my life in my 20s and I wish this wasn’t
true but there was a time in my 20s
where I would lay in bed for three hours
every morning because I was too lazy and
unexcited about my life to get out of
bed because it was cold and I didn’t
think like if that’s really a problem
sweatshirt next to the bed like this is
not even a hard problem to solve
so Oh many years of my life to just
being terrifyingly lazy but then at one
point it got so emotionally distressing
I was flirting with depression I was
laying on the floor of my apartment and
just thinking like where’s my life going
and that hurts so much I needed
something else and so what I began to do
was force myself to use routines and
habits to get out of that rut so I’ll
give you one example to this day I have
a bright line that I have ten minutes to
get out of bed so once I realize I’m
awake whether I’ve had five hours or ten
hours I have five or I have 10 minutes
to get out of bed and I reward myself
every day that I do it like today was
particularly difficult I don’t know why
for whatever reason when I woke up I
just didn’t want to
out of bed and but I have a what I call
a bright line where there’s there is no
not getting out of bed in ten minutes
there was no excuse there’s no rationale
nothing like you either get out of bed
and you did what you said you were gonna
do or you don’t get out of bed and it’s
a fail so that wanting to be congruent
with the person that I say that I am
forces me to get out of bed again
identity drives behavior but I needed
that bright line of I get out of bed
then my routines kick in which is I go
to the gym immediately followed by
meditation and so on and so forth so all
of those routines keep me really tight
to what I’m trying to accomplish eleven
and the first part of that routine is so
important more you do the first thing
you more likely follow along
don’t do the first thing it’s easy to
throw away the rest of the team know how
people are asking what’s what’s your one
word so a similar setting the most
important core value one word for Tom
Gill you what do you got
belief belief Wow I believe your belief
were pretty close
at Thomas crazy how quickly half an hour
flies by on us they’re still coming in
um final message like what do you want
to share you know you got people
watching entrepreneurs afraid to take
action paralyzed by fear what’s the
what’s the one last message you wanna
kind of tie this all up in a bow and
deliver to them yeah humans lead with
belief and and that’s it and you have to
start with really believing in yourself
that you can learn so that brings me to
why people don’t do that and the reason
is what you build yourself esteem around
really really matters and most people
build their self esteem around being
good being smart being right and that is
a very fragile way to view yourself
because routinely you’re gonna be wrong
in fact you’re gonna be wrong more often
than you’re right so if that hits your
pride every time that you’re wrong
you’ve got a problem and that’s why
people begin to shelter themselves if
you think of yourself as being smart
then if you start that business then it
fails you have to accept I’m not as
smart as I thought I was and that’s a
damage to the self-esteem now people are
very self esteem protective but what I
realized because I was the worst of the
people like that putting myself into
smaller and smaller rooms taking smaller
and smaller risks because
I believe that was smart I believe I
prided myself on being right and I just
realized that doesn’t take me to my
goals so I need to switch my self-esteem
to something that is anti fragile isn’t
the seem to leb defines it because he
said basically things that are resilient
things that are tough are still defined
by their breaking point the breaking
point is far away but it still breaks
anti fragile is something that the more
it’s attacked the stronger it gets and
the only way I could think of to do that
with my my self-esteem my sense of pride
was to pride myself on being a learner
to pride myself on being willing to
admit that I was wrong
faster than anyone else to identify the
right answer and accept it as being
right based on whether or not it takes
me towards my goals no matter whose idea
it was so even if it was somebody else’s
idea that I would get behind that that I
would say oh my gosh
even though 30 seconds ago I was arguing
racially for my idea I actually now
recognize that idea is better it’s more
likely to lead us to our goals so if you
can switch your self-esteem to that then
truly it’s anti fragile the more it’s
attacked the stronger it gets the more
people tell you you’re stupid the more
times you fail all you want to know is
why did I fail where am I being stupid
because now I can learn I can get better
and you have so much pride around being
willing to do that I love it Tom dude
thank you so much to spending the time
today for all the work you that you do
to help the entré community and I’m so
pumped to hear the big vision and know
that there’s more Tom coming more
greatness more awesomeness to help
entrepreneurs there were tons of
questions guys thank you for watching
and go check out Tom’s Channel Tom bu
we’ve linked it up below and impact
Theory comm as well thank you for the
love man dude thanks for having me on
man really really grateful to you and
one last shout out to you and your
community I use you all the time in
researching my guests I am I’m
legitimately grateful man thank you put
out awesome content awesome continue to
believe guys and we’ll see you soon
YouTube hangout I’m excited to be here
with a new friend his name is Tom bill
you you may have seen a top 10 that we
did on him not too long ago this guy
built a billion-dollar business called
quest nutrition if you haven’t seen that
before I highly recommend checking out
their cookies and cream energy bar or
protein bar I love that one and more
recently he stepped away from that to
create content to help entrepreneurs
he’s got an awesome YouTube channel just
off his name Tom bill you will we’ll put
it up in the description you guys can
check it out Tom welcome aboard man
thank you for having me dude I’m very
happy to be here so I’m curious about
the journey you know for me personally
as well because I love mashing together
content from different entrepreneurs and
and I think we’re both aligned and we’re
trying to help entrepreneurs change the
planet and I think I first stumbled
across your interviews when you had the
other channel and you were doing English
with other people and then maybe about a
year ago or so I could have the timing
off but you started sharing more of your
own stuff your own thoughts your own
comments and I’m just curious like where
do you want it where do you want to take
this like what’s the big vision for this
next stage in your career you build this
business you sold it
now you’re all in on helping
entrepreneurs what’s the next thing for
you like where do you want to take this
so I’m trying to build a studio so our
goal is to build a studio that rivals
Disney so the reason that we want to do
that and the reason that is so tied to
entrepreneurs for me is that I believe
the thing that stops people from really
achieving something great in their life
has very little to do with anything
other than mindset so it doesn’t matter
if you grew up wealthy doesn’t matter if
you grew up or what matters is if you
grew up with a mindset that sets you up
for growth which ultimately is the thing
that leads to success and I’ve worked in
the inner cities a lot in my career and
you come across these just really
amazing people that you know have a
chance to go and do something incredible
but because their mindset doesn’t allow
them to see themselves like that they
have a fixed mindset they don’t believe
that they can acquire new skills they
don’t think that they can do something
without funding so it’s like this world
where the very way that they frame
life is so limiting that they don’t go
on to do something because of that so to
me the way that people really assimilate
a new belief system is through media and
I’m talking traditional narrative
content so whether that’s a book a TV
show a movie a video game whatever like
those narratives going back to Joseph
Campbell and the power of myth and the
hero’s journey and all that and just
that humans are meaning making machines
that convey that meaning through story
so that’s why we’re there but you know
it’s a really cool time right now where
you can do content like this which is
really explanatory and marry that to
narrative and really show people how to
extract the meaning I love that I love
the idea of having a studio that rivals
Disney what is the content you’re gonna
make is it gonna be entrepreneurial all
those are gonna be movies like what
we’re what tell me more with the studio
I’m excited yeah so if you think of
Disney as having done something back in
the 1930s by the way that’s never been
replicated which is they every piece of
content that Disney makes feeds into the
brand ethos so if I say to you I’m gonna
go see a Warner Brothers movie or a Sony
movie or a Paramount movie you don’t
know anything about it but if I say I’m
gonna go see a Disney movie I don’t have
to say anything else and you already
know something about it and having the
discipline to tell one kind of story
that speaks exactly to your worldview
then gives the brand the credibility and
the mind share quite frankly to launch a
film or a TV show or whatever just on
the back of the brand so that’s what we
want to do also and so if you think of
Disney is the most magical place on
earth we want to be the most empowering
place on earth so we want to give people
the belief system the mindset to go on
and do whatever they want whether that
start a company and be you know the best
parents ever to be entrepreneurially
minded not everybody is gonna want to
start their own company but this stuff
to me applies no matter what it is
you’re trying to do if you want to be
great there are just certain principles
that apply and I think that we can bake
that into every story that we tell and
give it to people in an emotional way
that they can really resonate with and
take on board I love it you know I think
I think you are what you consistently do
and I think people get a high off of
going to one event or one seminar
reading one book and then they put that
book down and they come back from the
seminar and then it’s gone in the back
to their old life and it yes it’s a
decision to make a change but also the
positive and consistent reinforcement
whether it’s watching videos reading the
book and I mean it’s something that I
try to do on my channel too with daily
content and your your are you at the
alia your almost daily you have like how
often you pumpkin up videos yeah I think
we’re we put out content five or six
days a week we’re about to double the
amount of content that we’re putting out
we’ve started a new channel now that’s
all media focused so if you go to my
youtube channel for slash Tom bill you
you’re gonna get it’s all mindset all
the time I may occasionally reference
something that has to do with the studio
but it’s all hardcore mindset if you go
to forward slash impact Theory Studios
we just launched it you’re gonna get
stuff that is entirely like mindset in
movies so the the movies is a stand-in
for you know could be a comic book it
could be a TV show but it’s media
properties that really have those
nuggets of wisdom buried within them and
so the matrix to me is is the perfect
example of this so we’re gonna be doing
a lot of content that’s around things
like that so between those two entities
the pure mindset play and then the media
infused mindset stuff will definitely be
seven days a week I love it I love it
guys we got Tom you you on if you have
questions leave it in the live chat and
we’ll get to them there’s really a whole
bunch coming in first up Lily is asking
question for Tom what’s your view on
taking 100% responsibility for your life
yeah I’m a psychopath for this and this
is really the thing that has become most
controversial and it’s one of those I’m
actually a little surprised this is
controversial yeah but here’s the story
that I tell so my wife is British let’s
say that she was at home in London
sleeping in the bedroom that she grew up
in her mom is there the doors are locked
the alarm is on she is safe and sound
and right at that moment a meteorite
come screaming through the atmosphere
crashes into her bedroom and kills her
fault is that now if you don’t know me
and you’re not trying to guess at what I
think the answer is most people are
gonna say it’s dumb luck it’s nobody’s
fault divine providence force majeure
like whatever you want to think of it as
it just is what it is now that’s not how
I view the world I believe that that’s
entirely my fault now the reason I think
that is I know right now there’s an
organization that track what are called
near-earth objects they are trying to
find some way to knock things off course
if they’re on a collision course with
earth so whether that ends up being a
laser or a planted nuclear explosion
like whatever it is they’re actually
trying to do this now I know that they
exist I’ve never called them to give
them encouraging words I’ve never sent
them an email with ideas I’ve never sent
a dime of my money now I think that’s a
wise choice because I think the
likelihood of my wife being killed by a
meteorite is vanishingly slim but if it
ends up happening I’m not gonna fool
myself and say there was nothing I could
have done now the reason that I think
that is not I’m not saying it’s my fault
so I can feel bad it’s not about guilt
or shame I don’t think people should
waste time with guilt and shame I’m just
saying it to remind myself that I’m in
control now I love that example because
it’s so extreme and so many people are
gonna say I’m like that’s crazy what’s
this guy doing but my responsibility for
my life all the way out to a meteor
right you can imagine how I feel about
anything in your day-to-day life
business whatever you’ve got it on it
because it keeps you in a position of
power you have to understand the
fundamental truth of this life you can
always make a different decision which
will lead to a different outcome that’s
interesting I mean I agree with you a
hundred percent ownership extreme
ownership super important mortal I
wonder if they’re trying to get people
to agree with you or change their
mindset and they have years of
conditioning around you know all the
opposite beliefs there’s gonna be a good
chunk of people who’ll say Tom that’s
crazy
yep that’s that’s too extreme like you
know your wife getting hit by meteor is
not your fault and then I wonder I
wonder like do they hear the message
because I know you’re going to extreme
to cause the controversy on purpose and
like that’s the craziest thing that we
can maybe come up with
but I wonder I wonder how do we get
people like for those people who would
just automatically will disregard the
message how can we bring those people
along is I mean on as part of your
mission now is to Empire empower
millions and billions of people what do
you think about the people who may think
that’s too extreme and then they
discount the entire thing I the honest
answer to that is you don’t attack it
you can’t go on a full frontal assault
with that I’m not trying to convince
people I’m not an apostle I’m a
filtering mechanism so I tell people
those stories to find who gets it who
resonates with that awesome I’m not
gonna spend my time trying to convince
now the studio on the other hand the the
only way that I know truthfully to get
people to assimilate disruptive
information something that forces them
to radically overhaul their worldview a
is for most people it’s a generational
question so you make some progress with
the parent the parent teaches their kid
a different lesson their kid then gets
their own not only a better starting
point but then assimilates more
information teaches their kid better and
so this goes on and on and on and has a
tremendous knock-on effect and I don’t
think anybody argues that culture
changes over time so the question is can
we steer the direction that it goes so
the only way for the person who rejects
this the only way to get them to really
internalize that is to tell a story
about somebody that they care about that
they have an emotional connection to and
that person in the story has to learn
the truth of that lesson and they have
to see that by learning it they’re able
to make their life better
so the I’ll give a quick example from
the matrix it’s just a story I get that
I don’t actually think we’re living in
the matrix I just think it’s a perfect
metaphor for limiting beliefs and the
way that when if you I mean it’s it was
a Henry Ford like if you whether you
think you can or you can’t you’re right
like that that is the truth of the human
condition if you don’t think you can
you’re never gonna take the first step
to gain the skills to actually be able
to do it so in the movie the matrix he
does the jump right and everybody’s like
oh my gosh is he gonna make it and
they’re like nobody makes it the first
time and of course he tries to do this
impossible jump and he falls because he
doesn’t believe that he can do it and
then later in the movie gets to the
point where he just does
sides he’s going to believe that it can
happen and then once he decides to
believe that it can happen he can do it
now that’s the movie version the
real-life version is you walk into any
situation you don’t need to believe that
you’re capable so for instance with
quest I didn’t have to believe I was
capable of being a protein bar
manufacturer I patently wasn’t but what
I had to believe was that I could learn
it and because I did I dude I believed
that to the core of my being but I could
figure it out and so I didn’t hesitate I
took every step I just kept saying yes
did we buy the equipment yes we do
even though that was terrifying even
though that was an all-in moment it you
just keep doing these all in moments
believing about yourself having chosen
to believe that I can figure it out
now once people adopt that mentality
then they’ll understand why I say figure
out how to stop a meteor right from
crashing into Earth so I’m not gonna
like that’s so empowering to me and they
hear a crazy story because they think oh
my god I would feel so bad like I can’t
take on the ownership of all those
things because it would crush my
self-esteem but my self-esteem is built
around being a learner it’s not built
around being smart or knowing something
right now like to be fully candid I’m
not that impressed with Who I am today
but I’m really excited by who I could
become and I’m very proud of my
willingness to take the steps when it
matches my goal I love it I love belief
you know it’s on for the back of nice
and it’s it’s my one word yeah it’s just
it’s really interesting this is struggle
that I face too you know I want
entrepreneurs to believe in themselves I
want them to do the big thing I want
them even just to take like the next
tiny step to get that thing out of their
head and put it into action you know my
approach has been more just by
consistently repeating the message I’m
gonna I’m gonna hand hold you across the
street as opposed to going to the
extreme of saying like you need to
believe that you can build the
billion-dollar company where a lot of
people will say well that’s impossible
like let’s start by believing you can do
you know you get your first client and
buy like consistent exposure to a
positive message which I think comes out
in Disney too right like it’s always
is always a lesson is always a moral to
the story you’re always learning
something that’s kind of family friendly
and I think a lot of your stuff comes
out the positive vibes like just hanging
around you by watching your snaps or by
watching your videos can help boost
somebody’s confidence and so I’m just
I’m just playing with that ideas you
talk about like that extreme example I
think that works for some and I think
what out the other stuff you’re doing
really helps just build up the daily
pattern as well yeah look some of this I
think is you’re the average of the five
people you spend the most time with not
go spend time with one person right so
there are people that are gonna respond
to my way of thinking there’s people
that are gonna respond to the way that
you think and a myriad of other people
and what’s cool about the social age is
you’re so consistent in your content
like I really feel like I know who you
are and I feel like if I met you and we
just hung out and had dinner that I’d be
like yeah you’re exactly the dude that I
see on camera right so the the truth of
what I’ve had to do to my mentality to
stop being lazy to stop being afraid to
stop being paralyzed by anxiety like a
lot of what I’ve done is force myself so
far in the other direction and it has
been so incredibly empowering right so
that’s my experience so I don’t have
like anything else out of my mouth just
wouldn’t be true to what I did so I
think it’s it is incredibly awesome that
people take a different paths that
you’re so like emotionally prepared to
walk people you know from here to here
to here and like that and that doesn’t
excite me like the thought of
hand-holding people and really like
doing baby steps and stuff in fact one
of the things that I burn into my
nervous system is I don’t do baby steps
I’m I want to think like I’ll back into
the incremental things that I need to do
but from day one like when we launched
impact Theory from day one this was
meant to be a studio bigger than Disney
now for most people that’s just like
it’s so big like why start with that
right just start with get the first
comic book out or sell the first
screenplay and those are steps those are
things that we have to do but for me I
need the excitement of the grand vision
I love it I
guys keep the questions coming next up
we have Kevin question for Tom how do
you inspire others to want to change ie
or follow you to change yes interesting
I don’t so I am a filtering mechanism I
am I put myself out I’m aggressively
myself this is the way that I think and
then there there are some people that
love it and there are some people that
hate it and the great news about social
is most people for the most but this has
really been my experience and I didn’t
expect it to be but for the most part
people that don’t resonate they don’t
waste time trying to heckle me or tell
me that I’m stupid they just move on and
they go find somebody that sees the
world the way that they do and then the
people that resonate they stick around
and they help each other out which is
the thing that I love so that the
community becomes people that have self
selected to be a part of this community
so like I I’m big on energy I’m big on
enthusiasm I’m a very excitable guy some
people like that’s so fatiguing to them
to even watch me that they’re not gonna
stick around other people are like holy
hell like this guy makes me want to jump
out of bed and so it becomes like a
really neat community so to put a fine
point on it I I’m not thinking oh I want
to go out and inspire people to want
something that’s still one part run like
if you don’t want it I’m probably not
your guy because I’m gonna seem crazy
yeah and I think it’s not just what you
say it’s the actions it’s a consistency
it’s what you do by hanging around like
if this person wants to go and change
somebody’s life it doesn’t just mean one
conversation that person’s life this
change by them hanging around you
they’re gonna get better they’re gonna
grow they’ll see your positivity and
anything that it bleeds in I think
walking in any room feeling like this
room is better because I’m here like my
city is better because I’m here and that
I’m a radiative force for good for
wherever I am I think it’s really
important so I think what you know
people may be turned off by your message
the first time but they may hear it
again and then let me hear it again and
they see another interview or another
video or another snap and then it’s like
huh I’m like Tom you know he kind of
bugged me at first but it’s it’s kind of
secret it wasn’t for me right like I
love your stuff all
the way through but like for people who
may not like you at the start by by
consistently hearing you and like you
say one thing that happens to hit them
is like ah like I wrote that guy off but
that really stuck with me let me give
him a second chance and because you
created so much consistent content right
it doesn’t have to only happen in one
moment where you’re trying to inspire
people it’s there on their journey and
if you’re consistently exposing them to
ideas and energy it can help make the
impact that you’re looking for it no
question
Monica’s writing in hey guys Tom what’s
your opinion on positive thinking versus
being realistic yeah I I am a huge
believer in positive thinking and the
reason is that I don’t believe we’re
very good at being objective so yours
whatever five times more likely to
believe negative feedback than you are
to believe positive feedback like when I
heard that’s that I was like okay well I
really cannot trust what my mind
obsessively thinks about because it is
not necessarily the most advantageous
thing to think about and also using
again the matrix as a metaphor like
think about this for a second your brain
is encased in total darkness
it never encounters light at least not
if all goes well
never encounters light hearing sense of
touch all of it is it gets turned into
electrochemical impulses that your brain
then interprets and creates this
construct that you see around you it is
your brains best guess at what is there
but it isn’t objectively real like for
instance there’s a blind spot and each
of your eyes about the size of a dime
and we don’t experience it that’s where
the optic nerve actually connects to the
eyeball and the brain just fills in like
that this is what I think is there and
it creates this seamless experience but
while your brain has the best of
intentions it is lying to you and so
once I realize my brain is making half
of this stuff up so now if that’s true
I’m gonna choose what to believe so I’m
gonna use positive thinking I’m gonna
believe positive things I’m gonna
believe in my potential I’m not gonna
focus on limitations are they there sure
but like it doesn’t do me any good to
focus on that so what am i my mantras is
you could do anything you set your mind
to without limitation that’s a lie
but it’s an empowering lie and we do and
believe that which moves us towards our
goals so
like I get it saying that I don’t have
limitations is total BS but it’s
effective at getting me to take action
to believe that I can learn and that has
served me just incredibly well so for
somebody who’s facing those blocks
because I mean we both have them in our
audiences I think as most people who
want to crush the limiting beliefs is
the answer then just consume content on
a regular basis that makes you feel
inspired and alive like what you’re
doing with the studio and your channel
like what advice you have for somebody
who is battling their limiting beliefs
and they haven’t consistently been able
to break through them yes oh there’s
only one thing you have to internalize
and you don’t even need to believe it
about yourself just believe it about the
species so humans are the ultimate
adaptation machine that is what allowed
us to become the apex predator so if you
look at our when I decoded the human
genome they thought we’re gonna figure
everything out now and they realize we
only have 20,000 genes like how’s that
possible there are certain types of
onions that have 40,000 so like are we
really to believe that an onion is more
complicated than the human like it just
didn’t make sense
and then what they’ve been discarding
for years is quote unquote junk DNA they
realize is really epigenetic signaling
so based on your environment based on
the stressors that you put yourself
under the human animal will adapt
tremendously and I’m talking
physiologically as well as mentally and
emotionally so there was a woman that
swam the Bering Strait which is if I’m
not mistaken the bit that is between
Russia and Alaska so this is like the
coldest water you can imagine she swam
in just a wetsuit and for a year she
exposed herself to the cold which
allowed her body to adapt so that she
could actually survive the kind of cold
that would normally send people into
hypothermia and then they would just die
so I’m is absolutely incredible the
lengths to which we will go
physiologically to change we have the
same level of adaptive ability mentally
think about getting good at dancing
think about getting good at writing
getting good at anything right we can
just get good at marketing like any
skill that you apply yourself to with
enough discipline time energy you’re
going to be able to get great at that
thing and so now if you just believe
that that is the thing that makes the
human species great then the only thing
you need to do beyond that it is not
watch content and I’m saying that as a
content creator the only thing you need
to do is act because it’s an engagement
it’s through the actions it’s through
trying something that you’re going to
learn so rapidly that it’ll be
ridiculous so once you can embrace that
okay I’m gonna try something it might
not work and it might not be an utter
failure it may just be like a little
clunky
you’re gonna refine you’re gonna get
better if it’s a catastrophic failure
it’s still gonna teach you something if
you can keep your mind in a positive
place where you can say not like I’m an
idiot for letting this fail but rather
go okay I’m a learning machine what am I
going to learn from this if people can
keep their mindset they’re in a
solution-oriented place they’ll learn
and on a long enough timeline they’re
gonna get great and so that that’s like
the next part of the question like how
do you keep that mindset consistent
because they’re watching this like man
Tom he’s dropping some knowledge this is
crazy you know and they’re off and
they’re gonna act like today I’m gonna
act and then they wake up tomorrow and
they’re not gonna act anymore or the
next week or their friend tells them
that’s a stupid idea and so they shut
down how do you get that consistency so
that like it’s it’s important you’re
going to suck in the beginning
eventually keep out you’ll be great it’s
the story of every successful person
ever but the discipline to create the
consistency they get people get their
mind blown in an interview or seminar
and and this isn’t something just we
deal with like Tony Robbins people go to
a Tony Robbins event and their minds
blown and some people fall off the wagon
the next day or the next week of the
next month I don’t know that we have the
perfect answer but I appreciate the
dialogue I’m trying to figure out I love
the message I feel that like people
watching they feel that then how do I
make that a daily thing so that I keep
that mindset fresh if it’s not watching
content then like what’s the solution
until it becomes so ingrained that I
don’t need anything else
so there’s really two parts of this part
one is you’ve got to construct your
identity to drive the behaviors that you
want now building a new identity is
actually ridiculously simple it’s not
easy because it’s going to require that
you really be consistent but there are
traps if you will that you can put
yourself into that are gonna force you
to be congruent with that so I use a
very simple technique to change my
identity where I go I’m the type of
person that so I’m the type of person
that is
always in shape okay well if I’m the
type of person that’s always in shape I
better get my ass to the gym every day
and then it’s I’m the type of person
that goes to the gym every day and I
tell anyone who will listen like I’m
doing right now on the show and I tell
my community all the time like I use you
guys as leverage to better my behavior
because I just tell you who I am what
I’m doing what at that moment like
what’s a priority what’s important and
then it’s like super embarrassing
because I if I’m not being congruent
with that I feel like an asshole so I’ll
tell even before social media existed I
would literally at a dinner party be
like hey I remember this when I was I’d
done it twice when I was really scrawny
and was trying to put on muscle and it
was when I was really heavy and trying
to lose fat and I would just tell people
like I’m gonna get Hugh Jackman’s
physique and people were looking at me
like Yeah right and then for years I
just went to the gym every day worked
out worked out worked out kept telling
people what I was trying to do to my
physique and then over time you actually
improve your physique now this was back
in x-men 1 before he looked like a total
fucking beast like he does now but that
that was really transformative because I
was telling myself I’m the type of
person that’s always in shape I’m the
type of person that goes to the gym
every day and I was telling everyone
else
so that’s identity now identity drives
behavior so really wanting to be that
was super critical the second thing is
you have to have a future and you talked
about Tony Robbins Tony Robbins has this
idea of a compelling future this is so
important and this one Evan people miss
all the time you’ve got to have
something that you’re striving to become
to do to accomplish that you’re actually
excited about no one has to tell you to
be excited about it you’re just amped up
and by the way where people really get
themselves in trouble here’s I think
oftentimes the thing that most excites
them they judge themselves for so let’s
take video games it’s just an easy
example let’s say what you really like
to do with your time is play video games
and on a Saturday morning you spring out
of bed and you play all night and you’re
up till like 4:00 in the morning on a
Saturday and you know then Sunday your
sleeping schedules mess up and Monday
you’re still in like a fog because you
loved it so much don’t judge yourself
for that say okay this is the thing that
I love now now the question becomes that
thing is giving
enough enthusiasm to pull you through
hard times so how do you put that at the
center of your life how do you make that
something that you can monetize and make
it self-sustaining I’m not saying that’s
easy but there are two ways one direct
go play video games win contest get so
good that you outperform other people
and you can make the living as a
professional video game player okay it’s
super direct then there’s universe of
game designer writer coder producer
accountant for a game studio at least
then you’re around that world all the
time the imagery the iconography all the
things you’re surrounded by are
something that give you energy and so
that’s people really just have to look
at does this thing that I’m doing give
me more energy than it takes if you have
that you have identity and you’re
excited about what you’re doing
the excitement is gonna pull you through
the hard times where your identity is
making demands of you to do something
that is very difficult like me I hate
the gym I hate it but I’m excited by two
things one I legitimately want to live
forever that’s not gonna be easy and
then too
I want to look good naked so let’s just
be real about that so those those things
are exciting so even though the gym
takes energy away from me like mentally
who I’m trying to become and the
excitement around that pull me through
so do you think people have poor habits
in that they’re not reminding themselves
daily that I am becoming this person or
not challenging you know by putting out
in the public on social to their friends
like I’m gonna get ripped like you
Jackman like the dealy habit of doing
that or do you think that they just
don’t have a goal that they care enough
about to actually make change or both
well well both yeah and now you’re
getting into the advanced class stuff so
this is where people have to learn how
god you’re always gonna have a seizure
over this one so this is true so I’m
gonna say it people have to know when to
love themselves and when to punish
themselves that’s just true and if you
say I’m the type of person that goes to
the gym every day and then you don’t go
to the gym like you can’t not punish
yourself emotionally for that so now
what happens is people think I’m saying
to get into a self-abuse cycle where now
you’re declining your performance
because you have self-loathing that’s
not
what I’m saying so I believe that beauty
and rage need to exist within you
I believe they exist in a eighty percent
of your time you should be thinking
beautiful things gratitude what you’re
doing well like the vast vast vast
majority of your time should be focused
on all the things you’re doing right
even when it’s hard to find the things
that you feel like you’re doing right
find them and focus on those spend
eighty percent eighty percent of your
time there so that you’re uplifted by
your internal dialogue but twenty
percent of the time when you didn’t go
to the gym and you said you were going
to first of all you’re always watching
yourself so when you don’t show up maybe
the rest of the world doesn’t know you
just lost credibility with yourself
which is incredibly dangerous so people
don’t understand how to leverage reward
and Punishment in their own lives and
then yes they have terrible habits and I
am literally I’m like a loose collection
of habits that’s it a by nature dude I
have zero entrepreneurial instincts zero
I’m super lazy I there was a period in
my life in my 20s and I wish this wasn’t
true but there was a time in my 20s
where I would lay in bed for three hours
every morning because I was too lazy and
unexcited about my life to get out of
bed because it was cold and I didn’t
think like if that’s really a problem
sweatshirt next to the bed like this is
not even a hard problem to solve
so Oh many years of my life to just
being terrifyingly lazy but then at one
point it got so emotionally distressing
I was flirting with depression I was
laying on the floor of my apartment and
just thinking like where’s my life going
and that hurts so much I needed
something else and so what I began to do
was force myself to use routines and
habits to get out of that rut so I’ll
give you one example to this day I have
a bright line that I have ten minutes to
get out of bed so once I realize I’m
awake whether I’ve had five hours or ten
hours I have five or I have 10 minutes
to get out of bed and I reward myself
every day that I do it like today was
particularly difficult I don’t know why
for whatever reason when I woke up I
just didn’t want to
out of bed and but I have a what I call
a bright line where there’s there is no
not getting out of bed in ten minutes
there was no excuse there’s no rationale
nothing like you either get out of bed
and you did what you said you were gonna
do or you don’t get out of bed and it’s
a fail so that wanting to be congruent
with the person that I say that I am
forces me to get out of bed again
identity drives behavior but I needed
that bright line of I get out of bed
then my routines kick in which is I go
to the gym immediately followed by
meditation and so on and so forth so all
of those routines keep me really tight
to what I’m trying to accomplish eleven
and the first part of that routine is so
important more you do the first thing
you more likely follow along
don’t do the first thing it’s easy to
throw away the rest of the team know how
people are asking what’s what’s your one
word so a similar setting the most
important core value one word for Tom
Gill you what do you got
belief belief Wow I believe your belief
were pretty close
at Thomas crazy how quickly half an hour
flies by on us they’re still coming in
um final message like what do you want
to share you know you got people
watching entrepreneurs afraid to take
action paralyzed by fear what’s the
what’s the one last message you wanna
kind of tie this all up in a bow and
deliver to them yeah humans lead with
belief and and that’s it and you have to
start with really believing in yourself
that you can learn so that brings me to
why people don’t do that and the reason
is what you build yourself esteem around
really really matters and most people
build their self esteem around being
good being smart being right and that is
a very fragile way to view yourself
because routinely you’re gonna be wrong
in fact you’re gonna be wrong more often
than you’re right so if that hits your
pride every time that you’re wrong
you’ve got a problem and that’s why
people begin to shelter themselves if
you think of yourself as being smart
then if you start that business then it
fails you have to accept I’m not as
smart as I thought I was and that’s a
damage to the self-esteem now people are
very self esteem protective but what I
realized because I was the worst of the
people like that putting myself into
smaller and smaller rooms taking smaller
and smaller risks because
I believe that was smart I believe I
prided myself on being right and I just
realized that doesn’t take me to my
goals so I need to switch my self-esteem
to something that is anti fragile isn’t
the seem to leb defines it because he
said basically things that are resilient
things that are tough are still defined
by their breaking point the breaking
point is far away but it still breaks
anti fragile is something that the more
it’s attacked the stronger it gets and
the only way I could think of to do that
with my my self-esteem my sense of pride
was to pride myself on being a learner
to pride myself on being willing to
admit that I was wrong
faster than anyone else to identify the
right answer and accept it as being
right based on whether or not it takes
me towards my goals no matter whose idea
it was so even if it was somebody else’s
idea that I would get behind that that I
would say oh my gosh
even though 30 seconds ago I was arguing
racially for my idea I actually now
recognize that idea is better it’s more
likely to lead us to our goals so if you
can switch your self-esteem to that then
truly it’s anti fragile the more it’s
attacked the stronger it gets the more
people tell you you’re stupid the more
times you fail all you want to know is
why did I fail where am I being stupid
because now I can learn I can get better
and you have so much pride around being
willing to do that I love it Tom dude
thank you so much to spending the time
today for all the work you that you do
to help the entré community and I’m so
pumped to hear the big vision and know
that there’s more Tom coming more
greatness more awesomeness to help
entrepreneurs there were tons of
questions guys thank you for watching
and go check out Tom’s Channel Tom bu
we’ve linked it up below and impact
Theory comm as well thank you for the
love man dude thanks for having me on
man really really grateful to you and
one last shout out to you and your
community I use you all the time in
researching my guests I am I’m
legitimately grateful man thank you put
out awesome content awesome continue to
believe guys and we’ll see you soon
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