Brian Gubernick reflects on Jesse Itzler's talk about how words matter. Itzler took a call from his son during a live interview instead of silencing his phone, showing his actions matched his message about priorities and authenticity. Gubernick asks listeners if their own actions align with what they say.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Today we are going to get better by studying or analyzing some things shared with us recently, shared with me as well as a group of our listeners recently by a guy named Jesse Itzler. Jesse Itzler, who spoke at a conference just a few weeks ago. Jesse, for those that do not know, now that I've said his name, you will not escape him on Instagram. 'Cause Jesse is an amazing entrepreneur, part owner of the Atlanta Hawks, started Marquis Jet, started Zico Coconut Water. Guy's had an amazing career and has probably an even brighter future in front of him, which is, which is incredible. Anyhow, Jesse was a featured speaker at our event, as well as a guy that I had the very unique opportunity to interview in front of a smaller group in a private session. And I'll tell you, I learned a ton from Jesse, specifically though, from something he did in the small group session that I'll get to here in a moment. One of Jesse's core messages that I absolutely loved, Jesse said words matter. Jesse said words matter. And he emphasized the significance of the language we use in shaping our thoughts and our attitudes and our behaviors and the way we perceive our relationships in the world at large. Jesse, Jesse saying words matter. I think that words have an impact on your mindset. The words we choose can influence how we think. Positive and empowering language fosters a growth mindset. In addition, our self-talk, the way we speak to ourselves internally, you know, is our self-talk. And that has a profound impact on our self-esteem and our confidence. Words matter. These words that we say to ourselves, the words that we choose, they influence our behavior. They influence our actions. The words we choose, they impact how we communicate with others. Effective communication is vital in relationships, in the professional world, in the personal world, and choosing our words carefully can impact and enhance our ability to convey our thoughts and our emotions and our intentions. Words matter. Words matter for emotional impact. Words can evoke powerful emotions in ourselves and in others. Words can motivate. Words can reflect, you know, our perception of reality. So in summary, Jesse's words matter statement, uh, really kind of underscores the idea that the language we use is not just a means of communication, but a tool for shaping our thoughts, and our behaviors and our emotions and the quality of our interactions with others. So I loved Jesse's thoughts around words, but there are two things that I especially loved about Jesse, two things that he demonstrated, not in the main session when he spoke. Well, I guess somewhat in the main session when he spoke to a couple thousand people, but something he did when we had just a few hundred people in a private room. Jesse just displayed for me what it means to be authentic and what it means to have clarity around what's priority. See, we sat down, Jesse and me, in front of a few hundred of our friends. And you know, here I am, I had prepared for this conversation I was about to have with Jesse, these questions I had for him, and I really wanted to deliver. And I had spent some time just thinking through this and organizing my thoughts. And just when we were about to get rolling, Jesse's cell phone rings. Literally, we're sitting on stage. Both of us have mics in hand. There's a few hundred people in the crowd and his phone rings and he looks at me and he looks at the audience and says, hold on a second. This is my son. I have to answer it. Now that alone was different than what 98% of people would do. Most people would send whoever that call is to their voicemail. Most people probably wouldn't even have their phone with them or on, but if anything, they'd silence their phone, but not Jesse. Jesse stopped everything, me and, and the audience, and said, I've got to take this call. And not only did Jesse take the call, he took the call for I don't know, 5, 6, 7 minutes in the middle of this, or at the start of this interview on stage in front of all these people, Jesse stopped the crowd so he could speak to his son about his son's day. And I think it was his football or baseball practice. And he engaged with his son and had a, not a let's get off the phone type of conversation, but let me understand how your day went. Cause I know you're going to bed here soon. And I loved it. And I loved it. Now, some would think, well, that's kind of disrespectful. Not at all to me. And I'll tell you why. He just came off stage expressing that words matter. He just came off stage talking about prioritizing what's important in life. And what I saw out of this guy was incredibly authentic behavior, not just someone who stands up and says, do these things in front of a crowd just for sake of getting, you know, clicks or likes, but someone who honors his word. And when he took that, that call, what he was saying is, I'm authentic. You know, I'm going to honor what it is I say. I live what it is I say. In addition to this authenticity, I saw him very clear on priority. And the truth of the matter is, while I know sitting with me and being in front of our crowd was important to him, I mean, I know it was right. His son Colin was more important. He was super clear on what his priorities are. And so when I saw him doing these things, you know, I couldn't help but think in my head, man, this guy's just not telling me what's important to him. He's displaying it. He's honoring it. In other words, he's letting his actions match the words that he just shared. And I absolutely love that. So I tell that story because I want us all to reflect. I think the focusing question today, are you honoring exactly what it is you're sharing? Do your actions match your words? Do you model this behavior for others or do you say things from your stage, whatever that may be, but then maybe live a little bit different? I'm going to be really candid and transparent with everybody. I do talk a lot about the importance of family and relationships and prioritizing, but I'll tell you, if I got a call from my daughter, I probably would answer it and I'd say something along the lines of, hey, let me call you right back when I'm done. And I don't know if that's exactly honoring the words that I'm saying. So I've had to really reflect on this. Now, Jesse's one of a kind, and I'm not saying what Jesse did is right for you, but the focusing question, you know, what you're sharing, what you're saying, are you honoring? Are your actions matching your words? I think it's a really good one. Every one of us has our own stage. Every one of us is presenting in some way. Are we living up to what it is we say? That's all I have for you today. The No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.
