December 19, 2024 • 35 mins
We visit today with Joe La Pietra, founder of a not-for-profit organization called Mastery of the Mind. The Mastery of the Mind Foundation is designed to foster students, athletes, and more recently adults in the areas of professional growth through education, coaching, and mentoring, Joe takes much of what he has learned as a Financial Services Industry Leader with a successful track record in leading levels of revenue, business development, recruiting, retention, profitability and compliance. Using this base level of experience and tried and true techniques, he provides a habit based and practical way to excel in life.
We speak with Joe on what he is learning from his experience offering this program which focuses on human and emotional intelligence teaching real life tools and skills. Program participants learn how to help themselves and build the bridge between academics, coaching, athletics, and the real world. as young people. For adults, there is much to be learned on the soft and hard skills of life with a focus on financial literacy, goal setting, and achievement.
This is a great session for those who want to understand the pulse of what is on the mind of young people. There are some great tips for people of all ages on accountability and planning to get you jumpstarted.
To learn more about Mastery of the Mind visit the following:
- Website : Mastery Of The Mind
- Instagram - @coachlala - Joseph LaPietra (@coach.lala) • Instagram photos and videos
If you are interested in being a guest speaker or mentor, please contact Joe La Pietra directly at lala@motmusa.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to ReFirement Life, the podcast for anyone navigating life transitions or planning
(00:06):
to make life transitions to ensure your next years are your best years.
Listen in for insightful, generous, and sometimes humorous conversation.
It's time to get fired up with Christine Zamuda and Muge Wood, your hosts for this
latest episode of ReFirement Life.
(00:30):
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 59. This is Mastering of the Mind. I'm excited to introduce
our listeners to a wonderful guest, Jo LaPietra, and Jo is a financial services industry leader.
Jo is a national mastery agency award-winning managing partner. His successful track record
(00:56):
in leading levels of revenue, business development, recruiting, retention, profitability, and
compliance is well known in the industry. He's now using all those talents on a new mission
that we'll talk about. Master of the Mind, welcome Jo.
Good morning Christine, thank you.
Yeah, it's great to have you here.
(01:17):
This is exciting. I'm ready to roll.
Awesome, awesome. Well, let's talk first about what inspired you to leave a successful career
in finance to establish this not-for-profit and tell us about that mission?
Well, for those of you out there working exhaustion, let me leave. So I spent,
(01:40):
I went to Franklin and Marshall Division III football school. I played quarterback in college.
I was a captain. I would have played at a higher level, but nobody asked.
(02:00):
Still willing, still willing.
Well, I maybe I have some eligibility left, but the body, no way.
Well, I mean, you never know, Joe. Billichick is called now as coach for North Carolina,
so that could be an angle in your future. It's never over till it's over.
You know what, and thank you for that. Maybe I'm going to call coach because he is one of my
(02:27):
people that I read up about, about people that are not afraid to, number one, put a goal out,
number two, to set boundaries, number three, to make it perfectly clear what the purpose is.
So he's on my list and he's very, very inspirational to me.
(02:49):
Yeah, so many things, but he is afraid to smile.
Well, you get better. You get better. You're right.
You're right. Playing football was because I loved it and I also, there was no delusion
in my brain that I was going to make a living with sports. However, I chose to take all that I
(03:18):
learned on the field and transfer it off the field, which is how I built and grew
leading financial services agencies, you know, top 1% of the industry, as many as 400 reps,
by taking those principles and applying them, meaning, meaning what? How to communicate,
(03:46):
how to manage time, how to get results through others, how to manage adversity, you know,
straight up when you play quarterback and excuse my friends, you get knocked on your ass
a lot and in life you get knocked on your ass too. So, you know, the question is,
it's not going to, whether or not you're not going to get knocked down. It's,
(04:10):
it sounds so simple, but what are you going to do next? The next place over.
Now, year end, like right now, Christine and Mugey, I hated this time of year.
However, it was the most productive time because it was year end is December 31st.
(04:31):
And your record is set. Your legacy is set. Your numbers, you either make it or you don't.
And so that's an example of, I've been doing what I call Yup meetings with the kids.
It's called YEP, year end push. How these kids are coming to grips with yes, year end is different.
(05:00):
Yes, final exams are different. The lights are on. Everybody's judging you. There's pressure.
You're every minute counts. So, all I've done with Mastery of the Mind is I've, to oversimplify this,
I've built this bridge curriculum between what these kids, and I'll call them kids, although
(05:24):
it's expanding to grownups now because I'm working with, quote, grownups,
a bridge curriculum of what they're learning academically. And I don't scare. I prepare
these young adults for what's coming in the real world. That was the inspiration for me to do this.
(05:46):
So, I took all my stuff that I've had over my career and I'm a big, big proponent of journaling.
Journaling for mental health. Journaling is a form of meditation. Journaling is,
it's physically impossible to remember all the things you think about. Journaling is permanent.
(06:10):
It's personal. It's intimate because it's you. It's also something that you could just reach back in.
And if you need, like, you know, I took all my journals for my whole career and just threw them
in a room and started, well, this goes over here, this goes over here, this goes over here,
and built these modules. And the modules, what do they include? They include communication,
(06:35):
language, public speaking, how to dominate a first four seconds of a meeting, how to interview,
how to follow up. I mean, Christine, you and I have talked about this, this sales cycle.
These kids don't understand a sales cycle. Although life is about selling. I mean, every profession
(06:57):
is selling. Right. It's all the life skills, the soft skills and the not so soft skills that aren't
taught academically, correct? That's kind of a good way to sum it up. Look, the more I get into
this, the more I'm recognizing it. They're not being taught. And use, if I'm working
(07:19):
with girls lacrosse team. Okay, girls, if you know, if you, we make this mistake in a game,
all right, maybe, maybe they score a goal on you. However, if you make this mistake in life,
it's going to cost you money. It may cost you a promotion. It may cost you advancement. So,
so why are we not dominating off the field? And the reason that I see it, Christine, is it's,
(07:48):
you know, when a student is ready, the teacher arrives. It is not like these kids don't eat this
up. When they're in my classes, you know, I will teach as many as 100 at a time or 20. It
doesn't matter. They're all, they're all over it. And because it's a safe environment.
(08:12):
Yeah. How do they respond to the journaling aspect? I think that's interesting. I'm guessing
that they're probably journaling in the digital form on their phones. 100%.
100%. Yeah.
100%. That's the first question. Coach, coach, Lala, that's my name Lala. My last name LaPietra.
Lala, everybody laughs when I say Lala. The kids started calling me Lala. So Lala means learn,
(08:36):
adapt, lead, achieve. So I give them the journal and the first question is exactly what you said,
Christine. Can I use my phone? Of course. And can I post it on social media too while I'm at it,
what I am thinking with some pictures? Can I just type in AI, develop yourself and then,
(08:58):
boom, a bunch of things come up and they go, say, I got it. Well, yeah. And my response is,
because I'm big on CBC. CBC stands for choices, benefits, consequences. So coach Lala, can I
use my phone? Christine, you can do whatever you want. I'm not here to babysit. You can do whatever
you want. And I get rid of the word need. Like when your mom and dad say you need to get good
(09:23):
grades. If I'm here, I'm saying, no, I don't. I don't need to do anything. I want to do this. Now,
then I go into what you said earlier. It is proven that good old fashioned pen and paper
is a form of meditation. It is more effective than, now there are always one off, kids have
(09:44):
learning this challenges, et cetera. This is not universal. But when they start getting going
on this, they can't stop. So what's really cool is when I'll do session one, we'll go over journaling
and then, because I do these in groups, I don't come in there and they'll say, I want you to
(10:07):
teach my kids financial literacy. Great. How much time do you want to choose to invest? I'll give
you 20 minutes. Like forget it. It doesn't work that way. So we'll do four sessions on financial
literacy. So now Christine was at session one. She learned how to journal. Christine comes walking
in session two with her journal in her hand, ready to roll. That's what I'm like. Yes. Like,
(10:30):
here we go. I think, Joe, that's amazing because I think the same thing applies to adults too,
in the sense that we can talk a lot. We can think a lot of things, but unless you put it down on
paper, it is just not real almost. And then when you got that pen in hand with the paper,
(10:51):
you're putting it down, you're like, oh, wait a minute, maybe what I am saying or thinking is not
what I should be doing or could be doing. And it just creates such a moment of reflection.
One thing I'm curious is whether young or adult, what are the ways by which you find to
really help people get it, like make it their own and turn it into a lifelong habit and practice.
(11:17):
So it goes beyond their time with you. That's good, good call, Mugey. And it doesn't make any
difference to me how good the idea is unless you want to implement. Yes, that's right. Period. Period.
Period. And so I spend a lot of time on role playing. I spend a lot of time on drilling.
(11:40):
I mean, it's how I build my offices. Like, for example, somebody would say, Coach,
what is mastery of the mind? And I would say mastery of the mind is developmental program
that focuses on human and emotional intelligence by teaching real life tools and skills.
And they're like, wow, that sounds really good. I'm like, I know it sounds good because I said it.
Now, let me hear you say it. Yeah, that's right. And then they're like, I'm an habit.
(12:12):
So you, so unless I get them to demonstrate that they, and this, this is not, this is not
for the star athlete. It's not. Yeah, it's for the development of self. And I, I teach these kids
in these classes, you number one, be nice to everybody. Because you never know who you're
(12:38):
going to be working for one day. Yes. Right. And then number two, when the non star athlete,
as an example, hits these points, their confidence meter goes vertical. And then they end up
demonstrating. And then it just, it just catches fire. Coaches love this too, because
(13:02):
you know, it's like when you have kids and you're driving around and four or five of the kids are
sitting in the backseat of the car and they're talking. And they don't realize you're in the
front seat listening to every word that they said. So my coaches that I work with who are
outstanding leaders, they come to all my classes and they just sit there and observe. And they learn
(13:24):
what's going in, gone in these kids brains, fears, doubts, anxieties, what's going on off the field.
And it helps them because they don't have the time. They don't have the time to, to do this.
So it helps them attach emotionally to their kids, going, geez, I didn't know this was going on with
(13:44):
Christine or and it's not their fault. It's just, it's overwhelming. Yeah. Having context is so
important, especially with young people, right? And they're, look, they're, they're, this is high energy.
You know, there's music playing when they walk in. You know, you got a picture, these kids get,
(14:06):
get to school at seven o'clock in the morning. Most of them are there to do some sort of physical
training, the days of, you know, stop by for conditioning, get over, either you go or you don't.
So who picks your playlist because that's important, especially the walk in music for kids?
Yeah, I got to be careful because I don't want a principal walking in there going, turn that off.
(14:31):
Right. Right. So I pick the playlist. Now, when I go in the weight room, or when I go down to practice,
because I always do that when I'm done with a session, like I'm done, but I don't leave. I go down,
I watched them practice. I go to their games. I'm on the sideline. These kids are coming over and
(14:56):
hugging me. I mean, that's what the emotional bridge is. They're texting me when something goes right.
They're texting me when, you know, stuff hits the fan. It's awesome. Yeah, I become an extension
of the leadership of the programs. And I also meet with coaches. You know, I coach the coaches.
(15:22):
And I don't, again, I don't tell them what to do, but it becomes, it becomes like a group therapy
session on these things that come out of the coach's brains. And then all of a sudden, shoot,
we just pick five things. If we implement, we know we're going to win not only individually,
but collectively. Yeah. And does that typically work? A group of the same coaches from one school
(15:45):
come together so that they can talk about what's happening there? Is it a mixed bag of just
anyone who wants to come from the area? No, I mean, it's with right now, Christine, it's with the
schools I'm working with. They all have their own, you know, it's like their program is their company.
Right. So their program has a culture. Their program has, you know, some upsides and some
(16:13):
opportunities. So let's talk about it. You know, and a lot of them, I mean, you, you were out,
I mean, I've been in the business world for 35 years where the bullets are flying. And
you're yesterday's news, even if you have a great year, it doesn't make any difference.
So I bring a lot of that perspective into these, you know, people that are, that have just grown
(16:39):
up in the academic world because it is different. Totally. It is, it is, it is different. There is
the ideal theory of what should happen and the reality of what happens. The point about Joe,
you made life hens, you're a basket of goods, some of which will be good, some won't be,
(17:00):
and it will be unexpected. So what you do with it every day is the big, you know, determinant of
the choice benefit consequences formula that you mentioned. So with the young minds and the kids
you work with, how long do they stay with you with the program? Is it multiple sessions? How is
(17:20):
that structured? Yeah. Oh, and just while I'm thinking of a Muge, we'll do a whole session on
fantasy versus reality. I like that. And for the grownups too. Yeah, grownups too. And, you know,
my husband and I talk about this too. We have two kids they are now graduated from college or
(17:44):
about to and we did a lot of junior achievement type of things, you know, volunteered with kids
schools. And then, you know, a lot of kids, they're like, yeah, I will play an MBA. Or like, okay,
that's good. Do you play basketball now? No, I think I'm just going to be discovered. I'm good.
So kind of the mindset of good to have aspirations, but then having the plan B and C, like I want to
(18:11):
be a model. Okay, what if that doesn't work out? What's plan B? So that fantasy versus reality,
I think is a big one. Yeah, agree, agree. And there's a lot of, earlier, there's a lot of delusion
on this. So it's important for grownups too, because I just found out and I've been married to my
(18:33):
husband for almost 30 years. I thought that he would like to live in Italy. And he said, no.
That is your fantasy. It was never mine. I like traveling there. I like to live there or like
to visit, but I'm not living there. And you could go there by yourself, but I don't think you will.
Fantasy versus reality. So what surprised you most about, you know, working with, let's take both
(19:01):
groups, you're working with the adults and the kids, what surprises you most about those two day
groups? And can we put some big ass quotes around adults because I worked with adults for 35 years.
With the kids, this is why I refer to Master of the Mind as a bridge curriculum, you know,
(19:28):
bridging these life skills, bridging, making the uncomfortable comfortable.
But Christine, the further I get into this, the more dramatic I see that this bridge is.
And it's not that they're not absorbing this. It's just not a focus of their development.
(19:54):
When they're younger, it is, you know, there's a lot of, you know, SEL, social and emotional learning,
when they're younger and a lot of money, billions of dollars are spent on curriculum like that.
However, I do see this gap between their, all right, well, you know, internal growth is a tough business,
(20:18):
but avoiding it is even tougher. And if you avoid this stuff, when you get out into the real world,
you're going to lose a competitive edge. So how do we do that? Well, prepare you. There's another example.
Take that flipping phone and turn it into a moneymaker. Like, I'll walk into a team and I'll go,
(20:39):
by the way, coach Muge said this year that she's no longer going to videotape any of your practices
or games. Okay. And the kids would be like, what are you crazy? Like, how the hell do you do that?
Like, how the hell are we supposed to know if we're getting any better? I'm like, oh, I'm just kidding.
However, we went over public speaking last week. How many of you went home and videotaped yourself
(21:05):
doing a public presentation? And what did you see and show me? So there's that bridge of
implementation where once you, once they start to get confident, then it's like skies at a limit.
And another thing that these kids, what do they want to talk about most? They want to talk about money?
(21:28):
Bank. They want to talk about bank. They want to bank the bag, the, you know, the blank.
You name it. So I'll walk in, you know, I'll walk in to set up and a couple of kids will come in earlier.
You know, just to have some fun. I pay the first person who's in there, whoever wants to be my,
(21:50):
quote, creative director. So Mugay, you walk in first. I'll say you want to make some money?
She's like, yeah. So I'll hand Mugay 20 bucks and she'll put my phone on the tripod and film session.
Oh, nice. Right. So it starts to evolve like Lala's paying. So everybody show up early.
(22:13):
You know what they're doing, Christine? They're leaving their seventh period class early. Like,
I'm out. I love it. I love it. And I got kids coming in going, I got to feed, I got to feed the family
Lala. And I give them 20 bucks. But fantasy versus reality. Hey, guys, hey girls, what do you want to
(22:36):
talk about? I want to talk, we want to talk about money. I go, great. You have a job? They go, no,
I go, then what the hell are we talking about? Well, how do I get a job? Good question.
You know, but now I got some of these kids will play their games on a Friday night,
(22:56):
get home at 11pm. And they're at Dunkin Donuts at 6am the next morning, working from six to two,
and then seven to two on Sundays. And then we start showing them what's the difference between gross,
net, gross tax net, live, save. And if this person just opened up a fidelity account,
put it in an index fund, drop $1,500 in there, and save $50 a month. When they turn my age,
(23:22):
they have $1.7 million. And I make that tangible. They're like, what? Meanwhile,
meanwhile, the kid just took a business class and got an A. But he doesn't understand any of this.
That's the bridge. That's just amazing how kids can be brilliant, but at the same time,
(23:47):
may not have the tools to be successful in real life because they lack the foundation. And I see
colleges, they set up workshops to teach kids how to pay back their loans. And it's almost a little
late in the game. But the foundation is just so key. Like the power of simple things went down
(24:11):
consistently, how it sets you up for trajectory of prosperity, really. Right. And I've worked with some
defined college. I'll define it by tuition, high-end college and universities, $85,000,
$90,000 a year to go. And I'm sitting in there, and these kids don't know the difference between
(24:36):
simple and compound interest. They don't know what allocation is. They don't know what taxes are.
And they want to talk about financial literacy. But then I also, I mean,
Christine knows me. My style is I love you, and I'm going to tell you the truth.
(25:01):
I'm not afraid to confront you. I'm not going to snow plow your problems out of your way.
Because I'm just not going to do it. And respectfully, don't act like you haven't been
coached. Like don't act like you haven't gone through this. And please teach me how, I know
(25:22):
football season's over, teach me why you will choose to either A, get a job, over winter break,
or not. It's a lesson in accountability, right? Yeah, that's right. And then especially if you
are in situations where perhaps your parents, your relatives have been solving problems for you,
(25:48):
kind of coming out of that to function as an independent adult is a big thing. The other
thing I'm curious is especially when you work with, let's say, student athletes, you know,
they are very driven by a singular goal of getting selected, going to college level or
professional level sports, which may or may not happen. You may have injuries, it may not happen
(26:10):
for a variety of reasons. How do you coach them to really adapt to that reality to have the plan
B and C? Because we see a lot of student athletes whose dreams could not be realized. And then they
are totally like fish out of water. Well, I mean, it's amazing. Recently, today's December 12th,
(26:35):
on December night, we're specifically talking about football, the college football transfer
portal open. Yes. All right. So these kids are, what are these kids? They have a better deal mentality.
I can go get a better deal. I'm out of here, I'm getting a better deal. Over 6,000 football players
(26:55):
went into the transfer port. It's 1,000 saying I'm out of here. They are not, they are not by far
all happy endings. Right. So I'm leaving Microsoft. Okay. Well, first of all, it's Microsoft. And
(27:15):
second of all, where are you going? I don't know. What do you mean you don't know? Okay. So but they
think that it's going, you know, the grass is greener, but you still got to cut it. So they
think that and you say, Mugay, you said plan B and C, I'm not going to discourage you kid.
(27:37):
Right. I'm going to come close to the line and be real. Right.
Right. There's a fine line. There's a fine line. So I don't call it plan B and C. I call it two plan
A's. Yeah. Right. Okay. And I also think if you build the individual, right, we talked about
building confidence, we talked about building those soft skills. Sort of if you have that
(28:03):
foundation, then regardless of what happens, it'll be better equipped to take either path
successfully. Right. Well, one of, there was one school that they brought in all of the students
into a gymnasium, blah, blah, blah, do this whole presentation and 11 kids, 11 kids from one of my
(28:27):
teams that I worked with at this school went up, unsolicited. No, it's like who wants to say something
they didn't pick and grab the microphone and rock their presentation. All right. I got, I got four
star athletes that are going to Chick-fil-A that are dominating an interview and getting a lot job
(28:51):
offer on the spot. They come back to class and they're getting carried around the class like
they just won the damn Super Bowl. I love it. I would add some such a great story. I want to
shadow you one day. I want to shadow you and just hang out and just see all these things happen.
You speak too. Yeah, let's do it. You're a badass, Christine. I want you to speak. Thank you.
(29:16):
And that's a good point too, because I mean, I know a lot of people. I bring people in from the
community to talk. This guy owns four restaurants. This woman is a senior vice president. This
gentleman owns an electric company. And we just drop the guard and they talk about it.
(29:38):
Love it. Not the academic piece. Right. Because most of these millionaire business owners,
I know, like graduated with a two point up. I mean, they didn't let school work. Well,
it's almost preferred. Yeah. Because you are not, you are not stuck by the, you know, the box.
(29:58):
So as we wind down, one thing, Joe, that is always the ongoing topic of our podcast is,
how did you manage to transition yourself leaving your career behind, but at the same time being
able to apply all that rich body of experience to the current coaching practice? What would you
(30:19):
recommend to people who may be contemplating such transition? Yeah, I, that's a good question,
because I'm dealing with working with coaches now. They're like that. So number one, don't panic.
Number two, there is going to be an adjustment period. I mean, how could it not be?
(30:40):
I'm not there for 35 years, maybe taking two weeks vacation, maybe with no off season.
My self evaluation was on how much money I made. My self evaluation was on my ego and work.
And that's all gone. It's like Ronald Reagan said, when did you realize that you weren't
(31:06):
president? He said, well, no, and I got in the backseat of the car and nobody was driving.
Like it's different. Yeah. So yes, go through. And sometimes, you know, I've made a, made a
big transition in personal health. I'm working out more. You know, I'm doing all those other things
(31:28):
where, you know, when you're in the middle of the arena and they're like, you know, you really
got to slow down. It doesn't even register. Yeah. And it's a danger for some people because they
fall into depression. So I don't have an answer to it. Like, however, I do, I, you know, recognize,
(31:52):
don't personalize. I feel differently. Yeah, you're doing right. It's different. Your life is
different now. So close it and then capitalize on it and then find something. Which is what,
I mean, I get such a charge out of this. Like when I go to do these sessions or when I'm on the
phone with them, I mean, I'm like, let's go. Yeah. Yeah. I really like what you said too about
(32:15):
closing that chapter because I think so many people look back and like in the transition,
you're going to naturally look back. But if you can actually put a period on the end of that career,
you're going to be more open and likely, you know, more abundant in your thinking
(32:35):
about what comes next. Well, it's a trip because I'm a member of a country club, right? And, you
know, when I was running my office, making money, blah, blah, blah, nobody cared. I mean, really.
Now, when I walk into the pub, I hear, blah, blah, blah, blah, what's going on? You talk about
the kids. What's going on with the kids? Like, because this is this, this without a question for
(33:00):
me is a legacy move. Like I want to leave a legacy with these kids. Are they going to be a students?
No. But they're going to understand that somebody gives me 10 bucks. I don't get to keep it because
I got to pay this ugly thing called a tax. Geez, I remember that. Right. Awesome. Awesome. Well,
(33:23):
I'm always inspired. I walked away all fired up every time I talk to you and the smile on your
face says it all. So I'm just so excited that you're out there and making a difference with now,
not only young people, but adults and adults. Grownups, Christine. Grownups.
Or attempting to be grownups. Yes. Yes. It's going to be fun. My website is
(33:51):
MOTM or Master of the Mind USA.org. MOTM USA.org. So if you want more information,
if you would love to donate and support the journey, that would be greatly appreciated.
Excellent. Excellent. And we'll put that in our show notes. And also, I would also invite our
(34:14):
listeners. I know we have quite a few in this area that would be able to perhaps even speak. So maybe
drop you a line if they've got a story to tell if they want to get more involved on the front line
of this exciting opportunity to help young people master their minds. Thank you.
(34:37):
Okay. Thank you, Christine. All right. Have a great day, everyone. Take care.
(35:07):
Thanks again for joining us on this episode. Until next time.
Welcome to ReFirement Life, the podcast for anyone navigating life transitions or planning
(00:06):
to make life transitions to ensure your next years are your best years.
Listen in for insightful, generous, and sometimes humorous conversation.
It's time to get fired up with Christine Zamuda and Muge Wood, your hosts for this
latest episode of ReFirement Life.
(00:30):
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 59. This is Mastering of the Mind. I'm excited to introduce
our listeners to a wonderful guest, Jo LaPietra, and Jo is a financial services industry leader.
Jo is a national mastery agency award-winning managing partner. His successful track record
(00:56):
in leading levels of revenue, business development, recruiting, retention, profitability, and
compliance is well known in the industry. He's now using all those talents on a new mission
that we'll talk about. Master of the Mind, welcome Jo.
Good morning Christine, thank you.
Yeah, it's great to have you here.
(01:17):
This is exciting. I'm ready to roll.
Awesome, awesome. Well, let's talk first about what inspired you to leave a successful career
in finance to establish this not-for-profit and tell us about that mission?
Well, for those of you out there working exhaustion, let me leave. So I spent,
(01:40):
I went to Franklin and Marshall Division III football school. I played quarterback in college.
I was a captain. I would have played at a higher level, but nobody asked.
(02:00):
Still willing, still willing.
Well, I maybe I have some eligibility left, but the body, no way.
Well, I mean, you never know, Joe. Billichick is called now as coach for North Carolina,
so that could be an angle in your future. It's never over till it's over.
You know what, and thank you for that. Maybe I'm going to call coach because he is one of my
(02:27):
people that I read up about, about people that are not afraid to, number one, put a goal out,
number two, to set boundaries, number three, to make it perfectly clear what the purpose is.
So he's on my list and he's very, very inspirational to me.
(02:49):
Yeah, so many things, but he is afraid to smile.
Well, you get better. You get better. You're right.
You're right. Playing football was because I loved it and I also, there was no delusion
in my brain that I was going to make a living with sports. However, I chose to take all that I
(03:18):
learned on the field and transfer it off the field, which is how I built and grew
leading financial services agencies, you know, top 1% of the industry, as many as 400 reps,
by taking those principles and applying them, meaning, meaning what? How to communicate,
(03:46):
how to manage time, how to get results through others, how to manage adversity, you know,
straight up when you play quarterback and excuse my friends, you get knocked on your ass
a lot and in life you get knocked on your ass too. So, you know, the question is,
it's not going to, whether or not you're not going to get knocked down. It's,
(04:10):
it sounds so simple, but what are you going to do next? The next place over.
Now, year end, like right now, Christine and Mugey, I hated this time of year.
However, it was the most productive time because it was year end is December 31st.
(04:31):
And your record is set. Your legacy is set. Your numbers, you either make it or you don't.
And so that's an example of, I've been doing what I call Yup meetings with the kids.
It's called YEP, year end push. How these kids are coming to grips with yes, year end is different.
(05:00):
Yes, final exams are different. The lights are on. Everybody's judging you. There's pressure.
You're every minute counts. So, all I've done with Mastery of the Mind is I've, to oversimplify this,
I've built this bridge curriculum between what these kids, and I'll call them kids, although
(05:24):
it's expanding to grownups now because I'm working with, quote, grownups,
a bridge curriculum of what they're learning academically. And I don't scare. I prepare
these young adults for what's coming in the real world. That was the inspiration for me to do this.
(05:46):
So, I took all my stuff that I've had over my career and I'm a big, big proponent of journaling.
Journaling for mental health. Journaling is a form of meditation. Journaling is,
it's physically impossible to remember all the things you think about. Journaling is permanent.
(06:10):
It's personal. It's intimate because it's you. It's also something that you could just reach back in.
And if you need, like, you know, I took all my journals for my whole career and just threw them
in a room and started, well, this goes over here, this goes over here, this goes over here,
and built these modules. And the modules, what do they include? They include communication,
(06:35):
language, public speaking, how to dominate a first four seconds of a meeting, how to interview,
how to follow up. I mean, Christine, you and I have talked about this, this sales cycle.
These kids don't understand a sales cycle. Although life is about selling. I mean, every profession
(06:57):
is selling. Right. It's all the life skills, the soft skills and the not so soft skills that aren't
taught academically, correct? That's kind of a good way to sum it up. Look, the more I get into
this, the more I'm recognizing it. They're not being taught. And use, if I'm working
(07:19):
with girls lacrosse team. Okay, girls, if you know, if you, we make this mistake in a game,
all right, maybe, maybe they score a goal on you. However, if you make this mistake in life,
it's going to cost you money. It may cost you a promotion. It may cost you advancement. So,
so why are we not dominating off the field? And the reason that I see it, Christine, is it's,
(07:48):
you know, when a student is ready, the teacher arrives. It is not like these kids don't eat this
up. When they're in my classes, you know, I will teach as many as 100 at a time or 20. It
doesn't matter. They're all, they're all over it. And because it's a safe environment.
(08:12):
Yeah. How do they respond to the journaling aspect? I think that's interesting. I'm guessing
that they're probably journaling in the digital form on their phones. 100%.
100%. Yeah.
100%. That's the first question. Coach, coach, Lala, that's my name Lala. My last name LaPietra.
Lala, everybody laughs when I say Lala. The kids started calling me Lala. So Lala means learn,
(08:36):
adapt, lead, achieve. So I give them the journal and the first question is exactly what you said,
Christine. Can I use my phone? Of course. And can I post it on social media too while I'm at it,
what I am thinking with some pictures? Can I just type in AI, develop yourself and then,
(08:58):
boom, a bunch of things come up and they go, say, I got it. Well, yeah. And my response is,
because I'm big on CBC. CBC stands for choices, benefits, consequences. So coach Lala, can I
use my phone? Christine, you can do whatever you want. I'm not here to babysit. You can do whatever
you want. And I get rid of the word need. Like when your mom and dad say you need to get good
(09:23):
grades. If I'm here, I'm saying, no, I don't. I don't need to do anything. I want to do this. Now,
then I go into what you said earlier. It is proven that good old fashioned pen and paper
is a form of meditation. It is more effective than, now there are always one off, kids have
(09:44):
learning this challenges, et cetera. This is not universal. But when they start getting going
on this, they can't stop. So what's really cool is when I'll do session one, we'll go over journaling
and then, because I do these in groups, I don't come in there and they'll say, I want you to
(10:07):
teach my kids financial literacy. Great. How much time do you want to choose to invest? I'll give
you 20 minutes. Like forget it. It doesn't work that way. So we'll do four sessions on financial
literacy. So now Christine was at session one. She learned how to journal. Christine comes walking
in session two with her journal in her hand, ready to roll. That's what I'm like. Yes. Like,
(10:30):
here we go. I think, Joe, that's amazing because I think the same thing applies to adults too,
in the sense that we can talk a lot. We can think a lot of things, but unless you put it down on
paper, it is just not real almost. And then when you got that pen in hand with the paper,
(10:51):
you're putting it down, you're like, oh, wait a minute, maybe what I am saying or thinking is not
what I should be doing or could be doing. And it just creates such a moment of reflection.
One thing I'm curious is whether young or adult, what are the ways by which you find to
really help people get it, like make it their own and turn it into a lifelong habit and practice.
(11:17):
So it goes beyond their time with you. That's good, good call, Mugey. And it doesn't make any
difference to me how good the idea is unless you want to implement. Yes, that's right. Period. Period.
Period. And so I spend a lot of time on role playing. I spend a lot of time on drilling.
(11:40):
I mean, it's how I build my offices. Like, for example, somebody would say, Coach,
what is mastery of the mind? And I would say mastery of the mind is developmental program
that focuses on human and emotional intelligence by teaching real life tools and skills.
And they're like, wow, that sounds really good. I'm like, I know it sounds good because I said it.
Now, let me hear you say it. Yeah, that's right. And then they're like, I'm an habit.
(12:12):
So you, so unless I get them to demonstrate that they, and this, this is not, this is not
for the star athlete. It's not. Yeah, it's for the development of self. And I, I teach these kids
in these classes, you number one, be nice to everybody. Because you never know who you're
(12:38):
going to be working for one day. Yes. Right. And then number two, when the non star athlete,
as an example, hits these points, their confidence meter goes vertical. And then they end up
demonstrating. And then it just, it just catches fire. Coaches love this too, because
(13:02):
you know, it's like when you have kids and you're driving around and four or five of the kids are
sitting in the backseat of the car and they're talking. And they don't realize you're in the
front seat listening to every word that they said. So my coaches that I work with who are
outstanding leaders, they come to all my classes and they just sit there and observe. And they learn
(13:24):
what's going in, gone in these kids brains, fears, doubts, anxieties, what's going on off the field.
And it helps them because they don't have the time. They don't have the time to, to do this.
So it helps them attach emotionally to their kids, going, geez, I didn't know this was going on with
(13:44):
Christine or and it's not their fault. It's just, it's overwhelming. Yeah. Having context is so
important, especially with young people, right? And they're, look, they're, they're, this is high energy.
You know, there's music playing when they walk in. You know, you got a picture, these kids get,
(14:06):
get to school at seven o'clock in the morning. Most of them are there to do some sort of physical
training, the days of, you know, stop by for conditioning, get over, either you go or you don't.
So who picks your playlist because that's important, especially the walk in music for kids?
Yeah, I got to be careful because I don't want a principal walking in there going, turn that off.
(14:31):
Right. Right. So I pick the playlist. Now, when I go in the weight room, or when I go down to practice,
because I always do that when I'm done with a session, like I'm done, but I don't leave. I go down,
I watched them practice. I go to their games. I'm on the sideline. These kids are coming over and
(14:56):
hugging me. I mean, that's what the emotional bridge is. They're texting me when something goes right.
They're texting me when, you know, stuff hits the fan. It's awesome. Yeah, I become an extension
of the leadership of the programs. And I also meet with coaches. You know, I coach the coaches.
(15:22):
And I don't, again, I don't tell them what to do, but it becomes, it becomes like a group therapy
session on these things that come out of the coach's brains. And then all of a sudden, shoot,
we just pick five things. If we implement, we know we're going to win not only individually,
but collectively. Yeah. And does that typically work? A group of the same coaches from one school
(15:45):
come together so that they can talk about what's happening there? Is it a mixed bag of just
anyone who wants to come from the area? No, I mean, it's with right now, Christine, it's with the
schools I'm working with. They all have their own, you know, it's like their program is their company.
Right. So their program has a culture. Their program has, you know, some upsides and some
(16:13):
opportunities. So let's talk about it. You know, and a lot of them, I mean, you, you were out,
I mean, I've been in the business world for 35 years where the bullets are flying. And
you're yesterday's news, even if you have a great year, it doesn't make any difference.
So I bring a lot of that perspective into these, you know, people that are, that have just grown
(16:39):
up in the academic world because it is different. Totally. It is, it is, it is different. There is
the ideal theory of what should happen and the reality of what happens. The point about Joe,
you made life hens, you're a basket of goods, some of which will be good, some won't be,
(17:00):
and it will be unexpected. So what you do with it every day is the big, you know, determinant of
the choice benefit consequences formula that you mentioned. So with the young minds and the kids
you work with, how long do they stay with you with the program? Is it multiple sessions? How is
(17:20):
that structured? Yeah. Oh, and just while I'm thinking of a Muge, we'll do a whole session on
fantasy versus reality. I like that. And for the grownups too. Yeah, grownups too. And, you know,
my husband and I talk about this too. We have two kids they are now graduated from college or
(17:44):
about to and we did a lot of junior achievement type of things, you know, volunteered with kids
schools. And then, you know, a lot of kids, they're like, yeah, I will play an MBA. Or like, okay,
that's good. Do you play basketball now? No, I think I'm just going to be discovered. I'm good.
So kind of the mindset of good to have aspirations, but then having the plan B and C, like I want to
(18:11):
be a model. Okay, what if that doesn't work out? What's plan B? So that fantasy versus reality,
I think is a big one. Yeah, agree, agree. And there's a lot of, earlier, there's a lot of delusion
on this. So it's important for grownups too, because I just found out and I've been married to my
(18:33):
husband for almost 30 years. I thought that he would like to live in Italy. And he said, no.
That is your fantasy. It was never mine. I like traveling there. I like to live there or like
to visit, but I'm not living there. And you could go there by yourself, but I don't think you will.
Fantasy versus reality. So what surprised you most about, you know, working with, let's take both
(19:01):
groups, you're working with the adults and the kids, what surprises you most about those two day
groups? And can we put some big ass quotes around adults because I worked with adults for 35 years.
With the kids, this is why I refer to Master of the Mind as a bridge curriculum, you know,
(19:28):
bridging these life skills, bridging, making the uncomfortable comfortable.
But Christine, the further I get into this, the more dramatic I see that this bridge is.
And it's not that they're not absorbing this. It's just not a focus of their development.
(19:54):
When they're younger, it is, you know, there's a lot of, you know, SEL, social and emotional learning,
when they're younger and a lot of money, billions of dollars are spent on curriculum like that.
However, I do see this gap between their, all right, well, you know, internal growth is a tough business,
(20:18):
but avoiding it is even tougher. And if you avoid this stuff, when you get out into the real world,
you're going to lose a competitive edge. So how do we do that? Well, prepare you. There's another example.
Take that flipping phone and turn it into a moneymaker. Like, I'll walk into a team and I'll go,
(20:39):
by the way, coach Muge said this year that she's no longer going to videotape any of your practices
or games. Okay. And the kids would be like, what are you crazy? Like, how the hell do you do that?
Like, how the hell are we supposed to know if we're getting any better? I'm like, oh, I'm just kidding.
However, we went over public speaking last week. How many of you went home and videotaped yourself
(21:05):
doing a public presentation? And what did you see and show me? So there's that bridge of
implementation where once you, once they start to get confident, then it's like skies at a limit.
And another thing that these kids, what do they want to talk about most? They want to talk about money?
(21:28):
Bank. They want to talk about bank. They want to bank the bag, the, you know, the blank.
You name it. So I'll walk in, you know, I'll walk in to set up and a couple of kids will come in earlier.
You know, just to have some fun. I pay the first person who's in there, whoever wants to be my,
(21:50):
quote, creative director. So Mugay, you walk in first. I'll say you want to make some money?
She's like, yeah. So I'll hand Mugay 20 bucks and she'll put my phone on the tripod and film session.
Oh, nice. Right. So it starts to evolve like Lala's paying. So everybody show up early.
(22:13):
You know what they're doing, Christine? They're leaving their seventh period class early. Like,
I'm out. I love it. I love it. And I got kids coming in going, I got to feed, I got to feed the family
Lala. And I give them 20 bucks. But fantasy versus reality. Hey, guys, hey girls, what do you want to
(22:36):
talk about? I want to talk, we want to talk about money. I go, great. You have a job? They go, no,
I go, then what the hell are we talking about? Well, how do I get a job? Good question.
You know, but now I got some of these kids will play their games on a Friday night,
(22:56):
get home at 11pm. And they're at Dunkin Donuts at 6am the next morning, working from six to two,
and then seven to two on Sundays. And then we start showing them what's the difference between gross,
net, gross tax net, live, save. And if this person just opened up a fidelity account,
put it in an index fund, drop $1,500 in there, and save $50 a month. When they turn my age,
(23:22):
they have $1.7 million. And I make that tangible. They're like, what? Meanwhile,
meanwhile, the kid just took a business class and got an A. But he doesn't understand any of this.
That's the bridge. That's just amazing how kids can be brilliant, but at the same time,
(23:47):
may not have the tools to be successful in real life because they lack the foundation. And I see
colleges, they set up workshops to teach kids how to pay back their loans. And it's almost a little
late in the game. But the foundation is just so key. Like the power of simple things went down
(24:11):
consistently, how it sets you up for trajectory of prosperity, really. Right. And I've worked with some
defined college. I'll define it by tuition, high-end college and universities, $85,000,
$90,000 a year to go. And I'm sitting in there, and these kids don't know the difference between
(24:36):
simple and compound interest. They don't know what allocation is. They don't know what taxes are.
And they want to talk about financial literacy. But then I also, I mean,
Christine knows me. My style is I love you, and I'm going to tell you the truth.
(25:01):
I'm not afraid to confront you. I'm not going to snow plow your problems out of your way.
Because I'm just not going to do it. And respectfully, don't act like you haven't been
coached. Like don't act like you haven't gone through this. And please teach me how, I know
(25:22):
football season's over, teach me why you will choose to either A, get a job, over winter break,
or not. It's a lesson in accountability, right? Yeah, that's right. And then especially if you
are in situations where perhaps your parents, your relatives have been solving problems for you,
(25:48):
kind of coming out of that to function as an independent adult is a big thing. The other
thing I'm curious is especially when you work with, let's say, student athletes, you know,
they are very driven by a singular goal of getting selected, going to college level or
professional level sports, which may or may not happen. You may have injuries, it may not happen
(26:10):
for a variety of reasons. How do you coach them to really adapt to that reality to have the plan
B and C? Because we see a lot of student athletes whose dreams could not be realized. And then they
are totally like fish out of water. Well, I mean, it's amazing. Recently, today's December 12th,
(26:35):
on December night, we're specifically talking about football, the college football transfer
portal open. Yes. All right. So these kids are, what are these kids? They have a better deal mentality.
I can go get a better deal. I'm out of here, I'm getting a better deal. Over 6,000 football players
(26:55):
went into the transfer port. It's 1,000 saying I'm out of here. They are not, they are not by far
all happy endings. Right. So I'm leaving Microsoft. Okay. Well, first of all, it's Microsoft. And
(27:15):
second of all, where are you going? I don't know. What do you mean you don't know? Okay. So but they
think that it's going, you know, the grass is greener, but you still got to cut it. So they
think that and you say, Mugay, you said plan B and C, I'm not going to discourage you kid.
(27:37):
Right. I'm going to come close to the line and be real. Right.
Right. There's a fine line. There's a fine line. So I don't call it plan B and C. I call it two plan
A's. Yeah. Right. Okay. And I also think if you build the individual, right, we talked about
building confidence, we talked about building those soft skills. Sort of if you have that
(28:03):
foundation, then regardless of what happens, it'll be better equipped to take either path
successfully. Right. Well, one of, there was one school that they brought in all of the students
into a gymnasium, blah, blah, blah, do this whole presentation and 11 kids, 11 kids from one of my
(28:27):
teams that I worked with at this school went up, unsolicited. No, it's like who wants to say something
they didn't pick and grab the microphone and rock their presentation. All right. I got, I got four
star athletes that are going to Chick-fil-A that are dominating an interview and getting a lot job
(28:51):
offer on the spot. They come back to class and they're getting carried around the class like
they just won the damn Super Bowl. I love it. I would add some such a great story. I want to
shadow you one day. I want to shadow you and just hang out and just see all these things happen.
You speak too. Yeah, let's do it. You're a badass, Christine. I want you to speak. Thank you.
(29:16):
And that's a good point too, because I mean, I know a lot of people. I bring people in from the
community to talk. This guy owns four restaurants. This woman is a senior vice president. This
gentleman owns an electric company. And we just drop the guard and they talk about it.
(29:38):
Love it. Not the academic piece. Right. Because most of these millionaire business owners,
I know, like graduated with a two point up. I mean, they didn't let school work. Well,
it's almost preferred. Yeah. Because you are not, you are not stuck by the, you know, the box.
(29:58):
So as we wind down, one thing, Joe, that is always the ongoing topic of our podcast is,
how did you manage to transition yourself leaving your career behind, but at the same time being
able to apply all that rich body of experience to the current coaching practice? What would you
(30:19):
recommend to people who may be contemplating such transition? Yeah, I, that's a good question,
because I'm dealing with working with coaches now. They're like that. So number one, don't panic.
Number two, there is going to be an adjustment period. I mean, how could it not be?
(30:40):
I'm not there for 35 years, maybe taking two weeks vacation, maybe with no off season.
My self evaluation was on how much money I made. My self evaluation was on my ego and work.
And that's all gone. It's like Ronald Reagan said, when did you realize that you weren't
(31:06):
president? He said, well, no, and I got in the backseat of the car and nobody was driving.
Like it's different. Yeah. So yes, go through. And sometimes, you know, I've made a, made a
big transition in personal health. I'm working out more. You know, I'm doing all those other things
(31:28):
where, you know, when you're in the middle of the arena and they're like, you know, you really
got to slow down. It doesn't even register. Yeah. And it's a danger for some people because they
fall into depression. So I don't have an answer to it. Like, however, I do, I, you know, recognize,
(31:52):
don't personalize. I feel differently. Yeah, you're doing right. It's different. Your life is
different now. So close it and then capitalize on it and then find something. Which is what,
I mean, I get such a charge out of this. Like when I go to do these sessions or when I'm on the
phone with them, I mean, I'm like, let's go. Yeah. Yeah. I really like what you said too about
(32:15):
closing that chapter because I think so many people look back and like in the transition,
you're going to naturally look back. But if you can actually put a period on the end of that career,
you're going to be more open and likely, you know, more abundant in your thinking
(32:35):
about what comes next. Well, it's a trip because I'm a member of a country club, right? And, you
know, when I was running my office, making money, blah, blah, blah, nobody cared. I mean, really.
Now, when I walk into the pub, I hear, blah, blah, blah, blah, what's going on? You talk about
the kids. What's going on with the kids? Like, because this is this, this without a question for
(33:00):
me is a legacy move. Like I want to leave a legacy with these kids. Are they going to be a students?
No. But they're going to understand that somebody gives me 10 bucks. I don't get to keep it because
I got to pay this ugly thing called a tax. Geez, I remember that. Right. Awesome. Awesome. Well,
(33:23):
I'm always inspired. I walked away all fired up every time I talk to you and the smile on your
face says it all. So I'm just so excited that you're out there and making a difference with now,
not only young people, but adults and adults. Grownups, Christine. Grownups.
Or attempting to be grownups. Yes. Yes. It's going to be fun. My website is
(33:51):
MOTM or Master of the Mind USA.org. MOTM USA.org. So if you want more information,
if you would love to donate and support the journey, that would be greatly appreciated.
Excellent. Excellent. And we'll put that in our show notes. And also, I would also invite our
(34:14):
listeners. I know we have quite a few in this area that would be able to perhaps even speak. So maybe
drop you a line if they've got a story to tell if they want to get more involved on the front line
of this exciting opportunity to help young people master their minds. Thank you.
(34:37):
Okay. Thank you, Christine. All right. Have a great day, everyone. Take care.
(35:07):
Thanks again for joining us on this episode. Until next time.
Popular Podcasts
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Betrayal: Season 4
Karoline Borega married a man of honor – a respected Colorado Springs Police officer. She knew there would be sacrifices to accommodate her husband’s career. But she had no idea that he was using his badge to fool everyone. This season, we expose a man who swore two sacred oaths—one to his badge, one to his bride—and broke them both. We follow Karoline as she questions everything she thought she knew about her partner of over 20 years. And make sure to check out Seasons 1-3 of Betrayal, along with Betrayal Weekly Season 1.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.