Championship Character: RJ Boudro's Blend of Wrestling, Faith, and Nurturing the Spirit

As I sat reflecting on the transformative power of discipline, I couldn't help but be reminded of RJ Boudro, the exceptional wrestling coach who graced our Bamboo Lab podcast with tales of triumph and the undying strength of faith. RJ, with his latest state championship tucked under his belt, opens up about the evolution of his life - from his role as a coach to his personal spiritual journey and its profound impact on his community. His commitment to guiding young athletes, coupled with his dedication as a school counselor and a family man, illustrates the undercurrent of his success: a steadfast belief in something greater than himself.

The warmth of "The Barn", RJ's unique approach to fostering spirituality outside the traditional church setting, serves as a beacon of acceptance and personal reflection, welcoming skeptics and seekers alike. It's here that we uncover the heartening narratives of individuals like Tyler Sigmond, whose experiences echo within the walls of this safe haven, revealing the power of simple gatherings in transforming lives. The episode shines a light on the essence of daily rituals, such as prayer and meditation, not just as a means to seek blessings but as a vehicle for steering our lives with intentionality and grace.

My journey from a collegiate athlete to a host with a resolve to live by family, integrity, service, and humility offers a backdrop to RJ's inspiring outlook on life. As we navigate through tales of hardship, the quest for improvement, and the delicate balance of vulnerability and strength, the episode serves as a testament to the virtues of facing life with a clear set of values. RJ's poignant reflections on the past and aspirations for the future leave us pondering our own paths, encouraging us all to savor the present, embrace growth, and tread a trail that leads not just to success but to a meaningful legacy.

Transcript

Welcome: 0:00

Hello and welcome to the Bamboo Lab podcast with your host, Peak Performance Coach, Brian Bosley. Are you stuck on the hamster wheel of life, spinning and spinning but not really moving forward? Are you ready to jump off and soar? Are you finally ready to sculpt your life? If so, you've landed in the right place. This podcast is created and broadcast just for you, All of you strivers, thrivers and survivors out there. If you'd like to learn more about Brian and the Bamboo Lab, feel free to reach out to explore your true peak level at wwwbamboolab3.com.

Brian: 0:43

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Bamboo Lab podcast. Today is what is the date today? March 12th, I think of 2024, eh, we got a guy on here that we had back on. The podcast aired on November 14th 2022. It was season one, episode 56. The title was With Discipline and God, I Can Do Anything. Rj Boudreau, my friend, welcome back.

RJ: 1:11

Thanks for having me. Glad to be back.

Brian: 1:12

Well, it's cool because I just did. I studied the numbers last week when we just scheduled this. I'm like let's go back to his first podcast. I know it's ranked out of 117 episodes. Your podcast is ranked number three for our show it's the third most downloaded podcast out of 117 episodes. You've been listened to and admired from North America, africa, europe, so all those three continents and a lot of countries and cities inside there. And the last time we spoke, you, I believe, had nine state championships as the head of wrestling coach at Lowell and as of last week or so, you have there's 11. Now 10, 11 consecutive 10 with you as a head coach. That's correct. Yeah, oh, that's incredible. And everybody I talked to is like that RJ, I gotta get to know him. Blah, blah, blah. And it's funny because you and I have only met the one time, right.

RJ: 2:11

Well, we obviously did the podcast once and then you came in to both of my events and so I feel like I know you way more, just because of, maybe, some of the relationships that you now have because of an event that I do.

Brian: 2:21

So you know, yeah, that's, that's one of the best events I've gone to, and I say that, but then I haven't been back to another one here, another speaker. So I that's a commitment I'm going to make, especially now that the weather's loosening up a bit, my travels from the upper peninsula down to the Lowell Ada areas just a little easier for me, Sure. So what, everybody out there, what I want to do is with RJ coming back on. A lot of things have changed for him. I'm going to see another state championship or two, His. He has the record right now in the state of Michigan, all sports for the most consecutive state championships. So I said let's get back on here again. So if you could, RJ, since we last spoke 15, 16 months ago, can you give us an update? What's changed in your life, both personally and professionally?

RJ: 3:06

You know it's hard to really say exactly. It's like I feel like a lot has changed, but it's just really hard to, you know, list all the things out. But you know, yeah, like you said, like I've experienced more success as a wrestling coach and I, you know, I really have God to thank for that. He's definitely blessed me with a lot of, a lot of skills, but also a lot of people, great community and just the place I live and the people that surround me. I'm just truly blessed and I know that I have God to thank for that. I really feel, like you know, personally, you know I have four daughters and they're growing. My oldest is 12, my youngest is five and I'm just excited about following them in their sports. So I just spent a weekend in Louisville watching my daughter play volleyball at one of kind of a national event.

RJ: 3:55

So getting time off from the season that just ended two weeks ago and getting to spend time with my family and my wife and I really feel like we've invested in our relationship with God. You know, individually we started different Bible studies, different life groups, really just trying to insulate ourselves with good people. All to, you know, strengthen our relationship with God individually, which has really made our marriage that much stronger. And by having a strong marriage I feel like, you know, our family is thriving. My kids are understanding what it's like to walk with Jesus and to kind of invest into our community, invest into our church. And you know they're invested in my success. They are very into my wrestling team, the wrestlers that I get to coach, the competitions. They ask about those things all the time and it's just awesome that we get to do that stuff together. And you know, I just read to a first aid class and my daughter was in the class. I got to read to her class and it's just cool like having those kids kind of look up to me and nobby as the wrestling coach and Lexi's dad and kind of stuff like that. So just really just investing in our community personally, which has just really helped me grow as a person. And then you know, professionally, you know I'm a school counselor at Lowell High School. It's a great school. I love my job, I love the place where I get to work.

RJ: 5:18

You know, being in education can have its challenges, especially with somebody who has a strong faith, and that's kind of new to me, like, I think on November 22 when I first talked to you, I was relatively new to you know, giving my life to Jesus Christ and you know that's been one of the challenges I think we'll probably talk about is just, you know, that change and what it's like to, you know, live in a world where that's kind of weird, and understanding my purpose and my life through Jesus and then working in public education and doing that stuff is perfect. It's provided some challenges but, you know, I think I really nailed down kind of a disciplined process, you know, like a Nick Saban type process, where you know I feel like I have a daily discipline in the morning, throughout my day, through the night, and then, you know, evaluating myself on a daily basis, a weekly basis, an annual basis and trying to get better and to see growth each and every day and ultimately just to connect with my purpose or you know what God's will is for me and my life. And I've done that in a few different ways. You know I started the barn. I think you were one of my first five speakers at the barn, which I can kind of talk about a little bit because it's something that you've heard. Please talk about that. Yeah, I mean, I guess, to talk about the barn, the barn is something that has really taken off and I didn't know what to expect.

RJ: 6:42

So I, like I said probably three years ago, gave my life to Jesus Christ, made it my Lord of Behavior, and I kind of got surrounded by some good people in a men's small group and we just really was iron-tripe, and these guys are highly successful individuals who have a really strong faith. And I think Jason Holdridge, who's my pastor, he kind of was the one who invited me into that group. And I just am a guy that I think I'm always trying to find a system or a process or a business or some kind of a way to make things better. You know, and I just couldn't understand how people, you know, don't follow Jesus, don't understand the Bible, and I wanted more people to do that, and I think that's what Christ really wants us to do is to advance his kingdom. And I just was like, how do we do this better? You know, how do we get people to go to church? You know, I'd ask people to go to church and they wouldn't. You know, they'd say yeah, then they wouldn't show up.

RJ: 7:42

And so I had this idea of like let's just get a network of men in our community and just have them come listen to somebody's testimony, because testimony has such power. There's a lot of power in testimony and you know you never know who you're going to affect by sharing your testimony. And you know testimony be just like what's your life story, what's the struggles that you've gone through and how is God made that better. You know how was having a relationship with God made your life better and that's really the simple part of it. And so I asked my life group or my men's group if they would kind of back me on that. And I'm like, yeah, man, I'll be there, I'll get some guys there.

RJ: 8:16

So I found that one of my wrestling dads has a really nice bar. It's absolutely gorgeous and I just found like, well, there's a use for that. And I shared my testimony at my church really close to when I did your podcast with you in November of 22. And a whole bunch of people that my network started coming to church because of that, you know. And so I had some people that were like what's this about? And so I asked you know one of my wrestling dads if I could use his barn to bring some people in and I hired a speaker and my first speaker was Andy Dirks.

RJ: 8:52

I mean, if you guys don't know Andy Dirks, he played center field better lead off for the Tigers back in the 2010-ish area and then, when they made the World Series, he's got a really strong faith and is not shy about it. He's a very good speaker. My brother was in his life. My brother lived over in Lake Orient. My youngest brother, ben I have three brothers, so Ben was the weird brother who gave his life to Christ early on and we just thought, like dude, ben has gone off the deep end. He found God and he's back and strange.

RJ: 9:25

But you know, I ended up following him and he kind of introduced me to Andy Dirks and Andy Dirks came and spoke at the first ever barn and so there's about 50 guys there and I provide the food, I provide the drinks in the space and then somebody comes and shares the testimony and the men that are there they network, you know, they talk to each other, they socialize and they feel like they leave a better person, you know, each and every time. So I do it once a month. I've done 15 of them and they've all been great and they all somehow there's always 50 people. There are 60 people, I think there's 240 different unique people that have come to it, but there's a lot of regulars, but there's just different people every time, new people every time, and it's been really powerful and I just had so many people that have reached out to me to meet with me individually because of the barn, you know so the networking that is gone and I know that, like you, for instance, I know that you have relationships because of your speaking engagement, your testimony that you shared.

RJ: 10:28

You've talked to several guys from there and it's definitely advanced God's kingdom, but it's also just, it's strengthened your network and I know it's done the same for me. And I think one thing I've had to get better at is pricing no, because there's a lot of people that want to reach out, that want to meet. There's just only so much time in the day so saying no, but maybe just like taking a rain check and trying to really just know what I can handle in a day and what I can handle in a week. So I think that's kind of my update personally and professionally and just the barn and what that's done for me. I've also done some speaking engagements too. I got asked to speak at a Farm Bureau agency kind of like summit and that was really cool because I got to kind of like hone in on my core values and my purpose and how the process that I go through and the discipline that I have maybe can help others.

Brian: 11:19

I think when I did my speech there I think that was the first time you had prayed before the speech the speaker, oh yeah, I'm like, oh, this is cool. And then you, you gave that prayer and I'm like, how the hell am I going to come? How am I going to follow that? You know, you're right, though. You know, when I was there that day, I remember getting up there and walking up and sitting down on that.

Brian: 11:38

I had that bar stool that I sat in front of all those guys and I looked in the audience and I'm like 95% of these guys would kick my ass, 95% of these guys would kick my ass. They all look like a bunch of tough, you know, looks like they just got off the oil, rigged, you know, they're all successful, rigged, rugged, you know, gritty men. And it was so fun to be able to share my testimony in my in my life story because afterward these guys that look so tough during it were coming up and giving me a hug. I had a couple of guys who were crying, you know, in my face, thanking me, and I have kept in contact with several of those men, some on a on a daily or weekly basis that I never would have met.

Brian: 12:15

I had to meet your father and sit with him and talk about bear hunting before in hunting, before I even got up to to give my testimony. So I really, I really enjoyed it. I think anybody in the area that could any man just searching for his purpose in life with God in. Even if you might not even really know if you are a believer or not, you know it's. It's a, it's a place to go and listen to men who are, who are all on different paths in their journey in life.

RJ: 12:41

Well, I I kind of forgot to say that I don't want to cut you off but like that is the point of the barn is for non-believers. So the point of the barn was like my idea was I can't get people to come to church, but maybe I can get them come. I'm serving beer and wine and water or whatever you want to eat and drink. It's free food. Just come in network and learn something, because if you don't want to go to church which I can understand sometimes because I was there at one time just might affect your life. You just don't know how. So there's most of the people that I want to be there, the non-believers. That's the person I'm trying to get in the door, you know no, I didn't know that.

Brian: 13:14

In fact, my two of my bonus sons and my step sons even came when I spoke that day and they really liked it. They thought it was very cool. They were really. They were really. They were. They had no idea. When I told them kind of what it was, my one stepson called me and said is this like are they trying to get me to join a church? Is what really is this? They call me B-man, b-man and I'm like, oh, I don't know. I said I really don't know exactly what it is, but I know, rj, so that's not what it's going to be. And when they both, you know, reached out to me afterwards they left before I did and they said that was really enjoyable. Not at all what I thought.

Brian: 13:51

And my oldest step son lives maybe a mile, two miles from the barn. And to call it a barn, I expected hay on the floor. I mean this had a basketball hoop in it. I mean you could live in that barn. It was a. It's just what it is. It's a really incredible big place for men to gather or anyone to gather. It's, it was incredible in there. I was so impressed. And then we had Tyler Sigmund come up there and he spoke and gave his testimony one day. Yeah, that's correct. So actually I remember. Now you're the 10th speaker.

RJ: 14:18

Tyler was the 12th, so he spoke 10 times after you and Tyler did a fascinating job. Tyler was awesome. He was obviously he's been on the bamboo lab, so yeah, yeah, he was on.

Brian: 14:27

He was on with me twice, so so, looking back on this past year and a half or so, then what would you say? Rj is one of your greatest learnings you've had since we last spoke on the show.

RJ: 14:39

You know, I would say like I'm a guy that like takes on a lot, I feel like, and I just really learned to take things one day at a time and understanding that, you know, little changes, little improvements add up to make huge, huge differences and huge, huge gains, I guess, and growth over a long period of time. And I think really one of the you know, the simplest ways I've done that is through, probably, prayer, and I say that and I am not a good prayer, in my opinion, I'm around some people that can pray really well, but I don't think there's a such thing actually, you know, it's like I think five, six years ago I was trying to really hone in on a daily morning routine and I knew that listening to guys, different podcasts, different self-help books, anything I could do, which I'm sure you've read we've read probably a lot of the same books and listened to a lot of the same podcasts and tried to optimize our life, and one of the things that I always heard was meditation, you know, and how important it is to meditate. So I tried doing it and I know that, like when I first started doing it, I'm like this is the dumbest thing anyone could ever do Like I'm just sitting here in a quiet room and you know, trying to breathe, and but I kind of just like anything else, I knew there was enough people that were to me like earn the benefit of the doubt. They're successful and they do it. So I'm gonna give it a try and I'm really stuck with it.

RJ: 16:13

I kind of started seeing the benefits of having a clear mind and focusing on your breathing and just finding some quiet time. And then you know that meditation I think was just got kind of you know, pulling me along into his kingdom and I just could see that that's what prayer is and it talks about Jesus getting away all the time and finding quiet time to have time with God, and I don't think there's a better example of anybody who's successful than Jesus. So I will sit every morning and every night and get on my knees and pray, and most of my prayer is listening, you know, just trying to listen to what God wants me to do. And that's sounds pretty strange and I think that's tough for people to hear, because it was tough for me to hear, because I don't ever hear anything audibly. You know, it's just where my mind goes, and where my mind goes when it's quiet.

RJ: 17:04

I really believe that's God, you know, talking to me about what I should do and he kind of takes me down the path that he wants to take me down. So you know, just as an example, like for whatever reason, I've been praying lately and I just find this need to just kind of buckle down financially. You know God's blessing with some good financial life, but I feel like I'm not being a good steward of that and I just feel like I need to kind of become disciplined with how I spend things and you know, be content versus, you know, be an envious or jealous maybe so, what some of the other people have and what they're able to do. So I was just an example of, like, the things that I've learned and how powerful prayer can be and just doing that one day at a time, you know, and understanding over a long period of time that one day can have a big, big impact.

Brian: 17:59

Yeah, one of the as you were talking reminded me, rj, probably two months ago, six weeks ago, I was going through, you know, a pretty difficult time. I was up in the upper peninsula for a week or so by myself and it was just. It was a difficult time. I was struggling in mentally, emotionally, and one of the things I thought about is, I thought about what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong, and the one thing I was doing right was kind of what you said earlier is I have a very I have a strong discipline process that I follow every morning. And then, you know, I get up at a certain time, I do these activities or prayer, you know reading, gratitude, journaling, but you know it's a process, physical stuff, you know emotional, spiritual and mental work. And so I said, okay, well, that's what I'm doing right. And then I said, well, what are you doing wrong? And I realized what I'm doing wrong is I'm still trying to control the wheel of my. I'm trying to control everything of my life. And it was driving me part of my language, but it was driving me batshit crazy. It really was. I mean, I can't control this, it's too big for me to control, and so I ended up. I ended up just looking to God and saying you take the wheel, it's yours. I've been fighting you all my life for the wheel. I want you to take the wheel now. And it was just like this weight was lifted off me. And I shared this last week on the show when I had Kevin Korher on and we talked a bit about this and I said and it's interesting when that happened, it was probably two months ago Once that started happening, the things that I've been, that I was trying to control, started coming to me, whether it be clients or a financial boost of some type or more mental or emotional healing.

Brian: 19:40

It was like these things I was trying to control. Once I let go, they kind of came to me. It was just a weird. You can call it coincidence, you can call it whatever you want. I don't think it was. It freed my mind up to be able to. I said to myself here's a really good thing to say, brian, one moment at a time or, I'm sorry, one thing at a time, one day at a time with God, keep it simple.

RJ: 20:04

Yeah.

Brian: 20:05

Yeah, you're up A lot of people listening to the show. You may have a different religion, maybe Muslim or some other religion, or you may be an atheist or agnostic. One of the things I would recommend is, if you're having a difficult time wrapping your mind or the concept of God, for now just say the universe. May you use the term universe and see where that takes you. Because a lot of times, when we relax our stringent policies and our stringent belief systems, all of a sudden we start going down a path of I can't wrap my arm around a God. There are people out there who feel that way. That's okay, that's perfectly fine. You are in a different place in your journey. But just say the universe, because we all believe in the universe and the universe is a big controller. We all believe God controls the universe. But you might just say universe and try to meditate and thank the universe, show gratitude to the universe, release things to the universe. See where that takes you.

RJ: 21:03

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think, when I first was trying to back to those days when I was listening to those podcasts and trying to optimize my life and really trying to find my routine, another thing that I saw was a lot of people that are billionaires, ultra successful athletes, business people. A lot of things that I saw in common was there was a spiritual side to it. It was funny because when I get to that chapter of the book or that portion of whatever their testimony was, I would just pass over it because I wasn't interested in that. I don't know why, all of a sudden, I became interested in spirituality and having a faith, but I just think I know God was part of that.

Brian: 21:44

What I'm seeing, though, rj, is it seems like there are a lot more people coming forward with their faith than I've ever seen in, at least in the last five or 10 years, with athletes coming forward. In the NFL, there was an actress that won, I believe, an Oscar on Sunday. That came forward and just said God is good, god is so good. I didn't see the Oscars, but I heard this You're seeing more people coming forward now and being okay, sharing their faith and their beliefs. I think that's great. I think that's a fantastic thing to do. I think places like Hollywood has tried to sequester that for so long. Sorry if anybody was listening from Hollywood, but I think you're. I'll leave it at that. I wouldn't live there. I'll tell you that for a lot of reasons In this timeframe since we last spoke, as we give an update to the Bamboo Pack audience, what has been one of your big challenges that you've had to overcome?

RJ: 22:40

I really think it's just that change and having a new life in Christ, because I think I was successful before I did that. I was winning state championships and had a successful wrestling camp and just nice house, nice family. All these things were done before I really said Jesus, life is Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Once I read the Bible and understood everything that I need to know about how to be is in this book. It's God's Word and he put it out there for us. It's been, I think, when I started understanding the history in the Bible and how much it's been tried to.

RJ: 23:27

People have tried to break it down, to try to refute it, to try to say that it's not real. I mean, there's been, I think, every one that I've ever heard, and maybe there's people that haven't. But there's these geniuses that try to say, all right, here's the reason why the Bible isn't real. And then they end up becoming spiritual because they realize how powerful it can be. So all of a sudden I'm like, oh my gosh, this is awesome, it's right here for me to read, and then I try to start implementing those things into my life. People that are around me that, like the way I was, are kind of getting concerned, similar to the concerns I had for my brother Ben, about these changes that I'm making. But all the changes are good. You know, like I'm swearing less I'm going to the bar, less I'm staying out later, less I'm spending more time with my family, I wake up earlier in the morning to read the Bible, like all these changes that I'm making.

RJ: 24:23

People struggled with, you know, my wrestling team. It felt like I swore a lot but I did swear and I didn't really push clean music and I started making that and they struggled with that, you know. And some of the people in my life struggled with you know me not being the crazy guy that I was and you know I still have fun, I still laugh a lot. It's just I fight less. You know I'm less likely to go to a bar and, you know, have a brawl, because I'm less likely to be found at a bar at that time doing those things.

RJ: 24:57

You know, it's just I'm just doing things that are better and a lot of times those better things aren't what the world wants to hear, aren't what the world thinks is better. Or you know, like there's a reason why alcohol is so popular and why it's sold so much and you know doing those types of things, so it's like just those changes, I think have been like the big struggle, and I know it doesn't seem like a big struggle, but it is because you get this pain in your stomach, because you know people talk about you and they do things and they say things and you really start to know that, like, all those things are temporal and you know my relationship with God is eternal and this is so cool.

Brian: 25:36

So I think a lot of times I think probably most of the time when any individual is on a quest to change and improve their lives, it makes the people around them very uncomfortable, and I think I look at it this way. I think when they look at you and your improvements, they're not really looking and judging you and your improvements. When they look at you, they are seeing a reflection back on themselves of what they're not improving on. You know, we would rather be hold other people down than bring ourselves up. It's just easier. Our minds are designed for to be lazy. You know that's what our minds are designed to do. So if RJ is my friend or a family member and he's improving his life, I can do one of two things. I can either degrade him and question him, or I can improve my own life. It's a lot easier to do the former than it is to do the latter, without question.

RJ: 26:23

Yeah, I mean, and a lot of people want to do is they want to use, because there's people that are successful in, let's say, like wrestling for me right, there's wrestlers out there that do the wrong things but still have tons of success in all of the kids not all the kids, but a lot of the kids want to say like listen, man, that guy I know SmokeSweed and I know parties and he's got a ton of girls that love him and he won a national title. If he can do it, I can do it. And this is not true. You know, it's such a very common thing for people to take that one example and then, you know, use that across everything to say that it's possible and this is not the case. You know, and I think if you're trying to be better and do the right things, you're going to have that much more of an opportunity to be successful in whatever it is you want to do.

Brian: 27:11

Well I think, yeah, I've done that before when I was younger. I would say things like just like that, Well, that person goes out in parties and look how successful they are they are in life, professionally or personally. But then I started thinking they're not. They're successful despite the bad things they do, not because of the bad things they do and I have enough bad things in my own, I don't need to add anybody else's on there and just because I want to do what my role model does. So I think you're exactly right. I think life is tough enough as it is. Fighting is even a tougher form of life and I think we need, in life and wrestling and everything we need, all of the advantages we can have and there's no point in putting more disadvantages on ourselves by doing stupid things alcohol, drugs, you know, carousing, with women going out to the bar which have a question. So if you go to a bar in the area, people still try to brawl you Like what?

RJ: 28:04

No, I mean, I don't think I think that's something probably a decade ago that I'm thinking of, but like there was a time in my life where it's like I would have gotten to fight and it was just like it's just so dumb.

Brian: 28:16

It is. It is, you know, when I was in college and playing rugby, I was always fighting and I can't imagine striking another person out of anger unless I'm trying to protect myself or someone I love or someone else that's being bullied or hurt. But I mean, I look back on those days and I think, wow, why, what was I thinking? Yeah, and I'm still really good friends with three or four of the guys that I, you know, roomed with and played ball with, and and they're like you completely, are not the same person you were. You know, I was 30 years ago, now 35 years ago, but I mean, thankfully many of us grew up and some of us didn't. But right, so when you look at when you get up in the morning, and I know the answer is probably going to be God. So I'm going to I'm going to say this other than God, what do you think is the primary why in your life that drives you? Values, principle, I mean.

RJ: 29:15

I think it's I mean, really you can put however you want. It's God's will for my life and you know I'd like prayers, kind of what helps me understand what that is. You know, if I think back to like what kind of helped me be successful and I think I've done this. So I got to speak at a conference and I was asked to be the speaker there and the opportunity I was was one of those things was like I don't want to do this because it's going to be, it's a big opportunity, but, man, it's going to take a lot of work to be able to speak to these people for 30 minutes, you know. But doing it was such a great experience because it really made me think about what is my why and what are my core values, and it's something that I've done within our program and again, we were successful in our program. We were going to say championships before I kind of we, I should say defined our core values and I think the core values of my wrestling program are my own personal core values and so I kind of like listen about, because I know you kind of shot me this question ahead of time and it's easy for me because I have four core values that I really like to follow, and it's family, integrity, service and humility, and I just feel like I it was good for me to define those things understand what's important to me. You know what is important to me when people what do I want people to talk about when I pass away, you know, and I want those things that I just mentioned to stand out and really it's all about helping others. You know I want to help others. The barn is something that I do. You know I put my own personal money into that that those events to help others. I want to help other people network and do stuff and I don't want a darn thing in return. You know, when I'm coaching, you know I really want to help these young men and women to be better people through this border wrestling.

RJ: 31:05

You know, as a school counselor, I want to help everybody that walks into my office and I want to help all the people that I work with and it's really simple and it's biblical too. Like you know, there's I love the Lord God with all my heart and soul, you know, and I wanna love my neighbor too, and I wanna try to help any person that I possibly can through things that I'm good at, and I'm a good wrestling coach, I'm good at talking to people, I'm organized, I'm disciplined, I love nutrition, I love exercising and I use all of those ways to help others. And ultimately, I know you said without God, but like there's nothing without God, it's to advance his kingdom, and but I do that through all the things that I'm doing. So you know, if you wanna take the word God out of it, I'm doing all the things that I'm doing, I'm living my life, but ultimately, everything that I do is really to kind of that end, to that purpose. So you know, do I wanna go on and be a college wrestling coach?

RJ: 32:05

You could ask that question all the time. And I don't know. I mean, I take it one day at a time and right now I can't see myself living anywhere other than all Michigan because it is the best community and I love where I'm at and I love where my kids are at and how they're thriving. You know, and I love my job, I love what I'm doing. It comes with challenges, but you know, I can see purpose, I can see, you know, the value of what I'm doing and I think that's really what it's all about. I'm not a millionaire, and who knows, if God blesses me to be one of those, then so be it. But right now I'm just I'm super happy with what I'm doing.

Brian: 32:43

Well, wealth comes in a lot of forms and when we only see wealth as defined by how many digits you have in your bank account or your paycheck, that's a really sad existence and I've seen that happen many times and, honestly, that was a primary goal of mine for the probably the first 15 years of my coaching and doing what I'm doing. In the last 10 to 12 years it's stopped. It stopped becoming a focus for me. And what I find is when a guest of mine actually he's a martial arts coach or trainer has a martial arts gym out in Oregon and he was on the podcast a year or so ago and he said, and paraphrasing something, he said something to the effect of most of my life I chased the mighty dollar and it always eluded me.

Brian: 33:29

And then, when I gave my, I set my goal to helping a million people and just serving others. All of a sudden, money finds me to be the sexiest man alive, something like that. I'm like that's great man, that's you know. And when you only have one measurement in your life, in this case in money, you're not happier. When you have more money, you're not. You have more conveniences, maybe less stress paying bills, but your stress just comes in other forms, and until you're really living your true purpose in life, whatever that is, and you're serving others and doing so, that's exactly where happiness comes from.

RJ: 34:09

Yeah, well, yeah, for sure, Amen to that.

Brian: 34:12

So you have the four values again. Everybody out there for RJer family, integrity, service and humility. And I would really challenge everybody out there to determine what your values are. And if you ever need help, you can Google Linux Values Test or go to linuxavermancom I think it is on the internet. We had Doug Lenick on the podcast a year and a half ago or so a couple of years ago. We've had a few people from his company on here and they have a free test you can take.

Brian: 34:45

I think it's free and it really helps you to pinpoint, pin down what your top five values are or whatever it is. It helped me tremendously in the back. But there's a lot of other resources out there you can go to. But you have to have a foundation in your life and I think having values gives us a moral compass to really make sure that we're making the right decisions, because there's a lot of stimulation that comes out, there's a lot of options, there's a lot of temptation out there in the world and if you don't have a foundation from which to decide on, then man, you're a rudderless ship out there in a really wavy, really stormy ocean at times.

RJ: 35:23

Yeah, for sure. I mean it's weird to think about just having those things, but it's just cool to define it and understand what it is that is important to you, because I think everybody knows what those are. But defining them was a really cool process for me to go through.

Brian: 35:39

Yeah, because one of the things we do is I do a talk in a lecture called the Compromise Between Food and Poison, and the idea is, in life you have nourishing people who are food and you have toxic people who are poison. And one of the differentiating factors that I've determined I think there are 15 differentiating factors that we find that help you determine number one are you toxic or are you nourishing, and are the people around you who's toxic and who's nourishing to you? Is that nourishing food-style people have and they live by a set of core values. Where toxic, poisonous people, they probably have core values but they just don't live by them and a lot of that's because they don't consciously know what those core values are. But they have them, they just don't know how to live by them because they can't die. Most people I think everybody we should be able to ask any person say what are your core values and they should be able to rattle them off and ask them what's important to them in their life, and they should be able to tell you that.

RJ: 36:36

But a lot of people just when you think about people that you're using the diet as an example like good food and bad food, I think everybody knows what's good and what's bad, but they just don't really care. They want their Coke, they want whatever that guilty pleasure is, and they don't care if it's bad for them. And I'm the type of person that if you tell me that this food is good for you, you tell me that this food is going to make you feel better and it's natural and it's what you should do. But it doesn't taste good. I will eat it anyway. I will do it Because you know what I mean.

RJ: 37:08

And it's like, oh, I can't eat that. I'm like, but why wouldn't you? It's the right thing to do. And it's like the same kind of thing. It's like, yeah, waking up at 5 AM every morning is tough, and reading in the Bible could maybe not be entertaining to you, but if you do it, you're going to have a better life and a better connection with your creator. So to me it's a no-brainer. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it doesn't stop me from doing it.

Brian: 37:34

Well, it's going back to something we talk a lot on. You have to choose your pains in life. You can choose the pain of hard work right now or you're going to choose the pain of regret later. I mean, a lot of us choose the pain of regret later by not doing the tough things right now that are challenging for us, like getting up at 5, reading the Bible, journaling gratitude, serving others, whatever it might be, exercising, eating right, quitting alcohol, drugs, whatever. That's all hard stuff to do. But pain comes one way or the other. You choose which one you want. You can choose hard work right now in some discipline, or life's going to come in bites in the ass later on and you're going to experience the pain of regret, and that one lasts for a long time.

RJ: 38:11

Yeah, and I feel like I just like to say this right now because I feel like I'm coming off like I think my poop doesn't stink and my life is not like it's easy. Because I follow God, it's better. So I still have struggles, I still sin every day and I just have an understanding of what sin is and I understand that when it happens I ask God for forgiveness and I try to be better. And that's the process right there as an evaluation owning your mistake, understanding it's a mistake, not being afraid of being vulnerable, being able to say it was a mistake in that moment and then trying to fix it and own up to it and be honest and truthful. And those are the improvements I think that I've made. I'm owning my mistakes. I can just think of something that happened within our team.

RJ: 39:04

We're the Team State Tournament. I'm sad Drama kind of go down at the team state tournament where his team was kind of starting to pick a fight with us, with our team, and we kind of fell for it a little bit and this is kind of like in the back Kind of warm up area and stuff, and so I talked to our team and one of my kids was being kind of like mocking me, as I was. I was talking to the team and I blew up and I threw a chair and I told me, get out, yelled at him. I just acted like a fool as a coach. I did get our kids attention and I did have a good talk with them, but I just not the way I want to be. I don't want the kids to think I can fly off the handle. That's a good way to be. So I owned my mistake.

RJ: 39:43

It took me like probably two days. I kept silent. I wanted to like talk to the kid, I want to talk to his dad and I was emotional and just understood like I Need to pray about this. I need to like get in some silence and like really let it soak in a little bit and I apologize to the kid even though he was probably in the wrong. I apologize to him. I owned my mistake and I think I grew from that and I think so did the kid. So just like an example of like I struggle every day. I have sinned that, I experienced, but it's just the way I handle that and I understand it. I think before I would sin all the time, but I had no one to answer to, and that's that's when these can kind of think life's easy Because you know you don't have to be a count, we can just do whatever you want, but that comes at a cost.

Brian: 40:28

It sure does. And I think the key word you said there is is you use the word vulnerable and I think right now I've noticed this a lot our day and talking with people like you I you know executives, authors, other, you know People in March, I've had several martial arts Experts or fighters on the podcast in the last year and you get these people who are successful, they're tough mentally, they're tough emotionally, physically in a lot of ways, and they talk about vulnerability and at a level they've never talked about before. And I personally think you can't be humble unless you're vulnerable, because you know what you had to do to that student or that, that that wrestler and his family go to apologize. That's a vulnerability right there. You know you have to own your mistakes. I mean that that takes a lot of vulnerability, but without vulnerability it's hard to be humble. And I I learned, you know, when I spoke at the barn that day. I was really, and I was a little nervous, to be honest with you, because I've never spoken, I've never given it. I didn't even know what a testimonial testimony was or testimony of testimonial testimony. I had to Google it. I had to Google it. When you asked me, I'm like, yeah, I'll do it. I gotta Google it, you know, and it was. It was really interesting and it was shortly thereafter that I spoke there, that I was.

Brian: 41:44

I spoke at Michigan State University and I gave the same talk, but I had to give it in five minutes or less. It was a timed event with. It was a whole thing. There were 15 speakers and Everybody, everybody did a fantastic job, you know, but really nobody got up and talked like that. They talked about their product or their service or you know, they talked about different things. And I'm like this is because I had a choice and I was gonna talk about this thing that I do and coach people on, or I was gonna talk about my purpose, how I found my purpose in life, which was really the byproduct of the speech I gave at the barn.

Brian: 42:20

And I was talking to a friend of mine out in in New Jersey and he's like you know what you have to do, don't you? I said you got it, you got to be raw, you got it, you got to give your story. And I he said, if nobody else does, you'll stand out. And I and I did it. And I had a lot of people come up to me after because there's a little after hours like drinks and dinner thing at the Up in a restaurant there and I had a lot of people come up to me with tears in their eyes.

Brian: 42:45

This is two hours later, saying that really hit me and you made me. One was a school teacher of third graders and she said that made me want to be a better teacher and I Don't know why, I don't know how, because it wasn't about teaching or anything of that nature. It was just my five-minute version of my testimonial. How you know, that helped me find my purpose in life and and I so it's big becoming vulnerable. Being vulnerable, especially on a stage, is it's not easy, but I find when I become as I become, more and more vulnerable. Now you know I'll be turning 57 here, I think a week from today, actually.

RJ: 43:18

Oh wait.

Brian: 43:19

Yeah, well, no week from tomorrow, yeah, I'm the 20th. I find that I'm becoming so much more vulnerable and so much more comfortable and being vulnerable and it's made me a lot more humble because I have to articulate my weaknesses, I have to articulate the things I struggle with. I have to say those and I can't hide those anymore. Before I would hide those, and I would, I would try to be, be someone that I never could have become or wasn't at that time and I was living a lie, you know, and it's so refreshing and so it's just uplifting and you lift this weight, comes off your shoulders when you just say dude, I'm a mess at times, I make huge mistakes. I make them all the time. I think I make more mistakes now that I did when I was 30, but I just, or maybe I just noticed them now, I don't know but right, yeah, no, I'm just that.

RJ: 44:03

It's just about you know, I think once you start being honest with yourself and really you know your creator, I just think it opens up a whole world. You know, and that's it's so important. I think that's what vulnerability is. It's just really being honest with yourself and honest with others.

Brian: 44:19

Yeah, you know it is, and I get an opportunity, I think in May, to speak in front of a writers or editor I think it's a writer of publishing, I think it's a team, it's a writers association with a bunch of writers, and they asked me what I wanted to talk on. I said this is someone talking about purpose, you know, and so I'm gonna do about the same thing I did at the barn. It's gonna be a little longer, I think it's a breakfast speech, and so now I get the opportunity to do it yet again. But it all started with Mike, my time at the barn that day. Wow, that's cool. Thank you for sharing that. Oh, you're more than welcome.

Brian: 44:48

So I know this question that I'm gonna ask NASA is kind of similar to the last question of what your Y is, but do you have a mantra that you live by? That you kind of something you say in your head a lot that keeps you going during the day? Your schedule is busy, you've got a lot on your plate, you have a lot of people throwing a lot of accolades your way and everybody who talks about our jam. Every time I throw your name out there, at least in the wrestling community or in the general West Michigan area, your name is known. Do you say anything that kind of keeps you grounded or keeps you going forward in life on a day-to-day basis?

RJ: 45:20

You know I would say that it's really come down to you know what versus kind of. I try to live by and, like Colossians 323, I listened to Davos Sweeney give a podcast one time and it blew my mind. Davos Sweeney is incredible guy. Takes a lot of heat maybe for some of the stuff he does, but that guy is awesome. I don't know if you know that was me, I just share this real quick, but he, he, he played at Alabama in his junior and senior year. His mom somehow I can't remember exactly the story so I want to screw it up but basically she needed to live with him and she lived in his house and college as he was a senior junior college with him so that they could get by. You know, I just incredible guy with a good faith. But his, his life versus Colossians 323 and it just says whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, like you're working for the Lord and not for human masters.

RJ: 46:17

And I just think about the stuff that I'm willing to do and the core values that I have and humility in service. You know integrity, and so when I'm mopping the mats at our practice and they see the head coach mopping the mats like I want to mop the mat. So I don't. I don't think I'm better than anybody else, but like the work that I'm doing is got a bigger purpose, you know. And so when I get, you know, this, this task that I have to do, that I don't think I'm too good for the task, I just frickin do it and you know I like to get to work and I just think it's a great like mantra to live by, just not too good for anything. Just pick up the piece of trash on the floor. You know how open the door open for them, you know the person in front of you or whatever it is that you know I'm doing. I'm doing it for the Lord and not for human masters, and so I just think it's a great verse to live by.

RJ: 47:05

And then there's another one too, and I write these things down daily In the morning and it's just a good reminder and it's kind of good to put into memory. But it's Proverbs 3, 4, 3536, verse 3536, and it is Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. If you submit to him in all your ways, he's gonna make your past straight. And so a lot of times things happen in life and you just don't know. But if you trust in the Lord and understand that, if you submit to him, he's gonna make it good. Whatever that you're going through, that's bad, god's gonna make it good.

RJ: 47:38

And you know there's bad things that happen and if you have a faith in the Lord, I just think it's just so powerful and so those are like things that, like easy, things that write down. So if it's you're not spiritual, you know, write down, you know whatever quote that is and kind of live by that quote, kind of understand it. But those quotes are those I'm sorry Bible verses that I have. They fit into my core values, they fit into my purpose Very well and they kind of lead that.

Brian: 48:04

So they are really helpful to have can you say again RJ the Corinthians, what was that? Which one was that? Again, it's a.

RJ: 48:10

Colossians Colossians 323 Okay, 325, that was. That was Debo Sweeney's and then actually trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3, 536 is a Kirk Cousins life versus. Well, yeah, and Kirk Cousins has two and I really like his other one. It's Galatians 6, 7 and it just says a God cannot be mocked or do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. You reap what you sow, or a man reaps what he sows, and that to me is just saying, like you can think you're getting away with it. You know, like you can, you can think you're getting away with whatever you're getting away with, but like God knows, he knows what's going on and you're gonna reap what you sow. So you know, I think that's just whatever. I'm gonna make a decision. I think like, alright, I'm gonna try to take these way out here and I'm gonna maybe tell a little fib but who? You really we've won, because you're not Filling anybody right.

Brian: 49:03

In a lot of times you're not even fooling the person around you that All that stuff ends up coming out. I always say every everything you say and do is it's not a bullet that goes off into the distance, it's a boomerang that comes back to you. Sure, it sure is. And I mean, if you look at Davos Sweeney and Kirk Cousins, I mean you really can't argue with this how they've taken their belief system and and turned into a very successful careers in a couple of national championship for Davos and I mean Kirk now was going to that Lanark Falcons I hear he's being traded the Falcons from Minnesota, but he's had a really solid career in the NFL and he really changed how, how quarterbacks were paid and compensated in In the back in the day, so he was a trendsetter in that way.

Brian: 49:41

All right, this question I did ask you back in 2022 and you can pick any date and time of your life. But if you had to go back in a time machine and Give yourself some words of wisdom or advice, what would you say to the younger RJ Boudreau?

RJ: 49:57

I would say slow down and don't be left selfish.

RJ: 50:02

You know, and I think you know when you're in college, especially being a college, you know athlete, and you're just so selfish because you almost have to be in a way but you don't.

RJ: 50:15

But you know, it's your life, your life, where verbs, what revolves around you and like your religion, is you and I kind of say I would tell myself by the Jesus and I Would just hopefully be able to, that would help me to slow down, that would help me to be less selfish and Just take in the all that's around me. You know, like I'm just so much more apt to like wake up and and go outside and look up at the stars on a clear night or a clear morning and just take it all in and just be present In that moment and understand like how awesome it is that I get to do this. And you know, when there's a good sunrise or a good sunset, I just like to take those things in. Or you know You're in a trout shaming your fly fishing and you catch a trout and just realize how cool that is. Just those types of things is like slowing down and taking that in.

Brian: 51:04

I think, do you said, taking the all that's around me? So many of our problems could be solved today if we could just do just that be present. I mean, you know, we've kind of with. The one thing that you can do that really helps your mind and your soul is to look at, look up at the stars. Stars at night and unfortunately so many people live in the cities that we've blocked out the star, the starry night. Yeah, and when you go in the country and you look up and you realize how massive the universe is, just our little section of the universe and it really humbles you and it puts you in a position of, like you said, I get to do this and a lot of people don't. Yeah, but, and there's all everywhere, you could be on a traffic jam if you really look, for you just have to be looking for beautiful things in this world. And I say this this research a lot, but the University of California, berkeley, did a study a few years ago that showed, for Every one positive thing we notice in our lives, our brains naturally notice nine negative things, because our brains are looking for a danger and threats. And you know, you know that's, that's what sells. Look at the media Anybody who sits and watches CNN, that's MSNBC all day long, or even Fox, for that matter you're seeing a lot of bad news thrown at us and that's not really what the world is. I mean, that's a small fraction of the world, but we're so scared because we're I mean, sex in scare sells, and so you get that thrown at you. You got to be out there looking for all the wonderful things and the friendships and the conversations you have in the world around you, watching other people help other people.

Brian: 52:33

I remember one time our job was I think I was, I was doing what I do now I know. So let's be in the last 27 years. Anyway, I was going to a therapist counselor in Brighton, michigan, and I parked my car and I walked here to office, right downtown Brighton, look up on above one of the stores or restaurants or something, and I Walked, you know a couple hundred yards, a few blocks, to his office. I went in there. We did a session that at the end he goes. I want to ask you, brian, you walked from that parking lot way down the street there. I said yeah, he goes. What did you notice? I said I don't know. I Can't remember one thing. I was on cruise control. Walking here, my mind is thinking about problems that I have, or you know, tomorrow I'm gonna pay the bills next month. You know it was shortly after I started my practice because I was living in the Brighton area. And he goes okay.

Brian: 53:19

When you walk back to your car, I want you to pick out three things that you didn't notice before, that were probably there, and the three things were. First one is I walked by a daycare or a school and all these kids were playing on the playground and I. They were laughing and running around. The second thing I saw was there were two men playing a board game outside of a store or a restaurant. They were sitting with two elderly men, probably in their 70s or 80s. I'm like that's pretty cool. And the third thing was I walked by a bakery and they were piping out this the scent of bread and I'm like, wow. So three things that I walked right by, completely on cruise, cruise control, didn't notice any of them. Now, when I paid attention, I saw three really cool things that 20 some years later, I still remember. And that's what we have to do train our minds to look for the good, the awe that's around us.

RJ: 54:05

That's a great. That's a great, great story.

Brian: 54:07

It was a learning for me. I wish I could think of that that that counselors name, because I really would like to thank him, for that was one of the Greatest lessons I've been taught in in my life. All right, you got 10, 11 state championships. Now 10 in a row. That was that what you said.

RJ: 54:21

I. First thing is that I coach I have 10. Yeah, we've been 111 as a program.

Brian: 54:24

Okay, well, I mean, you're a state holder, state record holder 10 times consecutively and you also the state all athlete, all sports record for most State championships in a row. What's next for you?

RJ: 54:40

You know I don't know More of the same, but hopefully better. I'm just trying to get better at what I'm doing. So I know our youth program that we have here Is gotten really big. The last time I talked to you in 2022, we had about 199 kids in our youth program and this year we had 293 kids registered for our youth program at mole, which you think about that like we're kind of big, but not really that big. So, like I figured it out to like percentage wise, like over 15% of the males in our districts have an experience with wrestling, you know, which, to me, is that's a big, significant number, so something I'm proud of.

RJ: 55:24

And really I think I just would like to make what we have. I don't really want to grow anymore, I just want to make what we have better. And you know, I think by doing that I just gonna enhance my life a little bit. And you know I have some travel that I'm going to do. We're going on spring break with my family, which I'm really excited, to go to Mexico, and then in the summer I had a foreign exchange shoot in between the last of my talk with you. She was from Sicily, so I'm taking all my girls and she really got blessed us with an amazing exchange shoot and a great experience. So we're going to go to Sicily in August and we're really excited about that. So hopefully get some time going up to the UP to run my camp and do things and just really take things one day at a time.

RJ: 56:02

But I don't know. I'm interested to see where God takes me because, you know, I feel really blessed of what I've been able to do so far and I just feel like there's a groundswell that's happening in my life with the people that I'm just locking arms with, guys like you, guys that are in my, my small group. You know my coaching staff at Lowell is incredible, just really good men that I love being around and I know that they're great guys and they're going to sharpen me and it's just so. I don't know where it's going to take us. I know it's big and it's awesome and it's fun and I'm just excited Just as excited as anybody else to see where it does.

Brian: 56:41

Oh, well, you know, as you were talking, I'm taking some notes here and one of the things I've noted since the last time we talked you seem I don't know, I don't want to say less stress. You seem lighter. That's the way, that's the word. You seem lighter Like there's been a weight off your shoulder, even more so than and I'm sure the stresses of life or haven't changed for you. Your daughters are getting older. That doesn't make you know. Parenting doesn't get any easier for a while. You know you have more pressure to win more state championships. If you win gold from nine to 10, that's a. You know people are your double digits now in a row, but yet you seem lighter. More I would say I don't want to use a term more in control, but maybe more content is probably the best word Lighter and content.

RJ: 57:25

Yeah, well, I appreciate that a lot. That means a lot to me because that's definitely something I've tried to work on, you know, just as far as my handling of my stress and my anxiety, and it's amazing what the Holy Spirit and what prayer can do, because I'm really that is. That's an answer to prayer. What you just said because it's something that you know I've been working on it I want in my life is to just have that calm and to be able to appreciate, you know, the present moment.

Brian: 57:51

So thank you for saying that. Oh, I mean you're. I mean you're an intense dude, I mean you look intense. When I met you and I can see where you get it, because your dad looks intense. Yeah, your dad looks like he got my throat out and he's the nicest guy. I sat down and talked to him like what he that was. One of the most enjoyable parts of the barn for me was that I spent I think I spent five or 10 minutes just sitting there. I was eating my macaroni salad or something before I started talking and or it was a pulled pork and he sat next to me and he was eating and we just, we just chatted them like he was a he's a wonderful human being. I really, really appreciated meeting him. So give a give, a shout out to your dad.

RJ: 58:27

Yeah, my, you know I'm speaking of that. My dad, like, has came to every barn he lived three hours away, you know, there's up in the close to the UP and comes to every single one and it means a lot to me and I think his faith has changed, Like he's not a guy that read the Bible or were spiritual, and I could just see his faith changing as a result of the barn and people like you. And I think there's power and prayer too. I really do, Like I said so, my nine my dad is is an awesome guy, Like you said, and it's been cool having him, but he has been battling cancer and I think if I could just put it out there to I'm going to take this opportunity for the people that are listening to the podcast if you could just pray for my father. I think there's power in whatever God's will is, but just that you know he has peace in whatever his life is right now and that's just for healing.

Brian: 59:13

So well, rj. I know he'll be in my prayers from this point forward. So, and I do believe in that, and I think for those people who don't believe in prayers but you believe in manifestation, there's not much difference between the two. It's it's, you're manifesting something, you're sending something really positive out there to God or to the universe, and I do firmly believe prayer works, firmly believe it, and I believe manifestation works. I just don't see much difference between the two of them. We one person calls them prayer, one person calls them manifestation. So, please, prayer and manifest, pray and manifest for RJ's father on this journey. I know I will be All right, my friend, as we wrap up here. Is there any question? I didn't ask that you wish I would have or any final statement you'd like to leave with all of us.

RJ: 59:53

No, I absolutely not. I think it was a great. You do a great job. I enjoy your podcast, latan, and the fact that I get the wisdom that I get to get out of listening to you and talk with other people. So I just I'm very grateful for the opportunity and just want to say thank you.

Brian: 1:00:08

Oh, it's a pleasure, thank you. Can you stand with your opponents for a minute after we're done here, absolutely Okay. Well, my friend, the second one around, I know we're going to do a third one. We're going to do a third one, especially maybe before, but definitely after, the 11th state championship next year at this time. You do a fantastic job. I'm going to ask everybody out there please, let's make the RJ's first show with me is ranked number third of all town, all time downloads from my 117 episodes. Make this number one. Please, let's get out there and share this thing. Hit that like button, share it, rate it, review it, give, send it off to three or four people, because these are life lessons that so many people you know can love. So please do that. In the meantime, rj, I want to thank you, my friend, for just coming on again, taking time out of your busy schedule I know what your schedule is like and being such a humble servant of God and just being an aspiring guest on the bamboo lab podcast.

RJ: 1:01:00

Thank you so much, Brian. I appreciate it, man.

Brian: 1:01:02

Keep up the good work. Thank you, brother. I appreciate you very much. In the meantime, everybody will talk to you all in one week, same time, same place, and I'm going to ask all of you to please focus, say some prayers, manifest for RJ's father, please, and in the meantime, get out there and strive to give and to be your best. Show love and respect to others, but also show that to yourself and give out there. Live intentionally, man, enjoy the moments, look for the aas that are all around you. Like RJ said, I love and appreciate you all.