Ep 45 The Big Kid With Real Judgment A conversation with Jim Beach

In this unpolished episode of Remembering the Forgotten, host Markus Neukom sits down with longtime entrepreneur, educator, and media veteran Jim (Tim) Beach. The dialogue moves from personal rituals that bring Jim into a state of stillness—building a treehouse during COVID—to deeper reflections on introversion, the deliberate practice of extroversion, and the role of listening. Jim shares how his childhood, a permissive father, and early experiences with a TRS‑80 shaped an inner child that still drives his curiosity. He recounts teaching at university, running a wildly successful summer‑camp business for “dorky” kids, and using performance‑style lectures to keep students engaged. Throughout, both speakers explore the concepts of coherence (internal alignment) and stillness (absence of performance pressure), argue that introverts make better salespeople because they listen, and offer concrete advice for overwhelmed introverts: regular movement, helping others, and practicing small‑scale social exposure. The conversation is framed as a real‑time thinking session rather than a polished lesson, aiming to give listeners permission to sit in the quiet, test ideas, and develop their own judgment.
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Welcome to Remembering the Forgotten, a space where leaders think out loud without polish or performance. No scripts, no personas, just what becomes audible when the noise drops and the mind is free to speak for itself. These conversations are not about delivering insight. They are about thinking together in real time, testing ideas against stillness, letting 2 open minds stretch each other. The intention is simple: to create a space where clarity can emerge and where listeners don't just consume perspectives but feel permission to engage their own thinking more honestly. Today, I'm joined by Jim Beach. Jim has spent decades inside the engine room of entrepreneurship, media, and business building, not as a theorist, but as someone who has built, scaled, exited, taught, broadcast, and watched patterns repeat long enough to know where the noise ends and what actually holds. This isn't a conversation about motivation, growth tactics, or how to win at business. It's about discernment, about seeing clearly inside systems that constantly reward speed, visibility, and certainty, and about what changes when experience replaces ideology. Tim hosts School for Startups Radio, A long-running space where founders, operators, and thinkers speak without polish or performance. Not inspiration, not slogans, just reality tested in the field. What matters here isn't optimism, it's judgment. The kind that comes from having seen enough cycles to know what compounds What collapses and what quietly endures once the stories fall away. And with that, Tim, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor to be here.
Pleasure is all mine, Tim. So before we begin, when I speak of coherence, I'm pointing to a state where nothing inside is in conflict. Body, thoughts, emotions, and action aligned, moving as one. No push, no urgency, no fear driving the moment. And when I speak of stillness, I don't mean silence. I mean the part of you untouched by expectation or performance. The place that knows before the mind tries to manage it. That's the ground I'd like us to meet on today.
I can do that. That sounds great.
Wonderful. So, Tim, let me kick it off with the first question for you. Where can you just be yourself, untouched by expectation or performance?
Oh goodness, that's hard. The first answer that jumped into my mind must be the best, best answer. I love woodworking and building things outdoors. You know, we have an award-winning swimming pool in our backyard, and I, over COVID, built a big treehouse in the backyard with a 30-foot swinging bridge that allows you to go there and Building walls and bridges and stuff like that. So I love building things with my own hands. That's a wonderful pastime. The reason— not only do I love it because you're building and creating something, but your mind, I think, gets very close to Zen or nirvana or escape or whatever word you want to use where— The zone, you know, you end up actually at one with what you're doing and you're not sitting there thinking about each individual thing. You're maybe not thinking at all. You're just existing and doing the job and hopefully you're not going to cut a finger off.
So. That's amazing. So how did you come up with that idea?
You know, I was really mad at my father. Because he never built me a treehouse when I was a kid.
Oh.
And maybe I didn't understand that the kids are supposed to build the treehouse. You know, we went and visited one of his friends and they had a 2-story treehouse in their backyard. It was the coolest thing ever. And I was— I just wanted a treehouse and it never happened in my life. And I ended up with a piece of property with a ravine and a creek and just a beautiful piece of property. And there was one tree that it was perfect. And I saw the tree and I put You know, the treehouse has got to go there. And then when the treehouse was built, I saw how close it was to our other patio, and I said, this must have a swinging bridge. And so I, I built a swinging bridge. It works.
Incredible. So when you say about I built, like, literally, like, with your hands?
Yes, 100%. I built 100% of it.
Um, it's incredible.
Uh, you know, I put a thatched roof on it by myself, 30 feet up in the air, and I did all of it.
Where do you have all these talents from?
I, I don't have all of these talents. I'm not good at that much, you know. But, you know, it was— it's, uh, I did go to architecture school for a while, so I, you know, and I did do construction as my first job out of graduate school.
I was—
I couldn't get a real job out of graduate school. And so I ended up working construction and building stuff. And I learned a lot of things then. And, you know, but I'm not good at a lot of things too. You know, I can't tune my own car and I, you know, I can change a tire, but I can't change the oil in my car. It's too complicated now. So.
That's incredible. So, It took you quite a few years and it took COVID for you to get into the mood, into the zone to say, now it's time. What changed during COVID for you then?
I think the fact that we were all locked in, it certainly had something to do with the piece of property too. It was a perfect place for what I did. You know, we all had extra time when we couldn't leave, and the Home Depot was still open. You know, the church was closed, but Home Depot was open. So, you know, it's just something I always wanted to do and ended up doing it. So we also domed— we put a dome over the backyard one year as well. An inflatable dome. I ordered it out of China and they built it to our specifications and it came in a crate. The size of a small, small car. And we had a dome for the summer and kept operational all winter long, even during snowstorms for the pool.
Incredible. So you're definitely a man of many surprises,
huh? I have done a lot of weird things in my life. You know, when I was 18, I sailed across the ocean, Atlantic Ocean, on a research boat doing oceanographic research. And I've lived all over the world and done lots of things. And I've done a lot of things just for the story or for the picture.
That's incredible. So what is stillness for you?
Stillness?
Yeah.
Oof. That doesn't happen very much. Um, in my life, uh, maybe that's what I was talking about earlier when I was talking about building and how you can get to a zen-like place. Then, you know, uh, an emptiness where your mind is not worrying about anything or not stressing on the day or planning for the future. You know, maybe you're just enjoying what's going on, the music you're listening to, or the theme park you're in, or Or whatever. I'll go with that. Stillness is the emptiness of worry or the stress of what the future lies and just enjoying the moment that you're in. How's that?
I'll take you up on that. And on a short pre-call, we agreed on something. How did you say it about the child in you?
Oh, I am just a big kid, obviously. You know, if I'm out in the backyard building treehouses in my 50s, you know, I also had a child in my 50s, or for my 50th birthday, I had a baby, or she had a baby. Um, you know, so, uh,
that's beautiful. I don't know.
I'm still very much a child at heart. My first business was 100% children-based. And then after that, I became a university professor. teaching kids for about a decade. And so I've spent a lot of my life working with children or teaching as part of my life.
Do you think it had an impact how you were raised and how you were able to sustain that inner child?
Um, you know, my father was, uh, you know, a big computer nerd just like I was, you know, and he was excited about the computers coming out. And we got a TRS-80 Model 1 from Radio Shack in October of 1976, I remember. And so he was, you know, a very early adopter with that. And he was always very encouraging and allowing me to do the crazy things and, you know, making permission, giving permission to do whatever I wanted as long as it sounded productive and sane and a good use of money and things like that. I know I never did anything— well, I did do some really stupid stuff. This is horrible. I stayed in college a whole extra year that I didn't need to. I could have graduated a year early, but I came back for my senior year just to have fun. But that was at the most expensive college in the country.
I bet. Wow.
They had to pay a lot for me to have fun that year.
Gosh. Well, what's the reason for you to stay? Literally just not wanting to leave college, or—
Yeah, you know, I was the youngest person in my graduating class in high school, so I had no rush, you know, to get out. I wasn't 23, I was still a young 21 when I graduated. And, you know, college is supposed to be 4 years, and During my senior year, I was the dorm director for the big freshman dorm. So that was a lot of fun. And we had a lot of fun doing that. And so I really went back for the fun of it.
That's incredible. And your parents just went with it, huh?
They didn't know. They didn't know. And they're both dead now. So— Oh, so you just graduated during their life. I don't think I left it out.
That's so funny. So you just graduated when you graduated, still early compared to probably most, right?
Yeah, I was still younger than most kids when I did graduate with them there. And so it was, uh, and I got the best job ever right out of college. And so, you know, I— it all went well. So
do you know what's interesting? When I When I hear you speak and when I talk with you, Jim, that child you mentioned, it's obvious, but not in a way like many people would assume it is, in a childish way. Not at all. How would you characterize the child in you?
I'm still playful and You know, I still, I collect toys, one particular kind of toy. I have lots of other things that I collect that are adult-oriented, but I do collect a children's toy. You know, my first business was summer camps, playing with kids every day, you know, taping kids to the bottom of tables and shaving cream fights and Marco Polo in the pool as my profession. You know, I was getting paid to play Marco Polo. And still to this day, when my children are playing Marco Polo in the pool with the kids, I jump in and play too. I'm still— I still just enjoy all of those childish things. And I guess I don't really care if other people judge me or not. You know, I, I've stopped caring what other people think. And so that allows me to be childish as well, I guess.
I love that. When did that come, that you stopped caring what other people thought? Because I assume that was gradually, right?
Yeah, maybe with the first million dollars. That's a horrible answer. No, I used to be a huge introvert. And I actually, I have a book about this. I used to be a huge introvert. And when I was 11 or 12, I asked for a watch for my birthday so that I could hide in the bathroom for exactly the right amount of time before I would sneak into the assembly or the school event that was going on so that— because I knew that if I got there too early, no one would sit down next to me. And if I got there too late, they couldn't move. And so I would hide in the bathroom. I was that much of an introvert. And I went to college and decided I didn't want to be that person anymore. And so in college, I pretended to be a outgoing extrovert when I could and did a very long process of learning how to be comfortable at a bar, comfortable talking to people I don't know. My first business— so, this is really interesting— I brought on a business partner to do 100% of the talking for me because I was just too afraid to talk. So, I gave up 50% of the company. And his responsibility was to do the telephone calls that I was too shy for, to talk to the people I was too shy for. And then we got to our first opening ceremony ever, and he can't talk in front of 100 people. That's his kryptonite. And so I had to do it, and I had to do it for years. And something that you end up doing for years, you know, eventually you get good at. Wow. And I developed the little jokes that I would use every time. And eventually you get comfortable at it. And so now I think that no one believes that I am still a huge introvert. People just don't believe it. It's 100% true. I am an introvert, but I make a living by playing an extrovert on TV.
That is so fascinating. Let's talk about introversion for a moment. How would you, or how do you personally characterize introversion?
A lot of bad things, in my opinion, you know, shyness, um, awkwardness in public, afraid of being spoken to, not wanting to have to speak in front of other people. And then the big thing is, you know, you supposedly recharge your batteries by being alone. I don't understand that. I'm just hiding, you know. I'm not alone. I'm just hiding my ass, you know. And, um, I don't recharge by being alone. I'm just Thank God I don't have to be with you other people. But I did learn to get over that. And then, you know, there are certain exercises that I would recommend. The number one exercise is that when you go out to dinner, sit at the bar and talk to people at the bar. That's why you're at a bar, to talk to people. And so they're willing to talk to you. Most of them are drunk and willing to tell you a story. And so that's a great way to slowly learn You know, to be comfortable like that. And then I love all of the support groups for speakers, like the— I'm not remembering the name right now, but there's an organization that gets together every week.
Toastmasters?
Toastmasters. That's it. Thank you. You know, if you're not comfortable with it, you need to go to Toastmasters every day. I became a university professor for 10 years and I had to teach 250 18-year-olds for 3 hours.
That's incredible, isn't it?
I had to learn to be entertaining for 3 or 4 hours to keep the 18-year-olds there and ended up being the highest-ranked professor in the entire college because I understood that I was keeping 18-year-olds entertained. And I never had to worry about them, you know, not showing up or being on their computer because I knew that I was always more entertaining than any other professor because I would do crazy things. There's a rumor that I cut a chair in half with a chainsaw in the middle of the atrium.
Which I'm sure is not true. That's the rumor.
Not true at all. Not true at all. But there's a rumor about that. And I did, you know, I developed presentations, things that would keep you entertained. So the first day of school, I didn't sit there and go over the syllabus. I started lecturing minute one, and I practiced for decades drawing a freehand map of the world on a dry erase board. And I would draw a huge freehand map of the world and have a chair there that I'd have to do, like Canada and Alaska and Siberia and stuff like that. And I had jokes built into it, like, how am I supposed to teach an international class in a room with no maps? And I would start drawing the map, and then they would realize, my God, that map is 100% accurate. This person must know something. And then I start talking populations and, you know, why is a population of 200 million important? Because that determines market size. And how big is the market? You know, so, you know, I worked at it to be more entertaining than the normal professor. I took it as a stage show each and every class.
So it's interesting. You basically took what was advice for you, being shy and what else, and you used that as basically catapulting yourself to the top of being a professor, which is crazy if you think about it. So let's stay with that introversion for a moment, because you see, in my line of work, I've been mostly teaching grownups where you were teaching children at that time. And what I realized was being an introvert doesn't actually equal so much with being shy. It much more equals with not having had exposure to what you were shy about. Because it's interesting, if you take yourself going to a bar and you start talking with people, This is something which kind of is almost like counterintuitive to your personality, correct?
Well, that's why I'm doing it. It is practice. It's extroversion practice. I'm practicing that skill. And the way I choose to do it that day is to go to the bar and sit there. And then there's just other things too. Like if you get into an elevator, say hello. You know, especially if it's a pretty girl and you've seen her in the elevator before. And I had a guest on one time and I'm trying to— Rich, gosh, I'll think of it in a minute on my show. And, you know, he had developed a set of lines for every situation you could ever find yourself in. And he's like, oh, I love it when I get trapped in an elevator because I have lines practiced, you know, and I have a routine that I'm going to go in through that I know is going to work. And so I know I'm going to get her number at the end. You know, even if it's just to go have lunch because we work in the same office building, you know. Yeah. But if you go into an elevator and say, you know, isn't it weird how everyone's so shy in the elevator? And, uh, hi, I'm Jim, nice to meet you. And, you know, what's your name? What floor are you on? There's so many obvious questions, you know. Do you eat here every day? Where's the best place to eat here? What do you do in your office? You know, it's just so easy. It's the easiest trapped environment that you could ever hope for. So, you use that disadvantage of being in an elevator where everyone's too shy to do anything, to talk to people. You know, and I've taken it further than that. I've raised money at bars now. I've walked out of the bar with $200,000 in my pocket for a fundraising that I was doing. You know, I sit there trying to pitch the guy on the left and the guy on the right wants in too. And I didn't come here to talk to you, but hell yeah, I'll give your money a shot too. So I've raised money at bars like that too, because that's actually better chances than at other places because, you know, anyway, I'm not gonna go down that path. I'll let you redirect.
No, I love it. I love it. So why do you think it is that when I was teaching, I was saying to my classes, the one who is apparently introverted has way more success in conversations than the one who is apparently extroverted. Exactly.
It's all about your ears, your ears. And that's why I think there's a new philosophy out that introverts make better salesmen sometimes.
Okay.
Because they listen. They actually have an incredible listening skill because when you're not You know, talking, you're supposed to be listening and hearing. And if I'm— if I can get past the point of going, oh my God, someone's going to talk to me, someone's— please don't talk to me— to the point where I'm just, you know, happy to talk to people because I'm willing to tell my story and I'm willing to ask a question, to just listen to you talk. And that's the ultimate thing. My first wife, I married because she could talk nonstop, but I didn't ever have to talk ever. We'd go to a party, you know, I just never had to speak. And so obviously that marriage didn't last because— That
makes
sense. We were just not balanced and we were not balanced in inherent ways that were hard to fix. And so as my personality changed and got more and more extroverted, she ended up being like, Jim, let's go home. I want to— I almost stay at the bar. I'm having a good talk with this guy. And so she could go home and I'd have to take an Uber.
That's interesting. Yeah, that makes sense. So what you just said is actually really fascinating because extroverted people, they are apparently outgoing. How many times when you were in an elevator did you experience extroverts talk in an elevator to strangers?
Only when I initiated it and only in the last decade. You know, so—
You see that?
And only after I learned and talked to the guy on, you know, I had a guest on my radio show who has a book. The Art of Charm is the name of the book. So if—
That sounds—
If someone wants to add to the discussion, the name of the book is Art of Charm. I'm remembering now. And he has a list of responses for every situation you'll find yourself in. You know, what do you do on a blind date where you're attracted? What do you do on a blind date when you're not? And, you know, he just teaches you how to handle all those situations. And so, you know, learning to be an extrovert is just learning to be comfortable somehow. I learned first— my first step was learning to be comfortable at a party on the edge of the wall, you know, just hanging out on the edge. And I would eventually find one other person who wanted to hang out on the edge of the party, and we could talk. 3 hours and have a great time on the edge of the party watching everyone else. And so, that's one step. And then, you learn, well, now I'm comfortable with this. I'm actually willing to go and do one dance now or something.
Uh-huh.
It's just all baby steps if you decide that that's what's important to you. And I decided that my profession, which I decided to be an entrepreneur of some flavor, required me being comfortable Expressing myself.
Yeah, which is so interesting. So it actually does come down to lack of exposure. And when you see a reason big enough and worthy enough to overcome that lack of exposure, to dare yourself, you're actually daring yourself to do something that is outside of the comfort zone. Which is incredible. So let's think about once again about introversion and extroversion, and I'll share with you a version which might make you think a little bit and maybe rethink what you thought about introversion and extroversion so far. I have worked with an almost 100% extroverted person. You know what's absolutely characteristic about a 100% extroverted person? has no opinion of its own. It gets all the inputs from outside, and then in the end is so confused that she couldn't even take a decision anymore. So she outsourced the value system of herself Onto others. And now if we look at the absolute opposite, the 100% introverted person is the one who says, you know what, I have all the values in me. I don't even need many people because I don't think there is one introverted who doesn't talk to at least one person occasionally. Because that so-called shy person, not exposed yet, uses the interaction to kind of calibrate her or his own value system. Isn't that crazy if you think about it? So now take an introverted person, make that person kind of almost against that person's will, to stretch that comfort zone a little bit by only asking one single question at an event. Because the beauty is, Jim, after this question, that person can shut up and just listen and have the courage to make a comment and from time to time throw in another question. That's the reason why introverted are the much stronger salespeople than extroverted ever will be. Ever.
Tell me about yourself.
You see, I grew up as someone who felt introverted, was able to go out and live the extroversion. So I was called quite quickly an ambivert. And I thought, What if actually everyone is an ambivert? What if all this talk about introversion and extroversion, you're the outgoing guy and the shy guy, is basically a bunch of BS, simply misunderstood? And that you can imagine, I've been teaching for 20 years. So I had 14 people in my classes, grown-ups, From all walks of life. So I was able to test my theory for 20 years. And I literally took people who could not even speak their name without stuttering when they had to introduce themselves and said, I rather prefer not to speak at all in class. I will be present. And I said, absolutely fine. And that's when I said, look, the art of conversation is knowing how to ask questions because the other people are more than happy to fill 90% of the time. Isn't that crazy when you think about it?
I got away with that for years. You know, that was the way I existed for years. It's just Line someone up and let them go. You know, tell me about yourself could go for hours, you know, and all you have to go every once in a while. That's interesting. Tell me more.
Yes.
Then what did she say? You know, I mean, it's amazing to play the, the listener. And, uh, I also did debate in high school as a kid, and that's all about listening too and taking notes and knowing what their argument is so that you can respond. And so I'm very good at note-taking as well. And I still to this day, Markus, use notebooks, real notebooks that, you know, I keep my notes from every conversation, you know. And I have a stack of like 30 of those down at my knees right now. I'm in between studios at the moment. We're half Finished here. But, um, I always write those down. And there's just so many tricks you can do, you know, um, when you have a conversation with someone and they swap telephone numbers and you now have their information on your phone, go ahead and put their wife's name and their kids' names in the discussion box or the notes, you know, from the conversation that you just had. And that way, you know, you, oh, it makes me so smart. You remember my child's name? That's so nice of you. Yeah. You know,
yeah. But you see, let's get back to this initial question. What was your success key to teaching those children?
Which, where, at my camp?
In university.
Oh, at university. Being interesting and You know, using the material as a good story. You know, it's boring to teach the textbook, but it's exciting to hear about how Coca-Cola made a mistake in this marketing tactic that they used is what we were talking about in chapter 8, which you were supposed to read last night. Uh-huh. So you read the chapter. Now let's talk about how that Coca-Cola screw-up Really reinforces that point, you know. And so that's an interesting conversation, especially if you can talk about companies that they know, or, you know, things that they're personally interested in. Um, you know, so I worked very hard to make every class a production, a, you know, a 2-hour show where, you know, I didn't let them take bathroom breaks, and we didn't have a break in the middle of the class. I went straight through. Mm-hmm. And if you need— you're an adult. If you need to go pee, go pee. Um, and, uh, you know, I just realized that it was an opportunity for me to practice my skill. And so I used their time for my advantage, which we should all do.
Yes, absolutely. Yes.
So, uh,
and, you know,
I was really very willing to use that opportunity to make me better at my profession.
So it helped you hone your skill. Yes. And it helped you to come out of your shell, right? Yes,
yes,
absolutely. So if you think about it, you mentioned before you had the intention to be interesting. I almost dare to say that there is one element which you maybe even overlooked. Because this is how I experienced you when I was a guest on your startup radio show.
I can't wait to hear what that was. What?
You are more interested than you want to be interesting.
I am more interested than I want to be interesting?
Yes.
Well, my radio show is great if I have great guests and they tell their great stories. So, you know, I've never had a guest that was not my greatest guest ever. Every single one of the 6,000 guests I've had was the greatest guest ever. And I treat every single interview like that. Fantastic. And sometimes it's not, and I know it and the audience knows it. And one time I didn't dare it. So only once did it not work. But, you know, I also research the people and know a little bit about them. And I've had many guests say, how did you know that about me? Were you talking to my mother last night? You know, I've had people do that because I, you know, do enough research and listen to what they say and try to make them the highlight. Maybe that's the introversion coming back, make them the highlight of the show.
You know, and this is what I want to land at going soon toward the end of today's show. People who are listening, if they understand, don't try to be so interesting, but try to be interested, because that's when you put the other person first for a moment. It doesn't take anything else. Because, you know, when I listen to you, I see images all the time. So I see you before you even conducted the first class ever. You pictured those kids coming to school. You pictured the situations they were in, and you knew what you want them to come toward. Because you were not there to teach because you made money. You are a teacher because you want to teach something. And teaching for you, I assume, is not just theory, but it's literally something for life which they can take with them. Yes. So you were more interested in those kids' life and what came from it, from your teaching, than you tried to be interesting. Because once you have that interest, being interested, it kind of gives you almost fuel to come up with more crazier ideas to actually trigger that kid's interest. Isn't that amazing to look at it like this?
So let me tell you a little bit about my first business very quickly. It was a summer camp business. And we taught computer skills to dorky kids that were not on the football team and not cheerleaders. We were based— we started at Stanford and MIT our first year. And in 6 years, we grew to 89 locations around the world at MIT, Georgetown, UCLA, Yes. SMU, Emory& Sorbonne, Cambridge, Oxford, UCLA, UCSD, University of San Diego. 89 locations. And what we did, and this I think comes directly from the lessons that I learned myself, is we took these unhappy kids, kids that had never been happy, and made them happy for the first time. And we had a lot of ways of doing that. We would, a lot of times we would find that they just didn't have a best friend in their neighborhood. Well, this kid lives, you know, a city over, but y'all are both addicted to the same game. So he's now your new best friend. Your best friend lives in the next city over and you hadn't met him yet. Also, we taught them that it was cool to be smart and there's nothing cooler in the world than being smart. And most of our counselors and trainers came out of MIT and Stanford. And so, look, your instructor has orange hair, goes to Stanford, and guess what? He has a girlfriend. You know what? So it doesn't matter how dorky we are. Dorks get girlfriends too. And then we would do All sorts of things. Like if they went to the cafeteria and sat down by themselves, I would go and pick their tray up and go and put it in the middle of a group of people and move the kid into a group and sit there until the kid is acclimated and knows another kid's name. You know, you, you can force the social interaction. It was just outlaw the things that make children uncomfortable.
It's like nudging it a little bit, right?
Yes. And so that business was so popular and we grew to 89 locations in 6 years because we took unhappy kids and made them happy for the first time. And when I tell a parent that, what will you pay for that? A parent, if you're concerned about your child's happiness, you'll pay anything for that. Absolutely anything. And so we were the most expensive program in the country by far. Um, but we also offered more value than any other,
uh,
camp. We would send home kids happy for the first time in their life. You know, that's worth an infinite amount of money. And we can teach that, and we can teach that to the parents. And so, um, anyway, that's what I'll say about that.
That's incredible. Yeah, but that proves, that proves the point. I love that.
I think so.
I love that.
I took my own experience of being an unhappy child and built that into the business plan.
Good for you.
And then we ended up with 16,000 kids a day that we were taking care of.
Gosh, I'm so inspired by that.
And teaching HTML and teaching them movie making and giving them a lifelong skill, you know. Amazing. Yeah, so it was an incredible program and they get to hang out at MIT all summer, you know, whose parent wouldn't want that? So anyway—
All from starting out being dorky initially, huh?
I'm still a dork, you know, but you know what? I married a cute dork and we ended up being really happy, you know.
That's it, right?
You know, life is good for dorks if they're willing to accept it and just be happy with who you are. You know, just be happy. You have to learn to be happy with who you are. And that's not easy sometimes. Um, you know, I have a child right now that, uh, an elder child, you know, in their 20s that's not acting the way that I approve of. And that's challenging my self-image. You know, I raised a kid that's not acting right. You know, you've got a great job, but misses family funerals, you know?
Yeah. Yeah.
You know, I didn't raise him to miss a family funeral.
That just shows a child can be raised to the highest standard, but it still has its own personality and its own will, huh?
And a 30-year-old child can be just as painful as a 3-month-old child.
Oh, absolutely. Oh, goodness me. I totally agree with you. So this brings me to my last question, Tim. If someone feels overwhelmed right now, let's say it's one of those dorky introverted, believing it's shy, not have exposure, what would you want them to return to?
Uh, well, they need to understand that the path is to be happy. and to like themselves. And that history and data indicate that going outside with regularity helps your happiness and that doing some exercise helps your happiness and trying to meet new people and develop new interests helps your happiness. You know, so no matter what you're doing, you need to continue to learn and continue to meet new people and continue to try to be nice to people that you've already met. But, you know, it's a lifelong journey toward always being a little bit better. And so, you know, I want to continue to learn and continue to help other people. And if you're unhappy, the number one thing you can do is go help someone else. So if you're unhappy, go to the food distribution bank and help give out food to people who are worse off than you. Because I'll find someone worse off than you if you can't. If you can't find them, I'll find them for you and show you that there are people worse off than you. I've been sick. I've been sick a lot of my life. I have some real chronic illnesses, but there are a lot of people who are sicker than me.
I love that. Jim, thank you so much for this conversation. It's been a great pleasure.
Thank you for having me.
You're welcome. This was Remembering the Forgotten, a conversation held in clarity, not performance. If something in this exchange shifted how you see, let it stay with you. A few quiet pointers are waiting below.
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