#103. What Is Purpose?

 Summary

In this episode, we explore the importance of purpose, self-awareness, patience, and resilience in life. Our discussion covers personal growth, overcoming challenges, and cultivating a mindset for success and fulfillment.

 Takeaways

• Living with purpose gives life direction and fulfillment.
• Patience is a skill that can be learned and cultivated.
• Self-awareness helps identify strengths and areas for growth.
• Struggles and discomfort are essential for personal development.
• Surrounding yourself with motivated people accelerates growth.
• Critical thinking is crucial in a world of instant answers.
• Self-control and setting boundaries protect your well-being.
• Embracing challenges prepares you for life's uncertainties.
• Consistency and discipline lead to long-term success.
• Helping others and community enrich your purpose.

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Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:01.198)
All right. Another episode. Another episode, man. How's your day?

Another episode. Pretty good. It was exciting. Good good old work day. First day of the month. So as you know, sales are all in everybody's mind and everybody's bustling and trying to hustle and get their numbers up. But other than that, I mean, what can I say? Pretty relaxing.

Bad.

Came home and decided to make myself a nice little steak and mushroom spinach kinda mix 'cause I was like, you know what, I'm feeling a little healthy 'cause I've been having to change my diet a little bit, you know, 'cause I've been used to eating McDonalds, Burger King and all the fast food joints and so now cooking more at home is gonna be the style.

Yeah. do you wanna share why you wanna change your diet or

Speaker 1 (00:46.966)
Yeah, so I mean, I know you know, first and foremost, you gotta take care of your body. Right. You know, a lot of times we just kinda go through our days without really considering what we put in our mouths and what we feed our bodies essentially, 'cause we're just going through the motions of life. And, you know, I would say that for the last two years, three years, I've been very much like that. You know, I just wake up in the morning, take a shower, get ready for work and

I just think what's convenient, what's fast, what's gonna be able to get me out the door the quickest. Fast food. Yeah. You know, whatever can just be done in an instant. And it's something I got so used to, but over time I was starting to feel those effects, the sluggishness, the heartburn, the the the things that you start to feel after just eating that kind of food day in and day out. And so it kinda brought to my attention the get checked out a little bit, you know, and

They were telling me that, yeah, I gotta change that part, that diet. Thankfully, don't have diabetes or any kind of conditions. It's just a matter of okay, I gotta take care of myself. Yeah. Be more conscious of what I do and what I put in my mouth and also exercise more because I work a sedentary kind of job.

You know, so it's not a lot of up and about like my other jobs that I used to work. You know, I used to work Home Depot Whole Foods, so it was back to back physical activity I was always going. Now i it's a choice. I have to do it. You know, so

I I think you're in a position where a lot of Americans are. I mean, yeah, b yeah, Americans I'm sure other countries as well too. but man, when when you told me when you were going back to the gym and, you know, all the things that you were saying, it put it put a lot of joy. It put a lot of joy to my heart because yeah, you know, that's one of the biggest things is I know we like to say like our bodies are temple. And it is.

Speaker 2 (02:37.706)
It is how we treat our body is is somewhat of a reflection of how we treat the world or what we reflect out there, you know. Not saying you're not not kind, but you know, it it I understand that, you know, when I was younger, I was very chubby, you know, and it came to a point where I was like, All right, I need to I need to make some choices, you know, and at the beginning it's hard, just because

You know, the soreness and

your body's not used to to that, you know, so it's like a shock, you know, and it sucks being sore. It's like doing legs and and in the next day you can barely walk, you know, but that's always a good sign too, you know, that you're doing something right. But you know, I've been trying to go to the gym a lot more and I have, you know, I have. I remember I was telling you what was it about

A month ago, maybe a little bit more over No, it was a little over a month ago. You know, I was like I was the heaviest I ever was. I was like one eighty something. And when I box, you know, it's crazy looking at it, I was like, Holy shit, dude, I used to box at I used to fight at one forty one. Wow. And some sometimes I would go down to one thirty eight and I'm like, God damn, dude, I don't think I can even make that weight anymore.

That's insane. I mean just for perspective guys, I weigh two forty five. Mm-hmm. You know, so I guess I'd be a heavyweight if I was in the Yeah, yeah. but no, like the I wish I could get that low. I don't think I could. It would just be I would have to essentially starve myself.

Speaker 2 (04:13.138)
And that that's what I did. That's what I did for the longest time. You know, that's why I had like a a sort of eating habit back in back back in the day, I guess you can call it. You know, just and I think a lot of boxers go through that as well too. You know, you go your horn whole entire career weight cutting and then when you're done you have nothing to do, you just fucking eat, man. You eat everything. Everything I remember after a fight I would have two pizzas, you know, and

But yeah, no, I'm I'm happy that you made that choice for yourself, man, because it's it's not gonna be now, it's not gonna be in a month or two, you know, but you're gonna start feeling a lot better. Mm-hmm. Your mind is gonna be a little bit more sharper, and then it'll get to the point where, you know, you're you're gonna feel good about yourself. Right. You know, and I was we were having a conversation, you know. you're gonna feel a lot more confident in every aspect that you go. You know, it's funny the other day,

One of my coworkers, he's like, You've been going to the gym, haven't And I was like, I I have And I was like, you know and I kinda smiled a little bit and he just looked at me, he's like, I can tell. I was like, Thank you, man, you know, I appreciate that because I I I wouldn't say I work as hard as I used to in the gym. I'm trying to get to that point again where you know, not not to toot my horn, but you know, when when I boxed it was it was wake up in the morning, run ten miles, go to the gym on on an empty stomach.

do some more cardio and then go to the boxing gym after work and then if I had enough energy go to the weightlifting gym, you know, and that was that was pretty consistently at least. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Yeah, and especially like getting closer to a fight, you know, it was it was almost not an all day thing, but you know, it it was well the one thing I do miss was

And I'm trying to get to that point again is waking up with a purpose. And that was I woke up, that was a f when I went to bed, that was the first thing on my mind. And when I went when I woke up in the morning, that was the first thing on my mind. You know, and now I'm trying to channel those things into something not saying that o boxing wasn't positive in my life, 'cause it definitely was. I learned a lot of amazing life lessons, met a lot of amazing people. but

Speaker 1 (05:58.85)
Right.

Speaker 2 (06:23.154)
now having that same energy for something more the bigger picture I I I would say.

Right. Mm-hmm. No, definitely that's pretty profound. I mean, that's one of the reasons that I'm also kind of waking up with that now newfound purpose, that new addition to my life. So kind of to fill everybody in as to what was discussed yesterday a little bit in detail is that my brother, you know, he's eighteen. He just going into adulthood, he ended up moving out and he had a a two month run where

It was all new. It was it was a new experience where he kind of just wanted to try something else. And unfortunately it it didn't end up working out. Mm-hmm. he had a move back of the parents and for him it was a big setback. You know, it was a huge setback because in his mind I he we succeeded, you know, he did the the step that he thought he had to do.

And so what he's been doing for the last month has just been kinda sitting back. Not as motivated to go anywhere, not as motivated to really do much. And so I kinda thought to myself, I wanna help him. Even if it's just a little bit. Maybe we let's do a an hour a day, going somewhere.

At first I thought, what better than to go for a meal? I mean that's my kind of my love language if in case you w wonder. Yeah. I'm more of a I like to talk while I eat. But I said, No. That's that's great. I'll that's my hobby. But I actually want to do something that's good for me and for him.

Speaker 1 (08:07.286)
And so I decided to renew my choose membership. I haven't I canceled that. I figured out how. Gyms make it very difficult to cancel your subscriptions. They do. but I restarted it and I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna go through with this. I'm gonna actually show up for it. Not because it's a resolution, not because it's a goal, but because I want this change and I want this change for him and I want both of us to benefit together. And then eventually if he wants to continue doing it, he can do it on his own.

But at least getting some kind of habit going. And I liked it. You know, I've liked it so far. Been doing it for about two weeks and it's been wonderful. You know, it's of course I look in the mirror in the mornings and I'm like, I don't see the change yet. And of course you're not going to. Not immediately. And I feel like that's the part where a lot of people get caught up and they want to see those results immediately. That's just not how our bodies work. We're a culmination of the habits that we do over time.

You know, the one thing I gotta tell myself is I got to this weight because I consumed a lot of food. A lot food that wasn't necessarily good for me. And I also didn't do the exercises that were required to burn all that energy that I was storing. So my body just started packing on the pounds. And it's gonna take possibly even more effort to then lose it. But it'll be worth it. And that's what I kinda motivates me is

Every day is gonna be a little increment towards the right direction. And all those right d choices, those decisions that I make on a daily basis are amounting to something. And then one day before I know it, the change will be there. It'll be visible.

Yeah. You look yourself in the mirror and you said, I I accomplished this.

Speaker 1 (09:52.17)
Exactly. You know, and and that's the thing. Good things sometimes take time, but that's what makes it s worth waiting, worthwhile. Yeah. and yeah, I'm I'm stoked for this new part of what I'm doing in my life. Yeah.

The two things I'll say is one what a amazing brother that you are, you know, to recognize that, you know, this is what my brother is going through and you know, you can easily go do your own thing, do whatever you want, you know, now you have that independence to do it. but still you s you recognize a human being in need and

not only do you want to lift yourself up but you want to bring along that person as well too. You know, not not a lot of people do that. so that's commendable. It is at the end of the day. You know, it's it's not gonna be an easy road and you know it it so sometimes you'll get frustrated, you know, 'cause you're like, I wish this person would do that. But you know, you you have the patience. You have that patience for people. So and it's your brother too, so it's like not someone that you just give up on. and two, I love the way the way you described

The waiting, right? Because I think that's really what a lot of life is, is waiting. You know, I was telling one of my good friends, Nick, he was telling me he was kind of frustrated with life just because of, you know, not being where he's at, right? He's around a lot of pretty successful people, you know, he's younger.

And I understand that. I I I I now recognize that not everything is gonna come. You know, the the one thing I love describing is in a situation like this is imagine you have everything that you want and you have it right now, you're most likely not gonna be ready for all that success. You know, so those lessons that you learn as you're going through that grind, they pay dividends.

Speaker 2 (11:59.276)
You know, because then when you have everything that you need, you'll be ready. You know, like imagine everything that you had right now, but you know, when you were twenty one, twenty-two, it probably would have been a different Mario, right? You know, so that's why you're at where you're at right now for specific reasons. So am I. And so is the person in listening to this as well, too. You know, you're at where you're at right now for a specific reason, you know, and

But a lot of the times we want it now. We want we want that satisfaction now and and and it life doesn't work like that. Our bodies don't work like that and life doesn't work like that as well too, you know. If dramatically I mean you could go get a surgery and you get all the weight off, but you're still gonna feel sluggish, you're still gonna feel the same, you know, so that at the end of the day, you know, it's it's it's worth it to be patient. And the the thing is you can't teach patience. It's like you can't teach patience, you can't teach worth ethic. Those are just some things in life that you

I'm not gonna say that you're born with. Some people I feel like are born with a h a hard worth ethic. I think patience is more learned along the way as you go through life. but those things you can learn, you know.

Speaker 2 (13:10.988)
you develop these skills over time over time, you know, and that's that's why those lessons are there. You know, you can blow off the lessons that you that you're learning or you can see, but it's better to embrace those lessons because it's like what is this lesson trying to teach me at the moment? You know, or what is it trying to prevent in the future?

No, exactly. That's very, very true. I mean the part of the problem is we live in the twenty first century, which is a century of instant gratification and a lot of things that we'd love to have, we wanna have and I think that you you sum you surmise it really well. I I I completely agree with what you said in that. And I think that honestly, if we got everything we wanted all at once, then I think life would lose a lot of the motivations for why we do the things we do.

You know, if I already had, let's say I was s I wanted a big mansion and a sports car, the best sports car you could have think about, then I would be asking myself a different question. I would be asking myself, Okay, then what am I doing? Why am I going to work? I already have what I want. And then I kinda realize I do it because I like being active, I like being engaged, I like getting out of the house, I like talking to people.

One of the favorite things I do about insurance is I get to learn about somebody's life, what they do for a living, what they're looking to insure. And I learned so much. And I feel like those lessons you can't necessarily get if you got it all. Yeah. And sometimes we all start at different levels. We all have different tool kits when we're born with. And it's up to us to make the most of what we have and being able to make our own story. That's the most beautiful part about

being a unique human being is that we get to have our own unique story. It's not about catching up to anybody else. It's not about racing anybody else. It's not looking to my shoulder and going, This guy is ahead of me in this way. He's been all over the world and I've only been here. That's not exactly what it's about. It's all about staying in our journeys and I think that

Speaker 1 (15:17.41)
big part of it is having something to look forward to, something to wake up to, which I think is goals, aspirations. We're if we don't if we had everything, then we'd lose that. And I feel like that would make us more out of touch.

Yeah. You you nailed it. You know, I was talking to my my good friend Evan at the gym today and we were talking about kind of a scuffle I got at work. Hey, I told you about this too, you know. and this isn't to sound judgmental, but I'm sure you know there's there's people well first I'll I'm gonna say this, and I've said this to you many, many times, but

I don't know if I've ever said it on the I think I've said it on the podcast, but I want to start with this is not everybody's gonna think the same way that you and I think, right? Even though you and I think differently, I feel like in some aspects we think pretty differently, you know, in terms of the empathy, kindness, stuff like that. But not everybody's gonna have the same mindset as we do. And I've accepted that. But also, we have to realize too that.

Not everybody wakes up with a purpose.

Speaker 2 (16:37.898)
And some, you know, some people wake up because they have to survive. But we where we live right now, I mean, I'd like to say we have at least the majority of us have our basic necessities and stuff like that, but it's like when you get too comfortable at a job, you know, it's kind of the same thing with our thought process. We we get too comfortable with life. And I'm not saying that you have to

have these grand aspirations and and you know but not everybody wakes up with a purpose and sometimes that's hard finding that purpose and sometimes we lose ourselves essentially trying to find that purpose or just you know, just going through life and I mean I've been at that point too where there was no purpose to my life. Or I at least I felt that there wasn't a purpose into li my life because I feel we all have something to contribute to this

life this grand scheme of things.

And I I've noticed that a lot of people that that don't wake up with a purpose that there's not much going on in their life. There's a lot of turmoil, there's a lot of hatred, there's a lot of just dark energy, if you want to call it that. You know, I don't know what the best word is, but Yeah, yeah, yeah. And

Substance abuse, all sorts of

Speaker 2 (18:06.53)
Can be sad. You know, can it can be a very, very sad way to to navigate through life. You know, some people find it earlier, some people find it later, but some people don't have that at all.

Right. I think you touched on something else that I kind of understood as I've gotten older is a lot of people live to fulfill other people's purposes in the sense that they become very complacent. Why worry about making a decision when someone else can make it for me? Let's put take a perfect analogy that you take someone to a restaurant, you're both ordering food, and you order your eggs, bacon and

pancakes, let's say. The waiter asked the other person, What do want? Same thing.

It's some people live that way because it's comfortable in its own way. Having to think for yourself is uncomfortable. Having to make decisions for yourself is uncomfortable. Sometimes you even question your own judgment. Why second guess yourself when you can use someone else's judgment and not have to hold yourself accountable? I feel like a lot of people live that way and that's why they get caught in this deep down frustration, you know, where they're like, What the hell is going on with my life?

But then you're giving control to someone else to kind of dictate for you. And so you really don't know who to pin it on anymore. And I feel like that is what a lot a lot of traps a lot of people and where they are in many jobs or in opportunities or or whatnot is that sense of just being comfortable in something that shouldn't be so comfortable. Right. And I like that

Speaker 1 (19:50.478)
You know, you like you and I and a and some people that I know, you know, that have a purpose, have something they're after, things that they aspire for, things that make them move in certain ways that you know they're good people to be around. They're good influences in one's life because they're moving with a purpose as much as you're moving in a purpose. And whenever b when when you're around like minded people, I think you all kind of progress in a way. Because unfortunately we are who we surround ourselves with.

if we're in a certain friend group and they all kinda think a certain way, we end up picking those little things about that friend group that unfortunately kinda tweak us and make us a certain way. But when you surround yourself with people with purpose, you yourself kinda discover more and more about who you are and what your purpose is. And you get to share that. Where with if you're in a group of people who are kind of mindless in a sense of, let's say, drinking, you just lose yourself in this

purposeless situation and that just becomes the normal. And that's not something to to aspire to, of course. Yeah. But no, you're that you're very right in what you said earlier.

Frustration. You nailed that on the spot. I guess that's what I was essentially I mean, you basically like read my thoughts, right? I think that's what a lot of people go through. You know, they're frustrated. They're very frustrated with the way their life is, you know. That's why you see like people all like have midlife crises and stuff like that too.

Speaker 2 (21:24.438)
And then another thing too is

Speaker 2 (21:30.092)
I think when when I was purposeless, when I when I felt that I had no purpose.

Speaker 2 (21:38.796)
You you you you explained it perfectly. Where I think the first step is to learn more about yourself. Learn who you are as a person, what you can contribute, your the your goods, your bads, your neutrals, what you do, the habits you have, the things that you say, you know, the little small things that we may not see, but we have to sit down and think this is George Angel Ramiria.

Ramirez, this is Mario Bustamante, you know.

we have to go into essentially a dark place and a p like g purposely go into that dark place and just kind of look around and and and go out essentially. You know, it's like when you're in a swimming pool and you go all the way to the bottom, you know, it you just you you need to go to the top. That's essentially what you have to do. And that's what we have to do internally is go to the deep parts of

maybe your mind, your heart, whatever it might be, look around, see what's there, and then start swimming back, you know, because you can only stay underwater for so long. You don't want to stay in that dark spot for too long. So you wanna go to that light, go on top of the water, you know, and I think that's the first step. and I guess I didn't even recognize it too, 'cause you know, when I was going through my issues in Colorado, I needed help, you know, and I was drowning essentially.

And then I found that light, you know, it was another person that that helped me navigate through that dark place in my life. You know, and I think that's that's where we start. And then that's where you find purpose. That's when I started the podcast and that's where a lot of things opened up, you know. but I I was looking. I was looking purposely for it, you know. and I think that's what we have that's a start right there for a lot of people is learn about yourself.

Speaker 2 (23:41.858)
You know, and and and then purpose will come. You know, 'cause if you're gonna just look for purpose but you have all these issues, all these things going on through your life, you're not gonna find your purpose 'cause there's too much there's too much holding you down, there's too much weight on you. And you have to like it's a metaphor, you know, for you like losing weight and me losing weight too, you know, we're we're taking this baggage off of us that doesn't need to be there, but we've we've accumulated it. And when that baggage is out, you have more room

to to do things, you have more energy, you have there's more opportunities, you know.

Exactly. Yeah, no, I mean we are a product of our decisions. When you know, it's having that discipline to know that and accept that that makes us ultimately move in the right ways that we have to move. And with purpose, you know, you have to be intentional. You have to know exactly what you're after. You know. Obviously you're not gonna know every answer. That that would be, you know, too much to ask. I always approach life with I know nothing.

Sure, I have a lot of experiences, I've learned a lot of different things, but I always tell myself, I know nothing. Because every single day I get surprised in some kind of way. I think I know something really, really well. I'm really laser focused on it. I've been through it for years at this point, and somehow I still find ways to get surprised. And once you kinda live life not expecting anything and just going about it with any experience,

then I feel like you really learn. You because you then approach it with an open mind. You have that willingness to grow, willingness to experiment with something else because you're not already you're not using your preconceived notions. You're now going, okay, this is this I I see it from a different angle now. And it makes more sense this way. I didn't think about that before. And that is what's helped me. You know, I never am I'm not stuck in my ways.

Speaker 1 (25:44.726)
I refuse to be stuck in my ways. I'm always willing to see something a different way. See something from a different angle and kind of go and learn from it. And I think we all have to kind of do that with not only let's say a topic, but also in life. You're gonna be let's say, you know, when you're a firefighter, they will tell you there's gonna be this way of doing this. But maybe you find that there's a different way of doing that and it achieves the same thing with less effort. And

that's kinda how we have to navigate it, you know, open minded and kind of apply that knowledge over time and makes us better. Makes us find that purpose a little easier. Yeah.

yeah. I think that's what we're all trying to work on, trying to find our purpose, you know. At least some sort of aspect of it, right? the way you described not knowing nothing. I think what a lot of what holds a lot of people back is

I know everything. You know what I mean? I mean, we see that a lot. You know, I see it all the time at Costco. I I I know how to do this, I know how to do that. I I go through the same way of life too. You know, when I first started working at Costco again, well, the second time. The second time I started working at Costco. I already was a seasoned meat cutter. I knew what to do, you know. I worked at Costco many years before that. So I had already a

what you call it a experience experience. But the people that were training me, they were younger than me, and any normal person would be, I wouldn't say any normal person, but some people would be, I know how to do all of this. And it's so funny 'cause, you know, they're training me, they're and I'm just but like how you were saying, I'm I don't know nothing. That's the way I looked at it. And it's funny 'cause they were training me and they're like,

Speaker 2 (27:45.388)
Wait, you already know how to do this. And I was like, I do, but things change. You know, you guys do this something differently. I'm here. Treat me as someone that's brand new. Because not only am I gonna succeed, you're gonna succeed too. When I first was working at the coffee shop in Colorado, I was one of the older people.

people there, you know, usually those types of jobs like Barista's, you know, they're they're usually for like younger younger people. but I loved it. You know, it was the best job I ever had. But, you know, it came to the point where I knew how to do everything, you know, and it it was a pretty easy job too. It wasn't something super hard. I n I enjoyed being there. But

Speaker 2 (28:35.084)
One of the girls got promoted and I can tell she was a little hesitant to like tell me what to do. And I go up to her one day and I was like, Hey, whatever you want me to do, I will do it. You are my supervisor. You know, don't think just because I'm older than you that, you know, I'm better than you. Or no. You you're you're my supervisor. If you want me to if you tell me right now go and clean the toilets, I will go and clean the toilets.

You want me to go take out the trash? I'll go take out the trash. Whatever you want me to do, I will do it. You know, and she kind of looked at me and I was like, Yeah, you know, it just because you're younger than me doesn't mean nothing. You know, it it you're in the position that you are for a reason. They trusted you with that, and I'm gonna follow. You know, that's just you know, so don't ever think that I'm gonna say no to anything. Whatever you want done, let me know and I'll get it done.

You know, if I can't get it done for a reason, I'll tell you why. And it won't be because I'm older than you and and whatever it is. No, not at all. It's because you are my supervisor. You know? And it was cool. It was it was cool because I hope she she she learns something from that because she was very, very smart. She was very good at her job too. You know, and I I respect that. I I I dude, I I love that. You know what I mean? When someone is you know, you and I have a worth ethic that just it's up here, dude.

It's up here and then when you see someone 'cause we were talking about this last night where and I don't mean to sound old in any way, man, but you look at what was I saying yesterday, essentially that it seems like the people that are from like twenty to like twenty four are almost in the same mindset and worth ethic that is someone from like seventeen to nineteen. You know? And I see all the time. And I was like, What the fuck, man? like

I don't maybe it was COVID. I I I don't know. I really don't know. I couldn't tell you. It may I I I don't know. I'm not a sociologist or whatever they're called. I c I couldn't tell you, but that's one thing we're we're starting to notice more and more in the workforce is these some of the workers aren't good. And I know people have said this, you know, you hear this from older people, you guys don't work the same. And no, people do. It's just

Speaker 2 (30:54.208)
It's a different mentality.

Right. Mm-hmm. What was kind of mind blowing to me is I work with a lot of people in their forties and fifties. It's an older crowd that I work with. And it was almost like a compliment when they told me you're pretty much like us. Yeah. You're very, very old school in the way you approach things. And I'm like, I don't think of it as old school. I just think about it as something I need to do. You I show up on time like I show up really early to my job.

show up like an hour.

Yeah, like for me it it's it's it's important because I I just wanna be able to just settle in, get ready for the day. Rather than frantically driving and, you know, f especially with Tucson, goodness, you don't wanna do that. But, you know, for me it's just a a normal way I do it. When I go to work, I lock in, do my job, do it to the best of my ability and whatever I can't get done, I communicate it. I'm like, Okay, I got all this done. This is what couldn't get done, I'm gonna do that first thing tomorrow. You know, and that

That's kind of the structure. But I feel like a good amount of the the younger crowd grew up in an age where everything is a lot more automated. I know this is about to get into a a little bit of a controversial topic, but let's take AI and Chat G V T. Back when I went to university that didn't exist. And I had to write all my essays myself, cite all my sources, do all the assignments.

Speaker 2 (32:15.126)
And so I don't mean to cut you off. And that wasn't that long ago either.

No, no, no, we're not we're not talking ancient history. And it feels like it but it wasn't. And what's crazy is you know, Chat G V T comes out and now you get a lot of people who just turn to that. They don't try to think. They don't try to put their mind into actually critically thinking why something is the way it is. Instead they'll just turn to their phone and ask it a question and it comes up with the answer and they now know it. Even though they really don't understand the why.

And I feel like that's the question that is so fundamental to understanding anything in life is understanding why something is the way it is. Not I know the answer. I could tell you, I know that, you know, having a good engine means my car runs faster, but that's not really the why it runs faster. And and th there's many other examples to that, but I feel like that part has been lost gradually. Is that critical thinking and a lot of

I can just why why bother if I can outsource it with this and it just makes my life easier. And unfortunately that also carries into the work ethic and the workplace. They also kinda have that in the back of their mind.

Like the it goes into the it seeps into the mentality almost. Or into the bra yeah, mentality, but it in essentially in a way it seeps into the brain.

Speaker 1 (33:37.112)
Yeah, I mean, why else struggle when there's something so ac accessible? But I feel like it's up to us to kind of still critically think about things. That's how we'll grow as a society is when we critically think. We apply our knowledge. We understand the why behind things. And that's something that's being lost, unfortunately, is a lot of that comprehension. And that's what I've noticed is

I talk to these people that are, you know, younger and that's something that I keep on hitting. My brother, for example, a lot of his essays he would just turn to Jat GBT and Jat G B T would put it together for him. And I almost said, Man, I am jealous. The countless nights I had to stay up to put something together like this and you can just do it in a few seconds. It's not fair. But also I'm like I'm proud that I had to do that because it made me able to deal with whatever life throws at me.

It doesn't get complicated because I know how to think outside the box. And that's not to say and I'm of course I'm not trying to generalize here and say that everybody from twenty to twenty four doesn't critically think. But I think as a trend it's been more and more prevalent that I've noticed. I'm sure there is outliers. There's always outliers.

There always is. But I mean I I I do see that too, man. it's you know, I'm kinda glad as well too that, you know, we've had to essentially like struggle a little bit more, you know, 'cause struggle it's not fun in the moment, but there's a lot of great lessons that you learn from it, you know, and

Yeah, it's easy. You know, it's very easy. the one thing I always say, especially like about AI, it's a tool. But sometimes people rely on that tool too much. You know, it's like I'm I'm trying to think, what's a good example? You know, like I can use my bike, right, to go to work. It's gonna make it a lot harder, but I got my car. Maybe that's not the best example, but the these struggles we have for a reason.

Speaker 2 (35:44.288)
And what I notice now is people don't embrace those struggles anymore. You know, not not generalizing, but the majority of people don't. You know, I always try to do something hard at least once a week, whether it's a hard workout, waking up, whatever it might be, just one little small thing that can be difficult, but I know I can tackle because I know in the long run it's gonna be worth it. In those moments where you have to struggle not because of choice.

you know, because of what the situation is, I would rather be ready for a situation like that and excel than to just kinda be like a deer in the headlights and then get hit by whatever comes, you know, and of course not every situation is gonna be like that, right? So there's gonna be times where you you are gonna be that deer. But, you know, the more like I told you, the more information you have about something, whatever it is, the better prepared you're gonna be. You know, so if that means training your body

You're not gonna have to worry about certain things down the road.

Right. No, that's perfectly summarizing that. Because I think life is about struggle in a sense. I'm not saying struggle for the sake of struggle. That would of course not be very fun. But I mean you do have to have some degree of stress. Some stress is healthy. And what I mean by that is yeah, you want to challenge yourself a little bit. You want to exert yourself and and and put yourself in uncomfortable situations on occasion.

That'd just be survival at that point.

Speaker 1 (37:17.186)
Because then when a situation gets uncomfortable, out of your control, you know how to work it. You know how to not catastrophize blank. You go, Okay, what's the solution? Let's say your tire blows out in the middle of the road and for most people they'd freak out. They'd get frantic, they would see if they have roadside, they would do everything imaginable when all they need to do is go to their trunk

Get the donut, switch it, get to the nearest tire shop and you're done. But a lot of people don't think that way. There's always a solution to a situation no matter how grave of it is. Some are harder solutions than others. But there always is a way to go about life of understanding that you don't have to overthink a situation. Don't be helpless.

And I think that by putting yourself in difficult situations, it prevents you from being helpless. It helps you be more self sufficient. Be able to also help people. Be the one that once you put your oxygen mask, you can put that on someone else. More so than hoping that the world will do that for you, which unfortunately, as we all know, doesn't generally do that for you. You have to look out for your best interest. You have to be selfish to be selfless. And

It's kinda hurtful to say that because I I'm a very selfless person. I I like I give a lot more than I receive. But the truth is that life isn't that way for most people. Most people don't think that way. Most people it's give me because I need it. Whereas for me it's you need it here. You need it here. Because I think we all grow together. But not everybody has that mindset. So you kinda have to know how to provide for yourself in that sense.

So that no matter what life throws it, you'll be ready.

Speaker 2 (39:14.744)
We were talking about this yesterday, but a good way to describe the world, and this is how my church describes it, the world is brutal, or it's beautiful and brutal at the same time. There's a lot of beauty out there, but there is definitely a lot of brutality out there. And yes, it sucks to say, right? But yes, we do live in a world where people just take and take, and I know you and I have been on that receiving side of.

Many times, many, many times where you know, I describe you as a very kind person, you know, and I know you describe me as a very kind person too. And I was telling you yesterday how

For like the past three weeks. I'm just I'm done with people's shit, man. I'm done. I'm done being taken advantage of. You know, that's been my whole life. My whole life has been taken advantage by so many people because I've been too kind. And I kind of just came to realize it's funny that y we were having that conversation. I talked to my mom today, she was telling me basically the same thing we were talking about. It was like people are starting to understand.

You know, people are starting to realize that we're done. We're done people we're done taking people's shit. You know, and and like I'm I'm there's not many things that get me angry, but one of the things that get me angry is just someone with a really shitty attitude, man. Someone with just so negative. I I can't stand it. I can't. I cannot.

You know, I wanna fuck these people up, dude. I'm sorry that I'm talking like that, but it's the truth. These are the thoughts that come up.

Speaker 1 (41:02.422)
Yeah. Right. No. You you're valid and thinking that way. I mean, there's moments where if there's somebody who's just spilling out negativity in the world or negativity in a group, I distance myself from them. I it's not because I don't want to be with them anymore. It's just I realize that my chapter in their life is probably coming to an end because if everything that comes out of their mouth is negative and there's no change Yes then I'm like, you're just

That on purpose, essentially.

Speaker 1 (41:32.066)
Willingly miserable. Yes. You know, and there's nothing worse than that. When you just have somebody who cannot help themselves. Yeah. And it's like, okay, you know, it is what it is. You be you, I be me, that's fine. And that's kind of what I've been learning as I've been progressing is understanding when to just cut it off. And it sucked at first because I'm like, Am I being an asshole and doing this? Am am I

judging them too hard, but then I'm like, no. I'm protecting myself, my own well being, because being around this person's gonna make me sick just as much as they are. Mm-hmm. And it's not worth it.

Yeah, sometimes you gotta humble people, man. You know, you gotta humble people and like I was saying, kinda got into a situation at work with someone like that, you know, just like a very shitty attitude. I just called out. You know, and they thought they wanted to get physical and they quickly realized, you know. It's you know, not not to let the ego out, but it's not gonna be like like Dustin Poirier says

It's not gonna be good. You know, but it I don't like letting that side out of me. But I also I do and I know this is gonna sound very strong. I I just I hate people with that attitude, man. And I'm learning I'm learning not to let that hate come out again. You know, we were talking about a situation when like when Mike Tyson started fighting again. You saw that look in his eye, dude, and like this is a bad dude, you know, he's gonna fucking kill somebody if he really wanted to. You know, but we we can't let

There's a time and place to let that time the that that that dark place inside of you, you know? because people have to realize too, okay, enough is enough. Right. You know, it's like when you see a bully just constantly terrorizing, it's like, All right, dude, enough is enough, you know, like

Speaker 1 (43:30.286)
No, I mean something I don't talk about about is when I was a kid, you know, I got bullied a lot round the clock basically. I was called gay, I was called everything, you know. And there was this one time I got cornered in the playground during recess, you know, and the group of kids went up to me and wanted to mess with me and we ended up getting in a full on fight. Mm. And, you know, it w it was brutal, it was not fun. I mean we all got in detention.

But I stood up for myself. I said, I'm not taking this fucking shit no more. I'm done being called names, I'm done I'm gonna stand up for myself 'cause I fucking it's it's over. And you're right, there's a time and place for that. You have to be able to stand up for yourself, not because of ego or whatever, it's because you gotta protect yourself.

n I don't mean to interrupt you but no one else is gonna do it for you.

And that was the lesson that I kinda learned is that you have to sometimes be the one to stand up for yourself because yeah, others might see that you have an issue, but they might not think that you have an issue with it. Unless you express that and put that out there and like, you what, I'm done. Leave me alone. And then go from there. Yeah. You know, you have to be the one to set the boundaries for the world. Because other people can't read minds. Yeah.

And sometimes we have those expectations that someone might see an unjust situation and do something about it. But I think it's the bystander effect. You know, there's so many people around a situation that they don't all think that w someone's gonna step up and no one does. So you have to be that for yourself sometimes.

Speaker 2 (45:05.922)
Yeah, no, I think that's one of the biggest things, especially like like people like you and I where no one's gonna do it for us, man. No one's gonna say nothing. No one's you know So we're gonna do it. And you're it's not gonna be pretty, you know, and like I was telling you, I've done so good over the years to suppress it. Yeah, to suppress it, you know.

But like I was telling you and I was telling a couple of my other coworkers, like this is what I used to do. You know. I didn't play a sport. I didn't I fought. You know, I thank God I've never been in a street fight because I've always restrained myself. 'Cause God forbid something can happen. But best believe that those skills are there. You know, they're not rusty.

Something that's crazy is I think I rem I told you about my former for my buddy Michael at the time. Yeah. He fought his whole life. He's scrappy, crazy freaking guy. We ended up going to a Circle K and he got into a argument with this guy in line and it got pretty heated. And the guy pulls out a Glock. And I'm like

What the fuck did I get myself into?

Either Michael gets shot or I get shot. One of them wasn't gonna get on him, but someone's going down. Yeah. Before we can get our hands on the guy. And I'm like, you know what? No. Not worth it. No. What are we doing? I just told Michael, let's get out of here. Sure, chances are we'd beat him. But one of us would probably have been killed. Yeah. Not worth it.

Speaker 2 (46:49.752)
Over what? Yeah. Right? You know, over what

Yeah What point am I are we proving? Yeah. I mean that that's the other thing in life is sometimes yeah, you could say, they're a pussy, they this glock they but some people are like, I'm not gonna fight you, I'm just gonna shoot you

Yeah, that person's not gonna care.

You know what scene it reminds me of? I don't know if you watch Indiana Jones where this guy pulls out a s and he just blasts him. I'm like, that's exactly how it is.

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:19.144)
You you that scene was improvised? Yeah, that's what I found out. But yeah, no, there's there's a time and place to prove a point. Right. Right? But then there's a time and place to walk away. You know, that happened to one of my old barbers one time where him and some guy got into it in downtown, downtown Tucson. and the guy pulls out a gun. He's like, What are you gonna do now? He's like, I'm gonna walk away You know, and he's like, you're a bitch, this and that and he was like, Yeah, you're right, you're right, yeah.

At a certain point you gotta cut your losses. You know, it's like I'm not gonna get into a fight with The Rock, dude. No. You know, that dude's too big, you know, whether I like it or not, you know, he's gonna whoop my ass, you know. So we're gonna resolve this peacefully and I'm not gonna say I'm gonna go out there and because someone's smaller than me. I'm no, it's we're gonna resolve things peacefully, but if you wanna take them to a certain point, we can take it to that point. And I know that sounds like I'm puffing my chest, but no, it's that's

Look at animal, look at nature. You know, that's what certain animals animals sometimes have to puff up their chests and do these things 'cause if not, they're gonna get killed. You know, I'm not saying that's the same situation as us, but in a situations with humans and sometimes you have to puff out your chest just a little bit, not too much, you know, because if not, people are gonna continue to take advantage of you. Right? Like the situation where that that I was in, there was something so stupid.

Literally so stupid, you know. And I told the guy, don't assume anything about me. You don't know me. You don't know when I'm mad. I'm very, very happy. I'm a very, very happy person. If I'm mad, there's a reason why I'm mad and I will tell people why I'm mad. So don't go around and assume that

I'm mad over something so stupid, literally so stupid. I'm not even gonna mention it here just because it's just so dumb. You know, he he thought that a comment that he made pissed me off. And I'm like, dude, I mean I I mentioned it anyways, but that's how stupid it was, you know, and I'm like, you're a 40-year-old man and you're acting like a twelve year old. And I'm sorry to say if I'm talking negatively about this guy, but it's the truth. You know, it's the truth, and that's why I had to puff out my chest a little bit, because I'm like

Speaker 2 (49:40.504)
You do realize this is very stupid. And this is what I have to do for you. Like I said, I'm not looking for respect. But we're gonna have a mutual respect. That's just how it is. You're a human being, but guess what? I'm a human being too. You're not better than me. I don't care what you think, you're not a better person than me. We're human beings. We both deserve that mutual respect.

So if have to puff out my chest just a little bit for you to stop doing your shit, then that's unfortunately what I have to do. And I've seen that situation happen with that individual many, many times. So I'm like, this person isn't gonna learn. The only way this person learns is when you push them to, you know, push them to the edge. You know, and it sucks because I I don't want to do that, but you have to.

Sometimes I mean sometimes that's what people have to go through to be able to learn something. I mean, it's just that's their style, I guess. It's it's sad, but you know, they almost have to experience those situations for them to then go, Okay, I can't mess with so and so in such a way. Yeah.

Or they just laugh it off afterwards and like, see, you couldn't do it. You know, they just still keep on pushing your buttons. I've experienced both sides of it. Yeah. You know, one where they're like, Okay, I see where you're at, I'm gonna I'm gonna leave you alone now or that some that just rub it in and are like, see you can do shit. Yeah. And they keep doing what they're doing. But it's up to us to have that self control and be the bigger person when it's even when it's not.

the most ideal thing to be. Yeah. But I feel like in most circumstances being the bigger person at least makes it so that we have that respect for ourselves regardless of what that other person thinks. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (51:29.652)
You're true. That's very, very true, man. But I know we're almost an hour in. Like I said, man, it's it's it's always a pleasure having these conversations with Mar It r it really, really is, dude. you know,

Like I'll always say, dude, you'll always have a special place in my heart, you know, just as the people listening, you know, we were looking at the numbers yesterday and there's people from Russia, people all over the US, people from there's a guy from was it Japan?

Yeah. And I wanna say this to to you guys, the audience. You know, thank you so much for listening to both of us. As as I've always said, it's a privilege to be on this platform. It's a privilege to be able to be a part of what I think is a wonderful project. Because again, it's great to just sit, have a conversation and wherever you are in the world, be able to connect with you, at least for that moment. Yeah. And so, you know, thank you for that.

Of course, man. I wish you you guys, everybody listening. No times are tough, man. We're all going through it.

I wish I can you know, all I have is something cheesy to say and, you know, there there's hope. There will always be hope, you know. I know people are going through things or you might be going through a great time in your life and I'm I hope there's more happiness that comes and fulfills your life, you know. And if there's not, you know, it i i I know it's easy to say and me and Mario have both been there. We've been at our lowest to our lowest and we've been at our highest and our highest, but

Speaker 2 (53:09.068)
you know, nothing is gonna change if you don't want it to change, you know, and if if you take at least that from this episode where sure, life may not you may not w be where you wanna be in life, you know, but what is a change that you're gonna do for yourself, most and foremost, to see those changes, you know, and and and take your time with it. Be patient with yourself. You know, I was telling this one girl at work, you know, she just looks sad and and

You know, I I I hope that I said the right words, but you know, w there's more important things to life than to a job. You know, there there's more important things that deserve your stress because you know I I f I a lot of the times we stress out over these things that just we don't need to stress about and we we we and I I get it, I overthink, you know, but yeah, you know, we we we understand that. We we I we we both understand that, but

There has to be a way and I've learned it to redirect your thoughts. I can wish and I I I I I I don't have all the answers, right? But you have to redirect your thoughts.

No. Move intentionally, live with purpose. And if there's one little victory I recommend you guys, if you're with a friend, order your own food. You know, choose what your choice is, whatever you want. Yeah. Yeah. That's small.

That is it, man. That is it. take care everybody. See you next week.