SSP 076: Sylvester McNutt III - Living Full and Dying Empty

What's going on, my beautiful State Shifters family? It's Jordan Kanlish here. We're back for another podcast. And if you're new to the State Shifters podcast, first of all, welcome. It's a pleasure, it's an honor to have you listening in. This podcast is really for anyone who's trying to level up, trying to level up their game in life, meaning they're trying to become something better than they were yesterday. And I bring on guests here who have really executed on an intention, a vision, a goal, and they've mastered an internal set of challenges that they've had to overcome. And this podcast is about just dissecting what it takes to evolve. You know, I'm big on the internal journey. Balancing the external work with the inner work is really the name of the game. That's when you enter flow. That's when you enter synchronicity. That's where the magic's at. And if anyone who's, who knows me, I really talk about that a lot because it's so fricking important. And you'll notice the underlying theme behind a lot of the questions that I ask people on here is, is what are some of those big internal challenges that you've had to overcome to get to where you are? Because life is an inside out game. And on this podcast, I'm going to be dissecting what internal shifts these people have had to make to achieve at the level they're at. And today's guest is certainly someone who's achieving a higher level. He's written eight books, he's a podcast host and course creator. Sylvester really teaches people how to transform their mindsets through self awareness and healing practices. So we're gonna have some fun with this conversation. He's a retired arena football player. Survival of traumatic experiences. And Sylvester uses storytelling to teach people how to really gain some introspective inner confidence and really sustain self love. So keep in mind with this interview, guys, because we're on such different time zones, I was up at 1am pulling questions from, you know, my curiosity that I normally have when I get to interact with people who, like Sylvester, who are really just in alignment with their work and in alignment with what I believe in. So 1:00am I was trying to, I was really starting to get things going, but I was doing my best I could given the fact that it was so late in the morning, early morning here. So keep that in mind if my voice is, if my energy isn't the same as normal. But before we dive into the episode, I Just want to mention one thing here in relation to this. We talk a lot about learning and growth and really always that constant self improvement. And there's one product I want to mention here that I've been using a lot recently and I've been recommending it to a lot of people. So I thought I'd just let you guys know on here, one of the little hacks that I use when it comes to learning and just overall function of my brain is mushrooms. Now I've been using mushrooms for probably the last six months or all different kinds of mushrooms, not just the psychedelic kind, medicinal mushrooms, that is things such as lion's mane, reishi, cordyceps, turkey tail, these medicinal mushrooms which are plant extracts. I use a company called Lifecycle and I use these mushrooms in the morning. I add them to my tea or my cacao and. And my go to is lion's mane. When it comes to learning cognitive function, just overall ability to articulate my words correctly, I find my brain literally fires better when I have lion's mane in my morning beverage. So I wanted to give this company a plug on here because they're from Australia, they produce an amazing product and I've also hit them up on Instagram to tee up a discount code for you guys. So if you use state shifters 10 and at checkout you'll get 10% off state shifters within capital letters. And if you're curious to learn more about mushrooms and this is something you're curious to explore, check out the website or send me a message and I'm more than happy to share share that with you. So wanted to plug that. Cause it's relevant to this and it's just gonna support the learning process for you. Before we get started, I wanna make a bold request from you. If you haven't already, go over to itunes and subscribe to the podcast because there's consistent with wisdom coming at you and I really want you to stay up to date with it because I'm just excited by who I'm getting to interact with. And it's been an honor and I'm so grateful to have you on this journey with me. So if you haven't already subscribe. That way you'll get notified when podcasts come out. And if you feel really nice and you're enjoying this content, leave a rating or review because that's going to help more people discover this kind of stuff. So without further ado, enjoy this conversation with Sylvester McNaught.

Welcome to the State Shifters Podcast, a show dedicated to helping you discover Your true potential through connecting the mind, body, and soul.

Yeah, there we go. I was saying just around stories, you know, you mentioned, you know, the best way to get information across for it to stick to people is through storytelling. And I was curious to know, like, we always connect something back to a personal story, or will you just relate it to a story within context that allows the information to be put forward in a way that someone can really connect with it and resonate with it.

I think it just depends on how you want to connect within that antidote. So, for example, there's a book that I'm working on, and last night, when I was writing it, I was talking about habits. We're talking about building habits. That was a portion of the book. We're talking about how we can build habits and just a psychology of building a habit. And There was a MIT study done in 1990, back in the 90s that basically said, we have this thing called a habit loop. And so when I was writing that, writing about the 1990s, it, you know, felt to me like the way I can connect that concept in a story format was to actually talk about my favorite shows in the 1990s. So I literally said, hey, man, the 1990s, it was such a fun time. I love the Power Rangers, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Martin. I used to watch a show called Home Improvement, the Simpsons. And the 90s wasn't just about TV. Also in the 1990s, MIT found this study. So for me, in that situation, you know, I used a personal story. I used something that I connected with, which was great television in the 90s. And then I transitioned it over to this information that was found in the 1990s, which is gonna help the reader and their framework for actually understanding, you know, like, the psychology of building a habit. So what that's gonna do for them is when they read the book, if the book just says, in the 1990s, MIT found some study. They're going to forget it because it's a useless stat. But because I told them, hey, this is my favorite show from the 90s. And I used to watch, you know, shows in the 90s. Oh, and by the way, there was this stat that you need to remember. It creates a connection through story. And that's how people learn. That's how people remember things. That's how people get new information through story.

Yeah, you're 100, man, 100% right. And that's where like. Like you're saying through story is we're connecting with something. We can rel with and yeah, I'm really excited to dive into your story and really learn a little bit more about what's got you to where you are today. Because I see a lot of parallels in my journey given the sporting background that you have. And firstly, before we dive into that, you've written eight books to date, which is really damn impressive. And at the moment you just mentioned you've put some focus into course creation. What, when have you decided, okay, now it's time to write more books. Or is books book writing something you're just constantly committed to or are you just feeling into, okay, I want to create some courses now or are you just mixing both? What do you feel is right? When do you direct your energy to which.

So LeBron James has a quote that he often says where he says, keep the main thing. The main thing and what he's alluding to when he's talking about that is for basketball players, they need to focus on basketball and they need to focus on what's going to help them become, you know, a better basketball player, better, better teammate, better team member. So for me, my, my main thing is writing books. That is one of my passions. That's where my skill set lies. That's where I feel like I can convey deep messages through story format and make a long lasting impact on someone. You know, I just checked today and one book that I have just crossed the threshold for 800 positive reviews on Amazon, that's the book called Care Package.

Amazing.

And I, yeah, I have another book that came out last year that just crossed the threshold for positive reviews. Five star reviews on Amazon. And for me, that has to be the main thing. So I keep the main thing, the main thing which is writing books. The only reason we're even on this podcast right now is because of the work that I've done through the books. So that's the main thing. But with that also, I don't believe anybody should box themselves in to just one anything. Like the human experience is about spreading your wings and it's about expanding and it's about doing other things, you know, so when it comes to creating courses, I have three courses already right now, and I'm making a fourth one. The thing I like about courses is it gives you the ability to talk and to teach about a subject. Book is considered long form, of course. I don't consider a course to be long form. You know, a book is going to take a year plus to create and of course is going to take 90 days or less to create. And they can both have the same impact. The thing I like about the book is it's a tangible item, so it's something that you can literally take with you. And, you know, you can put it in your backpack, you can put it in your purse, keep it in your gym locker, keep it at the side of your bed, whatever it is. But the course is a digital product, so there's a benefit there. So sometimes people are like, hey, I'm about to get on this airplane. I'm gonna just download a course, I'm gonna download a podcast, Just download something that's audio or video that they can consume that can give them some type of value, you know. So I just think, as an entrepreneur, it's an incumbent upon us to create across different mediums so people can find what is going to serve them the best. So that. That's kind of like the psychology behind it, of, okay, I'm going to have the books, and that's the main thing, but also I'm going to make courses as well. And also with courses, it's a booming industry. So as an entrepreneur, you have to think what industries are booming, and can you get into that industry? Like, can you get a piece of that industry? And for me, it's like a perfect alignment of making courses. So that's, you know, that's kind of like the framework for.

Yeah, beautiful. Thanks for sharing that. Because I guess if someone's gonna listen to this podcast or look at you and be like, damn, he's eight books. He's written all these. He's creating all these courses, all the, you know, from. From what I take. Your ability to create and implement and really just put information out to the world in a powerful way, your ability to do that is. Is tremendous. If someone's like, shit, I. You know, I want to write one. I just want to write one book, let alone eight. There is a lot of different distractions out there right now in terms of, you know, where to start. If writing a book is a good place to start, how are you able to get that first book out? And what was it that allowed you to believe that book writing was the. Was the outlet of expression for you?

Well, it's something for me that originated in my childhood. You know, I really loved poetry. I really love songwriting. I would listen to songs. You know, my favorite artist when I was a young kid was Tupac Shakur. So I would just listen to his songs and just. I would just. Dude, I was. I was so obsessed with, like, the tone that he was. Was rapping in, the pitch, the Volume, the rate at which he would speak. I was obsessed with, like, the syllables, like, how the words sounded, how they. The rhythm, how they rhyme. Like, I just loved, you know, Tupac songs. And then another artist I really liked was Michael Jackson, and I just found his voice to be so incredible when I was a young kid. And, you know, I grew up in the 90s, so I just. I just found his music to just be so incredible. And as I got a little bit older, like in the late 90s, obviously I'm still a young kid at the time, I started, like, kind of listening to the words, trying to see if I can understand the message. And what I noticed was that I was also doing that with movies. You know, I think a lot of people watch movies because as an escape, you know, just as an escape to be entertained. But I just found myself so into the story and, like, the character development and the conflicts. But the thing is, I didn't know what this stuff was really called at the time. I just knew that I was really paying attention on a deeper level. And of course, reading, I read every single day. I will read every single day. I remember the very first book series I used to read was the Goosebumps books. You ever heard of that? Yeah, I read a Goosebumps book when I was a young kid. Every single day. Every day. I would read the books to go to bed. And so I had this childhood where I was really just into media. I was really, really into media. And by the time I got to high school, I went to a really good high school, and they gave us the option of we could do language or we could do arts. So I chose the arts. And that was a great choice because I got to do painting. You know, I got to do drawing. I have to. I got to do theater. I got to do speech. I got to do so many different arts type classes. And it really just helped me. Really just helped me, like, hone what I was interested in, which was writing, which was songs, which was story, which was poetry. And by the time I got to college, then my major in college was communications. I knew that I wanted to use communications, like, in my adult world. And so what college looked like it was. And I think. I think you guys may call it university, but what it looked like for me is public speaking classes, you know, journalist classes, poetry classes. It was English literature classes, learning English and learning how the language was developed. It was. I took actually a world religion class as an elective, which was super interesting to take a world religion class. And, you know, I wanted to take that because, you know, with religion, everyone has their own perspective and they think they're right. But for me, I had a professor in my college who. Professor at my university who has studied all the world religions. And he had traveled the world and taught different religions in different countries. And I just thought this was such a unique opportunity. So I took his class. Now, I didn't do well in the class. I think I got a D in the class. But to just be in his class, to be in his presence and to just soak up the knowledge he had, that's all I cared about. I didn't. Personally, I didn't care what grade I got, but I just wanted to be in his class and, like, soak up the information. And I'm so glad that I did that because I think it helped me become a better writer. Because here's the thing about information. When you learn things, what it does is it. It helps you frame the world in a particular way, but it also helps you learn how other people frame the world. And taking that world religion class, it actually helped me connect with my family more because they're super religious and I'm not. So it helped me see the frame in which they see the world because he would explain things to us about how the psychology of religion and the psychology of how particular people see the world through the frame of religion. And it was just. Man, it was just a beautiful class. So for me, I just feel like my whole life was me trying to put myself in positions to learn about everything that is associated with writing. You know, which is song, which is dance, which is poetry, which is psychology, which is, you know, sociology. Like, all of these things are connected to expression, which. Which is all it is. That's all life is, is expression. So when I got out of college, I went away from the writing a little bit because you have to do what you have to do to survive. So I ended up in a sales job. And when I was at the sales job at the corporation, obviously it was a great job. It was a great job. Very grateful for it. But I just had this yearning. I just had this. It was just calling me like I had put my writings up. I wasn't practicing writing as much because I was doing my job, you know. And finally, after about two years of doing the sales job after college, I finally just said to myself, you know, this is. This is not what I need to be doing. Like, I know what I need to be doing. It's what I have trained my whole life for. It's what I've been interested in my whole life. But the thing for me is I didn't know how to, I guess do it and sustain it, you know, I didn't know how to do that. So when I was at the beginning of the journey, I was scared. I was definitely scared. I was worried. There was a lot of fear, but I didn't let it stop me, you know, because my desire to write my first book was bigger than any other desire. It was bigger than any other fear. Like I just really wanted to write a book. It wasn't about sales, it wasn't about notoriety. People knowing me, it was just about, hey, I have this story in me that I want to write. I need to get it out, I need to, I need to write it. And so I spent. It was, it was funny, man. I was at my, at my job, at my corporate job and I would take like 10 or 11 bathroom breaks a day. Now granted, no one has to use the bathroom that much, but I was going to the bathroom and I would literally put the toilet seat down. I would just sit on the toilet and I would pull my phone out and I would work on my book in the bathroom. I would just be on being there, working on the book. And then when I would get lunch break, I will go to the cafe right by my job. I would just walk there and then I will work on the book there, you know, so that will give me that, honestly will give me like an hour between the lunch break and then all the bathroom breaks that I would take. That will give me an hour of time to focus.

So yeah mate, I'm really glad you just shared that because just in that sharing I was connecting and resonating with a lot of that, that story. Because you know, it was a very similar situation for me. You know, I was working as an accountant about three years ago. I'm now a full time coach. But at the time I remember knowing that this job wasn't what my soul came here to do. And I remember this, this kind of disconnect between my work and my passion and my calling. And at the time when I was at my corporate job, I was writing blogs in the mornings before going to work. And I remember on my lunch break I would go and work out at the gym. And I remember after every workout at the gym I'd always feel the most creative. So I'd get all these insights and ideas and creative ideas about what I wanted to write about my blogs. And I would actually like half write most of the blogs after My gym workout back at my desk because I felt so energized and creative. So interesting how you shared that transition for you, I guess, leaving your sales job and going to writing that first book for people who may resonate with that or know that they're at a job that they don't align with and they want to step out and follow a calling. And I know for me, this was the main fear as well, which is how am I going to monetize this? How am I going to be able to do this full time? How can I do full time what I love? And for you, I guess, getting the book done was sort of that first major step. But then what? Once you had the book, how were you then able to, I guess, maintain some income that allowed you to continue that momentum, that creative momentum that you'd created to stay full time in your passions?

Yeah, well, no one bought the book, so let's get that part of the story out. Nobody bought was just complete. It was on Amazon and no one bought it. So, you know, the whole dream of, okay, I'm gonna release this and a million people are gonna buy it. I'm about to be a multi. No, that didn't. That doesn't happen. That's not. That's not. That's not what happened. So I'm just so grateful that I had a really, really good career. That job that I had, it was really good, and it took care of me, took care of my needs, and it also taught me a lot because it was a sales job and I was a manager. I got. I worked my way up to management pretty quickly. I got to learn essentially how to run a business. I think management positions in corporate America are really good positions because they teach you how to lead other people. They teach you how to, you know, look at different reports, different metrics that are driving growth, driving sales. And a lot of the times people have these dreams of what they want to do, but they don't realize that there's other disciplines that they need some type of knowledge in to help them, you know. And when it came to being an author, the biggest advantage I had was having that job, because that job gave me a business framework of how to look at art. And I'm telling you, if I didn't have that job, I mean, we wouldn't be having this conversation. So for other people, my advice to people is not quit your job and chase your dreams. I think that's horrible advice. I think it's absolutely horrible, especially in a pandemic situation, because you don't know what job people have. You know, people are doing what they have to do to get by. You know, people are doing what they have to do and there's nothing wrong with that. But like what you said, you know, you had your job, you did it, you hit your workout and then when you got back you found, you know, some type of creativity and that, that fueled you. So my question to people really is, what fuels you? If you don't know what's going to fuel you, then I think it's incumbent upon you to give yourself an opportunity to find what's going to fuel you. You know, if I'm going to be at work for one third of my life, I want to enjoy that one third of my life. You know, it doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be a fairy tale, but I want to at least enjoy it. And you know, for me in my situation, I was able to find what fueled me when I was a very young person. And I got to cultivate that through years, honestly through years of training and just self learning and experience. So really I would, I would tell people to keep your job, keep your job and become the best that you can be at the job you have. Because what you don't want to do is, in my opinion, you don't want to become so dissatisfied with the job and so dissatisfied with life that you don't have good energy to carry over into the other things that you want to create. I just, I just don't think that that's, that's a good, good mindset to have. I think you should try to become the best at your job. Should, should try to be in the top 1%. You know, and obviously whatever that looks like for, you know, for the job, there may not be a top 1%, but I think you should have that mindset of I need to be the best at what I can do, you know, and then because life is about habits. So if you have the habit of I don't care about my job, I hate it, I'm lazy, I'm not going to perform, what makes you think you will perform in your own business adventure? What makes you think you would not be lazy in your own thing? The way you do one thing is the way you're going to do another thing, because it's about habits. So go in, do the best you can do. And then that way you're carrying that same type of energy into whatever type of side, business or dream that you want to create because it's about consistency. Another thing that I would tell people to do too, is give yourself the opportunity to experiment if you don't know what else you want to do. But you know, you have this job and you're like, ah, this is not aligned with me. But you don't know. One thing I did when I was at my corporate job, I contacted someone in a completely different company and a completely different job, and I sent them an email and I said, hey, would you be okay if I did a ride along with you? Here's who I am. You know, I'm working this sales job. I want to one day become an author. I'm not sure if this job I'm in is the right fit for me. Would you be okay if I just did a ride along with you for about four hours just to kind of shadow you, watch how you do your job, watch how you do different things, Just because I'm curious to see if that's something I would be into. And they said, yes. They said, yes, come do it now. The reason I did that is because I was so curious about what else, what other opportunities were available to me, you know, and big picture, that's what I want people to really see, is that there's a lot of opportunity available to you, and it's just about what you allow yourself to see, what you allow yourself to tap into.

Yeah, well said. And I want to emphasize the importance of something that I believe you've cultivated a very good skill at, and that's the ability to focus. And right now, I guess for a lot of people, including myself, there's so many different things that I want to do. And given the fact that social media technology, our devices, our attention is constantly being pulled around all these different things, and focus, or the ability to concentrate has become a very scarce skill in today's society. So what has allowed you to maintain the level of focus, to be able to produce the amount of content and the amount of creative work that you've put out without distraction? And I guess rewinding it back to that, you know, that, that story of getting that first book done and then no one not getting any purchases, what went into the next stages of that journey that allowed you to maintain some focus and go, right, no one's bought the book, but let's focus on the next thing. What's helped you to cultivate that?

Yeah, focus is definitely one of the most important skills. Focus is a skill. I've always been able to focus. It's something that I feel like I learned as a child. I have to give my parents credit. You know, when I would come home from school, I wasn't allowed to play video games. I wasn't allowed to watch tv. I wasn't allowed to do anything. When I got home from school, the very first thing that I was required to do Monday through Friday was to do my homework period. It was. No. It wasn't even a negotiation. Obviously, they would feed me, you know, if I was hungry. But the very first thing I had to do was to focus on my homework every Saturday when I woke up, before I would do any cartoons, my dad made me focus on cleaning and learning every single Saturday forever. So the way my parents really had the household set up is focus was really a big part of, I feel like, my upbringing. So it's really. I feel like it's easy for me to focus on things now because I've practiced it. Focus is about practice. You have to practice focusing. I'll give you an example. When I worked on my book yesterday, I work on my. I write for 90 minutes a day. When I. When I turned on a timer on my computer and I turned my phone off, I turn my phone off. I don't. I don't take any calls. I don't have notifications. I don't go to, you know, sports sites. I don't go to social media. I don't do anything. When I have to work on my book, it's 90 minutes. I'm focused. And really, the way I do it is I tell myself, I set my attention. I have a conversation with myself, okay? For the next 90 minutes, I'm writing my book. And when I just say that declaration to myself, I lock in. There's nothing else to do. There's nothing more important than what I set my mind to. So if I tell myself I'm about to work on my book, I'm not doing anything else. If I get hungry, I'll eat. When I get done. If someone calls me, I'll call you back. If I randomly don't want to do it, I'm gonna. I'm gonna continue doing it because I set my mind to do this. I have the same philosophy with the gym. You know, some days you don't feel like going to the gym, but I know how much I need to go to the gym. I know how much I need to work out. As a matter of fact, while I'm on this podcast with you right now, I'm stretching right now. I'm literally stretching right now because I know that I need. I need. It's the morning time. I like to stretch in the morning. So I'm literally stretching as I'm on this podcast with you right now because it's about focusing. Focus is the number one skill set that we have to learn because anything can happen once you focus. So your question was, you know, what was the transition like of putting out the first book? No one buys it to then saying, okay, do we keep going? How do we get sales Again? For me, the very first book that I put out, I didn't care about sales. I didn't care about validation, I didn't care about fans, I didn't care about people even reading the book. Honestly, the very first book, my intention was I need to put a book out. Like, I need to put a collection of words together. That was my only goal, my only intention. Now, once I did that and then I fulfilled that, then I felt ready for the next level. And the next level was, okay, how do we get people to read this book? How do we get sales? How do we get a little bit of attention on the product? So I noticed this was 2011. I noticed Amazon had a. They had like a giveaway where they would just, they would promote your book, but the book would be for free for people. So when I saw that, I was like, well, I don't need the money from this because I have my job. Yeah, so I'm gonna do this. So I did a free, like, it was like a free 30 day giveaway with Amazon. And so they gave 80 of my books away every day for 30 days. That was some of the biggest motivation I ever saw. Because people read the book front. It was an ebook. People read the book from the front page, the last page, they read the whole book. So when I actually saw that people were reading the book, that it triggered something in me. Then that's when I was like, wow, people actually are consuming this. That means that people want this from me, you know, and again, I hadn't made any money yet. So then that's when I started working on the second book. And because I had the framework of how, you know, at this, the sales company I was at, they had four regions in the country. United States, and the region I was in is called the Southwest. So that's California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, which are highly populated areas. California and Texas are the two biggest states in America. So I had the biggest region in the country. And my performance put me at top 1% the region and top 2% in the whole country. So when I did that, I said, you know, I'm gonna take the exact same stuff that we do at our company, and I'm just gonna do it with my books. I literally just stole the set, the framework, because it was things that I was doing with my employees, I was doing with my sales crew. I just said, no, let's just do this with the books. It's the same stuff. It's just, it's the same stuff. So I ended up developing a. The thing is, with sales or with a business, anything you need people. That's it. That's all this. The whole game of life is as people. It's community. If you, if you get more sales, it's because more people bought it. That's it. If, you know, a president wins an election is because more people voted for that person. Life is all about people. So I realized the reason no one bought my first book wasn't because it wasn't a quality book. It was a great one. It's just people didn't know. So my train of thought then became, well, how do I get people to know? I wasn't using any social media platforms at the time. I didn't have a blog, I didn't have nothing. I just, I just worked my job. When I had that thought, I realized, you know what, I need to create different platforms and I just need to promote my books on there every day. Because I just did a free promotion on Amazon for 30 days, and 80 people downloaded my book every day for 30 days and they read the book from front to back. So then my mindset was, okay, I'm just gonna create some platforms and I'm just gonna put my books on there and maybe people will buy them. So I created my own website. I created a Twitter, and I created Instagram and Facebook that day. Oh, and a YouTube. I did a YouTube in 202011 as well. And I just started creating, I just started putting stuff out. And what ended up happening was of all the platforms, the Instagram grew the fastest. I got to be like, I had like 25,000 followers on my Instagram. This is like 2012 or 2013. And then I, I put out the second book. You know, I was just, I just put out a second book. I had again, like, we were talking about story at the beginning. I told, you know, they all knew the story of how I put out my first book. And now I'm working on this second book. So everyone knew the story the day I put out my second book. And I did it self published. I didn't, I didn't want to go through you know, clearinghouse and all that. I just, you know, I just wanted to control my own art. You know, I think I did three or 400 orders in one night of the second book. And when I did the three or 400 orders, that was, it was such a confirmation that it was like the first book was confirmation that I can, that I can write a good book because people read it even though it was free and I didn't make a dollar from him. The second book was confirmation because people pay for it. So then once they pay for the book and then once they read the book and then once they started leaving reviews on Amazon, you know, I didn't know anything. Reviews and marketing, really, I really didn't know much about that. Then once I started seeing the reviews, I was just like, wow, this can be something that I can sustain. It wasn't that at first, but it can be. And you talked about focus. That's what I told myself. I said, well, look, this is, it's kind of like when you see that first review, when you get that first sale, it's like you're in the woods and you're trying to start a fire and you're doing that thing where you're rubbing a stick together or you're trying to spark a stick to get your fire. Once you get that first spark, what do you do? You go a little bit faster, you turn the stick a little bit faster because you want it to be a flame. So once I saw that first spark, I just said, oh yeah, I need to make this a flame. So I just kept going. I just kept going and I just feel like that's the key. You gotta, you gotta keep going, you gotta keep going, you gotta keep building. You know, the first couple years I didn't make any money, but as things built and as things kept growing and as that flame got bigger, it did become a little more lucrative, you know, and now it's at a point where I'm, you know, sustained off of, off of being a self published author, which is. It's hard. It's definitely hard. It's challenging, but it's worth it. It's worth it for sure.

Yeah. That's phenomenal, mate. And I really appreciate you sharing that because, you know, just, just giving us the insights, you know, for people listening, just. And just to know that the consistency like you're, like you're talking about just the consistency of keep doing the small little things daily that, you know, when you, when you have that present moment, flow and focus, then the end result takes care of itself. Like the money always finds a way of working itself out. The people who need to receive the book always find a way of finding it. And I'm curious to know, given the fact that you've, you know, mentioned focus being one of those primary skills you've been able to develop to be able to execute on these, has there been other things that you've noticed or learned along the way? When it comes to putting out a book that people are actually going to read and get value from, is it. And storytelling, obviously was, is a big cornerstone of your work, but what did you kind of learn from that first book that then went into the second book and followed by the rest of your books that have helped you, I guess, write, write content or write stories that people really connect with and want to learn more about?

Well, you can never stop learning the art of whatever it is you're doing. You know, if you're a basketball player, we use this before. If you're a basketball player, in my mind, you should have a skills development trainer that you're working with. LeBron James does. So what makes you think because you have a college scholarship to play basketball, you don't need to continue training, you don't need to continue practicing your skills? If LeBron James has a skill, if Kobe Bryant had a trainer named Tim Grover, who was also Michael Jordan's trainer, why don't you have one? If you're working in sales, why don't you have a sales trainer who's reminding you to, you know, about different strategies, different ways to sell stuff? If you don't have, you know, if you're an author, why don't you read about how to write better? That's literally the number one thing, the number one piece of advice I can give to you, to someone. I'm currently reading a book right now called the Science of Storytelling. And what, what it is is literally breaking down the science. And you know, how our brains associate with story. Do I have to read it? Yes, I do have to read it. Just because I have 800 reviews on a book, you know, and I'm best selling author, that doesn't mean, oh, I made it that that's it. No, you have to continuously stay a student. You have to continuously learn. You have to continuously work and practice. Right now I'm on a podcast. If anyone's listening and they say, hey, I want to become a podcaster in my mind, you should go back and you should listen to speeches. Go back and listen to speeches that, you know, Martin Luther King gave, Go Back and listen to some of the top podcasters. What. What do they do? And study them. What do they do so well that people listen to their podcast? Is it. Is it drama? Is it their pitch? Do they help guests flow in between the questions? You know, you know, you may have a guest who's really awkward and they're not good at talking in. A great podcast host is supposed to kind of be that glue to help them flow, you know, so my thing is, are you learning? You know, if you're the manager at a restaurant, when was the last time you looked at any type of content book? Podcast on managing, on how to. How to make the restaurant thrive? And I think that's part of the reason why people have dissatisfaction in their work as well, is because they don't learn. They don't continue the process of learning in the job. They just get the job and. And that's it. You know, I'm a parent. I read, I read on parenting. I study it. I study. I study being a parent. I observe my kid all the time. I observe, okay, what. What is he doing? What is he thinking? What is he going through? What is he feeling? Putting myself in a student. I don't have to be the best dad. You know, I think people obsess about that. Oh, I need to be a good mom. I need to be a good dad. No, you don't. You don't have to be that. You just need to be curious. You need to be observant. You need to ask questions. You need to pay attention. You don't have to be good or bad. What is good or bad? Good or bad? That's the subjective. That's not even real. Being a good or bad parent. No. Be curious, be present, be mindful, be aware. Be willing to suppress your ego to learn. You know what? I did make a mistake, son. I apologize. How many times do you hear your parents apologize? They never do. We grew up with this mindset that parents are always right. Parents are not always right. We're all adults now, so we know half the time parents don't know what they're talking about, just like we don't know what we're talking about. But that's okay. We can be curious. We can learn. So that's my advice. Stay learning.

Yeah, bang on. I resonated with that as well. And basically, the ability to cultivate that ability to always be open and curious is really the foundation of having that ability to evolve, to be able to learn what we need to learn to become who we want to become. That's really the cornerstone and the foundation of it. And I'm really glad you mentioned that because it ties into what I want to ask next. And I'm mindful of your time, Sylvester. And mate, I've never been so lit up at 1am that I'm really enjoying this conversation. So got one more question and then I'll let you get back into your morning, mate. But one of the things that you've alluded to in your story is around how self awareness has really helped you unlock freedom. And you've emphasized the importance of healing being the key to your success, to any success. How has your healing journey and the self awareness that you've developed supported you and you being able to become what you've become today? And has there been some big challenges or internal blocks that you've had to over overcome to, I guess, execute at the level you've been. You're playing at right now?

Yeah. I will say the biggest internal block that I've had and probably still have is imposter syndrome. I think a lot of people deal with imposter syndrome. Basically. Imposter syndrome is, it's this concept you feel unworthy of something happening. Like, you know, maybe you're a C student in high school, but then when you get to university, you know, you're an A student and you're like valedictorian or you could potentially be a valedictorian. So you feel unworthy of becoming a valedictorian because you remember in high school you were a C student, you know, okay, you're, you're just working at customer service, but they come to you and say, hey, we want you to actually be assistant manager because we want to put you on a path to become, you know, a director one day. And you're just looking at yourself like, well, I'm in customer service now. There's no way I can be the director of the company. Like, there's no way, like I'm, I'm not worthy of that. You feel like if you were in that role, you would be an imposter. That's what imposter syndrome is.

Yeah.

So even when, you know, I say stuff like, oh, I'm a best selling author, you know, I have 800 reviews on Amazon on my book. Like, it doesn't even actually feel real to me. Like it feels, it feels like it's a fake world to me to even say that when people come, when people introduce me and they're like, you know, best selling author Sylvester, and it doesn't Even feel real. It really. Because I just remember when I was a young kid just writing poems in my notebook, you know, in my bedroom. That's what I remember. That's what I feel like. That's what I connect with. You know, when I was in college, going between football games and just writing poetry after the game, I could just. That's, I guess that's who I identify with, you know, that, that. That humble, innocent young person that, you know, it wasn't about, you know, content. It wasn't about put a book out for others. It wasn't about sales. It was just about the art, the creativity, and that's who I connect with the most. So I often deal with. To this day, I still deal with like, imposter syndrome, where I'm like, I don't want to put this out. You know, I don't want to do this, you know, like, at this book I'm working on. I've delayed it for probably nine months. Once the coronavirus stuff started to happen, I just decided to delay it because I was going to put it out in May, but I just decided to delay it because I just didn't feel right trying to put out a new book and trying to do a marketing plan while we're going through a pandemic. It just. I just didn't feel right. To me, it just felt like. Felt really weird, actually. So I'm like, nah, I'm not going to do that. And some people in my circle were like, well, content of the book is actually very helpful and it's going to help people and it's going to, you know, it's a great story, but I just was like, it just doesn't feel right to me. Part of it is fear because I feel like it's the best book I've ever written. And so part of it is fear because there's this, there's this. I don't know, there's just something that happens once you reach, I guess, a quote unquote, certain level where when you first start out, there is no competition. You're just creating from whatever place you're creating from. But then you reach a certain level of we'll just call it success. And there's almost like this. Well, now I have to compete against myself. And that is what creates that imposter syndrome. You know, when you have years of successful books, kind of like a musician, you know, I'm sure we've all said this about a musician, man, this, this, this just doesn't hit like their old stuff, you know, this isn't like, their old stuff. Well, it shouldn't be. The musician. The musician grows as a human being. They grow as an artist, and we've all done that, you know. So for me, I would say my biggest block, and I don't know that it's even a big block. It's probably a small block, but it's just something I'm aware of is, yeah, just imposter syndrome. And the way I combat that is really two things. One, I've been allowing myself to get back to writing for me and for my own purposes, because that's how I started. And when you get to this point where you're creating for others, you. You can lose yourself a little bit in that. Regardless of what it is, whether it's, hey, I'm about to just serve everyone in my house and just be always making them pancakes and always, always putting my energy out for other people, you can lose yourself in that. What we have to do is, in my opinion, find these pockets of space where we can be selfish. There's nothing wrong with being selfish, especially if you're a giver, Especially if you give love, if you give energy, if you give effort to your friends and your family, your community. It's nothing wrong with saying, you know, I need to do this for me. So this last year has really been. For me, it has been saying, hey, you know what? I need to write this book for me. Not for sales, not for notoriety, not for what people are gonna say, not for them. I'm not writing the book for my audience. Which is. It's a weird duality because you are. Once you do have an audience, you are writing for your audience.

Yeah.

And it's something that you should be grateful for. You know, it's something that you should be proud of because it's not easy to get. But then it's also like, on the other side of it, the duality side of it is like, they came to you for a reason. So what was the reason? I guess you have to figure that out. And the reason at least is, in my opinion, is because you connect it with yourself. When I think of my favorite musicians, I don't think that they were making songs for me. I feel like they were making songs that were genuine to them at that moment, and then they just shared it with me. And I feel like that's. That's also a key as an author, is you have to make something that's genuine to you, something that. A story that calls you, you know, that comes from that place. So in the other way that I've been trying to combat, that is always remind myself, you're gonna die. So whenever I have any type of fear, anxiety, overthinking, any. Any of that, I just won't do it. You're gonna die. And when I say that to myself, it just goes away. It, like, just. Honestly, it just goes away. And then I just do what I need to do. Okay, I'm gonna put this book out now. I'm gonna die anyways. Let me just get it out. I might as well. I don't. Because I have this quote. It says, I want to live full and die empty. And that's what I want to do. I just want to. I want to live full, die empty. I want to make sure that when I die, I'm done. Like, I've given. I've given everything I can give when I'm. When I die, you know, that's assuming, hopefully, that I can live a long life. Yeah. So when I'm done, I live full. I died empty. Goodbye, y' all got everything out of me. That's. That's what I'm aiming for, brother.

I totally, totally feel that. And good reminders to have as well. And also reassuring to know that even someone like yourself still has doubts, hesitations about putting stuff out to the world, because I feel. I go through that as well, you know, creating a piece of content, going, ah, don't know if I want to post this. Sounds stupid. Nah. Then this isn't. Doesn't feel right. And it's that kind of imposter syndrome that often holds a lot of people back from just putting anything out at all. So just in your, you know, in your vulnerability and sharing that, I'm sure people felt seen and understood, too. So thank you, mate. For people who want to learn more about you and connect with you online, where's the best place to go? And you mentioned at the start you've got a new course coming out. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about that?

Yeah, for sure. I will say tap into my website first, and then from there you can jump into wherever you are. You know, if you're on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, you know, the social media platforms, go to my website first. My website is sylvestermcnut.net and from there I have a bunch of cool things, like I have a text message community where I text people pretty much Monday through Friday. I'll just text them stories or quotes. I'll send them links to podcasts, links to different videos. I come across just to keep their minds engaged in self awareness and healing. So go to sofastermcnut.net I have a email community there that you can can join. I send out a newsletter once a week. On Mondays I have the free youe Energy podcast where we drop a episode pretty much, pretty much every week or every other week. I try to do three a month. So yeah, I try to do three a month. So pretty much every week or every other week. And you know, like I said, I'm on Instagram and Facebook and all the social media. So however you like to consume content, I create content. You know, there. And what was your second question at the end of it?

Just information about the new course that's coming out, mate. And when.

Oh yeah, yeah. So the new course I'm working on is called Build your boundaries. And man, this course, I'm proud of it, very proud of it. I have. It's not complete yet. I'm still working on it. I aim for it to be complete by November 1st. And basically the skeleton of it is it's going to be a 10 day course. So there's going to be a 20 minute lecture each day. There's going to be a PDF that comes with each lecture. So you know, for note taking. Because taking notes, it makes us connect with the words much better. And basically what I want to do is give people the framework for building boundaries to become more confident, to become more assertive. Because when you have boundaries in your relationship, all your relationships are better, your friendships are better, you improve the relationship with your parents, you improve your interpersonal relationships, you improve your marriage. We need boundaries and most of us haven't learned how to set, how to create, how to enforce boundaries. And I feel like I'm one of the perfect people to teach this because it's a topic that I'm passionate about. It's a topic that I research. It's a topic that I try to practice in my life where I have boundaries, you know, and it's not even just other people, it's also boundaries with self. You know, I just feel like if we can improve boundaries with self, a lot of us would be happier, you know, so that's, that's what I'm doing. I'm working on that course. We're gonna begin filming next week. I gotta finish writing the whole outline and everything this week. And then, yeah, by November 1st that thing should be out Build your boundaries course and it should be available on my website, Sylvestermcnutt.net that's super exciting.

I'm really eager to even learn more about that myself, because like you said, boundaries is really the key. Without proper boundaries set up, we get pretty drained and pretty depleted energetically. So a lot of this, this work that you're doing, I would sense, is like a conservation of your energy. That's, that's why you've been able to be so efficient in your work. Is that conserving your energy just quickly before you, before we finish up. What, what's the suggestion for someone who maybe struggles with boundaries right now? And aside from buying a course in November when it comes out, what's something that maybe they can start to become more aware of or, or what's something you can suggest that they implement to cultivate some, some stronger boundaries in their life?

The very first question I would ask myself if you struggle with boundaries is how does this situation make me feel? That's it. It's about self awareness. And when we have habits of not checking in with ourselves, we allow this stress and turmoil and chaos to just become a cycle in our life. So all we have to do is start asking ourselves, how does this make me feel? When you're having a conversation with someone who's just dumping emotional distress on you about their drama, their story, about what their, you know, ex boyfriend or ex girlfriend's doing this, how does this conversation make me feel? You know what? I'm okay with this conversation because they're there for me, I'm there for them. This is how we exchange. Or maybe this is deep and dark and dramatic and it's too much. And when you feel that, that is a signal. That is your body saying, you know what, I need to communicate this. And then you put that into practice. Communicate, expressing. So step one, ask yourself, how does this make me feel? You know, develop that, that intuitive how does this make me feel? Number two, communicate your boundaries. You know what? This conversation with this person, it is straining me. It is giving me a headache. I can't do it. They are my friend and I love them and I want to be there for them, but this is a consistent thing with them. I need to communicate that. And then what that looks like in a practical way is, Roger, look, I love you to death and I have to express this to you, but you have brought me this dramatic situation X amount of times, whatever, right? I want to be there for you, but the conversation is so dark and deep that I just don't think I have the capacity to handle this. Like, we can talk about it for, let's say, five or 10 minutes, but past That I just, I don't, I don't have, I don't have the capacity to give. And I just, I just feel like when we do that, we, we are communicating our boundaries. We're. We're being honest with people, which is very hard for a lot of people to do. To just be honest and say, hey, look, this is how I feel, but it's necessary to your survival, it's necessary to your mental health, you know, and then the last thing I will say for people dealing with boundaries, especially if we're deal with boundaries of self, is to really investigate why you're doing a particular behavior. You know, here in America on Sundays, you know, the American football just started back up. People get together for football and, you know, it's binge drinking, it's eating a lot of fried food, eating a lot of high carbohydrate food. You know, there's no salads, there's no water, there's no veggies, there's no fruits. There's. It's not balanced. It's just beer, wings, french fries. Like, it's very unhealthy. And in my country, you know, we have a obesity rate of over 40%. The culture of our, our sports culture is what adds to that. So if you're the type of person who, you do want to watch the sports and you do, because everyone watches sports here. You. We watch them together as families and we have get togethers, okay? So you have to ask yourself, why are you drinking the beers? Why are you having the fries? Why are you having the wings? Is it because you genuinely want that or because that's the expectation that everyone else is doing? Well, if you're on a fitness journey and you're trying to get in shape, having a bunch of beers is probably not going to help you too much. So why are you here? You have to really ask yourself, like, why are you. Well, you know what? The reason I'm here is because my friends are here. I'm not here because of beer. I'm not here because of wings. I'm not here because I'm here because my friends are here. Okay, well, if my friends are here, that doesn't mean I have to do what they do. So I'm gonna let my friends know before we even go out this Sunday. Guys, I'm not drinking. Just letting you know, I'm not drinking. I don't have a desire to drink. I'm gonna be getting a salad because I'm trying to eat good. I'm trying to get my Body together. I'm trying to get my mind right. And it's just setting that intention with them ahead of time. And then when you get in that situation, they already know you've already set your boundary. Oh, no, he's not drinking today. So that, you know, that friend who wants to order shots for everyone, they already know not to order you a shot. They already know not to order you a drink because you've already set your boundary before you get in that situation. And then when you're in that situation, you remind them, hey, guys, thank you so much for supporting me in my quest today. You know, ask yourself, why am I really here? What am I really doing? I'm not here to drink. I'm not here to get the wings. I'm here for my people, you know, so just becoming a little bit more aware of what you're doing. I feel like if you take those three tips with you, I feel like we'll all just be a little bit better at setting boundaries.

Yeah, thank you for sharing that insight. And definitely overlaps out here in Australia as well. You know, sport being a big part of our culture. But also drinking and was a big challenge that I faced as well, was that boundary around going out, hanging out with friends that, you know, drinking less. We don't. We don't need to drink. We just want to connect and it's. It's difficult. I understand how difficult can be for people to really step out and create these boundaries. So this, this is timely, mate. And I thank. Thank you again for sharing that and thank you again for sharing everything you have shared today because it's brought a lot of insight to me and I'm sure it's going to bring a lot of insight to anyone who listens. So I highly encourage people to check out your stuff online, but may experience. It's a real pleasure and honor to have you on the podcast, man.

Yeah, bring me back on in a couple of months. This is. This is cool. I really appreciate you time and, and yeah, let's just stay in touch and we'd love to come back in a few months and hopefully we have some, you know, hopefully we have a different world to talk about in. In six to eight months or so.

Yeah, I would love to bring you back on, mate. And yeah, who knows, who knows the speed in which the world is evolving and changing. Who really knows where we'll be in a couple of months, but we'll most definitely stay in touch.

All right.

Hey, there we have it, guys. Thanks so much for listening to this episode. And yeah, look, if you made it this far, cool. Here's my voice again in your ear. And I'm gonna make one more request for you is go ahead and subscribe and leave a comment on the podcast page because I'm really putting a lot of focus and attention on getting this podcast out to more people because I know what I'm putting in here can serve and bring value to people. And it would mean a lot if you got value from this to to leave some feedback and subscribe. So you stay up to date with what's coming up and as always, follow me on Instagram and love hearing from you. It's dateshifters until the next episode. Guys, thank you so much and I appreciate you.