Unleashing Potential: Reinvention and Self-Mastery

Foreign.

What is up? What is up? You know, for decades, I mean, literally decades, I was frustrated inside because I didn't feel like I was living the life that I envisioned for myself. And my life really began like it started all of the sudden when I got irritated, when I got frustrated, when I stopped being comfortable and needing being comfortable. And I realized that that comfort was the enemy of my growth. And my life began when I stopped playing small and I knew I was worthy of the next level. Growth and expansion to serve people and to help you reinvent yourself. Well, I'm joined right now by Craig Siegel, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal and USA Today best selling author of the the Reinvention formula. Craig, thanks for joining me on the.

Todcast, Brother, there's no place in the world that I would rather be than right here with you. Let's have some fun. Let's run it back. Let's drop some nuggets. Let's get nuts, dude.

I absolutely love it.

Okay?

One of the things that I love is that you seized your moment and that you went through it. You might drop the number one bestseller, a TED Talk, you host CLS Experience podcast, and you've done interviews with superstars and all this good stuff, brother. But you went through crisis. And often it's like, crisis that pushes us out of this safety comfort zone. What was your comfort zone like before you had to push yourself out, open up your wings and start to soar?

It's funny because you, you nailed it, right? We, we typically have to go through something kind of like the butterfly, go through that cocoon, and then I think that pain ends up being the portal to expansion for me. My story was I was on Wall street for 13 years prior to the pandemic, and I was making money and I was doing the stock thing for a while, and then I left and started my own business. And on the outside, I was what you'd call successful. But then again, what is the definition of success, right? I think everybody probably looks at that a little bit differently. And for me, I could tell you right now, looking back, I was not successful because I was miserable and I was a gladiator in the wrong arena and I was totally out of alignment. And I wouldn't change a thing on my journey because I had to go through that and so forth. And. But ultimately, I just started feeling that I was here for something much more, something much bigger, more unique than what I was doing. And so, because I didn't create the white space to put it together, you know, being in Wall Street In New York City, it's go, go, go. That's on me. I just started to get really, really, I would say depressed. Wasn't like I was, you know, diagnosed with that, but that's how I felt. And I was in a really dark place. And the way I started to get out of my comfort zone was out of nowhere, I started feeling very cold to start running and running marathons. And that was pivotal for me because I'd never ran before. I always liked to work out, but running, forget about it. Now I'm stepping out of my comfort zone. I'm running marathons and starting to run really fast. And that showed me that I could be successful at something that I didn't necessarily have experience in. And then fast forward the pandemic.

Are you okay if I punch in on this topic? Because before I, you know, for. For four years, I was trying to get Tony Robbins to say yes and make me a speaker. And I was. I went on runs every morning, maybe five days a week. And as I was running, I created a play. I had pain going on. Not pain physical, but pain. Because I wasn't where I wanted to be in my life. And every day I put myself into an exercise that was not my normal exercise, but it gave me, like, strength and confidence to conquer. And when I finished the. The run every day, I. I always went through the ritual of triumph and victory. How is that important for you, like, to. To, like, push yourself and to deal with the exercise of the self talk? Like, there's nothing more empowering than mastering the self talk that a runner needs. Did you experience something similar and then you found a newfound strength inside of you?

That's right, brother. People always ask me, like, why do you love running so much? For me, it's a metaphor for life, because it is. It's that voice in your head, that co pilot, that inner cellmate, Satan, the opponent, ego, whatever you want to call them. And if we can figure out the tools to keep that at bay and overcome that, those are transferable for life. And so at that time, I wasn't looking to become a professional runner. I was looking to find what I'm doing now, which is help people over the world, coaching, speaking, book, podcast, investing, all that stuff. But running for me was the thing that led to the thing, right?

And it gave you the confidence to tackle something new, become a novice in it, so you could learn a lot of those experiences of overcoming challenges and learning new tricks in order to apply it in other people. When you're coaching them to overcome Am I. Am I on the right path?

You couldn't be more on the right path, brother. Nailed it. That's what. That's what it's all about, is to be able to have systems and tools in place to overcome that. I think limiting beliefs, the ego, the opponents, that's what plagues most people. Most people don't realize they can create a system to actually overcome that voice. And when we do that, we create a new level of expansion for us. Everyone's obviously on different levels.

Okay. The pain that we go through the. Of being stuck pushing ourselves out, learning a new skill that is not a natural skill for us creates the confidence of taking on new challenges. It isn't so much about the running. It's about the confidence and growth generated. Like, let me give you an example. I'm asthmatic. Or maybe I should say I used to be asthmatic. And I always limited myself with running. But what I discovered is by exercising my lungs and my brain, I became strong in an area that I would have stayed away from. And that allowed me the confidence to take on new challenges and to go out and open up my wings and soar. And it sounds like. Like, what if the power of reinventing ourselves, not just in the physical activity, but using the physical activity, would give us the freedom to do what we were born to do? Like, that's what I see. Like, when you post videos of yourself, I see you using it as a moment to reinvent and inspire while boosting up the confidence. And I think there's a lot of people that are out there right now in this world that are hearing this conversation that are like, well, what could I pick up that I could use as a catalyst to give me the confidence and the strength to go on and persevere in the other parts of my life? How do people find that?

Yeah. Love you. So there's that right on. And I did a whole TED talk about reinventing, reinvention. And I think that most people hear that phrase and they think it's starting over. That could not be farther from the truth. Reinventing is finishing and executing on what you've been dying to do. It's about the journey back to yourself. And essentially, we're reinventing ourselves every single day. Maybe not the career. Right. But just reinventing our frame of mind, our identity, our perception of what's possible for us, reinventing how much of our capacity we could tap into and so forth. And for me, running gave me that outlet. That's why I like to call it an arena. And for Anybody listening right now? If you're looking for something else in your life, which I know a lot of people are, if you just look at the stats, it doesn't have to be the exact thing that might be the next thing, but push yourself out of your comfort zone. If not running, find something that suits you. But as you to stretch yourself in.

That, it needs to be a stretch though. So like it's something that you haven't done that you've got to build confidence around in order to then have a newfound version of yourself. Like you just said, what have you been dying to do? And what I thought is dying to do, like there's like inside that frustration, that pain, that irritation that I'm living with, is the, the choice that I'm making when I'm not doing what I was born to do. So what are you dying to do and how do we get into that?

Yeah, that's the good stuff, right? And that takes some time. Specifically, white space, right. When you're grinding or you're working so much, like in the business, it's impossible to channel the downloads. You know the term divine intervention or divine downloads, what is that? Those are the best ideas in the world that come from source, creator, whatever your thing is, right. How do we become available to receive white space? Yeah, there's gotta be a space where you're not working on something specifically and you could tap into your creativity and create that channel. So for anyone listening, I know you attract a lot of high achievers and so forth. You actually have to put that stuff in your calendar, go for a walk, go for a run, whatever your thing is, but just allow stuff to come through.

I woke up and vacant this morning, which is not me normally, like there was no emotion. I was exhausted, without passion, and all I could think of was the last thing I want to do is go on my four mile hike in the mountains. But I knew the end goal was the feeling of euphoria that I get when I do it. And so I had to motivate myself on the end goal, not the first few steps. And for me that's like, that gave me the white space and what I mean, white space. I think for those listening, what Craig and I are talking about is the space in our brain to listen to Source, to God, the universe, love, whatever you call it, and then find that message that's going to allow you to be your best version for the day. And for me it was definitely, you know, I live up in the mountains north of Scottsdale, Arizona, and getting out There. And hiking with the deer this morning and seeing them and go, going through their morning with them, watching the sun come up gave me everything I needed to be the best version of myself today. But if I denied myself of that, I would have missed the white space and I would have had too much clutter and the day would have been miserable all the way around. Do you start elevating yourself with exercise first or do you wait till the end of the day?

No, first thing, brother. So today, this morning, I woke up and I ran 10 miles Central Park. But here's the thing.

Are you trying to one up me? You try to one up me.

Hiking is great. Yeah, no, hiking is great. So for me, my morning routine is two hours. My fiance is always like, what the hell are you doing for two hours? Do you have to wake up earlier? I'm like, you don't get it. I'm pouring out to people the world all day long, right? Whether it's coaching, podcast speak, whatever case may be for me, it's a non negotiable to charge up in the morning. So what I mean by that is I'm doing some sort of personal development, whether I'm reading the Zohar, I'm praying, I'm listening to a podcast, just something that's getting me in the right state of mind and also learning something. And then right after that I attack my workout and then I start the day. So I get this all done before I even have my first meeting. Non negotiable. And because it's so important to me, I'll wake up even earlier to make sure that I get that in.

It's so great. My first meeting with Tony, I went to UPW and I walked the Kohl's and by the time I got back to my hotel room, it was 3:30 in the morning. My meeting was at 8 and I didn't fall asleep till 4. But I knew I had to get up and do my two hours of working out and exercising in order to arrive with the right level of love and desire to serve and energy. And so I got like 90 minutes of sleep, showed up for the most important meeting of my life. Crushed it. And what I think you're saying is what I call and it's non negotiable. And I call it the first act of the heart. The first act of the heart is an act of loving self kindness. Because the heart's first act is a pumping action. It takes the oxygen depleted blood that just circulated through your body, pushes it first act right into the lungs enriches it and puts it right back into the heart so it can feed itself before it feeds other people. And if you get up each day like Craig and I do and what we bond around is service, we love to serve people and help them get to their next level in life. But the only way we can do it, and the only way that you can do it is if it's a non negotiable first act of your day, an act of loving self kindness. And what I've discovered is as a lifetime gym person, the people that are there in the morning, it's non negotiable because you own the morning. But the people that work out in the afternoon are the ones that don't hit their goals as consistently because everybody else's agenda can get in your way of you getting there. Have you experienced that? Is that why it's non negotiable for you in the morning?

I'm just curious, is that based upon statistics or based on what you've seen?

Now? I just. Well, I'm a former talk show host, so I'm licensed to create stats like this, but it's just my own observation.

No, I would, I would almost guarantee that that's accurate. And I think everybody knows if they want to be asked themselves, like, if you don't do it first thing in.

The morning, it ain't happening.

That it might. But the chances are of getting derailed are very high because then life happens, right? So if you want to make sure that you get it done, that you love yourself, that you cross it off the list, then do that before the chaos of the day.

Hey, Craig, why do you feel that the greatest feeling is the comeback? Like, what is it about the comeback that inside people is like the euphoric breakthrough transformation that doesn't compare to other things in their life?

You know what, brother? First of all, everyone is starring in their own movie and everyone else in their movie are just extras. And typically, this is a hero's journey. Even if you look at the actual best movies ever or the Dark Night of the Soul, we're all going to go through trials and tribulations, obstacles and challenges. Specifically those that really take a swing at life and play big and leave their comfort zone, right? Because sometimes when you push the limits, the limits often push back. And so I can only speak for myself, but also interviewing some of the biggest athletes in the world, you don't really learn a whole lot from successes, right? But the failures, the setbacks, every time you fall, those are some of the greatest lessons. And they should be able to make you wiser, stronger, more battle tested, more resilient. And for anybody that's playing life in a big way and that goes through some stuff because it is made up of seasons, that comeback is so gratifying because you had to earn it. You had to build that vessel. And oftentimes if someone achieves success without going through some stuff, typically they'll find a way to sabotage it. It won't last, or it's not from the right consciousness. But when we build that vessel to receive, to go through it, and then we operate from that consciousness and we kind of come back. There's nothing more special or gratifying than coming back after we stumble. And that's why for all you listeners, I encourage you, don't be so upset if you stumble. That means you're trying to. Right? But how are we going to respond? What happens next? That should be the main focal point.

Yeah, bro. You know what's really funny is the stories that I tell at happy hour with friends after a glass of wine is, are typically the stories of failure because they have silver linings. The stories that I tell on stage are the setbacks because I know that they are the ones that spurred on learning. But I also know there's that these setback stories or are really the ones that are so valuable because the audience can relate to it. My wife's always like, okay, so you got your ass kicked there. Put that in your, put that in your list of stage stories and figure out where you can share that and how do we turn this? So like my first instinct when I fail or I have something go wrong is how can I tell this ass kick story and how can I dedicate the story to the breakthrough in the transformation? Because I'm just going to use the ass kicking part is the beginning and I'm going to show people the transformation. And it sounds like you do this also. Craig Siegel people want to learn more about you. I know this. Where can people learn more about you and the great work that you can do in their life?

I think the podcast is CLS experience top.05% in the world. Lot of nuggets, inspirational stories, big time celebrity guest. Obviously the book, the reinvention formula anywhere you buy books. If you like inspirational nuggets throughout the week. We send out free text throughout the week. Text 917-634-3796 Text the word Todd so that I know you heard here then anywhere on social media. Eric Siegel underscore cls obviously there's ways to work with us, one on one coaching. We have different programs and membership and community which has a few hundred people in there. It's exploding. But we also do a lot of free content. I genuinely want to help people. I want to see everybody thrive, tap into their unique gifts, channel those, reveal light and so forth. And so I love to engage. Come say hello.

Beautiful. Okay, do me a favor for all of us out there that are dyslexic, that didn't write that number down the first time, give it one more time. And then for all of you, you're going to text the word Todd, but Craig's going to give you that number. Here you go.

917-634-3796. Beautiful.

He's Craig Siegel. He is a number one best selling author for the Reinvention formula. You can pick this up anywhere, like Amazon. He's also a TedX speaker. A seven time, seven time marathon. Are you now eight time, brother.

Seven time. And we have New York City, which will be number eight coming up right after my wedding this November.

So happy for you. Congratulations. Thank you for joining me on the Todcast. Can't wait to see you again in person.

Thank you, brother. Love you.

Take care. Love you too, man. Now that's Craig Siegel joining us and I'm going to peace out. But thank you guys so much for joining me right here on the Todcast. 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 shout outs 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.