November 3, 2023 • 33 mins
Ever wondered how mindfulness could give your business the edge? Join us as we delve into the world of mindful leadership with Eric Holsapple, an extraordinarily successful real estate developer and author of "The 12 Pillars of Mindful Leadership." Harnessing the power of mindfulness, Eric has transformed his life and business, and he's here to shed light on how you can do the same.
Our enlightening conversation takes us on a journey from Eric's inception into real estate to his exploration of mindful practices. We uncover the profound impact of mindfulness on productivity and satisfaction, and discuss the significance of the 12 Pillars of Mindful Leadership. We also explore the transformative potential of yoga, meditation, affirmations, and gratitude. Our discussion introduces the concept of 'dream yoga', an intriguing practice that could enhance your consciousness and change the way you handle challenging situations and make calculated business decisions.
As we wrap up our conversation, we learn about the various ways to connect with Eric and his work. From accessing his enlightening book and free meditation programs to joining his upcoming retreats, there are numerous opportunities to immerse yourself in the transformative power of mindfulness. Whether you're an entrepreneur seeking a more mindful approach to business or someone looking to reduce stress and enhance focus, our conversation with Eric offers invaluable insights. Tune in and discover the transformative power of mindful leadership.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of
Latinos in Real Estate InvestingPodcasts, where individuals
just like you come to learn howto create wealth, real estate
investing, entrepreneurship andbusiness ownership.
And today's guest, his name, isDr Eric Holzappel, which is
very, very I'm so happy that Ihave him here, and you'll see
(00:21):
why as I share with you hisexperience.
Eric is a successful developerand entrepreneur who has used
mindfulness to transform hislife and business and helps
others to do the same.
He has a PhD in economics.
He's been a real estate CEO anddeveloper 40 years, lectured
real estate at Colorado StateUniversity for 20 years and
(00:43):
practiced yoga and meditationfor 30 years.
He has been a commercial.
He has been in commercial realestate on a national basis for
over 40 years and developedcommercial projects with tenants
such as Kroger, walgreens,target and has developed
hundreds of residential mix useprojects.
And, most recently, he is alsothe author of Profits with
(01:06):
Presence.
The 12 Pillars of MindfulLeadership, which he was a
bestselling Wall Street Journalbestselling author, I believe,
is what he said here in March of2023.
Sir Dr Eric, thank you so muchfor coming on and just taking
the time to be here in thepodcast.
Sir, really, really appreciateyou being here.
I have so many questions andthis is all up right up my alley
(01:30):
sir.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
We're ready to be here, Martin.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Thanks for having me.
Okay, doc.
So I mean you have so many, somuch experience.
I mean you run circles aroundmost of our listeners, that most
of us listening to you here.
Where did this whole journey?
Let's start with real estate.
Where did this journey of realestate begin for you and how did
that begin for you?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, I mean, do you want to know the first real
estate I did?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Just how did you get started?
How did you get started in realestate and when did you
discover mindfulness and success?
Yeah, we got a deal together.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So I came out with an MBA in the mid-1980s and got my
first job in real estate and Iwas immediately good at it at
real estate.
I hadn't had any experience uptill that time.
Within a few years, I was theCEO of an Australian based North
American division for anAustralian company and was
traveling Los Angeles, denver,new Jersey, western Canada,
(02:27):
reporting to London andAustralia.
And I was, you know, outwardly.
I had all the checks of the CEO, the six figure salary, the
Mercedes, the apartment.
You know I built all this stuff.
But I was really miserable.
I was overweight, I drank toomuch, I was a walking boarding
pass.
I didn't get, you know, as anathlete, but I hadn't been in
(02:49):
the gym in five years.
And sometime in there, you know, I just hit a breaking point.
I had an epiphany moment, Iremember I was just, you know,
way overweight and I just lookedin the mirror and I said you
know, if you're going to makesome changes, you're going to
come around too long.
And I did, you know.
I made some changes.
(03:10):
I resumed some exercise, lostsome weight and I decided to go
back to college and get a PhD ineconomics.
I was looking for more meaningin my life and I found yoga.
Yoga was my first entry intomindfulness and was just like
I'd become disassociated with mybody.
It really was really instantlyhelpful Me.
(03:32):
I regained sports and those kindof things in my early 30s and
my older brother had beenmeditating.
He and my dad were strange.
My dad was a football coach, myolder brother was a poet.
He was like oil and water andmy older brother started
meditating and I just watchedthem come back to the family and
then rekindle with my dad.
(03:52):
My dad was in his 70s.
He didn't change at all, youknow, but I just watched that.
It was like they came backtogether and just like I got my
family back and my brother said,hey, you want to try it?
Meditation?
I said, sure may.
That was a game changerimmediately for you.
For years I was a closetmeditator, which I mean it
didn't come out, you know.
I just Didn't have my own andwouldn't say it anybody.
(04:14):
But then, you know, over timeat our company, one by one,
people would be noticing adifference in me and asking and
we started to have a seed groupwhere we would have Practices.
We'd read a book and do alittle.
You know call them centeringpractices, not to be too weird
or too goofy.
And you know, over over sixmonths the room started filling
up with people and we ended uprunning, you know, an eight-week
(04:36):
mindful based stress reductioncourse.
And you know, and all thepartners we just had a partner
meeting Tuesday always startedwith a little grounding, a
little centering.
Different people are differentlevels with it.
But somewhere there I launcheda, a non-profit called living in
the gap, where we trainprofessionals to learn to run
their businesses more mindfullywith executive presence, and
(04:59):
anyway, it's been rewarding andI wrote a book about it that I
could share it with others.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, I want to talk about that.
So you just mentioned how doesan executive run a business more
mindfully?
So I'll share my experience,which I shared with you a while
ago.
I'm a big Tony Robbins guy.
Then I started really goinginto personal development years
ago, in my early 20s, but Ididn't discover meditation until
I was Until 2016.
I remember the day I started,actually, and it was after I was
(05:28):
exposed to Tony Robbins and wedid a meditation and a UPW I
don't know how familiar you arewith some of Tony's work and I
started meditating shortly afterthat and Actually, I believe
meditation has changed me.
I've never been a closetmeditator.
I've never heard that wordbefore, but when you say, how
does entrepreneurs run theirfamilies Mindful, can you
(05:51):
elaborate on that?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
No, it's an inward journey.
Out you first learn.
The only one you can reallychange and impact yourself.
You know, and as you change,that at first is a when I told
the story of my brother Bruce,you know my dad didn't change,
but my brother Bruce changednobody else's.
Family change and the wholefamily change, the whole dynamic
change.
When you change, when you startbeing more aware, more present,
(06:13):
you know other people's view,your view of other people's
change.
You come more, be moreaccepting, you become a little
more compassionate, you slowdown a little bit in an amazing
thing that I've seen is thenother people change when you
give them the space to you know,when you give them the
leadership and you give them thespace to change.
Other things in mindfulness isyou know you learn how to listen
(06:35):
better and listening tosomebody can really open up a
relationship.
I think it's the key torelationships is listening.
No, you learn that.
You learn to listen a littlemore and you hear.
You mean the business case, forit's just unbelievable where
you know, start listening toyour clients and start listening
to your employees instead ofjust telling them all the time
what they need and what theyshould be doing, and the whole
(06:56):
dynamic changes.
And I say it's a miraclebusiness mindfulness, because
you, if you learn it at work andthen you take it home when you
walk in, and what we teachpeople is okay when you are at
work, focus at work a hundredpercent.
And then, when you leave work,shut that door, turn your mind
to your family no, leave yourphone in the holster.
You know, actually talk andlisten and and being gazed with
(07:18):
your family when you're there.
Because we've lost that abilityto focus, we become we're in
everything all the time we're atwork and home, and you know, on
our social media and in thenews, and, and, and, and, and,
and.
We can do all those things inmultitask, but not with
consciousness.
We can't be aware of all thethings we're doing all the time.
So the key is to you know,start regaining our focus and
(07:42):
really choosing, when you'rewith your family, to be with
your family and do those things.
And when you're at work, workyou can move the world in a few
hours a day if you're focused100%.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
What advice can you give to someone that is Totally
addicted to their phone?
Right, and we have an epidemicof that right.
Who is it?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, it's tough, versus to realize it right and
acknowledge it.
And then you know, you know,take social media apps off it.
You know, one of the greatthings is to start taking some
mindful walks with your phone athome.
You know and and just you knowrealize the separation anxiety
that you get.
The world will be there whenyou get back.
You know, start with a shortwalk, five minutes, and then ten
(08:21):
, work up a little bit.
But you know you're gonna havesome times when you, when you
separate from it Some of theseapps like moment and some of the
apps that can keep track.
I mean you just can't evenbelieve that we're on our phones
two, three, four, five hours aday craziness.
So one of the little things Idid, like I realized I went back
(08:42):
my phone was everything mywallet, my watch, my everything.
I went back and got a watchbecause I found myself grabbing
my phone to see what time it wasand then I would be drawn in.
You know, I wonder what time itis, but then I'm drawn in, I
get the email, then I'm on the.
You know this click and thatclick.
So it's being just start beingconscious of it.
Other thing I've done is likeand everybody won't do this.
(09:02):
But you know you go to.
I took a silent retreat, putyour phone away for a week to
see what it's like.
You know I mean, it takes alittle while to decondition from
it.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I'm at retreat.
That is interesting.
So did you go in the woods orsomething?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, I went to a retreats in Northern Colorado
that they had here and it justyou just notice almost all these
things that we do fordistraction we even eat as a
distraction, you know and juststart noticing how distracted we
are and what we're doing, youpull those things away, like
when I went to anyway, theydidn't even let you read your
journal.
You know which I'm addicted tothose things.
But just to start noticing allthe different things that we
(09:39):
just thrive on distraction,because we are so anxious about
the present moment, about reallybeing, you know, just slowing
down and being with that otherhuman being, or with ourselves
or in nature.
We're so divorced from nature,some mindfulness meditation
everybody's not willing to dothat but something that we get
(09:59):
rekindled with just silence andbeing in the moment and the
business case for it is focus.
It's focus, focus, focus.
If you can focus, you're goingto be better at business.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So why do you find that meditation that some people
are not wanting to do?
Meditation?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Well, I think there's a number of reasons for it.
I mean, it's not easy to getstarted.
You know one thing we do westart people with two minutes of
meditation.
That's how I started twominutes and then I did Yep,
because your mind is rarelyreally busy and when it comes
down you feel like you're alittle bit more.
So I don't know.
The answer is I know a lot ofpeople are reluctant to it it's
(10:41):
woo-woo, you know, I thinkwoo-woo.
Current state of the worlddivided, distracted, unable to
make progress on key issues tome that's woo-woo.
So I don't know the reason forit, but I know that if you start
small and stay consistent, ittakes way less time than you
think to start and you're betteroff building up slowly over
time, you know.
(11:01):
So you start and be consistentwith it and find some ways.
Also throughout the day, mindfuleating, mindful walk.
You know setting your phonedown, you know setting the tone
at a meeting for an executive,for you know is, you know, we're
not doing phones here today.
We're not.
You know, shut your screensplease.
If you got to do something, godo it.
We just like to have a short,productive meeting, not a long
(11:21):
one where everybody's sodistracted and we don't even
know what each other said.
When we're done and justestablish hey, we're going to
have shorter, more focusedmeetings.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
You wrote this book.
What are the 12 pillars ofmindful leadership?
Can you share some of thosewith us and enlighten us?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
First one is, you know, be present and practice
mindfulness.
It is a practice, so it issomething.
You have to work on it and ifyou think of anything, any
athlete, any musician, anybody,they've got a practice.
You know it takes that,especially in our world.
Find your purpose in life, youknow what are you here for?
You know there's some.
Simon Sinek writes a book.
(11:57):
Finds your why.
You know there's just a.
You know, one of my purposes isjust to be present, you know.
And from there I find you knowwhat I'm really good at and what
I love to do and I find apurpose in life.
For me right now it's, you know, sharing mindfulness with a
business community Trying tomake a bigger difference in that
world, because I think businessmoves the world.
You know it's going to be thekey to us getting out of these,
(12:19):
this divided and distractedworld we're in right now.
Create vision, create clarity,vision, intention, commitment
and habits.
Once we're get things clearedout and we know our purpose, we
can create a vision that we seefor the world and from that
vision we can be veryintentional and commitment and
habits work hand in handtogether.
(12:40):
You know one thing peoplewonder why she said I committed
to losing weight, or I committedto not drink, or I committed to
.
You know, get on the honor rollwhat the heck it is if our
habits and our commitmentsaren't in a line.
They're very hard.
We need, if you really want tobreak a commitment, make one
that's contrary to your habits,because we are our habits, we
(13:00):
become our habits.
So we need to work on gettingrid of some habits that aren't
with our vision, are consistentwith our vision, and building
ones that are so our habits andour commitments line up.
So the days, like you said, youknow I've been a couple of days
I haven't meditated and whatnot, you know.
So the habits not happen, butthe commitment gets you back on
(13:20):
the horse.
The commitment gets you back onthe horse.
And other days, you know I'vebeen doing my routine so long
now it's much harder not to doit than to do it.
You know it's.
You know we're habitualcreatures.
They say like 95% of what we dois just the next thing without,
you know, conscious intention.
We're just moving along in theworld.
So if we can train ourselves tomove along in the direction of
(13:44):
our vision, then that works forus 24 seven.
But if we've never done thatwork and never connected our
vision and the other stuff.
You know, oftentimes we havethis, we have these commitments
and whatnot, but we find oh, Ijust sabotaged myself again.
What the heck happened?
Why couldn't I do that?
Because we haven't done thework to align our vision,
(14:05):
intention, commitment and habits.
Once we align, those things geta lot, lot easier.
The smallest one, I would say.
The one other one I would sayis you know, be do, have that.
So many people are just waiting,waiting to be happy until
they've hit this level ofsuccess.
Our culture has trained us thatyou gotta work hard, you gotta
(14:30):
go to the right schools, yougotta get the right job, and
then the family and the houseand the second house, and then
you get those and you need abigger house.
We want to travel.
Then we start on a bus and thenwe go oh, we know I need to fly
, and we say I gotta fly first.
Before we know it, we need tohave a private plane.
We keep moving the goalposts.
Happiness is out there somewhere.
(14:51):
Maybe if I get to the moon I'llbe happy.
And just to reverse that andsay you know, the science is
clear.
Sean Archer and a bunch ofothers at Harvard have found,
happiness comes before success.
If you're happy, you're gonnabe more successful.
So if you can find those waysto be happy now, before you've
checked off all your list of allthe things that culture is, I
(15:13):
call it a cultural lie.
We gotta do all these thingsand then we find happiness.
You find happiness and still dothose things.
You know you bring happiness onvacation, whether you don't
look for it there.
Bring happiness to work and ifyou can't be happy at work time
to make some changes, becausethat's where you spend most of
your time.
You know, and it's not justmost of your time, it's your
(15:33):
prime time when you feel good,you're rested, you're dressed,
you're ready to go.
You know the idea of beingdrained all day at work and then
going home and flipping aswitch you're gonna be happy.
That's not gonna work.
You know, I don't mind beingtired at night, but I don't
wanna be drained.
So the other is just, you know,find ways.
Find ways like, one of thelowest hanging fruits is
gratitude.
You know, I practice gratitudeevery day.
(15:55):
It's an immediate mindset shift.
Change my mind.
I start looking for things tobe grateful for and be happy for
.
I can feel it immediately, whenI'm grateful that's the lowest
hanging fruit, I think, in thisworld.
Then you, when you look out,you notice you just say, oh,
there's little things you knowabout it.
And that mindset shift canchange everything for you.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I'll share this with you, dr Eric, this just this
week it's August, as we'rerecording this August 2023.
We went, my family and I, go tothe beach for three days.
Three or four days every year.
We go to Waltham, new Jersey,and that's our part of our
annual ritual.
We just get away for a few days, we jump in the car, all of us
(16:42):
slush together in the car, wedrive three hours to Waltham and
we just hang out as a family.
And this year I decided to takemy journal, because I have a
journal and a gratitude journal.
But this was my journal.
This was my actual journal,where I just put my thoughts in
right and I was like I had thisintention.
I was like I'm going to go tothe beach.
We left on Monday and I saidI'm going to sit in the beach on
(17:03):
Tuesday morning.
I'm going to wake up early, gosit in the beach, listen to the
waves and I'm going to justwrite.
I'm going to journal on thebeach.
And I did that.
And what's interesting isbecause I, like you, practice
gratitude.
I have a gratitude journalevery morning where I put three
things I'm grateful for everymorning and I got to tell you my
heart as I was sitting on thebeach, the only things I can
(17:27):
think of were the things I wasgrateful for.
Like that was it.
I wrote a whole page.
I couldn't like usually I'lljust write thoughts right, just
whatever's in my head, like, hey, I'm feeling this way today, or
whatever's in my mind, I got toget this deal done, or I got to
figure this out, or I'm, youknow, anxious or angry at this
person, whatever feelings I've.
(17:47):
I really will write it down.
But I had nothing, man.
I had nothing, doc.
All I had was just gratitude.
I was just I'm grateful for myfamily.
That's all I had.
And I wrote a whole page ofjust gratitude.
And it's that habit.
Like you said, I don't knowwhen this happened.
I can't tell you like I don'tknow when it happened, I just
know it happened.
(18:07):
I've been doing it for a longtime.
Just am I prayers in themorning.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Well you, know I find happiness to be a choice.
You know there's so much outthere, you know, troubling in
the world.
I mean, it's hard to you know.
Look, turn on the news channeland you know it's just like
hopeless.
You have to choose happiness ateach moment.
Where is it?
You know what?
Okay, all these things, butwhat is my grateful for?
(18:33):
What is?
You know I find happiness to bea choice and it's a choice.
I have to keep choosing.
You know I have to keepchoosing.
Okay, how can I be happy now?
Because I know, with the otherchoice, I have all kinds of
things to be disappointed aboutand you know, fearful about and
you know cynical about and Ihave to just let those go.
(18:54):
As a practice of meditationlets me, when those thoughts
come up, let those go.
No, I choose happiness.
You know I choose therelationship.
I choose, you know, gratitude.
It's a choice and once you comefrom there, your whole world
changes.
You know you can keep takingsteps.
You know I think it lets youcontinue to make steps when
(19:16):
you're uncertain, and that's soimportant for business.
Also, it lets me cut loose ofbad projects.
When something's not working, Idetach from it.
I say, well, it's just notworking.
I got to move.
I got to take the loss, move on.
There's so many businessbenefits to the practices of
mindfulness.
It's focus, you know, andchoosing happiness just lets me
(19:38):
focus on the important things inlife and not on all the other
BS.
That's just, you know,dominating our news cycle.
So, dr.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Eric.
So if there's a listener outthere because I constantly am
talking about meditation,mindfulness and my rituals, you
know, having read books like theMiracle Morning, how Elrod's
Book and a bunch of other books,being in the personal
development space involved asmuch as I am, I am a big
(20:11):
advocate of meditation.
I am, like I literally can say,and my wife has noticed too,
that I've changed dramatically.
Like the closest ones to youare the ones that I can tell you
know, my wife's, like you don'tget mad anymore, that angry I
used to fly off the handbook.
Now I could just I see thingsor I hear things and it's just
like it's just a differentperspective.
(20:33):
What are you saying to someonethat's like, yeah, that sounds
great, but my mind is so busy.
Like, listen, I haven't beenmeditating as much as you do
have.
I haven't nowhere nearexpertise that you have.
I've been meditating only for afew years and I'm only up to 10
minutes.
Like I'm still only up to 10minutes.
(20:54):
That's all I do every day.
3 minutes, that's it.
That's it.
It's got a compound effectobviously over time, but that's
all.
And even this morning in mymeditation I listen to a
semi-guided meditation.
Sometimes it's guided,sometimes it's nice.
What my unconscious mind tellsme, that's what I go with.
I go with whatever I'm feelingfor.
That morning and this morning'smeditation was on, was a
(21:17):
semi-guided meditation and wason.
What do you need Like what do Ineed?
What do you need?
Speaker 2 (21:22):
You know it's in.
We have a nine-month mindfulleadership program but we take
six months to get people up to10 minutes, you know.
And then I take them on somelonger ones.
I've been meditating 25 or soyears.
I do 20 minutes, you know, andnot every day.
Yesterday I did 10, today I did20.
You know, if I'm rushed I dosomething.
Miracle morning I love.
The book you mentioned Even hasa six-minute routine.
(21:44):
You know when you do a minute ofmeditation, a minute of
gratitude, you know, becausethere's those days you get a 6
am flight or you know the waterhate blue in the night or
whatever the heck you have.
But it's a million times betterto do something than the effort
, you know, to do something.
So I would say, you know ourmind, we're all crazy.
So when you start noticing yourmind I mean a lot of people
(22:07):
start meditation, they go Ican't meditate.
It really makes my mind crazy.
Well, your mind has been crazy,you just haven't noticed.
Then you start noticing.
So let's say, start small and beconsistent, don't try to slay
the dragon all at one.
You know, in one time you takea little bite.
Just take a little bite, youknow, and start doing that and
(22:29):
just be consistent, startnoticing and also some of the
other things, like a mindfulwalk without your phone.
You know, walking can be justincredibly mindful and helpful
when you start noticing thelandscape and what's going on
and get a little nature in thewalk and those kind of things
versus you know, yeah, geez,what time are we closing.
(22:50):
You know what's that?
Oh, geez, you know you're onyour, you take a walk and you
haven't even noticed you leftthe building Because you stay on
your gadget the whole time.
You might get a little exercise.
You know that might.
I can't say it's not good foryou to walk.
You'll still get the exercisebenefits, but the mindful
benefits, the benefits of focusand stress relief man stress
(23:13):
relief is huge Are there anystudies that you might be aware
of?
Speaker 1 (23:18):
I mean, you're the expert in this field.
Are there any studies that showthat mindful leaders are more
productive?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Maybe.
What I'm aware of was Aetna.
They had a study with 13,000people and they found a $2,000
decrease in health care costsand a $3,000 increase in
productivity.
Those were line employees, notthe top executives.
I work with high producers,high income earners mostly, and
(23:50):
I find that'd be much moredramatic.
People are afraid, so manypeople are afraid.
They say, oh, once I've made itand I got my bank, you know,
then I'm going to start beingmindful and gratified and
grateful and, you know, givingsome service work.
But they're kind of afraid.
You know that if you go mindful, that you'll stop producing.
You know, that's the oppositeof what I found.
(24:13):
I found it gives you, you know,first it gives you permission to
be happy now, which is why wewant the things, why we want the
money.
But also it just gives you somuch more focus.
I can do more and less.
I have less fear, you know,about loss and those kind of
things.
So I found that it can make iteven more productive, definitely
(24:33):
more productive.
But, um, you know, if it mademe a little less productive but
I was less stressful and morehappy, I'd still want personally
.
That's why I want those things.
That's why I want, you knowMoney and material things are
there because they're happy.
You know, don't so.
But I've learned I gotta bringmy happiness to them.
(24:53):
There's the.
They're empty on their own.
You know I'm not gonna be, I'mnot gonna find happiness in a
new car.
I might want to drive it offthe lot, but a week later, you
know, it's gonna scratch and I'm, you know, making the payment.
Then we're yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Yeah, yeah.
Let me ask you this questionwhat is your morning rituals?
Because morning rituals arepower right.
The way you start your morning,so goes your day right.
So as goes your morning, sogoes your day.
What is your morning ritual?
I mean 40 years of yoga, 30years.
Yeah, patient, I mean my good.
I usually start off I yeah, I'mreally really, I'm really happy.
(25:29):
Just want to say this reallyquick I'm really happy that you
have 30 years of meditation andyou do 20 minutes, because but
I've been meditating for sevenyears and I'm up to 10 and still
you know.
So that is, life gets crazy andit's like sometimes I like want
to do more and then there'sdays that I do more just because
my body you know.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
And then also, the other thing that can really help
is when you get a chance, takea weekend meditation retreat, I
you know, when you have to find,go do a deeper one, and you get
to that deeper level and youbring it back to you 10 minutes,
you know.
But my routine is, you know,very similar to the miracle
morning that you that youmentioned.
(26:07):
And I know I read that bookabout eight years ago and it's
when I added gratitude andaffirmation to my morning
routine.
I was doing them and I had amorning quite a bit longer than
that.
But I do.
I read, you know, at least 10pages from a some sort of
development inspirational book.
People say, oh, really, I don'tread since college, right, you
(26:29):
know.
And they, I find peoplereluctant to read because of
focus.
That reading is a focusactivity and I don't know any
trains our brain to focus butit's what the focus on.
So if you read a book like well, profit with presents, a 12
pillars of my fellowship, youstart looking, ok, my brain, and
those are the seeds that I'mplanning in my brain Starting,
(26:50):
plus, it's teaching me to focus,spending those 10 pages.
So affirmation, gratitude, Ihave prayer in my, in my morning
routine that's.
You know, any of these areoptional yoga, some sort of
mindful movement to get into mybody, because we, our bodies,
(27:11):
have become something thatcarries our head from meeting to
meeting and we exercise butwe're not even paying attention.
Yoga teaches to pay attentionto what's moving in the body and
that comes down the brain.
It's a science of consciousness.
So something around there andevery don't do yoga, don't, but
find something that you have,you kind of mindful and moving
(27:32):
movement is just so important.
Meditation, you know,journaling, gratitude,
journaling those things I trackdreams.
I don't have them every, youknow, I don't, I don't remember
every night, but I Dreams can be, you know, inspirational too.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
So tell me about that .
You track them.
So do you keep a journal ofdreams Like?
Tell me about that.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I do I have a in my well, I don't have a separate
one, but I I know dreams thatI've had.
I actually, if you, you knowthere's a, there's a guy named
Andrew Holchak that runs dreamyoga and there's, you know,
there's ways to increase yourconsciousness through dreaming.
You know that you become moreconscious all day long, all
night long too, but that's,that's a super well.
(28:16):
I would assume it's a superwell.
I wouldn't start without it,huh increase your consciousness
through dreaming.
Yeah, it's crazy, unpack that.
There's actually somethingcalled.
Have you ever heard of luciddreaming?
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yes, I have lucid dreaming.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
You know you actually can get in the dream.
You're where you're dreaming.
You can change the dreams.
That's in the world of dreamyoga.
Different people have that,different levels of grease, but
it's crazy.
Yeah, I never heard of that.
It's a deep.
This is a deep topic.
Start small, two minutes, youknow, and just see where it
takes you, you know, and where,where everybody's gonna have a
different jumping off point.
But there's, it's a, it's adeep, you know, it's thousands
(28:53):
of years old.
Of course, the practices thatare, you know, back in the
Indian Hindu and you know Buddhaand all.
It's just it's.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
It's Really a deep and rich, rich subject and and I
love it, I love it, I love itselfishly because of what is
done for me, and I am glad thatyou came on here and I'm glad
that you wrote that book.
I'm actually gonna pick up thebook this weekend and and listen
to it.
Isn't on, yes, it is definitely.
(29:22):
I'm gonna listen to it onaudible.
So thank you so much, dr Eric,for coming on and Sheary your
wisdom and your insights withthe listeners.
We're about to go into theuntitled round where we're gonna
ask you a series of questions.
You don't have to think, youdon't have to justify.
My team had a whole slew of ofbusiness questions for you, but
(29:47):
I think this, the mindfulnessthing, is so much more.
It means so much more dear tomy heart than it, than business.
And I mean that just becauseit's me Right, it's just kind of
who I am, and now I think thelisteners needed to hear from
you, an expert and, um, soanyways, are you ready to, are
you ready to play?
We're about to go into theuntitled round.
(30:07):
We're gonna ask you a series ofquestions.
All you got to do is go andanswers.
You can justify if you want.
You don't have to you ready.
Let's do it.
Why bet?
Real estate is awesome.
The market right now isturbulent.
Inflation is Necessary evil.
I've always wanted to travel toIndia, who me too, haven't had
(30:28):
anyone say that one, but me too,I love Indian.
My advice to young people isFind out who you really are.
By the way, indians have themost amazing weddings.
I'm kind, so if you'relistening to me and you're from
India and India the set, inviteme to your wedding, because I
want to go to the three or fourday party.
I've seen it.
I see that it's like.
It's like an amazing event.
(30:48):
I can't wait to go toexperience that.
I've highly, I highly recommendpeople should read profit with
presents.
The 12 pillars of mindfulleadership.
That's right.
I think the president right nowis doing the best again.
Passion there is.
There is a person speaking, aMeditator speaking from his
center, point right there.
(31:09):
Passion or stability, passion,more time or more money?
We're done.
Book smart or street smart,sorry, both.
Coffee or tea, coffee.
Success or happiness, happinessand, lastly, family or business
, family.
Thank you.
(31:30):
Thank you so much, dr Eric.
If people wanted to get a holdof you, get your book, connect
with you.
How do they find you?
Where can they connect with you?
Where can they go to yourretreat?
I said I heard you mentioned aRetreat in an earlier in our
conversation.
How, where do they find allthis information to?
Speaker 2 (31:47):
website is living, living in the gap spelled outorg
as all our programs.
A lot of free resources onthere.
How to get started meditationthere's a 21 day free Routine,
like we talked about on therethat sent to your website, sent
to your email, every morning offive and the book is available
on the website, or an AmazonProfit with presents.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
The 12 pillars of mindful leadership, profit with
presents.
You heard him here, guys.
Thank you so much, sir, forshowing up and Sharing with me,
and and my audience really,really appreciate it.
Thanks for having me and Ireally appreciate it.
Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you, thanks for what youdo.
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of
Latinos in Real Estate InvestingPodcasts, where individuals
just like you come to learn howto create wealth, real estate
investing, entrepreneurship andbusiness ownership.
And today's guest, his name, isDr Eric Holzappel, which is
very, very I'm so happy that Ihave him here, and you'll see
(00:21):
why as I share with you hisexperience.
Eric is a successful developerand entrepreneur who has used
mindfulness to transform hislife and business and helps
others to do the same.
He has a PhD in economics.
He's been a real estate CEO anddeveloper 40 years, lectured
real estate at Colorado StateUniversity for 20 years and
(00:43):
practiced yoga and meditationfor 30 years.
He has been a commercial.
He has been in commercial realestate on a national basis for
over 40 years and developedcommercial projects with tenants
such as Kroger, walgreens,target and has developed
hundreds of residential mix useprojects.
And, most recently, he is alsothe author of Profits with
(01:06):
Presence.
The 12 Pillars of MindfulLeadership, which he was a
bestselling Wall Street Journalbestselling author, I believe,
is what he said here in March of2023.
Sir Dr Eric, thank you so muchfor coming on and just taking
the time to be here in thepodcast.
Sir, really, really appreciateyou being here.
I have so many questions andthis is all up right up my alley
(01:30):
sir.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
We're ready to be here, Martin.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Thanks for having me.
Okay, doc.
So I mean you have so many, somuch experience.
I mean you run circles aroundmost of our listeners, that most
of us listening to you here.
Where did this whole journey?
Let's start with real estate.
Where did this journey of realestate begin for you and how did
that begin for you?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well, I mean, do you want to know the first real
estate I did?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Just how did you get started?
How did you get started in realestate and when did you
discover mindfulness and success?
Yeah, we got a deal together.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So I came out with an MBA in the mid-1980s and got my
first job in real estate and Iwas immediately good at it at
real estate.
I hadn't had any experience uptill that time.
Within a few years, I was theCEO of an Australian based North
American division for anAustralian company and was
traveling Los Angeles, denver,new Jersey, western Canada,
(02:27):
reporting to London andAustralia.
And I was, you know, outwardly.
I had all the checks of the CEO, the six figure salary, the
Mercedes, the apartment.
You know I built all this stuff.
But I was really miserable.
I was overweight, I drank toomuch, I was a walking boarding
pass.
I didn't get, you know, as anathlete, but I hadn't been in
(02:49):
the gym in five years.
And sometime in there, you know, I just hit a breaking point.
I had an epiphany moment, Iremember I was just, you know,
way overweight and I just lookedin the mirror and I said you
know, if you're going to makesome changes, you're going to
come around too long.
And I did, you know.
I made some changes.
(03:10):
I resumed some exercise, lostsome weight and I decided to go
back to college and get a PhD ineconomics.
I was looking for more meaningin my life and I found yoga.
Yoga was my first entry intomindfulness and was just like
I'd become disassociated with mybody.
It really was really instantlyhelpful Me.
(03:32):
I regained sports and those kindof things in my early 30s and
my older brother had beenmeditating.
He and my dad were strange.
My dad was a football coach, myolder brother was a poet.
He was like oil and water andmy older brother started
meditating and I just watchedthem come back to the family and
then rekindle with my dad.
(03:52):
My dad was in his 70s.
He didn't change at all, youknow, but I just watched that.
It was like they came backtogether and just like I got my
family back and my brother said,hey, you want to try it?
Meditation?
I said, sure may.
That was a game changerimmediately for you.
For years I was a closetmeditator, which I mean it
didn't come out, you know.
I just Didn't have my own andwouldn't say it anybody.
(04:14):
But then, you know, over timeat our company, one by one,
people would be noticing adifference in me and asking and
we started to have a seed groupwhere we would have Practices.
We'd read a book and do alittle.
You know call them centeringpractices, not to be too weird
or too goofy.
And you know, over over sixmonths the room started filling
up with people and we ended uprunning, you know, an eight-week
(04:36):
mindful based stress reductioncourse.
And you know, and all thepartners we just had a partner
meeting Tuesday always startedwith a little grounding, a
little centering.
Different people are differentlevels with it.
But somewhere there I launcheda, a non-profit called living in
the gap, where we trainprofessionals to learn to run
their businesses more mindfullywith executive presence, and
(04:59):
anyway, it's been rewarding andI wrote a book about it that I
could share it with others.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Yeah, I want to talk about that.
So you just mentioned how doesan executive run a business more
mindfully?
So I'll share my experience,which I shared with you a while
ago.
I'm a big Tony Robbins guy.
Then I started really goinginto personal development years
ago, in my early 20s, but Ididn't discover meditation until
I was Until 2016.
I remember the day I started,actually, and it was after I was
(05:28):
exposed to Tony Robbins and wedid a meditation and a UPW I
don't know how familiar you arewith some of Tony's work and I
started meditating shortly afterthat and Actually, I believe
meditation has changed me.
I've never been a closetmeditator.
I've never heard that wordbefore, but when you say, how
does entrepreneurs run theirfamilies Mindful, can you
(05:51):
elaborate on that?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
No, it's an inward journey.
Out you first learn.
The only one you can reallychange and impact yourself.
You know, and as you change,that at first is a when I told
the story of my brother Bruce,you know my dad didn't change,
but my brother Bruce changednobody else's.
Family change and the wholefamily change, the whole dynamic
change.
When you change, when you startbeing more aware, more present,
(06:13):
you know other people's view,your view of other people's
change.
You come more, be moreaccepting, you become a little
more compassionate, you slowdown a little bit in an amazing
thing that I've seen is thenother people change when you
give them the space to you know,when you give them the
leadership and you give them thespace to change.
Other things in mindfulness isyou know you learn how to listen
(06:35):
better and listening tosomebody can really open up a
relationship.
I think it's the key torelationships is listening.
No, you learn that.
You learn to listen a littlemore and you hear.
You mean the business case, forit's just unbelievable where
you know, start listening toyour clients and start listening
to your employees instead ofjust telling them all the time
what they need and what theyshould be doing, and the whole
(06:56):
dynamic changes.
And I say it's a miraclebusiness mindfulness, because
you, if you learn it at work andthen you take it home when you
walk in, and what we teachpeople is okay when you are at
work, focus at work a hundredpercent.
And then, when you leave work,shut that door, turn your mind
to your family no, leave yourphone in the holster.
You know, actually talk andlisten and and being gazed with
(07:18):
your family when you're there.
Because we've lost that abilityto focus, we become we're in
everything all the time we're atwork and home, and you know, on
our social media and in thenews, and, and, and, and, and,
and.
We can do all those things inmultitask, but not with
consciousness.
We can't be aware of all thethings we're doing all the time.
So the key is to you know,start regaining our focus and
(07:42):
really choosing, when you'rewith your family, to be with
your family and do those things.
And when you're at work, workyou can move the world in a few
hours a day if you're focused100%.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
What advice can you give to someone that is Totally
addicted to their phone?
Right, and we have an epidemicof that right.
Who is it?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yeah, it's tough, versus to realize it right and
acknowledge it.
And then you know, you know,take social media apps off it.
You know, one of the greatthings is to start taking some
mindful walks with your phone athome.
You know and and just you knowrealize the separation anxiety
that you get.
The world will be there whenyou get back.
You know, start with a shortwalk, five minutes, and then ten
(08:21):
, work up a little bit.
But you know you're gonna havesome times when you, when you
separate from it Some of theseapps like moment and some of the
apps that can keep track.
I mean you just can't evenbelieve that we're on our phones
two, three, four, five hours aday craziness.
So one of the little things Idid, like I realized I went back
(08:42):
my phone was everything mywallet, my watch, my everything.
I went back and got a watchbecause I found myself grabbing
my phone to see what time it wasand then I would be drawn in.
You know, I wonder what time itis, but then I'm drawn in, I
get the email, then I'm on the.
You know this click and thatclick.
So it's being just start beingconscious of it.
Other thing I've done is likeand everybody won't do this.
(09:02):
But you know you go to.
I took a silent retreat, putyour phone away for a week to
see what it's like.
You know I mean, it takes alittle while to decondition from
it.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
I'm at retreat.
That is interesting.
So did you go in the woods orsomething?
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, I went to a retreats in Northern Colorado
that they had here and it justyou just notice almost all these
things that we do fordistraction we even eat as a
distraction, you know and juststart noticing how distracted we
are and what we're doing, youpull those things away, like
when I went to anyway, theydidn't even let you read your
journal.
You know which I'm addicted tothose things.
But just to start noticing allthe different things that we
(09:39):
just thrive on distraction,because we are so anxious about
the present moment, about reallybeing, you know, just slowing
down and being with that otherhuman being, or with ourselves
or in nature.
We're so divorced from nature,some mindfulness meditation
everybody's not willing to dothat but something that we get
(09:59):
rekindled with just silence andbeing in the moment and the
business case for it is focus.
It's focus, focus, focus.
If you can focus, you're goingto be better at business.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So why do you find that meditation that some people
are not wanting to do?
Meditation?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Well, I think there's a number of reasons for it.
I mean, it's not easy to getstarted.
You know one thing we do westart people with two minutes of
meditation.
That's how I started twominutes and then I did Yep,
because your mind is rarelyreally busy and when it comes
down you feel like you're alittle bit more.
So I don't know.
The answer is I know a lot ofpeople are reluctant to it it's
(10:41):
woo-woo, you know, I thinkwoo-woo.
Current state of the worlddivided, distracted, unable to
make progress on key issues tome that's woo-woo.
So I don't know the reason forit, but I know that if you start
small and stay consistent, ittakes way less time than you
think to start and you're betteroff building up slowly over
time, you know.
(11:01):
So you start and be consistentwith it and find some ways.
Also throughout the day, mindfuleating, mindful walk.
You know setting your phonedown, you know setting the tone
at a meeting for an executive,for you know is, you know, we're
not doing phones here today.
We're not.
You know, shut your screensplease.
If you got to do something, godo it.
We just like to have a short,productive meeting, not a long
(11:21):
one where everybody's sodistracted and we don't even
know what each other said.
When we're done and justestablish hey, we're going to
have shorter, more focusedmeetings.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
You wrote this book.
What are the 12 pillars ofmindful leadership?
Can you share some of thosewith us and enlighten us?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
First one is, you know, be present and practice
mindfulness.
It is a practice, so it issomething.
You have to work on it and ifyou think of anything, any
athlete, any musician, anybody,they've got a practice.
You know it takes that,especially in our world.
Find your purpose in life, youknow what are you here for?
You know there's some.
Simon Sinek writes a book.
(11:57):
Finds your why.
You know there's just a.
You know, one of my purposes isjust to be present, you know.
And from there I find you knowwhat I'm really good at and what
I love to do and I find apurpose in life.
For me right now it's, you know, sharing mindfulness with a
business community Trying tomake a bigger difference in that
world, because I think businessmoves the world.
You know it's going to be thekey to us getting out of these,
(12:19):
this divided and distractedworld we're in right now.
Create vision, create clarity,vision, intention, commitment
and habits.
Once we're get things clearedout and we know our purpose, we
can create a vision that we seefor the world and from that
vision we can be veryintentional and commitment and
habits work hand in handtogether.
(12:40):
You know one thing peoplewonder why she said I committed
to losing weight, or I committedto not drink, or I committed to
.
You know, get on the honor rollwhat the heck it is if our
habits and our commitmentsaren't in a line.
They're very hard.
We need, if you really want tobreak a commitment, make one
that's contrary to your habits,because we are our habits, we
(13:00):
become our habits.
So we need to work on gettingrid of some habits that aren't
with our vision, are consistentwith our vision, and building
ones that are so our habits andour commitments line up.
So the days, like you said, youknow I've been a couple of days
I haven't meditated and whatnot, you know.
So the habits not happen, butthe commitment gets you back on
(13:20):
the horse.
The commitment gets you back onthe horse.
And other days, you know I'vebeen doing my routine so long
now it's much harder not to doit than to do it.
You know it's.
You know we're habitualcreatures.
They say like 95% of what we dois just the next thing without,
you know, conscious intention.
We're just moving along in theworld.
So if we can train ourselves tomove along in the direction of
(13:44):
our vision, then that works forus 24 seven.
But if we've never done thatwork and never connected our
vision and the other stuff.
You know, oftentimes we havethis, we have these commitments
and whatnot, but we find oh, Ijust sabotaged myself again.
What the heck happened?
Why couldn't I do that?
Because we haven't done thework to align our vision,
(14:05):
intention, commitment and habits.
Once we align, those things geta lot, lot easier.
The smallest one, I would say.
The one other one I would sayis you know, be do, have that.
So many people are just waiting,waiting to be happy until
they've hit this level ofsuccess.
Our culture has trained us thatyou gotta work hard, you gotta
(14:30):
go to the right schools, yougotta get the right job, and
then the family and the houseand the second house, and then
you get those and you need abigger house.
We want to travel.
Then we start on a bus and thenwe go oh, we know I need to fly
, and we say I gotta fly first.
Before we know it, we need tohave a private plane.
We keep moving the goalposts.
Happiness is out there somewhere.
(14:51):
Maybe if I get to the moon I'llbe happy.
And just to reverse that andsay you know, the science is
clear.
Sean Archer and a bunch ofothers at Harvard have found,
happiness comes before success.
If you're happy, you're gonnabe more successful.
So if you can find those waysto be happy now, before you've
checked off all your list of allthe things that culture is, I
(15:13):
call it a cultural lie.
We gotta do all these thingsand then we find happiness.
You find happiness and still dothose things.
You know you bring happiness onvacation, whether you don't
look for it there.
Bring happiness to work and ifyou can't be happy at work time
to make some changes, becausethat's where you spend most of
your time.
You know, and it's not justmost of your time, it's your
(15:33):
prime time when you feel good,you're rested, you're dressed,
you're ready to go.
You know the idea of beingdrained all day at work and then
going home and flipping aswitch you're gonna be happy.
That's not gonna work.
You know, I don't mind beingtired at night, but I don't
wanna be drained.
So the other is just, you know,find ways.
Find ways like, one of thelowest hanging fruits is
gratitude.
You know, I practice gratitudeevery day.
(15:55):
It's an immediate mindset shift.
Change my mind.
I start looking for things tobe grateful for and be happy for
.
I can feel it immediately, whenI'm grateful that's the lowest
hanging fruit, I think, in thisworld.
Then you, when you look out,you notice you just say, oh,
there's little things you knowabout it.
And that mindset shift canchange everything for you.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I'll share this with you, dr Eric, this just this
week it's August, as we'rerecording this August 2023.
We went, my family and I, go tothe beach for three days.
Three or four days every year.
We go to Waltham, new Jersey,and that's our part of our
annual ritual.
We just get away for a few days, we jump in the car, all of us
(16:42):
slush together in the car, wedrive three hours to Waltham and
we just hang out as a family.
And this year I decided to takemy journal, because I have a
journal and a gratitude journal.
But this was my journal.
This was my actual journal,where I just put my thoughts in
right and I was like I had thisintention.
I was like I'm going to go tothe beach.
We left on Monday and I saidI'm going to sit in the beach on
(17:03):
Tuesday morning.
I'm going to wake up early, gosit in the beach, listen to the
waves and I'm going to justwrite.
I'm going to journal on thebeach.
And I did that.
And what's interesting isbecause I, like you, practice
gratitude.
I have a gratitude journalevery morning where I put three
things I'm grateful for everymorning and I got to tell you my
heart as I was sitting on thebeach, the only things I can
(17:27):
think of were the things I wasgrateful for.
Like that was it.
I wrote a whole page.
I couldn't like usually I'lljust write thoughts right, just
whatever's in my head, like, hey, I'm feeling this way today, or
whatever's in my mind, I got toget this deal done, or I got to
figure this out, or I'm, youknow, anxious or angry at this
person, whatever feelings I've.
(17:47):
I really will write it down.
But I had nothing, man.
I had nothing, doc.
All I had was just gratitude.
I was just I'm grateful for myfamily.
That's all I had.
And I wrote a whole page ofjust gratitude.
And it's that habit.
Like you said, I don't knowwhen this happened.
I can't tell you like I don'tknow when it happened, I just
know it happened.
(18:07):
I've been doing it for a longtime.
Just am I prayers in themorning.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Well you, know I find happiness to be a choice.
You know there's so much outthere, you know, troubling in
the world.
I mean, it's hard to you know.
Look, turn on the news channeland you know it's just like
hopeless.
You have to choose happiness ateach moment.
Where is it?
You know what?
Okay, all these things, butwhat is my grateful for?
(18:33):
What is?
You know I find happiness to bea choice and it's a choice.
I have to keep choosing.
You know I have to keepchoosing.
Okay, how can I be happy now?
Because I know, with the otherchoice, I have all kinds of
things to be disappointed aboutand you know, fearful about and
you know cynical about and Ihave to just let those go.
(18:54):
As a practice of meditationlets me, when those thoughts
come up, let those go.
No, I choose happiness.
You know I choose therelationship.
I choose, you know, gratitude.
It's a choice and once you comefrom there, your whole world
changes.
You know you can keep takingsteps.
You know I think it lets youcontinue to make steps when
(19:16):
you're uncertain, and that's soimportant for business.
Also, it lets me cut loose ofbad projects.
When something's not working, Idetach from it.
I say, well, it's just notworking.
I got to move.
I got to take the loss, move on.
There's so many businessbenefits to the practices of
mindfulness.
It's focus, you know, andchoosing happiness just lets me
(19:38):
focus on the important things inlife and not on all the other
BS.
That's just, you know,dominating our news cycle.
So, dr.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Eric.
So if there's a listener outthere because I constantly am
talking about meditation,mindfulness and my rituals, you
know, having read books like theMiracle Morning, how Elrod's
Book and a bunch of other books,being in the personal
development space involved asmuch as I am, I am a big
(20:11):
advocate of meditation.
I am, like I literally can say,and my wife has noticed too,
that I've changed dramatically.
Like the closest ones to youare the ones that I can tell you
know, my wife's, like you don'tget mad anymore, that angry I
used to fly off the handbook.
Now I could just I see thingsor I hear things and it's just
like it's just a differentperspective.
(20:33):
What are you saying to someonethat's like, yeah, that sounds
great, but my mind is so busy.
Like, listen, I haven't beenmeditating as much as you do
have.
I haven't nowhere nearexpertise that you have.
I've been meditating only for afew years and I'm only up to 10
minutes.
Like I'm still only up to 10minutes.
(20:54):
That's all I do every day.
3 minutes, that's it.
That's it.
It's got a compound effectobviously over time, but that's
all.
And even this morning in mymeditation I listen to a
semi-guided meditation.
Sometimes it's guided,sometimes it's nice.
What my unconscious mind tellsme, that's what I go with.
I go with whatever I'm feelingfor.
That morning and this morning'smeditation was on, was a
(21:17):
semi-guided meditation and wason.
What do you need Like what do Ineed?
What do you need?
Speaker 2 (21:22):
You know it's in.
We have a nine-month mindfulleadership program but we take
six months to get people up to10 minutes, you know.
And then I take them on somelonger ones.
I've been meditating 25 or soyears.
I do 20 minutes, you know, andnot every day.
Yesterday I did 10, today I did20.
You know, if I'm rushed I dosomething.
Miracle morning I love.
The book you mentioned Even hasa six-minute routine.
(21:44):
You know when you do a minute ofmeditation, a minute of
gratitude, you know, becausethere's those days you get a 6
am flight or you know the waterhate blue in the night or
whatever the heck you have.
But it's a million times betterto do something than the effort
, you know, to do something.
So I would say, you know ourmind, we're all crazy.
So when you start noticing yourmind I mean a lot of people
(22:07):
start meditation, they go Ican't meditate.
It really makes my mind crazy.
Well, your mind has been crazy,you just haven't noticed.
Then you start noticing.
So let's say, start small and beconsistent, don't try to slay
the dragon all at one.
You know, in one time you takea little bite.
Just take a little bite, youknow, and start doing that and
(22:29):
just be consistent, startnoticing and also some of the
other things, like a mindfulwalk without your phone.
You know, walking can be justincredibly mindful and helpful
when you start noticing thelandscape and what's going on
and get a little nature in thewalk and those kind of things
versus you know, yeah, geez,what time are we closing.
(22:50):
You know what's that?
Oh, geez, you know you're onyour, you take a walk and you
haven't even noticed you leftthe building Because you stay on
your gadget the whole time.
You might get a little exercise.
You know that might.
I can't say it's not good foryou to walk.
You'll still get the exercisebenefits, but the mindful
benefits, the benefits of focusand stress relief man stress
(23:13):
relief is huge Are there anystudies that you might be aware
of?
Speaker 1 (23:18):
I mean, you're the expert in this field.
Are there any studies that showthat mindful leaders are more
productive?
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Maybe.
What I'm aware of was Aetna.
They had a study with 13,000people and they found a $2,000
decrease in health care costsand a $3,000 increase in
productivity.
Those were line employees, notthe top executives.
I work with high producers,high income earners mostly, and
(23:50):
I find that'd be much moredramatic.
People are afraid, so manypeople are afraid.
They say, oh, once I've made itand I got my bank, you know,
then I'm going to start beingmindful and gratified and
grateful and, you know, givingsome service work.
But they're kind of afraid.
You know that if you go mindful, that you'll stop producing.
You know, that's the oppositeof what I found.
(24:13):
I found it gives you, you know,first it gives you permission to
be happy now, which is why wewant the things, why we want the
money.
But also it just gives you somuch more focus.
I can do more and less.
I have less fear, you know,about loss and those kind of
things.
So I found that it can make iteven more productive, definitely
(24:33):
more productive.
But, um, you know, if it mademe a little less productive but
I was less stressful and morehappy, I'd still want personally
.
That's why I want those things.
That's why I want, you knowMoney and material things are
there because they're happy.
You know, don't so.
But I've learned I gotta bringmy happiness to them.
(24:53):
There's the.
They're empty on their own.
You know I'm not gonna be, I'mnot gonna find happiness in a
new car.
I might want to drive it offthe lot, but a week later, you
know, it's gonna scratch and I'm, you know, making the payment.
Then we're yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Yeah, yeah.
Let me ask you this questionwhat is your morning rituals?
Because morning rituals arepower right.
The way you start your morning,so goes your day right.
So as goes your morning, sogoes your day.
What is your morning ritual?
I mean 40 years of yoga, 30years.
Yeah, patient, I mean my good.
I usually start off I yeah, I'mreally really, I'm really happy.
(25:29):
Just want to say this reallyquick I'm really happy that you
have 30 years of meditation andyou do 20 minutes, because but
I've been meditating for sevenyears and I'm up to 10 and still
you know.
So that is, life gets crazy andit's like sometimes I like want
to do more and then there'sdays that I do more just because
my body you know.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
And then also, the other thing that can really help
is when you get a chance, takea weekend meditation retreat, I
you know, when you have to find,go do a deeper one, and you get
to that deeper level and youbring it back to you 10 minutes,
you know.
But my routine is, you know,very similar to the miracle
morning that you that youmentioned.
(26:07):
And I know I read that bookabout eight years ago and it's
when I added gratitude andaffirmation to my morning
routine.
I was doing them and I had amorning quite a bit longer than
that.
But I do.
I read, you know, at least 10pages from a some sort of
development inspirational book.
People say, oh, really, I don'tread since college, right, you
(26:29):
know.
And they, I find peoplereluctant to read because of
focus.
That reading is a focusactivity and I don't know any
trains our brain to focus butit's what the focus on.
So if you read a book like well, profit with presents, a 12
pillars of my fellowship, youstart looking, ok, my brain, and
those are the seeds that I'mplanning in my brain Starting,
(26:50):
plus, it's teaching me to focus,spending those 10 pages.
So affirmation, gratitude, Ihave prayer in my, in my morning
routine that's.
You know, any of these areoptional yoga, some sort of
mindful movement to get into mybody, because we, our bodies,
(27:11):
have become something thatcarries our head from meeting to
meeting and we exercise butwe're not even paying attention.
Yoga teaches to pay attentionto what's moving in the body and
that comes down the brain.
It's a science of consciousness.
So something around there andevery don't do yoga, don't, but
find something that you have,you kind of mindful and moving
(27:32):
movement is just so important.
Meditation, you know,journaling, gratitude,
journaling those things I trackdreams.
I don't have them every, youknow, I don't, I don't remember
every night, but I Dreams can be, you know, inspirational too.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
So tell me about that .
You track them.
So do you keep a journal ofdreams Like?
Tell me about that.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I do I have a in my well, I don't have a separate
one, but I I know dreams thatI've had.
I actually, if you, you knowthere's a, there's a guy named
Andrew Holchak that runs dreamyoga and there's, you know,
there's ways to increase yourconsciousness through dreaming.
You know that you become moreconscious all day long, all
night long too, but that's,that's a super well.
(28:16):
I would assume it's a superwell.
I wouldn't start without it,huh increase your consciousness
through dreaming.
Yeah, it's crazy, unpack that.
There's actually somethingcalled.
Have you ever heard of luciddreaming?
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yes, I have lucid dreaming.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
You know you actually can get in the dream.
You're where you're dreaming.
You can change the dreams.
That's in the world of dreamyoga.
Different people have that,different levels of grease, but
it's crazy.
Yeah, I never heard of that.
It's a deep.
This is a deep topic.
Start small, two minutes, youknow, and just see where it
takes you, you know, and where,where everybody's gonna have a
different jumping off point.
But there's, it's a, it's adeep, you know, it's thousands
(28:53):
of years old.
Of course, the practices thatare, you know, back in the
Indian Hindu and you know Buddhaand all.
It's just it's.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
It's Really a deep and rich, rich subject and and I
love it, I love it, I love itselfishly because of what is
done for me, and I am glad thatyou came on here and I'm glad
that you wrote that book.
I'm actually gonna pick up thebook this weekend and and listen
to it.
Isn't on, yes, it is definitely.
(29:22):
I'm gonna listen to it onaudible.
So thank you so much, dr Eric,for coming on and Sheary your
wisdom and your insights withthe listeners.
We're about to go into theuntitled round where we're gonna
ask you a series of questions.
You don't have to think, youdon't have to justify.
My team had a whole slew of ofbusiness questions for you, but
(29:47):
I think this, the mindfulnessthing, is so much more.
It means so much more dear tomy heart than it, than business.
And I mean that just becauseit's me Right, it's just kind of
who I am, and now I think thelisteners needed to hear from
you, an expert and, um, soanyways, are you ready to, are
you ready to play?
We're about to go into theuntitled round.
(30:07):
We're gonna ask you a series ofquestions.
All you got to do is go andanswers.
You can justify if you want.
You don't have to you ready.
Let's do it.
Why bet?
Real estate is awesome.
The market right now isturbulent.
Inflation is Necessary evil.
I've always wanted to travel toIndia, who me too, haven't had
(30:28):
anyone say that one, but me too,I love Indian.
My advice to young people isFind out who you really are.
By the way, indians have themost amazing weddings.
I'm kind, so if you'relistening to me and you're from
India and India the set, inviteme to your wedding, because I
want to go to the three or fourday party.
I've seen it.
I see that it's like.
It's like an amazing event.
(30:48):
I can't wait to go toexperience that.
I've highly, I highly recommendpeople should read profit with
presents.
The 12 pillars of mindfulleadership.
That's right.
I think the president right nowis doing the best again.
Passion there is.
There is a person speaking, aMeditator speaking from his
center, point right there.
(31:09):
Passion or stability, passion,more time or more money?
We're done.
Book smart or street smart,sorry, both.
Coffee or tea, coffee.
Success or happiness, happinessand, lastly, family or business
, family.
Thank you.
(31:30):
Thank you so much, dr Eric.
If people wanted to get a holdof you, get your book, connect
with you.
How do they find you?
Where can they connect with you?
Where can they go to yourretreat?
I said I heard you mentioned aRetreat in an earlier in our
conversation.
How, where do they find allthis information to?
Speaker 2 (31:47):
website is living, living in the gap spelled outorg
as all our programs.
A lot of free resources onthere.
How to get started meditationthere's a 21 day free Routine,
like we talked about on therethat sent to your website, sent
to your email, every morning offive and the book is available
on the website, or an AmazonProfit with presents.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
The 12 pillars of mindful leadership, profit with
presents.
You heard him here, guys.
Thank you so much, sir, forshowing up and Sharing with me,
and and my audience really,really appreciate it.
Thanks for having me and Ireally appreciate it.
Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you, thanks for what youdo.
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