April 17, 2024 • 33 mins
This week, I'm on vacation in Fiji, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share a few of the biggest lessons I've learned from traveling to 40 countries. Join me as I share stories from some of my favorite destinations like the Cook Islands, Croatia, Tanzania, and Thailand, and how these adventures have taught me about culture, resilience, and the power of perspective.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I won't waste another minute.
No, I won't.
I'm a man on a mission.
I'm a man on a mission.
I don't need no permission.
I'm a man on a mission.
Welcome to, Entitled to Nothing,where we believe our life is
(00:23):
our fault.
My name is Mink, and todaywe've got a special episode for
you.
I'm on vacation in Fiji and Ithought it was an incredible
opportunity to sit down and talkabout one of my favorite
subjects, which is traveling.
So I started this show becauseI have ran headfirst into
failure after failure for thelast 20 years of my life, and in
(00:44):
that process I figured out howto turn my failures into lessons
, and I've used those lessons tocreate life on my terms, a life
that gives me the opportunityto come down here and take
vacations like this and talkabout what I wanna talk to you
guys about today.
You know, when I got started, Iwas just a scared, broke kid
with six figures in debt and noidea what to do, and by learning
(01:07):
how to turn my failures intolessons, I've now built multiple
companies that have generatedover $50 million in sales, and
I'm really blessed to be able tolive my life my way, and so I
started this show to simplyshare everything I've learned on
my journey, in the hopes thatit will inspire you and guide
you on yours.
So today I'm going to talk toyou guys about travel,
(01:29):
specifically since we're here inFiji.
I was hanging out with Mike.
We brought Mike down here toFiji you lucky bastard, he's
back there behind the camera andhe was like, bro, you should do
a podcast while you're in Fiji.
And I started thinking about it.
What could I talk about?
You know, what would be reallycool is if I shared the top five
lessons I've learned aftertraveling full time for seven
(01:51):
years.
For seven years, I lived inAirbnbs and hotels all around
the world.
I've been to 40 countries, andwhat I'm going to do in this
episode is just tell you guysthe top five lessons I've
learned and some stories that Iexperienced along the way.
So, before I dive into mytravel stories, I think it's
probably important to tell youhow I got here, because in 2009,
(02:13):
I lost everything and I had tosit down and really figure out
what I was going to do with mylife.
At this point in time, I wasmultiple months behind on my car
, on my rent, on my insurance.
My life was a wreck in everyway.
And I sat down one day just outof desperation and I asked
myself what do I really want?
Like I was a broke real estateagent, I just lost everything.
(02:36):
I wasn't making any deals.
Real estate was a bad industryto be in in 2009, as some of you
guys might know intimately.
But I sat down and I said whatdo I want?
And it was an unanswerablequestion because I had no
fucking clue.
All I knew is I didn't wantwhat I had and I was smart
enough at the time to say, okay,well, what don't I want?
(02:57):
And I was like shit, I know.
I got some answers to this and Istarted writing and I don't
know how I lost, how long Iwrote for, but it was at least
45 minutes to an hour and Iwrote down all the things I
didn't want to experience, Ididn't want to have to deal with
, I didn't want to worry about.
And when I read through it andkind of summarized it, what I
was really saying is I wanted tolive life on my terms.
(03:19):
I wanted to be able to workwhen I want, where I want and
with whom I want.
And after reading that I waslike well, dude, that's what
everybody says, that's whateverybody wants.
How are you going to make thatpossible?
And I thought about it for afew days and at the time, one of
my good friends was a computerprogrammer and he was telling me
about these clients he wasbuilding websites for and how
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they were making money and whatproducts they were selling and
what they were doing.
And I thought to myself shit,if I could learn how to make
money online, theoretically, Icould work when I want, where I
want and with whom I want.
And so in 2009, I decided, Ideclared that I'm going to learn
how to make money online, andmy goal was very, very simple.
I said I'm going to learn howto make $100 a day and once I
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can consistently make $100 a dayonline, I'm quitting my job,
I'm selling everything and I'mmoving to the beach.
And it took me about 18 monthsof blood, sweat and tears.
I was working my day job,full-time, working on my
business, hustling nights,weekends, doing everything that
I could and fast forward 18months, I started making that
$100 a day, got to a point whereI felt confident in what I was
(04:27):
doing, I quit my job and I movedto Costa Rica and in 2011,.
That's where my travel journeystarted, and for the next seven
years I didn't have a home.
I traveled full time while Iwas working on my business and
exploring, and I've beenprivileged to have some really
incredible experiences along theway.
So I'm going to tell you thetop five lessons I've learned in
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my travels so you can borrowfrom my experience and,
hopefully, apply them to yourlife.
All right, number five we'regoing to head down to the Cook
Islands, where I experienced thepower of culture and kindness
like no other place in the world.
You see, when I flew to theCook Islands, I forgot to take
out some cash on my way there,and so I get to the airport, I
land in the Cook Islands at like6 am on a Sunday and I go out
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to get a taxi and I go hey, doyou take card?
And they go no, we don't takecard, only cash.
It's like shit, man, I don'thave any cash on me.
He's like well, what, uh?
When do you leave?
I said in about five days.
He goes okay, why don't youjust schedule a pickup with me
and you can just pay me cashwhen I pick you up?
So I was like man, I reallyappreciate it.
(05:37):
That's very kind of you.
Obviously, I was superappreciative.
So he takes me to my Airbnb andI tell him you know, pick me up
on this day at this time righthere, and I'll pay you the cash.
So I don't think much of it.
I go to a breakfast place and Iwalk up and I'm like hey, do you
guys take card?
And she's like no, we only takecash.
Like okay, thank you.
So I walk a little farther, goto another restaurant hey, do
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you guys take card?
They're like no, we only takecash.
Now I'm like shit, this isgoing to be an issue because I
don't have any way to get cashout and it's Sunday, so I have
to wait till tomorrow to go tothe bank to take cash out.
So I go to the third place andI say, hey, do you guys take
card?
And they go nope, sorry, weonly take cash.
(06:19):
And as I'm turning to walk away, the lady behind the counter
goes hey, hey, hey, wait aminute, what's wrong?
And I said well, I just flew intoday.
I don't have any way to getcash out until tomorrow.
And she goes that's okay.
She's like just keep yourreceipt, come back tomorrow, eat
with us and pay both of yourbills.
Now I've never had a restaurantor a taxi driver say, oh, just
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pay me later.
So this is twice in one day.
I'm like, are you sure?
She's?
Yeah, it's totally fine.
Just where are you staying?
I'm like, oh, right over here.
She's like amazing, just comeback.
So I have, I have breakfast, Iget my receipt, whatever.
Fast forward.
A little while later, uh, myairbnb host is like hey, there's
this amazing farmer's market.
You have to go to it.
It's like local, it's got thebest food and the vendors are
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amazing.
And I'm like that sounds great.
Do you know if they take card?
And she's like no, actuallythey don't.
I think it's all cash.
I'm like okay, well, I don'tthink I'm gonna be able to go.
And she's like, well, why not?
It's like I don't have anysecond.
She goes in the house, comesout and she goes.
(07:24):
You know, I think my husbandtook some of the cash that was
in my dresser.
So if you just follow me to theATM, I will take some cash out
and you can just pay me backtomorrow.
And I'm like no, it's okay, youdon't need to do it.
It's like I appreciate it.
She's like no, no, it's okay.
The ATM is super.
We drive like 20 minutes to theother side of the island.
(07:47):
She goes to the ATM, she takesout cash, she gives it to me.
Long story short, this trip inthe Cook Islands I experienced
so much kindness, so much grace,so much culture that it really
profoundly impacted me.
And it reminded me of one of myfavorite sayings that people
won't remember what you say ordo, but they'll never forget how
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you make them feel.
The people, the culture, theconversations I had in the Cook
Islands they, honestly, I carrythem with me because they
inspire me to lead with love, tolead with kindness, and it's
also inspired me to really focuson building that type of
culture into my businesses andeverything that I do.
If you have a chance to go tothe Cook Islands, I highly
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recommend it, but you don't gotto go there to learn this lesson
People won't remember what yousay or do, but they'll never
forget how you make them feel,and oftentimes, the greatest
gift we can give someone is thegift of love and kindness.
All right.
Number four we're going toCroatia.
I was traveling in Europe in2019, and I went on a sailing
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trip in Croatia.
I got to spend seven nightssailing through the islands in
Croatia.
It was one of the most amazingexperiences of my life.
And one night I got up at like2 am to go to the bathroom and I
heard something up on deck.
So I go out and I go up on deckto the yacht that we're sailing
on and I see the captain andshe's up there and she's like
(09:14):
messing around with the anchor.
So I go up to her and I'm like,is everything okay?
She's like, oh, yeah, I justhave to get up periodically to
check to make sure that theanchor is set.
You know, when the wind blowsand the tides and the current,
sometimes the anchor can comeloose and I need to make sure we
don't smash against the rocks.
So I'm like, well, yeah, thatwould be a good thing.
I go lay down and I keepthinking about this anchor and I
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don't know why I connectedthese dots.
But I realized that anchors cankeep us stuck or they can keep
us from hitting the rocks, andsometimes in life we need
anchors to keep us moving in theright direction, to keep us
from smashing into the rocks.
And the more that I thoughtabout this idea, you know, I
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think the anchors that we needin our lives are really crystal
clear set of rules, values andbeliefs.
You see, all of us have rulesof what has to happen in order
for us to feel a certain way ordo a certain thing, and we have
values that we say, consciouslyor unconsciously, that are
important to us Values offriends and family, values of
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honesty and integrity, you know,values of kindness or
compassion.
We all have our own version ofvalues and we all have our own
beliefs, and oftentimes thoserules, values and beliefs, they
can be an anchor that keeps usstuck or they can be an anchor
that keeps us from getting offtrack and smashing into the
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rocks.
And so I've spent a lot of timein my life really being
intentional about what are therules that have to happen in my
life for me to feel a certainway, for me to take action, for
me to show up, for me to commit,and what are the values that I
want to live my life by.
You know, I want to live mylife by the value of health and
energy, love and passion, joyand gratitude.
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I want to be as present ashumanly possible.
I want to act every day from aplace of abundance.
I want to have a consistentaction and discipline in my life
.
I say those to you becausethese are values that I
literally have written down,that I read every day and remind
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myself that this is the valuesthat I want to embody and I want
to live my life by, and I oftenthink of that time I was in
Croatia and how those valuesthat I've adopted have become a
positive anchor In my life thathave kept me from getting off
track my life, that have kept mefrom getting off track or
losing momentum orself-sabotaging in certain
situations.
(11:52):
So I can't recommend thisenough.
If you if sometimes you feellike you're off track or you're
stuck or you're not making theprogress that you want, often it
comes down to redefining whatyour rules, values and beliefs
are and getting clarity so youcan have an anchor that propels
you forward versus holds youback.
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All right.
Number three we're going toTanzania, down to East Africa.
I went to East Africa in 2021to go on a safari.
It was one of the mostincredible experiences of my
life and I had two things happento me there that really changed
the way I look at things.
They're really a beautifullesson and I want to share it
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with you today.
So the first place I went inTanzania is a place called
Zanzibar, which is thisbeautiful island off the coast
of the mainland of Tanzania, andI remember driving and you know
there's literally kids outthere playing soccer, no shoes
on, running in the dirt, happy,joyous, laughing, dancing.
It was one of the mostvivacious places I've ever been
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and it was one of the mostpoverty-stricken places I've
ever been and I remember justthe perspective that I got from
being there.
But on my last day in Zanzibar Iwent and I bought 10 soccer
balls.
It's probably a very touristthing to do, but I saw all these
kids playing soccer and theballs were like deflated and old
and half flat and tore up and Ithought you know what?
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What can I do to give back inthis moment?
And I was like I'll buy a bunchof soccer balls and just give
them out to kids to play with.
So I go buy 10 soccer balls andI'm walking through the
villages and now I clearlywasn't the first person that had
ever done this before, becauseeverybody knew what the heck was
going on and so I'm handing outsoccer balls to this group of
kids and this group of kids andthis group of kids, and I'm
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getting bum rushed by all thekids, they all want their own
ball and I'm like, no, no, youguys got to play together and
you guys got to play togetherand I'm you know, I'm trying to
make these balls last.
And I remember there was allthese kids around me and then
there was these two kids thatwere kind of off in the distance
on these super old, rusted outbikes and they were about 30 or
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40 feet away and they were justwatching me while everybody else
was swarming me.
They were just watching me andI thought, huh, that's
interesting, they must not likesoccer.
And so I walked through thevillage and I probably walked,
you know, I don't know half amile mile, going through the
village and giving differentpeople soccer balls, and I had
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one ball left and I was, youknow, at the very end of my
journey and I noticed the twokids on the bikes were following
me this whole time.
They had just kind of kepttheir distance, but they were
following me.
I was like that's strange.
So I looked at him and I said,hey, do you want the soccer ball
?
These kids threw down theirbikes and they sprinted to me
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and they, they were so fuckingexcited to get that soccer ball
and I thought about it.
I was like why didn't they comeup to me like everybody else?
What was holding them back?
And a little while later, when Iwas on safari, I had the
opportunity to see the greatmigration play out and I'm
watching these wildebeest jumpinto the river.
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If you've ever seen, like onNat Geo or whatever, where these
wildebeest are jumping into theriver and the crocodiles come
up and they're grabbing them andpulling them under, I saw this
play out right in front of me.
It was unbelievable.
And as I'm watching, what Irealized is some of the
wildebeest would swim halfwayand then crawl up on a rock and
stop and ultimately they wouldstay there and rest and the rest
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of the herd would go on withoutthem.
And next thing, you know thesewildebeest, they were in the
middle of the river, everybodyelse was gone and the crocodiles
were just sitting there waitingand they were inevitably going
to die.
And I was thinking about both ofthese experiences and I was
like, damn, you know the kids,maybe they must have just been
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too shy to come up to me.
They were nervous or afraid, orthey were shy and so they
didn't approach me.
And the wildebeest obviouslythey went halfway and because
they didn't completely commit,they were bound to die.
They were bound to die.
And I remember, just likethinking about both these
experiences and kind ofrealizing that in life if we're
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shy, if we're timid, if we don'tgo after what we want, and if
we do go after what we want andwe stop halfway, we're destined
to fail.
We're never going to get whatwe want or really what we're
capable of creating.
And so oftentimes when I'mfeeling nervous or shy or timid,
I remind myself of thisexperience.
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And when I get started and Iwant to stop, I remind myself if
you stop right now, you'regoing to be like one of those
wildebeest, you're going to getyour ass chewed off.
And I use these as positiveanchors to remind myself to take
that move, to ask that personto go up there and go after that
opportunity, to take that leapof faith and keep moving forward
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, no matter how turbulent orchallenging things get.
And that's what I want toencourage you guys to do today.
All right, number two we'regoing to Thailand.
I love Thailand, guys.
I spent nine months of my lifethere.
It's one of my favoritecountries.
It's beautiful, the food isincredible, the culture is great
, and I had this experience inThailand, where you've probably
heard me tell the story ifyou've been following me.
(17:17):
But I was cruising my scooterthrough the jungle and I come
around the corner and there'sthis giant elephant standing in
the middle of the road and theelephant is on a leash being
walked by this small man.
Dude was like 5'8", like kindof small Thai guy, right,
walking this giant fuckingelephant on a leash, and I was
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like what is going on here,right?
So I pull over and I get off myscooter and I'm looking, I pull
out my cell phone I could takea couple pictures and the guy's
like oh, you want me to take apicture of you.
So I go over there, I take apicture with the elephant and I
ask him I'm like hey, bro, howare you able to walk an elephant
on a leash?
And he tells me the story, howthey train elephants.
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He says when the elephant isjust a baby, we take this big
chain and we wrap it around itsankle and we stake it to the
ground, and when the elephant isa baby, it will pull and it
will pull and it will pull, butit can't get away.
And so what happens is theelephant is trained, it's
conditioned that wheneverthere's anything on its ankle,
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it believes it can't get away.
And so now, even though it'sfull grown, it's this giant
beast.
All I have to do is wrap thisleash around its ankle and I can
walk it.
I'm thinking, wow, that's,that's crazy.
I get back on my scooter and westart.
I start driving back to my houseand I remember I started to cry
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because in that moment Irealized all of us have chains
or leashes that hold us backlike that elephant.
Through our lives we have beenconditioned to believe
limitations, doubts, otherpeople's opinions, and we've
allowed other people'sperspectives or our own limiting
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beliefs to wrap around ourankle and chain us in place.
We limit our own potential bysubscribing to those chains that
hold us back.
And I remember I was justdriving and I had all this
emotion and I was cruising backand I was like what are the
chains that are holding me back?
And the truth is, at that timein my life, there were so many.
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We don't have enough time inthis episode to go through them,
but I want to tell you thisstory because I have come to
believe that the biggest mistakeI have ever made in my life is
not believing in myself.
I wrapped chain after chainafter chain of limitation around
myself and I allowed them tohold me back, to weigh me down
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and to keep me from realizing mypotential.
And I'm fortunate thatultimately, I learned the lesson
.
I figured out how to removethose chains, how to recondition
myself, how to get unstuck.
But so many of us and me too attimes we still allow ourself to
be held back by limitation.
And the craziest thing to me isthat so many of us defend our
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limitations.
You know, oh, I'm depressed, Ican't do it.
I'm not that type of person.
Oh, I don't know how to do that, I'm not good enough to make
that happen.
We proclaim these limitationsand then we defend them.
Think about that.
Have you ever seen someone sayno, no, I'm really depressed, I
can't do this and this and thisbecause I am depressed?
It's like, maybe, maybe you are, and I'm not trying to downplay
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the clinical diagnosis ofdepression and the chemical
imbalances that come along withit.
But, man, if you defend yourlimitation, you will always be
bound.
But if you have the courage toredefine that limitation, to
step beyond man.
You can, you're capable of somuch more.
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And that's whenever I'm feelingstuck, whenever I'm feeling
bound.
I think to that experience ofthat elephant and I tell myself
don't ever let someone else'slimitations or your own define
what you're capable of, whatyour potential is.
There's only one person thatknows what your potential is.
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Well, two, maybe you and God,and maybe you don't even know
what your potential is yet.
But if you limit yourself, ifyou believe or subscribe to the
limitations, you'll never findout.
And I started this podcastbecause I want all of us to go
after our own version ofexcellence, to create a life on
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our terms.
I'm sitting here in Fiji whileI record this and I'm telling
you these stories with all of myheart, because it is these
lessons that I've learnedthrough the journey of success
and failure, of travel andexperience, that have given me a
richness of life that I couldhave never possibly imagined.
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And it only happened because Ifound a way to take action in
spite of fear, to move throughthe doubt and the limitation,
that, even though I was bound,even though I didn't believe in
myself, even though I was scaredand fearful, I still showed up
and I made a commitment to neverfucking quit, to never give up
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and to never stop learning andgrowing.
And if we can make thatcommitment and stop allowing
ourselves to remain bound byfalse limitations, our potential
is literally limitless.
All right, the final lessonprobably the biggest, most
important lesson I've learnedfrom all of my travels doesn't
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actually come from any one place, because so many places that
I've experienced throughout myjourney have reinforced this,
and it's the power ofperspective.
You see, the perspective thatwe take in life, the lens that
we see everything through, isgoing to dramatically impact our
life how we show up, what webelieve and what we think we're
(23:14):
capable of doing.
Mike's got a couple cameras upright here and he's got
different lenses for thosecameras, and how he sets them up
is going to determine how theshot looks and how you guys see
me.
How the shot looks and how youguys see me.
And, in life, the lens that wetake, the perspectives, the
rules, the values, the beliefsthat we have, define what we see
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.
I remember when I first moved toCosta Rica, I lived with a
friend, and this friend his namewas Mark.
He was an incredibly successfulentrepreneur.
He had made hundreds ofmillions of dollars as a product
inventor.
And one day he told me thisstory.
He said Anthony, when I firstmoved to Costa Rica, I would go
for a walk on the beach everyday, and every day I would see
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this same man.
It was this middle-aged CostaRican and he had a spear in one
hand and a trash bag in theother and I was watching him and
he was fishing with the spear.
He was getting crabs and clamsand fish and putting them in a
trash bag.
And one day I went up to himand I said hey, well, you know
who are you fishing for?
He said I'm fishing for myfamily.
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And Mark realized in that momentthat it was that fishing.
That was what the man was doingto provide for his family.
That was how he got food forthe family.
And he said every day afterthat, whenever I went on a beach
walk, I put five, 10 bucks inmy pocket and when I saw him, I
always gave it to him.
And then he asked me this hegoes do you know why I did that?
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It's like no, mark, I don't why.
I mean in my head I'm thinkingwell, you're very wealthy and
you're very successful, so yougot it.
You know I'm just 25, 26 at thetime, and he goes because what
if that was me?
I go.
What do you mean?
He goes, anthony, I had theprivilege to be born in the
United States to a family thatloved me, to a family that did
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everything they could to supportand provide for me.
Just like you were born in theUnited States, with certain
opportunities and advantages,that man was born here, and
there's people born all aroundthe world that grow up in an
environment of poverty or abuseor limited opportunity and he
goes.
It's really important.
As men, and specifically as menthat were born in America, that
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have the opportunity to makesomething of ourselves, we have
a moral, ethical and spiritualresponsibility to be the best
that we can be and then to paythat forward and to give back.
And so every time I see him, Igive him a couple bucks, because
what if that was me?
He helps me stay grounded androoted in the reality that I am
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where I am because of theoutliers that existed in my life
.
I just thought that was sobeautiful.
You know, I remember anothertime in Costa Rica.
It was Thanksgiving and Markencouraged us to go buy some
groceries and to feed some ofthe local families.
And so we went and bought somegroceries and a friend told us
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about this family that wasliving in a hut, kind of in the
jungle.
So we went over there and therewas two women.
They were sisters, they hadfour kids between the two of
them and two of the kids wereautistic.
They were living in a shack inthe jungle dirt floors, no
running water, electricity, andthat was their reality.
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And we show up with all thesebags of food and things to you
know, help them.
But I got to tell you I don'tshare these stories to impress
you or say, look, how great I am.
I do it to express to you thatgetting a different perspective
in life will give you adifferent reality.
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I remember I was in El Salvadorand I actually went there with a
buddy, kevin, to do somemission work and we hooked up
with a local church and we wentinto San Salvador, which was one
of the most dangerous cities inCentral America at the time.
Lots of gangs and violence andwe were donating food.
They had this whole truck andthey would give out soup.
Lots of gangs and violence andwe were.
We were donating food.
They had this whole truck andthey would give out soups and
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breads and food.
And so I had soup duty and soI'm in the back of this truck
and I'm pouring cups of soup andthis little girl came up to me.
Gosh, she was probably eight,10 years old, maybe just this.
You know, adorable little thing.
And she comes up to me and youknow she's like can I have some
more?
I don't, I don't really speakthat good Spanish, but she was
(27:32):
saying in Spanish, can I havesome more?
And so I would give her moresoup.
She came back to me like fouror five times, I think.
I was only supposed to givepeople one cup of soup, but
every time she came back Icouldn't say no.
And finally she came back thelast time and I was like I'm so
sorry, we, you know, we're allgood, we don't have any more,
it's all gone.
El fin, el fin.
And then, and then I, in mylimited Spanish, I said, uh,
(27:59):
como te amos?
And she said Maria.
And I said, uh, maria, dondeesta mama, donde esta papa?
And she goes no se, no se.
Like wow, wow, she doesn't knowwhere her parents are.
Gosh, I get choked up thinkingabout it.
And she was saying something tome in spanish and I didn't know
what it was.
So I say I asked my buddy,kevin, I'm like kev, come over,
what is she saying?
(28:19):
And he goes she's, she's askingyou when you're going to come
back with more soup.
I got in in the truck on theway home or the way back to the
church and I just sobbed Becausewhen we get a different
perspective, when we go out intothe world and we experience the
(28:40):
way that things are thebrutality, the harshness, the
beauty, the love, the kindnesswe get such a rich perspective
and it's that perspective thatcolors everything that we see.
You know, you can have a lensthat's black and white and
(29:00):
shades everything in black andwhite, or you can have a vibrant
lens that shows you love andkindness and beauty and
opportunity and pain andsuffering.
Traveling and the experiencesI've had have given me the most
beautiful lens to view the worldthrough, and I often think
about some of these lessons whenI'm facing hardships, when I'm
(29:22):
getting frustrated, when I'mfeeling down, because the truth
is no matter where you're atright now.
If you're watching this, you'reprobably watching it on some
$1,500 smartphone or listeningto it on a $200 pair of earbuds.
Our worst day is someone else'sdream.
You know, it's been said thattwo-thirds of the world survives
(29:47):
off of like $3 a day, and inthe Western world we concern
ourselves with so much fuckingbullshit.
You know, a book I really loveis called the Subtle Art of Not
Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson,and in it he very clearly says
in life we only have so manyfucks that we can give, and if
(30:08):
we give a fuck about things thatdon't fucking matter, our life
will be fucked.
Now, that's a lot of fucks, butthey're all 100% true.
I wanted to share these lessonswith you, these stories with you
, because, as I sit here in Fiji, I feel like this week is a
combination of 15 years of fearsand doubts, hard work, busting
(30:32):
my ass, doing everything I canto get to this position that I'm
in today, and I can tell youthe only way I've been able to
do it is because I committed tonever, ever, ever giving up, to
never quitting, and I committedto constant and never ending
improvement, to never quitting.
And I committed to constant andnever-ending improvement.
I wanted to use every failure,every defeat, every setback,
every adversity as anopportunity to grow, to learn,
(30:55):
to evolve and to elevate who Iam, to change my perspective, to
add depth and color to mytapestry so that I could really
find and uncover what my ownpotential is.
And I started this podcastbecause I want to help you do
the same.
I want to share these ideas,these lessons, these stories
(31:15):
with you, in the hopes that theymay inspire you to get outside
of your comfort zone, to let goof your chains, to find a new
perspective of your own, so thatwe might learn and grow and
evolve together.
If you've made it this far withme, thank you for hanging out.
I truly, truly appreciate youlistening to this show.
(31:36):
You know, I think this is eight, nine, 10 episodes, something
like that.
It's been a journey.
I've been fearful to put theseout there.
It's been.
You know this whole experience,but the first time you do
something is the worst time youdo it.
I don't know where you're at,but all I can say is keep moving
forward.
Use these five lessons to nevergive up, never give in, keep
(32:00):
learning, keep growing and keepmoving forward.
Everything in our life comesdown to being able to take
radical responsibility for ourresults.
I believe all of the problems,all of the challenges in our
lives can be solved in threewords it's my fault.
When we take responsibility forour experience, we can create
whatever results we want.
(32:20):
Thank you for spending thistime with me today while we're
down here in Fiji.
Now I'm going to go hit thebeach before it gets dark.
You saw, if you're watching onvideo, you probably see the
clouds are rolling in.
Mike's behind the camera.
He's getting a little scared.
He's thinking.
I can tell he's thinking hurrythe fuck up, bro.
The rain is coming and I gotthis expensive camera gear out
here.
So I've taken up enough of yourtime today, but if you've made
(32:42):
it all the way through to theend, I deeply appreciate you.
The only thing I would ever askis if you found value in this,
please share it with someonethat you know and help us get
this message out there so we canlearn and grow together and we
can inspire each other tocontinue to become the best that
we can be.
I'll see you guys on the nextone.
I won't waste another minute.
No, I won't.
I'm a man on a mission.
I'm a man on a mission.
I don't need no permission.
I'm a man on a mission.
Welcome to, Entitled to Nothing,where we believe our life is
(00:23):
our fault.
My name is Mink, and todaywe've got a special episode for
you.
I'm on vacation in Fiji and Ithought it was an incredible
opportunity to sit down and talkabout one of my favorite
subjects, which is traveling.
So I started this show becauseI have ran headfirst into
failure after failure for thelast 20 years of my life, and in
(00:44):
that process I figured out howto turn my failures into lessons
, and I've used those lessons tocreate life on my terms, a life
that gives me the opportunityto come down here and take
vacations like this and talkabout what I wanna talk to you
guys about today.
You know, when I got started, Iwas just a scared, broke kid
with six figures in debt and noidea what to do, and by learning
(01:07):
how to turn my failures intolessons, I've now built multiple
companies that have generatedover $50 million in sales, and
I'm really blessed to be able tolive my life my way, and so I
started this show to simplyshare everything I've learned on
my journey, in the hopes thatit will inspire you and guide
you on yours.
So today I'm going to talk toyou guys about travel,
(01:29):
specifically since we're here inFiji.
I was hanging out with Mike.
We brought Mike down here toFiji you lucky bastard, he's
back there behind the camera andhe was like, bro, you should do
a podcast while you're in Fiji.
And I started thinking about it.
What could I talk about?
You know, what would be reallycool is if I shared the top five
lessons I've learned aftertraveling full time for seven
(01:51):
years.
For seven years, I lived inAirbnbs and hotels all around
the world.
I've been to 40 countries, andwhat I'm going to do in this
episode is just tell you guysthe top five lessons I've
learned and some stories that Iexperienced along the way.
So, before I dive into mytravel stories, I think it's
probably important to tell youhow I got here, because in 2009,
(02:13):
I lost everything and I had tosit down and really figure out
what I was going to do with mylife.
At this point in time, I wasmultiple months behind on my car
, on my rent, on my insurance.
My life was a wreck in everyway.
And I sat down one day just outof desperation and I asked
myself what do I really want?
Like I was a broke real estateagent, I just lost everything.
(02:36):
I wasn't making any deals.
Real estate was a bad industryto be in in 2009, as some of you
guys might know intimately.
But I sat down and I said whatdo I want?
And it was an unanswerablequestion because I had no
fucking clue.
All I knew is I didn't wantwhat I had and I was smart
enough at the time to say, okay,well, what don't I want?
(02:57):
And I was like shit, I know.
I got some answers to this and Istarted writing and I don't
know how I lost, how long Iwrote for, but it was at least
45 minutes to an hour and Iwrote down all the things I
didn't want to experience, Ididn't want to have to deal with
, I didn't want to worry about.
And when I read through it andkind of summarized it, what I
was really saying is I wanted tolive life on my terms.
(03:19):
I wanted to be able to workwhen I want, where I want and
with whom I want.
And after reading that I waslike well, dude, that's what
everybody says, that's whateverybody wants.
How are you going to make thatpossible?
And I thought about it for afew days and at the time, one of
my good friends was a computerprogrammer and he was telling me
about these clients he wasbuilding websites for and how
(03:40):
they were making money and whatproducts they were selling and
what they were doing.
And I thought to myself shit,if I could learn how to make
money online, theoretically, Icould work when I want, where I
want and with whom I want.
And so in 2009, I decided, Ideclared that I'm going to learn
how to make money online, andmy goal was very, very simple.
I said I'm going to learn howto make $100 a day and once I
(04:04):
can consistently make $100 a dayonline, I'm quitting my job,
I'm selling everything and I'mmoving to the beach.
And it took me about 18 monthsof blood, sweat and tears.
I was working my day job,full-time, working on my
business, hustling nights,weekends, doing everything that
I could and fast forward 18months, I started making that
$100 a day, got to a point whereI felt confident in what I was
(04:27):
doing, I quit my job and I movedto Costa Rica and in 2011,.
That's where my travel journeystarted, and for the next seven
years I didn't have a home.
I traveled full time while Iwas working on my business and
exploring, and I've beenprivileged to have some really
incredible experiences along theway.
So I'm going to tell you thetop five lessons I've learned in
(04:50):
my travels so you can borrowfrom my experience and,
hopefully, apply them to yourlife.
All right, number five we'regoing to head down to the Cook
Islands, where I experienced thepower of culture and kindness
like no other place in the world.
You see, when I flew to theCook Islands, I forgot to take
out some cash on my way there,and so I get to the airport, I
land in the Cook Islands at like6 am on a Sunday and I go out
(05:13):
to get a taxi and I go hey, doyou take card?
And they go no, we don't takecard, only cash.
It's like shit, man, I don'thave any cash on me.
He's like well, what, uh?
When do you leave?
I said in about five days.
He goes okay, why don't youjust schedule a pickup with me
and you can just pay me cashwhen I pick you up?
So I was like man, I reallyappreciate it.
(05:37):
That's very kind of you.
Obviously, I was superappreciative.
So he takes me to my Airbnb andI tell him you know, pick me up
on this day at this time righthere, and I'll pay you the cash.
So I don't think much of it.
I go to a breakfast place and Iwalk up and I'm like hey, do you
guys take card?
And she's like no, we only takecash.
Like okay, thank you.
So I walk a little farther, goto another restaurant hey, do
(05:59):
you guys take card?
They're like no, we only takecash.
Now I'm like shit, this isgoing to be an issue because I
don't have any way to get cashout and it's Sunday, so I have
to wait till tomorrow to go tothe bank to take cash out.
So I go to the third place andI say, hey, do you guys take
card?
And they go nope, sorry, weonly take cash.
(06:19):
And as I'm turning to walk away, the lady behind the counter
goes hey, hey, hey, wait aminute, what's wrong?
And I said well, I just flew intoday.
I don't have any way to getcash out until tomorrow.
And she goes that's okay.
She's like just keep yourreceipt, come back tomorrow, eat
with us and pay both of yourbills.
Now I've never had a restaurantor a taxi driver say, oh, just
(06:43):
pay me later.
So this is twice in one day.
I'm like, are you sure?
She's?
Yeah, it's totally fine.
Just where are you staying?
I'm like, oh, right over here.
She's like amazing, just comeback.
So I have, I have breakfast, Iget my receipt, whatever.
Fast forward.
A little while later, uh, myairbnb host is like hey, there's
this amazing farmer's market.
You have to go to it.
It's like local, it's got thebest food and the vendors are
(07:04):
amazing.
And I'm like that sounds great.
Do you know if they take card?
And she's like no, actuallythey don't.
I think it's all cash.
I'm like okay, well, I don'tthink I'm gonna be able to go.
And she's like, well, why not?
It's like I don't have anysecond.
She goes in the house, comesout and she goes.
(07:24):
You know, I think my husbandtook some of the cash that was
in my dresser.
So if you just follow me to theATM, I will take some cash out
and you can just pay me backtomorrow.
And I'm like no, it's okay, youdon't need to do it.
It's like I appreciate it.
She's like no, no, it's okay.
The ATM is super.
We drive like 20 minutes to theother side of the island.
(07:47):
She goes to the ATM, she takesout cash, she gives it to me.
Long story short, this trip inthe Cook Islands I experienced
so much kindness, so much grace,so much culture that it really
profoundly impacted me.
And it reminded me of one of myfavorite sayings that people
won't remember what you say ordo, but they'll never forget how
(08:09):
you make them feel.
The people, the culture, theconversations I had in the Cook
Islands they, honestly, I carrythem with me because they
inspire me to lead with love, tolead with kindness, and it's
also inspired me to really focuson building that type of
culture into my businesses andeverything that I do.
If you have a chance to go tothe Cook Islands, I highly
(08:30):
recommend it, but you don't gotto go there to learn this lesson
People won't remember what yousay or do, but they'll never
forget how you make them feel,and oftentimes, the greatest
gift we can give someone is thegift of love and kindness.
All right.
Number four we're going toCroatia.
I was traveling in Europe in2019, and I went on a sailing
(08:52):
trip in Croatia.
I got to spend seven nightssailing through the islands in
Croatia.
It was one of the most amazingexperiences of my life.
And one night I got up at like2 am to go to the bathroom and I
heard something up on deck.
So I go out and I go up on deckto the yacht that we're sailing
on and I see the captain andshe's up there and she's like
(09:14):
messing around with the anchor.
So I go up to her and I'm like,is everything okay?
She's like, oh, yeah, I justhave to get up periodically to
check to make sure that theanchor is set.
You know, when the wind blowsand the tides and the current,
sometimes the anchor can comeloose and I need to make sure we
don't smash against the rocks.
So I'm like, well, yeah, thatwould be a good thing.
I go lay down and I keepthinking about this anchor and I
(09:41):
don't know why I connectedthese dots.
But I realized that anchors cankeep us stuck or they can keep
us from hitting the rocks, andsometimes in life we need
anchors to keep us moving in theright direction, to keep us
from smashing into the rocks.
And the more that I thoughtabout this idea, you know, I
(10:04):
think the anchors that we needin our lives are really crystal
clear set of rules, values andbeliefs.
You see, all of us have rulesof what has to happen in order
for us to feel a certain way ordo a certain thing, and we have
values that we say, consciouslyor unconsciously, that are
important to us Values offriends and family, values of
(10:28):
honesty and integrity, you know,values of kindness or
compassion.
We all have our own version ofvalues and we all have our own
beliefs, and oftentimes thoserules, values and beliefs, they
can be an anchor that keeps usstuck or they can be an anchor
that keeps us from getting offtrack and smashing into the
(10:49):
rocks.
And so I've spent a lot of timein my life really being
intentional about what are therules that have to happen in my
life for me to feel a certainway, for me to take action, for
me to show up, for me to commit,and what are the values that I
want to live my life by.
You know, I want to live mylife by the value of health and
energy, love and passion, joyand gratitude.
(11:12):
I want to be as present ashumanly possible.
I want to act every day from aplace of abundance.
I want to have a consistentaction and discipline in my life
.
I say those to you becausethese are values that I
literally have written down,that I read every day and remind
(11:32):
myself that this is the valuesthat I want to embody and I want
to live my life by, and I oftenthink of that time I was in
Croatia and how those valuesthat I've adopted have become a
positive anchor In my life thathave kept me from getting off
track my life, that have kept mefrom getting off track or
losing momentum orself-sabotaging in certain
situations.
(11:52):
So I can't recommend thisenough.
If you if sometimes you feellike you're off track or you're
stuck or you're not making theprogress that you want, often it
comes down to redefining whatyour rules, values and beliefs
are and getting clarity so youcan have an anchor that propels
you forward versus holds youback.
(12:12):
All right.
Number three we're going toTanzania, down to East Africa.
I went to East Africa in 2021to go on a safari.
It was one of the mostincredible experiences of my
life and I had two things happento me there that really changed
the way I look at things.
They're really a beautifullesson and I want to share it
(12:34):
with you today.
So the first place I went inTanzania is a place called
Zanzibar, which is thisbeautiful island off the coast
of the mainland of Tanzania, andI remember driving and you know
there's literally kids outthere playing soccer, no shoes
on, running in the dirt, happy,joyous, laughing, dancing.
It was one of the mostvivacious places I've ever been
(12:56):
and it was one of the mostpoverty-stricken places I've
ever been and I remember justthe perspective that I got from
being there.
But on my last day in Zanzibar Iwent and I bought 10 soccer
balls.
It's probably a very touristthing to do, but I saw all these
kids playing soccer and theballs were like deflated and old
and half flat and tore up and Ithought you know what?
(13:17):
What can I do to give back inthis moment?
And I was like I'll buy a bunchof soccer balls and just give
them out to kids to play with.
So I go buy 10 soccer balls andI'm walking through the
villages and now I clearlywasn't the first person that had
ever done this before, becauseeverybody knew what the heck was
going on and so I'm handing outsoccer balls to this group of
kids and this group of kids andthis group of kids, and I'm
(13:40):
getting bum rushed by all thekids, they all want their own
ball and I'm like, no, no, youguys got to play together and
you guys got to play togetherand I'm you know, I'm trying to
make these balls last.
And I remember there was allthese kids around me and then
there was these two kids thatwere kind of off in the distance
on these super old, rusted outbikes and they were about 30 or
(14:02):
40 feet away and they were justwatching me while everybody else
was swarming me.
They were just watching me andI thought, huh, that's
interesting, they must not likesoccer.
And so I walked through thevillage and I probably walked,
you know, I don't know half amile mile, going through the
village and giving differentpeople soccer balls, and I had
(14:22):
one ball left and I was, youknow, at the very end of my
journey and I noticed the twokids on the bikes were following
me this whole time.
They had just kind of kepttheir distance, but they were
following me.
I was like that's strange.
So I looked at him and I said,hey, do you want the soccer ball
?
These kids threw down theirbikes and they sprinted to me
(14:46):
and they, they were so fuckingexcited to get that soccer ball
and I thought about it.
I was like why didn't they comeup to me like everybody else?
What was holding them back?
And a little while later, when Iwas on safari, I had the
opportunity to see the greatmigration play out and I'm
watching these wildebeest jumpinto the river.
(15:08):
If you've ever seen, like onNat Geo or whatever, where these
wildebeest are jumping into theriver and the crocodiles come
up and they're grabbing them andpulling them under, I saw this
play out right in front of me.
It was unbelievable.
And as I'm watching, what Irealized is some of the
wildebeest would swim halfwayand then crawl up on a rock and
stop and ultimately they wouldstay there and rest and the rest
(15:31):
of the herd would go on withoutthem.
And next thing, you know thesewildebeest, they were in the
middle of the river, everybodyelse was gone and the crocodiles
were just sitting there waitingand they were inevitably going
to die.
And I was thinking about both ofthese experiences and I was
like, damn, you know the kids,maybe they must have just been
(15:52):
too shy to come up to me.
They were nervous or afraid, orthey were shy and so they
didn't approach me.
And the wildebeest obviouslythey went halfway and because
they didn't completely commit,they were bound to die.
They were bound to die.
And I remember, just likethinking about both these
experiences and kind ofrealizing that in life if we're
(16:13):
shy, if we're timid, if we don'tgo after what we want, and if
we do go after what we want andwe stop halfway, we're destined
to fail.
We're never going to get whatwe want or really what we're
capable of creating.
And so oftentimes when I'mfeeling nervous or shy or timid,
I remind myself of thisexperience.
(16:33):
And when I get started and Iwant to stop, I remind myself if
you stop right now, you'regoing to be like one of those
wildebeest, you're going to getyour ass chewed off.
And I use these as positiveanchors to remind myself to take
that move, to ask that personto go up there and go after that
opportunity, to take that leapof faith and keep moving forward
(16:56):
, no matter how turbulent orchallenging things get.
And that's what I want toencourage you guys to do today.
All right, number two we'regoing to Thailand.
I love Thailand, guys.
I spent nine months of my lifethere.
It's one of my favoritecountries.
It's beautiful, the food isincredible, the culture is great
, and I had this experience inThailand, where you've probably
heard me tell the story ifyou've been following me.
(17:17):
But I was cruising my scooterthrough the jungle and I come
around the corner and there'sthis giant elephant standing in
the middle of the road and theelephant is on a leash being
walked by this small man.
Dude was like 5'8", like kindof small Thai guy, right,
walking this giant fuckingelephant on a leash, and I was
(17:37):
like what is going on here,right?
So I pull over and I get off myscooter and I'm looking, I pull
out my cell phone I could takea couple pictures and the guy's
like oh, you want me to take apicture of you.
So I go over there, I take apicture with the elephant and I
ask him I'm like hey, bro, howare you able to walk an elephant
on a leash?
And he tells me the story, howthey train elephants.
(18:00):
He says when the elephant isjust a baby, we take this big
chain and we wrap it around itsankle and we stake it to the
ground, and when the elephant isa baby, it will pull and it
will pull and it will pull, butit can't get away.
And so what happens is theelephant is trained, it's
conditioned that wheneverthere's anything on its ankle,
(18:23):
it believes it can't get away.
And so now, even though it'sfull grown, it's this giant
beast.
All I have to do is wrap thisleash around its ankle and I can
walk it.
I'm thinking, wow, that's,that's crazy.
I get back on my scooter and westart.
I start driving back to my houseand I remember I started to cry
(18:44):
because in that moment Irealized all of us have chains
or leashes that hold us backlike that elephant.
Through our lives we have beenconditioned to believe
limitations, doubts, otherpeople's opinions, and we've
allowed other people'sperspectives or our own limiting
(19:06):
beliefs to wrap around ourankle and chain us in place.
We limit our own potential bysubscribing to those chains that
hold us back.
And I remember I was justdriving and I had all this
emotion and I was cruising backand I was like what are the
chains that are holding me back?
And the truth is, at that timein my life, there were so many.
(19:28):
We don't have enough time inthis episode to go through them,
but I want to tell you thisstory because I have come to
believe that the biggest mistakeI have ever made in my life is
not believing in myself.
I wrapped chain after chainafter chain of limitation around
myself and I allowed them tohold me back, to weigh me down
(19:52):
and to keep me from realizing mypotential.
And I'm fortunate thatultimately, I learned the lesson
.
I figured out how to removethose chains, how to recondition
myself, how to get unstuck.
But so many of us and me too attimes we still allow ourself to
be held back by limitation.
And the craziest thing to me isthat so many of us defend our
(20:17):
limitations.
You know, oh, I'm depressed, Ican't do it.
I'm not that type of person.
Oh, I don't know how to do that, I'm not good enough to make
that happen.
We proclaim these limitationsand then we defend them.
Think about that.
Have you ever seen someone sayno, no, I'm really depressed, I
can't do this and this and thisbecause I am depressed?
It's like, maybe, maybe you are, and I'm not trying to downplay
(20:42):
the clinical diagnosis ofdepression and the chemical
imbalances that come along withit.
But, man, if you defend yourlimitation, you will always be
bound.
But if you have the courage toredefine that limitation, to
step beyond man.
You can, you're capable of somuch more.
(21:04):
And that's whenever I'm feelingstuck, whenever I'm feeling
bound.
I think to that experience ofthat elephant and I tell myself
don't ever let someone else'slimitations or your own define
what you're capable of, whatyour potential is.
There's only one person thatknows what your potential is.
(21:24):
Well, two, maybe you and God,and maybe you don't even know
what your potential is yet.
But if you limit yourself, ifyou believe or subscribe to the
limitations, you'll never findout.
And I started this podcastbecause I want all of us to go
after our own version ofexcellence, to create a life on
(21:47):
our terms.
I'm sitting here in Fiji whileI record this and I'm telling
you these stories with all of myheart, because it is these
lessons that I've learnedthrough the journey of success
and failure, of travel andexperience, that have given me a
richness of life that I couldhave never possibly imagined.
(22:08):
And it only happened because Ifound a way to take action in
spite of fear, to move throughthe doubt and the limitation,
that, even though I was bound,even though I didn't believe in
myself, even though I was scaredand fearful, I still showed up
and I made a commitment to neverfucking quit, to never give up
(22:29):
and to never stop learning andgrowing.
And if we can make thatcommitment and stop allowing
ourselves to remain bound byfalse limitations, our potential
is literally limitless.
All right, the final lessonprobably the biggest, most
important lesson I've learnedfrom all of my travels doesn't
(22:51):
actually come from any one place, because so many places that
I've experienced throughout myjourney have reinforced this,
and it's the power ofperspective.
You see, the perspective thatwe take in life, the lens that
we see everything through, isgoing to dramatically impact our
life how we show up, what webelieve and what we think we're
(23:14):
capable of doing.
Mike's got a couple cameras upright here and he's got
different lenses for thosecameras, and how he sets them up
is going to determine how theshot looks and how you guys see
me.
How the shot looks and how youguys see me.
And, in life, the lens that wetake, the perspectives, the
rules, the values, the beliefsthat we have, define what we see
(23:34):
.
I remember when I first moved toCosta Rica, I lived with a
friend, and this friend his namewas Mark.
He was an incredibly successfulentrepreneur.
He had made hundreds ofmillions of dollars as a product
inventor.
And one day he told me thisstory.
He said Anthony, when I firstmoved to Costa Rica, I would go
for a walk on the beach everyday, and every day I would see
(23:55):
this same man.
It was this middle-aged CostaRican and he had a spear in one
hand and a trash bag in theother and I was watching him and
he was fishing with the spear.
He was getting crabs and clamsand fish and putting them in a
trash bag.
And one day I went up to himand I said hey, well, you know
who are you fishing for?
He said I'm fishing for myfamily.
(24:16):
And Mark realized in that momentthat it was that fishing.
That was what the man was doingto provide for his family.
That was how he got food forthe family.
And he said every day afterthat, whenever I went on a beach
walk, I put five, 10 bucks inmy pocket and when I saw him, I
always gave it to him.
And then he asked me this hegoes do you know why I did that?
(24:39):
It's like no, mark, I don't why.
I mean in my head I'm thinkingwell, you're very wealthy and
you're very successful, so yougot it.
You know I'm just 25, 26 at thetime, and he goes because what
if that was me?
I go.
What do you mean?
He goes, anthony, I had theprivilege to be born in the
United States to a family thatloved me, to a family that did
(25:02):
everything they could to supportand provide for me.
Just like you were born in theUnited States, with certain
opportunities and advantages,that man was born here, and
there's people born all aroundthe world that grow up in an
environment of poverty or abuseor limited opportunity and he
goes.
It's really important.
As men, and specifically as menthat were born in America, that
(25:25):
have the opportunity to makesomething of ourselves, we have
a moral, ethical and spiritualresponsibility to be the best
that we can be and then to paythat forward and to give back.
And so every time I see him, Igive him a couple bucks, because
what if that was me?
He helps me stay grounded androoted in the reality that I am
(25:46):
where I am because of theoutliers that existed in my life
.
I just thought that was sobeautiful.
You know, I remember anothertime in Costa Rica.
It was Thanksgiving and Markencouraged us to go buy some
groceries and to feed some ofthe local families.
And so we went and bought somegroceries and a friend told us
(26:06):
about this family that wasliving in a hut, kind of in the
jungle.
So we went over there and therewas two women.
They were sisters, they hadfour kids between the two of
them and two of the kids wereautistic.
They were living in a shack inthe jungle dirt floors, no
running water, electricity, andthat was their reality.
(26:29):
And we show up with all thesebags of food and things to you
know, help them.
But I got to tell you I don'tshare these stories to impress
you or say, look, how great I am.
I do it to express to you thatgetting a different perspective
in life will give you adifferent reality.
(26:50):
I remember I was in El Salvadorand I actually went there with a
buddy, kevin, to do somemission work and we hooked up
with a local church and we wentinto San Salvador, which was one
of the most dangerous cities inCentral America at the time.
Lots of gangs and violence andwe were donating food.
They had this whole truck andthey would give out soup.
Lots of gangs and violence andwe were.
We were donating food.
They had this whole truck andthey would give out soups and
(27:11):
breads and food.
And so I had soup duty and soI'm in the back of this truck
and I'm pouring cups of soup andthis little girl came up to me.
Gosh, she was probably eight,10 years old, maybe just this.
You know, adorable little thing.
And she comes up to me and youknow she's like can I have some
more?
I don't, I don't really speakthat good Spanish, but she was
(27:32):
saying in Spanish, can I havesome more?
And so I would give her moresoup.
She came back to me like fouror five times, I think.
I was only supposed to givepeople one cup of soup, but
every time she came back Icouldn't say no.
And finally she came back thelast time and I was like I'm so
sorry, we, you know, we're allgood, we don't have any more,
it's all gone.
El fin, el fin.
And then, and then I, in mylimited Spanish, I said, uh,
(27:59):
como te amos?
And she said Maria.
And I said, uh, maria, dondeesta mama, donde esta papa?
And she goes no se, no se.
Like wow, wow, she doesn't knowwhere her parents are.
Gosh, I get choked up thinkingabout it.
And she was saying something tome in spanish and I didn't know
what it was.
So I say I asked my buddy,kevin, I'm like kev, come over,
what is she saying?
(28:19):
And he goes she's, she's askingyou when you're going to come
back with more soup.
I got in in the truck on theway home or the way back to the
church and I just sobbed Becausewhen we get a different
perspective, when we go out intothe world and we experience the
(28:40):
way that things are thebrutality, the harshness, the
beauty, the love, the kindnesswe get such a rich perspective
and it's that perspective thatcolors everything that we see.
You know, you can have a lensthat's black and white and
(29:00):
shades everything in black andwhite, or you can have a vibrant
lens that shows you love andkindness and beauty and
opportunity and pain andsuffering.
Traveling and the experiencesI've had have given me the most
beautiful lens to view the worldthrough, and I often think
about some of these lessons whenI'm facing hardships, when I'm
(29:22):
getting frustrated, when I'mfeeling down, because the truth
is no matter where you're atright now.
If you're watching this, you'reprobably watching it on some
$1,500 smartphone or listeningto it on a $200 pair of earbuds.
Our worst day is someone else'sdream.
You know, it's been said thattwo-thirds of the world survives
(29:47):
off of like $3 a day, and inthe Western world we concern
ourselves with so much fuckingbullshit.
You know, a book I really loveis called the Subtle Art of Not
Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson,and in it he very clearly says
in life we only have so manyfucks that we can give, and if
(30:08):
we give a fuck about things thatdon't fucking matter, our life
will be fucked.
Now, that's a lot of fucks, butthey're all 100% true.
I wanted to share these lessonswith you, these stories with you
, because, as I sit here in Fiji, I feel like this week is a
combination of 15 years of fearsand doubts, hard work, busting
(30:32):
my ass, doing everything I canto get to this position that I'm
in today, and I can tell youthe only way I've been able to
do it is because I committed tonever, ever, ever giving up, to
never quitting, and I committedto constant and never ending
improvement, to never quitting.
And I committed to constant andnever-ending improvement.
I wanted to use every failure,every defeat, every setback,
every adversity as anopportunity to grow, to learn,
(30:55):
to evolve and to elevate who Iam, to change my perspective, to
add depth and color to mytapestry so that I could really
find and uncover what my ownpotential is.
And I started this podcastbecause I want to help you do
the same.
I want to share these ideas,these lessons, these stories
(31:15):
with you, in the hopes that theymay inspire you to get outside
of your comfort zone, to let goof your chains, to find a new
perspective of your own, so thatwe might learn and grow and
evolve together.
If you've made it this far withme, thank you for hanging out.
I truly, truly appreciate youlistening to this show.
(31:36):
You know, I think this is eight, nine, 10 episodes, something
like that.
It's been a journey.
I've been fearful to put theseout there.
It's been.
You know this whole experience,but the first time you do
something is the worst time youdo it.
I don't know where you're at,but all I can say is keep moving
forward.
Use these five lessons to nevergive up, never give in, keep
(32:00):
learning, keep growing and keepmoving forward.
Everything in our life comesdown to being able to take
radical responsibility for ourresults.
I believe all of the problems,all of the challenges in our
lives can be solved in threewords it's my fault.
When we take responsibility forour experience, we can create
whatever results we want.
(32:20):
Thank you for spending thistime with me today while we're
down here in Fiji.
Now I'm going to go hit thebeach before it gets dark.
You saw, if you're watching onvideo, you probably see the
clouds are rolling in.
Mike's behind the camera.
He's getting a little scared.
He's thinking.
I can tell he's thinking hurrythe fuck up, bro.
The rain is coming and I gotthis expensive camera gear out
here.
So I've taken up enough of yourtime today, but if you've made
(32:42):
it all the way through to theend, I deeply appreciate you.
The only thing I would ever askis if you found value in this,
please share it with someonethat you know and help us get
this message out there so we canlearn and grow together and we
can inspire each other tocontinue to become the best that
we can be.
I'll see you guys on the nextone.
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