Inspiring Transformations: Brian Biro Shares His Secrets to a Breakthrough Life

🎙️ Welcome to the latest episode of the Timeless Vitality podcast with Kate Beck and Amber Stitt, where we embark on an enlightening journey exploring the essence of vitality, joy, and resilience. 

🎤 In this episode, host Amber Stitt, alongside co-host Kate Beck, welcomes the dynamic Brian Biro, America's #1 breakthrough speaker.

🙏 Together, they explore the power of mindset, embracing gratitude, and breaking through fears to achieve personal freedom and greatness.

🏊 Brian shares his inspiring journey from U.S. swim coach to becoming a revered speaker, author, and businessman, emphasizing the significance of living a life filled with purpose and joy.

💪 He discusses the pivotal moments in his life that led him to shift his mindset from comparison to embracing his full potential. 

❤️ Brian offers valuable insights into how we can integrate joy, gratitude, and a positive mindset into our lives by looking at possibilities instead of limits.

⏳ Listen as Amber, Kate, and Brian explore the importance of being fully present, finding purpose in every phase of life, and the power of gratitude in achieving a state of "timeless vitality." 

 👩‍❤️‍👩 Brian shares personal stories, including the touching moment that taught him the significance of presence with his own family.

💯 Whether you're planning for the future, navigating transitions, or simply seeking motivation, this episode will inspire you to break through fears and embrace life's limitless possibilities.

📽️ To watch this video podcast: https://youtu.be/VbV0xAUqOsc

🔗 Connect with Brian Biro: 

📲 Website: www.BrianBiro.com

📲 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbiro

🔗 Connect with Amber and Kate: 

📲 Website: www.Timeless-Vitality.com

📻 Stay Tuned for More: Join us on the journey to thrive well beyond 100, and let's create a timeless legacy together!

#timelessvitalitypodcast #amberstitt #katebeck #brianbiro #pathwayswithamberstitt 

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Transcript

Kate Beck [00:00:03]:
Welcome to the Timeless Vitality podcast where co-hosts Kate Beck and Amber Stitt explore the unique journeys, inspiring stories, and timeless wisdom of those who embody vitality and resilience.

Amber Stitt [00:00:17]:
Together we discover what it means to thrive well beyond 100, sharing insights that empower you to live with purpose and create a lasting legacy.

Kate Beck [00:00:27]:
Let's get started with today's episode.

Amber Stitt [00:00:30]:
Hello and welcome to the Timeless Vitality podcast. I am your host Amber Stitt, along with my co-host, Kate Beck. Welcome, Kate.

Kate Beck [00:00:38]:
Hi, Amber. Delighted to be here.

Amber Stitt [00:00:40]:
And today we have America's # 1 breakthrough speaker, Brian Biro. Welcome to the show today.

Brian Biro [00:00:48]:
Thank you, Amber. It's a joy to be with you. I just love the title. Your beautiful thing. Timeless is such a powerful thing. I love it.

Amber Stitt [00:00:54]:
I gotta give credit to Kate. I think she was the one that masterminded that at the end of our brainstorming session.

Brian Biro [00:01:00]:
Well done, Kate.

Kate Beck [00:01:02]:
Thank you.

Amber Stitt [00:01:03]:
So, Brian, you're here because our listeners need to know, how do they integrate joy, gratitude, a positive mindset, and you've been coined to say, "Start to look at the possibilities, instead of the limits." And the listeners have listened to multiple episodes where we talk about the hard stuff, the hard conversations. What are we going to do with that beginning phase of planning, talking with our family, getting our affairs in order? So that's not always fun, but we got to do it. And so there's tools and resources that have been acknowledged through our previous episodes. And then we're going to get into the mindset and more of that positive thinking that you live and stand by. I mean, if I even email you, you're bringing joy to my inbox. Literally. I mean, you put it out there and I think that's probably pretty intentional here.

Amber Stitt [00:01:52]:
So can you tell our audience, if they don't already know you yet, what you do and really what are you providing as a speaker, author, businessman? Let everyone know a little bit about you.

Brian Biro [00:02:03]:
Well, I have had a wonderful ride in my life. I've had three careers. My first career, I was a United States swimming coach. So I love the whole concept of trying to rise to your potential. So it was a great training ground based upon loving people and understanding. You don't coach swimming, you coach people. I'm probably the only guy, you know who went to graduate school after leaving coaching to get a life instead of a job. I loved coaching, but I didn't know myself outside of coaching.

Brian Biro [00:02:29]:
And so I decided I wanted to have more balance in my life. And that was my corporate career. And now for 34 years I've been doing this work that I love so dearly as a speaker and an author. And I'm called "America's Breakthrough Speaker", which I love because I believe that is the greatest opportunity we have in life, is to break through from fear to freedom, from failure to faith, from ego to we go, and from good to great. And I've been passionate about understanding how do we break through those fears, because there really is one breakthrough. You break through from fear to love. And that's where the joy comes from, moving from fear to love. And so I love to get people in my programs, in my keynotes, to actually do.

Brian Biro [00:03:04]:
Because when we hear, we forget. When we see, we remember. But when we do, we understand. And so I like to take the principles of a breakthrough life, have them actually apply it during my program, and break through. I've delivered about 1900 presentations over the last 34 years all around the world. Can't wait for my next one coming up. And I plan to do it as long as I'm standing.

Amber Stitt [00:03:24]:
Love that. I mean, what was this breakthrough, number one? What triggered it? What was it?

Brian Biro [00:03:30]:
Well, you know, as a coach, what you're trying to do is help your athletes break through. It's really not about technique. It's really about their mindset. It's really about, "Am I good enough? Will I ever be good enough? What if I fail?" That fear of failure. And so the biggest breakthrough of all is breaking through fear. That really comes down to every breakthrough is in some form of breaking through fear. We can call it a lot of different things, but that's what it is. For me itself, my biggest breakthrough was changing one word in the way I saw life.

Brian Biro [00:03:58]:
I grew up with a dad like a lot of us grew up with a dad who had a really hard time saying, "I'm proud of you, I love you." In fact, he never said it. And so I was so hungry for that external approval. And as a result, I started living my life with this insatiable obsession that I had to be the best at whatever I did. And that's all about comparison, which is a fruitless endeavor. One day, actually the darkest day of my life, I was 21 years old, and I thought I just didn't matter in this world, that I would never be good enough. I realized at that moment that I'd lived my life with this futile drive to be the best. And I switched from being the best to pursuing being my best.

Brian Biro [00:04:37]:
No longer was it about comparison. No longer was it about anything except what I put in about controlling my controllables. And so that was my big breakthrough. And it was such a magnificent, enormous change in my life. I became fun to play with. Before that, I wasn't a lot of fun because I had to win. Now I was just having fun. And the fun part is I did better when I made that shift.

Brian Biro [00:04:58]:
So for me, that was a really powerful breakthrough moment in my life. And I get more joy out of helping people discover that they're not overachievers. They help people realize that they have more in them than they ever dreamed of. And I like to have them do it mind, body and spirit, because that's when they really get it inside every one of their 60 trillion cells.

Amber Stitt [00:05:18]:
Ooh. Yeah. Well, and I've mentioned to you about our pearls and we talk about having purpose and empowerment and just that story from age 21, probably many more after, though, that you had that purpose. Now you were in control of that and that empowered you. Then you could have accountability to yourself. And yes, it's still important, the external factors, but you are in control to say, "Okay, how am I going to plug in?" You gotta start with yourself. You gotta start the work, have those hard conversations, be accountable to yourself, and then really dial in. Because if you don't know yourself, it is going to be really hard to enjoy the ride.

Brian Biro [00:05:51]:
It absolutely is. And you'll make wrong choices because they're based upon nothing that you control. You ever notice that when we focus on what we control, how much more optimistic we are, how much more joyful we are, how much more momentum we feel in our lives? It's when we try to control the things we don't control like other people. That's when we get frustrated, scared, beaten down, defeated. So it is a real essential ingredient to discovering joy and energy is to start to focus on what you do control and let go about what you don't.

Kate Beck [00:06:21]:
Well, I'm always interested in when was it the toughest time for you? Like, when did you find yourself? "Okay, I have this big breakthrough from fear to love, and that it's me that I have to focus on." But when did you find it at the toughest part, where you're like, "I don't know if I can do it." Tell me a little bit about that.

Brian Biro [00:06:39]:
Well, that was when I had that breakthrough. I was 21 years old. I went to Stanford University, really great school. I always wonder how I got in. I still question that to this day. But I got in and I had a wonderful time. And I was looking around at all my friends and they were going to law school and business school and graduate school of some sort. And they all seemed to be on a path.

Brian Biro [00:06:57]:
And I was trying to figure out what I loved. And I actually knew what I loved, which was coaching. But part of me was that comparison part, was going, "Well gosh, they're going to be doctors and I'm going to be a swimming coach." And so I started to just crumble inside, thinking, "I'm just not that good. I'm just not worth it." And that was the down point, actually. I never really tell people this, so you guys are bringing out of me. I almost thought about taking my own life, that it was that worthless.

Brian Biro [00:07:22]:
And it was that one epiphany of that I was fruitlessly living my life chasing after comparison. And when I let go of that, I could feel every part of my body change. It was like suddenly it was like I had been carrying a giant load on my shoulders that was driving my legs into the ground. And suddenly I felt like I could fly. And that's really been with me ever since. Since that time, I've never doubted that when I focused on controlling my controllables, things will be just fine.

Kate Beck [00:07:48]:
Thank you very much for diving a little bit deeper. I felt like there was a little bit more, I wanted to hear more. Thank you for trusting us and for being vulnerable.

Brian Biro [00:07:56]:
You betcha.

Amber Stitt [00:07:57]:
Thanks for sharing that, Brian. In my mid-40s as a business owner, been an employee, been an owner, been a strategic partner to many. I have people that are younger and then I have people that I see are in this transition. And I have some, they're in their 50s that act like it's almost the end. And Kate and I do not feel that way. We don't believe in that mindset. I do think that others, that if they hit this retirement age, we'll call it again.

Amber Stitt [00:08:21]:
Kate and I don't really believe in this retirement. And I don't think you do either, because you're going to keep doing your thing until you're not standing, like you said. There was a point in your younger 20s that you didn't feel that there was self-worth. You talked about a little bit of this. When people transition in these phases of retirement, that age grouping, do you see where this is? Like you're so instrumental at this age bracket because they could have that vulnerable feeling of what about what am I worth now if I don't have my work, my kids are grown, they're out. Or there's the other maybe caregiving that's weighing them down. There's a point that having the right mind is going to be so important. And can you speak to that? Because it's not always easy.

Brian Biro [00:08:58]:
Oh, absolutely. And I'm in the midst of that right now. I have a 93 year-old father. My mother passed away a year ago. And up until she passed away, he had a purpose every day, which was to care for her. Since she's passed away, he's lost his inspiration. And let's put it simple. Here's the key:

Brian Biro [00:09:15]:
If you're not inspired, you're on the way to getting expired. And the most powerful thing that we must have each day is a sense of inspiration. And what happens is we give up sometimes when we can't do what we used to do. There's a way to get beyond that. One of my favorite biographies was about Chuck Yeager, the guy who broke the speed of sound. And they came to Chuck and they said, "Chuck, what's your favorite thing in the world to do?" And he said, "Well, I love to fish for the golden trout." Now, the golden trout are only at 9,000 ft. elevation and above. So they said, "Well, Chuck, you know, you're getting up there.

Brian Biro [00:09:47]:
What happens when you can't get up to 9,000 ft. because you can't drive up there, you have to hike up there." He said, "Well, I think I'll hike up to 7,000 and I'll fish for the rainbows. I'll do the next best thing." You know, so many people, when they think about retirement, they really should change it to re-wirement. And to rewire means there's still so much you can do in this world. I know there's so many things. The starting place for that mindset is to have something that inspires you each day, whether it's to write...And it doesn't have to be what you did before.

Brian Biro [00:10:18]:
If there are physical limitations that you are now taking on that you can't do what you used to do, there's many things you can. You know, there's probably 60 million things you could do and 10,000 you can't. But when we focus on the 10,000 we can't, that's when we lose our sense of purpose. Probably the greatest book ever about mindset was called "Man's Search for Meaning" and it was by Viktor Frankl, who endured Auschwitz, probably the worst of all the concentration camps of World War II. And he said something so incredibly profound that if we just got this message, we would really shift our choices. He said, "If you would have tried to pick the people who would have made it through that horrible time, you probably would have just looked for who was the youngest and strongest and physically most fit."

Brian Biro [00:10:58]:
He says, "The people who made it through were those that had a purpose left undone. Whether it was children they wanted to give back to, whether it was a work of some sort that they felt they wanted to complete." Purpose is life. So the starting place is never give up. There's always a purpose, but it needs to be able to shift. Think about how many people, when they can't drive anymore, give up. They don't have to do that. I had a simple case.

Brian Biro [00:11:21]:
Now I love running. I was a marathon runner, love to run. And I've had three knee surgeries. And I can run, but then I pay the price. Well, now I walk, and I never thought I could love walking. It's too slow, but I love it. And I've learned to shift that mind. To move in a direction allows you something you love to do.

Brian Biro [00:11:37]:
So that's a real starting place, is to really zero-in and each day find a purpose. I think that's why God created things called grandchildren. Man, they just do the job for you, baby. They're the greatest.

Amber Stitt [00:11:48]:
You're touching on some things. This is the main reason we asked you to be on, in my head. It's not that you don't need to care about your father with your mother. I see a lot of this. You're talking about the guy up the street in my neighborhood. He's got to get his keys taken away. There's been some dangerous driving, and a Facebook group has put out this bulletin about this man. And we love him.

Amber Stitt [00:12:08]:
We're like, that's him. We're working with the family verbally, just in conversations, to make sure that they know that we have some resources. We're around. We can watch his house. But he is that military vet who just knows how to get things done. But, yeah, he shouldn't be driving anymore. And that independence is so scary to kind of be lost here.

Kate Beck [00:12:26]:
The purpose of having conversations with your family, too, I mean, if you are talking about purpose and longevity and having something that we could have a conversation with. So you're in your 40s, everyone's fine. Your parents are fine. There isn't a situation. But how do we start bringing up the unknown? How do we start bringing up those uncomfortable conversations? Like, what if you couldn't go to the bathroom by yourself or you couldn't shower by yourself, who are you going to feel comfortable wiping your "you know what"? Or, do you have a nurse that's going to come. Like, how do you start having the casual conversations that are leading to planting seeds of peace and legacy and actual planning? These are kind of the uncomfortable topics that we need to get comfortable with because the reality is it's going to happen whether it's that last day you're here, or the last three or seven years you're here.

Brian Biro [00:13:15]:
Yeah. And I think the real key that you bring up is you want to do it out of the heat of the moment. We put these things off until it's in a dire moment and therefore there's too much emotion, there's too much negative emotion, too much fear. Have those conversations early. One thing about caring for my parents over the last few years has really taught me is how I've committed to make life fun for my kids when I'm in my parents shoes and that I have to approach with them, too. Because as a young person, you also have this picture of the people that you love and it's hard for you to see them no longer able to do the things they could do. But if you do it out of the heat of the moment, you do it early and you just are straight and fun about it and you start to laugh about it a little bit that, "Hey, this is happens, this is life." And that's really an important topic for any kind of difficult conversation.

Brian Biro [00:14:00]:
Take it out of the heat of the moment, go out to lunch, sit down and be sitting down and enjoying each other and then bring it up. Rather than out of fear, but of, "Hey, this is going to happen, let's talk about it right now." And it's so much more powerful and you'll come up with so many more positive applications that you can use to deal with life in that way. So out of the heat of the moment is the best advice you can give because the conversation is tough.

Amber Stitt [00:14:25]:
Yeah, that's a great way. It's almost like you set your surroundings. If you're going to study, you set your surroundings in a way to be successful. If you're podcasting, maybe don't have your dogs close by because they might be in the way and you have to edit it out. But back to having this control and not doing the heat of the moment conversation. Kate and I have seen a lot of people, and Brian, you too, where we're doing this main thing for our revenue and then we're adding on these other layers and we're diversifying our self-worth and I really encourage people, if there is this thing that you love, it could be like getting on city council, or maybe it's volunteering at the church, the non profit...

Amber Stitt [00:15:02]:
Start as soon as you're ready to plug in those other things that bring you purpose. Because it might be on your later list. It might be part of that, "Hey, I'm done doing the revenue building now I'm going to give my joy in other places." But you don't have to have this knee jerk, quick snap like you can start phasing that in. I think that's so important to then have the control of then what else am I going to do on the other side but set that surrounding. You get to control it. And that's what Kate and I hope to provide people is the resources.

Amber Stitt [00:15:30]:
Maybe not all the things we think about in the box. We hope to build in those resources and introduce those either to the book like yours, the conversation, the podcast, the people that will bring those tools and resources to many. But you have so many options that is so brilliant.

Brian Biro [00:15:45]:
And there's a word that you used in there that I think is so crucial to when you start to diversify. You're not your job, you do your job. You are a human being with a variety of talents, a variety of interests. The word you used was so important. It was love. Find something you love and do it. Whether that's gardening, whether that's walking, pets, whatever it is what you love. And here's a key:

Brian Biro [00:16:06]:
This is a key throughout your life. But I think it becomes even more important as we get older. Many people live their life saying, "I have to do this, I have to..." Now we learned the words "I have to" when we were little kids and it was important when we were little kids because our parents said, "You have to do this or you're going to get hurt, or you have to do this or you're going to get swatted, or you're going to have to do this or you're going to be in trouble." And the two words that were attached to "have to" were, "or else," or else something bad is going to happen. Now, as we get older, we leave those words out. But many people say, "I have to do this once the real estate...or else something bad will happen."

Brian Biro [00:16:37]:
Here's a simple mindset shift that can make your life richer and fuller, more energized, more vital, more timeless. Instead of every time you catch yourself for a few days, every time you say I have to do something and switch it to I want to, I choose to, I like to, I love to, I can't wait to, I love to, can't Wait to. And pretty soon you're living life based upon your choice. Think about it. Everything's a choice, except maybe one thing. We have to die. Everything else is a matter of choice.

Brian Biro [00:17:02]:
And so when we come from a place of, "like to, love to, choose to, can't wait to, it's a joy to," we are moving forward and we're moving from a place of positive momentum. Every time we say, "I have to," we're saying I have no control of myself. I'm focusing on what bad could happen. That, "or else" that is implanted in our brains even if we can't solidify exactly what that "or else" is, that "or else" is there. So, "like to, love to, can't wait to, choose to," And you said "love to." So you hit it already on the mark.

Amber Stitt [00:17:30]:
Going back to your swim coach era, there was a point and people still have this, gotta be a doctor, attorney, all these things, supposed jobs that are going to make you successful. But if you follow entrepreneurs and wealth, most of them are not even college graduates. There's so much potential anywhere if you want to build something. I would assume you would say, "I get to be a coach" and some positions, some roles, dog walker, like you said, gardner. They're all necessary. It's whether you're going to choose to do it and find a way to bring a solution to a person's life, or to your own life. So I think anything, everything can matter. It just how you approach it.

Brian Biro [00:18:05]:
You matter. That's the important thing to understand that each of us is important. And you know, my favorite movie of all time, I've watched it 60 times, is "It's a Wonderful Life", the Christmas movie, Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed. And I love it because it's the most accurate, true statement of who we really are. Because this guy Jimmy Stewart played, George Bailey, thought that he was living his life because he had to, that he didn't matter, that he wasn't important. And then his guardian angel came down, and he didn't have wings, yet. Clarence the angel, and help him see how he had touched people's lives without knowing he did.

Brian Biro [00:18:37]:
You know, and here's the thing. You're doing this podcast. You're going to touch a life with some statement that you don't even think is that important. But something just came out of you in a moment, a thought...Kate said something and that person's going to go, "Wow, I never thought of that before." And they changed the way they live their lives. So why are we important? Because every day we're given this incredible gift called today. And today we get a chance to be a better mom, a better dad, a better friend.

Brian Biro [00:19:03]:
We have a chance to be creative. We have a chance to be kind. And we don't know the impact of that tiny little ripple that we started that may become the wave that gets to a person at the very moment where they're balancing, going one way or the other because you started that ripple of kindness or that ripple of joy that that person crosses over and says, "Life is good." So look at each day is the greatest gift of all. And that's the beauty of that great movie. I sob every year, and I know every word of the da-gone movie. I'm the worst.

Amber Stitt [00:19:33]:
I got my Kleenex, I got my blankie. I'm ready. I gotta do it every year.

Kate Beck [00:19:38]:
What I love about this conversation and the choosing of the words that we use. One example of word use that every time I hear it, sometimes I don't interrupt someone and say, "Please use this word instead," but I'll just put it out there. So I'm eager to do this, or that. I am eager to see you. I'm happy to see you. I'm delighted to see you, or I'm dying to do this, I'm dying to do that. And for me, it's like sometimes I hear people who I love, or are in my community say, "I'm dying to...," and then fill in the blank and I'm thinking, "I'm living to..."

Kate Beck [00:20:12]:
That's a moment of courage where it's like, do you say something at that moment? Or then do you wait and say, "Hey, listen to this podcast and hear about the positive reinforcement of the words we use." And that comes back to our internal navigation and making positive choices within our own self. So that was kind of why I didn't interrupt or correct someone at the time. But it has been on my heart a few times. I have been hearing that recently, and I thought, wow, I believe in love or above. I believe in using the power of words in a positive way and saying, "would you?", instead of "could you?" And these little things. And that's me tending my own garden.

Kate Beck [00:20:52]:
And I want to encourage anyone who's listening to this show right now. If you're using words that are maybe neutral or negative, is it possible to switch it out to something like, "I'm eager to" or "I'd love to," or "will this make me feel love or above?"

Brian Biro [00:21:08]:
Absolutely. And it's really, it's creating a better habit. It's really changing the words. I love that you said that because I don't know whether you can see it or not, but on my wall is a picture of my mentor with me when I had hair. His name was John Wooden. And John Wooden was the greatest men's college basketball coach of all time.

Brian Biro [00:21:25]:
He was my friend.

Amber Stitt [00:21:26]:
Brian, that's a story that...

Brian Biro [00:21:28]:
But I ought to tell you, you just used the word "eager" and this is such a wonderful word. You just don't know what you led into. When I first met Coach, I was in my corporate career. I was running a training company that had people all over North America. I had always grown up loving John Wooden. The way that he treated people with dignity, with respect. Not to mention, he was the most successful by double of anybody in his field. He was very humble.

Brian Biro [00:21:51]:
So I somehow called him, or found his phone number. I called the number, he answered the phone, which I was not ready for, and I asked, "Could I come and talk to you and interview you so I can share what you teach me to my team?" And he graciously said, "Yes." Well, one question I asked him that day was, "Coach, simple question..." We could all ask this question in life. "What's the difference between a good team and a great team?" And first of all, he shocked me. He said, because I have, you know, a background in coaching. I thought he'd say, well, recruiting and talent.

Brian Biro [00:22:18]:
He said, "It really doesn't have that much to do with recruiting and talent." And then he said, "You know, Brian, the difference between a good basketball team and a great basketball team is exactly the same difference between a good mother and a great mother, between a good teacher and a great teacher, between a good leader, a good human being, and just a good or average one. Between a great and a good or average." So now he had my attention. He said, after a lifetime of working with people, it became clear to him that the difference that made the difference between being good or average and really reaching your own greatness. He didn't use it in a comparative way, just with yourself. He said it came down the difference between two words. He said, "Good or average teacher, teachers, parents, wives...

Brian Biro [00:22:54]:
Those people who are good, or average are willing to support each other and the greater good of the team." And the key word he used was "willing." Now, I always thought willing was a really good word. It's way better than unwilling. But then he described it in a way that some people out there could definitely relate to. He said, "Willing is about the same spirit with which teenagers clean their rooms. Yeah, they'll do it because they're really hoping to eat this week, but they're not excited about it." He said, "On a great team, a great leader, a great teacher, a great pet walker, a great anyone...

Brian Biro [00:23:23]:
When you're great, you are eager to do it." And so that put a vision in my head, and I created something to this day, I still call the "Eager Meter". All right, so if you picture, like, a speedometer with on one side, on the zero side is "Willing". On the other side is 200 miles an hour is "Eager". We have an "Eager Meter". It's right in our hearts. And here's the most magnificent truth about your eager meter: You're 100% in charge of your eager meter.

Brian Biro [00:23:49]:
Nobody can ever give up for you. Nobody controls your own energy, your own vitality, your own choices. And so, really, what my breakthrough teaching is about is to help people move at least a notch towards "eager" and away from merely being willing when it comes to recognizing that you have a choice to live a great life.

Kate Beck [00:24:07]:
Oh, I love it.

Amber Stitt [00:24:09]:
Kate, we're going to start using that for our projects as we go into our calendar. We're like, "Okay, Kate, is this on your "Eager Meter"?

Kate Beck [00:24:15]:
Yes.

Amber Stitt [00:24:15]:
One to ten. Let's figure that part out. Ah, okay. So I forgot about the Wooden connection. So I'm so happy that you brought that up, because ears perk up and they're like, "I can connect." You know, they get that. But you are so fortunate. That is so cool.

Brian Biro [00:24:29]:
One of the great gifts in my life was he was my friend. You see behind me is somebody made me a "Pyramid of Success" out of wooden blocks and people who love Ted Lasso. He had that "Pyramid of Success" was up on his office wall. Jason Sudeikis also is a big Wooden fan, but one of the great gifts in my life was that he was my friend. He lived to be 99 and a half. Coach Wooden almost made 100, and he was vibrant and alive all the way to the very end. Sharp as a tack.

Amber Stitt [00:24:53]:
There was a point where Kate and I had a person in a Zoom that we had, and we talked about projects and one of these conversations, and somebody just had said, "You know, I don't want to be old. I'll be all by myself." And Kate and I, we heard the kind of that negative talk, and it's a real feeling that people would have. But then Kate and I are like, "Well, if we build an alliance of people that think like us, that want to be 100," Kate even says she might live to 200, you know, if we just hang out with these people that go, "Let's do it and have fun and build it out our own way." You hope to be able to change people's minds and give them the resources, hence the podcast. But maybe you got to also choose if people are being negative and they don't really see it the same way. Just build out the tribe and hang with the tribe that wants to be

Amber Stitt [00:25:37]:
like 99 and a half. There's enough of us out there, I think.

Brian Biro [00:25:40]:
Absolutely. And, you kno there have been studies that have looked at certain pockets of the world where there's super longevity.

Amber Stitt [00:25:46]:
Yeah.

Brian Biro [00:25:47]:
And certainly there's things like moderation and things in diet. But there's two key things that are above all. One is if you want to move your life, you got to move yourself. It's physical movement.

Amber Stitt [00:25:57]:
Yeah.

Brian Biro [00:25:58]:
We don't get older, we just stop moving. So keep moving. You may move slower. No worries. Just keep moving. And the big one, though, is again coming back to that purpose and that you have importance in life, that you have value to other people. So in those pockets people don't look at it as, "You're old and you're worthless," in those societies, you're old and you've got experience, you've got knowledge, you've got actively important things to bring to others around you.

Brian Biro [00:26:25]:
And when you come from that place, hey, you know, I'm actually 92 years old, but I just move all the time. No.

Amber Stitt [00:26:32]:
I do believe, though. Yeah. That you'll be saying this to me in a little bit of, you know, way out there, and you'll be, I believe you'll be around saying that.

Brian Biro [00:26:40]:
And I think another thing that you brought up and that I think is a vital key to really creating a mindset of joy and that leads to energy is gratitude. There is a book that looked at...a man spent 25 years measuring the vibration of emotions. We're electrical beings. We emit a vibration, an electrical current, if you will, whatever we're feeling. And the highest emotion is gratitude. So when you're in an attitude of gratitude, negative emotion, which has a much slower vibration, has no chance to surface. It's overpowered, if you will, by gratitude, I encourage everyone, if you want to change the rest of your life,

Brian Biro [00:27:18]:
start every morning with one question: Ask yourself, "What am I truly grateful about today?" And what you're grateful about has within it a secret to it, especially if you're not big on spelling. What you're grateful about has within it the capacity to make you great, full. What you're grateful about will focus you on your priorities. Your priorities will lead you to your purpose. So when you're filled with gratitude, what happens is you vibrate at a higher level.

Brian Biro [00:27:42]:
And what you focus on is what you create. You start to focus on things to be grateful for. And the word itself makes you feel a sense of joy. So start every day with, "What am I truly grateful about? What's the joy in this?" Remember, too, that within every adversity is planted the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. In other words, the toughest things we've ever made our way through, weren't they the things from which we grew the most?

Amber Stitt [00:28:03]:
Yeah.

Brian Biro [00:28:04]:
You know, they may not have been easy. They may have been difficult. Tough. When I faced that decision, that woke me up to trying to become "my best," instead of "the best." It was hard. I was at a hard place in my life. I'm incredibly grateful for it. When you're in the midst of the tough things, to remember,

Brian Biro [00:28:19]:
"This has given me a chance to learn something I never would have learned."

Amber Stitt [00:28:22]:
Yeah.

Brian Biro [00:28:22]:
And that something good is going to come from it. Man, that's a powerful thing. One last little quick story about that. My youngest daughter is one of my heroes. So is my oldest one. And she experienced a terrible tragedy in her 20s, early 20s, when the man that she was about to become engaged to was found dead from a drug overdose.

Brian Biro [00:28:41]:
And for a while, my daughter could just not find gratitude. Her life was dark. Our life was dark. I wanted to fix it. I'm her daddy. But it wasn't mine to fix. Today, my daughter, if she was on this podcast with us, we'd have to adjust the lighting because she shines so bright. And she made that switch to moving from a sense of "why me" to "why not me?" To really believing that there is possibility.

Brian Biro [00:29:05]:
She'll always feel a sadness from losing somebody she loved, but she's now engaged to someone that she's madly in love with and treats her beautifully. And she realizes that things that happen on the outside don't matter, it's what we do with it on the inside. It's not what happens, it's what we do that makes the difference. So, "What am I truly grateful about?" Raise up that level of vibration inside yourself, and it's contagious. It's a great way to affect other people.

Amber Stitt [00:29:29]:
I think you've already answered this question in a nutshell throughout this time. But, Brian, what makes someone truly timeless?

Brian Biro [00:29:37]:
Well, I love that. I think that the biggest thing of all to me, if you want to live a timeless life as Coach Wooden did, be fully present. That's a real secret. What does that mean? When you're fully present, 100% of your mind, body, and spirit is with the people you're with, where they are now. Now, how many of us have ever been with somebody where we know their body's there, but the rest of them is somewhere else? And here's a tough but important question. How does it make you feel if someone you really wish to be present with you is not present with you? Everyone I've ever known, it makes them feel worth less. The power of being fully present is the secret to balance in life. Because most people think about balance in terms of time, you're never going to have equal time. Life isn't that way.

Brian Biro [00:30:16]:
We only have 24 hours in a day. But five minutes of being present with somebody is worth five days of faking it. And you get more done in less time when you're fully present. Greatest gift I've ever been given in my life was the one that taught me about being timeless. And it was by both of my two daughters when they were 8 and 3 years old. And when they were 8 and 3, I was so caught up in my speaking and my work. And many, many, many nights I would be caught up on the phone. Instead of tucking them in, or reading them a story, my wife was there for them, being present with them.

Brian Biro [00:30:43]:
Because remember, being present says to you, you're important. You matter, your count. Well, one night, as I was reaching for the phone, when I could have been tucking my girls in, they were only 8 and 3, I felt their energy behind me. I didn't see them, but I knew they were behind me as I was...

Amber Stitt [00:30:57]:
I know what that's like.

Brian Biro [00:30:58]:
I turned my head, I look, and there they were. And I grinned at them. They ran to me. And little Jenna was only 3. She dove into my lap and kind of nosed my arm out of the way like a golden retriever. "Pet me. Pet me." And they looked at me and they said, "Daddy, before we go to sleep, can we just ask you something?" I said, "Girls, you can ask me anything."

Brian Biro [00:31:14]:
And they grabbed my heart and they shook it, and they gave me the compelling line that has been with me every moment since. And they simply asked me, "Daddy, we just want to know, do you love your phone more than you love us?" I felt the blade going deep. Emerson said, "What you do screams so loudly, I can't hear a word you say." I was living my life as if my phone...and that wasn't a cell phone. That was a phone to plug into a wall...as if my phone was more important than my children, well, I will tell you, I tucked them in that night and I never missed another night after that. When I was home the next day, I woke him up, brought them to school, made them breakfast, and I never missed another morning. And my wife was the happiest person on the planet.

Brian Biro [00:31:52]:
What a morning girls...

Amber Stitt [00:31:55]:
There's that legacy, Brian, that is timeless. That is stuff that they'll remember.

Brian Biro [00:31:59]:
It says unstoppably, unshakably, whenever you're fully present to that person. The one thing we got to communicate if we're going to build a relationship, we say you're important. And here's the beauty: whenever you seek to enrich another person's experience, which is the best way to do it, is be present with them, you can't help but enrich your own because you connect with their joy, you connect with their energy, and both energies rise together. So the secret to timeless is to be fully present in every precious moment at any age. Any age.

Kate Beck [00:32:29]:
I'm so thankful. My heart is full of gratitude that you could be with us today and to Amber for introducing us. I just, I'm really thankful. Thank you so much.

Brian Biro [00:32:40]:
Well, it's been a total joy. These are such important topics for anyone of any age. And you know, remember, you're in charge of your eager meter. Nobody can ever give up for you. So keep moving that towards that 200 miles an hour side over there. The funny thing is it will keep refueling.

Amber Stitt [00:32:55]:
Yeah.

Kate Beck [00:32:56]:
So Brian, how do we learn more about what you do, where you're going to be speaking, and how to buy your books?

Brian Biro [00:33:00]:
You can buy my books wherever you want, on Amazon, you can buy them on my website. But the best way to reach me is via my website, which is just www.BrianBiro.com. I know you'll put it in the notes. B R I A N B I R O. And that'll give you a chance to look at what I do. My speaking. I don't really do public events.

Brian Biro [00:33:18]:
I speak for organizations. So speaking schedule, I can't give you that because of the fact that they're private events. But I love to speak. It's what I was put on earth to do. And the reason I do what I do is because I love it. I appreciate the response, but it's not why I do it. I do it because of the way I feel. I feel timeless and vital when I'm on the stage.

Brian Biro [00:33:38]:
I joke about it when I'm on stage. I'm 25. I get off stage, okay, I'm 70, but on stage, I am 25, and that feeling is all I need. It's the joy that comes from doing something that you feel you were put on earth to do. So my website is the place to go, whether it's the purchase the books, or you can go on Amazon, or Barnes and Noble, or wherever you buy your books.

Amber Stitt [00:33:59]:
Thank you so much for being here, everybody. Let's be timeless.

Kate Beck [00:34:03]:
Be timeless. Thank you. Thank you for joining us on the Timeless Vitality podcast. We hope today's episode has inspired you to embrace the journey of thriving well beyond 100.

Amber Stitt [00:34:15]:
Remember, your story is still unfolding, and every step you take adds to the timeless legacy you are creating. Until next time, stay vibrant, stay empowered, and continue living with purpose.

Kate Beck [00:34:27]:
We'll see you on the next episode!