#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards

#244 - The Power of Mentorship

• Jordan Edwards • Season 5 • Episode 244

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When Ronald Reagan spoke at John Solleder's college commencement in 1983, he planted two seeds that would transform the young graduate's life forever: an appreciation for capitalism's liberating power and the critical importance of mentorship. That same year, John launched his first business and began a 40-year journey that would see him build four massive organizations and generate millions in sales.

John's story is a masterclass in the power of continuous growth and adaptation. Once painfully shy – "I was the guy in the corner looking at my shoes" – he transformed after a chance encounter with sales trainer Tom Hopkins, who wrote six simple words on a business card that changed everything: "Do what you fear most." This philosophy helped John overcome his fear of rejection and develop the skills that would fuel decades of success.

What makes John's perspective particularly valuable is his holistic approach to achievement. He emphasizes physical health through resistance training, which becomes increasingly important with age. He shares relationship wisdom gained through both triumphs and challenges, including the power of listening twice as much as speaking. Most importantly, he demonstrates the mindset that has kept him relevant and growing at 64: "Pivot and agility are the two key words in business today."

Perhaps most inspiring is John's recent embrace of artificial intelligence despite having started his career when "the phone was plugged into the wall." Rather than dismissing new technology as too complex, he leveraged AI to expand his podcast reach, develop new business strategies, and forge valuable partnerships that opened unexpected doors.

Ready to apply these timeless principles to your own journey? Follow John at johnsolledere.com, check out his books on Amazon, or text him directly (mentioning where you heard him) at 972-259-0875. Your next breakthrough might be just one mentor – or one pivot – away.

To Reach Jordan:

Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/



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Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-555/intro-call

Speaker 1:

Hey, what's going on, guys? We've got a special guest here today. We have John Solidaire. He's 40 years in network marketing, millions of dollars in sales and he's built four massive organizations. John, we're excited to have you on the Hashtag ClockedIn podcast. How did Ronald Reagan affect your life?

Speaker 2:

Ronald Reagan spoke at my college commencement in May of 1983. I started my first commencement in May of 1983. I started my first business in April 1983. Reagan talked about two things. The first was about the fact that, of all the isms, capitalism was not perfect. However, it was the ism that had freed more people than any other. And, at the end of the day, he talked about the fact that the then East German people wanted what the West Germans wanted, everything from hey, I want a two-colored shirt to I want pasta tonight and I want fish tomorrow night and I want sushi the next night. They weren't getting that in East Germany. More than that, they weren't getting the real freedoms. Ok, beyond what you could go, clothes, you could buy food you could eat, and he talked about that and the fact that the iron curtain would eventually fall, which it certainly did, a lot of it because of him, frankly.

Speaker 2:

Second point, though, was even more important to me personally. He talked about mentorship. He talked about the fact that in 1932, he is a college graduate went back to be a lifeguard in Illinois, talked to a successful businessman, asked that businessman, how do you become successful in life? That businessman gave him great counsel. He said Dutch. He used to call him Dutch back then. Dutch. What you do is you find a mentor who can teach you a business you're passionate about. In Reagan's case it was broadcasting. He became a minor league baseball broadcaster for the Cubs organization.

Speaker 2:

One thing led to another. Somebody heard him and said, hey, give this guy a voice tryout. He wound up back in California I believe the Westinghouse Company had something to do with that as well and, needless to say, you know, got into movies and you know, one thing led to another got involved in politics, first with the Actors Union, eventually with the state of California, and became, in my opinion, our greatest president in my lifetime. I don't know if everybody agrees with that or not, doesn't matter if you do or don't, but he certainly made his mark, needless to say. But that point that Reagan made about mentorship has stayed with me and I have taught that principle for 42 years around the world, not only here in North America but to people as diverse as Israelis and Israel.

Speaker 2:

I taught in Egypt, okay, at one point. I've taught it throughout Europe, parts of Asia, central America, latin America. So all over the world I've talked about mentorship and the people who understand it and apply some of the things that a mentor can teach them Great. I've had multiple mentors okay in different things. I've got some of my things that a mentor can teach them great. I've had multiple mentors okay in different things. I've got some of my health life. I've got some of my business life. I've got some of my spiritual life okay. So don't be afraid if you've got multiple mentors, but certainly have them and be open to guidance.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I think that's so important because when we talk about mentorship, we don't realize that it's not just one person can do it all, because in reality, there's usually a person and they have an area of life that is an expertise and we can learn from that. And if we allow ourselves to be students, then we can constantly learn. Like I literally had someone who I was a potential client that I was speaking with today and he was telling me how he wanted to start this new manufacturing business and I go what are you going to manufacture? And he's like I'm going to manufacture these water skis. I go, interesting. I go why? And he's like because my team of 10 people need water skis.

Speaker 1:

And I go what if, instead of you trying to manufacture? And I go what if, instead of you trying to manufacture, you just made a list? And you just asked everyone hey, if you're interested in water skis, run a little ad. If you're interested in water skis, sign up for the list and we'll give you an update to see if it's bigger than just your team. And he was like oh, that's totally a different approach, approach and through mentorship, that's where you learn and that's where you cut a lot of corners, because now you don't have to sit there and go, oh, I made all these partnerships and now I can't sell anything. It's like, hey, let's see if we can just sell off the front and then see what happens. And it expedites everything for people and people just don't realize that. So where do you think most people miss on mentorship in business? How do you think? Why do you think there's a big like misunderstanding about this?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think in some cases people don't want to listen to what they don't want to hear.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Okay, they, they, they. They've got their own prejudice in terms of what they want. You know the gentleman you just referred to. Okay, I mean, look, there's a lot of water skis out there, especially in Florida where you live. Right, you know, if somebody's already done that brand and they've done it really well, they want to pivot and go a different direction. Maybe there's a different direction. You know, like you take snow skiing, for example, you know they got the long skis and they got the little baby. You know things that people go down the hill a million miles an hour, all right hill. A million miles an hour on right.

Speaker 2:

Somebody came up with that as a concept. So you know, once again, if I have a prejudice, I go. I want to go have tunnel vision on what I'm doing and I don't really want guidance, then don't ask for it. You ask for it for a reason. Okay, you know the Old Testament talks about the fact that you know we always need guidance from people with gray hair. Okay, Well, I got the gray hair now, but at the end of the day, do we always want to hear what they have to say? No, but you better at least listen to what people's input is. It doesn't mean you have to buy it 100%, but you better at least hear what they have to say, if they're well-meaning, because maybe they're going to make a point and save you a lot of time, money and energy that you could have been doing, something that may have worked a lot better.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, absolutely. It's a time cut. It literally cuts the list and it helps you move forward a lot better. So, with skills, when you're thinking about skill acquisition, was that ever a thought of yours? Because the reason I say that is because I speak with my coaching group and every quarter we go over a few different things, we go over what were our top three moments, what are some skills that we acquired, and then what are some skills we want to acquire going forward. And the reason I focus on skills is because you could go completely broke, you can go homeless, you could lose your network, you could do everything, but you don't lose your skills. You might have to brush up on them, and a skill might be like riding a bicycle, or it might be selling a car, it might be anything, but I feel like skills are super valuable. So what do you think about skills and how do you think about continually growing them?

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, I go back to 1983. It's kind of like I think there was a book written. I learned everything I had to learn in kindergarten and for me, 1983 was kindergarten. It was not only that I graduated college, but at the end of the day I also got in my own business. I heard Reagan and then, 30 days after I heard Reagan, I heard another guy say these words For things to change, you have to change, and for things to get better, you have to get better. It turns out Jim Rohn had written that.

Speaker 2:

I didn't know who Jim Rohn was at that time, but all of a sudden I realized that I needed to stop making excuses about who my parents were. We were born on the wrong side of the tracks. We came from no wealth. You know, my parents were working people, nothing wrong with that. Dad was an alcoholic OK, you know what I mean, et cetera, et cetera. But I had to stop blaming my parents, my sisters, my girlfriend at the time, the president, the, you know all the other things that I blame, that most of us blame to some extent, those things and maybe other things in our lives.

Speaker 2:

And I said I've got to develop me as the brand. Well, develop me as the brand. What do I need to do? I need to invest in self development, in John's self development at all levels. For example, I started to do. I need to invest in self-development, in John's self-development at all levels. For example, I started to read books like as a man Thinketh by James Allen. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, the Science of Getting Rich by Waddles yeah, ogmandino, you know the greatest salesman in the world and on and on and on.

Speaker 2:

I started to invest my time and energy in my development. Now, in addition to that, I needed to work on my writing skills. I needed to work on my speaking skills. I needed to work on all aspects of my game, so to speak. Okay, and because I've been an athlete before, I kind of understood that you can't be one dimensional. You got a multitude of things. You take your strengths, you make them stronger. You take your weaknesses, you spend more time on those things. One of my things that I wasn't good at believe it or not, you might find this hard to believe folks on this interview, but I was really shy.

Speaker 1:

Really.

Speaker 2:

I was a guy who would go to a party. I was in the corner looking at my shoes, or you know like I had no cell phone in those days. If I had one, I would have been playing with it and checking all my texts and my Facebook and all that stuff, because I was not a person that would go and be very outgoing.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I met Tom Hopkins a couple of years into the process. When I met Hopkins, it was kind of funny. He was coming out of the bathroom, he was doing a seminar and I was out. He's coming out of the bathroom, I out of the bathroom, he was doing a seminar and I was out. He's coming out of the bathroom. I'm like wow, that's him. Well, I literally almost grabbed him and I was like Mr Hopkins, mr Hopkins, he says how can I help you? And we talked for a minute and he said what's your biggest challenge? I said I'm a little shy to talk to people sometimes. I'm a little shy to pick up the phone and call prospects. And he took out a business card. He wrote on the back of it do what you fear most. And I stuck that in my wallet and I kept it in there and every time that I was afraid to talk to a prospect or make a call, I looked at what Tom had written on that card and I said which fear most?

Speaker 2:

And all of a sudden I realized you know, the worst somebody is going to say is no.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and I think that's such a healthy framework because you start to realize that people sit there and go. I lost that big deal A few months ago. You didn't even have that deal in the pipeline, like before you even talked to them. That wasn't even a deal, that wasn't even a prospect. That was just a name on a list that you didn't know and it was scary. That was just a name on a list that you didn't know and it was scary.

Speaker 1:

It's the consistency of constantly showing up that makes a massive difference where a lot of us struggle. So with you being 42 years as an entrepreneur, it's not an easy undertaking. It's a long time. So what I do at Edwards Consulting we have five pillars. It's mental health, physical health, community service, philanthropy, spirituality and relationships. So I like checking in with the guests and seeing where they're at today and then what a 10 might look like in those areas. The reason is is because the people listening can sit there and go. Okay, john's interesting, he's got a success, but how's he doing all around, how holistically? How's his life feel? And when you give tips and you don't have to be perfect, no one's perfect but when we hear your insights people start to really think about it. So, john, on a mental health note like, how are you feeling on a one to ten today and maybe a few reasons why?

Speaker 2:

I today's a 10 mentally.

Speaker 1:

Really why? What does that look like?

Speaker 2:

Not every day is Today. I start a new adventure. Tell me, for it A lot of pain. So I decided when I was in Costa Rica a couple of weeks ago, with the guidance of my good friend Katie down there and her husband Fran, who are dear friends of mine, that I was going to start to do yoga when I got back here. But I had to find the right place. So I found a place that, a place called Hot Works, where they heat up the room and, long story short, at 515, today I do my first hot yoga class and I'm really, really excited about it. Jordan, I got to tell you I mean, I've done yoga before, not well. I mean, I look like a stiff board, okay, but at 64, I need to transition from some of the stuff that I was doing Okay, to more stretching. I know I need to stretch more for my health okay, my mental health. It's mental, it's physical. Do run hand in hand, frankly, uh. So I'm really enthusiastic about that and I'm also real happy to be on your show.

Speaker 1:

I mean you're somebody I admire and love what you're doing, so, mentally, it's a really, really good day today I love that and, for you, most people as we were talking about the pre-call most people let alone 24, are embarrassed to try something new. So what should they be thinking if they haven't tried? If they're put in a situation where they're trying something new Because a lot of the time people will go, they might try the hot yoga, they might be excited about it and then they'll be like I'm terrible, I should never go back there, but like, like how should they really properly be thinking about this?

Speaker 2:

well, first of all, you know you go back to the thing about mentorship. We all start somewhere. Okay, I know I'm not going to be putting my foot to the back of my head I have no intention, by the way. I asked for the real beginner class that I'll be doing. Okay, so I'll be doing the. I I'll be doing remedial yoga for you yogi people out there, but that's what I need at this point for this body. Okay, you might be different, you might be 24 and everything else, okay. So you know, you got to meet people where they are and sometimes we got to give ourselves a break to say, hey, there's, there's things in life I do really well. Let me use an analogy. Lebron james is a pretty good athlete, right, I mean, he's great basketball, of course, but if you put lebron james on skates, I don't think he could play in a national hockey league yeah okay, he'd probably look pretty stupid, okay, frankly.

Speaker 2:

Okay, put him on the court he's a beast. Put him on skates he's never done that. Conversely, okay, take connor mor McDavid probably the best player in the NHL right now. Okay, well, I don't know how Conor McDavid's basketball skills are, but I'm going to guess he hasn't spent a whole lot of time on the basketball court. Now he's a super great athlete, okay, but at the end of the day, if you put him out there on an NBA court, he's probably not going to do a great job. Point is, if guys at that level would be considered beginners in something else, what would a normal human being like you or I be embarrassed because we can't do something? Well, we all got to start somewhere, you know.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think that's so important. And it's also really, really important to realize that when you do a new thing, give yourself at least 10 times. And the reason I say 10 times is because you're going to get exponentially better in those first 10 reps, which is like kind of the most exciting time, because you will never see progress faster than those first 10 times, because you might go the first time and be like a 10%, the second time might be like a 25%, then a 40%. You will never make leaps and bounds like you do as a beginner, and I think it's so healthy to be a beginner because it gets you in that playful, childish environment where it's like I got something new, I'm excited, but it's not you going in 100 different directions on stuff, it's just a new activity which we got to kind of dive into, which I love.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I want to point out not to interrupt you, sorry, but I want to point out that as we get older okay, I'll be 64 next week you want to be doing new things. You want to be challenging yourself physically, mentally, spiritually. Okay, you get old by not moving the body. Okay, and that just doesn't mean out of this chair, it means, in general, moving the mind. Okay as well. You got to keep doing those things and and you will slow down the aging process. Frankly, yeah, absolutely, and the more exciting stuff you have going on.

Speaker 1:

That's why I started getting. Uh, when people ask me, like what do I want for my birthday or gifts or anything, I'm like yeah, absolutely. And the more exciting stuff you have going on. That's why I started getting a. When people ask me, like what do I want for my birthday or gifts or anything, I'm like experience. Let's just stack 10 experience, because there's only so many material things you can have Like and it's like do we really need another hundred shirts? It's like we already have all the shirts, we already have all the chairs, we already have all the things. The things and it like once we get out of the materialism and it's more about the experiential, your whole project, in your whole perspective, changes. So for you, john, what about physical health? How do you have feel? I mean, obviously you're going to the hot yoga, so you're excited about that, but what do you think on a zero to ten? And like what's? Maybe?

Speaker 2:

yeah, uh, you, I would say eight. On physical health, I hurt my back a couple of weeks back. I was actually doing a deadlift and I wound up pulling a muscle in my back, so that's been giving me some trouble. Another reason why I want to start very gradual with yoga, because you can't get hurt with yoga too, like anything. So I've been about an eight. I've been nursing that thing a little bit with some red light therapy and with some other stuff, going to chiropractor and all that. So I'm about an eight right there. I did my regular training this morning, my resistance training, this morning this morning. I did a leg workout. Yesterday I did a back and chest workout Yesterday. The day before that that was an arm workout.

Speaker 1:

so you work out mostly consistently like muscle wise, like lifting weights kind of yeah, resistance training.

Speaker 2:

I'm very, very big on tell me about it not only because of my background athletically okay, but as we age there's a lot of studies that show resistance training is more important for somebody my age than it is even for somebody your age. It's important for both.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you get older.

Speaker 2:

You want us to keep lifting. You want to keep doing farmer's walks, for example, carrying things. Okay, you want to be able to use bands if possible. Okay, if you can't get to the weight room, if you can't get to a weight room at all, all right, build yourself a gym at home. What I mean by that is okay, you can buy some kettlebells cheap. But even if you don't want to do that, go buy a construction site where they're discarding stuff.

Speaker 2:

Pick up some blocks, for example, stick them in your driveway, make a little make-home gym that you can lift things. It's really important we lift things as we get older properly'm not saying go into a 700 pound dead lift or something crazy.

Speaker 1:

I know guys my age are still doing those numbers, by the way uh, but uh, they're fueled far between and most of them might have hurt themselves well, the thing, yeah, the thing I've kind of gotten into with lifting which is quite interesting, because I was doing marathon running back in the day, like probably a few years back, but I started to move back into lifting just because having that muscle is so important.

Speaker 1:

But I started to move back into lifting just because having that muscle is so important. But you start to realize that it's not so much hey, you have to be the heaviest lifter in the room. It's hey, did you push your body? And you can push your body by changing literally one exercise, like for a while I was doing the behind the, like a regular squat, like where the bar was on my back, and then I did leg press. You know you just switch some of these out or you do them together or you just do lunges. But whatever it is, the point is that you want your body's anti-fragile. So the more you pressure it, the more pressure you put on it, not saying you go super high weight, but the more pressure you put on it, the more you'll be able to get through a lot of these challenges um later in life and you'll have a better lifestyle you know, jack lillane was one of my idols.

Speaker 2:

Still is. Jack passed away a few years ago, but uh, you know jack always said two things. He said you know, nutrition is king, exercise is queen. You put them together, you build a kingdom yes right.

Speaker 2:

So like, if you eat reasonably well and you lift or you do yoga or you run marathons or you ride your bike or you, you go to the park and you you know by the way, that's another thing you can do go to a park and just find you know some stuff you can play with. You know, go to a kid's playground. You'll find all kinds of stuff you can do, push-ups on and pull-ups on, and you know, one arm hangs. I mean a lot of stuff you can do.

Speaker 2:

Be creative, okay yeah, exactly use your body and if you can't get to a high-end, expensive gym, okay, you think about that. The the work, for example, that that dan bootner's done with, uh, the blue zones. Yes, people in the blue zones. They aren't going to gyms, they're farmers, they're agricultural people, they're getting up early, they're carrying stuff and they're 100 years old and it's like they don't know. They're 100 years old, they know that the chickens need to eat at 4 am, the cows need their water, etc. Etc. And they're out carrying pails and buckets and things and they're strong as oxes and we would look here in america and go, oh, that's an old person. Well, they don't know they're an old person. Nobody bothered to tell them.

Speaker 1:

Oh yes the big, the biggest thing about the blue zones that I found super interesting is that they're always walking up hills. Oh yeah, so in america it's very I mean, especially in florida. It's like where's a but. So people have to go on treadmills and they're walking up the treadmill, but like we've become such a soft society where we literally have to create fake scenarios where it becomes the challenge, our body, but in where a lot of these places are in the blue zones, they just deal with it on the day to day Like they really do, which causes a very interesting dynamic. Now, john, for you, community service, philanthropy this is an area most people go. Nah, maybe I like it, I don't know when do you put it, how do you think about it?

Speaker 2:

I'm not good at it. I'll be honest about it. I'm not as good as it is. I do tithe in my church so I do take care of the financial responsibility.

Speaker 2:

There are a couple charities my wife and I do support on a regular basis. So financially we're good. Where we're not good is time. Years back I stopped doing it at one point, just for a variety of reasons. I just got too busy, honestly, to do it. I was coaching some young underprivileged kids in the weight room a little bit. Once again they aged out, they graduated high school. I didn't replace them. I'm not as good as I should be. I'd probably say a five because we do give financially, we just don't give the time. The time is just not a luxury that I've been able to give.

Speaker 1:

Frankly, John, people build so much more trust with someone when they hear an authentic answer. So I think it's a real thing where we sit there and go hey, we have the charities we like, but maybe these are in areas of improvement or things that we can look at a little bit differently. So what would a 10, community service-wise, look like for you, you think?

Speaker 2:

I would say taking some of the skills that I possess and giving them back, you know, to the community. Whether it's mentoring you know young business people. Whether it's mentoring you know, kids that are underprivileged. Whether it's mentoring you know even mentoring other young entrepreneurs that need guidance. Okay, one thing in 42 years is I can tell you my successes. My failures are where I learned everything. The successes were the easy part.

Speaker 2:

It's not I screwed up or got screwed up, because that could be a long sentence that I learned the most. It was from the failures, it wasn't the successes. Once again, are there things if somebody says, hey, I'm building an XYZ business that I can say, okay, have you thought of this? Have you thought of this type of thing? You know? So, as the years go by, it's something I want to do a little bit more of, at the very least, to give back a little bit more to the community.

Speaker 1:

I love that. Yeah, a super easy way to do that. Two ideas come to mind if you're open to them. One is if you set up a Calendly and leave like two slots available completely free of charge and people can grab the 30 minute slots. So you can do it as like, hey, you got to be this criteria to grab the slot and then people grab the slot. So that's an easy way to do it, especially with your growing presence and whatnot. I mean like on YouTube, social social media and all that. Another one is because you create so much content. It'd be quite interesting if you created like a course and then just distributed the course, because then you can replicate yourself and it's not so much your one-on-one time but it's more the lessons you've gained and then you share those with the others great idea.

Speaker 2:

We we will implement some of that. We need to constantly give back. You know what I mean. It's like I've had much luck.

Speaker 1:

That's the thing. If the discussions aren't happening, people don't think about it. So that's why I appreciate your vulnerability right there, because I know most people are like no, I'm great, I'm great. And it's like are you? Like? Is everyone great? Like I have my? I'm not the best at it either, Like I'm really not, because we're all going through it and it's a challenging thing and we always think we don't have enough. And then, by the time we have enough, we're like hey, I'm too tired man, I don't really need to be helping others, but that's kind of what energizes us, which becomes this very interesting dichotomy. Absolutely, absolutely so. The last two pillars are relationship relationships, and this could be business, life, personal, whatever you. However you want to take it, what do you think your relationships are on?

Speaker 2:

like a one to ten you know, on a one to ten, my wife and I are 10, uh, that's awesome yeah, yeah, we, we, you know, we went through.

Speaker 2:

Look, we went through very honestly six years ago, during, you know, covid, we went through some stuff. Uh, you know, for about six months we went through some heavy, heavy duty stuff that we needed to go through, but we remembered that we loved each other number one. We remembered, secondly, that when we got married, there were three people involved okay, third one being the lord, okay and it was like, okay, where's he in this? Why aren't we talking to him? Why are we yelling at each other?

Speaker 2:

let's, let's go ahead you know, sometimes uh and uh, uh, we came out of that stronger. Uh, we lost a child.

Speaker 2:

Together we had four children and we lost a baby uh, I'm sorry to hear that I can't think 20, 20, 24 years ago now, and um know that made us strong, but what happened six years ago probably made us stronger. Okay, not that I would wish it on anybody, because we went through some really rough times, but we got through them, you know, with counseling, with the grace of God, and also really just being very honest and transparent with each other in terms of do we stay together? And our kids, at that point they were already, you know, late teenagers. My one daughter was already grown, the other two were late teenage. So it wouldn't have been like, oh, mom and dad got divorced. It would be like, oh, mom and dad got divorced.

Speaker 2:

This is america, that's what they did, and not right, but it's not the right way to think, but it, but unfortunately it's become very contemporary. But, point being, it's like do we stay together because I want to be with you and you want to be with me? We fundamentally had to figure that out and we did. And now, now we're great. I mean, we do a lot together, we spend a lot of time together and, uh, we exercise together, you know. We walk together, we pray together, we swim together, we do all kinds of stuff together, you know, and yet she's got her friends that she can go off with. I've got my friends that I can go off with and we're both comfortable with that, and either one of us, you know we're not out doing anything stupid, you know. I mean most times lunch here or there. You know, with friends and we're comfortable with each other, having other social groups in our lives, that we don't have to be in the middle of some people. People are like well, I have to go with you. No, I don't. You go with your girlfriends, you go talk about whatever you want to talk about. I'll go with the guys and we'll talk about sports or whatever that you could care less about. You know, let's have that openness of relationship that we can do that you know. So that's a 10.

Speaker 2:

My son and I are a 10. My daughters, you daughters, they're 10s. We communicate very well. We didn't always. My oldest daughter in particular, and I had a challenge with that. She's my adopted daughter. I adopted her way back when she was six years old, my wife's biological daughter. We had trouble communicating. Now we don't. Now she even works with us in business. So we have to communicate, sometimes about content and things too.

Speaker 1:

What do you think was some of the key tips to having these relationships? Because there's definitely people listening right now who are like I want a better relationship with my family member, whoever it may be. So what are some of the tips and tricks that you utilize for that?

Speaker 2:

First of all, okay, god gave you two ears, one mouth. What does that mean? Twice as much listening, and I love to talk. Okay, I mean, I'm, you know I love to talk, but at the end of the day, you don't have all the answers, you don't know what the other person's feeling or sensing. You got to hear what they have to say. Hear what they have to say. Don't judge people by what they have to say, even if you feel like, wow, they are just inherently wrong about their opinion about me. Okay, hear what they have to say. A lot of times it's something that you can get past with dialogue. You know, ronald Reagan I go back to Reagan and Gorbachev. Reagan and Gorbachev did something in the early 80s that you would have to go back to the 1200s of St Francis of Assisi the last time. It was probably done.

Speaker 1:

Oh really.

Speaker 2:

St Francis of Assisi knocked on the door of the Muslim leader who wanted to cut his head off and said hey brother, we need to talk, and they averted a war.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Ronald Reagan and Garvey did the same thing. They sat down, two human beings, not a Russian and an American, two guys. They sat down and said where are we the same and where are we fundamentally different that we have to work through for both of our survival? Well, they can do that. When they can fire weapons and destroy each other's country 500 times, or whatever it was, why can't you do that with your kids or your spouse or your next door neighbor? Okay, so there's lessons to be learned from history, and a lot of times we just want to be so dominant that I'm right. Being right is not necessarily getting where you want to be. Sometimes you got to be willing to fall on your sword, and what I found through the years is I'm willing to tell people hey look, I am a flawed human being at all levels. Therefore, I screw up, I say the wrong things, I do the wrong things sometimes. Okay, now how can I help you?

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

Once you do that, you get you. Boy, you just knocked down so many pillars of stuff that the other person goes, wow, okay, now let's have a real dialogue and you can get to the end game of what it is that's troubling that person, or that they're struggling with, or that you're struggling with frankly with them, with the relationship. So, be honest, just say, hey, I'm flawed, maybe I said the wrong thing, maybe I did the wrong thing. If so, I really apologize in earnest. How can we help each other?

Speaker 1:

And, yeah, I love that approach because what you're really doing there is just taking a step back.

Speaker 1:

And if you think about most arguments, once I heard this total game changer for me Once I heard about how arguments start, it's blaming the other person. So it'd be like John, you showed up late for the podcast and it's like no, jordan, you didn't send the Zoom link. I'm just using this as like a fake argument example, but when you show up with the eye, so everyone can take this example and they can think about this whenever they want to have a deep discussion with someone, you start off with I, you focus on I, I don't appreciate or I don't feel this way or like, when you do this, I feel like this, and it's not saying that they're doing something wrong or right or anything. It's just saying that when you say this, I feel a certain way and you start to realize that when you do the whole, I thing it alleviates blame and now I think that's a huge and most people don't realize that it's the wording we use constantly makes a big difference.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, yeah, no, I was just going to say, you know, to tell somebody, hey, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Like it doesn't really cost anything, like I'm going through something. Right now I can't get into specifics, but I did a huge favor for a company Huge Got them a huge discount on something and the company owner has still not said thank you. And now, 10 years ago, I probably just would have called him and confronted him. Now I'm just waiting until I see him in a few weeks and hope that he just says, hey, thank you. Why? He hasn't probably just an oversight, he's a busy guy. I get it, but it's like you know.

Speaker 2:

I told my son this the other day. We were going to Houston to a friend of ours wedding and I said you know, it costs nothing to say thank you. Like even sometimes I think when I'm in a restaurant and I pay the bill and I tip well, I'm always been at least a 20, 25 percent tipper Right and I'm walking out and I say thank you, I'm thinking I just paid you. Why am I saying thank you? You know why? Because that person didn't spit my food. Ok, that person did the best job that they could possibly do, right?

Speaker 2:

You know, and sometimes you think well, why am I thanking you? Because I just paid you, as opposed to hey, what did it cost me to say? Did it cost me anything to say thank you? Didn't cost me a darn thing, didn't cost me a red cent. Maybe that person says next time I'm in that restaurant, you know what? I'm gonna take extra special care of that guy, because not only is he tipping me right, but he actually treats me like a human being, not like I'm just some perfunctory thing that brought him his iced tea right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you're bringing up a really you're bringing up a really good point and you start to realize that it's not so much about who the like, how we think about. It's just important for us to realize that we're all humans and we all have flaws and we all make mistakes and it's okay. It's okay. And in regards to the thank you thing, I really like how you're testing out the partner, because you're like I might not do another deal, I might not do enough. I mean, if you're not going to be appreciative, why would I do more?

Speaker 2:

you know what I mean well, like I said, there's not. There's other people that probably, in a similar circumstance, would have been sending me at least a thank you, probably honestly a thank you gift. I saved the guy 75 000 yeah, and it's like.

Speaker 1:

It's like we're all busy and stuff, but like, but you even you even say thank you to someone walking across the street who, like you, say thank you to the cars for stopping.

Speaker 1:

Like you know what I mean, let alone more important than money, frankly exactly yeah, let alone no, but my point exactly is like we, the barrier to thank you is so low, like it's like, come on, it's the thoughtfulness. So, john, the last one is spirituality. You mentioned that you that this can be sometimes involved with church, sometimes it's yoga, sometimes it's meditation, sometimes it's just. However you view spirituality, how do you think you're doing on that? And then, what are maybe some tips and tricks?

Speaker 2:

I can always do better, but I have a first-person relationship with Jesus Christ. I talk to him like I'm talking to you right now, and he doesn't answer me back in the first person, obviously, but he answers me back and things that happen, and I just ask him for grace. I, I'm not one of those people that prays for success or stuff. I pray for health. I pray that I remain physically, mentally, spiritually healthy, uh, but uh, no, I, I, I, I, yeah, I have a very good, strong, spiritual life.

Speaker 2:

I didn't always. I vacillated, like a lot of people do. I went through doubt at one point, like come on, I'm praying in the sky here and you know, like, really, come on. And uh, then things happened in my life that affected me in such a way that it was like I, I knew that he was real. And when you know he's real, it's like man, it just changes your perspective on everything, including death.

Speaker 2:

By the way, you know, as you get into it it's like, hey, you start having friends, you know, almost weekly, somebody else you know, you know, goes home, and so it changed my perspective on that a great deal. But more than that, I've seen all the miracles that he does every single day and a miracle he's doing in our country right now. Okay, we're going through a lot of stuff as a country, but we're also going through some healing as a country. You know, people are starting to get back together as Americans and saying, hey, you know what? You know? We do have a good thing here. Let's stop vilifying each other. Let's start talking to each other, you know, yeah so and not in all cases.

Speaker 2:

I get it. There's a lot of stuff going on, but at the end of the day, you know that's him, man, that that that's healing, and and uh, when I think of it, uh, from another standpoint, the fact that I'm still walking around at 64 I eat yeah when I had, uh uh, spondylolisthesis, which was what what I was born with. Okay, I was born knocking pigeon toed and I have a disease called spondylolisthesis, where my vertebrae is wrapped around my spine like that when I was 17.

Speaker 2:

I had to go through major corrective surgery and rehab and everything else. I could have wound up a drunk, I could have wound up on drugs, I could have wound up all sorts of things. But you know, through him it was like, hey, wait a minute, I got a bigger plan for you than that kid, you know.

Speaker 2:

I got a good plan for you. You know it won't always be easy, but I got a good plan, so yeah, no, I would say a 10 on that. You know what I mean. I'm in his word every single day.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's incredible. Yeah, no, it's important for us to realize, like, what pulls us in the world and what pulls us away and what keeps us in that proper spirit, because if we're not in high hopes and we're not in good spirit, then we're not in the right place. So, john, for you, what keeps you so motivated at this age? Because most people are thinking on the retirement front, most people are like I just want to chill out what's keeping you excited and why are you acting the way you do?

Speaker 2:

Well, first of all, there's two key words in business, I believe, today Pivot and agility. Now, what are they Think of? A pivot? Like a basketball move, if you're faced away from the court. Your teammate comes down to court, he throws you the ball. You got to turn around and try to throw them into the net. Okay, that's an example of a pivot. Athletically, how do you pivot in business? Okay, we had to pivot during COVID, for example.

Speaker 2:

During COVID, I had I had two books that came out like almost the same time, right. My third version of Moving Up 2020 came out December of 19. And then I had this other, totally separate title, totally different topics Leave Nothing to Chance. That came out February 2020. I'm supposed to be in 60 cities for my network marketing business and the dovetail of that, when I'm done speaking, of course, is hey, buy my new book on Amazon. I got 100 here that I'll sign for you.

Speaker 2:

Blah, blah, blah. Well, I went away. So now I got an investment in books. I've got not only investment of money, but investment of time. You know years and I never planned on writing like 50 books. I don't want to be an author necessarily. I wrote what I wrote because it works right. It's worked for a massive organization, so it wasn't like I'm going to keep writing 17 more books about the same subject. So, anyway, long story short, I had to pivot. How did I pivot? I created a podcast, okay the Leaving Nothing to Chance podcast, or John Soliter podcast on YouTube same show and we started to develop that OK, and that started to get the books out OK. So one thing took care of another. Then, about six months ago, I got an email one day from a guy named Chris Champion, who you know beautifully written email telling me you know how wonderful my show was and blowing all the smoke up my skirt and how he'd love to be a guest on my show. Didn't know, right then it was written by.

Speaker 2:

Ai got to know, found out that that was from ai. Now here I am, you know, an older guy. Ai is not something I grew up with, right, I mean cell phone, something I grew up with. I started my business. The phone was plugged in the wall.

Speaker 2:

Long story short, this is where the agility comes in. Okay, I get to know, chris, I start to work with AI to develop my podcast, okay, and really put it on steroids, frankly, and get it out all over the world, and that's what we're doing now, not only with my show, but being on people like your show, and vice versa. In addition to that, though, I started to learn about AI, and I started to implement things from it. Ok, for example, not only in the podcast realm, but in terms of my regular business. Ok, you know, we're starting to work, for example, with clip farming. Ok, putting together little armies of people to take our product to market with videos. These are all things that came of AI.

Speaker 2:

Here's the biggest one that came so far. Chris introduced me to a girl named Diana. Diana introduced me to a guy named John Hyland. John Hyland is the publisher of Top Doctor magazine. My marketing business, okay, sells a product that's very, very medical. So the result of 50 years of research at McGill University in science. So I have a product that the medical industry likes in network marketing, one of the few things in network marketing that doctors actually like. So, long story short, got to know, john wound up getting my company owner on the cover of Top Doctor magazine this month.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow, that's incredible 200,000 hits so far to that website.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 2:

Read the story about our company. I'm going to be on the cover of it here in a couple of months for some stuff that I'm doing. I've got some of my other doctor colleagues that work with me in that business. That'll be on the cover of it. Without AI, none of that happens. Jordan.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

I've got email from Chris getting to know Chris. You know, one thing led to another. Led to John, okay. So AI led me to this great business relationship that I now have, and now I'm going to be the co-host, by the way, of the Top doctor podcast. Okay, wow, and, and who knows what other doors are going to be open, right. So that's that's sort of what ai has done for for me, but the agility has to be. If I had done the normal thing that I'm capable of doing, going, hey, I'm too old to learn this ai stuff. It's so complex, you know. Let me do this instead. I did this.

Speaker 2:

Tell me more tell me yes tell me how I can apply it to my business specifically. I do not need to become an electrical engineer or or a machine learning engineer okay, don't have the brains to do that, frankly but at the end of the day, I'm going to use those guys to open doors for my businesses around the world. So that's the agility of being able to go forward or back and say I'm willing to accept and adapt things that are very, very contemporary, even though I may not completely understand them. But I'm willing to do that and be agile in my philosophy of how to do business, and that's served me very, very well.

Speaker 1:

That's incredible. No, it's important to realize that there's, that we don't turn off. You know what I mean that we stay on, that we stay excited, we look forward to opportunities. So, john, where can people learn more about you? Where can they? Where can they hear about you? Where can they learn about the books?

Speaker 2:

um, you get the books on amazon. Okay, you know this, this english or spanish digital, of course. Okay, moving up 2020, leaving nothing to chance, those are really for direct selling people. Okay, if you, if you sell, if you're a real estate insurance, car sales network marketing, those books are for you. You can reach me, johnsolidercom S-O-L-L-E-D-E-Rcom. You can send me a text. If you use Jordan's name, do not call me, I will not take your call. Ok, you have to text me. Unfortunately, I get 500 calls a day and about 400 of them are people I have no desire to talk to. Ok, so just text me.

Speaker 2:

That you heard on the show. If you're interested in side hustle and finding out more about our business at 972-259-0875. And you can also go to our podcast, john Soliter, on YouTube or Leave Nothing to Chance. It'll even want to get you there if you want to listen to our show. Jordan's been a guest. By the way, we haven't published his show yet. It's coming up here, I think, in two Fridays, so he's been on the other side of the camera from me and a lot of other really interesting folks like Jordan that are just luminaries and doing some terrific stuff. So those are all the places you can find me.

Speaker 1:

Awesome, really appreciate it.

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Jordan Edwards

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