Business Podcast | How to Get 10X More Done + World’s Top Public Relations Expert Michael Levine Explains Choose to Become Either a Victim or a Victor (By Default You Will Become a Victim) + Honey Badger Entrepreneurship 101

Audio Transcription

3, 2, 1, boom! You are now entering the dojo of Mojo and the Thrive Time Show. Thrive Time Show on the microphone, what is this? Top of the iTunes charts in the category of business. Drilling down on business topics like we are a dentist. Providing you with mentorship like you are an apprentice. And we go so fast that you might get motion sickness. Grab a pen and pad to the lab, let’s get in this. It’s time to bear some fruit like some Florida or Egypt. 3, 2, 1, here come the business ninjas. Stacking the cash, making the dash. Putting the plaques, bringing them back. Bring me the track so I can get up on them, I can speak the facts. Stacking the cash, making the dash. Putting the plaques, bringing them back. Bring me the track so I can get up on them, I don’t break for booze They can talk about me, I can take that abuse Here is the truth, why they make that excuse I’ll be up grinding cause the scoreboard’s the truth He is my mentor like my Yoda dude He showed me the force like I was a young moose Sacking the cash, making the dash I’m in the plaques, bringing them back Bring me the track so I can get up on them I can speak the facts Sacking the cash, making the dash I’m in the plaques, bringing them back, bring me the tracks So I can get up on them, I can speak the facts Time for higher learning, and higher earning Taking it to the top like we’re hiking Mount Vernon We’re changing the mindsets like we’re incense burning Passing on the magic like the name was Irving Serving up that knowledge like I was a servant And I cite what I state so you know I’m not a servant It’s a drive type show, bringing the heat while fervent Giving it to you straight in a war-themed stream. Stacking the cash, making the dash. Putting the plaques, bringing them back. Bring me the track so I can get up on them. I can speak the facts. Stacking the cash, making the dash. Putting the plaques, bringing them back. Bring me the track so I can get up on them. I can speak the facts. All right, Thrive Nation. Welcome back to the conversation on today’s show. We start off with a little intro there. I recorded that song in 2019, just kind of an obsession with what rhymes with oranges. I believe I recorded that song at four in the morning. Let me look this up. I want to get this correct here. Yes, this song was recorded at 4.35 in the morning on September 20th of 2019. Now why am I sharing that with you? I find that many, many people that I meet, wonderful people, they tell me that the reason why they can’t achieve success is that they don’t have the time. They can’t find the time. They want to have success, but they can’t find the time. They’re busy. Well, and so I thought I would just share with you how I organize conferences and work with clients. I’m a dad of five kids and record songs that rhyme with oranges at four in the morning. How do I do that? How do I record songs that rhyme with oranges on September 20th of 2019 at 435 in the morning and host tours and conferences? How do I help a dog training business grow from one location to 18 locations? That’s TipTopK9.com. How did I help Oxifresh to grow from just a few locations into 500 something locations? How do I find the time to help great brands like Ronnie Morales? Again, I’m just giving you examples of these are real businesses you can look up. I mean, these are real companies. Moralesbrothers.net. How do I do that? Well, I’m going to walk you through how I do it and what I do and hopefully this is a benefit for you. So we’re going to focus on three action steps that we can all take today to free up copious amounts of time. And so, you know, the idea is how to get more done. So we’re going to focus on today’s show is how to get ten times more done. And I’m taking notes here for you, okay? So step one is you need, you got to do this. You must use a to-do list. What? Yeah, you gotta use a to-do list at all times. And people say, what? All times? Yes. So that’s why when today I had a conversation with a very prominent person, I won’t mention their name, but they’re a household name, and I talked to them and they said, hey, how are you? I said, great. And at the time of the conversation, they were on a golf course. And they said, they were not golfing, but they were off to the side of the golf course, and they answered the phone, and they said, hey, what’s up? And I said, hey, can you do a very important call on Monday? And they said, what time? And I told them the time, and they said, OK, yeah, let’s do that very important call on Monday at this time. So Monday at 930, we scheduled a time. It was crazy. I agreed on the time. They agreed on the time. It’s wild because they had a calendar with them at all times and they have a to-do list. So you must carry a to-do list. What? You must carry a to-do list at all times. Second, you must carry a calendar at all times. Now we have digital devices, which I have found that are made by find that most digital devices are making people dumb. Now maybe you disagree, maybe you think the digital devices are helping improve the lives of people. I will tell you right now what I know is according to Nielsen, Nielsen reports that the average American is now spending 11.3 hours per day consuming content. What? 11.3 hours per day. How is that possible? How can anybody get anything done if they’re spending 11.3 hours per day consuming content? You know, wild! I mean, wow! How is that possible? I don’t think it is possible. Okay, so one, you must carry a to-do list at all times. Two, you’ve got to carry a calendar at all times. You have to do that. Back to my, I talked to another highly productive person. Again, this person, another person, if I mentioned their name on today’s show, you would go, oh, I know who that is because they’re a household name. And I called them and I said, hey, Monday, can we hop on the phone call, can we do a phone call Monday at 10 a.m.? And they said, absolutely. And you know how they knew that they could do it? They have a to-do list and a calendar. And so I was able to book an appointment with them. Now, I don’t know if this is an exciting story for anybody out there, but then I booked another appointment at 10.30 and another one at 11. And how was I able to book these appointments back to back to back to back to back? How was I able to do that? I was able to do it because the people I’m talking to all are highly successful, multi-millionaires, very very wealthy. One of the people I talk to is a billionaire. Billionaire? A billionaire, yeah. And they all carry a What’s that word to-do list and a calendar? Now the rest of the world that they don’t do that. It’s bizarre. You’ll call them and you’ll say hey Could you go out to dinner tonight? They don’t know that they don’t know They don’t they don’t know they don’t know That they don’t know what they don’t know if they can get together. They want to get together, but they don’t know if they can’t because they don’t have a to-do list or a calendar. Yeah. Okay. The third, step three, is you must stop surrounding yourself with nefarious idiots. Step three, you must stop surrounding yourself with nefarious, that’s the people who intentionally cause harm, nefarious idiots. So let me give you an example. So the Bible talks about it, it says, For a companion of fools shall suffer harm. Or Proverbs 13, 20 reads, He that walketh with the wise shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. This is some profound stuff. So you gotta make sure you’re not spending time with idiots, idiots, nefarious idiots. The worst kind of idiots are nefarious idiots, but idiots in general. So I’m gonna give you an example. Years ago, I was working with somebody and via text message, via text message, they informed me that they would stop honoring their relationship with me, their signed contractual obligation with me, via text, they sent me a message that said, hey, just so you know, I’m going to stop paying you $12,000 a month, or basically half of what I’m owed. And, you know, the kind of person that’s gonna do that is a weasel, they’re a weasel, they’re a nefarious weasel. And then from that point forward, the person, you know how it is folks, they communicate only via email because they’re a keyboard warrior. And so, you know, you could spend your whole day trying to sort out what makes somebody such a weasel-y, wimpy individual. Like what causes somebody to be a weasel-y, wimpy individual. You know, someone who’s cowardly and weak and feeble. What causes a person to be like that? What is it? You know, I mean, what? So you could spend your whole day trying to analyze it and think to yourself, what would cause somebody to be such a weasely, wimpy individual? You could do that. Or what you could do, which is what I do, you could just cut them out of your life So you look them in the eye you talk to them and then you say you know Is it is it worth dealing with and sometimes you have to turn it over to an attorney and let the attorney deal with it And sometimes you have to just cut bait and move on but you can’t surround yourself With nefarious idiots, let me give you another example. I hope this is very helpful for somebody we had a young lady that was working on my team recently a young lady and she dressed sharp. Wow, you could cut yourself looking at her because she was always dressing so sharp, right? That was her thing. She dressed sharp, shows up on time, in fact early all the time. And then one day she shows up looking frumpy. That’s the word I would use. Frumpy. Some people might say, what does that mean? It just looked like she woke up, you know, in a dumpster or sleeping in a dumpster, around a dumpster, maybe sleeping with somebody who was sleeping in a dumpster. I don’t know. But she just had that look of like this, a certain like a patina, like a certain nostalgic look about her as though she had been maybe nostalgic about what she was wearing and decided to wear it for seven consecutive days and was nostalgic about the way she felt and therefore didn’t want to take a shower to change that feeling. I don’t know what it is. So when they came to work, I recognized, wow, this person has, their countenance has changed. Their countenance. And somebody says, I don’t know what the word countenance means. Jesus, by the way, in the Bible had the ability to determine, to ascertain someone’s countenance. It’s a person’s face or facial expression. She changed. You could tell that she clearly something had happened. And so I talked to her. I said, hey, what’s going on? What are you doing? She said, what do you mean what’s going on? I said, you normally dress sharp, you’re not in dress code, what’s going on? She says, oh, you know, I just had something come up, but I’m good to go. And I knew she wasn’t good to go. I knew for a fact that she was either getting divorced, was on drugs, got in a car accident, but I knew at the end of the day, something positive wasn’t happening in her life, despite the fact that she said she was doing just fine. And so I began training up another person to replace this person, knowing that this person was going to freak out and just disappear. And sure enough, they were a no-call, no-show. And you know why I wasn’t in a bad spot, financially or mentally or with my time? It’s because I have a general paranoia. So, step number four, step number four. Step number four. This is so important, okay? You must be of the mindset that you will trust but verify. Or be paranoid. Only the paranoid survive. To quote Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel, the founding CEO, the founding partner of Intel. Okay, you that you must be of the mindset that you will trust but verify aka only the paranoid survive if you do that your life just gets better because I Knew that this person was going to quit In an unfavorable way or they would just disappear something would happen. And how did I know that? because I Have the mindset that I will trust but verify so again I’m walking through the steps here just to help you get 10 times more done, 10 times more done. You must carry a to-do list at all times. Step two, you must carry a calendar at all times. Step three, you must stop surrounding yourself with nefarious idiots. It is so important that you stop doing this. If you’re out there today and you have nefarious idiots in your life, you can’t get anything done. I mean, because they can’t say their yeses, their yes, their no, isn’t there? No, everything is a duplicit thing. I had a weasley, wimpy individual recently send me a massive, this might only take on 160 clients. It might only take on 160 clients. So I have this, it was a client that wanted to work with us and they said, hey, I want to work with you. And I said, great. We did their onboarding process to see if they were a good fit. And we did one meeting with the person, we did a meeting with them and it was very clear to me that this person would not be a good fit for our program. Because why? It’s just that they weren’t willing to put in the work, etc., etc. Well, then this person out of the blue sends me a massive email stating to me how offended they are that I wouldn’t take them on as a client and how they can’t believe I wouldn’t take their money and how they can’t believe. Who am I to say they’re not a good fit? And so you know what I did? I blocked them. Step number five. Step number, this is so important. Step number five. Step, this is so important folks. Use the block feature often. You know, block people from your phone, block them from your email, block them from your life. You got to do that because if you don’t do that, what’s going to happen is you’re going to have a very great and productive day that is going to be destroyed by an idiot. You know? So this person, they’re not a client. They’re not paying me. I was very nice to them. I told them, hey, you know what? Given the fact that you’re very busy, you have a lot going on, and given the fact that you’re unable to put in the work needed, I just think it’s a better thing to not work with you. So I want to refund you your $1,700 and let’s move forward.” But they just can’t handle that idea. So on part two of today’s show, and you see these testimonials of these wonderful clients that we’ve been able to help grow their company, and we’ve been able to help these people go from really just surviving to thriving, just understand that these people have learned the principles that I’m teaching you right now. These five principles, they carry a to-do list at all times, which is not a normal thing for humans to do. Most people in our culture do not carry a to-do list. Two, we had to teach all these wonderful clients to carry a calendar at all times. Three, we had to teach them to stop surrounding themselves with nefarious, weasley, wimpy idiots. You just gotta not surround yourself with nefarious, wimpy Idiots, that’s it. That’s a big thing step number four. You must be of the mindset that you trust but verify it If you’re somebody else that doesn’t trust but verify That’s a that’s a tough. That’s a tough deal because you’re gonna be screwed and screwed often Okay, and I’m not being negative. I’m just giving you facts according to the US Chamber of Commerce 75% of people steal from the workplace 75% of people steal from the workplace. Oh, but my people would never steal from the workplace. No, no, your people would steal from the workplace. You know why? Because people steal from the workplace. And in fact, 85% of people lie on resumes. 85%. We had a guy show up the other day for an interview and showed up on time, looked sharp, the whole thing, but had a really wild series of tattoos extending from his thumb to his pointer finger, a snake-like artwork. And he had a pretty wild tattoo that was on his neck, you know, and he had some things pretty wild. He showed up, looked sharp, nice haircut, showed up on time, but there’s something. And so I asked him, I said, hey, if I do a background check on your back on you, am I going to find anything, any red flags? Just curious. And he says, yeah, I do have some some crimes in my background. It might it might. And I’m just giving you a figure. I’m just a figurative name But he says yeah, and my name isn’t Carl Your name again, so he admitted yes, there are crimes and yes the name that I’ve used to apply for the job Isn’t actually my name, but again I’ve been able to be self-employed since I was 15 years old And I’ve discovered the patterns that make success and the patterns that make for failure, okay? Step number five, you gotta use the block feature often. Okay, the block feature often, okay? Step number six, step number six, okay, I’m just walking you through these. You must block out time for what matters. So today, as I record this show at 10.45 in the morning on the day that I’m recording this, I blocked out time, I made a commitment with myself, and then I recorded this show because it was a commitment that I made to myself that I would record this show, and I did. And so that’s how that works, all right? So this is, hopefully this is some helpful stuff here for you, hopefully this is some stuff that’s gonna help you quite a bit. So on part two of today’s show, what I’m gonna do now is I’m gonna introduce you to, or I’m gonna play audio of an interview I did with Michael Levine. Michael Levine was the former, he’s one of the world’s top public relations people back in the day. And, you know, all of us are learning new things about the world and how the world works, but there was a time where Michael Levine was the PR consultant for Prince and Michael Jackson at the same time. I mean, he was working for Pizza Hut and Nike at the same time. He was, and again, this is a top PR guy who was Charlton Heston’s PR guy George Carlin’s PR guy I mean this was the man for PR he was and he and I’ve gotten to be friends over the years And so I invited him to speak at one of our in-person Thrive Time Show workshops, and I think that what he shares with you During this interview is gonna blow your mind as he talks about the mindset that he’s had to embrace to learn, that he had to embrace to call people over and over and over until they cry by or die. He talks about the persistence needed. If I can give you another step, step number seven, you must follow up until success. You must follow up until success. And so Michael’s gonna talk about that, how he’ll follow up with somebody seven times, ten times, forty-seven times. He’ll do whatever he, he’ll follow up until people cry by or die and most people, they want to be successful, but they’re not willing to call someone 47 times. They, they want to be successful, but they don’t have a calendar. They want to be successful, but they don’t have a to-do list. They want to be successful, but they don’t surround themselves with good people. They surround themselves with nefarious, weasel-y, wimpy people. Uh, you must be of the mindset that you will trust but verify step number four center five. You must use the block feature often Step number six, you must block out time for what matters and step number seven. You must follow up until success So again on part two of today’s show, we’re gonna do an interview with Michael Levine The former top PR consultant of choice for many of the world’s leading brands and then on part three of today’s show We’re gonna play play some client testimonials for you so that you can hear from real people out there just like you who are having massive success. Without any further ado, here we go. I’m Michael Levine and I thought I’d tell you this story maybe it be of some value to you. You know, about 25 years ago our PR firm was running hot as hell and we had six of the top 20 musical artists in America on the Billboard charts. No company even had two and here we are with six. So we had the most number of successful artists in the country by far. But I still wanted to sign another musical artist who wasn’t been on the charts for a while but I loved and respected greatly. I wanted to sign the great Ray Charles. Ray Charles. I decided that even though I had all these big stars I was gonna go after Ray Charles and I called him. And I ultimately did sign him. I did sign him. But I’d like to ask you listening to this right now to try to guess, just close your eyes and try to guess how many times I called Ray Charles before I signed him. Are you going to… All right, let’s try to close our eyes. Close our eyes. Here we go. Now, we’ll do it multiple choice. 20 times C 30 times D 40 times or e more than 40 times Close your eyes Now write down your answer write it down. Don’t you cheat now write down your answer? I’m gonna give you the correct answer in three seconds one two Three all right here. We go correct answer is… 46 times. I called Ray Charles’ office 46 times. You want to hear something crazy? I didn’t even need Ray Charles here. I had all the other big music stars. But I think the story for some of you may, may, may, may have impact. Uh, when you think about all the tenacity required to go after your big dreams. I’m talking about little dreams, talking about big dreams. Anyway, I’m Michael Levin. We’ve all been through something that would give us adequate justification for being a lifetime victim. Or we could say we now have adequate motivation to become a victor. I used to stutter as a kid. I grew up poor. I was sexually abused as a kid. My best friend was killed when I was in college. My wife had a late-term miscarriage. My son was born blind. My dad died from Lou Gehrig’s disease. And those are not my justifications or my excuses. We could all check the victim box. Or we could check the box that says, Victor. Today’s guest grew up in a home where he was raised by an alcoholic father. And yet, he became the number one public relations consultant of all time. Today’s guest grew up severely dyslexic and was called dumb. Yet, he became a multiple time New York Times best-selling author. Today’s guest grew up in New York, yet he moved to California, where he knew no one. And he went on to become the public relations consultant of choice for Nike, for Prince, for President Bush, for Michael Jackson, for Nancy Kerrigan, for Barbara Streisand, for 58 Academy Award winners, 38 Grammy Award winners, and 43 New York Times best-selling authors. And so we had the honor of having Michael Levine attend our last in-person Thrive Time Show workshop. And when he spoke about why you need to decide whether you want to become a victim or a victor, I was taking notes, I was wowed by his intensity, and I was making sure that our editors were editing a few of the colorful metaphors and descriptive four-letter words that he was saying during his presentation and so we headed to show up so that it is now family now ladies and gentlemen any further ado is my pleasure to introduce to you my epic and my p r consultant of choice mister michael michael available to their world Hello. Now, let’s see. I want to make sure I can move around a little bit. Can you hear me okay? How are you? Good. It’s good to see you. I really do want to move around a little bit and visit with you. I’ve already met some of you. I have never seen a place like this in my life. It’s really fun. And I have never been to Tulsa before. It’s cold here. Wow. I’m from California. This is cold. Anyway, I am really thrilled to be here. Thank you, Clay. I am excited to have Michael here. One, because we brought him to Tulsa. He’s like, Tulsa, is that a place? Is this guy an original or what? Will you applaud an original? I mean, is this guy an original? Now, before I begin, I want to ask you a question. Now, are you going to be straight with me or not? Are you going to tell me the truth? Because I want to know you. I want you to know me. Is there anyone, I’ve never been to Tulsa before and I have certain images in my mind and all that from California, I was born in New York. by what might be referred to as rough language. Now come on, tell me. Colorful language. Hush up. I’m sorry everybody in advance. No? Okay, you’re alright? Alright! That’s cool, because if you were, that’s alright too. I used to get a bell sometimes, instead of cursing I’d hit the bell, but that’s all right. Anyway, listen, let me start with a confession. I’m going to offer you a confession. I fell into this public speaking business by accident. I had no training of any kind, pretty much like all the other things I’ve done in my life. I fell into it by accident. I had no training. And so if I had gone to some kind of Dale Carnegie course, I guess I would have been told to begin today with a story. And so I will. And I figured what kind of story? Tell my friends. Does this move out more is there anything I think you might have hit the max capacity the max I think the maximum capacity you we have a crack squad of Mike extension team members we can make it happen for you Marshall’s on it the tallest down in the world’s gonna help you all right so I’m gonna begin with a story and I figure what story can I tell my friends in Tulsa what story what story and I’m gonna tell you a story because I’m from Hollywood. I’m going to tell you a story about Hollywood. Ok, now it’s a story about old Hollywood. Old Hollywood. You’re too young to remember this. Alright, does anybody here old enough to know or remember the name of the literary Literary agent, Swifty Lazar. Anybody here know who Swifty Lazar is? You do? Alright! Son, who is Swifty Lazar? The biggest literary agent of all time. Now, he passed away years ago and he was real small and he had big glasses, but he was the biggest literary agent in the history of Hollywood. And son of a… spent six years of his life signing his biggest client. Six years to sign his biggest client. Cary Grant. Now, you don’t even know who Cary Grant is! Who knows who Cary Grant is? Let me tell you who Cary Grant is, darling. Cary Grant would be George Clooney times a thousand. Yes? Yes! Say yes! Don’t make me raise my voice. Now, Cary Grant, he signs his biggest client of all time. There’s no email then. So he comes into the office, Cary Grant, in his office, signing his client, six years, signing his contract. He signs his contract. Now, Cary Grant is getting ready to leave the office, leave the office. And he puts his hand on the door, right, to leave. Facing that way. And he says, Mr. Lazar, before I leave, I have one final question. Are you Jewish? And Swiftie Lazar was reported to have said, Not necessarily. I guess he wanted that contract. Anyway, as I told you, I had an odd journey to get here today. I was born and raised two and a half miles north of Ground Zero. Okay? I was born and raised two and a half miles north of Ground Zero. North, the ground zero. I am one of the few living Americans that watched the World Trade Center be built twice. And I came from a bad home. I had an alcoholic parent. How many of you have ever either known someone or struggled with that situation. Raise your hand. It’s not an easy deal. It’s not an easy deal. You know that. Now, I had another problem. I had a disability that is better known today than it was 40 years ago. I had the disability called dyslexia. Anybody here know what that is? You know what it is? Raise your hand if you know what it is. I love you do. But you see, 40 years ago was a different deal. We had a different word for dyslexia then 40 years ago, son. Can I tell you what it was called? Dumb. Did you hear me? OK. See, 40 years ago, we had a different word for it. It was called dumb. So, with an alcoholic parent and dyslexia, I was a lousy student. I barely graduated high school. Barely graduated high school. Now, I’m 17, I’m out of the house. I got no money, I got no job, I got no education, I got no parenting. I’m scared and I’m skinny. And I’ve got dyslexia. See that’s what’s called, darling, bad cards. See? And isn’t that something, friends? How your life goes is in large part how you play your cards. Isn’t that something? See, some people get bad cards and play them well. Some people get good cards and play them bad. And a lot of people get medium cards and play them medium. on third base you didn’t hit a triple son. See? You hear me? Don’t make me raise my voice. So now I’m 17 I’m scared and I’m skinny and I got no money no job no education no parenting and I got dyslexia. So I had two passions all my life. I just talked to a 17-year-old kid here. I said, do you know what you like? He says, no, I don’t know yet. That’s OK. But I knew I was interested in two things. As a young person, I was interested in two things all my life. Why? I don’t know. I just was. And I’ll tell you how to figure out what you’re interested in if you care. But I was interested in two things. I was interested in politics, and I was interested in the entertainment industry. Politics and the entertainment industry. Now I’m scared and skinny and I’m 17 and I’m thinking what do I do? What do I do? I’m interested in politics. I’m interested in entertainment. And I said you know what? You know what? I think Washington is just Hollywood for ugly folks. I’m going to L.A. where the pretty people are. How’s that? Darlene, I just look stupid. I just look stupid, see? I’m going out where the pretty people are. So I went out there and I met through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend and so much a life is proximity. You did a big thing today. So you don’t even realize you did a big thing. It’s called showing up. So through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, I meet a woman who was working a paramount pictures. Now, at that time, in the early 70s, middle 70s, there weren’t a lot of women working a paramount pictures other than secretaries. That’s interesting. Change. So I meet a woman, I say, what do you do? And she says, well, I’m a publicist. I said, that sounds cool. What’s that? She says, well, I work at Paramount Pictures. I’m a publicist. So what do you do all day? So what do I do all day? I said, yes. What do you do all day? I don’t know what a publicist is or does. And she says, well, what I do all day. Oh, I basically bullshitted on the phone. I said, I can do that. I can do that. And I decided I wanted to be a publicist. Because I can do that. See, I can’t do much else. So, off I go. Now I start a PR firm. Here’s the problem. I don’t know what PR is. See, that’s a problem. Isn’t that something? But if you’re motivated, you figure it out. See, if you’re motivated, now Clay tells you you gotta have a breakdown before you have a breakthrough. Now why is that? And I’m gonna tell you, and if you got a half a brain, you write it down. Here’s why Clay’s right. Write it down. Because in the end, in the end, in the end, in the end, human beings respect wisdom but obey pain. They respect wisdom but obey pain. Okay, isn’t that something? Why did God decide in the world that way? I don’t know. I’m going to ask him right along with why did you make celery cheesecake fattening and celery not see I’m asking that too. All right. So off I go. And you know the whole deal is I told my friend Jonathan at dinner last night, it’s a four step ladder, isn’t it? Four steps. The first step, this is how I did it. How did you do it? How did you get your first client? Come on. Just look at it. Tell me how you did it. I’m buying you dinner. How did you do it? I said, I’m going to tell you how, but you’re not going to like the answer. He said, well, no, you tell me. Come on, tell me. I said, I’m going to tell you, but you’re not going to like the answer. He said, all right, tell me. I said, all right, here’s how I did it. You want me to tell you how I did it? We’ve all been through something that would give us adequate justification for being a lifetime victim. Or we could say we now have adequate motivation to become a victor. I used to stutter as a kid. I grew up poor. I was sexually abused as a kid. My best friend was killed when I was in college. My wife had a late-term miscarriage. My son was born blind. My dad died from Lou Gehrig’s disease. And those are not my justifications or my excuses. We can all check the victim box. Or we can check the box that says Victor. Today’s guest grew up in a home where he was raised by an alcoholic father and yet he became the number one public relations consultant of all time. Today’s guest grew up severely dyslexic and was called dumb yet he became a multiple-time New York Times best-selling author. Today’s guest grew up in New York yet he moved to California where he knew no one. And he went on to become the public relations consultant of choice for Nike, for Prince, for President Bush, for Michael Jackson, for Nancy Kerrigan, for Barbara Streisand, for 58 Academy Award winners, 38 Grammy Award winners, and 43 New York Times best-selling authors. And so we had the honor of having Michael Levine attend our last in-person Thrive Time Show workshop. And when he spoke about why you need to decide whether you want to become a victim or a victor, I was taking notes, I was wowed by his intensity, and I was making sure that our editors were editing a few of the colorful metaphors and descriptive four-letter words that he was saying during his presentation and so we edited the show up so that it is now family-friendly and now ladies and gentlemen without any further ado it’s my pleasure to introduce to you my epic friend and my PR consultant of choice mr. Michael Levine Michael Levine folks Now, I want to make sure I can move around a little bit. Can you hear me okay? How are you? It’s good to see you. I really want to move around a little bit and visit with you. I’ve already met some of you. I have never seen a place like this in my life. It’s really fun. And I have never been to Tulsa before. It’s cold here. I’m from California this is cold anyway I am really thrilled to be here thank you clay I am excited Michael here once we brought him to Tulsa he’s a Tulsa is that a place is this guy an original? Now, before I begin, I want to ask you a question. Now, you’re going to be straight with me or not. You’re going to tell me the truth because I want to know you. I want you to know me. Is there anyone? I’ve never been to Tulsa before and I have certain images in my mind and all that from California. I was born in New York. Is there anyone here, and feel free to say if you are, is there anyone here that’s off-put, offended, off-put by what might be referred to as rough language? Rough language. Now come on, tell me. Colorful language. Hush up. I’m sorry everybody in advance. No? Okay, you’re alright? Alright! That’s cool. Because if you were, that’s alright too. I used to get a bell sometimes. Instead of cursing, I hit the bell. But that’s alright. Anyway, listen. Let me start with a confession I’m gonna offer you a confession I I fell into this public speaking business by accident I had no training of any kind pretty much like all the other things I’ve done in my I fell into it by accident. I had no training. And so if I had gone to some kind of Dale Carnegie course, I guess I would have been told to begin today with a story. And so I will. And I figured, what kind of story? I tell my friends, does this move out more? I think you might have hit the max capacity. I hit the max. I think you hit the maximum capacity. You, if somebody… We have a crack squad of mic extension team members. We can make it happen for you. Marshall’s on it. The tallest guy in the world is going to help you. All right. So, I’m going to begin with a story, and I figure, what story can I tell my friends in Tulsa? What story, what story? And I’m going to tell you a story, because I’m from Hollywood. I’m going to tell you a story about Hollywood. Okay? Now, it’s a story about old Hollywood. Old Hollywood. You’re too young to remember this. Alright, does anybody here know who Swiftie Lazar? Swiftie Lazar, you do. All right, son, who’s Swiftie Lazar? The biggest literary agent of all time, now he passed away years ago and he was real small, big glasses, but he was the biggest literary agent in the history of Hollywood. And son of a bitch spent six years of his life signing his biggest client. Six fucking Cary Grant. Now you don’t even know who Cary Grant is. Who knows who Cary Grant is? Let me tell you who Cary Grant is, darling. Cary Grant would be George Clooney times a thousand. Yes? Yes! Say yes! Don’t make me raise my voice. Now, Cary Grant, he He signs his biggest client of all time. There’s no email then. So he comes into the office, Cary Grant, in his office, signing his contract. He signs his contract. Now Cary Grant is getting ready to leave the office. Leave the office. And he puts his hand on the door, right, to leave, facing that way. And he says, Mr. Lazar, before I leave, I have one final question. Are you Jewish? And Swifty Lazar was reported to have said, not necessarily. Not necessarily. I guess he wanted that contract. Anyway, as I told you, I had an odd journey to get here today. I was born and raised two and a half miles north of Ground Zero. Okay? I was born and raised two and a half miles north of Ground Zero. I am one of the few living Americans that watched the World Trade Center be built twice. And I came from a bad home. I had an alcoholic parent. How many of you have ever either known someone or struggled with that kind of family situation? Raise your hand. It’s not an easy deal. It’s not an easy deal. You know that. Now, I had another problem. I had a disability that is better known today than it was 40 years ago. I had the disability called dyslexia. Anybody here know what that is? You know what it is? Raise your hand if you know what it is. A lot of you do. But, you see, 40 years ago it was a different deal. We had a different word for dyslexia then. 40 years ago, son, can I tell you what it was called? Dumb. Did you hear me? See, 40 years ago, we had a different word for it. It was called dumb. So, with an alcoholic parent and dyslexia, I was a lousy student. I barely graduated high school. Barely graduated high school. Now I’m 17. I’m out of the house. I got no money. I got no job. I got no education. I got no parenting. I’m scared and I’m skinny. And I got dyslexia. See, that’s what’s called, darlin’, bad cards. See? And isn’t that something, friends? How your life goes is in large part how you play your cards. Isn’t that something? See, some people get bad cards and play them well. Some people get good cards and play them bad. And a lot of people get medium cards and play them medium. See, if you’re born on third base, you didn’t hit a triple, son. See? You hear me? Don’t make me raise my voice. So, now, I’m 17, I’m scared and I’m skinny. And I got no money, no job, no education, no parenting. And I got dyslexia. So, I had two passions all my life. I just talked to a 17-year-old kid here. I said, do you know what you like? He says, no, I don’t know yet. That’s OK. But I knew I was interested in two things. As a young person, I was interested in two things all my life. Why? I don’t know. I just was. And I’ll tell you how to figure out what you’re interested in if you care. But I was interested in two things. I was interested in politics, and I was interested in the entertainment industry. Politics and the entertainment industry. Now, I’m scared and skinny and I’m 17 and I’m thinking, what do I do? What do I do? I’m interested in politics. I’m interested in entertainment. And I said, you know what? You know what? I think Washington is just Hollywood for ugly folks. I’m going to L.A. where the pretty people are. How’s that? Darlene I just look stupid. I Just look stupid. See I’m going out where the pretty people are. So I went out there and I I Met through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend and so much a life is is proximity you did a big thing today so you don’t even realize you did a big thing it’s called showing up so through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend I meet a woman who was working a paramount pictures now at that time in the early 70s middle 70s there were women working a pair of pictures other than secretaries that’s interesting change so I meet a woman I say what do you do and she says well I’m a publicist I said that sounds cool what’s that she says well I work at Paramount Pictures I’m a publicist so what do you do all day? so what do I do all day? I said yes what do you do all day? I don’t know what a publicist is or does and she says well what I do all day oh I basically bullshit on the phone. I said, I can do that. I can do that. And I decided I wanted to be a publicist. Because I can do that. See, I can’t do much else. So off I go. Now I start a PR firm. Here’s the problem. I don’t know what PR is. See, that’s a problem. Isn’t that something? But if you’re motivated, you figure it out. See, if you’re motivated, now Clay tells you you gotta have a break down before you have a breakthrough. Now, why is that? And I’m gonna tell you, and if you got half a brain, you write it down. Here’s why Clay’s right. Write it down. Because in the end, in the end, in the end, respect wisdom but obey pain. They respect wisdom but obey pain. Okay? Isn’t that something? Why did God design the world that way? I don’t know. I’m gonna Right along with why did you make? celery Cheesecake fattening and celery not see how am I asking that too? All right? so off I go and You know the whole deal is I? Told my friend Jonathan at dinner last night It’s a four step ladder, isn’t it? Four steps. The first step, this is how I did it. How did you do it? So he said, how did you get your first client? Come on, just look at it, tell me how you did it. I’m buying you dinner. How did you do it? I said, I’m going to tell you how, but you’re not going to like the answer. He said, no, you tell me, come on, tell me. I said, I’m going to tell you, but you’re not going to like the answer. He said, all right, tell me. I said, all right, here’s how I did it. You want me to tell you how I did it? OK, I’m going to tell you how I did it. Now, you’re not going to like the answer. All right, here’s how I did it. Ready? Write it down. Will you write it for me? Thanks. Here’s how I did it. Listen carefully, please. Somehow. See, if you want something bad enough, you’ll do it. How will you do it? Somehow. See, you’ll find a way. Through the front door, the back door, the side door, the chimney. Ask a mother of a sick kid how she did it. Okay, now listen to the four step. See, it’s four steps. And this is how I did it. So step one is called work for free. See, very few people will turn you down if you offer to work for free. See, work for free. Now, in that first step, remember, you lose and all your Jack and friends at Burger King for 10 an hour are winning. So in step one, you lose, they win. See how it is? But if you hang in there, you go up to step two. Now let me tell you about step two. Step two is you work below market five an hour, they work ten. See in step two, you lose, they win. See the Burger King gang still got you beat on step two. See? You with me? Hang in. It’s 10-10. That’s called a tie. See, you finally caught the Burger King gang. See, now it’s a tie. on step four. They work for ten and what happens to you? You work for a thousand. See, takes forty hours to make a living, forty hours to make a fortune. Now, what’s forty plus forty? No, see, you didn’t like that. There’s got to be a shortcut. What’s wrong with you? By the way, who taught you to look for one? Who sold you on that plan? The same jackass that told you not to carry a business card? Come on. You’re too smart for that stuff. All right. So I start a PR firm. Now I get lucky and I work hard, see. And I say yes a lot in the beginning. And so this PR firm grows to one of the three largest entertainment PR firms in the country. And I start representing a lot of very, very, very famous people. And I’ve represented Michael Jackson and Charlton Heston and Barbara Streisand and David Bowie and Prince and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Fox and Demi Moore and Sandra Bullock and Cameron Diaz and George Carlin and Joan Rivers and Suzanne Somers and Bill O’Reilly and hundreds and hundreds of other big celebrities. I’ve given advice to three US presidents, including one who just passed away. I’ve given advice to three US presidents, both political parties. So that means I’m a hooker. See, I’m a hooker. You got it? Both parties. How’s that? You didn’t know I was a hooker, did you? Makes you like me better. I know. Easy. All right. So now, I start to get obsessed with a question as I’m representing these big, big stars, huge stars. I start getting obsessed with a question. And this question that obsessed me has obsessed me for 35 years. And it is really why I came today, to share the question and my answer. obsessed me. I cannot tell you why it obsessed me, but it obsessed me. And the question was, was there success merely luck? Right place, right time. Were the Beatles just in the right place at the right time? not know and if there was something was the something transferable was the something transferable if there wasn’t something and it wasn’t transferable, then I’m f***ed. See? I’m… because I didn’t get good cards. But, but if there was something, if there was something and it was transferable, then maybe I could borrow it, which is a polite word for steal it, steal it, see? So off I go and I start asking the question. Is there something that Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton have in common except a lot of dough? Is this something that Michael Jordan has in common with Bill Gates? Except they got a lot of dough. Is there something? And at first it didn’t seem that there was. So it seems like I’m… But I stuck with the question because I was obsessed by it. And I asked the question again and again and again for a long period of time. Not a week, not a month, not a year, not a few years. Over and over again for years. And you know the funniest thing happened. After a few years, I thought I saw in the distance, in the desert of my mind, a little green. A little patch of green. Now maybe it’s a mirage. Maybe I’m crazy. She thinks I’m crazy. But I stuck with it. And I came to conclude that over time there were three qualities present in all super successful. Friends, if you’re sitting here today, all polite, looking good, smelling good, and you’re just interested in success, not super success, just success. You don’t need to write down that you can go to sleep for the rest of the whole deal. write down that you go to sleep for the rest the whole deal you need to write down anything gonna be successful without a word I’m telling you you are I give you my guarantee why why do you say thank you thank you I’m gonna be successful yes you’re gonna be successful without a word. You don’t need to write down a thing. Well, how can you tell me that, Michael? That’s such good news. But how could you tell me that? Well, in large part, because what’s your name, darling? Gina, because Gina, you were fortunate enough to be born into a civilization at exactly the moment in human history in which your competition is overwhelmingly stupid and lazy. See, Gina, you don’t got to do much to be successful today except show up sober. Stupid and lazy. Overwhelmingly. I want to know about the super success plan. Well, if that’s your interest, my best counsel to you over the next few minutes is start writing. Start writing. All super successful people had three qualities present a hundred times out of a hundred. Maybe you didn’t hear me. All super successful people. Anyone that you venerate alive or dead had three qualities present a hundred times out of a hundred. Natural law. Number one, and I’m going to try to do it for you in a memorable way so you can remember it. We’ll call them three magic O’s. What do you say? Three O’s? Okay, three O’s. Here we go. One, obsession. An obsession. I said something that I refer to as an obsession, which is analogous to a burning, maniacal rage, as if your life depended on it. Did you hear me or do you need me to raise my voice, darling? I said an obsession, a burning, maniacal rage, as if your life depended on it. Yes? Now listen to me. How are you in the back? Listen to me. It wasn’t ambition. Guys think about this. Close your eyes if you choose. You all know a bunch of ambitious folks. Friends of yours that can’t find their way out of a burning building. But they’re ambitious. It’s not ambition. It’s something deeper, more primal, more intense. It’s obsession. A burning, maniacal rage as if your life depended on it. Number two, they had an optimism, but it was the most unusual version of optimism. It was not naive, you know, like you watch this great documentary about Mr. Rogers, you know, what comes around goes around and all that stuff. It wasn’t that kind of optimism, friends. It was a different one and it was an optimism. Well, first of all, how many of you understand the concept or feel you have a modest understanding of the concept of paradox? Paradox. Raise your hand if you feel like you’re modest. Contradictory statement. OK, love is beautiful. But love is painful. Love is joyful, love is painful. This optimism that our super successful friends had was paradoxical. It was an optimism. Now write this down. I can’t. I’ll come back there if I have to. It was an optimism born. born, born, created, born, after a militant need. It was an optimism born, created, after a militant need could almost be like an addiction. It was an optimism born after a militant need to face the brutal facts. And here, my dear friends, were the two brutal facts that our super successful friends discovered when they peered into the face of destiny. One, the game is not Two, the game is not fair. The game is not easy and the game is not fair. So do me a favor. Don’t waste any of your precious time on this earth complaining about that a lot. That’s a bad plan. See, don’t sign up for that class, darling. When somebody says to you, I don’t think the game is easy, let’s complain about it. Say, I’m not signing up for that class. Don’t sign up for that class. Hey, you know what, Mary? I don’t think the game is fair. I know, you’re right, but I’m not signing up for that class. Don’t. That’s a bad class. You don’t have time for that class. As for the other folks. But our super successful friends came to conclude, Though the game is not easy and though the game is not fair, with enough burning, maniacal rage, Optimism. Greatest thing ever said to me? I try real hard. I’ve known a lot of famous people. I don’t know how the f*** that happened to me, but I did. And I try real hard, and I’m not perfect at it, but I try hard not to name drop too much in my talks. Because that’s cheating. But the smartest thing he ever said to me on the topic of optimism was said to me by General Colin Powell in only six words. Now, pretty good. Profundity in six words. That’s not bad. So he said, and I don’t count my name as one of the words. I took that out. He said, Michael. He’s a big general. He said, Michael. By the way, try to be profound in six words. Try it sometime. He said, Michael, perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. Look at me, please. optimism is a force multiplier. So he’s a military general and what that means in English is this if you take 10 men put or women and you put them in a military environment and you saturate them with optimism those 10 men can fight with the force of fifty. Those ten can fight with the force of fifty. If you take those same ten men or women and you put them in the same environment and you saturate them with negativity, those ten men can’t fight with the force of two. See, this is what’s got me so God-damn concerned about our friends in the minority community. From the moment they take their first breath of air, they’re told, you can’t, you’re a victim, you’re a victim, you’re a victim. Now, son, if you want to be broke in America, darling, if you want to be broke in America, I can tell you how to do it. It’s real easy. All you’ve got to do is think like a victim. And I promise you, your ass will be broke in America. Son, if you want to be broke in America, all you’ve got to do is go home and think like a victim. You’ll be broke. I promise you. Don’t worry about it. I promise you 100%. If you said to me, Michael, which would you prefer? A young African-American kid or Hispanic kid? Smoke crack cocaine or inhale daily belief of victimhood. I say, can I think about it? Can I think about it for a while? I don’t know. I’m not sure. Let me think about it. So the first O is obsession. The second O is optimism, but it’s an unusual paradoxical version of optimism. Now the third is called obligation. All super successful people had an unnatural commitment to their word, particularly to themselves, impeccable with their word particularly to themselves let me tell you something I noticed and maybe you have to if you think about it here’s what super well here’s what super successful people most folks say you know next year I’m gonna lose some weight next year I’m gonna lose some weight that’s what most folks say super successful people say 12 pounds. And you know what they do? They tell folks and they almost always write them. You see all these… That stuff is powerful, see? Because that’s a pledge now. See? Everybody can see it. Isn’t that something? 12 pounds, April 17th, son. See? Written. They don’t say, I’m going to lose some weight. Because if you say, I’m going to lose some weight next year, how does that work? Generally not as good, right? All people were impeccable with their word, particularly to themselves. They had a plan almost always written. See, what kind of jack goes on a car trip without a map? Tell me about that. And by the way, if I say to you, hey kid, what’s your name? Brother Justin, you’ve got a plan. Oh yeah, I’ve got a plan. I said, great, Justin. That’s great. How old are you, son? Thirty seven. I got ties older than you, son. OK, now I say, Justin, you got a plan. Yeah, I got one. Great. Show it to me, son. Well, I got it in my head. Does Justin have a plan? Or does Justin have a bunch of pretty ideas floating around his adorable head. He doesn’t have a plan. Now, he’s so dumb he doesn’t know it. He thinks he’s got a plan. See, you know I have a plan. You’ve got a plan that’s written, almost always shared with folks, particularly folks who are tough on you, who will be willing, not delighted, but willing to stick their foot in your rectum if necessary. And you know, it was said to me by a black preacher once, and it was so interesting and so true. I used to host a TV show and he said something. He said, you know, Michael, very few people in the world, very few people in the world wouldn’t be better off without a good cussing out about once a month. Isn’t that something? So I called him up 10 years later, I said, Pastor, you know, you said the most interesting thing to me 10 years ago. You said very few people in the world wouldn’t be better off without a good cussing out once a month. I said, do you still believe that? He paused for a long time on the phone. He said, maybe twice. Isn’t that something? Do you have friends in your life who love you enough to cuss you out once in a while. Do you? Do you? So obligation, obligation, commitment to their word, particularly to themselves. On the rare occasion, Wednesday at 7 o’clock in the morning didn’t mean Thursday at 10.15. Listen, when people who were super successful missed their goal, their commitment, who do you think the super successful folks blamed? Who? Themselves. How’s that for weird? How’s that? How’s that for saying no no no no they didn’t come into a room 15 minutes later and say oh yeah you know there’s a lot of traffic. There’s always a lot of traffic son what’s wrong with you? Come on you didn’t leave early enough. Now they said no I’m late it’s my fault. Oh come on don’t worry about it there’s traffic. No no no you didn’t hear me. I don’t think you heard me real well. It won’t happen again. See, I had a teaching moment. It’s not going to happen again. It’s my fault. Now, how many people do you know like that? So, our super successful friends had these three qualities. And with the third O, which is the obligation, Voluntary homework assignment. So you’re going to get the best kind of homework assignment right now, it’s voluntary, you don’t have to do it. And I’m going to give you some more good news. You ready? You ready for the voluntary homework assignment? Obligation number three. Oh, comes with a voluntary homework assignment. It’s voluntary, you don’t have to do it. And more good news. If you decide to do it, if you decide to do it, you can do it in 10 minutes or less. You can do it in the next 24 hours. And you can do it for free. It’s not bad. What’s your name? Josiah. Listen to me. This is the sh** you can do in the next 10 minutes. You can do it in the next 24 hours and 10 minutes will last for free. How’s that? It’s not bad. And it’s voluntary. I got even better news. Listen to this. If you do it. If you do it, if you do it, I will give you a 100% money-back guarantee that this one homework assignment, just this one homework assignment, will change your Instantly, radically, and permanently. Just this one thing. Listen to me. What’s your name? Are you listening? Good. If you do this one homework assignment, change your life. I’m going to give you a guarantee. 100%. You cannot lose instantly, radically, and permanently. Are you ready? Okay. Here’s what you’ve got to do. You gotta make a commitment in the next 24 hours to go home and fire your flaky friends. Why is that? Why? Because nothing, nothing, nothing will interfere with your capacity to reach your fullest and highest potential. Like the second hand fumes of flakiness. Did you hear me? Do you need me to say it again? Are you sure? Nothing will interfere with your capacity to reach your fullest and highest potential. Like the secondhand fumes of flakiness. That’s it guys, three O’s. Three O’s. later today, I’m not sure how Clay has set this up exactly, but I believe that later today I will be gifted with the opportunity of hearing and discussing some of your questions, comments, suggestions, and alternative speeches, particularly interested in hearing from people who have some kind of silent urge inside them to come up to me and punch me in the nose. But we have, I believe, about 10 minutes left. And in that time, I’d love to just see if we could do a couple of questions, comments, suggestions, and alternative speeches. Now I do want to tell you one last thing. You know, writing a book, very few people in the world, many people want to write a book, very few do. But it’s the most unusual experience in so many ways, but here’s one way. Writing a book is like putting a… and ask anybody who’s ever written one if this is true and I think they’ll agree. I think Clay will agree and others. Writing a book is like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it out to sea. And you’re never quite sure who’s going to see it, if it’s going to be seen. It’s an odd thing. It’s a very unusual thing. And so I come to Tulsa, and I meet you. Some of you I meet personally, some I just meet in a group. But you know, and I leave tomorrow, right? And it’s an interesting thing. In a strange kind of way, I take you with me, don’t I? Isn’t that something? I take you with me in a strange kind of way. I guess you in a strange kind of way, particularly maybe if you took some notes, you take me with you. Isn’t that interesting? Last night you didn’t even know who I was and I didn’t know who you were, and there was nothing on a book, and all the rest. Isn’t that wacky? Kind of a wacky thing, isn’t it? And we meet again. Or maybe we won’t. Maybe we will. But isn’t that, and we certainly, in today’s world, can stay in touch via email or phone call or any, you understand how that can be today, but I take you with me, and you take me with you. That’s interesting, kind of wacky thing, never expected it. So, let’s do this, we’ve got seven minutes left, and I’m gonna try this out, see if you like this. We’re gonna do men versus women. Hold on, darling. Men versus women. So the women get to answer, ask the first question or comment. Now you don’t have to do a question. It can be a comment. You can either choose a question or a comment. We’re going to go with women first and then we’re going to go to the guys if they’ve got the guts, which I doubt they do, but they might. So you see how it is? So women first. Who has got a question or a comment? Question or comment? Young lady, would you please stand up and tell me your first name? Angela? Sister Angela, go. I can’t come. I want to, but I can’t reach you. But what’s your question? First, is a question or comment? A question from Sister Angela. Go. Can you give us an example of the technicalities of question? Can I give you an example? By the way, yes, I can. But hold on. Yet will I? Yes, I will. But just raise your hand if any of you can think of how flakiness has cut off your potential in your life. Raise your hand. We can all give examples of some kind or another look Angela you got to make a decision how you’re going to live your life you only get 168 hours a week darling you get the same 168 that Oprah gets and a Barack Obama gets and Bill Clinton gets, and Michael Jordan gets, you get the same 168 hours. Now, one of the problems of flakiness is, is really f**king expensive from a time point of view, isn’t it? Chasing people around, trying to keep people… You like herding cats, darling? You got better things to do than herd cats. This is the honey badger. Watch it run in slow motion. It’s pretty badass. Look, it runs all over the place. Whoa, watch out says that bird. Ew, it’s got a snake. Oh, it’s chasing a jackal. Oh my gosh. Oh, the honey badgers are just crazy. The honey badger has been referred to by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most fearless animal in all of the animal kingdom. It really doesn’t give a sh**. If it’s hungry, it’s hungry. Ew, what’s that in its mouth? Oh, it’s got a cobra. Oh, it runs backwards. Now watch this. Look, it snakes up in the tree. Honey badger don’t care. Honey badger don’t give a sh**. It does what it wants. Whenever it’s hungry, it just, ew, and it eats snakes. Oh my God, watch it dig. Look at that digging. The honey badger is really pretty badass. They have no regard for any other animal whatsoever. Look, and it’s just grunting and eww, eating snakes. Eww, what’s that, a mouse? Oh, that’s nasty. Oh, they’re so nasty. Oh, look, it’s chasing things and eating them. The honey badgers have a fairly long body, but a distinctly thick set, broad shoulders, and, you know, their skin is loose, allowing them to move about freely, and they twist around. Now look, here’s a house full of bees. You think the honey badger cares? It doesn’t give a sh**. It goes right into the house to bees to get some larva. How disgusting is that? It eats larva. Ew, that’s so nasty. But look, the honey badger doesn’t care. It’s getting stung like a thousand times. It doesn’t give a sh**. It’s just, it’s hungry. It doesn’t care about being stung by bees. Nothing can stop the honey badger when it’s hungry. Oh, what a crazy f***. Ew, it’s eating larva. That’s disgusting. There it is, running in slow motion again. See? Now, what’s interesting is that other animals, like these birds here, they just like to wait around until the honey badger’s done eating, and then it swoops in to pick up the scraps. It says, you do all the work for us, honey badger, and we’ll just eat whatever you find. How’s that? What do you say, stupid? Look at this bird. Thanks for the treat, stupid. Hey, come back here, says the honey badger. Birds don’t care, and you know what? The jackals do it too. Look at these little dogs. They’re like, thanks, stupid. Thanks for the mouse. See you later. The honey badger does all the work while these other animals just pick up the scraps. At nighttime, the honey badger goes hunting because it’s hungry. Look! Here comes a fierce battle between a king cobra and a honey badger. I wonder what’ll happen. Look at this. There’s the honey badger just eating a mouse. And then look. Get away from me says the snake. Get away from me! Honey badger don’t care. Honey badger smacks the s***. The snake comes back and it lashes right at the honey badger. Oh, little does the honey badger know, FYI, it’s been stung. It’s been bitten by the snake so while it’s eating the snake, ew that’s disgusting. Meanwhile the poisonous venom is seeping through the honey badger’s body and it passes out. Look at that sleepy f***. Now the honey badger’s is gonna pass out for a few minutes and then it’s gonna get right back up and start eating all over again because it’s a hungry little bastard. Look at this, like nothing happened. The honey badger gets right back up and continues eating the cobra. How disgusting. And of course, what does the honey badger have to eat for the next two weeks? Cobra. The honey badger. The number of new customers that we’ve had is up 411% over last year. We are Jared and Jennifer Johnson. We own Platinum Pest and Lawn and are located in Owasso, Oklahoma. And we have been working with Thrive for business coaching for almost a year now. Yeah, so what we want to do is we want to share some wins with you guys that we’ve had by working with Thrive. First of all, we’re on the top page of Google now, okay? I just want to let you know what type of accomplishment this is. Our competition, Orkin, Terminex, they’re both $1.3 billion companies. They both have 2,000 to 3,000 pages of content attached to their website. So to basically go from virtually non-existent on Google to up on the top page is really saying something. But it’s come by being diligent to the systems that Thrive has, by being consistent and diligent on doing podcasts and staying on top of those podcasts to really help with getting up on what they’re listing and ranking there with Google. And also we’ve been trying to get Google reviews, you know, asking our customers for reviews and now we’re the highest rated and most reviewed Pessimon company in the Tulsa area. And that’s really helped with our conversion rate. And the number of new customers that we’ve had is up 411 percent over last year. Wait, say that again. How much are we up? 411 percent. So 411 percent we’re up with with our new customers. Amazing. Right. So not only do we have more customers calling in, we’re able to close those deals at a much higher rate than we were before. Right now our closing rate is about 85% and that’s largely due to, first of all, like our Google reviews that we’ve gotten. People really see that our customers are happy, but also we have a script that we follow. And so when customers call in, they get all the information that they need. That script has been refined time and time again. It wasn’t a one and done deal. It was a system that we followed with Thrive in the refining process and that has obviously, the 411% shows that that system works. Yeah, so here’s a big one for you. So last week alone, our booking percentage was 91%. We actually booked more deals, more new customers last year than we did the first five months of last year from before we worked with Thrive. So again we booked more deals last week than the first five months of last year. It’s incredible but the reason why we have that success by implementing the systems that Thrive has taught us and helped us out with. Some of those systems that we’ve implemented are group interviews that way we’ve really been able to come up with a really great team. We’ve created and implemented checklists. Everything gets done and it gets done right. It creates accountability. We’re able to make sure that everything gets done properly, both out in the field and also in our office. And also doing the podcast like Jared had mentioned that has really, really contributed to our success, but that, like I said, the diligence and consistency in doing those in that system has really, really been a big blessing in our lives, and also, you know, it’s really shown that we’ve gotten the success from following those systems. So before working with Thrive, we were basically stuck. Really no new growth with our business. And we were in a rut, and we didn’t know. Okay, the last three years, our customer base had pretty much stayed the same. We weren’t shrinking, but we weren’t really growing either. Yeah. And so we didn’t really know where to go, what to do, how to get out of this rut that we’re in. But Thrive helped us with that. They implemented those systems, they taught us those systems, they taught us the knowledge that we needed in order to succeed. Now it’s been a grind. Absolutely, it’s been a grind this last year. But we’re getting those fruits from that hard work and the diligent effort that we’re able to put into it. So again, we were in a rut, Thrive helped us get out of that rut and and if you’re thinking about working with Thrive, quit thinking about it and just do it. Do the action and you’ll get the results. It will take hard work and discipline but that’s what it’s going to take in order to really succeed. So we just want to give a big shout out to Thrive, a big thank you out there to Thrive. We wouldn’t be where we’re at now without their help. Hi, I’m Dr. Mark Moore. I’m a pediatric dentist. Through our new digital marketing plan, we have seen a marked increase in the number of new patients that we’re seeing every month, year over year. One month, for example, we went from 110 new patients the previous year to over 180 new patients in the same month. And overall, our average is running about 40 to 42% increase month over month, year over year. The group of people required to implement our new digital marketing plan is immense, starting with a business coach, videographers, photographers, web designers. Back when I graduated dental school in 1985, nobody advertised. The only marketing that was ethically allowed in everybody’s eyes was mouth-to-mouth marketing. By choosing to use the services, you’re choosing to use a proof-and-turn-key marketing and coaching system that will grow your practice and get you the results that you’re looking for. I went to the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry from 1983 to 1985. Hello my name is Charles Colaw with Colaw Fitness. Today I want to tell you a little bit about Clay Clark and how I know Clay Clark. Clay Clark has been my business coach since 2017. He’s helped us grow from two locations to now six locations. We’re planning to do seven locations in seven years and then franchise. And Clay has done a great job of helping us navigate anything that has to do with like running the business, building the systems, the checklists, the workflows, the audits, how to navigate lease agreements, how to buy property, how to work with brokers and builders. This guy is just amazing. This kind of guy has worked in every single industry. He’s written books with Lee Crocker, the head of Disney, with the 40,000 cast members. He’s friends with Mike Lindell. He does Reawaken America tours where he does these tours all across the country where 10,000 or more people show up to some of these tours. On the day-to-day, he does anywhere from about 160 companies. He’s at the top. He has a team of business coaches, videographers, graphic designers, and web developers. They run 160 companies every single week. So think of this guy with a team of business coaches running 160 companies. So in the weekly, he’s running 160 companies. Every six to eight weeks, he’s doing Reawaken America tours. Every six to eight weeks, he’s also doing business conferences where 200 people show up, and he teaches people a 13-step proven system that he’s done and worked with billionaires, helping them grow their companies. So I’ve seen guys from startups go from startup to being multimillionaires, teaching people how to get time freedom and financial freedom through the system of critical thinking, document creation, organizing everything in their head to building it into a franchisable, scalable business. One of his businesses has like 500 franchises. That’s just one of the companies or brands that he works with. So, amazing guy. Elon Musk, kind of like smart guy. He kind of comes off sometimes as socially awkward, but he’s so brilliant and he’s taught me so much. When I say that, Clay is like, he doesn’t care what people think when you’re talking to him. He cares about where you’re going in your life and where he can get you to go. And that’s what I like him most about him. He’s like a good coach. A coach isn’t just making you feel good all the time. A coach is actually helping you get to the best of you. And Clay has been an amazing business coach. Through the course of that we became friends. My most impressive thing was when I was shadowing him one time, we went into a business deal and listened to it. I got to shadow and listen to it. When we walked out I knew that he could make millions on the deal and they were super excited about working with him. He told me, he’s like, I’m not going to touch it, I’m going to turn it down because he knew it was going to harm the common good of people in the long run. The guy’s integrity just really wowed me. It brought tears to my eyes to see that this guy, his highest desire was to do what’s right. Anyways, just an amazing man. Anyways, impacted me a lot. He’s helped navigate. Anytime I’ve gotten nervous or worried about how to run the company or navigating competition and an economy that’s like, I remember we got closed down for three months. He helped us navigate on how to stay open, how to get back open, how to just survive through all the COVID shutdowns, lockdowns. I’m Rachel with Tip Top K9, and we just want to give a huge thank you to Clay and Vanessa Clark. Hey guys, I’m Ryan with Tip Top K9. Just want to say a big thank you to Thrive 15. Thank you to Make Your Life Epic. We love you guys, we appreciate you, and really just appreciate how far you’ve taken us. This is our old house. This is where we used to live a few years ago. This is our old neighborhood. See? It’s nice, right? So this is my old van and our old school marketing. And this is our old team. And by team, I mean it’s me and another guy. This is our new house with our new neighborhood. This is our new van with our new marketing. And this is our new team. We went from four to fourteen. And I took this beautiful photo. We worked with several different business coaches in the past. And they were all about helping Ryan sell better and just teaching sales. Which is awesome, but Ryan is a really great salesman. So we didn’t need that. We needed somebody to help us get everything that was in his head out into systems, into manuals and scripts, and actually build a team. So now that we have systems in place, we’ve gone from one to ten locations in only a year. In October 2016, we grossed 13 grand for the whole month. Right now it’s 2018, the month of October. It’s only the 22nd, we’ve already grossed a little over 50 grand for the whole month and we still have time to go. We’re just thankful for you, thankful for Thrive and your mentorship and we’re really thankful that you guys have helped us to grow a business that we run now instead of the business running us. Just thank you, thank you, thank you, times a thousand. The Thrive Time Show two-day interactive business workshops are the world’s highest rated and most reviewed business workshops. Because we teach you what you need to know to grow. You can learn the proven 13 point business system that Dr. Zellner and I have used over and over to start and grow successful companies. When we get into the specifics, the specific steps on what you need to do to optimize your website. We’re gonna teach you how to fix your conversion rate. We’re gonna teach you how to do a social media marketing campaign that works. How do you raise capital? How do you get a small business loan? We teach you everything you need to know here during a two-day, 15-hour workshop. It’s all here for you. You work every day in your business, but for two days you can escape and work on your business and build these proven systems so now you can have a successful company that will produce both the time freedom and the financial freedom that you deserve. You’re going to leave energized, motivated, but you’re also going to leave empowered. The reason why I built these workshops is because, as an entrepreneur, I always wish that I had this. And because there wasn’t anything like this, I would go to these motivational seminars, no money down, real estate, Ponzi scheme, get motivated seminars, and they would never teach me anything. It was like you went there and you paid for the big chocolate Easter bunny, but inside of it, it was a hollow nothingness. And I wanted the knowledge, and they’re like, oh, but we’ll teach you the knowledge after our next workshop. And the great thing is we have nothing to upsell. At every workshop, we teach you what you need to know. There’s no one in the back of the room trying to sell you some next big, get rich quick, walk on hot coals product. It’s literally, we teach you the brass tacks, the specific stuff that you need to know to learn how to start and grow a business. I encourage you to not believe what I’m saying. I want you to Google the Z66 auto auction. I want you to Google elephant in the room. Look at Robert Zellner and Associates. Look them up and say, are they successful because they’re geniuses or are they successful because they have a proven system? When you do that research, you will discover that the same systems that we use in our own business can be used in your business. Come to Tulsa, book a ticket, and I guarantee you it’s going to be the best business workshop ever, and we’re going to give you your money back if you don’t love it. We’ve built this facility for you, and we’re excited to see it. And now you may be thinking, what does it actually cost to attend an in-person, two-day, interactive, Thrive Time Show business workshop? Well, good news, the tickets are $250 or whatever price that you can afford. What? Yes, they’re $250 or whatever price you can afford. I grew up without money and I know what it’s like to live without money. So if you’re out there today and you want to attend our in-person, two-day interactive business workshop, all you’ve got to do is go to Thrivetimeshow.com to request those tickets and if you can’t afford $250, we have scholarship pricing available to make it affordable tickets and if you can’t afford $250, we have scholarship pricing available to make it affordable for you.