The Woman Before Him: Jim Murphy on Mother’s Influence, Inner Excellence, Samurai Wisdom, & Legacy

In honor of Mother's Day, I’m sharing a conversation that deeply impacted me.

This episode was originally created as part of The Women Before Me, a special series for Women’s History Month, where we honor the women whose courage, sacrifice, and strength shaped our lives. I felt compelled to bring it here because of how powerfully it stayed with me, and I believe it will stay with you too.

We begin with voice notes from around the world, daughters honoring the women who came before them.

Then, I sit down with performance coach and #1 New York Times bestselling author Jim Murphy, known for his book Inner Excellence.

Jim reflects on the profound influence of his Japanese mother, raised with samurai values. She embodied discipline, humility, and deep gratitude even through pain. Her life and passing became foundational to the philosophy Jim now teaches to elite performers around the world.

A former professional baseball player, Jim has spent over two decades coaching top athletes, Olympians, CEOs, and championship teams. His work gained global attention when A.J. Brown was seen reading Inner Excellence on the sidelines during the NFL Playoffs, introducing his message to millions.

Through his coaching, retreats, writing, and speaking, Jim helps people shift from chasing results to mastering their inner world, where clarity, courage, and lasting joy are built.

In this conversation we explore

• The 98–2 principle that reframes success and effort
 • Why our greatest limitation is often our fear of feelings
 • The BFF framework: Belief, Freedom, Focus
 • The difference between chasing happiness and living from deep joy

Jim also shares something publicly for the first time in this interview, a powerful model of the three worlds.

This conversation will challenge how you think about achievement, legacy, and what it really means to live an extraordinary life.

Link to Jim Murphy
 innerexcellence.com

Pre-order his newest book The Best Possible Life

Transcript

Why The Woman Before Me Exists

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hi, my name is Zecca, and I am so excited to share the series that I worked on for Women's History Month, which was in March. And since it's May and Mother's Day is right around the corner, I thought I would share this series on the One So Dare podcast. It has been such a blessing to have the guests on here and just to have a very unique approach to podcasting and guests. So I hope you enjoy it. I hope it blesses you as much as it has blessed me. What if the most powerful stories shaping our lives are the ones we've never stopped to honor? This is the Woman Before Me, an initiative created to bridge generations and cultures by honoring the woman who left a positive impact in our lives, launching on International Women's Day during Women's History Month. Here, you'll get to hear from recognized leaders sharing their stories.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

And so in the best possible life, I have um this model that I use with every client, and I've never shared it publicly.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

And the women who impacted their lives. If your mom was sitting here right now, what would you tell her?

SPEAKER_03 1:02

Okay, let's see if I can think about this without uh getting too emotional.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

As well as compelling storytellers. As the saying goes, when they see me or my siblings are like, oh, that's Sheila's daughter. You'll meet mothers, mentors, grandmothers, teachers, and quiet heroes, the woman whose impact was often left unseen. Yet here is the place where it gets elevated. You'll hear stories of lessons passed down, sacrifices made, and what still remains today. You also hear personal voice memos from around the world like this one.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

My name is Joana Buzna, and I'm recording this from Romania. Uh, the woman who came before me that I wanna share with you about today is definitely my mother. She taught me to trust the flow of life. I learned from her that not everything needs to be controlled or analyzed or even fixed immediately. She showed me that strength uh sometimes can be quiet and uh things can be simple but powerful. And uh today when I feel the urge to control everything, I remember to pause or breathe uh and just trust. That is that inner trust is definitely her legacy in me. This is my tribute to my mother and the quiet wisdom she gave me, and thank you for this opportunity to be grateful for what we received from this amazing women in our life. Happy Woman's Month. And this one.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

My name is Shirley De Kenia, and I'm from Portland, Oregon, and I want to tell you about the woman who shaped my life, and her name is Aurora Cruz. That's my mama. My mom left everything familiar in 1993. She left the Philippines and came to the United States with nothing but a few dollars in her pocket and a massive dream. Um, she and my dad worked in the senior caregiving industry while uh me and my siblings were still back home. My oldest sister was 16 and a half, I was 12, and my brother was seven. Can you imagine that kind of sacrifice? I mean, building a future while being away from your young children. I surely cannot imagine that. Um, anyway, she walked through a really painful and contentious divorce in 1996 from my dad. And, you know, instead of breaking, she built. She worked three jobs, she poured every resource she had into reuniting with us. And instead of complaining, she endured. And what she has taught me is this that sacrifice, not compromise, changes generations. And that hard seasons do not define us, they train us and they stretch us, and that family is always worth fighting for. The way I work, the way I lead, the way I build, it's all because of her influence. And everything I create is standing on the courage of that woman who once boarded a plane with nothing but faith and a dream.

Voices Of Mothers Around The World

SPEAKER_02 3:57

And that's my mom. You see, legacies create a positive ripple effect on humanity and inspire us to think about our own lives and the impact that we get to leave behind. And here's the most important part. I want to invite you to be part of this meaningful project. Click on the link in the show notes and record a voice memo honoring the woman who made a positive impact on your life. And if you've never experienced that kind of influence, tell us the legacy that you're choosing to give to others. Perhaps it's one that you needed the most. Because it only takes one person, one act of kindness to change a life. Together, let's honor the women who came before us and leave legacies worthy of being remembered. Welcome to the woman before me. Jim Murphy, welcome to the Woman Before Me Initiative. It is such an honor to have you on here. Um, really truly an honor.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

Thanks for having me. Likewise.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

So, this is a very different approach to podcasting than I've ever witnessed or have done myself. I've been a host of the Once A Dare podcast for the last three years. And um what I really want to accomplish with this one is not only highlight your story, Jim, and all the work that you do on inter excellence and how you help people with high performance, but also to lean into meaning and purpose, but essentially to highlight one woman or the woman who um you want to give tribute and honor to.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Yeah, amazing. Well, there's definitely been some huge, massive influences in my life from uh one woman, especially and uh um my sister as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Yeah, your second book is dedicated to your sister, is that right?

SPEAKER_03 5:46

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I see that beautiful Naomi T. Murphy. Yeah, she's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

The way that um I've discovered you to begin with was I was driving, I had a really long drive to drop my son off to a camp, and I had this ritual interview saved on his podcast with you in it on Inner Excellence. And I've had the time, so I listened to it, and I ended up listening to it two times, one way there, one way back, and I stopped, ordered the book, and I'm like, how do I talk to Jim Murphy? And um, it was very obvious to the honor that you had for your mom, not only your work, and the more of other podcasts I listened to and read your work. There's just something so unique about inner excellence, the work that you're doing. And I think in this moment of where we're living in our Western culture, there's such a big emphasis on success and productivity and achievement. We have so much anxiety because of the way the world functions today. And you kind of flip everything upside down. I really, really just resonated with so much of what you were saying, especially in the season that I'm in. You talk about facing your fears and being willing to face any fear, letting go your ego, self-mastery is really mastering your ego, which is being unembarrassable, unirritable, and unoffendable. And I was like, man, I didn't know I had such an ego from reading your work. And um and just yeah, so there was so much there that um that really resonated, and I think the world really needs to hear more of it as well.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Yeah, so I'd love to know too from what role did your mom play um and how did she shape to who Jim is today?

Jim Murphy On His Mom

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Well, my mom is full Japanese, um, and uh so her um lineage is samurai um and her immediate family. Um one brother is um or was um uh a judge honored by the emperor at the Emperor's Palace. Uh he was also an artist, and then another brother was uh is a nuclear scientist, and um another brother editor of a major newspaper, and so um not only the samurai lineage, but but uh just very high performing family. Um and the Japanese culture is extremely disciplined, honor and discipline are really, really big. And um when I think about my mom, so she died the week of um the AJ Brown thing, January 12th was when AJ Brown read the book and shared it with the world. And um my mom died January 16th, so it was quite a week for me. And uh, but the previous year or so, she as she was dying, she was still so incredibly disciplined. And you know, I think when you meet people that are older, like maybe in their 80s or 90s, you're gonna meet someone who's either really cranky or really grateful. Because I think you essentially are becoming more of either one. Um, we're we all are. We're either becoming more entitled or more grateful. And um, it's easy to see if you're which one you are, because you just look back in your last 24 hours or so and like how grateful was I in my speech, my words, my actions. Um, because if you weren't, then you were entitled. And so most of my life has been entitled, unfortunately. And entitlement that just leads to when I think of entitlement, I mean um I should have things, I deserve things, people should things should be catered to me, etc. And so probably 90% of the words she spoke as she got closer and closer to heaven was was gratitude. And she was still extremely disciplined. She's in a wheelchair making her own bed, and what she taught me was it was really about seeing the big picture of who I am and what God created me for. And you know, I define the book. I have a book coming out next month called The Best Possible Life: How to Live with Deep Contentment, Joy and Confidence No Matter What. Um in that book, I talk about humility as an accurate view of self. It's not overinflated or underinflated. And I think that's what my mom really was from her lineage of uh, you know, the whole samurai lineage and her family, just very she was very incredibly grateful. She saw beauty much more readily than probably anyone that I've ever met.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

And how has it shaped your philosophy and inner excellence and the work that you do?

SPEAKER_03 10:36

I think part of it was understanding the connection between gratitude and inner peace and mental toughness, inner strength and beauty and the interrelation. Um I think that she contributed a lot to that. I think she probably had the biggest impact on my life of of anybody. And just her ability to stay focused on her purpose and not waver was so um exemplary. And her grace and uh gratitude um in her strength through everything was was uh something I'll I'll never forget.

SPEAKER_02 11:19

Yeah, so January 12th you said was a really significant day for you. There was a lot going on. Could you take us into that time period uh what you were experiencing and just to kind of set up the context of how Inner Excellence book even blew up, and um, you know, it's part of the reason we're sitting here today, is how I found out about you through all that.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Yeah, sure. So it was a very somber time as my mom was dying, and and it was actually an answer to prayer when she died four days later because she was in pain. And um so uh that week, it was I was Sunday, January 12th, was when AJ Brown read the book and shared it with the world. Um it was the wildcard game against the Packers, um, Eagles and Packers. And I uh was walking around downtown Dallas. I was there for an interexcellence retreat. And um, with my life being somber, mom dying, and and business was slow and life was kind of lonely. And um, I had written the best possible life in November. It's getting re-released. We we um uh uh edited it, and so we've got a bit of a new version coming out. Um but it it initially came out in November of 2024. And uh so now in January 2025, I'm walking around downtown Dallas and I see this, look up at this skyscraper, and the thought comes to me: would you rather own that skyscraper for whatever hundreds of millions of dollars it's worth, or would you rather have written the best possible life? Um and this this book is about the spiritual life, um, what it means to be a Christian, um, why it's the best possible life, how it has one foot in joy and one foot in suffering, and uh um why everyone should should at least take a look at it and uh choose for yourself. And so um I was looking at that skyscraper and I was like, no, I wouldn't trade it for hundreds of millions of dollars. What I learned about myself and about God writing that book and what I think it's gonna do for the world, um, there's no way I would trade it. And several hours later is when I'm sitting in my hotel room watching a different football game on my laptop, um, a college game that had already been played. And then I get these, I look down, I see my phone with all these texts, and I thought my mom died. And it was, you need to turn on the Eagles game. And so turn it on, and I see what's happening. I think, wow, it's probably gonna be fairly significant. And it and it sure was. Um within, I don't know how long, minutes, half hour, hour, I get a call from a TV station. We need the book right away. And then the next day, it was interviews like that I couldn't keep up with. I missed, I missed so many because I just didn't, I was doing felt like I was doing one every half hour. And so there was a very, very intense week. And if you look at the arc of the book, um, I went to the desert um to live a life of solitude to figure out what to do with my life. I had dreamed about being a superstar, uh, Major League Baseball player or NFL or NBA player. And so um playing five years of pro baseball in the minor leagues and then getting injured and having to retire. Um I was so devastated. And so um ended up getting a job with FedEx and then coaching a high school baseball team, uh, going undefeated, moving to the, and then coaching briefly with the Texas Rangers and then the South African Olympic team, and and then moving to the desert to figure out what to do with my life, living a life of solitude. And um that's where Internationalists was born, and spending five years full-time writing and researching that book. And that turned into a near mental breakdown when I finished. I had spent my life savings, I'm$90,000 in debt, and and then my mind spinning out of control and meeting Zoe the homeless harpist. And that that was this. I'd asked a girl from my church, can you um read through interrexnels to make sure it lines up with the Bible? I want to make sure the book is full of wisdom and and everything is true. And she said, Have you ever heard of the word Zoe? I said, No. And she said, it's a Greek word in the Bible a lot. It means fullness of life, absolute fullness of life. She said, I think that's what your book is about. And I said, Yes, um, my whole life I'm obsessed about being a superstar when what I've always really wanted was to feel fully alive. And so I oriented, I started to orient the Inter Excellence book around pursuing fullness of life and letting everything else be added to you. And uh so that that becomes the book. But I'm I meet this homeless harpist right after the book is published, and I'm I'm having this near mental breakdown and I'm falling apart. My, my, I call my friend, I say, what do I do? I'm like I'm about to have a mental breakdown. And he said, Find a homeless person and help him. And so I look around the corner in this homeless harpist. And so I uh I looked at my wallet and I'd taken a cash advance out, and so I had$100 in my wallet. So most of my credit cards are maxed out. I had no money. But I gave him the$100 and and uh he ends up giving me a um a box of chocolates, and like a couple hours later, I'm just sitting in the Starbucks and he walks in and said, Are you the guy that gave me that money? And I said, Yeah. And he's he comes back with a box of chocolates, a card that he wrote and a bracelet he made, and gives all three to me. And the card said, Um, thank you so much for caring for me. Love Zoe. His name was Zoe, and that was what the book was about. And I was like, Oh my gosh, your name is Zoe. And he said, Yeah. And I said, Do you know what that means? He said, No, I said, It means absolute fullness of life. I've just wrote a book about that for five years. So I give him this book and I never see him again. And then six weeks later, I walk into a friend of a friend's house and starts telling me about my life, but I never met him, and so it was really strange. And then they invite me to a Bible study, and I go and I felt like um the weight of the world on my shoulders, and I felt God saying, There's nothing you've ever done or could ever do would change how much I love you. And so the weight of the world fell off my shoulders. And then in the next year and a half, I had um multiple strangers come up to me and tell me things. And one was really significant. I'm leaving my friend's house, and his mother calls in from India on a video call. I'm in Vancouver, BC. I said, Tell her, I said, hello, as I'm walking out the door, and she said, Oh, Jim's there. My friend wants to talk to Jim. And so I sit down in front of the laptop, and here's a lady I've never met before, and she said, God wanted me to tell you a couple things. Um, he's saved your life multiple times. Everything you've been going through has been training for you. Um, God's gonna bless you. He's gonna bring people from all over the world to work with you, and it's gonna happen soon, and you're gonna know it's from God. Shortly after that, I uh um I'm in my house sleeping early in the morning, and I hear a voice say, My eyes are closed, and it says, Jim, are you ready? Things are gonna happen fast. And I assumed it was God because I lived alone. And uh so I'm like, Yes, God, I'm ready. The alarm goes off right away. I'm like, oh, maybe he's serious.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

And then it's on.

SPEAKER_03 18:00

Then it was on. A couple weeks later, Judo Reilly, golf caddy from Ireland, calls me and said, I read Inter Excellence, can you help my boss? I fly out to Sweden, start to work with his boss named Henrik Stenson, pro golfer. And then uh um several weeks after that, I get a call from Tiger Woods coach. Hey, I read Inter Excellence, can you talk to one of my clients? And so I fly out to California, meet with him and Hunter Mahan. Several weeks after that, I get a call from the CEO of Yum Brands, which is Taco Bell Pizza at KFC. I read Inter Excellence, can I work with you? And then he sends the book to his executives in in Europe. And and I start to um I invited one of their KFC executives to come to Vancouver to do an Interexcellence retreat. He flies out and he said, That was extraordinary. Can you bring this retreat to my leadership team in Europe? And so I fly out to Swiss Alps and we do this, have this amazing retreat with as the head of KFC Spain, Germany, Netherlands, et cetera, and me. And I'd never even given a corporate retreat. And so I was so nervous, but I was um God blessed it so much. And I got paid probably more than I'd made the whole previous year.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

And um, I'm still friends with most of the people on that initial retreat from 2012. And so I've been coaching and giving rid of these retreats, and and after the first two pro golfers did extraordinary, the the Henrik went on to win the FedEx Cup, which is it's like$15 million, and it's like a world championship. He won within a year and a half. And um the other guy, Hunter Mahan, he won a PGA Tour event within weeks, I don't know, probably maybe six weeks of us starting, and then he won the world championship like six weeks later. And so that fast start, all of a sudden um there's a lot of demand requests for coaches um for me to coach PGA Tour players. And so um that never stopped. That just kept going. And then doing these retreats all over the world and coaching athletes all over the world, and then January 12th happened. Um, and so that week I uh um the book had sold probably so initially it was McGraw Hill was a publisher, and um between I got the rights in 2018 or so, and so it was published in 2000, December of 2009, January 2010. And so um in those eight, nine years, um I've never found out how much it sold, but my guess is six, seven, eight thousand books. Um it was great for me because it was a kind of a manual I give to clients, but it the public never really grabbed onto it. And um and then in January of 2025, it sold 10 books in the first 11 days of January. So just under one a day. And then um the week of January 12th, it sells 100,000. Um, the next two weeks, another 100,000, it sold half a million in 2025. So um pretty pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

You know, one of your affirmations was that you're um number one New York Times bestseller, right? And that didn't happen in the timing that you expected it to happen. And we all have these outcomes that we really think, like you say, are the best thing for us. We think that if I just get this, this is what I really am after, this is what I want. And we have so little control of the outcome, so much, kind of like you talk about in your second book, the 98 and 2 principle, which is 2% of you know what we do, essentially the outcome is dependent on 2%. We could put in the effort just like Olympians do, but you couldn't have fabricated your book going viral on a specific day of the year, many years later. And I think that is the fascinating thing about that, because in your book you talk about letting go of outcomes, and yet you also had an outcome that you wished and desired, right? But in the way that it happened, it's it's such a beautiful example of coming to fully surrender in your story to you talk about how prior to this happening, you came to a point where you just fully just surrendered. Surrendered. And after that, there was a pivot, and that's when everything blew up.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

Yeah, surrender is was the most powerful thing that I ever did. Surrendering my life to God. And even if you don't believe in God, surrendering your little power, I think everyone understands there's a power beyond ourselves that that grows the grass and uh spins the earth. And and surrendering, connecting with that power is the key. Whatever that power is, that's that's that's the key to because we're way too our self-centered, human self-centeredness leads to anxiety and fear, comparison, ego. And we're constantly way too many thoughts and way too many concerns and and negative thinking, judgmental thinking, self-consciousness. What do people think about me?

SPEAKER_02 22:41

Right.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

And that's that's it's gonna really hold you back until you let go of all that.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Yeah, that is um such a great example. And you also talk about the fact that um you're either always grateful or you're entitled, which kind of blew my mind because you know, I know that I've always known the the concept of you're either operating out of love or out of fear, right? We're always in one or the other, but I've never considered the um entitlement or gratefulness. And um, I think when you think about you realize how entitled we really can be, even when we don't consider ourselves entitled.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

Yeah, yeah, for sure. That's the big deal. And uh gratitude is directly linked to inner peace and inner peace with inner strength.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

There was something that you said um in your book and in the interviews too, is that the thing that holds us back is when we're not willing to face any feeling. And, you know, when we when we're facing fear and we're unwilling to face any feeling, and when we're willing to be uncomfortable, we're willing to face our fears and face the uncomfortable feeling, which a lot of us tend to either distract ourselves or do something that comforts us in some way in order to avoid really leaning into that feeling that produces growth and that produces something really beautiful on this on the other side of that resilience.

SPEAKER_03 24:09

Yeah, I think um I can't remember where I first heard about this, but I I think um addiction is is really anything that stops your growth. And feelings are one of the main things that stops our growth. If you want to uh live an extraordinary life, then we've got to master the ego and we've gotta learn how to deal with feelings. And uh um Inter excellence has real really three kind of foundational pillars that I think of belief, freedom, and focus, BFF. Uh and so it's constantly expanding what you believe is possible, seeing more truth, more reality, capital T truth and reality. Um and then uh freedom to play like a kid and uh um and then focus, being fully present in the moment where there's no fear. And and the big one, belief. That's uh how do we expand what we believe is possible? Well, most people never reach their potential in in in their lives because of feelings. Um beliefs are feelings, and what happens is people come to these moments in their life where they're too uncomfortable. Um there's too much fear, too many people staring at me. I could this could go horribly wrong or whatever it is. And so they back off. And then they they may back up, back off and still attempt whatever they're doing, and the outcome's terrible, and that just reinforces this was a big mistake, don't ever try that again. Or they just don't try it. Either way, they they limit themselves. They get you, you know, you you uh get burned and you're like, oh, I don't want to try that again. You get hurt, oh, don't want to try that again. And whereas the most successful people in any walk of life, um, the most common characteristic they have is is freedom that comes from courage. Courage is is uh is is and you can think of it as the willingness to have any feeling. And people that are really have achieved great things, they're afraid just like everybody else, but they're not afraid to be afraid. And that's the big difference.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

And how would you coach someone through, say they they have something coming up that they are just it just holds them back and they can't move past that glass ceiling that or you know, that feeling that is hindering them to take the next step that they know is the next right step?

SPEAKER_03 26:33

Yeah, there's there's two big things. One is is these five questions that they want to ask, and two is the um understanding that the outcome of what you're doing is really nearly irrelevant as far as your life goes. The crucial thing is will you embrace the feeling? So I'll tell you about the five questions. Um so say you have a big presentation, some big event coming up, maybe it's uh um the national championship, final four, whatever it is. Um and then you ask yourself these five questions. Am I willing to face my fears? Am I willing to fail? Number three, am I willing to look foolish? Number four, am I willing to have and face any feeling? That's a big one. Most people are not willing to face any feeling or have any feeling. And uh number five, am I willing to have any feeling and sit with it even if it never goes away? And so people aren't afraid of results and circumstances. They're afraid of feelings. You're not not afraid of losing your job, you're afraid of what it'll feel like. Not afraid of of looking foolish, you're afraid of what will people think when I when I what what do I think people will think about me if I look foolish and how will I feel based on what I think they're thinking about me. And so feelings are the big limiter. And people are afraid to have feelings. Like if you think, well, what's the worst feeling that I would never want to have? Um, if you're not willing to have that, then that's gonna limit your you're never gonna be able to continually expand what you believe is possible because you're gonna come up to that limit with your feeling.

Courage Means Feeling Everything

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Yeah, that's really well said. And isn't it interesting that most of us, especially in the Western culture, curate our lives around the exterior expectations of other people. It's so we tend to um grab toward gravitate towards success and accolades and trying to achieve things and look a certain way and have certain things in order to impress others. And it's so much of it is exterior. And I think what I really appreciate about your work is you peel back the cover and say, hey, is this all important? And what is meaning and inner excellence look like to you and what is actually important to you? That's what you lean into. You don't lean into just because you know this this is the culture and this is what's imposed in the culture, especially today. We are bombarded with so many messages with our phones. It's I think right now our phones are one of the biggest obstacles that we face in our modern world, um, because it's a major distraction to any endeavor that we want to achieve. And so with that, we are just we have so many messages, so many ways that you can compare yourself to other people, whether it's materialism or achievement or success or whatever that is. And um you kind of flip the whole script.

SPEAKER_03 29:40

You know, um when I think about inter excellence and and people looking for coaching, um especially pro-athletes, one essentially what they come to me for is um they want better transactions. Um here's what I'm doing, I want better results. And the way that I help them get better results is you can think of it as they're coming to me for happiness, and I teach them how to have joy. Happiness I define as a uh um positive temporary feeling based on what's happening. If I get good results and circumstances, I feel good, I'm happy. But if the results and circumstances are terrible, I'm not happy. So it's all circumstance dependent. Um whereas joy I define as a deep sense of well-being, freedom, gratitude, an inner sense of uh an inner buoyancy and delight that's independent of circumstance. And so they come to me for better transactions so they can feel better. And I then I say, look, let's clarify what you want most, because you don't even know if what you're going for is going to be make you happy or be good for you. You want to be world number one, you want to win Wimbledon, you want to win an Olympic gold medal, that could be the worst thing for you. Um the only thing we know is that's your profession and that's what you want to do. But is it good for you? We don't know. Since we don't know if you're what your goals are, if if we don't know that your goals are good for you and that the things that you fear most could be the best things for you, and the things that you want most could be the worst for you, then we've got to reorient our definition of success. And it's gotta be around personal and spiritual growth.

SPEAKER_02 31:13

Yeah, and that is so beautiful. And you also talk about having one foot in suffering and then one foot in um joy. So you that is the balance of life, right? You can't have one without the other. And when I've um studied people who have suffered much, and my grandma being one of them, um, who you know went through the gulag and went to two concentration camps, one in Germany, one in the Soviet Union, that there's something about people who go through immense suffering that it produces something so beautiful that you can't get anywhere else. And so if you studied anyone who's ever been in prison and has their their writing, their work is something that really they get to the meat of what is really important. And one of the things that I was really inspired by my grandmother's suffering in that is that at the end of her life, at the end of it all, she says that um, you know, God's ways is higher than my way, his thoughts are higher than my thought, and his timing is perfect, and he's good. And I'm like, how can a person say that who has been tortured in prison for her faith, who has um spent her youth from 16 to 3.5 years into that in Germany in a Nazi concentration camp, who then spent it's five and a half years in Siberian Gulag, then was in under ran an underground church and was persecuted, and didn't think that she'd live another year in 1958 to have that kind of life and say, Okay, I've suffered much, but it's good. Like God's good, his ways are higher than my way. And I think in comparison to our Western world, because I've also been chasing my American dream here, building a business, building this life that I think is great, right? Or I thought, and so um, and then when reading about suffering and learning not just her story, but other stories as well, you kind of realize in in what you've realized in your work and being in the desert for five years and developing in her excellence that what is it all for and what are you really building and what's really important, right?

SPEAKER_03 33:22

Yeah, for sure. You know that um my first literary agent, Rita Rosencrantz, her parents were Holocaust survivors. And um, when I signed the three-book deal with Hachette Books and um Valentine's Day last year, I asked uh her, can you tell me more about your life? Because I wanted to uh thank her for um helping me get inter excellence going um all those years ago. And then she told me about this, and so I've committed to uh to read it to um help promote Holocaust awareness and uh um with uh anti-racism initiatives and things like that. And so one of the things that we're working on now is is uh understanding what was the learning from the Holocaust, um the main learnings, and like how did that happen and how can we prevent it from ever happening again? And so we'll have to talk more about that because that's uh something that I'm gonna be uh an initiative we're gonna be working on a lot this year.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

Yeah, that's beautiful. Yeah, I've interviewed quite um a few different Holocaust survivors as well, and people who have been in gulags, and just like Victor Frankel, I'm sure you read his book in search of meaning, it's one of the best books in regards to suffering and meaning. He talks about how in what's it's so important what is in your mind, right? Uh besides exterior things. So when the exterior world could, you could have everything stripped away from you. Dr. Edith Eager also talks about that in her book, The Choice, where she says that her mom, um, when they were taken to the Auschwitz, she said, they can take everything from you, but they can't take what's in your mind. And so when you focus what's in your mind, um, like my grandmother did when she was in the Siberian gulag, she was able to encourage other people and rewrite scripture at night when no one was looking, and was able to um be someone a positive influence in a place that was full of darkness and full of disease and beatings and torture and torment and meaningless work. A lot of it was meaningless labor. Um so yeah, there's something about when you're able to control what's inside your mind and not allow the exterior to impact you, you're able to persevere and endure some of the worst conditions.

SPEAKER_03 35:41

Yeah, it's incredible.

Building A Legacy Of Service

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Well, Jim, I would also love to know a little more about your legacy because I know that your great-grandfather, right? He was a samurai, and you have an incredible legacy of people who came before you and um what you're working on now. And I'm also curious to know about what's the legacy that you hope to leave in the world.

SPEAKER_03 36:07

Yeah, I I um when I was first writing uh uh or first the book, Interaction Scot Popular, people were so the media was so enthralled with my life. And I was at first shocked. Um I'll tell you a funny story. I'm in the elevator and I and I like to um have fun. And uh these people, this is the first week when this all happened, and these uh Eagles fans, because I got it um AJ Brown gave me a ticket for the next game. And I'm in Philadelphia and these Eagles fans in the elevator, because they're out of all the gear on. And I said, Is it true that you uh um one of your football players was reading a book during the game? And they're like, Oh, yeah, yeah. And I was like, uh, what's the book? And they're like, Inter excellence. I was like, is it any good? And they're like, oh, we haven't read it yet. And uh um they said, but did you hear about the author, how much money he made? He like his book went to number one, and I was like, really? And it's like, yeah, that guy's pulling in the dough, and and then we get out of the elevator and walking away, and I said, Well, I really hope that guy does something good with the money.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

And so um remind me of the question that you said about the legacy that you wish to leave behind, as well as the because we're all interconnected, right? The the even with the two percent thing that you talked about, the fact that I'm sitting here talking to you, Jim, instead of being born in the time that my grandmother was born, I could have been that 16-year-old taken to Germany, right?

SPEAKER_03 37:33

My life could have looked like you tell me that story the whole time I'm thinking this could be you. Yeah, it could be like I'm like I'm staring at the person who that could have been her. I mean, it could have been me, but um because it was your grandma, I'm like, this this is like her when she was young.

SPEAKER_02 37:49

Yeah, and I think I I think about that a lot because in researching that, it's you know, when you're in a place that you're building the American dream, building a business, building young family, and then you get to discover this legacy of courage and resilience and faith of people before you, it really makes you reevaluate everything. It it flipped the whole everything upside down because it's essentially it's like, what am I doing with my life and how am I honoring these incredible sacrifices of the woman who came before me, which is why this podcast is the initiative exists, is my mom was someone who was persecuted by the KGB and was fearless and resilient in who she was, what she believed outside the circumstances, same with my grandma. And I have such a privilege to live in a place, in a country, in a time, in a place where I have so much more freedom than they ever had as a woman, as a human being. And essentially, it the question that I've been asking myself in the last couple of years is what am I doing to honor their legacies? What am I doing with my life that is um that resembles the sacrifice that they gave? Because I can't just continue to be Sveca the way that I was prior to my mom passing away and me being being really curious about their stories. Um and so that's even the reason for this initiative because I think there's something so beautiful about multi-generational legacies and in our world today where everything is very individualistic success, right? It's about me, it's about what do I achieve, how far can I go, you know, whether I'm stepping over people to get there or not. Um and what is it all for, right? And we forget that we are also standing on the shoulders of people who came before us, some good, some bad, right? Um, and we get to think about our own legacies, like what is the legacy that we want to leave behind? What are we building and who are we becoming and what impact are we making for the people who are coming after us? And so I guess that's my question to you is Jim, what are you what are you wanting to build?

SPEAKER_03 40:00

So I had a um a pro uh golfer call me yesterday, we had a good chat, and he was asking me about so um how does it work with you? Like, like if I um spend time with the poor and and donate money and stuff, and like check that box, like how how um how do you think about it? And I said, um, you know, there's so much suffering and um people in physical pain in the world right now, and uh there's so much anxiety and so much need and fear in the world in Western culture. Um and that's why I started off with that story. Like, why they keep talking about me? I'm one person out of eight billion. I'm really insignificant. The important thing is this message that there's hope and that um when you serve others and you can feel fully alive. And that's where and joy comes from, unconditional love. And so I said, well, I think the difference with um checking the box is um your whole life purpose. Like um in the end, it's gonna it's gonna be either you or something beyond you. And the hard thing comes when you're married and you have kids, like and it can be easily like just my family. My purpose is to serve my family, and in some ways, that's still a self-centered thing. My purpose is to serve my family, and so um the way I think about it is uh my purpose is to share God's love, wisdom, and courage with with the world. But I want I I want um to be ready to to um I want people to look at my life and and for it to be a model on how to serve, um, and to understand that that if I'm the more I spend time, energy, resources on myself and my family, um it's still really a um a self-centered thing. Um either it's about you or it's about others. There's you know, you have to think about like if someone followed you around and and on a reporter, is did you devote yourself to sacrificing your own needs for the needs of those that are suffering? Or did you not? And um, I I really have not. That's what I want to do is to make sure that my going forward, my legacy is that people have a model for how they can uh not just make the world a better place, but for specifically for orphans and widows and immigrants, um, those imprisoned and the poor, those five groups. How can you make their life their um as if it was your mom, your my myself in prison? I'm the one make it that personal. That's how I want it to be. And people to see that and and also tangibly make a difference in in the lives of of inmates on on death row and and uh um or wherever any inmate, um anyone that's uh a widow, orphan, or immigrant. And has your mom modeled any of these uh principles, or have you seen her um model that my parents took in uh um orphans. So we were there we were foster home when I was growing up. When she was growing up, this was World War II. And um so then she be caught got called a spy, and there was um her life was was hard because of that because she became a Christian and and Christian Christianity was the Western religion. It was the American religion, and Americans were the enemy, and so um but yeah, my mom her devotion to serving was Is um was such a huge part of my what I've learned from her. And my sister too. Her my sister, her um my mom, dad, and sister are all in heaven now. And they my sister, her uh um mental toughness was so much more than mine. Her ability to be grateful um and present under suffering was was extraordinary. Um something I'll always remember.

SPEAKER_02 44:26

And you said your mom got accused of being a spy. What who accused her of that?

SPEAKER_03 44:32

Well, in elementary school, kids making fun of her. Like her family was isolated because they in the village in Japan they're a small town, and and you know, everyone knew each other and then knew that my mom's family had converted to Christianity, and so now you got the uh the Western religion.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

So she endured persecution for her faith as well in her own way. What was she like as a kid? What was your mom like growing up?

SPEAKER_03 44:59

Um she was athletic and uh um um tall, very tall for a Japanese girl. Um it's great for me because I always wanted to be a superstar. And with having a um if she was five foot two, it would have been maybe harder. Um but um I think the Asian culture and and just you know her family, so so devoted to academics and to discipline and and all of that. Um and you know, when I think about my mom's family and where I've been discipline-wise, I mean I don't I mean it's depressing to think about like um, but I'm gonna be getting I'm getting better every day in uh that sort of discipline and that sort of uh um willingness to suffer. And um the challenge I have is is that I have the more resources and and uh um attention I get, we're we're we we just um signed a deal with a um a Greek publisher, I think it's our 29th language. You know, the first one was actually Russian, the first foreign language was Russian a couple years ago, and then um now we've have uh I think 27 more deals. Um but the more my life has this different lifestyle, um, the one foot and suffering is less appealing. Um you know it's it's it's so much uh more fun to be in a um to fly in the front of the plane and to s to sleep in a really nice uh bed in a nice hotel and uh to have great food and and to hang out with people that do all that all the time. That's that's way more enjoyable than um going down to uh the part of town where everyone's homeless and and there's a lot of drugs and and uh um but um but I know that if I want to live the best possible life, and I do want to, that I've got to have one foot and joy, one foot and suffering. And joy comes from unconditional love and suffering, one foot and suffering. On the one hand, it's like you know, to build stronger muscles, you have to break it down. There's no other way.

SPEAKER_04 47:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:06

But to gain wisdom and courage, courage, you have to um be afraid of things. You have to take risk that you don't know what's gonna happen. That's the only way to have courage. The only way to have wisdom is to go through things. And um, the only way to have the best possible life is you have to do really hard things continually. That has to be a part of your life. Um, whether it's a cold shower or um, and also spending time with those in in deep need. There's no way to have the compassion and the joy if you don't spend time with people like that. And so that's what I really need to do. I'm I mean, I need this um these words in this podcast more than anybody.

SPEAKER_02 47:44

And what does she teach you about discipline specifically, your mom?

SPEAKER_03 47:49

It was just her habits all day long. Like, I mean, she's even the last couple years of her life, she's reading the Bible hours a day. And she's reading her devotional every day. And uh, and you can tell by her language, everything's gratitude. Um, and everything is is uh um talking about love and and serving and and getting to know God in a deeper way, um, and what that means. And so um, you know, just every every like she's really stickler on being organized and clean and and everything. Like the big danger we had um in the last year of her life was that she sees a piece of lint on the floor, she would want to bend over and pick it up, and of course she could fall out of the wheelchair, and so we always have to look at make sure there's nothing on the floor.

SPEAKER_02 48:45

You're like everyone clean the house because their mom doesn't have to.

SPEAKER_03 48:49

Yeah, and um, she would make sure the towels were lined up and bed made perfectly, and and so um, and she's in a lot of physical pain, and she's still doing this, these things. Um, and she was always um very adamant about how I uh treated people.

SPEAKER_02 49:07

Yeah, do you think that part of that is part of the Japanese culture, the cleanliness, the organizational part? Because Japanese are really efficient in the way that they do things.

SPEAKER_03 49:18

I think a lot of minimalistic ideas of like um I think that's I get that from my culture background, um, as far as how to live. I mean, you wouldn't see it if you came to my house probably. But Jim, I thought you were supposed to be, you wanted to be minimalistic. But and it, you know, it's a trade-off. InterXList has nine disciplines, and the first one is to simplify your life. Um and uh simplifying your life makes your life harder. Because um, as I think about it, like um you can order anything on Amazon and get here in a couple days, and that's gonna simplify my life. I get all these gadgets and all these things that make my life easier. Um, but the more things you have, the more complex your life gets. And so I think the average Western person in Western culture has many, many things to make their life simpler, or to make their life easier, rather. And that makes life more complex because you have if you have a um, you know, a wife and two kids, now you're gonna need two cars. Okay, two cars is more complex than one car. And then um it's just on and on every single thing. Everyone gets phones, and then you have subscriptions. And um how do you make your life simpler? You have to be willing to to uh sacrifice and and make your life harder.

SPEAKER_02 50:36

Yeah, and how do you pronounce your mom's name? Mi Michiko.

SPEAKER_03 50:41

Michiko, yeah. It's it's not it's a pretty common name in in Japan. Her name was Michiko Koyama. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:48

Yeah, we hosted an international Japanese student for a season, and that was so fun to get to know the Japanese culture, and she cooked and did all these things, and um, we still stay in touch. She's still in the States, finishing off her senior year now. But um, there's just such a beauty to different cultures. I've always been fascinated to the differences between the Yeah, Japan is my favorite country by far, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 51:13

I mean, although I would not recommend going there if you don't like probably the safest country in the world, the cleanest country in the world, and the best food in the world. If if those three things are not part of what you want, then don't go. Because um when I came back, it was such a break from Western culture. I mean, it's bows and smiles everywhere you go. I mean, Japan has its issues. I think the big difference between that I see between um America and Japan both have real pros and cons. Um America is very individual oriented and Japan is very group oriented. And so it's great. I have the freedom to do what I want in America, but then if everyone has unlimited freedom, then obviously if you if you're not really don't have a lot of self-control, then that could create issues, as we've seen. Um and if you're in Japan, when you don't have the uh um the group is more important, then people's um emotions and feelings aren't heard as much, I don't think. And so that can create uh issues. But um it was such a gift to be. Whenever I go to Japan, it's always a gift to be there.

What He Would Tell His Mom

SPEAKER_02 52:22

Yeah, that's beautiful. Well, I want to ask you this question. If your mom was sitting here right now, what would you tell her?

SPEAKER_03 52:32

Okay, let's see if I can think about this without uh getting too emotional. Um It was interesting when I thought about this, when I saw this topic of this call, I was like, oh my gosh, my mom and my sister. The impact they've had on my life. It's uh it's hard to explain. I think um just that you know she's had uh probably the greatest impact in my life of anybody. Her pointing me to God and and her gratitude and her discipline, I think those are the three big ones, and her constantly reminding me of who I am and um uh that you know where to find the solution and and that um you know the whole 98-2 uh principle about Michael Phelps, like the the idea is that um Michael Phelps had 23 Olympic gold medals, and how did he achieve that? Who who deserves the credit if you're divided into 100%? Who who um how would you is it 50-50 God or the universe and 50-50 Michael? And what is it? And so in the best possible life, I outlined this whole thing, and it's um I've I believe there's no way to you know really tell but um or have a correct answer, but I think it's 98% God and 2% Michael, because every single thing that he did um was a gift that allowed him to do that, to have the body, to have the parents, to have to be born in the right century and the right country, and have a swimming pool and these coaches and to have a mind that can think clearly and be motivated and all these things. Um but we all have free will. And so Michael could have sat on the couch, but that free will gives him the two percent. But um, understanding that every good thing you have is uh um 98% is God did, and 2%, and and that's really all you're responsible for is your 2%, in my opinion. Um, we're responsible for our heart and our and our effort, and then God's responsible for the results. Um and even if you don't believe in God, understanding that that there's power in the universe that's beyond you, and uh um surrendering to that power is the greatest thing you could ever do. I mean, and this is really my mom.

SPEAKER_02 55:05

That's so beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. Um and I'm curious too, now that you've progressed so much in your success in the out as perceived by the world, right? Um what do you think she would say to you today? Knowing how much you blew up since since her passing.

SPEAKER_03 55:24

Oh, she would say be careful. Yeah, yeah, be careful about pride. Like like the whole um success, you know, that's for me personally, that's really insignificant. That's not anything that's may not even be good for me. It could be terrible for me. Um we just gotta understand the dangers. And the dangers is me thinking that it was three percent gym. It's a good question though, because yeah, that's totally what she would say. I think you know, a lot of parents would be like, I'm so proud of you, like I mean, she might say something like that in reference to that, but you know, I know from what she's taught me. You know, it's it's um I'm just a lowly messenger.

SPEAKER_02 56:32

I think that to me that was one of the most compelling things in w uh listening to Rich Roll's interview with you, um is how much you pointed back to God and and not and discredited yourself in a sense, right? By saying, Okay, well, yes, but it's really not me. I have not as much role to play in this as we're making it out to be.

SPEAKER_03 56:57

And I think it's important to remember that the humility, um, I think humility and um is uh if you want to live an extraordinary life, humility is is really crucial. You can't live the best possible life without it. But humility is an accurate view of self. It's not thinking less of self. Um it's an accurate view. It's the 98-2 understanding. And so the closer your your vision and your sight is to the accurate view of yourself, the better your life's gonna be. The more joy, the more curiosity, the more freedom, the more wisdom. Everything is enhanced, the closer your your self-image is of to an accurate view of self.

SPEAKER_02 57:44

And how do we keep ourselves in check with that? To make sure that we're continuing the humble path and not letting our ego get out of our control.

The Three Worlds Model For Humility

SPEAKER_03 58:03

One of the biggest challenges we face is busyness. Um and so what happens to people is that they get caught up in transactions. Um every day um we're gonna get caught up in transactions. And so uh in the best possible life, I have um this model that I use with every client, and I've never shared it publicly. Um it's called the three worlds model. And essentially it's we're born into three worlds. We have the third world, which is all your results and circumstances. It's the world I've obsessed about as an athlete. I want to be a superstar, and that's the bottom line in business. Um everything you can see, touch, and feel around you, your culture and all everything. Um, second world is your inner world and all your your uh actions that follow. And then there's the first world, the unseen world that that uh um lasts forever, the unseen world that controls the world that we can see, touch, and feel. So every day, like right now, you and I are existing in the third world, the results and circumstances. And if you're attached to it, the more attached you are to the results and circumstances, the more stress and fear you're gonna have. And so you need to constantly pull yourself out of that third world and into the world of eternity, and into the truth of what's going on right now. Like if you live in America, um, chances are you're I mean, you're surrounded by fear and negativity and just turn on the news.

SPEAKER_05 59:24

Yeah.

Cancer Diagnosis And A New Perspective

SPEAKER_03 59:25

And uh, but not just America, all over the world. It's like Iran, there's so much need. Iran and Gaza and Ukraine, and there's so much terrible things happening in Venezuela. And um, and so you have to constantly set your sights on the realities of heaven and and the what's eternal. Any anything that's the first world is everything that's gonna last forever. Love, joy, peace. Um, and the third world is everything that's temporary. Yeah and so um every goal that you ever set, every result you ever get is all third world temporary. And if you want to live an extraordinary life, you have to live um fully engaged in the second world. Um and the only way to live fully engaged, unattached to the third world of results and circumstances, is if you're constantly um bringing yourself back to the first world of of eternity and and uh um understanding that because that's where hope is and peace and joy is that's that lasts forever. A good way to the the way I think about my lot, my physical life in the third world is I want to be ready at any moment's notice to uh um recognize wisdom. Um, whether it's from an eight-year-old or an 88-year-old, a homeless person or anyone, I want to recognize wisdom so I can fully live in a moment's notice. I want to feel fully alive and out of the blue. It could be a you know, um smile from a child or a stranger or a dog. And I also want to be ready to give up my life at a moment's notice, notice, my physical life, those two things. Be ready to die. I mean, I I just was um then I don't know if you know this. Um I was diagnosed with cancer last month.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:58

No, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:59

Yeah, yeah, it was um it was um um January 20th. I was diagnosed with cancer. And uh um I had a series of miracles again that happened. So many miracles last year. It's it's uh incredible. Um and then many more miracles and just this this what I call think of this two-week lesson. So I had surgery February 3rd, um, and uh it was uh um January 20th. I had I I flew to Istanbul and it's just quickly. Do we have another minute achieve?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:33

Yeah, go for it. No, go for it, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:35

Okay. Um so as a um performance coach, I'm always researching how to help my clients and friends and um live better lives. Um there's really four kind of pillars, do I think, to to uh inter excellence in my brand. It's it's spiritual growth, personal growth, um, peak performance, and total wellness. And so um I was gonna fly to Istanbul to go to see this one clinic hospital that um you can do 15 hours of testing in every area of your physical health in one spot in one weekend. And so I went there to go do it mostly for clients, but my flight got canceled the night before. And so I'd have to go two and a half hours um away to Madrid. And so I was not gonna go, but then my friend said, Oh, I can take you to the train station, and um it's it's an easy train ride. So he talked me into going, then they find the cancer. Um and then uh um through more miracles, the CEO that I just did an interactionist retreat with, he hooks me up with a doctor and because I thought I was gonna have to go to um Istanbul, or you know, they don't speak English and get surgery there or Spain and don't know how long it would take. Well, he sets me up with this hospital in in Tampa. Um they get the this um extraordinary surgeon. Um she does 600 thyroid surgeries a year. They they get me set up in two weeks. I had the surgery February 3rd. Um, they left half my thyroid um Istanbul said they're gonna take the whole thing out. They're able to leave half my thyroid, no radioactive iodine. They said they got all the cancer, nothing on the margins, you're good to go. Um and uh um they told me it was gonna be$30,000, and um he paid for it. And so and flew me there in his private jet. Like, this is all crazy. Like, how does this all happen? God's God's doing these miracles. And I think the reason why this all happened with the thought, like, oh, I guess I could show you.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

Oh wow, that's I can't believe you're sitting here today when when your assistant said um he's having surgery, and I'm thinking, wait, this is so close to the launching date. How is he gonna have the recovery time in order for the in you know, in time for the interview?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:46

Well, today's a big day because yesterday I was not only supposed to lift three pounds up until yesterday. So now I can lift 300. I'm good to go now.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:52

So now you can do this interview.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:55

Yeah. And so, yeah, it's been um extraordinary miracle. So I have this book, The Best Possible Life on uh the spiritual life. It's really a summary of inter excellence, it turned out to be. Coming out next month. And uh I'm so excited about that book, and I think it's gonna change lives all over the world. And I think this the thyroid cancer was God preparing me, helping me. Um if you forget that your life is fragile and you could die at any moment, then you get caught up, more likely to get caught up in your third world uh transactions. But if you constantly remember today could be my last day, like this is a very samurai idea, um, then you can fully live. And God was reminding me of that. And also another miracle is uh zero pain the whole time. Like now it looks way better. I mean, it was so swollen and scary looking, like Frankenstein the first couple weeks. And to have zero pain, like um without pain medicine, like that's another miracle. And so um I totally feel God chose me um to share this message. What a gift. And uh um the thyroid cancer was just another like gen, look, I'm preparing you for something amazing to share with the world.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:05

Yeah, I feel like the book that the best possible life that you wrote is your legacy piece that you're leaving with the world, right? I mean, your inner excellence is so good. It's it's it's like a manual. I I the amount of highlights and underlines and earmarks all the things. I'm like, I've never done this to a book to this extent. Um, so that says something. And um, but I think the best possible life, what I was I just got the the book um just recently. So I was able to look through it and read a few chapters, and um I'm like, this is his legacy piece. This is so beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:40

Yeah, so it's so much so important. I'm I'm so excited about this book.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:44

Yeah, so if you're able to get it, Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy or The Best Possible Life, which launches March 31st, am I right about that?

SPEAKER_05 1:05:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:53

Anywhere books are sold. Jim, is there anything else you'd love to leave the listener with before we wrap up?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:00

Oh, yeah. If you want to be a part of our community, and we're working on the Inter Excellence 90 Day Challenge. You can email my assistant Ryan at InterExcellence.com. And even better, follow us uh on uh um Substack. I have a newsletter, it's gonna be coming out um about every week. And in fact, um I'm gonna be doing live Q ⁇ A's. Our first one is uh in two days, but I'll be doing live Q ⁇ A's for all the paid subscribers,$7 a month. We'll be doing that um once or uh uh um twice a month.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:29

And what is the 90-day challenge consist of? I'm curious.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:33

Well, we're just that that uh workbook is an inner excellence workbook, and we're we're looking at how can we transform someone's life in 90 days with inner excellence. Um take this 90 days, these next 90 days, and work on mastering your ego and being more um more present and feeling more alive and uh um going through the disciplines of inner excellence, like simplifying your life and and depriving the appetites to to cultivate the spiritual life. Um, all those things. How can we do this? Put it all inner excellence into 90 days to transform your life.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:06

That's powerful. I'm gonna have to share that with my siblings. We just had a sibling mastermind. One of the greatest gifts my mom left me is a bunch of siblings. Well, thank you so much for your time. It's been just a true honor to have this conversation with you and spend this time with you. Thank you, Jim.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:21

Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:23

This is the woman before me. I want to invite you to be part of this meaningful project. Click on the link in the show notes and record a voice memo honoring the woman who made a positive impact on your life. Together, let's honor the women who came before us and leave legacies worthy of being remembered.