Why Your STORY is the Key to your SUCCESS! - NICK NANTON

I got into doing it in business, and it's just an absolute secret weapon. When I start looking at the most successful people in the world, whether it's in entertainment or business or wherever else, it all ties back to story.

Why is storytelling one of the most powerful forces on the planet?

You know, it's funny that I didn't realize I actually would have never called myself a storyteller until I did like 100 podcasts for different people during the pandemic. And everyone just kept introducing me that way. I'm like, am I. You know, like, you know, like these labels, like, it's like, wait, me? You know, and so. But when I look back at my life, you know, I started playing guitar at 6. I started songwriting at 16. Put on my first record, 18, which are still like 800 copies, under my parents bed. But I want to stay there.

We don't have to send me one man. I can put it out there for you.

Sorry. And so. And then I. And then I went to. Started writing songs in Nashville and I went to undergrad in law school. I needed. I needed to learn business. I tried my hand at entertainment for multiple years. It's a really difficult business now, knowing what I know, is it any more difficult than any other business? I think it might be, but we can talk about that. That might just be a limited.

Pretty stinking competitive.

It's very competitive. There's a lot of. It's just interesting. But I mean, now that I. So I went to undergrad in law school and learned business, built a big branding agency, helped a lot of people, did a ton of personal branding, and then I learned how to. How to use, like, sort of how to cobble together a skillset that would allow me to get back to being creative and songwriting. And I just tried my hand at documentary film, and it worked out, but I just. I guess I'm just. I'm in love with people, I think, most importantly. But I love stories and, you know, like songwriting, you get like 12 to maybe 16 lines to tell a story that moves somebody or like, I write a lot of country, right? So I mean, if you don't like it, just take the accent away. It's still some of the best storytelling in the world, right? But so, yeah, so I've used it now for clients all across the globe. I've told some stories, some big nonprofit stories. I did Rudy Rudiger's story. I told Larry King's life story. If you're watching, that's Larry King's tie and suspenders behind Me, his family sent me when he passed away. And so, like. But it's really. I would say this story number one, especially as, like, a. As a business person. But for anybody, your story is the only thing in the world that you have that no one else can copy. That's it. That's the only thing. And by definition, by the way, it is the absolute biggest differentiator that you could ever have. But most of us are bashful and overlook it. The good news is we're not egotistical narcissists. So most of us aren't like, check out how cool my story is. But, dude, even the guys I know, like, I have a good friend who is in the Black Hawk down crisis. It took, like, someone like, three years to convince him that he was. He would be okay telling that story. He's like, no, no, no. I made it out alive, man. I'm not worthy to tell that story. Like, the guys who are dead can't tell the story. You know, we'll honor them. But, like, you are not. So I think looking back at where we came from, and usually it's the most painful points in our life. Like, if you took a pad and wrote down the 10 most painful moments in your life and you triangulated them, you'd realize that most of them, if not all of them, led you to be the person you are today, doing what you're doing the way you're doing it. And one more thing, and I'll shut up for a second, let you ask another question. The other thing is, uh, Dan Kennedy, major marketing strategist. Dan says you, the. The highest paid people in the world are paid for who they are, not what they do. So if we really stop and focus on this who question and who you are at the core, and we can talk about a formula, I can. I can break it all down for you. But telling your story to let the world know who you are and what you stand for is way more important than what you do. They assume you're good at what you do. Um, but. So most people don't stop to do that. So I was doing it on a creative realm. I got into doing it in business. And it's just an absolute secret weapon. And when you now start, when I start looking at the most successful people in the world, whether it's in entertainment or business or wherever else, it all ties back to story. And so. So I dug in and tried to figure out what. What made a story work, what didn't. We wrote a book called Story Selling for Business just to try to show that this is an entertainment thing, this is a human thing, and here's how I can use it in business. So we talked on whatever. Whatever level you want.

Well, first of all, let me just. You know, I'm a big story guy myself. When I'm presenting on stage and doing live events and stuff like that, I tell very true stories that were true to me. Right. So, you know, going from homelessness to where I'm at today in business and stuff like that. That's. I. I used to discount the power of me just sitting across the table at an IHOP or a restaurant of some kind and somebody saying, well, tell me about you. And you get into. And you just find them kind of doing like this, like, the whole way through, right?

Yep.

So I am curious with all the different avenues that you could create media in or create content in. Right. Obviously, the country music is very deep storytelling most times and not.

Right.

Seriously, it's a lot of adversity. But more importantly, how did you find yourself in documentaries versus, you know, any other form of movie making?

You know, I. I looked at honestly, like, what could I maybe do? Like, I was. I was doing some storytelling through books and stuff with business people, and I was like, you know, music was hard. Still is. But I'm having more success in music now. But, like, I was like, man, I wonder if I could story. Like, I wonder if I could. I wonder if I can make, like, a documentary. And I was like, let me. Let me Google this. Like. Cause, like, what's the best thing? Like, one of the best things, like, you could win is, like, an Emmy. I'm not looking like a Grammy's coming anywhere soon. So I googled how to win an Emmy. I found this article, and I followed the directions, and 22 Emmys later, it worked. So I just decided I was gonna. And I will tell you this. Like, what I love about. About documentary storytelling is, again, it's just like you're connecting on a real and raw level with people. Like, my favorite things to do. I've done a bunch of different stuff. My favorite things to do are biographies and some humanitarian. Different humanitarian stuff. We talked about trafficking and some of the other things. And so, yeah, so I love. So I just started doing that, and it got addicting. I'll tell you this. What became really interesting about. Because I was. Because I was connected in business circles. That's, like, where I was speaking and speaking at a bunch of events and all that stuff. When I figured out the skillset of sharing Real stories. I know the power of a great business coach, a great mindset coach. And I had already done some work with a lot of the biggest names in the business. I'm like, well, let me go tell some of their stories. And so I started telling business guys stories that I just really admired. And it was like, I hate the word networking because it has the wrong connotation a lot of times, like, oh, let's go network and see what I can get from people. So don't, like, in a good way. Like, building your network is a good thing to do. Like, but, like, it was, like, it was like putting gasoline on a fire for my network because I would show up and serve somebody really well that I really admired. And when I was making a movie on them or whatever, a documentary, they wouldn't give me, like, their cousin who's in jail to interview. They'd be like, oh, have you met the governor? Oh, by the way, I had three people were like, you know, I need you to interview Tony Robbins and that. Like, and I've interviewed Tony like, five times now. But, like, and. But then. And then when you do it and you make people look good, like, you just, like, you have friends. I'm doing Dick Vitales documentary right now.

Yeah.

You know, the famous basketball commentator. And like, the other day I got a text from Dick to me, Shaq and Charles Barkley. I'm like, did I just somehow get on the Mount Rushmore of NBA basketball? Like, how does this happen? But all of a sudden, you build trust and you do the right thing by people. And it's a. It's an accelerator beyond most other things. Because when you start.

Like, media slash entertainment storytelling, like, everybody wants to look great, right? So they're going to introduce you to the coolest people they know. So it was like, I was not expecting that at all. But it's become an amazing accelerator for. Well, for my network and my career. But then, like, all of a sudden, when you. Again, when you show up and serve first, I mean, you could use the zig Ziglar quote of help the most other people get what they want or what. But, like, I would just say, if you show up and serve first, like, what comes back is incredible because when you have those relationships, you can triangulate, like, you can go, oh, you know what? Like, I was just. Today I sent a text. I work with, Do a lot of work with Folds of Honor. Folds of Honor did their documentary. They've raised over $100 million in scholarships as families of fallen soldiers. Lt. Col. Dan Rooney introduced me to a couple of people, introduced me Dirks Bentley for the movie, introduced me to Lee Bryce. Lee Bryce ended up cutting my song for that documentary. And I'm. I'm doing some work now. Kenny Chesney is in the Dick Vital documentary. And I'm like, do you guys know each other? And they're like, no. I'm like, let me connect you guys. And so, like, all of a sudden, you know, you're. You're just doing the right thing by the right people. And then you get into that network and all of a sudden you're like, how do I end up here? Like, because I, you know, I was like the guy knocking on the door for 100 years. It feels like I'm finally like, you're. Oh, you're in. And so. So that, you know, so that's how I got into storytelling. But it's really had some amazing. As my coach, Dan Sullivan from Strategic Coach calls strategic byproducts, like, when you set out to accomplish something bigger than yourself, oftentimes the strategic byproducts and the sk. Relationships you gain along the way are far more valuable than that end thing you set out to create.

Yeah, no, in the content you're creating is fantastic. I mean, I was sharing with you just before we really got fired up here that, you know, I'm. I discovered the Tim Ballard documentary. I had no idea that was one of yours. And you created that. And I'm here to. I was like, yeah, it had me in tears. It's also got me shifting the entire perspective of several of my businesses that I own as probably aiming some of our charitable giving that direction. Right. And you would have not known that whatsoever unless we hopped on a call.

No, no.

You know what I'm saying? So I find it interesting. Do you ever, you know, as a person of faith yourself. I'm a person of faith. Do you ever find yourself thinking of the greater impact or is it just something that's been coming. Coming your direction as you've been working?

So that's a. That's a hard one to answer honestly. I'll give you what I think my best answer is. I'll couch that with like. I was raised by two amazing parents who, thank God, are still very involved in my life, who are. Have always been a great example of, like, servant leadership. Like, they're always helping somebody, buying someone food and clothing. My mom worked in public school systems. I was buying a kid's shoes. And like, they're just great servants for their time and they never had much means. We actually struggled quite a bit that, you know, we're immigrants and we struggled quite a bit financially as a kid. But, like, I had more love than I could spend, and that was the most important thing. So I think, I think service was like the example my whole life. So I. So I can't really remove my. That from me, but I have to be conscious of that. So I think, I think it. I think I always was looking for the greater impact. I think I always wanted to be a person worth knowing and to be a person worth knowing, in my mind, I was never the guy. Like, I'm just going to toot my own horn. How about I just show up and just deserve like, crazy and show that I'm valuable to have around. And so now it's funny because, like, up to a couple of months ago, you know, look, I do podcast speaking events, and of course, like, the thing that helps other people get people to listen as they talk about, like, you know, Miami's and the awards and the stuff I've won. And it's like, it was like, how do you do all this stuff? And like, you know, and I'm. I believe in humility. I believe God gave me gifts. But, like, you know, I just. I just show up and do the best I can every day. And I realized this probably wasn't that answer, wasn't serving the best it could be. And even like, you know, because I want. I don't want to beat anyone over the head with something they don't want to hear, but I do like sharing my faith because it's the most important thing to me, but I want to share it in a way that's relatable. And so the way I would now share it is, and I think we'll answer your question, is like, I realized God gave me a certain amount of gifts and talents. Like, he gives everybody their own gifts and talents. Mine have them be what they are. And if every day I don't show up and play full out, like, what am I even doing? So my role to me is like, to just do the best I can with what God's given me every day. And the most recent season of my life, and I'm start sounding like a Christian dude because we talk in seasons and things like this, right?

I speak the language and my audience is used to it. It's okay, all good.

And so I've realized, like, surrender is like, probably the most important thing because, you know, we all get it. Like, in my business, I mean, we take over the pandemic. And, like, we take millions of dollars a year just to pay everybody. And, like, we want to keep paid. And like, I wake up the first of every month, like, just like everybody else going, where's it coming from this month? Now, maybe subscription business owners don't, but there's a lot of attrition there usually, too. So let's be honest about that, too. But whatever.

I can promise you, all of my businesses, I've had. I've had their sleepless nights before with all of my businesses at one time or another. So.

Yeah. And so at some point, I, you know, I. I think the thing that helps me the most is between reading the But Jesus calling, the devotional, like, pretty much every day. It's like, you're not in control. I'm in control. You're not supposed to know what happens tomorrow or a year from now or even one hour from now. I got you. Just trust me. And so that's really where I'm at right now. Just. I'm trying, let's put it that way. I mean, that's. It's a struggle still. I'm on a struggle bus. I'm human. But anyway, that's. To me, it's all about just trying because I'm a guy who's. I rushed through school because I didn't like school. I liked the people. I like the lunch. I rushed through undergrad, did it in two and a half years, went straight to law school. Like, you put. Put a goal in front of me. I can pretty much accomplish it, and I will get there fast because I just, like, want to get it done. But I'm really trying to learn to live in the moments because literally, I mean, as stupid as this is going to sound, but it is profound. If you stop and think about it, the journey is all we get. Like, literally all we get. So any moment I'm trying to work on mindfulness. Like, if I'm in a doctor's office wishing away time, like, what am I doing? Like, there's going to be a day, a minute, a second where I'm like, damn, I wish I had every minute I wished away back. And so I'm just trying to show up and serve well and walk through the doors God opens. And, man, it's led me some crazy places like Operation just ain't. I don't know. Do you know who Russell Brunson is?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure.

So Russell calls me. So those you don't know, you know, he owns Click Funnels and he's he calls me. I'd met him through my friend Joe Polish at Genius Network, and he was there when I previewed my. I did premiere for my Peter Diamandis documentary on the first private space flight. And those of you who don't know Peter, you should know him. You should check out his books. You know, Abundance Bold.

He's.

He's amazing. And so Russell watched my documentary. He's like, dude, I love that. I don't know how to use it, but I'll. I'll be back with you. I'm like, yeah, that's cool. We just happened to sit next to each other. And then I get a message from him in October of. I actually have the bracelet we got from the raid in Haiti from in Tucson. Wow, that's cool. This reminds me. So it was January 11, 2018. So it was October of 2017. I get a text message from Russell Brunson, says, hey, move to Voxer. And he's like, hey, dude, I'm working with this organization that rescues kids from sex trafficking. I'm praying about it and, like, how can I help them blow up their message? I was thinking about doing a book form. Then I thought, ooh, documentary. And then God put your name in my mind and, like, would you be interested. Would you be willing to make a documentary about, you know, stopping sex trafficking of children? I'm like, never thought about it, but if God gave me this gift and I said no, I hope he'd strike me down right now. So Russell funded the whole thing. Little did I not end up in a raid In Haiti, like, 60 days later. And then Russell, when we premiered it, it raised a million dollars the first night. We've now done three more docs with our in Iraq, Colombia and Mexico and in America. And, you know, it's just. You just walk through the doors God opens. And I just try to be smart. I try to put myself in stupid situations, calculated risks. But no more raids. My wife told me. I promise. And so anyway, it's. Yeah, man. That's just sort of how I try to operate.

Well, you can tell Russ that I'm now on team. I'm on the team now. So I'm going to be joining up with you guys on that effort for sure. You know, with. There's so many potential amazing stories you can. You could share on somebody. Right? You know, there's. There's people that have, you know, like Tony, who've become incredibly successful in their genre. You've got, you know, people like Dave Vital has come, obviously. Incredible. You Know, in his own genre. How do you decide what story is, like, necessarily worth your time, but the, you know, kind of catches your eye, to tell, to share.

Yeah. So first of all, I have a no, a hole rule. So, like, if the person is not, like, a good person, I think is doing good work, or if they're just money driven, I'm just not really interested. Right. So mission driven people, for sure. I would say at this point in what I'm doing now, I haven't done docs for, like, 12 years now. The stories do typically come to me. But, like, for instance, so I did Rudy Rudiger's documentary, you know, who Played Football for Notre Dame, all that. And during that documentary, he wanted me to interview Dick Vital. So I interviewed. Because Dicky V. Is a big Rudy fan. And so I interviewed Dick Vital, and I learned a bit about his story that I didn't know. He was very nice, very kind to me, and I didn't know he only had one eye. And, like, he's got a great story. And so I was like, hey, man, I'll be interested in telling your story. It's like, well, let's talk about it. And so. So it's sort of. Then it's sort of like every. Every tree has roots and branches, and you sort of. And so there's always more stories than I can get funding for. Like, at this point in my career, like, there's just too many. But, man, there's some just amazing, rich stories. So, like, right now, I'm finishing up. I'm doing Chris Voss's documentary, you know, from Never Split the Difference in Masterclass. I'm doing Dick Vital's documentary, and I'm doing a documentary called the Truth About Reading, about illiteracy and Sub literacy in America. You know, since we've measured reading in America, we've never crossed over in grade school, never crossed over a 40% literacy rate ever. And so we have millions of people walking around in the US Functionally illiterate, and you just don't know it. The guy who came to me about the story is like, hey, I was on Oprah. Jack Canfield from Chicken Soup. The soul referred me to you. I'm called the Teacher Couldn't read. I taught public school for 17 years, and I never learned how to read. I was like, wait, what? And so I was like, first of all, I was like, yeah, it's a cool story, but it seems like a story has been told before. He's like, oh, I don't think you understand how big this story is. And he's like, would you mind doing a zoom with me? I'm like, sure. And he shared me the plight of all these kids and adults across the country. So I'm finishing that one right now, and then we'll see what's next. But, you know, it's always an adventure that.

It sounds like it. It also sounds like this is maybe where the faith plays a role, you know? So my audience, to give you a little. Little snapshot, my audience is about 5050. 50. 50 of people that, you know, believe in a profession, Christian, God, and 50 people who are trying to figure it out. And we love it. We love everybody equally, the same. Right. But it seems to me like you were talking about trust earlier. Right. You know, getting in this weird season of just trying to trust. I'm also in that season right now. Right. I'm trying to trust that whatever the next step is, is the step I'm supposed to take. And I find that we're. We're kind of all in that. That area in multiple aspects of our life at multiple times in our life.

Yep.

How is. How has your. How has your faith played a role in kind of what you do? I mean, is it a guiding force? Is it an undercurrent? Like, how do you. How do you see your faith in your business? Yeah.

I mean, so I screw things up all the time, but I would say I try to pray like God, is this a project I should take? So, like, for instance, I did.

I did a project with Vishen Lakhiani and Mindvalley, if you know them at all. And it was.

It was a project. It's called Live youe Quest. And it was a project where it had, like, a bunch of people from the Secret, like the Reverend Michael Beckwith, and a bunch. Like, it had pretty much everybody, but, like a Christian, essentially. And I think some of the people in there are. But like, a lot of them New Age, all that stuff.

Yeah.

And I was like, I don't know if I made the right decision, but I'm like, you know, look, I could turn down this film or I could bring a Christian perspective to it, you know, at least from my own lens and the questions I asked. I don't have to make it. It's not going to ever be a Christian film. But, like, how could I at least bring that light into that? So I try to pray about and try to make. Try to make good decisions again, Like, I've made plenty of atoms in my life. I would say this makes you human. Dude, Amen. Thank you. So I have a mentor, an amazing guy. If you don't know him, you should look him up. One of the top two speakers I've ever seen in my entire life, Dr. Nito Cobain. Incredible, incredible speaker. And he said it this way. He said. He said, nick, I think a life well lived is a life lived in thirds. One third earning, one third learning, one third serving. And so I really try to live that way.

Jotting that down.

Yeah. Oh, good. And I call it Dr. Cobain's rule of thirds. His name's hard to spell, but you'll find him. But it's like, that's how I try to live. And to me, he's a godly man. And to me, that is biblical. I mean, you gotta. You gotta take care of your family. Gotta earn. You gotta. You know, you don't need to be poor. I don't believe in that. I believe in tithing. I believe in. I believe it's all God's money. And what am I going to do with them? What good can I do with it? And then how can I. How can I learn? How can I constantly be learning? It's funny how the word evolving is a bad word sometimes in Christian culture. Like, it's like, dude, we're all evolving every day, you know, and so. And learning. And that's what keeps me excited. Like, I used to think I hated learning up to, like, a month ago. Then I realized I love learning. I just hated it, like, the way they made me do it. Like, I love, like, learning and having conversations with people like you. And, like, I love it. Yeah. And then serving, man, like, how can I serve people? And, like, a lot of people, like, I've done a lot of stuff all across the globe, and people like, into, like, how can I build a school in Africa? And that's important. If that's your calling, that's what you were called to do. Do it. But, like, I remember when the pandemic first started, I. My parents had never been on Zoom before, and they'd been on a trip, so they were quarantined for my kids. And, like, that's like the. To hell for them for, like, 14 days, you know? And so they come to every soccer game, every dance company, like, whatever. So, like, serving that day was like, hey, maybe I should help my parents learn how to use Zoom so we could talk and they could see the kids and we can have dinner together. And, like, so it's like, don't go overboard. Like. Like, just serve wherever you're at every day. And again, I'm not great at this either, but if I'm trying to get better at it, like, I mean, at least once a day, but maybe in every scenario you're at, you're like, you know, how can I serve better? So, like, for me, when I go before I speak, or if I remember, podcasts typically get shoved between meetings. If I have time, I'm like, I'll just pray God let me serve the audience. Like, what? How can I serve well today? So, like, this, hopefully for both of us, is serving. It does not have to be going to the homeless shelter, although you should do that too. But just like, how do you spend your time where you're dividing up? I think that's a healthy balance.

Yeah. I mean, essentially what you're. To me, tithing and serving are kind of uniquely, kind of put together in some aspects. Right. You got time, talent, and resource. Yep. You know, it's the only, only way that we can give back to humanity any given moment. And, you know, I've learned the hard way growing up, the way I did originally, that, you know, my. The environment I grew up in was. I would consider it more of a selfish environment, like, what can I get from somebody else kind of mentality, which probably kept us in that poverty zone. And then my experience has been when I was able to move from a selfish desire to selfless service, it's like the whole world opened up, Right?

Absolutely. I mean, I tell my clients, when you move from selling to serving, everything opens up. Because when you're willing to refer somebody who's not a good fit for you, or what they want is not what you do well or what you like doing. So even from the point of, like, it could possibly take, like, money out of your coffers all the way to. I tell my clients, you got to elevate. Like, you want to spend time around people who are the best of the best in your industry, your field, so you can get better at it, but you also want to spend an equal amount of time with people who have nothing to do with your field, so that you are the best resource anyone knows. Like, people call me all the time for, like, hey, man, I need a specialist for this sort of medical thing. Who do you like? Does Peter know somebody you can help me with figuring out? Like, and it's like, you become a resource. Right. And so, like, go, like, serve people. Like, if it was funny, sometimes we get hyper focused on our businesses and our revenue because, I mean, it's normal. Yeah.

We gotta Pay bills, right?

But when I first, like, the first few years of my business, my business partner is 30 years older than me. Been an amazing mentor. We've been in business now 20 years. And so we started the business when I was 22. Together. Together. And so one time I was getting super frustrated, and he's like, nick, I know the answer to this question, but ask him, well, you believe in God, right? I'm like, yeah. He's like, well, if you want God to work, you're going to have to give the dude some elbow room. I was like, got it. You know, that's like. It was like a great lesson because I just want it to happen on my timeline, and when I want it to happen, I'm going to force it to happen. And so, you know, it's just learning how to just let go again and say, all right, well, what. What am I supposed to be learning right now? And I would say, look, whether you're a believer or not, you know, I hope some of these things make you question, because these are universal truths that have been laid out in the Bible, which really overwhelms me. But then I remember there's never going to be any more. So it's really just got to work on this. Like, he's not going to write anymore. Just focus on this. Right. And I'm really a New Testament guy, you know, of course. And so. But, like, even if you're not think about it this way.

Life is really all about perspective and framing. And so everything we're talking about here, whether you believe in what we believe or not, is about, is about perspective. Like, how can I make the most of any situation? I'm putting. And I think that that's just a. That's just a really healthy way to live.

Yeah. I mean, adversity is what. Adversity is the tool to growth, you know. And I like what you said in the. One of the things. I'll shorten it really down, but the importance of detachment, right. I feel like it's important for us to set an aspiration, but I think even the Bible says, you know, that basically you can set your aspiration, but God just laughs kind of thing. You know, I'm paraphrasing, of course, but.

Yeah, yeah, sure, yeah.

You know, so it's kind of one of those situations where I've had to learn that myself. And one of the things I've always encouraged the audience to do specifically, is guys like, set your goal, set your aspirations, but don't tie your identity to it, right? Because we're gonna. You're gonna have stumbling blocks and stuff along the road. And has that been your experience as well?

Absolutely. And look, tying, I mean, not tying your identity to it is so hard because, like, we all love praise, we all love success, we all love. And I know I shouldn't tie my identity, do it. And I consciously try. Yet I know that if someone wrote a really negative article about me in newspaper, I'd be crushed. Like, I just, I mean, I would have to find a way. I'd have to find a way. Like, I've never had the really bad, you know, that really bad angry person. Write something really crappy. But it happens to Tony, everybody, basically. And I know you, that's. That's part of your emotional intelligence is growing through those things. Anyone listening? I don't want to grow too soon. So don't write that. But, but yes, but no hate mail.

In the comments, guys. No hate mail.

Yeah. And so, no, I do find that it is. It's a very difficult thing to do. But I think, look, a big piece of this is not like a lot of people, like serve others to get what they want. And it does work. But to me, a lot of this is about. I think when you start questioning someone else's intent, it's a really slippery slope, although it feels. Doesn't feel right sometimes. And trust your gut. But I would say if you really, if you really just are showing up doing the best you can to serve other people well, then you know you're not always going to win. But when you don't win, it would be much less soul crushing because you really, you're focused on the right, right things. You're focusing on helping other people and using the talents and the gifts you were given to help them. And the coolest part about that is when you. So I mentioned before, but one of my business coaches, Dan Sullivan, you know, a strategic coach. Dan is the top entrepreneur coach in the world. He talks about this concept of unique ability. And unique ability is the one thing you would do every day, all day, never get tired of it, wake up excited to do it every day, never want to retire. Because you literally the reason why most of us get burned out is because we're doing too many things. So to give you an example, my unique ability, that. And you can. You'll be able to tell. As esoteric as it's going to sound, I've spent a lot of time and a lot of money figuring this out. My unique ability is having impactful conversations that lead to Produced outcomes. That is all I do. I do them on podcasts, I do it behind the camera, in front of the camera, I do it in meetings. I do it if someone wants to have a doc made, if someone wants me to write a special report I'm going to have or a book, I'm going to have an impactful conversation with a ghostwriter and they're going to produce the outcome for me. And so I'm never unmotivated to get up and go have great conversations. So what I would say is, you know, if you are feeling. And that allows me, by the way, to detach from a lot of the other stuff. And I'm, I like to work with what I call creative collaborators. People who are so sure of what it is that they do. Like there's other people who make films, but they don't do it the way I do it. And there's. I have a team and a system and I'm comfortable with where I'm at. I'm not going to get every film. I will get disappointed because there's a couple I want, I won't just won't get them. Someone's brother in law get her, that's fine. But like, like if I can just show up and be excited and be a creative collaborator and not and only believe in collaboration, not competition, like I guarantee you there's no one like you in the world. So if you just keep serving and getting better at what you do, all of a sudden everything opens up to you to where like I was talking about before, you're connecting people, you're getting invited in, you're getting. Opportunities are coming at you because you're just having so much fun just collaborating with everybody. Because you see everyone that's a good person and good at what they do as a collaborator, not a competitor. And you just get out of that, you get out of that scarcity mentality, right? Because you cannot be creative in a scarcity mentality. You must be in a thank, a state of thankfulness. You can't be angry and be creative. You must be in a state of thankfulness, a state of surrender.

And when you do that and joy, then you can be creative. And creativity. I mean that I, I actually, I think, I think I saved this yesterday or a couple days ago when I was reading the Bible. There's this quote on creativity and if I can find it, but it's basically like creativity is the answer. And it's like, it's like in the message version which I can actually understand because I'm not that smart.

But it's like, like these in vowels for you, huh?

Right, Right. And Dan Sullivan has a quote I loved during the pandemic. He said, creativity protects you. Like, and it's an amazing way to think of it because if you can think outside the box and collaborate with other people, like, there's literally no problem. You can't say solved.

Well, creativity always leads to innovation every time, if you, if you're open to it. Right. And, you know, I would argue or. And you would probably follow suit, that your creativity and your innovation comes from a greater source and probably you actually understand fully. So why not lean towards that surrender? And you know, that's. That's probably another topic for another day. But you had this. On the subject of.

Of.

And we're kind of talking over top of the subject of significance and purpose. I got a quote of yours that I pulled from something I watched of yours. And it's. And I think it's important quote. And I'm hoping we can dig in a little bit, says God created me to be who he wanted me to be and to fill a spot on this earth. And if I'm not playing full out with my talent, I'm not honoring what he gave me.

Yep. I mean.

Right. So how does someone discover that. That special thing? Like, how did you know. We've talked a little bit about kind of how, you know, different parts and pieces. But how can we encourage others to find that special thing so they can operate in that special gifting?

I think, first of all, and again, a Dan Sullivan secret. Like, start removing the things in your life that you don't love doing and you don't love that you're not motivated by that. Don't light you up. I mean, the problem is we, most of us had our unique ability. We had it from zero to five, and our family thought we were cute or funny or whatever for it. And then they basically beat it out of us from 5 to 18, and they make us take on a bunch of debt from 18 to 22 or 25. And then we work the rest of our life doing something we don't. Doing too much we don't love, so we can buy back our freedom to use our unique ability at 65.

Right.

It's sort of a sad existence when you think about it that way, but that's what we do. So I would say, first of all, the things you were best at as a kid is probably a very good indicator of what you should be doing. And I'd say just start Peeling back those layers. And it's much like, you know, remodeling a kitchen. You know, if you change the floor, then all of a sudden the cabinets don't go and you repaint the cabinets and now you got a new floor. Well, you need new silverware. Like things that didn't cause you friction because they weren't causing the most friction will start causing you frict. Here's the deal. It's a journey. You're never going to get this right in one day. Like Dan Sullivan won't work with you unless you commit to a 25 year commitment of like, I want to get better and serve the world at least for another 25 years. And I'm going to get better and I'm going to do so like just think that's a hundred quarters of the year. So you got time. Just, just give yourself a bit of, you know, a bit of a break. But like start focusing on like hey, what, what is not serving me well and making me not serve others well. Let me get rid of that, let me get rid of that, let me get rid of that. And then look, I mean for the most part, you know, what makes your eyes light up, you know, I mean people will say, you know, find out, figure out what you love doing and then, and then figure out how to make money doing it. That's one way. It's not always that easy. So I would just say just be looking for the moments where you go, you know, I really like this. I feel really good. I feel like I'm in my element and then start breaking down like what am I doing right now? And it might be like a lot of times people like, man, like fishing. I really like, they're like, okay, well so if that's it, you're probably not going to get paid to fish. I mean, I hope you can. I would love to. Or hunt and fish. I do it all.

There are a few people that can do.

There are. And I'm not.

We don't want to crush any dreams. So, you know.

Exactly. Yeah. Hey, go for it. I mean, go for it. But, but be thinking like, what do you like about it? Do you like, oh, I like the fact I'm not tied to a desk. I like the fact that I'm outside being able to experience some things. And I like that I'm in control of my time. I like start. Cause it's not, it's. It's like looking at the macro makes it very difficult to figure out because it's like, oh, I should Be a pro fisherman. Well, maybe not, maybe that's not the message guys telling you, but like start trying to break down a bit of the micro of like what is the feeling and why, what are the things I like about this? And you know, if you could list, I would. If you could list 20 to 30 things that you loved about that moment in time or that thing, or even thinking back to a time you really loved, number one, you're going to get stumped after five or six. And if you do the work to get to 20 or 30, there's a ton of insight in there. Yeah.

Oh man, that's so good. That is so good because it's so true. I mean seriously, it's about as true as we can make it all in one setting. Oh my gosh. What. So you know, you've already done a tremendous amount. You're already making an impact, you know, even the ripple effect, if you will. What do you think you, you at the end of, you know, when you're, when you're saying goodbye to your family and you're heading off to go hang out with Jesus for a good little while, what do you, what do you want your life to have meant? What do you want your light to have stood for?

So I thought about this a lot recently because I see a lot of people doing. They're talking about legacy and all these things and like, like people putting their names on buildings and I'm not knocking any of that at all. But if I really distill that down to be true to who I am and who I think I'm supposed, who I'm called to be, it's like if I leave the earth and my, my children, first of all, because I know you have less control over grandchildren and other things and my children are followers of Christ and are, are serving the world. Well, I'm out. Like I'm good. Like, I feel like that is my calling. Like everything else to me is sort of like gravy. I mean, it's like, you know, I mean I showed you a little bit earlier, like this is my, my studio. Like I got jacket from Operation to Santa over there. I got sheriff's deputy for human trafficking and in the state of Michigan, got my badge there. I got there, I put Rudy on Broadway, did a one man show. I've got a playing card from ISIS tunnel in Iraq. I got like, this is like a.

And two shelves of Emmys.

Yeah, life is fun, man. I mean, look, it's, trust me, it's stressful a lot too. But like, to me, it's like, the rest of that is, like, I mean, my kids are. All this stuff is going to go in a dumpster someday, and I don't give a damn. That's fine. Do what you want. Like, fine. But, like, I. Those. I'm doing my best not to make those idols. I'm trying to show my children. Again, I don't expect you to be in the film business. I probably don't recommend it, actually. Like, it's hard. That's a hard thing for a lot. It's like, I don't know if you should be an entrepreneur. I mean, if you like it, I'll show you how. Like. But, like, one of the biggest lessons I have learned in raising my children, and probably it really hit me when I was my oldest, turned 16 last year. And I've always said, like, I bought a car. I had a job. And, like, I'm not buying. Like, you don't just turn 16, get a car. That's not how life works. And, like, and I started thinking about it, and I was like, I had this epiphany. I was like. And I'm sure there's a word God gave me, like, you know, look, I had to realize for my son, my oldest, like, hey, my story is not your story. So let me just back up and let me look at.

That is so good, by the way. That's been in my household. My kids have actually said that to me because they know how hard I grew up. And they're like, but we didn't. We didn't grow up like you, Right?

So I say, so what have I asked of him? I've asked him to. I told him his job is school, even to the point, like, I. His whole life, I paid him for his grades. If you do well, I will pay you. And I. And he plays three varsity sports, and he's a really good kid. And so I was like, if my parents could have afforded to buy me a car, would they. Yeah, they probably would have. Number two. They wouldn't have got me a Ferrari or something. But, like, you know, and, like, I had to work to pay for my gas and insurance. Like, I've. I've told him what his job is, and I thankfully am in a position right now. I could buy. I can buy him a car. So I said, look, you got to put up this much money.

And I'll pay the rest. And his damn grandparents gave him most of it. He'd earned some of it. And so he struggled a little bit, but he takes really good care of it. He's a good kid. But like, I was just a big thing for me as a parent. And I think we got to realize that too is like as an employer, as an elder in my church, like I got, I think so many of us, especially when we have success and people like in a lot of cases, people worship success. Right? I mean, other people success too. Like, like, you know, when I have, I have very strong opinions on what I would do, but I really step back a lot and go, you know, man, my story's not your story. So like I see parent, I see people I respect all the time bringing their children to like entrepreneurial conferences and stuff. And that's probably right for some kids. But I tell you, the majority of kids I see there, I mean, they may be acting like they want to be there because their parents, it makes them proud. But like kids want to be kids, like if they have entrepreneurial desires and like shepherd them. But for the most part I just see people like parading their child around, showing everyone like, look how entrepreneurial my kid is. It's like, yeah, that's really not. We should be doing and so nurturing. Yes. You know, parading, no. And so I really am just trying to be, I'm trying to live the life for my kids that shows, number one, that I'm, I'm a hot mess. Like, I am fallible. I'm a sinner, I screw up all the time. I don't want you to see all the screw ups, but like, I want it. I have another guy who's like, man, I just want my kid to keep thinking I'm Superman. I'm like, no.

I want my kids to see that I mess up and how do I respond when I mess up? And that's easier said than done, by the way. But so that's just sort of my look at when I lay my head down the final time, I hope that I can say, hey, man, I led by example and my parents see what my children see, what a hot mess can be. But what still what a tool God could use you for in the world even being a hot mess.

Amen. Amen. Well, it's crazy. You and I have similar missions in that, in that respect. Just want to make a good movement while I'm here. Right. You know, I want to maybe position with a little bit of time we got left. I want to talk about a little bit about personal branding since you spent so much time with that and you were so successful at it in today's market Right. There's, for lack of a better word, there's personal brands all over the place, or aspiring personal brands all over the place. What makes a really good personal brand, like somebody worth following and engaging with?

I would say someone who's authentic. I can give you a couple of secrets, but I think at the end of the day, it's just being who you really are. But how you show up matters.

You can look at any leader in the world back test it against Martin Luther King or test it today, even against some influencers that you may not like. They have a brand of wisdom that clearly, though, if they have millions of followers, somebody likes. Right. So we can just. Let's just call it as it is. And so every one of those leaders shows up with three things. And as a formula, I discovered I didn't invent it, but I sort of, as I was triangulating it, figured this out, how to articulate it. They show up with three things. They show up with undeniable wisdom. It's like, oh, when you hear someone who speaks truth, you're like, oh, yeah. If I didn't know that, whether I knew that or not, like, that makes sense. Like that. Okay, got it. They have. They show up with what I call a true voice. They're trusted, real. They're unmistakable. And it's effortless when they're operating that way, like, if you close your eyes and you're Tony Robbins or Oprah, like you know who they are. Like, they're trusted by the marketplace. They're real. They're unmistakable. Like you. You hear them, and because they're being them, it's. It's effortless. And then they build and they nurture and they pour into what I call committed community. So the social media makes it the easiest. Like, these people, these influencer people, they're pouring their brand of wisdom, whether you like it or not, mostly for free, through Instagram and podcasts and YouTube. And like, they're nurturing, nurturing. And they're giving value that their audience desires. And when they give that value, then that audience, the bigger it is, the more they can do anything they want. Like, whether you like him or not, if Grant Cardone launches a mattress line, he's going to sell out. If Gary Vee launches a roller skate company, he's going is because he has given so many people something that they value. That. And I give this example a lot. Dave Ramsey, like, a lot of people don't like him. As his financial advice. Cool.

Him and Sharon have been really good people for me. I mean, like, they're good people.

Yeah. Right. So. And let me. Let me share with you why Dave Ramsey works. Dave Ramsey has taken his vocation, which is financial planning, financial advice, and he's layered on top of that his foundational values. And so he's conservative, he's Christian, he's fiscally conservative, he's politically conservative. Conservative. And so I'm not a financial expert. You're probably not either. And most of us in the world are not. When we hear someone speak and they speak from a place of what we value, we pretty much instantly outsource our heart and our brain to them for that purpose. Like, oh, you're a finance guy and you believe what I believe in, why don't you just tell me what to do? Or in a local business setting, why don't you just do it for me? Because when I'm turned around and I'm not looking, if you got to make a decision, because you got to make a lot of micro decisions all day, I'm really comfortable if I think you're making decisions I would make based on my values if I had your knowledge. And so that's just, That's. That's how personal branding at its highest level works. It's. By being. It's not becoming noise. It's. It's getting out of just talking about what you do and talking about who you are and why you do it. Look, I could put 10 brain surgeons in front of you. You have no idea who's the best. You just wouldn't. And that's a really easy example, because we know. But while that's really easy for all of us to fathom, there's probably not many brain surgeons watching. Damn thing. When it comes to trying to pick a financial advisor, when it comes to trying to pick someone to sell you a nicer, newer car, it's like, who can I trust? And like, I mean, people are not all about price. If it is, the only store in every city would be Walmart. It's not. It's very not. It's definitely not.

Oh, there's all kinds of places, all of them.

And so. And people pay those amounts for different things. And your job is to provide as much value as possible. And when you do that, that you get paid, you know, however you want. Essentially, if you can, you can get paid for the value you provide and so. Or you can donate it. That's cool, too. But so I would just say it's. It's all about taking your. It's. It's all about Starting from a place of foundational values. And I really, it's, it's funny, I did a lot of work recently during the pandemic, like, going through, like, creating core values for my business. I never had them. I mean, I have, I have values, but I never, like, articulated them. It's one of the most, most impactful things I've ever done. Because every successful business is successful because of the values and the instincts and the decision making of their, of their founder, like, to some point. And then if you want to scale beyond that, really the only way to successfully scale is to operate, to hire and fire and operate off of core values. And that means team members, employees, and customers, because that's really the only way, because it takes place what's, what's ingrained in the fabric of you and why you did, why you started what you started, and, and then making it an operating system everyone else can follow. And by the way, we've all seen it with, with unruly kids. If kids don't know what's going to happen every time they misbehave, they misbehave more and more and more until you give up. And when they feel that, when they don't know the rules, they feel really insecure and they are a hot mess and they spar out of control. If you, if you know the rules of the game, there's a lot of ways to. When, when you create your core values and start operating your business off of that, everyone knows the rules. It takes away politics, it takes away infighting. It's like, hey, look, like one of our values, the core values, is no drama. It's like, hey, look, if you like drama, not the right place for us, you know, and so, and so, like, you literally can, you can do employee assessments, quarterly assessments, based on that, you can assess. Are we gonna take this client? Well, do they align with this? Well, if they're, if they don't align with their value, like, why would we do that? For money? No. And you'll find when you start operating that way, you become. You become you. You, you repel people, but you attract at least as strong, if not twice as strong, because people are like, that's what I want.

You're making room, right? You're making room for what you need versus what you think you have, I guess.

Absolutely.

I love it. Well, look, I want to maybe wrap up with this one question, and this one is kind of like the floor is yours. Is there a message that's been on your heart or your mind that hasn't been articulated or said recently that just sitting with you that you feel like the world needs to hear.

Man, that's a good. That's a really. I might steal that question. That's a good question.

Yeah, I would say this.

There.

What you think you want to do is not always what you're supposed to be doing. So I would say when you're stuck or you're down or you're depressed, I often find like, look, my brother is a psychiatrist. I am not. So I don't know about clinical depression. I don't know any of that. But I would say for most human beings and even people maybe who have some of those things that show up clinically and present clinically, a lot of times when you are feeling that way, it's probably because you're focused way too much on yourself. And I would say that the easiest way I've ever seen to get out of that is just is to go serve somebody else. And number two, I will tell you, opportunity follows that. And when you serve others, you will get opportunity. And when you, when opportunity. Look, the best opportunities in the world is when you get to decide which opportunity you want to take. Like, oh, I like that. I like eating pizza better than broccoli. Like, I got two options here. Like, maybe not the healthiest, but you get my point. So when you show up and serve and you serve a lot of people and you serve well, opportunity will come your way and you will get to start deciding what you want to do and just take the next step. Just walk through the next door that opens and opportunity will come to you. In any moment. When things aren't going right, it feels like an eternity And I acknowledge that and I feel that way too. But the only thing eternal, heaven and hell, let's say, right? So do the right things get to heaven. But life is temporary and pain is temporary. And actually the most successful people I've worked with, I'm working right now. James Lawrence, Iron Cowboy, ran 101 full distance triathlons in 100. 101 days. 101. Ironman's at 101 days.

Relationship with pain is just different than mine, right?

So very different.

All suffering is. Yeah, all suffering is temporary. So if you're calling in a season to suffer, like, try to look at what am I supposed to be learning rather than just lamenting all the time. It's easier said than done. But try to look at that and just try to serve somebody else. Take the focus off of you and look for what opportunity arises I think you'll be shocked by you find.

I love it, man. Dude, Nick, thank you so much for hanging out with me today, man. I've gotten so much. I got a whole page. I got two pages of notes that I've been whittling down the entire time. So definitely awesome stuff. Everybody will put Nick's contact information in the show notes as well as access to story selling and a lot of other Nick's parts and pieces and his and his work. Nick, again, thank you so much, man.

It's been a pleasure. Anytime I can come back and serve you, let me know.

Let's do it.

All right, take care.

If you love that interview, go ahead and check out the stacks. And right here.

Natalie, I'm on a podcast. I cannot talk right now, but I'll call you back. All right, bye. I have no wife or assistant here today, and so that's real life, baby.