You Winning Life Podcast Ep. 97-Eric Patrick Thomas- No Such Thing As A Barrier To Success

Hey everybody, welcome back. Oh my gosh, if you are listening to this episode, I am super beyond excited because I connected with this new friend of mine on the PodBooker website. And I got to give a shout out to that. If you're in the podcast community and you are looking to connect to to either be a guest, if you wanna be a guest on someone's podcast, or you host a podcast, you gotta check out PodBooker. I am not getting paid for this plug. I happened to meet the owner, the creator of it, Daniel Geffen, a while back, and he's just doing an incredible thing. And this is where I met Eric Patrick Thomas, AKA Mr. Inspire, who's hanging out with us all the way from Flint, Michigan. He is an entrepreneur who is passionate about changing the way people view disabilities. He is a hip-hop artist. He is a founder of the Inspire brand clothing line. He's also the owner of EZ Awareness by Design, which is doing graphic design for custom apparel for all types of people, including those with disabilities. And he is an advocate for all of these incredible things. He's spoken for the House and Senate hearings. He's on several boards. This guy is just really taking something that has been a challenging situation and really leading the way to inspire everybody he meets. So, Eric, I am beyond honored to be spending some time with you today.

Hey, thanks for having me. It was like the dramatic voice is just like, what an introduction. I feel like I'm in a movie trailer.

Go figure. Like, I never knew until like 2 years ago, right? So I just dropped episode 80, and I have a whole bunch in the woodwork that's like, you know, still either being edited or haven't been released yet. And I'm realizing like how comfortable I am now at episode whatever that this is, over 100 that's been recorded versus like 1 and 2. And, um, one of the things about me that's like some people know, and I've talked about it in previous episodes, is I'm not a public speaker by default. This is a learned attribute, right? I'm shy and I'm an introvert. And, you know, being a therapist, I have to talk to people. But, um, I joke that like, when do I have to turn on my podcast voice, you know? So Um, so thanks for, for being playful with that.

But what's the voice on the podcast? Voice: Good afternoon and welcome. Yes.

So we're gonna have, we're gonna have some fun today, you and me. So I want to go back, right, because I think everything that we're going to talk about goes back to the thing that changed life for you.

Yeah.

So give, give us a quick— what was life? Because I know we're kind of leaving, leading to a cliffhanger, and obviously by what we've already talked about, people know the category we're going into, but not knowing you are with that community. What was life like before that fateful night for you? And what was going on in your world until that evening in 1997?

Well, that day, I mean, I was going to photography college. So I just came back from Chicago, like in July, to look at internships. But I also had my group Miscellaneous. So we were also recording all the time, performing. And so I don't know the direction that that was going to go. But I always made sure that I kind of didn't put everything into one, just one basket, I guess you would say. I was also working two jobs. I was working a marketing job and I was working at Meijer. I guess that would be like your supermarket grocery store chain that's up here. Well, it's kind of like in the mid, mid, mid, mid-east. It's not just in Michigan anymore. So that's kind of what I was doing. I didn't even have time to watch. I had a TV, but I never watched it. I didn't have time to do that stuff.

Yeah, you were busy.

20 years old. We had a lot of parties at the house. I actually had a house DJ, DJ Who. So if you came over to visit, sometimes there would just be a DJ playing, you know, like, hey, welcome to Eric's house or welcome to the miscellaneous house. What can I get any requests and stuff? And you know what I mean? It was a house DJ. Yeah. And then, yeah, it was just that's, that's what was going on. We were happy and it was a good moment that was happening. You know, I was doing good. I was just trying to figure life out, you know. And then that night was September 20th is when we were— it was really September 19th was the celebration for the— on the flyer, but it didn't start until after 12 AM. So how it became September 19th, that didn't make any sense. But so— and there's no MySpace or Facebook or any of this stuff. There's barely any people on the internet.

Right. There was AOL. That was it.

Yeah, that was the thing. The dial-up. Yeah. And there was pagers, you know, and so, you know, we were getting ready for the night and then we actually went to a coffee shop and there was a freestyle competition, like a cypher. And we got into that. That was pretty fun. But Big Perm was still bouncing at the other club. So we had to go pick him up and then we just all came back to the house and it was this happy moment. But there were people there that I didn't know. There was people there that I did know. And I usually do not go outside. I'm always inside the house. And I was just sitting on the steps and I was talking to my girlfriend at the time. Then in mid-conversation, I just stood up and walked down the steps in the house and walked outside. And it was like I was being pulled out there. It was really weird. Like I, and then I never go outside. And I was out there for maybe 5 minutes, just making sure that like nobody was in my neighbor's yards and stuff. Everything was cool. And then, and then she was on the steps or at the top of the steps. And I was going to go back in the house and I was talking to her and then the DJ van was behind me and then someone pulled a gun— they opened it, you know? They pulled the gun and pow! Pow! Pow! You know? And that's like when your sudden instinct of what your reflex— you look towards the direction that the sound is coming from so I was— they shot me from the left side of my backside so instantly looked like that and I think that's how the bullet just got into the neck and went into the third vertebrae paralyzed me instantly. I mean, it's between the third and fourth vertebrae. And then there's like a piece of skin on the back of my skull that looks like where one might have grazed, like maybe when I turned or something. And then I dropped to the ground and then I wasn't able to move anything. But at that time, I wasn't able to think about moving anything either. You know, it was just like I was laying there just like in this like wave of numbness. And then I wasn't able to breathe on my own too. So, but I'm not able to even figure out how to breathe. You know, I'm just there. I'm existing, I guess. And I could, I could see up in the sky, but I was in and out, but it was dark. And then I could hear people screaming and then I could hear, you know, someone's been shot, Eric's been shot. And I was like, then my mind was like, ugh, like, how did this happen? Like already? Like I felt unfinished. I felt like I had so much more to accomplish. And I felt like this isn't over yet. This can't be over, you know, things like that. And I was just like, gotta be more, whatever it is, you know. I wanna live, I don't wanna check out yet, you know, or something. It was really, you know, it didn't feel done, like life wasn't done. So I never questioned that I wasn't not going to survive. I just didn't know what any of the circumstances were. Before you know it, I'm in the hospital, you know, they're drilling screws in my head because I had to get a halo. So now my head's like in this metal birdcage, you know, with the screws in my forehead and the screws above my ears. And then they intubate me, so they put the tube down my throat. And then I wake up in the morning, see my mom, stepdad, dad, stepmom, medical, and friends. And then they tell you what happened, of course, again. And then that's when you find out you're not able to move from the neck down. But survival is really on your mind. You know, you're not— everything's happening, but you're not able to really think about the thoughts of like, I'm not able to move my arm. I'm not able to move my legs. I'm not able to get up. What's going on? I'm freaking out. But you're like more like, I need to survive, like survival. And then I'm not able to communicate either with my mouth. I communicated with eye blinks and And then it was just like every, I didn't go to sleep, but I couldn't sleep. I was not able to sleep. They put Ativan, I think, in my IV. Once they did that, I think that's for like calming you down and then you fall out. Nobody know who did this. Well, people didn't know who did the shooting. People thought that they knew who did the shooting. So everybody was coming with all these stories and it was this person did it and this person, you know, and it was just like, it just kept on bringing up more emotions and stuff. And I was under an alias too. So there were people that were trying to come see me, but I didn't know their real name. I just knew their nickname that I always called them by. And they were— so that caused frustration and confusion. You know, my parents didn't— there was a lot of people that they'd never met that I've been hanging out with for a year or so, you know? So it's a lot of emotions. And then, of course, a couple of weeks later, that's when they say, you'll be paralyzed for the rest of your life and you're not going to breathe on your own forever. So that's when they decided to take the tubes out of my throat. Out of my mouth and then give me a tracheotomy and put them in my throat. And that's when I was able to actually move my mouth and communicate with my tongue clicks. And I was able to eat again, because I was able to eat for those other times. When I got to eat for the first time, woo, happy moments, man.

So what was that timeframe from that night to you being able to start getting that to happen for you, for you to start being able to speak again?

I want to say like 3 weeks.

3 weeks.

I want to say like 2 and a half, 3 weeks. Like, I mean, don't— if I say it wrong, you know, right?

But that's what it—

at least that's what it— yeah, that's what I feel like. I'm sure my— if my mom listens to the podcast, she'll be like, Erica, you know it was 3 and a half weeks. I'm like, okay, I know. Okay, I'll remember that. Then I gotta go correct all the other ones.

In this mindset, so you're sitting there, you can't move. Like, the first thing I'm thinking of is like, you know, that people when they wake up sometimes and they have what they call sleep paralysis, where your body hasn't caught up with your mind and your mind hasn't caught up with your body, that you know you're awake but your body— right? And some people have that for a few seconds, some people might have it you know, there's a medical condition. What was that thought where you— right, where you had this thought thinking and it wasn't like— you know, the best metaphor playfully that I could say is like Go Go Gadget Arms, right? And nothing was going, right? What was, what was that like? Because I know you said, right, you needed Ativan to calm down. Like, what was it like to have that feeling of, I know this is working, I know my brain is working, I know my thoughts are working, I know I'm alive, but I feel like there's literally a cognitive disconnect between what I'm thinking and what I'm now doing or not doing. What was that like?

Well, like even right now when I'm trying to move my arms or legs, like the mind is going in and it almost is like, like you have like this second body inside you that's moving. Now if I say like, if I'm trying to concentrate and raise my arm right now, the second body is right heavy. So now there's weight. The legs are weighted, the arms are weighted. So when I do this, It doesn't feel like the second body is up raising its arm. It feels like it's right there struggling to lift the arm like a weight. You know, I'm like, ooh, trying to lift it. And it's like, it's not moving, but it's also not moving inside me either. Like before. Now you said sleep paralysis. I've experienced sleep paralysis multiple times and it's nothing. Sleep paralysis is not being paralyzed because I'm paralyzed now and I experienced sleep paralysis. Yeah. Sleep paralysis is like when that hits you, I've had where my, like, like, a person's right next to me. And it's like, you're not— it's almost like somebody's on top of you, holding you down. And I'll be like, like, I'm not able to breathe or anything. I'm like, oh my gosh, like, how can I pull out of this? What you do is you shake your shoulders. And then it's like almost shaking a person off of your body. That's exactly what sleep paralysis is like. Like, I gotta shake them off. It's like somebody— it feels like somebody is literally holding you down. That's what it feels like. And you're not able to call out. You're not able to talk to tell that person, "Hey, get this whatever's on me off," or something, or shake me or something. Yeah. So, but being paralyzed in the beginning was like having these two bodies. So like sometimes you would think like you were moving your left leg and then inside this other like body, it would like would go and your leg would move, but your leg would still stay there. So it was just like, and then you didn't know how long this was going to be. So you're split on the decision based on movies and TV and stuff that you see, stuff that's not reality a lot of times, you know? And it's just like, so that's how you learn. You learned. So you're like, well, I've seen this. And the person in the hospital for 6 months, they grow a beard and they shave it and they walk out, no problem, you know? So I mean, the body takes a hit even to sit up. Like, you're laying flat, just sit up 20 degrees or whatever it is, pass out because your blood pressure drops.

So your whole, your whole physiology is reorienting to this. Your mind is reorienting to this, and your mindset is reorienting to this. So, so I'm really, you know, as we start off with all the insane things you're doing today, that even, right, anybody who's doing all the things that you have your hands on still is pretty impressive, even without the circumstances that you went through, and even more so with the circumstances you went through during this healing process of after this event. What was the time frame where you started adding these things back into your life, where you started making and creating, right? So you're, you're a hip-hop artist. So like, when did the music start coming back into your life? When did the entrepreneurial side start kicking in? Walk us through kind of like that step by step.

It never left. Everything that was within just got more intense, but the— it was all about the timing, when that was going to happen. Like, the outside world, the naysayer, or the people on the outside of me— you're never gonna rap again, you're never gonna You know, the never-nevers and the can'ts. So I don't do can't, I do how. Okay. So I didn't know when it was going to be, but it was going to happen sometime. It would happen. And there were certain things now, but right now I got to survive. So I get out of the hospital and then we go to this place called rehab out in Englewood, Colorado, Craig Hospital. We went out there because they specialize in getting you off the ventilator, you know, the life support that I'm on. So that was the now the goal. The next, the next goal is to breathe again, to do this. That's it. That's the next goal, just to breathe, breathe without a machine. And while you're there, you also go through a lot of different classes like Tetra class, where, you know, you said your friend, you know, you learn about your new— you and your new body, you know, relationships, all that stuff, you know, how to teach someone to care for you. And then while you're there, you— that's where you just get better. Gradually you get better. You know, eventually I got the trach, or I got the halo off and I was able to move my head. I looked like a bobblehead for a while.. And then I was able to speak and then I was able to finally get the ventilator off. Not to mention I was able to sit up in my wheelchair straight up. You just don't sit up in a chair. You pass right out. This is a timeframe of 6 months, hospital to rehab. And then now I'm coming home because I had to be able to sit straight up in an airplane in order to go home without passing out. So you train there. They have like an airplane and a car seat. So you train there on how to, how to get transferred and stuff at Craig Hospital. And then when I come home, you know, it's like I'm at my mom and stepdad's house. Like, what am I going to do? How am I going to work? How am I going to have a family? How am I going to— all these questions, you know, all these questions are going through your head. You just take it, man. You just take it one day at a time. Just take it one day at a time and know what you want in life and know what's going to make you happy and where you want to be back at and know that it's not going to come overnight. Be patient. Have patience. Have patience. I'm not saying to procrastinate, but patience, you know, wait on patience, wait that it's going to happen and stick to it. Stay on top of it, you know, stay, stay consistent with it. So, okay, what am I going to do now? What is— well, here's my resources. I'm able to find this Disability Network. Now I'm able to hire my own caregivers. So my life became a business. So I end up doing— end up jumping into doing schedules and timesheets and hours and in a hiring process and ads. And then I went back to college. I wanted to just absorb everything, whatever it was. I was going to just take whatever. And Michigan Rehab Services helped with that. At the same time, Mr. Zelliot at Disability Network said, you know, get involved, testify with your story. Anytime there's Medicaid cuts or long-term cuts or people with disabilities that are getting pushed to nursing homes and institutions or their hours are getting cut, get involved and go testify. We'll get you there. Okay. So now my advocacy journey is starting. You know, I didn't know what any of this— this is all starting. I'm still 20 years old. And then, and then I tried to go back to the record stuff and I opened up a record business. When I learned how to start a business, I got a DBA and then I learned how to incorporate a business. So I did the Articles of Incorporation because of the internet. Now I got the internet, you know, ding, ding, ding. The internet is right here. And I I wasn't able to afford the assistive technology like the Dragon and a laptop, but the guy that I worked with, Gus, he provided it for me. And if I bartered to train people on how to do the Dragon, so he trains me how to work the Dragon. I get a laptop and Dragon. And then when he has clients, I go and I train them. So that's, that's how I got my equipment. And then, you know, with the internet, you know, I just, I would look up everything. And then now I'm doing the record company and that, you know, it's everybody want to be superstars. So I just was like, okay, I'm going against the grain. It's hard enough. So I shut that down and then I started writing from, from that relationship. A guy in Detroit, Alex, heard about me. He had the promoter newspaper. He wanted me to write a column and sell ads. And so I was like, all right, okay. So I was doing that for 5, 5, 6 years. And I write by voice, you know, I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Then he closed the paper down for a while. So then I just checked. I did some mentoring for the state of Michigan, helping people with disabilities find caregivers and have that relationship. And then we lost the grant to that. And then I was on MySpace at the time and I saw Jason Wasser and he worked for Live 365. And so I contacted him and he said, yeah. I'm like, how do I get an internet radio station? And he sent over the paperwork and it's called a blanket license. So I was all legit with ASCAP and BMI. And you're talking, this is MySpace. Pandora was around. AOL, Shoutcast, Napster. Napster. Yeah, all that stuff was around. So, and then internet radio was in trouble. And so went to Washington, DC with all these guys, like met them there, the CEO of 365 and AOL and Yahoo Shoutcast and Pandora. And we entered and we introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act. And then from there, the internet radio was saved for a while and then loopholes happened and I had to shut mine down. Then I was like, where do I go from here? And that's when I started Easy Awareness by Design. And then from November of the doors open, November 2011, and then 2 years later, the Inspire Brand emerges. And, you know, it's this— that's the journey. Like, that's the journey and that's the path, you know, and that's just the entrepreneur journey that was still, like I said, like, you know, it was right there inside me and never left. It just got intensified. And there were things that were waiting for me to catch up, whether it be mature enough, mind frame enough, ready for it, not ready for it. Once I got there, I was ready for it, whatever was waiting for me. And then with the music music side, the D-Man Foundation. I just happened to be— I was fundraising for a van, you know, and then this girl that I met on a film set, she was like, you know, email this guy, he's my cousin, and he happens to own a home healthcare business and a transportation business. And so we started talking, and then he— we met March 6, 2010, in person at the Detroit Pistons game, and he said, I'm starting a foundation on the legacy of my brother. His brother passed away August 30th, 2009, from complications of a spinal cord— he was a quadriplegic also. So that's why it's called Danny's DMAN, which stands for Danny's Miracle Angel Network. And so that he was telling me, and I was like, I'm down, but I wasn't down for like myself recording, you know, the other clients and stuff that they would end up getting. So once we fundraised for that aspect, we had a lot of fundraisers and committees and boards, and then they opened up the studio and then I was there one day and they were like, when are you going to record, E? And I'm like, oh yeah, I can do music again. Before you know it, I'm doing music again. And before you know it, I'm performing on stage 17 years later, you know? So it never left. It just, things went on pause because these are my passions. I've had a passion for music since I've been a child and wordplay. Dr. Seuss, Mother Goose, since I've been a baby. Hip hop, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, you know, Sugarhill Gang, you know, Beastie Boys and so many more greats, you know, that I can name. So that always stuck with me. Being an entrepreneur since I've been a child, when Nintendo came out, I rented my Nintendo games to the neighborhood kids so that I could use that money and build my Nintendo collection.

Brilliant.

It was a win-win.

Yeah.

And I did other entrepreneur things all the way left, you know, shoveling snow, mowing grass, you know, carrying groceries, whatever it was that I knew the value of a dollar and how to save it for the things that I wanted to buy. You know, it wasn't just given to me. Yes, there was allowance and things like that and cleaning the house, you know. And I lived with my mom because my mom was divorced. So I lived with her and, you know, I just— those things never left. And both of my parents, they're hard workers. So I saw their work ethic and their grind. So it's always just been there. You know, I think they say you leave the place better than what you found it. I think that's the saying. And if you have some elbow grease, you got time to lean, you got time to clean. So those are things that follow me, you know. So it never— it didn't go away. It was there. It was just waiting. It was just intensified. A lot of times people get into trauma and they go the opposite, you know? And yeah, me, I think it just brought it out more. Even though I'm not able to move from the neck down, but what was inside me, man, which came out like a, like a lion roaring, you know, just roar, you know? And it was like, and it's, it's like, I'm just on this, this journey and this I have, so I got more dreams and more goals, you know, just to achieve. And I just, and, and you know what, and also a lot of the stuff I do helps other people.

For sure.

It's a service. I always am trying to help somebody's quality of life, you know, someone get a wheelchair van or someone fundraise for assistive technology or someone find a caregiver or someone that is just having, just not dealing with things right, but it's not able to deal with things right now and they're in isolation. So reach out to me. Yeah, man. Like contact, like let's talk or something. So a lot of the things that I went from at that time, hip-hop stage, to performing on a different stage, the stage of helping people with disabilities, making sure things are accessible, making sure we have representation. You know what I mean? Like, there's a lot of things that came out of that was amazing from the shooting. It's an unfortunate matter that you've got to go through it. And it's painful. I'm not saying it's— I just spent 820 days on bed rest from complications of a bone infection. So I'm not saying it's easy. It is not. There are challenges. But there are happier moments than— that outweigh any of the other stuff. I say like this, I got good days and better days. So sure, yeah.

And as I'm sitting here thinking of like anybody who goes through anything, right, uh, me being a therapist and my job is to, right, inspire a way of getting them to the other side of the mountain, to realize that the mountain shouldn't be what we're focusing on, but what's gonna— what's life gonna be like from the other side, right? And put more time and attention and effort into that than Talking about what's there blocking them. But we all, we all have our crappy days. We all have our stuff that we have to work on. We all have challenges and tribulations in our own right. And the whole thing of like, how do we compare one person's personal journey to another personal journey? But I also know that we have to look to other people to inspire us that, right, have a different set of circumstances that put things into context. And in that light saying, "Okay, if they can do it, I can do it." Yeah. Right? Where have you seen in some of your awesome stories of connecting with people and bringing advocacy to the world and to the government, is there a story or an anecdote or two that you can share where someone was just like, if, you know, where you were able to be involved, where someone in your community was able to be involved, and it got someone from point A to point B? That the Inspire Mindset really did kick in for them?

I would say that there's multiple stories. I don't know if it was the Inspire Mindset or if it was the Mentoring Mindset, like me helping them and not doing it.

Well, I see those as the same. Those are all you, right?

Okay.

Okay. Yeah. So let me see, like, right there. Yeah. You're the brand, right?

Yes. It could be just different things like that they were just trying to that they were stuck. You know, they didn't know what they wanted with life. You know, there's like certain kind of tools I've used, like, okay, let's meet up. Tell me what your best day looks like. You know, like, what does it look like? Write it out or type it out or have someone write it for you or, you know, transcribe it. What does it look like? You know, how, how does it look? Where would you be? What would you be doing? Who would be there? Like, what would you be eating, drinking? What type of climate would it be? What would be your careers and hobbies? And then make that best day happen. Now write your how. How can you make that day happen? You know? And then there were some times where I would tell somebody that and they would say, well, I want to work at Red Lobster. And that's— I'm like, whoa, like I'm not limited. Like there's no limit to this. Like, okay, let me give you an example, you know? And I'd give them an example and they were like, but that's not possible. I'm like, anything, it's all possible. You know, they were so limited on thinking that just the best day, the best day of their life was just working for Red Lobster. And I'm like, I want them to think bigger. Think, think, think with no limits, you know, no limit. Don't limit yourself on this, this thought process. Just write it out. Write it out. You know, they're like, well, can I put this? I'm like, yeah, it's yours. Put whatever you want. You know, if you decide that you think you want to live on another planet, put it, you know, just whatever. You know, I mean, there's going to be other things that you're going— it's going to help your thought process open up your mind to start really thinking big. And then maybe that part, another planet at the moment is not, but there's things that you start seeing as you're writing, you know, that you start, wow, start to think about and stuff. You know, the other thing is like, you know, who's toxic? Think about the pros and cons of the people you're around. You know, what are they really? How are they helping? You know, is this person like, what happened? You know, do they check on you? Are they very toxic with you? Are they naysayers? Do they just, you know, always make you feel bad? You know, start thinking about that too. You know, those, your circle of supports, you want to build your circle. So those are just like little stories with other people, you know, and it's not just like one thing. I've also had where someone was not doing well in life, maybe even, you know, to commit suicide. And they're like, you know, what you said just changed my life. You're like, wow, what did I say? You know, what was it? What was that? That's why it's so important to share your story because you never know how bad someone's having it. You know, and why, like, just the words that you say or just showing up can save a person's life. There's probably people you have no idea the lives that you have affected in a real positive way. But somewhere, you know, that if you stick with the same mission and the same person, be authentic, be truthful, be transparent, be you, you know, show them that you can be you. Because I run into a lot of people And they're like, well, you like this person. I like this person. You think I should be more like this person or more like this person? I'm like, who are you? Like, be you. What do you mean, be you? Be you. If you're an artist, figure out your craft, figure out your flow, figure out what works for you. Because when you try to be all these other people, that's hard to hold up. That's a lot of work. That's a lot of mental, mental weight, you know, to try to be like somebody else and then go on Instagram and take all these pictures and it's all highlights. You're not showing me any balance. Where's your, where's your days that aren't so like this? You know, where's the blemishes in your face or something? Where's the pimple? Where's the, where's the outfit?

Where's the rawness, right? Where's the real deal? And I see that all the time, especially in that entrepreneur space. It's like, I was talking to a buddy of mine who, um, we've been really nailing down Clubhouse, the new app, right? That everybody's been, uh, everybody's been trying to get me on it. Yeah. So let's go. Are you on iPhone or an Android?

I don't have it. I have an Android.

So that's why.

Yeah.

You gotta get an iPad or something and we'll get you on. We'll get, I'll get you, I'll get you. So we are talking about the idea that like you can't fake it on there, right? People either are gonna hear that you know what you're talking about or that you're not gonna know what you're talking about and you're gonna have proof in the pudding, right? You can't just post something on Instagram or social or TikTok or whatever and just like rant at Lembo, right? You can't do that in, in these things. And, and I think like the authenticity, right? Inspiration through authenticity is what we really have at the end of the day. Like I'm a marriage and family therapist. Who comes from a— I'm a child of— my parents are divorced. 10 years ago, I got divorced when I was just starting out, you know, being a therapist. And so what does that mean? Like, oh, I shouldn't be doing couples counseling? I'm actually really good at couples counseling, right? And I use that of like, let me help you not get stuck where me and 54%, if not more at this point, of the country got. But I can see it from the inside vantage point of like, oh, I recognize that pattern, don't do that, right? It's not just the textbook. I can also see it in real deal, you know, live, live pay-per-view, you know, action. So even though I don't just see couples, but I, you know, 50% of my week is probably couples at this point. But it's, it's bringing that vulnerable to the stage of whatever we're doing of, yeah, like I struggled through this and here's what I learned. Here's the teachable moment I think is really what I'm thinking about being inspiring and inspiring others is, you know, what's your teachable moment? What did you learn from the difficulties that you went through? And if you didn't learn anything from it, then it was a massively wasted opportunity.

Yeah. Just like failure. You know, I call failure growth spurts. And when I meet people, they say that they've never failed. I'm like, whoa, say, I'm like, go away over there. Right. There's no way because you're full of crap. Yeah. Right. You have to fail. Like I'd say it, it's tough in you. You're going to grow from failure because you're not going to do it again. Hopefully. You might repeat it. I've repeated some things more than once, but you're supposed to, what do they say? You knew better, you do better. So it's like, You do it. You have to face the customer and tell them their order is not ready on the deadline. What do you do? You know, you just got to make it right. Somehow you don't give them excuses, right? Just face the music and tell them it's not ready.

Right. Well, and even if you call out, right, if you call out what they're, what you think they're going to feel right in that situation, right? This, it's always the scripting. It's always the, how do I pull the carpet out from under them in a way that supports them? Right. That yanking the tablecloth out.

Right.

And, and, you know, in that situation, it's like, I know what I'm about to say. I had this with a client a few weeks ago, and I love pushing— like, my clients know that, like, we can get playful with each other and it's a safe space to, like, you know, drop the F-bomb and whatever it is. And I'm like, all right, so I'm about to share something with you, but I want you to get your middle finger ready to, to flip me off after I say this to you. You know, like, no, I would never do that. I'm like, yeah, that's fine. I know you might never do it, but I'm just going to give you permission. You might not like what I'm about to say to you, but I'm saying it from love. Yeah, and you might want to tell me to go fuck off. And I said something to him that I called him out on, something like, this is what it seems like, this is what I'm hearing, is it possible that this is what could be happening, or how you're coming across to someone? And it didn't sit well with them because it just was a smack in the face, so to speak, of what they were not able to see. And they're like, you're right, I do want to flick you off right now. Yeah, oh my God. Like, so like, but I, but I defused it before it happened because I called out what might happen for them, right? And I think that's like part of the— part of the growth process is that you might feel depressed, you might feel disappointed, you might feel like you're never going to accomplish it. But guess what? There's gonna be that crack in the armor. There's gonna be some light that's gonna come in. Yeah. And it's gonna start happening.

Yeah, that door— that door is going to open just a little crease, right? Just a little glimmer of light's gonna come through it and you're gonna be like, there it is, you know, you know, kick it down, right? Go, go there and go there and blast that door open because it's open now, you know. Um, yes.

And a lot of people don't know what to do once that door is open. They're so used to the struggle. They're still— right, they're so used to the fight. They're so used to like, I need to have some type of conflict in my life, that they don't know how to lean into the pleasantness of that journey, of enjoying and appreciating all of that hard work as well. So that, you know, you know, I do want to see people find a way.

That's kind of like, um, the guy I met, um, I spoke somewhere Philip Zen— Zen starts with a Z. He created this, like, test where he took the school and he had some people act like they were prisoners and some people act like that they were correctional officers. And he said that they could leave any time. So this is the guy that created this experiment. He was telling me about it. He said that they could leave any time. They just had to act. So the correctional officers had to act like they were, you know, and the prisoners had to act like they were And at one time they were able to leave and they were still imprisoned.

Like they were still felt like they bought into that role and they bought into that.

Yeah. The mind experience.

Yeah.

Like, yeah, the trauma or the mindset that set in. And the other thing that was interesting is he said that they started taking on the character roles and like he had to shut it down because I guess it got like really out of control, you know? Um, I'm trying to think what school it was, what college that was.

Yeah, I can't remember. Yeah, so it's a famous— it's a social psychology study, right? Uh, yeah, and it is like we get stuck in our story so much that we then become a victim to that story, and then we, we find experiences that just justify us staying stuck. Or as the late, great psychologist Kurt Cobain used to say, I like the comfort in being sad. Yeah, right. There's a— there, there is a— there is that become— that becomes our baseline, and anything from that baseline becomes incredibly difficult, even though if it doesn't serve us in the end.

Right. And that, that's the thing, like a person could be able to move their arms and legs. There is stuff in this world that's out there that will completely just paralyze their, their momentum. Yeah, their action to be, you know, being able to take actionable steps, like just them, like whatever it is within. So that the door open, they would still sit in the room, like, well, because that's what they were, they tried so hard for like 50, for like 50 days straight, they tried to open the door, they tried to push it, they tried to explode it, they tried to, you know, they tried to scratch it, they tried to call out, they tried to, you know, they tried to walk around it, they tried to do like, you know, spin and maybe do like what a video game does. They played the magic flute and the door wouldn't open and they were still there trying to get this door open. And then one day the door opened and the person just sat in the room and didn't even go And that's the thing, what happens with fear, with depression, with isolation and things like that. And so that's the other thing. When I come across some people, I have to work through that first. You know, I have to work through that because that's like a trauma, you know, what's been happening. So you have to work through that. Some people you don't, but some people you do, you know. And then once you finally just get that breakthrough, this is another story. But you've just gotten through that breakthrough of just like the isolation trauma or the depression trauma. Where they're like, they start feeling better about themselves. They start loving themselves, I guess you would say, because whatever happened in the past, bullying, they said that they didn't look good. They don't even feel beautiful. They don't even feel like they're actually a handsome or beautiful person. You know, they feel like they're, they're not worthy of their self. Like, those are some of the things that I've, you know, people I've talked to. And I'm like, no, like, You got to like get up and be like, look, just write down the things you want to achieve and accomplish. Yeah, but how am I going to do it? I'm not able to do that. I can't do that. I can't do that. I'm like, yeah, because you keep saying I can't. Let's change this wording. Let's just change. Let's write down what you really want to do and what makes you happy. And then just instead of saying you can't, just say, how can I make that happen? You know? And then let's just keep working on that. So every day you just look at what you want to achieve and say, I want to, you know, own a business. And it's this, how am I going to do that? How am I going to own a business? I'm going and then start changing it and say, I'm a business owner. Like it's already happened.

Sure. You know, today, that changes your neural pathways. And the other question I would ask in there is with who? Who's going to help me? Who can I partner with? Who's an expert in this area? Who can I brainstorm with? Who can, right? Who has the area of expertise about that, that I don't so that I can leverage? That out, right?

Right. And that's where you— when you start putting your how, then you put your who. But then I always tell them, why are you doing it? Why do you want to do this? What is your why? Like, why do you want vanity? Do you want celebrity? Do you want to be a celebrity? Do you want like this Hollywood lifestyle? Do you understand what's— what that stuff's really like? You know, like, why is it because I want people to like me? You don't have to go about that just to get people to like you.

Right. And it's never going to be enough. If you don't like yourself, no matter how many—

right, right.

Which will never happen.

Yeah, yeah. The whole world could like you, like you said, 699 billion people could like you, but if you don't love yourself, you ain't gonna feel it. You'll never feel it. Yeah, you'll never feel it. Wow, what a beautiful moment.

Yeah, right. And that's where the— I think like that inspire from within is really such a powerful, you know, you got to inspire yourself and be around the right people and the right mindset and the Right. Right. You said you talked about toxic energy before and toxic people. And, you know, we're in a world of chaos right now where we got it. We got, we got something that's toxic that's attacking all of our, you know, that's a risk of attacking our bodies in this, in this pandemic. And we have toxic politics and people, right, really just not liking people anymore. And, um, it's really, really, really, really challenging to find something that's inspiring when there's chaos all around it. And we do have to dig deep. And that's one of the reasons why I'm so thankful I'm so grateful to have my podcast because I joke that at the end of the day, it's truly a selfish play for me. This is purely to get me in front of people that inspire me, that motivate me, that get me, get me some information that I never would have figured out myself, and to use it as a little bit of a selfish resource. But I am obviously, I want to share to my community and to my people, and I want people to get tons of, right, tremendous resources about this and find some inspiration and some motivation for himself. But this became therapeutic for me. Yeah, as well, right? So there's so many ways of doing this, and I want people to know, like, while they're listening, like, there's no excuse except for the excuses that you create for yourself. And I— that's why I wanted to add that. With who? Who's going to help me get there, right? I don't need to know. I always ask my clients, what's your dream team? And you don't need to know them in person, and you don't need to be able to afford them, but who's your dream team? Who would you want in your life to help get you to where you want to be? Like, oh, I would love Tony Robbins. But I can't afford to go to his conference. I'm like, well, isn't there like, I don't know, 800,000 hours of Tony Robbins on YouTube right now?

Right?

Have you gone through— have you gone through 10 hours? Right, right. Have you gone through 10 hours? No, I haven't. I'm like, oh, well, they only went through an hour, right? Right. So you're full of crap.

They just see him and they just want to put him on the dream team, but you don't— you've never even taken the time to invest your time to invest in him. So why would he come and just jump on your team? If you haven't even invested time to watch him. Yeah.

Yeah.

Or share, or share a post of his. He's having a challenge class or he's having whatever it is. Speaking of that. Uh-huh. Right. Yeah.

But I was just saying, even just like the basic consumable of like, just get data in front of you. Just get information in front of you. Right. Have you listened to a podcast episode? Have you listened? And there's so many times I see this with my couples, I, you know, our clients like, oh, how many, you know, it's like, so you want this like really quick fix for your relationship. Relationship. Okay, how many books on relationships have you read? Zero. Uh, okay. How many, how many YouTube videos have you watched on relationship dynamics? Right, zero. Okay. Podcast?

No.

Talks with a spiritual leader, a mentor, a family, of someone that you know that you have that has a relationship that you're trying to emulate? None. I'm like, uh, okay, but yet you want us to fix it in the next 4 weeks, right? It's, it's that these are the things that are all mindset that are easily fixable. And I want to challenge people who are listening to this episode that we got to get our mindset right. We got to stop— we have to first start understanding what's the phrasing and the sayings that we're saying that are keeping us limited in getting what we want. And once we relanguage that, once we rescript that, then all the things are going to start showing up for us in the way that we want to get it. And I think that's what the inspiration is for me as I'm listening to you, is like, we got inspire ourselves.

Yes. Yeah, definitely change the word, the mindsets, like you said. And if you don't know how, just pay attention to other people. They, they're taking words and they're just changing one word, but it changes the whole outcome, the whole mindset, the whole life.

Your whole life.

Oh, like, you're right, like The Four Agreements. Wow. Yeah, that's a— yeah, just those Four Agreements, right? Or just if somebody just follows those Four Agreements, that's just one agreement would change our life. I mean, there's this, you know, be impeccable with your word, you know, don't make assumptions, right?

Being impeccable to your word is not just about what you're saying out into the world about other people. It's also what you're saying about yourself. Don't crap talk yourself. Don't shit talk yourself.

Yeah, right.

Don't beat yourself up. Don't like— and it comes so naturally. I remember a few months ago, I think it was before the pandemic, and I was— I had a great day at my office and amazing clients, and I love my clients, and I came home home and I'm like walking into my, into my condo and I'm like, oh God, you did crap today. Like, what are you doing being a therapist? I'm like, where did that come from? Whose voice is that? Like, yeah, whoa, like I had a great day. No, you did crap today. You didn't do anything for anybody. I'm like, that's not me. That's not my own voice. Like, where's that negative? So like we have to first catch that and like really not get into that. So I know that there's probably so much more we can get into. And, you know, and, and I want to lead people directly to all the things that are going on in your world. So number one, if you have been listening to this episode and you haven't yet gone on Instagram to follow Eric, please, please, please do so. It's Eric with a C Patrick Thomas. And you can check out, um, also at Inspire Shirt One, at D-Man Foundation, and Easy Awareness. Those are all of the things that he has his hands in. And again, he's thriving after injury. Entrepreneur, inspirational speaker, advocate, hip-hop artist. Dude, Eric, thank you so much. This was like just the motivation that we need right now, the inspiration we need right now to just wake up in the morning, have your cup of coffee, and then go inspire. As your mug— as one of your mugs says, guys, if you also like, you know, he has this awesome, awesome stuff on his website. He's got t-shirts and, and, and accessories and like just little mindset, little awesomenesses that just get you going. If you're on watching the YouTube video version of this, he's got this sick, sick Inspire hat that you can pick up for yourself if you want to put some positivity in front of yourself. Go, go, uh, go, go, go support Eric and his EZ Awareness. It's ezawareness.com. And Eric, man, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Yeah, thank you. It was great. We knew we were gonna have some fun and we We're able to really bring out some really good, you know, tools. Or they call— I don't know what they always call them, the nuggets. But we'll just, you know, we'll call them the mind— mindset growth tools or something. Yeah, we got to rename it. We got to figure out—

we got to come up with something. We got to come up with something, a takeaway. Yeah. So, so here's my last question for you, and I didn't— I didn't even prepare you for this last question. Can you throw down some bars?

Oh yeah, I mean, you know, I've, uh, one of the songs I have which is interesting. It's called "Beat My Belly Like a Bongo," and it happened because I was eating food and people watching. That's what I do before I was going into my shop, and Jesse was brushing the food off my stomach and it sounded like a bongo. So I was like, "Wow, beat my belly bongo, bongo, my belly bongo, belly bongo." And then that was a Wednesday, and then Saturday, Bangtown called me up, and he's a producer engineer, and he was like, "Hey, I got time to do some recording. Want me to come over?" I was like, "Yeah." When he came over, I wanted to work with him forever. He's awesome. You know, he's one of the best. And then he said, "You got a song concept?" I'm like, "Well, I got this in my head that's like beating my belly like a bongo." And I just told him, I was like, "Beat my belly like a bongo. Beat my belly like a bongo." You know, and then he started hitting the kick drum and, you know, and then we started playing the— So we got the very— We started playing the beat. I'm like, "Yeah, that's how I hear it." And then I started writing, and then I did the lyrics freestyle. You know, basically I, um, First it was, "Beat my belly like a bongo, beat my belly like a bongo, beat my belly like a bongo, my belly, my belly, my belly." And then I said, "My belly feeling empty, searching for the music, good and plenty, revving up, are you ready? Swip and puff, I'm rolling heavy, my ride is wheelchair ready, it's a Chevy, mozzarella, happy days, Fonzarelli, feeling like my birthday, Funfetti, beat my belly like a bongo, beat my belly like a bongo." And the way I did it is each bar I would say, and then I would go back and say it, and then I would write it in my head, and then go back in, and then be my brother like a bongo, my brother, my brother, my brother. Call me the music man, 76 trombones and a boy's plan. Here's the plan, oh yeah, Sugar Hill and my Kool-Aid man. Transform superhuman, macho man. Spaghetti-O, macaroni and cheese. Run-DMCs and the boys get beastie. Train to the basement, it was gritty. Beat Street, Rap City. Bring me back the old MTV raps, words like psych and who's the Mack. Bob Ross! We need you man— we'd never have trees on this land... Beat my belly like bongo beat mah behleh Like-a-bongoh? Beahmuhbehlehhlihkabonkho?! Beeehmahbehlehhlikabongo beeemhuuhaa behlhehh likabonko? My Belly x3 beet muh better lihkabongo Beet mAh BelLey LikA BOnGoH!? 4-3-2-1 go!!! 2, 1, everybody play your belly drums. Come on. So yeah, that's how— that's awesome. It was awesome. Yeah. If you, if you go to Google and just type in Beat My Belly Like a Bongo, I am the only person out there with that song. So that's the cool thing. Nobody else will show up but me.

And you're having fun while you're doing this, which is even better, right? If you're bringing your, your, your, your, your love to your craft.

Yeah. Like, I love it. I enjoy it. I'm not I'm not here to impress the world. I'm just here to make it feel like I love what I— what it does. Some people like it, some people don't. Some people might say it's cliché or whatever. That's fine. That's cool. That's their opinion. But I like it. I love it. I like what it is. I like what I do. You know, it's a, you know, and I did a song that I paid homage to Dr. Seuss. Remember Green Eggs and Ham? I called it EIB, basically Eric, you know, E-I-B instead of Sam-I-Am, E-I-B. And it's called Do You Like Hip-Hop MCs? And he's like, do you like hip-hop MCs? I'm like, I do not like them, E-I-B. Do you like hip-hop MCs? I do not like them, E-I-B. And then I was able to go into like, you know, would you listen to them here or there? Would you listen to them anywhere? Would you listen to them with a tiny mouse? Would you listen to them in a square house? Would you listen to them riding red tractor? Would you listen to them Veloster rap? Would you listen to him in a big brown box? Would you listen to him playing with Lego blocks? And then it goes back and he's like, I would not listen to him playing with Lego blocks. Would not listen to him in a big brown box. I would not listen to him with a Velociraptor. Would not listen to him riding a red tractor. Would not listen to him in a tiny, or in a square house. Would not listen to him with a tiny mouse. Would not listen to him here or there. I would not listen to him anywhere. And then it's like, do you like hip-hop MCs? I do not like them, E-I-E-I-O. B. So it was just like, it was— and I played every part, so I played the protagonist, antagonist, and I played the Atlas, like, thing. Yeah, and it was, it was weird in the studio because I was hearing myself and then I had to change my voice and everything. And it was sweet. It was a fun song though. I just, you know, ah, yeah, have fun. If I can leave anything— yeah, if I can leave anything with this, you know, it's like, if you're listening, just have fun with life. Find the happiness, man. Just enjoy it. And don't— like you said earlier, don't beat yourself up. And I've, I've been watching Netflix, and then I get off and I'm like, what did I just— right, I got dreams, right?

What did I just— where'd that time just go? What's that crap for, right?

I know. And maybe you do need to kick your butt a little bit.

Exactly. And if anybody out there is struggling with a little bit of mindset and needs some butt kicking, get, get yourself in front of Eric. Reach out to him on, on Instagram, hit him up on a DM. Him. And yeah, and then, you know, bring him into your world. If you're looking for speakers for your next event, if you're looking— yeah, just connect, connect with Eric. Again, it's Eric, E-R-I-C Patrick Thomas on Instagram, and easyawareness.com is his website. Eric, my man, looking forward to, to staying in touch and hearing more and more of you thriving.

Yeah.

All right, brother, thanks.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to staying in touch, hanging out. Message me. Let me know. All right, peace.