March 25, 2024 • 55 mins
Discover the remarkable transformation of Mike Coy. After an unexpected pivot when life threw a curveball in the form of cancer, Mike's resilience and tenacity shine through every word he shares. His journey, marked by two distinct chapters of before and after his diagnosis, is a raw and intimate tale of choosing life over despair, underscored by his moving book "I Chose Live." His reflection on this pivotal moment of clarity during chemotherapy, reminiscent of a scene from "Shawshank Redemption," speaks volumes about the power of choice and the indomitable human spirit.
Embark on a heartfelt exploration of what it truly means to pursue one's passions and live authentically with Mike. As someone who's navigated the tumultuous waters from a high-pressure career in finance to the rewarding realm of sports coaching, he exemplifies the joy found in aligning work with one's values. Mike's anecdotes, including the inspiring transition of an artist from retail to painting, serve as testament to the importance of embracing change and surrounding oneself with positive influences. His advice doesn't just stop at career choices; it extends to the crucial role of regular health screenings and stress management, especially for men who might otherwise sideline their wellbeing.
The episode culminates in a discussion rich with life lessons and the profound effects of mentorship, positivity, and purposeful living. Mike illuminates the connection between purpose and kind actions, sharing stirring anecdotes from his second book, "Random Acts of Kindness," and illustrating how one can profoundly touch the lives of others. Whether it's the challenges faced by athletes post-career or the power of spirituality in the face of adversity, Mike's insights touch on the universal need for purpose across life's various stages. Join us as Mike Coy inspires, educates, and most importantly, reminds us that we always have the power to choose our path, even in the face of life's toughest challenges.
Special Audience Giveaway:
- GIVEAWAY TITLE - Mike’s 10 Tips to Prevent Cancer
- Chapter 8: I Chose…Live
- GIVEAWAY URL - mikecoyspeaks.com/gift
Website: https://ichoselive.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone and welcome back to the A Word to
the Wise podcast, a space wherewe curate conversations around
mind, body, spirit and personaldevelopment.
I'm your host, jumi Moses.
On the show today is Mike Koi.
Mike is the best-selling authorand keynote speaker.
His journey gained depththrough an unyielding fight
(00:21):
against cancer, fueling hisacclaimed book I Chose Live.
There's no cheating cancer andwe all have a choice to make
this battle solidified.
His pursuit of excellence andbeyond his stellar career as a
registered financial consultant.
Mike's accolades also extend toa triumphant baseball journey,
(00:42):
coaching luminaries like DrewBreeze and being offered a minor
league contract with the NewYork Mets.
Mike's empowering speeches stiraudiences, infusing them with
life-changing strategies.
He champions a belief winnersfind a way to win, losers only
find excuses for why they fail.
In our conversation, mike and Idiscuss his life before cancer
(01:06):
and after cancer, the thingshe's learned along the journey,
why it's important to make adifference in people's lives,
and how he lives his life todaywith more intentionality and
more love.
Let's get into the show, mike.
(01:34):
Welcome to Overture the Wise.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
I'm really excited to speakwith you and learn more about
you.
You're a best-selling authorand a keynote speaker, and you
do quite a few things, but oneof the things that you're known
for is just your wealth ofexperience in the financial
consultancy and behavioralanalysis field.
(01:57):
I wanted to start off with whatgot you on that career path.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Well, it's actually baseball.
I had an offer from the Metsback many, many years ago.
I always say that if anybodysaw me play baseball they're
dead now.
But in 1978, I was offered acontract with the Mets and they
were going to offer me $425 amonth and $6 a day meal money.
(02:25):
I had a pregnant wife at home.
I was making $850, $900 doinghitting lessons and doing
baseball on the side and thenworking at the Cody's clothing
store on the weekend.
There was no way I could takethat cut in pay.
I wanted something, I wanted acareer.
(02:49):
My degree was in marketing.
I wanted a degree that I wanteda profession that I was able to
work my own hours.
I could still coach.
I could still work with youngmen and then eventually with
also women in softball.
From the hitting standpoint, Ididn't want to have a ceiling on
(03:11):
my income potential.
That's when one of my father'sbest friends was a big time
financial planner in my hometownof Beaumont, Texas.
We went to lunch one day and hesaid look, this is the
opportunity, this is the careerthat you need to go into.
(03:32):
46 years later, I guess I'llfigure out one day what I really
want to do.
It was all because I didn'tthink I could make a living in
baseball.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense.
Speaking about your dad, I knowyou briefly mentioned him in
relation to his friend, but yousay that your father gave you
advice which he said make adifference.
Son, do you think that alsoshaped your career choice as
well as your personal philosophy?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Well, I think so.
The last words my dad said tome was son, make a difference.
I feel like that.
It was probably from thecoaching aspect, because he was
a coach and a layman discipledby Christ's minister.
I think that his meaning waskeep coaching, keep working with
(04:31):
kids and pay it forward, make adifference.
But as I've gotten older, jimmy,I believe that it's more of
connecting on the personal side,on the health side, on
something that I bring out in mybook.
(04:52):
I chose live is that on mybattle with cancer and how I'm
winning the war is that stressis a silent killer and men don't
get checked, men don't go tothe doctor.
I mean, we all know that womenare smarter than us, but the
bottom line is that men's, ourdeath rate is 58% higher than
(05:17):
women's because we won't go tothe doctor.
And all of a sudden and I feelthe same way I think about the
great Toby Keith who just passed.
I mean, I've got a band, I dothe music, and one of the songs
that are in my set every nightthat I perform is Don't Let the
(05:37):
Old man In, and it's atremendous story.
But I'm thinking about you getsomebody like Toby Keith that
thinks that, oh, I've just gotsome indigestion, I've just got
something, and then finally gogets checked and you've got six
months to live.
I mean again, I feel like thatmy dad's words have gotten much
(06:00):
deeper than me just coachingkids.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yes, 100%, and it's interesting when I went on your
website.
I listened to a couple of thesongs that you wrote and heard
you play, and there was just somuch heart and soul into it and
I just remember thinking, oh, Ihave to talk to Mike.
He has so much wisdom to impart, I bet.
(06:25):
And I want to talk about yourbook, and I know you just
mentioned it.
I chose Live and I know thatthis book is kind of the
aftermath or part of the effectsof you going through what you
went through with your healthright.
So I want to start off by firstasking when you first got that
(06:45):
cancer diagnosis, what was thatmoment like for you?
What were you thinking in thosemoments?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Well, you kind of go blank when that doctor comes in
and says the three words youdon't want to hear and that's,
you had cancer.
I think probably my kids willtell you that my life is clearly
defined as AC and BC.
After cancer and before cancer.
I've never been sick a day inmy life.
(07:14):
I've been an athlete my wholelife.
Now I've got four kneesurgeries and a blown Achilles,
but that's all sports related.
But I was having thiscontinuous sore throat.
I had moved to Georgia.
My company, aflac, had given mea tremendous opportunity to be
(07:37):
the director of sales andtraining for the state of
Georgia and I had just gonethrough a pretty devastating
divorce.
And I got this job opportunityand I jumped on it and I said
I'm moving to Georgia, I'm goingto start my life over again,
and I think that there's prettymuch.
(07:59):
There was a lot of stress comingoff of the divorce, just
packing up, leaving my kids, mygrandkids, and just moving to a
state where I didn't knowanybody in a job.
That was a lot of pressure andI was getting into it and really
going after it and after abouta year I was having this sore
(08:22):
throat and I didn't know whatthe deal was, and so, finally,
like any man, I waited five orsix months, but I went and got
checked and the doctor says oh,it's probably a sinus infection.
You've got drainage.
Let me give you someantibiotics and you'll be fine
(08:43):
in a few weeks.
Well, the thing that I foundout is that I had a tumor the
size of your fist at the base ofmy tongue, and I was told that
it was a sinus infection.
So five or six weeks later, Istill had this continuous sore
throat.
I went back to the doctor andshe said well, what we need to
(09:06):
do is put you on some reallyheavy duty antibiotics.
And, jimmy, all thoseantibiotics did was destroy my
immune system.
And on July 4th weekend, 2013, Iwent into the bathroom and one
of my litinose was sticking outlike a golf ball Golf ball to my
neck and I said well, that'snot good.
(09:29):
And so I forced my way backinto to see the primary.
She got me a specialist.
On the next day, they get fiveneedle biopsies.
Now, I don't know if you'veever had a needle biopsy, but
it's something you ought to trysometime.
It's a lot of fun.
And the doctor said look, it'sprobably nothing, don't worry
(09:50):
about it, we'll give you a callin a couple of weeks Now.
At that time I had left homeoffice and gone to Dalton,
georgia, where I had my owndistrict.
I was going to be my own bossagain.
I actually lived right acrossthe border at Chattanooga,
tennessee, because Tennesseedidn't have a state income tax.
(10:12):
So I moved.
My condo was in Tennessee butit was only 10 minutes from my
office.
And I got a call that afternoonon my way back to Tennessee.
The doctor wants to see youtomorrow at two o'clock.
Okay, so I turn around, driveback next morning, two and a
(10:33):
half hour drive.
And that's when he walked inand just said you have cancer
and, in all fairness, you kindof block out the rest of it.
You know it's saying that it'snot so much a life or death
thing.
Now, if you would have leftthis alone for another two to
three months, that tumor wouldhave grown and closed off your
(10:54):
windpipe and you would have died.
But they were concerned aboutsaving my vocal cords and not
removing my tongue For somebodythat talks for a living, to
somebody that has fun with themusic.
That was not something I wantedto hear.
(11:16):
I remember him saying we'regoing to get you on some
heavy-duty chemo on Sunday sevendays, seven nights in the
hospital, two weeks off, backseven days, seven nights, and
then you're going to do 12outpatient.
During that period I was goingto have to get the port
installed and they were talkingabout it feeding too.
(11:38):
But I remember saying, wait aminute, sunday, what's Sunday?
He goes.
Well, this Sunday we got to getthis treatment going.
I said I can't do it thisSunday.
I just moved, I've got mydistrict, I'm hiring people, I'm
going out.
That's terrible.
I said what's plan B?
He said you die.
(12:00):
I said all right, well, let'sgo back to plan A here and see
how we can work this out.
You finally just get in yourmind trust the doctors, trust
your faith and let's get thisdone, let's get this over with.
That's how I allowed it tohappen.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
It's so interesting because we can have our whole
life planned.
Life can be going a specificway.
Like you said, you were in aposition where you were working
for yourself again.
You were doing so well withyour new job.
Granted, you had just gonethrough a divorce and you had to
move.
But life was just moving in acertain direction and then, all
of a sudden, it's pretty muchsomewhat halted with this new
(12:49):
diagnosis.
I like what you said, thatthere was before cancer and then
there was after cancer.
I realized that in a lot of theconversations that I've had
with people who've gone throughvery traumatic instances in
their life, there's this bigrevelation that they have their
whole perspective shifts orthere's something that they had
(13:10):
never considered prior towhatever they're going through.
I want to talk a little bitmore about who you were before
cancer and who you became aftercancer, because I find that very
interesting.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Well, I think that before cancer I was very driven
being in the insurance industry.
It was about making sales, itwas about helping people, it was
about getting up there andworking.
I had two kids that we wereraising and you start thinking
(13:47):
about college.
You have so many other thingsgoing.
I was coaching in the highschool level where I was helping
over at Kelly High School inBeaumont, and then I had summer
baseball teams.
That's where I was able to winthree state championships, a
(14:13):
national championship.
I was the head coach for the16-year-old USA baseball team
that we went down under.
We went to Australia everyChristmas and played and was
able to win five internationalChampionships, and so I was
always very driven on thesuccess, on not really stepping
(14:42):
aside and doing the proverbialsmell in the coffee.
All of a sudden I get hit withthis diagnosis.
I remember if anybody out thereis going through the chemo and
the radiation and all the stuff,you have good days and then you
have days that are pretty tough.
(15:03):
I remember I was in Tennessee.
I was at my condo, I was out onthe balcony.
I'd gone through about three orfour weeks of my chemo and
radiation and still had severalweeks to go.
It was a beautiful summerafternoon.
The wind was blowing.
Looking at the ChattahoocheeRiver, I felt this spelt
(15:27):
something on my arm.
I looked down and there wasthis big clump of hair that had
fallen on my arm.
The wind was blowing and I hadhair going everywhere.
That's when I took my hands andstarted going through my head
and all my hair fell out everybit of my hair.
I tell you something that's therealization that what you're
(15:53):
going through is real.
That's why I tell people look,my hair grew back.
That's all I care about.
I don't care about the tumoranymore, I just wanted my hair
back.
But to have that realizationthat you're fighting something
that's more than you.
I remember going back in thehouse sitting down, flipping
(16:14):
through the channels I don'tknow TNT or something, and a
movie Shawshank Redemption.
Now that shows gosh 25, 30years old now, but it was the
movie that launched Tim Robbins'career.
It had the great Morgan Freemanin it.
It was about a man that wasaccused of killing his wife, and
(16:36):
he didn't.
But he was sent to Shawshankprison.
The first six, seven, eightweeks that he was in Shawshank
he was beaten, he was abused, hewas raped.
I mean it was horrible.
He's out in the courtyard onetime talking to this Morgan
Freeman character, red, that hadbeen at Shawshank for 40 years.
(16:58):
Tim Robbins said how can you behere for 40 years?
This place is a living hell.
This is the worst place onearth.
How have you been able to behere for 40 years?
Morgan Freeman says well, lifehas choices.
(17:20):
You either get busy living oryou get busy dying.
Jimmy, I tell you, it hit melike a ton of bricks that you
either get busy living or youget busy dying.
I turned off the TV, I went tomy desk and that's when I sat
(17:41):
down and I wrote my book.
I Chose Live.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
In your book I Chose Live?
What do you want people to getor resonate with as they're
reading the book?
I mean, from the title it'sclear that you want people to
choose living and live to thefullest.
But when you were writing thebook, what knowledge were you
hoping to impart in I Chose Live?
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Well, yeah, that's a great question, because I had
people ask me did I ever thinkabout giving up?
And I said absolutely not.
I had a six-month-old grandsonthat didn't know me and at that
point I had not walked mydaughter down the aisle, and so
I think it helps if you havesome kind of purpose where you
(18:30):
don't allow the depression totake over, you don't allow life
to get in the way.
Basically, and when I startedresearching the book, the Aflac
Children's Cancer Center is inAtlanta and I went there three
or four times just to getresearch about cancer, about my
(18:53):
cancer and stuff like this, andwhat I found out is that stress
is the silent killer, because itdestroys your immune system.
Second of all is about notgetting checked, and so I wanted
to write the book tospecifically get the word out
(19:14):
that on the stress side and Itell you this goes back to
before cancer and after cancerJust this morning I am going to
an enrollment with my work andthere was a truck that was in
the left-hand turning lane andit had stopped, so I was going
to go around it and then all ofa sudden he speeded up and I
(19:38):
looked up and I had cars comingon me behind and I cut behind
him and I promise you 10 yearsago I'd probably gotten out of
the car and we would have had analtercation.
Now I just went.
What happened, you know?
I mean, it's kind of like gee.
That wasn't fun, but I can tellfor myself how I react to
(20:02):
certain things.
You know, go to the grocerystore.
I always get behind the ladythat has 100 groceries and at
the last minute she decides topull out the checkbook and write
the check right.
I promise you now I just laugh.
I promise you 10 years ago Iwould have said something right.
And so, from the stressstandpoint, I have gone through
(20:26):
some specific examples.
And then also on the mengetting checked when I do my
talks, I've been very fortunateto go across the country and
I've done a lot of speaking gigsand a lot of Aflac kickoff
(20:46):
meetings.
And one of the things I tellthe ladies in the audience we
need your help, but we need foryou to get your spouse, your
brother, your uncle, your fatherthey got to go get checked
because prostate cancer andcolon cancer are the two main
cancers for men and there's noeasy cancer.
(21:06):
But if you get it treated earlyit's not going to have near the
devastating effects that itwould.
Instead of waiting.
But we don't do that, we wait.
We wait six, eight, nine months.
When it's so bad we have to goto the doctor, and then we find
(21:28):
out with stage four and we'vegot three to six months to live.
And so my purpose on the bookwas to tell about my life and
about the choices that we make.
And in every talk that I give,I end.
Every message, every talk thatI give, I ended by saying that
(21:55):
Life is about choice, as you getbusy living or get busy dying,
and I hope and pray that eachand every one of you Choose this
, make the same choice I made,choose the same path that I made
, and that was I.
I chose live.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Thank you for sharing that, mike, and I think what
you said is going to resonatefor a lot of people, and not
just men as well.
I will raise my hand and saythat I am guilty of Not getting
checked as often as I should begetting checked.
I know that.
You know, physicals happenevery year this year was pretty
good about it but typically Itake my health for granted and
(22:37):
I'm like, oh, that's not a bigdeal.
So what you're saying, I'mtaking a mental note of that as
well and thank you for sharingthat.
And Speaking of choicessomething that you're passionate
about talking about, as well asembracing choice in defining
Faith and how choices decide ourpathway to success.
So I know that we talked aboutchoice in relation to health,
(22:59):
but what other choices or howcan we seize our faith and
really seize control of our life?
Because a lot of people arejust living right, and I had
another woman on the show whoshe had cancer and in her having
cancer, she realized that shewas living life for other people
.
Her choices were defined bywhat would please other people
rather than what actuallyresonated with her.
(23:21):
So I want to talk a little bitmore about your philosophy on
choice in controlling our faith.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Well, I think that's, I mean, it's such a great
question and I appreciate itbecause I actually was speaking
to this, this, this great tellerat my bank, and she's got so
much personality and when you,when you go in, it's hey, mr
Corey, how you doing?
Did you go play baseball thisweekend?
(23:49):
Did you do this?
I mean, she, she's the greatest.
I took her to lunch About aweek or ten days ago and I just
said look, when I'm able to findsomebody that has your
personality, that loves people,I've got.
I've got an opportunity that Iwould like to share with you on
the insurance side, becauseright now and she admitted that
(24:15):
it's very, very tough for her tolive, she, she, she just
recently got engaged, but forher right now to be in her
apartment, have her car and totry to live on $16 an hour is
really tough and and and one ofthe main reasons she's there is
(24:37):
for benefits.
You know it's got greatbenefits.
And the thing I told her, Isaid you have to make a choice.
If you would like to have anopportunity to work your own
hours, be your own boss, there'sno ceiling.
There's nobody telling you thatyou're worth 15, 16, 18 dollars
an hour.
Now you've got it.
(24:57):
You know there's discipline,you've got to work, and I tell
myself, if you're smart enoughto be dumb enough to do what I
ask you to do, then you're gonnabe successful, because I've
done it my whole life.
And that's how I try to addressit of saying why are you stuck
in a Especially, this is a bankat a bank, and right now just
(25:20):
last month, 64 banks closedBranches, mainly on the West
Coast, and it was PNC had hadlike 14 Wells Fargo has.
It is a Consolidation industryright now, and the thing that
you don't want to do is to putin your 10, 15 years.
(25:43):
Then, all of a sudden, you walkin one day and it's like you
don't have a job any longer.
And so what I try to coachPeople on is that for for
somebody like me To realizelife's too short to do anything
(26:04):
that you don't want to do.
You know and it's one thingthat we talked about a minute
ago about Toby Keith I love theway Toby Keith said hey, I am
gonna live my life, I'm gonnasing my songs, I'm gonna do it
this way, even though Nashvillesaid that that might not be the
way to go, I mean when he cameout with the red, white and blue
(26:26):
and and that, that, that songafter 9-11, I mean, he got
attacked and he said look,that's how I feel, you know, and
he was gonna do it his way.
And I think that's one thingthat we get away from is that we
get into a, a Job situationwhere it's just simply for the
(26:49):
income or just to have apaycheck and there could be so
much more out there.
If you and I remember One ladythis is in Austin, texas that
was an unbelievable artist, butshe worked at a like a, a dollar
(27:09):
store, just to be able to haverent money.
And I told her I said youreally need to, you're really
good, and and then she ended upslowly getting away from cutting
back her hours but doing her,her paintings and has made a
(27:30):
very good living on it becausethat's what she loves to do and
the reason why I said before Iknew I was gonna be a coach and
but I didn't want to make.
Back back in the 70s, coaches,teachers, were only making about
eight or nine hundred dollars amonth and I said I'm not gonna
have somebody dictate to me.
You know that this is how muchyou're gonna make.
(27:53):
I'm gonna go in this direction.
And yes, it's commission.
And yes, I got to get up everymorning and and run for mayor.
I've got to shake hands andkiss babies every day and I mean
, I was when I left my hometownof Beaumont.
I went to San Diego to try toget into pro baseball again with
(28:17):
the Padres and after two yearsI had a chance to move to Austin
to get into back into thefinancial planning side and and
then four years ago I remarriedand my life has the early onset
of MS and the heat in Austin wasjust eating her up and she said
(28:41):
we need to go somewhere.
And that's when a flat gave methis opportunity to move to
Colorado Springs.
And it's just gorgeous, it'sjust a beautiful area and and
and.
Again it goes back to thechoices that you want to make
and I just feel like we getcaught up too many times and In
(29:03):
a dead-end situation that I wishEverybody could take a deep
breath and say what do youreally want to do?
What is your passion?
This is how you want to do it.
You know I was when I went toSan Diego.
I was, I had my own insuranceagency and I would work, get
there from like I would workfrom about eight To three thirty
(29:25):
and at four o'clock I was atthe San Diego School of Baseball
Doing lessons until nineo'clock at night and the thing
about it is I was making as muchor more money Doing those
lessons, going to springtraining, working with athletes
that I was on the insurance side, but I loved it.
It was something that I'vealways enjoyed doing.
(29:47):
And when you surround you,especially in sports I mean I've
had the fortune of Coachingsome of the most unbelievable
Athletes that a lot of peoplehave heard I drew breeze.
I mean drew breeze the hall offame.
He's gonna be a first BallotHall of Fame quarterback for the
Saints, but he was one heck ofa baseball player and when you
(30:11):
surround yourself with athleteslike that that want to be better
, that they're really, reallygood but they want to be better,
that inspires you, that makesyou want to be better.
I think that's one thing that Itry to spread the word more
than anything else.
Do everything you can to bearound people that are solution
(30:36):
makers, that are positiveNegativity.
Well, just, I mean my mother.
My mother was brilliant.
She was a school teacher.
My mother and father had thefirst private school in Beaumont
, texas, and it exploded forthem and they were very, very
good teachers.
My mother was a tremendousbusinesswoman, but I can tell
(30:58):
you you could look outside andsay, wow, what a pretty day.
And she would immediately say,well, it's probably going to
rain.
It's not?
I mean, you get to that likeGod.
Lee, mom, let's be positive.
I go out of my way to stay awayfrom the negativity and this
(31:21):
kind of thing because, numberone, it's not good for you.
Number two, it doesn't doanything.
It's like yesterday I'm on thattreadmill and I'm trying to
beat that treadmill to death,but guess what?
I ain't going anywhere.
But it's something that I knowI have to do.
But anyway, I just feel likeit's so important to find that
(31:44):
path that can help you grow andpay it forward and do something
positive for yourself.
The great Tim Tebow, the ex-NFLquarterback, college
quarterback.
I've heard him speak twice andhe talks about.
It's not about any day, it'sabout today.
(32:06):
Yesterday's gone, tomorrow'snot promised to any of us.
So what are you doing today andin my case, to make a
difference?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Thank you for that.
So, if I'm understandingeverything you're saying, it's a
mixture of making the rightchoices, surrounding yourself
with the right people who speaklife into you and are also
solution-oriented, and alsohaving a positive mindset as a
way of shaping someone's fate orthe ability or empowering them
(32:37):
to make the right choices thatalign with their life, and
things usually come back fullcircle, like talking about your
experience in professionalbaseball and then shifting to
the financial side of things andthen ending up being a coach
and making a lot of money doingthat as well.
That's pretty impressive.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Well, let me tell you something.
I'm part of the prison ministrywith my church and I will go
into these different prisons andI'll do a concert.
I'll do many kind of surprising.
The most favorite song isJohnny Cash's for some prison
blues, okay, but I sit there andI counsel these prisoners, I
(33:17):
talk and all I do is sit thereIf they want to come talk.
We don't reach out to them.
They come to us and I tell themall the time it's about choices
.
You made some choices.
That puts you here.
Now you have an opportunity tomake some other choices in your
life that can change your life,that could help society, not
(33:42):
cost society.
And you'd be surprised thenumber of prisoners that I've
been able to speak to and mentorthat really want that, because
they've hit rock bottom.
And a lot of times, until youdo hit rock bottom, you're not
(34:03):
going to make that change.
You're not going to make thatshift, that new paradigm, to
where I want to do somethingpositive instead of something
negative.
And I see that with theseprisoners usually every quarter
when we go into the differentprisons around Colorado Springs.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Thank you for sharing that.
Something else that you hadmentioned a while back that I
wanted to touch on a little bitis the fact that stress can be a
silent killer in a lot ofpeople when it comes to their
health.
How do you manage your stressnow?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, it's believe it or not.
I try to take a deep breath.
I know that sounds so simpleand there's so many cliches out
there about that, but reallywhat I try to do is, if I get
cut off in traffic, I just think, wow, that guy or that girl
(35:02):
must be in a really bad hurrywhen, 10 years ago, I would try
to catch up with them.
Road rage, whatever.
It's not worth it.
Okay, I mean it's like inAustin Texas.
The infrastructure is terrible.
The city fathers years ago saidif you don't build it, they
won't come.
Well, they've come, and so youneed to understand.
(35:25):
If you get on Mopac Boulevardat 435 o'clock in the afternoon
in Austin Texas, it's going totake you an hour or an hour and
a half to get south or to getnorth.
Just get ready.
And so I was able to.
I might have a concert comingup, a charity gig, and that gave
(35:50):
me the chance to put music onthat, songs that I was going to
perform at that concert.
And it gives me a differentperspective instead of bitching
and complaining about thetraffic.
And so I feel like that if weare able to just kind of take a
(36:15):
step back, take a deep breathand say you know what.
Life is too short, this isn'tworth getting upset about,
because a lot of times you can'tcontrol it anyway.
I mean, it's like this morningthere's nothing I could do about
this guy cutting in front of me, you know, I mean, and so I
(36:37):
just tried to make the best ofwhat almost was a bad situation.
And I feel like that.
That's where I have grown as aperson, where I've tried to be a
much more tolerant.
Well, I'm much more tolerantwith the grandkids than I ever
was with my kids.
(36:57):
But I'm trying to be a betterhusband, I'm trying to be a
better father, I'm trying to be,you know, and I think a lot of
this happens when you realizeyou're in the.
In my case, I'm in the lastquarter of my life.
I mean, I'm 70 years old, I'mabout to be 71.
And so I know that I'm in thelast quarter of my life.
(37:21):
So do I make that miserable formyself and other people, or do
I try to make it better formyself and other people?
And I think that's where myfocus has been, where I'm not as
driven.
Now I'm competitive, you know.
There's no doubt about that.
You know, I remember reading anarticle about Michael Jordan one
(37:45):
time and it came out that hehad a gambling problem.
And he said I don't have agambling problem, I have a
competitive problem.
When I'm sitting over a puttand it's a 10 foot putt and
Charles Borchley says I bet you$10,000, you miss that putt, he
goes okay, and if I miss theputt I'll write him a check.
But Jordan makes $300 million ayear, just off Nike.
(38:08):
So for him to lose a millionbucks on the golf course, it's
like you know me and you youknow losing $100, right.
And he said I don't have agambling problem, I had a
competitive problem.
Well, that's kind of how it hasmotivated me in the insurance
field, because I don't like that.
(38:28):
I had a really good week lastweek, but I was not number one.
I was number two because thisreally good female agent beat me
by $580 for the week.
I can't stand that right.
But it's now much more undercontrol, where I'm having a heck
(38:52):
of a week this week and I can'twait to see what the results
are next week.
So I can tease her aboutbeating her once and she's her
beating me two or three times.
So you know, I think a lot ofthis comes back on how you
address the situation, howyou've what is the easiest way
(39:16):
to face the situation inhandling.
And I'm telling you I go into alot of detail in the book about
stress and what to do and howto handle it.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
Yeah, it's interesting when you talk about,
just usually, things that wouldreally piss you off or irritate
you.
Now you just don't take them asseriously.
And one of my philosophies inlife life is serious but it's
not that serious.
And I had a similar thinghappen when I was trying to
cross over and get to my exitand this car just was not
slowing down and they werecharging at me and I immediately
(39:56):
wanted, like you know, wasgoing into a fit of rage and I
just realized I was like, well,thank God he didn't hit me, at
least.
I was able to cross into my,like my late, and get to my exit
.
So it's all about perspectiveand not taking ourselves too
seriously, because what doesthat really do for us, right?
So I appreciate you for sharingthat and giving the Michael
(40:17):
Jordan example.
I watched his documentary aswell at night and you remember
he said that.
So we've talked about the mind,we've talked about the body and
on a word to the wise, I liketo connect mind, body, spirit.
And I don't know if you're aman of faith or if you believe
in God, but if you believe, howdoes your belief, or how did
(40:38):
your belief in God kind of helpyou through cancer and also kind
of continues to help you inyour life at the moment and in
your purpose, in your currentpurpose?
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Well, there again, you have a choice.
You can either believe or notbelieve.
I would rather believe, and ifI'm wrong, okay.
But I think that I went down abetter path because I did
believe.
I mean, my dad was a layman tocyberacrice sinister.
So almost all of my up until Iwas about 16, 17 years old, I
(41:16):
was at church every Wednesdaynight, every Sunday morning,
every Sunday night, and thenwhen I was about 14, I took over
the music side, in the choirand this kind of thing, and got
myself more involved and I feellike I am much more spiritual
than I am religious, because Ifeel like my faith is what
(41:42):
helped me on my cancer to sayget through this and make a
difference, get through this andsee if you can help somebody
else.
I'll give you an example.
I was still in Austin and I wasplaying men's senior baseball on
my third base.
The third baseman it was afriend of mine, his name is
Jimmy and he's a real good thirdbaseman and.
(42:04):
But he turned to me and he saidMike, my wife made me read your
book and and so I went and gota colonoscopy a couple of weeks
ago.
Now he was like 54, 55.
You're supposed to get it atage 50.
He said I was four or fiveyears late.
(42:27):
But he said I went and got itdone and they found three
precancerous polyps in my colon.
They removed them and thedoctor said if I would have
waited another two years orthree years I would have had
full blown colon cancer.
He says so I just want to letyou know.
(42:49):
You saved my life.
And I said no, jimmy, you savedyour life because it's about
the act of doing.
Okay.
I mean, when I was the trainerin Georgia, I have people tell
you you know, july, on January,the first, you said you know, I
need to lose some weight, I'mgoing to lose weight.
(43:10):
And I look at him and I go no,you're not.
I said you don't have a plan.
Now, if you came to me and yousaid you know what?
Every night I'm going to walkaround the block, I'm going to.
You know, I'm going to go tothe track and I'm going to run
the straightaways and walk thecurves, I'm going to cut back on
the fried foods, I'm going todo this, this and this.
Then I would say now you have aplan.
(43:31):
Nobody plans to fail, jimmy,you know this.
We just fail to plan, right, Imean, we just don't put it down.
I've got sticky noteseverywhere.
I've got things that I try to,and one of the things I do on
one of my talks that I give isabout I want you every morning
(43:56):
to go in the mirror and saytoday is the first day of the
rest of my life.
I'm going to seize this day,I'm going to seize this
opportunity and I am going tomake a difference.
And I think that positivereinforcement of saying this is
what I plan to do, this is whatI, and the thing about it is, if
(44:16):
you don't do it, that's okay.
Do it tomorrow All right, buttry to do it today, because this
isn't about any day, this isabout today.
And I feel like that again onthe spiritual side is I got
through the cancer and now Ihave three grandsons that wish
(44:37):
they didn't know me.
I think sometimes I did walk mydaughter down the aisle and
she's giving me this preciousfive-year-old granddaughter.
And again, when you have apurpose that helps you overcome
a lot of the valleys.
You know my dad was aquarterback in high school and
(44:58):
college and he said one of thethings you find out the
quarterback gets way too muchglory when you win and then
takes too much blame when youlose.
So if you can try to keep it aseven as possible from your life
standpoint, I think it makes iteasier on yourself and then
(45:18):
also the people that you'rearound.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Thank you for sharing that.
It reminded me of thisconversation that I had recently
with this amazing guy calledBrett Brett MacPiang and he was
a wealth and financial managerfor over 30-plus years and he
worked with a lot of richathletes, a lot of just CEOs and
(45:45):
sort, and he said that part ofhis work was that you know a lot
of these people.
They're very competitive formost of their life and they're
go, go, go, go go.
Then they get to a point wherethey kind of face depression or
they're going to do somethingvery difficult and they don't
have a sense of purpose and whathe realizes is that different
stages of life call fordifferent purpose and usually at
(46:09):
the later stage of life it'sreally about giving and
anchoring into the connectionswith family, friends and even
strangers and paying forward ourlife lessons and helping others
and really making an impact intheir lives.
And just hearing you talk aboutyour experience and your life
in general, it just seems likeyou're really in a space of
(46:32):
giving back and reallyconnecting with the people in
your life.
So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
Let me tell you something.
I've been around athletes mywhole life and I saw this
staggering statistics that 63%of NFL football players broke
file bankruptcy within two yearsafter they finished their
(46:58):
career.
I mean that's scary.
I remember seeing an interviewwith Shaq and during the
Olympics, during the Dream Team,he actually was with Charles
Barkley and they went toBarkley's house and Barkley had,
like I don't know, six or sevencars lined up and Shaq goes
(47:18):
what are those cars?
And you know Barkley said well,they're mine.
And Shaq said you only need youcan only drive one at a time.
What are you doing?
You got about $2 million worthof cars sitting there.
What are you doing, you know?
And so now Barkley is the onethat he did an interview the
(47:41):
other day.
He said if there's anybody outthere that pays $10,800 for a
Super Bowl ticket to go and sitin a stand, you got to have your
head examined.
You know, and I mean it'samazing.
I saw this thing on RobGorkowski, the great tight end
for the Patriots, and he madethis interviewer said it's
(48:05):
reported that you made $70million playing football and he
goes.
Well, actually it's $69 million, he goes, and it said that you
have not spent one dime of thaton your life and he goes.
Nope, he goes.
I've got it all invested.
I've got it all put aside.
I make my living money on mycommercials and my appearances
(48:29):
and stuff like that.
I've not touched one dime of myfootball money and those are
the kind of things that inspireme to when I'm talking,
especially with younger peopleand some of my athletes that I
had one picture that signed withthe San Francisco Giants years
(48:51):
ago and he got 1.5 millionsigning bonus and his salary was
$500,000.
And I told him I said here'swhat you've got to do.
Please put this money aside.
You can put a million dollarsin a tax free ministry, a tax
free municipal bond, and get$3,000 a month tax free income
(49:16):
which should pay your basicbills.
And it's something that he didand he played for nine years,
ended up making about $8 to $10million playing baseball and is
now retired and he's anassistant coach at his high
school baseball where he playedbaseball in high school as a
(49:39):
pitching coach, because hedoesn't need the money.
And those are the stories that Imean.
Think about all the you've readthe statistics about these
people that win the lottery andthen, a year or two years later
they don't have a dime.
And so I feel like again, ifyou have that purpose, if you
(50:01):
want to move forward, pay itforward, do something positive,
and I just think you can make adifference in the life.
It's like when I wrote mysecond book, a Random Acts of
Kindness it was doing COVID Iwas sitting around not doing
anything and I remembered ashort story that I had read, I
(50:24):
don't know 20, 25 years ago,from Chicken Soup for the Soul,
and it was a short story calledA Simple Gesture by John
Slattery.
And I went back it's a truestory and I took that story and
just embellished the heck out ofit and made it my own.
(50:45):
But it's all about a random actof kindness.
A simple gesture might justchange somebody's life but more
importantly, as it's brought outin the book, it could actually
save someone's life.
And I think the more that westay on that positive side
(51:06):
because you look at society, youlook at our nation, you look
how divided we are and I justfeel like that.
You know, if you believe inwhat the Reverend Martin Luther
King did in his life.
I'm a big Elvis fan.
(51:27):
I sing quite a few Elvis' songsand stuff, and he was so
concerned during the civilrights movement on what was
happening in the world.
When Mac Davis wrote in theghetto and Colonel Parker said,
no way you're going to sing thatsong, elvis, for one of just a
(51:50):
few times, went behind ColonelParker's back and recorded that
song because he said thismessage needs to get out there.
I can tell you something, jimmy40 years later, 50 years later,
it's the same thing.
Speaker 1 (52:08):
Thank you, mike.
That was so powerful.
I need to make a note to haveyou back on the podcast to give
us financial tips on saving andinvesting and growing our money.
But thank you so much for yourwords of wisdom.
This has been a greatconversation and I usually like
to wrap it up with final wordsof wisdom to the listeners,
since it's called a word to thewise.
(52:29):
I know you've shared so manygems and tips, but if there is
anything additional that youkeep in your back pocket as you
go through life, Well, one ofthe things I would appreciate is
that I've got two free giftsthat I'm giving away.
Speaker 2 (52:43):
It's mikecoyspeakscom slash gift Mikecoyspeakscom
slash gift.
One of them is Mike's 10 tipson how to prevent cancer.
And then I also added chapter 8in I Chose Live, because I
think it's a powerful chapterfor people to read.
(53:05):
And so if people would just goto Ichoeslivecom Ichoeslivecom
they're going to find out moreabout me than they want to know.
But I've got my books there,I've got some words of
inspiration and again, if I canand I know that you understand
(53:27):
this better than anybody but ifwe can just touch one person,
just one person, then we've doneour job.
And what I try to do every dayis try to touch one person, make
a difference, and then that'smy payment.
My dad said that God has givenyou some gifts on the athletic
(53:52):
side and the music side.
Now how you use those gifts ishow you repay him, and so that's
something that I really try tolive my life on, and I
appreciate this opportunity somuch.
You are so great and but, likeI said, if people want to find
out more about me, just go toIchoeslivecom and they can reach
(54:16):
out to me through the email oranything that they want, and I'd
love to be able to relate myexperiences to anybody in your
audience, mainly because I wrotethe book to say there's no
cheating cancer and we all havea choice to make, and that's how
(54:36):
I want to live my life.
Speaker 1 (54:38):
Thank you.
I'm going to add all of thelinks to your website in the
show notes and thank you so muchfor the gift and I really
appreciate you again forstopping by A Word to the Wise.
Let's do it again.
Thank you, jimmy.
You can follow A Word to theWise on Instagram and TikTok at
A Word to the Wise pod.
We're also on YouTube at A Wordto the Wise podcast.
(55:02):
Please be sure to subscribe Ifyou are enjoying the show.
Please rate, leave a review,share and subscribe wherever you
listen to podcasts.
Till next time.
Peace and love, always, always,always.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the A Word to
the Wise podcast, a space wherewe curate conversations around
mind, body, spirit and personaldevelopment.
I'm your host, jumi Moses.
On the show today is Mike Koi.
Mike is the best-selling authorand keynote speaker.
His journey gained depththrough an unyielding fight
(00:21):
against cancer, fueling hisacclaimed book I Chose Live.
There's no cheating cancer andwe all have a choice to make
this battle solidified.
His pursuit of excellence andbeyond his stellar career as a
registered financial consultant.
Mike's accolades also extend toa triumphant baseball journey,
(00:42):
coaching luminaries like DrewBreeze and being offered a minor
league contract with the NewYork Mets.
Mike's empowering speeches stiraudiences, infusing them with
life-changing strategies.
He champions a belief winnersfind a way to win, losers only
find excuses for why they fail.
In our conversation, mike and Idiscuss his life before cancer
(01:06):
and after cancer, the thingshe's learned along the journey,
why it's important to make adifference in people's lives,
and how he lives his life todaywith more intentionality and
more love.
Let's get into the show, mike.
(01:34):
Welcome to Overture the Wise.
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
I'm really excited to speakwith you and learn more about
you.
You're a best-selling authorand a keynote speaker, and you
do quite a few things, but oneof the things that you're known
for is just your wealth ofexperience in the financial
consultancy and behavioralanalysis field.
(01:57):
I wanted to start off with whatgot you on that career path.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Well, it's actually baseball.
I had an offer from the Metsback many, many years ago.
I always say that if anybodysaw me play baseball they're
dead now.
But in 1978, I was offered acontract with the Mets and they
were going to offer me $425 amonth and $6 a day meal money.
(02:25):
I had a pregnant wife at home.
I was making $850, $900 doinghitting lessons and doing
baseball on the side and thenworking at the Cody's clothing
store on the weekend.
There was no way I could takethat cut in pay.
I wanted something, I wanted acareer.
(02:49):
My degree was in marketing.
I wanted a degree that I wanteda profession that I was able to
work my own hours.
I could still coach.
I could still work with youngmen and then eventually with
also women in softball.
From the hitting standpoint, Ididn't want to have a ceiling on
(03:11):
my income potential.
That's when one of my father'sbest friends was a big time
financial planner in my hometownof Beaumont, Texas.
We went to lunch one day and hesaid look, this is the
opportunity, this is the careerthat you need to go into.
(03:32):
46 years later, I guess I'llfigure out one day what I really
want to do.
It was all because I didn'tthink I could make a living in
baseball.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense.
Speaking about your dad, I knowyou briefly mentioned him in
relation to his friend, but yousay that your father gave you
advice which he said make adifference.
Son, do you think that alsoshaped your career choice as
well as your personal philosophy?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Well, I think so.
The last words my dad said tome was son, make a difference.
I feel like that.
It was probably from thecoaching aspect, because he was
a coach and a layman discipledby Christ's minister.
I think that his meaning waskeep coaching, keep working with
(04:31):
kids and pay it forward, make adifference.
But as I've gotten older, jimmy,I believe that it's more of
connecting on the personal side,on the health side, on
something that I bring out in mybook.
(04:52):
I chose live is that on mybattle with cancer and how I'm
winning the war is that stressis a silent killer and men don't
get checked, men don't go tothe doctor.
I mean, we all know that womenare smarter than us, but the
bottom line is that men's, ourdeath rate is 58% higher than
(05:17):
women's because we won't go tothe doctor.
And all of a sudden and I feelthe same way I think about the
great Toby Keith who just passed.
I mean, I've got a band, I dothe music, and one of the songs
that are in my set every nightthat I perform is Don't Let the
(05:37):
Old man In, and it's atremendous story.
But I'm thinking about you getsomebody like Toby Keith that
thinks that, oh, I've just gotsome indigestion, I've just got
something, and then finally gogets checked and you've got six
months to live.
I mean again, I feel like thatmy dad's words have gotten much
(06:00):
deeper than me just coachingkids.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
Yes, 100%, and it's interesting when I went on your
website.
I listened to a couple of thesongs that you wrote and heard
you play, and there was just somuch heart and soul into it and
I just remember thinking, oh, Ihave to talk to Mike.
He has so much wisdom to impart, I bet.
(06:25):
And I want to talk about yourbook, and I know you just
mentioned it.
I chose Live and I know thatthis book is kind of the
aftermath or part of the effectsof you going through what you
went through with your healthright.
So I want to start off by firstasking when you first got that
(06:45):
cancer diagnosis, what was thatmoment like for you?
What were you thinking in thosemoments?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Well, you kind of go blank when that doctor comes in
and says the three words youdon't want to hear and that's,
you had cancer.
I think probably my kids willtell you that my life is clearly
defined as AC and BC.
After cancer and before cancer.
I've never been sick a day inmy life.
(07:14):
I've been an athlete my wholelife.
Now I've got four kneesurgeries and a blown Achilles,
but that's all sports related.
But I was having thiscontinuous sore throat.
I had moved to Georgia.
My company, aflac, had given mea tremendous opportunity to be
(07:37):
the director of sales andtraining for the state of
Georgia and I had just gonethrough a pretty devastating
divorce.
And I got this job opportunityand I jumped on it and I said
I'm moving to Georgia, I'm goingto start my life over again,
and I think that there's prettymuch.
(07:59):
There was a lot of stress comingoff of the divorce, just
packing up, leaving my kids, mygrandkids, and just moving to a
state where I didn't knowanybody in a job.
That was a lot of pressure andI was getting into it and really
going after it and after abouta year I was having this sore
(08:22):
throat and I didn't know whatthe deal was, and so, finally,
like any man, I waited five orsix months, but I went and got
checked and the doctor says oh,it's probably a sinus infection.
You've got drainage.
Let me give you someantibiotics and you'll be fine
(08:43):
in a few weeks.
Well, the thing that I foundout is that I had a tumor the
size of your fist at the base ofmy tongue, and I was told that
it was a sinus infection.
So five or six weeks later, Istill had this continuous sore
throat.
I went back to the doctor andshe said well, what we need to
(09:06):
do is put you on some reallyheavy duty antibiotics.
And, jimmy, all thoseantibiotics did was destroy my
immune system.
And on July 4th weekend, 2013, Iwent into the bathroom and one
of my litinose was sticking outlike a golf ball Golf ball to my
neck and I said well, that'snot good.
(09:29):
And so I forced my way backinto to see the primary.
She got me a specialist.
On the next day, they get fiveneedle biopsies.
Now, I don't know if you'veever had a needle biopsy, but
it's something you ought to trysometime.
It's a lot of fun.
And the doctor said look, it'sprobably nothing, don't worry
(09:50):
about it, we'll give you a callin a couple of weeks Now.
At that time I had left homeoffice and gone to Dalton,
georgia, where I had my owndistrict.
I was going to be my own bossagain.
I actually lived right acrossthe border at Chattanooga,
tennessee, because Tennesseedidn't have a state income tax.
(10:12):
So I moved.
My condo was in Tennessee butit was only 10 minutes from my
office.
And I got a call that afternoonon my way back to Tennessee.
The doctor wants to see youtomorrow at two o'clock.
Okay, so I turn around, driveback next morning, two and a
(10:33):
half hour drive.
And that's when he walked inand just said you have cancer
and, in all fairness, you kindof block out the rest of it.
You know it's saying that it'snot so much a life or death
thing.
Now, if you would have leftthis alone for another two to
three months, that tumor wouldhave grown and closed off your
(10:54):
windpipe and you would have died.
But they were concerned aboutsaving my vocal cords and not
removing my tongue For somebodythat talks for a living, to
somebody that has fun with themusic.
That was not something I wantedto hear.
(11:16):
I remember him saying we'regoing to get you on some
heavy-duty chemo on Sunday sevendays, seven nights in the
hospital, two weeks off, backseven days, seven nights, and
then you're going to do 12outpatient.
During that period I was goingto have to get the port
installed and they were talkingabout it feeding too.
(11:38):
But I remember saying, wait aminute, sunday, what's Sunday?
He goes.
Well, this Sunday we got to getthis treatment going.
I said I can't do it thisSunday.
I just moved, I've got mydistrict, I'm hiring people, I'm
going out.
That's terrible.
I said what's plan B?
He said you die.
(12:00):
I said all right, well, let'sgo back to plan A here and see
how we can work this out.
You finally just get in yourmind trust the doctors, trust
your faith and let's get thisdone, let's get this over with.
That's how I allowed it tohappen.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
It's so interesting because we can have our whole
life planned.
Life can be going a specificway.
Like you said, you were in aposition where you were working
for yourself again.
You were doing so well withyour new job.
Granted, you had just gonethrough a divorce and you had to
move.
But life was just moving in acertain direction and then, all
of a sudden, it's pretty muchsomewhat halted with this new
(12:49):
diagnosis.
I like what you said, thatthere was before cancer and then
there was after cancer.
I realized that in a lot of theconversations that I've had
with people who've gone throughvery traumatic instances in
their life, there's this bigrevelation that they have their
whole perspective shifts orthere's something that they had
(13:10):
never considered prior towhatever they're going through.
I want to talk a little bitmore about who you were before
cancer and who you became aftercancer, because I find that very
interesting.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Well, I think that before cancer I was very driven
being in the insurance industry.
It was about making sales, itwas about helping people, it was
about getting up there andworking.
I had two kids that we wereraising and you start thinking
(13:47):
about college.
You have so many other thingsgoing.
I was coaching in the highschool level where I was helping
over at Kelly High School inBeaumont, and then I had summer
baseball teams.
That's where I was able to winthree state championships, a
(14:13):
national championship.
I was the head coach for the16-year-old USA baseball team
that we went down under.
We went to Australia everyChristmas and played and was
able to win five internationalChampionships, and so I was
always very driven on thesuccess, on not really stepping
(14:42):
aside and doing the proverbialsmell in the coffee.
All of a sudden I get hit withthis diagnosis.
I remember if anybody out thereis going through the chemo and
the radiation and all the stuff,you have good days and then you
have days that are pretty tough.
(15:03):
I remember I was in Tennessee.
I was at my condo, I was out onthe balcony.
I'd gone through about three orfour weeks of my chemo and
radiation and still had severalweeks to go.
It was a beautiful summerafternoon.
The wind was blowing.
Looking at the ChattahoocheeRiver, I felt this spelt
(15:27):
something on my arm.
I looked down and there wasthis big clump of hair that had
fallen on my arm.
The wind was blowing and I hadhair going everywhere.
That's when I took my hands andstarted going through my head
and all my hair fell out everybit of my hair.
I tell you something that's therealization that what you're
(15:53):
going through is real.
That's why I tell people look,my hair grew back.
That's all I care about.
I don't care about the tumoranymore, I just wanted my hair
back.
But to have that realizationthat you're fighting something
that's more than you.
I remember going back in thehouse sitting down, flipping
(16:14):
through the channels I don'tknow TNT or something, and a
movie Shawshank Redemption.
Now that shows gosh 25, 30years old now, but it was the
movie that launched Tim Robbins'career.
It had the great Morgan Freemanin it.
It was about a man that wasaccused of killing his wife, and
(16:36):
he didn't.
But he was sent to Shawshankprison.
The first six, seven, eightweeks that he was in Shawshank
he was beaten, he was abused, hewas raped.
I mean it was horrible.
He's out in the courtyard onetime talking to this Morgan
Freeman character, red, that hadbeen at Shawshank for 40 years.
(16:58):
Tim Robbins said how can you behere for 40 years?
This place is a living hell.
This is the worst place onearth.
How have you been able to behere for 40 years?
Morgan Freeman says well, lifehas choices.
(17:20):
You either get busy living oryou get busy dying.
Jimmy, I tell you, it hit melike a ton of bricks that you
either get busy living or youget busy dying.
I turned off the TV, I went tomy desk and that's when I sat
(17:41):
down and I wrote my book.
I Chose Live.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
In your book I Chose Live?
What do you want people to getor resonate with as they're
reading the book?
I mean, from the title it'sclear that you want people to
choose living and live to thefullest.
But when you were writing thebook, what knowledge were you
hoping to impart in I Chose Live?
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Well, yeah, that's a great question, because I had
people ask me did I ever thinkabout giving up?
And I said absolutely not.
I had a six-month-old grandsonthat didn't know me and at that
point I had not walked mydaughter down the aisle, and so
I think it helps if you havesome kind of purpose where you
(18:30):
don't allow the depression totake over, you don't allow life
to get in the way.
Basically, and when I startedresearching the book, the Aflac
Children's Cancer Center is inAtlanta and I went there three
or four times just to getresearch about cancer, about my
(18:53):
cancer and stuff like this, andwhat I found out is that stress
is the silent killer, because itdestroys your immune system.
Second of all is about notgetting checked, and so I wanted
to write the book tospecifically get the word out
(19:14):
that on the stress side and Itell you this goes back to
before cancer and after cancerJust this morning I am going to
an enrollment with my work andthere was a truck that was in
the left-hand turning lane andit had stopped, so I was going
to go around it and then all ofa sudden he speeded up and I
(19:38):
looked up and I had cars comingon me behind and I cut behind
him and I promise you 10 yearsago I'd probably gotten out of
the car and we would have had analtercation.
Now I just went.
What happened, you know?
I mean, it's kind of like gee.
That wasn't fun, but I can tellfor myself how I react to
(20:02):
certain things.
You know, go to the grocerystore.
I always get behind the ladythat has 100 groceries and at
the last minute she decides topull out the checkbook and write
the check right.
I promise you now I just laugh.
I promise you 10 years ago Iwould have said something right.
And so, from the stressstandpoint, I have gone through
(20:26):
some specific examples.
And then also on the mengetting checked when I do my
talks, I've been very fortunateto go across the country and
I've done a lot of speaking gigsand a lot of Aflac kickoff
(20:46):
meetings.
And one of the things I tellthe ladies in the audience we
need your help, but we need foryou to get your spouse, your
brother, your uncle, your fatherthey got to go get checked
because prostate cancer andcolon cancer are the two main
cancers for men and there's noeasy cancer.
(21:06):
But if you get it treated earlyit's not going to have near the
devastating effects that itwould.
Instead of waiting.
But we don't do that, we wait.
We wait six, eight, nine months.
When it's so bad we have to goto the doctor, and then we find
(21:28):
out with stage four and we'vegot three to six months to live.
And so my purpose on the bookwas to tell about my life and
about the choices that we make.
And in every talk that I give,I end.
Every message, every talk thatI give, I ended by saying that
(21:55):
Life is about choice, as you getbusy living or get busy dying,
and I hope and pray that eachand every one of you Choose this
, make the same choice I made,choose the same path that I made
, and that was I.
I chose live.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Thank you for sharing that, mike, and I think what
you said is going to resonatefor a lot of people, and not
just men as well.
I will raise my hand and saythat I am guilty of Not getting
checked as often as I should begetting checked.
I know that.
You know, physicals happenevery year this year was pretty
good about it but typically Itake my health for granted and
(22:37):
I'm like, oh, that's not a bigdeal.
So what you're saying, I'mtaking a mental note of that as
well and thank you for sharingthat.
And Speaking of choicessomething that you're passionate
about talking about, as well asembracing choice in defining
Faith and how choices decide ourpathway to success.
So I know that we talked aboutchoice in relation to health,
(22:59):
but what other choices or howcan we seize our faith and
really seize control of our life?
Because a lot of people arejust living right, and I had
another woman on the show whoshe had cancer and in her having
cancer, she realized that shewas living life for other people
.
Her choices were defined bywhat would please other people
rather than what actuallyresonated with her.
(23:21):
So I want to talk a little bitmore about your philosophy on
choice in controlling our faith.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Well, I think that's, I mean, it's such a great
question and I appreciate itbecause I actually was speaking
to this, this, this great tellerat my bank, and she's got so
much personality and when you,when you go in, it's hey, mr
Corey, how you doing?
Did you go play baseball thisweekend?
(23:49):
Did you do this?
I mean, she, she's the greatest.
I took her to lunch About aweek or ten days ago and I just
said look, when I'm able to findsomebody that has your
personality, that loves people,I've got.
I've got an opportunity that Iwould like to share with you on
the insurance side, becauseright now and she admitted that
(24:15):
it's very, very tough for her tolive, she, she, she just
recently got engaged, but forher right now to be in her
apartment, have her car and totry to live on $16 an hour is
really tough and and and one ofthe main reasons she's there is
(24:37):
for benefits.
You know it's got greatbenefits.
And the thing I told her, Isaid you have to make a choice.
If you would like to have anopportunity to work your own
hours, be your own boss, there'sno ceiling.
There's nobody telling you thatyou're worth 15, 16, 18 dollars
an hour.
Now you've got it.
(24:57):
You know there's discipline,you've got to work, and I tell
myself, if you're smart enoughto be dumb enough to do what I
ask you to do, then you're gonnabe successful, because I've
done it my whole life.
And that's how I try to addressit of saying why are you stuck
in a Especially, this is a bankat a bank, and right now just
(25:20):
last month, 64 banks closedBranches, mainly on the West
Coast, and it was PNC had hadlike 14 Wells Fargo has.
It is a Consolidation industryright now, and the thing that
you don't want to do is to putin your 10, 15 years.
(25:43):
Then, all of a sudden, you walkin one day and it's like you
don't have a job any longer.
And so what I try to coachPeople on is that for for
somebody like me To realizelife's too short to do anything
(26:04):
that you don't want to do.
You know and it's one thingthat we talked about a minute
ago about Toby Keith I love theway Toby Keith said hey, I am
gonna live my life, I'm gonnasing my songs, I'm gonna do it
this way, even though Nashvillesaid that that might not be the
way to go, I mean when he cameout with the red, white and blue
(26:26):
and and that, that, that songafter 9-11, I mean, he got
attacked and he said look,that's how I feel, you know, and
he was gonna do it his way.
And I think that's one thingthat we get away from is that we
get into a, a Job situationwhere it's just simply for the
(26:49):
income or just to have apaycheck and there could be so
much more out there.
If you and I remember One ladythis is in Austin, texas that
was an unbelievable artist, butshe worked at a like a, a dollar
(27:09):
store, just to be able to haverent money.
And I told her I said youreally need to, you're really
good, and and then she ended upslowly getting away from cutting
back her hours but doing her,her paintings and has made a
(27:30):
very good living on it becausethat's what she loves to do and
the reason why I said before Iknew I was gonna be a coach and
but I didn't want to make.
Back back in the 70s, coaches,teachers, were only making about
eight or nine hundred dollars amonth and I said I'm not gonna
have somebody dictate to me.
You know that this is how muchyou're gonna make.
(27:53):
I'm gonna go in this direction.
And yes, it's commission.
And yes, I got to get up everymorning and and run for mayor.
I've got to shake hands andkiss babies every day and I mean
, I was when I left my hometownof Beaumont.
I went to San Diego to try toget into pro baseball again with
(28:17):
the Padres and after two yearsI had a chance to move to Austin
to get into back into thefinancial planning side and and
then four years ago I remarriedand my life has the early onset
of MS and the heat in Austin wasjust eating her up and she said
(28:41):
we need to go somewhere.
And that's when a flat gave methis opportunity to move to
Colorado Springs.
And it's just gorgeous, it'sjust a beautiful area and and
and.
Again it goes back to thechoices that you want to make
and I just feel like we getcaught up too many times and In
(29:03):
a dead-end situation that I wishEverybody could take a deep
breath and say what do youreally want to do?
What is your passion?
This is how you want to do it.
You know I was when I went toSan Diego.
I was, I had my own insuranceagency and I would work, get
there from like I would workfrom about eight To three thirty
(29:25):
and at four o'clock I was atthe San Diego School of Baseball
Doing lessons until nineo'clock at night and the thing
about it is I was making as muchor more money Doing those
lessons, going to springtraining, working with athletes
that I was on the insurance side, but I loved it.
It was something that I'vealways enjoyed doing.
(29:47):
And when you surround you,especially in sports I mean I've
had the fortune of Coachingsome of the most unbelievable
Athletes that a lot of peoplehave heard I drew breeze.
I mean drew breeze the hall offame.
He's gonna be a first BallotHall of Fame quarterback for the
Saints, but he was one heck ofa baseball player and when you
(30:11):
surround yourself with athleteslike that that want to be better
, that they're really, reallygood but they want to be better,
that inspires you, that makesyou want to be better.
I think that's one thing that Itry to spread the word more
than anything else.
Do everything you can to bearound people that are solution
(30:36):
makers, that are positiveNegativity.
Well, just, I mean my mother.
My mother was brilliant.
She was a school teacher.
My mother and father had thefirst private school in Beaumont
, texas, and it exploded forthem and they were very, very
good teachers.
My mother was a tremendousbusinesswoman, but I can tell
(30:58):
you you could look outside andsay, wow, what a pretty day.
And she would immediately say,well, it's probably going to
rain.
It's not?
I mean, you get to that likeGod.
Lee, mom, let's be positive.
I go out of my way to stay awayfrom the negativity and this
(31:21):
kind of thing because, numberone, it's not good for you.
Number two, it doesn't doanything.
It's like yesterday I'm on thattreadmill and I'm trying to
beat that treadmill to death,but guess what?
I ain't going anywhere.
But it's something that I knowI have to do.
But anyway, I just feel likeit's so important to find that
(31:44):
path that can help you grow andpay it forward and do something
positive for yourself.
The great Tim Tebow, the ex-NFLquarterback, college
quarterback.
I've heard him speak twice andhe talks about.
It's not about any day, it'sabout today.
(32:06):
Yesterday's gone, tomorrow'snot promised to any of us.
So what are you doing today andin my case, to make a
difference?
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Thank you for that.
So, if I'm understandingeverything you're saying, it's a
mixture of making the rightchoices, surrounding yourself
with the right people who speaklife into you and are also
solution-oriented, and alsohaving a positive mindset as a
way of shaping someone's fate orthe ability or empowering them
(32:37):
to make the right choices thatalign with their life, and
things usually come back fullcircle, like talking about your
experience in professionalbaseball and then shifting to
the financial side of things andthen ending up being a coach
and making a lot of money doingthat as well.
That's pretty impressive.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Well, let me tell you something.
I'm part of the prison ministrywith my church and I will go
into these different prisons andI'll do a concert.
I'll do many kind of surprising.
The most favorite song isJohnny Cash's for some prison
blues, okay, but I sit there andI counsel these prisoners, I
(33:17):
talk and all I do is sit thereIf they want to come talk.
We don't reach out to them.
They come to us and I tell themall the time it's about choices
.
You made some choices.
That puts you here.
Now you have an opportunity tomake some other choices in your
life that can change your life,that could help society, not
(33:42):
cost society.
And you'd be surprised thenumber of prisoners that I've
been able to speak to and mentorthat really want that, because
they've hit rock bottom.
And a lot of times, until youdo hit rock bottom, you're not
(34:03):
going to make that change.
You're not going to make thatshift, that new paradigm, to
where I want to do somethingpositive instead of something
negative.
And I see that with theseprisoners usually every quarter
when we go into the differentprisons around Colorado Springs.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
Thank you for sharing that.
Something else that you hadmentioned a while back that I
wanted to touch on a little bitis the fact that stress can be a
silent killer in a lot ofpeople when it comes to their
health.
How do you manage your stressnow?
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, it's believe it or not.
I try to take a deep breath.
I know that sounds so simpleand there's so many cliches out
there about that, but reallywhat I try to do is, if I get
cut off in traffic, I just think, wow, that guy or that girl
(35:02):
must be in a really bad hurrywhen, 10 years ago, I would try
to catch up with them.
Road rage, whatever.
It's not worth it.
Okay, I mean it's like inAustin Texas.
The infrastructure is terrible.
The city fathers years ago saidif you don't build it, they
won't come.
Well, they've come, and so youneed to understand.
(35:25):
If you get on Mopac Boulevardat 435 o'clock in the afternoon
in Austin Texas, it's going totake you an hour or an hour and
a half to get south or to getnorth.
Just get ready.
And so I was able to.
I might have a concert comingup, a charity gig, and that gave
(35:50):
me the chance to put music onthat, songs that I was going to
perform at that concert.
And it gives me a differentperspective instead of bitching
and complaining about thetraffic.
And so I feel like that if weare able to just kind of take a
(36:15):
step back, take a deep breathand say you know what.
Life is too short, this isn'tworth getting upset about,
because a lot of times you can'tcontrol it anyway.
I mean, it's like this morningthere's nothing I could do about
this guy cutting in front of me, you know, I mean, and so I
(36:37):
just tried to make the best ofwhat almost was a bad situation.
And I feel like that.
That's where I have grown as aperson, where I've tried to be a
much more tolerant.
Well, I'm much more tolerantwith the grandkids than I ever
was with my kids.
(36:57):
But I'm trying to be a betterhusband, I'm trying to be a
better father, I'm trying to be,you know, and I think a lot of
this happens when you realizeyou're in the.
In my case, I'm in the lastquarter of my life.
I mean, I'm 70 years old, I'mabout to be 71.
And so I know that I'm in thelast quarter of my life.
(37:21):
So do I make that miserable formyself and other people, or do
I try to make it better formyself and other people?
And I think that's where myfocus has been, where I'm not as
driven.
Now I'm competitive, you know.
There's no doubt about that.
You know, I remember reading anarticle about Michael Jordan one
(37:45):
time and it came out that hehad a gambling problem.
And he said I don't have agambling problem, I have a
competitive problem.
When I'm sitting over a puttand it's a 10 foot putt and
Charles Borchley says I bet you$10,000, you miss that putt, he
goes okay, and if I miss theputt I'll write him a check.
But Jordan makes $300 million ayear, just off Nike.
(38:08):
So for him to lose a millionbucks on the golf course, it's
like you know me and you youknow losing $100, right.
And he said I don't have agambling problem, I had a
competitive problem.
Well, that's kind of how it hasmotivated me in the insurance
field, because I don't like that.
(38:28):
I had a really good week lastweek, but I was not number one.
I was number two because thisreally good female agent beat me
by $580 for the week.
I can't stand that right.
But it's now much more undercontrol, where I'm having a heck
(38:52):
of a week this week and I can'twait to see what the results
are next week.
So I can tease her aboutbeating her once and she's her
beating me two or three times.
So you know, I think a lot ofthis comes back on how you
address the situation, howyou've what is the easiest way
(39:16):
to face the situation inhandling.
And I'm telling you I go into alot of detail in the book about
stress and what to do and howto handle it.
Speaker 1 (39:32):
Yeah, it's interesting when you talk about,
just usually, things that wouldreally piss you off or irritate
you.
Now you just don't take them asseriously.
And one of my philosophies inlife life is serious but it's
not that serious.
And I had a similar thinghappen when I was trying to
cross over and get to my exitand this car just was not
slowing down and they werecharging at me and I immediately
(39:56):
wanted, like you know, wasgoing into a fit of rage and I
just realized I was like, well,thank God he didn't hit me, at
least.
I was able to cross into my,like my late, and get to my exit
.
So it's all about perspectiveand not taking ourselves too
seriously, because what doesthat really do for us, right?
So I appreciate you for sharingthat and giving the Michael
(40:17):
Jordan example.
I watched his documentary aswell at night and you remember
he said that.
So we've talked about the mind,we've talked about the body and
on a word to the wise, I liketo connect mind, body, spirit.
And I don't know if you're aman of faith or if you believe
in God, but if you believe, howdoes your belief, or how did
(40:38):
your belief in God kind of helpyou through cancer and also kind
of continues to help you inyour life at the moment and in
your purpose, in your currentpurpose?
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Well, there again, you have a choice.
You can either believe or notbelieve.
I would rather believe, and ifI'm wrong, okay.
But I think that I went down abetter path because I did
believe.
I mean, my dad was a layman tocyberacrice sinister.
So almost all of my up until Iwas about 16, 17 years old, I
(41:16):
was at church every Wednesdaynight, every Sunday morning,
every Sunday night, and thenwhen I was about 14, I took over
the music side, in the choirand this kind of thing, and got
myself more involved and I feellike I am much more spiritual
than I am religious, because Ifeel like my faith is what
(41:42):
helped me on my cancer to sayget through this and make a
difference, get through this andsee if you can help somebody
else.
I'll give you an example.
I was still in Austin and I wasplaying men's senior baseball on
my third base.
The third baseman it was afriend of mine, his name is
Jimmy and he's a real good thirdbaseman and.
(42:04):
But he turned to me and he saidMike, my wife made me read your
book and and so I went and gota colonoscopy a couple of weeks
ago.
Now he was like 54, 55.
You're supposed to get it atage 50.
He said I was four or fiveyears late.
(42:27):
But he said I went and got itdone and they found three
precancerous polyps in my colon.
They removed them and thedoctor said if I would have
waited another two years orthree years I would have had
full blown colon cancer.
He says so I just want to letyou know.
(42:49):
You saved my life.
And I said no, jimmy, you savedyour life because it's about
the act of doing.
Okay.
I mean, when I was the trainerin Georgia, I have people tell
you you know, july, on January,the first, you said you know, I
need to lose some weight, I'mgoing to lose weight.
(43:10):
And I look at him and I go no,you're not.
I said you don't have a plan.
Now, if you came to me and yousaid you know what?
Every night I'm going to walkaround the block, I'm going to.
You know, I'm going to go tothe track and I'm going to run
the straightaways and walk thecurves, I'm going to cut back on
the fried foods, I'm going todo this, this and this.
Then I would say now you have aplan.
(43:31):
Nobody plans to fail, jimmy,you know this.
We just fail to plan, right, Imean, we just don't put it down.
I've got sticky noteseverywhere.
I've got things that I try to,and one of the things I do on
one of my talks that I give isabout I want you every morning
(43:56):
to go in the mirror and saytoday is the first day of the
rest of my life.
I'm going to seize this day,I'm going to seize this
opportunity and I am going tomake a difference.
And I think that positivereinforcement of saying this is
what I plan to do, this is whatI, and the thing about it is, if
(44:16):
you don't do it, that's okay.
Do it tomorrow All right, buttry to do it today, because this
isn't about any day, this isabout today.
And I feel like that again onthe spiritual side is I got
through the cancer and now Ihave three grandsons that wish
(44:37):
they didn't know me.
I think sometimes I did walk mydaughter down the aisle and
she's giving me this preciousfive-year-old granddaughter.
And again, when you have apurpose that helps you overcome
a lot of the valleys.
You know my dad was aquarterback in high school and
(44:58):
college and he said one of thethings you find out the
quarterback gets way too muchglory when you win and then
takes too much blame when youlose.
So if you can try to keep it aseven as possible from your life
standpoint, I think it makes iteasier on yourself and then
(45:18):
also the people that you'rearound.
Speaker 1 (45:23):
Thank you for sharing that.
It reminded me of thisconversation that I had recently
with this amazing guy calledBrett Brett MacPiang and he was
a wealth and financial managerfor over 30-plus years and he
worked with a lot of richathletes, a lot of just CEOs and
(45:45):
sort, and he said that part ofhis work was that you know a lot
of these people.
They're very competitive formost of their life and they're
go, go, go, go go.
Then they get to a point wherethey kind of face depression or
they're going to do somethingvery difficult and they don't
have a sense of purpose and whathe realizes is that different
stages of life call fordifferent purpose and usually at
(46:09):
the later stage of life it'sreally about giving and
anchoring into the connectionswith family, friends and even
strangers and paying forward ourlife lessons and helping others
and really making an impact intheir lives.
And just hearing you talk aboutyour experience and your life
in general, it just seems likeyou're really in a space of
(46:32):
giving back and reallyconnecting with the people in
your life.
So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2 (46:37):
Let me tell you something.
I've been around athletes mywhole life and I saw this
staggering statistics that 63%of NFL football players broke
file bankruptcy within two yearsafter they finished their
(46:58):
career.
I mean that's scary.
I remember seeing an interviewwith Shaq and during the
Olympics, during the Dream Team,he actually was with Charles
Barkley and they went toBarkley's house and Barkley had,
like I don't know, six or sevencars lined up and Shaq goes
(47:18):
what are those cars?
And you know Barkley said well,they're mine.
And Shaq said you only need youcan only drive one at a time.
What are you doing?
You got about $2 million worthof cars sitting there.
What are you doing, you know?
And so now Barkley is the onethat he did an interview the
(47:41):
other day.
He said if there's anybody outthere that pays $10,800 for a
Super Bowl ticket to go and sitin a stand, you got to have your
head examined.
You know, and I mean it'samazing.
I saw this thing on RobGorkowski, the great tight end
for the Patriots, and he madethis interviewer said it's
(48:05):
reported that you made $70million playing football and he
goes.
Well, actually it's $69 million, he goes, and it said that you
have not spent one dime of thaton your life and he goes.
Nope, he goes.
I've got it all invested.
I've got it all put aside.
I make my living money on mycommercials and my appearances
(48:29):
and stuff like that.
I've not touched one dime of myfootball money and those are
the kind of things that inspireme to when I'm talking,
especially with younger peopleand some of my athletes that I
had one picture that signed withthe San Francisco Giants years
(48:51):
ago and he got 1.5 millionsigning bonus and his salary was
$500,000.
And I told him I said here'swhat you've got to do.
Please put this money aside.
You can put a million dollarsin a tax free ministry, a tax
free municipal bond, and get$3,000 a month tax free income
(49:16):
which should pay your basicbills.
And it's something that he didand he played for nine years,
ended up making about $8 to $10million playing baseball and is
now retired and he's anassistant coach at his high
school baseball where he playedbaseball in high school as a
(49:39):
pitching coach, because hedoesn't need the money.
And those are the stories that Imean.
Think about all the you've readthe statistics about these
people that win the lottery andthen, a year or two years later
they don't have a dime.
And so I feel like again, ifyou have that purpose, if you
(50:01):
want to move forward, pay itforward, do something positive,
and I just think you can make adifference in the life.
It's like when I wrote mysecond book, a Random Acts of
Kindness it was doing COVID Iwas sitting around not doing
anything and I remembered ashort story that I had read, I
(50:24):
don't know 20, 25 years ago,from Chicken Soup for the Soul,
and it was a short story calledA Simple Gesture by John
Slattery.
And I went back it's a truestory and I took that story and
just embellished the heck out ofit and made it my own.
(50:45):
But it's all about a random actof kindness.
A simple gesture might justchange somebody's life but more
importantly, as it's brought outin the book, it could actually
save someone's life.
And I think the more that westay on that positive side
(51:06):
because you look at society, youlook at our nation, you look
how divided we are and I justfeel like that.
You know, if you believe inwhat the Reverend Martin Luther
King did in his life.
I'm a big Elvis fan.
(51:27):
I sing quite a few Elvis' songsand stuff, and he was so
concerned during the civilrights movement on what was
happening in the world.
When Mac Davis wrote in theghetto and Colonel Parker said,
no way you're going to sing thatsong, elvis, for one of just a
(51:50):
few times, went behind ColonelParker's back and recorded that
song because he said thismessage needs to get out there.
I can tell you something, jimmy40 years later, 50 years later,
it's the same thing.
Speaker 1 (52:08):
Thank you, mike.
That was so powerful.
I need to make a note to haveyou back on the podcast to give
us financial tips on saving andinvesting and growing our money.
But thank you so much for yourwords of wisdom.
This has been a greatconversation and I usually like
to wrap it up with final wordsof wisdom to the listeners,
since it's called a word to thewise.
(52:29):
I know you've shared so manygems and tips, but if there is
anything additional that youkeep in your back pocket as you
go through life, Well, one ofthe things I would appreciate is
that I've got two free giftsthat I'm giving away.
Speaker 2 (52:43):
It's mikecoyspeakscom slash gift Mikecoyspeakscom
slash gift.
One of them is Mike's 10 tipson how to prevent cancer.
And then I also added chapter 8in I Chose Live, because I
think it's a powerful chapterfor people to read.
(53:05):
And so if people would just goto Ichoeslivecom Ichoeslivecom
they're going to find out moreabout me than they want to know.
But I've got my books there,I've got some words of
inspiration and again, if I canand I know that you understand
(53:27):
this better than anybody but ifwe can just touch one person,
just one person, then we've doneour job.
And what I try to do every dayis try to touch one person, make
a difference, and then that'smy payment.
My dad said that God has givenyou some gifts on the athletic
(53:52):
side and the music side.
Now how you use those gifts ishow you repay him, and so that's
something that I really try tolive my life on, and I
appreciate this opportunity somuch.
You are so great and but, likeI said, if people want to find
out more about me, just go toIchoeslivecom and they can reach
(54:16):
out to me through the email oranything that they want, and I'd
love to be able to relate myexperiences to anybody in your
audience, mainly because I wrotethe book to say there's no
cheating cancer and we all havea choice to make, and that's how
(54:36):
I want to live my life.
Speaker 1 (54:38):
Thank you.
I'm going to add all of thelinks to your website in the
show notes and thank you so muchfor the gift and I really
appreciate you again forstopping by A Word to the Wise.
Let's do it again.
Thank you, jimmy.
You can follow A Word to theWise on Instagram and TikTok at
A Word to the Wise pod.
We're also on YouTube at A Wordto the Wise podcast.
(55:02):
Please be sure to subscribe Ifyou are enjoying the show.
Please rate, leave a review,share and subscribe wherever you
listen to podcasts.
Till next time.
Peace and love, always, always,always.
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