Kind: captions
Language: en
[Music]
Hal Elrod welcome back to the show it's
great to be back man it's good to have
you back you there's something about you
and what you've gone through that I find
incredibly
useful this might be the wrong word but
you have faced death legitimately twice
you your heart actually stopped I think
for six minutes after a car accident
yeah and then not too long ago you were
diagnosed with cancer they gave you 10
to 20 chance of surviving 20 to 30 but
it's still not good yeah yeah not on the
right side of that 50 Mark no
but you have put together ways of
dealing with it before we get to the the
stuff that you cover in your Miracle
equation I want to know what it's like
when somebody tells you that you have
potentially fatal cancer like what's
that moment especially when you've been
through something like that before yeah
uh there's obviously multiple thoughts
and feelings
um but you know for me the car accident
when I was 20 it gave me a lot of faith
in the power of self-healing in the
power of Faith itself right and so the
day I was diagnosed with cancer so Faith
um
we'll come back to that but you use
Miracle Faith Like These are very
specific words yeah anyway we'll come
back to that so sorry yeah no no problem
um so we kind of talked about this one
you know last time I was here in terms
of uh one of the greatest lessons I
learned was when I was 20 years old
actually 19 years old I learned the
lesson to accept reality exactly as it
is and the other side of that coin is
that every painful emotion that we
experience is self-created by our
resistance to our reality do people push
back on you when you say that
it's not a hard in the new book you go
hard with the idea that uh whatever
negative emotion you're experiencing
that's entirely on you you create that
you can stop that uh I've gotten
pushback on ideas like that in fact the
strongest pushback I've ever gotten on
any any idea I've ever presented to the
world was that it's all your fault now
maybe that fault is the word that freaks
people out here here's the to me this is
the difference is that the difference
between responsibility and blame right
people confuse those two like I say you
know you're responsible for your life
and they go well how can I be
responsible for I wasn't responsible for
the trauma and the tragedy and the this
the that like I wasn't responsible for
my car accident right but the difference
between responsibility and blame is
blame determines who's at fault right
the drunk driver was at fault maybe your
parent was at fault for wronging you or
abusing you when you were a child
responsibility determines who's
committed to the current reality and the
future reality right so it's like I'm
not I'm not at fault for blank but I'm
responsible for how I experience every
moment of my life and that's actually
the the future of my work I feel is
really
um focusing on
teaching people how to choose their
optimal experience in every moment of
life regardless of what's going on
outside of you
do people get confused and and we will
get back to that moment where you're
told that you have terminal cancer yeah
I so the idea of choosing your
experience the fine experience for me
because the thing that's happening to
you is not necessarily the thing that
you can choose I agree with you that we
have agency but I never would have used
the word experience in your inner
experience okay right so what you think
how you feel what you focus on
um your mindset
Etc right you get to choose your
experience and the um a great example or
great is the uh Victor Frankel right he
said the the last of man's freedom is to
choose one's own attitude in any given
set of circumstances this is a guy in a
concentration camp in a concentration
for people that don't know yeah which
you know and I always think like I love
his book and his story because it's like
you know we've all got issues we've all
faced adversity it doesn't get much
worse than waiting for your day to die
having your you know he was 31 years old
wife's at home kids at home he's
watching his friends and and you know
peers being taken to the to the the gas
chamber and thinking he's going to die
and you realize oh I get to choose my
experience like that's how I would
Define it to me that's choosing my
experience I can't change what's
happening outside of me I can't change
what happened five minutes ago five
months ago five decades ago but I can
choose how I experience every moment of
my life and for me it's I want to choose
I want to experience love in every
moment I want to experience gratitude in
every moment and the date and this will
Circle back to your question the day
that I was diagnosed with cancer I I
decided I told my wife I said sweetheart
I will be the happiest most grateful
person version of myself that I've ever
been while I Endure them what I imagine
will be the most difficult time in my
life how does your wife respond in that
moment so uh let me set the stage here
so I'm guessing that in the the exact
moment that you get diagnosed that you
don't have this sort of because right
now you sound like a teacher right yeah
and I'm guessing in that moment it was
more like I just got hit with a
sledgehammer and there's like a
disorienting effect to all of that do
you have like did you have that reaction
or have you done so much work you don't
even have that reaction this is like a
monk-like existence that and and I say
that humbly here's what I mean so when I
had my car accident everything we're
talking about in terms of this mindset
of accepting reality as it is accepting
the things you can't change so you can
be at peace with it that was developed
when I was 19 in my Cutco sales training
I learned something called the five
minute rule it says it's okay to be
negative when something goes wrong but
not for more than five minutes and the
number is arbitrary to five hours fifty
minute whatever right the point is
painful emotion you're self-creating
your emotional pain based on your
resistance to reality which another way
of saying that is if you're wishing and
wanting you could change something
that's out of your control and if it
already happened it's out of your
control and so I learned that in a very
you know the context of facing rejection
and failure in a sales career but when I
came out of my coma and I was told I
would never walk again and I had to
process that and that was more what
you're talking about though like you
know I'm 20 years old I'm going wait
what I'm never going to walk again I
have 11 Broken Bones I have permanent
brain damage my ear was almost
completely severed like you know I'm
scarred beyond belief so that was a lot
of processing but I realized oh this is
that five minute rule it's just in a
much more extreme circumstance I can't
change that I was hit by a drunk driver
and if I'm in a wheelchair the rest of
my life
and I can never walk again that's my
reality who will I choose to be in that
wheelchair okay so now we have to talk
about reality so if the experts are
telling you that you're going to be in a
wheelchair for the rest of your life you
had to decide that you weren't going to
let them Define your reality and this is
where this gets I literally as you were
saying resistance to reality
I underlined the word reality because
that word is tricky and I'm the same so
I think about the mind being a
prediction engine and that I I think of
it as the closer you get to what is
objectively true the more you're able to
predict the outcome of your actions but
in that like I'm making a lot of
assumptions I'm choosing to believe one
thing over another when I don't have
enough evidence in One Direction or
another I choose the things I consider
to be useful I won't spend our time
defining that but I have a way that I
come up with what is useful how do you
decide what is real
so
so to me here's the two sides of this
coin right so I the doctors thought I
was in denial because I was you know
positive and happy and and they called
my parents in one day and they said
we're concerned with how we believe he's
in denial he's not facing this is two
weeks after the crash one week after I
came out of the coma they said we
believe he's not facing reality
essentially and that it's so painful for
him they said this is a normal response
we see with accident victims that are in
some horrific accident told they're
never gonna walk again we believe that
he can't handle his reality so he's
checked out and that's why he's always
laughing and joking and you know
whatever so my dad came into the
hospital room and expressed the doctor's
concern and he said the doctor said how
what's normal is for you to feel sad or
scared or depressed or angry with the
drunk driver angry that this happened
it's normal to feel those emotions how
are you really feeling
and I went inside and my dad was his
face is red he's trying not to cry he's
you know and I'm I can tell it's you
know he's because he's worried about
your future
he's just I think that he was they they
I think he just you know I mean he's
watching his son right it's only two
weeks removed from me being found dead
you know and uh and I'm out of the coma
for a week and so it's this very
uncertain as a dad now I can only
imagine like what I went through to me
and compared to what my parents went
through I think my parents had the worst
of it right and I think until your
parent you don't you don't make that
connection but I'm like to watch your
child go through that and have not be
able to do anything you know
and I said that Dad um
I said I thought you knew me better than
that and I said remember I live my life
by the five minute rule that I learned
in my Cutco training and he said well
what do you mean I said it's okay to be
negative and and feel sorry for yourself
but but only to a point where you
extract the lesson the value from the
circumstance or the experience and I
said I can't change that I was in a car
accident I can't change that I broke 11
bones and if the doctors are right and I
never walk again then I'll be in a
wheelchair the rest of my life so I get
to choose though how I experience every
moment on that journey and I said in Dad
I've decided and this came before the
cancer it was the first time I decided
I'll be the happiest most grateful
person you've ever seen in a wheelchair
if that's the case but I'm not accepting
that as my fate this is the other side
of the coin Tom is
I'm accepting reality exactly as it is
no matter what that is
so if I'm in a it's essentially I'm
accepting life before it even happens so
if I'm in a wheelchair the rest of my
life I've already accepted that and
decided if that's my quote unquote worst
case scenario
albeit peace in that wheelchair because
here's the thing I'm in a wheelchair
either way at that point
I'm either miserable in a wheelchair or
I'm the happiest person you've ever met
in a wheelchair either way I'm in a
wheelchair and if anybody's watching I
often ask like what's your wheelchair
like what's the circumstance in your
past or present that's out of your
control
and you're but you're allowing it you're
you're it's giving you you're allowing
it and giving yourself permission well I
feel bad because this happened in my
past I'm a victim because this is
happening in my in my current reality
versus I can't change what I can't
change but I get to choose how I
experience what I can't change how do
you walk though the path of okay I might
end up in a wheelchair and if I am I'm
gonna be the happiest ever but in the
interim I'm gonna fight really hard yes
and by the way go through a tremendous
amount of suffering I have to imagine in
rehabilitating yourself and all that so
it would have been easier to uh truly
not resist what the doctors are telling
you is real because there's going to be
less physical pain certainly in just
acquiescing to well I'm gonna be in a
wheelchair yeah it's going to be much
harder to stay optimistic to push
against that to do the physical therapy
and all of that stuff so what I'm trying
to wrap my head around is how you both
accept I I accept a few future outcome
and what whatever may be
but there are some and this is where
reconciling how sort of Hardcore
scientific push I can change and Faith
Miracle which to me in the way that I
Define those words is like utterly
detached from all that stuff yeah kind
of yes totally yeah
um the so yeah that's this is the other
side of the coin that I keep missing to
get to so here's where it's at it's I
accept my life exactly as it is and I
accept no matter what happens in my
future I accept life before it happens
yep
um while
I'm going to maintain unwavering faith
that I can create the outcome I want
until proven otherwise so the beauty of
it is what do you call proof
um that I get to a point where well it's
been x amount of time and I can't walk
again would you how do you decide that
amount of time so for instance I know
somebody that had a stroke and they're
just not years and years and years now
and they're not recovering at the rate
to the extent that they hoped they would
and they are beginning to wonder is this
a futile approach or do I keep going
so yeah it's this
it to me you can get to this place it's
almost like I guess in some ways an
enlightened state where you're ex you
accept life exactly as it is as I've
said
um while you move toward what you want
and and I'll give you like here's how
this worked out with the car accident
and I told my dad in this conversation I
said dad I accept that I may never walk
again I'm at peace with that but I'm not
deciding that's my only option I said
the doctors might be experts in medicine
but they're not experts in me and I
really believe that right like just
because you're given a statistic that's
the statistic based on the masses based
on people that live in fear based on
people that eat unhealthy based on
people that right that aren't doing any
of the things to heal themselves and so
I told my dad I said I'm going to I'm
going to pray every day I'm going to
meditate every day I'm going on healing
I'm going to visualize myself walking
again I'm going to do everything in my
within my power to create the outcome
that I want and if I get to a point
where it's like no you I can't walk
again and I don't know that time frame
right for me it essentially didn't fully
come because a week after that
conversation with my dad and the doctors
had said Your son's not going to walk
again he needs to come to grips with
that I think he's delusional he's he's
checked out a week later the doctors
came in with routine X-rays and they
said we don't know how to explain I
don't know I don't know the exact words
they said but they said hell we're gonna
let you take your first step tomorrow
and I was like even I was thinking I was
a I was thinking a year that in a year I
could heal and and walk again but it was
three weeks after the crash after my
femur broke in half and my pelvis broke
in three places that the doctor said
we're gonna you can walk again I took my
first step the next day and
you know that there was I had no science
I didn't right I wasn't reading well
what's the mind-body connection and how
did epigenetics play into this and like
I didn't know right it was very Layman's
approach to healing myself but now there
is a lot of science out there that shows
the mind-body connection let me ask you
a really pointed question do you think
you would have healed faster the same or
slower
if you knew exactly the epigenetic
scientific route to walk or is is prayer
faith
visualization all of that
more effective so let me even refine
this a little bit further assuming that
prayer visualization all that has a a
grounded real world
mechanism by which it works right so if
those things trigger something over here
do you think that if you could just pull
the epigenetic levers that you would get
the same outcome or is there I mean I
guess what I'm really asking is there a
deity that's playing some role in faith
Miracles prayer that's interesting right
and we could we could we could spend a
lot of time talking about like I have a
very unique relationship with prayer or
with God it's very it's very much I
don't know it works right I I don't for
me it's not like well what's written in
this or that is exactly how it is I
actually don't know that I don't have my
faith isn't it's really not an
unwavering faith in what someone else
told me is true it's an unwavering faith
in possibility that's it
and
from that does that mean that there is
no fate when you say possibility what do
you mean I think we create yeah I know I
think we create our fate I think that we
CR a great example if I would have lived
in fear you know and I would have
thought and I would have given up and
gone oh I'm never gonna walk again I I I
would imagine there's a strong
possibility that that would have been
the Fate I would have created and I
never would have walked again right it
was the no I'm going to walk again and
and you know I'm I think anecdotal
evidence is one of the most underrated
right like when it's dismissed like oh
no no that's just those 150 people that
did that but we don't have science yet
that proves what they did so it's
dismissed that Dr Bernie Siegel who I
had on my podcast a couple years ago
um he wrote the book love medicine and
miracles there's that word again
um and uh and Dr Bernie Siegel I read
his book when I had cancer and he said
that this is all anecdotal but he has I
think three thousand patients and he's
said that for the most part in his you
know 30-year career all of the patients
that beat cancer and many of which he
said beat cancers they shouldn't have
statistically beaten that were very
deadly they were stage four he said
those that beat their cancer they had
the mindset called unwavering Faith call
it unshakable belief like it's just
words whatever you want to call it but
they went no I'm going to live I'm going
to live for my family for my kids for
myself whatever I'm gonna beat this
cancer there's no other option for me
and he said and they and he would even
be astounded that somehow they did and
he said he watched many cancer patients
die that had cancers that they should
have beaten that were very healable
but their mindset was this is it I'm
going to die I have cancer and they
lived in fear and and it was this he
said it was self-fulfilling prophecies
on both sides
okay let's tie this back to Victor
Frankel for a second so Victor Frankel
says in Man's Search for meaning that
you could again this is in a
concentration camp you could predict
uh within 72 hours who would die because
he said once they gave up he was like
they only had 72 hours to live I
remember thinking whoa that is really
interesting now if he's right and that
just feels intuitively correct to me
that
there is going to be a biological
connection between the parts of your
subconscious that reach your conscious
mind and vice versa so your conscious
mind you can't go uh I mean maybe some
monks can but for most people you can't
go
um slow my heart rate down to exactly 42
beats per minute you can't go uh killer
T cells up ramp you know production to
whatever but truly when somebody's
Spirit breaks
there's going to be a biological
knock-on effect sure now for me to go
back and answer the question that I was
asking you I agree with you I don't
understand how the universe works so let
me just plant that flag aggressively
aggressively yeah there's something I
don't understand very clearly yeah so
everything that I say becomes a guess
but I have a guess that if I could
directly control the the epigenome if I
could directly control my biology that I
would get a superior outcome than if I
put things in the faith modality prayer
all of that now that's all I have right
now yeah so if I were diagnosed with
cancer I would first of all call you and
be like walk me through the exact
protocol because you have like all these
uh anti-cancer visualizations and all
that dude I wouldn't be above a single
bit of it I would do it all I would pray
I would do whatever the hell I needed to
do but that to me is a proxy only for
that which we don't understand yet and
so what I want to know and maybe you've
already answered it
but what I want to know is do do you
have a hunch I know you don't know do
you have a hunch that there is a
um a more powerful spiritual being thing
that like is waiting for us to to show
our faith or is this just the lever that
we have now because we don't know the
scientific levers to pull to me I would
say my and this might be controversial
for some people
um but
uh my belief in a higher power a deity a
spiritual God it is more science it's
almost more scientific
um and does that mean that ultimately
you will be able to understand in the
sort of einsteinian way of
he didn't think of God if I understand
it correctly he didn't think of God as a
person in the sky but he very much
thought that there is this higher power
whatever that we don't understand that
put all these rules into play but once
you understand the rules you really do
in his vernacular understand God's
thoughts yeah well one way and again I I
can't go deep into this but with
statement but right that everything is
energy
and so to me God is that that Ultimate
Energy that all things are born from and
die into and what it can be explained it
will ultimately be explained yeah I
think so I think it is actually
explained people just maybe aren't
making the connection right but people
that are studying
um metaphysics and and you know and and
I forgot what was that author that did
the uh that studied water right and he
would have two glasses of water and if
you put negative thoughts toward one
glass it would change the molecular
structure what you haven't seen that I'm
so skeptical you can't imagine right now
so it's a Japanese like not nakimura
it's a Japanese author
um and so yeah he so he I mean
negative thoughts towards one Loving
Thoughts towards the other glasses do
you have to put a certain amount of
distance between the two glasses of
water I don't I don't remember I'm gonna
have to learn about this oh God yeah but
you don't remember the name Japanese I
think I believe Japanese author power of
water which I mean I had somebody here
they could look this up yeah it's right
it's pretty well known awesome water
um Good Vibes bad vibes okay what I'm
trying to get to is and and so you
answer the core of my question which is
that you think in in what I'm calling
the einstinian way of like
God is the the rules of the universe you
said energy I'll just say rules of the
universe yes and that we will ultimately
be able to know these things they they
follow a set of rules so they aren't
like
they aren't unknowable undefinable where
God becomes a mystical thing don't try
to understand it because I go crazy and
I've done actually a fair amount of
thinking as to why this bugs me but I
think it's outside of the importance of
what we're talking about now but when
people say Quantum and they mean magical
it drives me nuts well if if you
remember so the miracle equation right
which I think we talked about lost when
I was here
um I like I really defined miracle I
demystified this whole chapter I think
on demystifying Miracles and it's the
idea that I don't view a miracle as some
magical unexplainable result maybe maybe
unexplainable in some ways but to me a
miracle is any result or outcome that's
beyond the realm of what you believe is
possible for you therefore when you
achieve that outcome it feels like a
miracle it feels like I can't believe I
did this and the way that I broke that
formula down well how do you create
Miracles at will it's two decisions and
if you study the world's most successful
people in all walks of life they live by
these two decisions including you
whether you're aware of it or not it's
unwavering Faith unwavering faith in
themselves what organ God they can put
it wherever they want right like it's
just I have unwavering faith that if I
do these things if I work really really
hard then I'm going to create this
outcome that I'm going to attract the
right people into my life that I'm right
that Luck's gonna come my whatever
whatever it is but you see these people
that that maintain unwavering Faith they
could do something that they had never
done before
and those are the only people that do
things they've never done before and
maybe that no one's ever done before
right but the average person goes I'm
only going to do things that I know for
sure I can do because I have evidence
that they've been that they're possible
either because I've done them before or
I've seen someone do it and I know so my
Faith's very narrow versus this
unwavering faith that I'm gonna walk
again I'm gonna I'm gonna you know reach
millions of people through impact Theory
right like you had never done that
before I'm going to build a company of
nutrition bars and sell it for a
gazillion dollars right like what right
so even unconsciously you're operating
with unwavering Faith here's one of my
favorite examples that's very tangible
take the best sport stars and where I'm
going to choose the basketball growing
up Michael Jordan that was my guy right
um you pick any sports star but it will
take basketball
the truth is hitting your career goals
is not easy you have to be willing to go
the extra mile to stand out and do hard
things better than anybody else but
there are 10 steps I want to take you
through that will 100x your efficiency
so you can crush your goals and get back
more time into your day you'll not only
get control of your time you'll learn
how to use that momentum to take on your
next big goal to help you do this I've
created a list of the 10 most impactful
things that any High achiever needs to
dominate and you can download it for
free by clicking the link in today's
description all right my friend back to
today's episode
Michael Jordan
maintained in my in my from my
assessment maintained and so Kobe Bryant
you take anybody right LeBron James
unwavering faith that they could make
every shot that they took despite the
evidence shown right so you take you
take these players that are having a
terrible game right you know you know
first quarter right oh for seven right
but but here's the thing the average
person allows that's where they lose
faith and faith is replaced by fear and
doubt it's oh dude I'm off tonight I'm
oh for seven like pass the ball to
somebody else but not Michael Jordan
give me the ball
oh I missed the eighth one I'll make the
ninth one though guaranteed oh I missed
the ninth one I'll make the tenth one
guaranteed unwavering Faith he'll make
every shot he takes and then because he
has unwavering Faith what happens in the
fourth quarter when he's had three
terrible quarters and it looks like he's
off and he should be benched people are
calling from me but Jordan's up put him
on the bench Jordan white stops shooting
your team's down it's your fault he goes
no no give me the ball dude you asked
for the ball six and you're not making
it give me the ball I have unwavering
Faith I'll make every shot that I take
and in that fourth quarter
that unwavering faith that luck Whatever
It Is God that for it comes it the
spirit is in him and he comes back in
the fourth quarter and he comes back and
he brings the team back and he wins the
game
because he maintained unwavering faith
that he could until the last possible
moment and that first decision in
isolation right unwavering Faith but it
requires the second decision which is
extraordinary effort Michael Jordan and
every highly successful person you
included maintains unwavering Faith they
can do whatever they set out to do
regardless of the what what the you know
the short-term results are showing them
the feedback immediate feedback is like
no no dude you're you're not on track
now it doesn't matter if I'm not on
track I'm going to get there watch and
they put forth that second decision
extraordinary effort
Jordan he keeps trying you're right he's
fighting for Rebound he's fighting for
everything until that last possible
moment and then at the buzzer he wins
the game and to me you can apply that
analogy to life those two decisions if
you shift how you live where you go you
know what from now on I'm going to
maintain unwavering faith in everything
I try
and here's the thing you might approach
a goal with unwavering Faith put forth
extraordinary effort and you don't reach
that goal maybe in the bigger picture
you weren't supposed to reach that goal
because that goal wasn't the end of the
road right that was you were supposed to
learn from why you failed that one time
so that you could do something bigger
and better in the future okay that's
that's supposed to talk to me about that
that feels who's defining supposed to
what context did I don't even know what
I said so basically that okay you you
have the unwavering Faith so you've made
decision number one decision number two
you put in the just massive amount of
effort but you still don't get the
outcome and you said that's because you
may not maybe you weren't supposed to
and so that's where the you said
something in in that because dude so
much of this resonates with me but you
said where you put your belief doesn't
matter you said you could put it in
anything God whatever and
that I disagree with I think where you
put it is going to matter a lot and then
this idea of supposed to
um talk to me about that those two
things yeah let's Circle back to the
supposed to but in first the where you
put the belief right so here's my
thought and I don't even know if I've
ever said it that way before that just
came through me but
um you see many people that are very
successful right I believed in myself I
believed in myself my daddy told you
know taught me to believe in whatever
right like I believed in myself I
maintained unwavering faith that I could
do anything I put my mind to and I gave
it everything I had until the last
moment and I did it right but you find
other people go
I I give it to God I had all my faith
that God would give me the power right
so again one person putting the belief
strictly on themselves might be an
atheist the other one they put all the
belief in God right and so that that's
where that came from it's again it's an
I don't know but to me that makes sense
to go well you you just see anecdotally
that there are people that their faith
is in himself and they achieve
extraordinary remarkable things and
other people their faith is that it's
actually God that's enabling them to do
that both might be right it might just
be two different ways of looking at you
know I don't know so that's my thought
on the and I'd love to hear your
thoughts on that like on though that
example of putting your faith in two
different spots but achieving the same
outcome or something remarkable
my thought on that is ultimately what
matters is the behaviors so
the reason I think it matters where you
put your belief is I think some beliefs
will cause people to do the wrong thing
but if you do the right thing even if
you do the right thing for the wrong
reason you'll still be you'll get the
outward signs of the
um the success so take Michael Jordan if
he uh trains poorly believes poorly but
still makes every basket then he's going
to win right now the odds of him making
every basket if he's training poorly are
virtually zero sure but it becomes about
you were able to make the baskets
because you had the skill set but making
the basket is ultimately what matters
and so when you think about an infinite
number of universes there's a universe
in which Michael Jordan never trains but
somehow Divine luck whatever he just
makes basket after basket and he still
becomes you know a version of the
Michael Jordan that we know but just
from a probability standpoint and who
knows if there are actually multiple
universes so we only have this one and
you get the guy that had to work so my
thing is I think when some people I'll
use the secret isn't example I have met
way more people dude and I mean way more
people that lean on the part of the
secret that I think is total [ __ ]
which is that if you wish for a parking
spot a parking spot will become
available yeah it's like no if you sit
there long enough just the the nature of
a parking spot is such that when will
come available
um so you don't believe in parking Karma
uh you have to talk to my wife I don't
know believe it or not but I'm so yeah
we could derail on Karma but so I think
that where you put that belief is
ultimately going to matter because some
beliefs are going to be more optimal at
getting you to take the action that will
yield the outcome that you want but the
reason that I believe totally with you
and the two things just that we would I
think use slightly different words so
what I tell people the first part the
unwavering faith I call the only belief
that matters and to me the only belief
that matters is that you if you believe
that humans are designed in the
following way that if you put energy and
effort into getting better at something
you will actually get better yeah so
it's like oh I failed that just means
that I need to get better at this saying
and if I put energy and effort into it I
will actually get better now if you
believe that you'll actually take the
actions yeah and so that's the second
part of that equation you have to
actually take those actions so and
that's the second part of your equation
so we both agree on that I just think
that you can put your belief in
something there is a higher for example
there is a higher power watching out for
me and the secret is that as long as I
visualize it it's going to come true
that person will fail yeah and they will
fail reliably because it's like flipping
a coin sure fifty percent of the time it
will come up heads but if your life
strategy is that it needs to come up
heads 80 of the time you're [ __ ] dude
you are you are going to get ruined yeah
and so I think that one needs to be very
thoughtful about that but to your point
about you have people that have these
extraordinary lives and one puts the
faith in God the other puts the faith in
themselves and so it begs the question
is the second part the only part that
really matters and that is my hypothesis
which is that if somehow some way you
just always did the right thing you're
going to win it's just that you know and
I know that if you don't have that
belief that you can get better you won't
put the energy in to do the other thing
yeah to do the right things so I think I
think I think we're set I think we're
saying the same thing essentially and I
think there's a little bit of confusion
with me too
um in terms of when I say putting your
faith that you could put it in God you
could put it in yourself
um and then you're a rebuttal in terms
of like you know but you can put your
faith or belief in the wrong thing right
here's what I mean I think that
the faith is in the past I mentioned in
the possibility of the outcome that you
want and I guess credit might be a
better word of what I meant when I said
you could put your faith wherever the
credit could be wherever the faith is
that it the thing you're working towards
is is possible and that therefore you're
going to give it everything you have
right and so again the credit though is
like I'm crediting my father for my
ability to do this I'm crediting myself
for my ability to do this I'm crediting
God for giving me the strength to do
this right so so I think that's my you
know slight distinction is I think I
meant more it's credit the credit could
go wherever but the Fate you have to
maintain the faith that you can achieve
the goal because again if Michael Jordan
in the game was like I have faith that
that you know that I can that I can make
every shot I take because God gives me
that power okay I have faith that I can
make every shot that I take because I'm
capable of anything that I put my mind
to okay can I give you another example
of why what you credit really matters
yeah so even adopting your new word I'm
not sure all right let me get on board
entirely
um so a lot of athletes are
superstitious and so imagine if Michael
Jordan was saying all of My Success is
because I wear one red sock and one blue
sock and then he shows up to the game
one day and oh [ __ ] there's no Red Sox
blue sock and if he believes that's
really the reason to your earlier Point
that he's missed nine shots but he still
wants the tenth because he has
unwavering faith that he's going to make
that 10th and because he believes he can
he actually gets the ball takes a shot
makes attempt when it really matters if
he doesn't call for the ball because he
doesn't have his red and blue socks he
will literally fail when I what I'm
saying is going back to the earlier
point that we made that God is knowable
I'm putting new words on that so if that
doesn't sit well with you I'll give you
a chance to push back
but I believe because I believe it's
just the rules of the universe that God
is knowable then one should be very
thoughtful about either putting their
belief in in a proxy that will never
fail you
or in the real thing now the only reason
I say a proxy that will never fail you
is because I don't think we yet know the
real thing and so to to boil it down all
the way to the hyper-specific real thing
would be very difficult
so one in my world view and I'm going to
use the word ought on purpose so one
ought because I believe that's how the
world should be one ought to place the
credit their faith all of that in in
even though I know it's a proxy
in a proxy that's never going to fail me
now ironically if nothing ever shakes
your belief in God that may be a proxy
that never fails you yeah
the proxy I have adopted in my life that
I advise people use is that the human
animal is designed to get better and you
can get so good at something that people
can't stop you from doing it and just
focus on your ability to get better put
time and energy into practice all the
things that we know made Jordan Jordan
yeah
um and you increase your likelihood of
the correct outcome the desired outcome
Yeah by thousands of percent so I think
I don't know if there's a semantic
slight difference but like using the
example of the shoes let's say he's got
you know the socks or whatever you you
use right Jordan's faith is in the socks
again no the faith is in he can make
every shot that he takes I'm saying I
don't care where that faith comes from
do you think though if he credits if his
faith is based on the Sox and the socks
are gone will it then he doesn't have
faith that he can see that's the thing
that's what I'm saying credit matters
because I agree with you the only point
I'm disagreeing because I think your
your whole thesis makes a lot of sense
the only thing and you like you said
you've never said it that way before
yeah is is when you said it doesn't
matter where you put the credit every
alarm Bell I have went off and so all
I'm pushing back on is that where you
place a credit does matter so now as I
say that if you still think no no time
you're missing something then we can go
deeper but to me just using the the
superstition about the socks as an
example
my hypothesis about life is that if one
puts their faith in a proxy that can
break socks and no the socks don't show
up and then because he lacks belief he
won't play well because I think we both
agree if his belief breaks yeah he won't
play well yeah so now all I'm saying is
whatever you credit whatever you choose
to believe in whatever your faith is
based on all of that
and maybe we need to to talk about why I
keep saying proxy but whatever your
proxy is going to be
you better pick a proxy that isn't going
to break
so here's what's Miss here's what's
missing again again we're like we're
kind of like we're like missing
something and here's what I mean
his faith is wavering using your example
I I never talked about wavering Faith
unwavering Faith you can achieve the
outcome but if it's based on socks that
could be changed well then that's
wavering faith that is waiverable
people are either in the feed right now
they want to drag me out into a field
and shoot me or like the funny thing is
this really matters to me I was just
talking to Evan Carmichael whom I love
dearly but he's like uh you know Tom
sometimes you'll go so into the Weeds on
something and I'm like Evan I can't move
forward unless I actually understand it
yeah and so what I'm trying to
understand in your belief system because
you've pulled off something so
extraordinary not once but twice I'm
trying to figure out if you agree that
well I'm trying to figure out if you
agree that a breakable proxy creates
waiverable Faith yeah and that's so then
we both agree or are you like no if
Michael Jordan wants to believe in the
Sox we're good I think he sets himself
up in an incredibly weak and dangerous
situation yeah
in that I truly believe
in fact this will be how we will put
this to bed
I believe in the following statement and
then just tell me if if you believe it
too or you disagree I believe Michael
Jordan's career would have been
substantially less if he had put his
faith in a pair of socks
then that he put it in hard ass work
yeah yeah I think that the idea of
unwavering faith is that it couldn't be
put into socks because it would be
waiverable as you said perfect
unwavering faith is that no matter what
socks I'm wearing no matter what the
other T so I think it's almost like
I'm thinking yeah big like you kind of
drilled in but let's go into the word
proxy because I think this will this
will bring everything home okay okay so
the uh I am interpreting what you say in
terms of a miracle
um prayer Faith or my
um what I call the only belief that
matters they're all just proxies what I
mean by that is in the Donald Hoffman
way so Donald Hoffman utterly
fascinating guy and he has a rubric or a
rule of thumb it's not quite the right
word here's a framework with which he
looks at the world that says we
definitively are not experiencing the
world
at the connection point to objective
truth so what he's saying to then get
into metaphor is that reality is so
complex that any creature that is born
of evolution would never optimize for
interaction with objective truth and so
the example that he gives is a computer
and I think this is brilliant
a computer functions on opening or
closing an electrical gate and so it's
zeros and ones it's either on or off
everything that you do from playing a
video game to writing an email to
sending a text message all has to do
with opening and closing electrical
gates in a certain sequence but it
happens blindingly fast
and any human if you had to open and
close the electrical gates to send an
email or to play a video game you you
just would not be able to do it our
brain doesn't work fast enough to pull
that off so we create graphical user
interfaces so when you're playing Grand
Theft Auto you have the experience that
when I you know nudge the controller the
steering wheel on the screen turns but
the reality is all that's actually
happening is your opening and closing
electrical Gates so what he's saying is
all of life is a proxy
and it's a to use the video game analogy
it's a visual proxy that allows you to
open and close those gates in a way that
is stimulative of your dopamine centers
right so that you have the sense of wow
this is fun and you know I got to play a
game but in reality you're just opening
and closing electrical Gates yeah so
what I'm saying is the the reality of
what you've done from learning to walk
again to beating cancer all of that
there is an electrical gate opening and
closing type thing where it's whether
it's killer T cells going in whether it
was sending the nutrients you were
absorbing to the right part of your
bones to heal
that's the opening and closing of the
electrical gate
the how we get there prayer meditation
visualization all of that stuff is a
proxy so if you have a proxy that works
in the right way so video games a lot of
people it costs about 350 million
dollars in five to seven years to build
a triple A game okay so that's that's
all the underpinnings to get those
electrical gates to open and close at
the right time it is obscenely
complicated yeah so we're going to work
really hard to get a proxy that doesn't
break in the case of a video game and so
what I'm saying is I think Donald
Hoffman is directionally correct in that
we we need proxies we're going to deal
with life at the level of proxy
but what I'm saying is be very careful
what proxy you use because if you use a
proxy that can break which they probably
all can at some level but if you use a
proxy that breaks easily Superstition
you're really going to be in trouble
yeah and
period that that is the sum total of
what I'm trying to communicate
everything you're saying makes sense and
I think that it goes I think over
unwavering Faith overrides all of that
right that's kind of the thing it's like
no matter what socks I'm wearing no
matter what challenges I face no matter
what the statistics are I will maintain
unwavering faith that I can achieve the
outcome that I want and if I don't I'll
be at peace with it that was my approach
to the car accident I'll maintain
unwavering faith I can walk again and if
I never walk again I'll be the happiest
most grateful person you've ever seen in
a wheelchair so I win no like not I
would you know right life's great no
matter what how do you start translating
this into things you do obviously
Miracle morning it's a routine it's a
system
how do you take those things and you you
intimated some of the stuff that you've
done around cancer like how do we
translate this into an action list so
I'll give you a real specific example
right so the miracle morning
um I had written or published four years
before I was diagnosed with cancer and
I've done the miracle morning every day
for 14 years much longer than the book's
been out right it's in 2008 is when I
started and I literally do it six days a
week on average by 6.2 who are watching
this for the first time yeah so the
miracle morning is essentially in 2008
when the U.S economy crashed I crashed
with it you know my my business failed
my house was foreclosed on my body fat
percentage tripled I canceled my gym
membership and lived on credit cards I
just and I got depressed I was just
circumstantially depressed like my life
was falling apart and the economy is
crashing the recession's getting worse
you know and a series of events led me
to a gym Roan quote Jim Rohn said your
level of success will seldom exceed your
level of personal development and that
in that moment it landed for me I'd
probably heard it before right but you
either what's Tony say you know Tony
Robbins moment of inspiration or
desperation for you to make that change
for it to hit and I go this is how I
Quantified it in my head I go okay wait
your level of success will seldom exceed
your level of personal development on a
scale of one to ten what level of
success do I want that's why I asked
myself I went well 10. I don't know
anyone that doesn't want level 10
success right meaning it's this human
innate drive and desire to make life as
great as it can be I want level 10
Health I want to be as happy as I can be
I want to be as financially secure as I
can be I want to be as energized as I
can be right on a scale of one to ten if
I'm measuring any positive aspirational
outcome or way of being I want level 10.
and then I ask myself
okay my level of success will seldom
exceed my level of personal development
what level of personal development am I
operating at right now and again this
was 2008 it was about six months into
this downward spiral where I'm just
hopeless nothing's working I'm trying to
sign clients not only am I not signing
new clients because nobody has any money
because the economy my current clients
are just continuously quitting you know
um and uh again the house is being
foreclosed on which is my first house
that I had bought a year and a half
before like living the dream and now
it's falling apart and so at that time
my level of personal development was
like a two or three you know like I
wasn't reading I was literally in
desperation mode where I would wake up
at the last possible minute go into my
office stare at my computer call people
try to get business right and then I
would do that until my eyes bled at the
end of the night and I'd go watch TV for
an hour and go to bed that was that was
rinse and repeat
and so at that time my personal
development was it a two or three now
that I believe this is the visual
disconnect every person that I'm aware
of wants to experience the greatest
level of success and fulfillment and joy
and health and happiness that they can
level 10. but if your level of personal
development which I would Define as your
internal way of showing up to the world
your the knowledge that you possess the
skills that you've Acquired and
developed the habits that you've
established in your life the mindset the
confidence right that's your personal
development right who you are so if you
want level 10 success but your level of
personal development is that a two or
three I believe this is the disconnect
for our society
and so in that moment when I heard this
quote from Jim Rohn I went so wait I've
got to create a personal development
ritual that is so effective that enables
me to learn grow evolve
and become a better version of myself
ultimately that level 10 version the
best version of me so that I can create
and sustain that level 10 success that I
want
so I went home I spent I was on a run I
spent an hour Googling
what are the world's most successful
people do for personal development what
are the best rituals best routines and I
was looking for like the one like what's
the one that I could do and I ended up
with a list of six practices
and I got a little overwhelmed I wrote
down meditation a