What's Your Hidden Power?

We all know you're defined based on your last exit. You're defined, you know, by society, on what you have. Coming up next, we can allow those identities to creep in. This is who I am as a professional or as an athlete. But who I am as a person is completely different. Because when everything's said and done, let's say business shuts down tomorrow, you need to know what you bring to society. Because if it's only what you do as a career, you're going to have a massively gaping void inside of you. The end of the day, we are here to maximize our life and to impact others. And if you're not doing that, what are you actually doing?

Guys, welcome my good friend, Sean French. Dude, what is going on, man?

Dude. A lot of good stuff, man. You, you moving and shaking. I'm moving and shaking. It's just been, it's been an amazing year so far. Dude.

Dude, let's go. Well, look, I want to jump straight in. You know, I, I know you work with a lot of well meaning high end clients, all that kind of stuff and you're in up. We were just chatting a little bit before we hopped on air about the importance of mindset and kind of like where, where everything starts, right? I'm curious, from your perspective of all the work you're doing right now, where do you think most people are getting there? Really? Kind of getting in their own way, obstacle wise. Where, where's it starting for them?

I think there's two things, man. I think one, you know, they expect to do this work, right? So I work with a lot of high end athletes, SEC baseball players, et cetera. So it's like they, they, they have this process that they're going to do, right? It's, it's the extra swings, it's the, the drill work, it's the weights, it's. But a lot of times they tie. Okay, if I do this, what's gonna be my result? And if I don't get that result, I think maybe it's not working, something's wrong. So they play this game with themselves where they try to change things too much when really it's just like, man, you need to disconnect from the outcome. And it's so hard for an athlete to do or any entrepreneur to do because we are based on our results, right? That mean that is it. We are as good as our last business venture. We are as good as our last five at bats. So that's one thing. The other thing is, I mean, like, look man, let's let's not lie to each other. When we grow up, there's things that have been told to us, whether it's from our loved ones, you know, it could have been a grandparent, we don't know. For all we know, could be our grandmother. Right. And you hear this thing going on in your mind, what if this doesn't work out? What's your backup plan? Or, hey, not everybody gets to do that. So when you get on a roll, that limiting behavior and those beliefs start to creep in and there's a lot of self sabotage that happens. So, I mean, that's how I view it, man.

Yeah. Well, how do we tie it? Like so kind of. I definitely understand the concept of tying your identity to your outcomes, your results, you know, because, you know, we're, you know, especially as men were raised from day one to, you know, be told we're supposed to slay giants and kill dragons and be the knight in shining armor and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, I think we tie our identity to becoming this elite warrior per se, and anything that gets in our way makes us feel less than. From my perspective that I've seen.

Sure.

But it is kind of difficult not to tie your identity to your results because we're judged or we're affirmed by our results. So how are you able to work with folks and get them to untie that? Is there a mechanism, a strategy, maybe, maybe from unstoppable or something? You can share with us on that?

Yeah, I just feel like they have to know who they are at the core of themselves. Right. A lot of people lean on faith. Right. So a lot of my athletes that I work with are, you know, Christian follower, you know, Jesus followers. And they love, they, they go to church every Sunday and that's just part of what they do. It's like, well, who does he say you are? Yeah, you know, and I have, I have a list of, of these different, you know, passages from the Bible saying like, this is who you are.

Yeah.

And so they can dive into that and just know that whatever happens on that field doesn't define who they are. But man, like, I'd be lying to say that it is not a slippery slope. We all know you're defined based on your last exit. You're defined, you know, by society on what you have coming up next. Right. And. And we can allow those identities to creep in. Right. Okay. This is who I am as a professional or as an athlete, but who I am as a person is completely different. And how we dive into those things is just listen to the most close, the closest people to you, your loved ones. What does your kids say? What does your wife or your husband say? That's who you are. Yeah, right. And that's the identity that you want to continue to build. Because when everything's said and done, like let's say business shuts down tomorrow, you need to know what you bring to society. Because if it's only what you do as a career, you're going to have a massively gaping void inside of you.

Yeah, yeah. No, 100%. You know, I'm also thinking too. You know, I think one of the blessings, the hidden blessings that I had during the homeless phase of my life, you know, having, having a lot of success and losing everything and having to start over again is I learned that I, I, in that moment, I learned that my identity was not tied to my performance, but it was tied. It was tied to my desire to create an impact.

Yeah, right.

And then leverage that gift, that talent, that strength, that, that inner chutzpah, if you want to call it that, you know, kind of going after it. And as a person of faith myself, I do tie my identity to what my created value is, kind of where I really kind of anchor myself in on that, you know, But I'm, you know, it's funny that we have these different life experiences, these different.

Goals and objectives, and we. And that we do judge ourselves on these results. Talk to me a little about the process of becoming unstoppable from your perspective, because I know you and I both love that word. I know our friend, mutual friendly loves that word. You know, I've always believed it's a lifestyle kind of concept. So talk to me about what it means to be unstoppable. Dude.

First of all, I got to acknowledge Amberly, the connection there, and how all of us have done something that has that word unstoppable in it. I, you know, my book, your show, you know, her, her mastermind, it's just, it's. It's unbelievable to me. Just the alignment and the people that I've met, I'm just grateful. So first and foremost, the second thing is I was like, man, that word to me really just signifies, like, what are you willing to do? What are, what is your goal, and what are you willing to sacrifice or invest in yourself in order to get there? So how I define becoming unstoppable, it is not. It is not about a result based situation or business. It is about how in the heck am I showing up every single day yeah. Right. Am I. Am I eating well? Am I working out? You know, like I said, I'm going to right about now, this season of my life, dude. Like, I'm g. Say the workouts are suffering.

Yeah.

I don't feel as unstoppable as I normally would. It's just. It just. It's reality. Right. It's where I'm at. But it's like, okay, you are a sales professional. So what do you need. Need to do every single day, Sir? To go out there and sell your product or your widget or your software to these businesses or business to consumer? Like, what does that look like for you? As long as you have your process set up like I had in the book, Unstoppable was a brief overview of my rock bottom to six figures within seven months. It's nuts. It was crazy. It's real. And anybody that was in that company with me can vouch like that's exactly what happened. Right. But you become unstoppable by writing things down and knowing what the jig is every single day, then going out and doing it. And here's what people don't under. Do not like, because it's. It's become a buzzword on social media. Do it even when you don't want to.

Yeah.

You know, a lot of people are out there talking about it. There's a lot of people out there talking about it for a reason.

It's because it works.

Yeah. Right. So you don't want to do something, you do it anyway. Then when the big things come in your life that are supposed to hold you down or would hold down person xyz, you're not even phased because you know what your mission is.

Yeah. 100. You know, I was just thinking, too, that in the grand scheme of things, I've always defined Unstoppable as being nothing more than making consistent progress. Yeah. Being stuck is the absence of making progress. Right. You're not taking a step. You're not moving forward. You're not really even trying. Unstoppable to me is also that scenario where you're gonna get up one more time. You got knocked down. That's because that's part of life. I know that the. Our mutual friends and kind of most folks in this, let's call it the elite performance industry. Right. Whether you're a coach, mentor, performing at the level, business owner, whatever, all lean into adversity. They all use adversity as advancement and not as a tool to kind of like shy away from or. Oh, my God. But I also know that we all didn't get there overnight. I know that I used to, like, be just like everybody else, like, oh, my God, it's my world's creeding in oh my God kind of thing, you know, and. And that. Yeah. So I. I want the audience. I mean, obviously you got a very established career. You're doing fantastic things in the world, doing great things, helping a lot of great people. I want everybody to have a better understanding of your background and those rock bottom moments, because I find that the rock bottom moments are what give hope to the inspiration nation, so to speak. It gives them. It gives them that next step. So talk to us a little about your background and kind of how you fared your way to becoming unstoppable.

Yeah, man. So I'm going to start kind of. I'm going to start at the last baseball game ever played in 2003 in the College World Series, right? We got beat 1110 by South Carolina. We were knocked out of the CWS when we were the number two seed in the whole country. We pretty much was a given we were going to win that national championship and we didn't. And I remember when that last out was recorded, it was the scariest moment of my life, Stephen, because have you ever sat there and looked in the mirror and go, who are you? You don't know who the hell you are?

Oh, yeah.

I'm getting goosebumps right now just thinking about. I'm getting emotional because I didn't know who Sha French was my whole life. I was the Sha French, the baseball player, the catcher, the dude that can throw the absolute, you know what out of the baseball. And have you seen the ball come out of his fingertips? It's insane. And then when that was over, I didn't know what was next. So I took a trip out to. I wanted to stay in Louisiana because that's where, you know, the fan base was. And I figured I could get a good job there, but my dad's like, nope, you're coming to Florida. Family. My family had moved from California to Florida during my last baseball season. And I'm like, I want to go Florida. There's nothing there. There's nothing there for me because your family's here. You need to come get on your feet, do your thing. So I came out here and I got a. A sales job at. Well, first I did a long term sub at long term substitute teacher at Sarasota Middle School. P. And I loved it, man, because it wasn't work. I was out in the sun all day, got to hang out with kids. It was amazing. And then.

After that, I was a inside sales representative for a company that's no longer here, but it's called ASAP Equipment Rentals and Sales. And it was Construction equipment scaffold.

Yeah.

You know.

Bro, it was, like, way over my head. Right? Like, me putting together a scaffolding order was just like a Martian talking to a fungo bat. It was terrible. And I'd get made fun of, called the college idiot. Right. So I'm like, dude, to heck with this. I'm gonna go teach full time, and I'm gonna go coach baseball. Because for me, baseball was the only thing I was really good at. So I was like, well, I might as well go hide there. Yeah, I'll go hide there. Because I know if I go coach baseball, then I have to be a teacher.

Yeah.

Because I have to be out by a certain time, so it's okay if I'm only making 40, 50 grand a year. It's what's supposed to happen.

Yeah.

Well, you know, so I study for my. My exceptional student education test. And this is a long story, but I want to give you.

Oh, you're fine. No, this is. This is where the meat and potatoes is. Yeah.

And I took the test for exceptional student education because I loved. You know, I loved working with kids that had disabilities. And. And honestly, there was a lot. Not a whole lot of people that wanted to do that job. So I was like, okay, that's my path of least resistance. Like, I'm. I love it. I love it. So I'm gonna take that test, I'm gonna pass it, and I'm gonna go be a teacher.

Yeah.

Two things happened. I took the test. It was when it was still on. Still on. Scantron took it at the University of Central Florida, so UCF in Orlando. And right after I took it, state of Florida went on a hiring freeze.

Oh, gosh.

It was exciting. It was exciting. And. And then. And then what happened? They lost my test. They said, we can't find your test. So I had to literally. Brother, I had a mental breakdown. I literally started crying in the parking lot of Publix, which is a grocery store out here in Florida. And I'm like, I. I don't know what to do.

Yeah.

And the only thing that I could make sense of. My wife always tells me I'm super impulsive. And I went home.

Packed all my stuff, threw it in the car, and waited for my mom and dad to get home from work to say goodbye to Them.

I was gonna drive out to California and find a job on the way there and find a place to live on the way there to start my life. Because what I knew is, is if I was going to struggle, I wanted. I want to struggle at home. I want to be home. Yeah. California was my home.

Yeah.

And that's where I was from. And they told me I was crazy on the way out there. I found a place to live, and I got a job. I started selling mortgages because that's what everybody was doing back in, you know, 2004. Right. Rushed it for a few years and then lost everything in the burst, the bubble, the meltdown, whatever. Had a short sell. My house. Car got repossessed. Absolutely broke. Right. Had to sell items out of my home just to buy a ticket to get to Florida. Right. And be able to kind of lick my wound, so to speak.

Yeah.

Got out here, another hiring freeze. Tried it, tried to get in. And I just couldn't get a job, man. Had no car. So I started giving lessons. I would run to the baseball field. I run, like, four miles just to get to the field, man. And then hopefully, I run into somebody at the little league field that I knew so they could give me a ride home, you know, And I'd use the money that I made that day so I could eat, you know, because my mom didn't have much, you know, by then my parents were divorced, and she was, you know, on her own, you know, And. And it was brutal, man. And so over the years, I started finding jobs as substitute teachers, and then a teacher. I was a head baseball coach. And then, you know, I'm still bro. Because I'm a teacher, you know, and it's just like, I'm never having these moments where I feel financially secure. And so the catalyst for me wanting more out of my life was my son being bored. And it was my. He's my first child, Bobby Doster, French. And get emotional thinking about it, because I could just remember his first. His. His second year of life. I was just never home, you know, I would. I would leave when he was still asleep, and I get home when he's asleep, bro.

I reckon I resonate with that so much. I went through a season where one of my larger businesses, before I exited, went to an embezzlement phase, and I had to jump in for two straight years and rebuild a huge chunk of the company. And I didn't get to see my kids. My middle son grew six inches from the first time I saw or for the last Time I saw him to the next time I saw him, it was nuts. Totally resonate.

It's. It's crazy. And it's. It's hard, right. As a man, because, you know, at the very root of you, you want to take care of your. Your babies. Right. Like, you just, you know, that's what matters. You know, it. But also, men are stuck with another task that we're blessed with is also making sure everybody's okay.

Yeah.

And so I had to make sure that everybody was okay. And so at that moment, I'm like, well, I got a job at Paychex. You know, my buddy Dan Taffarello, who I met through baseball, hired me. Pass on me the first time, I might add, when I first moved out to Dakota.

Nice.

I still throw that in his face to this day. And, you know, the first three months were just God awful. I was just miserable. Just sucked. And then I started following my process. You know, I started following everything that I needed to do in order to be successful. I mean, the amount of notes I took on every single call I made, it was. It was insanity. And it exploded.

Wow.

It just exploded. And it never stopped. In that year, I ended up making six figures, and I was like, wow, like, I'm rich.

That's awesome.

I'm rich. And I wasn't, you know, but. But the next year, it was more and then more and then more.

Let me ask you. I don't mean to cut you off. I want to ask you one question in the middle.

Sure.

And I'm curious to know because I, you know, I know how I felt in a lot of those similar seasons where, you know, your. Your entire being is being questioned. Right.

For some reason, I always felt like I had more to give and there was more in the tank, and I was destined for more. I never could. I never could understand it. Like my friends and my family never were. Thought I was, for lack of a better word, you know, backtrack crazy for believing I could do something of the impossible or whatever, you know, given our trajectory or family, you know, family life, flies and bond, you know, all the garbage. Did you. In that moment, even. Even in the. In the suffering moments, did you feel like you were still destined for something more? Or were you or you. Or were you more on the lines of. Because I find a lot of audience involve our audience members, a lot of times will get to this place where they're. They're in this, what we call the identity or crisis mode. Right. And that's the most difficult time to make Decisions, especially good ones, and they either lean into, no, I'm called for more or no, this is all there is. Where, where did you land in the, in that season, bro?

I, I remember when I was laying on my couch in California as I was selling stuff just so I could get here, even at that lowest point. The lowest point, Yeah. I knew that one day I was going to be one of the biggest dudes on the planet. And I still hold that. I will, I will fight tooth and nail until I'm there. I've always felt like there was something more for me. And I always thought, like, I just, you know, I have a great personality. I love talking to people, you know, like, I want to be on tv, you know, and. And I'm like, well, I'm not an actor, you know, so. But here we are. You know, I'm somewhat of a media brand and it's growing. There's a lot of things that, that are going on in the background right now that I can't say on air, but it's massive, dude. And when it, when it comes out, you're going to be like, oh, Lord. Wow. And so, but man, the question, the answer to your question is I always thought I was more. And I, And I think that every level that I get to that gets closer to that, man. Yeah, like, I set a new. I set a new bar. Like, I, I don't, I don't want to get comfortable. I want to continue to push, right? Because to me, if I don't, then I never, I'll never get to that point where I'm like, okay, this is, this is acceptable. This is, this is. Thought was gonna happen. So, yeah, man, I was never, I'll never be the guy that says, maybe this is it.

Yeah, well, that's what I wanted to ask because a lot of. Again.

There'S. At any given moment, or my folks watching or listening to the podcast or the show here is probably going through, you know, something maybe one of the most difficult moments in their life. Right? And especially when you're going through that difficult moment, it's really hard to believe that this, that there's a way out or there's a way forward or whatever. You know, I was thinking, I was talking to a good friend of mine.

Adam Jadlin, recently, and I love that guy.

Yeah, we were sitting on our, our, our, Our porch out here with Chastity, my, my, My girlfriend and stuff. We were sitting here talking and just. You had the fire going and look, overlooking the Utah mountains and stuff like that. And we were chit. We were chit chatting and he was like, you know, tell me a little bit about your story. You know, so I kind of went through, unfortunately, my suicide attempt story and stuff like that, you know, and then one of the, one of the terms that came up was this woman, Susan Batts, it talked me out of taking my life with. With really just a few words. This too shall pass. But more importantly, what comes next will be greater. And I've tried to use that as a. As more not just a lifeline to folks, but also as a battle cry. Right. Because whatever you're going through right in this moment is going to pass. Yeah, right. You get to determine in what way it passes. Does it get more difficult or does it get less difficult and on to something greater, you know, kind of thing. And I've always just thought about that because especially in those, in those more.

Vulnerable moments, that's what they are right there. It's a, it's a time for you to be transparent with yourself. It's time to be honest with yourself, have awakening with yourself.

That people do make that choice. Oh, this is, this is too hard for me to move forward or, you know what, I'm gonna try one more time.

Dude, it's hard. You battle with it. Right. I'm not gonna say there's moments where I don't go, maybe this is it.

Yeah.

But once I think it, I just laugh, like, okay, it's not. It's not it. Like there. That's never the finish. This is not the finish line. This isn't it. And so, you know, for those of you listening and like you were talking about Stephen, they're going through this, maybe some hard times.

Don't prejudge it.

Yeah.

Don't prejudge any opportunity that comes your way. Don't prejudge a nice, brisk 30 minute walk. Yep. Don't judge anything. Just know that it's there to serve you. And every second you pour back into yourself, you're building that resiliency muscle because it is not something that is innate. It is something that is earned. It is something that is truly worked on and developed. So we need to make sure that everything that's going on with us, that we continue to move, even if it's just a little bit.

Yeah, you're.

You're there. You're paralyzed on the couch right now. Your body hurts and you're crying and you think it's it for you, go for a 15 minute walk. I guarantee you, I challenge you right now. If you're listening to go for a 15 minute walk. I can guarantee you you're going to feel at least 60% better.

Yeah. Thousand percent.

Don't judge.

It does you. Do you find that it's also, it's also a good rule of thumb to not make important decisions when you're tired, when you're hungry, when you're exhausted, and to get some rest and get clear?

Yeah, I think, I think everybody's different. You know, for me, if I'm super overwhelmed, like, I, I can't make good decisions. I'm also very impulsive. Right. I don't know. I mean, I think it's the ADHD that's a part of that disorder is the impulsivity of decisions. So I like to lean on my wife. You have to have someone next to you that you can trust and that's not going to judge you. You're like, hey, so I'm thinking about doing. I'm gonna go do this right now. They're like, no, no, no, no. I think that's your ADHD dude. Go to sleep. Right. Like, so I, I try not to make any decisions when I'm tired or. I'll give you this one. If I, if I have recording scheduled and I'm not on my game, and if it's. I, I will not go on someone's show and ruin their brand and I will not, I will not record my show. So I, So I think that, you know, with, with what you're saying is we always have to be in a good space. Yeah, you, you know, you have to be in a good headspace to make good decisions and to create great content, great things in this world. So I don't want to say wait until you're in that space because you'll be waiting a long time. Need to go create it.

Yeah, I know. For me, I just created a, literally a box. Right. I need to not be hungry. I don't know why, but I make stupid decisions when I'm hungry.

That's funny.

I need to not be angry or, or somehow emotionally keyed up.

Okay.

I need to have decent rest. Right. And then I also need to be. Have had a reflective time before I make a decision. So what I'll do is I'll take a. I'll choose a date on the calendar. Call it. Let's say I'm going to, I'm choosing whether or not to invest in a business. Okay. And they've sent me over their pitch deck and I'm reviewed the pitch deck and they. Then I Asked for. You know, send me your financial model or review that in detail.

And then I'll go sit on it. But I'll put a date on the calendar. Okay. On December 15th, I'm making a decision. And up until December 15th, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do all the due diligence I can to make a good decision. What I've discovered is that that takes the pressure off of me having to make a decision in the moment because I've already. I've just my impulse because I may also adhd, so I have the ability to hyper focus and be all over the place at once. I've discovered that that allows me to make the quick decision, which is, all right, the decision is I'm making a decision on December 15th. That's my decision. Right.

I love it.

So I can feed my. I can feed my little, my little, you know, my little quirk, but then I can also say, all right, well, I need to get info from the attorneys. I need to get info from the financial professionals. I need to look at this industry. I need to see how sound this industry is. And then on December 15th, I'm like, I'm sewing money or I'm not sewing money, you know, and I love it, but I have to be in that head space.

Yeah.

Like, if I'm going through a hard time with the kids or whatever, I'm gonna, like, chill.

Yeah. You know, that's good, man. I like that. Like you said, it just takes pressure off of you and allows you to, to kind of ramp up to make that decision and to gather everything. And I would assume those businesses and those people that are approaching you with their pitch deck, appreciate that. Because then they know, like, if you, like, if I were to come at you, you're like, all right, Sean, here's the thing. I need to look at this. I need to talk to your marketing people, what the plan is. What does it look like here, xyz, your, your. All your models that right here for your income producing part. I need to have more background from them on that. And today's March 15th. By, by. By April 14th, I will have an answer for you.

Yeah.

Like, do people, people have to appreciate that? Because then they know. And if you, if you deliver on that. Yeah. They know you're somebody that they can trust.

Yeah, yeah.

You know? Yeah.

And I think that's, that's the key part of relationship, is building that level of trust. I want to go back to a training that you do with a lot of your Clients.

Are there two or three things that you see continually that are commonalities of difficulty, so things. Obstacles that they all have to face continually. That's like a common denominator.

Yeah, I mean, performance anxiety, for lack of a better term. You know, a lot of, A lot of the athletes that I work with are anxious because they, they know that everybody's watching them.

Yeah.

And if they don't have the game or the practice leading up to the next thing, the event that, the road trip, they're not going to play.

Yeah.

That creates a large amount of anxiety. And so when that happens, they start to press, they start to, you know, grab the bat a little tighter, they start to hold onto the ball a little tighter, try to throw it a little harder, try to do things that are outside of their comfort level or even just their scope of abilities and talents, and then they just suck. It just. It's just, I mean, it's just what happens. So you, you have that, you know, that fear of judgment, right. One, a little bit of performance anxiety, although I use that term loosely because is it anxiety, is it performance anxiety or just. Do they care? Yeah, you know, and, and I think it's the latter, man. I think that these athletes care so much, it tightens them up a little bit because they want it so bad. Especially the ones that are extremely gifted athletically. Like, those are the ones that are the toughest because they're so dang good. They could be so bad when they get their self all domed up. Right. So again, a little bit of performance anxiety, fear of judgment. And then just the expectations, man, they expectation themselves down to the. Down into the ground, into the dirt, dude. Like, I should be better, I should be doing this. Like, that's on me. My bad. And what happens, you say that enough subconsciously, you're like, you're not good, you're bad, you're making a mistake. And then when you get into the batter's box now, you're in a closed loop control system and you're screwed. Like, you need to be open loop, ready to roll, just not even worrying about anything. It's like, all right, get stretched, foot down, go. Like, it's. There's no thinking involved. And so with these athletes and even entrepreneurs, it's the same thing. The principles are the same. It's like when someone struggles, it's because at that moment they don't feel like they're good enough.

Yeah.

So my thing, and I think you probably know him, like Dr. Rob Kelly had an amazing conversation with him on My show. And, you know, I've had Adam on my show, too. We've talked about this.

Yeah.

And I. I subscribe to the same theory. Is not even a theory to me. It's just the way of life is don't treat the symptom, treat the root.

Yeah.

Like Dr. Rob said on my podcast, go back to the scene of the crime. Like, we have to constantly do that. We are doing that in our own lives without us even knowing. So, you know, I like to go through and, like, hey, I know you feel like you're not hitting right now, but what's the root of the problem? What happened? Like, where's the crime? Go find it and solve it.

Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's good. I think. And I think this is. This is where the. The coaching slash mentorship slash strategist world is so pivotal. Is most people don't know how to find it. They don't know where to start. And I know for you, at least for me, and I think, believe for you, all we need is a string. A lot of time it starts off at the tip of a string, and you just start pulling it.

Yeah.

Find it. You know, and it's crazy to me that a lot of times it comes back to life. Lies that were spoken over them, including myself. I'm. I'm example of this.

Yeah.

That we chose to believe in the moment. And I know that you've. You've talked a little. You've talked about that before on other shows and part of your core curriculum and whatnot. How do you help them understand that they're not that lie, that there's something greater?

You know, you have to point to the times where they're successful. Man. You know, I'm thinking of a particular athlete that I work with now. Like, he's.

Special, you know, from a player standpoint, but also from, like, a personal standpoint. I'm gotten very close with this young man.

Yeah.

And, you know, plays baseball in the SEC at Mizzou. And when he got there, he had one at bat. His first at bat, I think, was a home run. It was in 2020. He's gone through Covid there. He's gone through ACL injury. He's gone through a shoulders. I mean, an elbow surgery. So his only body of work would be in the summer. Right. He'd go to the Northwoods League and hit, like, 15 bombs in a summer. Just something crazy. He just. He's a freak athletically, but. But when we get to the college season, he has no body of Work. Right. He feels like, you know, something happens, like if he gets benched or if something hurts or he doesn't feel right. Oh, here we go again. Yeah. But put him in a summer. He looks like a big leaguer.

Yeah.

And so what I've had to do with him is just disconnect him. Right? You. I was like, bro, you know, what's going on right now isn't connected to your ACL surgery. What's connected now isn't, you know, connected to your elbow issue. Right. You know, this game isn't connected to that game. So I have to disconnect him. It's like, what do you feel about yourself at the core? Like, if someone came up to you and said, what kind of baseball player are you? Who are you?

Yeah.

Like, what? Which in. And right away he goes, I'm the baddest SOB on the planet. I'm a big leaguer. I go, okay, I agree, like, with this specific kid. His tools are so strong and he's so good.

Yeah.

That now he's showing the world. Yeah, now he's showing the world. He's getting his at bats. You know, he, you know, went 5 for 8 last week in a couple bombs. I was there to see it. It was an amazing moment, you know, But. But getting him to. In these athletes to disconnect with the result be like, okay, this isn't who I am. Because, like, as you said. Yeah. You know, enough things continue to happen. You feel like, oh, I'm just destined to lose. And we've all felt that way. I can't tell you how many times I felt that way in. In this business.

Yeah. Yeah.

You know, so.

Yeah.

I don't know if that answered your question, but.

Yeah, it does. I mean, it's. I think we. We're all prone, at least accidentally. It's not something. I don't think something happens at the conscious level to when things aren't going our way to believe the black cloud is going to follow us everywhere. But we, you know, you're. You're Charlie Brown and that's Joker is just raining on you and you're walking. Doesn't matter where you go, what you're doing or whatever. And in reality, it seems like as soon as your perspective shifts, the black cow dissipates altogether.

Dude, it's. It's massively strange. Okay? Like, I'm thinking about all this, right? The moment, let's say, take corporate America, okay? I was in corporate America all my life and, well, you know, ever since I was adult, but In January, I walked away. Finally, I bet on myself. You know, I started working 100% into the payroll company that I own. And then I also own my own brand. Right. So there's, there's this business.

Yeah.

And as soon as that happened, partnerships started coming. Like, massive income started coming. Yeah. And it was after 2023, where it was probably one of the hardest financial years for my family. Yeah. I don't even. Like, I look at them like, wow, I can't believe I made that little money. You know, it was just. It was bad. So I bet on myself and I thought there was this big black cloud. The moment I walked away, the clouds, the clouds parted, man.

Yeah.

You know, so like, to. To your point.

That happens when you decide to move forward with you.

Yeah.

That's when that cloud disappears, man. Dude.

So good. Tell people about the determined determinist society. Yeah. I mean, it's obviously one of your brain children. Like, what. What was in your heart? What were you trying to bring to the world? Like, what we trying. What were you trying to show?

I don't. Dude, it's so funny. People ask me that. Like, honestly, man, it started off as a Facebook group. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to motivate. And it started because someone in a, I guess you would say, direct sales company wanted me to sell for them. And yeah, you need a personal brand. You need people to trust you. You need. You need a lead gen tool. So I started like, something big is coming, launching something. And I didn't know what it was, man. And her name is Natalie. And she asked me, hey, why don't you post a picture of yourself on your Instagram stories and ask the question in the box. Go. What is the first word you think of when you see me? And I'm like, that's mortifying. Hell, I. Dude. And you know how it is, man. We're dudes. Like, now that you and I have had this conversation, you post something like that, I'll probably say something smart ass, like, then I'll come back with, like the real answer. Right. But I got a lot of like, my friends, like, douchebag, nice hat, dummy. Like all these like, deprecating insults, Right. It was like a locker room and it was funny. But then most people started saying, coach, coach, Determined, determination, determined. And so the vast majority of the words that came through were a combination of determined, determination.

Yeah.

And so I didn't know what I was going to do with it. And finally Natalie got frustrated. Sean, what do you want? I'm like, Dude, I just want to wake up in a society that's determined to go chase their dang dreams. I go, I'm sick and tired of people using their. Their current downfalls or obstacles as excuses to not go chase down what they want. I said, at the end of the day. At the end of the day, we are here to maximize our life and to impact others. And if you're not doing that.

Yeah.

What are you actually doing?

Yeah.

And she goes, there it is. Determined society. I go, ew, hate it. Says missing something. And she goes, well. I go, the word the yeah.

Oh.

Makes it sound exclusive. I'm like, all right, cool. So I launched a Facebook group that determines society. Within, like, a week, there was, like, 400 people in it.

Nice.

And I'm driving down the road. All of a sudden, my brain explodes. Just like I'm. Dude, I'm tasting colors and smelling numbers at this point, like, it is just this moment. You know what I'm talking about? Like, that moment where you're like, I need to pull over. Yeah, I got. So I pulled over and I called my wife. I'm like, here's what I'm thinking. What are your thoughts? She goes, well, I believe in you. I think you can do whatever the heck you want to do, so go do it. So here we are. I started a podcast, the Determined Society. And I mean, it's. It's grown tremendously. Haven't done one ounce of marketing. Yeah, that's changing. But I mean, to grow it to where it's come from. From just these two hands. Yeah, from marketing to where it's at. It's. Man, it's. It's satisfying. So that's the determine society. And we talk about stories of individuals that have had some. An obscene amount of obstacles and hardships, and they've come through them and they become successful, whether they're athletes. I've had actors, I've had athletes. I've had celebrity entrepreneurs. I've had former big leaguers on, like, you name it, man. Like it. They've been on my show. But you need to come on, like, so.

Which, you know, which, you know, I'm down for.

So, you know, we want to do that. But that's a determined society, man. That's the brand.

I love it, man. Well, you know, and. And that's the thing is when you're trying. So I'm a big believer in when you don't know what to do, you just knock something over. If you try something, you. And you use determination to do that. Like, all right, I just lost my job. Okay, great. What do I need to do next? Well, I need to. I need to do a complete inventory about my guilt, my gifts, my strengths, my. My talents. And then look at the marketplace and say, where can these gifts, talents, and strengths align with an occupation or profession or a business model or whatever. Right. And then you're. You start looking. Okay, I've just officially knocked down one domino. The next thing is to go knock on doors and pick up the phone and like, okay, hey, look, this is an industry that my gifts and my talents. My shrinks align. What do you think? Right?

It's so funny. It's so funny. Dude, you're right, man. And you never know you're on the right track until you start putting it out there and you see people's responses.

Yeah. Yeah, dude.

The moment I shifted back to athletes, I met him. I met a man named Chad Miller on. On LinkedIn through my friend Brad and Missy Johnson.

Yeah.

They connected with him. They sent him over my way. He's a. He's a bio mechanical hitting guy.

Yeah.

He's a group. He's incredible. Incredible. He and I became friends. First conversation refers to me. I'm first athlete. Sec. Baseball player. He's been with me ever since.

Yeah.

And from that, Sam, from that point, I got a couple minor leaguers.

Yeah.

And then some high school kids and some more college kids.

Yeah.

He started group that we meet every Sunday night. So it's like the moment you start living your truth and speaking with that conviction. Yeah. And passion. People know it, man. And then they are drawn to it, and that's when you know you're doing the right thing.

Yeah. Well, that's why I've always said that when. When you don't know what to do, you do something. You just do something.

Knock it down. Knock it down, baby.

I remember my. My middle son coming to me one time, and he was just like, he just graduated high school. I don't know what I want to do with my life. I don't. I said, dude, just go knock something over. Yeah, go, go. Go work at a place that's somewhere in your general genre of what you think you want to do for your life. Go become a mentee to an apprentice or being a common apprentice with a. You know, I don't know. Just to me, life has always been broken down in what do I want and why do I want it. And if the motivations are pure, the opportunities will showcase in the way as you're taking the daily steps, you know, so, man. Yeah, that's why I always like to ask those questions, because, you know, in the. In the lead performance industry as a whole, nine times out of ten, it comes down. It comes down to a thought or a behavior you're trying to eliminate or modify a behavior, which almost always translates back to a thought. Right. And that thought is either subconscious or conscious. It's either tied to your past or rooted in your present. Like. And I'm always intrigued by people who also do this work in the same kind of way of how they untangle the web, so to speak. You know, to untangle the web so things are clearer, because I find that when things are clear, directions begin to kind of show themselves and. And people can have their transformations. Like, one of the players you mentioned earlier that was not performing as well as he wanted to perform, you had to drop what you're doing, go, go see him. And then the next thing you know, he's performing at peak levels again. It's all mine. Nothing changes.

That weekend was so nuts. Like, I'm so proud of him. They're in Arkansas right now. I'm fixing to hop on a call with him in a little bit. And they're playing the number one team in the country.

Yeah.

And he gets the opportunity to go out there and show who he is on the biggest stage.

Yeah.

You know, and. And having conversations with that young man. And I had. I had conversations with multiple people.

Yeah.

Multiple teammates of his.

Yeah.

And it was nuts because I. I like to study things, Stephen. You know, I like to look at who I'm speaking with. What was the conversation about? How long did the conversation last for? And what was the action that I gave him after? You know, towards the end of the. Towards the end of the conversation.

Yeah.

And then study how they perform.

Dude. One of the. One of their catchers had a long conversation with him on the bench. It was. I'm tired when it comes time to hit because I'm so mentally drained from catching. I go. I get it. I go, all I want you to do is kiss the ball with the barrel of the bat. That's it. Just act like you're bunting, but with a full swing. 20% it. I don't care.

Yeah.

He had a bomb that game.

Nice.

Hit a home run. And I said, too much again. I'm like, how you feel? He goes, well, he goes, wow. He goes, that was on you. I go, no, I wasn't on me, bro. You did the work. I go, I just kind of opened up something for you.

Yeah.

I taught you to slow the game down. Yeah. What happened? He's like, dude, I saw. I saw the seams. I saw everything. I go. Because you weren't trying to do too much.

Yeah.

And that's the thing, man. These. These athletes need to know that sometimes it can just be simple.

Yeah. Well, I think it's not just athlete. I think anyone just want perform at peak. Peak levels.

Yeah.

You got to find a way to get into flow, whether it's slowing down, what's slowing things down around you, whether it's being more. More focused on the. The fundamentals, which I think I always tell people, the fortunes are found in the fundamentals. Every stinking time. It doesn't matter what it is, what it's about. You know, it's funny. You can. You can build a business, you can have a sports career, and you can do really, really well, and everything's going really, really well, and you stop doing the fundamentals, the next thing you know, things start to go downhill really fast. Bring the fundamentals back, and you're back on the game. It's. It's. It's wild to me, dude, I'd love the conversation, man. I can't wait to see you and talk to you again. We're coming more about you.

Oh, you can go to my website, the sha french.coms h a w n. You can go to my Instagram, the sha french and let's connect. You know, you can read up on me and listen to my show at the Determined Society. It's on all major platforms. You know, I. I love to know where. Where you found me. So if you follow me, just don't follow and ghost, like, send a message. Hey, heard you on Steven's podcast, and I'll throw you a free book and, you know, that's all you got to say. And. And I'm excited to connect with you guys.

I love it. Dude. Dude, thank you so much for coming on the show again, man. I can't wait to hang out with you some more.

That's a pleasure, man. Can't wait.

All right, take it easy.

All right, man. You too.

I hope you liked that video. And if you did, make sure you check out this next video right here.

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