Play a Bigger Game in Life and Business with Markus Kaulius

Join me for an engaging conversation with my guest, Markus Kaulius,  entrepreneur, investor, community leader, and founder of nutritional and supplements company - Magnum Nutraceuticals, which he just sold for a reported $170 million dollars. Markus, a small-town boy turned successful entrepreneur, will take us through his transformative journey, highlighting how our unique backstories can be our source of strength.

Markus  opens up and discusses the secret keys to his success - constant growth and a balanced life. Balancing the scale further, we delve into the profound impact of relationships on self-discovery and how serving others helps us unearth our true purpose. Get ready to be moved by Markus' experience of forgiveness and gratitude, encouraging us to embrace our past and utilize it in service of others.

But hey, it's not all about quantum shifts. Sometimes, significant change lies in the simplest of habits. Let's talk about the magic of a healthy morning routine and how it sets the tone for your entire day. Markus' morning routine - which includes not one, but two workouts, along with prayer and meditation and a daily cold plunge -- is one of discipline. Listen closely to discover how baby steps towards healthier habits can make a world of difference.

Lastly, we discuss Markus' upcoming project, "Play a Bigger Game," designed to support high achievers in their quest for personal growth and development. This conversation is packed with practical tips and potent insights to ignite your journey towards an extraordinary life. You don't want to miss it!

Connect with Markus Kaulius:
Website: https://playabiggergame.com/
IG:https://www.instagram.com/markuskaulius/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markus.kaulius

Connect with Michelle Rios:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/michelle.rios.official/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/michelle.c.rios
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3ahwTlqiLU&list=PL-ltQ6Xzo-Ong4AXHstWTyHhvic536OuO
Website: https://michelleriosofficial.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I know for a fact you could be whoever you want to be, and the more you align with who you're supposed to be, what you know, you know right here who you're supposed to be. Life gets amazing beyond what I could ever tell.

Speaker 2: 0:17

Hi, I'm Michelle Rios, host of the Live your Extraordinary Life podcast. This podcast is built on the premise that life is meant to be joyful, but far too often we settle for less. So if you've ever thought that something is missing from your life, that you were meant for more, or you simply want to experience more joy in the everyday, then this podcast is for you. Each week, I'll bring you captivating personal stories, transformative life lessons and juicy conversations on living life to the fullest, with the hope to inspire you to create a life you love on your terms, with authenticity, purpose and connection. Together, we'll explore what it means to live an extraordinary life, the things that hold us back and the steps we all can take to start living our best lives. So come along for the journey. It's never too late to get started, and the world needs your light.

Speaker 2: 1:23

Hello everyone, I am so excited about this week's guest. His name is Marcus Collius. He is a serial entrepreneur, an investor, a community leader, a man of faith and an all around just phenomenal human being. He happens to be a dear friend of mine. I am just blown away with the insight he has, the things he's done and what he's going to come here to share with us today. So, without further ado, marcus, welcome to today's show.

Speaker 1: 1:53

Michelle, thank you for having me. I've been so excited about our conversation ever since our last one on Zoom, which I don't know what it is. Usually Zoom doesn't get you that fired up, but I was fired up, so I've been so excited, honored to be here, honored to talk with everybody, and this is going to be fun. It is going to be a good one.

Speaker 2: 2:12

So we met oh gosh, now it's been a few months back. We met out in LA. We had an opportunity to spend some time together and have some really kismic conversations. So I know that you are not going to be stumped by this first question, which is what does it mean to you, marcus, to live your extraordinary life?

Speaker 1: 2:31

I love the question, by the way, this is what we should all be looking for, the answer to every single day. To me, it's living in alignment with who I'm meant to be on this planet. And it's such a beautiful thing because I've really been led to be a very specific person we all are, we fight it, we fight it every day and we go. Why did today feel so much harder than it should have felt? Because we thought who we're supposed to be. But when I'm living my authentic self, I'm giving off a certain radiate, something different, and it draws the people to you who are supposed to be in your life, who you're supposed to be able to help. And for me, it's about serving those people. God's putting people in my life who I'm supposed to be touching, I'm supposed to be reaching out to, and they're coming to me and I've got some keys in my life, some answers that could help change their life. And the more I live in who I'm supposed to be, the more I can serve those people and really making it that.

Speaker 2: 3:28

All right, so I may have underplayed the fact that Marcus is an entrepreneur a surreal entrepreneur than that, but let me back up and say he's the founder of Magnum Nutri-Cuticles, and we're talking about eight figure surreal businesses and nine figure surreal businessmen here, and he's incredibly humble. I happen to know that he grew up in a small town in Canada, not unlike my upbringing in New England and a small town in Maine, and we have some similarities. I'm very curious how do you go from being the kid that you were in a small town, growing up in a divorced family which I know was something that really marked your life and shaped who you became in a lot of ways to this incredibly successful entrepreneur and business leader? How does that even happen?

Speaker 1: 4:27

I think it's because of my backstory that I became Roy M today, and I really encourage people so many people are so afraid to talk about their backstory and theorist of their backstories or guilt over their backstory. And that's your origin story. Every great hero has this amazing origin story. Your origin story is what made you who you are today. Oh, nate, find out what it is about that origin story that's going to make you even greater today.

Speaker 1: 4:56

And so, yeah, a divorce was really hard. I was seven years old. We were really poor. You know I joke around all the time that all of my clothes were in up with my sister's hand me downs. That's poor. I have this one story and I feel bad for my mom when I tell this story.

Speaker 1: 5:11

My mom was so stressed out about money so everything had to do with not having enough money. I remember hot dog days. Now this is going to date me, by the way. Hot dogs were 25 cents back 25 cents. I knew we were so tight on money. I saw how stressed my mom was about it. I wouldn't ask her for 25 cents to pay for the hot dog. So I watched all the other kids as the hot dogs got wheeled into the room eating their hot dogs, enjoying their hot dogs. Some kids got two hot dogs and I'm like whoa, those are the rich kids. And I'm like not able to have a hot dog. But the saddest thing is I'm like man. Now that I'm an adult, I know you can't make a lunch for 25 cents. I was screwing my mom over even worse by not asking for the 25 cents, but that's how poor I thought we were. Well, I knew we were. How much money caused that much stress?

Speaker 1: 6:02

The change there was a point in my life. I was 16 and I love that. You and I have this in Colorado. We had these big moments in our lives and I know 16 was a big moment in your life, but 16 is where I lived the life that I thought I was supposed to live and it's sought. I'm supposed to be this poor guy. I'm supposed to be this guy who doesn't really get ahead in life. Everything stacked against me, so there's no chance for a guy like me. That's what the world has us believing. You listen to this stuff. You're too tall, you're too skinny, you're too fat, you're too loud, you're too fat, and we try and shape ourselves to what we think the world wants us to look like.

Speaker 1: 6:37

And it was at 16 where I changed everything and I said what if I just didn't listen to that? What if I just became the person I wanted to be, who I believe I'm supposed to be? And it was literally like this I was going on a trip, like father came back into our lives and invited me on a trip with his new family, and it was on the plane where I made that decision. I stepped off the plane. I was a totally different human being and it was so miraculous because everybody accepted me as that. New markets. I was hanging out with the coolest kids. I was getting dates. You know how I was standing. Girls were not looking at me if I stepped on something on fire before. Now I'm getting noticed.

Speaker 2: 7:15

I'm going on dates and I was like wait, what plane ride is that? Everyone's going to want to know what airline was fun. That's a transformative trip right there. Yes, what happened? What happened to you?

Speaker 1: 7:29

Well, I was, for sure, at the lowest point in my life. I was six foot four at 120 pounds man, if you guys can picture that. It did not look good and I had the exact confidence that matched that. It was like so embarrassed of who I am. So I was at my lowest of low.

Speaker 1: 7:45

I really feel like God spoke to me on that plane and said hey, where are you going? No one knows who you are. They don't know that you're bullied, they don't know that girls don't look you. So what if you were, what if you just got to be who you wanted? And it was literally that quick of a change. And what I love about that is you don't need to hear from God for you to make that change today. And it doesn't have to be a 180 change in your life. Whoever's listening to this. You can just make a change to be somebody different today. I want to be a healthier person. Great, be a healthier person today.

Speaker 1: 8:17

And it starts with how would a healthier person act? That's exactly what rang in my head. I said, okay, well, I need to be more confident. What does a competent person look like? Well, they have their shoulders back, yeah, and they make good eye contact and they're not afraid to have a good handshake and I speak with confidence. Still little things, and we know the answers. That's the craziest thing. If I ask you, okay, what do you want to be and what does that look like? We have the answers in us, because that's who we're authentically supposed to be.

Speaker 1: 8:48

Now, what if you chose to be that way? I'll tell you from my life everything changed in that moment and I walked off the plane. I was a totally different person. I was hanging out with the greatest people. I loved that life. And then I brought it home with me and, yes, things had to change. So the idea, it's simple. The process is not easy, and that's okay. It's a great challenge. Now you have to go. Okay, what do I have to do to keep this going? I've decided I'm going to be a healthier person. Okay, what does a healthier person do? Every single day? Every single day, they say no to fast food. Every single day, they have a plan on their health, on how I'm going to act and be that healthier person. And I promise you everybody who's listening, I don't care what you've been through. I know for a fact you could be whoever you want to be, and the more you align with who you're supposed to be, which you know. You know right here who you're supposed to be. Life gets amazing beyond what I could ever tell.

Speaker 2: 9:47

Okay, so fill us in, because you, in all essence, I don't know how you were in school. Were you a good student Until later in life, in university? In university, okay so, not in high school, not growing up but were you coachable? Did you play sports?

Speaker 1: 10:03

Not coachable at all. I'd had to go to baggage honestly and I had to make an excuse. Now I'd like to think of myself as very coachable. Some great minds have said I'm very coachable because I love to learn. I think that is actually a key answer to a lot of questions is are you willing to learn? Are you willing to say I don't have all the answers, I don't know everything. I want to learn, I want to learn. I want to learn.

Speaker 2: 10:28

What I'm curious about, because this is what I think so many people you know, our audience listening out there like, ah, it's too late for me, or I've been doing this for too long, or I don't even know where to start. You went from this kid who was afraid to ask for a quarter for the hot dog at school to building an empire. I mean, I'm not afraid to say it because I'm very proud of you over $170 million business empire. That's amazing, first of all. And then to know you, to know the kind of person you are and that is humble, generous, kind, faithful. When you put all that together, it's almost doesn't compute in the modern day capitalist environment that we are. How does that happen to the kid from the small town in Canada who was wearing his sister's hand me down? How do you get there? Because that's an amazing story and I know you're a soon to be author.

Speaker 2: 11:29

We should have added that to your bio, so I'm sure we're going to get into more detail in the book. But share with us a little bit that goes into the mindset that you say I can build something big. How do you do that? Because I think a lot of people were incredibly smart, incredibly capable, incredibly talented in their respected field. I'm thinking I'm rocking the world six figures. And you're like bam, look at this. And I know it wasn't effortless. You put in a tremendous amount of work, but you've come out on the other side of having done that still incredibly young, and everything older is like 20 years older than I am today. So just keep that in mind Incredibly young and with such a good character and nature about you, which I think is the blessing in this that it hasn't jaded you.

Speaker 2: 12:20

And there's a famous Tony Robbins quote about money. Right, money doesn't change you. It magnifies who you really are. So if you're a good person, you're going to continue to be a good person. If you're a generous person is going to make you more generous. If you aren't a good person, well, guess what it's going to magnify that? And I can say firsthand that you are a very generous and kind person. So the empowerment of bringing financial wealth together with your well-being is just a blessing for everyone around you. Wow.

Speaker 1: 12:57

I'm humbled and my mind has gone blank from gratitude and thank you for all those kind words. Here's what I know. I know that I had something in me that said you are destined for so much more and I got this sneaky suspicion. There are so many people I think it's your audience because I know who you attract to you because of how awesome you are in your authentic self and I think the people listening will really relate to this idea like, no matter where you are, no matter how much money you're making or whatever it is inside, you're like there's more for me and not doing everything I'm supposed to do. Maybe I'm only doing 1%. That was the only thing I really needed at that point in my life to cling on to and to go. I know it. I'm 100% certain I'm not doing anything of what I'm supposed to be doing. There's something so big for me and my life goal, my life purpose, is to find out what that is and to move towards it every single day. I'm not going to take a single day off. No Doesn't mean you have to work every day. It doesn't mean you have to work out every day, but it means every day I will be better than I was yesterday. I don't take the full day and sit on the couch and drugs or alcohol no judgment on anybody but my purpose was so big and that's what I cling to. And as you cling to that and as you move on this road of growth and you get better every single day, you will transform. In that journey.

Speaker 1: 14:26

I think so many of us think well, I have to have business in this public life, full degree, then I'll become somebody. That's not true. There's no truth to that. You won't find anybody telling you that. That's true. What you'll find is, if I go on this road for my degree, I'm going to have to learn along the way. I'm going to have to learn about my study habits. I'm going to have to learn how to learn, and you will become a different person. Now, that's just a degree, now, just any path you take, I'm going to become a healthier version of myself. If I'm going to become the best father or the best husband, who do I become along this journey with that focus, and I love that journey. So I want to encourage you guys today if you are like yes, marcus, that's, I know you're talking to me.

Speaker 1: 15:08

I've got something inside of me that says I'm doing good, and maybe I'm doing good in this part of my life, but there's these other parts of my life. So I work with so many CEOs, c-suite people and I know you do too that are like I'm doing so good in business. I don't know why I can't take that and be the same guy. I don't want to be the CEO of my house, but when I got home I had to treat him like the janitor no offense to the janitors out there but my family just did not treat me like the CEO and I deserve to be treated like the CEO. There's a problem with that attitude. This is what I love working with people on.

Speaker 1: 15:46

If you don't have good balance and you don't have the relationships you need in your life and you don't have the faith that you have in your life and you don't have your health, then you can't reach these crazy high levels, and so it's not enough to go well, I've got millions in my bank account, so I guess I'll just deal with this other crap and whatever that means. The balance is critical and being able to take the success you've experienced here when you had to be clumped in, receive this success, to achieve this success. We can apply those same principles everywhere else. And I mean I guess I'm sort of talking about what God is calling to next, which is playa, bigger gamecom, and I work with people who have found success somewhere. These are the high achievers, but they're finding trouble translating that success to other parts of their life.

Speaker 1: 16:33

I love that I'm working with people like that, because I love working with the high achievers and I know there's something inside them that says I know I could do it all at a high level, but maybe I could use a little encouragement, maybe I could use some accountability, maybe I could use some tips. It's not a bad thing to say I don't know everything. I spend my time with amazing people so I can learn from the wealth of knowledge that I've learned from people who are better than me. That's what's made me better, and so don't be afraid to go. I'm not perfect. I don't know 1% of 1% of 1% of 1% of what I need to know to be great in this life, but I'll tell you I love the journey of learning it.

Speaker 2: 17:11

Well, that's what makes you very charismatic. I'm gonna throw a few things at you because I want to get your reaction. You and I had a kismic connection. Pretty quickly, share with us, if you will. We started talking and it was like the coincidences and the synchronicities, what was it that connected you to me and me to you and your opinion?

Speaker 1: 17:31

I love this question. I love this. So let me start by saying I think, more than anything else that we have in common, we were drawn to each other because of our energies that we allowed out as our authentic selves. We are two humans who are like I know who I am and I know when I'm supposed to be. That doesn't mean I have all the answers. I want to be really clear on that point. I don't want to go all quiet.

Speaker 2: 17:53

We're works in progress. We have so many of these works in progress, but comfortable in our own skin, I think, safe to say, which was hard earned on my part. I will say I think I'm a little bit older than you on this journey. It's taken me a good part of my life to feel super comfortable being vulnerable, being honest. I don't mean to say I was ever dishonest, but not hiding behind a mask of a title or a degree or an achievement, but just introducing myself of hi, I'm Michelle, and not really including all the things to my ticker list, and I found that about you. We didn't really know anything about each other when we sat down next to each other, but we were drawn by each other's energy.

Speaker 1: 18:38

I'm going to take just the quickest tangent, because I love this point that I love talking about, which is we have this idea, like I put it on everyone to like if I'm getting into this conversation and this person doesn't like too much energy, okay, I'll bring it down, I'll speak down here and okay, and this person, they like a person who's a little bit smaller, so I'll be a bit smaller, and what happens is you start to forget who you are and try to Play too much to the audience and think that that somehow is ingratiating you.

Speaker 2: 19:06

and it's not. No.

Speaker 1: 19:09

And so what I've learned in life is there are certain people who I'm supposed to be attracted to and will be attracted to me, and there are certain people who aren't. And that's okay. It's so okay, even if you're like, oh, I really wish I wish that person liked me, I wish I could spend more time with you. You're not supposed to. If it's not obvious, it's not obvious, and I've really leaned into that. So there was conversations, even that night, where I was like I know I'm not going to like this person that much and I know they're not going to like me this much, that's okay, and now I'm going to move on. And so when two people like us get to hang out, I was, oh, I like Michelle so much and it was no surprise to me.

Speaker 1: 19:48

But at the same time, every time you said like, oh, this is what happened to me at 16, this is what happened to me with my parents, this is what happened to me. But I'm listening, I'm like this is amazing, neighbors, and I'm like. I'm like, and I can't decide, I'm like this is so exciting. And this is exactly the point I'm trying to get across to people is, when you're supposed to connect with someone, there's something inside of you that's like this is amazing, not even like a life story. Is it because your life story is the most amazing story? Maybe not, but that doesn't matter. So the next person might come along and be like well, I don't know, michelle, yeah, okay, it was a story.

Speaker 2: 20:23

Wait, who are those people? I'm kidding. It's all about resonance. It really is. It's about does your energy resonate with the other person around you? And I do really believe on this walk I would go a step further. We are spiritual beings having a human experience, and the light in me sees the light in you, and when you allow yourself to really be at your most authentic level, it's sort of like a beacon for others that are in that place. So it's sort of like the light on the lighthouse, right, You're like you're a homing device for my people and my tribe and like here we are. So it was just lovely, because I felt like I'd known you forever and we may have, we probably have known each other forever. It was like this immediate, like we're comfortable. I know you, You're my best friend.

Speaker 1: 21:11

Yes, do we just become best friends? Do you want to go to karate in the basement?

Speaker 2: 21:16

All right, I'm gonna throw us more stuff at you. Three most important relationships in my life. I always talk about this a lot because I always hear people a lot going. I want to improve my relationships. I said, okay, you want to improve your relationships. Here, the three most important relationships you need to work on One, the relationship with yourself. Two, the relationship with your higher power however you define that. And three, your relationships with others at large, and possibly in that order, I don't know, but I think it all often starts with you've got to go on the inner journey.

Speaker 2: 21:47

When did you have that awakening, that epiphany for you on your walk? For me, I kind of think of it like first real big epiphany was at 26 for me Doesn't mean it was the only one, it wasn't the fully flip the switch on the light and where all the lights are on and operating, but it was the first time in my life where I was like, wow, I have been so focused outward, so focused on the external, that what? The piece that's been so missing in my life is this connection to myself, like I don't even know who I am. I got to spend more time on this journey and that's how it started for me. Tell me a little bit, maybe, of your experience around relationship to self, relationship to higher power, and how that has impacted your relationship with others.

Speaker 1: 22:37

Love it. And, by the way, I love your three and I totally agree with them. I don't know if I would put one and two as almost tied the relationship to self and the relationship to the higher power. I find my relationship to myself is fully formed by my relationship with God. Now I'm going to talk about God. That's what I believe in. I just want to tell everybody who's listening you don't have to be like, oh, another Christian red. If it's the universe, that's okay. Like you use whatever words you are comfortable with. But I will say this because I'm comfortable saying this If you haven't found a relationship with something bigger than you, you are absolutely limiting your abilities on this planet.

Speaker 1: 23:17

You can never get past a certain place because there's just too much on your shoulders. So it was around 16. Now again, I can't see if it was before after that really pivotal moment, but that's when Tony Robbins entered my life. I had the cassette tapes again I'm dating myself and Tony, early on in my life, challenged me in a special way. That was just like hey, I know you're supposed to be here for something more. That's what I've been saying, and it was so important for me to have someone believe in me, like that, and then also like kind of light, the path ahead of me, so that I know where I'm going a little bit. And so that was that journey of finding myself. And of course, for me, I had been trying to create in myself something I didn't even like for 16 years. So it was actually super fun journey for me.

Speaker 1: 24:06

Going all right, I'm a blank canvas. Let's find out who I'm actually supposed to be. And it's not pretending to be anybody, even not pretending to be someone I want to be, it's who am I supposed to be? And at that same time it's turning to God going who am I supposed to be? I think you have more answers than I do. That's an ongoing journey and I love this part of my journey. Now I'm starting to need chapter in my life where, once again, I'm going like God who am I supposed to be at this point in my life? Who do you need me to be? The people around me. And then it makes me realize how much that third group is of how I am to others.

Speaker 1: 24:46

Serving others is our key function, in my opinion. I'm foot here to serve others, and the more I serve others, the more I will find my true purpose. The more I'm going to align with who God wants me to be, the better I feel inside. The less I'm looking inside for answers, because maybe the answers aren't inside and maybe we spend too much time looking. Well, how do I feel right now? Does this trigger me? How do I feel about this? How do I feel about that? How did that make me feel? The more time I spend serving others, pouring myself into others, the more I get filled up and I don't have time to go. How do I feel? I just feel awesome. It feels so good and it builds me up so much to serve those other people. Plus, I know that's what he wants me doing. So he gives me that extra billing and all of a sudden, I'm walking around real full and ready to share that fullness with the world.

Speaker 2: 25:40

And there's a difference, like what you're talking about in servant leadership. I want to just make this clear because I do think there's this misconception that happens a lot with women so I'm going to call this out where we had this martyr approach to life which is we pour from an empty cup, we pour from an empty cup, we pour from an empty cup. You can't really serve in that way because then you feel the resentment builds. So I would just say what Marcus is talking about assumes that you are in connection with yourself and that higher power if you think about it as a spiritual being, having a human experience that divinity lives within you. So if you are in connection with your higher power, you are returning home to self, then you have something to pour from, then you can go out and be in service of others and have great impact. So I'm not suggesting and neither is Marcus that you go out empty and try to serve in that service in a martyr sort of way. That's your mission, because I really caution you must fill that cup first in a authentic way in order to give to others.

Speaker 2: 26:54

What do they say? Put the oxygen mask on first before you go to others. I think that is a critical piece, because Marcus is able to give, because Marcus takes care of Marcus in an authentic way From the moment he wakes up. Then is in meditation, to what you eat and consume, to resting, even and I think a lot of women tend to go through their list of my children, my spouse, my parents, all the people in my life, my friends, all my work, and then me, at the very, very bottom, which I know for a fact because I adopted that early on in my life, because that was what was modeled behavior for me, for young women, doesn't work, and more is it what we're supposed to do.

Speaker 1: 27:37

Thank, you, by the way. What a beautiful clarification. And it just goes to show how much you and I are on the exact same wavelength, because they say staffed conversation less than an hour ago with my wife and, by the way, I have the most amazing wife on the planet, no offense, michelle, she had this conversation. She's really come to this realization and she is exactly the woman you just described. Where it is, everybody else is before her on the list, and my whole life with her I've been going, babe, put yourself higher, put yourself higher, put yourself higher.

Speaker 1: 28:08

And the exact thing I said to her today is all these things that I do for myself that might look selfish to other people I get my workouts in and morning yes, workouts. I get my food properly prepared for the day, I take my cold tub. I do my this, I do my that. I do all this. I have my prayer time. I do all that so that I can enter the world with a full cup. If I skip any of that stuff that I know I need, I can serve properly, and so it's not selfish for me to do these things. It would be selfish not to, because if I don't do those things, I can't serve. I can't show up the way God wants me to show up. I can't show up the way the world needs me to show up.

Speaker 1: 28:51

That would be selfish. Plus, I also know that I'm gonna fall apart. I'm gonna fall apart really, and then other people are gonna have to take care of me. That's super selfish.

Speaker 2: 29:00

Yeah, no, bingo spot on. And I really wanna know what we're gonna talk about this, how early your day starts, cause that was a long list of things to get going before you enter the world. So I'm taking notes here, marcus, and for anyone who has not heard of Marcus before, please I'm gonna include the links to his IG to play a bigger game in the show notes. Please go look him up. He has had an incredible journey. I mean, when I say he takes care of himself, just Google Marcus Collius.

Speaker 2: 29:35

This is a fine specimen of a human being, if I must say so myself, and it is because he is incredibly disciplined and he is very committed, and he knows that, taking care of himself, he has something to give to others, and I say that with confidence, having spent time with you and having read a lot of interviews that you've done in the past, too, that are very important to you. Tell us a little bit about what's going on in your world right now, because there are two major things that I'm aware of. One you're working on a book, so we can be writing buddies. I love that.

Speaker 1: 30:10

When are things gonna happen? Would you have a date in mind?

Speaker 2: 30:13

Spring of 2024. Are we on the same trajectory? Did we not know that? That's crazy. I don't think we knew that.

Speaker 1: 30:20

Oh, my goodness, so we've been in our launch, or maybe we should launch on the same. You know what we're doing a huge event in spring, probably March of 2024.

Speaker 2: 30:30

Okay, well, I won't be in March, then I'm gonna compete with you. I gotta be with you. I just support you on the journey.

Speaker 1: 30:37

I think we'll both be able to support each other inside.

Speaker 2: 30:39

I'm probably a little bit later. I'm a little bit warmer weather kind of launch gal, so I think possibly May or June, so that we can create the launch road and really pave the way. And plus I would like to put it out there multiple city launch. So yeah, lots of cool things to talk about, but tell us a little bit about the book. And then I really wanna talk about your new venture, why you help people understand. You stepped down from your baby Magnum Neutrocyticals and that couldn't have been easy, but it's allowed. You and we talked a little bit about this. This whole addition by subtraction, moving away from this massive company and Empire, new Belt is allowing you to step into this new season of your life, with all the risks and all the things that are associated with trying something new, and it's super exciting. So tell us about the book.

Speaker 1: 31:40

Thank you, so exciting. So let's create a bit of a story of what happened here. I felt called. It was last April, felt called that God said to me you're gonna start a new chapter in your life and I was just overwhelmed with excitement. I'm like amazing. I was feeling a little bit stagnant, a little bored. If you knew all that was going on in my life, you'd be like are you serious right now? And so the next thing is he called me to start writing this book and it really just flowed through me and it's called Play a Bigger Game because that's a marking of my life.

Speaker 1: 32:11

I knew I was being called to play a bigger game and so this book is my life work as far as all the lines, tips and techniques that I learned along the way to become the man I am today talking about discipline, talking about consistency, talking about health, talking about relationships, and I've tried to be very vulnerable.

Speaker 1: 32:31

Hopefully you got a taste of that today. If this is the first time you guys have met me and just being really vulnerable with my stories, telling you about my upbringing, and I'm hoping people will feel it's very relatable. There's going to be something in that where it's like I see myself in Marcus like, yeah, I grew up poor, or yeah, I come from a divorced family, or yeah, I've got daddy issues and just how to get over that. And there's so much beauty. I don't mean to my own because it's really not my work. God works this book through me but there's so much beauty in the forgiveness that came through this book and into these pages and in my forgiveness to my father. The publisher, reddit is like. This is so remarkable. I'm so psyched to share this with the world.

Speaker 2: 33:14

Have your parents read the book. They don't Did I happen? Okay.

Speaker 1: 33:19

I have a great relationship with my parents. I'm putting in extra effort and I don't blame them for it at all. When I was seven and they divorced, they had already been growing apart for a long time. There wasn't love Like. I never saw love in the house. I was never modeled love. Then my father left. My mom now had to go back to space and time and work whole time. But she was also a mom to my brother's 10 years older than me. In her words, she was kind of done with being a parent. So I became my mom's roommate at seven, at 16. I asked my roommate, my mom, to move out. I said, mom, I'm going to buy half of the condo from you. I'll rent it out to other people. Maybe it's time for you to move on.

Speaker 2: 34:03

You were at 16.

Speaker 1: 34:05

And it was awesome. I mean, the independence that I got from that was amazing. So, again, I don't blame her. She did what she had to do. She had lots of kids to feed and I love him, including my mom. I want her to live a life and I love that she went back to school. I love that she went to work. That was good for her.

Speaker 1: 34:22

And now I don't blame my father either. I blamed him for a lot of years. I don't blame him. He played his role in my life perfectly. How can I not thank him for that? Because of him, I became super independent.

Speaker 1: 34:33

Because of him, people who have daddy issues, people who have fathers who left them or didn't ever relationship with them or died or whatever the case they're drawn to me and I'm drawn to them to help them. I know I'm most powerfully positioned to help the person that I once was and that is a young dude growing up without a father. I can also take care of young women who have fathers, but I know my little girls will never have that issue. But anyway, back to my father. I forgive him fully and it's not just forgiveness. I'm so grateful that he played his role in my life perfectly. Would I like a father who is there more? Of course I wouldn't, but I wouldn't be the guy I am today if he was there. So which way do you want to go here? And that's, I think, one of those big questions everybody needs to ask. You're like, yeah, but this is what ruined me and my divorce and this or that. Okay, but who are you today? And is there something in who you are today that you can now thank? Whoever helped make you this person? It doesn't mean you have to agree with their decisions. It doesn't mean you have to say, yeah, that's okay to do that to people, but by not forgiving I love this quote is that you're drinking the poison and hoping they're going to die? You're drinking that poison every day. Why not put the poison down and say I forgive them? I'm actually so grateful for them.

Speaker 1: 35:51

I'm thankful to the bullies who bullied. The crap that bullied me to tears, bullied me into fear, living in fear 24, seven back in the day. I'm grateful to them. Why? Because I'm super sensitive to people who get bullied. I watch for that like crazy and I stand up to those people. Now I'm 6.6, over 210 pounds. I'm not afraid to get in the wake of a bully and go, hey, that's not okay, and God's also put me in a power position where I can really step into people's lives and be like, hey, that's not okay and I'm hurting with it, I wouldn't be this guy You're. Those bullies had an help to make me this guy. Do I agree with bullying? Absolutely not. Do I wish you get on to anyone? Absolutely not, but I can be so grateful that it's part of my story.

Speaker 2: 36:35

That's so impactful, what you just said, what you said is so powerful. And then we have very similar experiences around this. The things that were the most challenging for us the adversities that we suffered, the shame that we felt while it was super uncomfortable and super lonely at times ultimately empowered us to become who we became, and so I do think you have to be the kind of person that recognizes that it's through the pain, and I didn't recognize it at the time when I was younger. I was resentful, I felt like I was carrying the boulder, it felt heavy all of that, but as an adult, looking back, I recognize I would never have pushed myself to become into a chi which opened a number of doors for me for opportunities had I not gone through that experience with teenage parents and poverty, and so it took me a really long time. But not only did I forgive my parents, but I'm in a different place. I'm very grateful to say I have a really good relationship with parents today, and I was able to thank them. In fact, when I started the podcasting journey, I made them listen to the trailer and said I want you to feel good about it because I talk about overcoming generational poverty, and I knew it was going to be a sticking point.

Speaker 2: 38:07

My parents worked incredibly hard and I was sort of the first one out of the cycle, but I wouldn't have done it had they didn't have the mindset they had, even though we were in tough circumstances. They put a lot on me of like you're not meant to repeat this, we're meant to do something different. So they gave me a note failure is not an option and no safety net here, kiddo. So go out of the nest, go early, and I feel like that was the key. For me. It was through the adversity, through the challenge, through the hard times, and thank God, I have them. Yes, what are we right?

Speaker 1: 38:42

about. I'm so grateful that you had those times too. Do I wish the law on you? No, I'm so grateful because I get to hang out with this amazing person and it's because of those things that I'm drawn to and I think you're so amazing and I know so many other people on this planet think you're amazing and you're changing lives because of all of that.

Speaker 2: 39:01

I was going to say. But the big thing I want people to really keep in mind is, no matter what kind of adversity or challenges or struggles that you've either gone through or are going through, it will serve you if you reframe it and look for the lesson. It is giving you strength, it is giving you an opportunity to grow, it is giving you an opportunity to make a decision, to show up differently.

Speaker 1: 39:30

Oh, we are so on the same page, because I was literally just going to say almost the same words. The mindset tip here, the change that you can make today, is to recognize that you don't row in the soft times, you don't row in the comfortable times. There is literally zero rows happening when everything is great. Not to say I look for child, this is too good. I'm going to throw a wrench in this. No, I'll enjoy those for a moment. I'll celebrate, but when the challenges arise, it's such a beautiful place now that I've changed my mindset to go awesome.

Speaker 1: 40:03

Because it's through the challenges that we grow, that we become that next level person, and if we face the challenge with sox like I shouldn't be going through this challenge, we don't accept it. Chances are we're not going to learn the lesson and guess what? You're going to have to repeat. It's like going through grades you can't go to grade two if you don't get all the concepts of grade one. And so we're being handed these challenges at summer, tougher than others, but it allows us to get to grade two and grade three and grade four. So what if we looked at challenges as like awesome? There's a new challenge.

Speaker 1: 40:36

I'm telling you, once I made that change. It brings so much peace and calm to the challenge as opposed to, oh, another challenge. What am I supposed to do? This one might kill me. Oh man, I remember those days. I wish I could go back and give young Larkas a smack across the face and go dude, you are taking away years of our life acting like this, and I don't know how Brooke put up with shit folks. You got a smart nut, brooks. When challenges happen right now, they happen every single day you can just go. It's okay, I'm going to get through it and I'm going to learn something awesome and I'm going to learn from a home place and it's not going to ruin me. It's not going to ruin my life.

Speaker 1: 41:14

Even if it did, even if I lost everything, even if I lost all my money and all my possessions, I'm not going to lose this or this and I'm still going to be in a great place, and I know I'm not going to lose my wife, and I don't think a lot of people in my position can say such a thing, and that's not a cocky comic. It's because we have those conversations and our love is not based on well. We do pretty well though. Therefore, I love you. No, it's love first. She and I are a team. We're doing this life together.

Speaker 2: 41:45

All right, you said something earlier, marcus, and I want to back up, because morning routines, we know, set you up for the day and I know a lot of us and I include myself in this category could use some fine-tuning on our morning routines. And you have a very disciplined approach to your day and I'd love for you to A go back over it again because I'm fascinated, and B tell us when that day starts, because you are out and doing in the world. It's not like your day starts at 2 pm. So tell us a little bit about that, because I think the commitment that you make to investing in yourself so that you have the best version of you there is to give the world is what I want people to recognize. There is an incredible thoughtfulness about what you eat, how much sleep you get, working out, meditation, prayer this is not a half hazard, I'm just working out to look good. You are really very committed to making sure the best mark as possible is out in the world. So tell us a little bit about your routine.

Speaker 1: 42:57

Thank you. I'm going to caveat by saying what I am today and this routine. I'm about to go. It's gnarly, it's all the way, so I don't want anybody to listen and go. Well, that's too far, I can't do that, so I won't even start. It wasn't always like this. It's who I am today because I kept progressing over the years and getting more and more disciplined with it and just also fine tuning and understanding like, okay, if I let a little bit of this into my life, it equals a little bit of this. So just start on the journey is the key thing. I'm not a 5am guy, which I think one day I will be I'm just not called to be. Right now I've become super efficient and I love talking about the non-negotiates, so my morning routine is my non-negotiate. People are hey, can we meet at 9am? Unless it's Tony Robbins or somebody who is like that once in a lifetime opportunity which, by the way, lots of once in a lifetime opportunities. To me, if it's not one of those, it's non-negotiable.

Speaker 2: 43:55

We're going to test our friendship. I'm going to text to him I'm in Canada.

Speaker 1: 43:59

I'll take a call from you. So my days usually start sometime between 6.30 and 6.45. I've already started my morning the night before. So the night before is the time when I lay out my clothes, I lay out my supplements. I've got everything prepared, because in the morning, when you're walking downstairs like this is the other thing. Okay, what should I put on? What should I put in my body, right? Nope, I got all that laid out.

Speaker 1: 44:28

I'm on my treadmill within six minutes of waking up on a really good day when I've had a great sleep I mean, I often have a great sleep but when it's like one of those killer days, less than four minutes I'm already on the treadmill. So, on the treadmill, I get my 30 minutes of cardio five days a week. I don't do it, by the way, none of the workouts anymore are for physical, for body. I don't care how my body looks, it's just a nice side. So, coming 30 minutes to cardio, in that 30 minutes I'm also in prayer, I speak to my creator to great way to start my day, and a lot of that, a lot of that is gratefulness. Be thankful for everything that you have in your life. The more time we spend in gratitude, thinking of all the blessings and in the hardest times. I know it's the hardest time to think of it, but it's the most important time for us. You have so much to be grateful for and even if it comes out tough, it's tough to get it out. Think about the things like I've got air in my lungs, I've got limbs that work, I'm able to be on a treadmill. That's incredible. I should be incredibly grateful. I woke up next to an amazing woman. I've got my amazing children. I've got this. I've got this. So be full of gratitude. Now. Cardio is done.

Speaker 1: 45:40

I get my good stretch on so important, especially as we get older, to keep things limber and loose. Man, if your back is tight, if your hips are tight, if you've got knee problems, I don't need to tell you life is now focused on this. That's not where I wanna be. So I know I have to get myself a good stretch, get my breakfast in back to prayer, journaling, and only then do I open my phone for emails. That is critical, non-negotiable. Don't look at your texts, don't look at your emails. Tell me when those are ever positive things that are gonna start you off in a better way.

Speaker 1: 46:16

It's always oh, I gotta take care of this, oh, they need me for this, and now I might skip my workout. Now I'm like, or my workout's gonna be hindered, my prayer is gonna be hindered, because I'm thinking about oh, I gotta think about this. I gotta think about, oh, bad, bad, bad. So now I take care of that stuff. And same with social media. Oh, my goodness, do not open your social media early After that. Now I go for my workout, and fortunately I built a beautiful gym inside my house, so everything can be like this. I don't lose any time.

Speaker 2: 46:44

Get my workout in, go have my meal, so we're talking just like for our workouts. Number two after the Sledgemelt is resistance training. Yeah, so I love to use the weights.

Speaker 1: 46:55

Throw around the weights, get that blood flow and release that hope molecule through the body. It's all better when you've had a good work, and that's critical. People, I can't express this enough. If you don't have exercising your routine, you have to. You are not showing up in the world how you need to. This is not about abshaming or body, this or body that I don't care. I don't care how your body looks. How does your body feel? Your body is telling you what it wants out of you. It wants exercise. We were designed for exercise and when you exercise you're releasing endorphins, you're releasing all these beautiful hormones so that you're more energetic, you are focused properly, you can create solutions, you can see the solutions to problems of your day. When we're in a worse state and we have less energy and we're not in so good, you don't see solutions properly. You come up with one bad solution and then you try to implement it quarterly, so critical.

Speaker 2: 47:54

But keep it simple, right? Don't ever think this. Keep it simple.

Speaker 1: 47:57

Yes, just get your body moving. If you went outside so you're like, oh Mark, I don't have a gym in my house so I can't do it. That's bull crap. Do you have shoes? If you have shoes, you can go for a walk outside 30 to 40 minutes outside. In my opinion, there is way more benefit of that. I actually do the treadmill. The treadmill I put up on the 15 incline so I get pretty gnarly sweaties. But having fresh air, that's amazing. That's so extra good for you. So lined places outside to go for a walk. There is no cost except those shoes.

Speaker 2: 48:30

I would be in prayer if I had my treadmill on the 15% incline tube, that I survive it. So, anywho, we're gonna keep it simple Cause, like we know this already, you cannot be at your optimum level, you cannot live your extraordinary life if your body is not feeling good. They certainly aren't going to be giving the best of yourself, and we all know like. There's so much information out there, but there's just resistance. Training and building muscle so that we maintain strength as we age is so important, and I know a lot of people are like ah, I don't like it. This is not about like. This is about being committed to living your best life and being able to show up in the best you. So keep it simple, but do it. Do it. Have a leg day, have an arm day, have a core day. Keep it simple.

Speaker 1: 49:23

Anybody who says they don't have the time for it. That's a lie. You actually create more time. You create more time by working out. Working out creates more time in your day because you have more energy, you are efficient and effective at a way different level. So that lie that's been told to you, that you're repeating, that I don't have the time.

Speaker 1: 49:43

Kill it, squash it. Start with a 15 minute walk and see how much better you feel. Track it, write it down, journal, tell it like you want it. You know what? I actually came up with better solutions today. I slept better today. Do it again tomorrow. Go for 20 minutes. Oh my goodness, feeling better again. Feeling better again.

Speaker 1: 49:59

You go to the hospital less. You go to the doctors, less. You take less prescriptions. You spend less money on meditation. How is any of that a bad thing? And there's a billion more benefits we haven't even talked about.

Speaker 1: 50:11

But one last thing I got to talk about is food. Yes, please. So I look at food very differently than the average human being and it's very tough because you are inundated with advertisements 24, seven. You see it all over social media the beautiful foods. So I got to say I appreciate, I understand. It's not easy.

Speaker 1: 50:30

Start with baby steps of making the change. So don't try to go all right, I'm done with sugar. Marcus, you convinced me zero sugar starting tomorrow. Okay, that's gonna last until Monday and then you give up forever. I don't like it, I want nothing to do with it.

Speaker 1: 50:46

Baby steps means okay, what if one less day per week you have fast food? So one day you say, okay, you know what? No one Wednesdays is no fast food. And if I drink alcohol four times a week, I'm gonna cut it down to three times. Just a baby step. That's very doable. And you're gonna do that for the next two weeks. Journal it. I did that. I've been doing this for two weeks. That wasn't for her, that wasn't life changing, it wasn't horrible. You can't say where are my results. You're not gonna get results in anything that fast. Anything we're doing, you gotta do it consistently and you gotta do it for a long time. Baby steps now you do it again a little bit harder, just a little bit. Now, instead of three times drinking, you're doing two times drinking for the next couple weeks. Now, not just Wednesdays, but Wednesdays and Fridays are no fast food. See these little incremental steps. Now, after a couple of weeks of this. I know you're gonna go actually do have a bit more in it. My waist is getting a little bit tighter. My wife is looking at me a little more sexier. I like this. All these things make you go.

Speaker 1: 51:46

Okay, now celebrate those wins. Hey, first of all, I'm thick in discipline. I'm awesome. I did not have any fast food on a Wednesdays or Fridays. Way to go, marcus. That celebration is so important and if you need somebody to celebrate with you, you can find Marcus. I love celebrating those wins. I don't care if they're supposed to be small, they're all big to me. I love celebrating wins with people. Again, you're releasing the endorphins, the dopamine. You're going. Oh my goodness, I wanna feel more of this. I'm full on addicted to this. I'm full on addicted to that dopamine rush and, unlike I gotta celebrate. I can give myself something to celebrate. And so now you go a little bit more, a little more baby steps. So food to me is fuel.

Speaker 2: 52:27

Well, so Tuesday is usually taco Tuesday in our house, and I was actually planning my interview with you that day, and so I said what would Marcus do? So we had grilled chicken and sweet potatoes. Does that sound familiar? It was delicious, and broccoli on the grill. No, you're gonna eat it. Everyone's fine. We all survived. We all liked it. Actually, it was quite good. Oh, I love it.

Speaker 1: 52:48

That was good choices. My friend, I wanna celebrate with you. I'm so proud of you for doing that and you're setting a great example for your family and I know they're all gonna love you extra for it.

Speaker 2: 52:59

We may be going out for pizza on Friday then, Marcus. Okay, so I wanna give you the last word here. You are doing a lot of work in the community. You do a lot of speaking. You're very involved. You are what I consider one of those servant leaders that really is looking to make great impact. Tell me a little bit about the work that you're doing in the greater community you serve.

Speaker 1: 53:19

Thank you. So, yes, I love speaking on stages. I love just supporting others in their journey, helping them on their journey, helping them play a bigger game, and so this is what I've been called to you next Play a bigger gamecom. It's a community for high achievers. I'm putting together some of the greatest minds on the planet. These five will challenge you, will show you bigger game. When it opens in early 2024, I'm going to set up a special discount for anybody listening to this podcast, because I know these are the high achievers that I would love to surround myself with. I'd love to spend that time with you. So stay in touch with Michelle. She's gonna hook you up with some unique offerings.

Speaker 2: 54:02

We're gonna do some lives closer to that time as well, just to keep in touch, and we'll let everyone know when player bigger game is available. I do think like look, I've talked about this before. Who you surround yourself with makes all the difference in the world, and we're not suggesting you dump your friends. You want your friends to be involved in your life. You love them dearly. It's about expanding your circle and finding more people that will help challenge you, and I really think about things that maybe you've thought about doing and you haven't done.

Speaker 2: 54:37

I find this a lot with the people I work with. They're like, well, thought about maybe even starting music. I always had a passion for it, but I just never had the time. Or you wanted to start traveling, but you just never had anyone to go with. We're not just talking about go build an entrepreneurial empire. We're talking about all facets of life, and that really means lifestyle, and you know anything about me I'm a big believer that your lifestyle really does come. It's an influence of how you feel on the inside. So if you feel good, then that's going to be reflected back to you on what you're experiencing on the outside. So this is really about leveling up in all areas of your life.

Speaker 1: 55:23

So well said and we speak the same language. Oh, I'm so grateful to be spending time with you. I'm really happy that you're in my circle and I just Absolutely my friends.

Speaker 2: 55:34

You are awesome and I'm gonna get your cell phone number and just to again challenge that whole no-cause before 9 am. Thank you, but no, I'm grateful for you. I'm grateful for your time. We were destined to meet. This was not a coincidence by any stretch of the imagination, and I know that part of our growth will be in finding ways to collaborate, to connect, to impact more people as we go down. So thank you again. Thank you for your time, thank you for coming on the show, thank you for sharing of yourselves and for your journey, and I'm so excited about all the amazing things that you are working on and I can't wait for you all to experience. Play a bigger game.

Speaker 1: 56:15

Thank you for having me. You're amazing. Keep doing the amazing things you're doing.

Speaker 2: 56:19

All right, my friend, We'll talk soon. Bye everyone. Thank you for listening to today's episode.