Reinventing Yourself with Craig Siegel

Craig, how's it going today?

It's going great. I'm excited to be here. Let's have some fun.

Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm glad to have you here just because we've come to know each other over the last year or so. And every time I talk to you, I learned something new and something that I, I share with my audience as well. So glad to be getting another chance to do so. But let's just start by explaining who you are. Do you mind introducing yourself here?

Yeah, funny. I love this question. My mom still says so. So what do I tell my friends that you do exactly? The life of an entrepreneur. So now I'm a coach. Speaker, Wall Street Journal, USA Today best selling author, TEDx speaker, marathoner, fiance, dog, dad, community builder. I'm sure there's much more in there. But it wasn't always like this. I reinvented myself in the pandemic. Prior to that, I had a totally different identity and a totally different life. I was on Wall street for 13 years. I was making money. As it turns out, there's a lot more to success than just making money. And we'll get into this in a little bit, I'm sure. But I found myself in a really, really dark place. Basically my soul was exiled. I was just not in alignment. I was a gladiator in the wrong arena. And it got pretty dark for me. And then I stumbled upon running. Beautiful, pure sport that is running. And the irony there is a couple years back, you couldn't pay me to run. Now I'm literally paying to run marathons. Just ran my seventh in New York City. And that season was so pivotal because I tried so hard at it. And it was something that I wasn't good at or natural at, I should say. And I got good and that kind of led me to finding myself, cultivating purpose, confidence, self belief. And then fast forward the pandemic. What a historic opportunity. I mean, I just looked at this as a moment to just reassess, if not now, then when. And I got quiet for the first time in my life and really just connected and had a bit of a spiritual awakening. I was able to put it all together, identify why I'm here. What I'm absolutely obsessed with, which is personal development. I married that with my gift, my ability to communicate effectively. I started my CLS brand. I didn't want to be the next Tony Robbins, want to be the first Craig Siegel. And I put together a whole vision, kind of like a 10 lane highway, each lane representing a different Way to make an impact and also do business. Speaking, coaching, podcast, all the things, book deal, reverse engineered it. And then I, I got in the arena and I had to overcome that. Can you really do this? You're starting a little bit later in life. 35, depending upon who you ask. That might be young, that might be late, but for me, the cost of inaction, the COI was way too high. I would actually rather have died than chosen to go back and be miserable. So I leaned in and the universe liked that for the first time in my life, I was in alignment. And so all the things that I said that I am now is what's transpired over the last three years. And I'd never been more happy, more fulfilled, and quite frankly, I never had more fun.

So. So right now we're in January 2024, and I'm just curious, what are you excited about this year?

Yeah, what am I not excited about? Right. And it's interesting because when I started cls, my brand in the pandemic, I just want to make it very real for the listeners because I think this will really resonate. I didn't have a laptop for the first nine months. I didn't have polished content, I didn't even have an llc. I didn't have a business plan. But I felt called, felt a tug at my soul, and I knew this was something that I had to do. And so I leaned in and I started figuring things out. Along the way. I started building the podcast, obviously, eventually the book deal. We built a huge community and so forth, and. And so we kind of just completed like the first three year story arc. I picture, like, imagine watching your favorite show and like, the first three seasons are great. They're getting better and better. They don't have the biggest budget yet, and then all of a sudden starts doing very well and they get the budget and they really expand. And maybe not the best example or analogy, but for me right now, what I'm most pumped about is really taking this to that next level of expansion all around. So a couple of things that come to mind are infrastructure. I really want to get the organization right. And I'll be honest, like, hiring and finding the right teammates has been a little bit challenging for me. You know, they got to be the right fit and so forth for both parties. And so we went through a couple employees last year. Now we have a couple that we really, really, really like. We want to build with. So the right infrastructure, systems, processes getting a little bit more organized, and then just the next level for Everything, like, for example, our podcast has really exploded. But I started that in the pandemic where everything was zoom. So even just being here in front of you just has me jazzed more in person connection. And also, if I'm being honest with you, because we completed that first three year story arc, I'm really taking some time to think about what is the next three year story arc look like, what would feel good in terms of expansion, and most importantly, how do we make the most impact. So a lot of things I'm very sure of and intentional and some things I'm still figuring out what I like.

About your story is often we think of the constraints in place to pursuing entrepreneurship. Oh, I don't have a website. I don't have an llc. I don't have a business background. And people try to spend time developing that as opposed to thinking about their idea and who they want to help and how to package that instead. So I think it's a good lesson for anyone. And it's funny because I've written a book about how to start a consulting business, and 90% of the people that I interviewed before writing the book who were consultants, they said, look, I didn't have a website when I started out. I didn't have anything. I just reached out to my network and said, hey, I'm doing this thing. That's how they grew. So I'm glad that you're removing that artificial constraint to success that a lot of people think is there, and it's. It's not actually real. So. So I appreciate that. But this is the part I'm always like, how do I introduce this? Right. Because we're about to go off this cliff where we talked about what you're doing right now.

Yeah.

And then zoom to the lowest point of your personal professional life that you feel comfortable sharing. So you are up.

Yeah. So, first of all, I think that this is a really good podcast and really good theme because this is how you connect to people. Right. People see me and you here. Obviously, there's a lot of highs, a lot of success, but it wasn't always like that. It's like the hero's journey, and we fall, we get brought to our knees, we get humbled, and then we overcome it. So that's what makes people connect with us. Right. And I think back, like, I'm a bit of a comic book nerd. I think back when I was young and like Superman. Right. I was never really able to relate to him because she's so perfect. Obviously, this Kryptonite but like, he was like an alien from another place. And he's probably one of the most popular, but I just couldn't connect. But then you talk about someone like Batman, essentially, he's a human, very rich human, puts on a suit and fights crime and so forth. I always thought that was relatable. And he's very flawed. And so when we talk about stuff like this, it really helps the audience connect and show them that it wasn't always like this. And if we could do it, so can I. And so to get down to the nitty gritty, I think of about four or five years ago, right before the pandemic, right before I discovered running, it was really, really dark. I pivoted from Wall street and I started my own business. We're basically providing working capital to businesses all across the country. Pretty trendy industry, and it was lucrative, and it wasn't as stressful. But I knew right away that sometimes change is great change of scenery and. But it's got to be in alignment with who you're becoming, not just change to change. Right. And so even though I was at a kind of like a fresh start, I was the owner of the company and employees. It just. I was waking up on Monday, and I had to, like, do a mental workout just to get excited about the day. And just to be clear, I give everything I got, everything I do. But it's very hard to stay inspired when you're not doing things that light up your soul. And so a few years back, a few things happened at once. I just got out of a toxic relationship, which I know now is happened for me, and it was great. And now I'm with my soulmate, my fiance, and so forth. But you know how that is when you get out of a toxic relationship. It's never fun. And then also, my best friend, my dad, had just gotten diagnosed with cancer around the same time. He's still battling. My dad's no spring chicken. He's 89 years young, but there was just a bunch of things. And then you take the fact that I was waking up every day to go do something that I didn't really want to do. And for the audience listening, like, you better love what you do, because you're gonna spend about a third of your life in your career, another third, probably sleeping. Right? So it's so imperative that you're jazzed about what you do for a living. And I just wasn't. And so I think because of that and the outside stress that was coming in, I started drinking a Lot more than I'd like to admit. In fact, sometimes during that time period, and I talk about this a little bit in the book, but. But not often on interviews, I would wake up and start my day off with a morning cup of joe. And it wasn't filled with coffee, if you understand what I'm trying to say. And I was just trying to get through the day. And, you know, I'm definitely not proud of that season at all. It wasn't. It didn't last super long because, thank goodness, I stumbled upon running or maybe running found me. And I'm so romantic about running because I basically had to stop drinking. I still drink once in a while, so socially, but at that time, in order to run marathons, which is a stretch for me, it's. If you reverse engineer it, what kind of cat do I have to become? Disciplined, hardworking, eat right, cut out the booze, go to bed early and so forth. And so I was able to kind of kick that habit. But during that time period that. That brief stint, I would say, you know, drinking, it was just h. You know, nobody. Whenever you drink and you're in a certain state, you just highlight the state that you're in. And so I was. I. I wasn't like, you know, I wasn't diagnosed depressed, but it's. To me, it seems like I was depressed. I didn't love what I do. You know what? I didn't love myself. And I think that was the worst part. I'd look in the mirror, I didn't like who I saw. I didn't like where I was going. And it's sometimes when you're in that rabbit hole, you think you'll never get out. And. And it's tough. And then little by little, you start cultivating some healthier habits and good things begin to happen and so forth. But I got to tell you, that season of life bringing me back right now, it was dark. I mean, there was nothing really positive about it. Now looking back, I know that that happened for me, and I had to go through that. I had to really, really, really feel the pain and the darkness to want to see the light. And when I talk about pain, emotional and spiritual pain, I imagine you could relate this to brother is far tougher to deal with in physical pain. Right? So the emotional pain and the spiritual pain that I was in during that season, it was terrible. But I also know that it was part of my journey and it got me to what I'm doing today, which is basically providing a light and showcasing to the World. What's possible once you get inspired, get into alignment, find your purpose, double down, and so just bring it back right now. That was a pretty dark time.

So with the drinking, I had a severe drinking problem.

Really?

Yeah, yeah. For. For years. For years. And it got to the point where I was, like, waking up and drinking as well and then going to work like that.

Right.

Is that Backstreet Becca work? Yeah, yeah. It got really bad. And at the same time, I started doing Krav Maga.

I did that too.

But I would go there after drinking.

Oh, wow.

You know what I mean? Like, that's how part of my identity it was. I'm like, I want to be healthy. I want to do something different.

Yeah.

I'm going to go do this, you know, Kraumaga. But I couldn't go there without drinking. So it's like, wow, man. Like, how addicted are you when you can't even go work out without drinking?

Yeah.

And I talked about this before. Like, I used to not look forward to the day. I was happier at night when it was dark, when no one expected anything from me.

Yes.

And I would just get so, like, anxious when I, like, heard the birds chirping and the sun's coming up and things like that. And so I know that place, and I know a lot of our listeners know that place too. And I know a lot of them might still be in it.

Yeah.

But I'm wondering, because to start running, like, I understand you can't be drunk when you're running. Like, you should be drunk when you're doing Krav Maga. But was there. Was there, like, a moment that you can think about where you're like, you know what? F this, like, I'm gonna start doing better for myself. Like, was there an a person, an experience that you can think, you know what? Like, this is it. And I'll be honest. For me, it was going to the hospital because I was like, my blood, my bac was so high. I'm like, in an actual hospital. Like, they're hooking me up to. They're like, you're. You're like X times the legal limit.

Yeah.

Like, where were you? Oh, I was at home. It's like, geez, you weren't even, like, at a freaking super bowl party or something. Like, so that was the wake up call for me is literally being in the hospital from. From drinking too much. So I'm wondering if you had hopefully not that bad of an experience.

But first of all, there's so many similarities between us. Every time we get together, learn more. It's awesome. I did Krav Maga for a while too, though not drunk, but that seems like quite a trip in regards to the. The drinking. You know, it sounds a little cliche, brother, but I just got sick and tired of being sick and tired. And when I. When I literally went for my first run, I was so humbled with the fact that I turned a light, respectable jog into a power walk to finish two miles.

Yeah.

And I came home and I was like, whoa. Because I'd always worked out, just not really ran. And I was like, am I that out of shape or am I just mentally, like, not anywhere where I need to be. No mental fitness. And then I started researching, literally the next day, ran a little further. And I just became obsessed with getting better at running because it's such a beautiful sport to me, because it's really just the Ubersu and it's like you and God, and it's not really opponent per se, unless you're. I guess you're competing. And so I just became obsessed. And you know what? I have an addictive personality and wasn't always used for the good. Yeah, that's probably why I was trigger more than I should. But as soon as I met up with running, I mean, I just. I changed my obsession from drinking to running. And then that started to open up so many other things. I started to gain a confidence that I never quite had before because I. I started to tell people at this time, I didn't have, like, a following. I wasn't like a public figure, but I told people that I was running the New York City Marathon, which was everyone's like, what? I didn't know you ran. And I had to do that for myself. First of all, I was raising money for a charity, so I was doing that. But I had to create exterior expectations because you can drink when no one's looking. Right. But. But you don't want to disappoint other people and so forth.

And so I disappointed a lot of people.

You did.

That's why I got fired. Yeah.

Yeah.

So you're more restrained than I was, but.

Well, I had to assume massive accountability by letting people know so that I could try not to disappoint them. And then I just started running. And then, you know, I always knew, just like you, like, I didn't want to drink. I just. I'm not making an excuse. No excuses. But I believe the reason why I was drinking more than I'd like to admit is because I Was so miserable at my career, which should be uplifting. Not to say that it's not problem, especially in entrepreneurship, but like, when you get through a long day at a job that you don't like, you're depleted. Like, damn, I got to do this again. Like, nowadays, if we have a long day, like we're traveling, speaking, coaching, you're tired but not depleted. And then the next morning you're re energized. And so I think I was just looking to escape. And when I finally was able to identify what I'm supposed to be doing and what I'm good at and what I'm called to, all my energy just went from that and the re. The way I was able to get to that was from the running and so forth. And so that's one of the reasons why I think it's very slippery slow. If you don't like what you do, it just causes a ton of stress and. And can, you know, not everyone's going to turn to drinking, but I think that's why I was at the time, in addition to the stuff with my dad and, you know, my ex and so forth. But yeah, crazy times.

Yeah. The escape. I. I can relate to that. For me, I just wanted to go to sleep sometimes too, like, because, like, you have all these thoughts in your head about the day and you're so stressed out and I just wanted to go to sleep.

Yeah.

But now I'm exhausted at the end of the day. But it's. It's a good feeling.

Yes.

Because I've given so much of my talent, my energy to positive things, plus exercising.

Right. So.

So that, that helps. But that's really what it was. And it's like, to your point, if you really have to fight that hard to escape your life.

Yeah.

Maybe you should change your life instead of drinking, you know, like vodka or whatever. So that's. I wish we had this conversation like 10 years ago, but. But we're here now.

Yeah.

Let's talk about the reinvention formula. What is that?

So that's the book, the bestseller now, which I'm super pumped about. You know, I didn't do everything right my whole life. Not even close. Over the last three years, we've done a lot. Right. And humbly, I could say that even if somebody didn't like me. Hard to believe. I know. One thing they probably couldn't deny is that I reinvented myself very successfully. In other words, I had one life. And then pretty quickly I stepped into a totally different identity in life and had what most will consider a ton of success, depending upon your definition of success. And so there was a lot that went into that. It wasn't just a split moment. I had been studying personal development for 15 years when I got to Wall street, because when I originally got there, I was a fish out of water. I saw all these people producing and I was very young and I didn't have confidence. And so I turned to YouTube and I started studying like ET hip hop, preacher and Goggins and all these people. Either of my friends now have been on the show. But I was just so fascinated with, wait a minute, personal. You can work on yourself, you can actually upgrade your confidence levels, you can build rapport with people. And I was blown away.

Yeah.

And then I went down the rabbit hole and I used personal development for years to be successful at Wall street, at running and approaching a pretty girl at the bar because I used to be insecure and so forth. I just didn't think that I was worthy of turning personal development into a career. Right until I realized this is more than just the passion. This is my assignment. And so all the things I studied from Neuro, linguistic program, nlp, the law of attraction, Kabbalah, emotional intelligence, historic figures, all the things that kind of took me on my journey, I put into the book. And I like to believe it's your one stop shop vessel for all the personal development you can ever want to learn about. And then also obviously the exact tangible steps that I took to transform from what I was doing to what I'm doing now, entrepreneurship, building a brand, building relationships, podcast speaking, all that stuff. But that's just like a byproduct, the juicy stuff is all the mindset work and getting off rock bottom and all the lessons and so forth. And so what I like to say about this book, one thing that I'm really proud of, and you know, everybody wants to be a bestseller and stuff, and I set that as a goal because do a thing, do it well. But it's really just a byproduct of giving birth to something that has a lot of light around it. And you're doing it for the right reasons. You could help people. And so I'm glad to have done both. But the one thing I'm most proud of is that anybody can grab this book in any area of life that they might be in or any season, and they can extract something from it. It's not niche, it's applicable for anybody. There's 41 bite sized chapters. I never liked those really long marathon Chapters, no pun intended. So it's very digestible. And no matter where you're at in your journey of life, there's. There's a nugget in there for you.

I'm gonna zoom back out. I mean, first of all, thank you for that. And here's one challenge I think that comes with reinvention is there's, like, guilt from who you used to be. And I'm speaking from my own experience. Maybe I'm incorrect. Right. But. So, yeah, today I'm like, I don't, like, eight years, so. Or something like that. Like, it's been a while. Really healthy.

But to this day, buddy's got skeletons, some worse than others. So I'm not proud of it. But the one promise that I made to myself before I reinvented my life, and just to be clear, it wasn't just a career, like a fiance, dog. The whole thing really reinvented everything. But the one promise that I made to myself when I was about to lean in is that I'm going to forgive myself. I'm not where I'd hoped I'd been. I'm not proud of everything I've done. I certainly don't approve of it, but I do have to accept it. And once I can accept it, I can kind of shed some old identities and skins, break free and feel liberated and now focus on what happens next. And so when I did that, I literally forgave myself. And, you know, I didn't try to hurt anyone or anything like that. I was really just hurting myself. But, look, everybody's got some stuff, some skeletons and so forth. You can't drag that around because then you won't be good to anybody else. I do like your reframe. You kind of use it as a positive trigger to be even better husband and so forth. But, no, I don't feel guilty because I know that that was part of my journey, and if I didn't go through that, I won't be doing what I'm doing now, which is impacting the world in a positive way.

Yeah. Yeah, I like that. Guilt is the lowest vibration.

One of them.

Yeah. And it's definitely not useful. It's funny. I was talking to one of my friends and just about his past, and he made a very vague statement. He's like, you know, I've done bad things. And I didn't want to pry, but the response that I think is appropriate to that is, are you still doing bad things? If the answer is no, then leave that mistake in the past and move Forward, like you're saying. So, yeah, I think this is. This is what a lot of people need to hear, because even if they have gone through the reinvention, there's still that leg, like, lagging guilt from before. But to your point, you got to let that go or else you can't move forward and help other people.

And just to stay there for a second. You know what? I should have said this. I held on to that guilt frequency for way too long. Again, I wouldn't change the thing, but because I was holding on to it like I was anxious about the future, depressed about the past, I was anywhere but the present. And I felt so guilty that I was unable to be available for the new downloads and Divine Inspiration and changed my life. And when I finally agreed to let it go and forgive myself, that's when all of a sudden, the universe provided opportunities, ideas, Divine Inspiration downloads, the right people at the right time and so forth. So anyone that's listening right now, it's imperative that you let that go. And again, I want to reiterate, you don't have to approve of everything, but you do have to accept it so you could take some positive steps forward.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to ask you one more tough question before we go. Sure. And it's. It's one maybe I should have prepared you for. But here we go. Is there a favorite quote or story or fable you would like to share with our audience before departing?

I would say this. I don't know if this is necessarily a fable or a story, but I know that there's a lot of people listening specifically to your audience that want to do a lot of great things in the world, and they're listening to you for a reason. They see what you're up to. But a lot of people feel like they're just not worthy of that or it's not in the cards for them. And I think it's time that we. We make some affirmations that, Number one, Playing Small is canceled. And it's our responsibility to do great big epic stuff. But we have to begin to cultivate and flex that desire Muscle bowl for the new downloads and Divine Inspiration and change my life. And when I finally agreed to let it go and forgive myself, that's when all of a sudden, the universe provide opportunities, ideas, Divine Inspiration, downloads, the right people at the right time, and so forth. So anyone that's listening right now, it's imperative that you let that go. And again, I want to reiterate, you don't have to approve of everything. But you do have to accept it so you could take some positive steps forward.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to ask you one more tough question before we go.

Sure.

And it's one I. Maybe I should have prepared you for. But here we go. Is there a favorite quote or story or fable you would like to share with our audience before departing?

I would say this. I don't know if this is necessarily a fable or a story, but I know that there's a lot of people listening specifically to your audience that want to do a lot of great things in the world. And they're listening to you for a reason. They see what you're up to. But a lot of people feel like they're just not worthy of that or it's not in the cards for them. And I think it's time that we make some affirmations that, number one, playing small is canceled. And it's our responsibility to do great big epic stuff. But we have to begin to cultivate and flex that desire muscle. We have to have that desire to reveal our light and to do great things. And I just don't believe that people are here randomly. I don't believe in coincidences. I believe we're all here for a specific reason and. And we should never stop trying to identify what that is so that we can be of service and help people. And I imagine there's some people listening right now that are like, well, that's great, but I have to monetize and I have to pay the bills. I promise you, you'll be just fine. You'll make more money unapologetically than you even know. Do it if you do for the right reasons. And a quote that I've been really digging lately is sharing without an agenda. In other words, like, you know, people do favors for people just so they could be like, you owe me one or, see, I got you. That's really the ego. But if you just add value, if you do some great stuff or you put yourself out there and you make it not about you with no agenda in return, that's when the universe starts to incorporate divine compensation. Some people call it karma. But great things will come back to you. And it's all out there. We just have to download it. And one of the ways to do that is to work within the laws of the universe. You know, people know gravity is a real thing, but so are the rules of the universe, like understanding how to resist the ego and not delay certain things and so forth and tap into the energy and vibrate at the highest level and really just be a match for the things that you want to desire or want to call into your life and so forth. And just I want everybody to know that if you and I can do it, everyone else can do it, and probably quicker. But it, but it starts with having that unwavering faith and desire and a trusting and a knowing with the universe taking some bold, messy action. You don't have to have it all figured out like we talked about earlier. I don't have a website, I have a business plan. But you take some messy action and allow the chess pieces around the chessboard of life to kind of find their.

Way to you or Craig. Thank you for sharing without an agenda, but can you please share how we can learn more about you and more about your book?

Yeah. So first of all, I love being here and I think these conversations are are gritty and they're raw and sometimes it can be painful. But if, and if it helps just one person listening say, damn, I've been through worse or I, I haven't even been through that bad, I if he they could do it, I could do it. I think that's so important. So I love the topics here. Anywhere you listen to podcasts, the CLS experience, anywhere you buy books, the reinvention formula. If you like inspirational text throughout the week, you join our texting community. Just text 917-634-3796 Text the word Terry so I know that you heard it here and come say hello to the best of my ability. I love to interact and I always like to create a personal connection.

Awesome. Thanks, Frank. Appreciate it.

Thank you.