YOU Are Your Greatest Asset | Eric Thomas

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And like I said, it was a lot of us that started doing that timeframe and to see kind of where you are today and you survived the resilience, bouncing back, getting bigger, stronger, better. Like you ready to go back to sports? Go baby. Yeah. So congrats there. I've seen that. I mean, I can't name all the people, but Kobe, I see my girl tab on the show, you know, and just to see all the people you had. And of course I watch the show and learn from it. So man, congratulations. Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm excited about this because I feel like you haven't been out there a lot. You've been doing a lot of your own stuff for a while. So I'm excited because there's probably a lot of people who don't know your full story at because you used to tell it a lot. 10 five years ago. So I kind of want to reintroduce you to the world. And I feel like the world is at such a unique place right now as we go into 2025. And it almost feels like there needs to be a massive mindset shift for everyone to take back ownership of their life, to take the full responsibility of their life, cannot rely on other people to give them opportunities, but to go own their own opportunities by creating and having a clear vision. And there's a few things that I want to talk about that you would have that I've seen you share some incredible strategies around mindset. I'm going to dive into in a second. But for those who don't know, you were at one point living homeless, you know, a long time ago, people probably don't even notice about you because you used to talk about it. But it's like you had a season of life where you didn't have any money. You had no education. You had no opportunities. Essentially living homeless, struggling trying to figure out what you're going to do with your life. And I don't think people remember this about you because they see the success. They see the coaching, the speaking, the massive following, the New York Times best know, they see all these things now. But 20 years ago, you weren't in this space. No, definitely wasn't. And what was the space you were in back in the day when you were living, you know, without the opportunities you have now? And what was the moment you switched your mindset that allowed you to take different actions to start creating your own opportunities? So I'd say it's the mindset. Like I had a victim mindset. You know, it was my mom got pregnant at 17. You know, my biological father wasn't in my life. You know, I didn't go to the best schools in Detroit. You know, I wasn't in this environment. I didn't act like everything was about somebody else. You know, it was like the outside inside theory, you know what I'm saying, which is terrible. It's like everything that's supposed to blow me up and take me to the next level has is somebody else's responsibility. Like it's something that is going to happen or somebody and it's going to and it was like, yo, E, like, why are you in this abandoned building? Like your mom's not here. Your biological father. No, he's not in your life, but he didn't get pulled over by the police officer. And the police officer doesn't know the counselor or the principal that kicked you out. It's like, but there's a common denominator here. That's you. There's a common denominator and you homeless, your mom's not homeless. Your biological father's probably married with a family somewhere. Like, yo, is that right or wrong? Who cares? You are living in this abandoned building, high school dropout. You're on your way to and so when I look back on the anger and the frustration and the hurt, it was all blaming. Everything was about this person or that person or this person. Nothing had anything. I never even realized I was where I was because of who I was and I was actually getting the physical manifestations of my thoughts, of my feelings, my emotions. Like I was creating this and didn't even realize I thought my mom created it. I thought my final creators like, no, you created this and I'm going to tell you the moment I realized you are the greatest common denominator. You probably the least greatest like you the common denominator. Once that realization hit me, it was like, okay, you got some confessing to do, bro. Like, and I'm going to tell you the hardest thing that I've ever done. Somebody asked me the other day, like, what's one of the hardest things you ever done? The hardest thing I've ever done was looking in the mirror and tell myself I was sorry. That was a hard for what I was sorry for what I've got myself into the choices that I made, you know, okay, yeah, you 12 years old, when you find out that the person is raising you is not your biological father and your mother lie. Absolutely. Bro, that's not necessarily best circumstances, you know, for a child to be born in like your mom lied about who your father is. And you know your father and don't even know you know your father. Like you've been around your father, but you didn't know he was my father. I'm with his mother, my grandma and me like this. I'm with his sisters. I'm with his brothers, my aunts and uncles. I'm hanging out with them every day. And so the realization of like, yo, not only did you get lied to, like, it's been manipulative. It's been deceitful. But what do I do? How's I run away from home at 12 and I'm living in garages and living in my friends homes and not this vicious cycle of every time something goes wrong or every time, you know, I'm confronted by this reality that's not your father is run away from home is run away from home. And at 16 is like, okay, you just flat out lied to me. Everybody told me you lied. You keep telling me you didn't lie. You go tell me when I got older. I'm like, I'm out. But it's like, when I looked in the mirror, it's like, why did you have to take, why'd you have to leave your mom? You had counselors. Why? Why when you sat on with a counselor and they tried to walk you through the tools and the strategies to get on the other side is why were you in? Don't talk to me. You ain't my mom. Don't talk to me. You ain't my daddy. Don't talk to me. I don't want to talk to y'all that these are professional counselors who are saying, yo, we get it. You're going through a lot, but we're here to help. I don't want counselors at school, principals, teachers. I'm just now into board knit. I'm evil. And I looked at myself in the mirror was like, why was that the choice? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you got to talk to me. I know why you made the choice. But why did you make that choice? We know what was the choice when you run away from home. You always run from conflict. You always blame somebody. But why? And the reason why is because it was easier to put it on my mom and my dad than for me to have to do the work. And so then so the Eric Thomas that you've seen, the you know, NFL NBA commercials, whatever that dude is the dude that looked himself in the mirror was like, yo, you owe yourself an apology. And not only that, you owe yourself correction. You owe yourself change. Wow. You need to be taught, you need to be trained. You need to become a better human. And that was the that was one of the most difficult days of my life was looking at myself, correcting myself, telling myself I was sorry. And then moving forward saying, now, what are we going to do from this point? So so so the growth you say is the response to if you are, are you are you repentful? Meaning you're about to change or you're sorry. And I'm like, no, I'm not sorry. I want to repent. And I want to I want a better version of me because I shouldn't. What 16 year old should be living in abandoned buildings? He's not a trash cans. Like that's not it's not healthy. One. It's not safe in Detroit to be in abandoned buildings walking on. It's not safe. And I put myself in so many situations where guns were pulled out on me, you know, people would break into the abandoned building and take my belongings from it's like, E, what are you doing? Like come on, bro. This version of me had gone all the way. It was like, if you don't, if you don't stop. Wow. So yeah, that's I'm glad you did. Because like I said, I don't know about that anymore. So you're that's interesting. You just said that because the future you Yeah, had to have wisdom and kind of speak to the younger you this version of you at this age, you know, 20, 10, 20, 30, 40 years later, whatever is speaking to the younger you and saying, wake up, wake up, wake up, greatness is in you. Dang man. This is fascinating, man. What was it like an intuition that got you to wake up? Or was it like just rock bottom that was like, Okay, I can't go any lower in my life. Now I need to wake up. Okay, so I always think it's a combination. Right. So it is, it is a rock bottom. But but this is this is a blessing because rock bottom turn into go to church with my boy. Right. And go to church with my boy turn into I started dating this girl. Right. And I fall in love with this girl. You know, and this girl becomes almost like my first coach. You know, and she's saying to me now I never forget. She called me to her home. She's like, my mom's not here. I'm like, Praise God. She's like, Can you come to the house? I was like, Well, sure. Yeah, I'm 1617. We're like, fine. Like you bet this church girl. And finally, you know, so she's like, Yeah, come to the house now. This was payphone day. I get to the house. And she comes outside. I'm confused. Like, why are you coming outside? And she's like, I want to talk to you. I was like, Okay, we could talk. What can we talk in the bedroom? You know, and so she's like, No, no, I'm serious. I'm like, I'm serious. She said, Do you love me? And I was like, Whoa, like we kids, I'm like 17, almost 18. Like, do I love you? Like, I don't have no other girlfriends. If that's what you're asking me, but I don't do you love, she said, No, no, no, do you love me? Like, is this serious? And I was like, Yes, she said, Well, I just got my acceptance letter and she showed me. And she said, When I go to college, if you don't come up, come with me, I'm breaking up with you. And so it was two foe. It was I was rock bottom. But this relationship was like hope. Like when I was with Diddy, it was almost like I was at home for that timeframe that we were together. Wow. You know, we were in church together, you know, I got a job because she made me get a job. It was just, you know, we would do stuff together, concerts. We would do stuff together as kids. We were down town Detroit. It's a restaurant called Nicky's right? Greek town. So we were in Greek town on the weekend. Like I was living life. And I was like, Whoa, she's elevating your life. I'm like, bro, you rock bottom. And the only life you have in your life is saying they gone. And they're not in the room. This being real. I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm not I'm not stupid. She's not gonna go away and get a degree and come back looking for a homeless kid four years from now. He's not going to have no, you know, and so it was it was right. She saw a gradient senior year. But you had to do the work. I had to do the work and I did the work. I went to night school. I got the GED. I followed her to Oakwood and we've been married over 34 years. Crazy man. You feel me? And so it was like, it was a combination of rock, rock bottom and hope. And when you put those two together, it was like, I had something to wake up to something to look forward to. So I'm gonna be real. That's why I took me 12 years to get a 40 degree because I never went to college for college. I went to college for DD. Wow. That's why I went to college. And so once I got to college and we got married, I was like, yo, I got what I wanted. And she was like, okay, we're gonna have to do this again. Yeah, I can't be with you if you don't finish what you start. So I had to go ahead and just business again. Wow. And I started the speaking career, you know, in the middle of that as well. There's a lot of like pressure for people to accomplish certain certain things by certain ages. But it took you 12 years to graduate college, right? So you're in your 30s or whatever. 30, absolutely. And then you're 44 when you got a PhD. What do you say to some of the younger generation that feels like there are failure if they don't accomplish things by 20 or 25 that they feel like they're supposed to accomplish? So here's where here's where I went with that. One of the dangerous things is the outside inside theory. It's dangerous. Because what you're doing, whether you know it or not, you are comparing your journey and your life to somebody else's journey and somebody else's life. Like you don't even have, let's just be honest, you don't even have the right context to do that. You don't know why they're doing what they're doing. You don't know like what their strengths and weaknesses are. So you compare yourself to somebody that may have strengths that you don't have. Like they're nowhere near who you are. And so you're comparing yourself. So this is why I believe for those of us who finally get it, it's the inside out. Like everything we do starts from the inside. And then from there, we kind of say, oh, okay, I see my boy Louis, he doing X, Y, Z, but I'm not doing it because you're doing it. But I'm calling you. You're kind of saying, E in the industry this and so I'm using the information you're giving me to build my journey. Not I'm trying to be you. And so what I realized was, yeah, there's some kids that can come and graduate in four years because they took K through 12 series or not to be disrespectful. There's some kids that can come and graduate for four years because they're going to get a job. You can't come and graduate in four years one because you didn't take K through 12 series and you're about to be one of the greatest speakers ever. It's going to take a little longer, right? It's going to take a little bit longer to develop you. So my man on the four year plan, but he might no disrespect, but he may settle into a traditional life. And so for the four years, that's all it takes. But if you are about to be Eric Thomas that I didn't even know I had the capacity to talk about the school of greatness, God was like, you have to be in the school of greatness a little bit longer. You have to be in the school of greatness alone. Why I always say, you know, and everybody knows it, but when you're doing a swing shot, the further you pull it back, when you let it go. So for me, it was like, I was like, it's going to take 12, not because you're behind, it's going to take 12 because that's how much time it's going to take to develop you. So once I release you into the world, now you're going to be able to do phenomenal stuff. Let's go. So I can't compare myself to the dude that's just going to get a job somewhere, who's just going to settle and all he's caring about is his life. But he's not necessarily creating content or writing books that are going to change the world. He's just trying to take care of his family. So 40 years work for him. So now I'm comparing my life to a person who is not even trying to accomplish what I'm trying to count. That's dangerous. But I mean, what about the people? Are you going back to kind of your story of the victim mindset? Yeah. You know, your mom lies to you about your dad. You don't see your dad, you know, then in warehouses, you know, all the problems, inner city kids struggle, get kicked out of school, struggle. You had everything against you, right? And I don't know. Yeah, I'm glad you said that. Okay, so I got you. So that's the outside. Yeah. So that's the, you had everything against you. No, the greatest problem was I was against. Oh, that was the more challenge. But most people, most people have both of that. I wouldn't say most people, but a lot of people might be listening or watching who might feel like the outside has been holding them down. No question. Right? Yeah. Their parents have been holding them down through school, their teacher, their coach doesn't give them the opportunity. No question. Their boss is holding them to whatever might be. The economy is holding them down. 1000%. The way I live is holding me down. The president is the whole president, the government. It's all holding me down. It's holding you down. How does someone get to a place and maybe it's true that things are holding them down? They're absolutely true. Right? Maybe it's true. Yeah. But what I'm hearing you say that living in a victim mindset or living in an outside inside theory will not help you get to where you want to be. All I'm saying is this, they have the potential only to hold you down because you're allowing them to hold you down and you're seeing that they're holding down. Let me tell you the one thing I wish I can go back. All my mentors, everybody, everybody told me and they were right. Look, I'm not saying that they were wrong. You need to get a degree. You need to make some money. You need to do whatever. But what they taught me was that my greatest assets were real estate. My greatest asset was a degree or a career. Nobody ever told me I was my greatest asset. I'm my greatest asset. It doesn't matter. Look, people act as if if you grow up in a house where your parents are rich, you're automatically, bro, we can look at people who grew up in wealth and are messed up. They're messed up. They own drugs too. They make bad decisions too. Unfortunately, they take their lives as well. They check out. Bro, it does not. So people think of money environment or you have both your parents in it and you get, so you think your story is on. It doesn't matter where you come from. If you don't activate you, the environment doesn't matter anyway. Great environment, bad environment. If you're not activated, if you, bro, I sit here sometimes and I can whip myself. My grandma used to whip, I could whip myself. And why do I say that? Bro, I'm sitting in the school of greatness. Like, no, we were together 10 years ago. I'm still standing. I'm mad at me because like you said, I got a Ph.D. 44. I could have got one when I was 34. I just didn't, I thought, you know, and when I go into the schools, I tell all of us, everybody leave, principals, counselors, everybody leave. Listen to me kids. This is 2024. Y'all got the internet. Y'all on TikTok. Y'all blew TikTok up. And I know it because adults are on LinkedIn and Instagram. LinkedIn, man, don't worry. TikTok, building that Instagram. Why? Because these young people are there. I said, when you show up to anything, it blows up. Here's my problem. You're in the school and you're failing. Why? Because you're waiting for the teacher to teach you. The teacher to teach you TikTok. The teacher didn't teach you how to play. You did it on your own. Why? Because you wanted to do it. And anything you activate, anything you do for you, it's going to blow out. But you're waiting for some teacher to teach you. When you can pick up a book, you can go online and learn on your own. So in this environment, you are absolutely, you're not reaching your fullest potential because you're sitting back, what's the teacher's job? It's the counselor's job to tell me when I'm supposed to graduate and what classes I'm supposed to take and then what to get and what to greet again and then what, what job to get and put me in the right job. But she not called a duty. There's no school council. There's no teacher. There's no principal. And you own there with people from all over the world and y'all plan and communicate. And let's do it. These kids are so dope and they don't realize how dope they are. They did something with video games that we never did. They turned it into a career. You can make money. I hate to date myself with joysticks. I know it's not control. But when it was joysticks, you couldn't make millions doing it now because of these kids and they're taking this thing and giving it a life that it never had before. Anything you touch when you know who you are, believe who you are, I could have PhD. I don't say that like on the bracket. I say that because if I got a PhD, that means I could have finished high school. But I wasn't in school. I was just there because my mother dropped me off. Like I, I wasn't immersed in it. I wasn't excited about it. I wasn't enthused about it. And so it's like, now I'm enthused about life and my life and not realize, you know, your mom don't got no, whatever she did, that was just to get you started. It's like on the swing. When somebody pushed you and get out the way, you, they don't, the swing doesn't work if that person keeps pushing you back and forth. It only works if they push you, they get out the way and you do your feet. And so it's like, when I showed up and said, Eric, the government, the way you come from, your dad not being your mom, like your mom being young, that has absolutely nothing to do with why you can't read. You can't read because you are lazy. You can't read because you don't take it as serious as you take playing air mental football. You shouldn't be playing in a football. He should be studying. And so when I started taking my life serious, again, I mean, I say this with all, you know, sincerity, I'm in one of the best podcasts in the world. And not only that, when people were asking about, I was like, oh, no, I got a relationship like this ain't what you think it is. This is not to your point. I don't do podcasts. Like I don't have that media schedule where I, you don't see Eric Thomas on different shows. And I remind people, don't get a twist that I can't be on shows. That's just not my thing. So I'm not here today just on some, I'm on a, I'll go here. Louis Biden, I got this parking, that's not what this is about. This is about a friendship that I'm tapping into and saying, man, it's good to see you alive. It's good to see that we made it. And it's good. I still remember the red shoes with the red shorts and the wind there, they're just kicking it. And I'm like, yo, this is a, this, this is an enterprise now. This is on a whole another level. Not saying what you did to just go with me was nothing. Sure, sure. Sure. I'm saying this and it's still be alive and it's still be welcome. Yeah, man. It's like, it's beautiful, man. This is what happens when you realize you're your greatest asset and you tap into you. Nothing wrong with real estate. Nothing wrong with investing the S&P file. But at the end of the day, you have to be the first thing that you invest in here. And if you invest in you, I just believe there's nothing that can stop you. 100%. And investing in you and being willing to stay consistent in the long run. Absolutely. Because we were just talking beforehand. It's, you know, we, we met 10 years ago. We've done a lot of stuff together. You've been on the show a few times. I've been to your events. You've spoken to my events. We've helped each other with book launches and all that stuff and just been fans of each other over 10 years. And we've seen a lot of people in this space come and go. You've seen people try to come and they get a big hit and then they fall off and they don't stay consistent. And we've continued to stay consistent. And I think what both of us do really well is we have a vision of our, of a future that for ourselves in the world that we live into. We speak into that and we constantly invest in our own personal growth. You know, you're always growing, evolving, transforming, changing, whatever you want to call it. And I feel like we have to hold ourselves to that standard. Otherwise it could all go away. If we don't. And so it's, and I'm, and I'm curious, you know, for those that are listening or watching that are still thinking, you know what, it's just too hard for me. The world's against me. Like I hear what you're saying, I know you did it. I know people like Oprah get it. Like all these kind of outliers. It's like, that's only for a few people who can really break through and create the life they want. My parents really didn't show up for me or I was abandoned or I got cheated on and abused, sexual abuse and physical abuse. And I know what you went through is pretty hard and it was tough and inner city, but what I'm going through is even harder. And it's just, it's too much of a weight. It's too hard. It's too much friction to eat healthier, to get up earlier, to be consider, it's just too hard. Do people need to think about motivation in order to overcome themselves and their problems and their challenges, or do they need to think about being more disciplined to overcome the weight of the world they're feeling? Yeah, I say both. But to your point on the discipline, you need to be more disciplined about your minds. What do people need to be thinking about with their minds? So here's the deal. You're already in pain. Get a reward for it. It's just like, look, do me a favor. Everything you say, you're right. But why go through life with whatever people did to you when you were younger or a younger adult and then you have to live with it for the next 40, 50 years? Like, why would you sit here and all the stuff that you said was absolutely right? My daddy wasn't there. My mama did this. This person did to me. Why would you let them destroy your life? Let's go. Why would they why don't you let them own you? Why would you allow that thing they did to hurt you now define your life? Yeah, it's like, no, I wasn't paying. It's real, but get a reward for it. So for me, walking into, first of all, driving here in a car service, getting to LA, walking in this beautiful facility, seeing the other businesses that are here. I'm like, I'm proud of you, bro. You made it. You could have stopped at the homeless board and nobody would have tripped. Your daddy wasn't there. Your mom was 17 when she got pregnant. All the negative that happened to you, Eric, we understand. But understand. Let me tell you one of the things that just blew my mind the other day. So, you know, we were fortunate to own a home in California. I'm on the hill, right? So we got this property. We got the basketball court, which logo all the companies that whatever, and I go outside yesterday, and I see my wife and my son playing basketball. And I'm thinking to myself, in California, only looking at all these beautiful properties, my wife and my son are outside hooping dream life. My wife was like, I want to work out. My son was like, I didn't even know. She was like, I'm going to play basketball. I'm like, I can't do it right now. And I'm listening to a voice. He came home, heard the basketball, went I'm like, yo, my son, 29 years old is spending time with his mom as an adult male. He could be anywhere doing anything. He's with his mom. Her first born, they got this bond that I don't have. And they're out here hooping. And as I look at the property, I'm like, yo, what if the 16-year-old Eric Thomas would have stayed the 16-year-old Eric Thomas? So I'm saying for those who listen, get a reward for it and then do me a favor. Don't just think about you. Like, do you know that my son in his mind, this is where you, like this is where you start. Like he got the son of the pool to work. He's starting somewhere I've never started. The cars, the Rolls Royce, the escalate. Like he's starting somewhere I didn't start. Why? Because I didn't stop where I started. I didn't stop. I was like, okay, this is where we started, but this is not about to be my end. And so his beginnings looked dope. My man went to Michigan State and was a general manager for Izzo. He traveled the world. He's got a final four-win and Lee H8-win. He's got the jack. He sat under Coach Izzo, Hall of Fame coach for four years, coach OG. He sat under these guys. Like his boys, some of his boys went to the league. There's some of them still in the league. Like he got that because I didn't go, I quit because my mom, my dad did. So I quit. I give up. This is the worst thing ever happened. I was like, you get a reward for it. And so to see my son, I'm coming to a concert tonight with my daughter. Listen to me. Like I didn't give up. And so I'm sending everybody. We all go through pain. Some of us go through pain and it becomes our tombstone. Some of us go through pain and it's a scar and we live a life of reward. So I'm just gonna say, again, 2025, do me a favor, check you. So you're in the ballot box and you're looking at all these options. Dr. Lloyd, teacher, whatever you see, president, mayor, governor, do me a favor. Before you check off any of that SMP 500 real estate, before you check any of that, check you. Before you check anything, check you and go look yourself in the mirror and go, yo, I'm a lottery ticket. I'm my ticket out of the neighborhood or, you know, I'm the broken curse. Like whatever you want to call yourself. But the day I stopped saying my mom, my dad, this person, the police, the count, the day I stopped doing that, the day I said, you, do you think anyone can have a beautiful, amazing life if they live in a blaming mindset? No. No, you know why? Because what I didn't realize as a young adult is that when you say it to somebody else, whether you mean to do it or not, you give them the keys to your life. You give them power over you. They got your whole life in their hand. Because you said you said it. They didn't do this. And because they didn't, because they got the keys. Now, I'll be honest, the reason why we don't want to take the keys because we got to drive. We got to drive. And I told you today, I was like, I got too much to do. I normally drive. I'm like, I got too much to do. And it felt good to be in the car driven. It felt good. Yeah. Like I'm going to phone, talking to my wife. We have a worship doing our thing, making a couple of business calls. Like I don't have the responsibility of the traffic, paying attention. I got that attention. He moved over and I was like, why is he stopping in the middle of the car? But it was a track truck. So yeah, to move up. I didn't know what was going on because it was the first time in my life that I wasn't really like responsible because I normally drive. And that's why people don't want to drive in their lives. They don't want to be responsible. It's so much easier to say my life is messed up because you did this. You did that. Once you take the keys now, you got to go anything. But I'm going to tell you this. This is why I like it. While it's more responsibility, it's more freedom. It's more independence, it's more control. Opportunities. They limit it. The limit is when you take the keys. And so I took the keys in my life. That's their mind. Thanks. Dad, thanks for not being there for me. You gave me a dog. You gave me a passion. You gave me a resilience. You taught me how to make it when the very thing that's supposed to be there for you isn't there for you. And I tell people what I want. Some kid asked me the other day, he's like, man, wouldn't you say your son is lucky because you're in his life and his mom is in his life? I said yes and no. I said yes. He's blessed to have his mom and dad. But he ain't got that dog. He doesn't have the hunger. He ain't got that dog. Oh, man. My son is a great kid. But he doesn't have the drive. He ain't got the same drive I got. And that drive came without some stuff that I that stuff came from lack. And so I say to anybody you got you got to understand it could go either way. But when you take the you take the it's like I walk into a school and I ask how many are 50 kids? How many kids in here? A thousand kids? How many of your dads one in your life was not living in the house 90% raised in here? And guess what? I automatically can relate to them. That's that's the genocide quack that my daddy wasn't there. That's the it factor. If my father hadn't been there, I might not be able to go in here and relate with my videos and go viral. People like, okay, maybe if I just had Eric Boyce or if I just scream and I just look at you, bro, that's not what that's not what it is. It's when I speak, you hear it because I've been through what you've been through. And so you you recognize that boy's you recognize the pain you recognize the struggle, but you recognize I overcame it. And that's why you like I want to rock with this dude. Because this one ain't some kind of way. Eric ain't the one that's making us feel like, oh, it's okay that you went through this. And it's okay that this and you it's okay if you don't want to grow. And it's okay if you don't want to know what you hear from me is a coach that's saying, Jordan, you got six rings in you, but you got to stop playing this way. And you got to start playing this way. Kobe, you got great, but you got to do it this way. Serena, you got Venus, you got that which Williams is saying he's not out there just he's he's teaching training, but he's also correcting. And so for me, they hear my boys, I'm not letting you get away with murder, because greatness is in you. The greatness is in you. And now it's time to go to school. It's time to go to work and bring that greatness out of you. So it's just anybody, anybody could be successful. But as long as you're playing the blame game, you have you have given permission, the license registration, the keys, you give it all over to somebody else. And the day you take it is the day that you could start deciding which direction you want to go. Wow. So that sounds like step one, take the keys back to your life. Take the keys back. What would steps two and three be for setting people up for their ultimate life with that beginning process? Is it is it get clear on a goal? Is it start with motivation, start with discipline, change your habits? What would the next couple steps be to set up the mindset for success? I would say step two. And I don't know why they don't teach this in school. Be your first best friend. Get to know you. We're so busy wanting to be in a community that we don't realize we are a community. Right? And look, I'm not trying to be deep. You know, people could, you know, you believe this, you don't believe in this. But what I was taught, you know, in school, especially Catholic school, it seemed like Adam was by himself first. It doesn't seem like it was like somebody else. It was like Adam was first and then whatever happened after that. So the first man was by himself. And I think that's important for those of us who study that. Why? Because all of us think we have to have somebody to be somebody. And this guy started on his journey on his own before he connected with somebody, whatever. He knew his purpose. You know, he walked his confidence. He walked and a lot of us are going, I hear people say all the time, well, I'm not doing a good life. Why not? I don't have nobody. I'm not in a relationship. I'm saying, you're telling me, no, let's do it very closely. Do you think for one minute that getting in a relationship with somebody is it can't be the key because so many people have gotten in relationships and got out of it. So that can't be the key. Now, two healthy people, not perfect, but two healthy people coming together. Oh, no, that's different. It's expansive. But guess what has to happen? You got to be healthy. You can be with this. So we even messing each other up when we have two dysfunctional people trying to connect with each other because we think two functional people going to come together and make each other. It's not going to work. So I just think the first step after the first step is you got to figure out who you are and love you and feel good about you and show up in the room. You and not care what nobody think about you. And that's why this relationship has worked so well for me over the years because when we're together, it's never been a thing of E. Why you do that? Why you do that? Or E, why you do that? It's always been like E, you have a unique set of skills that make you great. You have a unique set. And so we've always focused on what's our unique skills and what do you know that I don't know? And how can you help me get to it? And so a lot of these young kids are joining things they shouldn't join and being with people because they think their happiness is going to come from being with somebody else. And I just think if you be, eagles aren't trying to, they just are, they're not trying, lions aren't trying. What do you think about me? What do you think about my war? You think I'm too loud when I roar? They're not concerned. And so I think step two, figure out who you are, love you. And step three, figure out your North Star and wake up every single day going after your North Star. Because when you have a North Star, you know, and the people that you love and you spend time with have a North Star, have a purpose. And look, that purpose might be, we both have people whose purpose is to help us with our purpose. They don't necessarily have an individual purpose. Like they felt like they were called to help us with our mission. That's it. So we need a North Star so they can know what their North Star is. So that would be my third one. It's like, you've got to figure out what makes you happy. And again, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with, first time I did a behind the scenes coming in here, just because I was like, to my Patreon community, like, yo, y'all need to understand where I am, and what's going on. But I don't, if you follow me on Instagram or wherever I'm on, you don't see behind the scenes. I think that's a phenomenal tool to show other people what, but my wife is private. So, so for us, that does not work. She does not want to be seen in the la la. She doesn't want to be in Dubai and stop and go, let's take a, let's document what we're doing. She doesn't like that. So for some people, it works. But I don't have to do that to still find a space. Right? There's some people, you know, they do tours, right? I don't do tours. That's not my thing. I used to do them. I don't do them now. There's some people that write books. Some people don't write books. Like it doesn't matter. But what matters is you have to find a thing that wakes you up at three o'clock or six o'clock or 10 o'clock. Like you got to find a thing that brings the life out of you, the joy out of you, the happiness out of you. And you can't do that following somebody else's North style. So my last one would be, figure out what you was put on this earth to do. And I mean, every single chance you have to do it, do it. And when you're not doing it, enjoy your life. My son was like, dad, I'm tired. I say you tired. You burnt out for what? Look at your mom and dad. You work for the family. What are you doing? Well, I've been up the last six days working tips for a while. I said, for what? What would you be doing that for? Like, why wouldn't you take advantage of the, you said, what should I be doing? I said, you should figure out what it is you do. He's a designer. Right? You should be designing clothes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whenever, five, six hours a day. And then Saturday, Sunday, or Friday, Saturday, because of your family, you should get a trip somewhere and go spend it with a friend. You should go see the, you should go to Italy. You should go to Rome. So you should go to South Africa. So you should go to the Gold Coast in Australia. Son, what are you, like, you should, what are you doing? Like, you should work. What a part of work also is, where is your play? You should play. We worked hard. So you could be back. So don't be like us. We grew up in a working class home. We grew up in Detroit. We grew up in Blue Collar. You're not Blue Collar. So go enjoy your life. Be balanced. So I'm not just saying, fine, you're no star in terms of what you've been called to do for others, but there should be a healthy amount of time that you spend enjoying your life, you know, and enjoying the little time that you have here. We're not, we both know we won't be doing this podcast a hundred years from now. Sure. We don't know how much longer we have, but we, I won't be 154 sitting down, talking. So how much time I have left, we, I need to work hard and I need to enjoy that time. Absolutely. Those are beautiful, man. I've heard you talk about a concept I want to share in a second, but I feel like there's a group of people we've been talking to, you've been talking to that are the people that have maybe don't have the opportunities they want. They don't have the life they want. They feel like people are holding them down. That's one group. Then there's another group of people, which I feel like is a majority of people that have a good life. It's okay. It's good, but they don't, they're not living a great life for themselves. Maybe they've got a good job and they're pretty healthy. It's got a decent relationship, but something, there's like something missing. I think if you can, if that resonates with anyone listening or watching, comment below or leave a like if you feel like, yeah, my life is good, but I feel like something's off. You have this great concept called creating a mental rock bottom to push yourself towards your goals. Can you share more about some practical steps of creating your own mental rock bottom so that you can go to the next level in your life? Okay. I want to use the term that you use and you say create. And I just think so many of us have stepped into careers, that group. We have worshiped careers more than we worshiped create. So the first thing I was headed that group is what would life look like if you did it on your terms? Because right now you're really not doing on your terms. What you've done is say, yo, if I want to survive, if I want to strive, this is what I have to do. And you have allowed people to tell you, okay, you need to be an engineer or you need to be a, and you need to move in. So you've done a phenomenal job in being obedient. You've done a phenomenal job in complying. Yes. Like you've done a phenomenal job. You follow the rules. Yes. Congratulations. You know, say like, you didn't rob a bank. You know, say like, you haven't done anything illegal. You did exactly what a good child should do. And I have a daughter that I have to get on her sometime because she's that child that's like, yo, dad, what do you guys want me to do? And I, and she's obedient. She's obedient. She's obedient. She's obedient. I said, do me a favor. Don't always be obedient. Like you need to sit down and ask yourself if you weren't thinking about the family's name. If you didn't, if Eric Thomas, each of your hip hop reach was not your father, what would you be doing? What would you be doing if you didn't have to worry about honoring, you know, the dynasty? What would you do? And you do a phenomenal job of honoring the dynasty. I'm not saying anything. Went to school, handled your business. You've never been in trouble before. We've never had to spend money doing things. You've been a phenomenal child. But what would you do if you live life on your terms and you were able to go where you were going to do? And so that's the first thing I would ask them to do. I want you to think about your life instead of the life because that's what you've been thinking about. The life, not think about your life. And I want you to start putting it everywhere. Now, the next thing I want you to do is I want you to know that if you have the ability, like I never forget CJ was like, okay, you know what you missing that the big boy, all the big boy speakers, you know what you're missing. I was like, no, he was like, the New York Times best seller. Now I'm not telling you got to do it, but I'm saying that's what's missing. No, you got it. So he was like, first of all, do you want it? Do you want it? Don't do it because I'm saying, but do you want it? And he could elevate you, but do you want it? And I was like, yeah, I want it. The next question becomes, what does it take to do it? And then am I willing to do what it takes to get it? That's it. Because it's a lot. It's a lot. But here's the thing. I believe if you think about it, it is only because somewhere inside of you, you have what it takes. Now capacity is there. Willingness is something totally different. Yes, that's different. But I want every human to know you wouldn't be watching the school, you wouldn't be watching or listening to the school of greatness. If you didn't believe you were great. I'm just, I'm just for real, you wouldn't be spending time with this man on the regular I'm telling you, I wouldn't be going to Columbus. Bro, I drove to Columbus. Bro, it's not a trust me when I tell you, it's not a, you don't get off the freeway. It's not 65 to get up. Why did I go? Because this man is great and greats want to hang with greats. I need y'all to understand. Look, y'all may not know. Listen to me. I've got no mad suitcases that I still carry this day because he gave them to me. Like I didn't buy a new one. I carried the exact same ones that he gave me and my son bought a set because I had a set because it reminds me of him when I travel. It's like greatness, so you wouldn't be watching, you wouldn't be locked in. Something in your spirit has you tuned into this bed because you know you're great. Now you got to say to yourself, am I willing to cooperate with the greatness that's in me? And then once you're due, and you start consistently operating in that, you're going to feel good about it. Here's what you have to do. You have to understand. Andre DeShields, I think said, the top of one mountain is the bottom of the next. Wow. So you get to the top of the mountain, but you understand the GED was just one, the 40th degree was just one. The master just after the PhD was the New York top. But after that is the assessments, is the training, is the coaching. I'm in masterminds. I get coached. Right. And so it's this idea of yesterday's greatness can't be enough because I'm alive today. So if I'm alive today, it must be some more greatness in me. And it's my job, like the two paced is my job not to just look, I don't know about you, but I would just use a little bit of and get another one. I'm squeezing, I'm squeezing that two paced. Why? Because I'm trying to get everything out the two before I go to another. And with my life, before I get out of here, which is why I could murder myself, that I didn't realize at 12 that I was great. And that's why I say you got to check in 2025, you 2025, right? Because I didn't know I was great. And once I checked it and realized how great I was, I was like, bro, we're going to keep doing this. And to the day we die. And so I would just say you, you're watching, you're in this space, you're reading his books, you're going to his conferences because you know it's in you. And it's time to stop being lazy. And it's time to, it's time to activate. I love that, man. Well, here's the thing why I think a lot of people might stay stuck is they, they allow their feelings to keep them in place of frustration. You have this great example that you say execution should be fact based, not feeling based, but people feel the overwhelm of the economy or the government or their parents or their partner or whatever the responsibilities of the world, they feel anxious, avoiding, overwhelmed, burnt out, like doubtful, insecure, and they allow feelings to consume their inaction. So how, what's an example of how someone can shift from being driven by emotions into fact based actions towards their goals? It was what you teach, man, the meditation thing, people don't take it seriously. This is the time to get control of your mind. And for most of us, our mind is in control of us. So when you talk about meditating, it's like, this is a habit of the greats. And one of the, and one of the habits of those individuals, not where they want to be, is I'm not trying to be funny, but it's like lazy. To actually meditate regularly is a discipline. It is, man. It's not easy. It's not easy to get control of your, I'm like, where did that thought come from? Right? So, some guys, let's go back to the 12 year old that found the birth certificate, right? We found the birth certificate. We found the birth certificate in the emotional state. We found it in the emotional state. Listen to me. I'm not the first kid who has ever gone through this experience. And you know what? I had to ask myself in that mirror at 16, 17, 18, I had to keep asking myself, when you saw it, why did you see it that way? Why did you not call your mom and say, mom, you wouldn't talk about this? Why didn't you go, hey, Ma, the counselor, can we go sit down and talk to the counselor? Hey, Ma, call dad. Can we just sit down and listen to me? I went from, I can't believe that you would do me like this. I went from a ball of emotions to living in abandoned buildings. It was the most, it was the stupidest decision I had probably ever made. I put myself in so much danger as a 12 year old, 13 years old, homeless based on emotions, only emotions. So the same document, nothing changed about it. But if I could go back as this adult and look at that, I would look at his facts and go, wow, your mother protected you. Wow, your mom loved you so much that she didn't want you with your biological father because she thought he could be a threat. And it's right, one of our indifferent, your mom didn't do this because she was trying to hurt you. Your mom did this because she was trying to protect you. Your mom brought you into a family. Your mom didn't try to hide the identity. She wanted this man to be your father. He changed your name and gave you his last name. Wow, he treated me as if I was his own. Wow, he didn't lie. He made his family treat me as if I was, and don't ever say anything about my past because my past has nothing to do with him making a decision at the courthouse to be my dad. It's the same document. What emotional, the other one is factual. Your mother loves you. Your mother cares for you. Your mother's trying to put you in a healthy environment. Your mother has a job. Your mother married somebody who was a foreman at GM. He has a job. He has a college degree. He played basketball. He's a responsible man. He protects us from taking what emotion wouldn't let me be rational. Emotional would let me think rationally. It had me irrational. So I would say when you make emotional decisions, you get emotional consequences. But it takes meditation. It takes controlling of the mind to say, how should I behave? How should I think in this situation? And what's going to give me the best outcome? And I'm going to be honest, I've learned we can save the emotions for when I'm looking at the no man bag and going, man, that's my boy. Thank you. Why would you even buy me? Like, what would make you think of, and this is a perfect gift? You know what I'm saying? Like, I didn't think to buy suitcases for myself. That's where the emotion should be. Me coming in, seeing you, hugging you, what's up fam? But when it comes to business, when it comes to being a leader and a decision maker, we're not doing emotions. We're doing empirical evidence. We're doing facts. What does the fact say? What does the research say? What does the evidence say? Okay, and based on the research and the evidence, this is the game plan. Let's go. It doesn't matter how you feel. Yeah, don't matter how you feel. Man, I love this. Yeah. Again, if we're, we're talking about really developing, developing kind of a bulletproof mindset when the last five years for a lot of people has been a lot of stress, overwhelming anxiety. In order to have a more powerful, resilient mindset, how important is it for not just me and you, because I already know the answer for me and you, how important is it for everyone to have mentors in their life? It's everything, man. Listen to me. I never even thought about being a multi-millionaire or a billionaire until I was in the room with Warren Buffet. I didn't even know how much it was worth when I was in the room afterwards. And then this all started making sense. Okay, now that I know who I am, you 2025, like, check, I know who I am. Now it's, oh, oh, real estate is away. Oh, so you mean to tell me that being a blue collar, okay, that's what my parents knew, but you don't make a whole bunch of money work. You make more money when you put your money to work. Oh, that's real estate. Oh, helping kids who are talented, figure out their talent, taking a percentage. Okay. This stuff exists, got it. And so it is, it is important by a proctor pulling me to the side. How much do you charge? You should be charging less brown, calling me and saying, I'll meet you in Orlando. Less brown, sit me down, talking to listen to me, coaching is everything. Why? Because I just said, think of Michael Jordan without Phil Jackson. Right. Think of Venus in Saroon, Venus in Saroon Arena without Richard Williams. Like, yo, I just want you to picture Kobe without Phil Jackson. Think about Tim Groot without Mike without. Tim Groot. Come on, Tim. So coaching is critical. Here's what's going to blow your mind. When you get to our level, you really need more coaching. Because we didn't exhaust it, all the stuff. You really need coaching. After Jordan, after Jordan won his first championship, he didn't say, I think I've got to figure it out on my own. I don't need a coach. He said, let me find Tim to train me. Let me find the mindset coach, the recovery coach, you know, make sure we're getting to the next level. They said, they said, I read it, but it's research. I'm almost sure it's true. That LeBron, look at LeBron, what he's doing right now. It's amazing, man. Bruh, 40, a 40, checking Duncan, whoever had the arguments. You know what I'm saying? Because they were those of us who was alive. Yeah. We watched Jordan do his thing. But Bruh, when LeBron is doing right now, but when I do my research and not emotional about, oh, how is he doing it? Just, no, when I do my research, he spent $1.5 million on his body. Recovery coaches, meaning dietary coaches, everything, meaning mental and emotional coaches, acting coaches, like he got on. And so you see the decision he made, you know, and you see, okay, yeah, he was great. But that investment that he made in himself, and now look at his son, is in, and then he got another son as pop. These are decisions that he's making. He's not emotional. These decisions are based on facts of experts. And then we're seeing the outcomes of it. We're seeing the numbers that he's putting up at this age versus the, and nobody's ever put these kind of numbers up at this particular age. So we all are coaches, you know? And so that's why I've made the decision that E, the one area that you need to step up in, speaking is good, traveling the world, talking, but you got to the same way people open up doors for you and walk you through. You have got to do the same thing. And I've literally, the last two years, have had a small group of people that every morning I wake up with, and I train them for an hour, every single morning. And what's amazing about that is to see the difference between people I coach and people who watch me online. It's a different. You watching me online, you getting the motivation, but you're not getting the daily schedule. You're not getting the things to do list. You're not, you're not getting the mindset. You're not getting the analytics. You're not getting the blueprint. So it's like you're watching it and then you are in turn. And this is why I think audio books are good. But I think training with our books are good because people will read our books and interpret them in a way that we didn't intend for them to interpret it. So when we do the training or they get to come to a conference where they get to watch the podcast, they're really investing more to what was, what was he really saying? And if they can do what you're saying, that habit, they can get the outcomes of me. And it's also being around other people who are in that mindset, who are pushing and you're seeing them grow and influencing you to grow. And you're so the community aspect of we're getting, we're getting coached together. We're growing together. We're working on our goals together, all that stuff. I wanted to ask you a couple more questions before we wrap up. Again, we're going back to the 12 year old you who's down and out, figuring about your dad's not your, your biological dad in your lives, your mom lied, you know, challenges in life. And we're talking about where you're at now. Where do you think you'd be without a spiritual relationship with God in your life over the last 30 plus years, with all the ups and downs, where would you be in life right now, the ETU with no spiritual relationship? I'd say either dead. I'd say dead. Really? Because I was in extremists, you know, everything I did, I did it to the fullest, you know, so I think I would be dead. Honestly, I would say this to simplify for people, because sometimes when you talk spiritual alley, it just, for some people, it's just too deep. I would say to you, what happened when I, you know, made a commitment to God is that I connected with the person that made me, that knew me like nobody else knew me. And he coached me from the 12 year old to now. He coached me. He's like, I know you, I made you. I know, I know, I know what's the best environments for you. I know who's good for you, who's not good for you. I know your temptations. I know your, your vices, you know, I know your good habits, your bad habits, and just let me, let me teach you. Wow. You know, and so it was maybe five, six years of fighting, resisting, you know, and because he introduced himself to me at eight, and I guess maybe it was too young, but homeless, I was like at 16, like, okay, I'm ready to get coached. Where's the coaching program? I'm ready for that coach. And so from 16 to maybe 25, you know, it was like, okay, I'm going to come to coaching some days, some days, I'm not some days, I'm going in, some days, I'm not, and then my son was born. I was almost 25 years old. Jaylen was born. And Jaylen was born in 1995. I turned 25 in September, he was born July 20th. And when Jaylen was born, it was the day coach said to me, this is why I've been trying to train you, because I wanted you to be the best father you can be. And so you miss him, you miss some classes, you miss some lessons. Your son is here now. He needs the best version of you. Wow. We can't, we can't, we can't repeat the mistakes of the past. And so I need you to hurry up. And so when Jaylen was born, from that day forward, I, you know, I remember when he was born, I held him. And it was kind of like, he looked at me like, you're the person that's going to take care of me. Wow. You know, and that was the day. And this is what a lot of you are running from is the R word, and I get it because it's tough. Responsibility. That was the day where it was like, you got to be responsible for somebody else. You cannot, you got, I've never played a video game since Jaylen was born. I've read more books since Jaylen was born. That first year too, I ever read in my life, I took my career series of speaking, I start, you know, Zig Ziglar, you know, Nightingale, you know, Agnendino, you know, Bob Proctor, all these, you name them. Dennis Kenbro like I went, I went deep. I went heavy, you know, Arthur Ashe, you know, days are great. And I read everything. I was in the library like, I'm at it, just studying and studying and studying. And it was because I didn't want the, I didn't want some of the consequences of the past to come in this generation. You know, and so for me, it was like, you know, your son's here, you got to handle your business. And I just heard, I was more attentive. I started getting up at six, and then I played this game. Daylight saving times would come. I would, okay, say don't follow it. Stay up at five, that's the new. And then the next year, the four, and then I got started getting up at three, and I started getting up at three o'clock in the morning because it was still, there was no dogs outside. Nobody was driving around. The family was asleep. And I was like, okay, coach, I'm sorry, let's go back over the lessons I didn't get. And let's go over the new lessons. Like coach me, show me, show me. Nobody knows me. And I tell people, I had a brand new Cadillac, man, 10,000 miles in the engine blue. And I immediately took it back to Cadillac. I didn't take it to BMW. I didn't take it to Honda. I took it straight to Cadillac. And I went right back to the creator, like, yo, you made me and I'm tearing this car up. I'm not putting oil in it. I'm not changing the rotating the tires. I'm not putting fluid in it. Show me how to take care of this. And he began to show me how to do it. And it's just like amazing to see when we're on one accord and I'm following he told me, he's like, yo, it's time. I think I called you maybe last year. I'm like, yo, I need to. And it was like, no, no, you just first call and say, what's up? And then this time it was like, yep, you need to do it. I was like, all right, I got a brand that I think, I was like, all right, you know what I'm saying? So just listening to him, doing what he's telling me to do, let me coach me. So I would say, don't spiritualize it and make it too, it's the coach. And just get a relationship with the coach, let the coach get a relationship with you, and just do what he tells you to do. When you go and learn the results, you alluded a little bit about, you know, this version of you is kind of speaking to your 16 year old self and saying, like, here's what you need to do. Stop doing that. Start doing this. Like, whether that was you in the future or God speaking to you in the future, like, hey, this is why your higher self needs you to do right now. Yeah. What do you feel like God is speaking to you now or your future self is saying to you now? Wisdom you need to hear to take you to the next. This, this, this, this, this is what God is saying. You spent all of your mature life pouring into people who can't do a whole lot for you. You spent some kind of way in your soul, you feel like because of where you were and all these people that help you get to where so it's like you like you feel like you own people to not be mutual relationships. Like you feel like you're so blessed and you have so much. It's almost a survivor of guilt. And now you just got to be with people who you got to pull and you got to be with people that you got to bed to and you got to be with people who you just got to bless and you may not get nothing bad. He like, no, no, no, no. In this season, these relationships have always been there for you, but you haven't taken advantage of them because it's like, I got to help and I got to fix and I got to be a survivor. I got to save your complex. I got to help you and help you and help you because somebody helped me and I wouldn't be here. And CJ said to me, Eric, no, the only reason it worked is because you wanted it to work. Those mentors didn't do nothing for you. They did, but you had to want it. You're helping people that don't even want to be helped. They want a handout. They don't want to be helped. Now, the rest of your life, so being relationships with the future, this might seem insignificant to you, but they called me and was like, let us know when you get here. And I was like, all right, I'll be there, you know, whatever. And he was like, no, no, no, tell us when you pull up. I'm like, tell me when I pull up. I can get upstairs on my own. They're like, no, no, no, no, tell us when you get there with them, but you don't stay at home. And you want anything from Starbucks? I'm like, no, I'm good. I didn't say anything through. I was like, no, I'm good. I did my own Starbucks. He said, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm trying to teach you. She didn't ask you if you had money to buy Starbucks. Do you want something? She asked you, did you want something from Starbucks? And I said, you know what? I even texted her and said, you know, I normally say no. I say yes to this kind of stuff. But you know what? Yes. I'd like a grande, menacing ball with no honey, but three agave. You know? And she was like, okay, you want to get, you need to use the rest of it. And he was like, yo, this is the season. You pour it out, receive, get something, receive, get in these mutual relationships and get something. So that's what I'm hearing him say, you know, as I come today, it's like, you, these relationships have been there for you and you've done your part to make sure you stay alive, but you don't always, you don't always allow people to reciprocate. You know, so that's the season for me is like, hey, bless the world. And hey, if you don't ever put out another video, there's enough videos and all kind of content for people to now look out for Eric Thomas. Now put Eric, now go to the weddings, stop working all the time, now go to the events, stop just working all the time and stop just you and your wife or your little, no, no, there are other communities that are waiting to bless you in the way you've blessed others. And it's time for you to enjoy that. Yeah. So that's what he's telling me. You deserve to receive, man. I would acknowledge you Eric for being in this season of life because I've known you for 10 years, but you put so much focus on giving in a big way, which is a beautiful blessing. But I think you can also give and receive at the same time. It doesn't have to be usually one way. Just give, give, give, give and like exhaust yourself to like serve, serve, serve, serve and then they can give nothing back to self. So I really acknowledge you for being in a season of like, how can I give and receive? How can I deepen these relationships with people who, because I know people try to pour into you, but you're always too busy or you're trying to give, give, give or you're traveling nonstop. I got to help save the kids and teenagers. Of course, dude. And so I acknowledge you for, you know, being, acknowledging this season of life for you and saying like it's time to like, and I can even see it in your face, in your chest, even just energetically when I, when I saw you today, I was like, you know, you look healthy, healthier. And I think it's because you're allowing yourself to receive. And so it's really beautiful, man. I'm glad you're in that space. You look younger too. You look younger too. You look younger too. You look younger too. You know what? I've got people in my life who have, you know, my God, chubbed the church. E, what you need? I have people who've been there and I haven't even allowed. And so it's like, no, there are a few people already in your circle who've tried. You got to let them fully. And then there are other people not in your circle of influence who are who've been trying to. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, receive, receive, man. I love this man. So you can buy email. Yeah, exactly. Well, if people want to learn more, they can go to you 2025.com. They can also go to, I think it's EricThomas.com or ET, the hip hop preacher on Instagram, YouTube, obviously lots of great free content. If you're not able to sign up for the challenge right now, but it is free. Yeah, yeah. I'll challenge this free. Yes. You 2025.com. Make sure you guys check that out. Leave a comment of the thing that spoke to you and resonated the most with you below on YouTube as well. And I'll always make sure to share it for the friend that you think would empower them to step up in their life in a powerful way. Two final questions for you, Eric. I appreciate your time. I appreciate this. I think I asked you this seven years ago, last time you were on, but I'm going to ask it again and see where you're at now. You keep evolving as a human. This is a question called the three truths. So it's a hypothetical scenario. Say you get to live to 150. You get to live as long as you want. We got to come back and do it. You get to live as long as you want, but it's the last day on this field. You know, you're as old as you want to be. You get to create and accomplish and give and receive all the things you want, but it's the last day, very far in the future. And for whatever reason on this hypothetical scenario, you've got to take all of your content with you. So the world has no more access to ETs content, books, challenges, YouTube. It's all for whatever reason, hypothetically gone. It's called, oh, I know, right? It's all hypothetical. It's not going to happen, but let's just say it. But on the last day, God says, you know what? I'm going to let you leave three things behind three lessons from all the wisdom you've gained and all the content you've created, all your experiences, you get to say three final things, three truths. And this would stay forever for people to watch here. What would those three truths be? So the first one is unplug. It's unplug from everybody. You know, unplug from everybody. I don't know if this is one, but unplug from everybody and plug with the creator. Like plug with the person that brought you into this space, knows you, loves you, you know, unplug. Number two, man, fine love. You know, DD, man, DD, it's just been so rich being in a healthy relationship. It's beautiful, you know, because it shows you who you're not. Like it's not what you think. It's not just this warm, fuzzy, you know, but DD has been like, hey, you're a great human, but you got to work on this, you know, and then the last one, man, love, you know, love. It's so easy to see our differences. It's so easy to, you know, the things that are, you know, polar opposite. You grew up here, you grew up here. I believe in this. I believe in that. You vote this way, you vote this way. I believe this. I believe it. It's so easy to let one or two things separate you when it's about a hundred things that you guys have in common, because you're human, you know? And so it's just like love. And I think of a lot of my friends who've never gotten a girl out of our community, never meet anybody outside of our little world, and to be in Dubai or New Zealand or, you know, wherever, travel in love. You know, so that's the last one, love, but don't love in your little pocket. Like get out and meet different people who come from different spaces and places and just see how dope the creator is by being around the people who he created. Absolutely. Because he created you and not like me. And so there's so much dope-ness, you know, around you that I can get into. But I do, you know, I have a lot of, I have a lot of friends. You know, the thing I love about you is I've done podcasts with people. I just dope because people were energetic, but I always know when I'm with you, it's not about energy. It's about inwards. And you make me go inward in a way that I don't have to do with a lot of people. So many people are surfaced. They don't make you go inward. Whenever I'm with you, it's like, no, E, let's have a meaningful, we may only be together for an hour, but let's make it meaningful and deep. So when I walk out of here, my wife is about to get a new version of me. So I say love with travel and meet all the different people from all the different walks of life, eat different food, see the world different, live in different spaces, and just see how good the creator is by introducing yourself to the ones he created. Wow. That's beautiful. I love those. Final question, what's your definition of greatness? Man, I'll just say this verse. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few, I'll make you rule over many. To me, greatness is fulfilling the purpose of the manufacturer. So if I made this cup, I want to put whatever I want to put in the cup. I don't want the cup telling me, I don't want to do that. And so for me, it's like, what is it that you want me to do? And there was a time you wanted me to save the world. Now you want me to save myself. Oh my gosh. So that's what you, that's what you want now. If that's the new thing you're asking me to do, I just want to make the manufacturer go, I created this for this use. And I am, I am utilizing it in the way that it should be used. And that's, you know, of course you got to evolve and grow and do all the stuff you have to do. But yeah, that's, to me, that's what greatness is. The creator getting everything out of you. Not just you, because I feel like if you're creating everything out of me, I'm going to have a great life too. But it doesn't necessarily mean I've been married for a while. I've been happy and my wife was like, I'm not as happy as you are. And I'm like, what? We happy. No, no, you're happy. But there's some things I need you to do that you're not doing. I'm like, when you're doing everything, it's like that two things can be true. You, I could, but you're not. And so I don't want to just be happy. I want to create it a go. I'm grateful that I created you. And I see you're doing in the world whether it was that I wanted you to do. And now also for yourself, what I wanted you to do, because I wanted you to be happy too. I didn't want your life to just be about work and being a blessing. I wanted you to be blessed as well. So that's it. My man, E.T. My brother. Appreciate it, man. Appreciate it, man. Thank you.