Fight Mediocrity! Give Plan B the Boot – Bo Eason – #640

Think of a thoroughbred racehorse. Thoroughbreds do not think about what they're going to eat. They don't think about who's going to train them. They don't think about what they're going to do today. They don't think about how they're going to prepare their next day. Everything is taking care of a thoroughbred racehorse. And that racehorse does one thing. It runs and it runs fast. That's it. Domination is a chapter I have in that I want people to start naming what they do. And that's all they do so that they know that they're a thoroughbred racer or they're Frank Sinatra. They're actually achieving the top level because they do what they do. And the rest is all taken care of. That's domination. Bulletproof radio. A state of high performance.

You're listening to Bulletproof Radio with Dave Asprey. Today's cool fact of the day explains how tardigrades protect their DNA to defy death. Now, you might not know what these things are. They're commonly known as water bears. And they're one of my favorite things, maybe kind of like my personal spirit animal. Because they can survive anything, including X rays, cosmic rays. You can soak them in hydrogen peroxide. They just don't die. So for me, it's like axolotl. Naked mole rats and tardigrades are those animals that call most to my soul because they all have superpowers beyond what mother Nature really normally does. Now, normally, if you hit any biology with radiation and chemicals like that, it damages DNA using hydroxyl radicals. And these are just molecules of oxygen and hydrogen. Turns out there's a protein called D sup which stands for damage suppressor, by the way. If you're one of the many biologists who listen to the show, could you guys come up with better names? Dsup. Seriously, who's going to remember all this stuff? All right, I'll get off that. Deesup is damaged suppressor which shields the tardigrades from radiation. And when they add that protein to human cells, the protein also protects our cells against radiation. Now we figured out why that works. D sub surrounds nucleosomes, basically DNA wound around proteins called histones. And the researchers at UCSD in La Jolla, by the way, the coolest university ever. You ever get to go there and look at the architecture. Like that is the place where you want to hang out and get your PhD. Anyway, they call it like a fluffy cloud of cotton candy. And researchers think that those proteins evolved to protect the tardigrades from hydroxyl radicals when they're dried out, which happens a lot because they live in moss. And that damage can't be repaired when the animals are dormant. So they have to protect themselves without an ongoing repair process. Now we have similar proteins called high mobility group nucleosome binding proteins or HMGNs. Again these dumb names. Anyway, researchers are looking to figure out whether the human proteins form a similar shield against DNA damaging chemicals. I actually just think it'd be great to blend some tardigrades in my bulletproof coffee, but there's gotta be a better way. And in the meantime, brand new study just came out that says, hey, if your mitochondria work very well, they provide the energy for the cells to protect your nuclear DNA. So good mitochondria equals less mutations. Maybe that's our way of doing it. We just can't survive being desiccated and dried out despite our best efforts. This guy is a speaker, performer, author who started his career in the NFL as a top pick for the Houston Oilers, played for the 49ers and branched out into acting and wrote a one man play called Run to the Litter that had a 50 city national run off Broadway. And he's now a speaker and leadership coach and a guy who can own a stage like no one I've ever met really just shows up in a powerful way. He's spoken to the bulletproof conference. Good friend, an inspirational guy, but someone who pays attention to details you would not even know mattered. His name is Beau Eason.

Bo.

Welcome to the show, Dave.

Thanks to be back. I'm so happy to be here.

Now the reason I had you back is a lot of people don't understand this when, when you work, doing the kind of, we'll call it, influencer work that you and I do, you, you spend your time interacting with people. In your case, you're teaching people how to show up on stage and how to have that winner energy that drove you in your sports career. But you also collect your best thoughts and the things that work your most precious things. And eventually there's enough pressure in your head to write them down and to create a book about it. And that's certainly what drives me. I know that's what drives you. You just came out with your book. There's no plan B for your A game, which is really how do you become the best at what you do in whatever field you're in. Similar mindset to game changers, highly different book because this is based on your own ass kicking in two different fields where you're at the very top of your game. That's unusual in two fields. So you're a unique specimen of humanity for your ability to do that. And you thought about why and how and you put it in a book. And that's what I want to talk to you about today. You down?

Yes. Sounds cool. My favorite subject.

One thing that impresses me and something that also scares me is that you've got 20,000 hours of experience on stage and we've all heard the 10,000 hours rule, and you talk about your A game and being at the very top of your field. Does everyone listening have to spend 10 or 20,000 hours doing something to be the best at their field? Because I got a lot of other stuff I want to do.

Yeah, I know, I know. Not everybody has to, but it helps those hours. If you look at the book, the studies that like Anders Ericsson has done, you know, he's done these 30 year studies on what it takes to be, you know, world class at several different things. Whether it's violin or ping pong or, or athletics or piano, it doesn't matter. He just. They have these certain hours they have to be put in. But if you can push yourself beyond your current capacity, you know, outside your comfort zone, then those hours come fast and furious. Here's the problem. Most are just afraid of that struggle of being outside the comfort zone. So it does, it takes years, right? So, you know, but, but look, here's another thing, Dave, you know, based on your work, based on what we know, we're going to be here anyway. I always say to people, people go, well, hey, I don't have 20 years, Bo. And I'm like, well, where are you going? I mean, you're going to be here, right? So let's put those 20 years to work. Let's master a thing and see where you end up. And you can measure yourself at the end of those 20 years because you're be here anyway. You might as well, you know, master something.

I interviewed Eric Kendall, who won a Nobel Prize around neuroplasticity. And his answer? I just said, what can I do to make, make myself more neuroplastic? And he just kept saying it was kind of sad for me. He goes, practice, practice, practice. And later I'm like, come on, there's gotta be a way to do it faster. Practice, practice, practice. And at the end of the summit, Eric has practiced, practice, practice, saying practice many times. Do you think there are hacks, Bo? I mean, you've put in so many Hours you've done so hard. But is it, is one type of training more effective than another? Like, how do I shorten the number of hours?

Well, here's the thing, look. So when I first started doing this, I did it very kind of innately, kind of primitively when I was nine, right? So at nine, I made a declaration that I wanted to be the best safety in the NFL. So that took many years, right? But here's the cool part, Dave. Once I learned what it took to be the best safety in the world, then I knew what it took to be the best playwright or the best stage performer or the best author. The mastery is mastery. So once you've got one, you've got mastery nailed. It's the same principles. That's why you can. What's cool about it is that you could live five, six different lives with, with careers and reach a world class level in one lifetime. Now that's pretty cool, right? So mastery is mastery regardless of the discipline.

That is something that I also would agree with. My career in cloud computing is a little bit different than my career in hacking human biology. But you learn how to do something and it can actually be a gift that you learned in one field and took it to another. There aren't any other professional athletes I'm aware of that have gone to Broadway other than maybe Mike Tyson has done some powerful stuff, different, you know, athletes. Are there others who followed your path?

There are some, but I don't think it was like a career path. It was more of a, I think producers went to them as celebrities. Right, To Mike Tyson or to Joe Namath back in the day.

Okay.

And they, yeah, remember Broadway Joe, right. This was his nickname because they, he, look, he wasn't a stage performer, but because he won the super bowl as a New York jets met, they said he's so popular, he'll bring in a bunch of people. I think they did the same thing with Mike Tyson. They said, wow, people are going to just love to see him on stage. So they used these people celebrity to get them on stage. I kind of went the other way. I wasn't a celebrity. I wasn't particularly known as an NFL player to, to that extent. And so I came in as a, I, I prepared to be a stage performer. So it took many years. I got really good at it and then, you know what I mean? So my preparation was much different than theirs where they probably were hired and then had to learn how to act and perform really quickly. So I went the long route to master that stage. Performance and then entered as kind of an unknown guy until people started to know me from being a stage performer.

There's some interesting comparisons. Like, Mike is actually crazy powerful on stage. I once had the opportunity to share a stage with him at. At a private event for hedge fund managers in Hong Kong when bullpen was getting off the ground. And this was a group of people, they wanted to know, how do we upgrade our brains? So I gave this talk about that, and then Mike came on, and, I mean, he brought the house down over and over and over. Even though he's had all these hits to the head, he'll be the first to admit it. In fact, he did talk about that on stage, but, I mean, he was hilarious. His stage presence was big, and his show did really well. So he was successful?

No, no, for sure, Deb.

My question for you, though, is having seen that, so he's like, okay, I developed a brand, and then I got some coaching, and I came in and I kicked ass. And you're like, well, I went and I met with Al Pacino, and he told me I need to spend 10,000 hours anywhere I can get it. And this is the first chapter of your book, which is. I'm kind of paraphrasing it, but yeah. And so you went out and you did your 10,000 hours. Didn't Mike do it in a faster, more efficient way?

Yeah. Here's the advantage that a guy like Mike Tyson has. And this goes back to this primitive instinct, right? Like, so he is unapologetic of his human nature.

Very unapologetic. Yeah. He just shows up.

Right. Most people, especially when you come from the athletic world and you're dangerous, they're very. We become very apologetic about our danger, about our own human nature. What made us really popular in one field can make you very unpopular in another. That dude is unapologetic when it comes to his natural disposition. I think that's a huge advantage. And in fact, that's something I train on stage. Right. Like, so you've seen me train people in this very way to be unapologetic about their predatory nature. Most speakers are apologetic about their predatory nature because they don't want to offend anybody. But Mike Tyson does not have that molecule in his body, which makes him ultimately watchable, meaning you can't take your eyes off somebody who's in touch with their animal instincts. So if. If you and me put. Had a stage right now and we put a lion on that stage, I guarantee no one in that audience would move. No one in the audience would go to the bathroom. No one would speak. They would just stare in awe and not move. That's the same thing that humans have, except humans apologize for it. Except guys like Mike Tyson, who are very rare. Most of us have to relearn how to not apologize for that instinct.

Now, I've seen you in your coach training programs, and I know you serve bulletproof coffee to get their energy up. And so I've had a chance to drop in. And I mean, you show people how to stand, and you do some kind of weird intercept, you know, like hold your pelvis this way, like really, like, own the stage like a tiger. Which is something that you've learned. And some of that's in your book. But here's what I want to ask your second chapter of the book. You talk about unnatural talent, and you say the only natural thing about talented people is that they're adapting better than other people and they push themselves hard. But, okay, how did Mike get his unnatural talent to just not be apologetic about being able to just show up as a full warrior guy on stage the same way you do? Where did you guys get that? That wouldn't come from adaptation, did it?

I think, for Mike. He had such training at such a young age. And look, he's trained to be the most dangerous man on the planet, which he. Right. Which he definitely was.

I'd have to get him on the show. I'm just. I'm realizing, why haven't I interviewed him? Given that I've been on a stage with him? I'm going to. I'm going to reach out.

Yeah. But. But I think that's a big element of it. And he's just. He's so rare. Right. Which makes him so watchable. Like, it's almost like you're. You're. You don't know what's. He's so unpredictable, which is. Gives him total power also. Right. Because he's not interested in making you happy. And he's not. Right.

He's not interested.

He doesn't care if he offends anybody. And the rest of us are really conscious about that right now.

Are you. I mean, I've seen you go on stage, you tell stories that piss off half the audience, I'm sure.

Yes.

They're great stories. I mean, you seem like they're not carrying a lot of baggage around that.

Bow in. In my regular life, I am. I'm like, you know, my regular life, I'm like. I'm trying to avoid conflict at all, you know, but on my Stage life. There's a certain permission out there, right? So I'm actually, if I. If you're on stage and you're not putting your nose up against conflict's chest, you are dead in the water to begin with. Just like you, Dave, people aren't going to watch you because if you're not going straight up against longevity and what our beliefs are about it, so you're putting your nose up against what the rest of the world thinks and pushing no different than David and Goliath. That makes you watchable, that makes your company successful and it makes it grow. If you got rid of that conflict of how society sees longevity, how society sees health, then you would be unwatchable, just like the rest of the people trying to do that. But you have a built in conflict or a built in enemy called the status quo. Same thing with Mike Tyson. Same thing with me. When I'm on stage, I'm constantly putting my nose up against mediocrity. So anybody who believes in mediocrity is. Hates me, right? Because I'm attacking their way of life and their promotional way of life. I'm getting rid of it and I'm attacking it. So that makes me watchable. But also it makes certain people who believe in mediocrity makes them upset.

Now, I've taught my kids in part because we're friends and I spent a good amount of time with you both seeing you and you own a room. No one's going to get up when you're talking in a room, undoubtedly. And you brought it that way for the conference. But I'm just having dinner with you and all. So I've taught my kids, hey, kids, there's nothing worse than being average. Average is gross. Either be above average or below average. But why would you want to make that your goal?

Yet that ends up being so many people's plan B, right? So I think everybody's kind of. I mean, this is why I wrote the book. Look, it's called there's no plan B for your A Game. Because most people are living their plan B because they have a plan B. That's a mistake, right? Your plan A is. Your plan A. That's, that's the one you told your parents when you were seven and you said, mom, Dad, I want to win the gold medal. And then many years later you're telling people, I'd really like to win a bronze medal. And then, and then when you don't win a bronze, you're like, man, I just. The world was against me and I just couldn't win anything, you know? And that's how he has ever gone to their parents and said this sentence. Mom, dad, I have this. My ultimate dream is to win the bronze medal. No kids ever said that. So think about that, Dave. No kid has ever said that. But yet we accept a bronze medal years later, when we don't win the gold, or we settle for some mediocrity because. But. Or. Or some average way of being. So that. That is what I'm. I'm against, is I want to go back to our roots, back to our nature, where we said, this is what I desire, this is what I want. And then that's the. There's no way out of that option. That's the option. That's the only one you got. And those are the people who do win gold medals. But I just don't think. I mean, if you think back to our very nature, the day of our conception, you know, the day of our conception, it's 300 million sperm versus you. And you're one of those sperm. 300 million to one odds that you're born. Yet through a million years of evolution and design has taught all those 300 million sperm to do one thing, and that is fertilize the egg. And you and me were the champions on that day. And so now we're born into this world, and now we're supposed to fit into some mediocre suit or some mediocre life or job. That's what is being promoted to us. And I'm like, we're not made that way. We're not made for second place. It's not in our DNA. So sometimes my kids and sometimes adults say to me, you know what, dad? You know what, Bo? It's really hard to be the best. And I always say, you know, I know it's really hard to be the best, but you should try being mediocre. That's. That's really hard because it's just not how we're set up yet. If you look at the media, if you look at our culture in general, what's being promoted to us is average mediocrity, middle class. That's as high as you can expect to get. And they're talking to human beings who are just not made that way. So that's what I'm out to battle.

I love that. So I got to tell you a little story, and I want to get your take on this in the context of the A game. So my daughter was going to this thing called the Greek Olympics at her Waldorf school. And they really focus on emotional development and it's done wonderful things. My kids are happy and grounded and they're nice to butterflies and I'm very happy with my kids. But I'm like, Anna, there's going to be one of these Greek Olympic things that most people don't practice on. So why don't you practice most on that one so you can maybe go for the gold, right? So I went around. It's very hard to get a javelin delivered on Amazon because they keep bending, but I got a javelin. Okay. There's not a lot at 11 year olds with a javelin. So we're in the front yard, we're watching YouTube videos and proper foot placement. She's got a pretty good javelin throw for an 11 year old. And they go to the Olympics and you know, they're all doing their things and at the end of the day like, congratulations. We moved our average distance thrown up by 20%. We moved our average speed up by 20%. And they never mentioned which kid was fastest, which kid threw the furthest for any of the events. And I was like, oh my God, what is going on here? But it was like the outcome was average. But do you have any, any idea how parents whose kids are doing this? Parents who don't necessarily agree with that or. I'm happy that we look at our average. Like, did we all improve, but some of us improve more than others. Is there an antidote to that that you tell your kids, like, hey, if you win, I'll give you chocolate? I have no idea. But like, as a dad, as a pro ball player, as a guy who's like kicked ass in theater, how do you make kids so that they understand this, this a game mentality?

I know it's, it's you. That's why I say you're up against the education system, you're up against culture, media, think publishing world, for most of it, movies, Hollywood. You're up against video games even. You're up against this thing of like average. And we're always comparing ourselves to the average. And I would say, I would just keep talking to them because look, you're the most powerful person in their life, you and your wife.

Until they turn 14, right?

Yeah, right, until 14. But they, they know, they know they do what you do, right? So they're only in competition with themselves, like, who's going to be the best at this thing? And it sounds like she's already the best javelin thrower. So she's just competing against herself, you know, And I'm constantly telling him the, the, the day of their conception. I'm talking about what's inside them, what's their true nature. And, and I come and I talk to them about people like Mike Tyson, like Kobe Bryant, like people who are ultra competitive. Because listen, I know this word competition gets a bad, you know, rap these days in our culture. But you know, if you look, the first rule of biology is life is competition. Life is competition. So you and me, if we weren't superior competitors, we would not be here today. If our ancestors weren't good at competing for mates and food and shelter, you and me would not be here. We are ultimate competitors, but we just keep apologizing for it, right? Here's what I know about kids, Dave, which I know. Your kids know this because I've been around you and your wife. Kids know the score. So here's an example. My daughter is, you know, young, she's 10, but this was when she was like 6 or 7. She's playing in this basketball game, right? And they start beating this team like 50 to 5, right? So the scoreboard keeper does, you know, what he thinks is right in turns off the scoreboard so that the other team can't see how bad they're being beaten. What the heck, right? So, but here's what's funny, Dave. Here, I, and this is my seven year old daughter. I go, oh, why did you think they, after the game, I said, why do you think they turn the scoreboard off? What do you think the score was? And my, my daughter goes, it was 75 to 8. She kept like she knew the score. And I went around and checked with the other kids. The losers knew the score, the winners knew the score. They knew it in their head because kids have that instinct to see how they compete and how they measure up against other girl basketball players. In this case, they know. So if you give them a participation trophy or a participation ribbon, do you know what they do? They accept it just to placate us adults. But they know the deal. They know exactly where they place. Like, you know, say they have a hundred meter run and like a hundred kids run across the field. Your daughter, my daughter, everybody's daughter on this, on this podcast right now, they know what place they got. Hey, I got 56 place. Hey, I got second. You know, they know. Kids know. So why are we keeping it from them? We're trying to hide them, you know, protect them.

It feels like no one likes to see another person in pain. In fact, we're wired. I believe At a cellular level to help our species, to help all life. There are things that get in the way of that a lot, but we're wired to do that. And so when we see a child in pain, we're saying, how do I take away the pain? But it seems like the way we learn to walk is by falling over and it hurts when you fall over so you don't do it again. So pain is a teacher. Right. But too much pain or lack of recovery are actually harmful and damaging for people. Do you have any advice for adults who are working on their A game at becoming really the best in the world, Becoming masters of something. How do they know when you're pushing yourself and you write in the book about deliberate practice and hard work? How do you know when you actually like over trained and you're going to pull a ligament or you're going to burn out? How do you surf the edge of burnout and experiencing pain and being comfortable with it and actually harming yourself? Because this is the problem with a players.

Yeah, for sure, for sure. For one, you got to listen to your body. And usually a players are so present with their body, they're in great communication with their body. They know where that edge is and they're always challenged.

That's bullshit. You're such a pro athlete. None of my a player software developers have a clue what their bodies are doing and they're the best in the world at what they do.

Oh really? Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm thinking that mindset. Okay, you got me there. Okay, then we need to get touch with our body, guys.

Bo Eason, the toughest guy, just tell me to get in touch with my body. Bo, you're letting me down, man.

I've only had seven knee surgeries.

Punch yourself in the face a few times and walk it off.

My body, my body was communicating to me, Dave. I just wasn't listening. Okay.

That's probably more real. That was my experience as a software developer guy. Like, oh my God, there was a signal to noise in there. And like you know when you're doing the right thing or the wrong thing, but I just didn't know to listen.

Yeah.

So yeah. And if you're an actor, you're on stage. Okay. No one has better body awareness besides pro athletes and actors. So you're like, you're a master of that and both of those things. But like a painter may not have that or you know, how do people know? Let's even make it tighter for you. It might have been too drunk of a question. Anytime you're focusing on hard work and you're pushing yourself beyond your comfort levels, you're also flirting with burnout. How do you know when you're going to go over burnout?

Yeah. So Anders Ericsson did this test, a study of the top violinist in the world. World. So took the top, I think this top 14 virtuoso violinist in the world. And he asked him a bunch of questions and studied each one of them. And now the second tier, right? The second tier was down below them. But he talked to the top 14, and he asked him this question. Were you ever called by God to play the violin? Or was the. Did the violin just call to you? Was it in your genes? How did you become the best violin player in the world? And every one of them said the same thing. No, they were not called by God to play the violin. They were handed the violin at a certain age by a parent and were told to play it. And they also asked this question. Because I get this question every day, Dave, like, bo, do you. Did you love football? And I was like, no, I didn't love football. Oh, Bo, do you love the theater? I'm like, no. And they go, well, what do you love? And they asked the violinist, what if you don't love the violin, then why are you the top? And they all said, I fell in love with my improvement day in and day out. And if you look back, and I look back at my, like, being the best safety, I didn't like the position of safety, but I liked what it demanded of me and what it required of me. And I got to measure myself and improve each day. But the only way to improve is you got to be beyond that comfort zone that we're talking about. Otherwise, there's no adaptation can take place. Right? So. So once we're challenging homeostasis, our nose is up against it. We know we're improving. And that's what you fall in love with. And that flies that there's no such thing as burnout. When that's happening, you're like, recognizing your own improvement.

So you get a little dopamine squirt every time you recognize your own improvement. If you're measuring it and you're aware of it. And you're right. I see this actually in my daughter. The first time that we really had her kind of exercise on purpose, with intent. Where kids, normally, they just play around. We live in the forest, go climb a tree, and then that's their exercise. But she came back and she said, daddy, I really like that. I Can see a difference in how my body works because I'm doing this, and it was like this sense of excitement. And so it sounds like kind of what's going on with all these people who are masters is they're seeing the improvement, and it feels good to improve. So there's a little bit of ego in that as well, though, isn't there?

I agree. I think there is, and I think that's healthy. But also, I think it's great that she's recognizing the difference in her body. So she's challenged. She challenges homeostasis. Now her body and brain adapt to that new demanding situation, and her body shifts so that she can survive, so she can be more efficient at what she's doing that we all love. We just don't do that enough. I think burnout's something else. I think that's something like you're just beating your head against something that is a dead end. You know what I mean?

I think, what if you're working on improving, you just don't improve. I mean, there are people, you know, this is my fifth job as, you know, as a manager of marketing, and I keep screwing up every time I do it, and so I feel like I'm just failing all the time. At what point you're like, you know what? Maybe I suck at marketing and I should. I should go into, you know, another career, perhaps as a barista or whatever. Yeah, Wouldn't you know that actually, I'm just not destined to this because I suck at it.

Yeah, we've all done that a few times, right? You make a declaration, you think that you're calling, you're going toward it, and you keep getting your ass kicked. And eventually, what I always say is, people go, well, Bo, what if I pick the wrong thing? What if managing marketing is not the right thing? And I say, there's no such thing as the wrong thing. The wrong declaration, the wrong dream for you will always reveal the right dream for you. And the good part about it is, you'll be able to take some blows, you know, because you already have. And now you redirect that new declaration, which is going to come to you eventually when once you hit a dead end, it'll keep hitting you, and you'll go, oh, there's the green light. Bam. I'm going in that direction. And that's why I always say, don't not choose a declaration because you're afraid you're going to choose the wrong one. The wrong one always reveals the right one. And now you already have Mastery in your blood because you've been doing it. And now that next declaration boom takes off.

Let's talk for a minute for people who haven't read your book. This is. There's no plan B for your A game. And you talk about the difference between goals and declarations. And can you share with people listening who haven't yet read your book what your definition of those two things are and which one you do?

Yeah, the goals don't do anything for me. I mean, just the word, it doesn't do enough. I think of soccer, I think of hockey goals, but it doesn't turn me on. I remember as a kid being very moved by the Declaration of Independence. And I wasn't moved because somebody wrote it. I was moved that people wrote that thing, yet you and me don't know them. And that was 250 years ago. And I'm moved by the fact that for 250 years, all these millions of people, us Americans in the last 250 years, and, and those going forward actually make this declaration come to life every day. It's almost like they wrote a play or a movie that expressed our freedoms. That was the character, our character as Americans was to express our freedoms in the way we moved, in what we ate, in how we ran and how we spoke. We lived into the Declaration and brought it to life for 250 years. And whoever, who knows how long it's going to. Well, that's why I like declarations. So I make a declaration no different than the Declaration of Independence that said, when I was nine, I want to be the best safety in the world. And then when I was 29, I wanted to be the best stage performer in the world. And then I was 49, I wanted to be the best speaker. So those are my declarations. And it takes many years for me to live those out. Here's why I like. That's why I like declarations. But here's what's cool about declarations. Dave. Do you know how like when you set a goal or even a mission, then you have to make this long list of to do list and you have to fulfill on this list and you got to gather a bunch of stuff. Declarations is more a way of being. And if you declare to be the best safety in the world, you can be that. You can be the best safety in the world on day one of that 20 year plan. So I was only nine and I was being what the best safeties in the world were being. I was eating what they ate. I trained like they trained, I acted like, I dressed like them. I dreamed about them. And then the world caught up with my declaration. And eventually I was that guy. I was that guy. So. And I've done that, you know, three, four times in my life. So it's exciting. It's a fun way to do it, because now you can be the best in the world at whatever you do today. And then you start living it out and bringing it into existence, like the Declaration of Independence, and eventually the world catches up with your Declaration and your dream and it comes to fruition. That's cool.

I think you nailed it there. When you declare something, you're stating a fact. And your nervous system, even those little compute nodes in your cells called mitochondria, you know, all the distributed things in the body, they will listen on some level. And they don't understand time. They just understand is something or is something not. And, I mean, I did this part of the 40 years of Zen, the Neurofeedback Institute that I started, that's helped me program my own brain. I teach people when we're doing intentions in altered states, like, how dare you write intentions says, I want to do X, which is the goal. Look, if you were to pray to God, and God was there, and God listened, and you said, I want X, he'd say, great, you want X, and he'd go about his business because you just stated what you want. You didn't state you were doing it. You didn't state you were even going to do it. You didn't state that you were already doing it. You just stated a desire. And a desire is a goal. And a declaration is a state of being in a fact. So if people just learn that about their affirmations in the morning, the stuff they write in the mirror, the stuff they put in their journal, the stuff they say when they wake up in the morning, that alone would change the world, but you nailed it there. And that's just an important part of personal development that's missing.

Yeah, yeah.

And you bake that into the book in a way that I think is very easy to understand.

Yeah, the declaration piece, it's a huge part of the book because it's been a huge part of my life. And every one of these declarations seem impossible when I started all of a sudden, became kind of real and much quicker than I thought.

You also recommend in your book that people use the words the best in their declaration. Okay, here's a little logic question for you.

4.

People wake up in the morning and say, I am going to be the best tight end on earth. Only one of those four is going to do it. What are the other three going to do?

Well, they're going to go right along with it. I mean, it's going to be a competitive race. And they'll. If that was the case, if four people, which it never happens, because no one, no one will commit this long. No one has this kind of mindset. But if there were four guys that say, I'm going to be the best tight end in the world in 20 years, think of the position of tight end. Think of the sport or the art form of football in 20 years, if those guys compete against one another and raise the bar that high, but that.

Three of them are going to wake up and say, I didn't do it.

Well, who. But who's to say.