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Overcomers Approach
“The Overcomers Approach” podcast showcases stories of resilience, where individuals transcend challenges to achieve personal and professional success. With a focus on spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, and financial growth, the podcast inspires listeners to embrace their potential and thrive in all areas of life. Join us to learn how overcoming adversity can lead to evolution, healing, and lasting success.
Overcomers Approach
From the Boxing Ring to Boundless Resilience: Cam F Awesome's Story
Resilience isn't just about surviving challenges—it's about transforming them into springboards for extraordinary achievement. Cam F Awesome, 12-time national boxing champion and former captain of the USA National Boxing Team, joins Nichol Ellis McGregor to unpack how his journey from bullied child to champion fighter equipped him with life-changing wisdom.
"Once you know how to fight, you no longer have to anymore." This powerful insight from Cam reveals how mastering difficult skills builds confidence that radiates outward, changing not just how others perceive you, but how you move through the world. Boxing taught him what true hard work means—especially when the consequence for slacking was getting punched in the face. Those hard-earned lessons translated into a philosophy of strategic nonconformity that guided him through both triumph and setback.
When Cam got kicked off the Olympic team in 2012, losing his home and sponsorships in the process, he turned that devastating moment into fuel for reinvention. Though he initially powered through with anger and a desire to prove critics wrong, he eventually realized most people had forgotten his setback before he had even processed it himself—a profound lesson about how quickly the world moves on from our perceived failures.
The conversation challenges conventional wisdom about success, education, and wealth. Cam advocates for thoughtful consumption that prioritizes freedom over status, sharing practical strategies for building side hustles and directing resources toward what truly matters. His morning routine—writing down ten new things he's grateful for each day—demonstrates how we can program our minds to spot opportunities rather than problems.
Whether you're facing career uncertainty, relationship challenges, or simply seeking a more intentional approach to life, Cam's boxing-inspired wisdom offers a knockout blueprint for turning life's punches into power moves.
More about Cam F. Awesome at https://www.camfawesome.com/
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Good day everyone. This is Nicole Ellis McGregor, the founder of the Overcomers Approach podcast, where I meet with people from different walks of life, different experiences, different journeys, but the overarching theme is that we can overcome any challenge, any failure, any hit that we take on life, because we know that life will life. But how can we grow, how can we become conquerors? How can we make this into really overcoming? So I am so happy to have Cam F Awesome here. He is someone who knows what it takes to turn challenges into championships. Literally. He is a 12-time national boxing champ, three-time Olympic trials champ and former captain of the USA National Boxing Team. But beyond the medals and accolades of the USA National Boxing Team, but beyond the medals and accolades, cam's journey is one of resilience, grit and the power of internal dialogue. Starting out, he was bullied as a child. He found confidence in the boxing ring. Cam transformed setbacks into opportunities, even bouncing back after being kicked off the Olympic team. Now he's taking those lessons that he learned in the ring to inspire others, speaking at schools, workplaces and events about resilience, mindset and overcoming failure.
Speaker 1:Cam F Awesome, welcome to the podcast today. I know my listeners would be empowered and impact from any type of information and your lived experience and turning those setbacks into accomplishments. Welcome, cam. How do you? I want to say thank you again. I appreciate you being here with me today. I know I want to take it back a little bit and then we can come up to current. Being bullied as a child is something that many people can identify with. I can as well, because I know that I was bullied as a child myself. That can be very challenging, but you took those experience being bullied and you took it to the boxing ring.
Speaker 2:tell me a little bit about that journey, uh I I'm dealing with, as a lot of people do deal with it, uh and it manifested itself in a way of anxiety. I was kind of afraid all the time and I felt like I was a victim. And I never wanted to be a victim and I thought, if I joined the boxing gym, I can take matters into my own hands and no longer be a victim. And the first thing I learned when I knew how to fight is once you know how to fight, you no longer have to anymore. Oh, I love that.
Speaker 1:Once you know how to fight, you no longer have to anymore. Oh, I love that. Once you know how to fight, you no longer have to anymore. Get, provide me some more detail on that. I like that.
Speaker 2:I love that so I I know a lot of people won't put their kids in boxing, but I think boxing is the greatest confidence builder for any child, male or female. Because what happens is little steve starts going to the boxing gym and he does jumping jacks, he jumps rope, he hits the bag he still doesn't know how to fight. But all the other kids start saying, oh, don't mess with steve, he's a boxer. So steve starts walking around like he's a boxer and he's no longer walking around like a target or a victim. Yeah, and when you have that confidence of you know how to fight, no one wants to fight you yes.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, bullies, bullies, pick on the weak, yeah it's wrong, yes, and and they sense that and they could pick that up, you know, if you don't have that confidence, I love the fact that you said you know boxing could be good for females or males, it doesn't matter, and that once you get that you know, build up that confidence in boxing, you walk around, I'm sure, with your back straight, confident, looking people straight in the eyes, not looking down. So people are going to think twice about approaching you in that as a victim. They know they got kind of such a situation that this is somebody that got some mental toughness to them, some confidence and some resilience. I love it.
Speaker 2:Yes. Another added benefit to that is once you train yourself to do difficult things, everything else becomes easier.
Speaker 1:Really Wow, wow, and I can identify that, like you said, once you train yourself to do difficult things, everything else becomes easier. For people who are experiencing a little bit of anxiety about that, you know, jumping into a real difficult task, and I can definitely understand that anxiety piece of like hitting that tough challenge up at first. What do you recommend for people, or to even teenagers or youth that want to go forward with a difficult task? That could be anything that could be joining boxing, that could be applying to a school, applying to a job, wanting to really delve into your gifts and talents and maybe do some music, but they're afraid. Is there any key steps that you think people could take to help them go on that journey of tackling a very difficult task?
Speaker 2:I would say the first thing would be is to. I would have them ask themselves what are they afraid of? Yes, because for a lot of us's, looking foolish that's right and that's the cost of admission that's right is possibly falling on your face or messing up or getting embarrassed yeah, and boxing. Getting embarrassed means getting knocked out, but that could be if you're, if you're preparing for a speech, it could be saying the wrong thing. And public speaking is one of the greatest fears there is. And I often ask people when they find out I'm a speaker, they're like how do you do that? How do you get on stages? And I ask them like, hey, have you ever seen a speaker speak? And they're like, yeah, have you ever seen a speaker mess up a word? Yes. Did you hate them? No. Did you want to kill them? No. Do you wish they would get off stage? No. So when you start asking yourself and asking yourself and digging these questions, you realize it's just a surface level fear.
Speaker 1:That's right, I like that. I like that just really taking a step back and kind of reassessing and asking yourself those questions and really what's the worst that could happen? Nothing.
Speaker 2:You know nothing really, it's just your pride, that's right. And the thing is, I would much rather look foolish failing than look foolish for not trying.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, look foolish for failing and just not trying, you know, because failing is how we kind of build ourselves up to really master what we're doing, and we're all going to fail. We're going to take a hit at some point.
Speaker 2:It's not failure we have to avoid. I would say if you can fail without being discouraged, success becomes inevitable. Oh, that's good. And we don't quit. When we fail, we quit. When we get discouraged, success becomes inevitable. Oh, that's good. And we don't quit when we fail. We quit when we get discouraged, that's right. And a lot of us get discouraged before we even start. So we don't, that's right.
Speaker 1:And then, what motivates you? That's right, and you said what motivates you. What if people are challenged by even what motivates them? You know, I've met some people. I'm like, what do you like? What motivates you? And sometimes they don't know, but I know it's deep down inside. What type of techniques do you think can help them tap into what really motivates them?
Speaker 2:I mean, think about and I've heard this think about your inner child and what young you would want. Yes, and I look back at that and I realized like young me wanted attention, I liked performing, I liked making people laugh and actually I was. I was like halfway through my boxing career I was probably about six years into being number one box in the country and I realized that I didn't really want to be a boxer like. I always wanted to be a performer, okay, and I wore capes when boxing and I flipped in the ring and I would do dances. And I realized, oh, I just like performing, right, and I started doing open mic comedy nights, like halfway through my career of boxing, because I was like, oh, that's what I actually wanted to do. Yes, but you have to realize you're like your passion, your hobby, isn't going to pay your bills. That's right, it doesn't have to.
Speaker 1:You're right. I love the fact that you brought that up and I think when people are challenged, whether it's in the workplace, a career, a significant decision, you know that they have to make. Like you said, sometimes your hobby may not pay you, or maybe it might, but if you got to put in the work, it may take years but it gives you some type of intrinsic joy. Like you said, you wore capes, you flipped around, you figured out, you know, like hey, this is what I really want to do, I want to perform. You know I'm a showman, so how you incorporate that into boxing. But also that also led to other pathways for you. So so I like the fact that you said that, because I think people can get stuck into, like whether it's their career decision or whether it's, you know, going back to school or whatever they're facing, like you displayed, like there's an opportunity to pivot, even within the space that you're in yeah, and I would caveat that because yes.
Speaker 2:Because I live a reckless life. Okay, like I take chances, I've lived in a van for years.
Speaker 2:I travel around the world with no money in my pocket, like I'm out here living recklessly Right, but it's because I don't have dependents, that's right. So the advice I give isn't for everyone because because, like, if you got, if you got, kids you need to take care of, or a partner you have to support, or parents you're helping out, be logical. But if you, if it's just you, yeah, oh, take those risks, baby, take those risks. I've got a friend, matt Mays. We have an agreement. I've been friends since I was 16. Ok, so, matt, if, if things ever go sideways, I'm sleeping on your couch.
Speaker 2:Okay, go ahead, go ahead. I don't want to go ahead In 2012,. I got kicked off the Olympic team. I lost my home. I lost all my sponsorships. I slept on Matt's couch.
Speaker 1:Wow, yes, yep, I love that fearlessness and I love the fact how you said just reckless in a good way.
Speaker 1:I like the spin on it most definitely, you know, and that's a discussion that I've had with a lot of young people who don't have dependents yet or who decide, you know, if they may or may not going to have them.
Speaker 1:That's fine, but it gives you an opportunity to explore the world and make choices and have a sense of freedom where you could just do that, you know where.
Speaker 1:And I definitely love that and I want to even like I'm inspired, you know, in a way, because I think that people who go through these chapters in their life, you know, maybe they're at a point where they are empty nesters and then it's kind of like what could I do? Because the kids are raised, you know, maybe it, maybe it's my time, you know, to jump in the van, maybe it's a time to go to laos or or to another country or japan, like you know, and just having that sense of freedom and really, in manifesting that, I I've actually seen that in in people's lives and and I just love that. And I, and what keeps you and which leads me to my next question, um, because I'm sure you might have family or friends that are kind of like okay, what are you doing? What did you say? How do you go? Because there may be some people that maybe want to do some things, but there's more concern about what people are going to say.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, I'm very open about that. I live a weird life. But if we're being real and this is no shade on anyone else, right, but most people are unhappy, most people are depressed, most people are on medicine, yes, I can't let those people dictate what I do with my life. That's right, and I realize that when I because I'm not, I'll be honest. Yeah, when I'm not in a good place, I don't like seeing happy people. When I've been at the lows of my lows, I'm not out here celebrating others, right, like when I was in the depths of depression, I wasn't cheering for people. Yes, so when I'm in a good place now, and I'm grateful to be in a good place, I can't expect someone who's not in a good place to cheer for me the way someone who is will and I don't hold that against them because I understand that's where I was as well. But I can't let those people dictate what I do.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I recently learned the term, so I'm a strategic nonconformist, okay.
Speaker 1:I'm going to takeconformist. Okay, I'm not going to take that word from you, but go ahead, tell me more about that. I like that.
Speaker 2:So a strategic nonconformist is someone who assesses what most people are doing and takes a different approach. And you have to question everything and you're supposed to even question things you're not supposed to question. That's right. And what I've decided to do is I took an alternative path in life and I first was I didn't have the diction of it, I didn't have the way to express it yet but when I decided not to go to college after high school, I took a look at a few people in my graduating class and I saw where they were in life and I understood, when you take that route, they're going to go like this.
Speaker 2:I understood if I went in my alternative route of boxing and taking a different approach of life, I might take a dip down while they're going up. That's right, but eventually I will catch up to them and pass them. So it wasn't that I was necessarily comparing myself to other people. I just looked at where others were as a marker and I said, okay, in five years I'll check back and see how they're doing, yeah, yeah. And five years later I got kicked off the Olympic team and things was not good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, You'll have to tell me more about that, because getting kicked off of anything, you know whether it's at a job, it's at school. You know I work in public safety and in community and I work in human services and people can be shamed if they get fired from a job, get discharged from a program, get discharged from the military. There's so many things that can happen and I see a lot. You know, a lot is going on with a lot of people. Like you said, a lot of people are on medication, A lot of people are not well, and so with that, how did you deal with? Because I know people, when they get hit like that, it's hard for some people to recover. So how did you make it through that journey?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wish I had a way better answer. But anger and vengeance. Okay, I sat around and I stewed. Oh, I stewed and I was like, oh, I can't wait to prove everyone wrong. Yeah, all these people are laughing at me and they're making fun of me and I use that as fuel. But now, when I look back at it, I realized no one actually cared that I got kicked off the team, but before the Olympics even started, people forgot I wasn't going Right. And when I look at it, no one was mad at me. No one, it was all my own perception. Oh, people are laughing at me. No one, it was all my own perception. I'm like oh, people are laughing at me, people think I'm, I'm a joke, and none of that was actually true. That was just my ego and I was hurt and I was looking to lash out. But yeah, anger is a great fuel. It's talking, it's. It's. It's flammable though, yes, so dangerous.
Speaker 1:I agree, and and and. Anger is a part of our natural human experience. Uh, sometimes I think when we go beneath the anger, there's probably another emotion that may lie under there. Um, I also believe that anger could be used righteously, in a way you know. It could be used to overcome. It could be a way to build yourself up. It could be a way to be like I look at here, I told you so I'm I'm not done yet you know it could be used for so many things, so I could definitely relate to that. Um, how did boxing because I'm sure you learned some great things out of boxing you know mental toughness, resilience, you know maybe taking some losses, winning? How did you use those techniques to to put you where you are now in life? How did some of those things help you?
Speaker 2:the first thing that it helped me was it taught me what the definition of hard work was. Yes, uh, because I didn't know what hard work was until I got punched in the face for not working hard enough. Oh, wow, okay, the term hard work itself is subjective. Yes, right, there's. There's a. There's someone who's sitting in an ergonomically correct Okay, the term hard work itself is subjective. Yes, right, there's someone who's sitting in an ergonomically correct chair with Wi-Fi and air conditioning, works an eight-hour shift with a lunch break, and after they get done they're like oh, I had a long hard day at work, right.
Speaker 2:There's also a lady in the Congo with a baby strapped to her back mining for cobalt for 18 hours a day. That's right. She also thinks she works hard. Yes, so when people say they work hard, are they actually working as hard as they can? Because no one wants to admit it? But we live in a utopia. Yes, like if you make $34,000 a year, you're in the 1% of the world. We don't realize how great we have it because we're constantly comparing ourselves to other people. That's right. We piss in potable water. Yes, some people have to hike miles every morning to go get fresh water. Our life is so easy that difficult things, things that should be that difficult, seems a lot more difficult for us. Yes. So I think one of the great things that boxing allowed me to do was to travel over to 30 countries, and if you know anything about boxing, the best boxing gyms are in the hood. Yes, they are what I learned about. The hoods in other countries are way worse than our hoods.
Speaker 1:Oh, so it's on a whole nother level Okay.
Speaker 2:We have. We have like government assistance. We have trash service Like a lot of countries. They're not dirty, but they don't have like government assistance. We have trash service like a lot of countries. They're not dirty, but they don't have a sanitation system. Yes, where do you put your trash? I mean, it gave me such perspective to realize how good I have it here in the States.
Speaker 1:That's right. I'm so glad you said that. You know I've done a little bit of traveling myself and having that view and I've been to countries where I did see that. Or there wasn't water, they had to walk miles to get water, there were dirt floors. I went in their home. It was a clay home and they were happy.
Speaker 1:I bet they were happy. Joy Like you just can't even imagine the joy, the peace, the sense of community that I observed was just on a whole nother level, and I love the fact that you said that because it changes your worldview and it makes you take a different appreciation for what we do have. And also, after I had those experiences, there were just some things that just didn't bother me anymore and some of my friends and people around me was like Nicole, come on, this is major. And I'm like no, it really isn't. Like people don't have water to drink, they're missing a leg and they don't have a leg to put on, they just have the nub, but they're moving around and they're working. They're working every day. So we have doctors, insurance. Of course, things are not perfect, but I love the fact that you can keep us centered and grounded and how privileged and blessed we are in the United States because we are, yeah, oh, definitely, wow, wow.
Speaker 1:Another thing in terms of boxing what are some of the? Is there anything that you took from boxing that you'd be like I could not do with that? You know, like I know there's some things that helped in terms of resilience and mindset and hard work. Are there some things you're like? Nah, I could do without that.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Getting punched in the face.
Speaker 1:That's definitely a big thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't like that part. One of the things I realized and I won't say his name out of respect, but in about 2000,. It was 2009, 2009, 2010. I ran into a boxer at this. It was like a hall of fame boxing event and it was a uh, a boxer. He saw me, he was like, oh cam, he said his little thing and then 45 seconds later we made eye contact again and he did it all over again.
Speaker 2:He had very short-term memory and his wife just walked over and guided him away. Wow. And I was like, oh, that's the other side of this. That's right, because I took the approach of like. After I won my first national championship, I realized that this would be a more valuable path for me than college. Okay, if you have an associate's degree and I have a national championship and we apply for the same marketing job, which one do you think is going to get it Right? Now, if you have an associate's degree and I have a national championship, but you're a part of a fraternity and the person who's hiring is in that same fraternity, you're going to get it as well. So what I realized is what you know was very useless, because if everyone has the same information, it's not really worth anything, and with the internet, information is free, so I don't really the. The only value of college is the connections you can make, because we got chat, gpt, I completely agree with you.
Speaker 1:I completely agree with you. Um, and that's, you know, just taking a step back, you know, I think, and I love that, and I love the space that we're now moving into, like the value of education is not what it used to be. It really isn't. It's you know. It's like you said, it's all in who. You know, how you know, how do you want to apply the knowledge you learn? And you can learn that right at chat GBbt. You can google it, you can do evidence-based research. Whatever you want to do, it's, it's at your hand. You know how are we going to apply it to to our lives, or what does that look like?
Speaker 2:yeah, what, what, what like has me wondering is like people who because there's a lot of people who are still looking to get, like, student loans paid off for because what they make isn't enough to pay off the student loans, which means the degree wasn't worth what they thought it would be worth. That's right. Those people are still sending their kids to college because they don't know another way.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so good. That's so good Because I'm one of those people that got three degrees, because I was told, like, go get your education, do what you need to do. And even when I got my first degree, I was superv like, go get your education, do what you need to do. And even when I got my first degree, I was supervising people who had way more degrees than me, who came from privileged schools. They there was a sense of anger, though, at me because it was like, how dare you supervise me? And you got an associate's from a community college, which I did, but it was accredited, and they were looking at other things within the call, outside of my degree.
Speaker 1:But some people hold so much value in like, I went to this school, you know, I got this master's degree, it really it's got. You got to apply interpersonal skill set, you got to lived experience. There's so many things that come with people and in some of the people that I worked with, some people were homeless, some people I met a lot of clients who had tragedies in life and some of my most profound conversations and the most wise people were not the people sitting in big decks with these big degrees. These are people with lived, full experiences, and so I love the fact because we need to value so much. People can bring so much more to the table. But I feel like we're moving in a shift where people are doing that now, and I have a son who graduated from high school.
Speaker 1:He was in football and he decided that he didn't want to go to college for football because he said I researched the money that I would make. He's like the top, you know, 5% they get this, but I don't want to do this to my body and then I'm still not really going to end up with money, you know. So it's not worth it. So he was ahead of the game and he's like I don't really want to go to school, it's not for me. I mean, he's smart, he's making six figures, he's young, he gets to travel the world, he's making really good money. Yeah.
Speaker 2:With very little debt, I'm sure.
Speaker 1:With no debt. He don't play the debt thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and here's something that I didn't get my first credit card until I was almost 31. Wow, because everyone. First of all, if anyone tells you all you need to do whatever they say after that, ignore them, right. All you need to do is just pay it off every month, like okay, then why is more than 90% of Americans in debt they can't get out of? That's right, it's not that easy. So my thing was if I couldn't afford it, I didn't deserve it. Yeah, I drove an old car. I wore older clothes. I would go to the lost and found All my basketball shorts were from the lost and found it's workout clothes.
Speaker 2:What are we doing? I love it. I had and I understood the, because we're in consumer slavery right now in America.
Speaker 1:We are no matter how much you make, you can find things that you want to spend all the money and, yeah, I feel like we can give up. That's a whole nother class. But we are big consumers and some of the most impoverished people are the biggest consumers and we and if that happens, the penalty for not having the resources that you need and you're being a huge consumer. You're just putting yourself in slavery. I agree with you yeah, that's I.
Speaker 2:I get everything from. I get everything secondhand, facebook market, thrift stores. Yeah, like my draws, I'll buy draws, new. But like, if I'm buying a dinner table, like I'm getting that on facebook market, yes, and my girl's gonna refinish it, she's gonna paint it up, make it look nice, and we've. We usually switch apartments every, every year almost, because we like to move. We just moved to austin and everything she gets there she's, she's better with it than me. She gets everything on facebook market and she keeps a track of what she sells things for and she sells it for more than she buys it see, that's great.
Speaker 1:Entrepreneurship, skills savvy. That's what it's really all about. It's being creative and inventive. Yes, I love it. And, um, I tell everybody that's where you should furnish your whole place because sometimes you can get it to next for not next to nothing, some things, because some people just want it gone because they don't want to move it. You know they don't want to. They're like, hey, don't come, don't want to. They're like, hey, don't come and get it, yeah.
Speaker 2:During the pandemic. I'll share this story. It has nothing to do with overcoming, but during the pandemic my girl, she wanted to start refinishing furniture as a hobby. So we'd find tables on Facebook market for free. She would refinish it and then I had a van the van I used to live in. I gutted it out, so we would deliver it. So we would get the tables for free. She'd fix it up. We'll sell it for $400. Free delivery Because I had the van. If you want to negotiate on price, sure, but I can't deliver it. That's right. I love it. I love it. Yeah, the problem, what we ran into was I would go pick up tables, okay, and they would be perfect, there'd be nothing wrong with it, yeah, and I would just screenshot their facebook market post and then leave it in my van and sell it as is.
Speaker 2:That see, that's what it's all about, I love that and but it that allowed me the financial room to do things I was actually passionate about. That's right, like could sure I could afford the nicest cars and nicer clothes, but then the actual things I want to do, like travel and have fun and sleep in, like. For me, money equals freedom, but if I spend the money I don't got no freedom.
Speaker 1:That's right, it really, it really does. I appreciate that and I know my listeners are well, because I feel like what you and your girlfriend's significant other did could apply to other facets of our life as well. I like that, and so that's just confirmation for me as well, just in terms of you know, trying to strategize and you said a nonconformist strategist. I think you said, or I love that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And another thing is like I, that's not the way I used to think. Yeah, that's the way she thinks, Okay. And I realized that your partner inspires you and, like I, bleed into her, she bleeds into me and I'm Mr Go, go, go, go go. She's missed. Stop read the signs, enjoy yourself. And she's allowed me to slow down enough for me to develop what I'm doing. So it's very important the partner you choose.
Speaker 1:I agree 100%. I do what. My husband will be married 12 years together, 14. And I believe and this is another part our listeners can take from it the person that you decide to partner with, marry, marry or join in your life is a major thing because they could really support you to your next level. They could really, you know and you know, wherever you know, you know they may be weaker or stronger at the compliment. You can compliment each other in that way, and me and my husband are similar in that aspect. You know he's very go, go, go as well. I'm a process person. I'm like hold up, put the brakes on, let's process it. And things are very black and white, but we've been able to become better, stronger, wiser people. We've been able to build a life together and so if you're not with that right person, that could be very challenging. That goes for friendship, business partners or whatever. So there's some takeaways about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah. Who do you surround yourself with? That's, that's, that's a big thing, because I'm very so, I've got very big goals and I and when I tell someone my goal, I'll tell someone a financial goal, and I pause for a second because I want to see their reaction. Right, if they say, oh, that's a lot of money, why you need that much money, right? Oh, just because you can't get it doesn't mean I can't, right, wow, and if, and then I just know what I can share with that person from here on out.
Speaker 1:That's right, that's that's. That's a key takeaway. I love it. Okay, as we're winding down here, I want to be respectful for time. I got two more questions and then we'll close out In terms of now that you're doing more of the thing that you loved.
Speaker 1:You took that challenge of being bullied. You used boxing as kind of an outlet to kind of springboard you. You did an assessment. I love the fact that you kind of think outside the box and have this fearlessness to you, and I think entrepreneurs, students, youth people who may be in a challenging space in terms of their career I think there's definitely some key things that they can take away in terms of mental toughness and resilience and not being, you know, thinking about what. The worst that can happen is that, like you said, you might lose your ego for a minute, but most people forget about what happened. You're still caught up in your head about it. So I love that. So, with that, as you move on in life and you're doing all the things you dreamed of doing and you're going to continue on this journey, what continues to inspire you to take things to the next level?
Speaker 2:Money. Okay, I love it. Money. I ain't going to be real, I love money. The happiest I've ever been is when I had money. If money can't solve a problem, it is not a problem, it's a reality, yes, yeah. And also, being broke ain't going to change your reality either. So I want money.
Speaker 1:That's right, yeah. And also, being broke ain't going to change your reality either. So I want money. That's right, yeah. That's something all our listeners could appreciate, including myself. Money gives us more choices. Money is energy, and I do believe you attract more when you're living in your authentic self and you're focused and you're centered and you're living your dreams and what you are motivated to do. I believe money comes to you. It comes easier or different, that's the best way I can explain it and you're living your dreams and what you are motivated to do. I believe money comes to you. It comes easier or different, that's the best way I can explain it. But money does solve a lot of issues. I can say that you have a lot more choices, for sure, in terms of that. What do you do for self-care? What do you do to keep yourself centered and grounded? So when you need that break, yeah.
Speaker 2:I can tell you right here always, keep, always keep it on me. So every morning I wake up before I look at my phone. So your brain is most receptive to information first thing in the morning. If you're familiar with your reticular activating system, it's a filter in your brain. What you seek is what you find. Your brain takes in billions of bits of information every moment and out of the the billions of bits, it only shows you 35 bits. So if you ever heard, what you seek is what you find, yeah, I decided to change what I was looking for. That's good. So let's say you go shopping for a yellow car all weekend. You don't find one. But after that you start seeing yellow cars everywhere. Yeah, the second you made your mind conscious that you're looking for a yellow car, it starts spotting all the yellow cars it does. All those yellow cars were always there, you just never noticed it. It's why, whichever car you drive happens to be one of the most popular cars on the road. That's right, it ain't. It's just what your brain's looking for.
Speaker 2:Most people start their day with the news. I don't watch the news. I don't know what's going on the world. I don't care about politics. I don't vote. None of my business. But if you start your day with the news, you're starting your day with, even in the background, playing death, murder, rape, genocide, destruction, war. So when you start looking for yellow car, you start seeing yellow cars. That's right. You start your day looking for death and destruction. What you're going to find? Death and destruction, what you're gonna find, that's what you're gonna find. So I start my day every day, I write, I write a list of 10 things I'm grateful for. I never repeat anything on this list. Every day is 10 things. And then I and I write a few affirmations uh, my five goals and my yearly quote in this year, all about abundance 2025. Because I realized there's so much yes, and just because I have doesn't mean other people can't. And just because other people have, and what I found in life is, the more successful a person is, the more they're willing to help others.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that, I love that. So don't be fearful of approaching those successful people, because they might be the ones that say come on, I got the information for you. Yeah, but also don't waste their time.
Speaker 2:That's right. If I meet with a person and they give me their valuable time, I'm taking notes and I'm going to get everything I, everything they say to do, I'm going to get done. I will avoid that person until I get everything on my list done, because my fear is I run into them and they'll say, hey, have you been working on that thing? And I'm like, oh, the way to success is taking action. We read books because we value someone's opinion, but as soon as we get to the end of the chapter it gives us an action statement. We skip over it and keep reading.
Speaker 1:That's good. That's a message right there Don't waste your time or anybody else's time and take action, because ain't nothing we can get done until we do that. I love that. Well, cam, I greatly appreciate it, as I have you give your information for your website and your web link if people want to reach out to you for a speaker, purchase your book or any other information that you may have, or maybe they want to schedule a consultation call with you. But before you give the web link, I didn't ask the name, cam f awesome, where'd you get it from?
Speaker 2:before you give your web link, uh after so remember I wore capes and I danced, and all that stuff after I got kicked off the olympic, one of the major comments on social media was I bet he's humble. Now I looked up the definition of humble. Okay, Having or showing a lower, modest estimate of one's own importance. The Latin root word is lowly grounded. You cannot reach for the stars if you remain grounded. Humility is not a virtue I value. I threw it out the window. I'm Mr Awesome.
Speaker 1:Okay, Mr Awesome, we will take that With that. What is your web link so that when people want to reach out to you for any of your services?
Speaker 2:My web link is camfawesomecom and at camfawesome on all social media because I'm not famous enough for anyone to steal anything.
Speaker 1:I love it. Listeners, I know that you have really been impacted by what Cam has given us today. I appreciate it. I'm sure you will as too, cam. I appreciate you taking your time out today. It's such an honor to have this conversation and I know that if people take action based on what you said, life can start changing right away and that what you do every morning. That's something I'm going to implement into my day. I do that in a different way, but I like some additional things that you added in there, so I appreciate that you have an amazing day. Thank you, cam F. Awesome, it has been a pleasure. Thank you for having me. Thank you.