Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast
Why Aloha? the whole world knows what aloha is--love in Hawai'i--but better to ask WHY ALOHA? the answer is as essential as breath & as fun as whistling, so LET'S GO!
Aloha Alive: The Dawn O'Brien Podcast
Ep. 12 Every Day Better Movement: Why You WIN!
What if becoming great wasn't about massive miracles but small, daily steps? Eric Yamashita, founder of "Every Day Better" Movement, shares this powerful philosophy that's changing lives across Hawaii & God's great beyond.
It's refreshingly simple: You don't have to be perfect, just a little bit better each day! It began as a scribble on a notebook & has evolved into a clothing brand & ultimately a movement of positivity that touches on all aspects of wellbeing—physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional. Eric shares how "Every Day Better" resonates with each person and is transforming our community.
Eric weaves together faith, family & fitness into a holistic vision of what it means to live well. Best part? Eric models the authenticity he preaches, even as a cynical Christian. :) His reminder: "Everything starts with loving yourself!" This serves as foundation of the EDB Movement & challenge to anyone seeking meaningful change in their lives.
Follow IG @EveryDayBetterHI or visit everydaybetterhawaii.com to join a community that believes in the power of small improvements & the courage to be imperfect while still striving for better. CHEEHOO CHAMPS 'R US!
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www.ChooseAloha.org
Aloha, welcome to Aloha Alive. Of course, I'm Auntie Dawn and we're here to talk about the heart of Hawaii, which is Aloha. One of the great kapenas, or captain of our team of 18 people, is the man sitting right next to me. His name is Eric Yamashita of Every Day Better. Good morning, brother, eric. Good morning. I'm super honored to be here Excited.
Speaker 1:You're already a legend in our community. I was trying to walk out our previous guests and we had to stop and follow our talk story for like at least 20-30 minutes. Catch a few reels, do some photos. Thank you for Everyday Bless, because the name precedes itself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it's. I'm just grateful to be able to be have this idea and share everyday better.
Speaker 1:So tell us what is everyday better, because maybe people are watching from like Tallahassee or North Carolina and they don't know, or maybe from New Zealand. What is every day blessed and you can see it right here. Auntie Dawn is modeling my everyday Aloha. We got everyday Jesus and he's every day better, better.
Speaker 2:So I'm a personal trainer. I started in 1992. So 33 years of training Wow, my life's work is just helping people be better. Um, about 15 years ago I wrote because I'm old I write things on a notebook or a day runner, you know, not like nowadays and I put on the side of my bed and I wrote every day better and just kind of stuck with me for a while and then it would just resonate every once in a while, come back and I started saying it to my clients. You know, you got to be a little bit better, not having to be perfect. Um, 10 years ago I kind of stuck again and then so finally, six years ago I'm like I was saying it so many times and just repetition, getting into my clients' heads about just trying to be better every day, incrementally better, small little steps in your physical life to be better. So I said, okay, I'm going to just start a brand on a fluke.
Speaker 2:I did a food network show I mean on the news, with Guy Hagee and Augie Made a shirt and we did a little snippet called Cheap Eats Wore the shirt. People loved it on Instagram it's a great thing about Instagram and people loved it. I got a lot of feedback, so I made 50 shirts. The next day I sold 50 shirts what? So I said, okay, something is working here. And then I didn't do it to start to sell clothing, but just to spread a message. Right, I like to say that everyday better is a mantra.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's a mindset, it's a motto, it's a meaning. But more than that, I want to start a movement of positivity. So it started out as everyday better being better physically in your physical life and then it kind of evolved into being everyday better spiritually, everyday better mentally, everyday better physically. So I was just so overwhelmed with the amount of people that connected with it on different levels and I realized it's such a general term but so basic, but you can apply it to your life in any different facet right and it.
Speaker 1:It's simple but it's profound. I love it. I've been wearing your merch since I first met you and we met at, I think it was an HBA reunion a couple years ago, and I love you and I love Patty, your partner in all things. But Every Day Better is just. I think it's so. It connects with so many.
Speaker 1:Eric, in my humble opinion, because we all can do it. I can be a little bit better about my weightlifting or about my bike ride or my walking or my devotion time with Jesus, whatever it is. I can be a little bit better about my weightlifting or about my bike ride or my walking or my devotion time with Jesus, whatever it is. I can be a little bit better tomorrow and maybe, as I've heard you say in the past and correct me where I'm wrong, brother but it could be a great day.
Speaker 1:But we still have some room for improvement somewhere and that's the applicability of it. But it's also the easy way to get in on that and it is. So where can we get Every Day Better? And we'll come back to that, but I want to say it a few times to help support local, because we always support local here in the state of Hawaii, we're an ohana, and then I'm going to ask you about your family, because I happen to know your family and just some of the living legacy with that. So where can we get Every Day Better merch?
Speaker 2:So I'm on Instagram Everyday Better Hawaii or you can go to wwweverydaybetterhawaiicom so pretty basic. I have an online store. You can see everything there. You can go to Everyday Better Hawaii on Instagram. Send me a DM and I do pop-ups every month. You're busy, I'm a busy man, but I'm also very, very grateful to be blessed to be busy.
Speaker 1:And it is a movement, and we'll talk about that in a second. But first I want to get to know you as a person, because, well, I know him, but I want us all to know him and his family. Your patty is your bride at your side. Do you have kids?
Speaker 2:I have one son, Ian.
Speaker 1:Oh, shout out to Ian. Okay, so anything you want to share about Ian.
Speaker 2:No, he's just a great kid. He's 21 years old and he's a grown man now and it's weird because we're kind of empty nesters now. Ian is working now and it's very validating to have a son become an adult and you know, all I wanted was him to be to just love God first and just be a great human being and be kind and strong and healthy, and he's achieved all those things.
Speaker 1:He's a superhero right now.
Speaker 2:And he's only 21. 21,. Yes, he loves and respects his parents, which means I'm very old, but it's, he's the head of the game.
Speaker 1:We have a new chapter. Empty nesters.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, good thing you have a feisty female at your side, his wife.
Speaker 2:I have a wonderful wife.
Speaker 1:Correct. She's one of the most witty people. I love her, her, I love everything she posts. Okay, enough about beautiful wife. Now part of what I know about you, eric, and this is what I want to bring up as far as Aloha Alive, I talk about Aloha Alive wanting to perpetuate the heart of Hawaii because Aloha is so powerful. You grew up in the footsteps and in the shadow of a great man who was your dad, pastor Jeffrey Yamashita. I knew Pastor Jeff from Camp Agape, which is a camp for the children whose parents are in prison, and he was just such a humble. He was like the big guy who didn't need to pound the table, just his presence alone. He was a police officer on the west side of Oahu. For how long?
Speaker 2:He started in Waianae, so probably maybe six or eight years, and then he became a homicide detective. Yeah, but eventually he built a church in Waianae because that's where his heart was.
Speaker 1:So how many years service?
Speaker 2:So he did 52 years in law enforcement.
Speaker 1:Whoa, 52 years and he just passed away. Was it 2022?
Speaker 2:Three years ago. Correct.
Speaker 1:I remember, because I remember being so hit by that, when you grew up in the state of Hawaii and there is a police officer who then not only sees the need of the youth on the West Side and then becomes a pastor who isn't just some guy who's preaching from the pulpit. And please know I love pastors, I support our pastors, but this was a pastor who did things by doing them, not just by preaching, not just by talking, but by walking it out, caring, giving and being. Can you tell me a little bit about your dad?
Speaker 2:He was definitely more of a shepherd than a preacher.
Speaker 2:So my dad was more of a man of a people and everybody says it gets kind of hokey, like, oh, he more of a man of a people. And everybody says it gets kind of hokey, like, oh, he'd give the shit off his back. But my dad would literally do that. I remember growing up, when I was probably eight or ten, uh, we brought this guy home and it was big brothers of hawaii and I was like what is this? We had four kids in a family and why are you bringing this guy home? He was a good guy but, like you know, a little bit jealousy, right, and my dad's like you know this. I was like why is he here? Like we have, you have all of us. And he's like, well, these guys don't have any fathers. And then I didn't get it and we did stuff with him and dad would go and do stuff. He was always there for us. But I just didn't get it, because you're eight, nine years old, you're kind of selfish. And then he got a skateboard for this guy and three or four skateboards and brought it for his brothers and I was like, dad, how come they got skateboards? I didn't get a skateboard and he sat me down and your tears because their dad is gone. I think their dad was incarcerated or he passed away and there was five kids, four or five boys and a daughter, because they have nothing. They live in like a one bedroom house and you guys have everything. So you just need to realize that you only see the skateboard but you don't see what we're giving to them. And we got to deliver the skateboards to their house and I'm like nine or 10.
Speaker 2:And I was like took my breath away and very impactful that day, because my dad was always there for every single soccer game, every spelling b, every sports thing, church. He was always there for us. He was giving and I was like how come my dad's giving that? I don't want foster kids, I don't want to break this away, but now that I'm, when I became a father and I see my son, I see the heart he had and he was always with church or the police department. He was always giving. He was. So where did dad go? Two o in the morning he went to go counsel someone or go help somebody or bail somebody out. He was always doing that, but he was always there for us too. So it was easier for me to say, oh, he wasn't there, but he was there for us and for everybody and that's a lot. So obviously he went many nights without sleeping.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but more than telling. And we watched that and as I got older it resonated with me. So that's how I wanted to be a dad and that's why, with my son, my son sees that my dad had a life of service. Wow For sure.
Speaker 1:And now your son has chosen a career in the same life of service. That's amazing. You know, and this is a talk story session, we're conversing, it's not. I'm not just putting you on the grill, although I love you, brother, we're talking about every day better, but one of the things you just said that I love is that we in the state of Hawaii, we Hanai we adopt. Your dad was Hanai-ing kids off the street that otherwise he would be.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, but arresting or throwing into juvenile detention or putting into alternative learning right, and he knew, even with your five, the five kids in his own family, he could extend that father fathering to other people. One of the issues we face so much today is fatherlessness, for a variety of reasons I don't need to get into. You're a smart audience, you're a smart man and so when we look at this is the issue, I'm not. I'm going to give 10% to identifying the issue, 90% to the solution. Your dad just went ahead and started doing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Which to me is one of the reasons he just won of the many that. He was a supernatural superhero that I highly respected, and I was a cynical kid growing up. I had a lot of bad things happen to me and I'm very cynical when I look at people, but when I see the real deal, I know it really is. And your dad was Mr Real Deal For sure, 100%. He didn't just preach it, he walked it out. Yeah, he walked the walk out. And so you and it's funny you just said he bailed some of the kids out. So he's arresting them on one hand and then going to bail them out.
Speaker 2:Well, he had compassion chance. Yeah, wow, it's easy for us to just say, oh, you know, these guys are bad. But I mean he grew up in kalihi, palama settlement. The parents were divorced, the dad wasn't really there a long time, you know a lot. So he he grew up with father was around, but not living in the house, so he knew how it felt, I think. So I didn't realize that till later. Um, but he had a heart for just the people of hawaii and and he saw potential in kids and I was always like he was always organized because he was running PAL, so Police Activity League in Kalihi, and so he was always doing stuff. But I mean, I think of all the accomplishments that he did and he was always there for us. I don't know how he did it, yeah.
Speaker 1:Like you said, he must've not slept.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like, how could you do all of those things? Now, interesting to me that you just said something. He grew up here, palama Settlement. We happen to be in Kalihi. You work Kalihi, I work Kalihi. And he didn't. There was a divorce. Early in his parents' life he was fatherless.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so at 12. So it was my grandma's working three jobs and my dad and his two brothers were just surviving. Yeah, grandpa was I mean, his dad wasn't around, so he became the father, the father figure.
Speaker 1:Wow. And then not only for his own home, where he was fatherless, did he become the father. Then he extended and became a father to his own family.
Speaker 2:He had five children.
Speaker 1:You're one of them. And then he became a family to his community.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and then he was doing stuff, you know, with church and Teen Challenge and always, like him and my mom were preaching at the prison, my 4'11 Holly mom. So they're always doing stuff, outreach stuff, and that's just what you do. So it wasn't, it was like I said, it was a life of service. That's just kind of was normal for them to do that.
Speaker 1:It's like breathing, yeah, blinking, my heart's beating. I'm doing something. Talk about your mom. I love your mom, auntie Barbara, she's.
Speaker 2:It's my mom. But me and my wife always say she's the most benevolent person I have ever known and that's my mom. But if you really get to meet her, she's very, very sweet and just not judgmental. And you know, you have this 4'11 Haole lady who was in Waianae, makaha, all the time we're going to the prison and she had no fear, she was a teacher. Then she started subbing when we got older.
Speaker 1:So she would go sub at Nanakuli mom and she's 4'11, howly, 98 pounds and she's got this beautiful like, if you think of the ladies of the south, she's got like this, like kind of puffy right. Yeah, she's light hair, you can see her. She looks like a little floating cotton ball when I she's the nicest thing ever but she had no fear and she loved people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so she didn't see color or race or gender or whatever.
Speaker 1:So wow, how did she meet your dad?
Speaker 2:uh, my dad was a rookie cop. My mom came from New York. She came to get her master's degree at UH, met at the beach. He saw the white girl, she saw the brown guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, and it's funny because my grandma's Chinese, so it's not racist. But back in that generation my Chinese grandma wanted to only marry Chinese girls. It wasn't racist because we didn't think about that. It's like the Frank Dillema song or Mr Sancho Lee get plenty. We all got along. We've seen our differences. But my grandma wanted Chinese, mr Sancho Lee, she wanted Chinese granddaughters. But my dad and his two brothers all married white girls. So all these half-breed kids came.
Speaker 1:I was going to say Papa kids are the most precious and beautiful anointed appointed amazing Right. Okay, all right.
Speaker 2:But back to business.
Speaker 1:Tremendous family. Just to put a tie up on that topic. I brought up his family because I have a high regard, respect, and this is legit because I am one of the most cynical Christians. I don't even know how I'm a Christian. I don't know why Jesus takes me in. Nonetheless I'm very cynical. So if Patty's watching, she gets this because she's a wit herself. But I have a high regard and respect for your family. Like seriously. It's like slapping down the carte blanche card. If you say Yamashita or Jeff Yamashita or this man, eric, it's all in. I'm already backing you Now, as I say, I'm backing you. I love that every day. Better is a movement. What does that look like in reality? Because we can say the word movement, but there's a lot of people who watch, especially our younger generation. They need to say, uncle Eric, what does that sound like? What does it look like? What does it be like?
Speaker 2:It starts with you. I always say that people want to be the change, but they want to point fingers. So change has to start with me. So for me it has to be. I have to be the person that lives it and walks it and preaches it and does every single day. So I'm fallible and I make tons of mistakes. If you know me, I'm an open book and my heart is open. I explain and I'm real about everything that happened in my life. But, like I was telling my son, sometimes every experience has made me a different person, right. So every interaction you have in your life people have to understand that they can teach you who to be like or who not to be like. Every obstacle provides an opportunity. So that's one of my favorite. Every obstacle provides an opportunity to sit in front of the wall and cry and do nothing or retreat or jump over the wall.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we have these experiences in our lives. But we wallow in our pity, and that's okay. But we need a moment to step back and guess okay, how can I make this better? And we rely on tv or spouse or drugs or food or anything to make us better. But we have to kind of come within ourselves. I think we, as we get older, we realize that there's not a lot of accountability in the world yeah in the government and our friends, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I think for me, starting to be every day better was just for me. It resonated for me. I always say it sounds funny, but it was selfish, because when I do my thought of the day every morning, my thought of day was for me and it was like it's for, it's for social media. But I'll be 59 years old, I don't know how to stand social media no ways, you're 59 years old, yeah but I'm doing it because I want to share something that resonates with me.
Speaker 2:Like the thought of day is something that I think is impactful to me, but it resonates to me. So it sounds weird but I'm being selfish because that's what I thought that day, or that's a, a model or something I found. I didn't create them all, but by me verbalizing instead of writing it it resonates a lot of people and if it touches one person I'm happy. But it's also, I tell people, teaching is learning twice. Yeah, so if I'm sharing something, I'm resonating and reiterating it myself in my head and then it kind of resonates throughout the day. So sharing that is a good thing, but for me it's just it.
Speaker 2:Me, it's a daily walk of trying to be better for myself and, like I said, it started as a physical thing but it evolved into trying to be better with your relationships at work, your relationships at home, your fiscally with them, because we have to be responsible with our money, absolutely. We have to be responsible with our emotions, we have to be responsible with our spiritual life. So it evolved. I didn't want it to be a Christian or a political thing and I've kind of tried to stay away with that. But as far as me, loving God, I'm not ashamed, because I realized that I don't want to shove Jesus down people's throats, because I think that's the worst thing to do. But I also want people to know that I love God. I'm imperfect, I make lots of mistakes, but I love God, and if there's an opportunity for me to share Jesus, I will do that. But I also want people to know where I'm at. I make mistakes. I have successes, but my failures really make my successes greater.
Speaker 1:Well, and it's the realness about you that preaches the best. I love that. You said a few things there. One was obstacles are opportunities, and the second that you brought up your thought of the day, because you post those and I love them Sorry, selfish, because they're short.
Speaker 1:You can capture it in one little 15 second nugget yeah, and thank you for recognizing and I know it's not a big deal, but you said you don't author all of them. Yeah, but they'll be really good little nuggets, like you just did one yesterday and I go. I've heard that before but I needed to hear it again. Right, and it's just a little tweak. I needed, like, probably when you're training. I went to the gym once. It's just a little tweak, I needed Like probably when you're training.
Speaker 2:I went to the gym once.
Speaker 1:It was just one time but I like to bring it up a lot and my trainer at that time he was like Don, you're doing that almost correctly. And I was like dude, you told me to do a little little dumbbell lift right there, I'm doing it, he goes, but if you tweak it just a little bit, you're going to actually hit the medial, the muscle. I'm asking you to do Right and you understand that because you're a trainer. Yes, and that's the way you're tweaking. With these thoughts of the day, I could be generally good, but I can be a little bit better.
Speaker 2:There's the key word.
Speaker 1:Right, so that you're hitting it head on and then I'm going to get that nice bulge right there.
Speaker 2:And you're allowing yourself to make mistakes. And every day is a next day. It's another whole, another opportunity to do better I love it, and it's bite-sized, yeah it has to be that way it's that's nowadays. We're so, we cannot. Yeah, we're so aged we cannot handle a lot of stuff. It has to be really quick. Yes.
Speaker 1:No, and we're overwhelmed.
Speaker 1:Eric, we live in a world of inundation. We're overwhelmed. It's the information superhighway and I'm standing there just trying to cross one lane. Why am I getting mowed down by everything in this information? You keep it Every day. Better is bite-sized chunks and you give me the thought of the day is a 10, 15, second little. Now you just said something else that I want to go back to and kind of zoom in. You know, like when you got your cell phone you're like wait, what is the eye color? Zoom in there. Um, you said you're not ashamed of your relationship with Jesus Christ. And thank you for saying you're human, you're fallible.
Speaker 1:You started with that. You said I'm fallible, I'm not perfect. We have it up here. It's my favorite cap to wear when I'm out because it preaches in one box three words everyday Jesus. How did you come to know Jesus as your best bud?
Speaker 2:My parents became Christians in the 70s, so probably I was like 10 or 12. And my dad was a cop, but he was a tough guy from Cali, so far from perfect. I think he shielded us from a lot of the stuff that went around in his life or police work, but we started going to church in late 70s, yeah, so I think I became a Christian at maybe 13.
Speaker 1:Wow early.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 45 years ago or whatever, yeah.
Speaker 1:So did you feel like that was for real, because I know a lot of kids who say that's not really my thing.
Speaker 2:I was the head of the youth group and I was a teenager on Far For God and then I became 21 and started chasing girls. I mean like, yeah, so I always knew God, but for sure, 20s and 30s I was single and bodybuilding and traveling all over the world and just being worldly. I knew God and I would go to church sometimes and my parents never made me do anything. But you know, yeah, but I definitely didn't have a close walk with God. I mean, I knew he was there, but just yeah.
Speaker 1:Thank you for saying that, because it's not necessarily this perfect straight timeline where I got saved at 13 and then I just started living this Christian life that went all the way through to the man that we see today, who's almost 59 years old.
Speaker 2:Oh no, success is not a straight line at all.
Speaker 1:And neither is our salvation.
Speaker 2:It's like yeah, it's a very wavy, tumultuous yeah yeah, and what I love.
Speaker 1:before we started and you can speak to this again, but they didn't see it on camera. I did. You talked about I didn't know that Patty is your second wife and you said you know, after your first divorce, god bless that person. You had your child with that person, but then you went off and you became Kolohe Boy because you were angry, that's real Eric Patty's, the best thing that ever happened to me.
Speaker 2:So she brought me happiness and joy and peace. I mean Jesus did, but, yeah, definitely my wife has brought me closer to God for sure, Because she became a Christian and that's all my parents wanted was. That was their prayer. And then my dad led her to Christ and baptized her six months before he passed away. So it was God, yeah. And then her becoming closer to Christ and being on fire for Jesus made me on fire because I was back to the cynical thing. I thought I knew everything. I was. I've been in the church for 40 something years, so I was the most critical person.
Speaker 1:Because we see everything. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I can see everything. So I always think people are full of crap, because I know my relationship with God wasn't perfect. But I watch people like, oh, that guy's taking a lot of money, that guy's all for himself, that lady wears too much makeup, this person, that person so cynical, is easy, yeah. So it was hard because I was like, ah, my wife is on fire for Christ. And I wasn't because I was like, ah, I want the old hat, just a more grumbling old man. Being on fire, the last two or three years has has made me more on fire for jesus because she loves jesus.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so her walk is very new. For sure, dad baptized her six months before he went to glory yeah, amazing it's, that's just god and you said that your parents actually told you stop being so angry.
Speaker 2:You know, here's a great woman and she, she actually didn't really want you she was happy with her single life and I pursued her, but I'm glad I did because my life has been fantastic.
Speaker 1:So this is the marriage then, and I'm not trying to bash anyone else- or try to demean. Every experience, as you said, is a building block to who we are today, but Patty is the one that God meant for you. Correct, that's amazing, almost 10 years now.
Speaker 2:But Patty is the one that God meant for you, correct? That's amazing, almost 10 years now.
Speaker 1:So the message for those of us who are single, or those of you who are watching, is that God has a person for you.
Speaker 2:When we force our own plans it's not going to work. But when we step back, I tell people I have lots of clients who are divorced. I trained women for a long time so I became just the ear. I'm learning with my wife to be a better listener. I'm not far from perfect, but I'm learning to shut my mouth, try not to fix and be a better listener and I'm realizing there's lots of women that want something in their lives and they want happiness and they want peace and they look for it in men or other people. And the best advice I can give is you need to find yourself and be happy by yourself. My wife was very happy by herself and I ruined all that. She was self-sufficient and happy, but I think our lives are even greater because we're together.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, I'm not far from perfect and she's very tolerant of me and vice versa, but I think relationships are tolerating each other. That's the truth.
Speaker 1:Well, and you make a great couple, because I invited both of you to come and she didn't come. She's here in spirit, I know, but you said she is actually extremely introverted. And she's one of the funniest women I know. I love seeing her Instagram posts, but she didn't want to come be on camera.
Speaker 2:Well, she had to work, Somebody's got to work, right, she had to work, and then she's just not that camera person and you are. I'm very extroverted and she's introverted you but she just her life is more private.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but there would be no eric if there's no patty. And there's no patty, well, there would be, but it's not as full as having to become that's why we work, because we're not yeah, we're yin and yang yeah, I love. It okay, so here we go. So your testimony was really you got saved early um. Jesus was there, but, like you said, success is not a straight line.
Speaker 1:Everything was the church salvation is not a straight line either and I love, love that your parents one being a pastor and he's a hardcore pastor hardliner he didn't just hold you to some kind of unreal ideal.
Speaker 2:They just loved us, they never pushed. I mean, we went to a Christian high school. We were fortunate enough that my parents scraped together to put us to HBA, which I sent my son there for 13 years. It's not cheap. So, even more appreciation for what they did. And they had four of us going there. I don't know. I always say did my dad sell drugs or?
Speaker 1:launder money.
Speaker 2:Because I don't know how they could have done it. But you know, what they did is they always had faith and somehow God provided. We didn't have lots, but we had family. We were together. They were always there for us. We had everything we needed. We didn't have lots of fancy clothes, but I didn't feel like we were poor. We weren't rich. I went to private school, so everybody's rich. So I always felt like, oh, those guys are rich, I'm not rich. And then after a while I didn't care, because now I see I had family.
Speaker 1:I'd rather have family than money any day to get family or an authentic person who likes them.
Speaker 2:for them, I have tons of clients who are super wealthy, but you know what they don't have? They don't have peace. I have peace, that's good People want to be successful and they want to be rich. And I ask them you want to be successful and you want to be rich, but don't you want peace more than that? Right? And then, if you really really Peace, money doesn't buy peace, sex doesn't buy peace, family doesn't buy peace. You have to find it within yourself or with God, and that's the only way.
Speaker 1:You beat me to the punch. I was just going to ask where do you find your peace? Then you have to With God.
Speaker 2:But people are not accountable. They won't sit back and go through all the ugliness of their life and figure out what they really want. They're going to throw it out to other people instead of being accountable. So the more accountable like for me, the more accountable and real and transparent I can be, the better. And if people don't like it, that's okay.
Speaker 2:I hate to use the word I don't care because we say I don't care and that's a tough word because it really that basically I don't care. That's harsh, but it it doesn't bother me as much. I know God loves me and my wife loves me and I'm far from perfect, but I'm going to just keep doing my truth and my movement because what I feel is right. It's not always perfect for sure. So I try not to be political on my Instagram. I obviously have strong feelings, but it's just setting yourself up for fighting Distraction, right. And I've talked to a lot of the big influences in Hawaii. They make money off of food sex and yeah, that's where the money's at, because that's what we look at, that's what we're drawn to. Food is.
Speaker 1:I love donuts of course, or milkshakes or boba drinks before my everyday better.
Speaker 2:When I had my own private Instagram. If I put a picture without my shirt on or donuts, I'd get tons of views. If I talk about Jesus, nobody cares because it's exciting locals punching hollies or people fighting or whatever crimes yeah. Yeah, bullying, it's exciting, has views and and and sex is cells right, that's the truth. And and food cells yeah, so I don't want to do any of that wow so you're never going to find a bikini girl on my website.
Speaker 1:Thank, you, I'm married.
Speaker 2:That's. That's not the representation, and a lot of the people I buy my clothes are big girls and that's who's? Yeah, yeah, so it's like. It's like I'm not there to sell clothing. I'm there to share a message and the byproduct is me selling clothing. I'm grateful that I can do that. My job is a full-time trainer, so my mission is I share clothing and stuff like that. It's something that you can wear every day, so it's a constant reminder when you go someplace. You can see my brand a hundred yards away and people always or oh, what's that? They'll say what's that about? Or I was really ready for all the negativity and I haven't.
Speaker 2:I thought I started to start talking about Jesus and people are going to say, really, yeah, I just and my default setting is always be optimistic, but I just was ready for people to just give me negative stuff. Right, I had, here and there, some people they don't believe in God or they don't think I should use. But I'm like well, I'm born and raised here. I have plenty of love in my heart. If you know me, I have lots of love I never said I was Hawaiian right.
Speaker 1:Never once said that I don't think the Hawaiians copyrighted Aloha. I pray to God they didn't.
Speaker 2:But I. But I share it with everybody, so the negativity is so minimal and I was ready for it. Cause I said oh yeah, one day at a time. Or if I'm changing people's lives one t-shirt at a time, then that's good.
Speaker 1:I have to say every time I wear it because I have the everyday blessed. I have this one everyday aloha, which I wore for not just my birthday last year, thank you, but I also wore it for my Christmas card I sent out.
Speaker 2:I was at Ko'olina.
Speaker 1:I was just up on a, not a Christmas tree, a palm, coconut tree hello, I eat it all the time and I had this shirt on. But every time I wear my gear and then I have this cap that I also wear. Um, it's a stop and stare. Yeah, and it's not don o'brien, because I'm a little bit older. She's not the girl she used to be, but it really is this three day, three word box and people get it. And because it's usually black on white, all my gear is like but and then one word is highlighted in a different color. People read it and they don't even talk. They can keep walking, but a lot of them go yeah, like the shirt, or what's up with the cap. Yeah, where you got that? So thank you for conceptualizing. Um, it's a sermon in a three word box. Boom kajesus.
Speaker 2:It's. A conversation starts like my shirt just is better. So some people like it, some people don't. And I've had people say, oh, you think you're better than me? I say, oh, on the contrary. I say, no, it's just about me personally trying to be better for myself, not than you, but you can also be better too. And then I love when people come at me negative, because I try to flip the script. I say, bro, you can be better. Like, oh, sorry, I came at you, like that.
Speaker 2:Obviously people, people come at you when they're, when there's pain in their life, yeah, yeah. So instead of me pointing out their pain, I just talk to them, maybe make them feel comfortable, maybe they can share their pain and we can have a conversation about stuff. I'm not going to fix it or change their life, but if I can impact them by just talking about shortcomings I've had and why I did every day better, and if they have a moment. That's why, when I do events, I like talking to people a lot. Selling the shirts is cool, but it's more just connecting with people on that different level, because they see you on Instagram and it's one thing, but when you get to these events, you can just talk to people and people share their stories. So eventually I'm starting a podcast and writing a book of all the interactions I've had.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Because I just have tons of stuff on my phone about people, how and I'm not making it like it's me, because it's really not about me, it's me just starting a conversation, right yeah, about how to be better. It's like people just need it sometimes. Like you said, a little 15-second snippet or something that Bite size.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're changing the world one bite at a time. Yeah, I'm just grateful that I thought of this and it's Old. Eric, was they used to? I was all about myself.
Speaker 2:But now I really don't care about people knowing that it's my brand. We'll literally go someplace and you'll see the shirt and I'll say, hey, nice shirt. And the guy has no idea it's my brand. But I hate to do that. My brand. I don't even like saying the brand it's our movement, eric, but the fact that somebody got it.
Speaker 2:I go where'd you get that shirt? He goes oh, my brother's, father's of people that are sharing the shirt as a gift and they're sharing something positive. So it's just heartwarming for me that before it was like, hey, that's my shirt, bro, Right, that's mine. And then it takes all the emphasis away from the meaning and it puts it on me and I'm human, but I don't really need.
Speaker 2:I don't need the pat on the back anymore. Every day I have blessings, blessings, just connecting with people, and I thank God. I try to be better about being grateful in the good times, because we always want God when we're having problems.
Speaker 1:But when we have successes.
Speaker 2:We don't always thank God. So I'm trying to thank God all the time, but I have these opportunities and I think I take it for granted less and less now because I'm trying to be more aware. And I have these DMs and people say, hey, thank you for sharing that or whatever it. And I have these DMs and people say, hey, thank you for sharing that or whatever. It's super impactful because a lot of people don't have human nature, where we don't have validation in our lives.
Speaker 2:I did this thing for men's health. The other day I did a little thing and it's just women are created one way, men are created one way and men are super macho. But men need to be loved. Yeah, they need to be validated.
Speaker 1:Respected.
Speaker 2:They need to be acknowledged yeah, but we don't, and we don't say it now. So I do my best to tell guys yeah, bro, I love you and it's not. Oh, bro, you're homo, it has nothing to do with it. But men have a hard time telling other men that they love them. But if you make that normal, it adore you is different from love. So I try to tell my wife I appreciate her and I love her and I adore her, because love is one thing. Oh, I love you, love you right. Love you right. I love cake, right I love pizza, yeah, so it's very abused.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying it doesn't have any meaning, but it doesn't have a lot of meaning anymore. So saying I appreciate you and showing I appreciate you and acknowledging to other men. It's not nothing to do with women to the other men, but we're definitely different when we cater to women or to men.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And then there's a lot of men that I know, who are business owners or CEOs that are suffering, that have messaged me that they want to kill themselves. It's heavy, and the most macho-ish guys, the ones who are the leaders, are the ones that are suffering too, but they cannot ever show that. Not afraid to show weakness, yeah, but you have to be. Yes, we have to be a little bit more compassionate. Realize that all the tough guys aren't necessarily tough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and this is everyday knowledge.
Speaker 1:To use everyday better term, because I love what you're saying, eric. Part of it is mental wellness. We call it that in the world, right, but it's also men's. Mental wellness is a whole different plane. Speaking to a man, I was just reading part of scripture I believe it was in Ephesians about how a man and a woman are to be together a husband and a wife, right. And there's this whole set of instructions on how a guy gets to love his bride and at the very end it says and women give your husband respect. That's it, one word.
Speaker 1:But I love what you're saying is how do we flesh that out more? Because I am in elementary schools a lot with the Choose Aloha program and I have to teach really basic ways of what does that look like, what does it sound like? Yeah, and that's how we can speak to men so that they feel validated. Because you're right, eric, I know some really large Polynesian guys professional football players or coaches and they look massive, they're moving mountains of muscle. But for me to say I appreciate you, I respect you, I so love the way that you love your son. That can turn that man into a puddle because he doesn't get it.
Speaker 1:He didn't hear it at home, so can we do more of that? Is that what?
Speaker 2:you're saying yeah, because my dad did with me. I do it with my son all the time. So I was like I don't want to tell him I love him too much, much, but like too bad. Every day he's off to work. I'm like I'm proud of you, be safe, I love you. And then he wasn't always saying it because he's too cool and recently, now he's 20, he's saying it all the time love you too, dad. It's like it's very valid, but he needs to hear that, like our people in our lives. So I tell people, we need to tell people we love yeah that we love them good because they you.
Speaker 2:You know I love you, right, but maybe that day you didn't realize I loved you I need to tell you, I need to inundate you with, with love and make sure you understand, through how I speak, but more than that, how I, how I act and how I treat you, that I love you because days are short and you know come on, yeah, we don't always have, we don't have, we don't have the time that we think we do we really don't.
Speaker 1:My pastor just said that this past Sunday in church. He said you know, he knew a young man, young pastor in his church who walked outside and unfortunately dropped dead Like just stone cold dead, no cause of death, right Wasn't hit by a truck and you could, I could walk outside and, god forbid, a bus could run into me, et cetera. But we don't know and the days are short. Thank you, eric. So tell people that's our life tip, life hack. Tell people that you love them right now, today.
Speaker 2:You don't know what they're going through. You know, just, my wife always reminds me like I'm 95, super happy and positive, but in traffic I'm kind of a monster. So I'm getting better. But she's like honey, you don't know what they're going through. They could have diarrhea. They could have lost their dog, like so I have to remember he could have diarrhea.
Speaker 1:They could have lost their dog. So I have to remember they could have diarrhea and lost the dog who had diarrhea and she's good.
Speaker 2:She's like put your hands down, because I'm a cop but I like to fight everybody before.
Speaker 1:No, I'm the same way. Traffic makes me nuts and we have the worst traffic in the nation. Eric.
Speaker 2:But my wife reminds me you don't know what they're going through. Try your best.
Speaker 1:True that, true that.
Speaker 1:So I just like Do you want to give any shout outs before we bring this in for a landing, because I'm going to get to the aloha part at the end. But thank you, brother. That was so much aloha and you're like it's like watching somebody on four times fast. There's so many statements I want to take apart and like look at each one and that's the quality you get when you're watching, like even the thought of the day with Eric on at Everyday. Better Hawaii, you get 15 seconds. You're like wait, I got to watch it again. Oh good, he posted it like five times. And you know, the other day yesterday there was a guy I think he was like from California or Florida, somewhere else, with palm trees, and like it's in green because the guy's from Hawaii.
Speaker 2:So Everyday Better Hawaii. He's from California, but he was visiting in Kauai. He's wearing the shirt, yeah, yeah and it impacts us that way.
Speaker 1:So thank you for that and thank you just for all the goodness you put out there. Where do you get a lot of the source? And then I'll bring this in for the aloha landing where's. Where's your source? Where do you get so much goodness? Because, I mean, we all have the same chances it's, it's who you surround yourself with, you know.
Speaker 2:I mean like, so like come people say, oh, you don't surround yourself around with cigarette smokers or people who are fat and I'm like I love everybody. Yeah, if you happen to be bigger and you smoke cigarettes, I'm still going to love you. Yeah, but we just surround yourself. You're definitely some of the people you're around. What?
Speaker 1:does that mean?
Speaker 2:So I just choose to be around people who love God, who are trying to be healthier, trying to be better, and it's not that I'm segregating myself from other people, but my life is so busy so I have to be really just accountable and responsible. Who I spend my time with? So I'm going to spend my time with. I start my day with God, end my day with God. Spend my time with my son as much as possible he works a lot. Spend my time with my wife, which I adore, but I've got to a point with my career where I can vet my clients. So I want to be with people that really want to do things and move and get better and feel better and be positive. So it's not that I won't be around negative people, but negative people are very draining. So I have time for those people, but it just depends. You have only so much time of the day. So I derive my aloha from looking at positive things, listening to positive things, sharing positive things, meeting positive people, praying. It's interesting.
Speaker 1:You're naming so many things that are available to any of us. One of my mentors, or really great friends, is Scarlett Lewis. She founded Choose Love movement around the world after her son was killed in a school shooting. He was in the first grade and out of that completely evil murder event where 28 people passed, including the gunman himself who turned the gun on himself at the end of the event, out of that great evil she was able to redeem a greater good. And she says this. She goes, we all at every second of the day, at every instance, every thought.
Speaker 1:You can either choose positive or negative. Here's the good news is it travels in every instance, every thought. You can either choose positive or negative. Here's the good news is it travels in a single file line, so you can only think one thought at a time, right? So why don't you choose positive? And here's the even better news than the good news is that you can always. There's always something to be grateful for, and so you can say I'm grateful you're here today, eric. Likewise, I am grateful that you choose positive and that you put that out on every single, out of every pore of your body. You sweat positivity, brother.
Speaker 1:But you're also very humble and very. You say it, I'm fallible. Where did you learn Aloha? Growing up Hawaii. Here's where I'm going to switch pivot. What's your favorite thing you remember of growing up in Hawaii? That's purely Hawaii. Here's where I'm going to switch Pivot. What's your favorite thing you remember of growing up in Hawaii? That's purely Hawaii. I remembered with Kelly Boy de Lima. I used to play guava fight.
Speaker 2:Well, I grew up in Oahu. My mom was the only white lady for blocks, so the next door neighbors was Gonzagon, filipino. The other neighbors were mixed. Next door neighbors was Hawaiian Chinese, the Carlos family, then a Japanese family, then the Konui family was Hawaiian, so we lived in a cul-de-sac. So it was that small microcosm of Hawaii. And I'm the whitest kid there. Growing up I wanted to be Hawaiian. I wanted to go to exploration because my neighbors went.
Speaker 1:But we all played in a circle together.
Speaker 2:We went hiking. We played sky eating, we played tee, played whatever like that kickball, whatever. We rode bikes. We got into trouble. We went to Manapumat but it was very diverse, so it was definitely a cross section of Hawaii. You had Filipino, hawaiian, japanese, chinese all in one little circle and we all got together and those days are the greatest because it was pure. Back then we never had TV, never had Instagram. We spent our summers out there, sweating, drinking from the hose, so yeah, so those are fun memories that you would never think I've got there. Like, my kid went to private school. He lived in Wekai. People think he's from the mainland because he speaks so good English. I think I speak pretty good English. I can kind of do the local thing.
Speaker 1:I guess I look local enough.
Speaker 2:I think I look super white, but I'm Hapa enough. But I definitely didn't think that I grew up my paul and I asked for my heart is music. There's no way you grew up 94 block. I said, guarantee it's changed a lot, but that was such a safe environment that we, we could, I could go back there and I go there pure yeah wow, it's not the same, but if we could go back to that. Yeah, life was a little bit more simple, yeah we all want that and that's what we're doing here on aloha alive the heart of hawaii.
Speaker 1:okay, so last question who is your Aloha hero? Someone who embodies Aloha spirit?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's got to be my dad. By hand style.
Speaker 1:Pastor Jeffrey Yamashita Hand style. Yeah, he's still an icon, he's still a pillar in the church to this day.
Speaker 2:There's not too many people who are going to say a negative thing about my dad. No, so 81 years on this earth and he changed more lives and help more people than I can ever match. So my goal is to be like that, you know, be like. My goal is to be like to be more like Christ, but it's just in the human form. I want to be a fraction of what my dad did and hopefully my son will follow my footsteps. Hopefully we always talk about legacy, you know. So hopefully there'll be legacy and continue, and my son is growing to be that man, I think you know. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I want to speak a blessing on you, brother. You just said something and I'm just going to tweak it a little bit, like tweaking that muscle. You said I hope to do a fraction of what my dad did. I pray exponential. Oh, yeah, for sure, even to the 100th generation there will be many blessings, and I highly esteem your dad he's one of the few pastors I hold in that regard and so for me to say that to you is not a light blessing, but you're already doing it, eric. Any last thoughts you wanted to give to our Aloha Alive audience and Ohana?
Speaker 2:No, I think people need to realize that everything starts with them. Yeah, it starts with your loving yourself, being accountable to yourself, finding a relationship I mean I say finding a relationship with God it's up to you, but you have to do your best to find peace for yourself before. You're not going to find happiness in sex or money or violence or other people until you take care of yourself. So I mean, if everybody can realize every day they wake up and they just want to be a little bit better, find a way. It's not even about selling shirts of my brand, but everybody has an opportunity every single morning to make their life better and it's really up to them. I mean, there's a lot of people with really, really bad circumstances, but there's things that we can change. There really is things that we can change.
Speaker 1:Even if it's just getting out of bed for five minutes or washing your face or moving moving or feeling a certain way or connected with somebody like that.
Speaker 2:We have opportunities every day to make our lives better. Well, like I said, whether it's mentally, physically, spiritually, financially, fiscally, we can do that.
Speaker 1:So I implore people to just to be positive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Thank you for not being the regular influencer on IG who goes after food, sex or violence to pump the numbers but you're a very positive and pure not peer pressure numbers, but you're a very positive and pure not peer pressure, but pure pressure and influencer. This is Mr Eric Yamashita and his bride, who's not actually here, but in spirit I know she's here. It's Patty, and they represent Every Day Better. It's a movement that started in the heart of Hawaii, right in the journal of this guy right here, but you can catch him on IG Everyday Better Hawaii. You can also go to their website, it's wwweverydaybetterhawaiiorg. And then, if you really Dot com, Dot com.
Speaker 1:Sorry, dot com, dot com. And if you really want some merch, they have a brick and mortar at Snackalicious Snack. Addicted Snack Addicted.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's one34 Kona Street, right above the original Sai Street Inn.
Speaker 1:Or also catch them at different monthly events.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at post events yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that's us, and remember every day better Be every day blessed, ohana Aloha, bye.