Henry Evans: You Only Live Once: Henry Wants You To Do The Thing Even If It Scares You

I do really believe 100% from every part of me that everyone has the capacity to be able to do the things that they want and not to be held back by the mental baggage that's in our head that we want to push through.

Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. In each episode, we get down and personal with people who go after the things they want to make all their wildest dreams come true. Join us as we unveil and dissect a formula for what it takes to do the thing. Here is your host, Stacy Lauren.

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. My name is Stacy Lauren. Thank you guys for joining us today. So this is the moment you have all been waiting for. I have our next guest who I actually met initially. Gosh, I think it's been 10 years ago, and I joined his marketing group that he was running at the time, and it was such an amazing way to connect with other people that were interested in the things that I was interested in. And then about four years ago, I joined his Mastermind. And you met most of the people from the Mastermind already, and I'm sure you were blown away by their interviews, and if you haven't heard them, definitely check them out because they're. They're each extraordinary. And he is the. The one that leads the mastermind and also just creates this amazing space for people that are all doing the thing. And he is not only an amazing person from a business standpoint, but also personally. He helped me walk through my divorce, and also the group did as well, helped me through my exit of my business. He even helped me when I was buying my house. I went up to his office and showed him comps, and I was nervous because it was my first time making an investment like that by myself.

That's right.

And that was an amazing decision, both personally and then also as an investment. So it's just great to have someone like that that you just know is in your corner. I remember even years ago when my daughter hosted a entrepreneur fair with her Girl Scout troupe, he came and was there to. To show up and support. And I've just really appreciated everything that he's done for me personally. And then professionally, I mean, it's been amazing. I even took a tip from him on a Zoom stock. That was really good. So anyway, I am just really excited that you guys are going to get to hear from him. And I would say he's definitely helped shape who I am and also things that I've done in my life. And so here he is.

Hey, Henry, thanks for having me. Stacy. That was quite the intro and I'm honored to be here and excited for this new adventure you're embarking on and just really happy to be a part of this and, and the chat with you today. So thanks for having me.

Yeah, it's so cool. I'm just been. It's funny because you know how you feel something when you're going through it, like when we have our monthly meetings and we know they're great when we're in them, but just getting a chance to talk to everyone, even through this podcast, it's just made me even see even more how valuable this group has been and how valuable you've been in my life, because I think I'm. I'm just opening up the conversations even to another level. And so it just makes me even more grateful than I. Than I could ever imagine.

Love it. Love it. This is exciting.

Yeah. Well, if you could start off and just tell everyone that doesn't know you a little bit about your background and your story.

Sure. Well, I will give the short version of that. So I started off, I actually have lived two years in every time zone in the US So far other than Hawaii, and so grew up on the east coast, pretty close to Niagara Falls, New York, and then moved to New Jersey and then ended up in Iowa. My parents moved to Iowa when I was in high school. So I finished high school, went to college there, and then moved to Denver for a couple years, did commercial real estate and then went into high tech in right around 2000 and moved out to San Diego and absolutely love it out here. It's just a wonderful place to live. Married my wife, who's from pretty, pretty close to here, and have two lovely daughters and very, very blessed to be able to call this home. And from a professional standpoint, I was in commercial real estate. That was really my first career. And then went into high tech and then ended up starting up my own marketing company in 2008 and went out on my own, did that for about 10 years and then came to a point where I had a business that did not go as well as I had hoped it was going to. So I ended up doing some consulting and that ended up turning into a full time position and role at a software company. Kind of a offer I couldn't refuse. So I continued to do investing and run the marketing group that we're a part of, obviously together. I'm kind of a steward of that. And then also really engaged and involved in the software space now, which I really love. And then working on a brand new project with my wife, which is really exciting. So just a lot of good, fun things. And I think the constant for me is I love helping people and bringing out the best in people. And so it's just wonderful to see people grow and change and really realize their biggest potential. And when you mentioned the name for this podcast, I'm like, what a great name. Because at the end of the day, you know, you can think about it and you can talk about it, but until you actually take action and do it, you know, nothing actually happens. So I'm, I'm, I'm really excited. I love your theme for this podcast and really looking forward to, you know, kind of digging in more here. So there's a little bit of my background there.

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I think it's great because I know when, before you came on, I was like, man, what do I talk about with Henry? Do I talk to him about how he is so good at helping others do the thing or about how he does the thing? So. And then hearing you say that with how you are so good at helping people and bringing out the best in them, you know, it is so true. So that is definitely one of your, your huge strengths, because I've seen it over and over again. So I do want to. Before I get into that though, because I definitely want to go there. I wanted to dive in a little bit to your background, because I'm remembering long ago at the marketing meeting I went to, I remember the slide that you've had up and it was, it was showing. I think it must have been the real estate job. It was whichever job you had for like 10 years and was when you left that job and then you decided to, to open your first business.

Oh, yes.

Yeah. Could we go there a little bit? Because that was your. Unless you have something else before that. I think that was your first really doing the thing.

100%. Yeah, that was. That was really the first. So moving out to Denver by myself and then the San Diego by myself, those were big. Kind of do the things personally at the time, but from a, from a business or work standpoint, that was huge. So it was summer of summer of 2008, and unfortunately my wife's twin sister had passed away in March of that year. And I don't know if you've ever known anybody that has had twins, but it was really our jet cancer for over two years and just horrible journey with chemo and radiation and the whole thing. And she ended up losing that battle Unfortunately. And it really kind of made me reevaluate life. And so, you know, I kind of tell people, Stacy, that I stepped back, I looked at everything I was doing and I kind of said, you know, what if I don't go out on my own now, you know, when am I going to find, I mean, because I mean, there truly never is a perfect time, whether that be to have a family or to start up a business. There isn't. I mean, there never is the perfect time. You're never going to have the perfect amount of money in the bank account and the perfect house and the perfect opportunity. There's always going to be things that aren't perfect. So everybody thought I was nuts. I was an executive at a software company that was growing like crazy. I had a wonderful team of people and I said, I'm going to leave and go figure out how to do marketing. And everybody thought I was crazy. But it was going through that, that process with losing my sister in law that really helped me just put things in priority and just be like, you know what, Life is short and life is precious and I don't want to look back and say, you know, I really wish I would have done that and what would have happened if I would have and super grateful that I did. And the photograph you're talking about was the last day that I worked at my corporate job was Halloween. And so I dressed as a cowboy. So I have a full cowboy outfit with a prop gun and a, you know, a leather belt and holster, the whole deal, the whole nine yards in the hat. And so I wore that to work and, you know, told everybody, hey, there's, there's a new sheriff in town. And I still remember just the trepidation and the fear that I had in doing that. And ultimately, I mean, I have a real strong faith. You know, I was able to find that through my wife. And that really helped me keep things in perspective. I just realized, you know, what it's like if this doesn't work out, great, I'll go get a job somewhere else. Not a problem. And so glad I did it, mainly because of how much I grew. And that's the part I think that's so exciting is the growth that we go through personally when we take those leaps and we do that thing, whatever that thing is. I think about all the growth you've done and the things that you're doing now with the things you did and you know, changing your company and going through your divorce and all of those things and look at how much You've grown and change for the better. And so change isn't always easy, but it really is what I think helps us. And there's a great quote, I think by think by Eleanor Roosevelt, I can look it up for sure and then you might know it too, Stacy. But it's do whatever it is that scares you or something to that effect. So whatever that is.

Yeah, I love that. And so when you so your risk assessment, really. And actually sorry, going back to that picture, it's funny, that must be why I remember it so much because it was 10 years ago, I think when I saw it. Yes, because you were dressed up as a cowboy, so that had imprinted.

Exactly.

But yeah, so when you, so when you made that decision and you went through the fear, I know part of it was from your sister in law's passing and you probably seeing life in a whole nother way. Do you think your, your risk assessment then was like if I, if I look at it in terms of just not wanting to regret it and then also the seeing the life journey and what else do you think was there? How else did you, how else were you able to walk through that fear?

So a couple things. First thing for me definitely was the faith piece and you know, you know doing a lot of prayer about that. But you know, from a tactical standpoint, I did two things that I think would be helpful for people as they listen. One was there's a great audio by T. Harv Eker and it's called Pushing Through Fear is what it is. And it's a 10 minute session that he gave from stage in front of 1500 people. And I listened to that audio. I'm not even kidding. I bet a thousand times, maybe not maybe 500 times. It's so ingrained I could probably deliver that talk and I still listen to it every now and then. So the prayer first, that was the second thing. Then the third thing was there's a great book actually T. Harvecker recommended in that video. And the book is called, it's by a lady named Susan Jeffers and it's called Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. And that book also helped kind of change my whole perspective on if you're scared of it, do it anyway. And the book is really about finding your faith and your confidence and your strength to realize that you know what, you've gone through a lot of hard things already and you've survived. And guess what, you'll continue to go through hard things and you'll survive. And you know what doesn't kill you. Truly does make you stronger. And so those were kind of three things for me that really helped me push through that fear because it was big and it was real and I was petrified. And I think it really took losing my sister in law, also, Stacy, to kind of push me out of that comfort zone. To be like, you know what? You only live once. Go for it.

Yeah, what a beautiful gift, you know, because then that's how everything else happened after that moment.

Really true. And, and, and, and I really look at it that way. That was a gift. And I still remember driving over to meet my boss. I had, I had come out of church and I was like, like, you know, and I told my wife, I said, I gotta leave now. And so I just like left and I went out to the car and I called up my boss and said, hey, I mean, I want to talk to you. This was the CEO, I'm sorry, the founder of the company. And I said, hey, you know, I want to come over and talk to you. He's like, sure. And so I drove over and there was this picture of my sister in law actually at the Del Mar racetrack, kind of a funny story. And it was this picture of her. And she had lost her hair at that time and so had on a bandana and had oxygen on. But there was this picture. We were at the Del Mar racetrack. They do a Saturday morning thing there you go for breakfast at the races. And this thing on the table in the photograph says win. And it was talking about like, you can win something, but it just, it was a picture of Ann saying win. And I just remember looking at that and I was like, she's rooting for me and I'm going to go. And I went and had that. Probably the most uncomfortable conversation I've ever had with anybody where I told this guy that I've worked with for seven years who hired me that I was going to leave. And I really feel like I was helped from the other side. And that confidence I got from Ann and then listening to that audio and reading that book really helped a lot because it's not always easy to do the thing.

Yeah, no, I think that's unbelievable. I also wanted to talk about the business you mentioned that didn't go well because I think what gets in a lot of people's way from doing the thing is fear that something's going to fail, you know, And I'm imagining that you must have had some experiences through that that helped you with what you're doing now with the software business, so many.

And it's. It's really interesting, I mean, because I think now it's like, well, I've actually got quite a few failures under my belt. And I realize that everybody I've met who's really successful has had things blow up in their face, fail. And it really is that old cliche. It's not what, you know, knocks you down. It's. It's whether or not you get back up. And right away, literally right when I first quit my job, it was very hard because I had this wonderful consulting gig that basically blew up right after I left my job. I'm like, oh, you got to be kidding me. I was going to have, like, $5,000 a month coming in from one client, and that literally blew up. And then something else blew up. And so literally all these things I had lined up. And I'm convinced, too, that it's, you know, you can call it whatever you want to, you know, God, the universe, the devil. It's like, I'm convinced. I was thrown a bunch of heartache and difficulties and challenges just to see if I had the stomach to stick with it. And it was hard that first year we went. I'm trying to remember exactly what the number was. I want to say it was $142,000 in the credit card debt we used burned through my wife's entire 401k. So it was. I don't recommend that. I recommend trying to do something on the side so that you can kind of scale it up as opposed to just like, jump right in unless you have a lot of savings. But, yeah, it's like. So that was a couple of things that failed there. And then that other company that I purchased, I bought with a friend of mine. And I didn't do my own adequate due diligence on the business. And I, you know, it's. It's funny, there's that saying that, you know, people teach what they need to know. And I. I tell people, buy a business that has, you know, high revenue and high margin and recurring revenue and in a growing space. And I literally bought a company that was in a shrinking space with low price points, low margins, and no continuity or membership income. So I literally violated every single rule that I had for myself. So. Which. Which also made me kind of think about what I do now is I really try to, you know, take the time to think. And I have these things I do, which I know that you've done, too, Stacy. I kind of put together this Beach Day process, which I'M happy to share that. You can post up with the podcast also. But, you know, and it's, it's just this idea of going to the beach or going somewhere in, in nature. You can go to the forest or the mountaintop or the beach or the valley, whatever. And getting out of your environment is the key thing. Squeezing all the ideas out of your head, getting them out of your head, and then really looking for some inspiration on where should I go now and what should I be doing? And it's not always easy. Doing the thing sometimes is going to be hard and you have to commit to it. Nobody guaranteed that this life is easy. But I have a friend of mine who is not a good friend. I'd say more of an acquaintance, but I still remember he had the same job for like 35 years, works for the government, absolutely despises his job. And he is there for one reason and one reason only, that is to get to retirement. And kids are doing great, his wife is doing great. She has a little business that she runs. But he's just miserable. And I'm like, why would you spend, you know, it's going to end up being like 38 years of his life at a job you just despise? You know, it's like, do you really want to look back and say, I never had the courage to go out on my own or do anything different. I just wanted to get my pension. So I think doing the thing is so important and whatever is scaring you or is, you know, showing up as fear in your life, I think that's almost exactly what you do need to do.

Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up, because I do have a lot of people that have come on that are business owners, and I'm referring to doing the thing as, as, as opening a business or selling a business or whatever it is around business. But I also have had people on, like you met Anastasia the other day, who's amazing, just left Ukraine and is now helping 130 women get shelter and jobs and things like that. And then I, I just interviewed someone yesterday who runs a community cleanup event, and that's her doing the thing. And another guy that interviewed, who was an attorney, who. He's actually the one that helped me exit my business. So I have him on, but he's a world traveler, you know, and travels the world. And I think, I think the idea of, of it being just whatever doing the thing is to you, it's just not letting fear stop you.

That's, that's such a Great point. And that might be, you know, leaving a bad relationship. That might be moving out of the town you grew up in. That might be changing a job. That might be, you know, exploring something new with your faith or spirituality that might be traveling someplace you've never been to. Yeah. I mean, it could be a whole number of things. And. And it's hard, too, because we want to kind of put our value system on other people, but you can't do that. So for some people, you know, just, you know, you know, asking somebody out is there. Do the thing. For other people, it's, you know, finally getting up the courage to leave a bad relationship. And so whatever that might be, you don't want to put judgment, because what's easy for one person is going to be extraordinarily difficult for somebody else. You can't put your standards on other people. That's another thing I've learned, too, is, you know, for me, hey, like, starting up a new business idea, you know, which I'm doing with my. With my wife right now, you know, I have to be understanding and realize that this is something that she has not done, you know, and so having empathy for what she's going through and doing this thing and understanding. So I think it's important, wherever you are, as you listen to this and what your do, the thing is really give yourself some compassion and understanding to realize that, you know, that might be a really, really big thing for you. And I always like to see, okay, are there smaller things you can do in the interim to kind of, like, build up that confidence, that muscle of doing the thing? Because it really is a muscle, you know, So, I mean, think about even like, with the stuff that you've done, Stacey, it's like you're, you know. You know, you did the one thing for a long, long time, and so now you're really jumping into a lot of different things. And the challenge of doing that, you know, like buying your own, you know, place for the first time and spending a lot of money. Because I still remember when we got together, and I'm like, this is great. This is a wonderful thing, and this is good for you. And the one thing I'll say around all of that is you need to find people that support you and people that genuinely care about you, that want the best for you, that, you know, care about your body and your soul and want to see you be happy and successful. And it's really, really important. If you've got a bunch of naysayers and a bunch of people saying, That's a stupid idea. Why do you want to move there? Why do you want to go start that? Why do you want to, you know, you know, that's just a dumb idea. Then you need to upgrade your friends. And there's that old saying that Jim Rohn said that we are the five people we hang out with the most. And for most of us, that means we need to upgrade the people we hang out with. And so it's just critically important, whether that be a mastermind group you get into or an online group or just finding those people that are doing the things that you want to do that they're already doing them.

Yeah, And I wanted to add to that too, because a lot of times people's attentions are good, but it's. They have their own fear about, like them doing that, and then they're putting their fear onto you, which if you're listening to them, you know, that's not good either.

That is not good. That's exactly right. Yeah. And so, and the other thing too, when it comes to taking advice from other people, you have to really, really think hard about what's their motivation and what's their background and what level of success that they had in that one area. I always joke, so when I listen to stock tips from people, if I'm listening to my broke uncle, I'm gonna value that stock tip at one level than if I'm listening to my uber successful brother in law. So just really thinking about, you know, who's giving you this advice and is there any ulterior motives they have or are they genuinely just looking out for your best interest?

Yeah, I think that's. I think that's such a good point. So thinking about your friend who's at that job for 35 years with the government and, you know, but not. It'd be one thing if he liked his job and it was like, okay, but not liking the job. Like, what do you think's the good first step for someone like that to be able to do the thing?

Oh, that's such a great question. He is so set in his ways. I think the biggest thing for him. So if he had come to me and said something to the effect of, hey, I mean, I really want to make a change here, what would you recommend? I would recommend what small things can he do to build up that do the thing muscle to get into the habit of doing new and different things. So, hey, have you ever hiked one of the mountains in San Diego, whether it be Cowell's Mountain or You know, Iron Mountain or whatever. Have you ever done that? And most likely, okay, great, I want you to go do that this weekend. Have you ever gone out and, you know, rented a boat or learned how to sail or gone parasailing over the cliffs of Torrey Pines? Like, give him like challenges that are going to expand his mind and his brain and give him the confidence to be like, yeah, you know, I set this goal to go paragliding and I have a fear of heights and I would have did it. And you know, because he would grow a ton by doing those types of things. But, you know, is, is he somebody that's going to be able to get to that level? I don't know, because I don't think he would ever even listen to a podcast like this. But that would be something else I would be doing, is surround yourself with positive stories by like listening to this exact podcast and hearing all these great stories of how people did the thing, because that's going to hopefully encourage and inspire and ultimately give the motivation to actually take action. But it's hard. I mean, it's hard if you're dealing with somebody. It's just like an addiction. If you know somebody who's addicted to nicotine or alcohol or whatever, it's not an easy process to change years and years and years worth of programming. I really like a book I can recommend. This is another thing I would do. If he had asked me, I would say, well, you should read my book, the Hour, the Entrepreneur, because I talk about some of this stuff. And I said I would also read Atomic Habits by James Clear because he talks about how to reestablish habits and change what you're doing. I have another friend who wrote a book called the Habit Factor and at the end of the day his habits are keeping him in a rut and he's going to need to change those habits around.

Yeah. And I, you know, I loved At Home. I was like obsessed with that book.

Such a good one.

I loved it. I have to, I have to read your friend's book. I have a tracker I haven't. Or habitat.

Yeah, very good.

You know what I want to do for a minute? I just am going off like off the rails here. But I just interviewed, I think this is important. I just interviewed a 20 year old, 21 year old kid yesterday who just started a cookie brand and it's already going really well.

Love it.

And he's just, you know, kind of been going through all the challenges, but all the greatness is starting to like happen with the momentum. And he said something yesterday, and it's right in line with what you're saying. And because I want to stay here for a minute because I think this is so important. So I'm just going to play it for a second while we're here, if that's.

Love it.

I wasn't going to do this initially, so I do have it, though, because I loved it so much.

I took a snip believer in, like, how you do one thing is how you do everything. So I think, like, you know, even if you wake up early, you go to the gym, that's like, checking it off. So the more you kind of do that, the more you believe and the more confidence you can build in yourself that, oh, I can actually do this. So the more you kind of, like, do something and the more like, wins or even losses you get just kind of keeps moving you forward along the path. So I think it really applies, like, every area of your life, not just. Not just business.

Totally agree. That's so true. There's a wonderful video, if you haven't seen it, Stacy. It's from. I think he's a general or an admiral, but he was a Navy seal. And it's called make your bed every morning. And it's a commencement announcement he gave the group of college kids graduating. And he basically says, you know, the reasons why you need to make your bed because you're starting your day off with a victory. And he gives all these reasons why that just builds and builds and builds, which is exactly what your friend said right there. It's just so critically important. Love that. Yeah.

And I just wanted to repeat what you said originally because I just think it's so powerful and people don't take it enough, like, take it seriously enough to know. Because everyone says, you know, like, oh, I should be doing this, I should be doing that, you know, but to actually know the impact it's going to have in your life when you do do little things. So what you had said when I asked you the question of your friend that had the job is in that job for 30 years, and what's the one thing he could do? Or what's like, the first step he could do? And you said, I think you said, what small thing can you do to, like, build up the muscle? And you'd mentioned, like, hiking a mountain and different things like that. And I think. I think we don't put enough emphasis on how important these things are to be able to, like, get us in that habit of that success.

It is so Critically important. And this idea that you look at somebody driving down the street who's successful and happy and they have a wonderful family and are wealthy financially and have health and just the whole package. And what is it that leads to an extraordinarily successful life in every way, in every facet? Whatever success is to you. And the answer is really easy. It's just a bunch of, of little choices you make every day that get you there. And the more you have set in your mind a vision of where you want to be 1, 3, 5, 10, 25 years down the road, if you think about that, which is 100 quarters, by the way, so 100 three month chunks is 25 years. Where do you want to be at that point? And if you keep that vision clear in your mind, it's going to guide every decision. And that means if you see yourself as somebody who's in health, who's healthy and has fitness as a priority, when you're offered a piece of cake, you're going to have a bite of it or say, no, I'm okay. It'll literally guide every little decision you make. And so having a big goal and vision of where you want to go, I call it future pacing. So literally project out your ideal day a year from now. And if you do that in a theater of your mind and imagine that as vividly as you can as like a movie, hey, here's Stacy walking through her perfect day a year from today. Exactly how that's going to look. And if you really internalize that, it's going to guide all your decisions. Are you going to take that trip? Yes or no? Are you going to do that thing that you shouldn't do, yes or no? Are you going to donate to that charity, yes or no? Are you going to eat that extra piece of pizza, yes or no? All those things. Because literally an excellent life just comes down to a lot of small, excellent decisions day in, day out. And don't make it bigger than it is. Just focus on where you are right now. So the fact you're listening to this podcast, you can't be here if you're there. So be there. Listen to the podcast, focus on the words that we're talking about right now. And that's going to be your big decision for this moment. And then afterwards, think about what are you going to do next? And be present and be in that moment and just make great decisions every day. I mean, that's literally all that a successful life is. It's a bunch of great decisions every day.

Yeah, That's. I think people are seeing why you're the godfather of the Mastermind.

Oh, that's funny.

So good. So what do you think? Because you've had so many people under your wing, right? And I'm thinking like in the Mastermind. Yes, of course. We're all, were all there and you're doing it with us. You were able to see people do the thing versus not doing the thing. Cause I know you even had like the monthly winners, you know, contest. Yes, contests and stuff. So. So what did you see there? Like, what did you see that really changed it when people started to do the thing more than when they didn't?

That one's a real easy one. And, and fundamentally it's some level of accountability. And you kind of mentioned the contest. So what we would do for everybody. So we got together. It was, you know, 60, 70, 80, 90 business owner entrepreneurs on the San Diego area. We got together every month. I would teach some marketing concepts or ideas or sales concepts or ideas. I had John Barrett, who would teach about Internet marketing. We'd have other speakers come in that teach about mindset and things like that. It's basically like a monthly marketing summit. And one of the ideas we had was let's do a contest, a marketing contest. And it was three or four people and they would each take action during the month and come and share. And whoever won would win and give them cash and prizes and like a massage and things like that from Christine Spa. So. And it was awesome. And it was usually a lot of the same people that would volunteer. And then I decided to start calling on people that I knew would rise to the challenge. And I remember I called on Nick Sedon who has a dryer vent cleaning business here in San Diego and still is doing very well now has multiple trucks. Actually just got a message from him the other day and I remember it and he's like, oh, I don't really know. I'm not in the speaking and I don't know. And I said, you're going to do fantastic. I said, just take all the action you can over the next month. Just come back and tell us the story. And he did, and he won the contest. And he also made, I want to say it was like $30,000 more that month than he had the previous month. And so he was just ecstatic. And what it was was that accountability. So not just saying, oh, I'm going to work out and get in shape or go start this business or do that, but who are you going to talk to about that. And how are they going to hold your feet to the fire in a friendly, loving way to make sure that you take action? I think that was a big differentiator for a lot of people to know that, hey, I have to show up next month and I better have something done.

Yeah. And so I love that we're going into accountability because I do think that's. That's super, super powerful and a big formula, a piece of the formula for doing the thing. So for you, for doing that with Nick, it was really just him declaring it. Like, were you. Were you asking it? You saying, well, just tell your story afterwards. You didn't give him a specific guide. I mean, he obviously has some of the stuff that you were teaching back then, but it was really that you think it was really just that declaration of saying, like, tell your story after the month's over.

Yeah, yeah, that's. That's exactly what it was. And just knowing that you're gonna have to be on stage talking to 80 people about what you did, just the embarrassment factor of not having anything to report on, I think that's a huge motivator also, because we're. We're motivated by the things we can potentially gain, but we're actually motivated even more by the things that we can potentially lose. And so for him losing face in front of everybody, that he didn't do anything. And I know some people, Stacy, that would tell me they would stay up all night the night before the marketing summit, doing all the things. Because again, nothing happens without a deadline. And you gotta start throwing some deadlines in your life. It's just so, so important. If you really want to be productive, you gotta. You have to have something that is gonna hold you accountable. Whether that be a system, a person speaking on stage, whatever that might be, what's going to hold you accountable. It's really, really helpful.

Yeah. And what do you think gets, you know, someone like Nick to. To go, like, where. Where he could have said, never mind, I'm not going to go. Like, obviously, then he wouldn't go back. But, like, what do you think gets him to just do the thing and not avoid the thing?

Well, I mean, I think in that case it was probably peer pressure. And if we kind of go back to my friend who's in the same government job for over 30 years, you know, it's kind of, what could I do as his coach, guide, friend, to give him a friendly challenge, to push him out of that comfort zone, to just do the thing.

So.

And that might get back to Just surrounding yourself with people that genuinely want the best for you. I still remember some of the things that you were going through. I mean, I just remember talking to like, look, it's like, you're going to do awesome. This is going to be a wonderful thing for you, and you're going to be so much happier when you come out the other side. A fun story on this. So when we were in that mastermind group, actually, it was one of my other mastermind groups, this is years ago. And we had a woman named Vanessa, who is a jeweler at the time, and she had this opportunity to get this really unique, cool space in the Jewelers Exchange in downtown San Diego. And it was way beyond her comfort zone. And I remember we talked to her about it in the Mastermind. I talked about it afterwards, and I said, you have to step into your greatness here. I said, when you step in and you sign that lease, you're kind of making a declaration to yourself, to God, to the world that, hey, I'm here, I'm here to stay, and I'm going to make my business successful. And she's experienced tremendous success from that day. And she looks back at that as a defining moment. It's like that's where your courage is. And you just gotta have people on your side that are just rooting you on and wanting you to succeed. Because if you have people that don't want to see you succeed, and that might be family members, sometimes you got to get around people that genuinely do it. I think that's. That's one thing that I've been blessed with as a gift. It's like, I truly, genuinely, in my heart of hearts, love to see people absolutely crush it and succeed. And it just. It like, literally makes my heart aglow with happiness and pride for what they're doing. And I think that's just a very important thing. Who's going to be your cheerleader as you do the thing? And you got to have some people that are going to be rooting you on, which really is something, as you think about this, Stacy, for you, having a community around what you're doing probably could be something very, very helpful and valuable that, hey, you know, you can obviously listen to the do the Thing podcast, but also we have a Do the Thing community over here. And, you know, and I would charge something. I wouldn't make it free. I would charge something, but it doesn't have to be a lot. And then you're around people that want to see you do the thing and want to support You. Because some people, it's very hard to find supportive folks. I have a friend who just moved to Charleston, West Virginia, and I haven't been to Charleston. I don't know. But he said, henry, it's really kind of depressed here. And that's where his family's from, and that's where he went back to. But he was in Nashville, which was a booming town, and now he's in a place where, you know, he's gonna have to really seek out and find people. Now, with Zoom and the Internet, you can find. You can find your tribe of people that care about you and want to see you succeed, regardless of where you are physically, which is really cool.

Yeah, that's a really good point, I think. Yeah. The whole world has opened up to us with everything that happened.

Yep.

So, okay, this is great. So everyone go out and find your Henry.

Well, no, I mean, I would. I would challenge you. Like, that's something that I think might be something really good that you could put together, because, again, you're going to be having all these people that are listening to these inspirational stories of people that do the thing and the next thing and, sorry, man, I can't help myself, because it's just such a good idea is. Is to put together a group of people that, you know, are helping each other do the thing. Yeah, that would be extraordinarily helpful and really a great legacy for you as well, because you are somebody who's really good at it, and you're also very good at motivating people to do the thing and getting them to tell their story. And so that might end up being something which could be really, really impactful for a lot of people.

I love it. And I'm thinking we will be talking about this on the next.

That sounds great. I love it.

So tell me, what do you think has been the hardest thing for you throughout everything for doing the thing?

I think the hardest thing is not thinking in daytight compartments. And anytime I think about, so this new business I'm going to be starting up with my wife, I think about, oh, well, it's like, you know, we got to do this. We got to. There's literally a thousand things we have to do, and all those things have to go right and go well, and it's intimidating. I'm thinking about the website and the tech stack that we're going to have to have, and then we got to, you know, buy a bunch of product, and it's like all these things, so it just kind of starts stacking up and it becomes overwhelming. And there's that saying that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. And all you have to do is have one step today. And I'm a big believer that, you know, it's not those huge things that you do, but it's those little tiny things. So I try to think every day, what's the one thing I could do today to push this ahead? What's the one thing I could do today to push this ahead? And one of the things I started doing, I got this idea from a friend of mine, Chris, which I really, really like, is he sends a weekly summary of the goals and progress every week to all the stakeholders. So I started doing that with my wife and also with my mother in law is going to be involved in this business of just, hey, here's all the things that we did last week and here's what's coming up next week. So for me, breaking it down into little pieces sometimes is the hardest thing to do, but it's the most valuable thing that really helps me get over that just, you know, insane amount of resistance you get when you do start up anything or make any changes.

Yeah, the thing I love about that is that you're celebrating your progress too because I think sometimes it's so easy to lose sight of those little.

Yes.

If it's small, it's just, oh my gosh, like this is where we're at. You know, it's so easy to focus on the, the negatives, you know, but to actually like have that email where you're focusing I think is really good.

It was so cool when I got this email from a friend of mine and I'm like, that is really genius. And so I, I literally just started this two weeks ago and I think it's one of the best ideas I've ever had and I'll actually kind of share it during the mastermind with you guys. You can see when we get together in a couple weeks. But it is, it's really neat and it's very simple. It's like, hey, here's all the things that happened over the last week and the great progress we've made and here's what's coming up next week. So it's just, it's very positive centric and positive focused instead of, ah, we missed this deadline and didn't, didn't do that. It's no, this is, hey, here's the stuff we did get done, let's celebrate it and then let's look forward as to the next things we're going to do.

Yeah, I love that. I think seeing it too, I think is such a great way to be able to celebrate that.

It really is. Yeah. There's something about, like recognizing achievement that results in more achievement. So if you put your energy and focus on things that are positive and good, you tend to attract more of that too. I mean, just the fact that you're listening to a podcast like this tells me that that's kind of how your thought process is anyway. And so doing that is going to attract more good things. So putting this email together has been, it's been really fun and I really enjoy it because I'm like, look at all the stuff we've gotten done. Holy smokes. It's like, wow. And also it makes you think about what is the thing that you want to get done next week. So it forces you to kind of prioritize at the same time. So it's like the benefit of a positive look backwards over a week and then the benefit of a positive stake in the ground on what you want to achieve over the next week. It's. It's extraordinarily powerful. I've just absolutely been blown away. And I see stuff like this all the time. It's rare that I see something where I'm like, wow, this is just an absolute kick ass idea that you can send out to your entire team. It's just an email. It's super easy.

Yeah, I love it. Okay, so you've given such great advice, but here we go. Are you ready?

I'm ready.

I'm looking for your number one best piece of advice on people, on doing the thing.

Okay. So I would say it's critical, critical, critical to get out of your head and out of your environment. So I'm going to make this kind of a challenge to people. And it's related to doing the beach day. So there's two components to the. And I think I gave it a funny name like Henry's patented Beach Day. But it's just, you know, it's not complicated. But the two things that are so critical is that you have to get out of your normal environment. That means not your office, not your house, not where you normally are, ideally, out in nature, unplugged. You leave your parasite, which is my fun nickname for your phone, leave your parasite in the car, no Internet. And you bring journal, notebook, whatever you have, like that. And you go into this environment and you write. So it's going analog. Changing your environment, I think are two absolutely critical things. Because what will happen as you squeeze the sponge, you get all these ideas out of your head is then your subconscious will start coming up with all these latent ideas you've had buried and it's going to really help you get clarity. And then I even talk about doing a little non dominant handwriting. So if you're right handed, you write with your left hand a little bit. There's a couple little tricks I throw in there. And again, this is not, this is like 10 steps. So I will send that to you so you can share that. Actually, I think I might have sent that a couple weeks ago, Stacy, but it's like share that with everybody because I think that that is my biggest tip is go analog, change your environment and do the beach day.

Love it. I'd love you to tell everyone how they can learn more about you.

Henry, I would recommend if you like to read, I have the copy of my book called the Hour Day Entrepreneur. It's on Amazon. You can grab that and you can also just visit just my website. So it's get clear marketing.com g e t c l e a r marketing.com and yeah, I mean I wish you a ton of success in your own journey and really commend you for filling your mind up with good, positive things by listening to a podcast like this. That's a huge step forward. So give yourself credit and a pat on the back for doing that because that's a huge step. It's like putting good things into your mind, helps good things come out.

Yeah, I think it's so cool that you were able to come on because after hearing from everyone in the Mastermind and just hearing all their extraordinary stories and then for them to hear you and be able to have this conversation, it probably puts into light how such amazing people have gotten together because you were able to create such an incredible space. And I'm sure everyone sees how just from hearing you talking for the last little bit.

Well, it has been a blessing and an honor and it's just been awesome to see your journey and I think that just in thinking through this, there might be something we can do about putting together the do the Things space that might be pretty powerful and exciting. So look forward to chatting more about that and just glad you're doing this, Stacy. You're doing good work getting this, getting these kind of messages out there. It's really important to help people.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks for listening to the do the Thing podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. But even more, we hope you'll be inspired to do the Thing. Do you have a burning question on doing the thing that you'd like answered? How about an inspiring do the thing story of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear to hear all about it. Just leave us a voice message at dothothing callcast co or email us@helloothethingpodcast.com.