Dan Clark on Raising The Bar

All right, well, welcome to Fearless, uh, brought to you by Fuel, myfuel.io. If you have not checked out myfuel.io, I can't urge you enough to do that. We've got a faculty of amazing instructors and people specializing in micro courses, micro learning, where you can learn a skill or a tool in minutes and then apply it, which is where real learning takes place. The evidence is showing that the Fuel micro learning approach is 15 times more impactful than traditional learning and education. We've got one of the Fuel instructors here today, Dan Clark, with Absolutely amazing history. It's incredible. I mean, Dan's flown to the edge of space in a U-2 spy plane. He's flown virtually all aircraft in the military. He's got a funny story to talk about the F-18, which is what was in Top Gun with Tom Cruise. He's got— he had a paralyzing injury in the past that he had to bounce back from. just some amazing stories. And his course on Fuel is called The Art and Science of Storyselling, not storytelling, but storyselling. And what is that all about? He's overcome all kinds of adversity in his life, and we'll have stories about that. And again, the mission of this podcast is to help people around the world dealing with anxiety and stress and doubt and hesitation and resistance It's this beautiful world of change. So this is all about directing the energy around us to something very productive and very positive. Dan's also probably gonna talk a little bit about 6 brain chemicals that are triggered one way or another and how important that is to know as you navigate life. So with that, Dan, I don't even know where to start with you right now, but let's talk a little bit about your flying experience. Let's start with that. Tell us about some of your flying experiences.

You know, you never want to circumvent the host and your brilliance, but I just wanted to give a shout out to the significance of Fuel. You know, the founders, Todd and Alex, such visionaries. And to your point, John, when we can figure out a way to maximize our learning and do it in real time, I mean, Fuel, you could be sitting in your car. anticipating this cold call, significant sales call, and you could click on Fuel and get a quick hit of information, of inspiration, of practical application, tools of dialogue to use and prime yourself before you get out of your car, hop on the elevator and go make that not a sales pitch, but a serve pitch. So. It's such an honor to be a faculty member of Fuel. And from a selfish note, regardless of what course you take and you engage in Fuel, you'll know what next course is for you. And once you embrace Fuel— excuse me— and all of the faculty and all of the courses that are available, the microlearning opportunities, I would think that at the end of the day, you'll embrace the art and science of storytelling because regardless of what we're trying to do, as I would say, the more successful we become, the more people expect us to be able to share our stories at the same high level of excellence that created them. So I would hope that after you listen to this podcast, you'll dive into FUEL. And you'll pinpoint your pain and figure out what course you need to take right now. But then at the end of the day, you'll go full circle and come back to the art and science of storytelling, because anyone who wants to become a better leader, a better sales professional, a better influencer, a better parent, a better coach, a better friend, we all need to learn the art and science of communication at the highest level. And that's what my book is about. shamelessly. I'm so proud of it because it's changing people's lives. It's part of this amazing opportunity to engage Fuel. Again, I'm a proud faculty member and I endorse every single person, especially John Murphy now, you hunk of burning love.

If I could just add to that, Dan, I'm surrounded in my library right here by books going back 40 years and the fact that one of the major factors I consider helping and contributing to my advancement, my career, my success is surrounding myself with brilliant people through books, through audios. Back in the day, that's all we had. And now with Fuel, we've got just access, instant access. Like you said, you could be in your car on your way to make a service call or whatever it is and just hear from you, hear from anybody.

Yeah.

And now with the AIs, you know, I've got John AI. You can get access to me 24/7 anywhere on the planet in multiple languages. It's incredible, the coaching that's being offered there and the technology. So absolutely everybody should.

I'm sitting here in my library. I've read one book a week for the last 16 and a half years inspired by our mutual mentor, Jim Rohn, who said, formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune. And I think that's what we'll learn as we engage with Fuel and allow us instructors to teach each other, and together we rise. So again, Fuel, I love it. I'm such an advocate, and I encourage everyone to, to become a member.

Yeah, indeed. In fact, uh, you know, we do share, uh, Jim Rohn in our past, uh, the late and great, uh, Jim Rohn. I was on stage with him 30-something years ago. One of the things he said, I believe, was, uh, you're the average of the 5 people you hang around with most or something, right? And so hang around with brilliant people and you can do that virtually with Fuel. And like I say, I'm an avid reader. So let's talk a little bit about your experience in space, your experience in these jets. Yeah.

So what happened to me, you know, one of the greatest lessons, like I flippantly said, you turn every sales pitch into a serve pitch. When we go to networking events, most of the time people show up with a stack of business cards and a personal agenda. What can you do for me? And if we reverse that, understanding the law of reciprocity, I mean reciprocity, haha, that's funny. And we show up, how can I serve you? What can I do for you? It creates a moral obligation for that person to want to serve you at some point in time. And so what happened to me was I was invited to speak back in 2000 at the United States Naval Admirals Leadership Conference in Pensacola, Florida at the Naval Museum. And I walk in and the Blue Angels are hanging from the ceiling and they're only 8 inches, their wingspans are only 8 inches apart. And I'm immediately inspired.

How would it be?

How cool would it be if I could interview the lead and learn about trust and preparation and powerful nuggets like under pressure, you don't rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of training. That's why we train and prepare and practice so hard. Pressure's not something that's naturally there. It's created when you question your own ability. When you know what you've been trained to do, there's never any pressure. So all these nuggets of wisdom started pinballing around in my head. And I ended up speaking for 90 minutes, knock on wood. I dazzled them. I returned to my seat at the back of the room and 4-star Admiral Clark and 3-star Admiral Dwyer, they said, Clark, that was amazing. What could we do for you? And I said, I want to fly an F-18. They said, no problem. I said, really? So 2 weeks later, I flew into Baltimore, Maryland. I rented a car, drove to Patuxent River, Maryland. And when I pulled up to the gate, I should have turned around because the sign above the gate said Naval Test Pilot School. And when I got on base, these fighter pilots, they have antifreeze running through their veins. They all walk like they sat on something hot. It's just so amazing, this aura. And it's not arrogance, it's preparation. It's running towards the sound of the guns. It's true courage. It's understanding the power of trust and preparation. And so my first— I love Top Gun, the first version. So when I'm on base, I'm looking for Kelly McGillis. I'm looking for Iceman. I'm looking for Maverick. I want to meet Cougar. I'm fascinated. I get my, my, uh, my physical from the flight surgeon and I go through this extensive full day of orientation training, aqua training. And I go to the swimming pool in full combat gear, 85 pounds of combat gear, and I have to swim 2 lengths of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Put me underwater, blindfold me, put me in a maze as if we crash underwater and I lose my sense of up and down and equilibrium, and put me on a stool for equilibrium. Anyway, extensive training. And that night I go to dinner with the wing commander, Dog Thompson. And I said, is there something I need to eat to prepare myself for my flight in the morning? He goes, yeah, bananas. I said, why am I going to cramp up? Do I need the potassium? He says, no, it's because bananas taste exactly the same coming up as they do going down. So I go to bed with that visual like, oh goodness. I wake up the next morning, they introduce me to my pilot and his name is Captain Ruder, call sign Roto. And suddenly the whole dance of call signs goes out the window. And I'm like, I'm going to put my life in the hands of Roto Ruder. And we have this pre-flight brief and he tells me all the things we're going to do. Incidentally, we did everything you can imagine that was shown in Maverick, Top Gun. That's the same aircraft, F-18. We went twice the speed of sound, Mach 2, caught 9.4 Gs, you know, simulating bombing runs, air-to-air combat. It was unbelievable. And when we finally landed, And I put my face back over where it was supposed to be. As I'm climbing out of the aircraft, there was a female journalist and she had her camera crew. And I'm climbing down the ladder. She says, can I ask you a question, Mr. Clark? And I'm thinking, yeah, I gotta be philosophical and, you know, really answer correctly. And she goes, did you pop your cookies? And I'm like— I said, you know, let me just tell you something. Colonel, I mean, Colonel Dog Thompson was absolutely correct about those bananas. I said, in fact, I think I ejected a box of Milk Duds I'd eaten at a movie when I was 9. I was upside down so long, I think I'm the only human being who's ever thrown down. And I start walking back to the locker room with Captain Rudder. And I said, hey, bro, how did we fly this magnificent flying machine? State-of-the-art high-tech. The cockpit is literally crammed full of gauges and sensors, and it's the most high-tech AI conglomerate of information and technology that you can even imagine. And he said, we flew it by feel. I said, what do you mean? He said, we become the plane. I said, what did you mean? He said, when you climbed up the ladder and slid into the cockpit, did you strap into the F-18 or did you strap the F-18 onto you?

Hmm.

So what we have to do, what we have to understand in human performance and taking ourselves to the next level, you know, in all 9 categories of life, physical fitness, continuous education, deeper spirituality, emotional stability, social networking, financial responsibility, family togetherness, fun and recreation, and charitable giving. In order for us to take ourselves, move the needle, raise the bar in each of those 9 categories of life so we are the best version of ourselves, we don't do it with the left brain cognitive psycho babbling neurotechnical side of the brain. Knowledge is power, but it has no heart. We don't learn to know, we learn to do.

Right.

All the information in the world isn't going to make a person successful. It's like the guy who has 3 PhDs, one in philosophy, one in psychology, one in sociology. He doesn't have a job, but at least he can explain why. Ah, moral of the story.

Exactly.

Reason leads to conclusions, but it is emotion that leads to action. Reason leads to conclusions, but it is emotion that leads to action. Logic sells, facts tell, stories sell, but it is emotion that decides. So if you want to take yourself to the next level, it's all about the right brain, touchy-feely, relational, laughing, crying, storytelling, story-selling part. And that's how we go Mach 2 with our hair on fire. We prepare, but then we trust our intuition and our preparation and our gut, our sensibility, our social awareness. our operational awareness, our situational awareness. And now we become the plane. We become what we need to do and what we need to think and how we need to behave. And it's amazing how in the moment we can accelerate our performance to a level beyond imagination, especially when we understand how we tie this information and tie this discussion into triggering the 6 brain chemicals.

Absolutely. Yeah, you talked about those 6 brain chemicals. You also just went through those 9 categories of life, and you went through them very fast, Dan. So I want the audience to know that Dan covers those in great detail in his Fuel course. So, you know, we don't have a whole lot of time to go through each one of those in detail, but if you want to know what those 9 categories in life are, go to the course because they're essential. And then the 6 brain chemicals that he speaks about.

I didn't mean to interrupt you. And may I make a comment that the reason why I illustrated those 9, I mean, those 9 categories of life, most individuals who have expertise in self-development, they have their own version of the balance wheel, but most of them have labeled their categories nouns and nouns evoke no emotion. And they are always categorized in physical, mental, spiritual, social, financial, and family. I dissected life into 9 categories to trigger a question in you when we're always in search of new stories, new content material development. Ask yourself, what do you know? Are you a subject matter expert in each of those 9 categories? And what must you do to improve your expertise in each of those 9 categories, which will create— significant emotional events, transitional experiences, unbelievable stories from which to draw that will help you become the best communicator you can become and trigger the 6 brain chemicals with the stories that you've now identified and indexed in your own experience. So those 9 categories are simply a way to trigger memories from your past, that you can turn into stories with life lessons that will allow you as a communicator to trigger the 6 brain chemicals. And when you can tell the right story at the right time for the right reason with the right message, you really can influence someone's behavior, change their thinking and behavior, and get them to act and follow and buy from you.

No question about it. What I like also is just the holistic balance, the Because, you know, people who really focus on 1 or 2 of those categories and the rest of their life is a mess. So, you know, the fact that there's not just 1 or 2, in this case, there are 9 that are all very impactful. I've been through all 9 of those, Dan, with your course.

Sure.

And they're just awesome. I want to return this up to Noah. So, before you go up in this F-18, you know, you got to swim the length of a pool and back wearing 85 pounds of gear and all that kind of stuff.

You're not going to do that if you don't have somewhat of a physical foundation.

an athletic, fit body, right? And I know you are a Hall of Fame— excuse me, Hall of Fame speaker, but you are an All-American football player at university of— in high school and University of Utah. I think scheduled for number 1 draft in the NFL. You were Golden Glove boxers. You were an All-Star baseball pitcher. Clearly an amazing athlete. And then something happened to you. that really scared you, I could say, really struck you. Can you describe? And, you know, I'm talking about the paralyzing accident. Yeah.

You know, a lot of people ask me, when did I learn about resilience? And I had throat cancer when I was 8 years old. I had to battle it. I don't remember a lot of things about being 8, but I do remember being in the hospital and my head, I couldn't lift it up and blah, blah, blah. And I remember the doctors telling my parents that if, if the cancer didn't stop spreading immediately, it would have eaten through to my vocal cords and I would have never been able to speak or sing again. And, and yet he gave hope that there was, you know, prayer involved, spirituality, um, and all of the above. And I remember that so distinctly, John, that when later on in my life When I had this brutal injury, I never lost, I never forgot what I really knew deep down in my soul about the power of resilience and the power of positive thinking. And so quickly, it was practice, coach blew the whistle, And another player and I ran full speed to each other in a violent head-on collision, smashing my right shoulder to the cutting edge of my fiberglass pads. And we slammed to the ground. And when Lyle got off of me, I compressed the 7 cervical vertebrae in my neck. I'd severed the axillary nerve in my right deltoid muscle. And I suffered a grade level 2 concussion, which is the most serious concussion of all. I shook like a leaf, threw up multiple times and cried myself to sleep, which was a really bad idea. My eye drooped. I had loss of speech. I couldn't talk anymore, which momentarily returned. My right side was paralyzed. My arm dangled helplessly at my side, leaving me paralyzed for 14 months. I went to 16 best doctors in North America, 15 of whom told me I would never get any better. I would not recover. So for those of you who are tuning in here, as you quoted Jim Rohn, we must, you know, we become the average of the 5 people we associate with the most. I always like to add to that a quote quote by Max Lucado who said, which means we must be willing to pay any price and travel any distance to associate with extraordinary human beings, even online. So I stayed paralyzed for 14 months. And now that I fought my way back to a 95% recovery, I want everybody tuned in to just understand the lessons learned that could change your life as well. So my life spiraled downward until I hit what I thought was rock bottom. You see, I was an athlete, as you said, I thought I was a football player when in reality, that's just what I did, it's not who I am as a man.

Yeah.

We identify ourselves in terms of what we do instead of who we are, we become human doings instead of human beings. Unacceptable of significance is what we seek. And so I'm there trying to figure out what to do, and my life spiraled downward until I hit what I thought was rock bottom. So let me share the 3 most frequently asked questions that will teach you what I learned through this process, because it clearly, now in retrospect, it clearly is one of the best things that ever happened to me. Don't misunderstand, not my paralysis, but who I became as a result of it. Realizing that nothing happens to us, everything happens for us. Question number 1, Clark, what do you mean you thought you hit rock bottom? So if you remember nothing else I say today, please remember no matter how hard things get, no matter how tough life seems to be, nobody ever hits rock bottom. We hit rock foundation. We hit rock belief. We hit the baseline core values and governing principles on which we were raised. Question number 2, why did I keep going to so many different doctors? I kept going from doctor to doctor until I found one who believed I would get better, who understood. Now think about it. When I was hurt, I had family members, teammates, coaches. I had people who loved me continuously come up to me and say, I know what you're going through. And I used to think, you don't have a fricking clue. Psychologists remind us the average person talks between 200 and 400 words a minute, and yet we think between 400 and 800 words a minute. So no one ever knows everything that we think. No one ever knows everything that we feel. No one ever knows everything that we want to say. The author Thoreau was right. Men lead lives of quiet desperation.

Desperation.

And so nobody really knew. From a spiritual perspective, I knew God knew, so I could still pray and draw strength from him. But in a reality perspective, when we still have to deal with every day, the spirituality keeps us going. Religion is for those who are afraid to go to hell. Spirituality is for those of us who have already been there. So we're spiritual beings having a physical experience on this earth. We know all those clichés and we know the reality. But still we got to wake up. Still we have to pay our bills. Still we have to deal with the man in the mirror. And the thing that I learned, which is the power of fuel, is when we can engage with someone who has actually been there, who knows, who's done. As a professional speaker, I take pride. I don't just teach what I know. I teach who I am, how I've lived, what what I've done. And that's how we connect with the audience. And that's the power of Fuel instructors and why I plead with everybody within the sound of my voice to engage in Fuel, because there are instructors on every subject you can imagine who I know have been there and done that. They can literally turn decades into days. And that's what I needed.

Yes.

And this one specific doctor convinced me with medical Medical facts with a little bit of hope and faith, multiple prayers, but support that one day at a time I could probably get better. So now question number three, which brings in the neuroscience, the physiology, so you don't think for one minute that my recovery was a rah rah come on Clark cowboy up, you know be a big winner. That does not work. That's momentary. I stayed paralyzed for 14 months, John, because I was asking the wrong questions. And anyone listening who's having a hard time pivoting, even out of COVID after all this time, some people still haven't pivoted out of COVID If you're currently stuck, if you're currently afraid to face your fear and you have some gnawing reason or excuse for not getting back up and going again, and you're blaming and complaining, You gotta understand something. I stayed paralyzed for 14 months because I was asking the wrong questions. I was asking the doctors how to get better when I should have been asking myself why. And once we answer why, figuring out the how-to becomes clear and simple. And it's based in physiology. It's based in neuroscience. You see, when we only focus on the how and the what, We only engage the head. We only engage the brain. And that makes us transactional, which is superficial. It makes us transactional leaders, transactional coaches, transactional mentors, transactional friends, transactional neighbors. How sad is that?

Mm-hmm.

When we go into a networking experience or when we go into a social event and all we say is, and this is what I do, I say, tell me about yourself. And 99% of the people go to what and how. Well, what happens when we only engage the how and what is we become transactional. It remains superficial. But when we add to that a passionate why and a compelling want where our why is bigger than our why not, it connects the head with our heart. And physiologically proven, our blood pumps more rapidly. Our brains fire and our muscles magnify, which maximizes our energy and maximizes our performance. As an athlete, that's what allows us to access the second wind, the extra effort. And that's where the brain chemicals come in, which we can discuss in a little bit, which is so fascinating. And so what happens when we understand the physiology of resilience, the physiology of recovery, There's never an excuse for us to stay down. And exhaustion is acceptable. Puking is acceptable. Crawling is acceptable. Blood, sweat, and tears are acceptable. Disappointment, discouragement, hunger, angry— anger, loneliness, tiredness, sadness. They're all acceptable. But quitting is not. You can't quit. It's a league rule. And if you understand brain science, if you understand physiology, there's no one on the planet that should kill themselves. There's always a reason. In 2 more days, tomorrow's yesterday. You've got to figure out a way to get back physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, socially, and financially. But more importantly, addressing what is causing this so-called depression, what's causing this delay in your ability or your desire to get back up and go again. Because the human spirit is flatlined through medication. And my experience is I was not depressed. There's a giant difference between being depressed and being disappointed. Huge difference between being depressed and being discouraged. Most people who think they're depressed are only suffering from one of the 5 emotionally distorted conditions, which I already named. Hungry, angry, lonely, tired, or sad. We can remedy all of those and then get a new dream, access our power through asking the right questions, and we're back on our feet. No excuses. If we hang around with the right people, tune into the right podcasts, we can always get back up and go again. Get knocked down 7 times, get back up 8.

That's right. That's going to lead us into a boxing story where you get knocked down and get knocked up. I want to say this, You know, you and I are so aligned on this stuff, Dan. It's incredible. You know, I, I, uh, we talked earlier about, uh, I, I couldn't find a doctor actually that would say I could play football again when I had the— a terrible accident with my foot. Uh, but I found, um, a different inspiration. Just real quick, you know, I had run my foot through a lawnmower and it was a, it was a mess. And, uh, but my grandfather sent me a book and it's called On Courage. And in the book, it featured a number of athletes that overcame great adversity. One was Rocky Bleier. So Rocky, his story, you know, after Vietnam and getting his foot all blown apart, ends up making it to the Steelers and then starting as a running back and winning 4 Super Bowls, which I've actually held in my hand, all 4 of them. And Rocky and I were on stage actually afterwards, years later, with Zig Ziglar. Anyway, the doctor said, no, Murphy, your career is over. You'll be lucky to walk again without limping. 2 years later, I'm playing for the same university that Rocky happened to be playing for, the University of Notre Dame.

Yeah.

You talk about adrenaline, you want to get to that, and the endorphins, and the dopamine, and the serotonin, the cortisol, the neurotransmitters, and the brain chemicals that trigger. In my case, it was from heart, not head. The head was saying, you can barely walk. But the heart said, I'm going to play football again. Never won 4 Super Bowls like Rocky, but hung up the cleats when I was ready to hang up the cleats, so to speak. And so I want to get to the boxing story before we close, but talk a little bit more too about those brain chemicals. Yeah.

So in order, adrenaline, endorphin, and dopamine, they're the selfish chemicals. They're highly addictive. They only stay in our body 30 minutes to 100 120 minutes. So that's how we can accelerate performance. So a classic example, John, would be that you and I are at an event and the event planner has divided all of us into 5-person soccer teams. And we've got a bracketed tournament and the winning team, everybody on the winning team gets $500. So there's some motivation. And you come down the field thinking you're Messi and you plant your foot and you go to kick the ball and you blow out your knee. You hear the snap, crackle, pop.

I've done that.

Your MCL, your meniscus, it's a hot mess. Immediately swells up to the size of a basketball. You're laying on the pitch. And because we're so sensitive, we move the game and leave you there so we can keep competing for the $500. Finally, we come back and we take you to the hotel. We get you in your room. We prop up your leg, get you some ice, couple of ibuprofen. We said, we're going to check up on you in a little while. We're going down to the sports bar, swap some stories, have a couple of pops. And are you married, John?

Not anymore.

Okay. So do you have a girlfriend or anybody? Just a female in your life? Listen, do you have a girlfriend?

I do.

Okay. What's her name?

Panayota, which is Greek, but she goes by Pam.

Okay. Pam. So let's say Pam is 3 hours away from where we're having this event and you're in your hotel room. And because we all care about you, I call after about an hour to check up on you. John, how you doing? Why don't you come down and join us? We're swapping some laughs and stories. And you say, I am in so much pain. It's my right leg, my right knee. I can't drive. It's going to affect my productivity, affect my job. I'm emotionally drained, drip dry. I am in so much pain. Thanks anyway, but I can't come down. You hang up the phone with me and 10 minutes later a police officer says, is this John Murphy? Yeah. Who's this? This is Officer Pete Collins. Your beloved lady—

Pam.

Has just been in a serious accident. And if you don't get to her bedside, there's a good chance that you're not going to be able to see her alive again. You hang up with him. Suddenly you call me back. I let everybody at the sports bar know what's going on. Everybody stands up and volunteers who has the fastest car. We come up to your hotel room, we get you. You're not even limping. It doesn't hurt anymore. You're getting to the car as fast as you can because your focus is on your beloved Pam. We get in the car, we're racing. You say, I'll pay the speeding ticket, get us there. 10 minutes into that race car experience, your phone rings again. John, sorry, this is Pete Collins. I feel horrible. Your friends put me up to this. Your beloved Pam has not been in an accident. She's fine and well. Now you hang up and you're so angry. You want to find the guys who put him up to that, kill them, as long as I promise that I'll visit you in prison every Thursday. Our subconscious mind does not know the difference between fact and fiction, between truth and false.

Yep.

In one instance, you are so emotionally drained, drip dry, you can't even function. You're so worried about the future. You're so worried about your mobility. And suddenly you're all about Pam. Oh my gosh, come on, come on. You don't even hurt. You can bend your knee to get in the sports car. When 15 minutes earlier it was bone straight and you were in so much pain. And then all of a sudden within 30 minutes, you are so angry, you want to find the folks who put you up to this. And it's all about the power of the brain. And what you just did was ignite adrenaline and endorphin, which masks physical pain.

Yep.

And in the course of 30 minutes, 60 minutes, You've triggered 2 powerful brain chemicals that accelerated your performance. Let me give you another quick example about the power of adrenaline and the power of endorphin, because endorphin is most quickly triggered through humor. That's what I love. And a Rocky type story told in an emotional way. So Dream Team basketball, Olympic Dream Team, 1992, the first one.

Yeah.

They went to the Olympics in Barcelona and defeated every one of their opponents by at least 40 points. They dominated. And on their way to the Olympic Games, our dream team would stop in different countries to play against their all-star team to help them raise money to finance their Olympic team. And on their way to Barcelona, the US Olympic dream team stopped in Puerto Rico.

Oh yeah.

And Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and Coach Chuck Daly decided to go out and play 18 holes of golf under the hot When they finished, Michael Jordan says, I want to play another 18 holes. You guys go on. Coach Daly says, you're never going to have enough energy to play tonight. Come on, Mike, think of your teammates. Mike says, don't worry, I'll be there. Mike plays another 18 holes, finishes 36 holes, comes to the arena, gets dressed in the locker room, goes to Coach Daly, hey, I want to guard their best player. Coach Daly says, you can't. He's not in your position. Michael Jordan says, I don't care. He's been badmouthing me every day for 7 days in the media. And I'm going to teach him a lesson. End of the game, Michael Jordan finished the game with 42 points, 12 assists, 6 steals, and held their superstar to only 6 points. Moral of the story, don't piss off Michael Jordan. Watch the documentary Last Chance. And it's all based on the story he was telling himself. So Let's put it into reality for our listeners and viewers. What story are you telling yourself? Yeah. No one can exceed his or her potential. We just misjudge it. What's going on in your head? And if you change your story and you actually believe it, you can change your performance. And then when you figure out what stories you've experienced and you've taken the time to take the course on storytelling to figure out how to craft it into a story that's worth sharing with life lessons learned, and then you practice it so you can deliver it at the same high level of excellence that created it. Now you understand the significant competitive advantage that you'll get by becoming a story seller. And I challenge you to engage in my course and really engage in every Fuel course.

Yeah, Dan, I can't recommend it enough. It truly is amazing. And I can relate so well to what you teach in that course. It's truly amazing. I got to share one more quick commonality between the two of us. So I had to have a C7 discectomy. Yeah, I think you said it was your C7.

Yeah.

And, you know, I lost use of my right arm for a while. You know, I had a lot of head bangs playing football and things like that. So I had to finally have the disc removed and a piece of my hip bone fused together and this and that. Well, I was on a plane 3 days later to California from Michigan to teach a 3-day workshop to Raytheon, big defense company. And I'm sitting up there on a stool with a big brace on my neck. But what motivated me was, again, heart, mind over matter, and the idea that they've organized this whole workshop around me being there. I'm not going to miss that. So I'm sitting there. First of all, the doctor said, well, you can't lift anything. you can't do all these things. I said, can I sit on a plane? He's like, I guess so, you know. And can I, uh, sit in a taxi? Yeah, but you can't drive. And, you know, all of these restrictions. Can I sit on a stool and talk? It's like, and direct people to do exercises and things like that? Yeah, you could do that. So I'm sitting there, one of the guys in the class says to me at break, he goes, did you, did you say you had a Discectomy like Thursday, and it's— this is like Monday.

Yep.

He goes, oh my God. I said, I had the same, same exact surgery. I didn't recover for 6 weeks, and here you are. And by the way, the following week I had a 5-day course in Boston, and then the following week another 3-day course back in, uh, in California. So for 3 weeks where I'm traveling around with this thing on my neck, but it's precisely What you're describing where it's just, it's like mind over matter. And there are people counting on me.

Yeah. Beautiful.

Yeah.

Your why is bigger than your why not. You know, proudly, I've never missed a speech. 6,000 stages. I did my, on my website, it's 79 countries, but I just spoke at Edinburgh Castle a couple of weeks ago in Scotland. So now I've spoken in 80 countries. Yet I've never missed a speech ever. I've had flights canceled. I've rented a car. I remember driving 7 hours through the Badlands of Nebraska to make a speech at Rapid City, South Dakota. And on a 3-day conference, I'm the only speaker who showed up because of inclement weather. And people say, why? It's not because I'm so noble. It's because I know for a fact, when I was hurt, John, I lost my identity, especially men.

Yeah.

We cling to what we do to identify who we are. And somehow we've got to separate that. It's a tougher process than one would think. But I know for a fact—

Yeah.

That there's at least one man and one woman in every one of my audiences who is hurting as badly as I was. And like I said at the very beginning, if we have an experience that can keep someone from killing themselves, that can ignite their desire to become healthy, that can save a marriage, that can kickstart an entrepreneurial idea, We have a moral obligation as brothers and sisters in the family of humanity to just give whatever we can give and share whatever we can share. And I know there's at least one man or one woman watching this podcast who needs what we've been talking about, not because of who we are, but because of the life lessons that we've learned that we can share and just give them that kickstart, that trigger of adrenaline or endorphin necessary for them to just hang on for one more day, 2 more days. Tomorrow's yesterday.

Yeah, and I heard a wonderful definition of hero on last week's show with Colonel Brian Cook, 33 years in the military. He was actually flatlined 4 times and came back. Incredible episode for anybody who missed it. Well, definitely watch that episode as well. But he said, you know, the definition of hero is And this is, if you look it up, it comes from the Greek word hero. I think it's just hero, herois or something. I don't speak Greek very well, but coincidentally you've got Hercules. But hero means 3 words essentially, and it's strength for 2. Strength for 2. In other words, we will— a hero is anybody who will do whatever they can do for someone else. And so it's those 2 or 3 people in your audience, you know, that you might be influencing, along with thousands more, Dan, in your case. But it's, uh, everybody can be a hero when they get out of their own way and they reach out to help somebody in need, somebody who's maybe hurting worse than you are. Um, we, you know, we could go on and on and on, Dan. I hope I can get you back on the show sometime, uh, maybe next week.

Are we running out of time, or can I tell my Muhammad Ali story?

I was just going to ask you that. We were not going to finish without that story. So, you know, Dan was a Golden Gloves boxer. You were in Michigan. Okay. Go from there.

So what happens is the thing that holds back low achievers the most is complacency. The thing that holds back high achievers the most is complacency. And like you said, I was a Golden Gloves boxing champion. My hero was Muhammad Ali. I was the Great White Hope. I had tassels on my boots. I had really fast hands. You know, I had the shuffle, I had it all down. And now fast forward to 1988. So before Muhammad Ali was just stricken with Parkinson's disease that took away his ability to communicate, he was healthy and just sassy and funny and awesome. And he's living in Berrien Springs, Michigan. I'm speaking at Andrews University to the student body. I finished my speech. I'm doing a book signing. in the student union. And these 2 lads walked by, Muhammad Ali had been on campus. I stopped in my tracks. Where? No big deal. He lives here. He comes on campus every day. I finished my book signing and I said to the student body president, do you know where Muhammad Ali lives? He goes, yeah. I said, do you own a camera? He goes, why are we going to go to his house? I'm like, yeah. The 4 of us get in his car, we drive to the outskirts of town. And when we pull up, there's his magnificent southern mansion, white pillars, Huge circular driveway, gate open. The sign didn't say no trespassing. He said, welcome. I said, hey, you guys coming? They said no. I walk up the circular drive. I knock on his door. His wife answers. She says, may I help you? I said, yeah, is Muhammad in? She goes, yeah. She says, may I tell him who's calling? I said, yeah, Dan. Goes and gets him. 2 minutes later, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound, larger-than-life super hero is filling his doorway. Hi, I'm Muhammad. I said, I know, I'm Dan. You want to come in? I said, I'm here with 3 other guys. Can I invite them? Yeah. We get out of the car. They're running. We slide into the front entranceway. And for the next 5 hours, we are houseguests of Muhammad Ali watching his greatest fights on his big screen. Rumble in the Jungle, you know, Thrill in Manila. I've spoken at Aeronautic Coliseum in Manila, 22,000 folks, and I'm in the green downstairs with these pictures of Joe Frazier and Ali. Talk about getting fired up for my speech to speak to those people. And he feeds us, does magic. And at the end of the 5-hour adventure, if you will, the experience, we're leaving and he goes, Danny, do you have any questions? I said, yeah. I said, I'm an athlete. What was your number one most powerful exercise that you engaged in that got you in the quickest physical condition? He said stomach crunches. I said, really? I said, how many did you do? He said, you know, I never started to count until they started to hurt. I said, what do you mean? He says, there's a big difference between training to fight and training to win. He says, you have any more questions? I said, yeah, you're 3-time world champion. Which means you've been defeated twice by 2 inferior opponents.

Why?

He said, I got complacent. I said, what do you mean? He said, I forgot that once the fight starts, I've put it up for grabs and I no longer hold the title. I must become brilliant at the basics and fight as hard as I did the first time I won it to win it back. So we can't afford to allow complacency to sit in. How many times have we been in a stadium watching our favorite football team and they're ahead by 21 points at halftime? And when they come back out, they stop playing to win and start playing not to lose. They lose their momentum. They don't understand the way to trigger brain chemicals to access second effort. And they slowly start losing the game, let us remember, not every football play is designed to score a touchdown. One play sets up another play, which sets up another play. And eventually, the Rocky Bleier breaks through for that 30-yard scamper to score the game-winning touchdown and win the Super Bowl.

Yeah.

That applies to sales. It applies to falling in love with Pam. It applies to every aspect of our life. We've got to just go step by step, one day, one moment at a time. And since we've got the mindset of the 12-step program of AA, obviously there's 11 steps, but number 12 is find another addict and help him or her, service before self. So if we engage in the 11 steps of AA in everyday life, even if we're not addicted to anything, which most of us are addicted into something. But even if we're not enrolled in AA, if we follow the first and obey the first 11 steps of the 12-step program and do not follow and engage in step 12, finding someone else, service before self, how may I help you? The first 11 matter not and it won't change us at all.

Yep. And there's your definition of hero again, strength for 2. You get to that 12th step and you help someone.

And Muhammad Ali invited us into his home. He didn't have to do that. He saw this starstruck fan at the door and invited us in and just took me to the next level. I mean, unbelievable experience. And all of us could be a Muhammad Ali to anyone.

Yeah. And you know what, Dan, is it's having the courage to walk up the driveway and knock on the door. I mean, the other 3 guys, We're afraid to do that, right?

Yes, sir.

To this audience, knock on the door. Take the steps. Walk up the driveway. Knock on the door for whatever it is you're looking for and that excites you. I definitely want to finish with that. Dan, it's no wonder why you've worked with essentially every NFL team. You've advised the White House, spoke at the United Nations. You've just done the most amazing things. If you were to summarize in just one sentence or a few words, how'd you get to where you are? What, what would you say?

I think it's, it's consolidated. You're such an interviewer. I can't wait to meet belly to belly. We've never shaken hands. I hope you'll have me back on your show and that people can definitely— but you know what, as a songwriter, I learned a long time ago, it's the hook that sells the song. My buddy Tim Nichols He wrote Live Like You're Dying for Tim McGraw. And so, if I could just put it into a quote more than cliché, it's the lyrics to one of my songs, but it's kind of who I am. Every relationship, the purpose of every relationship is to have people leave us saying, I like me best when I'm with you. I want to see you again. So, anything I can do as a speaker, anything I can do as an author, anything I can do as a songwriter, anything I can do as a friend, as a mentor, as a coach is aligned with that purpose that I really want people to understand that people don't act because they understand, they act because they care. And I want people to know that I genuinely care. When I was up in space and I got a chance to look at the breathtaking curvature, sitting in the sounds of silence for 5 hours, gazing into the endless blackness of the universe, pondering eternity, I became an expert eyewitness to the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, who said, the mind once stretched can never return to its original dimensions. And so on a podcast, as a speaker, as an author, whatever we can do to stretch someone's imagination, stretch someone's belief in themselves, and do it through love as brothers and sisters in the family of humanity, that's my purpose. That's what I'm trying to do every day of my life. So I hope stories—

Yeah, I'd say, I'd go beyond— I'd say I'd go beyond trying, Dan. You're doing it.

Thanks.

You know, it does take effort, but you are, you are such an example to— and such an inspiration for so many people. So, uh, friends and people listening, um, share this episode, subscribe to Fearless, uh, subscribe to Fuel, uh, check out Dan's course, read Dan's one of 37 books, and, uh, And then most importantly, do it. It's not enough to have it in your head. You gotta apply it. You gotta do it. And I would just advise you do it for someone else, not just yourself. That's where you, you pull the power of the universe through you and not from you. You channel it.

As we talked about our 2 mentors, Jim Rohn, let's give a little shout out to Zig Ziglar, who is famous for saying, We can get anything in this life that you want if you're willing to help enough other people get what they want. Wealth flows through you, not to you. I'll end on that and let you close it out, brother.

Yeah, I'm just going to add that Tom Ziglar, uh, Zig's son Tom, is a Fuel instructor. Uh, check out his work. I'll get him on this podcast sooner or later. And, uh, but most important, uh, everyone, uh, do, do something. Don't let that complacency complacency hold you back. Don't let fear hold you back. Last week, Colonel Brian Cook shared a song title with me. I know you're a songwriter, Dan, and the song is titled Fear Is a Liar. I'd never heard that song before, so I immediately listened to it, and the lyrics are brilliant. Fear is a liar. So I'll leave everybody with that. Check that out.

We should never fear. We should never, we should never Fear failure, but we should always be afraid of regret. I didn't say it like I wanted to. It didn't sound good at all.

Yeah. And I like what Wayne Dyer would say, don't die with your song still in you.

Oh yeah. I love it.

I love that too. Yeah. We could go on and on with all this stuff. Next week, I got Dr. Sharon Grossman. She's a Hall of speaker. She's a wonderful person with great insight. So disrupting the what-if cycle. In this case, what if something goes wrong, which triggers fear? I like to what-if it a little bit different and say, what if something goes really well? What if I hit a home run? What if I start a podcast? What if I write a book? What if I get up on stage with Dan Clark and we, we wow, you know, several thousand people or what the case might be. We're going to challenge with the what-ifs next week with Dr. Sharon Grossman. With that, I'm going to say thank you. We went a little extra today, but it was well worth it. Dan, we will talk again soon. Please, everybody, share this episode. Let's get the word out there and help as many people as we can who are struggling with fear and anxiety and doubt. With that, we will say— Thank you.