January 22, 2025 • 34 mins
Discover the transformative power of Neuroencoding science with Arron Lloyd, an accomplished actor and specialist in this groundbreaking field. Uncover how faith and confidence serve as pillars for personal growth and success, particularly for veterans navigating the complexities of post-deployment life. Arron's journey from the streets of Bridgeport, Connecticut, to the bright lights of acting reveals how trusting oneself and embracing one’s unique purpose can turn dreams into reality, irrespective of the challenges and contradictions of one's environment.
Explore the profound role of belief systems in shaping life trajectories. This episode delves into how consistent faith and confidence can lead to impactful life transformations, drawing from inspiring stories of individuals who have triumphed over adversity. We provide practical advice on building confidence through small actions and teamwork, concepts familiar to veterans, emphasizing the alignment of faith and confidence as catalysts for change. It's a conversation about nurturing one's potential and unlocking the power within.
Hear about the intersection of military discipline and personal growth, drawing from lessons of valor, integrity, and teamwork. Arron shares insights on discipline, sacrifice, and perseverance, using motivational stories like Les Brown’s "burning the boats" to illustrate the power of unwavering dedication. The discussion highlights the importance of resourcefulness and determination in finding purpose, especially within the acting world, where sacrifices and past efforts fuel ongoing commitment. Join us for an episode filled with inspiration and practical wisdom on building a life of meaning and success.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to your Thoughts, your Reality with
Michael Cole, the podcast thatshines a compassionate light on
the journey of veterans battlingthrough life's challenges.
Michael is a dual elitecertified neuro encoding
specialist in coaching andkeynote training presentations
dedicated to guiding militaryveterans as they navigate the
intricate pathways ofpost-deployment life.
(00:23):
Join him as we delve into theprofound realm of neuro encoding
science, empowering these Hello, hello, hello everybody.
Society forging a new pathforward.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hello, hello, hello everybody.
I am super excited to haveAaron Lloyd on today.
Aaron is an accomplishedtheater, tv and film actor with
a passion for storytelling and,of course, personal growth.
We're going to talk a lot aboutthat today.
Certified one-star dual eliteneuroencoding specialist, he's
raised in the inner cityenvironment with a strong
military lineage, including aPurple Heart recipient from
(01:09):
World War I that was such agreat story to talk about before
and dedicated to helping othersencode their minds for success
using a blend of faith,confidence and, of course,
neuroscience.
My friend Aaron tell us alittle more about yourself, will
you?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Big Mike man, it's such a pleasure to be here again
.
Thank you for that intro.
Again, my name is Aaron Lloyd.
I'm originally from a placecalled Bridgeport, connecticut,
which is about an hour outsideof New York City.
When people think ofConnecticut, obviously
Connecticut has its very rich,wealthy areas.
Bridgeport was not like that.
So what's unique about myexperience is that, while my
immediate experience was more onthe lower middle class
(01:47):
impoverished gangs, drugs, allthat kind of area you can
literally cross 10 minutes downthe road and be wealthy.
So I had both ends of the trackthere, grew up in a single
parent home, I'm the oldest ofthree and I've always wanted to
act.
So that's what I'm currentlydoing professionally and I'm
also a dual lead non-codingspecialist to help people get
further, faster, because I wantto live a purpose filled,
(02:10):
fulfilling life.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Fantastic and and and that you do.
I got to say Aaron is one ofthe best people, one of the best
people I know, so you knowtoday.
Well, before we get started, Ijust want to point out on the
top right-hand corner there's ablue QR code that takes you to
empowerperformancestrategiescomAgain,
empowerperformancestrategiescomfor everybody listening later on
(02:32):
the podcast forums.
Please scan that QR code or gothere.
We have free e-books forveterans and their families.
Thank you, sir.
We have Facebook groups.
Get involved, Be part of themission.
So check that out.
So, with that said, today we'regoing to talk a lot about faith
and confidence.
So when we talk about that, itcan be spiritually with God, it
(02:58):
can be just spiritually withinyourself source, whatever that
means to you, but faith I thinkwhat we're talking about today
has a little bit of that, butit's also just about faith in
yourself.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Yeah, faith, faith in yourselfis, is fundamental, and I was.
I was reflecting on this cause.
I knew this was coming up and Ithink, when we talk about
source or faith in yourself, itbrought me back to, like the,
the, the, the unlikelihood thatany one of us would be here, and
what I mean by that is simplythis the sperm in the egg, the
(03:26):
billions of sperm cells, one egg.
The chances, the odds of usbeing here are very, very slim
to none.
So, when we think about faithand that faith within ourselves,
we have all heard stories of amother that has a child out of
her car or something like that,and all of a sudden she has this
massive energy and massive willto get that baby up under there
.
What is that?
We have that latent within us.
(03:46):
It's about how do we unlockthat, and faith, essentially, is
just an immense trust andbelief in ourselves, and it's
the substance of things hopedfor, everything.
This chair that I'm sitting inright now once was invisible and
now it's visible.
So how can you?
The question that becomes howcan you take the visions and the
belief and the dreams plantedin your heart that are there for
(04:07):
a reason, I believe, based onwhat I just said, sperm, cell
and egg you are here for areason.
Everybody, everybody, hasdifferent purposes.
It might just be to enjoy thebeauty of life, it might be
because you want to do somethingamazing or something like that,
but each and every one of ushave a purpose in this life and
it's up to us to take that heart, that yearn, that yearning in
us, that internal knowing, andhaving the faith that that's
(04:28):
ours and it's our gift to bringthat and that's to me, I feel
like that's our gift back to ourcreator for this amazing gift
of life that we have.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Amen, man, I love many points you just brought up,
my friend.
So let's, let's, how do you?
Let's go back to kind of thebeginning before we get into the
faith and the confidence.
How do you figure out?
How do you know?
Hey, this is what I want to do,this is where I'm going to find
purpose, this is my calling.
How do you find it?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I think I'm very kind of blessed in that regard
because I know there's somepeople who still struggle with
their purpose.
I remember as an actor I have avery practical mind.
I understand that theentertainment industry is well.
First I had to have the faiththat I'm going to get out there
in the city and then I said I'mgoing to be an actor, which
needs an incredible amount offaith as well because it's not a
(05:17):
guaranteed profession.
But I remember going back inhigh school.
I remember walking the hallways.
I was like, is there anythingelse that I can do?
Is there anything else that Ican do?
And nothing else ever came up.
I wanted to do it and I, I, thatfaith piece I just felt in my
bones.
I felt like this is I, I, Ibelieve I can do this.
So that that key word, Ibelieve, I believe I can do it.
(05:38):
Where it comes from.
I think, if we're thinkingabout it practically, I've done
it.
I got you know.
People said you can do it.
But I have not always been kindof like an external uh, I'm more
internally motivated.
So like I felt like I could, Icould do it.
And it was helpful when peoplesaid, wow, you have a gift for
this.
So I think, a combination ofgrace, great like grace of like
(06:01):
the right person saying theright thing at the right time,
and that's what became my belief, and then also just a
culmination of of just my owngenetics or like whatever that
is, of believing that I can dothis, and then also a
fundamental belief that what Isaid earlier, we all are here
for a reason.
I don't think that we're hereby accident.
So I think that if we havesomething in our heart, the road
(06:22):
might be challenging andthere's nothing else I'd rather
do.
I would be miserable, andthat's what propelled me forward
.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, it's fantastic.
Really, it really is.
So let's take a step further.
Okay, you knew you wanted to bean actor.
You had that faith from beingvery young.
You just knew it in your bones,right.
So the Neuron Coding Institutewhat changed to make you?
Have you choose to join theNeuron?
You know, being very young, youjust knew it in your bones,
right?
So the neuro encoding institutewhat changed to make have you,
uh, choose to to join the neuroencoding institute and go more
to being well, not more being acoach as well and helping other
(06:54):
people yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
So my acting, my foray into acting, is a little
unique.
When I was in third gradethere's a great music teacher.
I originally wanted to be amusician because my grandmother
loved Etta James and Earth, wind, fire.
I wanted to play the sax andpublic school system we didn't
have.
No, I wanted to play thetrumpet, actually, and the
public school system didn't havethe budget for a trumpet.
(07:16):
So I ended up with a differentinstrument.
But I started learning theseinstruments.
Miss Patterson, my music teacher, cast me in my first play, and
being a part of that play didtwo things for me it kept me out
of trouble at an age.
It kept me something to doafter school and then also
helped me engage with my sistersmore and it gave me something
to hold on to.
So I had a desire for somethingmore than what I saw around me.
(07:40):
And then two when I got tosixth grade, I went and saw a
play at the high school I wouldlater attend, called Profiles
Theater, which was a peereducated group which took the
arts and educated throughentertainment and what I mean by
that things like gang violence,drug abuse, suicide awareness,
all these things that people aregoing through, and they would
(08:00):
educate the youth through that.
So then I made a link Wow, thisis not only fun, but I can
actually help people.
So my foray into acting besideshaving the belief that I want to
do this because it's fun and Iwant to do this has always been
the foundation has been how canI use any platform that I'm
blessed with, wherever thecareer goes, to help people?
So the foray into Noram CodingInstitute was very easy Because,
(08:22):
one, I want to be the bestperson I can be, and Neuron
Coding Institute provides that.
It helps me grow myself, sowe're not teaching theory.
And then, two, it helps me havethe real skills from world
class, many, many world classpeople that have poured into us,
you and I, to give us the sameskills that are equipped with
and more, and then some to beable to help do the same thing
(08:42):
for others, because it's thatripple effect and I think the
unique thing and all thesethings and I know I'm talking a
mile a minute, so I'm going toslow down- You're good man,
you're good, I'm loving it.
Like Joseph, tony Robbins, jimRohn, all these people had that
one situation where somebodytook them under the wing and
taught them everything they knew.
And then that ripple effect Ijust mentioned earlier that one
(09:02):
thing that somebody says, thatripple effect.
I just mentioned earlier thatone thing that somebody says
that kind thing.
Like Joseph has his storiesno-transcript.
(09:24):
Now they're in a better place,that kid grows up, that kid goes
on to impact.
You don't know the rippleeffect that you have as a part
of this.
So I feel I feel very blessedand fortunate to serve in that
way, in that capacity.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, that's beautiful man, and I got to tell
you again multiple things youtouched base on there.
It was that ripple effect first.
You know it's it there.
It was that ripple effect first.
You know it's.
It's amazing because you don'tknow it right.
You have faith.
Let's go back to that, right,yeah?
So when you know, and then youfind out later on, oh, you know
what, you changed my wholefamily's trajectory or you
(09:56):
changed my acting career becauseall of a sudden I saw that and
said I can do this and you have,you have that confidence or
whatever the case may be.
So I think it's super important.
You know, I went through, youknow something, you know where I
, at 51 years old I you knowsaid, after being in the
construction industry my entirelife, what do I want to be when
I grow up?
You know, and you know, ofcourse, my wife.
(10:17):
You know, I talked to her andthat's why I'm here, you know,
and honestly, I have never feltmore fulfilled in my life than
doing what I do now.
I love that Ever.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
I mean, that's a lot of years, my friend You'll see,
and you have a lot more ahead ofyou too, man.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Amen, man, as long as I'm doing good on this earth
and I'm helping some people tonot have the struggles that I
had growing up.
That's why I do what I do withveterans and their families, and
so, amen, amen.
So let's, let's talk more aboutfaith.
How do you, how do you reallyif it's not just in your bones,
like you said, right, what aresome things that that you would
(10:58):
tell veterans and their families?
How do you build that faith?
Speaker 3 (11:02):
So I would say, practically the way to build
faith is to guard the gates ofyour mind and and we can get
into the subconscious andconscious.
If somebody says, if somebody Ialways use this example if you
or I were walking down thestreet or we're in a mall and
somebody was saying John, john,john, neither you or I would
respond because who's John?
(11:23):
No matter how loud they weregetting, it's like wow, why is
that guy yelling John?
You must be looking forsomebody else.
So I liken that to the thingsand the belief structures that
are not even ours sometimes,that people have said to us
throughout our lives.
If somebody is saying thatyou're stupid, or that you'll
never get better because youhave PTSD, or that your family's
going to be ruined because ofthis or whatever, it is those
belief structures, even thoughthey feel real in the moment.
(11:45):
Are there also stories ofpeople who have triumphed that?
Are there also people andresources that are helping
people like you, mike, that arehelping people create new
stories and create those newbelief structures?
So guard the gates of your mind.
And then faith comes throughrepetition, from hearing and
hearing and hearing, over andover and over again.
Now, as norm coders, you and Iboth know that this goes beyond
just saying I am great or I amhealed in the mirror, because
(12:08):
people can say I am, I am, and Ihave these affirmations for
years and get nowhere.
What we do is help them encodethis in their body, so it's
default, so it's automatically,it's in their subconscious, they
live it, they breathe it, it'swho they are.
So I think that's the valuethat you bring to the veterans,
and beyond working with theresources that they have
available, beyond working withthe resources that they have
(12:28):
available, finding examples ofpeople who have overcome the
similar things that they have,to give them the faith that they
can as well, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
And it does come down to the belief systems.
Right, you know, we have thattable, we have the legs of the
table.
When you have disabler enablingthoughts or belief systems, you
can change those and just breakone out and instill and there's
obviously more to it butinstill that positive belief
system and little by little, youhave a whole new trajectory in
(12:57):
your life and thought process,which is what we do, which is
just, it's a, it's a when yousee it happening and I know
you've seen it too, when youchange someone's belief systems
or you give them the skills tochange their own belief systems,
I should say it's one of themost amazing, beautiful things
to see.
It's beautiful.
(13:17):
Can you, can you give me a, a,a time when we're you know?
Again, we're talking about thatfaith, that that you've seen
someone besides yourself, maybe,um, in the acting industry, or
that you've coached, whateverthe case may be, if, if you know
someone that you've seen, ithappened.
And again, you know,confidentiality matters, but
tell us, tell us someone aboutor something about that there's
(13:42):
somebody immediately came tomind and obviously,
confidentiality.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
There's actually multiple people I've come to
mind.
There's somebody in mind rightnow, without getting into their
things, that many times haveconsulted with me because they
were not living the life thatthey wanted to and now are on
dream shows.
I'm thinking about somebody elsewho struggled with confidence,
(14:06):
their own self image and thingslike that, after working with me
and and I've I've I worked withthem, this person for an
extended period of time and theyhave made transformations, and
I think what's great about whatwe do as well is that not only
has the transition happenedwhile they were working with me,
it's sustainable.
When I check on them six months, seven months down from the
(14:28):
road, they're still making thechanges that they need to, and I
personally think that that's anindicator of a great coach.
Obviously, you want to havecoaching consistently to help
you get to new levels, and Ithink a great coach can help you
have the skills within yourself, so you're still sustaining
yourself even months down theroad, and then you consult with
(14:50):
that coach again to get to newbarriers and things like that.
So I'm thinking of those twopeople, one which their
confidence, the self-image, hashelped them create more income
for themselves, and then anotherwhere they're doing things and
on shows that they never thoughtthey could be on before.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, that's phenomenal, and you know it's
funny, because I think I thinkeverybody has this experience in
their life at some point, whereyou're like, oh yeah, that's,
that's crazy, there's no way,you know.
And then all of a sudden youlook back and it's like, yeah, I
thought that, but look at whereI am now.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
And that's what creates those new belief systems
.
Right Seeing that success,that's the fastest way I've seen
it change it's like oh yeah, I,I thought that before, but now
look, and you can go back inyour life with the goals and
things, um and those successes,and really change um to, and it
can create that faith.
Let's talk about confidencewhat is you what?
(15:43):
Is the difference for youbetween faith and confidence, or
the and or?
How are they actually aligned?
Speaker 3 (15:55):
So confidence is just confiding in yourself
consistently.
So the way it links with faithis that, if faith comes from
hearing and hearing over andover again a certain thing
confidence, how you confide inyourself, and sometimes the
thoughts and the way you confidein yourself, you're not even
aware of right.
But once you start confidingyourself in a certain way, even
aware of Right.
But once you start confidingyourself in a certain way, then
you start taking differentactions.
So it's always think, feel, dohave.
So what you think aboutyourself, the world around you
(16:15):
and people and people, otherpeople is going to dictate how
you feel, which is going todictate what you do, which is
going to dictate the action andactivity that you do or do not
take, and that activity is amajor part of that of confidence
.
So if somebody is strugglingwith confidence right now, one
thing that they can do is decideon one thing, one small thing
(16:36):
that you're going to do.
It's January 2025.
People are setting new year'sgoals and they want to have
great things.
Maybe start if you want toclimb Mount Everest.
You don't start by running upMount Everest.
You start by saying, well, I'mgoing to research online the
proper gear to wear to climbMount Everest and I'm going to
reward myself for that, takingthose small actions over and
(16:58):
over and over again.
And then also for veterans yourteam when you're in the
military or something like that,and you're a veteran, you know
the value of team, you know thevalue of different strengths and
different weaknesses.
Not everybody has the samestrengths, not everybody has the
same weaknesses.
So, leaning into your strengths, acknowledging your strengths,
building from your strengths,and then areas that you're weak
in, say, hey, this is an areaI'm good at, like I need your
(17:20):
help, can you help me with this?
And then you have synergy withthat where you can build even
more confidence from acollaboration, that where you
can build even more confidencefrom a collaboration.
So I think that's the way youcan build confidence.
And then the faith piece comes.
They kind of it happenssynergistically.
It's just like aself-fulfilling prophecy from
there, because the more actionyou take, the more you believe
that you can do this, the morefaith that like, hey, this has
(17:41):
happened for me before I can dothis.
And you mentioned this earlier.
I was going to bring it up.
You mentioned how, when youknow in the past that belief
structure, you can literally goback in your past say well, I
accomplished that.
Then I could.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
I could do this forward.
I can do this again, you know,absolutely so.
You know, I think it's superimportant, like you said, just
taking those action steps.
You know, have a plan, goonline, talk to friends.
You know, ask for friends forhelp.
Here's the biggie right howmany people struggle with asking
for help?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
I've been guilty of it.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I think anybody that says they haven't in some part
of their life and thank you forthe vulnerability and honesty,
but I think just about anybodysometime in life has to say,
yeah, I didn't want to ask forhelp.
I mean, let's just go back tothe old joke, right?
Men don't like to ask fordirections, right?
Yes, they don't want to help,but how much further and faster
will you get if you do?
Speaker 3 (18:42):
it's facts, it's, it's big how much faster you
know.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I mean, you're going to go in the circle and keep
taking a left turn.
Are you gonna know where totake that right turn to get to
brooklyn or wherever you know?
Yeah, it's, it's it.
It baffles me how often we arescared to ask for help or just
don't have the courage, but it'sreally one of the most
courageous things we canactually do, right it's true
yeah, tell me, tell me a in your, in your career or in your life
(19:10):
, if you will, where you knowyou didn't have the faith for
something or the confidence yet.
But you ask somebody for help orjust question.
You know which.
When you ask somebody aquestion, it's asking for help
because you're using, you know,picking their brain.
If you will Give us an exampleof something that was kind of
monumental in your life, if youwill.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
I am getting goosebumps right now because
when I think of this person,that is really when I did allow
myself to be vulnerable in thatway.
I remember the exact day.
It was in New York City.
In Central Park there's atheater called Delacorte Theater
.
I remember the firstconversation I had with this
person.
Shout out to Gaius Charles.
He's a great friend of mine andnow a brother of mine.
(19:51):
It started as a mentor-menteekind of relationship.
Then it's become like we'refriends and brothers.
I'm checking on.
So if you're not familiar withGaius Friday Night Lights,
grey's Anatomy, he's going to bein the upcoming Walking Dead.
This is when I was sleeping onthe floor in the Bronx and I was
really struggling with faith.
I was like man, I I'm, I'mdoing everything I can and I'm
(20:16):
struggling.
And I got.
I became aware of his work viaFriday night lights.
I loved his work and then Istarted watching interviews.
I was like this guy seems likea solid guy.
He's having this massivesuccess, seems like he moves
with integrity.
I want to pick his brain.
That's the kind of career andkind of person I want to be,
should I have any success.
So I literally wrote him aletter and right now I share the
(20:39):
exact template of what I wroteto him.
I wrote him a letter justasking for help, sharing with
him some of the vulnerabilitiesI was going through.
Sometimes I do struggle withfaith.
I see that that's important toyou.
How do you navigate theindustry and have that?
And the man wrote me back.
He emailed me back.
He emailed me back.
I remember the day I got it Abig smile.
(20:59):
I was like I didn't think thisdude was going to get back to me
, but he did.
So you never know.
And then we had a conversationand I was going to that first
call because I asked for 15minutes of this time I'm
thinking it's going to happenfor one call.
So I got my notebook and I'mlike, let me take as much as I
can.
And he was like 15 minutes.
He was like, okay, yeah, callme up anytime.
I was like what?
Oh, oh sure, okay, and I suredid, bro, mike, I tell you I I I
(21:26):
reach out for help and I stillcall him and pick his brain
about different things now,industry things and just
different things of how younavigate when you have that
level of success.
So he's been very, very, veryvaluable and he's a solid person
.
So if you're not familiar withhis work or him, I encourage you
to watch his work and getacquainted with him.
He's a great guy and a greatactor.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Fantastic, you know, and again, those are the stories
.
You go back and say, man, thatchanged, that changed things,
you know.
And to have somebody that yourespect in your corner and you
know he's there, also build someconfidence and faith too, right
?
Yes, that's right, yeah, that'sfantastic, it's awesome man.
Um, so, you know, you gotta,you gotta.
(22:07):
I'm going to share mine, right?
I reached out to Joseph McLennanIII saying, hey, can we be on
my 50th?
Let me go back.
I didn't.
That's what came.
Later.
I reached out saying, hey, I wasjust starting this podcast and
I was wondering if Joseph mightbe interested in coming on.
And I'm like, just send it outthere, because you don't know,
right?
Just remember that everybody,if you don't try, if you don't
(22:30):
ask the question, you will neverknow the answer.
And guess what?
They challenged me, right?
I was just starting the podcast.
Yeah, joseph will be on.
He'd be happy to be on onceyou've done your 50th episode.
So you know, you get used to it.
You know, get used to thepodcast and build that and so on
.
And sure enough, he's on, youknow.
(22:51):
And but I, I've never thought.
You know, justin McClendonspeaks in front of thousands of
people.
I mean, of course he's a mentorand he's always available for
us in the neurocoding Institute,but still didn't make that
Right.
And then, of course, he's goingto 100th episode celebration,
which is, yeah, awesome.
But here's the thing like withyou if you don't reach out, you
(23:12):
don't know.
If you don't ask, if you don'tput yourself out there, become
vulnerable and be a littlecourageous, you never know.
And what could be by a simpleemail?
I mean, look at Mr Lloyd here,it's fantastic.
So thank you for sharing thatstory.
I'm sorry I popped into my headand I had to share as well.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Not a lot of people know that you know.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
So you know with your family's military history.
I just want to kind of pop tosomething else really quick.
Do you see parallels betweenthe discipline because we're
talking about you know, faithand courageous and moving
forward, about you know, faithand courageous and moving
forward, the discipline withmilitary life and kind of what
you've ingrained in you, youknow, with your it was your
grandfather is that correct?
Speaker 3 (23:55):
My great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Thank you.
Yeah, you know, and justknowing, and I know as your I
believe it was your cousin thatwrote a book, and so on do you
feel that?
I mean, do you does that, thatdiscipline and so forth that you
know, do you bring that intoyour life as well, to move
forward with things?
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I do, and a lot of the men on my father's side of
the family represent differentbranches of the military Marines
, air Force, navy and I wouldsay, to answer your question,
absolutely it does.
When I think of the military,when I think about veterans, I
think of certain characteristics, I think of valor, I think of
(24:35):
integrity, I think ofcourageousness, I think of grit,
I think of teamwork, andthere's, there's the list goes
on and on and I think these,these men and women, these,
these heroes, they do their bestto embody that and through
their example and theirleadership they embody that.
And if you can take and graspthat, the teamwork, and
(24:56):
implement that in your own life,that is what helps you create
discipline for what it is thatyou want to do.
And discipline is just doingthe things that you don't want
to do many, many times until itbecomes easy for you and it's
required for you to get to whereyou want to be.
I don't know anybody that hascreated anything magnificent in
your life that has done itwithout discipline, and I think
if they do get lucky and theyhave discipline, they won't be
(25:17):
able to sustain it.
You need to be able to sustainwhat you create and I think that
if you do get lucky, you hitthe lotto or something the
perfect example people that winthe lotto.
They don't have that moneyanymore after it's gone.
So I think stewarding what youhave through building
foundations of characteristicsand character can really, really
, really benefit people in termsof their personal
(25:38):
transformation, not only forthemselves, but those around
them, because when you areshining, it encourages other
people to shine too.
At least, I like to think so.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Absolutely.
I love you said that because,literally, when people see you
shining because you let's talkabout veterans but you know
discipline in general when, whenyou show that and you do that,
people see it, and then whenyou're shining because of the
success that you're getting, andyou're not only that but just
doing it how much better do youfeel about when you go to the
gym, compared to when you sayI'll do it tomorrow, right, you
(26:11):
feel better, right.
And when you start shiningwithin yourself and you start
drawing those same types ofpeople because they want that in
their lives, and or you bringthose other people up, which is
super important.
I think it's an amazing,amazing point you bring up.
So let me ask you how do I saythis?
(26:32):
So, when you started dreamingabout being an actor, or you
knew you were going to be anactor and it started becoming
real and you started buildingthat confidence even more.
So I know there's going to bediscipline in there, but what
other thoughts did you keepreminding yourself?
Or to keep that grit, likeyou've talked about with
veterans and and you know theother things you mentioned what,
(26:56):
what to catch you just pushingBecause you don't, like you said
, with discipline, it's not.
You go to the gym once and youcome up looking like Arnold
Schwarzenegger, right, you gotta, you gotta keep working it, you
gotta keep doing it andrepeating it.
So what were some of the thingsyou told yourself or that
really drew you to stay in thatdisciplined mindset?
Speaker 3 (27:14):
So a couple of things .
One is the amount of sacrificethat I've already made, the
amount of pain that I've gonethrough.
It wouldn't make sense to stopNow.
If I, if I, if I grew up, if Ihad a desire to not act anymore,
I'd find something else.
But as long as it's in my heartto do what is the alternative,
I've sacrificed so much.
It's been such a huge part ofmy life already.
(27:37):
It's either one of two thingsEither I'm going to adjust my
expectations of what's possiblein terms of where my career is
going to go, or I'm going tokeep that expectation and assess
and say to myself and gethonest and this is where
self-reflection comes in Am Ireally playing the way I need to
play in order to hit this thatI need to be?
Les Brown shared a story withus on stage where he was talking
(27:59):
about.
He, you know, played footballand do you remember this story
where he's playing football andthe coach told the biggest guy
on the team yeah, les Brown,talking about your mom, or
something like that and that guycame and hit Les and it hurt.
And Les was like, yeah, I cando anything I want to, but I
don't know if this is worthgetting hit like this.
I don't want to be an NFL star,so I'm going to do something
(28:20):
else For me.
I want to act right and there'scertain variables that aren't
within my control.
We can stack the odds in ourfavor for sure, and that's what
I teach some of the clients thatI work with, and they get
results, and I also think thatit's one, the pain or the
sacrifice that I've already made.
I would be letting myself down,I'd be letting my family down,
(28:42):
be letting other people down,and then also all that time that
I shoot.
I could have gone to an extraparty or two, but I didn't, and
I was sacrificing in those books.
I was sacrificing, studying mylines.
There's no way in heck that I'mgoing to not act as long as I
have the desire to do that.
Now I might have to adjust toexpectations.
Okay, well, shoot, I didn'tbook that role, but I can go on
YouTube, I can do this.
(29:02):
The availability for me to actisn't going anywhere.
I can always act, period, aslong as I'm passionate about it.
That's shifting and adapting toexpectation and I think,
ironically out of that, when youmove with that kind of freedom,
it attracts more opportunities.
So one was the pain of notstopping it and two, what is the
alternative?
What else am I going to do thisgift of life?
(29:25):
Coming back to that, if we'vebeen given this gift, if we all
have this purpose and this iswhat I feel like it's for me to
do what's the alternative?
I'll be a shell of myself.
I'll be a shell of myself.
I can add things onto what I doas long as it aligns with my
purpose.
But what's the alternative?
There is no.
It's like burning a boat, or ifmilitary people, it's like the
(29:48):
mission is the mission.
There's no alternative.
We're going in here, we get inthe mission, that's it
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
And do me a favor because I love that.
Explain burn the boats.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
So burn the boats is a concept.
I forget what military generaldid this, but there were some
ships and they were invading aboat, or I think they were
invading an island or notinviting or take.
They were taking the islandback or something like that, and
in general, said men, there's,there's one alternative, this is
our mission, we're taking thisisland back.
And he set this boats on fire,meaning that there was no
retreat.
They can't, they, can't they,they can't get home.
So what's the alternative?
What they?
I have to do this.
There's's no other option.
Now I'm committed.
It's either we get in, took orwe take in.
That's it.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
I appreciate that because it's one of the driving
forces.
It's when you want somethingand there is no alternative.
You find a way.
You're resourceful.
You might not have all theresources, but if you are
resourceful you will find them.
Yeah, because boats are burntman.
So, alternative's not pretty.
(30:56):
Thank you for sharing thatstory.
Hey, aaron, we're at time,unfortunately.
Actually, we're a little pastalready.
I know it feels too fast.
So, if we can, how do peoplereach you?
How do people find you, you?
So, if we can, how do people?
Speaker 3 (31:07):
reach you.
How do people find you?
You can find me on Instagram,aaron Lloyd A-R-R-O-N-L-L-O-Y-D
or Aaron Empowers.
It'd be my pleasure to serveyou and, yeah, that's where you
can find me.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Fantastic, fantastic, you can reach out to Aaron man,
whether you're an actor or Imean, he is just a phenomenal
human being, I say out there,and he has, um, the actual,
absolute drive to want to help.
So, um, so, reach out if youhave questions or or you think
he can help you, and especiallyin your acting career.
(31:37):
He's got courses, he got allkinds of stuff that can help.
So, with that said, three tipsto get veterans and their
families further faster.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Three tips for families and their veterans is
one have faith.
And what do we mean by faith?
We discussed it a lot in thisepisode.
It doesn't have to be a higherpower.
If you don't believe in one,personally, I believe in one.
It could be whoever you want.
I don't think falling on yourown humanness is enough, because
we're fallible right, whereasdivinity is not.
(32:06):
So if you can lean on that andsurrender to that, I think that
can help you.
How do you surrender to that?
By hearing, and hearing thethings you want, whether it be
affirmations, whether it beworking with Mike so he can
neuron code some of those things.
The second thing I wouldrecommend is get in touch with
your emotions.
There's a great book that afriend and mentor put me onto,
(32:26):
by Brené Brown, called Atlas ofthe Heart, and what this book is
is it helps you identify theemotions that you're feeling.
So if you are a veteran andyou've been, because of the
nature of what you have to do,you've been cut off for a little
bit you might have challengesidentifying what you're feeling,
and when you can't feel it oryou can't articulate it, then it
(32:47):
becomes self-destructive, right.
So being able to identify whatit is like do you know the
difference between pride andhubris?
You know the difference betweenbittersweet and love?
All those kinds of differentthings?
Those are emotions that I think, once you identify, you can get
further, faster with that.
And then, lastly, I would saythat get in touch with what you
want, and what I mean by that isif you are going through PTSD I
(33:08):
don't have this, so I can'tspeak from experience there's
probably people that are betterequipped to know what that is.
What I imagine, though, is, ifyou have that focus on what you
want, who were you prior to that?
Do your family membersrepresent you?
As kind, were you loving?
Were you sweet?
Were you powerful, courageous?
Those kinds kinds of thingslock in on that and burn the
(33:30):
boats from that, and that's whatI say absolutely love it.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Thank you for those tips, aaron.
Um, thank you again for beingon here.
Uh, time is the most preciousresource we have as human beings
.
We do not get it back.
So thank you for spending sometime out of your life to you
know, spend with me and, ofcourse, our audience, dropping
some golden, some golden nuggets.
Man, appreciate it.
Much love, much love.
Be blessed y'all.
Have Aaron back soon, I promise.
(33:54):
All right, everybody.
We are out of here.
Peace.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Thank you for joining us on another insightful
journey of your Thoughts yourReality podcast with your host,
michael Cole.
We hope the conversationsparked some thoughts that
resonate with you.
To dive deeper into empoweringyour thoughts and enhancing your
reality, visitempowerperformancestrategiescom.
Remember your thoughts shapeyour reality, so make them count
(34:23):
.
Until next time, stay inspiredand keep creating the reality
you desire.
Catch you on the next episode.
Welcome to your Thoughts, your Reality with
Michael Cole, the podcast thatshines a compassionate light on
the journey of veterans battlingthrough life's challenges.
Michael is a dual elitecertified neuro encoding
specialist in coaching andkeynote training presentations
dedicated to guiding militaryveterans as they navigate the
intricate pathways ofpost-deployment life.
(00:23):
Join him as we delve into theprofound realm of neuro encoding
science, empowering these Hello, hello, hello everybody.
Society forging a new pathforward.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Hello, hello, hello everybody.
I am super excited to haveAaron Lloyd on today.
Aaron is an accomplishedtheater, tv and film actor with
a passion for storytelling and,of course, personal growth.
We're going to talk a lot aboutthat today.
Certified one-star dual eliteneuroencoding specialist, he's
raised in the inner cityenvironment with a strong
military lineage, including aPurple Heart recipient from
(01:09):
World War I that was such agreat story to talk about before
and dedicated to helping othersencode their minds for success
using a blend of faith,confidence and, of course,
neuroscience.
My friend Aaron tell us alittle more about yourself, will
you?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Big Mike man, it's such a pleasure to be here again
.
Thank you for that intro.
Again, my name is Aaron Lloyd.
I'm originally from a placecalled Bridgeport, connecticut,
which is about an hour outsideof New York City.
When people think ofConnecticut, obviously
Connecticut has its very rich,wealthy areas.
Bridgeport was not like that.
So what's unique about myexperience is that, while my
immediate experience was more onthe lower middle class
(01:47):
impoverished gangs, drugs, allthat kind of area you can
literally cross 10 minutes downthe road and be wealthy.
So I had both ends of the trackthere, grew up in a single
parent home, I'm the oldest ofthree and I've always wanted to
act.
So that's what I'm currentlydoing professionally and I'm
also a dual lead non-codingspecialist to help people get
further, faster, because I wantto live a purpose filled,
(02:10):
fulfilling life.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Fantastic and and and that you do.
I got to say Aaron is one ofthe best people, one of the best
people I know, so you knowtoday.
Well, before we get started, Ijust want to point out on the
top right-hand corner there's ablue QR code that takes you to
empowerperformancestrategiescomAgain,
empowerperformancestrategiescomfor everybody listening later on
(02:32):
the podcast forums.
Please scan that QR code or gothere.
We have free e-books forveterans and their families.
Thank you, sir.
We have Facebook groups.
Get involved, Be part of themission.
So check that out.
So, with that said, today we'regoing to talk a lot about faith
and confidence.
So when we talk about that, itcan be spiritually with God, it
(02:58):
can be just spiritually withinyourself source, whatever that
means to you, but faith I thinkwhat we're talking about today
has a little bit of that, butit's also just about faith in
yourself.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Yeah, faith, faith in yourselfis, is fundamental, and I was.
I was reflecting on this cause.
I knew this was coming up and Ithink, when we talk about
source or faith in yourself, itbrought me back to, like the,
the, the, the unlikelihood thatany one of us would be here, and
what I mean by that is simplythis the sperm in the egg, the
(03:26):
billions of sperm cells, one egg.
The chances, the odds of usbeing here are very, very slim
to none.
So, when we think about faithand that faith within ourselves,
we have all heard stories of amother that has a child out of
her car or something like that,and all of a sudden she has this
massive energy and massive willto get that baby up under there
.
What is that?
We have that latent within us.
(03:46):
It's about how do we unlockthat, and faith, essentially, is
just an immense trust andbelief in ourselves, and it's
the substance of things hopedfor, everything.
This chair that I'm sitting inright now once was invisible and
now it's visible.
So how can you?
The question that becomes howcan you take the visions and the
belief and the dreams plantedin your heart that are there for
(04:07):
a reason, I believe, based onwhat I just said, sperm, cell
and egg you are here for areason.
Everybody, everybody, hasdifferent purposes.
It might just be to enjoy thebeauty of life, it might be
because you want to do somethingamazing or something like that,
but each and every one of ushave a purpose in this life and
it's up to us to take that heart, that yearn, that yearning in
us, that internal knowing, andhaving the faith that that's
(04:28):
ours and it's our gift to bringthat and that's to me, I feel
like that's our gift back to ourcreator for this amazing gift
of life that we have.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Amen, man, I love many points you just brought up,
my friend.
So let's, let's, how do you?
Let's go back to kind of thebeginning before we get into the
faith and the confidence.
How do you figure out?
How do you know?
Hey, this is what I want to do,this is where I'm going to find
purpose, this is my calling.
How do you find it?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
I think I'm very kind of blessed in that regard
because I know there's somepeople who still struggle with
their purpose.
I remember as an actor I have avery practical mind.
I understand that theentertainment industry is well.
First I had to have the faiththat I'm going to get out there
in the city and then I said I'mgoing to be an actor, which
needs an incredible amount offaith as well because it's not a
(05:17):
guaranteed profession.
But I remember going back inhigh school.
I remember walking the hallways.
I was like, is there anythingelse that I can do?
Is there anything else that Ican do?
And nothing else ever came up.
I wanted to do it and I, I, thatfaith piece I just felt in my
bones.
I felt like this is I, I, Ibelieve I can do this.
So that that key word, Ibelieve, I believe I can do it.
(05:38):
Where it comes from.
I think, if we're thinkingabout it practically, I've done
it.
I got you know.
People said you can do it.
But I have not always been kindof like an external uh, I'm more
internally motivated.
So like I felt like I could, Icould do it.
And it was helpful when peoplesaid, wow, you have a gift for
this.
So I think, a combination ofgrace, great like grace of like
(06:01):
the right person saying theright thing at the right time,
and that's what became my belief, and then also just a
culmination of of just my owngenetics or like whatever that
is, of believing that I can dothis, and then also a
fundamental belief that what Isaid earlier, we all are here
for a reason.
I don't think that we're hereby accident.
So I think that if we havesomething in our heart, the road
(06:22):
might be challenging andthere's nothing else I'd rather
do.
I would be miserable, andthat's what propelled me forward
.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, it's fantastic.
Really, it really is.
So let's take a step further.
Okay, you knew you wanted to bean actor.
You had that faith from beingvery young.
You just knew it in your bones,right.
So the Neuron Coding Institutewhat changed to make you?
Have you choose to join theNeuron?
You know, being very young, youjust knew it in your bones,
right?
So the neuro encoding institutewhat changed to make have you,
uh, choose to to join the neuroencoding institute and go more
to being well, not more being acoach as well and helping other
(06:54):
people yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
So my acting, my foray into acting, is a little
unique.
When I was in third gradethere's a great music teacher.
I originally wanted to be amusician because my grandmother
loved Etta James and Earth, wind, fire.
I wanted to play the sax andpublic school system we didn't
have.
No, I wanted to play thetrumpet, actually, and the
public school system didn't havethe budget for a trumpet.
(07:16):
So I ended up with a differentinstrument.
But I started learning theseinstruments.
Miss Patterson, my music teacher, cast me in my first play, and
being a part of that play didtwo things for me it kept me out
of trouble at an age.
It kept me something to doafter school and then also
helped me engage with my sistersmore and it gave me something
to hold on to.
So I had a desire for somethingmore than what I saw around me.
(07:40):
And then two when I got tosixth grade, I went and saw a
play at the high school I wouldlater attend, called Profiles
Theater, which was a peereducated group which took the
arts and educated throughentertainment and what I mean by
that things like gang violence,drug abuse, suicide awareness,
all these things that people aregoing through, and they would
(08:00):
educate the youth through that.
So then I made a link Wow, thisis not only fun, but I can
actually help people.
So my foray into acting besideshaving the belief that I want to
do this because it's fun and Iwant to do this has always been
the foundation has been how canI use any platform that I'm
blessed with, wherever thecareer goes, to help people?
So the foray into Noram CodingInstitute was very easy Because,
(08:22):
one, I want to be the bestperson I can be, and Neuron
Coding Institute provides that.
It helps me grow myself, sowe're not teaching theory.
And then, two, it helps me havethe real skills from world
class, many, many world classpeople that have poured into us,
you and I, to give us the sameskills that are equipped with
and more, and then some to beable to help do the same thing
(08:42):
for others, because it's thatripple effect and I think the
unique thing and all thesethings and I know I'm talking a
mile a minute, so I'm going toslow down- You're good man,
you're good, I'm loving it.
Like Joseph, tony Robbins, jimRohn, all these people had that
one situation where somebodytook them under the wing and
taught them everything they knew.
And then that ripple effect Ijust mentioned earlier that one
(09:02):
thing that somebody says, thatripple effect.
I just mentioned earlier thatone thing that somebody says
that kind thing.
Like Joseph has his storiesno-transcript.
(09:24):
Now they're in a better place,that kid grows up, that kid goes
on to impact.
You don't know the rippleeffect that you have as a part
of this.
So I feel I feel very blessedand fortunate to serve in that
way, in that capacity.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yeah, that's beautiful man, and I got to tell
you again multiple things youtouched base on there.
It was that ripple effect first.
You know it's it there.
It was that ripple effect first.
You know it's.
It's amazing because you don'tknow it right.
You have faith.
Let's go back to that, right,yeah?
So when you know, and then youfind out later on, oh, you know
what, you changed my wholefamily's trajectory or you
(09:56):
changed my acting career becauseall of a sudden I saw that and
said I can do this and you have,you have that confidence or
whatever the case may be.
So I think it's super important.
You know, I went through, youknow something, you know where I
, at 51 years old I you knowsaid, after being in the
construction industry my entirelife, what do I want to be when
I grow up?
You know, and you know, ofcourse, my wife.
(10:17):
You know, I talked to her andthat's why I'm here, you know,
and honestly, I have never feltmore fulfilled in my life than
doing what I do now.
I love that Ever.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
I mean, that's a lot of years, my friend You'll see,
and you have a lot more ahead ofyou too, man.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Amen, man, as long as I'm doing good on this earth
and I'm helping some people tonot have the struggles that I
had growing up.
That's why I do what I do withveterans and their families, and
so, amen, amen.
So let's, let's talk more aboutfaith.
How do you, how do you reallyif it's not just in your bones,
like you said, right, what aresome things that that you would
(10:58):
tell veterans and their families?
How do you build that faith?
Speaker 3 (11:02):
So I would say, practically the way to build
faith is to guard the gates ofyour mind and and we can get
into the subconscious andconscious.
If somebody says, if somebody Ialways use this example if you
or I were walking down thestreet or we're in a mall and
somebody was saying John, john,john, neither you or I would
respond because who's John?
(11:23):
No matter how loud they weregetting, it's like wow, why is
that guy yelling John?
You must be looking forsomebody else.
So I liken that to the thingsand the belief structures that
are not even ours sometimes,that people have said to us
throughout our lives.
If somebody is saying thatyou're stupid, or that you'll
never get better because youhave PTSD, or that your family's
going to be ruined because ofthis or whatever, it is those
belief structures, even thoughthey feel real in the moment.
(11:45):
Are there also stories ofpeople who have triumphed that?
Are there also people andresources that are helping
people like you, mike, that arehelping people create new
stories and create those newbelief structures?
So guard the gates of your mind.
And then faith comes throughrepetition, from hearing and
hearing and hearing, over andover and over again.
Now, as norm coders, you and Iboth know that this goes beyond
just saying I am great or I amhealed in the mirror, because
(12:08):
people can say I am, I am, and Ihave these affirmations for
years and get nowhere.
What we do is help them encodethis in their body, so it's
default, so it's automatically,it's in their subconscious, they
live it, they breathe it, it'swho they are.
So I think that's the valuethat you bring to the veterans,
and beyond working with theresources that they have
available, beyond working withthe resources that they have
(12:28):
available, finding examples ofpeople who have overcome the
similar things that they have,to give them the faith that they
can as well, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
And it does come down to the belief systems.
Right, you know, we have thattable, we have the legs of the
table.
When you have disabler enablingthoughts or belief systems, you
can change those and just breakone out and instill and there's
obviously more to it butinstill that positive belief
system and little by little, youhave a whole new trajectory in
(12:57):
your life and thought process,which is what we do, which is
just, it's a, it's a when yousee it happening and I know
you've seen it too, when youchange someone's belief systems
or you give them the skills tochange their own belief systems,
I should say it's one of themost amazing, beautiful things
to see.
It's beautiful.
(13:17):
Can you, can you give me a, a,a time when we're you know?
Again, we're talking about thatfaith, that that you've seen
someone besides yourself, maybe,um, in the acting industry, or
that you've coached, whateverthe case may be, if, if you know
someone that you've seen, ithappened.
And again, you know,confidentiality matters, but
tell us, tell us someone aboutor something about that there's
(13:42):
somebody immediately came tomind and obviously,
confidentiality.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
There's actually multiple people I've come to
mind.
There's somebody in mind rightnow, without getting into their
things, that many times haveconsulted with me because they
were not living the life thatthey wanted to and now are on
dream shows.
I'm thinking about somebody elsewho struggled with confidence,
(14:06):
their own self image and thingslike that, after working with me
and and I've I've I worked withthem, this person for an
extended period of time and theyhave made transformations, and
I think what's great about whatwe do as well is that not only
has the transition happenedwhile they were working with me,
it's sustainable.
When I check on them six months, seven months down from the
(14:28):
road, they're still making thechanges that they need to, and I
personally think that that's anindicator of a great coach.
Obviously, you want to havecoaching consistently to help
you get to new levels, and Ithink a great coach can help you
have the skills within yourself, so you're still sustaining
yourself even months down theroad, and then you consult with
(14:50):
that coach again to get to newbarriers and things like that.
So I'm thinking of those twopeople, one which their
confidence, the self-image, hashelped them create more income
for themselves, and then anotherwhere they're doing things and
on shows that they never thoughtthey could be on before.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah, that's phenomenal, and you know it's
funny, because I think I thinkeverybody has this experience in
their life at some point, whereyou're like, oh yeah, that's,
that's crazy, there's no way,you know.
And then all of a sudden youlook back and it's like, yeah, I
thought that, but look at whereI am now.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
And that's what creates those new belief systems
.
Right Seeing that success,that's the fastest way I've seen
it change it's like oh yeah, I,I thought that before, but now
look, and you can go back inyour life with the goals and
things, um and those successes,and really change um to, and it
can create that faith.
Let's talk about confidencewhat is you what?
(15:43):
Is the difference for youbetween faith and confidence, or
the and or?
How are they actually aligned?
Speaker 3 (15:55):
So confidence is just confiding in yourself
consistently.
So the way it links with faithis that, if faith comes from
hearing and hearing over andover again a certain thing
confidence, how you confide inyourself, and sometimes the
thoughts and the way you confidein yourself, you're not even
aware of right.
But once you start confidingyourself in a certain way, even
aware of Right.
But once you start confidingyourself in a certain way, then
you start taking differentactions.
So it's always think, feel, dohave.
So what you think aboutyourself, the world around you
(16:15):
and people and people, otherpeople is going to dictate how
you feel, which is going todictate what you do, which is
going to dictate the action andactivity that you do or do not
take, and that activity is amajor part of that of confidence
.
So if somebody is strugglingwith confidence right now, one
thing that they can do is decideon one thing, one small thing
(16:36):
that you're going to do.
It's January 2025.
People are setting new year'sgoals and they want to have
great things.
Maybe start if you want toclimb Mount Everest.
You don't start by running upMount Everest.
You start by saying, well, I'mgoing to research online the
proper gear to wear to climbMount Everest and I'm going to
reward myself for that, takingthose small actions over and
(16:58):
over and over again.
And then also for veterans yourteam when you're in the
military or something like that,and you're a veteran, you know
the value of team, you know thevalue of different strengths and
different weaknesses.
Not everybody has the samestrengths, not everybody has the
same weaknesses.
So, leaning into your strengths, acknowledging your strengths,
building from your strengths,and then areas that you're weak
in, say, hey, this is an areaI'm good at, like I need your
(17:20):
help, can you help me with this?
And then you have synergy withthat where you can build even
more confidence from acollaboration, that where you
can build even more confidencefrom a collaboration.
So I think that's the way youcan build confidence.
And then the faith piece comes.
They kind of it happenssynergistically.
It's just like aself-fulfilling prophecy from
there, because the more actionyou take, the more you believe
that you can do this, the morefaith that like, hey, this has
(17:41):
happened for me before I can dothis.
And you mentioned this earlier.
I was going to bring it up.
You mentioned how, when youknow in the past that belief
structure, you can literally goback in your past say well, I
accomplished that.
Then I could.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
I could do this forward.
I can do this again, you know,absolutely so.
You know, I think it's superimportant, like you said, just
taking those action steps.
You know, have a plan, goonline, talk to friends.
You know, ask for friends forhelp.
Here's the biggie right howmany people struggle with asking
for help?
Speaker 3 (18:18):
I've been guilty of it.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I think anybody that says they haven't in some part
of their life and thank you forthe vulnerability and honesty,
but I think just about anybodysometime in life has to say,
yeah, I didn't want to ask forhelp.
I mean, let's just go back tothe old joke, right?
Men don't like to ask fordirections, right?
Yes, they don't want to help,but how much further and faster
will you get if you do?
Speaker 3 (18:42):
it's facts, it's, it's big how much faster you
know.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I mean, you're going to go in the circle and keep
taking a left turn.
Are you gonna know where totake that right turn to get to
brooklyn or wherever you know?
Yeah, it's, it's it.
It baffles me how often we arescared to ask for help or just
don't have the courage, but it'sreally one of the most
courageous things we canactually do, right it's true
yeah, tell me, tell me a in your, in your career or in your life
(19:10):
, if you will, where you knowyou didn't have the faith for
something or the confidence yet.
But you ask somebody for help orjust question.
You know which.
When you ask somebody aquestion, it's asking for help
because you're using, you know,picking their brain.
If you will Give us an exampleof something that was kind of
monumental in your life, if youwill.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
I am getting goosebumps right now because
when I think of this person,that is really when I did allow
myself to be vulnerable in thatway.
I remember the exact day.
It was in New York City.
In Central Park there's atheater called Delacorte Theater
.
I remember the firstconversation I had with this
person.
Shout out to Gaius Charles.
He's a great friend of mine andnow a brother of mine.
(19:51):
It started as a mentor-menteekind of relationship.
Then it's become like we'refriends and brothers.
I'm checking on.
So if you're not familiar withGaius Friday Night Lights,
grey's Anatomy, he's going to bein the upcoming Walking Dead.
This is when I was sleeping onthe floor in the Bronx and I was
really struggling with faith.
I was like man, I I'm, I'mdoing everything I can and I'm
(20:16):
struggling.
And I got.
I became aware of his work viaFriday night lights.
I loved his work and then Istarted watching interviews.
I was like this guy seems likea solid guy.
He's having this massivesuccess, seems like he moves
with integrity.
I want to pick his brain.
That's the kind of career andkind of person I want to be,
should I have any success.
So I literally wrote him aletter and right now I share the
(20:39):
exact template of what I wroteto him.
I wrote him a letter justasking for help, sharing with
him some of the vulnerabilitiesI was going through.
Sometimes I do struggle withfaith.
I see that that's important toyou.
How do you navigate theindustry and have that?
And the man wrote me back.
He emailed me back.
He emailed me back.
I remember the day I got it Abig smile.
(20:59):
I was like I didn't think thisdude was going to get back to me
, but he did.
So you never know.
And then we had a conversationand I was going to that first
call because I asked for 15minutes of this time I'm
thinking it's going to happenfor one call.
So I got my notebook and I'mlike, let me take as much as I
can.
And he was like 15 minutes.
He was like, okay, yeah, callme up anytime.
I was like what?
Oh, oh sure, okay, and I suredid, bro, mike, I tell you I I I
(21:26):
reach out for help and I stillcall him and pick his brain
about different things now,industry things and just
different things of how younavigate when you have that
level of success.
So he's been very, very, veryvaluable and he's a solid person
.
So if you're not familiar withhis work or him, I encourage you
to watch his work and getacquainted with him.
He's a great guy and a greatactor.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Fantastic, you know, and again, those are the stories
.
You go back and say, man, thatchanged, that changed things,
you know.
And to have somebody that yourespect in your corner and you
know he's there, also build someconfidence and faith too, right
?
Yes, that's right, yeah, that'sfantastic, it's awesome man.
Um, so, you know, you gotta,you gotta.
(22:07):
I'm going to share mine, right?
I reached out to Joseph McLennanIII saying, hey, can we be on
my 50th?
Let me go back.
I didn't.
That's what came.
Later.
I reached out saying, hey, I wasjust starting this podcast and
I was wondering if Joseph mightbe interested in coming on.
And I'm like, just send it outthere, because you don't know,
right?
Just remember that everybody,if you don't try, if you don't
(22:30):
ask the question, you will neverknow the answer.
And guess what?
They challenged me, right?
I was just starting the podcast.
Yeah, joseph will be on.
He'd be happy to be on onceyou've done your 50th episode.
So you know, you get used to it.
You know, get used to thepodcast and build that and so on
.
And sure enough, he's on, youknow.
(22:51):
And but I, I've never thought.
You know, justin McClendonspeaks in front of thousands of
people.
I mean, of course he's a mentorand he's always available for
us in the neurocoding Institute,but still didn't make that
Right.
And then, of course, he's goingto 100th episode celebration,
which is, yeah, awesome.
But here's the thing like withyou if you don't reach out, you
(23:12):
don't know.
If you don't ask, if you don'tput yourself out there, become
vulnerable and be a littlecourageous, you never know.
And what could be by a simpleemail?
I mean, look at Mr Lloyd here,it's fantastic.
So thank you for sharing thatstory.
I'm sorry I popped into my headand I had to share as well.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Not a lot of people know that you know.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
So you know with your family's military history.
I just want to kind of pop tosomething else really quick.
Do you see parallels betweenthe discipline because we're
talking about you know, faithand courageous and moving
forward, about you know, faithand courageous and moving
forward, the discipline withmilitary life and kind of what
you've ingrained in you, youknow, with your it was your
grandfather is that correct?
Speaker 3 (23:55):
My great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Thank you.
Yeah, you know, and justknowing, and I know as your I
believe it was your cousin thatwrote a book, and so on do you
feel that?
I mean, do you does that, thatdiscipline and so forth that you
know, do you bring that intoyour life as well, to move
forward with things?
Speaker 3 (24:15):
I do, and a lot of the men on my father's side of
the family represent differentbranches of the military Marines
, air Force, navy and I wouldsay, to answer your question,
absolutely it does.
When I think of the military,when I think about veterans, I
think of certain characteristics, I think of valor, I think of
(24:35):
integrity, I think ofcourageousness, I think of grit,
I think of teamwork, andthere's, there's the list goes
on and on and I think these,these men and women, these,
these heroes, they do their bestto embody that and through
their example and theirleadership they embody that.
And if you can take and graspthat, the teamwork, and
(24:56):
implement that in your own life,that is what helps you create
discipline for what it is thatyou want to do.
And discipline is just doingthe things that you don't want
to do many, many times until itbecomes easy for you and it's
required for you to get to whereyou want to be.
I don't know anybody that hascreated anything magnificent in
your life that has done itwithout discipline, and I think
if they do get lucky and theyhave discipline, they won't be
(25:17):
able to sustain it.
You need to be able to sustainwhat you create and I think that
if you do get lucky, you hitthe lotto or something the
perfect example people that winthe lotto.
They don't have that moneyanymore after it's gone.
So I think stewarding what youhave through building
foundations of characteristicsand character can really, really
, really benefit people in termsof their personal
(25:38):
transformation, not only forthemselves, but those around
them, because when you areshining, it encourages other
people to shine too.
At least, I like to think so.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Absolutely.
I love you said that because,literally, when people see you
shining because you let's talkabout veterans but you know
discipline in general when, whenyou show that and you do that,
people see it, and then whenyou're shining because of the
success that you're getting, andyou're not only that but just
doing it how much better do youfeel about when you go to the
gym, compared to when you sayI'll do it tomorrow, right, you
(26:11):
feel better, right.
And when you start shiningwithin yourself and you start
drawing those same types ofpeople because they want that in
their lives, and or you bringthose other people up, which is
super important.
I think it's an amazing,amazing point you bring up.
So let me ask you how do I saythis?
(26:32):
So, when you started dreamingabout being an actor, or you
knew you were going to be anactor and it started becoming
real and you started buildingthat confidence even more.
So I know there's going to bediscipline in there, but what
other thoughts did you keepreminding yourself?
Or to keep that grit, likeyou've talked about with
veterans and and you know theother things you mentioned what,
(26:56):
what to catch you just pushingBecause you don't, like you said
, with discipline, it's not.
You go to the gym once and youcome up looking like Arnold
Schwarzenegger, right, you gotta, you gotta keep working it, you
gotta keep doing it andrepeating it.
So what were some of the thingsyou told yourself or that
really drew you to stay in thatdisciplined mindset?
Speaker 3 (27:14):
So a couple of things .
One is the amount of sacrificethat I've already made, the
amount of pain that I've gonethrough.
It wouldn't make sense to stopNow.
If I, if I, if I grew up, if Ihad a desire to not act anymore,
I'd find something else.
But as long as it's in my heartto do what is the alternative,
I've sacrificed so much.
It's been such a huge part ofmy life already.
(27:37):
It's either one of two thingsEither I'm going to adjust my
expectations of what's possiblein terms of where my career is
going to go, or I'm going tokeep that expectation and assess
and say to myself and gethonest and this is where
self-reflection comes in Am Ireally playing the way I need to
play in order to hit this thatI need to be?
Les Brown shared a story withus on stage where he was talking
(27:59):
about.
He, you know, played footballand do you remember this story
where he's playing football andthe coach told the biggest guy
on the team yeah, les Brown,talking about your mom, or
something like that and that guycame and hit Les and it hurt.
And Les was like, yeah, I cando anything I want to, but I
don't know if this is worthgetting hit like this.
I don't want to be an NFL star,so I'm going to do something
(28:20):
else For me.
I want to act right and there'scertain variables that aren't
within my control.
We can stack the odds in ourfavor for sure, and that's what
I teach some of the clients thatI work with, and they get
results, and I also think thatit's one, the pain or the
sacrifice that I've already made.
I would be letting myself down,I'd be letting my family down,
(28:42):
be letting other people down,and then also all that time that
I shoot.
I could have gone to an extraparty or two, but I didn't, and
I was sacrificing in those books.
I was sacrificing, studying mylines.
There's no way in heck that I'mgoing to not act as long as I
have the desire to do that.
Now I might have to adjust toexpectations.
Okay, well, shoot, I didn'tbook that role, but I can go on
YouTube, I can do this.
(29:02):
The availability for me to actisn't going anywhere.
I can always act, period, aslong as I'm passionate about it.
That's shifting and adapting toexpectation and I think,
ironically out of that, when youmove with that kind of freedom,
it attracts more opportunities.
So one was the pain of notstopping it and two, what is the
alternative?
What else am I going to do thisgift of life?
(29:25):
Coming back to that, if we'vebeen given this gift, if we all
have this purpose and this iswhat I feel like it's for me to
do what's the alternative?
I'll be a shell of myself.
I'll be a shell of myself.
I can add things onto what I doas long as it aligns with my
purpose.
But what's the alternative?
There is no.
It's like burning a boat, or ifmilitary people, it's like the
(29:48):
mission is the mission.
There's no alternative.
We're going in here, we get inthe mission, that's it
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
And do me a favor because I love that.
Explain burn the boats.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
So burn the boats is a concept.
I forget what military generaldid this, but there were some
ships and they were invading aboat, or I think they were
invading an island or notinviting or take.
They were taking the islandback or something like that, and
in general, said men, there's,there's one alternative, this is
our mission, we're taking thisisland back.
And he set this boats on fire,meaning that there was no
retreat.
They can't, they, can't they,they can't get home.
So what's the alternative?
What they?
I have to do this.
There's's no other option.
Now I'm committed.
It's either we get in, took orwe take in.
That's it.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
I appreciate that because it's one of the driving
forces.
It's when you want somethingand there is no alternative.
You find a way.
You're resourceful.
You might not have all theresources, but if you are
resourceful you will find them.
Yeah, because boats are burntman.
So, alternative's not pretty.
(30:56):
Thank you for sharing thatstory.
Hey, aaron, we're at time,unfortunately.
Actually, we're a little pastalready.
I know it feels too fast.
So, if we can, how do peoplereach you?
How do people find you, you?
So, if we can, how do people?
Speaker 3 (31:07):
reach you.
How do people find you?
You can find me on Instagram,aaron Lloyd A-R-R-O-N-L-L-O-Y-D
or Aaron Empowers.
It'd be my pleasure to serveyou and, yeah, that's where you
can find me.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Fantastic, fantastic, you can reach out to Aaron man,
whether you're an actor or Imean, he is just a phenomenal
human being, I say out there,and he has, um, the actual,
absolute drive to want to help.
So, um, so, reach out if youhave questions or or you think
he can help you, and especiallyin your acting career.
(31:37):
He's got courses, he got allkinds of stuff that can help.
So, with that said, three tipsto get veterans and their
families further faster.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
Three tips for families and their veterans is
one have faith.
And what do we mean by faith?
We discussed it a lot in thisepisode.
It doesn't have to be a higherpower.
If you don't believe in one,personally, I believe in one.
It could be whoever you want.
I don't think falling on yourown humanness is enough, because
we're fallible right, whereasdivinity is not.
(32:06):
So if you can lean on that andsurrender to that, I think that
can help you.
How do you surrender to that?
By hearing, and hearing thethings you want, whether it be
affirmations, whether it beworking with Mike so he can
neuron code some of those things.
The second thing I wouldrecommend is get in touch with
your emotions.
There's a great book that afriend and mentor put me onto,
(32:26):
by Brené Brown, called Atlas ofthe Heart, and what this book is
is it helps you identify theemotions that you're feeling.
So if you are a veteran andyou've been, because of the
nature of what you have to do,you've been cut off for a little
bit you might have challengesidentifying what you're feeling,
and when you can't feel it oryou can't articulate it, then it
(32:47):
becomes self-destructive, right.
So being able to identify whatit is like do you know the
difference between pride andhubris?
You know the difference betweenbittersweet and love?
All those kinds of differentthings?
Those are emotions that I think, once you identify, you can get
further, faster with that.
And then, lastly, I would saythat get in touch with what you
want, and what I mean by that isif you are going through PTSD I
(33:08):
don't have this, so I can'tspeak from experience there's
probably people that are betterequipped to know what that is.
What I imagine, though, is, ifyou have that focus on what you
want, who were you prior to that?
Do your family membersrepresent you?
As kind, were you loving?
Were you sweet?
Were you powerful, courageous?
Those kinds kinds of thingslock in on that and burn the
(33:30):
boats from that, and that's whatI say absolutely love it.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
Thank you for those tips, aaron.
Um, thank you again for beingon here.
Uh, time is the most preciousresource we have as human beings
.
We do not get it back.
So thank you for spending sometime out of your life to you
know, spend with me and, ofcourse, our audience, dropping
some golden, some golden nuggets.
Man, appreciate it.
Much love, much love.
Be blessed y'all.
Have Aaron back soon, I promise.
(33:54):
All right, everybody.
We are out of here.
Peace.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Thank you for joining us on another insightful
journey of your Thoughts yourReality podcast with your host,
michael Cole.
We hope the conversationsparked some thoughts that
resonate with you.
To dive deeper into empoweringyour thoughts and enhancing your
reality, visitempowerperformancestrategiescom.
Remember your thoughts shapeyour reality, so make them count
(34:23):
.
Until next time, stay inspiredand keep creating the reality
you desire.
Catch you on the next episode.
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