Episode 037: Peter Voogd - How To Live A World Class Lifestyle

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This is the Rise of the Young podcast, bringing you insights from the most innovative entrepreneurs and influencers of this era. Hosted by 17 year old entrepreneur, author, public speaker and branding expert, Casey Adams. Now let's get right into the show.

What's going on, everyone? Casey Adams here. Welcome to the Rise of the Young podcast. Today, episode 37, we have the one and only Peter Voog. Today we're going to be talking a lot about his story, but mostly what it means to live a world class lifestyle. So, Peter, thanks so much for coming on, man.

My pleasure, man. I'm excited to be here. I know you're a young hustler trying to make it happen and making moves and always into supporting the younger generation because you're the future, man. So I'm ready to go. I'm fired up and excited.

I appreciate that, Peter. So, yeah, so whenever I'm interviewing someone, I always kind of make sure that you are allowing yourself to kind of give a little brief insight to who you are, what you do and how your journey started as an entrepreneur for sure, man.

So I used to be, when I came up in entrepreneurship, there was all these gurus, like, you got to have a perfect story and then you got to drag them in here and say this here. And I was like so into having a perfect story. Then I'm like, dude, these people are just trying to say this to try to sell things and they're so inauthentic. So I don't have like an exact storyline. I'm just a hustler that's been grinding since I was 15. School was not for me. I was very, very rambunctious. My energy was so. And you probably can relate. Tied up in the school, I felt like I was placed in a box. I couldn't really release my ambition. So when I was 15, I started an ebay business and I was selling stuff on ebay. Jordans and different shoes. I would buy shirts, Lacoste shirts in Bulk and sell them. I would have my friends sell them, give them a percentage. And I was doing really well in high school. And my breaking point, Casey, was when I was. My dad had a construction company, so I was doing hard labor a little bit, and I couldn't stand it. I'd rather use my brain, not my hands. And one day, my friend who was working for my dad worked all day for about eight hours. I only worked about a half hour. And I'm like, dad, I got stuff to do. I can't do this. And this was a breakthrough for me because I never forgot this. And I had checked my ebay that day. So I didn't work construction. I was shoveling sand. I'm like, I'm sick of this. I'm gonna go check my ebay. I made, like, $91 on a pair of shoes that I just put on ebay. It took me a minute. He had made $63 in eight hours. So he had worked his butt off for eight hours shoveling sand and made less money than I did in one minute putting something on ebay. So I'm like, wow, I'm onto something here. So it totally transformed my thinking of thinking like an entrepreneur versus thinking like a hard labor nine to fiver. So I want people to realize I got paid for the courage to think differently and the courage to take a risk, unlike most people. So I was hooked on entrepreneurship. But because I lived in a very small town in Oregon, because of society and my atmosphere and my environment, almost everyone's like, you know, you have to get a normal job. You can't just be an entrepreneur. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Of course I can. And just to be honest, from so many people hitting it in my head, I got a normal job. And it was the worst two months of my life. And after that normal job, I realized I didn't want someone else to tell me what I was worth. I didn't want someone else to tell me what I can go to the bathroom. I saw almost everybody in my town that had a normal job hated what they did. They had no money. They hated their boss. They hated their life. They did the same shit over and over again. So I couldn't stand that. So I'm like, I'm not gonna do this. Then I got into direct sales. I was able to build my way up to one of the top sales reps. I got more excitement at that time. I was 20, 21, 22. I got more excitement from helping other people, inspiring other people. So When I started crushing it in sales, people asked me what I was doing and I started to get way more fulfillment inspiring other people and being a leader. So I decided to run my own office. I became a district executive for this company and I moved up to Seattle to start my own office and realized that motivating yourself is one thing, but motivating other people is a whole different ballgame. Most people can motivate. Sadly, there's three types of people. Some can't even motivate themselves. But the people that motivate themselves, they can get success individually. The next level of fulfillment and legacy is being able to inspire others through your actions and who you become. So I was able to take the office and actually at the beginning I failed. I didn't know how to motivate people. I thought they'd be self motivated. I didn't know how to teach them entrepreneurship. So I failed. I went dead broke. I lost all my savings. I was frustrated, discouraged, pissed off. I felt like I let my family down. And from that moment I made this decision and something flipped in my head like I'm never going to be like this and feel this way ever again. And from that point I was able to get my head straight and we could talk about the actions. But I was able to make six figures in six months and was able to save six figures within six months after that. And from then on it just continued to grow. I continued to elevate my network, invest in myself. I continued to level up my thinking, my mindset, and then I was able to build a seven figure business. I've done six figures in six months in I think eight or nine different industries. And now my number one mission is to help people live life on their terms and do what I love. And that's it, man. So it's just, it's been a long journey, but that's a simplified version.

Sure, that was fine man. I appreciate that. So yeah, because I know that you talk a lot about and you have a huge impact on the millennials on Gen Z and just doing a lot of research at UN man, you always talk about the living the world class lifestyle. So for everyone listening that might not know what that world class lifestyle is. What does living a world class lifestyle mean to you and why is it important?

I think it means for me living a life on your terms that you're proud of. What I've realized is if you've built a hundred million dollar business like you've built a business that is crushing it, but you don't Have a lifestyle you're proud of or your kids don't know who you are. What kind of lifestyle is that? So I realized that a world class lifestyle encompasses having an inspiring lifestyle that you're proud of. It means world class health, it means world class finances and choices, it means world class autonomy, world class relationships, world class adventures, world class family life. And I saw a lot of people that I was studying a lot of people and I was studying relentlessly that, and I was studying kind of the world's so called game changers, right? And the reality was they were game changers in their field. Maybe they crushed it, broke some records or changed the game financially, but they left failed relationships behind them. Or they crushed it and broke all these records in their company, but they forgot about their health, so they're not healthy at all. Or, or they became a best selling author or a top sales representative, but their kids don't know who they are. So I realized as I went old, as I became older, I want people to be world class human beings. I don't respect people that have $100 million but a bunch of failed relationships. I don't trust people that are top CEOs but their kids don't know who they are and they don't give their kids time. I don't respect those people. So world class just means being world class in every area that you define that matters and in your life so you can inspire people through your lifestyle. That's what that means. So I mean, there's just too many people and you probably see it and millennials are following everybody. So my advice is take very few opinions and only file follow people have the lifestyle you want. So world class means defining what's most important to you and defining your values and living a lifestyle in alignment with your most important values and not being world class in two areas, but forgetting all these in the new economy, it's very possible and it's necessary to be world class in multiple areas, not just one or two. And that's kind of what that means. And I've just been inspired by studying people to have the world class lifestyles in every area.

I love it. I love it. And that's, that's actually when I first started following you, that was like the thing that I really latched onto because like you always said, like, there's people who have the money, there's people that are doing those things, but their lifestyle, when it comes to relationships and just stuff that really matters, they don't take it seriously. So for all of the millennials or Gen Z listening. I know that you really touched on a lot about staying clear on your goals. Being crystal clear. That's something that you talk a lot about, and that's something that's helped me really get focused, get clear on what I'm doing. But what's like your thought process of actually staying clear on what you're doing to actually. What would be the biggest piece of advice you give to someone who's just starting out as an entrepreneur? Because this is the problem I had of like trying to do it all but not being one thing. And then I really got focused on building my personal brand business and really a lot of my clients stuff. But what's like a few tips that you give to someone about staying crystal clear on what they're doing?

Yep. It's really about knowing yourself and paying attention to what sparks your fire and what drives you. And when you're young, when you're a millennial or Gen Z, you want to be testing a lot. I think perfection cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars, so. Testing different ideas. So for you, you're young enough where it's good to try a bunch of different things and realize, you know, this doesn't make me feel right. This is not the vibe for me. This makes me feel amazing. This is the path that maybe could make me money, but it's not fully aligned. Doesn't feel right. Right. So here's the biggest thing I can tell people. You need to make a definite decision that you're gonna make the entrepreneur thing work. Because if you have 1% doubt, you're gonna take the doubt every time. So if you're young entrepreneur, and you're like, I'm gonna be an entrepreneur, but 1% of you is like, well, if I'm not, if I fail, I'm gonna get the normal job my parents want me to get or go to college. You, you're going to take that route every time. So the first thing is decide that you're going to make it happen and use the world as proof. I mean, there's 16, 17, 18 year olds. We both know Caleb Mattis. We know a lot of people crushing and making half a million, a million dollars. Age is really irrelevant now. There's no age that limits you from being successful. 20 years ago, you could not be 16 doing what you're doing now. You can. I know people, Casey, that have 20 years of experience and they're so obsessed with like, I have all this experience. No, you don't. You have one year of experience. Repeated 20 times. Because you're doing the same thing over and over and over again, period. You're not growing, you're not innovating. So the first thing I'd say is make that definite decision. Then simplify all your goals, simplify your entire business on a one page plan. I talk about this and this is something that made a huge impact on me. And I've done this since 2010 or 11. It's called a one page plan. First thing you do is simplify and ask yourself, what is my ideal outcome based on who I am? What is my ideal outcome for the next six months to a year? Because what really matters is six months to a year, three years and then 90 days. Everyone's like what about one year, two years, five years? Things change, economies change, you change. So 90 days, six months, two to three years. So a vision for exactly what you want. Now here's the problem. Most people base their vision and what they want off of their past or off their insecurities. So they set these small goals because everyone's beat out their ambition around them because everyone already gave up on theirs. Never let someone who already gave up on their dreams talk you out of yours. Because most people letting society talk them out of their dreams, they're giving people advice from their 9 to 5 they hate. You know what I mean? So don't take advice from people that you wouldn't trade places with. So what's your ideal vision? And base it off your potential and what's possible, not your past. So for me, I started basing my goals off what was possible, what I wanted. I didn't think about if I could do it. I'm just like, this is what's ideal for me, right? That's the first step is you don't need to know how you're going to get there. You don't need to know why. Just figure out what your ideal outcome is. Make a paragraph and just let your brain flow and let your pen flow. Next. What are your ideal values? What is most important to you in life? Because when you build a purpose driven in a value aligned business, that's when you're most congruent. There's so many people, Casey and I want to tell you this and look you in the eyes at a young age. So many people are living incongruently because they set the wrong expectations. Their number one value is freedom. But they work a job where someone has the freedom of them in their hands. Their number one value is family. But they have a job where they can't see their family when they want to. You're living incongruently. Maybe your number one value is growth and progress, but you have a job that's capped where you can't grow and progress. You're living incongruently. So I had to figure out my values and these change based off the stages of your business. So when I was broke, what do you think one of my top values was when I was broke? Money. Now I'm turning down speeches left and right. Podcast. Someone offered me a company, offered me $5,000 to promote some stuff on my Instagram and LinkedIn and some other platforms. I said, now I'm good. Your company doesn't line with me. And five missed me with the 5K. I'm straight, right? But five, six years ago, 5K, oh my God. The key is having leverage. And you only have leverage by defining your ideal outcome and sticking with it. So my values now, family, flexibility, autonomy, impact and legacy. And then financial freedom. Right now, I make my decisions based off that. So when something comes across my desk, I ask myself will this contribute to my freedom or contaminate my freedom, period? So I look at my values. Now, when a speech comes to me and I'm like, yeah, you know, I'm good. This 10, 15K, I'm going to pass this to one of my friends. I don't need this speech right now because it doesn't fully align. The timing's off. If my value was number one, I would take every single paid gig. But because lifestyle is first, I don't take everything. Now, in your situation, you might take everything like I did when I was your age, right? But it's going to change as you progress and grow and that's a huge key. And you could see people living based off their values every day. You could see people that are money hungry, that only want money, and you can see people that value lifestyle and family, right? So that's the next thing is your values. So freedom, whatever yours are, like, maybe yours can be impact, financial freedom, family, flexibility, adventure, I don't know. But define your values next. What are your big five that have to happen that you have to accomplish in the next six months for you to be fully congruent and on track for your vision for the next six months. Now, if me and you were hanging out, drinking coffee because you can't drink anything else, if we were hanging out in six months, having some coffee, having some tea, what would have had to happen for you to be fully satisfied and excited about the progress in your Life, you have to think about those things. Because if you ask A hundred people, 100 entrepreneurs, hey, what's your ideal outcome in six months? 95 out of 100 are too vague. I want to make more money. I want to be crushing it. Yeah. No. So does everybody else. But what is, like, how involved are you in the business? How much money are you making per month? What are your current revenue streams? How exactly are you going to make the money? How big is your team? Right. People don't answer these questions because they're harder. They'd rather think recycled thoughts from everybody else versus think for themselves. So values top five actions below that. Here's the key that most people miss now. You need your fuel. So when you know yourself, you know how to spark your own fire. Because the more you need someone else to motivate you, the less money you'll make. The more you can motivate yourself, the more money you make. Why are you making money right now? Because you don't need someone else to tell you what to do or what you're worth or when to be motivated. You don't need that. If you did, you'd work a Jamba Juice like some of your friends. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because they need someone to tell them what they're worth and what to do. But my question to people is, how much is someone paid you to give up on your dreams? If someone's paying you to give up on your dreams, you better be making a couple million. People are paying people to give up on their dreams, and they're paying them 30 grand, 50 grand. If someone's paying you to give up on everything that matters to you and make you happy, you better expect a million dollars. Right? So stack up your reasons. 25, 30 reasons that fire you up, what drives you, what wakes you up in the morning. And here's the deal. 25 or 30 of those, Casey, are not going to be that motivating. You're still going to sleep in. Maybe it's material things, but four or five of those reasons are going to really be intrinsic and emotionally spark your fire. So they're going to really fire you up. Look at those 25 or 30 reasons and pick your top five that fire you up the most, that's your fuel. Because if you're not waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning right now, fired up and excited, you don't have strong enough reasons. So that's the next thing is reasons. Then what's the one skill you have to master right now? That's most relevant to the six month vision. And here's the kicker. Now it's all focused on mastery versus overload. When you figure out the one skill, every single thing you study, you put in your mind has to be relevant to that one skill. The biggest problem I see with Gen Z and Millennials, the number one problem is they're overloaded with information. They take on anything they see. Someone's like, read this book, okay? And they read anything. They listen to every podcast, study every single video. They're always consuming, consuming, consuming. And they're focused on overload versus mastery and they have this grass is greener mentality. And you've probably had this in the past like I have, where instead of executing what you've already learned, you trick yourself and say, well, you know, I need to learn more. So we have all these people learning and they're just a bunch of broke geniuses running around with no action. Execute what you've already learned and make sure every single thing you study is the best information possible. Make sure when you take something on, you've already executed what you previously learned and you make sure this is the best possible information that you can study that's most relevant to A, your skills and B, your six month vision. And if you can make this one page and then you can sell yourself on every activity and do not take anything on your plate unless you're fully sold on it. That's how you get to know yourself and that's how you really stay congruent and get clarity on exactly which one. And then the key is letting your vision guide you, not your current circumstances. So now the vision. So I have this, I've made this since 2012. It's just the one page. My top desires, my top three goals by the end of January, top four within six months, my mantra. I let this guide me because if you let your mood and feelings guide you, you are going to guarantee have regret. So when the mood and feelings dictate your actions, that's when you start to slip. So let your vision guide you. I hope that answer your question. I get fired up.

That was fire, bro. We're just getting started too. And I totally, I feel like that's the main reason why you've been able to build such a huge community and amount of followers is because you're giving them practical stuff. It's like, you know what I'm saying? You always talk about like the clarity and even like what you just talked about now is like having the five things, having the one page, like that's practical stuff that especially I can implement. You. I know I've already done a lot of this thing that you've talked about, but when it comes to the self awareness factor of, like you said, like, figuring out those five things that you want to go towards because you don't want to overload yourself, and this is something that I've kind of really jumped on. And last two over the last six to eight months is just the self awareness factor. So what would be like, two key tips for people to really be self aware? Because everyone has different circumstances, everyone has a different upbringing. But when it comes to the self awareness factor for millennials or Gen Z, what would be like, the two key tips to really to help them focus on being self aware?

I think one is paying attention to what frustrates and pisses them off. So what really, really frustrates you? What has frustrated you in the past? When someone told me when I was younger, oh, yeah, I can't do that, I don't have the money that really irked me. Or when they're like, yeah, I can't get time off, or I can't make it to this, because my boss, that drove me nuts when I was younger. So I knew there was some type of passion there. Another thing that drove me nuts coming up is all these speakers charging 30, 40, $50,000 and giving the same BS regurgitated speech that you could find on YouTube. And I'm like, dude, I could give way better speeches than these people. And it's not that I don't have respect for them, but a lot of times if I know they're cutting corners, I really don't have respect. You shouldn't respect someone just because they're older. You should respect people that deserve respect. Right? So figure out what frustrates you and pisses you off a little bit in your past. And also for me, it was really diving deep and thinking about what motivates me, what inspires me, what my values are, until it actually became a reality. Here's the big thing. When I didn't have clarity, Casey, I had a mentor, and I was trying to figure it out. And I kept trying to figure it out. I kept trying to ask myself the tough questions, like, what would I do for free? What fires me up, that inspires me, that I want to help people with, even if they don't pay me money. If I got $10 million, what do I do tomorrow? What frustrates me and pisses me off, what's most important to me? And here's the deal. I would keep asking myself these questions, and I would continue to try to figure out what was most important to me and clarity until I got it. It took me six months. Here's most people's problems. They try to figure out what's most important to them, and they try to figure out how to get absolute clarity until it gets tough or uncomfortable, then they settle. I would tell people, continue to figure it out until the attitude is until you actually figure it out. And here's another thing. It's not about passion. It's about results. People are like, following your passion. You're gonna go broke doing that. You want to follow where you get results, where you have experience and what your strengths are. It's like when you ask people, hey, do you like sports? No, I hate sports. Yes, because you suck at them. It's like, why else would you hate them? Right. People that aren't good at sports hate sports. People that are good love sports. So you get good by focusing on what you want. And when you have experience and you get results, you get a passion for it. I didn't have a passion for speaking because I sucked at speaking, but when I kept doing it, I kept getting better and better and honing my craft. That's when I started having a passion. Like, I love speaking. Right. You saw me speak in the east coast, in New York. Right? So that's what I would say is until there's a story, I'm friends with Kevin Eastman, who was the vice president of the Clippers. He spoke to my academy numerous times. So such a sharp guy. Really close friends with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and he was the assistant coach for the Clippers. And he told me a story about Kobe I'll never forget. He said, I was with Kobe in his house in la and there was a high school All American game on. He kept practicing this move this high schooler was doing that he didn't know how to do. First of all, you can learn from everybody. Kobe is one of the best to ever play, and he's learning from a high schooler. Some of you guys can't even learn from someone younger than you because your ego gets in the way. You know what I mean? Don't fill your ego. Fill your bank account, first of all. But here's the deal. So Kobe kept practicing this move. Kevin Eastman leaves, and a week later, Kobe's in the gym, and he's still practicing the same move. Same move he's practicing. And Kevin's like. Like, kobe, what are you doing? He's like, I'm trying to get this move down. He's like, how long are you gonna practice this? He goes, until. And Kevin's like, yeah, until what? Till practice over? Till. Till next week? Till the game? No, until. And he kept saying, until. Kevin's like, until what? He's like, until I master it. I don't think in terms of time. I think in terms of masteries and outcomes. So I never forgot that. So you have to have that Kobe Bryant mentality where you need to continue to figure out and get clarity until you figure it out. Don't stop when it gets tough, because if it was easy, everyone in the world would have clarity, Although no one does. That's why it's tough. So that's what I would say, Casey, is just continue to ask yourself the tough questions. Pay attention to the vibes, to your feelings, to what frustrates you, to what inspires you, to who inspires you, to who frustrates you and rubs you the wrong way. And continue to adapt and adjust and maneuver until it feels right. That's what. That's what I did. And I mean, I have a mixtape. It's called Know Yourself. Because I've realized this last year, this last two years, I've studied the least I've studied. I've been focusing on mastery. I only have one mentor. I'm part of one program. Right. I've listened to, like, one podcast, and I've had the best results I've ever had when the years before I listened. I have way more information but less results because I'm not focused on mastery. So hopefully that helps.

I love that. And I was actually. I was about to bring up the Know Yourself, your mixtape, because I actually had a few questions just regarding your reasoning behind it, because it's something cool that I really. It sparked my attention when I started listening to it because there's different podcasts, there's different YouTube videos. But when I started listening to your mix Day, man, it's like, it has that upbeat vibe. It has like, that. It's not music, but it's like a rap kind of flowy thing that's just good to listen to, easy to follow. So, like, what was your mentality creating Know Yourself and kind of give a brief intro of what that is for the people that may not know what it is.

I feel like this is the new era of motivation. Music sparks emotions, but when you're done with the actual emotion, you have no action plan. And you don't. It doesn't help you pass the activity, producing it. So you're inspired by music, but. But then you have no tactics, no clarity, and no roadmap. And I've realized after listening, and to be quite honest, I was so fed up, annoyed, and sick of all this boring content, these boring podcasts that are an hour or two long. The average millennial listens to, I think six or seven minutes of a podcast. So if you're expecting to relate to millennials and Gen Z and your podcast is 50 minutes, you're doing it all wrong. And you're not researching and doing your due diligence. And you should be ashamed of yourself trying to relate to millennials when you're having two hour podcasts. You can relate to 50 and 60 year olds, that's fine, but don't expect to relate to millennials. So for me, I just wanted a new way to motivate, a new way to inspire. And I wanted to create content in a more relatable way. I wanted to get people to really think. And I've realized the power of music behind sparking emotion. So the bottom line is I created the mixtapes. There's three of them now, and I'm coming out with the fourth one soon. But I'm just, I want to relate in a different way that really inspires and motivates people to catch on. And for me, the biggest compliment I get is no one else can motivate me. I've been listening to all these podcasts. Nothing motivated me and got me actually to take action, like your mixtape. So it's just really relevant new content that has changed the game for me, mixed with motivational beats. And I have a couple producers that produce specific beats for me. I have my boy Gerard Adams on there, Lewis Howes, Eric Thomas, I have some of my friends on there spitting game and really inspiring in a new and relevant way because I feel like this is the future. That's why I did. I created it because there needed to be a change in the industry because things were so boring and dry. And you tell me when you were coming up the last couple years, I mean, there wasn't that much inspiring content out there.

Yeah, definitely.

That's one of the reasons. Just I felt like it was needed for sure.

And for everyone listening, that'll definitely be in the description down below. You'll be able to check out his mixtape. But there's one thing I definitely wanted to talk about with you because I know that after doing some research and watching a lot of interview that you've done with amazing people, they all talk about the healthy lifestyle. And I feel like this doesn't get talked about as much. And I'm sure you would agree when it comes to, there's a lot of things out there talking about money and results. But when it comes to the healthy factor, I know that I've been watching your stuff with Gerard Adams, like, he's going vegan or vegetarian or something like that. You've given him, like a, like a good lifestyle. You're trying to teach people what it means to be healthy because that's a huge factor. So for you, what's like some of the things you'd want to let the younger generation know when it comes to eating healthy and staying focused and having a good energy, what would be the main things you want to talk about on that end?

Let me ask you this real quick. What is something that we've talked about? What is the biggest thing that stood out to you about health that we've talked about in the last year that shifted your mindset? Let me, let me flip it over to you. What's something that stood out that you maybe didn't know beforehand?

I mean, I would say when it comes to just what you eat is how you feel, the energy aspect of everything. When it comes to, like, what you put in is what you get out. When it comes to your clarity, your peace of mind, like, how focused you are, how you can stay focused throughout the day and, like, the energy. And I've definitely, I've tested some different stuff, but I've definitely been following you because you're not just talking about the business world, but actually the whole, the full circle effect. And that's definitely something that I've really vibed with. But, yeah, I mean, I would say just like, massive impact on, like, the energy that you can get from, like, eating better, 100%.

And I think people need to realize if you don't make time for health, you're going to have to make time for illness later. And I just realized people always ask, and here's the scary thing, not scary. It's kind of funny to me now because I don't fear what anyone thinks. I'm fully authentic. Because sometimes the things that people don't want to hear are the things they need to hear the most, right? So health is an uncomfortable topic for unhealthy people. So if you're getting uncomfortable, you need this more than anybody. So I think to realize how important health is, go talk to someone who doesn't have their health anymore. Right? But for me, here's how it started, Casey, I wanted. When I was struggling, and I finally started building my way back up. When I was running a sales team, I had a ton of salespeople. I had 15 or 16 employees. I had the executive assistant, a campus relations manager. I had all a sales manager. I had all kinds of people working for me, and I had a sales team of 150 people. I was looking for every single advantage possible to be the best I could be, to break records, to be the best in my company, and to set myself up for a successful future. I was looking for every advantage. I was the most unhealthy person. I started to take care of my health because I realized nobody else was. I started to watch what I ate. I started to get more addicted to how I felt afterwards than instant pleasure. If you get addicted to instant pleasure before you deserve success, the new economy will destroy you. Like, destroy you. So most people don't have enough energy to get through the day, let alone chase their dreams. So for me, it started out with just. I wanted a competitive advantage. So I started eating healthier. My energy started skyrocketing. I started to be more aware, more focused, more resourceful, more consistent. Then, because the only culture you create with your sales team is who you are and what you care about. I cared so much about health. I told my sales team, we're going to be healthy. If you don't like it, see you, right? No fast food. You're bringing no fast food in my office. No fast food. I care about your guys wellbeing more than you liking me, right? So we started saying, no fast food. Let's watch what we eat. Let's be focused. We worked out in the mornings together. We made green drinks together. And what, let me ask you, what do you think happened to our sales results?

I mean, I would say the sales went up and everyone. It was just a better energy, better culture.

Overall, it skyrocketed. And I was. I did my first summer as a Manager, I did $145,000. That summer, we did almost 800,000.

Wow.

And I worked less, but I was just more strategic and more intelligent. So I think when it comes to health, you have to understand the importance of it. And you have to understand what. What if you had all the time, money and flexibility in the world, but no energy? That's what drove me. It's like, what if I had all this time, all this money, but I had no energy to do anything? That really kind of that fear drove me crazy. So the importance of health and energy is Impact and influence. It helps you. You're more productive. It's better for relationships, for networking, for connections. You have more passion, excitement, and you have more creativity and awareness. So there's three types of energy. There's the physical, there's the emotional, there's the mental, right? Physical is like nutrition. Like, you want to eat 70% greens, you want to have a lot of water. You want to make sure that you watch what you eat and you eat things that make you feel vibrant and give you vitality, not make you tired. Eat smaller portions. But for me, I'm a vegetarian. I haven't eaten meat for, like, four years, and I don't really. I never tell anyone, you shouldn't eat meat. I just let people, I say, hey, just try it for a couple days. And nine out of 10 times when they try it for a week, they're like, oh, my gosh, I cannot believe. Like, I had Gerard Adams geeking out.

Yeah, yeah, I'm following it.

He was like, I just ate and I'm not tired. He goes, I feel more energized than before I ate. This is nuts, right? So, I mean, it's just. It's just seeing the facts, right? But when you've ate meat or when you've done. When you've been eating unhealthy your whole life, it's hard to change. Most people aren't willing to change. And then exercise, right? When you're stronger physically, you're stronger mentally. So I've been working out. I made a decision in 2012 to work out five days a week, get active consistently. Cardio, weight, stretching, and now it's a habit. Habits trump inspiration, and here's what people need to realize. Casey. I don't always feel like working out, but as I don't feel like working out, I get up. And as I hate working out, as I don't feel like it, I'm driving to the gym. So in my head, I'm like, I don't want to work out. But I'm driving to the gym, and as I'm getting to the gym, I'm like, I don't want to work out. As I'm walking in the gym, I'm like, I don't want to work out. But as I pick up a weight or as I start running, I'm like, oh, I'm going to work out for sure. So most people let the feelings define them. So the decision train is something where it's like, you got to make a decision and decide what you're going to do whether you feel like it or not, and get addicted to how you feel afterwards. If you let your feelings dictate you, I mean, you're going to struggle consistently because those who only do what they feel feel like they don't do much. So that's part of health as well. So the physical energy and what I've realized is nothing tastes as good as health feels, you know what I mean? Then there's the emotional energy. So like emotional intelligence, getting into a peak state of mind, analyzing versus being emotional, responding with intelligence versus emotion, focusing on solutions, not problems. They asked, I can't remember if it was Henry Ford, someone that was really big back in the day. They asked him what's the number one thing he looks for in employees and for managers and for staff. He said, two things, that's it. There's nothing else I look for when I'm hiring somebody than two things. Their ability to energize themselves and their ability to energize others. That's it. So if you're in a leadership role, that's the things that you should look for in people. Their ability to get themselves juiced up and excited and their ability to get others as well. And then mental energy is what you put in your mind. So I stay away from news. I don't know what's going on in the news. Negative me, like the economy is doing amazing, the world's doing amazing. Unless you watch the news, then it's not right, manipulated. And for you, it's like you being that young and understanding this, you're so far you're ahead of most 40 and 50 year olds.

It's funny that you brought that up because today I went to school today, right, and my teacher was literally talking about like how she's still in debt when she went to college and all this stuff. The negative, like of course, genuinely telling the class how negative the world is, how in three months when we all graduate, how negative it's going to be. And I'm, I'm literally sitting there, man, I'm like, what the hell? Like, what is, what is this? And like, and she was showing us this thing like, like CBS 10, 10 minute about the news and everything. It was just so. It's funny that you brought that up because like that was like a real experience.

That's how I grew up too. I mean, that's all they know. That's their life. That's how their parents raised them and their parents raised them. And it's a generational thing. But here's the Problem with and being blunt. Some parents are just doing a bad job. And I'm being blunt. Like, people don't want to hear that, but what am I supposed to do? Sugar coat? Our society is addicted to sugar coating, right? And they're allergic to being real. So the problem is parents are treating their kids how their parents treated them when they, when they grew up. But they don't realize that it's actually 2018. It's not 1991, it's not 1982 anymore. They're still treating their kids like it's 1982. When it's, I don't know if maybe I'm wrong, but if I look at the clock, it's 2018. Stop treating your kids like it's 1996. Like, what's your problem? Another key with mental energy is how you talk to yourself, right? What? You focus on how you talk to yourself. So for me, I went through an energy explosion. I had clarity. That gives you energy. Okay? I took care of my body. I got massages weekly. I rejuvenate myself. I sometimes go outside, I work out, I watch what I eat. I just want the competitive advantage. Here's the biggest one. I got rid of all toxic people and anything in my life that was negative or toxic. That's the number one thing I did. Your energy and your peace of mind will skyrocket when you get rid of toxic people who don't make you feel exceptional. Life is too short. If you had 10 lives, maybe one of them. You can hang out with toxic people who make you feel like crap, but you have one life. I just realized life's too short to hang out with toxic people, right? So you got to create your own energy bubble and stay away from toxic people and figure out what's most important to you. If you love instant pleasure so much and you enjoy that cheeseburger and that pizza so much, that's fine. Don't bitch when you don't have results or when you're tired. Live congruently if you're going to eat bad. Don't bitch when you're broke. Like, if you're going to eat bad, just be like, well, I'm going to eat bad. I know I'm not going to be successful. I love what I eat. I'm fine. I'm okay with watching TV all day and having someone else tell me what I'm doing, what I'm going to do. Don't complain. Live congruently if you want to be successful, want to be the best, then watch what you eat and eat for vitality, not instant pleasure. It's just living congruently, Casey. That's all it is. Like I told my sales team when they wanted to break the record, I said, this is what it's going to take. Your thinking and acting right now is going to get you this result. You're talking like you want this result, but your action is going to get you this result. I just want to give you congruent expectations. So just giving people congruent expectations is the best thing you could do for them as well, you know what I mean? After this podcast, don't watch another podcast. Take action from stuff that me and Casey talked about today. Execute, and then don't move on till you've seen some results in your life and business. And then go to the next personal growth task. Right? So, yeah, you're getting me juiced up, man. I'm fired up. But health is a big key.

Oh, yeah, for sure. And I like how you brought toxic people. I feel like for me and a lot of, like, young people where I'm from, it's like, that's the one thing that's just like, people think that's they don't have control of it, but that's like, the only thing they do have control over. Like, I found a funny little story about me is like, literally, like a year and a half ago surrounding myself with people that are just focused on going to the next party, the next chick, the next drug, all that BS stuff, right? And I feel like for me, like, literally this is kind of like my execution way was like, literally the first time I went out to LA was when I met Tai Lopez, right? And like, every single month after that, like, I was trying to just keep on surrounding myself with good people. I literally booked a ticket to LA like, once a month for the last eight months, was able to grow my network. And I feel like that for me was like, getting away from the toxic, like, settling down in my community. And that allowed me to just open up so many doors, opportunity to do this by being around the right people, start feeling uncomfortable in certain, certain situations, being the less, like, the most, the dumbest in the room, that whole kind of mantra. And I feel like that was like, my huge, like, advantage and just like, taking the necessary action to be around the right people 24 7, you know.

That'S the number one thing that changed the game for me. I made a list of, like, my growth friends and my maintenance friends, and I lowered the time I spent with people who held me back who didn't think big, who settled. And I started increasing time I spent with people that challenged my thinking. You're either hanging out with people who let you off the hook or hold you to high standards. So I'm glad you said that, because it's that that changed the game for me. Elevating my circle of influence. It's a chapter in my book. Like, elevating your circle, influence. I heard a quote, it's like, if you want to be a millionaire, talk to billionaires. You'll get there quicker. And like, if you hang out with five millionaires, what's gonna happen? Eventually you're gonna be the six million. It's just a fact. Right. If you hang out with five intelligent people, you'll be the sixth. If you hang out five confident people, you'll be the six. It's a hundred percent fact. But if you hang out with five idiots, what do you. What do you expect to happen? Or if. Like, who do alcoholics hang out with? Fact. So you got to start elevating your circle of influence and thinking about the effect people have on your psychology, on your mindset, on your standards as well. So that's a game changer for me.

Sure. Yeah. So I got. I got about two more questions to ask you kind of as we're wrapping this up. So I definitely have done a lot of digging on the people that you've been surrounding yourself. I know that you have a great circle of influence. So when it comes to kind of what you've gathered from learning from the people like that know, Kobe Bryant or for interviewing the guy that the founder of P90X, people that have massive success, great mental capabilities, what are like some core principles that you've taken away from amazing people when it comes to the lifestyle, when it comes to the energy, something that you've internalized that you'd want to give back to someone listening today, a couple things.

One, I've realized they do the unrequired work. They do what's expected of them times 50, then they do all the unrequired stuff. These days, people want praise for doing what's expected of them. So when they. When they're at practice and they take a thousand shots like they're supposed to, they take another thousand when no one's watching. Then when they get home, they study film for another hour. So unrequired work, whether it's Tom Brady, whether it's Tony Robbins, whether it's Elon Musk, whether it was Steve Jobs, whether it was Richard Branson, whether It's Drake like. They do the unrequired work that no one else is willing to do. They over prepare, they overstudy, they make sure so much. They're so confident that they want to succeed that they make sure there's no chance for failure. They over prepare. That's one, two. This is a big one. They live and they create their own reality. They have no sense of society expectations and they have no sense of any boundaries or limitations. Here's what I mean. They don't wake up at six because everyone else does. They don't go out on Friday, Saturday because everyone else does. They don't take Sunday off because everyone else does. They are totally in their own stratosphere of focus. So you could tell someone that's a high level thinker a million times what they're doing is wrong. They go okay. And they don't even think. They don't, they don't even think about it. They're like okay. And they keep doing it because they're so. They're more confident in themselves than other people's opinions. So they're creating the reality. So for me, I'm doing what I want to do at all times on my terms. If I want to take money through Wednesday off and work Saturday, Sunday, I'll do that. If I want to travel and go somewhere, I'll do that. I never go out when everyone else does. So me and my wife are very unorthodox. We will never go out on a Friday, Saturday night because everybody's out. We will never travel on a Sunday because everyone travels Sunday. Everyone flies normal and buys coach. So we were first class. Now we fly private sometimes. But the reality is they're unorthodox. They do the opposite of everybody else. I've noticed that in every successful person they have no sense of reality. Their reality is jaded. They're thinking so big and so different that others opinions, society's expectations don't really affect them. Two, they're immune to criticism. They don't fear what people think and they drop the need to be liked by people. If you feel like you have to be liked by everyone, good luck in this new economy. So you're never gonna build an extraordinary life if you're fearing what people think about you. So I've noticed this with a lot of successful people. They have half the world hating them and half the world loving them. They're only focused on the ones that love them. They don't even think about the hate. There's a kid named Lamelo Ball. Have you heard of him? Yeah. Basketball player. He's 16.

Oh yeah, he has.

He has so much hate, but he never responds. His emotional toughness at 16 is unfathomable to me. It's unbelievable. Even Ty, I've met Ty numerous times. He's promoted my stuff. I've been to his house multiple times. We've helped each other. I've promoted him. It's crazy how much hate he gets. He does two things, which they're both humorous. He totally ignores them or he roasts them. That's even funnier when he roasts people. But the reality is if you don't have any haters, you're not doing anything worthwhile. How you respond to haters usually. And here's what I've realized too, Casey. You'll never meet a successful hater ever. Most people that hate are broken, bitter, hating from their mom's basement. And they're just reflecting off their own insecurities. Like we're probably going to get. I don't know your audience. I've kind of tried to create controversy. But we might get some haters below. What are these people talking about? They're so young, they don't know what they're talking. You know what I mean? We might get some haters below, but they have such a high tolerance for hate that it doesn't affect them as well. So those are the three things that I've noticed. And of course they surround themselves with high level people. Another big thing I've noticed in studying, like the greats of the greats like the Kobe's and the Jordans and the Drakes, they never rest on their success of their past. They never even think about what they did yesterday. They're only as good as they're at right now. So they interviewed Kobe a little bit ago, like probably a month ago and they said, what are you expecting from the next 20 years? He goes, if my 20 years are not 10 times better than my previous 20, I have failed. Now keep in mind what he done, what he's done the last 20 years. Yeah. He broke almost every record in the NBA. He has how many championships? I don't even know. Four, five. Right. But he goes, but he goes, I need to make sure my next 20 years are way better. That's the mentality of a killer. That's the mentality of a savage, of a beast that's never satisfied. They're always reaching for new ambitions. A lot of people, they have one best selling book or they have one successful thing. I'm Gonna rest on these morals. Those are the B and C players, the A players, the real legends. They're always focused on what's next. Those are the four things I've noticed. I mean, there's a lot more, Casey, but those are the ones that really stand out to me that I've tried to emulate in my life.

Love it. I love it. So, last question before we wrap up is something I just like to kind of get the insights from people that I interviewed. So it's like if you had to start all over again, you're young, you're 17, 18, let's say my age again. But you, you were able to write down three things that you could read once you kind of started again. What would be those three things you'd want to give to your younger version of you? Whether it be the success, the failure, the mentality, what would be those three things that you would tell yourself that could also help the people listening today?

Very simple. First thing I'd say is, Peter, take very, very few opinions. That's one. Two would be, don't fear people. Drop the need to be liked. Don't fear people. And fully, fully, you can do this. Being yourself. You can do this. Not succumbing to society's low expectations. You can do this. Not succumbing to industry standards. You can do this and become as successful as you want being fully yourself. And I say this because I was a success. Live speaking with some of the world's most legendary speakers, even the audience. Casey had full three piece suits on. Yeah, I went up there in a hat, jeans and a T shirt. And at the beginning I'm like, what am I doing? I got to put a suit on it. And I'm like, f this. What do you mean? I'm going to be my freaking self. Yeah, everyone loved it because I was myself. But I would say be I can do it being my full. And the second thing would be don't fear people and know myself at the highest level. And third, no matter what you do, put nothing above being a world class human being. Don't let the money get to you. When you're at your highest point, know that you're going to be at a low point. When you're at your lowest point, know that you're going to be on top again. But keep an even keel and put nothing above being a world class human being. And if you can do that, you will be excited and proud of your life. And when you're 80 or 90 years old, you'll be Able to look in the mirror and have zero regret knowing you did it your way, on your terms, and you inspired a generation doing it. Those are the three things I would tell myself.

Oh, that was fire. To end it, Peter. So for everyone listening, I'm going to have all the social media links below. But what's the main platform that people can reach you, ask you questions, follow you, and really just see your journey?

I mean, I'm pretty active on Instagram, so Eterjvoog, which I'm sure you'll link as well. And then game changersmovement.com they could check out our movement, but I'm all over. I'm on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, but I'm pretty active on Instagram and get engaged with me. If you have any questions, say you heard about me from Casey's podcast. I'll give you some time. I'll answer any questions you have because I've been in your situation as well. And I want to say this too, Casey. The number one reason people don't succeed is they don't tell themselves now matters. They spend the first half of their life saying they're too young and the second half saying they're too old. Don't be like most people now, Matt. Like right now matters not tomorrow. Right now matters more than ever. So that's where they can find me.

Boom. I appreciate it. And everyone listening that will also be in the description. You can go check out his website and all of the social medias. But that being said, Peter, I really appreciate you coming on to the Rise down podcast. I'm sure a lot of people got insane value from this. But for everyone listening, make sure you subscribe, make sure you drop a rating. Go give Peter a follow, let him know that you came from the podcast and and I will see you guys in the next episode.

Monarch Legacy of Monsters An Apple Original Series the world is on fire. I decided to do something about it on November 17th. This place, it's not ours. Believe me, the most massive event of the year arrives. If you come with me, you'll know everything. I promise.

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