The Impact Of Mindshift In Changing Our Life with Erwin Mcmanus

You know, I vividly remember falling behind my peers and struggling with. I could barely read or write. I was in all the slow kid classes struggling with multiple learning disabilities. And I don't talk about this often because it still hurts. But in middle school, I overheard what kids should never hear. I overheard my teacher advising my parents that I'll be lucky if Todd graduates from high school, but college is out of the question. And the bad thing, the horrible thing, and the thing that set me back many years is I actually believed her. I was convinced I was stupid. And I put myself through years, maybe decades of depression and in an inferior position, in defeated positions with friends. Eventually that became a defeated position with girls and multiple thousands of mind shifts along the way. I had mind shift moments where I took my deeply ingrained beliefs about not being good enough and I friggin obliterated them. Slowly, over time, I just pictured myself each and every day being what the teacher said I couldn't be seeing myself standing on the biggest stage in the entire world and teaching the world, blessing people and showing them how to overcome their own adversity. And you know what's amazing about a mindset? A mindset shift. This year I became a number one bestseller and I did 15 speaking appearances for Tony Friggin Robbins. See the truth. We're all just a mind shift away from breakthrough transformation and fullness of our destiny. And I want to help you get there. So in a few moments, I'm going to be joined by Erwin McManus and he is the author of Mind Shift. And he's going to share profound insights that are going to help make a huge impact on your life. And he embraces how a mere change in thinking, a mind shift, can pave the way for tremendous personal growth and achievement. So buckle up y', all, because after these words, you're going to start on your own journey of self discovery and empowerment where you're going to learn how to harness the power of the mind to create an extraordinary reality, an extraordinary life for yourself. And that's going to happen after these words. This podcast is brought to you by the Wire Buzz team. Now, if that name sounds familiar, it's because I've spent the past decade growing Wirebuzz into a digital marketing powerhouse designed to maximize clarity in complex sales processes so we can help accelerate revenue. And we do this in three phases. Phase one, we transform your website to function like your best salesperson and then also incorporate persuasive on demand sales videos. Now, your entire team is aligned on messaging, and they're injecting massive clarity into your prospect's head. So your site looks great, but it also has engaging content that helps your team sell on demand. 24. 7 the next phase phase two we train your sales and marketing teams to sell remotely or in person to expand the impact of your sales team. And the third phase is we develop and run targeted ads to your prospects. Scale those ads to help you achieve more business results. Sign up for the Wirebuzz Company newsletter to learn more about effective and simple ways to improve your company messaging, attract more digital attention, and ultimately make more sales. As you're going to discover in this conversation with Erwin McManus, this is ultimately this conversation is ultimately about you. So to help you embrace change and conquer your self imposed limitations and even foster a growth oriented mindset, I am joined right now by Erwin McManus, the author of Mindshift. Erwin, thanks for joining me on the ToddCast.

Todd, it's so good to be with you. What a powerful introduction, Erwin.

I, like a lot of people, set myself up to fail. And then I realized that I was in charge of the outcome, not that educator or anybody else who laughed at me for being in slow kid classes. It was all about me. And everything changed. Like, how did this get started for you? What, how first, what is a mind shift? And how did you first become aware of the power of a little shift that can change big things?

Well, Todd, in that one sentence you asked me about five unique questions.

Yeah, buckle up, I said.

And I think, not unlike you, I really didn't know when I was growing up as a child whether I had any real capacity or potential. I was in a psychiatric chair by the time I was 10 years old, in and out of a hospital. I was a straight D student 1st through 12th grade. You know, I was told that, you know, there, there's definitely something wrong, something broken and inside of me. And, and so I always had this deep sense of insignificance, of lack of value, lack of worth. Never wondered if there's. I mean, I always wondered if there's something wrong with me, if there's anything unique in me. But I will say I'm an immigrant from El Salvador and Spanish was my first language. But my grandfather, Noel Salbler, taught me how to play chess when I was three years old. And he taught me at my earliest age. I mean, my earliest memories are of me playing chess. They're not me playing with a ball, me playing with toys, me playing with Legos. My earliest memories as a human being is me playing chess with my Grandfather. And then with my older brother and him teaching me that when I make the right move, I get to earn another move. When I make the wrong move, my future becomes limited. And so, really, from the beginning of my personal journey, I had imposed on me this framework that the choices I make create the future I step into. And that just evolved as I grew as a human being. As I got older, as I started studying philosophy and then psychology and then theology, and just asking the question, you know, what separates human beings? Is it talent? Is it intelligence? Is it opportunity? Is it entitlement? What really creates the differential in the way that we live our lives? And eventually I came to this. For me, a surprising understanding that there is nothing external that actually becomes the defining signature characteristic of our life. It's how we respond to this external environments. It's. It's our inner world, it's our mental structures. And we can change our, in a sense, our destiny by making mind shifts and. And that becomes the power within us all.

Beautiful. I love it. So, gosh, you and I have very similar backgrounds. Like, as you're talking, I realize that I was pretty much a D straight student. And C's for me didn't mean average. It meant celebration, y'.

All.

B's and A's are out of the question. So I. So what is a mind shift? Like, what is that seemingly simple word?

Yeah, it's really a shift in internal perspective, but it's rooted in values. It's. It's viewed. It's rooted in your view of reality. And so if you, you know, if you have a mental structure that says, other people are holding me back, you'll design your entire life based on that belief. And if you make a shift, I have a chapter called you are your own ceiling. And so one of the mental shifts in the book is the shift from other people are responsible for my failure, or other people are responsible for my limitations, or other people are responsible for my lack of achievement. And then shifting and going, I'm responsible for my future. I'm responsible for my life. I'm responsible for my limitations. That one shift opens up an entire new world to you. And it is this really painful realization that no matter how much pain you've ever gone through, no matter how much trauma you've experienced, no matter how unfair life has been to you, that even though you're not responsible for what happened to you, you are responsible for how you react and respond to it. Beautiful.

I struggled with frustration for many years and realized exactly what you just said, that it's all about how I respond. And once I got control of that, actually, things got significantly easier, and I got to present myself like the man that I want to be. You know, when I'm on stage, I always am telling the audience, you're going to prove yourself right in life, you're going to prove yourself right. So be careful what you're trying to prove. If you're trying to prove that the world isn't friendly, you're going to prove that. Or if you're going to prove that there's abundance and opportunity out there and that you find yourself in the right place and the universe is working for you, you're going to prove that to be right also. And I know that from going through your material, I know that we should be challenging our fixed mindsets, and these are, like, rigid ways of thinking that limit our growth. How does challenging it help us understand what parts of our philosophies are erroneous that we can knock away at and develop a better future for ourselves just by challenging it?

Yeah, Todd, one of the interesting things is that the human brain is really complex, and no two brains are the same. And, you know, so in some ways, I try to think of it in terms of, like, athletic talent. I may not have the natural genetic code to be an Olympian, but. But I can choose to be physically healthy or unhealthy. You know, I can achieve a level of athletic capacity, even though I'm never going to be the best in the world. And so there's some sense, you know, when people say, if you can dream it, you can do it, I'm going, if that's true for you, you have very limited dreams. Because I can dream that I'm the fastest man in the world, but I did not have the genetic and physical capacity to become that. It's the same way mentally. Some people are in some sense genetically predisposed to be more mentally fluid, more mentally agile. Some people seem to be more genetically disposed to be more. More structured, more rigid. But all of our brains have the capacity of becoming incredibly rigid. And all of our brains have the capacity becoming far more agile and adaptive. I would just say, basically, our brains are lazy. They will default mode to the lowest level of thinking that we will allow ourselves. And I'm not sure why, in a sense, the universal principles work like this, but this is how it works. If you do nothing, you get fat. If you want to have a washboard stomach, you have to work really hard. If, you know, if you know, if you want to be healthy, you have to work for it. If you want to be unhealthy, you don't have to do anything for it. For some reason, all the negative expressions of who we are require no work. All the positive expressions that we are require a lot of work. And it's the same even with your brain. If you let your mind just go where it wants to go, naturally, you will begin to set established ruts in your life. You. It's even true with your character. It's just easier to, let's say, lack integrity than to have integrity. It's easier to be undisciplined than it is to be disciplined. Every positive attribute actually takes work. Negative attributes are what we become when we don't put the work in. It's the same way with our brains. If you want to move towards your highest capacity, your brain has to have an understanding that you're the master and that you are establishing disciplines in your head. I'm not going to let negative thinking permeate my inner world. I'm going to move toward positive thinking, optimism, hope. I'm going to move towards strategies that help me solve problems rather than just swim and drown in the problems. Every time you're dealing with your internal world, your mindset, you have to decide to become the architect. Because if you don't choose to become the architect of your inner world, that design is going to be a chaotic disaster.

Yes. Okay. I love it. It's like blueprint. You've got to have a blueprint, and you've got to organize it. I. I'm writing notes kind of to myself. Like, I'm learning. As you're doing this. I'm writing comfort is the enemy of growth. Okay. I already know that. The only thing that grows when I get comfortable is my belly. Right. And. And then also idle hands is the devil's workshop. Like, boom, you tapped on that. And then when it talks about accomplishing our goals, there are two types of pain for accomplishing goals. The pain of regret, woulda, coulda, shoulda, or the pain of discipline. And I've noticed in my life that whenever I put myself in the position of regret, I'm always depressed and disappointed. But when I push myself through the pain of being discipline and I tackle new things and learn new muscles, then I can live with that one, because that's the pain of growth, and I'm comfortable with that. You buy all that?

Yeah. I'd say regret is just hope. Facing the wrong direction. You know, when. When you're full of regret, you're trying to change your past rather than create your future. And, and so there, there may not be a more wasted energy than regret. And it, it really is much better to redirect all the energy to going, this is my starting point. So instead of thinking of regret as me looking back at all the things that should have been different, think of regret as a wakeup call to change everything. This moment. And so the moment you feel regret go, oh, I love that. This is my positive emotion. Regret is my wake up call. It's the alarm clock that today's the day I can change everything. Because you wouldn't even be aware that you could change if you were not experienced. In a sense, regret. And so regret can actually become your, your friend. You can use regret to your advantage just like you can use fear to your advantage. The moment you regret something is the moment you have enough self awareness to.

Yes, yes, I get that with frustration too, where I can read the frustration and remind myself that, that if I don't respond to it, it'll get larger. Right. It's like the early warning system. And you know, I noticed as going through your, your book, I noticed one of the things that. And by the way, you are the audiobook for our Thanksgiving trip together as we drive to, from Scottsdale to Palm Springs to reunite with our LA family. And my wife and I are excited to go through it together because we are children of growth and development. Like that's the family we're born in. Right. So I know that you talk a lot about. Thank you. I know you talk a lot about passion. And passion has seemed to be like a fuel that is unlimited for me in my life. And maybe those of you that are listening have found that you've got a passion area that'll push you you through and you're so excited to do it, you never feel like it's work. Why do you encourage individuals to view their quirks or their idiosyncrasies or unconventional ideas as reservoirs of power that's going to help them strive to achieve their outcomes?

Again, this is like maybe two different things when you, your relationship to passion and your relationship to your idiosyncrasies. And let me deal with idiosyncrasies first. The reason I think it's so important to embrace those and celebrate those is that there is a cultural gravitational pull toward conformity. And by the way, it's not because it makes you better, it just makes you easier to manage.

It's safe.

Yeah. The more we can all be the same, the easier it is to manage Society. So it's not even about safe or dangerous. It's just. You're just easier to control. And, you know, and we need to realize that, you know, educational systems need children to be controllable so they can teach the content. You know, the whole school system needs children to be compliant and controllable. And so standardization becomes a normative cultural value. Governments need people to be controllable. They need you to slow down at the yellow, stop at the red, grow at the green, you know, and go with the green. Is that all these expected cultural norms are part of conformity. And when you embrace that across the board, you lose your uniqueness, you lose the thing that makes you stand out. You lose the thing that makes you different. And you actually lose, in a sense, your superpower. And so I think it's really important to go, yes, there are certain, you know, things that I want to accept social norms so that I can, you know, work with people well, work well with others. And. But at the same time, I want to keep my unique distinctives, the part of me that make me different, that allow me to stand in the world and. And then the other side of it, when you talk about passions, I was thinking about this, that. I don't know if every successful person is driven by passion. I think some successful people are driven by things like responsibility. They just. They have a high sense of responsibility for their family or for their family's legacy, their reputation. And so it's an odd thing when you begin actually to break down what drives successful people, but what drives happy people who are successful is passion. And when you actually are doing something you love, and the fuel is love, and the intention is love, and you're doing it to serve others and make the world better. And you wake up in the morning and there's this natural energy because you get to live this life. You just don't experience burnout. You know, when people talk to you about burnout, you don't know how to relate, because you don't burn out when you're doing what you love. You burn out when you're doing something you're obligated to do or something you feel responsible to do something that you feel you must do. But when you wake up going, this is what I get to do, you feel like you're cheating, and then if you get paid for it, it almost feels criminal.

You're like, you're totally talking directly to me. My uncle sent me a text, and he was like, hey, what dates are you available so we can hang out for A weekend. And I was like, oh, he doesn't understand. I'm so passionate about my work to a fault where I'm making so much progress that I almost can't get the wheel to stop because it's all just dominoes and things are developing. I don't want to take a weekend to sit around and hang out. I want to make progress, but that's how I connect. And my fuel is passion. But I could see how other people could be about responsibility or legacy or a whole variety of other types of fuel. Mine just keeps replenishing itself. It's like, it's really amazing. Look.

I know, I love that.

Yeah, thank you. I know that you're incredibly passionate about the work that you get to do. It's impact. Like you're at that impact point in your life where you get to go around and educate people on how to get the best out of themselves. Where do you think, like, what do you think people can do as a practice to promote growth and engage? Let's say, let's just talk about stimulating creativity for a second. Like, I know this is a great area, like where, what could people do to stimulate that as a practice?

Yeah, well, Todd, you know, I just turned 65amonth ago and you know, people start talking to you about, you know, are you retiring? Or like, am I retiring? I'm actually launching the next massive phase of my life.

Dude, you've got momentum.

Yeah, I'm going, I'm retiring. I spent 45 years building this platform so I could have a rocket ship that takes the next level of life. And so I don't understand how people think in terms of, you know, I'm just working toward retirement. And so I just think that's, that's one thing to me, it's really interesting. But a part of it is that sometimes people associate creativity and adaptability with age. When you're young, you're supposed to be creative and adaptive and when you're old, you're supposed to become more rigid and, you know, safer, more constant. And I actually don't find that to be true at all. I actually find that There are many 25 year olds who have the brain of 90 year olds and they're rigid, they're unchanging, they're dogmatic, they're fearful, and they're cautious. And I think the key is you have to remain incredibly curious. You have to maintain a posture of learning where you're always interested. It's not just that you're learning, you're actually interested. You're curious. You just want to learn what you don't know, you know that you don't know. And that is, I think one of the powers of it, I think one of the mind shifts in the book is no one knows what they're doing. And the great danger as you succeed is you're only doing what you know what you're doing. And so you're no longer having to learn something new. I think no matter how successful you are, you should always venture to try to do something where you're an amateur. You should always venture, try to do something that you're a beginner. So your brain is having to learn something new and adapt in a new way and explore, you know, new skills and harnessing a new craft. And so that for me it may be the most significant thing is that I have this insatiable curiosity. And in that I'm willing to be a beginner so that I can learn an entirely new craft. And it allows my mind to always stay in the state of play.

Oh, I love it. In order to grow, you have to be willing to get out of expert mindset and be comfortable in the novice mindset. I have a life story that I witnessed. I was hired by a little known surgeon, breast surgeon in Northern Virginia. And I'm on the board of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and heavily involved in the fight against cancer. And so he hired me to train him how to use video to get his message out there. And then his video started going viral. Fast forward like five years later, he had more audience than Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Cancer Institute. And he got selected by the last two administrations to be the White House chairman of the President's cancer panel. And this is all about breakthrough and transformation. When you go from being an expert and you get into a novice area and you learn a new path that can help you accelerate faster and then life begins anew again.

Right?

Like life begins at the end of our comfort zone. You see this time and again, don't you?

Oh, absolutely. And you know, it's funny with some people who ask me, well, how do I start? You know, when they're, they, they're stuck in a rut, you know, they, they, they finally recognize that they have a high level of rigid thinking. I don't try to get them to overachieve. One of the things I try to get them to do is eat at a different restaurant that you've never eaten at before.

Basic baby steps.

If you've never had Chinese, go have Chinese food and Just ask the management to bring what you shouldn't miss and just do small things. If you go to the exact same coffee shop, in fact, a lot of people I find that are highly rigid, they make their own coffee at the exact same time every single day. And I tell them, I said, look, go spend the four bucks and just walk or go somewhere to an entirely new coffee shop. Get yourself into different environments, different experiences. When you get dressed, put your left sock on first, because probably for 50 years or 40 years or 35 years, you've put your right sock on first. So now I just want you to put your left sock on first and then put your left shoe on first and you'll find yourself struggling. You literally forget how to put a sock on when you're putting them on the opposite direction. And some of it is just challenging your brain to take on new patterns, new processes, and those small things will actually help you.

I love it. I love it. A lot of people need to go through a transformation. I'm always willing to.

I'm.

I think I've made the determination that I want to grow quickly and so I can get in the way of my own growth by resisting it. When you teach people about transformation, how do we go from resisting change to enthusiastic change?

Yeah, you know, that's a really tricky thing when you're talking about how do people change? Because that, you know, that's been the epicenter of my life work is helping people change. And I think one things I've learned that's really painful is that you cannot change anyone, is that people have to want to change. And the change is completely internal. You really can't impose change on someone. Now. You can use cultural pressure to force people to conform, but they don't change. They're just conforming. They're still the same person on the inside. And so one of the things that you really have to begin with is asking a person, who do you really want to become? Not what skills do you want to gain or what career do you want to have, what goals do you want to achieve, but who do you want to become? Because really, transformational change always begins at the point of essence. What kind of person do I want to be? Do I want to be a risk taker or a safe person? Do I want to be an adventurer or do I want to be a person who's dependable? You know, it's like, you know, what, what, how do I define my own story and my own self? Do I want to be an amateur or is it really important for me, that people see me as an expert, because there's always something lost when you take on the other essential characteristic. So you have to ask yourself, who do you really want to be? Not for anyone else, and not even for the outcome goals, but who do you want to be? Because when you look in the mirror, that's the person that you've always wanted to become.

Yeah, I. I know that to be true, and I've witnessed it many times. I'm not sure if enough people have the introspection time carved out to be able to do that. For me, it's one of the best gifts that I give myself. And by acknowledging and remaining curious of, like, this ever changing nature of the world and of ourselves and our internal world, aren't we able to position ourselves for success and personal growth by just remaining curious and going out and exploring?

Yeah. You know, Todd, one of the things that I try to help people see is that, have you ever had a friend, or maybe it was you that kept saying, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this. But you never did it. You know, it's why New Year's resolutions don't work well. Well, eventually your good friends, they know you're lying. They go, you know you're just not going to do it. Even you joined the gym, but you never went. You went for January, but you never showed up in February. You know, there's a lot of things and your brain knows you're lying. When you tell your brain you're going to change. Now, you think you're telling the truth and you think you're being honest, but your brain knows when you're lying. Because the only language the brain speaks is action. When your brain sees that you've chosen a different action, then your brain goes, oh, you're telling the truth. You have actually decided to be a different person. So when your brain experiences a different action, that's when your brain begins to recalibrate, redesign, and you make a mind shift. And so it's in the power of choosing, in making the decisions. Even the smallest decision in the right direction is an act of defiance to all the set patterns in your brain.

Yes. And then with consistency, becomes the development of that skill and the confidence, and before you know it, you've got momentum. I mean, is that kind of how the pattern works?

Yeah, I remember I have these friends, they're both Olympians, and they're trying to work with their son, who's a professional athlete as well, but he was really lacking confidence. And the dad was saying, you know, I call him up and I ask him, you know, are you. Are you drinking your water? Are you doing the stretching? Are you doing this? Are you doing that? And I said, I'm walking through all the things he needs to do, but he just really lacks confidence. And I said, oh, it's because arrogance is built on talent, but confidence is built on discipline. And so because you, as his father, is actually having to hold him accountable for all the small details of discipline, that's why he doesn't have confidence. The only way he's actually going to have confidence in the field is if he has discipline off the field. And that discipline actually builds confidence. When you're just building on talent, it actually becomes arrogance. And arrogance is incredibly fragile when it's contested by someone else equally talented and disciplined.

So I know you're a sports fan. Cause I follow you. I know that just even in the beginning of your book, you're talking about Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas. And I remember that day vividly, that fight. And I think they're both examples of arrogance and lack of discipline. And. But they got discipline to get there. And then they're. You know, it's like a really interesting thing. And I've noticed that people approach me and I'm sure they do, like, they talk to you about standing on huge stadiums and getting out and speaking in front of people. And they must be like, erwin, aren't you terrified to, like, go out there? And then I'm willing to bet that this element of discipline or arrogance comes into play for you and how you prepare and create the habits and the rituals in a disciplined way so when you step out in front of an audience, you can shine and succeed. Do you have a ritual like that that allows you to perform?

I really don't have a ritual in that sense, but I do think I had the great advantage of having no talent. And, you know, I mean, some people, they have the curse of talent. So they. They got cocky young, became super arrogant. You know, I. I never had any identifiable talent, and so I always had the sense of I just have to work harder than everybody else. I just have to take bigger risks. I think a lot of the things that I'm perceived to have talent are actually because I was insanely risk taking.

And. Yeah.

And when people saw the life I lived, they assumed it was talent based, but it wasn't. It was. In that sense, it was courage based. And I just decided to use fear to my advantage. And it gave me A life that became really, really rare. And when you live a rare life, people think it's a life of talent or genius or whatever, because it's just an unexpected path. But my unexpected path wasn't based on talent or intelligence. It was really based on a ruthless determination to not be limited by fear or lack of talent. But what. You know, when I walk into an auditorium to speak, I usually walk all around the back, and I just start feeling the environment, and I'm a very environmental communicator, and I just start trying to feel what the room feels like with the buzz is going to the room. Just get a sense of. Of the organic nature of the space and what's needed. And. And then our community in Mosaic and Hollywood. My. My son's team put these words on the floor right when you walk on the platform, and it just says, this matters. And the reason it says that is because when I used to speak at a lot of events of 20, 30, 40, 50,000 people, sometimes 80, 100,000 people, I would say to myself right before I walked on the stage, this matters. And so it wasn't about I matter. And I wasn't. It wasn't at all about me. And it was that this message is so important that it will transform someone's life. So I need to get myself out of the way, because this man. Yes. And that, for me, just removed all the fear, all the anxiety, all the beautiful, you know, the sense of self that could actually cause me to trip up in that moment.

Yeah, It's a mind. It's a mind shift, isn't it? You see it, and that helps you shift from maybe being not prepared in the moment to recognizing the value of it. I also move fear to opportunity to serve people. Right before I go on stage, I look at it like, if I do experience some fear, wouldn't I rush into a burning building to help these people? Of course I would. Now, is your information powerful enough to transform them? Yes. Then get the hell out there and serve them. And I love that whole feeling of being alive and knowing that you can exponentially impact as many people as one time. Can you talk to me about Mosaic? I'm inspired by the work that you're doing. And can you introduce the audience to what that is?

Well, first of all, I would say I don't want to equate fear with nerves. And I get nervous all the time. I mean, I got jitters. I feel all of that energy inside of me. And the way I understand that when people say, you know, what do you do when you're nervous, I go, well, what you do is you realize, oh, this matters to me. Like, when something doesn't matter to you, you're not nervous. When something really matters to you, you do feel nervous because it feels bigger than you. You know, you're carrying something that is more important than you, something you don't want to diminish by not bringing your best self to that moment. And so I. I see, like. And that energy is almost like going in a hundred, you know, different directions at one time.

Yeah.

And what I want to do is take all of that. That nervousness and focus it into the power of the energy that speaks through me in that moment. And so I don't try to get rid of the nerves or try to harness them in a very particular direction. Beautiful. And that is, I think, now Mosaic is our community of faith here in la. Our primary location is right on Hollywood Boulevard. Hollywood and La Brea. It's right next to where the Stars Walk of Fame begins, and it's in the. Probably the most iconic spot in the world in terms of where a church could be located. And I started, really, Mosaic in a nightclub that Prince owned in downtown LA years ago.

Wow.

And really started this community for my friends who were atheists and agnostics and Buddhists and Hindus and Muslims and, you know, from all over the world. And I felt like I grew up irreligious, and I didn't grow up a person of faith. And a lot of the answers that I had been given, even in the exploration of religions and philosophies, I just felt like we're inadequate. And so I wanted to create a space for people who were like me, who were sincerely questioning, who had an openness to spiritual things and had even a sense that there's something beyond the material world. But didn't trust anything organized. I didn't trust any. I mean, I was really an anarchist. I didn't trust organized religion. I don't trust organized government. Any. Any. Any institution that smells of. Of that. I would just always be rebellious against that. And so here I am now. I'm a person who believes in God. I'm a person who believes in Jesus, and I'm as inherently irreligious as a person can be. So I'm like, I'm now really tormented, going, what do I do? I do not fit into any religious system, but I have a sincere faith in Jesus Christ. And I discovered there's so many people who are on a very similar journey. They just wanted a place to honestly Ask questions. And so I just removed all the non essential barriers between people and God and we started having fun and we made it incredibly creative. And, you know, I mean, this is, you know, 30 years ago. So when I started really Mosaic. And so we would use, you know, film and art and painting and stand up comedy and, you know, spoken word, and we just used the whole array of arts. We had the largest fashion show in la. I think we had over a thousand people come to our, you know, last fashion show, we were in newspapers across the world and we did a play that LA Times compared to Rent. You know, we just did a lot of things. We're just really becoming an expression of humanity. And in the middle of that, I would talk to people about who Jesus was. And I remember one Easter I did a survey and I said, if you're an atheist, but you would say, I'm an atheist, but if God's out there, I'd be open, I'd want him to find me, let me know. And over a thousand adults responded, I'm an atheist, but if there's a God, I'd be really open. I think that's what makes Mosaic really unique, is that it's not for the home team. You know, there are a lot of beautiful, great expressions of faith out there and a lot of great churches. And I just think the thing that makes us different is we use a language and an approach where a person who doesn't believe anything would feel comfortable, would understand and could really process things at a deep level. And it's not an academic place, but it is an incredibly intelligent place. And it really is a place people who have incredibly high thought, who like going deep on the human issues and really don't like cliches or superficial answers that religion usually brings. And so, you know, I love it. It's not, thank you for not calling it Mosaic Church. It's just Mosaic. And I, I chose that image because it's an art form of broken and fragmented pieces that come together like we all are beautiful, especially. And I said, you know, Mosaic is a place of broken, fragmented, all that come together and something beautiful is created, especially when light strikes through us. And, you know, it's one of the most diverse communities in the world. You know, Asian, Latin, you know, African American, you know, Caucasian, like the whole world, I think we've had up to 67 different nationalities. And in a world where, you know, where diversity is actually genuinely rare and the sense of separation and disconnection and conflict is everywhere, Mosaic is the place where you find People from all over the world coming together and creating a human community.

That's beautiful. You know, we all need that. I. I grew up in a Jewish home. I don't think I've ever talked about this. I grew up in a Jewish home, always felt the Lord's spirit in my life. My grandfather was a cantor, which is the one for those that don't know who sings in temple. And the temple was on Fairfax in Los Angeles. And about five or six years ago. Years ago now. Right on, right on. About six years ago or so, my wife and I started going to church together. My whole life changed for in an incredible way, I went from somebody listening to Howard Stern and sports radio. I worked on the Jim Rome show, if you remember Jim Rome. I was his. Did digital for him at iHeartRadio and seven of their largest talk shows for four years. And I burned out on all of that. And I ended up now making the full transition to where I really only listened to worship music. And my life became significantly better. And I lost some of my abilities to talk sports trash with my friends. But I gained so much more, and my heart changed overnight. And, you know, I think what I. A lot of things I discovered, but what I've really discovered over time, Erwin, is I'm open to change. And maybe people are resistant to change, but change is the thing that's allowed me to evolve constantly into who I'm supposed to be while I'm here.

I love that. And Todd, by the way, Mosaic has so many Jewish people, and we have quite a few rabbis who come to Mosaic.

Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.

Yeah. Actually come to me and tell me that they listen to my talks and then they translate them for their own synagogues. And it's been an interesting journey. And a lot of my friends who are Jewish have also come to faith. I don't know if you know John Gordon, but he's, you know, I don't. John is 99% Ashkenazi and 100% Jewish. And when I met him, he was a Jewish Buddhist energy coach and now is a really devote Jesus. You should have him on your show.

I'd love to.

And this week we just had on ours Ali Webb, who started a dry bar and. Oh, sure, yeah. 100% Jewish, you know, and. And she's, you know, come into this beautiful faith in Jesus. And one of the things we tell people is, you know, you don't stop being Jewish when you give your life to Jesus. You just are a completed, full, you know, Jewish person because Jesus is Jewish. And it's the most.

It's been a. You're right. It's been a really beautiful transition in my life, but not only for me, but in my relationship with my wife and in my relationship with my team at work and the audience that I get to serve. Like, it's just a wonderful, unusual transition that's happened, and I'm grateful for it. And I know this is a mind shift for me. And look, how can people find out about. More about your book? I. I know that I have the audiobook and the physical book tell people where they can get it.

There's so many different layers of things if people want to connect, you know, because what I discovered is I have so many people that I'm connected to around the world, but they're not quite ready for, like, a faith journey like Mosaic. And so I do have an online mastermind community called the arena that my son and I run together and to focus on communication, leadership, character, and big ideas. And if you want to know about anything we're doing, go to irwinmcmanus.com, you can find about all my books and especially my shift that's brand new. You can find about our online mastermind called the Arena. You can find it about Mosaic, and it's a great way just to connect with us. So erwinmcmanus.com and you can always follow me on Instagram, and we're always posting there and telling our story of all the things that we're doing.

Erwin, it's a remarkable story of transformation. Earlier, you had mentioned that you may not be talented, but all I've seen is talent. Like, I see, your ability to communicate is like frigging off the charts. But you also have a unique ability to peel back the onion in the way people think and to expose the next layer. And I think that's a really incredible talent that most people don't have and which makes you also a wonderful guiding light. He's Erwin McManus. He is an incredible coach in life, and I would encourage you to pick up his book Mind Shift and get your hands on it. You can go to Erwin McManus. Learn more information@erwinmcmanus.com Erwin, thanks for coming on to the Todcast and being a part of this episode. You're incredible, and I look forward to learning more from you over the years.

Hey, thank you so much, Todd. Thanks for having me and just love what you're doing. Take care.

Thank you so much. My man. Take care, yo. That was a powerful episode. And from what we just learned, it should be obvious how you can now implement these lessons in your life to get to the next level. Now, before you bounce, I just have three quick thoughts. First, thank you for taking me on your incredible life journey. Second, if you receive some value from me and you want to pay it forward, it would mean the world to me. If you left an honest rating and review at Apple, Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, I'd be incredibly grateful. And lastly, if you share this episode, whether it be a screenshot or a photo from where you're listening, anything via Instagram stories or LinkedIn, Facebook, or any of the social media sites, just tag me and the guest. I'll repost your content and I'll reply back in the comments because I love mixing it up. In fact, I'd love to share your shoutouts in my feed too. Not only are these shout outs really good for you and for me, but they also help us book more amazing guests because they'll be able to see the reach that you're helping to cultivate. This is a way for you to help contribute to the show. So thank you again for listening and I look forward to earning a regular spot inside that ear of yours. Let's grow.