Episode 079 – C. Gordon Moose

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C. Gordon Moose
Negative thing is a manifestation of what I talked about before. Fear, doubt, confusion, indecision and worry, righ? And you’ve got a saying about worry that said your worry doesn’t rob tomorrow of its sorrow it robs today of its joy, right. So worrying about something happens tomorrow Good. It’s not going to stop it from happening, but it’s gonna make today miserable.

Richard Matthews
…

Hello, and welcome back to The HERO Show. My name is Richard Matthews and I am live on the line today with C Gordon Moose. Are you there?

C. Gordon Moose
I am.

Richard Matthews
Awesome.

Glad to have you here, Gordon. For our guests that don’t know who you are. I’m going to run through just a brief introduction for them. that you are a trainer and you train people how to find focus, you are the author of a couple of courses on that topic with “Find Your Focus” and then also a couple of course on the principles behind thinking Grow Rich, so you do a lot of training in that space. And you know, before we even got on the interview, we’re talking about moving that whole like we’re doing some training with thinking Grow Rich down in Haiti. So that’s got some good things that are going on there. My first question for you, Gordon is what is it that you’re known for now? Why do people come to you? Why do they hire you? What is the basics of your business, basically?

So I’ve done a couple of different things. But, with regard to this, the Find your focus, I’ve been a student of Bob Proctor, many, many people know who Bob Proctor is I worked with him for years. He was the number one guy in the movie, The Secret and he’s a big Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill fan. He actually knew Napoleon Hill. And I think he’s one of the last I think there’s about two or three people left that have a direct connection to Napoleon Hill and Bob’s one of them, you know, and people. I trained as a protege of Bob’s. Bob was a protege of Napoleon Hill. So I have an area of expertise in the Think and Grow Rich philosophy. I’ve been studying it and applying it to my life for several decades. And so people recognize that and they come to me when they want training around Think and Grow Rich. And then, my program has evolved, take it one step further revolves around focus and how we find, maintain and sustain our focus for long term success.

Awesome. And so is that your your primary revenue generator right now is the courses in the training or do you have other other businesses that you run?

Well, I’m moving towards doing this full time. But I’m also a real estate consultant. I’ve got, you know, some expertise in commercial real estate. So I work for a company that does insurance work, they negotiate insurance claims, and I work with them as well but The Find Your Focus stuff and Think and Grow Rich stuff is really my passion.

Awesome. That sounds like a it’s a fun space to be in. So my first like, real question is about your origin story, right? Every hero has their origin story, you started to realize that you were different than maybe you had superpowers and maybe you could use them to help other people where you started to really develop or discover the value you can bring to this world sort of how did you get started in the entrepreneur journey?

C. Gordon Moose
Well, like a lot of people was out of necessity out of – just you wanted something. And so I played hockey all my life. And you know, my dad was a professor, he never earned a lot of money. And he was very frugal. So I remember when I was about 12 or 13 years old. He took me down to the rink, and we were going to do for an equipment swap, because when you’re that age, you outgrow your equipment in half a season.

Richard Matthews
Yeah.

C. Gordon Moose
They would always swap equipment so you get used equipment and which was fine for the most part, but I wanted my own skates. I didn’t want somebody else’s skates. So my dad said, well, the skates cost x and I think back then X was about 50 bucks and a new pair cost for about 100 bucks. So he said, I’ll give you the 50 bucks for the used pair, but I’m not springing 100 bucks for a new pair. So I went home and, I was all upset, and I was probably 12 or 13 years old.

Richard Matthews
Yeah

C. Gordon Moose
My mom, a mom who was a real entrepreneur in the family, you might not my dad was the intellect. You know, she said, well cut a deal with your dad and figure out a way to get the other 50 bucks and to have him donate 50 bucks and have a match or 50 bucks and go buy a new pair of skates. So the light bulb went off. And she said, I said, How am I gonna do that? She goes, go, go, go, go get a paper route or shovel your shovel drives or cut grass or do whatever walk dogs, right. So the light bulb went off. And again, to make a long story short, I cut a deal with my dad. And I wouldn’t be surprised if my mom set him up for this because that’s how smart she was. I went I said, Dad, listen, if I bring $1 will you match? $1? He said, You know, he said, Yeah, I’ll be I’ll match it up. Well, that’s the way it worked until I was about 17. When I was actually making me a couple hundred bucks a week I’d come home with my paycheck and I said, “Dad, here’s my paycheck.” And he’d write me a check for whatever my paycheck was. Because I steal I struck with him, you know what I mean? So while everybody else is making minimum wage, I was making twice minimum wage because my dad was, and then when I was 17 years old, he said enough of this, you know, it was a big deal. When you’re a kid making 50 bucks a month, he said, but you know, now you’re making 100 or 200 bucks a week, forget it. So, but that’s where I caught the bug. You know, I really the light bulb went off and said, you know, if I want something, what’s stopping me from going out and getting it except my own my mindset except my own limitation. So it really I really caught the bug when I was a little kid.

Richard Matthews
Yeah, reminds me of my story. I was 13 or so when I decided I needed to get into business for the first time. And I convinced my dad to give me a loan for 50 bucks so I could buy candy. And I was buying all the big fancy candies at the big box store and bringing them to school and you know, like the proverbial guy on a New York with a trench coat showing them my wares. a backpack full of all the big candies they couldn’t get this school. I sold about 1500 dollars of of candy before I got shut down by the powers that be.

Did your dad charge interest? My dad used to charge interest.

He did not charge me interest but I did have to pay him back. So you know, of course so I got the 50 bucks in. It really blew me away because like I got 50 bucks and I bought $50 worth of candy and I sold it and I had $100 and so I had to pay back my dad back 50 and then I had to go buy more inventory. So I had zero dollars at the end and I was like all blown away. I was like, I made $100 and I have nothing to show for it.

And I had to have someone explained to me what like profits and margin and all that stuff where. So it was good lesson for 13 year old.

C. Gordon Moose
Right. Right.

Richard Matthews
I think it’s a lesson the enough kids aren’t taught these days. I mean, it really teaches you about all that stuff which is obviously valuable as you become an adult,

Absolutely. And it’s really great to learn that as a kid too and learn that you are the master of your destiny, so to speak. And, it’s nice to get started young with that. So I am really quite jealous that you managed to convince your dad to match your earnings.

It was my mom’s idea and I just the light, literally the light bulb went off and I said, you think you would do that? And she kind of shrugged her shoulders. So all you should ask him and I’m pretty sure she prepped him because he agreed to it. And it was great until I started actually making some money and then he would, I bring my, I couldn’t wait to bring my paycheck home. Show it to my dad and I’d stand right over him right out the check and you know, it got to a point I was about 16 and a half or 17 years old he said enough of this. This is it. I’m not – no more.

I’m not matching you anymore. It was a good deal while it was going.

It’s a great deal. You know what I mean? And you know, of course he told me don’t tell your brothers and sisters this you know what I mean? I was motivated. I mean, I had money. I was a kid, I had money, I bought my own car when I was 16 cash, and it really opened my eyes and say, I am the only limits I have with regard to this sort of the limits I put on myself, you know, and so I went out awesome.

So when did you get into the training you do now for Find Your Focus?

So the first time I was exposed to the book, I was in high school and, I grew up in Cleveland, I was a pretty good hockey player. And, as our coach gave it to us, and I looked at it and threw it aside, I didn’t read it. I wish I would have because my career would have been a lot better. But it was years later that I was exposed to it where I had an opportunity to go to a an event where Zig Ziglar was there. God rest his soul. He’s passed away. Bob Proctor was there. And I was a young man, Suzanne Somers was there, which you may not know who Suzanne Somers is that.

I’ve heard of her.

C. Gordon Moose
Well she was a pretty attractive actress. I want to go and meet her. Well, it ended up that the person that resonated the most with me was Bob Proctor. And you know, he was speaking I never heard of him before. I never never knew who he was or anything. And he was just what he was saying was resonating with me. It was all about the principles of success, you know. And so that’s what was my first exposure. And then years later, I had an opportunity to do a year long program with him. It was a inaugural program that he did with two other people. And it was called the head of the table. It was a very exciting was a six figure cost. I mean, but we we flew all over the country. We stayed at, you know, really, five star resorts and I was with 22 other people from all over the world that could afford to write a check that big and it was the best money I ever spent. And that’s really where I got immersed in it. And I started to study it, I studied it more and studied more and started implementing into my life. And then I realized there were some gaps for me with the, for anybody that’s read the book, it was written a long time ago, but it’s still relevant. However, there are some gaps. So I I went on a journey to really search and find out where those gaps. You know, at one point I read 188 books in one year looking for that everything from self help books to autobiographies to ancient texts that go back to the Betas, and Marcus Aurelius. And, you know, in The Art of War and all kinds of stuff, and I did this and I documented it all. And I share this with people and say, Wow, that’s really awesome. They said, Could you train me? Can you teach me, you know, and train me on this stuff? I said, Yeah, so I started putting classes together and I, your people willing to pay and it evolved kind of by default, and then within the last year or 18 months, I’ve really started to you work it by design. And you know, the thing I love about it is there’s nothing more gratifying to see somebody get an idea for themselves for the first time. And it really alters the way they think about their future or their family or their health or wellness. And that’s the most gratifying thing about what I do. I just I really, and I think we all have this in us we don’t we all love to help people, you know, we love to see people grow, and to do something that’s significant that really makes a difference for them. And you know, people are willing to pay me. So it’s one of the ways I feed my family.

Richard Matthews
Makes a lot of sense. And it’s a cool sort of, like origin story too. And, you know, reading 180 books, not a lot of people have read that many books in their whole life, let alone in a year.

Well, I took a year off and I did it. I was reading four books at a time and you know, not to go off on a tangent, but the way I would do it was I’d read one chapter out of each book, it was sitting there so before you know it, I was actually reading four books at the same time. And, you know, I it was 188 books and I, you know, people say, Well, why just stop there. I said, What happened was, no matter what book I was reading, I was getting the same message. And it was the same recurring message and it was the message that I, it was the original message, from Think and Grow Rich, because if you really think about it, you know, principles of Success are as old as human beings are, we’ve been studying this, and putting into practice in one form or another. So I really got to a point where my vessel was full. And it was time for me to start to share it. And that’s, that’s why I just, I continue to read. I read about a book a week, but it’s not at the same pace of, three or four books a week. But I was just very hungry for more information. I was just on a quest and that’s just how it ended up.

I was just listening to audio book of Jordan Peterson says a couple Rules for Life Forever. And he mentioned like that same same idea that you just mentioned, that I was reading this morning that our pathways for success have sort of been built in for a millennia. And there’s not much new we already sort of know what it is that leads to success. And it’s matter of like, doing it.

Getting into action. That’s exactly right. I mean, it’s, you know, the different between knowing and doing, there’s a big gap there. And, Bob Proctor calls it the knowing and doing gap. I mean, you know, listen, we all know how to lose weight, you know, you eat less and exercise more. But why are we so many people overweight? Well, they just don’t get into action. You know, they don’t, they don’t alter their mindset. And so the knowing of it isn’t always what the key is, it’s the knowledge and the application of that knowledge and having a plan so that you can actually implement and get into action. That’s what makes a difference. And that’s the difference between people that are really highly successful people that are less successful.

It’s just the difference of how much they’re willing to actually do things different. Be out of their comfort zone and, and you know, change.

Exactly. Yep. I totally agree with you.

So my next question for you is about your superpowers. Superpowers is what you do or build of offer this world. It really helps solve problems for people. And the way I’ve been framing this recently for guests on the show is in your subset of skills, you probably have one skill that you’ve noticed has energized the rest of them. That’s sort of like powers all of your other skills. Do you? Or have you thought about what that is for you? What is the sort of the underlying skill set that allows you to do all the things that you do?

Can we have more than one? If we have multiple –

You know, it’s interesting, you know, self esteem and self image is very important. And, you know, for whatever reason, I’ve always said, I think it’s because of my parents. My parents were very supportive and very loving and, all of us kids have a pretty good self image. So I think that has a lot to do with it. But what people have told me, and so I have to believe what people tell me because I hear it over and over again, is that they say I’m a really good listener. And they say that I have the ability of taking relatively complex concepts and putting it into everyday practical ways that people can very easily understand and a lot of these principles can be complex. However, they’re very simple. Simple at the root. And so people’s people have told me I’m a very good listener. And that I also can explain complex things a very simple way.

You can.

I call that ability, the ability to put the cookies on the lower shelf.

C. Gordon Moose
I like that, I never heard that before.

Richard Matthews
So I just have my phrase for it, is you can take the cookies from up here, you can put them down here where everyone else can reach them.

I like them. I’ve never heard that before. Do you mind if I use that?

Absolutely. You can certainly steal that is because I’ve had I’ve had people tell me the same thing is that you’re really good at at explaining complicated things because I do a lot of stuff in the tech space. And so I can speak the tech language really well. Look, there’s our new cat that keeps interjecting on our our podcast stuff.

Wow. Participate,

Wants to participate. But that ability to take something complex and make it simple enough for someone else to understand, which is a really useful and powerful skill. And to your point, one of the things that I think powers that is empathy, right, the ability to see the world the way someone else does. And listening is a really key indicator of someone who has a high empathy of skill set as well. So I think they all sort of tied together in that in that vein.

Well, you know, it’s interesting, I was just rewriting – I don’t know if you’ve ever read the book, but it’s a phenomenal book. It’s really a blueprint for success. And one of the chapters is organized planning. That’s the sixth principle out of the 13. And in that chapter, it talks about the seven leadership tenants what all great leaders do, and I just literally rewrote it, you can’t see what’s on my desk. So I rewrote it because every now and then I’ll take it, a rewrite it just so it’s present to me again. And the last one, the last one is of the 11. Number 11 is a hot ticket 100% responsibility for your feelings, your thoughts, your feelings and your actions. The number 10, one is exactly what you just said empathy. And consideration for other people, and that is a leadership tenant.

And it’s – the empathy one is really, it seems ethereal. Because to have empathy, you have to actually care about the other person, right? It’s not something that you can fake. And a lot of people are like, Well, you know, how do you how do you become a good listener? How do you care about the other person and the trick to that is you have to actually care. You have to care about them, care about their being, care about their future, and that kind of stuff.

I totally agree with you. And you know, I’m a firm believer that we’re all universally connected. I mean, there’s, we’re all connected. So when you start to look at each other, you know, we have a tendency to look and see what the differences are between each other. But the reality is, we have far more similarities than we do differences. And when you get connected to that, and you’re connected with the person you’re talking to, you can have empathy for them because you can you can see the world from their perspective.

To pull up, To Kill a Mockingbird, you can put you put their shoes on and walk a mile in their shoes. Really understand what they’re going through. And to your point with leadership, it’s one of those things that’s really required. You can’t lead a team or lead your family or lead anything unless you really understand what other people care about and what they want where they want to go.

Absolutely.

Awesome. So the other side, the flip side of that superpower coin is the fatal flaw. So just like Superman has his Kryptonite in your world and your business. Think of the Kryptonite as something that’s held you back in your business, something you’ve had to overcome. I think more importantly than what it is, how have you dealt with that? So people who are listening and suffer from the same thing might learn from your experience there?

Sure. Absolutely. Well, I’ll take it right out of the book. I mean, the last chapter of the book is called Outwitting the Six Ghosts, talks about the six. The six human fears that I don’t care who you are, where you’re born. When you were born, if you’re human, these are part of your design. And I feel like we can get through those real quickly because one of them is answers the question. So it’s the fear of – the fear of poverty, or the fear of success, right? Those are polar opposites.

Yeah.

C. Gordon Moose
The fear of judgment or criticism. That’s number two, the fear of loss of affinity or friendship, or love.

Richard Matthews
Yeah.

C. Gordon Moose
That’s number three. The fourth one is the fear of ill health or illness, fear of old age, and the last one you could probably guess is the fear of death. Right?

Richard Matthews
Yeah.

C. Gordon Moose
Of the thousands of people that I put through my program. I’ve had people come up with different fears, fear of heights. Well, it’s not a fear, it is the fear of death. Fear of spiders, no you’re not afraid of a little spider. You’re afraid of getting bitten and getting sick, right? All the fears basically fit in your fear of public speaking. People aren’t afraid of public speaking. They’re afraid of being judged or afraid of being criticized, right? So for me, it’s really it boils down to anywhere where I’ve been stopped in my life, it boils down to fear, doubt, confusion, indecision or worry, one of those five things are in place. So, you know, my Kryptonite is my fear of judgment or fear or criticism. Right? And, you know, part of that has held me back and it’s about credibility. You know, when you’re talking about something and you claim to be an expert on something, you better have you better back it up, you know, what did Joe DiMaggio say, bragging isn’t a bragging if you can back it up, right. So for me –

For years, one of the things that stopped me from really taking the lid off this was the fact that I said, well, who am I to talk about success, when I’m not making seven figures or whatever it is, you know what I’m saying? And, it really came into in and this applies pretty much to anybody, anybody that’s listening, if you’re stopped in any area of your life, your relationships, your profession, your education, your health, your wellness, your Spirit, whatever it is money, your career, fear, doubt and confusion, indecision and worry are at play. And this much I know, when you can get to the root of that. And you can manage that, because you’re never going to get rid of it, right fear of judgment, fear of criticism is very deeply rooted in our psyche all of us. And there’s a reason we don’t have time now to talk about it. But there’s a reason why that is. And when you become aware of that, as I mentioned before, then you can start to control it. And when you control it, you direct it and when you direct it, you can bring significance and meaning back into what you’re doing. And so that for years, stop me fear, judgment, fear, criticism, and I’ll tell you real quick, funny story. There’s a guy that I that I used to play hockey with, it’s a couple years old to me, I looked up to him, he runs the largest private jet company in North America, you know, he owns 32 jets.

Richard Matthews
Yeah.

That’s cool

C. Gordon Moose
People I mean, people pay him a lot of money to be on – he’s got offices in four different -. Very successful guy, right. And, I looked up to him, and so I was always fearful what he would say, if I told him or if he found out that I was training people on being success and focus and everything else. And sure enough, he found something I posted on Instagram, he called me up and said, “Hey, what’s up with this focus thing? You know, Find Your Focus. You’re the Focus Guy? And I thought he was going to give me a bunch of, you know, a hard time. You know what he said to me, he said, “You know what Carl that’s awesome.” He says, I could see you doing that you’ve always been a leader on every hockey team you’ve ever played on. You got a great attitude. You’ve had a lot of success in your life, right? And then in that moment, I realized all that fear that it stopped me before, of judgment and criticism was all in my mind. It was all in my own mind. And it stopped me for years from sharing my gift and what I’m passionate about, and for anybody who’s listening, whatever it is for you, it fear is a state of mind and you’re afraid of something that hasn’t happened yet. I was afraid this guy was going to criticize me and he did just the opposite. He said, “You’re awesome at this.” You know, you should do this. He said. That’s awesome. So you understand the story? I mean?

Richard Matthews
Yeah, absolutely.

C. Gordon Moose
It was in my own mind.

Richard Matthews
It reminds me of something my wife tells me all the time as a joke. She has a – it cracks me up to – she always says worrying is her most effective strategy in life because everything she worries about doesn’t happen.

Exactly. And for me, I really, I was being selfish, you know, because I was being afraid of being criticized, you know what I mean? Come on, you know, if you really think about all the good work that you can do, and when you get outside yourself, like I was talking about before, where you realize that what you’re up to is really bigger than you. The fear comes right out the window. It doesn’t mean it’s not there. Right? I mean, even like, I’d never met you before. So a little bit it creeps up like, is this guy going to judge me? Is he going to criticize me but now I can manage it where before I ruled my life now I recognize it. Because I’m over it and I can control and direct it. It has a totally different dynamic.

It’s amazing to me too how that one shift of awareness

C. Gordon Moose
Yeah.

Richard Matthews
Totally changes the game for things that are holding you back. And just to switch gears on it a little bit. I’ve been working with a concierge doctor on health things. And one of the things that he was talking about with me and he talks about with all of his clients is for me, I’m healthy, like I’m not in a bad place. And he’s like, you go through like normal, healthy health testing you would check all the boxes, green light, you’d be good. He’s like, but you have trends that are downward, right? And if we don’t reverse those trends, when you’re 60, you’ll be dead, right? Like that kind of stuff. And it’s like the difference between you now and when you’re 60. And you now when you’re 60 is awareness, right? If you change the awareness on what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, you can change that trend line, right. And and so when you have awareness of problem in your life. You can manage it and you can change the way it’s trending in your life in the future.

Hundred percent and for everybody, you know, fear, which most people are completely, totally unaware of what they’re afraid of, you know, I love it. I talked to these guys, I played hockey with guys that played NHL and their names on the Stanley Cup and go on, you know, so and so forth. Big tough guys. And now what are you afraid of? Right? Well, I’m afraid of anything. I’m just like, really, you’re not afraid of anything. You’re not afraid of your kids getting sick? You’re not afraid your parents dying? You’re not afraid of your business collapsing? And they, “Woh, that’s different.” No, it’s not. I was like, “Be honest with yourself.” You’re not even aware of these things until someone brings it to your attention. And so totally agree with you, whether it’s your health, your relationships, your finances. Awareness is the starting point. If you’re not aware of something, you’ll never get to control it, you’ll never direct it.

And then you may not even be aware that it’s stopping you. That’s the thing that’s stopping you from taking forward motion.

C. Gordon Moose
And I tell people, I said, “What are you aware of your awareness? Seriously, what is your awareness about your awareness?” I mean, most people walk around completely, totally unaware of a lot of things that are going around around. So, it’s one of those, are you aware of your awareness? Most people aren’t. They have no clue about what they’re thinking about?

Richard Matthews
And it will. It will, like we talk in marketing, all the time, when you’re when you’re building messages that you have, you have levels of awareness, and the four levels of awareness are what, why, how and now. That’s how we how I do them, but it’s people who -The what is if you go to the doctor, and the doctor says, hey, you’re fat, sick and nearly dead, your first response is what?

C. Gordon Moose
Right.

Richard Matthews
It’s like you don’t know what the problem is. You’re not even aware that there was a problem. So they’re not problem-aware. They’re not solution-aware. They’re not in any of those spaces they’re just wandering around, and the vast majority of people with whatever problems they are facing are in that space. Right? So you have to build marketing messages for people who are, that are going to educate them about what the problem is. Next Level is the y, right? So if your doctor tells you you’re fat, sick and nearly dead, and after you say, “What?” and your next question is, “why?” Why do I have that problem? And that’s when you start looking at root causes. And that’s the next level of awareness. And then you have the house like, “Well, how do I fix it?” Right? That’s where you’re starting to research and do things and you have different marketing messages for those people. And then you have the ‘now’ which is okay, I need to do something about this, right, I need to fix it, get into action and change something that’s the fourth level awareness. It’s your smallest market, but it’s also the market that’s most apps to buy, right? They’re ready to, you know, to do something and move forward and fix the problem.

It’s real. I’ve never heard that before. But that really makes total sense what you just said so

It’s one of the ways that we know awareness of a problem is really really important for marketing, but you know, in terms of just like living life, knowing your stage of awareness for something like fear. Right? So you have to first be aware of that you have the fear. And you know, why do you have the fear? And how do you overcome the fear? And then you actually have to get into action and do things, right. So it’s it’s a method of moving overcoming those things as well.

I totally agree with you. I think that’s, that’s brilliant, actually.

Awesome. Well, thank you. So my next question for you is your common enemy and your common enemy in the superhero realm is the thing you fight against. And so I like to think of this, in a frame, this in terms of your clients in your business. The people that you actually work with, if you could wave your magic wand and remove a mindset or remove something that you continually run into with people you work with, that’s stopping them or keeping them from getting results you know they could get. That you would just run into over and over and over and over again, like you’re beating your head against the wall. What is that thing that you have to fight against all the time?

Well, you know, it’s something that I think is very pervasive in this in our society. It’s negative thinking. It’s really, it’s also a function or a negative thinking is a manifestation of what I talked about before; fear, doubt, confusion, indecision, and worry. And you’ve got a saying about worry said you’re worried doesn’t rob tomorrow of its sorrow, it robs today of its joy. So worrying about something happening tomorrow. It’s not going to stop it from happening but it’s gonna make today miserable right and so, you know, the biggest one of the biggest things that people and I survey people when they come out of the course you know, one of the biggest things they get is they learn how to deal with and eliminate negative thinking because it’s your it’s absolutely possible. However, negative thinking is pervasive if you don’t, I use the example that Napoleon Hill uses he uses our mind like a garden, you know, no matter what the wind blows into a garden, it will grow. If it’s got nourishment, it’s got light, it’s got water. Well, you may or may not know, I’m not a farmer, but my dad was. If you don’t weed your garden, the weeds will takeover. Well, negative thoughts are like the weeds, if you don’t weed your mind, the garden of your mind of negative thoughts, which are like those figurative weeds, they’ll take over. So that’s one of the big things that when people come into the course, and that’s one of the big shifts that they have, I mean, they have many shifts. But the one big shift that most people identify is they can now deal with negative thoughts and the negative energy that’s running. And by the way, sometimes this talks about making some shifts, as you mentioned in your life. Sometimes you have to trade your friends out, you know, sometimes you have to stop hanging around with family members going to different places, because a lot of negative people out there and you know, misery loves company. And so that’s one of the biggest things that people walk in. They’re full of negativity when they come through the program. They know how to deal with that.

Yeah, it’s really interesting to- for the negative thinking because it goes right back into the thing we were talking about a minute ago, which is awareness, right. They’re going to come into the program, they may not even be aware that they have weeds growing in the garden?

C. Gordon Moose
Oh my goodness, you know and that’s one of the first things we do. We have people log, we actually have them every day, do a journal do a log and say what are your prevailing thoughts? You know, James Allen, who wrote the book As a Man Thinketh, back in the late 1800s said, “We become what we think about all day long.” You know your dominating thoughts will eventually manifest in your life. Listen, if you’re negative. If you’re getting a lot of negative response from people, you need to think about your own negativity. If people are mean to you, it means that somewhere in the world, you’re being mean to other people. The universe is a perfect mirror, you’re never going to hold an apple up to a mirror and see an image of an orange universe in a way and so you’re dominating thoughts, whether they’re negative, and destructive, or they’re positive and constructive is what eventually will manifest in your life and most people aren’t even aware of that or of what the negativity that’s going on. So we have people journal that. Write out what your dominating thoughts were, you know, we’re gonna see a lot of people go through their life say, I’m not good at enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not tall enough. I didn’t grow up in the right environment. I’m not educated on all these things. And that eventually, that self talk eventually will manifest itself in your life.

Richard Matthews
It’s really interesting how powerful journaling is for realizing those things. Like, you know, just I mentioned the doctor I started working with one of the first things he had me do was, you know, journal your food intake for a couple of weeks, like everything you eat, just write it down good, bad, indifferent, doesn’t matter. Just write it all down.

C. Gordon Moose
Right

Richard Matthews
And it’s like, first thing that we discovered I wasn’t eating enough, and like you wasn’t even aware that was a problem. And it’s probably the cause of most of the downward trend things that he was talking -we were talking about, its awareness and so starting with journaling your thoughts, or journaling, whatever it is, you’re you’re working to fix it’s a great way to key in on that awareness and find out what’s what’s actually going on.

It’s very eye opening, and that exercise is probably more for you than it was for the doctor. So You could say, Oh, Jesus, you know, no wonder I feel like this because I’m drinking too much coffee or I’m not eating enough fruit or whatever it is. So it’s the same thing with your thoughts.

Just write them down. And keep track of them. And I know, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a negative thinking space, but I remember being, younger and doing that kind of thing and writing down, like, Hey, what are the things that I’m actually thinking about? And then when you write them all down, it surprises you. You’re like, Oh, I’m actually thinking terrible things that I don’t have any proof to back up.

Well, that’s it. I mean, and listen negative thoughts for some reason. And again, we don’t have time to talk about it now. But there’s probably a reason why. Because 10,000 years ago, when we were running around on the Serengeti, you had to be an alpha mode all the time because someone was going to attack you or a tiger would get you or whatever. But that’s the root of all this doubt and everything else. So being aware of your thoughts and when a negative thought comes into your mind, switching it is one of the things, best practices you can ever pick up. Because you can change your mind in a nanosecond and while billionth of a second is how fast we change our mind. And you can do that. And the key is recognizing Oh, and to listen, sometimes I do it, I’m walking down the street, sometimes I’ll stop and say, Okay, why am I having this negative thought towards this person or the situation? I will literally just stop talk to myself, I say it under my breath. Okay, I’ll close my eyes. Okay, stop being negative, stop, because it doesn’t matter who you are it happens to everybody. Right? I mean, it’s the key is recognizing it. And and being able to switch that light switch in a nanosecond. That’s the key.

One of my mentors growing up, he’s a spiritual mentor back in high school and he used to tell me he had this metaphor he called the truth train. And the truth train He’s like, the engine on your train is is the truth. And the caboose on the train is your feelings. And he’s like, your feelings exist. They’re real, like you actually have them. But they aren’t the truth. Right? They and so you can look at that and you have to think to yourself when something like a negative thought comes up like I’m not good enough or I don’t have whatever it takes whatever. It’s like that’s a feeling you have and it’s okay to recognize it but realize it’s the caboose on the train. Right? The truth is, you have a spark of divinity, right? The truth is you have purpose, you have, – right. And so, you have to let the truth drive your train, not your caboose.

I totally agree with you. I totally agree with you, you know, and when you say truth, Bob Proctor is another great thing and you know, I quote him a lot because he was my mentor. He said, “Don’t give me the facts, give me the truth.” He said, “The facts are always changing. Because I want the truth.” You know, in your example, the engine is the truth and the caboose are the facts. You’re they’re always changing. Your feelings are always changing. That’s not I mean, give me the truth. I don’t want the facts. The facts are always changing.

Especially if you’re watching the news all the facts change all the time.

Oh my god. Like on a daily basis.

It’s a different story every day. For in this for the same reason too, right? It’s to manipulate and that’s it’s what’s happening with your negative thoughts is they’re they’re manipulating your outcomes and when you start living your life with the truth at the front then you’re not being manipulated you’re leading your own life

Absolutely. And I tell my kids all the time. So listen all, I don’t care what religion you are, I don’t care what political you know persuasion you are, I don’t really care. I said just always think for yourself just analyze. Think for yourself that’s the key thing and that’s one of the greatest gifts my mom and dad gave us. They’d always say, just think for yourself you know just because everybody else is jumping off the bridge don’t jump off the bridge. Don’t be a lemming. Think for yourself, you know and that’s probably one of the best lessons my parents have given us.

I had … comedian the other day just writing me a story he said you know, they talked about if everyone else jumping off the bridge would you follow them? It’s like seems like it’s a self-fixing problem if you wait long enough they’ll be a pile of bodies and you just step off the bridge?

That’s pretty funny.

Cracked me up. So if your common enemy is something you fight against, the flip side of that is your driving force, it’s the thing you fight for. So just like Spider Man fights to save, New York or Batman fights to save Gotham or Google fights to index and categorize all the world’s information. What is it that you fight for in your business?

Well, I think it’s a very interesting question. I think self awareness is one of the one of the things you know, I honestly believe that if everybody understood their – and you touched on it, your own divinity, the miracle of who you are, and that we all have a purpose. So what’s the saying the two most important days of our lives, right that they were born and the reason we’ve the day we found out why. Right, but that’s important, as well. I mean, that’s really my mission is to create safety and security, and comfort and pleasure not only for myself and my family and my friends, but also my community. And my community grows every day. I mean, you’re now part of my community, in essence, right? And so, I think when everybody understands this stuff and understands that they are in control of their life, they’re not a victim of circumstance, I think the world becomes a better place, so we stop, we understand the power of love instead of the love of power, right? And we stop looking for differences minor differences in other people, we start to look at the similarities, in the commonality and the fact that we live on this, this little precious part of space. That’s when you look at it from outer space, it looks like an egg that can crack and it’s the only place we have right now and we start to – Ironically, there’ll be a time where we’ll police forces shrink, military shrink, people are sharing, resources. We’re not hoarding things like water. I read an article the other day, you know, the human race would would cease to exist in less than four minutes, four minutes if all the oxygen on Earth was was removed four minutes, wow, billions of years of evolution would be gone in four minutes. Right. I hope, I pray that we never get to a point where someone has control the oxygen, you know, because it’s something we all need. And I’m a long winded answer to my driving force is for everybody to be aware of how divine they are and recognize other people’s divinity.

That’s one of the things that I’ve always loved about the creation story in Scripture, is that God breathed life into man and the way our language uses the word creativity and recreation, some of those other words they all have have roots in divinity, right. Where you have a spark of creativity spark like that comes from your actual, your value and like when you look at political structures and everything the reason why our culture in the US has been so successful is because it recognizes the value of the individual. And I’m a firm believer that when people know better, they do better.

C. Gordon Moose
I totally agree.

Richard Matthews
And so, it sounds like you have your mission of how you’re helping people know better, I’ve got the same thing going on. The reason we run this show here is to, heroes, for me, I’ve always really bothered me that culturally, entrepreneurs are villainized so regularly. When, literally everything that you’ve touched in your daily basis has been touched at some point by an entrepreneur. And, we’re trying to lift those people up. And the more they recognize their value in the world, I think the better that a, better work we do. So to your point. You know, when you know better you do better.

I couldn’t agree with you more, and when you say competition. And I get pushback on this from a lot of people. You cannot have a creative thought and a competitive thought in your mind at the same time, they’ve proven it scientifically, you can’t do it. You’re either creating or you’re competing and you’re real professionals. And real successful people. They don’t compete against anybody. They get creative with people, they collaborate with people. And if they’re competing with anybody, it’s with themselves simply to be better and be better. Because that’s the key. You can’t. Your creativity, that’s where you engage your creative imagination, really get in touch with the universal source, call it whatever you want. Call it the infinite intelligence, call it God, call it whatever you want. But there’s there’s something above and beyond us are we’re here for something beyond ourselves. And when we realize that life takes on a whole different dimension. It happened to me. I don’t know if you have children, but when my first daughter came along, I, there you go, I have three. So when my first daughter came along, I realized the world no longer revolves around me, you know what I mean? And, those because as you know, as a father, you would do anything for your kids. I mean, I would, if God came down and said, “Carl, it’s either you or the kids, I’d say, make sure they know I love me and just make me go. It’ll be me.” Exactly. My life I would give up my life for my kids. And, so when you really understand that it’s not about competition. It’s about creating with other human beings. So whole world takes on a different dimension.

That’s it. That’s a unique thing to understand the realization that you are designed for something more than yourself. Right? And it’s, it’s interesting how important parenthood is in that equation, because it’s really interesting. If you look at some of the studies for how people succeed over, the long term like over hundreds of years, like generational wealth and all those kind of things, you see a market difference in people’s life trajectory after they either get married and have someone else who is they’re responsible for or be when they have children. Because it’s like you realize that you’re not living life for you anymore, right? You’re living life for someone else.

I told everyone I went to college. A lot of my buddies got married. When they were in their 23-24 and started having kids and I didn’t. I was four 42 before I had my first child, and I look back and I say no wonder these guys were more, they were more focused. I mean, they were more focused on their career, I was out goofing around and spending money and wasting time and energy and chasing something that wasn’t there. And I totally agree with you, when you look back that, they had kids, they had a wife, they had accountability, and they do they built bigger portfolios, they were earning more money. They were saving more money. They were living a more healthy lifestyle. So I totally agree with it.

I’ve got I got four kids and it’s definitely like, I build my business I do the things I do. Because of them, because of my wife because my kids and because I’m working with the doctor on the health stuff because when I get to be 60, I still want to be as healthy as I am today. Right? That kind of things. If I can be around for them and the grandkids and like that kind of stuff, It impacts a lot of your decisions. Realize that you have other people you’re living for that are not just you.

C. Gordon Moose
Well, good for you. I mean, everybody should take on that attitude because we live in an environment where it’s very Me, me, me, me, me. It’s very selfish. You’ll look how much I have.

Richard Matthews
What’s interesting is our birth rates reflect that. Right? We have we have the lowest birth rates historically in like the human race, right now that we’ve ever had, because we have a very ‘me-centric culture’ you have, and so much so that like Japan, and France, both of them have hired, they call them ministers of sex, because they’re trying to encourage their population to actually have babies because they’re not having enough babies for their culture to survive long term.

It’s interesting.

I don’t know if you knew this or not, but the birth rate in order for a culture to survive has to be at 1.8. And if you drop below 1.8 within 40 years, the culture is gone every single time.

C. Gordon Moose
I didn’t know that.

Richard Matthews
It’s really fascinating. If you look at some of the science on it, that you have to keep a birth rate above 1.8 and Japan and France and a lot of European countries are skirting that line. Where if they’re there 1.8-1.9 right, right in that area where like if they drop below that they like their culture won’t won’t survive it.

C. Gordon Moose
Wow. I had no idea. I’m good. I’m above –

Richard Matthews
We have four, we’re doing it. Actually people asked me all the time, because once once you get from three children to four children, people start asking you like, do you know how that works? Like, why are you doing it? And my tongue in cheek responses I’m is is I’m doing my part for the culture. Just because I think the American culture is worth saving and preserving and moving forward. And I was like, you know, our birth rate is like 2.2 which is significantly lower than it was 100 years ago because it used to be like three and a half or something. But anyways, that’s my tongue in cheek response. Hey, I’m having kids to help improve our culture.

C. Gordon Moose
There you go. There you go.

Richard Matthews
So I want to transition the conversation a little bit and move into the practical realm. So I call this the the Heroes Toolbelt, right? Maybe you got a big magical hammer like Thor or bulletproof vest, like your neighborhood police officer, or maybe you just really love how Evernote lets you organize your thoughts. For you, what are some of the tools you use on an everyday basis that you couldn’t manage your business without today? If that’s your marketing or your client retention or actually helping your deliver your services, some of the things that you use all the time and that you just you couldn’t see your business working without?

Well, one of the things is the book itself. I read from the book, I had the same copy. I read from it every day, and I’ve memorized quite a bit of it. So that’s that’s the baseline. I’m starting to Zoom more. Its for, its technology. Zoom is a great, I think we’re on Zoom right now.

We’re on Zoom right now.

C. Gordon Moose
That’s a great tool. I mean, I just got to hire Doug to train 200 affiliates in the cannabis business of all businesses, but you know, they’re from all over the world. And we get together once a week, we do an hour long training, it’s on Zoom. You can record it. So that people in South Africa, there’s three or four people in South Africa, it’s a different time zone, they can watch it at their leisure. It’s a great tool. And so that’s one of the ones that I’ve just – within the last, I want to say within the last six months I’ve really started to use that as a tool. I think it’s really, it’s a way to leverage, I used to do in person and the challenges with that was people schedule and finding the – that was geographically acceptable for everybody and the Zoom is such a great tool and it’s very inexpensive. And for a guy like me that’s not a techno guy. It’s pretty easy to manage.

Richard Matthews
It’s amazing tool, like what we can do. I’ve had like, we manage our podcast interviews from Zoom. We’ve had people on from all over the world and time zones all over the place. And like we just had someone from London last week. And it’s amazing to me that you and I can have what is essentially a face to face conversation. And I didn’t even ask where you’re at, you know, I’m in St. Louis right now. And you know, who knows where you are?

I’m in Chicago.

So we’re across the country, and we can do things like this. So much easier than you can do even four or five years ago.

I totally agree with you. So that’s one of the big ones for me. And it’s really had an impact, because, you know, now I can leverage my time I can, I can provide, like you said, I can provide good content, I going to, you know, 200 people on a call at once, and it’s just a great tool.

It’s a really useful tool for for modern businesses, especially if you’re in the mindset or information space like you and I are. It’s really a useful tool? So, move on a little bit and talk. I want to talk about your own personal heroes. So just like Frodo had Gandalf or Luke had Obi Wan a Robert Kiyosaki had his Rich Dad, who were some of your heroes. Were they real life mentors, speakers or authors? Peers who were just a couple of years ahead of you, and how important were they, to what you’ve accomplished so far? I have a few guesses from how far our interviews gone so far, but who were some of your heroes?

Well, I do look up to Napoleon Hill. Napoleon Hill he was an individual who was born into poverty in Virginia, and really made something of his life and he spent 20 years researching this book. Nobody paid him. He did it on his own dime, almost went bankrupt, destroyed his marriage. So he’s clearly somebody I look up to and then Bob Proctor, I mean, Bob Proctor, for those of you that don’t know who he’s absolutely phenomenal. He’s one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met in my life and he’s made a huge difference in my life and for other people, so he’s certainly one. He’s 85 years old. So he’s, you know, he’s getting up there. He’s when I look up to, you know Dr. Wayne Dyer, really love his work, he’s very spiritual, God rest his soul. He’s passed on but he’s just, he was a phenomenal thinker, very spiritual guy, but also studied a lot of the stuff that I’ve studied. Viktor Frankl, you know, he’s an author of the wrote the book, Man’s Search for Meaning, which is if you’ve never read that. It’s a phenomenal book.

I haven’t read that one yet.

It’s really, it’s a great book, you know, read it. I’m not going to tell you the story, but it’s a really, it’s a really eye opening book. And so those are some of the people that come to mind. And there’s other people I’ve worked with in the past, as well. You know, Don Green, as I mentioned, he’s the chairman of the Napoleon Hill foundation, phenomenal guy. We’ve talked probably once a month. You know, I’ve had couple hockey coaches, made a big difference. Guy named Bill Morrow. You’d never know who he is. But when we were kids, he took us to the best team in the nation. We were 42. And oh, you know, and he believe it or not he was a mechanic at a Chevrolet dealership, and he was just, he knew how to motivate us. He didn’t know even know that much about hockey, but he knew how to take a group of 12 and 13 year old kids and mold us. He made a huge difference in our lives, there’s just, Lefty Smith who was the assistant or he was the athletic director of Notre Dame where I used to go to hockey camp. I mean, there’s just a whole bunch of people but you know, those are the people have in mind. And of course, my mom and my dad, I cannot exclude them. I mean. Just incredible people and incredible parents.

It always strikes me whenever I asked that question, how varied the responses are from where the influences come from, and it’s always, it’s teachers and coaches and like normal everyday people who have such a huge impact on your life. And the thing that always strikes me about hearing the answers to those questions is it makes you realize that you probably don’t know who you’re a hero to. Right? And who is looking up to you and whose life has been changed because of the impact you have on their life. And you may never hear the interview where someone asks them and your name comes up. So for me, it’s been a, it’s been an interesting question to just think in my own life, like, Hey, you should act in such a way that you’re worthy of that. If that makes sense.

C. Gordon Moose
It does make. It makes a ton of sense. So you know, you get to a certain point where you start to realize that – and I mentioned earlier, as you were saying my vessel’s full and it’s time to overflow and give back because you get to a certain point where that’s all there is to do. I mean, you can’t, it’s just where you’re at and so – Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know what Bill Morrow’s doing right now, or Bob Proctor is doing right now. But I hope thye’re feeling good just because I mentioned them because, you know and Bob. Bob is obviously has some celebrity status. Now Bill Morrow is just a regular guy, but he made a difference. And every time any of us get together, we talk about him, you know what I mean? And he had a major impact on us. There’s there’s a couple of priests that were just really great mentors and great examples and … she’s passed on and Father Kennedy, you know, I mean, so absolutely. I mean, I could go on and on, but there’s been a lot.

Richard Matthews
To that end, and I’ve made it a point in my life to go back to some of the people that had a huge impact on me growing up and let them know. Just because, it’s for nothing more than like, “Hey, you had a positive impact on me. And I want you to know that because I know that people start goal in their lives, as well. And I know they don’t always get to hear how they’ve positively impacted other people. So yeah, that’s a thing I’ve done a couple of times now.

C. Gordon Moose
It’s a great suggestion. So anyway –

Next question for you is, are your guiding principles. Last sort of major question here in the interview, top one or two principles or actions that you put into use regularly that you think contributes to the success and influence you enjoy in your business? Maybe something you wish you had known when you started out on this journey of as an entrepreneur?

Richard Matthews
One of them is reflection. You know, I do that, several times a day. I’ll stop and reflect on what’s occurred or what I’ve said or what I’ve thought, or what I’ve done, that’s a big one. I usually do that at night, as a regular practice, reflecting on the day and just think about, was this a positive day? Who did I influence? How do I influence them? Was I productive did I check anything off my to do list? Was I, did I say goodnight to my children? Did I tell people that I love them. So that’s a big one for me. As far as a technical or tactical, I’m a big list person. So I make lists, and then I check them off, I have a system for doing that. So that is a very, and I actually do it with paper and pen.

So, my wife does that every morning, she writes a list and checks them all off.

So it’s, a little old school. I do use my iPhone in my computer. But you know, my, my, my fallback position is always I’ve got pads of paper round with headings and checklist on them. So those are some of the things that I that have worked for me.

So I’m curious on the list thing, because I know that one of the things that really impacts an entrepreneur’s ability to succeed is being able to get – to make small progress every day. To push the needle forward a little bit, so to speak. And one of the like, the key skills is knowing how to look at all the things you have to do in order to get to some distant goal and break it down into what can I accomplish today to move a little bit forward towards that? So I’m curious to know a little bit about your methodology for putting your list together at the beginning of the day. Yeah. And, you know, I not as important to me as it’s on pen and paper, but more like the thinking behind what you choose, how you choose it.

Well, one of it is the law of little things. I mean, little things are easier to digest and easier to deal with, right? We’ve all heard about the elephant, eating the elephant, one bite. So the law of little things, breaking things down to their simplest and smallest component. And it makes it easier to manage. That’s the first thing. The other thing I always look at tasks from three perspectives. Is it something that I can eliminate? Is it something I can delegate or is it something that I want, it’s required for me to prioritize. So if I look at something on my list of things to say, I don’t really, this really isn’t required. So let’s just get rid of it. If it’s something that’s required, but I’m not required to do it, in other words, somebody else to do it more efficiently or more effectively, I’ll designate it. Or if it’s something that I absolutely have to do, like, for example, this interview, I’ll then I’ll set a priority to it right. And so the other thing that I do is I limit my list of six things in a day. And I got this right out of from Bob Proctor, because he used to say make a list of things to do, I’d come with a list of 30 things. He’d say, oh, how in the hell, you’re going to, pardon my French. But how the heck are you gonna manage that? He said, break it down to six things. So I just write out six things every day. And those six things, you know, half the time I find by noon, I’m done with it. So I make another list of six things right, but it’s not overwhelming, right? So it’s doable. And so that’s one of the with my list. And those six things that go on a list are usually things that are, they’re little things that will move the needle forward and that are in a prioritized fashion. In other words, their prioritize as far as the first thing and you know, Stephen Covey wrote a great book about, you know, habits of successful people, right. He said, you know, first things first, do the first thing first, right? It breaks down to the smallest component, just get it done. Right. And so, you know, that’s part of the methodology. I hope that answers a question. But that’s part of –

I got the same kind of thing. I didn’t realize Bob Proctor was the one who did the whole six things because I did the same thing where I tried to get six things on the list. And in terms of priority, my, same spiritual mentor, one of the things he tells me all the time was hard things first, right? So if you do all the hard things first, then everything else is easy. Yeah. So that’s always how I’ve worked the priority on the things it’s like what’s the hardest thing on list to get done. The thing that, makes me feel ill to want to do it.

C. Gordon Moose
Yeah.

Richard Matthews
Let’s just do that, get it out of the way and get it done. And that’s really helpful. And I’m curious, can you repeat the thing about the three types of tasks? You want to eliminate it? Because like, I’m not doing that. And it seems like it’d be a really useful thing to start with sort of like taking off.

Absolutely. So when you look at something, when you write something down, and you say, is this something I can eliminate? In other words, is it’s either moving you towards your goal, or it’s moving you away from your goals. So if it’s not moving it towards your gal, eliminate it. If it’s something that’s going to move you towards your goal, but you don’t have to use it. You can offload it or delegated to somebody that can do it more effectively or more efficiently or less expensive, valuing your time, delegate it to them, find the person to do it, could be washing your dishes, or you’re doing your clothes, or some people, hire people to fill their car up with gas and wash it, because that’s a waste of their time. Right? So if it’s something that you know, if you want your car clean, but it’s something somebody else can do for you, delegate it right. And if it’s something that absolutely only you can do, like this interview, then you prioritize it. You prioritize that. Based on is it that, like you said, either the first things first or do the hard thing, right. So it’s either eliminate, delegate or prioritize. That’ the –

So I always, the thing that I’m striving for my business, I’m not there yet. But, is to only do what only you can do. To your point of what are the things that require your perspective, require unique skill set, require you and your business. So I’ve been building my team over this last year. And the work that I’ve been trying to do is trying to get out of the delivery of services and into the CEO mode, and doing the things that the CEO needs to do, which is like figuring out the systems and figuring out the vision and the plan and the path forward and working on delegating or eliminating the rest. So I like that. That sort of mental framework of like, let’s look at our things, eliminate what’s not needed, delegate the stuff that needs to be delegated and, and prioritize the things that only you can do.

Absolutely. And again, I don’t know, take this for what it’s worth, but you’re, you’re you’re actually doing it. You know, you said several times you’re trying to do it, but you’re not trying because there is no trying, you’re you’re doing it. I mean, you’re you’re building your business. Every day, you’re checking your stuff off, and you’re starting to act more and more like a CEO which by the way, you know, I’ve done a lot of business consulting, as well. CEOs primary job is adding value and building value for stakeholders and shareholders. So you’re not trying to do it, you’re actually doing it and that’s a -I mean, you should acknowledge yourself. And by the way, I also do that when I have an accomplishment. I do a little celebration maybe a private little thing. It could be as quickly as just saying, “You know what, I was good, man.” You got it. You did a good job or it was a good phone call or you made a difference. Because I think we don’t do enough of that either. I don’t think we acknowledge ourselves for being and doing the things that we commit to because that’s gratifying.

We do. I try to make that a regular part of my life. I don’t always succeed at doing it all the time. But like you mentioned, you check off the six things and when you’re done, you’ll write another six things down. My rule of thumb is if I check off the six things I’m done for the day, I go play with my kids. And like, if I do an hour or six hours, like I get that I get those things done, and then I go play because, you know, I figure I’m only on once my kids are only on once so. So I check off whatever we need to do to move forward. And it’s interesting because if I go back five years ago, I was in a place where I was like, I had to work from morning till night and like I wasn’t doing anything in my life except work and sort of realizing that doesn’t, it doesn’t work to live your life that way. So it’s like if you are prioritizing your stuff well and you’re moving everything forward just a little bit every day. It doesn’t take 18 hours. They have worked to build a successful business. It takes a little bit of progress every day. And that’s been a huge win for me is learning how to celebrate by I finished what I need to do today. Let’s go. And for me, my rewards is those four kids that are up there that want my attention.

C. Gordon Moose
Absolutely. And what a better reward. Right? I mean, they’ve done studies, they’d say, after four hours, there’s a diminishing return. I mean, I told my daughter, she knows she’s very hard on herself. I said, “Honey,” I said, “After four hours of homework, you’re not getting you might as well just stopped doing the homework because it’s a diminishing return.” You know, you’re not getting this.

Richard Matthews
You’re not getting anything good going. Right. So that basically wraps up the interview. I do have one thing that I do at the end of every interview I call the hero show or the Hero Challenge, and the Hero Challenge is simple. It’s basically this. Do you have someone in your life in your network that you think has a cool entrepreneurial story? Who are they? First names are fine, and why do you think they should come share their story with our audience here on the HERO Show.

Well, there’s a guy actually in your backyard, who used to live in Chicago. He’s from St. Louis, he’s a very good friend of mine. His name is Sean, I don’t mind sharing his last name. His name is Sean Brady. And Sean is a – He and I have traveled the same path in some regards. Some of our training, and he’s just a super guy. I mean, he’s got a wonderful family. And, three, how many kids does he have now? Three or four kids. And, you know, he’s an entrepreneur. I mean, he’s a real estate guy. He thinks big. You know, when he told me 10 years ago, he wants to own an NFL football team. I looked at him and said, “That’s awesome.” I said, “I can’t wait for you to do that. Because I want to be in that Super Bowl. I want to be in the owner’s box.” And he laughed. He said, “You know, you’re the only person said that.” He said, “Everybody else I tell that says you’re out of your mind.”

No, he could totally do it.

C. Gordon Moose
Exactly. I mean, he only thinks big. He always doesn’t always make the mark. But he’s persistent, you know. And he’s and that’s one of the principles of thinking we’re rich. He’s also a big thinking Grow Rich, a fan, and he’s done my course. He did my course years and years ago. But yeah, Sean Brady’s a great guy. He’s very well connected in in St. Louis. And offline, if you want me to connect them with you, I’d be more than happy.

Richard Matthews
Absolutely.

We’ll reach out afterwards, see if we can connect with them. So, last part of the show, first off, thank you so much for coming on. Gordon, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you. Where can people find you if they want to go through your course on either thinking Grow Rich or Finding their Focus and go through that training? And more importantly, who are the type of people that should reach out for that list? Those programs?

So I have a website. It’s https://yourfocusguy.com/ and that’s got all kinds of information about me and my programs. If you want more specific information, just email info@yourfocusguy.com. It’s info@yourfocusguy.com. I’m looking for your affiliate marketers, people that are in the affiliate marketing business, all these principles absolutely apply to them. So I’m working with some of the top ranked people with regard to network marketing and affiliate marketing. And then just anybody you know, most of the people I work with are between the ages of 25 and about 45. The youngest person I ever trained was about 17, the oldest person was 92. Everybody can use more focus for sure. But I mean, really the core are people that are young professionals and people that are in that, they’re transitioning, they’re in that mid 40s range, but it’s really, it’s for men and in women. And, I that that’s pretty much the answer there.

Cool. Well, thank you for being on the show. Gordon. Really appreciate it. If you’re listening to this and you find yourself struggling with focus, reach out to Gordon. It’s your https://yourfocusguy.com/ and check out his programs that should be a really useful for you. Gordon, do you have any final words of wisdom before we hit the stop record button on this episode?

No, other than thank you very much. You keep up the good work. You’re you’re doing it and in the words of Napoleon Hill, one of the most famous concepts or statements was, anything that human mind can believe and, I’m sorry, to conceive and believe you can achieve. So, really the limits are all self-imposed. So just, think outside the box and just keep moving forward.

Absolutely. So thank you again for coming on the show Gordon. Really appreciate it.

Thanks.