And there's like a you see there's like a heater in here and everything so that's a whole situation anyway so they're not using it all and now that i'm gonna be working from home more than before i was talking about how you need a home office and they're like dude why don't you use the shed and i was like yeah and so it was originally like a costco shed this thing is built out dude like yeah there's windows there's a split
a mini split unit for ac and heater and a refrigerator in the corner they said i could help myself to it nice so it's a whole thing it's pretty nice in here So this is my first day in my new office. So now that the book is published and it's available, now you have the perfect space for writing. That's exactly what's going on. That is because my, as you know, before I was taking most of my phone calls and stuff like that in the garage,
which is, you know, fine sometimes. And then sometimes it's not ideal. Where did you do most of your writing? That can be a difficult thing. You know, James Clear and a lot of those other high functioning people talk about having spaces that are specifically designated for things so you had obviously when you're at the gym you're at the gym you're doing the thing there so where did you find was it was your writing space, So I did all of my writing early in the mornings.
So before the kids are awake and everything. So like five, between five and 7 a.m. And I actually follow that. Those are bad advice of like a different spot for different stuff. And so I have a chair in the living room. It's like a lazy boy recliner. Anyways, I have a little, you know, lap thing, little pad on the bottom. Anyway, put my laptop right on that bad boy. And then I just kind of pop my feet up. And I do, I did all the writing. Yeah. In a recliner with my feet up.
Nice. Typing on the laptop. Were there mornings that you felt like kind of rushed? Cause I know I'm the same way, like morning with coffee and there are some of the best writers talk about you write on coffee, but you edit on wine and that makes, makes, makes total sense. But there were days where you felt kind of rushed. I know we're trying to get to school. I have to leave by seven o'clock.
And so in the morning, if I got like 200 words, but I needed to get more than throughout the day, I have different ideas. So how did you deal with not feeling rushed in the morning? And then when you had subsequent thoughts to finish, maybe paragraphs or ideas, how'd you deal with that? Yeah, that's a great point. You know, for me, it's that I didn't have to be at school, but the kids get up and set it, right?
It's like, once the kids come out of the room, then it's, you know, it's, it's all, all bets are off. So yeah, there's no more concentrating taking place after that. I kind of very similar things. I had ideal word counts for me. Mine were I wanted to write 800 words a day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And if I did that, that would put me at around 2,500, which is my weekly goal. And so I would, yeah, some days, you know, you go to start and it just doesn't really happen.
It's a slow, So some days that getting to 800 words was a slog, right? And then other days it just kind of happened pretty easily, right? So yeah, sometimes I felt a little rushed in general. So it wasn't too bad. One thing I did a while ago is I decided I wanted to be better at writing. And I didn't know I was going to write a book yet. I just knew that if I was better at writing, I'd be better at business.
Just the better you communicate. and I've had some business coaches who kind of talked about the high income skills is what they called them, right? And you don't have to have them all. You only need one or two, but the more you have, the better. And high income skills are writing, and then public speaking, and then leadership is kind of like the third one. And if you are very good at one of those three things, then you'll be fine. You'll figure it out.
The rest of the business is, is you'll work through it. And so anyway, so I thought, well, you know, I really could be better at writing. And so one thing I did is I bought a bunch of books about how to write, but I didn't do your traditional work.
How to write necessarily i i tried to get books that were by non-fiction they could be fiction also whatever i guess by that's what it was books by fictional authors wait hold on by authors who write fiction right they're not fictional anyway books by authors that write fiction but about writing right and so kind of either autobiography type thing is just kind of like tips and so you know like stephen king's on writing is a great example where it's half cocaine you know store.
Cocaine or there's some there's some substances that a lot of cocaine a lot of booze yeah a lot of i think whatever he gets hands on but it was you know the first half is like a autobiography and then the second half is like hey i've had some success in this writing thing and this is some things that i've learned over over that time you know and lamont has a great book called bird by bird which is kind of a very similar type thing it's that's part autobiography part how to write um
there's a ray bradbury one there's my angelo and so you just you know you can find these these books and eb white is great you know and so it's reading reading non-fictional stories and writing tips from authors who specialize in fiction was super interesting to me right it's like a peek behind the curtain because it's not just putting words on a page but they're.
Creatives right and so it's it's like how do people get in this artistic process the creative process and you know what man it's like most things in life but they all basically say the same thing but in different ways right which was you know yeah i think it's important to write when you're inspired lucky for me i get inspired every day at 9 a.m when i sit down at the typewriter right now all of them had the same message is basically like like steven king he's like you know i write
whatever it is like all right 2 000 words a day and some and i start every morning at 9 a.m and some days i'm done by 10 30 and some days some days i'm doing i'm done at 9 p.m right but every day i put 2 000 words down minimum and every day i sit down at 9 a.m to get started you know and that was basically the the overarching theme one thing you mentioned of the morning with coffee is one, man, I don't remember exactly. This is the one where I can't remember.
Dorothea Brandt, maybe. Anyway, there's one author who actually, Ray Bradbury credited a lot of the things he's learned about writing from. And she was real big on writing first thing in the morning.
Before maybe even before coffee or as you're just starting to drink your coffee while you're still in a somewhat dream state because as you wake up you get a little less creative right you get a little more into your day and and maybe more feeling of being awake but less whimsical in the things you're doing and so she's real she's like man this like before she's like maybe you can't get your typewriter it was like before computers you know she's
talking like notepad by her bed and she would wake up and before she got out of bed she'd grab her notepad and start scribbling and that's how she would start every single day and then it was kind of like the idea of you know you said the you know write on coffee edit on wine you know i think that was like a morning and night thing it's funny because some people say like write drunk edit sober you know and that was kind of her i think thing was like right when you're still coming when
you're still half asleep and then you know edit when you're awake and are trying can actually make sense of the things that you put down a really long way to say like yeah man i think writing first thing in the morning is the way to go yeah i think it'd be the same thing with with working out with exercise with whatever you're starting your day getting those wins or whatever if you kind of sometimes saturdays can be the worst day of
the week because you have the entire day and so you just you don't wake up and then by 10 o'clock you haven't accomplished anything and so So it's just kind of ruined. What about the mindset business wise? And then like weightlifting wise, if you are performing and it's you versus the weight and you kind of get psyched up and maybe you can kind of muscle it and maybe your form can kind of be a little bit sloppy, but you still make it. But with riding, you can't really force it in the same way.
So what are some kind of similarities and differences with the mindset for business, for weightlifting, and then for riding? Yeah, that's great. That's a great question. I think that the thing with weightlifting is some days you can force it and some days you can't. I actually say as I'm getting a little older and I care less about the exact weight that's on the bar because some days you feel good and some days you don't.
When I was competing in weightlifting, I cared more because that was my sole focus in life was to lift as much weight as I could, which is silly in a lot of ways. But also like whatever man it's also a meaning and a purpose and there's some good things about that too but those days i would tell the weight what to do i if if i was supposed to hit 90 for three reps then like by a hook or by crook like i'd make that happen you know and for.
For sure there there were some days or some some training sessions where maybe i should have stopped or called it earlier not taking that last attempt or dropped or gone down in weight and you know had fewer misses or whatever but but it didn't matter i didn't care i didn't give a shit what it was doing to my body or what was happening because the goal was to get as strong as possible as fast as possible and like lifting this weight that my coach
told me to is the way that was going to happen you know so i used to tell the i used to tell weights what to do now i let the weights tell me right some days they say like it's probably good man you know what i mean like our wrist doesn't really feel very good on that one like let's maybe call it there or let's go down or just like not go heavier and some days they say like fuck it man let's chase the dragon you know and on those days you go for it but that's kind of the thing is you
gotta i'm a great example like actually today we had power cleans and at the class at uh at excel at the gym and like actually the weights felt heavy but my body felt good and so i kept going up and even the last the penultimate attempt i knew i had one more and i was like oh man that one felt really heavy real i'm gonna have to like you know my wrist's been kind of bothering me it's been a little better i don't want to say you know what though like.
I can't, I know I'm not, I'm not going to hurt myself going up. Like whatever, maybe I missed the lift, but I'm going to be fine. You know? And I went up another five pounds and I made it and that was great. But other days I would have got a different message than it would have been, Hey, you know what? Let's, you know, they're feeling kind of heavy today. Your wrist kind of bothering you more, you know, like let's actually peel off on these a little bit.
So I think it's the same thing when it comes to writing and like the creative pursuit side of things. I think it comes back to that same idea of you sit down every day. I think that having a schedule and being diligent and disciplined and sticking to the plan, meaning if Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the very first thing I do is I write and I don't open an email. I don't do anything else until if I get 800 words down, I can move on to the next thing.
If I don't, I keep working on that until it happens. And I'm going to do that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I think that there's definitely a benefit to that, right? I think that's important. But also understanding that some days you're going to be done by seven and some days you may not be, and you might have to open it up, find another 30 minute window or 45 minute window later in the day to crack it open. And also not focusing on perfection, you know, is important.
Whereas the difference in like business i think focusing focusing on perfection early on is bad but in the editing process you need to right like you want everything to be as good as possible but if you wait till everything's perfect you never launch anything and you say a lot of people have an idea they want to do this thing and or start this business or whatever it is but they just never actually start because it's almost ready it's almost ready for the
most time you can launch and then make it better as you go build as you go. And that is definitely true with the writing. Once it's published, it's out and it's done. But there's a whole editing process, you know, and knowing that you're going to be staring down the barrel of six months of editing. Done is more important than perfect during the initial writing process.
And one more thing on this is really interesting. I'd never heard this term before, but one of the first editors I had brought it up. He just said it. I expect me to know what he was talking about. I'd never heard it before, but I understood what he meant was the idea of scaffolding. I mean, he's reading through parts. Yeah, you know, these first paragraphs here, these first two paragraphs feel like scaffolding.
And I knew exactly what he meant. And because it's true, that's the whole thing of sitting down and just starting is you start, you know, the most intimidating thing is the blank page, right? So you start writing. And sometimes, right, you always have an idea, you start writing and maybe an idea of what you think you want to talk about. And every now and then, you manage to actually write about what you planned on, right?
But much more frequently, you get two or three paragraphs in and all of a sudden, you took a left turn somewhere along the way. And now it's flowing, you're writing and you feel good and you're comfortable and you, things are going, you know, things are moving along smoothly and it's about something that's entirely different than what the original plan was. That's what happens most of the time, right? Yeah. So I think that once I've heard that term scaffolding, I'm like, oh shit, it's true.
It's these, I don't have to start, I just have to start and it'll build to something else. Maybe what I start on ends up being it, but don't be afraid just to start putting words on the page and just writing stuff down and maybe it'll lead you to where you need to go, but you have to build something first. Right. And, and if it ends up, if these two paragraphs are throwaway paragraphs and they're just these scaffolding, who cares? That's fine.
You know, they still actually good news is they still count towards 800, you know, don't delete them yet. Just leave them, leave them in there. You can take them out and editing. Right. Yeah. And I think that idea of everything you write doesn't have to be perfect. It just needs to be on the page is the, is the most important thing. Yeah. I think a lot of the ideas that I've gotten have come from, you get to that second page.
You're just trying to figure out what's going on. Not really sure which direction to go, but then you might not even think that you thought what you did. You just, like, this is what I think I thought. And then as I write more and I start thinking about it more, this is not what I actually think. I think this, and it's much more refined, much better, and much more clear the further you go. But if you wouldn't have started down that path, you wouldn't have discovered this whole new thing.
Yeah well when I was first writing I said okay I'm gonna write a weekly email and oh man I hope I have an idea every week to write about and then every time something would happen in my life where I learned a lesson myself I just like made a little note of it and then of course what happens I got 20 things on this notepad and I'm you know I'm but I've been doing them every week it was the opposite of I didn't have enough things just knowing that I was trying
to keep track of things I maybe want to write about I actually had an excess of things you know. And oftentimes there was something with the kids, right? And one of them would do something or say something. And I was like, oh shit, that's interesting. And I'll start writing about it. And I thought that they learned something. And so I start writing about it. And then I realized that in fact, I was the one who made the mistake and had the lesson to learn, you know?
So that was, that was always interesting. Yeah. It is funny though. You start writing, you're like, oh, I know. Oh yeah, this is a great idea. This is great. This is perfect. This is exactly what I want to write about. And then, you know, you're three, four paragraphs in, or yeah, you're on that second page. And then all of a sudden, half the time without planning, all of a sudden you realize like, oh, I've now written three paragraphs about something that is
entirely different than the plan. And I can't see myself veering off this course. Like I'm hooked out. I'm getting pulled, pulled into this vortex. This is now the direction this is going, whether or not I like it. Yeah. You know, there's an interesting power in looking at your life for ideas and you're looking at either new opportunities to learn or the reinforcement of things.
And so when you look at your life like that, and you look at yourself as kind of a protagonist in a story, like, is my story worth reading? Like, everybody's story is worth reading. Everybody is living a unique existence. It's just a matter of looking at it from a certain perspective. And you might be living a life that you think is boring, but that's because maybe this is a movie that, like, you haven't ever moved past your insecurities.
Like the 40-year-old virgin. it's it's it's a it's a movie about the guy who's so incredibly insecure that he never it affects everything that he does from the from the showroom to it and it's that's why it resonates and it's not just about that it resonates because it's that getting over that insecurity and moving on and like people get stuck in those things and they think that nothing interesting happens they're like what would i write about
like no there's it's daily it's there's there's not enough bandwidth. There's not enough to just comprehend the staggeringness of just your existence, even if you think it's boring. That's not at all true. And finding that and being able to look to opportunities to learn and grow, whether or not you write it or not is so, I don't know, it's empowering. It's fun to kind of look at your life like that.
That's interesting. That's a great point. And you look at it too, like, you know, to you, it's just your life. And so you're used to these things and you see these things. But like, if you think about it, like. Have you ever gone into somebody's house for the first time and looked around and been like, I have zero interest in anything on the walls. I do not have any desire whatsoever to like open that cabinet or those drawers or like whatever.
You know what I mean? Like, no, every you walk in someone's house, what do you do? You're fucking looking everywhere. What is going on in here? You're like, look at the wall. I know it's family pictures. Who's this? You know what I mean? Like, what's going on here?
Oh, like, where'd you get? at that you know from over there like oh interesting a giant bear uh head right here on the half wall the top of the stairs this is bigger than a basketball is this bear's head that's right here on the half wall i wonder wonder which one of these two people shot that thing you know and if there's nothing on the walls it's like well now i'm even more interested because what should be going on the wall that's not and why is it
not there a hundred percent right but i mean it's true for everyone but like yeah you go into someone else's house you're like what is you know just it's the most natural thing in the world looking around what's going on what's on the walls what's it like you know what i mean what's going on here and you started learning so you're like oh interesting basketball what's i didn't know you played basketball and they're like oh yeah you know my high school team won the state championship
now i go you know what i mean most of this person says they have nothing interesting that's ever happened to them yeah you know and then there's always something going on there go in the bathroom open up the medicine cabinet you know see what See what they got going on in there? Yeah. Ooh, yeah. Sorry about that. Sorry about the thing there. Yeah. So we talked about finding your way through writing.
How do you think that applies to careers? Because most people, they don't decide what they're going to do with their life when they're 18 and then get on that path. It's through exploring certain things that you get different opportunities. If you were in high school English class, you probably would not have thought one day I'm going to write a book.
But because you set off on the path that you did with all those different opportunities, it has taken you in unique areas, journeys into unique opportunities. So what's been the most beneficial part of your, I guess, mindset so that you can have like your life resume of You've been a coach, you've been a teacher, entrepreneur, successful competitive weightlifter, and now an author.
What's been the common thread of the mindset that's taken you to be able to take on all these different challenges throughout your life? I think I've said multiple times that I would never write a book. In fact, in school, English was my least favorite. I did fine, like, up in whatever the AP English class or whatever, but, like, I didn't, like, like it. You know, I'm like, I mean, that's not necessarily true.
But anyway, you know, I really enjoyed math, and math was easy and science and stuff, you know, and English was like, yeah, I was in AP classes because I was told to be, and it was fine. But, like, I didn't, like, you know, I, like, I fake read most of the books I was supposed to read and all that type of stuff. Although I had an English teacher who really had a lot of belief in me for whatever reason, just in general.
She found out I was going to be a PE teacher and she put her hand on my shoulder and said, what a waste. Oh, really? She was, oh, Danny, what a waste. Wow. And I was like going to college to be a PE teacher. I was like, what the hell, man? You're a teacher. It's a good job. The only difference is I don't have to I'm not going to have to grade papers like you do. Otherwise, we're doing the same thing, man.
Anyway, that's all to say that, you know, but I ended up obviously writing a book, you know, and doing the whole thing. And I, so what is it that encouraged me to do those things? I just, I think part of it is that I like to try stuff. I've just always been, you know, I want to try new things, want to do stuff. If something looks fun, I want to give it a shot. I want to try it out, you know? And I'm not afraid to be bad at things. I think that that's a big part.
Like, think of something that you're really good at. And if someone's trying it for the first time and they're bad at it, what do you think? Do you think like, oh, look at this moron? Like, of course not. Like anything that you're good at, you understand like it's probably really hard for people because you maybe you remember when you first started, it was really hard or you just understand there's like skill involved and stuff, right?
And, you know, you wouldn't expect someone who's starting brand new to be good at it. You'd expect to be terrible, right? And I think that sometimes people are afraid to be bad at something or they're afraid to look silly or whatever, where, you know, it's like by who? Like by people who haven't tried it? Well, like who cares what they think? Because they have no idea what it's even like.
And if it's by people that are good at it, like they're definitely not going to think anything bad about you for being bad at this new thing, you know? And I was talking to someone today about like Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The belt system and how I think it's kind of rad. And I wish I had something in my life that had some sort of a belt system. I feel like I get like, I do things and I get better at it, but like, who cares?
No, there's no like, sometimes like a feeling of accomplishment or the next step or even in gymnastics, there's like levels, like my kids do gymnastics, like, oh, they passed their level three. Now they're a level four gymnast, whatever, right? It's about climbing. I'm like, yeah, man, like I get better at climbing. I do harder climbs now. I'm like, I don't necessarily feel this feeling of accomplishment. It's not like, but back to the jujitsu thing, there's the belt system.
And if you're good, you're whatever, a black belt, jujitsu, like some guy in practice has a white belt and you can roll with them. And like, that's the thing is, you know, he's a white belt. You know, he's new. You let him try stuff. If he does something really well, you probably let him get it or almost get it and then get out of it.
And if he does something and then he makes a mistake you capitalize on his mistake and then afterwards you tell him like hey man you're doing this is where he messed up and this is how i got away do this next time right like you help each other out and and things like that and it's just interesting because it's like yeah you the the common belief is that you know people are going to think you're silly you're dumb or whatever if you're not good at something with your new app but the
reality is anyone who's actually good at the stuff you're doing and new to they expect you to be terrible and are fine with it and accepting of that and are excited you're trying it and i think that that's really what it comes down to is i i like to try things i don't want to miss opportunities i mean you know talking about when i went on ice fishing you know i'm sitting there talking to this guy and he just you know he lives in minnesota and
he's gone ice fishing his whole life and they have the whole ice house you know i mean it's the ground you're sitting in a temperature controlled you know rv on on the ice and stuff but he that's what he said he's like yeah so i'm gonna take the fish house fish house out fish house yeah you know just sit out there and you know drinking beer and you know sit on the couch pulling fish out of the floor.
And i kind of caught me i was like did you yeah is that how that goes like is it you know whatever yeah and i was like oh man that sounds great he's like you want to go like hell yeah i want to go like you're from california like no one has it i've never met someone before that has an ice house like i don't i've i've never heard someone talk about sitting on a couch pulling fish out of the floor you know like this is all and to him this is just every weekend his whole family
go up this what they do this is like their weekend thing they take the ass house out and you know live out on a lake for the weekend and okay so then fast forward like a couple weeks later he sends me a text like hey getting a group together we're going to this weekend does that work yeah sounds good and then I went and then I flew out to Minnesota and spent 10 days with these guys that I knew I didn't know them that well you know what I mean but I knew them enough to like think they
weren't going to try and kill me or anything and went out there and it was great I mean same thing going up to Alaska with you for the different very different experiences the different times that went up there but it was the same thing you want to go it's like yeah that sounds fun and so instead of instead of coming up with excuses why I can't do something I try to come up with. Reasons why I can't. Was that something that it was instilled maybe by your dad early on?
Or is that the friend group you had in high school? Because studies have shown that your friend group has a profound impact on the trajectory of your life. And you're probably not friends or close friends with your high school buddies, but that forward trajectory of doing something with your life, then you meet more interesting people. So has there been a reinforcement of it? Was it who mentored you or like what kind of helped you provide that or create that?
Because people, you talk about when your next hour, you're talking about people, your audience is people who maybe need some motivation or need some sort of way or some sort of help. So I guess maybe you can just talk about the book or you could talk about yourself here about what's helped you have that and develop that attitude. Well, I don't know. My dad's interesting.
He when i was in college he went back to school and finished his college degree right like growing up he owned and ran my grandfather owned and then my then he gave to his kids my dad and his brother and sister ran it ran an air conditioning company and you know and we he met i was always super active you know hiking backpacking you know take a skiing as soon as we could walk stuff like that.
But he always i remember he had gone back to school a handful of times at the local junior college and he would go and do a class or two and that was kind of bad and wait a little bit and he's also running this business you know he had kids and there's a lot going on, but then they closed down the business and he went back to school and finished his degree, and i mean like i said i was in college right so i don't even know it's funny
i don't know how old he was i mean shit if i was you know whatever 20 he was probably 48 something like that 45 48, which I'm 40 now, which is interesting to think I'm a lot closer to his age when he went back to college than, uh, than I was when he went back to college anyway. But I mean, even that, like, that's a big change. That's a big undertaking, right?
And being, you know, in your late forties and you've got, you know, kids that are in college also, and to like, not just change a career, but to like, go back to school. Right. And kind of start all over to a degree. Yeah. At that stage of life is definitely interesting. And so, I mean, that's something there too, right? Like, I'm sure that was scary. I'm sure that was something that I know we wanted to do, but that was definitely, I mean, think of the internal dialogue and stuff there, right?
And then you go, you're gonna be the old guy in the class, right? Like, you know, you're gonna be the 47-year-old guy in the college classrooms. And, you know, in reality, do you think anybody looked down on him? Like, hell no, right? Like, I remember there's this guy, Gary Hightower, who was going to, who was in a bunch of, He was a PE major when I was there and he was in his forties and no one was like, this guy's nuts. Everyone's like, hell yeah. Like this is rad.
This guy's going back to school, like doing whole career change path and not just career change, but again, like the education aspect of it, right? Like going back in the classroom and, and everything and doing this. And everyone thought it was cool, you know? And anyways, that's just one instance. So yeah. I mean, do I get that for my parents, my grandparents?
I think so. My grandfather, you know, everyone says this, but i wish i would have you know spent more time talking to him i mean he i wasn't i was an adult but i was relatively young i don't know anyway i wish i would spend more time talking about stuff because i mean that guy he his life story is pretty nuts as far as i mean he was his parents were so poor that they had to put him and his brother and sister in an orphanage for a while because they couldn't afford to feed him right and then
you know that was when he was like two years old for a while like i thought it was like three months no it was like i think it was like a year maybe or more right like it was like a long time and then like things turn around whatever happened and they were able to they went and got him again and moved on so we went from that to owning a bunch of commercial properties around town and like doing pretty well like being pretty well off at the end
you know and he was definitely one to like oh yeah well you know and so i started this sheet metal company and then i got doing so we're doing plumbing and the sheet metal and then And I started doing some AC stuff. And so I stopped doing the plumbing. And then I bought this land and built a house on it. And then, man, the renters, it was always a pain. And so I decided to start doing commercial only instead. So then I only bought land to build warehouses on.
And then there's this lot. There's a house for sale. And it was on a really big lot. And so he bought the lot and then split the lot and fixed up the house and then built another house on the other one and sold them both. And I was in sixth grade when he did that. and then he was like, hey Danny, you want a summer job? Ride your bike over here and mow the lawn once a week and keep the pool chemicals up. And I was like, yeah, sounds good. So I saw him doing these things, right? And.
You know, that's, you know, it's not really like normal stuff, right? I mean, it is, that's things that is normal, right? Like people do that stuff all the time. But I think a lot of people don't see those things necessarily in their upbringing. Those things happen all the time, but by a relatively small group of people, I think, right?
I think that 90% of the population, you know, doesn't have a grandfather who's, you know, just like trying things out and buying land and putting a building on and renting it out to see if it works. Or dad who's going back to college when he was in his late forties, you know? So I think the upbringing of doing those things definitely, definitely made a difference, you know, as far as like not being afraid to try new things and, and that type of stuff.
Yeah. I think there's Abby and I were talking about this when we're back in Lexington last couple of days that some of those kids grow up wealthy and they don't see what started it. They just know that they're wealthy and nothing wrong with that. that's great. A lot of kids in Southeast Alaska, they saw what their parents went through to improve the circumstances, or they know the story of their grandfather.
And so they see the journey from work to wealth a lot closer than people who have just had it. And so it can be a subconscious, when you're figuring out who you are, you figure out, or you look at where you came from. And the hip thing now is to talk about generational trauma, and that probably exists. But at the same time, you have generational resilience too. My grandmother's mom died when she was three.
And then so this is during Great Depression. Then her dad sent her to live with relatives, and she lived in a train car for a little bit. I mean, just absolutely in poverty. And that's where I come from. And things were better for her. So like that resilient story in every bad thing that happened to her, there's also the underlying story of resilience. And so if you choose to adopt that, or if that sometimes, or that part of the DNA comes out in you, it, I think you're more humble.
I think you're more, you feel better and more safe about taking risks because, I mean, it's, I'm not worried about dysentery. I'm not worried about, you know, this, this living in this train car or whatever. It's like, geez, man, my grandma, grandpa, and they had lived through so much. Hardship that this is for me to try this thing, for me to go to college, for me to try out this business, for me to try to put words out there for people to buy, that's not a big risk.
Yeah, I think that's absolutely right. I think it's a perspective, right, is definitely a thing too. You know, and the other part of like, you know, trying things or doing things, whatever, it's like, I just, I think everyone has these opportunities. I think that a lot of people, maybe you don't, maybe people don't see them or maybe they just don't take advantage of them or maybe, you know, whatever, they have an excuse why they don't work or they can't work or whatever.
But, you know, it's like, I mean, look, man, like the first thing, the first time you asked me if I wanted to come up to Alaska like I could have said no you know what I mean but you know and you know what if I wouldn't have gone up there that time you maybe wouldn't have asked me the next year right or maybe you would have but then if I didn't go that time I definitely wouldn't have gone up then you know what I mean like it's this whole thing and and also if I wouldn't have gone
up to Alaska with you that first time when this guy invited me to go ice fishing would I said yes right i mean i don't know because i think that's the thing too is like the more times you say yes to things more time the more experience you have the more other experiences aren't.
As scary right like yeah i fished when i went fishing when i was a kid a little bit whatever and because we were out hiking and backpacking and stuff but i don't really fish at home like i'll go fishing on the weekends here you know but you're like hey you want to come to alaska yeah i went up there and for 10 days we hiked and fished and the whole thing right and so you know fast forward 10 years later this guy asked me if i want to go ice fishing it's like oh yeah because i've
done this thing i've gone to an environment i've never been before and stayed with the guy that was a friend but not like we hadn't spent a ton of time together before that you know i'm gonna go live with you for 10 days you know what i mean like that's a whole different thing right and i'm gonna to go up there and then we're going to go do this thing i've never fished for salmon in these big river these big salmon in these in these rivers i've
never been on the you know what i mean like i was like oh and i've done all those things and it was fun it was fine you know and so of course yeah so it's like not a big jump even though it's a completely different experience there's a lot of similarities and a lot of them are the similarities that would maybe hold someone back right and so i think that every time you do something new and try something different and and maybe take a little bit of a risk.
You know, it just opens up more doors in the future. Because if you, you know, if you've experienced saying yes to something that was outside your comfort zone and different, and it was fine, it was actually, it wasn't fine. It was fantastic. It was a great experience, you know? And so why would this be different? Why would this not be a great experience? You know, it's like, oh, the last time I, you know, took a step and did this type of thing, it was, it was great.
And so you have the same expectations for the next thing to be great as well. And I think that's a big part of it. It's like the weightlifting and that type of stuff. It's like, well, I went to a, You know, I went to this clinic to learn and I met some people there. And one of the guys said, Hey, I think you have some potential. Like you should come out and train with me, you know, whatever. And come out, just do a one-on-one session. We'll do the first ones on me,
whatever. Okay. Yeah, sure. And I, when I did it and then it was like, you know, it's like the one thing leads to the next leads to the next. And I think that, you know, saying yes to more things and, you know, going a little bit outside our comfort zone at times might lead you to, to do more and more of that type of thing. And then maybe next thing you know, it's not actually outside her comfort zone. It's just part of your comfort zone. It's what you do.
So let's pretend that you're on an airplane and you're not up to cruising altitude yet or they don't have the Wi-Fi going. So you're forced to talk to the person next to you. And the person next to you says, oh, you wrote a book? What is it about? What would be your concise summary or synopsis of your book? Well, it's called Winner Next Hour. And most people have something they want to do in life. right? Whether that's lose 30 pounds or start a business or hike the Appalachian trail, right?
But what holds them back is they think they don't know enough to start, right? And the reality is the only way to know enough is to actually start. And you learn as you go. And we see this is true with things even as like being a first time parent, you know how to raise a kid and you just have to do it and you figure it out as you go.
So over the last decade, I've spent my time traveling around the country, spending time with Olympians, founders of businesses that have sold for over a billion dollars. Different people have had a lot of success in different walks of life. And what I found was that they all said the same things. They all think the same things. They all kind of take the same actions. And what I discovered is that all the stuff that they do totally applies to everybody.
And so what I did is I took all these things that I saw these super successful people doing. And I distilled them down into a system that anyone can follow. And so just by after reading the book, it's very clear steps, one, two, three, how to go through this system to where you can actually have success and just kind of get after whatever it is you want to accomplish in life. You can just follow these steps, one, two, three, and you can get unstuck and
actually do the things you want to do. Where can people find the book? Well, you can buy it on Amazon. Just search when you're next hour on Amazon. And there we got the Kindle version, paperback, hardback. It's all there. What's been the feedback so far? Because I'm sure that once it's out there, now you're looking at the finished product. Have there been moments where you think, gosh, dang it, I should have changed this or maybe it was this that I should have done?
Or is there like post what's the the the monday morning quarterback uh recap well what's hard is that i've been getting a lot of really positive feedback but it's all or almost all from people i know and so my internal dialogue is these people are all jaded and they like it because they like.
Right so that's the that's what I'm struggling with now is the you know it's like is it is it actually good or is it that my friends think it's good you know and I think those are potentially different things I've also you know what one person, actually got it and they said and it's actually like one of my daughter's friends mom's Right. And I just thought she was so nice for picking it up for buying it, you know. And then she had told Jessica, I said, Hey, like read Dan's book. I love it.
Actually, I've been following his whatever I was on his email list. I've followed him for a long time. And he's the one that encouraged me or whatever. He motivated me to like join this gym. And I lost this weight that I was trying to lose and was able to keep it off. And like, I really appreciate it. And like, I love this book.
And it's encouraged me to do these other things, whatever, you know, which is nice and but i want i'd like more of that i'd like to hear from more like to hear more from people who like aren't necessarily my friends you know but there's been some other things as well like i've actually had there's been one or two people that have kind of. You know, not necessarily themselves, but like, oh, hey, my son is reading this book and he like absolutely loves it type stuff, you know, is nice.
But yeah, that's the Monday morning quarterback is like, all right, well, everyone that likes me likes it. Now I want to get some feedback from strangers, you know what I mean? That's what I'm really looking for.
So when you sell coffee, coffee is coffee. You have some good coffee, you have some bad coffee, but it's still coffee a comfortable shirt is a comfortable shirt like there's no doubting that if you have a your caffeine and kilo shirts you've had opportunity to try those on and sell them you know it's going to be comfortable it's fine is it different with words because you're not selling a consumable product or something that's that's going to be people are going to overwhelmingly agree
that this is a comfortable shirt because it's made of comfortable materials versus an intellectual journey. Is it a different sort of just feeling? Are you more nervous about the book? I think it was Donald Miller that wrote, if you write about your life and people don't like the book, it's like an indictment of the type of life you're living, which is just this horrible sort of way. You don't like the book because you don't like my life or I'm just not a good writer?
So what's been the difference between selling for your business and then now selling your thought process, your intellect? I don't know yet because what I mean is I...
Like the raw files are due the first week of february and so i have to record the audio but this month so i feel like i'm still in the production process i sold a bunch of books during the pre-launch but that was all to not all that was primarily people that i know right or, if i don't know personally people that have followed caffeine or kilos or myself for a long time and for different things you know so that was different because that was very much so a like yes i think this is good and
i think this is going to help you but also it was like hey i wrote a book and i need help like support me like if you appreciate like you know what i mean like if you have ever felt like you like me like please join the pre-launch because like i gotta i gotta right and so 100 which also side note felt really good that i sold a shit ton of books in the pre-launch, compared to this like the like objectively like not like or subjectively a bunch of
like it was the most the publisher had ever seen in a pre-launch before and i sold out the book to a bunch of people who had never read a single word of it um they bought it because they either like me or they like things i've said before or had some sort of a positive impact in their life in some way where they felt either obligated or happy to like buy this thing that i'm creating.
Which is great because that means that i made some sort of a positive impact on these people right on the flip side it says absolutely nothing about the quality of material i produced.
So that's where that's where i'm at yeah although i will i will say you know people are reading it now people are leaving reviews all their reviews are super positive you know i've had people reaching out to me saying it when i was writing it i felt like it was good most of the time and i felt really good about it and as i released chapters to the pre-launch group as i was writing them i got really positive feedback from people and i know it's good material it's just once i feel like once the
audiobook's done and i'm just completely done with the production side of things then I can focus more on the marketing side of things and. More people will have read the entire thing instead of just little chapters here and there and that type of thing. And I'll be better. But I mean, so far, it's got great reviews. Lots of people are buying it. Are you moving on to the next thing? Once you get the audio book recorded,
do you have another goal on the horizon? Or are you seeing this thing through, I guess there's really no end because it's not out there and it's going to be perpetual sales. But is there something else that's kind of piquing your interest as far as a goal? Yeah. So I actually, I already signed up for another course. So I am writing the book. A part of this is I want to do more speaking, do more speaking engagements. I've done some before. I feel like I'm pretty good at it.
The truth is, as far as business and stuff, like that's something that I am figuring out and I'm good enough at. What I'm really good at is teaching things, It's coaching, coaching, teaching. I'm good with people. I'm good in front of groups of people. As you know, I mean, that's my formal education, right? All that type of stuff. That's something I really enjoy. And it's like being on stage in front of a bunch of people. I get nervous. It's not like I don't get nervous. It'd be silly not to.
But it's fine. Like once I'm up there and I start, I feel pretty good. A couple months ago, in August, I guess it was, whatever, I did a keynote, 15-minute, pretty short, but a 15-minute keynote speech in front of whatever it was, a couple thousand people. And it was fine. Once I was up there and going, I felt good, felt comfortable. Anyway, I want to do more of that. And that kind of leads... And so what's that mostly going to be about is the same themes and messages from the book, right?
And so on one hand, it's an extension of the book because I'm going to go and speak on lots of stages in front of lots of people.
And that is definitely going to lead to more book sales but also it kind of goes the other way as well is i knew i wanted to do that and writing the book was a this was part of the plan all along i knew i wanted to do more public speaking gigs and i knew that if i had once i have a book out that will help with the public speaking gigs and also helps getting books for those for lots of different reasons they kind of you know help each other out right speak in front of on
stage in front of bunch of people, you sell more books. If you have a book out, it's easier to get booked for paid speaking gigs. So also then I go speak more that makes, that gives me paid for by somebody else travel around the country where I can go and drop into different gyms and meet more people and you know, expand the, the world of caffeine and kilos. And honestly, I just like meeting people, man. I like getting out and seeing
things and making new friends. That's really what it's all about. Awesome. So if I get other people to pay for me to travel around the country and make new friends, I'll only see a better way to do it. Yeah, that's great. That's great. Well, man, it's always great to talk to you. Got baby duty coming up here. I'm taking a break from that. Abby's watching baby. She's working from home. So it's time for me to... About time she does her fair share. I know. Yeah.
It's crazy. tough as a man in this world you know what i mean the i i was it's crazy she's able to work four hours at home and then she has the kids so i'm at school and i come home and i'm just kind of exhausted and then i i look at how often the baby will cry and she's trying to do work and baby's in a little seat next to her so just puts in the pacifier or to try to do both and like once you get dialed into something it's
hard to break the concentration to do something else and And so the fact that she's at home. It's wild. And it makes the whole concept of daycare wild because then we used to live in a society where you could afford a home and a life on one salary. Granted, your house was 800 square feet, but now it requires both parents. And because of everything being so much more expensive, you need two incomes.
It's man the the the finances of it the logistics of it is is until you go through it it's something that it's you can't even fathom can't could you imagine being 90 of the way done with something and just having like 20 more minutes and you know just to wrap this thing up and those babies over there crying because it shit all over itself and you're like well i can't just it's not like it's not like she's hungry and she can wait like you know what i mean it's not like maybe i just go in
the other room for five minutes and it's like no like this is i right now have to take action this anyway and like not i'm just like knowing you're like i'm 10 minutes away from finishing this thing and i can't even i can't start to finish it for probably 45 minutes now mm-hmm or even the start the most frustrating thing in the world even the start like you're i'm in the headspace okay this could be a good this is gonna be one of those pr type writing days
and you're five minutes in and you get derailed oh like you got i already have 2000 just a matter of of getting it from my brain to the laptop but then it's that perpetual question of okay what type of dad do i want to be what type of husband do i want to be and and reinforcing that and it's. It's tough yeah dude i'll tell you that man like when my my kids are getting older you know.
Maddie's 11, which is funny. You say 11 sounds like a little kid still, but she's in sixth grade and you say sixth grade and she sounds like an old kid. It's like such an awkward age. You know what I mean? Anyway. And then, you know, my youngest is seven and second grade. So they're pretty much self, like we can leave them alone, like not for the whole day, whatever, but I'm going to run to the store and it's like,
yeah, I think stay home or I'm going to go to the gym. I'll be back in an hour and a half.
Like, yeah, they're fine. you know and so it's this weird thing because then that the exact same thing you're saying like they that doesn't mean they don't require attention yeah or they don't need stuff or don't want to hang out or don't want to talk and don't want to whatever and you know i really try to i mean look dude start off saying how i'm in my our best friends they're like two blocks away i'm in their shed right now because the kids
are off school this week so they're home so if i'm at home right now i'm either working from that chair that i wrote in or from like the kitchen table and then like they if they need something they're gonna like ask me for something and i don't like saying like hey hey you know i mean sometimes i can tell them like hey that's the thing i do like can you just like give me an hour like leave me alone for an hour but then like that's a weird thing you know and and so but if
i'm not there it's different and it's better than being like leave me alone it's just they don't even think about it right um so yeah man what i'm saying is like it gets you learn some tricks and stuff and sometimes it gets better that's like honestly if you have a spot even if you have an office you go in the office you close the door and then it's like they maybe they know okay like at work in this room type thing but like if they need anyway.
Tough dude yeah but uh yeah the whole being present and being there and not being a not.
Being a leave me alone i'm busy person yeah is a very real something i struggle with and something i've definitely gotten better at and part of getting better at it is just knowing like i just can't like be there or around them and or i'll catch myself doing the leave me alone for now, type thing and that's not and then what happens they go dude i know you're wrapping things up but, this is something that'll happen when they get older and so like maybe
help you avoid it a little bit but it's like during the day you're like hey you're in the middle of something and you're like ah it's like okay just give me a few minutes or not now or just a little bit whatever you know and it seems reasonable because you're whatever but then and maybe it is anyway but then they go to bed and it's like 7 30 8 o'clock at night and i'm sitting there and i'm like well now i kind of want to talk to them but they're
in bed and it's like well i guess i could be doing that thing now, that i was doing then but you know what i mean but it's like at the time it seemed like it was So I don't want that hanging on my head till eight, you know, and it's like, I don't want that hanging on my head till they go to bed because I'm trying to like wind down to get ready for bed myself at that time. But anyway, yeah, dude, it's, that's the challenge right there.
I think there's a difference too, between what it is that is keeping you from them. When I had to put the baby down this morning, I got her to take a nap and I went inside and I'm shoveling snow because we got eight, nine inches. So it's. Yeah, it's either out the window. I thought that was a background. No, no. Yeah. We had, this is our first big snow of the year. We got a little junior varsity one in November. This is the real one.
But yeah if you if it's just a matter of i want you to be quiet or don't bother me because i'm playing this game on my phone or because i'm watching a game like that's a little different than this is a project this is work so yeah it's it's a tough balance and jessica brought it up also you know it's also a positive thing for the kids to see you working and to say hey no i this is i need to work right now there's some part i know i'm home
but sometimes i work from home and like you know like hey yeah you know i teach a teacher but also you know i i'm a writer and like i have to work and like i'm doing some work right now i'll be done with this an hour and at that time i'd love to play with you we can hang out we can do this type of thing and i think that is a positive thing for them to see as well so then.
It's that balance right and like well yeah does this fall in that category or does this fall in should do it later category i've also like i don't really watch much tv and stuff and so like every now and then like oh you know what i want i actually want to watch the 49ers game today you know and i like put it on and the kids like asked me and i just straight told them to also get their older but like hey guys look like how often when you're home when you're home and doing stuff how
often am i sitting in this chair watching tv like when does it like well never i'm like yeah that's i don't i don't watch tv during the day like the tv is not on during the day and i'm not watching tv during the day you know it's like look dude did sunday at 2 p.m like this is the this is the first time in the past three months that i've wanted to sit down here and watch this tv like can you just leave me alone like give me like give me three hours dude like this
ends you over at four now if i was every day i'd feel bad about it but it was kind of funny they're both like they're just kind of laughing they're like yeah all right like they got it like they understood you know what i mean it's like so yeah yeah that's a good closer. I like that. There it is. Thanks again, man. I just got some reality TV to watch, so I got to go, Jeff. Perfect. Thanks for prioritizing me. Cool. See you, man. Yeah, it was good talking to you. You too.