Shahin's Corner - The Podcast That Bites
Shahin's Corner - The Podcast That Bites
Shahin's Corner with Special Guest Greg Reid - Breaking Free from Ruts, Overcoming Barriers and Achieving Success through Disciplined Networking and Smart Transitions
Ever found yourself stuck in a rut, wanting to break free and achieve success but just not sure how to get there? This riveting conversation with author Greg Reid may just hold the key to unlocking your path to triumph. From overcoming dyslexia and addiction to writing 150 successful books, Greg's journey is as inspiring as it is instructive.
Take a deep dive into the world of networking and see how surrounding yourself with successful people can propel you towards your goals. Discover the power of discipline, the fear of judgment, and how to break free from bad habits. If you're contemplating a shift from a full-time job to a side hustle, Greg's insights into this transition will be invaluable.
The conversation doesn't stop there. We discuss the effectiveness of social media strategies and the transition to platforms like YouTube. You'll also be privy to a heated discussion on the value of a college degree versus the potential pitfalls of higher education and student debt. Finally, we touch upon the magical world of 'secret knock', an exclusive networking event that could change your life. So buckle up for this enlightening ride with Greg Reed. Prepare to be inspired, educated, and motivated to take the reins of your life and steer it towards success.
Well, greg Reed is with me. This is Dr Safarian. I'm excited to have him here for another episode of Shaheen's Corner. Before we get into this, greg a little bit, I want to show a video and let's see if we can get that started.
Speaker 2:Hi, my name is Greg and I write books. Surround yourself with people that are getting the results you want for yourself. Wish you 150 books, 45 languages, two honorary degrees, four on the rocks Wow. It's like first there's a dream, then there's a challenge and then comes victory. Unfortunately, almost everyone quits in the challenging times.
Speaker 1:Greg welcome man.
Speaker 2:There you go. That's a heck of a little promo video. What?
Speaker 1:Yeah, we wanted to put a little promo piece and introduce you to our audience. I appreciate you, man. We're just 10 minutes away from each other 50 minutes. You're just up the street, so we probably could have just done this either at your place or mine, but I appreciate you being on this morning.
Speaker 2:We could have gotten old school and did two tin cans with this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, you were telling me that you're a San Diego native and there's not that many San Diego natives. Everybody's like an immigrant. It seems like coming into San Diego from out of state or out of town. But you were telling me stories about where I live. Now is kind of where you grew up, and the 60s were definitely not as well built as they are today. So that's pretty cool. Greg, I did a little research, obviously, but tell me a little bit about your early years, because I know it wasn't prior to 24, age 24. You had some hard times, so you want to talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Well, actually everyone's got a different story to tell, right, and it's all how you spend it and whatnot. But I don't have one of those rags the richest type of stories, like a lot of people do. Like you just said, I grew up in the mean streets at Del Mar, california. Those of you who don't know, it's a little beach community. It looks like something out of a Jimmy Buffett concert and my joke was things were so tough I was in a street gang at night We'd break into Maserati's in detail. They're a real tough group, right. So I don't have one of those stories. But I think you're alluding to being sober. So I happened to be 35 years clean and sober guy, but again, I don't have one of those bottom stories. I 24, I was kicking tail, making a lot of money doing well, and I didn't want to mess my life up. So I checked myself into one of those rehab centers, never touched it again and here we are 35 years later. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Well, and 150 books later, you know what. What got you into starting to write books, and how old were you when you started, or how many years ago was it when you started?
Speaker 2:Well. So for those of you don't know my story, I'm great. I'm here in San Diego, the mean streets, and, like I said is, I've been published now in 150 books. What that means is I either wrote a Ford, I wrote an afterwards, I co-authored, I authored something of this nature. And what's funny is I'm dyslexic. I can't spell very well, I can't read for beans and if you play me words with friends, you'll win every single time.
Speaker 2:And at age 40, I sold my first business for seven figures. And people said how did you do it with all these you know setbacks? And they asked me to start speaking at the universities around Southern California. They passed me around like a joint at a grateful dead concert. I went to UCSD and Chapman and all this different stuff.
Speaker 2:And a kid came up and said you should write a book. Well, man, that's a great goal. It's on my bucket list. I've never really read a whole book, so that'd be a good one. And so I did. And now, 150 projects later, it's pretty cool. But here's the story when I did my first book, I was turned down 268 times in a row and the 269th publisher said I'll do your book. It's changed the title, beginning middle and it was horrible. I got a ghost writer. They recrafted it and one quote from that book was shared an estimated 37 million times. It says a dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken into steps becomes a plan, and a plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.
Speaker 1:You know there's so much to that statement because the reality is the practicality of that takes a lot of discipline, and I just told you, prior to coming on here, that I'm working on building that discipline, because discipline is hard man. You have to break a lot of bad habits and it's painful. It's really what it is. It's painful, it's like why do I want to cause myself pain? And there's so much more to it meaning, if you're in a relationship, if you've got family members or you're doing a certain, you're involved with a certain business. We'll talk about some side hustles as well, but to transition and this is something that I did about 2016-17, is try to transition out of full-time clinical dentistry into building a side hustle. And here we are today with one of the projects being this podcast.
Speaker 1:But boy, I tell you what I got so much crap from loved ones, and Never I can't, and I just so right I felt, and that part of it is is a challenge in itself. I mean you have the internal discipline that you need to have and you talk about this, right. I mean so many people live for somebody else or live to satisfy somebody else, or Are afraid of judgment, failure I mean all the cliche terms that we use all the time, but in reality it's really true. I mean, you have to not fear failure, you have to not fear judgment, you have to Understand that you might lose money going into this path, into this new direction, and how is that going to change your lifestyle of yourself and your loved ones as you transition into this new path? And I can continue. But you want to just touch on some of the some of this in this plan and taking action and having your dream come true. In this quote, the practical component of it.
Speaker 2:You want to touch on that a little bit well, the hardest part about personal growth is the pesky growth part. So that is just fact, and my experiences and yours are a little bit different because I didn't believe in doing the hard stuff. I'm not a big believer in that, my mindset whatsoever. So I'm a I like to cheat and cut to the front of the line. So my secret sauce is surround yourself with people you have respect for, not people you have influence over. And then, door number two, find people that are already getting the results you want, ask them for guidance and then just duplicate it for yourself. So I'm not a big firm believer. I've worked hard and all that good stuff. It's just not my vocabulary.
Speaker 2:So, for example, when I want to be a best-selling author, being dyslexic guy, I went to the bookstore. I bought every best-selling book. I didn't go to the best written books, I'm dyslexic. I went to the best-selling books I called every author said what's the system, what's the trick, what's the hook? Teach me. I duplicated it and here we are today, 150 books later star of the walk of fame, honorary degrees, and for a guy can't spell. So again, I believe in the shortcuts of surrounding yourself with amazing people. When I started making movies, I said who won Oscars, the one Golden Globes, who's won Emmys? I went and met with them. It's like teach me the secret sauce, duplicated it, and that's how we've had this success. So my firm belief is surround yourself with people, a mastermind group, with people that are uplifting, positive, and we'll tell you what you need to hear and not always what you want to hear, but, more importantly, they've already done it.
Speaker 1:So, and in that regard, there's just so much noise today compared to maybe even five or ten years ago. As far as all these mastermind communities and you know which mastermind community can you trust, right? And so one of the challenges that a doctor sitting right now in his office or at home listening to this is, you know, first you have to understand Dennis. Typically they're introverted, typically they don't have Communication skills to get out and network and be charismatic. Not across the board, obviously, but you know the large portion, a majority of Dennis. They they're clinically based, they want clinical dentistry, they want to work in the mouth and they're, you know, many times as you're doing clinical dentistry, there is no communication.
Speaker 1:You know it's, and many of the specialists are basically working on mannequins because they're the patients is, you know, general anesthesia and they can't even communicate. So in this networking model of what you're talking about, the, the typical dentist doesn't relate, because they're just not trained to relate, because they're biochem majors in college and they're book smart, they're nerdy. What is the first step in in finding a community for that dentist that's sitting and going? Yeah, that sounds really easy, but who can I trust? How can I start?
Speaker 2:Okay. So again we're throwing out a whole bunch of different things, but I'm gonna just kind of reverse engineer this thing. The reason we started our events. By the way, I own mastermind group comm, so I own the mastermind Association. I'm a firm believer in it. Because what happened is back in the day.
Speaker 2:A real mastermind group is a bunch of positive, like-minded people. They come together as a collective to offer feedback based on their you know successes. It's not a semi circle in a guy's living room, so any bunch of crap that's. It's just not what it is. So we created the world's first Roberts rules system of how to run, host and maintain real mastermind groups. That's why we sell out a standing room only every single time. In fact, my mastermind groups next year for next year I already sold out you can't even go, because this is what people are looking for.
Speaker 2:And the other thing is surround yourself again with folks. You're doing so. If I was a dentist, or if I wanted to sell Maserati's, or if I wanted to be whatever art guy I don't know anything about art, but I'm not gonna hang out with other miserable artists that's just pooled starvation and pooled your anger. I'd go in front of a gallery and see whose arts being pulled off the walls, I'd ask that person for guidance, because they're getting the results I want. So in the community what you're talking about, I'd say if I wanted to expand my business, who's getting the results I want? Ask that person for guidance and feedback, because the most successful people are also the most available.
Speaker 2:If you're brand new, you're happy, go lucky. You're cool. If you're at the top, you're happy, go lucky. Get nothing to prove in the middle, you're pain in the neck, you're filled with ego. I guarantee if someone came up to you and they're brand new and said, doc, can I take you out? Well, you tell me exactly what I need to know, help my cut my learning curve. You say absolutely, and then you honor your mentor by actually applying what you learn and go back and say, hey, last time I met with you you gave me one little nugget. I did it. Here's my success. Wish I do next, sir. Well, obviously you keep feeding into that person. That's what we need to do, no matter what business were.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, and that's the challenge and and you know I'm part of social channels, dental social channels, and Some of the channels are talking about having side hustles and many of the doctors in those channels are Talking about the fact that they don't know what other skill they have. You know, they're just so, so much of a dentist that they just don't know what else would be interesting for them. But I think, at the end of the day, if you really dig deep there's there's so many things you can do today and obviously with internet. But I agree with you, I think we got to stop hanging out with more than us. We just need to hang out more with more people like you, right, or or people that are outside of dentistry. That that, I think, is a is a very powerful point that you're making, because you know there's clinical courses and doctors will will flock to the courses, and then there is self development, personal development Type courses and it's like you know you, there's hardly anybody signing up for those. So I agree with you and this is kind of my outreach, to be honest.
Speaker 1:The podcast here, by definition, is an outreach to people just like yourself, and I've made some amazing, have had some amazing guests. I've been fortunate knock on wood, the guests just like yourself. So I agree, and it's not easy, it's, it's a little process. I would say what needs to happen is, like you said, locally join some a master, a mastermind group and Attend some events. Attend some of these two days, one day, three day events, I think.
Speaker 2:Also. Again, that's looking at one side of it. But let me just give another viewpoint. Start your own freaking mastermind group. Stop complaining about it.
Speaker 1:That's hard, come on no.
Speaker 2:Internet or Facebook or Instagram. So the other idea is, again, surround yourself with people you have respect for, not people you have influence over. That's all I did. So I sat there and said who's getting the results I want in space and in acting and this of music? And I reach out to the people that I admire and say, hey, I want to start a mastermind group. Will you come be part of it?
Speaker 2:And that's how we've grown our community, exactly like that, because the most successful people are also most Available. They're looking for somebody else as well. So you don't have always just join one, you can also begin one at any given moment. And Again, we started this thing called secret knock, which we we have plenty of room for, but it's kind of interesting. We did the concept where no coaches, no teachers, no mentors we just bring in the actual human who did what everyone's talking about, because there's the credible sources are getting few and far between. So our idea is that if you want to start a clothing line, over there in the taco bar, that's Brian Smith, founder of a good boots, a multi-billion dollar brand. If you got an idea for a board game, oh, there's Rob Angel. He created a dictionary. If you got an idea for a nonprofit, there's Frank. He's the guy who started make-a-wish. If you surround yourself with people that are actually doing what everyone else will talking about, your life will grow exponentially, because you'll jump to the front of the line, getting information firsthand.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and and I want to talk a little bit more about secret knock, because I'm assuming that's local here in San Diego and I'd like to learn a little bit more for myself. But to your point, I think, going away from, obviously, the dental community here being a dentist, to go away from being a true clinical dentist 40 hours a week, there's gonna be some changes and there's gonna be some areas where you have to pivot and there's gonna be some areas where you have to Kind of dive into and the you know open doors and there might be a dark room that you go into but the light starts to shine After a certain period of time. But you got to just start. I mean, that's the first thing is to take action. Like you said in in that quote yeah, you can have a plan, but if you don't take action it's just a plan. So I think that's the first step. Is is just getting off the sideline and Kind of getting uncomfortable. And I think those are there are few people that will do that, right, I mean every. There's probably Many more that are like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the practical ones very few of those actually do that.
Speaker 1:Talk to me about secret. Knock a little bit. What is that community about? What is what is that regarding? I mean, how often is it? I'm just trying to learn more about it myself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, we started this event. Exactly what we just said is like we got so tired of all these Want to be people and we said what if we just did an event where we bring in the actual source so you can get first-hand content? And it's been 17 years in a row. It's pretty amazing and we bring in amazing individuals who can give you their Feedback based on what they're doing, not what they're just talking about or what they're projecting, and it's very, very unique and are we're known as the greatest event. You cannot attend and it sounds weird, but you have to know someone like this be invited. You go to secret. Knock that co. We left the emma so couldn't find us. Thought an application here's where it gets great. Then it costs five grand a go and we won't tell you where it is or who will be there nothing.
Speaker 1:And it's the word secret.
Speaker 2:That's what we do, and what's nice, though, is by doing so, we've been able to have a private Skype with Edward Snowden While he's hiding in Russia and say hey, here's, here's my version of the story. We've been able to have President Vicente Fox come from Mexico without Secret service and go look, here's how George Bush tried to trick me to go to war in Iraq. We've had everyone from you know, tonino Lamborghini, where everyone else has taken a picture against a Lamborghini we flew in Mr Lamborghini himself. We surround ourselves with the people who are actually doing it, and that's the concept of secret knock. So if you're watching this thing and you're looking for a tribe, go to secret knock co. You'll love it. But I gotta tell you a quick story, because this is cool, yeah, and in regards to what you're just talking about it being hard and difficult.
Speaker 2:One of my favorite interviews a guy named Steve Wozniak. He started an Apple computer with jobs and I said how did you guys do it? And he says we embraced our lack. We didn't run from it, we ran towards it. So what do you mean? He said, when micro chip processors came out, there were very expensive, he goes we could only afford one chip job, sold this car, I sold my calculator.
Speaker 2:We pulled our money to buy one of these little things it goes. But Hewlett Packard, in IBM, they'd make machines that go from a to b with 20 chips. They had all the money of God. So I'd pull away five and go to a to b with 15. I'd pull away five, get to work with 10. Eventually went, went from a to b using that one chip we could afford. He goes. We weren't trying to be innovative or cool or slick, we could afford one chip. But by embracing that as an opportunity we found the shortest, cleanest path and by doing that we changed the way people do personal computing for the rest of the world. He goes. Where could you be in your own chosen field if you stop looking at something as your greatest challenge and obstacle but it could just be actually your greatest blessing and opportunity in disguise?
Speaker 1:I I have to tell you, I feel like I'm three feet from gold. I mean and I think that's an example of what you just kind of explained. There is that the perseverance, the continuity to push through until that door opens for you and you see the gold. You just have to continue to go through it and I, to be honest, I continue to try to open doors and open doors. And here we are talking to someone who has 2.7 million followers on Instagram and I want to talk about that because you know, should you go organic? Should you go in organic with with social media? I mean, instagram is one of those things that you can buy followers, you can buy likes, you can buy your way to the top. Should you fake it till you make it with social media?
Speaker 2:I'm just curious what your thoughts are.
Speaker 2:Everyone's got a different perception of how to do things, and I will say this I'm getting off of Instagram and I'm focusing on YouTube, and for the reason being is I saw an Instagram clip that completely changed my paradigm and they said as much as we're putting all this content on Instagram, it goes to nothing. Everyone's spending all this money and creating all this content and all these different things, but it just goes to thin air and lives on there. But Google owns YouTube, so every time you post it on YouTube, it actually gets indexed in Google. So I started playing with it and, sure enough, I started doing all the Instagram shorts, things of this nature. Now I'm starting from scratch, so I only got like 5,000 followers, but I'm making thousands and thousands of views for even those small people, and by doing that, I'm getting more traction, more engagement than I did from all the millions over here of Instagram because it's so noisy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know what? That's. Something I need to do, too, is get more into YouTube. I did get into YouTube for a while. I have, I think, close to 3,000 subscribers. But yeah, to your point, I think YouTube is, youtube shorts is the way to go and, as a lot of these influencers say, I mean, obviously content is content, spread it everywhere. But you can strategically, you know, have a little bit more influence, a little bit more penetration by going into some of the, some of the ones that do get indexed by Google, instagram doesn't, and so, to your point, I'm going to make a note and call my team right after this and say, damn it, let's get on YouTube now. Let's get back to that circle.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So again, content spread it everywhere is great I'm realizing that's kind of true, but not true because it's so big and you know, even in the news and CNN you have a 24 hour news cycle and Instagram you have seconds of news cycle. So it makes no sense actually to put too much content on these other social media is when you can put it and live for infamy on Google and then just keep the ones live that are getting the most traction. So I'm actually changing my mindset. So back to this thing is again. I learned this from somebody Many receive good advice but not everyone profits from it, and I believe in the power of TTE. That means talk to everyone, because everyone will meet, will know something we don't know, and this, the application of that knowledge, would literally can separate the people who just dream of success to the top 5% or actually get it.
Speaker 1:You know, I think what is important here in this first 20 minutes of so far conversation also is is kind of your, your mindset of just shaking hands to meet more people and have relationships with people. It's not, you know. Bradley says, you know, shake more hands, make more money. But I think here you're saying just shake more hands, meet more people that are like you said, that are more, that you respect, that have success in what you're trying to accomplish. You're not really going to them for more money, you're just going to them to find out the how to do something. And I think that's also really important in this, in this relationship networking process, is many people maybe are just going and they get disappointed when they feel like they can't make money out of an event. But I think the value is the people that you meet.
Speaker 1:Like Ken Jocelyn, I met with him and through that ripple effect, basically I got four or five guests that came on and now I know those four or five people that have now expanded into connecting with you and you know, I'm sure that ripple effect will have some power as well. So that's interesting, because this is something I talked to my wife about quite a bit as well as like it's a process. It's slow, sometimes you get a spike, sometimes you get momentum, but you just have to grind through meeting people, connecting with people, learning more things and and and opportunities come from it just because you're consistent, you're persistent and you're taking action. I think that's really important because a lot of people want to go to their side hustle because they want to make more money or they want financial freedom, but they don't enjoy the process, like Gary, if you would always say right, find your internal happiness and self awareness, and I think that's really important to stress here.
Speaker 1:So, what do you do? I mean, I see you on skateboards. I see you like on these, you know, volkswagen buses. I think I saw you on one one post with Volkswagen bus, san Diego. Man, it's just sun and you're walking the beach. What else do you do these days?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, this is what we do. So we had to write books and now I'm helping people publish their stories. So I started a publishing company and then, on top of that, doing these live events, making movies and doing some amazing things. So we got some really good stuff in the pipes for next year. We're going to do six live events but, more importantly, we're doing some stuff that impact the lives of big amount of people.
Speaker 2:For example, the founder of Makeaway Ship years ago came to one of our secret knocks and at the end of the interview I said what was your wish? He looked at me like I had two heads. He goes what do you mean? I go you're the founder of Makeaway. What did you ask for? And he says no one asked me. I says well, I want to grant your wish. Anything you want, I'll give it to you. He says I just want my story to be told so my grandkids will know I did something. So he signed over his life rights and I said, frank, I'm going to make this into a major film. Just know I've never made a film and he trust me.
Speaker 2:But it took six years and finally, when it came out, we made the short list, the actual ballot for the Oscars and it's still trending worldwide streaming and the concept is that everyone can be a hero. You don't need to be a millionaire celebrity to give a pair of socks to homeless person. Everyone can stop a boy from fighting. And it's that ripple effect that you're talking about, which is his entire mission and was really cool. Before he passed away, he got to see this movie actually come to fruition. It was one of the greatest moments of my life, you know, with the grant act too.
Speaker 1:You know, as you share this story, I just prior to coming on, we talked about, you know, school debt being $500,000 for Dennis and it's really not that glamorous of a lifestyle. Coming out of the gate. Many young college graduates or college students that are aspiring to become Dennis or wondering is it worth going into dentistry, many that have graduated in their first five years they regret potentially going into dentistry because of what they're seeing. They didn't think that it's going to be that difficult. Look, the reality is is today we're in debt for $500,000. We come out and we get these, you know, corporate America type jobs majority Washington say majority, but quite a few because they have to pay the debt. And then, you know, they get married, they have kids, they, you know, I mean the expenses go on and on and on and then what ends up happening is just so much stress added because you're just chasing debt. We can argue if it's good debt or bad debt. It doesn't seem like good debt when you're paying it back. You know, going to dental school is good debt by definition. What are your thoughts on that? Is it worth going to a professional school with the ability to be an influencer or be somebody that can get. I mean, these are opportunities we didn't have 20 years ago, obviously, and I'm sure you've taken full advantage of this opportunity with social media and your presence online. But what are your thoughts about professional? Now?
Speaker 1:Let me say this you know a lot of successful people have dropped out of high school, and I get it. You know a lot of people I've interviewed recently. I've had everything taken away from them, by going to prison, for example. But this is a little bit of a different discussion. I'm not saying don't go to school. I believe you should go to school. The question here is should you go to professional school, like to be a lawyer, a doctor and maybe a chiropractor? What are your thoughts on that? I think, listen, if you're 18 to 22, go get a degree. But if you go to like I don't know community college and you go to San Diego State, for example, it doesn't have the same weight as maybe UCSD or Stanford or some of the top tier universities. What do you think about education?
Speaker 2:Again. You just dropped a whole long thing there. Where do you even start? So okay, I don't have a degree. I barely graduated high school. I'm one of those guys, so I'm in that camp, so I can testify firsthand that it doesn't make a difference for my chosen field of endeavor. So that's the thing. But if I was going to go into a specialized knowledge, hell yes, you want to go to a specialized school. I'm not someone that didn't go to school working on my teeth, and I sure don't want a lawyer representing me that didn't get a college degree. So I think those type of things are very, very important.
Speaker 2:It is a debate within my family, I'll be quite frank with you, so it's very interesting. I have a 11-year-old son and so basically I offered him six figures to not go to college. So that's what I offered him. I said I'll give you lots of money to not go to college. And then his mom says, well, we'll give him a bunch of money to go to college. So now it's his choice to decide which way he wants to go. But in a business entrepreneur world which I live in, I know that if I gave this guy six figures to start a business, chances are he's going to use that duplicate and set himself up for life. I believe that to be true. Now, it might be completely different for an average person, but I believe he'll do well. So that's the conversation that plays within our thing. The funny thing is I got two honorary doctorates, so technically I'm a doctor.
Speaker 1:Because of the books that you wrote yeah, it's kind of interesting.
Speaker 2:So years ago Tony and Olam Righini and I went to India and we toured all the universities and get commencement speeches and they gave us these honorary doctorates and we impacted a bunch of different people's lives around the globe, which is pretty awesome. And back to the movie thing was kind of interesting. I realized that one movie that we did that came out was seen by tens of millions of people, whereas my books I don't know how many I'd have to write for that many people to see that project. So I'm warning the leverage right now, the economy of scale of the efforts. I'm 60 years old, so I'm going. I don't know how much I want to keep grinding, like you're saying. I don't know how much I want to keep doing that, so I'm going. How can I leverage to do maybe one project and go really at it? But I have the same effect that if I did a hundred over here.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I agree with you, you shouldn't go to a dentist. It's not licensed. But the point I was trying to make with that is is it worth going into debt? Because the professional schools cost a lot of money? I was 29. I had zero debt. It was 2000 and, I'm sorry, 1997. And by 2008, I was $2 million in debt. So it was bad debt. You know, I wonder if, from 1997 to 2008, if I would have pursued something else, for example, you know, would I be in two million dollars a debt? And that's kind of like you said. It's the debate or the discussion within families. You know, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Man, I can tell you that it's not easy being a dentist. I think the first 10 or 15 years you're paying back a lot of debt, a lot of loan money. You do make decent money but but, as I can speak for myself, a little bit of side hustle is not a bad thing. And then you just kind of pursue your side hustle, as you stayed in one of your posts, and you just milk it, right, you try to milk it as much as you can, but side hustles are side hustles. So you, you still have to go work an eight hour day or a 10 hour day, and then have that Passion or that desire to get into the side hustle that you're trying to milk so many times. And still today I wake up middle of the night and that's when I do my side hustle. You know I get an hour or two when you know it's two in the morning or three in the morning and you can get a lot of shit done.
Speaker 2:You're not selling the dentistry industry very good. I went out oh, I know I've heard from this conversation out, no, no desire to go that way well, you know, I will tell you this I think clinical dentistry is great.
Speaker 1:I don't think everybody's meant to be a clinical dentist. Most of what we see right now is is, as you get season past 10, 15 years, you still enjoy clinical dentistry, and so do I. But to work 40 hours when you get into your late 40s, 50s and 60s, it's hard on your neck, shoulder, back, and you know, dennis gained some weight and and it gets difficult.
Speaker 2:It doesn't sound like a great thing, so I'm gonna switch gears and talk about some positive. So I will share one quick story with you.
Speaker 2:It's one of my favorite ones, as it's funny it's I interviewed one of the most incredible sports icons of all time. His name is Evander Hollyfield. He's a boxing legend. When more heavyweight championships in New and I said how did you do it? And he says I just have a higher standard. And I said what do you mean? He goes well in sports. I showed up early, I left late, I invented exercises at a higher standard and I won more championships.
Speaker 2:I said but didn't it hurt being in a fight? He says yeah, hurts, but when you're in the actual brawl you don't focus on the pain, you don't focus on the punches. As soon as you do, you end up on your back, knocked out. But that's what people do outside the ring that focus on gas prices, war tax is that and goes. That's why they never become a champion. And he pulled me in tight and he was like this adonis of a man missing half an ear, but not my Tyson. He says the funny thing is when you do, when the championship, he says everyone comes to their feet and they chant your name, they raise your hand in victory and the guy puts a big shiny belt around your waist. He says at that moment and at that second you don't feel even one of the punches you took along the journey. But the guy in the losing locker room will have every bruise and every excuse for the rest of their lives Wishing they had a higher standard.
Speaker 2:So at the end of the day, I'm not a big firm believer of the grinding and the stuff I say. Find what it is that we want to do. Surround yourself with people who are already getting their results, the ultimate results you want. Start hanging out with those people that can breathe positivity in life and what's possible into your life, and then start duplicating it for yourself. And that's what we did. And everything has a hook, everything has a system. And once you learn that system, full force and you give it to yourself and add your own spin. There's an old saying don't reinvent the wheel, just put a new hubcap on that's such a great point, Greg.
Speaker 1:It really is such a great point because at the end of the day it's all about trying to get that high right. It's about getting that championship belt, and in any profession you can get there. And I agree with you. You know the mindset of having that positive energy, chasing the positive people and getting in front of positive people. To learn to do the right thing for yourself is definitely the approach. And you know they're five to ten percent of dentists that are those championship dentists.
Speaker 2:They're kicking ass and so Guys that come to secret, knock those are the people.
Speaker 2:We're now with the people that are doing things from a different perspective and we're always looking for one tip. So us, instead of sitting around and doing a cry fest, we accept they're going. Hey, what's one new thing that you're working right now? That's kicking tail like just what we just talked about. What's one little secret? Oh, you know, instead of doing Instagram, I'm doing YouTube things. Oh, here's what I'm doing when you're a public speaker.
Speaker 2:That's brown, the motivational legend, gave me a great tip. I said, mr Brown, I go, I want to be better. What's one thing I can do? He goes.
Speaker 2:When you have a microphone, stop holding it at the end in front of you like this, because you're blocked. He goes. What you want to do is hold at the end of it, hold it out here, so you can communicate with the audience. They sell, see, ya, they can hear you, but use it as a tool, but not a hiding mechanism. I go, awesome. And then I start talking to another person. He said here's what you want to do the black background. Everywhere you speak, everyone wears a black suit and they've become a talking head. Where's something a little different color and you'll pop off and you'll stand out and people will automatically connect with you without even saying the first. So we started applying these tips and tricks and things of this nature and hone our craft in a positive way and by doing that. That's how we've become the great successes that you see. All that Acculates. It's not because we're geniuses. We just saw the people have already done it and we did it for ourselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and and you know I'm such a supporter of positive right and this is kind of what we're trying to do with my programs is to take those 80 or 85 percent of doctors and show them how you can become a champion In dentistry and how you can have that success on that side so you can be gratified, feel gratified, and this is why I think it's important, like we talk about organic versus inorganic, I think doctors need to get more involved in in the social media realm today.
Speaker 1:Get in front of videos more, be a little bit more A brand, be carry their name a little bit more in the community. Obviously, clinical dentistry is going to be very, very valuable too, but they should also follow people like you. They should go to programs and mastermind programs and events when you bring in you know real, live entrepreneurs and that talk about their success story. You can grab a nugget from everybody that's on stage. You can grab a nugget from just a simple conversation of what you need to not do In order to stay in the rut and what you need to get out of the rut and put that built around your waist.
Speaker 2:I love it. Those are. Well, I was gonna say let me, let me just give you one final little nugget. So I think we've kind of gone pretty good. But I'm gonna give you one of my favorite interviews I ever did.
Speaker 2:This guy I invented the cell phone, marty Cooper and I saw him on 60 minutes Two days later. I'm in his office right here in San Diego, solana Beach, and I asked him. I was working on a book called stick ability, the power to persevere, and I sat there and I said to go, what is stick ability mean to you? And he said stick ability has to be parallel with another word Called flexibility. He says if you're not willing to adapt and adjust, you'll get stuck.
Speaker 2:And he told the story about a spider monkey. He said in the rainforest. You know, spider monkeys are so quick and nimble they couldn't catch it. But one hunter figured it out. He took a heavy log, drilled a tiny hole, dropped the peanut inside and left at the base of the jungle.
Speaker 2:The monkey would smell the nut, come down from the tree top, reach his hand and grab a hold of the nut and then his fist becomes so big he can't pull it out and become anchored to the log. All he's got to do is let go. But he holds on with dear life, thinking that nut is nutrition at saving him. The hunter comes by an hour later, captures the elusive spider monkey, he said. The moral is, are we holding on to our own nut right now? But it could be in the form of that job or the car, or the fear or the debt or the remorse or the past. And what we're holding on with dear life thinking it's saving us, just like the monkey thought the nut was, could also be the thing that's leading to our own demise. Sometimes we have to have the courage to simply let go, adapt and adjust, just so we can live to fight another day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's a great way to end this podcast. I mean, these are really valuable words that you're using. If you really dive deep into what you're saying and I agree with you. I think sometimes we hold on too much too long. We want that relationship to last a little bit longer. We don't get rid of our office manager quick enough. We don't get rid of our associate fast enough. We stay married too long, for example. I mean, there's certain things and you can get professional help as well, but I agree, it's always good to have an open mind to let go, Greg. Thanks so much, man, for your time. I appreciate it. I know you're busy. Obviously you got so many different projects going. What's next for you? What do you got coming up in the next few months or towards the end of the year?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So nothing this year I'm done. So January we're doing a sold out prosperity camp and then March we're doing secret knock here in San Diego. So those people are saying, hey, I want to come join the tribe. That's what you do. Go to secretknockco, sold out an application, say that you saw this, so that way you get right to the front of the line. We'll get back to you and bring you in. But I'm being downloaded to tell one last story, as we're doing this.
Speaker 2:I think we need to be careful what we ask for, because we might just get it. And what if every wish and every prayer was granted but we didn't like the packaging? So we send it on its way. God, I need $100. Please, Lord, I need a hundred bucks. Your neighbor says hey, bud, I got all these aluminum cans on the side of my yard. Put them in some trash bags, take them in, cash them. They're worth a hundred bucks. I don't want those stinky things.
Speaker 2:Well, you asked and prayed, it was delivered, but you didn't like the packaging so you didn't accept it. What does that tell the next time that we ask and throw it out, our prayer when we didn't have appreciation and gratitude for the first one that was literally given to us, and phone our lab? And that's where the saying says be careful what you ask for. You might just get it, but it might not be the packaging in which we had expected. So when you're looking for these side hustlers, you're looking for these things. It might just be in a different form than you were expecting in the first place, but the realities are when you are ready, the great things will start coming your way. Like Rumi said, whatever you seek is also seeking you in return.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean it's just so powerful Because, yeah, I mean you might have a wish and your path might not quite be exactly the way you planned it to be. And then you get there. And again Gary Vee says something that really resonates here is just self-awareness you know what's going to really internally make you happy, so you enjoy the process and I think that's really a great starting point of where you want to start and then you just pursue and to your point. I mean you've made some excellent points that go with the nut right and enjoy the process and hopefully that package at the end is something that you saw, greg. Thanks so much, man. I will stay connected. We're not far apart, so I'm sure I'm going to get to know you a little bit more here as we go forward. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'll see you soon. Bye everyone, Thank you.